Month: January 2015

BELIEVE HIM

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BELIEVE HIM

By Rick Mathes

John 11:40 Jesus •said to her, ” Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

Do you want to step into glory? The key to heaven’s gate is belief. It’s too simple. Why do we have to complicate it with so many man-made distinctives? He simply instructs us to have faith and to believe. Faith, for His purposes, is beyond our grasp. What I mean is this: when we say “I can’t” He says, “I can” and if we act on that faith in Him it is called belief and we have stepped out of the boat. It’s all about Him while we walk on Living Waters.

The most obvious inquirer is the questioning unbeliever. What a blessing to have someone approach you and ask, “What must I do to be saved?” Now they may not use those exact words but the message is the same. We all want to be loved and we aren’t to our satisfaction until we believe and are loved by Jesus. Our love for each other is self-gratifying will our love for each other through Him is self-denying.

The most exciting confrontation with Christ is the anxious seeker. Follow this logic:

  • I don’t know I don’t know
  • I don’t know I know
  • I know I don’t know
  • I know I know

Which of these is the inquirer you are being confronted with?

Let’s take a look at the suffering believer for a moment. Life can be quite a drama with its ups and downs. The real world has some tough places we have to pass through on our way home. When you believe in Him you see Him being glorified in all your experiences of sickness, stress, fear and the world of unbelievers. Just stand fast and it will pass.

I can speak for me that I have often been a discouraged worker. It’s taking me many years to learn and accept that God has never had a bad day. I may not like how things are going now bujt when I look back at all that has happened; my life has been a masterpiece of His genius.

Last but not least is the dying Christian. How you die displays how you lived. Believers die believing.

BELIEVE AND TURN

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BELIEVE AND TURN

By Rick Mathes

Acts 11:21 (NASB77) 21  And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

When you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord you automatically turn to Him in times of need It is a reflex action that certified your admission to be true and without fabrication. Your knees drop to the floor and hyour heart and soul soar like an eagle. Your strength is renewed and you are in joyous submission to your King. Your commission is strength ended by the transmission of your willingness to His acceptance.

As a true Christian your whole life is through Christ. Like hot water through aromatic coffee grounds what goes in comes out completely different and fully acceptable to the Lord. Your love is true and it rises to only one approval: that which only Jesus can bestow.

Agape love can do nothing other but evoke dedicated trust from all it touches. Our Lord never lets those who are His down. He is completely trustworthy and fellowship with Him and His is inevitable; all other social contacts than those of the church are incomparable and forced. You      can’t hang out with dirty people and not get dirty. WE are in this world but not of it. Our home is our reward and our pilgrimage of the Lord’s assignment to affect His will.

It becomes a serious act of worship to go about the work of the Father. There is a joy that only a child of the promise would experience and a feeling only someone of like salvation would understand. Being and doing service in His will gives a perfect fit of safety and contentment.

The resources that are needs come from unexpected places and it really becomes humorous to see the Lord perform the task or provide the resource prayed for. I never tire of His surprises!

The wages of sin is death but the reward of our Lord’s imputed righteousness is eternity in God’s presence. Now I don’t know for sure what happens the other side of our last heartbeat but I believe the Lord gave me a glimpse of it one night when I repented of my sins back to the moment of my birth, as well as I could remember.

I felt encompassed by love like being immersed under water. Then the love soaked through me and I became love!

I know, I know that if that’s all eternity is, that’s all I want.

BELIEVE A LIE

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BELIEVE A LIE?

By Rick Mathes

Romans 5:5 (NASB) 5  and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

God makes a promise, faith believes it, hope anticipates it and patience quietly awaits it. Our hope is that we can discern the lie and it’s by our faith that He will lead us out of the flames into the living water.

Thomas Scott

No affliction nor temptation, no guilt nor power of sin, no wounded spirit nor terrified conscience should induce us to despair of help and comfort from God.

All unbelief is the belief of a lie.

Think. What would you do without Jesus? Do you really believe the lie that you can do it your way and earn your own right to heaven? What god will you turn to? Jesus said that He would lay His life down for you and then pick it back up. He did it, that settles it, and I believe!

Jesus said from the cross, “It is finished!” and after the white throne judgment He is going to say, “It is done.” When He does not even God will be able to save you. That’s right! Not even God Himself. There is no “Plan B” in hell; no options. I don’t like that so I chose to live and at least make an effort to lift m myself back up and have a chance of making up for all the people, places and things I have damaged beyond repair.

