#21 continuing works by J.J.

#21

Hi All,

Times are tuff but they will get better before they collapse; it’s all prophesied as 31/2 years of plenty then 31/2 years of famine, and pestilence. Days so devastating that the Bible says if the days were not shortened no one would survive.

Are you prepared? I’m not. I have no food set aside, no refuge to go to when the “Christians” of this world are hunted down to be killed…. about that last one, I can’t figure it out why would Franklin Graham be making a list of “Christians” who are not afraid to standup and be heard.

He says it’s to make the unbelievers take notice, but you know as well as I do that change must come from within and no amount of boasting that you are a Christian will make any difference. That’s why I don’t have any faith in our new president, I have tried till I’m blue in the face to show Muslims the truth of the gospel and have gotten nowhere. Just as I have tried to show professed Christians ‘The Way” in Jesus and have gotten nowhere. So what’s Franklin Graham really up to? I’m afraid to ask, he might add me to his list, and I sure don’t want to be an easy target for the “Christian” killers spoken about in John 16 of the New Testament. Do you??

So I ask again are you prepared for the end-times? Spiritually I am strong; I know “The Way” of Truth and the Love of God. I’m not clear on how the Lord will protect those of us that are his chosen, though I’m sure we will hear Him when He calls us to come out of the churches in the world, possibly to gather under His direction, but from then on I don’t know.

Will a sanctuary be built that we can use in these troubled times, or will the complacency of the believers fail to prepare?

I know that I am having a hard time finding any unity in the believers of Christ Jesus. They all just want to go to their own churches and believe what their own churches are teaching. That will be their downfall but will they recognize it as such?

We have some churches that are preparing for these times so near, but they have failed to know the times and they don’t teach of the True Lord.

An example you say, how about the Church of Latter Day Saints, the Mormon Church? Or perhaps the now ailing church of the living sword started by a false prophet known as Ms .E. C. Prophet.

The believers in the Mormon Church as a rule set aside at least a year supply of food, and they have their records stored in a bombproof shelter up in their home state.

The other church is going belly up because its leader predicted that Armageddon was at hand and her loyal followers headed for the hills quite literally, and hid out until they realized that she was wrong. Because of that, her church is falling apart, but perhaps she will still linger on; after al, the Jehovah’s Witnesses did the same thing…twice, and still have a church following of blind believers.

But that’s all immaterial, what is important is what are you going to do when the end comes in such devastation? Can you survive a massive worldwide earthquake? Will you be able to find food to live on when all food will be able to be purchased only if you have the “Mark of The Beast”? Will you be able to hide from all of the people that think they are doing God’s will when they hunt you down to kill you? Many of whom will be some of your good friends now, those that say they are saved but really aren’t.

Hard to believe isn’t it? But I don’t really want to dwell on that topic, its enough that I have given it an appropriate amount of thought so as to strive to be prepared when the ways and means make it possible; what is important to me is your soul condition. I know how deceiving the church teachings are, especially if you don’t have any knowledge of the true teaching.

I remember when I thought that I was a Christian who would say: “yes I believe in Jesus as my Lord and savior; yes I believed he rose from the dead on the third day and anyone who prays the sinners prayer and confesses Jesus is Lord will be saved, and He will forever watch over me as long as I keep the Faith…”. Yes I believed the same doctrine that many of you reading this believed. But then I really did get Born-Again, an experience that everyone will recognize once it happens. It’s not just a turn of phrase that expresses the changing of our spirit that we may not feel, but we exhibit our faith by believing it even if we have no reason for believing except the words of the preacher who tells us that is how it is done. It’s not!

I’ve been blessed with the gift of prophecy and it is a teaching gift meant for believers. (See I Cor. 14 ) I now know the truth of the gospel message, and I desire to share it with those of you that are sincere in your wanting to believe in Jesus. He is alive and real! He cares that you learn the truth of “The Way” so that your love will grow and not grow cold in the end times. He wants you to live in the joy of God’s Love. He doesn’t want you to be confused by the false teachers who can’t acknowledge that He and God The Father are one. And He wants all of you to be prepared for the end times because the world will go through the worst times of its existence and all would die if God didn’t shorten the times; and we will NOT be raptured up before it all happens.

So yes, I feel strongly the need to prepare, but even if I were given the means to prepare, I would still need to share “The Way” with you so that in the times ahead we will not tear ourselves apart with the many conflicts that rage within us simply because we did not know how to live in “the way, the truth, and the life” of Jesus. Will you join me? In the teaching I share? In the need to prepare? As you ponder this, I will leave you another of my articles that I have in my book “The Authorized Book of Short Christian Stories”. You may find it at: http://www.amazon.com/products/dp/1442145137 or my other book: God’s Prisoner” at: http://www.amazon.com/products/dp/144044031x .



SPIRITUAL STRENGTH
From
"Works by J.J."

