Gideon

Would it not be more in line with the promises of God to share how we successfully manage to walk as overcomers? Has God not promised to keep us from falling? Has He not given us shields of faith that He promises will quench all the fiery arrows of the enemy? Did He not assure us that He would never allow us to be tempted above our ability to resist? That He would make a way of escape when the temptation comes in hot and heavy so that we might be able to weather the storm and come out still holy on the other side? May I applaud you as to your honest question? Such probing honest is rare these days. it makes people uncomfortable... even accused. But should it not be the question that is on all of our hearts, especially given the lateness of the hour and the temptations that seem to increase in both their numbers as well as their intensity on a daily basis? Why, in almost every post here, do we find every subject known to man discussed to death, except the one subject that should be on our hearts, which is how to walk in the victory He clearly promised us? I pray no readers, nor yourself, sees this post in any way other than the intent of my heart.... which is to cry out declaring that God.... the God we serve, the God we love, is not a man that He should lie. It is flat out impossible. He says whst He means and means what He says. If He has told us His will is that we know how to possess our vessels in sanctification and honor, if He has told us that we are to bring every thought into subjection to the obedience of Christ, and then given us His assurance.... His promises... that He will indeed cause us to walk as obedient children, delivered from the power of darkness.... should we not be found crying out as to HOW to walk with our foot on sin's neck, and not visa versa? He has indeed declared these things but up till now, on our part..... silence. . Is it actually possible to walk in victory over the world, the flesh and the devil, despite our innate weaknesses, our humanness? Is grace simply there to forgive us when we do not measure up? Is our walk destined to be a carrot on a stick approach to holiness, where we never actually get to eat the carrot? Can a man or woman actually walk holy in this life? God says we can. And what shall be our response? Why are we found in the position we seem entrenched in? Why do we find ourselves imprisoned, yet somehow happily content, living out our lives in Romans 7, yet convincing ourselves we live in the benefits of chapter 8. How hard it is for us to admit our walks profess otherwise, to finally agree that we do not possess.... yet...... the heart that Paul did.... his desire, his desperation to walk pleasing to God despite his humanness. He cried out that he was a wretched man, trapped and imprisoned by sins big and small. We, on the other hand, have patted ourselves on the back, telling each other no one is perfect and after all, we are only human. Why did Paul graduate to Romans 8, while we sit still imprisoned in defeat, even if it is forgiven. Why? Paul had come to the place he HATED himself..... his old carnal nature. His disobedience. His selfishness. His inability to love as God has asked of us. He wanted to, desperately. But how to perform it, he found not. We are simply not seeking such a place, because we do not believe it possible. How did he differ from our current state we find the church in? He refused to lower the standard that God desires.... and can make us into...holy children. He refused to limit grace to being just a covering for our continued sins. He refused to believe that the God who declared Himself our deliverer could not, or worse, would not, actually deliver us from evil, just as He taught us to pray. May we all, everyone who loves the Lord in sincerity, come to the blessed point that they refuse to accept that sin must be our master till death does what that blood of Jesus cannot. It is time we believed our God, no matter what it does to our theology, Blessings to you for the cry of your heart. God is about to do a miracle among us. Our eyes will witness the church arising from the ashes of religious observances, endless doctrinal debates and sin ruling over us, and become the bride of Christ resplendent in holiness, without spot or wrinkle. Are we ready? He is. Gideon

The whole topic of Calvinism vs. Armenianism is, I believe, ultimately a smokescreen from the enemy. We are, by the authority of God's Word, to give all diligence to make our calling and election sure. We must beware grabbing hold of a doctrine to convince us of our salvation. Our assurance is meant to come from God Himself. Is that not wonderful? Our calling is not a call to get our doctrine right on who is saved and who is not. The point of this is ultimately a call to each individual believer to make sure THEY are saved, by God's hand unmistakenly seen in their lives, as He assures us Himself that we are His sons or daughters. "Therefore brethren, give diligence all the more to make your calling and election sure, for if ye do these things ye shall never fall. 2 Peter 1:10 So the Bible tells us that giving all diligence is certainly a key piece of our being assured of our salvation. It is a clear exhortation to not assure ourselves that we are Heaven-bound simply because we "feel" saved, or because we said the prayer of faith one day a long time ago. To each one of us, we have a God-given responsibility to examine ourselves whether we truly "be in the faith", which is expressed by what God is doing in our lives, both in our relationship with Him as well as our relationship with this world and those who live in it. How important it is, especially in these uncertain times, to understand what God has spoken. A good tree WILL produce good fruit. This is not a call to try harder to "be good" or to try our best to bear more fruit. We cannot do either. To see this done, we must learn the how of abiding in Him, for He is the potter, not us. He alone can cause the transformation inside us. He is the husbandman, and our dependance must be on Him to sanctify us, and to make us His own. Does this mean we can never be sure as to our eternal salvation? Not at all. There is total security to the believer, but belief was never meant to be a one time thing. It was meant to be a living lifeline to God through our abiding in Jesus. Our faith is meant to grow as we grow up into Him in all things. So what must we do to be saved? We must believe ON Him, which is a moment-by-moment Christ-in-us relationship. Believing IN Him is going to cause many to assume they are safe when in fact they may not be at all. So what do we do, if, after an honest examination of our lives and our relationship with the Lord, we do not see the mark of Jesus on our thoughts, our deeds, and what we have declared by our actions to be our treasure? First, may I assure those who truly do so, the fact that you did so is a great indicator of your heart wanting the right relationship with God and He will move mountains to see you find your way. Then what? Ask. Ask Him to lead you into all truth. Ask Him to show you HOW to walk where you are transformed, bearing fruits that testify to your calling and election. He will not disappoint. blessings, Gids

