Jacob The Heel Catcher - Spiritual Adultery

[MessageOfTheCross]

Your Word for Today

“and, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
(Lk. 10:25).

In the Israel of Jesus’ day, a lawyer was one who devoted himself to the study of the Law of Moses. This lawyer meant to test Christ’s knowledge of the Law. Eternal life is man’s greatest interest; no more tremendous question could be asked than that of this Verse.

In His reply, the Lord immediately points to the Bible as an infallible authority. In the lawyer’s answer, which, incidentally, was correct, is revealed a clear knowledge of God and of Truth which men in Israel possessed at that time, or at least could possess, if they so desired. It was knowledge immeasurably in advance of that of other parts of the world.

Greece, with its pagan poets and philosophers, claimed great knowledge; they had, however, no knowledge of the things that really counted.

Sadly, the lawyer, though he answered correctly, did not evidence faith correctly, because he was self-righteous. He was determined to win Heaven by religious self-efforts.

At a point in his Ministry, Spurgeon was criticized for not speaking enough about science, etc. His answer to the accusation was revealing. When he took the pulpit on the Sunday morning in question, he laid his Bible on the podium, and then said:

“There is a woman in this audience who recently lost a child. To know where that child presently is, she cannot go to science. She must go to the Bible.”

The great Preacher was, in essence, saying that the answers that really matter are found only in the Word of God. No person truly can be said to be educated, no matter how many university degrees they might hold, unless they are properly educated in the Word of God.

This is one of the reasons that many of the modern translations, so-called, of the Bible (which are really mere paraphrases) are so dangerous. Jesus didn’t say, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every thought . . . ,” but rather, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the Mouth of God” (Mat. 4:4).

In the Christian life, the daily study of the Word of God (but make certain that it actually is the Word of God that you are studying) must have first place. All other duties must give way to it.”

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=343571642977595

Evangelist Torrance Nash Ministries

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Bread Crumbs “Anticipating Christ’s Return”

Anticipation is an excitement that is filled with a touch of suspense. Someone filled with expectation of an event that is about to occur is both excited and perhaps a little nervous. Anticipation was present in the days right before my children and grandchildren were born. We knew it was going to happen but we just didn’t know when. The signs were all around us that the new arrival was about to make their big debut. We knew what to expect but we didn’t know exactly what was coming. When loved ones are separated for a time, the event of being joined together again is preceded by the anticipation of the reunion. As believers, we ought to live in anticipation of the Lord’s return. Are you living with a true anticipation that Jesus could return at any moment? Are you ever just a little “giddy” at the thought that today just might be the day you meet Jesus face to face. If we lived our lives believing that Jesus was soon to return, what things about our lives might we change? If you somehow knew He would be here this time next week, how would you live out that last week? He is coming back you know. It just might be today!

Acts 1:10-11 - And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; (11) Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Loren Larson
Loren Larson Ministries

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Proverbs 23:14
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

Here the Lord continues to reveal the utmost importance of disciplining our children with the rod so the spirit of foolishness will be far from them (Proverbs 22) and their souls can be delivered from hell. We know discipline in and of itself cannot deliver a soul from hell, but these particular verses that speak of correction are surrounded both before and after with commands to us as parents to apply our hearts to God’s instruction, and to hear His knowledge, therefore the correction and discipline toward our children is based upon God’s Word which will lead the child to Jesus Christ, the one in whom we as parents are trusting even as we discipline our children.

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Your Word for Today

”and He said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? (Lk. 11:5-6).

Here we are taught a great lesson. It might be called “The Parable of the Three Loaves.” A man went to a friend at midnight requesting that he lend him “three loaves,” because a friend of his on a long journey had stopped by his home, but he had no food to set before him. That’s why he needed to borrow the bread.

Evidently, he awakened his friend, because it was midnight. The man answered immediately; his reply was that the door was shut and that he could not arise. But Jesus said the man at the door kept knocking and would not take “No” for an answer. Because of his persistence, the friend arose and gave the man as much as he needed.

