Sin vs. Love

 Sin vs. Love

 We are set free, in order to serve.

 

The Bible plainly shows in Matthew 25, what Christ will ask when He returns.

He doesn’t ask, “Did you watch porn?”

He doesn’t ask “Did you have sex before marriage, or did you have an abortion”

He doesn’t ask “Did you vote right, or did you go to church or did you obey leaders and pay what you owe?”

Nope.

He asks if you visited prisoners? Did you help the poor? Did you clothe the naked? Did you give a cool drink to the thirsty? Did you love your neighbor? Did you love at all? Did you show kindness and compassion? Did you reconcile people to God? Did you use your gifts to save souls, spread the Kingdom and help others?

I can hear you squirming in your seat dying to say…”yeah…but”

No.

Jesus died for our sins and rose for our justification. If you are saved then you are in Him and are dead to sins.  It is not held against you. Do the dead sin? No. Paul explains this in Romans.

That means that you have power over it. But, it also means that it is irrelevant to your eternity. You are washed. You are hid in Christ.  Our focus is serving God and growing the Kingdom. Not, in worrying about whether we look like good Christians, but by being good Christians through service. (Col. 3:1-3)

You confess your sins and God forgives you, and works to help you overcome. This is foot washing. God cleanses us of all sin when we confess Him as Lord. But, we get dirty as we walk in this world. Like Jesus said, we have no need but to wash our feet. We do this by confessing our sins to Him. Likewise, when we confess our sins to each other and pray for each other, we wash each others feet. As James said. (1 John 1:1-10, John 13: 4-15, James 5:16, Rom. 10:9-10)

 We are saved, and washed and hid in Christ. Our sins are gone. They are washed away. We are white as snow.

But, the things we do can open doors to the enemy to destroy us and ruin our lives. We can let demonic forces have more access to our lives. Even though we are eternally saved and forgiven. Our life in this world can be miserable because we do not confess our sins and let God work in our lives. Those sins can grow until they destroy us, if we do not let God deal with them. They can become strongholds of demonic activity in our lives. Things that can impact those around us and generations down the road.

But remember, all things work together for our good. God can use that destruction or trouble to help us. God will use it to grow us. He is not trying to hurt us but give a hope and a future. We are saved. We are in Christ, if you know Him. He chastises those He loves. The destruction or rock bottom, works to wake us up and set us free. (Romans 8: 28, Jere 29:11, Heb. 12:6)

And we still are saved forever.

God deals with our sin so we can serve the Kingdom. Knowing God and serving Him is our purpose. That’s our focus. Not our life, but His.

We are being sanctified, and through the sanctification, we endure hardness as we serve. We endure temptation and overcome through the Holy Spirit and service to the Kingdom. (2 Tim. 2:3, James 1:12)

Our willingness to have a relationship with Christ and let the Holy Spirit, love through us is what we are called to do. (Eph 2:8-10)

Our service and our love is a reflection of our relationship with God.

When you read Matthew 25. It’s obvious that the people thought they were saved. But, they never knew the King, so they never did the compassionate loving things God desired. They never grew in faith as the Lord worked in them and on them. They never had a relationship with Him. They thought their works saved them, instead of being saved to do good works. They worried about sin, like pharisees, even though they were dead to sin. Satan will get us focused on quitting sinning and being moral, because that keeps us from getting people saved, or fighting the evil in this world. (Eph 2:8-10, Matt. 7:21-23)

They never knew Him.

It’s not about works. It’s about who you know and who you have a relationship with. And that relationship will get us to serve Him, as He sanctifies us.

Let God take care of your sins. Focus on serving and loving others. Focus on the relationship with God.

And you will find that those sins you worry about, get less and less. We grow. We build faith. We build our relationship with God. We overcome the sin that so easily besets us. By following the Holy Spirit and doing the service God calls us to do. Not by works, but by His power.

Love covers a multitude of sins. God is love, and He works to drive those things out of us through Love. As we love God, serving Him and having that relationship with Him, and serving others. Loving them. (1 Peter 4:7-8)

We find ourselves growing free, to match the spiritual truth that we are already free in Christ. 

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The Apostles and 70 A.D.

 The Apostles and 70 A.D.

What happened? 

 

 

 

After Jesus ascended alive into heaven the Apostles were emboldened, because they had seen Jesus die and rise from the dead. They knew He is the Messiah. They knew they could trust Him and God’s Word. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and went forth in power.

They began the work of building a ministry and spreading the Gospel as the Holy Spirit led them.

We can read about it in the Acts of The Apostles.

While they spread the Gospel, Satan raised up persecution upon them. Efforts from the religious leaders and the Roman government to stop this growing faith.

But, the apostles continued on, being beaten and killed for the Gospel’s sake.

Like Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.”— John 12:24-26

The persecution of the church pushed the apostles and other believers onward to spread the Gospel more. As the enemy tries to stop them, it just builds and grows. Because, they have seen the truth. They have the Holy Spirit. They are no longer lulled into the lie that the devil feeds those in this world.

God’s Word says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” —Psa. 116:15

Because our death is a witness to those who are lost, as they seek to destroy us and stop us from spreading the Gospel. Our death shows the lost that we trust God, and are convinced of His promises. Our death brings us home to Paradise where we will be forever with Him.

The Father loves to see His children come home.

Death is separation. The Saints never die, we are never separated from the Lord.

