Jacob The Heel Catcher - Spiritual Adultery

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
Bread Crumbs “Feeling Refreshed”

We have all felt the oppressive burden of the powers of darkness that oppose with such a strength and ferocity that it seems that we will be unable to bear up underneath it. There is a sense of hopelessness, despair, even grief that grips the heart and results in the agony of despondency and distress. The mind of such a one under this pressure cries out for relief, attempting to see beyond the darkness, longing for any... glimpse of light. Then suddenly, it comes! The answer you hoped for, the decision you prayed for, the desire of your heart comes to pass. Night flees as a dawn of fresh light sheds its endearing and soothing benefit into the inner recesses of your tortured soul. Circumstances can bring even the strongest of believers into this condition of desperation and despair. It seems that our faith, that we esteemed as mighty, was hardly any faith at all. But the Lord is gracious and kind and with the victory that comes only from Him, our being is refreshed and hope rises to meet a new day. When you find yourself in the impossibility remind yourself that He has promised that His Spirit will soon be released to free you from the agony of the moment.

Isaiah 28:12 - To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

Pastor Loren Larson
Loren Larson Ministries
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
The Miracle of God’s Word

Proverbs 26:6
He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage.
...
A message sent by a fool is like cutting off the feet of the messenger which speaks of a message not making it to the point of reference. When we depend on a fool to deliver a message, it is like drinking damage to our lives. This is why it is so ridiculous to send the people of God to psychologists, instead of pointing them to Christ and His finished work as the answer the Lord has given for every need among humanity!

When the message of the cross is no longer the answer in our pulpits, then we have begun to pay fools to stand in our pulpits and speak psychological answers which is man’s answer for men's issues. May we be a people of repentance as we acknowledge the Truth of Christ (2 Timothy 2:24-26) and His provisional Truth through faith in His sacrifice!

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
Your Word for Today

"Wherefore, my Brethren, you also are become dead to the Law by the Body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to Him Who was raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God (Rom. 7:4).

While the Sixth Chapter of Romans reveals the Divine method of Sanctification, the Seventh Chapter sets out its impossibility under the bondage of Law.

The argument here is:

Just as death is the only force that can liberate from the claims of sin, so is it the only force that can liberate from the claims of Law.

Paul pictures a woman being married to a man and then, without Scriptural foundation divorcing him and marrying another. He said, “She shall be called an adulteress.” The Apostle is not teaching here on the law of divorce and remarriage. He is making a point regarding Victory in Christ.

The Believer is married to Christ. This means that Christ is our husband. If we are unfaithful to Christ, and we go to Law, which is the only place to go if our faith is not solidly anchored in Christ and the Cross, we are then committing “spiritual adultery.” We should also realize that if the Believer is living in spiritual adultery, the Holy Spirit simply will not help such a Believer. If He did, He would be condoning this act of rebellion, which He cannot do.

To trust anything other than Christ and the Cross is the highest insult directed at Christ, whether the Believer understands such or not. Sadly, because of not understanding the Cross, almost all modern Believers are living in a state of spiritual adultery. Actually, most Christians have never even heard the term, “spiritual adultery.”

Paul deals greatly with “Law” in this Seventh Chapter.

What does Paul mean by “Law”?

He is speaking of the Law of Moses, or any type of Law that we devise ourselves, or which is devised by a religious Denomination, etc. In other words, anything in which we place our faith, other than the Cross of Christ, becomes Law. In fact, many of the things in which we place our faith are good things, and, because they are good things, they deceive us.

Look closely at this example:

If a Believer tries to overcome sin by praying an hour each day, while he will definitely be blessed, he will not be delivered from sin.

The reason?