I hope you reconsider. I like your posts and you seem even keeled. We have not had too much interaction, but when I see a post of yours pop up, I am drawn to read it. I wish I could say the same for all posters but thst is not the case. ? blessings, m'Lady Gids

I was the same way. I am 71 and my wife is 68. Neither of us had ever had the flu till last December. Never had a flu shot. I will never miss another. I was moserable for overca month. My wife developed pneumonia and was hospitalized for 8 days. They say the real issue is that you can get both the flu and covid at the same time and it will multiply your chances of dying many fold. My wife is a cancer survivor and has been thru chemo and her immune system is shot. If she gets covid, she will most likely not make it. So, we take major precautions. Getting a flu shot is an easy one. blessings, Gideon

If we think about it, each party, the Democrats (left) and the Republicans (right) have their "platform". These are basic tenants and policies they support. How is it that people line up totally on one side or another? For instance, I hate abortion. In this area, I am leaning right. I also hate to see immigrant families ripped apart, locked up, simply because they want a better life for their families. Christian compassion overrides everything there for me. Thus, on this area, I lean left. To vilify any who do not accept all the tenants of their party of choice to me is simply short sighted and seems, well.... lazy. Most do not vote for the man and his character means little. What matters to most to these is.... are they Democrats or Republicans? Sad but true. I do not want to seem critical of you, brother, It is just that the thought of labeling all left leaning people as 'obviously fanatic' is just as prejudiced as people who hate others simply because of their race. And those on the left could retaliate with their belief that all right leaning people are against the poor and worship money. Satan has divided us into "camps" and the hatred is flowing. Let us flee all of it. We are better than that. If Jesus were here, would he be joining one or the other? I suspect he would be fashioning a whip and turning over the tables of money changers, lol. As believers, we are told we are not citizens of this world, but rather simply passers-through. I believe we must be very careful as to joining in the hate fest, no matter which side we may find ourselves on. Our job is to love everyone, even if we disagree with their actions or their platform. This is but the beginning. At some point, no matter which side we may be touting, the day will come where those we have aligned with will come for us. We will finally see that the forces ruling this world are ALL against the kingdom of God. Now is the time we need to put into practice being wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. blessings, Gideon