The moral is this:

When we ask the Lord for something, whatever the circumstances may be, whatever the situation may seem to be, if the answer doesn’t come immediately (and most of the time, it doesn’t), we should not quit; we should “keep asking,” “keep seeking,” and “keep knocking.” Jesus clearly said that if we did this, we would “receive,” we would “find,” and the door would be “opened.” Jesus further said that we will receive that for which we are asking, i.e., if we ask for bread, we will not receive a stone, etc.

The problem with many Christians is that we “quit asking,” we quit “seeking,” and we quit “knocking.” We must understand that “delay” is not “denial.” We also must understand that everything the Lord does with us and for us, especially answers to prayer, all are meant to increase our faith, our trust, and our dependence upon Him. He is very mindful of all our needs, more mindful, in fact, than we would ever know.

However, we should carefully ask for that which we truly need, even as this man needed three loaves. Too often we ask for things for which we have little need.

The moral of this is:

If what we are asking is in the Will of God, we must not allow delay to discourage us. We must “keep asking,” “keep seeking,” and “keep knocking.”’

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=896712647344922

Evangelist Torrance Nash Ministries

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Bread Crumbs “God’s Continued Presence”

The assurance that the believer has regarding the promise of God’s continual presence in our lives, remains validated by two primary witnesses. First is the witness of scripture. There could never be a more solid foundation upon which a promise lies than that of scripture. God watches over His Word to ever perform it. This is synonymous with His character and His person. He is not a man that He will lie. What He says in His Word He will accomplish. Therefore, when God says He will not leave us or forsake us, He means exactly that! At times we may feel that He has forgotten us, but if you will wait for the conclusion of the current matter, you will find that He is always true to His Promise. Second is the witness of personal experience. At what point in time has God ever failed you? He always works all things together for our good. When I thought that everything I had hoped for was all over, God was just getting started. God loves us so much, on certain occasions He will appear to be late. But it is always for our good. His Word and the facts that surround His working in your life testify to just how faithful God is!

Hebrews 13:5 - Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Pastor Loren Larson
Loren Larson Ministries

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Proverbs 23:15
My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

The heart of God rejoices when He sees His children walking in His knowledge and Wisdom! Just knowing this should cause us to go from just casual Christian’s living Lukewarm lives to a people crying out to God for more of His wisdom to please Him and to know that He is rejoicing even more over us (Zephaniah 3:17). The Way of Life is above to the wise (Proverbs 15:24) that he may depart from the hell that is below. Jesus taught in Matthew 11:19 that Wisdom is justified of her children, which means those who walk in God’s Wisdom is evident as they are trusting in Him through the One in which all the treasures of God’s Wisdom dwells, and His name is Jesus (Colossians 2:2-3).

Always know that to trust in Christ means that one’s faith is trusting in what He provided at Calvary through His death, as this is the only place for faith to be legitimate, as this is the faith by which we live (Galatians 2:20), and in which we walk in His wisdom to be able to see our God rejoicing over us! Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Your Word for Today

“then said one unto Him, Lord are there few who be saved? And He said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able (Lk. 13:23-24).

The Lord has just given several Parables, all which stress the fact that few would be saved.

In essence, the Lord ignored the man who asked the question of Verse 23, but seized the opportunity suggested by the question to address an earnest appeal to all standing around Him, to let nothing prevent them pressing through the narrow door of conversion which alone gave entrance into the true Kingdom of God. For directly the Master of that house shut the door, they would vainly seek to enter (13:25-28). When that door is shut, multitudes will repent too late, and believe too late, and sorrow for sin too late, and begin to pray too late.

Earth is the only place in creation where there is infidelity. There is no unbelief in Hell. These Verses (13:24-28) destroy the theory of repentance and salvation after death.

