CONSIDER THIS: TESTIMONY

   TESTIMONY….”And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death….Revelation 12:11

CONSIDER THIS: The word “Testimony” means the giving of evidence in support of facts. In personal terms, it serves as evidence of a life completely converted, rejuvenated and turned around by Jesus Christ. If a person does NOT have a testimony, they have not been saved. This may sound rather harsh, but the Truth is meant to both set a person free, as well as to inspire them towards doing the right thing…..as this verse plainly states. We can ONLY overcome/win/defeat the enemy and have eternal victory in Jesus via the precious, supernatural Blood of the Lamb of God, for the forgiveness of ALL our sins and the substitutionary atonement thereof.

ACTION:  Do YOU have a testimony? Can you “testify” under oath…give evidence to…and speak publicly about HOW and WHEN Jesus Christ changed your life? Can you? Our very eternal future has been bought at a price and we immediately know it in our very being. So now, that we are keeping, maybe not daily, but somewhat, a note in our Bible or prayer journal, can we act on this – write out your testimony OR tell someone this week, how Jesus Christ removed you from the Dominion of Darkness into the Kingdom of His Marvelous Light.

Father in the Name of Jesus, I pray for that divine appointment to share my testimony with someone this week, about what You have done for, in and through me, because Jesus is my Lord and my Savior. It could be, Lord, a family member, or friend or someone completely unknown, I pray for that opportunity to witness for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in order that both the hearer and myself, may be edified and the Name of the Lord will be greatly to be praised, in Jesus’ Name amen.

PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE SERIES: BOOK OF PHILIPPIANS #1

....WITH ALL JOY....

3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. (Philippians 1:3-7)

Keep in mind, as we read this prayer, that this man - the Apostle Paul - is in prison for preaching the Gospel of Christ! Still, note how he is praying for the saints:
- With all of His Heart (vs 7)
- With all Joy (vs 4)
- With Confidence (vs 7)

However the Confidence which he exudes is not for him but for encouragement of the church at Philippi. Thus, as Paul has written so many times, direct from the Oracles of Heaven - everything written in Scriptures are given as instructions for us NOW. That includes ALL Scripture, "Old and New" Testament.

It is my humble theory that this prayer can therefore be appropriated by us, in these last days, to pray for the encouragement for the hurting and hope for the hopeless. We should do this, even when we do not feel like it! What can be more challenging for a man than to be so confident of this positional salvation in the Kingdom so much so that he exhorts many to do the same. He proposes they also engage in Apologetics. 

The greatest impact we can have on the life of another is to love them to Jesus, when we are in the valley ourselves. By taking ourselves from under the circumstances and lifting another up to Him, in prayer, we exhibit a form of grace upon grace, which testifies to the Love He embedded in us at the point of conversion.

Many Christians have a problems in the recent past few decades with defending even what they claim they believe. We are specifically instructed, in the passage above, to engage in not just the "defense" (Apologetics) of the Christian Faith but to confirm the Good News of the Gospel. That is, we are to testify by a consistent daily lifestyle and by words, the truth of what Christ has done for us.....the Grace He has given us and the new life included, therein.

By this, we affirm, confirm and make firm the prescient precious words of the Great Apostle Peter "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence (1 Peter 3:15).

(Image Credit Here)

THIRTY DAY PRAYER CHALLENGE - DAY 27

PRAY THE NAMES OF GOD

DAY 27
GOD IS ABBA (FATHER)



A childless couple adopts a baby, let us say, around 1960. Then the baby grows up to be a great kid, with straight A's in school and plays shortstop on the Varsity baseball team. His name is Scott.


After graduating, he goes to the local Junior college where he excels both in math, chemistry and still plays baseball for their team. After transferring his credits to the big four year state college, he graduates Magna Cum Laude and decides to accept a job offer with a local bank, whose manager has seen his name in the town weekly, ever since he played High School baseball. 


This young man then falls in love and marries the boss' daughter, around say 1985. They have three kids, buy a home in a new subdivision and live happily ever after!


Now, Scott was adopted. The first thing his permanently new parents did was give Scott THEIR last name, because he belongs to them as a member of their family. Scott has all the rights, privileges and yes, responsibilities of being a legitimate member of that family. He is no less loved by Jack and Diane Smith, than if they had their own biological twins. 


