Tag: born again

FROM GOD

By Rick Mathes

Acts 5:39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.

When I was quite young I was cleaning out our garage and I stumbled upon a box of letters my natural dad had mailed to my mom with in a field of battle in WWII before he paid the ultimate cost with his life. The first thing I noticed was that our handwriting was very similar and I got an insight to a daddy I had no memory of. Most important was when I touched the letter with my hand I felt a connection with him as I do my Jesus when I handle the Holy Bible. The Word of God is just that, the words of Jesus to us. It’s a love letter from God and it sends us the instructions we need to follow from our maker that will optimize His image and likeness in us. Isn’t that just like the daddy (Abba) you have always wanted; lessons and instructions from God?

Our first and most important task is to pick up our cross and follow Him. We must die to self so that all of His gifts may be seeped, watered and blossomed. This is the invitation as we fervently pray in one accord.

The natural outcome of his death to self and resurrection in Him is to teach the gospel or be a soul winning evangelist. Both gifts come graciously from the hand of God empowered and guided by His partner the Holy Spirit. I have never attended or lead a Bible study that I haven’t gotten something worthwhile out of it. You just need to put up your spiritual antennae and let the Holy Spirit lead. When you’ve attended a powerful study you just have to tell someone and that is evangelism.

Discussing the Word is of God but dividing is of the devil. There aren’t any denominations in heaven. Father God is not a Presbyterian. Jesus is not a Southern Baptist and the Holy Spirit is not a Pentecostal. It isn’t what you know that get’s you to heaven, it’s who you know

When the Spirit is upon us we preach Jesus and are responsible to His commands as we exhort, rebuke and encourage fellow Christians with His words and admonishments: all from God. Iron truly does sharpen iron. Remember He sent them out in twos. There was much wisdom in this and we should learn from it.

We can accept what is of the devil by commission, omission, and permission. You can flat out boldly sin: commission. You can package your sin in religion: omission. Or you can permit others to sin without correcting: permission. All three are smoldering form the flames of hell because they aren’t from God, they are from Reverend Lucifer!

FREEDOM

By Rick Mathes

Romans 5:8 (NASB) ⁸  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Over 30 years ago, on my knees, “It is finished!” sunk into the depth of my soul and with sobbing and many tears I stood up, lifted my hands to the King and exclaimed, “I’m born again!” I have relived that moment hundreds of time. His death on the Cross says it al.

Francois Fenelon: The greatest of all crosses is self. If we die in part every day, we shall have but little to do on the last. These daily deaths will destroy the power of the final dying.

The death to self can and is expressed in many ways.

There is a universal salvation that encompassed the entire Church “the Body of Christ”. Every ethnic origin and color beautifully forms the rainbow of salvation. Our skin tones are all to God’s glory and pleasing to His eyes. Why should we separate over anything that Jesus loves? Racial prejudice is a virus for the disease of sin.

We are most familiar with the redemptive value of a born again experience. We have “broke cuffs” that is freed ourselves from the chains of sin. Satan’s grip has lost it’s strength and we have slipped out of his grasp.

The universal salvation of all is the seal of His covenant with His people. We are the “called out ones,” the “royal priesthood.” Where we stand is holy ground and the covenant because the covenant He signed was in His blood. The gates of Hell cannot ever turn against or break us. Satan’s power has been nullified and he is dropping like a rock into the bottomless abyss of flames without hope of restoration to his former estate of being the “morning star. Lucifer is finished too!

The basic unit of all is the family on its knees at the feet of their Savior, Jesus Christ. This intimate fellowship is the heart of our Lord. We are made in His image and likeness and the family is returning to their first nature and leaving their old world behind in the dust. This is what the rapture is all about. What a glorious day that will be when we can also say, “It is finished!”

 

 

 

 

FREE FREEDOM

By Rick Mathes

Galatians 5:1 (NASB) ¹ It was for freedom that Christ set us free;

Therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

It’s for freedom that Christ has set us free, nothing else. Because with freedom all of His blessings will flow, that is freedom in Him. Essentially, we become cuffed to Him and walk in His ways of the freedom that His grace draws us to. We are unshackled from hell and welcomed into a world of free flowing choices that please Him and bless us and ours.

Oh how our flesh wars against this with fighting, resisting, and restricting the Holy Spirit!

It shames me to be defeated in any battle with the devil especially the small ones. I am so ashamed that my guard was down and my knees were weak from lack of doing spiritual push-ups and staying in battle-ready conditioning.