We see prophecies of the creation of the Church and the apostles through God’s Word.

First we see the creation of the woman, in Genesis. When God causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep and removed a rib from his side and made a bride for the Man.

Likewise, Jesus died on the cross and He was pierced in the side. Out came blood and water, for the creation of the church. The Bride of Christ, born of the Blood of the Lamb and the baptism in water.

Again, we see Elijah the prophet being taken up alive into heaven, and he leaves his mantle behind to Elisha, who takes up Elijah’s position and does greater things. (1 Kings 19:19, 2 Kings Chapter 2, John 14:12)

Many use this verse of Elijah going alive into heaven as a verse to prove their doctrine of Rapture. But, it is really showing the Lord’s ascension and the Apostles being given His authority and power.

Again, The Apostles felt led to raise up a new Apostle in order to replace Judas.

They wanted to follow the prophecy in God’s Word.

“For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.”—Acts 1:20

The Apostles cast lots and chose Matthias, to fill the position. But, then we hear nothing else from Matthias.

Why?

Because God fulfilled His own prophecy and chose Saul, who became Paul the Apostle as the successor for Judas Iscariot.

As the Apostles and other Saints followed the Holy Spirit the Gospel spread and the Church grew throughout the world.

But, the prophecy of Jesus was growing as time went on.

The Lord had prophesied over the city,

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Matt. 23:37-39)

“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”— (Matt. 24:1-2)

This prophecy from our Lord before His death, tells us the fate of Jerusalem because of their choice to kill Jesus, while choosing Barabbas, the insurrectionist and murderer. The picture of Satan. The Anti-Christ.

In 70 A.D. The Roman General Titus, who would become Emperor, attacked and destroyed Jerusalem. He destroyed the second temple and plowed the city under. Just as Jesus had prophesied.

The city where He was killed. The city that refused to turn back to the Lord, was destroyed. The city who chose the devil, and probably it was this Barabbas who helped stir up the insurrections which eventually led to the destruction of the city.

Which caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be sent to wander the Earth in what is called the Diaspora.

But, that was not the first prophecy of this event.

Notice how Jesus referred to Himself as “The Son Of Man”

Who is “Man”?

Man is Adam.

Jesus is referring to the story of Cain and Able.

He is calling Himself “Able”.

Able is a picture of Jesus.

Killed by his brethren for envy.

Then, the brother is sent to wander the Earth.

Like Cain.

Who eventually built a city of trade and learning.

Before the days of the Flood, creating a global empire.

And even today it is being built.

To prepare the world for the Anti-Christ to come, following the spirit of antichrist.

While the Apostles and saints follow the Holy Spirit to build God’s Kingdom.

It all moves quickly toward the last days, and the return of our Lord from the sky, in glory.

The battle has raged from the beginning till now, and will end soon.

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Cover photo by pexels/Pixabay

He Rose For Our Justification

 He Rose For Our Justification

 We are justified in Christ

 

 

There was only one law in the beginning.

Just one.

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”–Gen. 2:17

People want to act like God is some eternal killjoy, who is just hovering about ready to strike you down with furious wrath and bolts of lightning.

But, in the beginning there was only ONE law.

And Satan in his rebellion used a serpent, which by the way, was not a snake. It was a dragon, or as we like to call them, a dinosaur. (Rev. 12:9)

He used it to tempt the first couple, in order to get them to fall.

He tricked Eve into breaking the one law. But, Adam was not tricked. He knew exactly what he was doing. (1 Tim. 2:14)

He knew it was wrong and chose to listen to his wife instead of listening to God. (Gen. 3:17)

Adam was Satan’s target. Adam had the dominion of the Earth. He was the one who needed to fall. (Gen. 1: 26-28)

Why Adam chose to ignore God’s Law is not given to us. Adam probably explained it away, some how. I tend to think He loved Eve and did not want her to die alone. Or perhaps he did not want to be alone again, if she died after eating the fruit.

It’s hard to say, but when the first couple ate of the fruit they quickly discovered why God had warned them. God’s laws are typically designed to protect us.

Something changed in them. Their eyes were opened. God had created everything good. There was no death. But, now there was evil present. Death and evil, flooded into the world. (Gen 3:6-10)

Adam and Eve had fear, where none had existed before.

Evil was contained somewhere else, and now came upon the humans. It corrupted them and now corrupts all of humanity ever since.

This brought death. Death is separation. Remember, we are eternal beings. Death is not an end. We have no end. We are made in God’s image. We are eternal spirits. Death means separation. We die physically and are separated from our loved ones on Earth. We then die spiritually and are separated from God and our loved ones who are saved, forever.

Why?

In order to contain the evil. Hell/The Lake of Fire is a quarantine. It exists in order to keep evil from destroying all of eternity. It was created for Satan and his angels. It is a garbage dump outside the city of God, where all filthy things are thrown, in order to not corrupt Paradise. (Matt. 25:41, Rev.22:14-15)

Since Adam chose to follow Satan instead of God, He gave up the dominion. That is why Satan is the god of this world. You go into bondage under whoever overcomes you. If you give your authority to another, they own you. (2 Cor 4:4, 2 Pet. 2:19)

And that is the state we live in.

We are born into this world, totally corrupted. Filled with fear and evil, facing eternal separation from God and all things good.

