A Cry From The Inside.

Please Jesus keep me from stumbling. Keep me pure, protect me from harm and danger, from wicked imaginations. Keep me in You, I have been super naive and passive. Also forgive my flattery, please give me a sincere heart with sincere motives. I pray to grow strong in You, to bear Your fruit. Please give me what I need that can only be found in You. Please give me faith that will never be shaken. Please let my life totally honor You. Lord I seek You. Will You give me all that You require? Will You humble me with childlike faith that is unshakable, to realize that You are the One who gives faith? Please help me with all things. Love You, From Kwame. 

Faith

Faith is not given as a means to look back at self as having faith, rather faith is given to look to the Giver of faith, the Author and Finisher. If we look to a false source we will drain ourselves with self righteousness and unbelief, pride being the key to open that door. Let us humble ourselves to look in the right direction.

The Two Trees

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6 ESV)

Sin is not sin to most because as fallen humans we have our own conclusion about sin. We call good evil and evil good. This is all due to the fall of man. God told Adam that eating of this particular tree would bring death, as you see in Scripture after the serpent gave his sly introduction and bold lie, Eve then looked to the tree with her own conclusion about "death" sin. "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise." How many of us do this by default? When God says homosexuality is sin, Fornication and Adultery is sin, Not Loving God with all your heart, Not Loving your neighbor, Lying, Using Gods Name in vain, the lust, the pride, the drunkenness, the sorcery, the idolatry, the idleness is sin. How many of us turn to these things and say it is good that it is a delight to the eyes of the heart, and that it is to be desired to make one wise, to partake of this fruit only to die. The scary part about it is, lost souls are at the tree enjoying this fruit while the serpent entices them with more, and they have no shame of their nakedness, there is no ear or discernment to hear the voice ask, "Where are you?" They have not heard the solution given by God to crush the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15 ESV). This is God prophesying about the work of Christ over sin and death and Satan (Heb. 2:14), but those who are still at the tree under Satan have no clue, or could care less, no shame in their hearts. They must hear God's voice, they must hear the Gospel of Jesus the Christ, the Power of God (Romans 1:16). The news that makes you run from your sin in shame to a promise only given by God to save, to clothe you (Genesis 3:21), to clothe you in righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). Don't stay at the tree in Eden where disobedience captures and enslaves, the tree where through Adam all go to be deceived and swayed by the evil one, but take your soul and run to the tree at Calvary and be forgiven to be purchased by Christ's blood, and where the serpents head is crushed (1 John 3:8). Which tree are you carrying? 

The God who is involved.

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:16, 17 ESV).

We see here in this text, that the God of the universe "commands" the creation of His own image. Why is this monumental? This is monumental because this is God the Creator of Life giving a command to His creation, and the opposition to His command is death. This shows that the Holy Creator of everything is personally involved with man. This is also the first time death(cease to live) is mentioned in the bible, serving as a consequence. This text also shows the involvement of God with His creation, His instruction, and His unchanging authority. "For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." This does not come from a God who is uninvolved, this comes from a God who knows best, and who holds all things together. To die is to be separated  from Life, to live is to obey Life. Yes God is fully involved and He still warns mankind from heaven and through His children through the preaching of the Gospel, He calls those whom He foreknew to repent and trust in His Son Jesus who died the death that Adam received and the death that was transferred to all mankind. God told Adam he shall surely die, and it is true we have surely died through the first Adam. But thanks be to God there is hope. The God who is fully involved has granted hope- Check this out: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 ESV) 

Through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus we can have eternal life through His redemptive work. The God of the Universe is truly involved with His people through Jesus. 

Today is the day.

Today is here. What about you? Where is your soul? Whose side are you on? Are you covered by the blood of Christ? Are you condemned to pay for your own sins? Is the Spirit of God conforming you to look more like the Saviour Jesus Christ? Has the world hypnotized you with promises of pleasure and gain? What will God say to you when you face Him? What is He saying to you now? Do you Love His Word? Do you fear Him? Do you have faith in His promises? Are you resisting the devil to hold to Christ? Are you bearing fruit in Christ which glorifies the Father? Is your eternal hope in Christ? People, we must not look to ourselves in search of any hope. True hope is only found in the GodMan Jesus Christ, who is the Saviour and sustainer of those who will forever cling to Him. Do you believe? Will you submit to Him? Today is the day. Go to Him now in faith, drop everything to go to Him. Go!