There is a primary and secondary cause for everything. This explains creation and illuminates to a large extent the Creator or Intelligent First Cause. The old adage, “I think, therefore I am” illustrates the I AM that must have always been.

Everything that has every happened to you has affected your reasoning and the choices that you make. Garbage in and garbage out: you hard-drive needs to be updated with the gospel according to Jesus for you to make the decisions that His irresistible grace draws you to.

Now think of this: A dog will bite the threatening stick, not the hand that is waving it.

It isn’t going to hell that should deter a sinner; that’s the stick. Sin is the hand that holds it.

It isn’t going to prison that should deter crime, that’s the stick. Crime is the hand that holds it.

We are no longer slaves to sin when we conquer the master that holds the stick and reach out to the Master that holds the rod and the staff. Make a choice today to see sin for what it is: it murdered our Lord and Satan held it until death stung Jesus and died. He is risen!

FOUR R’S

By Rick Mathes

Romans 1:25 for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

A favorite study of mine is to immerse myself into the works of Francis Schaefer and his, “How Then Shall We Live?” He lists reform, revival and revolution as our only hope of salvation for our nation. I have added what he assumed to be necessary, regeneration. We must be “born again” before we reform our doctrine or have a revival. It is only then that our churches will explode in an authentic awakening and point our swords in the same direction.

It all begins with mighty men in the pulpits that fear God and hate sin. Satan knows he conquer the church from the pulpit for a season so he has all his demons infiltrating the Bible colleges, seminaries and weak churches. There are too many preachers and teachers that smell like sulfur. Where there is smoke there is fire!

There is only one objective truth. Even the statement, “There is no such thing as an absolute” is itself a relative statement if it be true. He law of non-contradiction, A cannot be non-A, cannot be contradicted. A fact is a fact. A truth cannot be part true and remain truth. The Bible’s sixty-six books are seamless and the original manuscripts are without error. No man could have done this remarkable work much less even conceive of it. The Word is supernatural and only understandable through the Holy Spirit’s teaching.

My question is, “How do you revive a corpse?” or “Why revive a body that is already alive?” The whole concept of “having a revival” baffles me. It’s like have a house warming in a house in flames. Either you are born again or you are deader than a doornail in sins. Here isn’t a purgatory for you to work it all out. What passes for revival is nothing more than a spiritual pep rally. Real revival is a commitment to repent of your sins, submit to His lordship and obey His commands.

Will the real Christian men with “spiritual T” please stand up, put on the armor and lift up your sword to the enemy? We can’t let children; women and homosexuals do a man’s work for the Lord. We’ve been sitting on our holy butts far too long. It takes a man of God to take a nation back for God. So get with it, will you?

FORGIVE

By Rick Mathes

Colossians 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

Almost everyone I have met who profess Christianity just doesn’t quite understand the fullness of our Lord’s forgiveness. They drag around anchors of guilt and shame when they should be shouting Hallelujah at the top of their lungs.

First of all, a strong indication of your salvation is the guilt of sinning. Satan would not convict you of sin would he? Then conviction and shame of sinning but be because the Holy Spirit is in you doing your dirty spiritual laundry. With this in mind, let’ also include that confessing your sin is usually because you got caught. True forgiveness is needed for the health of your soul and it is a private moment you take with the Lord when you ask for it. It should be just you and our Lord because He is the only one that can forgive you. You don’t need a confessional or a priest.

So it starts with the Holy Spirit targeting one of your sins and giving you an overwhelming guilt for having committed it and an unavoidable calling to repent and never do that shameful act again, ever.

Now you put your face in the mud, the blood and the tears at the foot of the cross and beg His forgiveness. This conversion and act of repentance alone is unquestionable proof of your salvation. You have done as you should and in fact you could do none other but humbly submit to Him.

Jesus, of course, will forgive your genuine, heart-felt request. He gave His life on the cross for you. Your sin nailed Him to the bloody timbers. No human priest, rabbi, or imam can clear your record but Jesus and Jesus alone.

Now here is the part most don’t do: receive the forgiveness. It sounds so simple but hardly anyone does. Most people say they have died to Christ and then drag around the putrid and decaying old self around. If you have guilt, you have unconfessed sin, period.

Lastly, the process is complete when you become a forgiver. What can man do to you that you can’t forgive considering what the Lord has forgiven you of? Remember that when someone sins against you they have sinned against Jesus. Oure Father will settle the account not you.

