February 2018 "Dearly Beloved" Articles
Dearly Beloved 2/28/18 "The Distinguishing Characteristic"
The Distinguishing Characteristic
Dearly beloved, God has poured out His love in our hearts by means of the holy spirit, which was given unto us. Since we are born of God’s spirit we can walk in love even as Christ loved us and gave himself for us.
None of us can be loved too much, can we? We should learn from our own heart’s longing how we should treat others. We should love others as we love ourselves.
Our Father is the God of love and He teaches us to imitate Him as His beloved children. He gave us His Word to instruct us, and the gift of holy spirit which enables us to love as He does. He works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure by His spirit so that we can love with His love.
The love of God is spiritual ability manifested as we renew our minds to do our Father's will. Love energizes the power of God in our lives.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/28/18 "Draw Near with Confidence"
Draw Near with Confidence
Dearly beloved, are your circumstances dire? Take heart! Our God is the One Living and True God and He is faithful to His Word. Draw near to Him. He is faithful that promised. He is your Delivering Father.
We are in Christ, and he is seated at His Father’s right hand in the heavenly realm far above all principality, power, might, and dominion, every name that is named in this age and in the coming ages. God has put all things under his feet, and He made him the head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him, and fills every one of us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm in him. We are seated there in him.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/27/18 "Nothing Is Too Hard for Him"
Nothing Is Too Hard for Him
Dearly beloved, a father brought his son to Jesus to be healed and he said, “. . . if Thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.” What was the Lord’s response to the man?
“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” Mark 9:23
It was not a question of the Lord being able to do anything, or if he had compassion on them – it was a matter of the man believing if his son was to receive deliverance. Believing the promise of God is the requirement for receiving it.
God’s Word must be the focal point of our believing if we are to receive the delivering power of God in our lives. It is our point of contact with Almighty God. You cannot separate God from His Word. He is as much His Word as your word is a part of you.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/26/18 "It Could Be Today!"
It Could Be Today!
Dearly beloved, our hope lies in the reality of who we are “in Christ”. There is no hope apart from him. We are joint-heirs with him and we will be glorified together with him.
“That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 2:7
It will take the unveiling of eternity for our Father to demonstrate all the treasures that He purposed for us in Christ Jesus. Our Father’s exceeding rich grace concerning His purposes in Christ will be demonstrated in His kindness towards us.
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” I Corinthians 2:9 and 10
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/25/18 "Do You Want the Answers?"
Do You Want the Answers?
Dearly beloved, not many folks have had a conversation with God like the one that Job had.
“Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said: 'Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you; and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone?” Job 38:1-6 NIV
God said, “I have some foundational questions for you, Job, and I want you to answer them for Me. These are basic, so I am sure that you must know how I did these things since you are so intelligent.”
“Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?” Job 38:17
“Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?” Job 38:21
“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!” Job 40:2 NIV
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/24/18 "Exceeding Riches of Grace"
Exceeding Riches of Grace
Good morning, dearly beloved of God. You are certainly highly favored today.
Ephesians 2:7 AV
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
It will take our Father “the ages to come” – eternity – to completely demonstrate the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness to us through Christ Jesus.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/23/18 "Deliverance from the Death-state"
Deliverance from the Death-state
Dearly beloved, let’s consider a conversation that Jesus Christ had with the Sadducees concerning the resurrection from the dead.
“The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him. . .” Matthew 22:23
The Sadducees quoted the law given to Moses (out of its context, of course) to trap Jesus in his teaching. These men attempted to pit God’s Word against God’s Son. If we did not understand the two spiritual kingdoms it would be hard to understand how men could be so evil. This is not so different from Genesis 3, when the serpent pitted his word against God’s Word.
“. . . Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. And last of all, the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.” Matthew 22:24-28
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/21/18 "Grace Upon Grace"
Grace Upon Grace
Dearly beloved, since we have confessed Jesus as Lord and believed that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved.