Men may ask religious questions and so flatter themselves that they are religious; further, they may have an ecclesiastical relation to Christ (13:26), and yet be shut out from Heaven. To be shut out from Heaven is to be shut into Hell, with its hopeless weeping of remorse and its hopeless gnashing of despair. Here, as everywhere, Christ’s teaching conflicts with almost all modern thought.

There is only one way of Salvation, and that is by Faith and Trust in Jesus and what He did for us at the Cross (Jn. 8:32; 14:6).”

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=755492574867223

Evangelist Torrance Nash Ministries

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Bread Crumbs “God Can!”

Every day we face a choice as to whether to believe that God will meet our needs or not. He has promised in His Word that He will supply our every need. God does not look to man to earn the blessings needed to overcome the obstacles of the day. God does not require a routine, a discipline, or a ritual that once accomplished guarantees His participation in our problem. God is ready to share His blessing, His influence, and His power with all those who will believe that God can and God will. We are called upon to enter into the good fight of faith. We are very quick to place our faith in what we do but God desires that we place our faith in what Christ has already done. Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary opened the door of provision so that God might meet every need of the believer. With our faith resting securely upon Christ's finished work, we can be assured that God can and God will meet our need. Man will usually ask, "can God?" instead of making the affirmation, "God can!" Which statement of the two is in your heart and mouth today? I chose to believe that thanks to Calvary, God can and God will!

Mark 11:22 - And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Pastor Loren Larson

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Proverbs 23:16

Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
Reins speak of one’s innermost being, so this becomes very encouraging to the child of God who has ears to hear and is a student of God’s Word. To know that God rejoices over His children when He sees their lips speaking right things is that which we should hunger and thirst for each and every day. To please our Heavenly Father should be at the top of all of our desires. He rejoices when the lips speak right things because He sees that those right things are coming from a heart that is believing unto His Righteousness (Romans 10:10).

What God considers right things are what He has already given us to think upon and to speak, that being His Truth. If we understand wisdom (Christ and Him crucified), with an understanding HEART, we will hear our Lord speaking excellent things to us that are right, and it will always be Words of Truth (Proverbs 8:5-8). ALL of God’s Works are done in Truth (Psalm 33:4), therefore when God sees His Children speaking what He calls “Right Things”, He rejoices even more so over us, as He sees us living and speaking about the only One who has ever been Right (Righteous), His Son Jesus Christ!

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Your Word for Today

“then drew near to Him all the Publicans and sinners for to hear Him. And the Pharisees and Scribes murmured, saying, This Man receives sinners, and eats with them (Lk. 15:1-2).

The point of the three Parables in this Chapter, “The Parable of the Lost Sheep,” “The Parable of the Lost Coin,” and “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” is God’s joy over repenting sinners. They unveil the sentiments of His Heart and not those of the repentant sinner, as is usually taught. He did not sit still in Heaven pitying sinners, just as the shepherd, the woman, and the father did not idly bewail the lost sheep, the lost silver, and the lost son. The word “found” (15:24) reveals the Divine activities in secret in the conscience and heart of the prodigal. Christ left the starry crown of Heaven for the thorny crown of Earth in the activity of the love that seeks the lost till it is found.

The shepherd rejoiced, the woman rejoiced, and the father rejoiced. Such is the joy of God when sinners come to Jesus. This Grace is a Grace that seeks and a Grace that receives. The first two Parables describe the former; the third Parable, the latter. Grace convicts the conscience, but attracts the heart.

The measure of that Grace is the measure of the love that begets it. The son’s reception and position were decided by the energy of that love, and not by the measure of the son’s repentance. The father’s position decided that of the son. All was measured by the sentiments, not of the prodigal’s heart, but of the father’s heart.

The stupidity, the insensibility, and the depravity of the sinner are expressed in the three Parables. If the doubling of the dream to Pharaoh (Gen. 41:32) assured its certitude, how much more does the trebling of this Parable make certain the attitude of God’s heart to lost man!

(The information on the three Parables was derived from George Williams.)”

