Month: February 2017

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Where there was Wretchedness now there is Righteousness

 

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GF Herrin

If God, through His spirit, has called you to Him and you have repented from your sins, put your faith in Jesus Christ and been born again, then you are in essence a new man or woman.

Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).

The Bible clearly says that when Jesus of Nazareth died as a substitutionary atonement for your sins He took the rap that you and I deserve.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

What also needs to be stressed, too, is that while He viewed you previously as a fallen sinner separated from Him, now the God of the universe views you a person clothed with the righteousness of Christ.

No matter what your past or whether you were a Jew or Gentile, if you are a believer, Jesus, your Lord,  has given you His righteousness.  “that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also” (Rom. 4:11). This word “imputed” means that you have been given Christ’s righteousness. Where previously you were dead in your sins and covered in the filthy rags of your sin and unrighteousness (Isa. 64:6), now, you are positionally clothed in the righteousness of Christ.  Where previously there was wretchedness, now there is righteousness!  That means that you can come to God , the Father, boldly in prayer and you are seen as clothed in Christ’s righteousness.

Indeed, since God is holy and righteousness, sin and unrighteousness are an abomination to Him. He cannot allow you into Heaven and into His presence if you are dead in your sins.  If you try to enter into the kingdom by any way except by Jesus’ sacrifice or your sins, you will not be accepted.

Jesus tells a Wedding banquet parable that illustrates this point.

So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (Matt. 22:10-13).

So, no giving of tithes, no perfect church attendance, no praying 5 times a day toward Mecca, speaking in tongues, or doing good works will make you acceptable to God.  Only by the shed blood of Jesus and being clothed in His Righteousness will get you there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Eye on the End Times – September Signs

 

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GF Herrin

A lot has already been written in regard to possible signs appearing in the skies in September of this year.

As Christians  we are called to be ready for the Lord’s return.  From an early age as a Christian I have watched expectantly for the Rapture and the Messiah, Jesus’ Coming.  In my teens, I was heavily influenced by Hal Lindsay’s writings.  Clearly, we are called to be watchmen and to long for His appearance.

The Lord Jesus said, “It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them” (Luke 12:37).

We may not know what the signs of September 23rd (Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets) may portend.  Could it be the Rapture, the beginning of the 7 year Tribulation, or a coming war involving Israel? Or nothing at all? It is all speculative at this point.  But just as the Magi (Matt. 2:1-12), Simeon (Luke 2:25-32), and Anna (Luke 2:36-38) had information pointing to the Messiah’s first coming, it is reasonable to believe that there is information that we believers today may have to alert us to His soon return.

So, when I heard about the possible new way of looking at Revelation chapter 12, I was fascinated and excited.  There are various references that Christian brethren have on the internet that point to the signs in September as being a possible astronomical fulfillment of Revelation 12.

 

So, I would advise you to be discerning in pondering the meaning of these observations that many brethren have made. We are not to use stars, planets, the moon or sun to plan our day to day lives (that is Astrology). However, the Word does say that feasts (such as Rosh Hashanah and Passover) and signs in the heavens are indicators of Christ’s coming.  Please ask the Lord what these signs in the heavens mean and how you should prioritize your work for Him accordingly.

 

Revelation 12 Signs in the Heaven

https://youtu.be/dWnNI5Nv4EM

 

Discover Ministries

“It would behoove the church to wake up! The bridegroom is coming soon!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA6JcY-ikec

 

 

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The Supernatural Power of Prayer

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GF Herrin

Prayer is sometimes misunderstood in the Christian life. It is not merely a time to bring your requests to God. It is a time of communion with the Lord that enables the believer to connect with Him.  It is true that the Lord Jesus taught us how to pray when He gave us the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13).  But, true prayer that transforms the believer occurs when the sinner comes to a realization of his or her inadequacies and limitations and understands his total dependence on God in his life.