Scott is no less a member of the Smith family than Kristen, their miracle daughter who was born five years after Scott was adopted. In fact, no one would have ever known Scott was adopted until he himself mentioned it, when he became Mayor of his little town in 2010 and was honoring his dear parents!


Scott is us. His natural born sister, Kristen, is the Jewish people whom God called His chosen people. We are now all the same family in God. When God sent Jesus Christ to be the Jewish Messiah and they rejected Him, the second part of God's plan was revealed - save the rest of the world.  Jesus sent one of His disciples biggest persecutors - Saul - to accomplish that job. Christ did that when He knocked him blind, off his horse when Saul was heading to Damascus to kill more Christians.


Saul met the Living Jesus in the Third Heaven, as he said, and promptly became Paul - the greatest evangelist the world has ever seen. Here is what Paul wrote about his OWN adoption (and ours) into God's family, as a result of his Conversion on the Road to Damascus:
"For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:15-17 ESV)


That is correct - we are adopted sons and daughters of God and He is our Abba - our Daddy! The word Abba represents the father side of the equation of the father-child relationship in a family. It literally means just that - Dad! This Spirit of adoption which Paul talks about is the Holy Spirit - the Comforter - Who descends into us. The Spirit does that once we are saved and moved from a child of hell, to being a child of the Real God, sealed with the Blood of Christ, Which washed us clean!


Only the Christian, born-again through the Lord Jesus Christ, can legitimately claim to be an Adopted Daughter or Son of the Living God! Only we have the right to cry out to Him "Abba, Father"...and know He will hear us! Now, aren't you glad you are His?!


So Father, in the Name of Jesus, YOU are my Father in Heaven! You are my Daddy! You are my Creator; Provider; Protector; Nourisher; Healer; Banner...in fact I can go on and on until the end of time and still find amazing names to call You! You, oh God, are my All in All!


My Father in Heaven, hallowed, holy, righteous, pure and GREAT is Your Name! I thank You Lord for calling me out of the darkness which the Power of Sin had me living in, into the Kingdom of Your Marvelous Light.

I thank You, Lord, that You sent that Light, Jesus Christ, to be Savior of the World, because YOU, Oh God, are the Father of Lights Who giveth all good things to all Your people.


I thank You, Lord, that You sent the Spirit of that significant event of my salvation through the Cross. That Spirit is not only purely God, but wholly and Holy You! He not only testifies to the Truth of the Gospel and the Full Counsel of Your Word, He has sealed me until the Day of Redemption, when Jesus my Advocate stands before You as my Kinsman Redeemer and says "this one's Mine"! WOW!! PRAISE YOU, PRAISE YOUR HOLY NAME!! WOOHOO!! AMEN!


I thank You, Lord, that this same Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Adoption as well as my Teacher and Guide because He testifies daily that I am truly a member of YOUR family...of YOUR Kingdom...and that I  am truly saved by YOUR Son - Jesus, the King!


I thank You, Lord, that because of that Adoption, You have made me a joint Heir with Christ in the Eternal Kingdom where we will live together, learning and rejoicing and worshiping and thanking You forever and ever!  Amen!

Thank You, Father, for just being You and loving me, even when I am at my most unlovable as Your adopted son, according to the Love and Works and Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom all perfection and glory resides...and it is in His Name I pray, amen.

TOMORROW: GOD IS, WELL, EVERYTHING!

(image by google images)

THINK ON THESE THINGS - SUNDAY

Jane Fonda - Born Again? Not really.....!

CELEBRITY "WORSHIP" IS NOT CHRIST WORSHIP

I remember back in 2000, most of us were stunned when "Hanoi" Jane Fonda, one of the most radical anti-Vietnam War protestors, and  a feminist whom almost all United States military veterans and citizens despise,  announced boldly that she had become a "Born-Again Christian"!


I was among those who believed it...after all, it was Jane Fonda, who grew up the daughter of atheist Henry Fonda and like most liberals, turned their noses up against the Bible Belt and all we believe. Even more incredible was the fact that Jane was married to one of the worse Christ-haters in America - TV mogul Ted Turner (CNN, TBS etc). This revelation led to Turner divorcing her.