FORGIVE THEM

By Rick Mathes

Matthew 6:14-15 (NASB77) ¹⁴  ” For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵  “But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

The wage of sin is death: irrevocable. Done deal! Even God will not be able to recover you from hell once you get there. Think about this deeply. How you react means everything. John the Baptist preached, “Repent!” Jesus preached, “Repent!” Peter preached, “Repent!” Paul preached, Repent!” and on and on throughout all 66 books. There is an unmistakable pattern formed from the very breath of God.

As long as your sins are at peace, God and your soul must be at war. You can bleed to death without pain. The time to seek heling is when there is pain. Hurting those who have loved you becomes excruciating once you head is clear of substance abuse and your conscience is awakened. You’ve crossed the line and if you don’t turn back now you may never recover the image and likeness of God. Satan becomes your lord. How terrifying!

Looking back, our Lord forgives you completely for every horrid sin you have ever committed. Guilt is evidence of unconfessed sin. It’s like dragging along with you a putrid corpse of maggots and miasma decay. No need to do this. Repent means you leave the sin at the foot of the cross and never return to it again. Never!

You will never be punished for your sins because Father God will never know about them. When He looks on you He will only see His Son. Our Lord’s atonement and the blood on the cross shields us from the wines of our evil nactions and even thoughts. The full penalty was “Paid in Full!” by our Savior.

It has often been asked, “Could Jesus sin?” The answer is, “Yes.” In the flesh He could sin but in the Spirit he was able not to sin. The same applies to you and me. In Him, full of the Holy Spirit, we can resist the gates of hell and Satan’s most powerful effort to rip us out of the arms of Jesus. What a wonderful assurance of salvation.

Now comes the pay-back. Of those who have been forgiven much, much is required. We owe Him all we have! You are His ambassador and holy warrior until His return. There aren’t any more theophany or startling acts of God from heaven. If you aren’t about the Father’s business it won’t get done. The baton has been passed to you. It begins by forgiving those who He died for and forgave. Return good for bad and you will hae stepped through the front door of Glory: forgive them that killed Him!

FORGIVE

By Rick Mathes

Colossians 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

Almost everyone I have met who profess Christianity just doesn’t quite understand the fullness of our Lord’s forgiveness. They drag around anchors of guilt and shame when they should be shouting Hallelujah at the top of their lungs.

First of all, a strong indication of your salvation is the guilt of sinning. Satan would not convict you of sin would he? Then conviction and shame of sinning but be because the Holy Spirit is in you doing your dirty spiritual laundry. With this in mind, let’ also include that confessing your sin is usually because you got caught. True forgiveness is needed for the health of your soul and it is a private moment you take with the Lord when you ask for it. It should be just you and our Lord because He is the only one that can forgive you. You don’t need a confessional or a priest.

So it starts with the Holy Spirit targeting one of your sins and giving you an overwhelming guilt for having committed it and an unavoidable calling to repent and never do that shameful act again, ever.

Now you put your face in the mud, the blood and the tears at the foot of the cross and beg His forgiveness. This conversion and act of repentance alone is unquestionable proof of your salvation. You have done as you should and in fact you could do none other but humbly submit to Him.

Jesus, of course, will forgive your genuine, heart-felt request. He gave His life on the cross for you. Your sin nailed Him to the bloody timbers. No human priest, rabbi, or imam can clear your record but Jesus and Jesus alone.

Now here is the part most don’t do: receive the forgiveness. It sounds so simple but hardly anyone does. Most people say they have died to Christ and then drag around the putrid and decaying old self around. If you have guilt, you have unconfessed sin, period.

Lastly, the process is complete when you become a forgiver. What can man do to you that you can’t forgive considering what the Lord has forgiven you of? Remember that when someone sins against you they have sinned against Jesus. Oure Father will settle the account not you.

FOR YOU

By Rick Mathes

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NASB77) ⁹  And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Grace is God’s stooping favor to save, supply, support and overcome. It’s completely undeserved and sufficient for our needs and then some. We receive a full pardon from punishment unconditionally; no strings attached. This is so simple and free most ignore its offers because they can’t imagine that they could be the recipients of so wonderful a gift.

Life itself is entirely in Christ’s will to permit our next heartbeat. The blessing is His when we reflect His image and likeness to others. He died for us and we believers have become His trophies of grace. It’s His peace that makes our life peaceful and a joy to live, work and worship in.