Brother, I have made it clear before and I will again. I am nothing. In my flesh, I suspect am worse than most here. Perhaps all. Fourteen years ago, bound by sins I could not conquer void of any perceptible fruits of the Spirit, having been a follower of the Lord for 38 years with little if anything to show for it, I cried out to God that His way was right, but that I had found it too high, too hard, impossible to walk in for any length of time, and after trying sll that I knew to walk worthy of the name of Jesus, I simply had nothing else I knew to walk in victory. There was but one thing I refused to let go. I refused to believe that grace somehow simply lowered the standard God had set for us. If God was the God who cannot lie, and He is, and He had promised grace would lift us up to walk in victory, then real overcoming victory MUST be true, and available to even the weakest among us and that included the wretch that I was. The Bible clearly tells us that real grace teaches us "that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we are to live soberly, righteously and justly in this present age." We are exhorted to keep our bodies under, to walk in holiness, without which no man will see the Lord. Yes, thank God He has made provision for us IF we slip, but He promised to cause us to walk obediently, and boy, did I desperately need that. I was caught in a net, a trap from which I was unable to escape. I simply could not lower the standard that tells us "Let all who name the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." Yet at the same time, I was unable to find the path to do so. I was of all men most miserable, the poster boy for Romans 7. One night fourteen years ago, the Lord had mercy on my sin-sick soul and He appeared to me.... visibly, and spoke to me, yes, audibly. He shared with me the truth I had missed, and had been blind to my entire Christian life. It is this message that activates the power of God towards us and allows us to walk whwre our hearts longs to walk, pleasing Him, all day, every day. You mention it is "upturning the message of grace in the scriptures". My response is that in truth, it magnifies grace to a level we did not know possible. The promises are all there, right in front of our noses. The fact we do not see them being fulfilled in our lives should give us pause but we have been fed a spiritual diet that somehow makes the promises of God of none effect, so we have walked on in our defeat, thinking this is the sole purpose of grace. We do the best we can, and grace makes up the difference, right? But brother, this is grace for new converts becoming established in the faith, not for those who have walked many years as His disciples. Grace.... real authentic Bible grace.... promises to change us, to free us, to cause us to will AND to do of His good pleasure. Brother, I fully understand when teaching seems to come out of left field, our defenses kick in. This is honorable, but the flock needs protection from wolves and the wiles of the enemy. However, this is also an important point needing to be examined, as the church as a whole is struggling with sin, carnality, worldliness, dissension, and is setting a poor example to the world as to how much the Lord can transform a man from sinner to saint. We have made Romans 7 the best God offers in this life, and multitudes are now found living at ease in Zion, with their old natures fully intact and unchanged. How few there are who are imprisoned by sin and the flesh and who possess the same hatred for their failings that Paul did. We are told that godliness with contentment is great gain. But sadly, for most of the church today, we have tried to become content while inwardly believing godliness and purity are unattainable. We try to find rest for our ouls but there isxalways a nagging uncomfortableness about our walk and failure is far more the experience of most rather than walking in victory as an overcomer, Should this not bother us? Is forgiveness the best grace can do? Does God need death to accomplish in us what His Spirit indwelling us cannot? Should it not be obvious to us that we are in dire need? I pray we do not let preconceived notions rob us of what the grace of God is offering us. God has told us that in the last days, His children will overcome by combining the blood of the Lamb with the words of their testimony. And what shall our testimony be? That we are just sinners saved by grace but not delivered from evil by it? Shall we not cry out to the Lord to enlarge our heats that we might believe what He has clearly promised us.... walking in victory over the world, the flesh and the devil? I promise this to any desperate enough to do so. God will hear your cry and grant you the faith to believe. Believe what? Believe .... that He can.... and will..... keep us from falling. that we are no longer in the flesh and that we owe it nothing. that it is no longer us that live and we... the old us, is actually dead and our life is hid with God in Christ. that our shields of faith WILL quench all the fiery arrows of the enemy. that He will not allow us to be tempted more than we can bear and that we WILL take the way of escape He always offers us. that He has delivered us from the power of darkness. that as the master potter, He WILL cause us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. that we can resist the devil steadfast in the faith and that he WILL flee from us. The church of the book of Acts was blessed to receive the early rain. Here at the end of the age, we are the blessed generation destined to receive the latter, and praise God, the latter will be greater than the former! Jesus is returning for a bride without spot or wrinkle, not for a body found divided into 500 sects and divisions, each one thanking God they possess the real truth, yet each still controlled to one degree or another by their fleshly nature. The truth is, if we are to see grace fully manifested in our lives, the truth must possess us, not visa versa. How is that possible? We need to put off our old nature, laying no more claim that that is us. It WAS us. Who are we? New creatures. Victorious overcomers. And when we finally see our need for such a testimony, when our hearts hunger after pleasing God more than our daily bread or yielding to our secret sins, when we finally come to see our old nature is the root of our failures and lay the axe to the root of the tree, putting off the old rebel usurper by an act of audacious faith, the bad fruit finally stops growing, and is miraculously replaced by fruits of the Spirit instead. To those who do so, not caring for the cost to their reputation, determined to walk in obedience despite their weakness, looking unto God to do the changing, they will see their God roll up His sleeves and show us what real grace is capable of doing in a man's life, if only he simply believes..... and asks. That, dear brother is real grace. blessings, dear Alive Gideon

I am so glad you are posting again my friend. I hope this finds you well. You are always a blessing to me. Gids