We were justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Therefore, being justified by believing, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by believing into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
This is more than most people know and even fewer believe. This wonderful truth should cause us to drop to our knees before our Father and His wonderful Son our Lord in thanksgiving and humility. We never could have accomplished this by our own works.
Now God’s grace to us in Christ reigns through His justness unto eternal life. This is straight from the source who will bring it to pass through His wisdom and power.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/20/18 "Deliverance From Death"
Deliverance From Death
Dearly beloved, what happens at death? Is there a release from the state of death? Since God reveals all that is possible to know about death in His Word, let’s consider its testimony.
"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 soul." Genesis 2:7
Man becomes a living soul with “the breath of life”. Living ones have “the breath of life”, but when they take their last breath they lose this life. Death is the loss of life. It is when man ceases to live, to cease to exist. Death is the opposite of living.
There is only corruption and decay in death. God originally formed Adam’s body from the elements found in the dust of the earth. At death, these elements return to their original state. The soul life expires. If a man is born of the spirit of God, the spirit returns to God who gave it. Everything returns to its original state.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/20/18 "The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazazrus"
The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
Jesus Christ used the parable of the rich man and Lazarus during a confrontation with the Pharisees who did not believe the Word of God.
"A parable is a figure of speech, which is a repeated or continued Simile – an illustration by which one set of circumstances is likened to another. The likeness is generally only in some special point. The resemblance is to be sought for in the scope of the context, and in the one great truth which is presented, and the one important lesson which is taught; and not in all the minute details with which these happen to be associated. The thing, or history, or story may be true or imaginary; but the events must be believed to be possible by those who hear it, though it is not necessary that the speaker should believe them." Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, Dr. Bullinger
Those who say that when you die you go to heaven, which they mistakenly call paradise, often refer to this parable for the basis of their argument. Is that what Jesus Christ was saying in this parable? To find the answer, let's begin in the context.
“No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.” Luke16:13,14
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/19/18 "The Malefactor and Paradise"
The Malefactor and Paradise
Dearly beloved, Jesus said, “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.”
How could the Lord say that the malefactor would be with him in paradise that very day? Jesus died that day and he was dead for three days and three nights before his resurrection from the dead. The day of his death he was in the grave, not paradise.
After his resurrection from the dead, he was on earth for another forty days before he ascended into heaven. He was not in paradise those forty days.
When he ascended, did he ascend into paradise or the heavenlies? Acts 1:9-11 reveals that he ascended into heaven. The understanding of Luke 23: 43 must fit with every other scripture on the subject.
What is paradise? Does one go to paradise upon death? The word “paradise” is the Greek word paradeisos. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, it is translated as “garden”.
“And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Genesis 2:8, 9
God put Adam in the Garden of Eden or paradise, and it contained the tree of life.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/18/18 "How Does God Communicate?"
How Does God Communicate?
Dearly beloved, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24
God is Spirit, not flesh and blood. He is supernatural, or above the natural realm. You cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or touch spirit. You can only see the effect or manifestation of it in the senses realm. How then do we then learn about the spiritual realm?
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but [words] which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual [words].” II Corinthians 2:12 and 13
God made His spirit available to people so that He could communicate with them. God teaches us about spiritual matters with spiritual words, words that He originated by revelation. He revealed His Word to men and He instructed them to record them.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/17/18 "Whose Agenda Is It?"
Whose Agenda Is It?
Dearly beloved, many don’t believe there are any spiritual kingdoms. Too many Christians only know of one of them. God reveals in His Word that there are two spiritual kingdoms: the kingdom of the One True God, and the kingdom of this world, which is under the dominion of the god of this world, our adversary. Each kingdom an agenda.
The Lord Jesus Christ made entrance into the kingdom of God available by being born of God’s spirit. He gave his life as the last sacrifice for sin to fulfill the Word and Will of God. Every human being by natural birth is born dead in trespasses and sins. They are born without the spirit of God.
Jesus gave his life as the substitutionary Lamb of God that died in the place of the sinner. Adam's sin and the sinner’s sins were laid on him.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/15/18 "If Not Now...When?"
