November 2018 "Dearly Beloved" Articles
Dearly Beloved 11/30/18 "There are But Two Ways"
There are But Two Ways
Dearly beloved, and you are you know, God has revealed the revelation of His will to us in His Word; from Genesis to Revelation it is on display. Throughout history when people followed the One True God, He took care of them. He is the One that teaches His people to profit.
From the beginning, there have been only two ways: God’s way, or the adversary’s way. Other than God’s Word, where can people turn to find the truth?
God’s way is the love way. He is light and there is no darkness in Him. He sent His Son, so we could have life, and have it more abundantly. He wants all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth. He is the GIVER; He gives us richly all things to enjoy.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/29/18 "What a Calling!"
What a Calling!
Dearly beloved of the Father, He has called us in Christ by His own will and desire, according to His own purpose and plan, and He made that decision without consulting anyone else. God our Father chose us in Christ according to the purpose of the ages that He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our Father extended this call to us on the basis of His divine favor, His grace. We did not deserve it, nor did we earn it by our good works; it is the gift of God. This calling entitles us to the salvation that is in Christ and He offers it to anyone, entirely by His wonderful grace.
Jesus Christ accomplished God’s justness by his believing. He is the author and beginner of the faith; he began and finished the job; he is the only one to conquer death and rise again from its reign, ascend into the heavenlies, and sit down at His Father’s right hand in glory. God made His Son Lord, both of the living and the dead.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/28/18 "Challenging Decisions"
Challenging Decisions
Dearly beloved, making major decisions can be challenging, but we have resources that many others do not. There are times we just do not know what to do. Dearly beloved, the answers we need come from God, our Father.
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” God made this promise; not me.
If we lack wisdom, God instructs us to ask Him for it.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/27/18 "The Landscaper at Work"
The Landscaper at Work
Dearly beloved, we live in the age of “fake news”. Those in the News business call it landscaping.
Landscaping starts with the truth and then they landscape it; they add a little here, change some of it there, leave out what they don’t want you focus on, take it out of its context, oh yes, and they are sure to tell you how you should feel about it.
They will even show you a picture and tell you not to believe your lying eyes; you are supposed to only see what they tell you to see and feel how they say you should feel.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/26/18 "Our Hope of Glory"
Our Hope of Glory
Dearly beloved, in his resurrected body, Christ could exist on the earth or in the heavenly realm equally as well, and . . . we will be like him!
"For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." Philippians 3:20 and 21
We are to look for our Savior. At his coming, the Lord will change our body of humiliation so that it will be fashioned like his glorious body.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/25/18 "Who is in Heaven?"
Who is in Heaven?
Dearly beloved, who do we have in heaven other than God our Heavenly Father and His wonderful Son, Christ Jesus our Lord? They are our present help and all their resources are available to us in our time of need; even in death itself.
Why are we to confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead if we are to be saved? The scriptures refer to Jesus as the son of man eighty times and the son of God fifty times. He was as much a man as Adam was or any of his progeny were; as much as you or I are.
Jesus was conceived by Divine conception, but he was a man. God created the soul life in Mary’s womb and nine months later she gave birth. This man fulfilled every prophesy concerning the Messiah of Israel. Three times God said, “This is my beloved Son….”
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/24/18 "The Way of Peace"
The Way of Peace
Dearly beloved, the holidays are a wonderful time to be together, but they can also be a difficult time for us emotionally.
The loss of loved ones because of death, divorce, or other hurts and losses, false expectations thanks to “Hallmark” fairy tales, or unthinking words or actions by someone we love can hurt deeply. We have an adversary that constantly attacks us where we are most vulnerable. What is the solution?
Instead of embracing the hurt and loss, look for ways to give. We cannot control other people, but we can control how we think and act. Actions trigger feelings as well as feelings trigger actions. Be sure that you pull the right trigger, dearly beloved.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/23/18 "Make a Difference"
Make a Difference
Dearly beloved, if we did not have one another, who would we have? If we don’t love one another, who will love us? If we do not care about one another, who will care for us? If we don’t give of ourselves to minister to one another, who will minister to us? We should have the same care for each other in the body of Christ. Owe no one anything, but to love one another.
We are dearly beloved to the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and He instructs us to dearly love the brethren, also. If we make the choice not to, who will do it?