It occurs to me that it is because we have become used to having nothing but good-news Christianity that it is natural to assume that anyone bringing a word that is not an 'ear tickler' is viewed as criticism and seen as being negative and accusatory. But think for a minute. A watchman has a difficult job, While everyone else goes about living their lives, with little to concern themselves with, the job of the watchman is to watch to see if danger approaches. Is he any better? Hardly. He simply sees sooner than others. And if danger is observed, his task is to warn those who do not yet see it so that they may take precautions, and to be prepared for what is coming Would it not be strange that the very ones the watchman is trying to help, instead of listening to the approaching threat, decide instead to tell the watchman he is off base because he always is bringing back bad tidings and he needs to start to lighten up? *** A man is out for a before dawn jog through the neighborhood when he sees smoke bellowing out of an upstairs window, He has no phone and is a good fifteen minutes from home. What should he do? Of course he goes and bangs on the door. No response. He bangs harder. Still no response. He now sees open flame in the upstairs bedroom window. What should he do? What would you do? Do you just assume it is none of your business and that surely, they will awaken? Do you walk away, trusting that God has it all under control, because nothing happens outside of His will? Or do you do whatever is necessary to try to see your neighbors saved from the growing flames? What would love do? Whatever it takes. That is what you do. And when you break down the door, run upstairs through the smoke and find them sound asleep, oblivious to the danger around them, and begin to shake them awake, and they respond in anger, asking you who do you think you are disturbing their rest, do you stop and leave them in danger, or persist all the more? The answer is obvious, no matter how any reasons otherwise. Some see my posts are negative, critical and judgmental. What I post, regardless of if any can or will at present acknowledge it, is truth. We are not ready for the return of our King. Nor are we, as a whole, walking in the Free Indeed Jesus promised us, for Jesus defined His free indeed as a place where we do not commit sin. Ouch. Unlike the church in the book of Acts, where saints were blessed with the early rain, we do not hear men exclaim "Behold how they love one another!" Sin still runs rampant in the body of Christ. A full 30-40% of men have porn issues. I suspect it may be more. Divorce is exactly the same as it is in the world. Worldliness grips us. Rather than being one, we are a divided mess, each assuming their understanding is the correct one. Are these things not the truth? Should they not be gigantic red flags to us, telling us something is badly askew? But for the most part there is silence. Why? It is because of our own unconquered natures that we look to excuse them....and ourselves... with "We are only human.", thinking that makes it all okay. It does not. The fact I bring these issues to our attention is not to hurt anyones feelings. I take no pleasure in it. What I share has one purpose.... to awaken us to the fact that God has promised us much, much more, and soon we are going to need it to survive. If I candy coat the message, it will just be added to all of our other candy coated beliefs. You see, we have become content with the status quo of healed-only-slightly Christianity,, robbing ourselves of the abiding in the vine Jesus offers, the place where we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Is it really possible? In THIS life? You bet it is! ? We comfort ourselves with our experience that tells us that such a place is impossible to truly walk in, and that is why we have grace. No dear brothers and sister, grace begins there for the new child of God but God's will is that we grow up into Him in all things so that He might keep us from falling to the temptations of sin and the propensities of our flesh. Ultimately, it is the truth of the Word of God that we must lean on, not our understanding nor what we have up till now observed in other Christians. God is most clear here. Our shields of faith WILL quench all the fiery arriws of the enemy. Our God WILL insure we will never be tempted above our ability to resist. And yes, He WILL cause us to walk as obedient children, all day, every day. So guys, if this is not our experience, if we have found our flesh confounding and unable to be ruled, and our sins impossible to lay aside as we are commanded, I plead with you to rethink.... to re-pent.... to think again as to what God has promised. He has promised us victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. And that is the standard that is again being lifted up in these last days. And glory to God, He has promised not only to lift up the standard of holiness unto the Lord, but also to lift US up and to empower us to walk there! Glory! Difficult days are ahead. What we are experiencing right now is but the beginning. Yet God is providing us a promised place of safety free from the desires, the fears and the unbelief that make up our old man. He is crying out to us through his appointed watchmen as to the coming danger as well as how to weather the storm with peace. I have nothing but love in my heart for all who are part of the church. Even if their actions are far, far from God's clear words, they are most likely faring far better than I was before God opened my eyes and showed me how to get the devil off my back. For whatever reason and I will never know why, He has asked me to warn His people living in a false sense of peace that danger approaches and He longs to plant us all, no matter how weak we may be, in a place where when we are tempted, we an and will resist the enemy steadfast in the faith, and watch with delight when satan flees from us. As children of God, this is our birthright. May God strengthen me to be that faithful neighbor, and fulfill my calling as a humble watchman. May He grant me strength to endure despite opposition, and if necessary, break down the doors to peoples' hearts, so that God can fill them with joy unspeakable and full of glory as they walk as true overcomers of all satan throws at us. Look, I get it. My words are hard to hear. But as God is my witness, they are spoken in love and concern, and are meant to bless, not injure or put down. I fully realize that this response I often get will continue but the reward of seeing saints awake to who they as new creatures drives me, and despite not being every person's favorite poster, lol, it is a small price to pay to see the tears of joy that God has assured me will come. blessings to all, Gideon