We cannot do right. No matter how hard we try. We are under the control of Satan and his demonic hordes who whisper into our minds and get us to do whatever evil deeds they want. Seeking to rob us, kill us and destroy us, because God loves us, and the demons hate God. They seek to hurt God by hurting us.

And Satan sits and accuses us, day and night (Rev. 12:10)

He accuses us to God.

“Look at these creatures you created. They are filthy. They don’t love you. If they loved you they would have stayed with you. They are scum. Destroy them. Kill them. Punish them. They do all manner of evil, and mock you. Destroy them.”

But God loves us, and He had a plan.

It was a plan started at the foundation of the world.

A plan that grew and spread and remained hidden from the enemy.

It started with Faith, in Abraham.

A way to be righteous. (Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4:3, Gal . 3:6, Jas 2:23)

Then, it moved to the Law, in Moses

In order to show us that we are sinners and cannot obey God. (Rom. 7)

A law that so happened to also allow for cleansing our disobedience through sacrifice.

Then, finally God himself came to Earth in the form of Jesus Christ to save His creation from Satan and the sins that keep us in bondage.

Satan thought that Jesus was here to teach us to obey. He thought Jesus was teaching us to follow the Law, which the enemy had already corrupted with human philosophy, traditions of men and doctrines of devils.

It would be a failed mission. Humans cannot obey. No matter how hard they try. Satan had made sure of that by corrupting us in the Garden. We are totally depraved.

Then, Satan and his demon princes killed Jesus. They used their human slaves in government and religion to do it.

He thought he won. He thought he had finally won.

He might have even accused us before God again. Just like he accused Job. (Job chapter 1 and 2))

“Look at those creatures. They murdered your Son. They obeyed me, not you and killed you. Why do you love them? They spit in your face.”

And God smiled.

Because through His death, He had saved us.

So, that anyone who desires it can be free from the bondage of Sin, Satan and Death.

All they have to do is turn to God and ask Him to save them in Jesus name. (Acts 2:21)

But, that wasn’t the end.

God was not finished.

Because Jesus, was the lamb without blemish. He was not tarnished by evil or sin. He was not worthy of death or separation. He was the perfect sacrifice.

And death could not hold Him.

God Himself died for us and rose from the dead to prove that we are saved and justified. (Rom. 4)

We do not have to answer to the accuser. We do not have to fear death or evil. We do not have to face wrath. We do not have to face Hell or The Lake of Fire or separation from God. We are clean, righteous and justified in Christ.

We are saved by God’s grace, through faith.

Because He, Himself came and set us free in His death and rose to prove it.

All we have to do is turn to Him by faith and ask.

And we are made righteous and justified forever.

We will be with Him in Paradise.

Where “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Cor 2:9)

He has restored that which was lost. And He will continue to restore all of it, back to what He originally created. (Matt. 18:11, Rev. 21, Rev. 22)

Praise Jesus

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Cover photo by pexels/Guillaume Hankenne

 

Should We Be Hearing From God?

 Are we crazy?

 

 

People don’t tend to like it when you say “God told me” or that you imply that you hear from God.

They think that this is the realm of the cult.

They think this is what false prophets do to lead people into crazy stuff.

They might ask “Did you hear an audible voice?”

Trying to imply that you are insane if you hear from God.

We’ve all seen the movies and heard the stories of insane people who hear God. Or the mentally ill woman who killed her kids because God told her to.

News flash. That probably wasn’t God. That was a demon.

When we know the Word of God and believe it, we can compare those thoughts to the Word and cast that demon out.

When Abraham was tested to kill his son. He had far more insight into what was going on. He had walked with God and trusted God. It was years of seeing God’s character.

It was not some random thought that drove him insane. He was creating a picture of Jesus Christ, and God stopped him. Abraham even said before hand. “God will provide His own sacrifice.” He knew God would fix it. (Gen. 22)

Why?

Because He walked and talked with God. He heard from God.

That is relationship. That is walking in the Spirit. It is living by faith.

We can trust God.

The Bible says in Proverbs “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”–Prov. 3:5-6

Pray to the Lord about everything. Don’t trust your own fleshly thoughts. Seek Him. Seek wisdom. Seek the truth from the Holy Spirit. (John 16:13, James 1:5)

Talk to God and He shall “Direct thy paths”

That means we hear from God. He speaks to us. He guides us. He does this in many ways, through His Word, through His creation, through our lives, and through His Spirit.

There are some churches who ignore the Holy Spirit working in our lives and directing us. They don’t even mention it. If you talk about hearing from God, or act like God told you something, they will reject you and treat you like you are crazy.

Satan uses this to keep people silent and to cut the communication between God and his saints. The fear of appearing crazy keeps people from speaking on what God has done for them. It silences the testimony they have been given. It impacts the working of the saints.

Every person who God has called to serve Him are really supposed to appear insane to the World. That is kind of the point of it. We are not of this world. It is not our home. We should be a little crazy for Jesus.

But, too many folks want to fit into this world system and cannot have their customers or business contacts thinking they are a crazy religious person. So they stifle the Spirit.

Every preacher is supposed to preach as unto the oracles of God. (1 Pet. 4:10-11)

They are supposed to put forth the message God has laid on their heart, using the Word, the gifts and The Holy Spirit.

They are supposed to be telling people what God has told them.