With All Your Heart.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5 ESV)

The Enemy of God is Real

But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4, 5 ESV)

The devils job is to tell you that God isn't good, to tell you that God's intentions are not good. This is sin itself, the ultimate core of pride and arrogance. For the human to agree with the devil and accept this lie is sin. This is why we are sinful, our very nature is sinful to the core. To go against the very nature of, "good" shows that we have a problem. In the garden Adam and Eve went against all that is good to follow their own lust, we do this everyday, opposing God which is sin. Look how beautiful God is, He doesn't sit back in shame as if the devils accusations are true, no the very lie the devil tags on God, God being good deems it sin which leads to death. This shows that God's nature is good always. Everything about Him is good. God defeated sin, death, and the devil at the Cross of Jesus. Jesus being Perfect, pleasing the Father in every way, even when being tempted by the wicked dreadful devil, the Lord remained sinless, He was obedient even to the point of the Cross to die for sinners. God crushes Jesus at the Cross to show that He is good on our behalf(2 Corinthians 5:21), He raises Jesus to show that He remains good, and He gives life to those who would turn and trust in Jesus, so that through regeneration, being born again by the Spirit they will truly see that God is good, submitting to His goodness. Yes God is good. The Spirit points to Jesus and Jesus points to the Father. Will you trust in the Only One who is Good? The devil is a lie, sin is death, God is good. Repent and Believe in the Christ. 

Blessed King

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 ESV)

He said it.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6 ESV). This Truth reveals the Truth. Anything that is opposite of the Lord is 1) Not the way. 2) Not the Truth, and 3) Not Life, but death. Outside of Jesus there is no unity here or at anytime with the Father, indeed it cannot be. Let's examine our place. Are we in the Son? Is He your Way, is He your Truth, is He your Life? I mean personally Him. Look to Him please, Look to Him now.

THE TURN AROUND.

 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed 2 Corinthians 3:16.
Paul points out something that we should truly pay attention to. Lets open our eyes and pray that the Lord open our hearts, and through His Word look to freedom. Paul an Apostle of Christ Jesus speaks to the Corinthians about the New Covenant, but look what he says towards the end of this chapter. The Israelites had the law which was given by Moses in the Old Testament, the old covenant, which Paul calls the ministry of codemnation(2 Corinthians 3:9) because the law reveals our sin and holds us accountable to God(Romans 3:19,20),  but there is a ministry of righteousness, which is the Gospel, the Saving Grace of God in Christ Jesus, through His death, burial, and resurrection on the behalf of sinners who can't keep God's law. Paul says of the Israelites, that their minds were hardened, that when reading Moses a veil lies over their hearts, and it remains unlifted, only through Christ can it be taken away, Wow. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so powerful, because it frees us from ourselves to carry us by Grace to Jesus Christ the righteous One. This morning is there a veil over your heart, are you guilty of looking to the ministry of codemnation instead of looking to the only One who can save you and keep you. Will you look to Jesus and not to works in seeing how you can keep God's law outside of Christ, one is condemned outside of Christ, but in Christ one is made righteous(Romans 5:16). "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17. Repent and Believe the Gospel of Jesus.

LET'S BE REAL

 

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. Matthew 15:19.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. The heart cannot be controlled by mere human strength or will. For example, go to sleep; are you able to control your dreams? Actually in some cases your dreams reveal some things to you that might cause you to wake up in shame. Jesus calls us all to the front of the class to tell us that our hearts are wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), and we can't escape this truth. What are we to do with something that is undeniably true? What are we to do but go to the one who perfectly cares to show us our hearts, and at the same time dies to save us? Shall we reject what has been said about the human heart? I tell you the truth, the world we live in has done just that; and it's done with a smile. "Keep your head up," they say, "Smile at the camera of life," "Be the best you that you can be." Let’s be real, because of sin, we all have a problem with being the "best us" (Romans 3:10). In God's eyes the best us is sin, and unless we see that we will not appreciate the truth of the Gospel. The Good News that Jesus the righteous One came to die for the unrighteous, that through His perfect life, His sacrificial death, and His resurrection, many can be made right with the Father to have a right relationship with Him now and forever- Reconciled to the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit because of Jesus and not our own righteousness. I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't trust yourself, but trust in Jesus alone. He is our hope. Lay at His feet and walk by faith in Him. Be reconciled to the Father through Him. The heart is wicked and Jesus knows that, but He is not wicked, and He died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). Repent and Believe. Turn and Trust in Jesus in every way and you will be saved forever.

For a further read, check out Romans chapter 3.