I pray it does, even if temporarily some might not see it as such. If you have found the truth that God will actually cause us to walk in full obedience, praise God, and you should rejoice that such a place is not only possible, but also shared for others who still struggle with sin wnd self control. If however, you have not found such a place, may I encourage you to seek God on the matter? He will not disappoint. blessings, Gideon

Well this ought to be interesting, right? LOL. Here we go. In these recent years, there has evolved an understanding of grace and what God asks of us that is quite different than what is seen in the Bible itself. We have been taught that we are saved by grace without the need to DO anything, and thus assumed therefore that God thus asks nothing from us. We are wrong. We are saved UNTO good works. But this create a huge dilemma in our minds, for we know how weak we are. What we as His pwople are about to be awakened to is how strong God is willing to be IN us. Jesus tells us to be holy as He is holy. Is holiness possible? Absolutely. However, unbelief has gripped us and we have erroneously concluded real holiness is impossible this side of Heaven. Why? Because when we hear to word 'DO', we think it is by our efforts, by our power, we must do these things. And because we are still walking with fleshly bodies, we have been taught that despite our best efforts, we cannot ever be fully obedient to God's leading inside us. And because of this erroneously assumption, modern Christianity tells us there is not one thing we need to do except wait for Heaven. Yet God tells us that to whom much is given much is required. Who is right? How do we account for the obvious contradictions here? If we are saved by faith, not by any works we can do, then does it not follow that we do not need to DO anything? Can we not just go to church, read our Bibles occasionally, generally be nice people, and it's all good? Not according to the Word. Why would Jesus tell us that we are His friends if we DO the things He commands us? And if there are things we need to actually DO, how do we not fall into the trap of legalism, and end up as slaves to our weak efforts, always coning up short, and end up feeling condemned, having to work for our salvation and yet unable to do what God asks? How do we align the conflict we seem to find with Paul's grace by faith, not by works and James' faith without works is dead? For if we cannot come to the answer, and must choose one or the other, concluding that two apostles of the Lord were in direct disagreement as to salvation, how can we ever have real trust in the inerrancy of the Bible itself? If all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is to be profitable to lead us into all truth, we must know one thing. The conflict is not in the Word, but our understanding of it. But where? Where is the root of our misunderstanding as to our being asked to DO in the Word? I believe it is in our failure to DO the one thing Paul exhorted us to do in Romans 6. Here he tells us the glorious truth that when Jesus died, so did we. Our old nature does not need to die. We need to die to it! As well, Paul tells us the deep truth that when Jesus rose from the dead, we too rose with Him as new creatures. We do not need to grow from being dead to being alive. We ARE new, right this very minute. The problem is, we have stopped there and not done what Paul tells us we must DO with these two great truths in order to see their power activated in our lives. We must appropriate these truths as OUR truths. We must put off our old nature, believing we are no longer that incorrigible rebel. We must hold up our shield of faith that right now, this very minute, we possess new natures, freed from the power of the devil. Saints, we were never meant to be "pew sitters". God desires our walk with Him to be an active 'yoking together' of us with God through the Holy Spirit. God moves, we move. As God is, so are we in this world. This is what is meant by being one with Him, by abiding in Him. This is how we walk where we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. This is where we DO, not because of some legallistic requirements, . but because God actually causes us to walk in full obedience. Wow! Is this actually possible? Is such a walk promised in His Word? Absolutely, and we are about to re-discover the fullness of whst is included in our new covenant. "‘Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do them. Ezekiel 36:25-27 In these last days, God is beginnig to awaken us to the joy of walking as obedient overcomers, and how even the weakest among us will walk there. Despite our fleshly bodies still clamoring for attention, we are told clearly that we are no longer in the flesh and owe it NOTHING. We are new natured people, temporarily housed in fleshly bodies. We are not saddled with the impossible task of bringing it into subjection by our diligence and efforts. No, praise God, He has made a new way, the way of faith, where we stand on the truth that the old us is dead. Our job? To keep it under. The difference may seem small, but it is huge. In the one, we are in the valley, trying to fight the enemy encamped on the high ground. We are trying to gain the victory. Ahhh, but in the other, we are planted on the highway of holiness, not by our efforts but by faith in what Jesus a tually accomplished for us, and to our amazement and delight, we will find that DOing is not a requirement, but a promise! We will discover that walking as obedient children and bearing fruits for the world to see is our birthright. It comes with the territory. Glory! blessings, Gideon

