Courageous Christians

01/29/2022

https://youtu.be/NzC4vHwqAnk

Dr. David Jeremiah NEW Sermons 20212🎤 GOD'S LOVE NEVER QUITS !!!Today on the Miracle Channel Podcast, Dr. David Jeremiah teaches from the story of Hosea to ...

01/24/2022

https://youtu.be/TS3VqP3J0Sg

0:00 Talking about 'death' is taboo. 0:45 Physical Death. 1:28 Spiritual Death. 1:52 Second Death2:30 We are Eternal Beings. 3:00 Fearing Physical Death. 3:5...

01/03/2022

Repentance for a New Year

You have accepted Jesus, but have you truly repented?

When you hear God’s summons to repent, do you hear an invitation to misery, or a doorway to joy?

Few things in the life of a believer are as disheartening as the long struggle with persistent sins. This is particularly true when we have experienced victory over sin in other areas of our life. We know God has the power to get rid of our sin, so why won’t he?

It may sound counterintuitive, but sometimes victory over some sin tarries because God desires to teach us how to truly repent of that sin. God desires his people to know not only how to walk in holiness, but also to obey his command to rend our hearts when we fall short of his glory (Joel 2:13). Yes, sin in our life is a problem, but so is a life where we haven’t learned how to truly repent of sin.

Grieve in your Heart

We’ve all probably seen a pastor illustrate the concept of repentance during a Sunday morning sermon. He walks across the stage on “the path of sin” and tells us that repenting is not merely stopping as we walk down the path, but turning to walk back in the direction of God. This is absolutely right; repentance involves both turning away from sin and turning back to the Father. However, the illustration fails to provide the posture of our heart as we come back to God. This is no incidental point, but gets to the very core of what true repentance is all about.

“True repentance, like all good things, is a gift of God.”
In Joel 2:12–13, the Lord calls to Israel, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” In the Old Testament, people commonly expressed great grief and anguish by tearing their cloaks. But more than caring about the proper “signs” of being upset about their sin, God cared that they actually grieved over them in their hearts — grieved to the point of weeping and mourning.

In his famous psalm of repentance, psalm 51, David reminds us that God does not delight so much in the outward signs of repentance (which included making a sacrifice), but “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). We’re not talking about the shame and condemnation the enemy wants to heap on us, but a godly grief.

We can be in the habit of going through the motions when it comes to repenting, but these passages show that the most important thing is the condition of our heart. Does your repentance look like a heart that has been rent like a garment, broken and contrite as it beats before God? This attitude is missing from most repentance, and it’s the very thing God is trying to teach us!

How to Get a Broken Heart
It may sound strange, but how do we go about getting a broken heart?

First, we simply need to ask for it. True repentance, like all good things, is a gift of God (2 Timothy 2:25). If we want to obey the command to rend our hearts, we must ask God to grant us true repentance.

“The more glimpses we have of the glory of God, the more we mourn for scorning that glory.”
We must also be aware of one of the biggest hindrances to obtaining a broken heart: our neglect of the relational aspect of sinning. By this, I mean that we can view sin as a failure of performance rather than a failure of intimacy. The only grief we experience is disappointment in our inability to do what is right, and not that we have “despised” the living God (2 Samuel 12:9).

When we sin, we play the part of an adulterer who looks for satisfaction in another, rather than the only One who can satisfy. That is why David said to the Lord, “against you, you only, have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4). David rightly saw his failures in terms of relationship, and as a result his heart was grieved as it can be only when we have sinned against the One we love so much.

Behold His Glory
Finally, true repentance comes not merely by understanding the relational aspect of sin, but by understanding the nature of the One with whom we are in relationship. In other words, the more we see God as glorious and holy, the more we will see sin as something to weep over. Repentance is less about feeling bad over behavior, and more about feeling awe and delight towards God. The more glimpses we have of the glory of God, the more we mourn for scorning that glory.

In the end, God’s plan for us is that we will be holy as he is holy (1 Peter 1:16). He will surely do it! In the meantime, he desires a brokenhearted people who have learned to mourn over their sin.

God is most glorified in us
when we are most satisfied in him.

12/02/2021

Jesus was not a pacifist. He was not a gentle lamb as most luke warm Christians want to think. A pacifist is someone who is opposed to violence, especially war, for any purpose. A pacifist often refuses to bear arms for reasons of conscience or religious conviction, or just because they are a liberal.

Jesus is the “prince of peace” (Isaiah 9:6) in that He will one day bring true and lasting peace to the earth. And His message in this world was remarkably non-violent (Matthew 5:38–44). But the Bible is clear that sometimes war is necessary (see Psalm 144:1). And, given some of the Bible’s prophecies of Jesus, it is hard to call Him a pacifist. Revelation 19:15, speaking of Jesus, declares, “Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” The setting up of Jesus’ millennial kingdom will necessitate violence in the form of a war waged against the forces of the Antichrist. Jesus’ robe will be “dipped in blood” (Revelation 19:13).

