January 2019 "Dearly Beloved" Articles
Dearly Beloved 1/31/19 "One Day at a Time"
One Day at a Time
Dearly beloved of God, today is a new day. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never be mine; today is the only day that matters - live it as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing service as to the Lord and not unto men.
If we drag the past into today, while imagining future uncertainties that may never come, today can be overwhelming. The past and the future are impostors. Live one day at a time.
Don’t just go through the motions of living, that's not living. Live with integrity of heart doing the will of God from your heart. Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that you will receive the reward of the inheritance from the Lord, so serve the Lord Christ.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/30/19 "The Prince of Peace"
The Prince of Peace
Dearly beloved of God, the Prince of Peace is the only one that can give true peace. He said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
The Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ, is our peace. He made peace between God and us while we were dead in sin, ungodly, and His enemies. He paid the price for our forgiveness so we could enjoy his peace. His work made it available to live in his rest.
The world talks about peace, while they rage against God, His Son, and His people. God sent the world the Prince of Peace so they could have peace and what was their response? They killed him.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/29/19 "Live with His Comfort"
Live with His Comfort
Dearly beloved of Christ Jesus the Lord, all the promises of God in him are yea and amen unto the glory of God!
We are who God says we are, and we have what He says we have; never doubt it dearly beloved – it is true and certain.
Today we face manifold temptations which cause us to grieve, but the trial of our believing is much more precious than that of gold that perishes, though it is tried with fire; but it will be found unto praise, and honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; receiving the end of your believing, even the salvation of your souls. It is coming!
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/28/19 "Facing Impossible Odds"
Facing Impossible Odds
Dearly beloved of God, Israel mourned Moses’ death for thirty days, then the LORD said to Joshua, “Moses My servant is dead: now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this People, unto the land which I do give to them, as I said to Moses.”
This was Joshua’s first assignment. Moses died in the eleventh month and they crossed the Jordan on the tenth of Abib. Not only was Joshua to lead them across the Jordan – it was at flood stage.
God told Joshua that He would be with him as He had been with Moses. As He spoke with Joshua, He told him to be strong and of good courage; He said it four times. God said that He would bring His Word to pass as He swore to Moses.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/24/19 "Just Who Do You Think You Are?"
Just Who Do You Think You Are?
Dearly beloved, you are who God says you are, and you can do what He says you can do! Believing who we are in Christ is foundational if we are to manifest the more abundant life that Jesus Christ came to make available.
If you have children, I’m sure you have instructed them on who they are and how they should behave. We don't think like this automatically, do we? How would we feel if our children rejected our instruction and refused to believe it?
Dearly beloved, God is our Father; we are born of His spirit. He determined who we would be in Christ as the result of his work. He determined what we would have as His children, and what we could do. All of it was His idea. He then revealed His will concerning it in writing; He clearly defined it.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/22/19 "Who Says So?"
Who Says So?
Dearly beloved of God, until the Word of God is the reference we search for truth we will only have the stale words of men to rely on. God reveals what He makes available to us and how we may receive it.
God has not rejected people, but people reject Him by not taking Him at His Word. They replace God’s Word with men’s words; with the doctrines and traditions of men, and their hearts are far from Him. Why not believe what He says?
God sent His Son to complete the work of salvation, yet many today believe that they are saved by their works. What works could a person possibly do to merit eternal life? How could someone dead in sin create spirit life in themselves? Why did God send Jesus Christ to save us if we could save ourselves by our own works?
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/21/19 "Greater Works Than These"
Greater Works Than These
Dearly beloved of God, early in his ministry, Jesus Christ told his disciples, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work.” He said, “the works which the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me.”
At the end of his ministry, in the prayer to His Father he said, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.” As he hung on the tree, before his death he said, “It is finished.” He had finished the work for our salvation and redemption.
People marvel at the works Jesus did during his earthly ministry. He healed the sick, and cast out devil spirits which afflicted people. He healed the lame, the deaf, the mute, the blind; he even healed the eyes of a man born blind. He healed a man’s withered hand and many other miracles. He raised three people from the dead; he even raised Lazarus from the dead after he had been dead for four days and buried!
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/20/19 "His Work Alone"
His Work Alone
Dearly beloved of God, God sent Jesus to do fulfill the plan of redemption. Jesus believed in His plan so completely that he willingly gave his life as the Lamb of God to fulfill it.
Jesus came to do the will of his Father and to finish the works that He gave him to do. He said that the works he did bare witness that the Father had sent him. By raising him from the dead, God validated that Jesus was His Son and that his work accomplished what He sent him to do.
God did not call on us to do the work necessary to fulfill the plan of redemption and salvation; He sent Christ to accomplish it. He instructs us to believe on him whom He has sent, and to believe what he accomplished.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/19/19 "You are Righteous Now"
You are Righteous Now
Dearly beloved, God made Jesus Christ, who did not know sin, to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. He did what none of us could do for ourselves by any amount of our works.