Paul knew what he was talking about when he said he had unspeakable joy and thanksgiving having been forgiven: the chief of sinners. It’s by His grace that I am admitted into ternal living today. The entrance to His glory is through love that only by grace can come from Him. Satan’s toys, his bells and whistles are nothing compared to the incomparable gift of God’s love for us.

This grace is for you Mr. Would Be Christian if only you will believe and be baptized in the person of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As a young Christian, one recently “born again” it’s going to feel as though you have stepped out onto a foreign shore or different planet. Just remember that to run you first need to crawl then walk. This begins with the baby food of God’s Word and then as you work at Christianity the Word of God grows just ahead of you.

As a tempted of suffering Christian, you will learn that the blood of the Saints causes the Body of Christ to grow and prosper. Tempted in the Spirit and aching from pain in the flesh, you press on anyway. The gates of hell cannot prevail against you.

Soeven as a backslidden Christian or one aged and looking the grim reaper in the face, you know that to live is Christ andto die is gain. How you die demonstrates the grace of God in how you lived.

FOR YOU LORD

By Rick Mathes

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NASB77) ³¹  Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

I can speak for me that just taking my next breath is because of Him and for Him. I don’t deserve even my next meal so when I’m blessed at the dinner table I eat for the glory of God. It’s not just the physical food I need to fuel my body, it is also and especially the food from the Word of God to strengthen my soul to face another day I didn’t deserve for Him and His glory.

At the last supper He took a cup of wine and asked that when we drink of His blood, we remember Him. Considering tht most of the earth and most of our bodies and for that matter, the sup of wine is water, it’s an important thing to do: drink and remember Him as the way, the truth and the life.

We can go on but for the sake of brevity, just do all things for His honor and glory because He upholds it all. For example, why don’t we spin of this spinning earth? Why do we do just the opposite? What is gravity? It’s because He is upholding us in all things as He choses to.

We only pass this way one time so we are encouraged to give no offense to anyone. Even when we are personally disrespected, just let it go. My favorite verse in the KJV is, “It came to pass.” Believe me; it is better to lose the battle so that we might win the war.

There is no second chance to live our lives as we know it so we need to take care that we please all people as is most appropriate. What can man do to separate us from the love of God? Nothing! Don’t let them take your Jesus away. Don’t look back or forward. You only have this day that you can live for your Lord.

Remember, we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Some who are not saved quite honestly hate th person they are and everyone around them. But those who carry the love of the Lord in their hearts know they only hae one day at a time because He only gives us enough grace for today. Doctor Bob and Bill W. had it right when they insisted that you bless he Lord one day at a time.

Lord, this one’s for you!

FOR REAL CHURCH

By Rick Mathes

Ephesians 5:23 (NASB77) ²³  For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.

I’ve written a article on the carnal church entitled “Kentucky Fried Christianity” so I don’t want to rehash it here or raise by blood pressure. Instead I want to touch on some of the bench marks of the read deal: the Body of Christ.

Christ is the head and don’t ever forget that. As soon as you replace Him on your throne you ae hell bound or a dead end in flames. That’s why we rely on Him to be our Savior. Satan sure isn’t going to save u from anything harmful so without Jesus, what god do you have? What is your “Plan B?” Only the Holy Spirit can sanctify us before Father God through the blood of Christ spent on that cross to buy you and I.

You read it right, He bought us and He owns us lock, stock and barrel. We are not our own anymore and what a blessing that is. We are pure in the sight of God, in fact, when we get to glory we won’t ever have a memory of our sins. In heaven we will bask in purity forever. I can’t get my mind around that but I sure am anxious to get there and begin the vacation of eternity.

He equips us to build the church to be the vanguard of His return. All of us former unbelievers have been beat up by the devil and his sins. We are battle-ready to turn againt and hold off the onslaught of the hounds of hell.

The Lord feeds and nourishes and equips His own to stand their ground. We have a license to kill demons without reservation. The sin you have is the sin you want because if you didn’t want it more than you do want it, you wouldn’t have it. In Him we are more than conquerors.

So cherish the Pastor that follows the Master and preaches the Gospel according to the life and times of Jesus Christ. He’s the unifier, in His will, His way and in His timing. He pulls the pieces together so that the church will be wholly his and thus holy as He has called it to be.

You can rely on our Commander in Chief. He doesn’t give us an order of amnesty, He gives us an ultimatum, turn or burn! This is serious stuff so make and hone Him the head of your church.