He has just turned prayer into “Law,” and the Holy Spirit will not work in that capacity, because such a Believer is committing spiritual adultery. I realize that comes as a shock, especially considering that there is nothing which is greater than a consecrated prayer life, other than our Faith. But it is very easy to turn such into Law; in fact, that’s exactly what will happen if the Believer doesn’t have his faith anchored solidly in the Cross of Christ. But when a Believer does have his Faith anchored squarely in the Cross of Christ, prayer then becomes the powerful force it is meant to be, because it is engaged in the proper manner.

Spiritual adultery is a position in which no Believer can afford to be. Simple Faith in Christ and the Cross will solve the problem."

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
Bread Crumbs “Out Of Season Fruit”

We live in dark and tumultuous times. It seems that evil continues to grow at an ever increasing and alarming rate. The truths of scripture, once respected even though ignored in large part by the world, is vehemently attacked when one presents it to society today. Even the church is failing to properly proclaim the gospel truth and to present lives of holiness and righteousness as evidence of a living Jesus. It is a dark season. It is a perilous time. Satan would like to remove all evidence of true Christianity from the face of the earth. But whenever a believer places his or her faith in Christ and His completed work on Calvary, the Holy Spirit is freed to produce fruit in that believer. God can still produce a living example of righteousness and send Holy Spirit power to all those who believe properly. And in this difficult day, we need our lights to shine bright. In this season of darkness, our Lord is still producing more abundant life in believers whose faith has the right object. He is still working in us “both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” And Jesus is still looking for some “out of season fruit!”

Mark 11:13 - And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

Pastor Loren Larson
Loren Larson Ministries
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
The Miracle of God’s Word

Proverbs 26:7
The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

The purpose of the legs is to walk, but when they hang limp, which is what ‘not being equal’ refers to, they cannot serve their purpose. This is equated with a parable being told by a fool. First, a parable is something told to help us have a better picture, or understanding, of that which if known, will be beneficial to us.

A fool is one who does not believe there is a God (Psalm 53:1), or it could also refer to the child of God who is living as foolish (Ephesians 5:15-16), instead of redeeming the time, and neither can carry nor relay the Word of God in its proper context just as lame legs cannot serve their purpose. Isaiah said, “Strengthen you the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees” (Isaiah 35:3), and this strengthening is for us today as God’s people just as it will be at a later time for the nation of Israel, therefore let us trust in the work of Christ and His cross, for there alone will we have legs that are not lame, and minds which can understand the Word of God!

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
Your Word for Today

"What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? God forbid. No, I had not known sin, but by the Law: for I had not known lust, except the Law had said, You shall not covet (Rom. 7:7).

When Paul first came to Christ, not understanding the Message of the Cross, because that word had not yet been given, Paul tried to live for the Lord the only way he knew, which was by the means of trying to keep the Law. Since he had come to Christ, was now Born-Again, even baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17), he thought surely he could now keep the Law. But he found that he could not! And neither can you, nor I, nor anyone else, for that matter!

The Law was, and is, God’s Standard of Righteousness. It tells us what man ought to do and what man ought to be. Furthermore, as with all Law, the penalty for breaking it is dire indeed! It is death, i.e., “spiritual death,” which is separation from God.

The Law was like a mirror into which man looks, and it shows him what he is, which is total depravity, but giving him no power to change what he sees. The Law, in other words can tell one where one should go, but it doesn’t tell him how to get there.

When Jesus came to this world, He was born “under the Law” (Gal. 4:4). He came as the “Last Adam” and the “Second Man” (I Cor. 15:45, 47). As such, He came to address the Law in every respect. In His Life, He kept the Law perfectly, never failing in even one point. He did it all for you and me. But there remained the problem of the broken law, which was the case with every human being. To address that, He had to go to the Cross, and there give His Perfect Body in Sacrifice by the pouring out of His Life’s Blood, which satisfied every demand of the broken Law, also satisfying the demands of a thrice-Holy God, which means that God accepted the Sacrifice. This means that the Law of God was now satisfied in every respect.