If Not Now…When?
Dearly beloved, since you are born of God’s spirit and you have entrance into the Kingdom of God, God is your Father, your Lord is Jesus Christ, and there are attending spirits sent forth to minister for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation: that’s you.
We have the nine manifestations of the gift of holy spirit that each of us receives the moment we are born again of God’s spirit: He gave them to us for our profit. He gave us the ability; it is up to us to operate it. We are enabled with power from on high, the power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us. Study the Word of God and learn how to operate the power born within you.
The Lord Jesus himself said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.”
Who said it? The Lord Jesus the Christ said it. Who did he say it to? He was with his followers the night that one of them would betray him which would lead to his arrest, his two illegal trials, about forty hours of horrendous torture, physical and mental abuse, and his crucifixion.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/14/18 "His Work Was Enough"
His Work Was Enough
Dearly beloved, you’re are the righteousness of God in Christ; it is not by your works but by his. It is by grace that you are saved through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. That gift of God’s grace is not of your works, but of his. It is the gift of God. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus upon the basis of his good works, which God ordained that we should walk in them. He accomplished it all.
When we read Ephesians chapters one through three, our works are no where to be found; only Christ and his work. Chapter four begins with how we are to walk worthy of the calling in which we are called.
Christ did all the work to save and redeem us; to make us the sons of God. Our standing before God is in Christ, and in his accomplished work.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/13/18 "Could It Be Today?"
Could It Be Today?
Dearly beloved, we get closer to the return of Christ every day that passes. Matthew 24 tells us no less than four times that no man, not even the angels of heaven know the day or hour of Christ’s return, but the Father alone. He repeats the truth in 25:13. Mark 13:32 adds that not even the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, knows when God will send him for us.
What we do know is that he is coming to save and redeem us. He will come to glorify us together with him. He is coming to raise the dead in Christ and change those of us who are yet living to have glorious bodies like his. He is coming to reward us.
Three times we are told in the New Testament that we will be spared from the wrath to come. His coming for us is our glorious hope. It is when we will live together with him and when we will acquire the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/12/18 "How Do You Put It In Words?"
How Do You Put It In Words?
Dearly beloved, there just aren’t words to express how we feel at times; what is in our heart; words that express our love for God and His Son and for one another. What could we possibly say to completely express it? How do we put it in words? I guess that’s why He gave us a new language to expresses it.
Our hearts are filled with thankfulness for the exceeding great grace our Father showed us in Christ. Beloved, He saved us by Christ’s work; we have eternal life because of the divine favor He showed us in him. What could we possibly say that expresses the thankfulness that fills our hearts for His love for us?
Think of the joy that fills our lives because we have fellowship with the Father and with His Son. What could you and I ever have done to deserve such an awesome privilege as this? He called us in Christ to be holy and without blame before Him. Beloved, it wasn't our idea to somehow make Him walk with us; He wanted to walk with us.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/10/18 "Thank You"
Thank You
Dearly beloved, I want to thank each of you for your kind notes and glad tidings that you took the time to send me on my birthday; they truly blessed me. Yesterday was like a taste of the gathering together for me.
It will be such a wonderful day when we are all together for eternity with completely healed minds, hearts and emotions, new bodies, spiritual bodies like our Lord's glorified body which are no longer subject to death; eternal life.
The fulfillment of that for which we hope will begin when God sends His Son to save and redeem us from this evil world or from death itself if it has overtaken us.
The dead in Christ will rise first, then we which are alive and remain unto his coming will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with and like our Lord.
We will be glorified together with Christ! Oh, such comfort, such joy, but this will only be the opening event of eternity for us! Many other events will follow and we will see them all come to pass as God has promised.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/8/18 "Fools or Wise"
Fools or Wise?