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=529176154287779

Evangelist Torrance Nash Ministries

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Bread Crumbs “First Love”

First love is the love and confidence the Christian extends towards Christ when they first claim Him as Savior. It is the simplest of choices. A choice to depend upon another for salvation, sanctification, provision, health, and security; for all the affairs of life. First love contains the knowledge of our inabilities and the expression of faith in God’s willingness to do for us all that is needed in every circumstance. Firs...t love sees the simplicity in God’s redemption plan and does not fail to enter into it, never fearing that God will not honor His commitment to us. As our relationship with God matures we become more active in the work of the Lord and there is a natural carnal tendency to begin to trust in self. When this occurs we encounter the potential of leaving our first love. The simplicity disappears and the thoughts that somehow we are managing our own life and ministry present themselves. With this comes the doubt, the fear, and the agony of being in charge. But God wants us to stay where we were at the beginning. He calls us to return to our “first love” experience. Has your relationship with the Lord become too complicated? Why not return to the simplicity and peace of “first love!”

1 John 4:9 - In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

Pastor Loren Larson
Loren Larson Ministries

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Proverbs 23:17
Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long....

Here we see that which is contrary and opposite of envying and desiring to be like the world, which is full of sin. It is to be in the fear of the Lord all the day long. When we hear the phrase, “In the Fear of the Lord”, we must think upon Christ and His atoning sacrifice, as faith in that alone is what immersed us into Christ (Romans 6:3), and to fear Him is to continue in Him and to revere Him according to the Word of God. Proverbs 14:26-27 tells us that the Fear of the Lord is a fountain of Life and allows us to depart from the snares of life, therefore we know that Christ is our Life (John 14:6), and what He did at the cross is our only escape from the snares of death. The more the child of God learns the Way of Christ, the more He will love Him and trust Him daily. If this isn’t the experience, we aren’t learning of Him because we are no longer abiding in Him. Come back to the cross today so that you can come back to Christ. It is either the Fear of the Lord or the envy of the world. I’ll choose Christ again today!

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Your Word for Today

“and He said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living (Lk. 15:11-13).

The Parable of the Prodigal Son portrays the only time in Scripture that God, personified in this Parable by the Father, is pictured running. In that for which, and to which, He ran, provides a fitting example of Who God is and What God is. He is love!

The spiritual declension of the son took place while he was in his father’s house. He fell from the moment he desired the father’s goods without the father’s company; and it only needed a few days to find him in the far country. Backsliding begins in the heart and very soon places the feet with the swine.

His only occupation was the degrading one — to a Jew — of a swine-herd, and his only food the husks that the swine did eat. No man gave to him; for in the Devil’s country, nothing is given, everything must be bought, and bought at a terrible price.

First of all, the Prodigal “came to himself” (15;15); then he “came to his father” (15:20). Such is the action of the Holy Spirit first upon the conscience and then upon the heart. While the boy was a great way off, the father saw, had compassion, ran, fell on his neck, kissed him, and said to the servants, “Bring . . . ” (15:20-22). All these activities express the grace and love that welcome true Repentance.

Grace ran to kiss the Prodigal in his rags; Righteousness hasted to dress him in its robes; for he could not sit in his rags at the father’s board. The Prodigal had not to provide the best robe, the ring, the sandals, and the fatted calf. They were provided for him, and they declared that his Repentance had been accepted; for servants were not thus arrayed and feasted. We must understand that there were no reproaches, rebukes, or reproofs for the past, no irritating admonitions for the future, because the Father and His Joy are the subjects of this story rather than the moral condition of the son.

The elder brother pictured the Pharisee. He neither understood nor shared in the Father’s joy. On the contrary, he was covetous and refused to sympathize, although his Father entreated him to do so. Self-righteous, he claimed to have given a perfect obedience. But his desire to make merry with his friends showed that morally he was as much lost to his Father as was his brother.