So, when a person accepts Christ, thereby placing their Faith in Him and what He did at the Cross, that person, in the Eyes of God, becomes a perfect Law-keeper because the Law has no more claim on Him. Every Believer has died in Christ, and the Law can no longer have a claim on a dead man. The “old man” is now dead and a “new man” is now risen, all in Christ.

That is the only manner in which one can be free of the demands of the Law; otherwise, every person not availing himself of the Salvation afforded by Christ will one day stand at the Great White Throne Judgment and will answer to the Law. To be sure, there will be no Redemption there, because there is no Redemption in the Law because all had broken the Law. All Redemption is solely in Christ and Christ Alone!"

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
Bread Crumbs “Believing God”

Someone has rightly said that a child of God must learn to always believe God. But faith can often elude us. In our minds we believe that God can do anything. True faith does believe that God can. But faith also trusts that God will. Just believing that God is capable, able, or powerful enough to accomplish the impossibility we require is not traveling quite far enough. We must know in our heart that God will do that which we have need of. Just take a closer look at what God has done for you in the past. Has He not always brought you through every storm, every difficulty, every hassle, every dilemma? If He has done it before then we can “know” that He is going to do it again. I yearn to lay aside the fear that doubt and unbelief brings to my tortured heart and mind. So I look to the Lord, knowing that He has heard my cry, knowing that He always answers prayer, knowing that He is even now walking on the water of my storm to bring peace to my situation. Today I ask the Lord to help my faith go beyond the acknowledgment that God can and let it be stretched to knowing that God will!

Mark 9:24 - And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Pastor Loren Larson
Loren Larson Ministries
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
The Miracle of God’s Word

Proverbs 26:8
As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.

The stone is not to be bound in the sling, for if it is bound, it cannot be slung and will not serve its purpose. This relates to the attempt to give honor to a fool, who in no way can function with honor. God says that humility comes before honor (Proverbs 15:33), and humility is only seen as legitimate by the Lord when there is, from the heart (Romans 10:10), a faith in (Dependence upon), that which Christ did on the cross at Calvary, which allows His grace into our lives (Galatians 2:21). There and there alone is the experience of honor, and to not preach the only message that allows one into the grace of God for initial salvation, or the child of God to learn how to continue to stand in that great salvation (Galatians 5:1), is to hold that stone (Christ) bound as if in a sling and unprofitable to us (Galatians 5:1-4, Revelation 3:1-6).

God spared not His Son, who is our Rock of Ages, but rather gave Him at the cross for us all, and whosoever believes upon Him will have Everlasting Life (John 3:16), and ALL things freely (Romans 8:32).

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
Your Word for Today

"For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I (Rom. 7:15).

Most Preachers, not understanding the Sixth Chapter of Romans, totally misunderstand this Seventh Chapter, thinking that it is speaking of Paul before his conversion. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Seventh Chapter of Romans proclaims Paul’s efforts at trying to live a victorious life for the Lord after he was saved, baptized with the Holy Spirit, and called to be an Apostle. At that time, he did not understand God’s Prescribed Order of Victory, because that particular Truth had not yet been given. In fact, it was given to the Apostle Paul, which he gave to us in these Chapters.

If the great Paul could not live for God outside of Faith in Christ and the Cross, how do you think you can do so?

He tried to live for the Lord, as stated, by trying to keep the Law, because that’s all he knew to do. He made the statement, “For I was alive without the Law once,” which refers to when he was saved on the road to Damascus. The Law actually had nothing to do with his Salvation, and that’s what he means by being “alive without the Law.”

But after getting saved, he then tried to live for the Lord by Commandments. When he did that, “sin revived.” This means that the sin nature was now ruling him. Then he said, “I died,” not meaning that he physically died, but rather that he failed the Lord (7:9). To be sure, there was nothing wrong with the Commandment, but there was something wrong with Paul. Even though he was Spirit-filled, he still couldn’t keep these Commandments, and neither can we!

If we are Spirit-filled, why can’t we keep them?

The Holy Spirit will not give power to the flesh. Many people think that when they are baptized with the Spirit, this means that the Lord will give them greater willpower, a greater spiritual, and emotional strength, etc., but He won’t! That’s not how He works! He works strictly on the order of Faith, and no other way. And when we say “faith,” we mean Faith in Christ and what Christ did at the Cross. That being done, the Holy Spirit then works mightily within our lives. Otherwise, He won’t!

Christ has already kept the Law and has done so in every respect; He thereby did what we could not do for ourselves.

You see, keeping all of the Law some of the time is not good enough. Likewise, keeping some of the Law all of the time is not good enough. One has to keep all of the Law all of the time, which, of course, is impossible. It is impossible because man, due to the Fall, is born into sin. This makes it impossible for him to do what he needs to do, at least in that fashion.

Paul was trying so hard and yet failing. And he did not understand why. That’s what the word “allow” in Verse 15 means; it should have been translated accordingly:

“For that which I do I understand not” (Rom. 7:15).

There are millions of Christians presently who are trying with all of their strength and might to live the life they ought to live, but nevertheless failing, and they simply don’t understand why. The very thing they want to do, which is to live a righteous life, they find they cannot do. And that which they don’t want to do, which is to fail the Lord by the means of sin, that’s what they find themselves doing.

This situation is the result of the Believer attempting to live for the Lord in all the wrong ways. He tries to live for the Lord by keeping Commandments, whatever those Commandments might be. The end result will be a failure. In fact, the failure, despite all the efforts otherwise, will become worse and worse.

Once again, the Cross is the only answer!"

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
Bread Crumbs “I Am Not Ashamed”

When a person finds something that they can depend on, something that never fails, something that never falls short of its promise, something that never leaves them disappointed, then they have located something that they will never be ashamed of. I'm glad to report that God has always delivered on everything that He ever promised me. In the Gospel I have found and experienced supernatural grace for salvation, the provision and power to be sanctified, and the comfort of knowing that no matter my performance, God will always stay right by my side. He has never deserted me. At times He has chastised me, but I know from His Word that He only chastises those He loves. He has never failed to guide or strengthen me. In every situation He has watched over my well-being and done for me what I could not do for myself. The bottom line is, I am not ashamed to proclaim Jesus Christ as my Savior, God as my Father, and the Holy Spirit as my Comforter. I have absolutely no reason whatsoever to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ! He has been so very good to me! And He always does whatsoever He has promised!

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Pastor Loren Larson
Loren Larson Ministries
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
The Miracle of God’s Word

Proverbs 26:9
As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

A thorn in the hand of a drunkard means absolutely nothing as he is without feeling, care or discernment, but later when the infection sets in, there will be great cost. This is related to a parable in the mouth of fools. Again, the fool has said in his heart there is no God (Psalm 53:1), therefore can never understand the parables of God’s Word (1 Corinthians 2:14), and never will until one day when it is too late and his eternal damnation is realized.

I’m so thankful that though I lived for many years as a fool while being a born again child of God, the Lord was patient and merciful to me. He found me bleeding and dying spiritually on that old Jericho road and poured in His oil and His wine by preaching to me His gospel once again. It was the message of the cross that saved me, and it is the message of the cross that continues to save me daily (Luke 9:23). Our God is so faithful and will continue to offer His people the good news of His Son Jesus Christ.

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
Your Word for Today

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not (Rom. 7:18).

Most Christians think that when a person comes to Christ, the Lord gives them an extra-strong willpower. Consequently, they now have, they think, the power to say “No!” to sin.

None of that is correct!

It may come as a shock and a surprise to most Christians, but the Devil can easily override the willpower of a person. The only “willpower” that the Lord gives a person is the will to say “Yes!” to Christ, which is, in fact, very important. This means that the worst sinner in the world, for example, one totally bound by alcohol or drugs, who cannot say “No!” to those vices, can, if he so desires, say “Yes!” to Christ. It is the same principle with the Believer.

