Month: January 2018

FIGHTING TEMPTATION

Some people just love rules… but Christianity is not about rules… Christianity is all about Jesus…

I REMEMBER FIGHTING LUST.

As a young man, I had a terrible fight with lust and sexual sin. I remember sweating and crying and calling out to God for strength to fight temptation. I even remember screaming at God on occasion…

I remember yielding to temptation and then weeping in agony of soul over my sin…

I remember thinking that it is impossible to obey the commandment… the harder I tried to obey, the more I prayed for strength, the stronger the temptation became…

I know that, while your besetting sin may be different than mine, you can identify with my struggle…

But, now I know. I was right, it is impossible and the harder you try to obey the Law the stronger the temptations grow… That is an accurate observation. That is undeniable truth.

Paul tells us, in 1 Corinthians 15:56, that the Law is the power of sin. In other words, trying to obey the Law makes sin stronger…

In other words, trying to obey the Law makes sin stronger…

However, Scripture gives us the secret to victory!

Those who are led by the Spirit are not under the Law…

When I took my eyes off the Law and fixed them on Jesus, I found freedom from sin for the first time in my life! When I stopped concentrating on the rules and started to follow Jesus, temptations lessened, and I found myself free to obey… The harder I followed after Jesus, the less I fought with lust and sexual sin…

When I began to deny myself… when I took up my cross and started to follow Jesus, the girls who used to tempt me so badly almost disappeared… I just didn’t notice them anymore… My mind was on higher things, bigger things, better things…

It is a secret that will set you free! Jesus has freed you from the Law of sin and death…

It is a truth set in stone. The more you try to obey the law, the stronger the temptation becomes. The closer you get to Jesus as a living, breathing person, your friend, confidant and big brother, the weaker temptation becomes…

Some people just love rules… but Christianity is not about rules… Christianity is all about Jesus.

Let me share something… Jesus does not steal, fornicate or commit adultery. If you follow Jesus, you won’t do those things either. But it isn’t about following the Law, it is about hiding yourself in the one who fulfilled the whole law and died to set you free…

Follow Jesus… Just follow Jesus.

David…

 

PROGNOSTICATIONS FOR 2018

As this is January 1, 2018, let me make some predictions… Again, I am not a Prophet and none of my predictions begin with “Thus saith the Lord…” This is based on a knowledge of Scripture and observations of current events… more prognostications than prophecies.

Some of these things will continue to build during 2018 but not come to full fulfillment this year. Others, sadly, will probably come to fruition within the next twelve months. I confess that any or all of these things may be wrong… This is just how I see it today, Monday, January 1, 2018.

Predictions:

  • Many Pastors, ministries and Christians will swear allegiance to the Pope and adopt “Unity at any cost” as their goal.
  • Many Pastors, ministries and Christians will abandon the faith.
  • Some will fall into Judaistic Legalism.
  • Most will fall into Hyper-Grace “Nothingism.”
  • More and more Pastors will choose the “Happy Gospel” over Biblical Truth, leaving their congregants to worship a Jesus of their own imagination.
  • Millions of “Christians”, devoid of any Biblical knowledge will follow Lucifer, fully persuaded that he is Jesus Christ.
  • The United States will continue to build the groundwork for a divided Israel and a split Jerusalem, perhaps this is the year they will succeed.
  • The treaty that does that will do three things:
    • Give Israel a Temple.
    • Give Palestinians a homeland with East Jerusalem as their Capital.
    • Give administrative control of Jerusalem to the Pope and the Vatican.
  • God will step in and divide the United States into two parts, initiating a bloody civil war, death, destruction and famine.
  • Most Christians will continue to believe that the United States and the Kingdom of God are one and the same thing, indivisible under God.
  • Most Christians will continue to believe that Donald Trump is a Prince with God, sent to save us in our sins.

Again, all of these things are coming. Some will see their foundations built and strengthened, others will come to full term in this year… Wait and see.

David…