Don’t wait. You never know when it’s your last chance.

Alexander MacLaren

Unbelief is criminal because it is a moral act, an act of the whole nature. Belief or unbelief is a test of man’s whole spiritual condition because it is the whole being of affections, will, conscience as well as the understanding which are concerned in it.

Make a choice. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the Life.” Then He said, “Do you believe this?” If you do then act like it. When people get to know you do they get to know Jesus or the devil. Don’t wait until there isn’t an option: this is urgent.

BELIEVE

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BELIEVE

By Rick Mathes

Acts 16:31 and they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.”

Faith is reaching beyond your grasp and when you do in Christ you become a believer. So the Christian faith begins with you believing in Him. Once I knew I knew He rose from the dead, I believed and have never turned back since. It is finished business because the Lord said so from the Cross but it isn’t done. He doesn’t announce that until after the white throne judgment when He will say, “It is done.”

The bone chilling consequence of this is that there will be a moment, a blink of an eye from that point forward no one will be able to be saved. It will be too late for those that have put it off and rejected Jesus as their Lord. The Muslims, Roman Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science and other eastern cults will drop into the flaming pit, the abyss of the dark-side with evil personified in Father Satan.

Receiving our Lord’s offer is the best choice you will ever have to make. His grace is handed to you and all it costs is everything you have and you are. In fact, the rest of your life is none of your business. You didn’t come to Him, He extended His hand, the Master’s hand and you reached back a slave evermore subservient to His slightest wish. This is the biblical truth! Don’t let anyone “soft-soap” you out of this fact with any scripture twisting.

He earned your trust through the witnesses of the sixty-six book library we call our Bible. They looked forward to the Cross and now we look backward to the same Cross.

WE do this to hear His voice ring through the ages in word and deed; As Josh McDowell has put it in his book “Evidence Deserves a Verdict.” Is Jesus a liar, lunatic or Lord? Let the Holy Spirit open your eares to hear the saints as they speak to you from the precious pages of His gospel.

“Look and be saved!” Moses had a foreshadow of His crucifixion. By His stripes we have been healed. Once you look into those pitiful eyes of our dying Savior, what choice is there but to yield to His call, “Believe in Me and be saved.” What is your plan B compared to Him?

BEFORE THE DAWN

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BEFORE THE DAWN

By Rick Mathes 

John 3:36 (NASB77) 36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

The world is a howling wilderness to those who go recklessly through it, stumbling in their self-made darkness: world gone mad. They have no concept of the consequences of their random and unleashed actions of sinful aggressions. It becomes a merry-go-round of evil, careening before them with a forever of no beginnings or ends of cowardly suicide of integrity and character.

Another night of lurking fear as the streets darken and the shadows flee the sundown and beams of thinning traffic headlights: loneliness no human should ever be asked to endure. Road-rage and taunt nerves cause tempers to flare and fights to spontaneously ignite. The irresistible lure of the taverns and relief of liquid levity is only one swallow away: the devil knows. “Pass that joint my way, bro.” The shakes from last night still linger. I can’t believe there is another day when I prayed last night would be my last: a dog returning to his vomit.

My sorrow is overwhelming me when I revue those shadows that follow me. Skinned knuckles, bloody mouth, vomit and shame: night after night: Can I ever be truly sorry for living the same horrors day after day, after day, after day?

The shroud of death, coffin and hearse are lined up and prepared for my demise: my enemies would rejoice. “Oh look, there’s a big Mack truck!” It’s coming my way and all I need is a sharp turn to the left and this nightmare would end and who would care: no one? They can hold my funeral in a phone booth.

Some would fake tears and regrets but the day would dawn and if the truth be said, my passing into oblivion of the abyss would be secretly celebrated. What hope is there for me for you for that matter?

If ever there was a time for the Holy Spirit to breathe His life into me once again it is now and I pray that it will be for you also! Suck it up and drink it in deeply right now as you read this.

I need the right loving spirit to give me a Son-rise (sunrise) in my soul that will quench my prideful and hardened heart. I don’t even know what “humble” is so I cry out to You Lord, “I can’t!” and I can hear the heavens echo your response, “I CAN!”

I come to your Cross and beg forgiveness and as your Word promises, you forgive me with your atoning blood. Help me to accept it and put the past behind. It keeps rearing its ugliness to destroy the flickering joy within me. I receive the forgiveness and pledge to become a forgiver, forever.