Christ, as “The Way,” is symbolized in the robe, the ring, the sandals, and the fatted calf, for He is Righteousness (II Cor. 5:21), Eternal Life (Jn. 11:25), Sonship (Jn. 1:12), and Peace (I Cor. 5:7-8). The death of the sinless calf was a necessity ere the feast could be enjoyed. Had the Prodigal refused this raiment and claimed the right to enter the Father’s house in his rags and nakedness, he, like Cain, would have been rejected. His was true Repentance, and so it accepted these gifts, assuring purity, perpetuity, position, and provision.

This Parable, in fact, destroys the argument that no Atoning and Mediating Saviour is needed between God and the sinner.”

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Proverbs 23:18
For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off....

This is the reason the Lord lays before us as to why we should not envy the sinners of the world. Their end is soon, but our expectation will not be cut off or taken from us. We walk with Christ daily through faith in His sacrificial work at the cross, and when He comes He will be wearing a vesture dipped in blood, and reminding us that His name is the Word of God (Revelation 19:13), and that the two cannot be separated. All that He has promised us, it is soon to appear right before us and today might just be the day!!

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Bread Crumbs “Filled With The Spirit”

On July 4th, 1986 I had been born again for 6 months. My whole life had been transformed by the power of a risen and living Savior. Everything in my life had changed. I had been freed from the penalty of my sin and I was experiencing power over sin. The alcohol had disappeared. The drugs were gone. Even tobacco use had been eliminated. The Lord was leading me, teaching me, changing me every day. Then I came into t...he knowledge that there was a second subsequent work of the Holy Spirit that could grant the believer great power for service. I heard that there was an experience that would produce an even greater relationship with the Holy Spirit than I already enjoyed. I was excited. As a believer we should believe for and desire every gift promised to us in God’s Word. That July 4th I attended a Church service where the Preacher preached on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. I answered the altar call and was filled with the Spirit with the initial physical evidence of speaking with other tongues. The Baptism with the Spirit is for all believers. If you desire it and you believe that it is for you, you can receive it by faith.

Acts 13:52 - And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

Pastor Loren Larson
Loren Larson Ministries

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Your Word for Today

“there was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores (Lk. 16:19-20).

No one ever spoke so plainly about Hell as the Lord Jesus. The illustration given, regarding the rich man and Lazarus, is not a Parable, as claimed by some, but actually the portrayal of a literal happening. From this illustration, we draw several conclusions about Hell. They are:

1. Hell is a locality. It is a place, actually in the heart of the Earth (Mat. 12:40).

2. At death, the rich man instantly went to Hell, which tells us what immediately happens to the unconverted when they die. On the other hand, Lazarus, upon death, was immediately taken to Paradise by Angels.

3. The rich man went to Hell, not because he was rich, but because he failed to accept the Lord. Lazarus went to Paradise, not because he was a poor beggar, but because he had made the Lord his Saviour (Lk. 16:31).

4. This illustration given by Jesus completely blew to pieces the thinking of most Jews. They reasoned that financial blessings translated into Salvation, while poverty translated into that which was otherwise. Jesus tells them here that neither thing, riches or poverty, has anything to do with Salvation.

5. We learn from this illustration that all who die, whether they are in Hell or Heaven, maintain intelligence through their soul and spirit. The rich man is represented as having eyes, ears, a mouth, a tongue, and a tortured body, i.e., “in spirit form.”

6. We learn here that the fires of Hell are real.

7. We learn that all those in Hell are in torment.

8. We learn that Hell is eternal, for the rich man asked that Lazarus might be sent to his five brothers. He did not ask this grace for himself, for he knew that he was eternally entombed. It is easy to step into Hell, but impossible to step out.

9. We learn that there are no unbelievers in Hell, nor is there any Salvation.

10. We learn that the rich man repented, but it is too late. There is no Salvation after death. The Lord Jesus here destroys that doctrine.

11. We learn from this illustration that the Scriptures contain all that is necessary to Salvation. A person who would return from the dead could add nothing to the Scriptures; and a man who will not listen to the Bible will not listen to a multitude if raised from the dead (16:31).”

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart