Letter From A Mother To A Daughter

“My dear girl, the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through. If when we talk, I repeat the same thing a thousand times, don’t interrupt to say: “You said the same thing a minute ago”…Just listen, please. Try to remember the times when you were little and I would read the same story night after night until you would fall asleep. When I don’t want to take a bath, don’t be mad and don’t embarrass me. Remember when I had to run after you making excuses and trying to get you to take a shower when you were just a girl? When you see how ignorant I am when it comes to new technology, give me the time to learn and don’t look at me that way…remember, honey, I patiently taught you how to do many things like eating appropriately, getting dressed, combing your hair and dealing with life’s issues every day…the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I am going through. If I occasionally lose track of what we’re talking about, give me the time to remember, and if I can’t, don’t be nervous, impatient or arrogant. Just know in your heart that the most important thing for me is to be with you. And when my old, tired legs don’t let me move as quickly as before, give me your hand the same way that I offered mine to you when you first walked. When those days come, don’t feel sad…just be with me, and understand me while I get to the end of my life with love. I’ll cherish and thank you for the gift of time and joy we shared. With a big smile and the huge love I’ve always had for you, I just want to say, I love you…my darling daughter.”

SHARING

Law & Grace

“For by the law is the knowledge of sin” Romans 3:20
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Galatians 3:24

God’s law convicts the sinner of his guilt, and thus his or her need of salvation by grace. It is not possible to understand the need for grace without the conviction of sin and the condemnation thereof. To just apply the law without the availability of salvation by grace, would leave one hopelessly lost.

Matthew 9:12 – “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.” It is only when people realize that they have a problem, does the solution for the problem become meaningful. Romans 5:20 – “Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Where the law has not entered, then the offence of sin is not comprehended for conviction unto repentance, and thus the provision of grace is not fully realized.

The Holy Spirit uses the law of God to convict the sinner of his or her sin unto a godly sorrow over sin, because by the law is the knowledge of sin. Only when one is convicted by the Holy Spirit using the law to reveal one’s sin condition and sin, will this godly sorrow be present to work repentance unto salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

BEWARE! of that which claims to champion grace, while denying the law on every turn, saying it has no place since we are under grace. Thus, there is a refusal on the part of some to teach and proclaim the principles of the law as being the true doctrine on sin and righteousness.

Can a person really seek and obtain forgiveness and salvation if they are not convicted by the law of the knowledge of sin? Can a person really understand grace without first realizing what grace is the remedy for? Will grace abound where there is no understanding or knowledge of sin abounding? To preach grace without preaching the law is to omit what will bring the sinner to real repentance unto salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can realize no more of grace than we realize our sin condition.

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” Psalm 19:7

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Ecumenicalism Abounds

Before Christ’s ascension, He commissioned the New Testament Church to preach the gospel, baptize the converts, and teach them to observe all things that He had commanded, Matthew 28:18-20. No other license is needed, nor does this regular work of the church depend on other things to be its cause or catalyst.

The magical combination of power to reach lost sinners has always been: “the preaching of the gospel” (1 Corinthians 1:21) and “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). In Luke 16, the rich man who died and in hell lift up his eyes, cried that if one went back from the dead, his brothers would repent. But the answer was, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Multitudes of decisions, made in every religion, are made due to fear, emotional upsets, human persuasions, passions, coercions, etc., but the facts are that human awakenings, reformations, passions, intentions and commitments are not the same thing as a conversion wrought due to the sowing of the incorruptible seed (God’s Word) and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Paul stated that he had planted and Apollos watered, but God gave the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

God’s people are commanded to pray without ceasing. Without prayer, there is no effective watch against temptation, and no real connection with the Lord’s leadership and power. Jesus taught that prayer is not a matter of an outward display, but an effectual, fervent communication on the individual’s part with God.