We must do that with unbelief as well. We are limiting tbe Holy One of Israel, refusing to believe we are new creatures with new natures. knock off some rotten apples may seem like the. correct solution, but the problem is, the tree will just crank out more, maybe different ones, hut still sin. Until we come to finally HATE our old nature and its constant bringing forth bad fruits, divorce included, and lay the axe to the root of the tree of self by reckoning it dead, we will simply sit here debating one another with our religious wisdom and the world will continue to refuse to listen to us or seek the Savior, because rhey do not see Him IN us, divorced or not. blessings, Gids

For those who know me, Iin no way am advocating for sin. But your solution does not get to the root of the problem. It would cause untold pain to children of second marriages and ahipwreck what little faith people now are clinging to. It would be a tornado crushing and extinguishing the small flickering ember of light that remains in the body as we know it now. What is the solution? Get to the root of the cause. Self love, never dealt with, must die and it is done in but one way.... escaping the old nature. Until this is done, your solution is simply a legalistic appeasement that would not please God at all. The solution to a tree producing bad fruit is not to sit there with a Bible baseball bat that whacks every fruit that does not measure up to the "standard". That is how attempting to adhere to the law does things. And.... it simply does not work. Hearts are still impure. The real solution is laying the axe to the root of the bad tree. The bad tree..... our old nature..... must die and praise God, Jesus made a way for each one of us to rid ourselves of self's demands. Having our old man die when Christ died is wonderful accomplished fact, indeed, but.... BUT..... it does not profit us until we, by faith, grab hold of that truth and appropriate it as ours.... a done deal. Why do people resist such a simple solution? Many simply do not see their old nature as a bad thing. They think "Well, yes, I am not perfect, but I am a good person and after all, I am only human. At least I am not as bad as _______________?" They are wrong. Jesus said we could not be His disciples until we finally came to HATE our old man. It is a supplanter. A rebel. A self-loving person who obeys when it is convenient and disobeys when it feels like it. It CANNOT love God with all its heart, for it loves itself more. It cannot love others as it loves itself for it loves itself more. And it must die. When we finally break before God, look at our divorce statistics in the church, our porn issues, our materialism issues, our worldliness issues, our contentment without godliness, our lukewarm going-through-the-motions churchianity, our excuses for allowing sin to remain in our daily lives, and our hearts finally break before God, and draw near to Him to truly be changed into new creatures, He will not fail to plant faith into the heart of every child who seeks Him, who desires His will to rule over them. When the Spirit is again outpoured on a broken and humbled church, divorce will simply no longer be an issue. Neither will porn or any of the other sins currently afflicting the healed-only-slightly church. Huge changes are coming. The hearts of God's children are about ro be brought to their knees. But when that finally happens, the outpouring of the book of Acts will have nothibg on us.... nothing. blessings to you, Vic Gids

Brother, I never said it is ok to sin. I said the law is unkeepable. It demands, yet does not empower. If the law could have been kept, as you say, there was no reason in the world for Jesus to die. A man can keep the 10 Commandments his entire life and still be a mean-spirited self-loving man. The Pharisees are a good example. They did not see they needed Jesus living inside them, causing them to love others as they loved themselves, in order to truly fulfill the law. Yes, the church is a mess. We are taught that being a Christian delivers us from having to walk righteously. Yes, we are supposed to give it effort, but hey, after all, we are only human, right? We do not see that if Christ is truly living inside us, He promises to cause us to obey Him, to fulfill the demands of the Law. We have not been taught the second half of the gospel. Yes, Jesus forgives. We have that one down pay. But Jesus also cleanses us, transforms us, fills, us, delivers, us, sets us free indeed by imparting His nature inside us. I pray you give heed to what I am sharing with you. By driving people back to the law, no one will truly get free. Oh, they may not break the 10 commandments, but their hearts will still be bound by self. They will not love others with agape love. How do we get to this place where we actually are kept from sinning? Filled with love.... God's love? We must escape our old carnal nature.... and we can! We put it off by an act of faith and cloth ourselves with our new man, for it is this nature that God can cause to obey Him. The best of our man can do is try to fulfill the law. The law demands but does not empower. But God is even now awakening us to how amazing, how wonderful, how powerful the new covenant really is. In these last days, His bride, the church, is going to awaken from her sleep, and shine as a beacon of light so that those in the world who love the light will come to Christ. These verses I share are where we now are. We are the ones these hard-to-hear but wonderful words are for. Amazing things are about to happen. blessings, Gideon . “Therefore say unto the house of Israel, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen whither ye went. And I will sanctify My great name which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God , when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. “ ‘Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do them. “ ‘I will also save you from all your uncleannesses; and I will call for the corn and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel! Ezekiel 36:20-23,25-27,29-32

So you would have us go back under the hard task master, where if you break one commandment, you are guilty of violating all of them? Paul called it the curse of the Law for a reason. The truth is, under the new covenant, God has promised to cause us to obey Him. Why do we not see this taught in our churches, or walked out for the lost to see? We do not yet believe it possible. Yet. ? blessings, Gideon