Every week I pray for the Lord to tell me what to write for my sermon. And something always comes up, or I’m directed to re-do something old.

Does it make me crazy?

I think that in all history, when God touches people they are transformed and cannot go back to normal. They are no longer conforming to this world, but are being transformed as God renews their mind. This makes them seem crazy to those who are still conforming to this world.

Jesus said, “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”—John 10:26-28

Do you hear His voice?

Do you hear Him guiding you?

Ask Him.

Read and study the Word, with the Holy Spirit teaching you. (1 John 2:27)

All of the Bible is God-Breathed. It is alive.

Jesus is the living Word. The Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth.(John 16:13)

We are supposed to be fools for Christ.

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”— (1 Cor. 1:18-21)

Jesus said, “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?”— (John 3:12)

Those who do not know God, do not understand heavenly things. They do not understand the spiritual. It is foolish to them. They do not hear His voice, and they hate those who do.

God has called them. Just like He calls us. But, they have turned away and ignored and let the devil snatch the Word from them. They have let the pleasures and troubles of life, along with the deceitfulness of riches choke out the Word.

He is still calling.

He is calling you if you are reading this.

Don’t let Satan snatch it away. Don’t let the demon get you to think you are crazy for hearing God knocking on your heart.

Turn to God and ask Him to save you.

Turn to God and ask Him to teach you and grow you.

We do hear His voice.

He calls us to Him.

He guides our life.

Listen to His call, and fear not.

(Cover photo by pexels)

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Transformed!

 Transformed!

 God works in our lives to change us.

 

 

We often forget that it is God who calls us to Himself.

All humans are utterly depraved. We are so wicked that we cannot even see how wicked we are. (Romans 3:10-18)

We were created good by God. We are flesh covered spiritual beings created to last forever. But, we are fallen. There is something wrong with us. Our minds, souls and spirits became corrupt. We fell in the Garden and Satan took over.

“ There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.”

No one seeks God. Therefore, if you are having thoughts of God. If you are feeling led to go to church or learn of spiritual things. If a sermon or the Gospel message of Christ is speaking to your heart. If you are reading this…

That is God calling you.

No one comes to Jesus to be saved unless God calls them. (John 6:44)

This is part of His Grace and part of why He saves us, not by our own efforts, but by His.

When we hear this call we turn to the Lord and ask Him to save us. That is what repentance is. It means “to turn”

Since God is the only way to be saved we obviously turn to Him. Then, He washes us in the blood of Jesus and cleanses us of all sin. We do not need to understand it. We just turn to Him and ask.

We confess Jesus is the Lord and make Him our Lord, believing He rose from the dead. (Romans 10:9-10)

Then the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and work in our lives to help transform us and help us to serve God in building the Kingdom. (John 14:26)

When we first get saved, there are things God will remove from our lives. People will notice we are different. When we give ourselves to Jesus we are free from sin and the the things that hold us down. He has taken all of it upon His shoulders, and when we believe this, we are changed. We are transformed. We are a new creature.

This is believing God’s Word.

God’s Word tells us that He will save us and change us. It tells us He will take our sin and cast them away from us and wash us. When we believe this, we put our faith in Him and it works to change us.

We are saved by grace through faith not by works lest any man should boast. (Eph. 2:8-9)

God calls us. We hear His word, and believe Him. Then, we turn to Him to be saved.

God Himself came to Earth to die for us, to set us free from Sin and Satan, who took dominion when Adam fell. We are slaves to the enemy and the power of our own flesh. Our spirits are dead and our souls are trapped as we go through life being led by Satan and our worldly ways.

But, when we hear God call and turn to Him for salvation we are set free and we begin to transform.

The Holy Spirit comes into us and begins to change us and teach us. We study God’s Word and learn of His promises and His ways.

When we have thoughts that are contrary to God’s Word, the Holy Spirit reveals it to us and we take those thoughts captive and tell Satan to be gone in Jesus name, then we choose to believe and follow God’s Word instead. This is the battle between the flesh and spirit. As we wage this battle we are transformed over time. (2 Cor. 10:5, Gal.5:17)

This is not salvation. We are already saved; if we confessed Him as Lord. But, we can prove our salvation to ourselves by the fact that we struggle with the enemy. Unsaved people do not struggle. This struggle is our sanctification. It is God working on us through His Holy Spirit to help change us and to help us in our lives.

We confess our sins and thoughts to the Lord, and He forgives us and starts working to transform us. (1John 1:8-10)

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”—Rom. 12:1-2

When we read this we might think that we are condemned because we fail and cannot do it. We might think we are such utter failures, and the preacher keeps beating us.

That is the Holy Spirit speaking to you. It is conviction.

The answer is to turn to God, and confess it to Him. Pray to Him about it and let Him get to work. Our salvation and sanctification is God’s work, not ours.

The fact that you desire to change and feel convicted is proof of your salvation. The Holy Spirit in you is calling you to work with God in your sanctification. This is the relationship we have.

We see changes in our lives and in our spirit, as we are renewed in our minds. Our spirit is alive in Him and we are transformed.

We are not perfect. We sin. We fail. But, we are perfect in Him. He holds our salvation in His hand.

When we think wicked thoughts of hate or revenge or fear or doubt or pride, we capture them and rebuke them in Jesus name. Because thoughts work to become actions. The more we do this the stronger we become.

We quote the Word out loud to ourselves, and it builds our faith and drives the demon out.