There is a vast difference between knowing and doing; between having ability and manifesting that ability for godly profit. Our Father exhorts us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/21/18 "We Call Him Father"
We Call Him Father
Dearly beloved, our Father is the fountain of Living Waters! He is an unlimited, endless supply of resources for us and He is willing to utilize them to supply our every need. He is the God of answered prayers.
God is Spirit, and since we cannot see spirit, He revealed Himself to us in His Word by different names which describe who He is. The written Word makes God known. You could say that He is an open book.
Jesus Christ was the Living Word. God sent him to make Him known and he did so by speaking the words His Father gave him to speak and by doing miraculous works by the power of His Father’s spirit in him. He always did His Father’s will. He verified that God was who He said He was and that He could do what He said He could do.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/20/18 "In All Things"
In All Things
Dearly beloved, God revealed that He works for our good IN ALL THINGS and that He will freely give us ALL THINGS with Christ; it is the good pleasure of His will to perform all these things.
How could He have conveyed His goodness to us more vividly? God is our sufficiency regardless of what we may face.
Does God accuse us? No, He justified us from sin and its condemnation. He judged us in Christ as righteous. We stand before our Father clothed in Christ’s accomplishments. In Christ, we stand before Him without any sense of sin, guilt, or condemnation. We will never again come into condemnation.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/19/18 "Captives No More"
Captives No More
Dearly beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ set the captives free! We are captives no more!
The Lord Jesus said, "Come unto me all you that labor and who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls."
Nothing in the former condition of the flesh made us deserving of the treasures of God's great love and grace toward us. All the riches of His grace are freely given to us in Christ and they are ours by his work alone.
At one time, we were all captives of sin and death and we bore its chains. We were lost in the maze of the course of this world until Jesus Christ, the light of the world, showed us the way.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/17/18 "God Reliance"
God Reliance
Dearly beloved, what is faith? It is the assurance that we rely on the revelation knowledge of God’s Word; we are confident that it is the truth, and that He is able and willing to perform it. Faith or believing is to utterly rely on God’s faithfulness to His Word.
Faith always has an object and for the believer in Christ, that object is God’s Word. Faith or believing is not mystical. It is not something we “make believe”. It is to believe; to have trust and confidence that God will perform His Word as He promised.
This causes us to say what God says, to live as He says to live, to act on His Word because it reveals His will. Believing is going into partnership with God and walking in that partnership with Him by believing.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/15/18 "The Counsels of God"
The Counsels of God
Dearly beloved, our calling in Christ is bound up in the counsels of God, even the purpose of the ages which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. He is the source of all blessing, and He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm in Christ.
The climax of this blessing is in our inheritance and we will partake of it in resurrection or transformation when Christ returns for us on the day of redemption.
He revealed the end from the beginning. He spoke about things to come so that we can be certain of our hope.
He also revealed the mystery of His will concerning Christ, which from the beginning of the world He hid in Himself. Now we can be confident that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus on the basis of his good works, and we can walk in his accomplishments.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/14/18 "Change the Channel"
Change the Channel
Dearly beloved, what kind of day will it be today? Will it be a day that we are worn down by the behavior of the wicked, or will it be a day that we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ while we look for his coming?
Just Lot was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked as he dwelt among them, for that righteous man saw and heard their lawless works day after day; they wore him down with their unbridled lusts, but the LORD delivered him, and dearly beloved, He knows how to deliver us, and reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. We escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/13/18 "The Most Profound Truth"
The Most Profound Truth
Dearly beloved, the most profound truth I ever heard was that the Bible is the revealed Word and Will of God. God’s Word is “Thus saith the Lord”; it means what it says, and it says what it means.
If you want to know the will of God, we must find what the Word of God says about the subject. The Word of God is God speaking, and when we hear His Word, we are standing in the presence of the One True Living God as much as Moses was when He spoke to him out of the burning bush. This is truly holy ground. This wonderful truth changed my life forever.
For example, what is the will of God concerning salvation? “Who [God] will have all men saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” I Timothy 2:4
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/12/18 "Prisons of the Past"
Prisons of the Past
Don’t be a prisoner of the past, dearly beloved. Live in the moment, it’s all we have. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never be mine; we must live today, it is the only time we have.
The past is dead. There is nothing we can do to change it for better or for worse. Don’t live in a prison of its making. Forget the things which are behind and reach for the things which are before us. Press toward the finish line for the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.
