"An Eternal Crown"

"And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible."  1 Corinthians 9:25

Many of you know that the ministry operates a thrift store.  Everything in the store has been donated.  Sometime trophies are donated.  We've all seen trophies, Super Bowl rings and medals for sale at various secondhand stores or pawn shops. 

These items were all the result of someone's time, money, hard work and discipline, yet now they are discarded and thrown away.  All that last is a memory. 

The Bible says that there is a crown that is laid up for those who put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Like the "crowns" that are obtained here, this crown also requires something of us in order to receive them.  They require acceptance of the One who will give it to you-- Jesus Christ.  They require discipline-- you can't give up in this race through life and expect to receive it.  They require time-- minute by minute, hour by hour, day in and day out we must continue to live by faith.  They require perseverance-- you must keep following Jesus to the end. 

Unlike the "crowns" of men, these crowns are given to us, we don't earn them.  They come to us freely as we put our faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord.  These crowns that we will receive are not temporary, they are eternal.  They are more precious than these earthly ones-- we won't be "pawning or donating" them.  These crowns won't be ours to keep-- we don't deserve them.  They will be given back to Jesus, freely and gladly, by us because we know that He alone is the only One worthy to wear any crown.

Do you know that you will have a crown of life?  Are you looking forward to being presented it one day?  Are you looking forward to giving it back to Jesus?

Have a great day.  Strive to receive an eternal crown.    

For further reading:
2 Timothy 4:8

"God's Numerous Promises"

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."  Psalm 84:11

There is an old hymn entitled, "Count Your Blessings".  One line says, "Count your many blessings, see what God has done."  There is no way we can count all the blessings that the Lord daily loads us with.  Neither is there any way we can count all the promises that He has made to us.  The verse above alone has at least five promises in it.

He promises to be a sun to us-- bright and shining, illuminating our path before us.  He promises to be a shield to us-- protection, safety and a covering.  He promises to give us grace-- His favor wrapped around us.  He also promises glory-- abundance, honor and riches.  He promises not to withhold any good thing from us as we walk uprightly before Him.

The Lord's promises are innumerable, and He makes them to those who follow Him.  We can trust His promises.  He is not like a man who lies.  He is faithful to do what He has promised.  Begin to search out His promises.  Hide them in your heart.  Trust Him and stand upon His unfailing promises.

Have a great day.  The Lord's promises are numerous.  Claim them.  He is faithful to keep them. 

"Victors Through Christ"

"O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory."  Psalm 98:1

I woke up this morning with a chorus repeating over and over in my thoughts.  "Hallelujah, You have won the victory.  Hallelujah, You have won it all for me." 

At the cross Jesus won the victory over death, hell and the grave.  But He didn't win it for His own self, He didn't need it.  He won it on our behalf.  We were the ones who were defeated by sin in every area.  We were the ones who were under a death sentence.  We were the ones who were a prisoner to sin.  We now have victory over the sin that had us bound and had condemned us to eternal death.  We now have victory over the devil.  We now have victory over temptation.  We now have victory over the flesh.  We now have victory over every besetting sin.  We have this victory all because of Jesus.

Are you walking in that victory?  Are you walking as a victor or as one who is defeated?  Through Christ we more than conquerors.  We have power through Him over all the powers of the enemy.  We can walk in peace, freedom and joy.  We aren't defeated any longer.  We are victorious because He was victorious.

Have a great day.  We need to stop walking like we are defeated and walk like victors through Jesus Christ.   

"Knowledge Or Truth?"

"Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."  2 Timothy 3:7

This verse is certainly true of the time in which we live.  Many people who call themselves Christians do so because of the "knowledge" that they have.  But this knowledge is not necessarily "truth". 

Their knowledge says to them that they are a Christian because they go to church.  Or because they do religious works and deeds-- like giving offerings, holding a position in church, attend Bible study, etc.  Their knowledge says that they are a "good" person-- they don't cheat, drink, lie, cuss or engage in any other moral vice-- so that makes them a Christian.  Their knowledge says that they know who Jesus is.  But this is the difference between knowledge and truth. 

Knowledge knows about Jesus.  It knows that He was a good man.  It knows that He walked the earth and did miracles.  It knows that He had twelve disciples.  It even knows that He was God, He came to earth, He was beaten, He died on a cross and He rose again the third day.

Truth, on the other hand, knows that knowledge about Him is not the same as a personal relationship with Him.  That is the truth that makes us truly Christians.  Truth says He died for me and my sins.  Truth says it is more than profession it is faith.  Truth says, "Follow Him, make your life a living sacrifice, mortify your flesh, take up your cross and follow Him, be led by His Spirit, obey Him and embrace His will, decrease so that He might increase in your life, be not conformed to this world but be transform, deny yourself."

Do you only have knowledge of Him?  Do you have religion but no relationship?  Do you have a form of godliness?  Do you know facts and figures about Jesus and the gospel but don't know Him in a personal intimate way and are you following His words?  Do you have head knowledge of Him?  Or does He have your heart?  

Have a great day.  There is a difference in only having knowledge and having truth?  Which do you have?

"Don't Allow It"

"Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth."  Romans 14:22

Do you want to stop feeling condemned?  Then the answer is-- don't allow yourself to do those things that you know are going to make you feel condemned.  The verse above gives us this key-- happy is the one who does not condemn himself in what he allows.  Allowing something and condemnation seem to go hand in hand.

There are things that we do that we know are going to make us feel bad, guilty and condemned afterwards.  Like when we overeat a particular food.  Or watch a program on television we know that we should not watch.  Or when the Spirit convicts us to leave a certain issue alone and we proceed anyway.  Afterwards, we have that "feeling" and then start "beating" ourselves up about it.  For example, if I know that I should not have eaten that second candy bar, but did anyway, I usually feel condemned about it.  I start a mental chastening of myself.  If I had not "allowed" myself to eat it, I would not be going through that.     

We would save ourselves a lot of guilt and condemnation if, like I said earlier, we would just not allow our flesh to do it.  Your flesh has to have your permission.  You have to choose to go in that direction.  You have to choose to give it what it wants. 

Just how do I "not allow" myself to do those things?  How do I stop?  How do I keep from giving in?  I can't control it?  Yes, you can.  You don't owe your flesh anything-- you are not a debtor to it.  You don't have to let it rule you-- you rule it by the Spirit.  You can resist it-- you can do all things through Christ.  When it makes its "suggestions", when it "tempts" you, renew your mind and bring those thoughts captive.  You don't have to let your mind "entertain" it-- make those thoughts submit to the Word of God.  If you do this, you will be happy because condemnation didn't have a chance to attack you.

Have a great day.  If you don't allow it, it can't condemn you.

For further reading:
Philippians 4:13
Romans 6:12; 13:14; 8:12; 12:2
2 Corinthians 10:5