In Jesus’ interaction with the Roman centurion, Jesus received the soldier’s praise, healed his servant, and commended him for his faith (Matthew 8:5–13). What Jesus did not do was tell the centurion to quit the army—for the simple reason that Jesus was not preaching pacifism. John the Baptist also encountered soldiers, and they asked him, “What should we do?” (Luke 3:14). This would have been the perfect opportunity for John to tell them to lay down their arms. But he did not. Rather, John told the soldiers, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

Jesus’ disciples owned weapons, which conflicts with the idea that Jesus was a pacifist. On the night Jesus was betrayed, He even told His followers to bring swords. They had two, which Jesus claimed was enough (Luke 22:37–39). As Jesus was being arrested, Peter drew his sword and wounded one of the men present (John 18:10). Jesus healed the man (Luke 22:51) and commanded Peter to put away his weapon (John 18:11). Of note is the fact that Jesus did not condemn Peter’s ownership of a sword, but only his particular misuse of it.

The book of Ecclesiastes presents life’s balance of contrasting activities: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: . . . a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, . . . a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3, and 8). These are not the words of a pacifist.

Jesus did not sound like a pacifist when He said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ‘For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD’” (Matthew 10:34–36). While Jesus is not stipulating warfare, He definitely embraces the conflict that comes with the incursion of truth.

We are never commanded to be pacifists, in the usual sense of the word. Rather, we are to hate what is evil and cling to what is good (Romans 12:9). In doing so we must take a stand against evil in this world (which requires conflict) and pursue righteousness (2 Timothy 2:22). Jesus modeled this pursuit and never shrank from conflict when it was part of the Father’s sovereign plan. Jesus spoke openly against the religious and political rulers of His time because they were not seeking the righteousness of God (Luke 13:31–32; 19:45–47). Many "religions" of today do just as these of yesteryear did, serve the wants of the congregation body, not the wants of God. Preach "Love and Peace", at the cost of conforming to the wants of the people rather than the word and commands of God.

When it comes to defeating evil, God is not a pacifist. The Old Testament is full of examples of how God used His people in war to bring judgment upon nations whose sin had reached its full measure. A few examples are found in Genesis 15:16; Numbers 21:3; 31:1–7; 32:20–21; Deuteronomy 7:1–2; Joshua 6:20–21; 8:1–8; 10:29–32; 11:7–20. Before the battle of Jericho, Joshua was met by “the commander of the army of the Lord” (Joshua 5:14). This personage, who was most likely the pre-incarnate Christ, was distinguished by holding a “drawn sword in his hand” (verse 13). The Lord was ready to fight.

We can be assured that it is always with justice that God judges and makes war (Revelation 19:11). “We know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:30–31). What we learn from these and other biblical passages is that we are only to participate in warfare when it is justified. The countering of aggression, injustice, or genocide would justify a war, and we believe that followers of Jesus are free to join the armed forces and participate in warfare.....Jesus never said "Follow me, become a devout Christian, and let the world walk over you"! We are far from that. The goal is not for everyone to be happy in their own happy world, holding hands, accepting each others ways and singing Kumbaya! We are to speak truth, Gods words, regardless of how it makes others feel. We are to make God happy, not the world.

12/01/2021

There are many people who will tell you what you want to hear in this life. I hope you will give me an opportunity to tell you the truth here.

Every person on earth shares one thing in common—we are all sinners according to the God who made us. God created us, and He loves us—even more than we can imagine. But we—all of mankind—have a problem, and the Bible calls it sin. Sin is disobedience to God’s laws, and it has infected the entire human race. It is a disease of the soul. The Bible, which is the Word of God and the standard by which we should live, says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The Bible is also very clear that the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). Mankind is under a death sentence because of sin—but because of God’s great love for us, He sent His Son Jesus Christ from Heaven to this earth on a rescue mission to save you, and me, and everyone from sin.

Jesus Christ took our sins to the cross where He shed His blood and died for our sins, took our sins to the grave, was buried, and on the third day God raised him to life. He’s not dead—He is alive, and He can come into your heart and your life today if you will let Him. The Bible tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Sin includes anything that runs counter to God’s Word—His standard for our lives. This includes pride, dishonesty, lack of love for our neighbors, using God’s Name in vain, and loving anything more than Him.

There is also sin involving the misuse of s*x. God created s*x and gave it to us to enjoy, but tells us in His Holy Word that it is to be reserved for a marriage relationship between a man and a woman. Any kind of s*xual activity or s*xual relationship outside of that is sin. The world would like to redefine marriage and other boundaries for s*x, but it’s not up to us to define. Almighty God, the Creator, set the standard at the beginning of time. The enemies of God would like for you to be deceived, but God wants the best for your life; He wants us to know the truth. God wants all of us to be with Him in heaven in eternity—but our sins block the way.

I love you enough to tell you the truth. I’m a sinner too, and my sins are not any “cleaner” than anyone else’s—they’re just forgiven. When I was 22 years old, I repented of my sins and asked God to forgive me and save me. That night I asked Jesus Christ to come into my life and take control of my life. I’m so thankful for His salvation and to be able to live my life knowing that God has forgiven me of my sins.

The Bible teaches, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” What a promise! I want people everywhere to know that we can be forgiven, cleansed, and set free from the power of sin’s control by believing on Jesus Christ and trusting Him as our Savior and Lord! “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

If you’ve never invited Christ into your heart, you can do it right now by praying this prayer from your heart:

“Dear God I am a sinner, I am sorry for my sins. I want to turn from my sins and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ is Your Son who died for me on the cross and that You raised Him to life. I want Him to come into my heart and to take control of my life. I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as my Lord from this day forward. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.”

I hope you prayed that prayer today. God bless you, and remember God loves you and so do I. Share this with a friend.

04/27/2021

Are you prepared?