Because that is what is behind those thoughts. Demons whispering through the hedge of protection trying to get us to open the door. If we fail and listen to those thoughts. If we follow through with sin, we start working to open the door a little at a time. Eventually, the demons can come into our mind and life as often as they want. We have fallen back into bondage. But, through the Lord we can stand up and resist. We can shake them off. We confess it to Him and let Him cleanse us and work to change us.

We can struggle with these things in our flesh but it does nothing to our spirit until God Himself does it. This is why obeying rules does nothing spiritual. This is why no one is saved by the works of God’s Law.

It must be God making the changes and transforming us. Flesh cannot transform spirit. Only spirit can do that. God is a spirit, and those who worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The truth is Jesus Christ. The truth is God’s Word, and Jesus is the living Word. (John 1, John 4:24)

We are transformed when we are saved. Then, we live lives of transformation as we continually turn to Him and abide in Him.

Going to church and obeying rule won’t do it.

It’s a relationship with Him.

It’s a spiritual battle with the enemy who attacks our mind, and life.

No matter what. Always turn to God. Do not let the enemy get you to think that you can’t trust God. Or you failed too much. Or that God is out to get you. Take those thoughts captive and say “begone Satan in Jesus name, God will never leave me nor forsake me. He is my helper.”

Draw closer to God. Praise Him. Read His Word and let the Holy Spirit teach you.

And watch Him transform you.

(cover image by pexels)

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Be Ye Holy

 Be Ye Holy

What is real holiness?

 

 

God tells us in His Word “Be Ye Holy for I am Holy” (1 Peter 1:16, Lev. 11:45)

So, let’s rightly divide this verse so that we are interpreting it correctly, Because often times we get told that this verse is about our behavior or not sinning. So, we fight and struggle to try to please God. We fail and fail, then finally give up. Because let’s be real. What human can be as holy as God is?

What human, born with a corrupted nature, surrounded by sin and full of sinfulness can even understand what holiness is, let alone do it?

We can’t. And that’s why God commands us to be Holy. To get us to turn to Him. To get us to see that we need more of Him. We need more of Jesus. We need the Holy Spirit to do it.

Holiness means to be set apart. In the Temple there were tools made of gold. They were set apart for the Temple use. That’s all they were for. But, they were just tools. Their holiness came from God and the dedication for their use.

So, how does that apply to us?

To be holy we must first be saved, by turning to God (repent) and asking Him to save us and Confessing Jesus as our Lord. (Romans 10:9-10, Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16)

Holiness means to maintain the relationship with the Lord and abide in Him. It means that when the devil attacks us or life gets hard, we don’t just throw God away and go our own way. This implies that we never knew Him. Build that relationship with God.

People sin. But when we sin we run back to God. Not run away from Him.

We wash our feet  by confessing our sins to Him. ( 1 John 1:8-10) This is part of Walking in the Spirit. (Gal. 5:22-25)

We grow in Him. We listen to Him as He grows us.

We are totally devoted to His work. This doesn’t mean all of us are in the ministry professionally. But, in our lives we respond when God leads us to do something. In our jobs, in our families we always seek to do what God wants and acknowledge Him  in all our ways.

 Holiness does not mean being a perfect goody two shoes. We are perfect in Him, not ourselves. We are holy in Him. We are set apart for Him. We are golden, because He is refining us. Holiness like God is peace. It’s not worry about whether you are obeying the rules. 

Be ye Holy as I am Holy means that we turn to Him. Because he is the only one who can clean us and teach us. And make us holy.

It is only through His Holy Spirit that we can be Holy.

It is only through the Blood of Jesus and being set apart that we are holy.

Not by works, lest any man should boast.

He Is With Me

 He Is With Me

Do You Know Him? 

 

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”— Heb. 13:5-6

When you turn to the Lord, He saves you and is with you always. His Holy Spirit is in you.

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”— 1 John 4:4

We do not need to be concerned with living to gather riches, or desiring to what others have or to be as they are. That is our flesh talking. That is demons whispering.

We can be happy with the things the Lord has provided us, because He is with us and will take care of us. There is nothing anyone can do to us. God will find a way. He will make a way where none exists.

God’s way is perfect, and He has perfect timing. Trust Him.

It’s not about looking good for mankind, with the silly notions of what is valuable.

The streets of Paradise are paved with gold. The true wealth are those things of the spirit. The people you lead to the Lord. The love you show. The people you help. The Kingdom you build, and the time spent with the Lord, learning of His ways.

The rest is chaff, useless waste, burned up in the fire.

God is with us. we have a relationship with Him and have no need to fear. Just “ask, and it shall be given unto you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you.”— Matt. 7:7-11

James said “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

God is with us and will never forsake us. He will not help us destroy ourselves. But, we can trust that He hears and will help us with whatever we need.

I have seen God answer so many prayers. He has taken care of me. When I remember the great things He has done in the past it reminds me that He is with me and will take care of me again. It builds faith.

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”— Phil.4:6-7

We thank God in our prayers because our faith leads us to believe He is with us and hears us and is moving. We trust His Word.

He is with me. We have a relationship.

And I am with Him.

I died with Him, and was buried to self, and the flesh, and this world. To be raised into new life with Him. Born again. (Rom. 6:4, John 3)

And I walk with Him in the Spirit, which is the relationship.