Dearly beloved, we must guard our thinking and make it a fortress for God instead of allowing it to become a septic tank for the adversary. As a man thinks in his heart so is he. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
The word “fools” comes up many times in Proverbs. It is translated from three different words in Proverbs. One is from the Hebrew word “‘evil”: lax or careless habit of mind and body. Another is “kegil”: fat, and then dense, or stupid which comes of it, showing in impiety. The third word is “nabal”: a vulgar churl. To reject God’s wisdom when it is available is the making of a fool and it leads to a person's ruin.
Repeatedly God exhorts us to listen to Him for our own profit. He wants us to be wise and understand spiritual matters. He would have all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/7/18 "It's a Good Fight"
It’s a Good Fight
Dearly beloved, God is the same today as He was in the beginning. He is the LORD, Jehovah, He does not change.
God has the power and wisdom it took to create the heavens and the earth, life, and all the laws that sustain them. He is light, not darkness. He reveals the truth, not lies. He is faithful to His Word; he does not use it to deceive people. He is the God of life, not death. He provides us all things to enjoy, He doesn’t steal from people; He freely gives us all things to enjoy. He does not murder, He saves; the devil is the murderer. God does not destroy people's lives – read Job 1 and 2 and you will see who does. Our God is the God of all comfort and the Father of mercies, not the god that afflicts people to hurt them.
Before I got in the Word of God and someone taught me how it fit together, I blamed the One True God for the things the god of this world was doing to me. I had mental turmoil and one fear, or another defeated me at every turn. My prayer was, “Why me?” It seemed like bad things always happened to me and I didn’t have any answers.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/5/18 "He Released the Memo!"
He Released the Memo!
Dearly beloved, did you hear, the memo has been released! It appears that the serpent, known also by the aliases of the devil and Satan, deceives the whole world. It has been revealed that he conspired against God in a plot involving Adam and Eve. In a conspiracy to seize the dominion of the earth that God entrusted to Adam, the serpent plotted to kill them and usurp his dominion as God’s under-ruler.
His coup overthrew God’s authority and order on earth. He caused a constitutional crisis unlike any other. Instead of the Word of God being the document that reveals the will of God, and which God gave as their only rule for believing, he undermined its authority and changed the truth of God into a lie. He convinced them with his lies to take his word over God’s. The plot produced a constitutional crisis; a calamity.
The investigation into the conspiracy which began in the garden was not completely uncovered until Jesus Christ exposed it. The Lord Jesus revealed that the devil was a murderer from the beginning and the father of lies. Jesus said that there was no truth in him. He revealed that man was to live by every word of God. He did not fall for the tempter’s lies.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/3/18 "God's Word, Power, and Faithfulness"
God's Word, Power, and Faithfulness
Dearly beloved, the creation, from the atom to the universe, attests to the brilliant genius, infinite wisdom, and glorious creative power of the One True God.
Romans 1:18-20 NIV: “Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
The creation is the proof of its Creator. It is self-evident, obvious; it is axiomatic.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” The Spirit of God moved, God said, and so it was. The power of God to perform His Word is set forth at the very commencement of revelation.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/2/18 "Our Cares and His Care"
Our Cares and His Care
Dearly beloved, have you ever been at the place that your troubles seemed so overwhelming that they caused you anxiety? I am sure we all have been there at one time or another.
I Peter 5:7 says: “Casting all your care upon Him; for he careth for you.”
This was written to the strangers that were scattered abroad, the Diaspora of Israel. These saints were born-again of incorruptible seed; they had God’s spirit, and were part of the Church. They had been scattered abroad because of persecution.
Read more ...Dearly Beloved 2/1/18 "God Makes a Way"
God Makes a Way
Dearly beloved of God, when you are between a rock and a hard place, God will make a way for you where there is no way.
The Lord Jesus Christ called Paul. He made him his apostle. The Lord gave him the revelation he proclaimed. He directed his paths and led him. Jesus Christ was his Lord and he served him faithfully. Paul was who he was by grace, not because of his past religious training, his religious standing, or his own works.
The Lord Jesus Christ gave Paul the gospel he preached. He did not receive it from mankind, neither was he taught it in Hebrew schools; he received it by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Galatians 1:1-11 explains how he received the gospel.
Read more ...