I had recently become overwhelmed by issues I was faced with in my day to day walk.  Job issues, family issues, and my ability to deal with them left me despondent and burdened. I was walking in my limited human strength instead of God’s strength.  But I finally came to a realization that I was not able to handle anything without His help.  The Lord brought to my mind some key texts in His word that put life in perspective for me.

If you feel overwhelmed and burdened by life’s struggles and feel that you alone must deal with your responsibilities, please remember that you are a created being whose existence is totally dependent on God’s creative work:

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7).

Remember that you did not start your life. God created you. In other words, you are a created being who is limited in your ability. You may feel that the world will spiral out of control if you don’t get your job, daily chores, errands, or other things that you deem important done today. But keep in mind, that unless the rapture occurs while you are alive, someday your life on earth will end and the world will go on without you.

Also, remember that you need to dedicate some time daily to ask for help and connect with the Lord. After all, even the Lord Jesus spent time praying daily putting the day’s events into the Father’s hands.

“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35).

Notice from Mark’s text that Jesus was alone. You need to be in some place where you are not distracted so that you can pray and hear the Lord’s voice in your heart or connect with Him spiritually in peace. Also, remember to confess any sins to the Lord.  Do not be afraid to bring your confession to the Lord Jesus because He is your advocate and high priest who is willing and able to forgive you.

“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Heb. 2:10-11).

So, when we come in prayer and turn away from our sins and turn to Jesus our burden is lightened.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30).

 

We become refreshed and the Holy Spirit invigorates us and gives us supernatural peace.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, (Acts 3:19).

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,  And renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit” (Psalm 51:10-12).

Time of refreshing come to our souls when we connect with the Lord in prayer. Like living water, the spirit fills us with His strength and supernaturally refreshes us and nourishes us, enabling to withstand the challenges of the day. Commune with the Lord today so that you can be filled with joy and live for Him.

 

 

 

 

 

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Jesus’ Resurrection: Real Not Fake

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GF Herrin

The certainty of Jesus’ Resurrection is paramount to the Christian faith. Recent skeptic/philosopher’s attempts to explain away the greatest miracle ever by saying the resurrection must have been a spiritual, existential,  or hallucinatory experience that the disciples all went through.

False scholars such as Rudolf Bultmann, who suggests that the resurrection of Christ was invented by His disciples or Bart Ehrmann,who casts doubts on the Gospel accounts, try to make people doubt the literalness of Jesus’ rising from the dead.

Some lines of thoughts from skeptics go this way:
It is highly improbable for a miracle to occur.
Since it is highly improbable that miracles occur, they probably do not.
Since miracles do not occur, the Resurrection of Christ did not occur either.

This line of thinking completely throws away the rare occurrences when miracles actually DO occur.
Since some skeptic theologians cannot believe in supernatural events, they must explain away the Resurrection as some kind of spiritual awakening or a hallucination that the disciples must have experienced.
However, we know from the written accounts of the New Testaments that Jesus’ resurrection was not a dream or apparition.  It was a physical, real resurrection in Christ’s glorified body.

Paul writes, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles” (1 Cor. 15:3-7).

The fact that 500 people saw Christ in His resurrected body at once dispels any possibility of the sighting being some kind of hallucination. After all, how could 500 people experience the same hallucination at the same time?

Luke attests to the fact that Christ, in His Resurrection was not a ghost or spirit, but was physically real.

“’Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, ‘Have you any food here?’So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence”(Luke 24: -39 – 43).

Jesus could not have eaten food if He had only been a spirit\.  Therefore, He must have been physically resurrected.  The New Testament text shows Jesus’ Resurrection was real not fake. The 12 disciples and the others who saw Christ were unique in that they alone knew whether or not Christ had appeared to them after His death on the cross. That they were willing to die painful and horrible deaths for proclaiming the Resurrected Christ speaks to the truth of the event.  It was physical, and personal and it showed that His sacrifice for our sins was accepted by God the Father and we can take comfort in knowing we who believe in Him will be resurrected one day, too.