To hear on that last day, “Well done thy good and faithful servant.”— Matt. 25

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois.

Cover photo by pexels/Pixabay

Can We Lose Our Salvation?

 Can We Lose Our Salvation?

It's an important lesson. 

 

The answer is No. You either have it or you don’t. And You can always turn to God and ask to be saved. That is His grace.

But, there are folks who think you can lose it. This is written for them.

Hebrews 6:4 KJV

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”

A lot of people use this verse to claim that a person can lose their salvation.

That is not true. I will explain why.

First, if you read the entire chapter context of the verse starting in verse 6:1 and going to verse 6:10 you will see the writer says that as we mature as believers we move away from doctrines regarding salvation, baptisms, etc. Because we rest in the fact that we are saved and can grow in Christ. We know that God’s grace and Christ’s Blood washes us of all sin, so we do not need to keep going around and around bickering on these subjects.

It doesn’t help us to grow and serve in Christ. As mentioned in previous Chapter 5, It’s milk not meat. We should be past these things, and be teachers who understand.

Next in verses, 4-6 he explains what happens to a person who “falls away”.

The first thing to notice is the word “impossible”. That should send up a red flag. Because Jesus said “with God ALL things are possible.” (Matt. 19:26)

This is a direct contradiction. Or is it? If you know your stuff, then you know God’s Word doesn’t contradict itself. Any apparent contradiction is an invitation to pray, listen to the Holy Spirit and dive deeper.

 Remember this because it’s important. We will come back to it.

Next, the writer tells us a list of things that God gives us freely or allows us to experience.

“…who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come“

If you think you experienced these things and then fell away unto a loss of salvation. Then, you probably never really experienced the full measure of these things from God. You experienced something else. You were just going to church.

Once you really know Christ, you cannot speak ill of Him or turn from Him. (1 Cor. 12:3)

I am not talking about committing sin. We are dead to sin. It does not impact our salvation. God holds our salvation.

Like Jesus said, “All that the father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.” —John 6:37

The person described in this verse in Hebrews is someone who has been exposed to Christ and still rejects or tries to climb up some other way. This person was never saved. They never really turned to Him. They had every chance but rejected. They even saw the truth. But rejected. That’s what the verse is saying. (These people will most likely join the Apostate Church of the last days, persecuting the Saints. They tasted spirituality but never really accepted Christ.)

Next the verse says to “restore them to repentance”.

Understand that “Repent” means to turn. It means to turn to God for salvation. It does not mean “to turn from sin”. That belief is false. They can’t be restored to repentance because they never had it. They never knew Him. They were never in a relationship with Christ, or they are heading to chastisement. God chastens His children. He does not cast them aside. (Heb. 12:6)

I want you to consider what Jesus said in Matthew 12:43-45

That when a man is clean. The demon goes to desert places, then returns with 7 others and the last State of this man was worse than the first.

This verse says the same thing as the Hebrews verse. If Jesus sets you free, and you turn back to the world, you will be worse off than before. The enemy will have more access to you and will work on you.

But neither verse says Jesus casts you aside and rejects you. Neither verse says you are condemned. If you think you walk a perfect life after salvation, then you really need to talk with God. If you think you have no sin, you deceive yourself and the truth (Jesus) is not in you. (1 John 1:8)

If you are saved and “Fall Away”, you basically open the doors for demonic activity to harass you. Consider a drug addict who is set free from drugs. But starts using again. The addiction is worse and the person believes they are a failure and everyone else tells them they are a failure. It becomes “impossible” to get back to that state of feeling free in Christ. It’s harder to quit the drugs or sinful behavior next time. It’s talking about a battle with Satan, not a loss of salvation.

BUT…keep reading and remember, we are not saved by works.

Notice it speaks of putting Christ to shame. This person the verse is speaking of never knew Jesus. They were never saved. When God shows you the heavenly gifts, and the truth of the Word, and the Holy Spirit convicts you and draws you. If you then reject Him. You are not saved and you put Christ to an open shame. That’s what the verse is saying, in context. You or this person was never saved. They did not lose it. The thorns and thistles choked out the Word.

Next the writer speaks of God pouring out blessings as rain.  Jesus said “He let’s the rain fall on the just and unjust. ”  That means that God let’s the unsaved see and feel His blessings because He hopes they will turn to Him. But if not, then they reject Christ and put Him to open shame. When God calls us, He let’s us see the Truth. We can choose to reject. And that’s what Hebrews is saying. God revealed truth, and a person rejected. (Matt 5:45)

The verse in Hebrews seems to be referring to a great Saint in Christ, but it’s not. It’s referring to someone who is not saved or has let the enemy back into their life. It’s not a loss of salvation.

Next the writer speaks of the water and says this rain from God waters the ground and brings forth good fruits or thorns and thistles. Is the Holy Spirit working in their life? Are they developing the fruits of the Spirit? If not, then they were never saved. They don’t lose it.

This matches what Jesus said in the parable of the sower. (Matthew Chapter 13)

God sows His truth into the world, and some lands on good soil, While others do not. Some soil receives the word but thorns and thistles grow up choking it out. Again, it never says they lost salvation. We are not saved by works, nor do we maintain our salvation. A person who hears the Word, and let’s thorns and thistles choke out the Word. Never actually got saved. They might have obeyed some rules and went to church for a while but they never knew Him. They turn from Christ, because they never knew Him. A saved person, will cling to Jesus, even in the midst of terrible sin and failure. They will stay with Jesus, because He is their only hope. They become broken and grow in Him.