The people asked Jesus, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” He responded, “This is the work of God, that you believe on him Whom He has sent.”
The righteousness of God is by the believing of Jesus Christ to all who believe on him. We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but by his believing to fulfill God’s plan of redemption and salvation we are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/18/19 "No Condemnation - Not Now, Not Ever"
No Condemnation - Not Now, Not Ever
Dearly beloved of God, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus….” Romans 8:1 (The Greek texts do not contain the rest of the verse.)
There is what? “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”
“Condemnation” is the Greek word, “katakrima”, which is “the sentence pronounced against someone.” The word “condemnation” appears earlier, in 5: 16.
“And not as it was by one [Adam] that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one [Adam] to condemnation….”
Adam is the one that sinned and brought the judgment of condemnation upon man. “…but the free gift is from many offences unto justification.”
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/17/19 "All in All"
All in All
Dearly beloved of God, we should drop to our knees in thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father for all He blessed us with in Christ. There is no blessing apart from our association with Christ Jesus our Lord. Thank God for His great grace to us in Christ.
We are not in Jesus, but in Christ. Jesus was the man of suffering, the man that gave his life in our stead as the Lamb of God. He paid the price of redemption and salvation. He is our Savior and Redeemer.
God raised Jesus from the dead, he ascended, and God seated him at His right hand in glory. God made that same Jesus both Lord and Christ. All blessing is in him, dearly beloved.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/16/19 "Signed, Sealed and Soon Delivered"
Signed, Sealed, and Soon Delivered
Dearly beloved by God our Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord, rejoice; we have the hope of salvation!
God raised His Son from the dead and made him both Lord and Christ so that we could be born again and have a living hope; a hope that is incorruptible, undefiled – a hope that will not fade away – it is reserved for us in heaven! Oh, rejoice!
The Lord Jesus Christ is the only one to have conquered death thus far; all others are corrupting in the grave and returning to dust, but God has promised us that we will conquer it when Christ returns for us.
Our Heavenly Father does not want us ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep so that we do not sorrow as those who have no hope. As Jesus died and rose again, even so we believe that God by means of Jesus will bring those who have died to arise to life with him.
Christ was the first to rise from the dead and we will follow at his coming. When he comes, he will give the command for the dead in Christ to arise; then we who are alive and remain unto his coming will be snatched up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord! Dearly beloved, comfort and encourage one another with these words.
We will not only be with him; we will be like him when we see him face to face. He will transform our humiliated bodies to be like his glorious body by the energizing of his ability by which he is able to subdue all things.
Thanks be to God Who gives us the victory over sin and death through the Lord Jesus Christ! Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Dear ones, we will be glorified together with Christ! We will obtain the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with him, so that if we suffer together, we shall also be glorified together as heirs. Therefore, take into account that the sufferings of the present time are not comparable with the glory that is to be revealed to us!
We who have the first fruit of the spirit groan within ourselves as we await the inheritance of our sonship, that is, the redemption of the body; but rejoice, we were saved unto hope, and he that is promised to come will come, and we will receive the promised inheritance.
We are sealed with the promised holy spirit to this end; it is the down payment of our inheritance until God sends His Son to redeem those whom he purchased with his life.
We are sealed, dearly beloved: sealed for salvation and eternal life, sealed to receive our inheritance in Christ, sealed for the redemption of our bodies on the day of redemption, sealed to be glorified together with him, sealed to be with the Lord forever; we are sealed!
We are now the children of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; rejoice forevermore! We are sealed!
Dearly Beloved 1/14/19 "Are We Blessed or What?"
Are We Blessed or What?
Dearly beloved of God, God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is blessed, who blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm.
Our Father is blessed; he is happy about what Christ accomplished, and He was happy to bless us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the realm in which He exists!
If we lacked anything, He would not have said “every.” He said what He meant and He meant what He said! In Christ, he blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/12/19 "From Suffering to Glory"
From Suffering to Glory
Dearly beloved of God, Jesus Christ was made like his brethren in all things. He did not take the nature of angels, he took the seed of Abraham; he partook of flesh and blood. His genealogy can be traced back to Adam; indeed, he was the second Adam. He was the son of man.
In that he suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help us when we are tempted. He was tempted in all things in the same manner as we are, yet he did not sin. Beloved, he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities; he is able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses because he himself has been there, also.
Oh beloved, he suffered far greater than any of us have. He knew temptation. He endured extreme mental pressures; tribulation. His soul was afflicted. He suffered distress; he suffered greater calamities than we do. He suffered persecution from the devil and his minions; religious and political. He suffered dangerous perils; he even suffered death. He has been there, dearly beloved; he understands what we suffer. Nothing can separate us from his love for us.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/11/19 "Walking with God: Believing or Possession?""