The race for the prize is on today. Run it with patience, but run it with all that is within you. Treat today as if it is all you have - it is.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/11/18 "Live Love"
Live Love
Dearly beloved, a believer in Christ that walks in the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation is the Lord’s free man; he cannot be controlled. That saint loves God with all his heart, his soul, his mind, and his strength, and he loves others as the Lord Jesus loved and gave himself for us.
You are God’s love child, and a partaker of His divine nature, and that new nature is a nature of love. You are His dearly beloved child, His saint, and you are highly favored in His sight. We should imitate our Father’s love and love as He teaches us to love. Like Father, like child.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/10/18 "Put Yourself in Their Shoes"
Put Yourself in Their Shoes
Dearly beloved of the Lord, our Heavenly Father gives us example after example in His Word of believers who faced times of great need in their lives and then reveals how He delivered them. They were not different from us; they were people subject to like passions as we are.
At times, we may read these records but fail to put ourselves in their shoes. Our culture may be different, and fashions may have changed, but the heart is still the heart, and God is still the One True Living God today as He was then.
It is easy to read, “I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me,” as Paul said to the captain, the soldiers, and the crew of the ship who had lost any hope of survival when their ship was lost at sea in the hurricane for fourteen days.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/9/18 "Discouraged or Encouraged?"
Discouraged or Encouraged?
Dearly beloved of God, if you look at the world you will be discouraged, but God encourages us with His Word. The world continues to get worse and worse, but God has not changed; He is the One True and Living God and He gave us His Word, the Living Word.
Do not be conformed to this evil age; be transformed by renewing your mind to the revelation knowledge that God revealed to us in His Word.
What does it mean to be conformed to this world? To be conformed to this world, or age, means to believe the ideas put forth in it, to embrace the causes subscribed to it in, to act in conformity to its standards, axioms, and practices.
If this is not God’s will for us, what is? Romans 1-8 reveals what God did for all people through Jesus Christ’s accomplishments.
Romans 9-11 makes it clear that Jesus Christ accomplished these realities for the Gentiles and the Judeans, and through him God showed His mercy to all that believe on him, then, in chapter 12, He instructs us to be transformed by the renewing of the mind.
Instead of being fashioned to this evil age, be transformed by renewing the mind to what Christ achieved for you and who you are in him. Decide to think as God instructs you to think and believe. Frame your thinking with God’s Word concerning Christ and who you are in him.
We are to do this, not God. Romans 12:2 is in the middle voice in the Greek, which indicates action we are to take. God does not control you, use you as a channel, or make you do anything against your will. You are the one that must decide to think this way and believe what He says. He freely gives us all things with Christ; we are the ones that choose to believe it or not.
If we will think and believe according to who we are in Christ it will transfigure us so that we can prove the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God in our lives. God made it available to us in Christ, now think and believe according to the measure He dealt to us. This is clear-headed thinking and it produces a sane, sound mind.
God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Fear, weakness, hate, and unsound minds come from the adversary. If we do not want to be fashioned by his ideas, we must hold fast the form of sound words in believing and love which is in Christ Jesus.
We no longer want to live our lives by the cravings of men, but by the will of God. In times past we walked in the course of this evil world, but now we desire to walk in the will of God, believing His Word concerning who we are in Christ.
Don’t be discouraged dearly beloved, look to the encouragement God gives us in His Word and by His spirit; believe Him and it will change your life. Look to Him and you will be radiant.
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Don’t be discouraged, seek the Lord; He will deliver you from what causes you to be afraid and discourages you. He is true and faithful to His Word. What He did for those who went before us, He will do for us, also.
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and His ears are open to our prayers. Thank Him for His goodness and His deliverance, dearly beloved. He is at hand to deliver. He is our encouragement.
Dearly Beloved 11/8/18 "A Present Tense Reality"
A Present Tense Reality
Dearly beloved, the Apostle Paul was a prisoner on a ship heading to Rome for his trial before Caesar. Imagine being in his situation. Put yourself in his shoes.
If that was not bad enough, the captain of the ship decided to sail during what we would call “hurricane season”. As they sailed to Rome they ran into a violent storm with tempestuous winds and horrific waves, a Euroclydon, which is a hurricane force storm in the Mediterranean.