This again refers to a struggle with this world, the flesh and the demons who fight us.

The bottom line is real simple. A person is either saved or not. They either saw the blessings of God and rejected. Or they saw the blessings of God, received Christ and are saved, but have fallen away, and are having a tough time. They are walking in the flesh, not the Spirit.

Either way the answer is to turn to God. With God all things are possible. Turn to Him. If a person “loses salvation” they were never really saved. They experienced the Word, and saw the kingdom but rejected Christ anyway. Whether unsaved, or a fallen saint or faithful saint, the answer is always to turn to God. (Repent) We confess him as Lord. We confess our sins and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Confessing our sins is Walking in the Spirit.

At the end of our earthly life, Jesus will say either “well done thy good and faithful servant” or “depart from me I NEVER knew you.”

Because you were NEVER saved. You never had a relationship with Him, because if you had you would not reject Him.  I’m not talking about sin. We all sin. We are dead to sin. Our sins are cast from us. We confess our sins and are cleansed.

I’m saying you NEVER confessed Him as Lord and trusted Him to save you. You try to save yourself and try to obey rules, that is not salvation.

As the writer of Hebrews says in verse 10. “God knows what you’ve done.” But your salvation has nothing to do with that. Jesus said I NEVER knew you. A person cannot lose salvation. They NEVER had it.

It’s all about Christ. Turn to Him. Nothing is impossible with God. We are not saved by works. If we are fallen away or trapped by Satan, God will break us and correct us. He does not cast us out. If we walk away, we never really knew Him.

Just always turn to God. Confess to Him. Pray to Him. Know Him. That is Walking in the Spirit. Letting the Holy Spirit work on you and through you.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/

Subscribe on Substack: https://substack.com/@chrisbunton

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Fear Not

 Fear Not

God is with us 

 

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” –Luke 12:32

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”— 2 Tim. 1:7

“So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”— Heb. 13:6

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”— 1 John 4:18

“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”— Rev. 2:10

When we read these verses we can see that we are not supposed to fear anything. God is with us.

If we believe that God is right beside us, and even in us through His Holy Spirit, then why do we have fear? Our God is bigger than anything in this world, and anything the devil can throw at us.

These verses above indicate that there is a spirit of fear. A demonic entity which harasses us. It says in First John that we are tormented by fear.

Therefore battling fear is Spiritual Warfare. It’s something we can overcome.

The first thing needs to be faith and trust in God, His goodness and His Word.

Nothing else matters.

I harp on this idea of a relationship with God. When we know Him, we know where to turn. We can trust Him. Even when everything around us is terrible and we are in our darkest days we can trust Him. Even though the devil tries to get us to turn from God, and curse God, and doubt Him. We can trust Him. And that is power. For in our weakness we are strong when we turn to Him.

 God is not against us. It is His good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. He is for us.

Say it out loud. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

“God is with me! He wants to give me the kingdom, He is not out to get me. He is my helper, I will not fear.”

Believe it.

We can overcome fear in His Power, His Love and His Wisdom.

We can pray and know He hears. He promises that if we ask anything in His name He will do it. —John 14:14

No doubts. Trust Him. He hears and is moving.

Fear be gone! God is with me!

Love casts out fear. Confront the fear in love.

Do the loving thing.

When faced with fear, love others. Do unto others as you would have done to you. Loving others takes your mind off of self, and onto other people. Use the fear to fuel love. Overcome evil with good.

Remember that God loves you. If we are saved, then we are perfect in God’s Love. Remember this. He loves through us. Let Him love you and love others through you.

The devil threw some of them into prison. They were told to fear not. So, what did they do? How did they overcome fear?

They loved. They prayed for the guards and other inmates. They preached the Gospel and spoke faith to the other prisoners. They comforted the sick in prison. They helped each other. They loved, in the midst of fear and hate, and temptations for anger. They turned prison into purpose. That is how you cast out fear.

Love casts out fear.

Praise God. Loving Him and praising Him casts out fear. You cannot hold fear in your mind, while praising God at the same time.

We also overcome fear through a sound mind. We have a sound mind by knowing God’s Word. By seeking Him for wisdom and understanding and truth. By having faith in His Word. By prayer and His guidance.

We can look at how God has brought us through things in the past, and trust that He will again. We can go and seek out the truth. Study, ask, learn, seek answers. Fear thrives in the unknown.

We can ask ourselves, “What is the worst case scenario? Has God let the worst things happen to me? What if He does? He will be with me through it.”

Overcome and drive out fear through Power, Love and a Sound mind. We can drive it out through Him, and His Word, and Faith in Him and His Word. We trust that He is good and He is with us.

 Spirit of Fear be gone in Jesus name.

Say it out loud. Cast the spirit out.

Remember times when God was with you and saw you through. Trust Him.

Dark times are coming, according to prophecy.

We need to be able to wage spiritual warfare and cast out fear.

Remember during Covid, when the virus was everywhere and fear was running with it? Remember when the vaccine came out and they were forcing people to take it or lose their jobs?

That was a picture of what is coming.

They will say, take the Mark of the Beast or lose your job.