The Lord doesn’t really give the Believer the capacity to say “No!” to sin, because we are “dead to sin.” A dead man doesn’t say anything. In this “newness of life,” however, we are given the capacity to say “Yes!” to Christ and His Way, which is the Way of the Cross. That is where the will of man begins and ends.

The Believer does not overcome by willpower; he overcomes by Faith. This means, as we have repeatedly stated, Faith in Christ and the Cross (Gal. 6:14).

If one studies the life of the Apostle Paul, one must come to the conclusion that he was a man with a strong constitution. I personally believe Paul had extremely strong willpower; however, he very clearly states in Romans 7:18 that he had the will to live the life he knew he ought to live, but “how to perform that which is good he found not.” His willpower, in other words, simply was not good enough. And neither is yours!

Law, as a barrier to the will, excites it; and the consciousness of sin thereby awakened produces in the Presence of God a conscience under sentence of death. Thus, the Commandment ordained unto life becomes, in fact, the instrument of death. “This do and you shall live” became death to man because his sinful nature refused to obey; and in so refusing his own conscience, it condemned him to death.

Thus, the Law was holy and each of its Commandments just and good, but it condemned to death all who failed to render to it a perfect obedience, as condemn it must! Such is the effect of Divine Law upon man’s carnal nature; the rest of this Seventh Chapter illustrates the doctrine by showing how fruitless is the effort of the “old man” to live as the “new man.” There is simply no such thing as moral evolution, i.e., self cannot control self; the flesh cannot control the flesh.

If the Believer is trying to live for God by any means other than Faith in Christ and the Cross, no matter how hard he tries, he will find himself sinking deeper and deeper into the morass of sin. That means the situation will become worse and worse.

There is no victory in “trying harder.” There is victory only in Christ and the Cross!"

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
Bread Crumbs “The Short Fuse”

Do you have a consistent problem of anger that rises up at the most inopportune moment? Some say that this is just an attribute passed on from generation to generation. They say, “my grandfather had this, my father had this, and I come by it naturally.” We excuse our inappropriate actions by declaring, “This is this just the way that I am.” Some of that may be true but not in the way most people understand it. When man fell in the garden of Eden, he became a creature that concentrated primarily upon self. We became “all about me.” The true reason that we are quick to let our tempers flare in an unbecoming fashion is simply because something has been said or done that offends us. We do not like this or we do not agree with that. Things are not being handled the way I think they should. So masking our displeasure with as many excuses as may come to our minds, we explode in an exhibition of anger. We are quick to blame others for our wrong behavior. If they would just do what pleases me, I would not be angry. I submit to you that having a quick temper is simply the evidence of a person’s misappropriated focus and concentration upon self.

Proverbs 15:18 - A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.

Pastor Loren Larson
Loren Larson Ministries
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
The Miracle of God’s Word

Proverbs 26:10
The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.

What a faithful God. He is so faithful that He will reward those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6), but His faithfulness reaches even to those who reject Him. He has promised to reward them also, according to the works of their hands (Jeremiah 25:14). The reward for the fool is folly, while the reward for the transgressor is death. We have heard it said that God is never without a job. He is either exalting those who humble themselves or He is humbling those who exalt themselves.

The God of the Bible has formed ALL things, even every heart alike (Psalm 33:15). He is a rewarder, and will reward all! I choose Christ, as He alone is my portion. He took my judgment of sin upon Himself, and He is my reward. Because of Christ and His atoning work at Calvary, God can now be found by all, trusted by all, and loved by all, but know this. He will reward all based on what they did or did not do with Christ, Jesus.

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
Your Word for Today

"For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the Law of my mind, bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin which is in my members (Rom. 7:22-23).