Pointing out differences between Paul and James is not the same as casting doubt over the scriptural message James brought that faith without works is dead. It is inspired scripture and yet the best you could do is to reluctantly refer to James having "some good stuff". If the Word of God is conflicted, we are all in trouble. If in our minds we think we see a conflict, then the solution is not minimize the one we do not agree with but to get down on our knees and pray for understanding so that the conflict is undone and harmony restored. There is not one gospel for Jews and another for Gentiles. We are all made one in Jesus. Do you believe what James tells us is true and inspired by the Holy Spirit? Or do you see Paul and James disagreeing on such an important point? I have seen some refer to themselves as "Pauline" disciples, and attempt to reduce Peter and James to second rate messengers of God. Do you know what Paul himself said about these? They are yet carnal. What James is telling us SHOULD raise red flags, for he is telling us that if we are correctly plugged into Jesus, fruits WILL come forth. If they do not, something is askew. It is this that many refuse to acknowledge, and in order to stop the light from searching our hearts, the easier solution is just to cast doubts on the author, which in my opinion is what you have done. blessings, Gids

Thank you for your words of encouragement and I pray they bless whoever is reading them. To those taking the time to read the words being shared here, I fully realize that having to be confronted by truths of our salvation and what it actually costs us is not pleasant, especially after living under the illusion that we have to do absolutely nothing and all is well because God sees us as Holy. Satan will whisper that if you choose to throw yourself into the fray, to fully submit to the One who bought us with His own blood, to fully seek His face, making Him, and His will, your treasure, you will be miserable. May I humbly remind you that he is a liar? There is no doubt we all face a tough choice in our own personal valley of decision. Our carnal nature, self, chafes and wants to run. It is the most natural of reactions. But you must finally get this truth embedded deep within you. That carnal nature, the old you who likes the freedom to choose to sin or to resist (and so often chooses the former)..... are you listening here? That man, that woman is NOT you. That WAS you. When Jesus died, He took that old man with Him on the cross. That man died, just as Jesus did. Why do you still operate under his power, still serving self, still yielding to sin, still unable to bear fruit or to love others as Jesus desires of you? Simply because of your unbelief. So how do you get to the point you can actually believe the old you, what the Bible calls your old man, really and truly IS dead..... not dying ever so slowly, but DEAD? Step 1: You first have to come to hate him. He is a usurper. He is a rebel. He loves himself first and foremost. He is sworn to serve the god of this world, and can never truly obey God, because the flesh is enmity with God and they that are still in the flesh CANNOT please Him. A crisis point awaits all who would finally walk in the Spirit, those who will be caused to obey Him all day, every day. The crisis point hurts. BUT, once you break, and cry out for deliverance from that wretched man, and God drops the faith into your heart that you are... not will be but ARE... new? Joy, true amazing joy and peace liek a river will flood your soul. Step 2: Once yuor ground had been plowed and your heart softened to receive what God longs to give you..... the faith to actually believe it is no longer you that live, but Christ who now lives in you.... do we just wait around like the lame man at the pool for the angel to stir the waters? NO! We act. We step out of our boat of safety... and misery.... and reckon it to be so. We appropriate the truth of who we are as OUR possession. We do not hope we will become new. That is hope, not faith. No, we declare to God the truth of His Word. We do not wait for feelings. The feelings will come, trust me. LOL. We declare.... and I have found out loud is best.... that we are no longer old natured people but made every whit whole. We are delivered from the power of darkness. We are one with our Father. And we yield ourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, not as those needing to die. Step 3: We fight. It is a wonderful thing to escape the wilderness of unbelief and enter the land of promise. But just like with Joshua, there are enemies whose sole purpose is to pry the words of your testimony out of your mouth. What do you do? Resist him, steadfast in the faith, and what has God promised you? Satan will FLEE from you! Now, IF you slip back into sin, it was not that your declaration of faith was faulty. It was not that you were too weak. There is but one reason, Your shield of faith was too small. How do you make it bigger? Continue to believe you are new! if you have slipped in sin, confess it, repent of it, and then hoist your shield of faith again as to the truth of who you are.... a brand new creature, a set-free child of the King, an overcomer of all satan and this world can throw at you. And to your amazement, even after a slip, you will rise up even stronger in faith. Your shield gets bigger! Yes, there is a good fight of faith to wage, and all of us are called to it, but we know.... not hope but KNOW... that as we endure, trusting that what God has promised us is true, we find the end result will be the same. We become established in the faith, unshakeable. Glory! blessings to all, from the weakest to the strongest, for God is about to roll up His sleeves and show us what He is actually capable of. We will be amazed, blown away, not only because it will dwarf what we thought God will do, but because He will be doing it through US! Gideon