When you see saints being rounded up, and your own pastors turning you in for refusing to bow to the Anti-Christ.

Fear not.

Love not your life unto death. —Rev. 12:11

Fear keeps us down, and keeps us from acting in faith.

Drive out the fear, in Jesus name.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/

Subscribe on Substack: https://substack.com/@chrisbunton

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Do You Really Know Him?

 Do You Really Know Him?

 Are you relying on your works?

 

“And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”—Luke 18:9-14

This is an important subject. The Lord calls us to examine ourselves, so that we are not lost. We are to judge ourselves so that we are not judged with the world. We turn to Him and confess Jesus as our Lord. We humble ourselves and stop relying on ourselves. We give it to Him. (1 Corinthians 11:31-32, Rom. 10:9-10, Rom. 14:11)

But, if we live under a deception of self-righteousness, like the pharisee in the parable, it makes it hard to see that we have never really known Him. We are not saved.

We are called by Him. And if we are willing, we turn to Him and confess Jesus as our Lord. We are saved forever, we are a new creation, and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and mold us into the likeness of Christ.

But, the scriptures are clear that there will be tons of church going people who think they are saved, and are not. They never knew Him. They went to church every Sunday. They wore the pretty clothes. They gave tithes. They sang songs. They obeyed all the rules. They feared that God might get them. But, they never really knew Him. They were never broken.

Churches full of people who have never read the Word. They listen to the pastor and everything he says, and go to Sunday school, but do not know Christ. They believe in Churchianity, not Christianity.

 They are taught that they are the bride of Christ and that they will be raptured out before anything bad happens.

But, when you read about the churches in Revelation it is clear that God judges His churches. He removes the lamp stand. Especially if they never really knew Him. (Rev. Chapters 1-3)

We see the Elder Brother in the parable of the prodigal son. He spews hate, because the Father (God) gives grace and love to his brother who has fallen.

“And he (the elder brother) answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”— Luke 15;29-32

Notice, the elder son relies on his works.

But, he did not know the father’s heart. He thought it was about obedience, not love and grace. He was bitter.

In Matthew Chapter 25 we have three descriptions of what will happen when the Lord returns.

In all of these parables, it is obvious that the Lord is speaking to “Servants” who thought they knew the Lord.

In the first one, 10 virgins have lamps, and wicks in the lamps. But, when the Lord returns 5 of the virgins have no oil (faith) in their lamps. They heard the Gospel, as in the parable of the sower, but did not really confess Him as Lord. the seed fell on stony ground, or was choked out by thorns. They never grew in Him, and had no oil or faith for their light to shine. They buried it under a bushel. (Matthew 5, Matt. 13)

In the second one, the Lord goes away and leaves talents with His servants. But, when He returns, He finds one servant who buried His talents in the ground. The servant believes the Lord is a hard man and doesn’t want to upset Him. So, he did nothing. Again, this servant clearly does not know the Lord or trust Him. It’s not about works, it’s about knowing the master. The servant did not know the master because he did not care about the things the master cared about. If he had, he would have tried to do something to grow the Kingdom.

In the third, the Lord divides the nations into goats and sheep.

“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

³⁵ For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

³⁶ Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

³⁷ Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

³⁸ When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

³⁹ Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

⁴⁰ And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

⁴¹ Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

⁴² For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

⁴³ I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

⁴⁴ Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

⁴⁵ Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

⁴⁶ And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

There is not one mention of going to church. He doesn’t talk about porn, or fornication. He says nothing about homosexuality or abortion. He never mentions drug use or addiction. 

 Why?

Because if you know Him, your sins are forgiven. Never to be brought back up, and thrown in your face. BUT… if you know Him you would care about the things He cares about. He forgave all their debt. But, they still did not forgive others and cared nothing about helping those in need. (Matt. 18:23-35)

Again, we see the Lord say,

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”—(Matt. 7:21-23)

Again, notice that when they stand in judgement, they rely on the works they have done, not in the fact that they know Him. They were never saved. They never accepted the Grace of God. They never confessed Jesus as Lord. They have relied on being an obedient servant instead of relying on the finished work of Christ, and having a relationship with Him. They took the broad road of works, and not the narrow path of faith in Christ alone.

The worst thing to be is a religious self-righteous person. They think they are saved, because they do all the churchy things, and believe all the churchy rules. They never miss a sermon. They’ve got their favorite pew, and their favorite Bible. They don’t cuss. They don’t watch bad movies, unless it’s approved.

But, they wouldn’t go sit with the stinky homeless. They wouldn’t write letters to inmates. They think the stranger in the church might be a felon or a molester or publican. When they see a family with no clothes they judge that the dad won’t work three jobs, or it’s a single mother with no husband. They don’t help them. They might be sinners. They might be trying to con the good church people in order to get a tank of gas, or get a bill paid.

Who cares if they con us? It’s about love and grace not merit. Jesus died for us, and we are not worthy. We take advantage of his grace, whether we want to admit it or not. We are conning Him. Truth be told.

The worst thing, would be to go to church your whole life, obeying the rules; thinking you’re saved, only to discover that you never really knew Him.

Do not be like the virgins with no oil, when He comes.

Turn to Him and know Him. Taste and see that He is good.

It’s about a relationship, not religion.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/

Subscribe on Substack: https://substack.com/@chrisbunton

Read His Bible Studies on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Support the work for the cost of a Coffee

Support the work through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

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