There are several “laws” listed here, all designed by God, which will definitely work as they were designed to work. Those laws are:

1. “The Law of God”: This is the moral part of the Mosaic Law, in which the inner man delighted, but which, within himself, he was unable to keep. This is, in effect, The Ten Commandments (Ex., Chpt. 20).

2. “The Law of the mind”: This is the mind of the redeemed man, which wants to walk in victory. It has the desire and the will; but, within itself, it is insufficient.

3. “The Law of sin”: This is the sin nature, which is stronger than the “Law of the mind,” and which brings a person into spiritual captivity — captivity, in some way, to sin. The “Law of the mind” wants to serve the “Law of God,” but not being strong enough within itself, instead finds the flesh serving “the Law of sin” (Rom. 7:25). This is the same as the “Law of sin and death” of Romans 8:2. That’s the reason the Apostle said, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (7:24). Regrettably, this is exactly where most Christians are, at least those who sincerely want to live for God.

4. “The Law of Faith” (Rom. 3:27): This is the “law” designed by God which opens up the next law, which we will momentarily discuss. The “Law of Faith” refers strictly to Faith in Christ and His Finished Work.

5. “The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus”: This is the most powerful law in the universe; it is the only law which is more powerful than the “Law of sin and death,” which is the same as the “Law of sin” of 7:23.

If the Believer doesn’t function according to “the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus,” he cannot walk in victory, cannot enjoy more abundant life, and he is, in fact, in danger of losing his way with God, even as millions already have.

These are laws which were designed by God; to be sure, these laws will always have the intended effect.

“The Law of sin and death” is the second most powerful law in the universe. It has filled the Earth with graves and has caused untold pain, sickness, suffering, and catastrophe. The unconverted man keeps trying to overcome this law by all type of means, but he cannot. Unfortunately, the redeemed man tries to do the same thing. Either through ignorance or unbelief, with the results being the same in either case, far too many Believers attempt to overcome this terrible “Law of sin and death” by means other than “The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus” (8:2). It cannot be done, and it is not meant to be done.

We learn just how powerful “the Law of sin and death” actually is by understanding the price that had to be paid in order for this law to be overcome. That price was the Cross of Christ! That’s the reason that Paul preached the Cross. That’s the reason we preach the Cross. There is no other way."

—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
Bread Crumbs “Hope”

Hope in the heart of every human being is essential in order to find any degree of value in everyday life. A human being can live for a limited time without food or water. But the inner drive that keeps the human spirit moving forward is hope existent in the individual heart. Without hope an individual will soon wither. His will to live collapses and he resigns himself to the misery of his experiences, looking forward to the day that the present sorrow will cease and death takes him away. Dominated by sin, destroyed by sickness, debilitated by sorrow, the human race stood hopeless and exasperated. But under the direction of an all-knowing and ever merciful God, Jesus Christ came to redeem men from their state of helplessness and hopelessness. Righteousness became attainable. Sins ever present stain could finally and forever be removed. Hope like a beacon from a lighthouse set high above the stormy sea, began to send out a guiding light, leading those who would believe to a final and safe destination. In Christ there is hope for those who feel hopeless. Call on Him today and let hope arise like a new day in your heart.

Psalm 33:22 - Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

Pastor Loren Larson
Loren Larson Ministries
 
Sep 3, 2016
6,337
527
113
The Miracle of God’s Word

Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

As a dog returns to eat his own vomit when he is sick, so is the fool that returns to his own folly. The dog became sick and vomited out that which was not needed, and the fool, just as the dog, has no good sense not to keep returning to his folly. The fool says in his heart there is no God (Psalm 53:1), and outside of knowing God, there is only folly, which is foolishness. Remember the fool thinks he is wise in his own eyes, but God rules over all and He is the One who sees the fool’s life as one only of folly.

Until the Christian learns the message of the cross as it pertains to daily victory, they can just as easily be found returning to the same pile of vomit over and over. Return to the cross and live, for it is better than the folly of those who reject this great Truth!

Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!

Pastor Curtis