They lost the ship’s cargo and were afraid that the ship itself would break apart from the devastating force of the waves. They feared that they were going to die. Exhausted from their fourteen-day ordeal to survive the fury of the violent hurricane force storm, the crew lost all hope of survival. Their dire circumstances left them with no hope of survival.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/7/18 "Believing, Hope, and Love"
Believing, Hope, and Love
Dearly beloved of God, He is for us, not against us. If you “feel” that the Father is against you, it is a lie; don’t allow the adversary to deceive you.
He lies about what God says by misquoting Him, wrongly dividing His Word, and by misapplying it in an attempt to use it against God’s people. Don’t buy it.
Our reference for truth is the Word of God; it is the Word of truth. The adversary is the father of lies, the deceiver, the thief, the slanderer, the accuser of the brethren. Don’t give him any place in your thinking. Our Father is true and faithful, and He will make His Word good.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/6/18 "Fight the Good Fight"
Fight the Good Fight
Dearly beloved, our Father has blessed us above all we could ever ask or think. Our hearts should be filled with thanksgiving and praise for Him because of His great love for us. Despite all the attacks of the adversary, our Father always causes us to triumph through Christ Jesus our Lord.
It will be a great day when the devil is committed to the lake of fire, along with all those in his kingdom. Until then we will be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his ability to prevail.
Until then, continue to stand against the strategies of evil, for our wrestling is not with people, but against wicked spirits in the heavenly realm; they rule the darkness of this evil world.
God exhorts us to clothe ourselves with the whole armor that He provided us in Christ so that we are able to resist his strategies; and, when Christ returns, we will stand at the “Bema” as the super conquerors we are in Christ.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/5/18 "Don't Get Talked out of Your Birthright"
Don’t Get Talked out of Your Birthright
Dearly beloved of God, our Father delivered us from the power of darkness, and He transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Lord Jesus Christ said that one must be born again if he is to enter the kingdom of God. Today that birth is available to anyone that confesses Jesus as Lord and believes that God raised him from the dead; they are saved.
We have experienced the birth required to enter the kingdom of God, and when God’s Son returns to gather us up unto him, we will receive the physical transfer; “For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/4/18 "Don't Bow"
Don’t Bow
Dearly beloved of the Lord, our God is the same God that delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego from the burning fiery furnace when they refused to bow and worship the golden image set up by King Nebuchadnezzar.
The powerful king of Babylon had commanded that anyone who did not bow and worship the image of gold would be cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace that same hour.
The king asked, “Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?”
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/3/18 "The Waves of Doubt"
The Waves of Doubt
Dearly beloved of God, the Lord Jesus Christ taught his disciples how to receive the promises of God in their lives.
"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, 'Be removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."
He said to specifically say what you want, then he addresses doubt, and then believing, which leads us to receiving what we ask.
Believing is to have trust and confidence that it will be as God says. What is doubt? Bullinger’s Lexicon says, “diakrino: It is to separate one’s self from, i.e. contend with, then, to be in strife with one’s self, i.e. hesitate, waver.” To doubt is to strive between two opinions, to waver.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/2/18 "Do You Have Great Need?"
Do You Have Great Need?
Dearly beloved of the Lord, we all have had great need in our lives at one time or another. What deliverance it is to learn that, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you: that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”
God Almighty, our Heavenly Father highly favors us, and He promises to make all of His divine favor available to us! To what end? We… ALWAYS HAVE… ALL SUFFICIENCY… in ALL THINGS… so that we may abound to every good work.
God, our Father is the Supplier of our every need; He is always our sufficiency in everything.
God further promises that He, “…will supply our every need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” There is no ambiguity on the subject; He says what He means and He means what He says.
How many needs does He promise to supply? He says that He will supply “OUR EVERY NEED.” He emphasizes that HE will supply EACH and EVERY need we may have.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 11/1/18 "What Do You See?"
What Do You See?
Dearly beloved, how do we look at situations? Do we see with our eyes, or by the spirit of the Living God that dwells in us?
We should learn from the record of Elisha; he looked at his situation spiritually.
The king of Syria warred against Israel and this man of God warned his king where the Syrians would attack them, time after time after time. The information was so reliable that the Syrian king thought that one of his men was an informant planted by the king of Israel.
The Syrian king sent recon spies to locate Elisha, so that he could capture him. They found him at Dothan. The enemy sent horses, chariots, and a great host and they came by night and compassed the city where this one little old man with the spirit of God was.
Read more ...