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Dr. Lloyd Olgivie was Chaplain to the U.S. Senate. Previously, he pastored Hollywood Presbyterian Church which is an evangelical church.

Good article on how we are accepted in the Beloved, not by our doings. Entering Into God's Rest by T. Austin-Sparks Adam's first day on this earth was a Sabbath day. God created man on the sixth day, and the first complete day that man had was the Sabbath, and that Sabbath day becomes the first day for man. Carried over to the New Testament, where God finishes and perfects His new creation work in the Lord Jesus, and enters into His rest, it is God's Sabbath, and there we begin. That is our first day - God's rest. We begin in something that is already perfect. This is the ground of "the everlasting covenant". To grasp the significance of that is to see what the "eternal covenant" is, to come right in on a perfect ground and start there. It is not how we regard ourselves or how we feel about it, but it is God's place for us. The fact is, beloved, that in Jesus Christ you and I will never be more perfect than we are now. Those perfections may be wrought into us progressively, but, so far as the ground of our acceptance is concerned, we are "accepted in the Beloved One", and He wholly satisfies the Father; the Father has come to rest in Him. The work is perfect. Our acceptance is always on the ground of God's end reached. Till that is settled, we have no steadying thing when God begins to work in us. Do not forget that. If, when God begins to deal with us in discipline and chastening, in training and moulding and formation, we begin at any moment to say, This is all because I am so bad, so wicked, and the Lord has got to do something with me in order that I may be acceptable, we have given our ground away. We shall never be more acceptable, however much the Lord does in us. We have been accepted, not on the ground of what we are, however bad or good that may be, but on the ground of The Beloved. "Accepted in the Beloved One". We sing - and I wish we would lay it to heart more and more - that His perfections are the measure of our own acceptance. That is where we start. Blessed be God, that is the ground of confidence, and when the Lord begins to take us in hand and we begin to feel what wretched creatures we are, that never implies for a single moment that we are not accepted. The eternal covenant means here, in the first place, that we are accepted on the ground of God's satisfaction with His Son. If we were accepted on our own ground, where we stand in ourselves, there would be no eternal covenant, no ground of security at all. It would be a matter of how we might be tomorrow. But no, it is not a matter of how we are or shall be. The ground is settled in Christ. Now, God is only getting to work to make good in us what is true in His Son, but it does not change the ground. Do not let us give our ground away. First published in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazine, Mar-Apr 1940, Vol 18-2

When you have repented of your sins and asked Jesus into your heart, is that enough to get a person saved? Do you also have to believe that you're saved at that point even if you see no indications that anything has changed? Should a person be concerned if they have asked God for forgiveness but God's love still seems like it's not real to them? What should someone expect from salvation? Is it a life changing experience or is it much more subtle than that? Do some people have a strong born again experience at salvation and others don't and if you don't should you be concerned?

I feel scared and condemned because I've never felt joy in God. I have no feeling of affection for Him! I know that joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, so the fact that I don't have it terrifies me. I know that Christians should fight for their joy, but how can one fight for their joy if they're no longer even sure they're a Christian? It feels like a huge weight has been added to my already-heavy shoulders, and I'm stuck in a loop: I can't have assurance because I don't have joy, and I can't have joy because I don't have assurance.Is there any hope for me?

1 John 5:13 "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." Key words: "know" and "have". both present-tense. Praise God.

Hello everyone, Im Chris and I'm currently 22 going on 23. Im in terrible need of advice as I fear I may be making a huge mistake soon, but first I want to tell you about me. I grew up in a Christian home for the most part, but I turned out to be your average rebellious teenager. I hated school, I didn't have many friends, and I was a black sheep to my family. I felt alone and angry at myself and my family, all of which prompted me to leave home and travel to another state on my own, I was 19 when I left. During my journey, I ended up homeless on the streets until a charity group led me to a Gospel Rescue mission where I came to know that Christ saves through faith and not of works. At the time, I felt a deeper understanding and connection with God, something I had never felt before. Also at the time, I made going into the U.S Navy one of my priorities. It was my dream and felt that if I could join, I could finally make my family proud of me and finally make something of myself instead of a homeless bum. After I came to know Christ, I began a new journey first through a bible program they offered. I made new friends in Christ and began to come out of my shell, I was learning new things almost everyday and I was actually happy for the first time in years! In the process I even was reconciled with my family who were actually worried about me. Even so, I kept a narrow vision and pursued the Navy. After graduation, I enrolled in college, did some job traning, and so on in preparation for enlistment. With some setbacks here and there, this process would go on to take over 3 years. And now, I have hit a wall that has prevented me from joining. Because of some medical issues, they made enlisting challenging to the point where I finally gave up on joining. This was in no way God's fault, nothing is, but it was all mine for not applying myself properly as well as my lax and nonchalant nature. I feel devastated. I feel like I've failed. My dream was now broken. I went to my pastor and told him everything. He told me to sit still and wait on the Lord, that all this time I've been seeking my own will instead of His. I agreed and began to earnestly seek the Lord. But I began to lament to the fact that I was still upset about not joining the Navy. I'm not content. My other brothers have told me to simply get a job and work to get an apartment. But this still doesn't suffice. Ive looked back on my life now and seen that I've produced very little, if any, fruit throughout the years compared to others who have gone off to start successful careers and such. I'm not as ignorant as I used to be and do feel that the Lord has used me to lead others to Christ at times, as well as used my testimony about coming off the streets. But I now see that I'm struggling with my faith. I look to my friends who are avid preachers of Christ and smile even through their problems in life. They have joy, something I just no longer have. And it is these things that make me wonder: Did I truly make Christ my personal Savior that day? Is He really the Boss of my life? Was I willing to pick up my cross and follow Him? Am I really His child? I do believe that all things work together for good to them that love Him, that for by grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves, so no man can boast. Maybe God has used this situation to chastise and discipline me into being more obedient to Him and not to my own will. As the Word of God states "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receives". If this is scourging then I most certainly am feeling it. But due to my present circumstances, I feel my faith shaking, even after hours of earnest prayer for His will in my life. I can't shake this feeling for the pride of life. I can't shake this feeling of wanting to run off somewhere and starting all over again. I can't shake this voice telling me that He doesn't even know me and that I'm not His, that I'm not even truly born again. I'm so afraid of not being truly saved, and I'm too afraid to really tell the others of what I'm going through, despite their well meaning and prayers. I want to serve God, and I want Him to use me for His Glory. But this whole mess has paralyzed me to the point of hopelessness and depression. I just have no direction in life and I can't effectively share the Gospel in joy. I don't expect an answer that will end all my problems, but I would greatly appreciate anyone's input on this. Thank you very much in advance for your answers.

Heidi Baker Brings A Word To Big House Church - Chesapeake, VA. That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:2-3 http://youtu.be/ZntjhXF42fs