God commands the Body of Christ, i.e., the local church, to be doctrinally pure and sound. We are to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered. We are to speak and stand for sound doctrine. We are to remain separate from everything not according to the true doctrines of the scripture. We are commanded to try the spirits whether they are of God or man (1 John 4:1) and to prove that which is acceptable unto the Lord, and have no fellowship with that which is not (Ephesians 5:10-17). We are to reprove doctrinal instability (Titus 1:9), rebuke those things that are not upright according to the truth of the gospel (Galatians 2:14), and come out from among that which is false, that we be not a partaker of their sins (Revelation 18:4).

Yet today, when the religious initiatives of men are put forth, by even those known to espouse false doctrine, if you don’t join up with their initiatives, recommend their productions, and laud the positive aspects of their works, the ecumenical spirits accuse you of missing the boat. As a preacher of the 1950’s said, “They tell me that I missed the boat, but I wasn’t looking to get on board.”

“By their fruits ye shall know them.” If the movies and ecumenical services had any real gospel impact, the first people being converted from error unto the truth, would be the makers and producers themselves. But that’s not happening! Rather, they are just being strengthened in their own religious error, while turning the sentiments of people against those who join not in with their religious errors! BE NOT DECEIVED!

SHARING

Repentance, Confession, Forsaking, Forgiveness, Cleansing

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Proverbs 28:13

Confess: to admit or acknowledge one’s sins; to own up to one’s guilt.

Confession necessarily involves repentance of sins committed. It is having a godly sorrow over having sinned against God. By this broken and contrite spirit, the heart, mind and conscience is restored with God: “For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” 2 Corinthians 7:11

The grounds upon which one is forgiven and cleansed is the propitiation power of the blood of Jesus, that has made the atonement for all sin: “He is the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:2). “…the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

As we confess ours sins, “he is faithful and just to forgive us ours sins” (1 John 1:9). He is faithful to His promise to forgive. He forgives due to His righteousness, for it would be unjust to punish sin a second time, since the penalty of the believers’ sins have already been paid for on Calvary’s cross.

Where there is true repentance and confession and forgiveness, there will also be cleansing. The same blood that has the atoning power, also has the cleansing power: “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). As Priest, He has atoned for the penalty of all sin; as an advocate, He restores the soul. Sin interrupts our communion with God; the advocate restores it. The ability of His power to do these things is guaranteed by the righteousness of His person and the value of His propitiation, and these are unchangeable.

Before Peter sinned, Christ prayed for him; when he sinned, He looked on him; and when he repented, He restored him–so effectively that Peter was able to strengthen his brother Apostles. When Christ forgave the woman taken in adultery in John 8:11 – “And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more.” The fruit of repentance, confession, forsaking, forgiveness, cleansing, is to NOT go out and continue to practice that same sin.

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Discernment

“And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” Acts 9:6

“They” say, if you come to a fork in the road, pick it up. It would be great if life was that simple, but it isn’t. Figuring out what to do and how to do it requires uninhibited earnest. Life’s challenge is to become honest with truth and fact, rather than be predisposed by our preferences.

We must not hide behind notions that we are victims or short-changed. We must address the reality that our life is shaped by the sum of our decisions. There are no trial runs, no rehearsals. For our decisions to be right, our discernment must be accurate.

We cannot make our life become something just by thinking that’s what we want it to be. Rather ,our life is developed according to our reactions to what really is, not what we wish it to be. Positive psychology is essential to bear up under the responsibilities of life, but beware: it can also blind the mind to right discernment.

Right discernment requires that we embrace first and foremost Christ to be the Lord of all, unto having the utmost sincerity about His will to be done, instead of our own.

Right discernment necessarily involves our first priority being to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), without neglect or failure of consideration.

Right discernment will only be realized when our heart is singular unto proving what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Solomon went from being the wisest man on earth to one of history’s biggest fools because he failed to heed his own counsel: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23

Right discernment is the blessing of God’s light upon those who deny themselves and take up their cross consistently to follow Him. “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord.” (Hosea 6:3) “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that waverth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8)

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