When a person is born-again in the spirit of Christ, his spirit is immediately put at odds against the desires of his flesh. This is well discussed in the book of Romans where Paul asserts that: “The good I want to do I can not do, but the bad I don’t want to do I do…”
This is a spiritual fight that each “Christian” must go through. We must all experience the same wretchedness that Paul experienced, and come into the same discerned realization that Paul realized, and that is: our rescue from this body of death is in God’s hands through Jesus Christ.
Having learned this vital truth Paul summed up the matter in his saying: “I can do all things through Jesus Christ.” And his entire life was devoted to teaching about Jesus and HOW we can come to Jesus to find the strength to overcome the enemy of our flesh.
Added to Paul’s ministry, we find another word of encouragement in the epistle of Jude, the brother of James. In verse three we read: “…it was needful of me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
The words: “earnestly contend” come from one word in the Greek: “epagonizomai.” Which literally means: to agonize in your determination to overcome the enemy.”
The enemy is satan, we know, but his weapon for sin is being used to destroy our assurance of faith that we have found in Christ’s redeeming work. Hence satan’s purpose with tempting us with sin is to: 1: make us lose hope. And 2: to make us slaves to the increasing deviancy of sin. All for the bigger purpose of trying to set himself above God.
The apostles, however, were given to us to show us The Way of God as taught by Jesus. Paul strived to preach the gospel good news by first laying the foundation of Christ Jesus, as First Corinthians 3:10-15 shows and we are to build on that foundation. The quality of our work being symbolized by the building materials we use: “gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or stubble.” Materials that must be able to withstand the fire of temptation to sin.
Notice, that even if our work is burned up us “Born-again Christians” will still be saved, but we will suffer loss of certain rewards in heaven. Perhaps, one or more of the crowns we can receive…but we will still be saved! NEVER FORGET THAT! We are told to never to let loose of our hope.
Now, let’s tie all of this together into one easy to carry burden, for Jesus said: “Learn from me for my burden is light and easy to carry.”
It is in Jesus we find our hope, our strength, our rewards and our redemption. In him is nothing forward or perverse. In him can be found love and truth.
The more we become one with Jesus, the more we will be able to say: “I can do all things through Jesus Christ.”
It serves God’s purpose that the same way we find Jesus, is the same way we grow in Jesus. IN A WORD:
REPENTANCE

We saw in First Corinthians 3:11, that Jesus is our foundation; Yet now we read in Hebrews 6:1 “…let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God…” Repentance!
You have been taught that this means to turn away from sin 180 degrees, and it does…. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT!!! In the New Testament a new word is used: “Metanoeo” And it means: “to reconsider your sin from a divine viewpoint of thought, will and emotion; then choose to submit to the way of the divine.”
Not so hard to do as it sounds, in First Cor. 2:15-16 we see that the teaching of the Holy Spirit is to give us the MIND of Christ. Which is to say, having His thoughts, will and emotions? (See The Amplified Bible)
In the Old Testament days all they could do was turn away from sin to follow the Ten Commandments; they were unable to reconsider their sin from the divine viewpoint we “Christians” are able to learn to do, by virtue of the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit. Also known as: “The Gift of Repentance.” A gift given that allows us: “…the acknowledging of the truth…” (II Tim. 2:24-26) that is in and of Jesus. A pearl of great price, that Gruden’s Dictionary concordance defines as: “the message and the person of Jesus Christ.”
But, if the truth is Jesus, and “…no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father…” How can we know him?
Read the entire verse of Luke 10:22, “All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him!”
Jesus reveals the Father! (John 17:25-26) says: “Oh righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Jesus reveals the love, (agape), of the Father! (Galatians 5:5-6): “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” BUT pay attention to verse five!!! Our hope of righteousness is also established by the love found in faith.
Other verses verify that love from the Father is the way of righteousness…I Cor. 13, the love chapter, shows many of the reasons we have for sin. Rom. 13:8-10 shows that our obedience to submit to God’s love fulfills all of the commandments. II Pet. 1:2-11, shows that love, on an increasing basis, (vs. 8) will “…make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall…) (vs. 10).
The Agape love in faith is “…the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”
There are many, many verses found in scripture that become plain and clear to the person who strives to repent from the unloving reasons for their sin and find the loving alternatives to submit to in an ongoing process.
There are five types of love: phileo, eros, epithermia, storge and agape. Be sure you do not make the mistake of vainly imagining that the love you believe in is Gods love; unless you have found it in the alternatives to your reasons for your sin.
Our motives for sin are clearly given in the bible as being: worries, riches, and/or pleasures…but our “reasons” for these motives are many and different for each person.
For example” why do you drink? One answer is: I’m shy. Or, I’m afraid of rejection. Or, I’m being cool, like James Bond…. Repentance asks the questions. (See James ch. 4)
The reasons are different for every person, and it is in the loving and truthful alternatives to the reasons, that we find God’s transforming image of Christ.
Let love be your guide, let love be your goal!!! Love that does no harm to its neighbor, and applies to everyone equally, is our aim. When you find it, you will see that it is in- accordance to the written word of God. But what you have found is the spirit of the word. Praise God!
And so my prayer for you is the same as Paul’s in Philippians 1:9-11, “That your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” REPENT….


In Him,

J.J.