Jane said she became a Christian after attending an African-America Baptist church in Atlanta, secretly, for many years. She then reinforced that view on the Oprah Winfrey show in 2005. However, the fruit of one' decision in life are not immediately visible. The question is...where do you stand in the long run?


Are you really and truly BORN AGAIN?
Are you a repentant sinner, saved by the Grace of God?
Are you a really a son or daughter of His?


Like most American professing Christians, Jane developed doubt and even despair over the years and by her own admission, looked outside the Bible for answers. She went to texts not considered in the Canon of Scripture, as well as to other religions. While she admitted to faithful attending Real Bible Studies over the years and knowing exactly the Words of Jesus, her rebellious spirit has led her to become more interfaith like most evangelicals to the point where she rebels against the Attributes of God the Father!


She never left her feminist background and also dislikes certain tenets of the Faith which are prime for real believers. She is still pro-abortion.  Jane Fonda says in her biography "Over time, and, I feel, because I stepped outside of established religion, I was able to rekindle the spiritual experience that I’d been seeking. Some will say that because of all this I am not a true Christian. So be it. I feel like a Christian, I believe in the teachings of Jesus and try to practice them in my life. I have found Christians all over this country who feel as I do. 
They may not have been ‘saved’ yet they hum with divine spirit.


Look at that last line "THEY MAY NOT BE SAVED...!!!!!" Yet Jane calls them Christians! Sadly, SHE IS CORRECT! Most America Christians have never really been saved!

Therein lies the another big problem. Christians and Christian media is HORRIBLE about this. Some celebrity declares he/she is now a christian, and we go ape hooting and hollering and inviting him to speak to our youth. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is bad about this...not our local one in Springfield, which is led by biblically grounded and wise friends of mine. But some flashy football player says that he "loves Jesus", (usually after he is arrested for something or other, or caught with a woman not his wife) and he is on some Christian magazine cover. 


Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is the biggest culprit here. They have these athletes, movie stars or rap singers on on the air, worldwide...in PRIME TIME! Most of them ramble or cannot give an account of the Life-changing power of the LORD JESUS Christ and how He rescued them from the Domain of Darkness! Sure enough, over time, most of their empty lives show no fruit and they end up worshiping other gods, while professing what they call 'the nice teachings of Jesus'!

Albert Pujols

We have to guard against this stuff. A prime example this weekend are some men, whom the Christian world tout as BIG TIME CHRISTIANS - Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman. No one ever accused World Series MVP and St Louis sports hero David Freese of being a Christian. But the entire celebrity christian World - from Focus on the Family to FCA - tout Pujols  and Berkman...and Pujols especially, as some paragon of Christianity, just south of the Apostle Paul.


Yet, with the world watching an amazing sports comeback story, when the wildcard St Louis Cardinals came from just barely making the playoffs to baseball champions of the World, NONE OF THESE TWO MEN, THANKED GOD OR JESUS WHEN IT WAS THEIR TURN TO TALK ON NATIONAL TV!! NONE! ZERO, ZIPPO, NONE!!


All we heard was how good they were, how good their team was and how good it felt to be "world champs"!  YET, these same men will now be invited to speak at major Christian events, where you will hear the name of Jesus in passing and nothing about the Gospel. Then you will hear about how good they feel and how they stuck it out to win...etc etc....then they will raise a lot of money for some group....many in the Crowd will not be really converted christians...just a bunch of celebrity gawkers.


These gawkers will then leave the fundraising dinner, maybe with a photo of this celebrity ball player, satisfied with themselves and the $1000 they donated to some christian cause....and go home. The entire exercise will be worth NOTHING in terms of Eternity, and if this person is not saved, which is most likely the case in modern American christianity, they will stand before Jesus and be condemned.


Is this what we want? Celebrity determining Eternity, for those who worship this, rather than Christ? NO!


A thousand times NO!


The best advice we can give seekers, weak christians and even those who can get caught up in the the Jane Fonda's and Pujols or Deion Sanders...or even Charlie Sheen (who once said he was born again)...is to ignore Celebrity...forget this garbage! They - the regular man and woman in our own sphere- they will stand before Jesus one day and be judged and if He is not their Savior and they were never really converted; born again and saved.....well, what will it profit them on that day? 


THINK ON THESE THINGS...and then act accordingly!!

(Credits: Photo by Google Images.

Quote: from JaneFonda.com)