The dawn has come to light and the night drifts slowly into the horizon of defeat. It has not power over the Light of the Word, the only Son of God, and my Savior!

BEFORE THE DAWN

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BEFORE THE DAWN

By Rick Mathes 

John 3:36 (NASB77) 36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

The world is a howling wilderness to those who go recklessly through it, stumbling in their self-made darkness: world gone mad. They have no concept of the consequences of their random and unleashed actions of sinful aggressions. It becomes a merry-go-round of evil, careening before them with a forever of no beginnings or ends of cowardly suicide of integrity and character.

Another night of lurking fear as the streets darken and the shadows flee the sundown and beams of thinning traffic headlights: loneliness no human should ever be asked to endure. Road-rage and taunt nerves cause tempers to flare and fights to spontaneously ignite. The irresistible lure of the taverns and relief of liquid levity is only one swallow away: the devil knows. “Pass that joint my way, bro.” The shakes from last night still linger. I can’t believe there is another day when I prayed last night would be my last: a dog returning to his vomit.

My sorrow is overwhelming me when I revue those shadows that follow me. Skinned knuckles, bloody mouth, vomit and shame: night after night: Can I ever be truly sorry for living the same horrors day after day, after day, after day?

The shroud of death, coffin and hearse are lined up and prepared for my demise: my enemies would rejoice. “Oh look, there’s a big Mack truck!” It’s coming my way and all I need is a sharp turn to the left and this nightmare would end and who would care: no one? They can hold my funeral in a phone booth.

Some would fake tears and regrets but the day would dawn and if the truth be said, my passing into oblivion of the abyss would be secretly celebrated. What hope is there for me for you for that matter?

If ever there was a time for the Holy Spirit to breathe His life into me once again it is now and I pray that it will be for you also! Suck it up and drink it in deeply right now as you read this.

I need the right loving spirit to give me a Son-rise (sunrise) in my soul that will quench my prideful and hardened heart. I don’t even know what “humble” is so I cry out to You Lord, “I can’t!” and I can hear the heavens echo your response, “I CAN!”

I come to your Cross and beg forgiveness and as your Word promises, you forgive me with your atoning blood. Help me to accept it and put the past behind. It keeps rearing its ugliness to destroy the flickering joy within me. I receive the forgiveness and pledge to become a forgiver, forever.

The dawn has come to light and the night drifts slowly into the horizon of defeat. It has not power over the Light of the Word, the only Son of God, and my Savior!

10 FAVORITE MESSAGES

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BROADCASTS iTunes

  1. 100 Shirts
  2. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-did-it-to-me/id394124782?i=1199451132&mt=2
  3. A Father’s Discipline
  4. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missiongate/Mission-Gate-Podcast-36.mp3
  5. Agree to Disagree
  6. http://traffic.libsyn..com/missiongate/Mission-Gate-Podcast-18.mp3
  7. At the Well
  8. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/at-the-well/id39424782?i=121885793&mt=2
  9. Backslider Anonymous
  10. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/backslider-anonymous/id394124782?i=158531924&mt=2
  11. Back to Basics Part 1
  12. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missiongate/Mission-Gate-Podcast-14.mp3
  1. Back to Basics Part 2
  2. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missiongate/Mission-Gate-Podcast-15.mp3
  3. Bad Dates
  4. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bad-dates/id394124782?i=120756349&mt=2
  5. Bless the Lord
  6. http://traffic.libsyn.com/missiongate/Mission-Gate-Podcast-29.mp3
  7. Brother O
  8. http://traffic.libsyn.com/misisongate/Mission-Gate-Podcast-6.mp3

BEARING FRUIT

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BEARING FRUIT

By Rick Mathes

Colossians 1:10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

No one can say for certain if another person is saved or not because even God’s elect will slip and sin from time to time. As a shepherd, I look for the fruit of the Spirit to craft a sermon or Bible study for my sheep. There are definite sign posts along the narrow road to heaven or the wide highway to hell.

One very telling characteristic of a fellow believer is we put away childish things. There was a time when we did some really crazy things and we marvel that we escaped unscathed. So thee was a time when it was fun to say it was fun, then it because fun to say it was crazy but then came the time when it was crazy to say this was fun. That’s when we had to put them away.

Another effort a born again believer will make is to cultivate a good solid understanding of God’s Word. Unless someone has their head in the bible, I really doubt they know Jesus for who He is. If you are His, you read His love letters to you (The Bible).