Walking with God
Dearly beloved of God, until we come to the place that we understand and believe that the Word of God says what it means and means what it says, we will not know what God has made available to us, nor know how to manifest it in our lives.
The Word of God must be our reference for learning when it comes to spiritual matters. God reveals Himself to us through His written Word. The Word of God reveals His will to us, and He does not want us ignorant of it.
The scriptures are God’s revelation, His revealing of Himself, and they provide us with enlightened understanding. If we are to get the results that He makes available to us, we must receive the Word of God from God; we must take Him at His Word and believe what He says.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/10/19 "Riches to Share"
Riches to Share
Dearly beloved of the Lord, Almighty God is the source of all blessing; He is the Blessor. He is our sufficiency in all things. We are not to trust in uncertain riches, but in the Living God, Who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
He promises to supply our every need. What is the standard by which He promises to do this for us? He will do it, “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
We have all the resources in his name! He has the resources to provide us with salvation and everlasting life, forgiveness, peace, access to Him by the spirit, prayer, prosperity, healing, love, edification, comfort, guidance, and deliverance from the oppression of the devil, and so much more. He promises to supply our every need.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/9/19 "Our Power of Attorney"
Our Power of Attorney
Dearly beloved of God, since God called us in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have all the resources he is capable of providing us; all of them, in all of us.
In his name, we are saved and have the hope of receiving the glory of God. We will be glorified together with him when he returns for us!
If that was not enough, as members of the Church, which is his body, Christ Jesus our Lord gave us the power of attorney. The power of attorney is the legal right to use the name of the person who gave us that power. We have the power Christ Jesus says we have, and we have his authority to use it.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/8/19 "The Problem and God's Solution"
The Problem and God’s Solution
Dearly beloved of God, why is the world so full of problems? God reveals the answer by the revelation of His Word.
“And the devil took him [Jesus] up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you will I give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’" Luke 4: 5, 6 ESV
Who has the authority over the kingdoms of the world? The light of God’s Word reveals that the devil now has it, and he can give it to whom he wills. How did this come about?
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/7/19 "A Precious Commodity"
A Precious Commodity
Dearly beloved, God’s divine favor and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace is a precious commodity today. Peace is the opposite of being disturbed or agitated. It is the end of strife; the state of rest due to reconciliation because of Jesus Christ’s accomplishments. It is to have quiet seas instead of being tempest tossed. Peace is a state of untroubled, undisturbed well-being.
We do not have to be overly concerned or anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, we can make known our petitions to God, and the peace of God, which is more excellent than every way of thinking, will protect our hearts and our thinking in Christ Jesus. He hears our petitions and is faithful to answer them.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/6/19 "The Name of Jesus Christ"
The Name of Jesus Christ
Dearly beloved, a person’s name represents their accomplishments, their position, power, authority, their reputation and characteristics, and their interests. What do we have in the name of Jesus Christ?
First of all, God exerted His exceeding great power when He raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly realm far above every principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, no only in this age, but also in the coming one; and He put all things under his subjection, and made him the head over all things in the Church, which is his body.
God highly exalted him, and gave him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee is to bow in heaven and on earth and those in the grave and that every tongue is to confess that Jesus Christ is lord to the glory of God the Father.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/5/19 "Full of Joy"
Full of Joy
Dearly beloved by the Father, rejoice and be filled with praises and thanksgiving to Him for His divine grace and great love for us.
We were undeserving of all God and His Son did for us, yet He freely gave us all things with him. What do we have that we did not receive? We have all of it by His grace. We are certainly highly favored in His sight! Rejoice and give God thanks.
What should our response be to what He has freely given to us with Christ? We should walk in it, dearly beloved; walk in the newness of the spirit life we received in the new birth. Walk by believing what He says to us in His Word. Walk in the love of God as Jesus Christ did. Walk in the hope of His calling. Walk worthy of the calling with which He called us in Christ Jesus.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/4/19 "Our True Citizenship"
Our True Citizenship
Dearly beloved of God, our citizenship is in heaven, from whence we also patiently wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our humiliated bodies to have the same form as his glorious body according to the energizing power by which he is able to subdue all things to himself.
Abraham sojourned as a stranger in the land of promise dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, joint heirs of the same promise, for he was waiting for the city having foundations whose craftsman and designer-builder is God.
While believing, all those mentioned in Hebrews 11 died, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth. We should do the same.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 1/3/19 "By Divine Proclamation"
By Divine Proclamation
Dearly beloved, listen to God's divine proclamation: "I was crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by believing concerning the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
It is no longer I that live; Christ lives in me. Beloved, it is Christ in you, the hope of glory! This is God's divine proclamation to us; it is who we are in Christ. Our Heavenly Father sees us in Christ. We stand before Him by Christ's accomplishments.
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things passed away; behold, new things have come, and all of the new things are from God.
Read more ...