? Bless you. Gids

Brother, you may not see it as such. However, in your very first post, this was your response. Look at the intro to James' letter. I'm a Gentile. Seems not addressed to me. But it's scripture, has good stuff in it - I heard Luther called it an epistle of straw You could have very easily simply stayed on the thrust of the post. Failing that, you could have simply stated that the book of James is scripture and has "some good stuff" in it. However, first, you implied what James shared was not applicable to you or any other gentiles, and then threw in the kicker that Luther called it an epistle of straw. Why the need for such a comment? If that is not sowing seeds of doubt that we need to take James's words as the Word of God, rhen your understanding of sowing seeds of doubt and mine are not the same. If you disagree with what I shared in my Op, no problem. If you agree, great. But what you posted simply ignored why the post was shared to begin with and chose to go on a tangent. I would rather keep it on track if you do not mind, forcit is an important subject that needs our addressing. blessings, Gids

No, brother. You are sowing seeds of doubt that we a children of God in tbe 21st century can take ALL of the words God has given to us in the New Testament to lean upon them fully for understanding, exhortation and, where the case may arise, correction. There are no "minor" epistles. Either all scripture is given by inspiration of God is profitable for correction and instruction in righteousness, or none of it is. Once cracks in our dam of truth are accepted that hold back unbelief, we risk being swept away by our interpretations of who was and who was not more inspired. The main thrust of my post stands as is. To bring doubt upon the validity of the author is but a smokescreen, a diversion, an easy way to escape having to own up to examining ourselves whether we truly "be in the faith" as to whether the shoe fits us or not. blessings, Gids

I have no issues reconciling Paul and James. All James was doing is clarifying that IF we get saved by faith alone correctly, good works WILL flow. The fact that for many, the transformation is not occurring, even after decades of walking as believers, is a mountain sized red flag, but instead of investigating, we have rather erroneously concluded that two apostles were in disagreement as to the very basics of our Christian faith. Thank God, He is about to open our understanding to why there is, in fact, no conflict at all between the two. And when we see it, and walk on it, we will rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. blessings, Gideon

Perhaps it would be good if we became like oxen and began to eat the words God offers us through James that Luther referred to as "straw". ? All scripture is profitable, amen? blessings, Gids

Thank you Blade for your perspective. As to the Laodecians, you are assuming it was all about money. It is not. It is about a spiritual attitude that declares "I have need of nothing." Let me just say here that we disagree. As to the church doing wonderfully, do you know when we will absolutely know that to be true? God spoke in Ezekiel 36 that the heathen will know that He is the Lord, when He shall be sanctified in us before their eyes.... visible holiness, palpable fruits. When men exclaim to one another "Behold how they love one another", we will know we as His bride are where we are supposed to be. When men blurt out in fear "They that have turned the whole world upside down have come here also!" we can be assured Fod is indeed moving again amongst us. We cannot escape the need for broken hearts. Individually, a man can most certainly be full of joy, living as an overcomer, victorious over the world, the flesh and the devil, but God never meant us to be healthy arms or legs or big toes. Overall, His church is divided, carnal, contentious, shallow, worldly and filled with hypocrisy. Despite our denial of need, the truth is that we are in no way ready to meet our savior. Brokenness must come if we are ever to lay bare our hearts and seek for God to fulfill His promises to us to transform us as ONE body into a vessel fit for His use. Right now, we are far more like the builders of tower of Babel, each speaking bis own 'Christian dialect', chafing at other brothers for not seeing things as clearly as we do. The tower must come down. The first tremors, shakings of our foundations that are not fully Christ Himself, , are now beginning. More will soon follow, even by year's end. Our pride and contentment without godliness must be replaced by humility, meekness and a deep hunger to see Jesus glorified in both our words as well as our actions. We are about to see with our own eyes, and yes, praise God, be a part of, the greatest move of God in history. The time of the harvest approaches. Let us, as Paul exhorts, lay aside everything that would hinder us to be used by our God to fulfill His purposes for us, through us. Amen and amen. blessings, Gids

Anyone who has truly entered his good fight of faith will back that up. Growing our faith is not easy, but the reward is well worth it. Gids

Well, then you can carry a very thin Bible, which is really convenient, seeing that all the gospels were not written to gentiles either. ? If Luther said that, i suspect his mind has now been changed. blessings, Gids

Hi Walter,, I love the verses you share. Can you comment on these particular passages how you interpret them and whether or not they are something we may ponder upon and even relate to in our present day? Thanks, Gideon,