Striving after Christ’s ideal model of a follower of His is found in Mathew chapter 5 and is called the Beatitudes. These guidelines are in a progression so you need to do the first before you tackle the second and then the third and so on to of all things, persecution. If you do the opposite of each step you have the stairway to hell.

The best signpost of your being on the narrow road is your partaking of deeper things. The Word is shallow enough for an infant to splash in and yet can be deep enough to drown an elephant.

It mainly boils down to overcoming temptation. My surest test of your salvation is when you consider the temptation a testing of the Lord to find out how deep your love for Him is. The most valid assurance of your love for Him is your hate of sin. You hate the sin that killed God’s Son. That despising of evil things means you are bearing good fruit of good things. Sounds like you are saved! AMEN.

BE TOUGH

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BE TOUGH

By Rick Mathes

Acts 26:19 Consequently, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision,

I encourage you to take the blows which came to shape us and to fulfil His vision for us.

There it stood, a deformed, cracked and huge block of useless marble in the quarry. It was discarded to the rubble heap and past over by all the leading artists of the day except one, Michelangelo. He requested that block of discolored and ugly marble and sculpted it into the finest statue of King David in the whole world. He was once asked, “How did you make such a world-class masterpiece out of this useless stone?” He responded, “I just chipped away all that wasn’t David.” And so it is in our lives as the Lord shapes us back into His image and likeness.

Disobedience in an invitation for the hammer blows to begin and boy they sure do!

The first blow you may suffer is the loss of usefulness. When you begin to be disobedient to His will, nothing you touch will be blessed. Those what are walking in the Spirit will see right through you; you can’t be part saved nor obedient, any compromise with either disqualifies your attempt of good works to the trash bin in flames.

Your inner-strength will shrivel and collapse within you. The Word dries up and the Spirit steps back and let’s Satan have a go at you in this weakened condition. You need Father God to take a belt to your butt and He will. God does not approve of you getting yourself into this weakened condition.

There is no substantive reward when you are shaking the bars of your self-imposed jail cell. All you have worked so hard for will slip away and you will wind up with a handful of sawdust and a shadow of what might have been.

Your health begins to fail as your family abandons you one after another until your very life is at risk. You wealth and reputation become history.

The battering will fall on you like a sledge hammer until you obey your Creator as a creature of His hand is commanded to do so. Understand that God so loved the world that He didn’t send a committee. He sent Jesus and all He wants to hear from you when He speaks to you is, “Yes sir!”

Thank you Jesus that I have been an anvil that has been the cause of many broken hammers: all in your strength for your glory and honor.

BE SAVED

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BE SAVED

By Rick Mathes

Acts 16:30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

What successful words can you ever expect to hear but, “What must I do to be saved?” My heart pounds at the prospect of leading my next soul out of the clutches of Satan into the loving arms of Jesus. Here is a simply plan of salvation:

  • Acknowledgement:     Lk 18:13
  • Repentance:               Lk 13:3
  • Confession:                 Rom 10:9
  • Forsake:                      Isa 55:7
  • Believe:                       Mk 16:16
  • Receive:                      Jn 1:11-12

I had a Roman Catholic mentality and convinced myself that if I could deal with Satan here could deal with him there. I knew I was going to hell and I accepted that as a given. When I learned the word “Tetelestai” (it is finished) I turned startled to my pastor and asked, “Is it really true? Are my sins all forgiven?” He assured me they were and I cried like a baby. I had been saved right on the spot. What is it to be saved, you ask?

My tool-box was emptied. I couldn’t handle my old problems in the old way. Although my sinful past came crushing down on me, I was, so I thought, defenseless and it was painful. In fact the year after this experience with the Holy Spirit was worse that the year I was born again. What I hadn’t learned was that my new Daddy had it all in His hands. He proved His love to me and “It came to pass” became my favorite KJV verse. AMEN?

This blessing continued and I learned the salvation process continues. I had been saved from the punishment of past sins and now I was delivered from present sins. I learned to love the Lord more than the sin. It took and continues to take some spiritual weight lifting but I am having the time of my life pursuing the way, the truth and the life.

So at my advanced age now I look into the future and I can see it holds a life without even a temptation or sin. Rest assured, had there been any way but Christ that I hadn’t taken I would have tried it. Jesus said it best when He said, “No one comes to the Father but through Me.” That says it all: are you reaching out to be saved? Then accept Him as your Lord right now!