Tag: 2 Corinthians 5:17 Page 1 of 2

Any Day Now – Day 58

On July 15, 2024

(2Co 5:17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

(Luk 9:62) And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

I have often wondered why Lot’s wife turned around to look back. What was there that would give her that overwhelming desire to do so? Was there something in her city that she regretted leaving behind? We think of Sodom and Gomorrah as morally depraved. However, Mrs. Lot was leaving her home, her friends, and everything familiar behind. Haven’t we all been through a similar situation? This is where a believer has to put on the brakes and come to a screeching halt in his/her life.

Once a person is truly born again, certain things happen to the heart. The heart (seat of man’s emotions) was once covered with a veil, if you will. After salvation, that veil is removed and the light of the Blessed Saviour’s Holy Spirit makes His dwelling there. The Holy Spirit then begins His work changing what once was a worldly priority to a spiritual priority. So where are your priorities?

Are you like Mrs. Lot where you miss some aspects of your old life? Are those things you miss distracting you from the Holy Spirit’s prodding to transform you? Jesus said in Luke 9:62 that if you put your had to the plough and look back, you’re not fit for the kingdom of God. In other words, if you hear the good news of the Gospel but your heart is not truly converted, you will look back! Think about how plowing was done. John Deere’s tractors plow through fields in no time. If the driver is looking behind him, the rows won’t be very straight, will they? The driver has to look ahead and not behind in order to achieve his goals. I dare say Mrs. Lot knew why the angels were pulling her family out of Sodom and Gomorrah. She knew her city was to be destroyed. Her last-ditch effort to look back to what she loved cost her dearly!

Keep your eyes on Jesus. Look forward to Christ’s return and our Blessed Hope of the Rapture! Don’t let the cares of this world distract you from your plowing!

(Tit 2:13) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

The Apostle Paul was such an encourager and exhorter! Of all people, he had every reason to look back to the life style he had as a Pharisee. But he didn’t and spent his ministry exhorting the brethren to look forward and look up!

Php 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, (14) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

This lost world doesn’t even realize that they are living their best life at this moment in time. But to the born-again believer, we are living our worst moments in time because we have a greater place prepared for us!

Joh 14:1-4 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (2) In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (4) And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Rom 8:18-23 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (19) For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (20) For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, (21) Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (22) For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (23) And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Friend, unless you are born again, you cannot fully understand these verses. But to the believer, these are exciting words. They encoourage us to look ahead because we know what is to come. If you are not born again, it is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Don’t you want to be a part of the Church when she is raptured into the clouds to meet Jesus? (1 Thessalonians 4:17) Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Any Day Now – Day 53

By Kate Plourde

On July 3, 2024

In Any Day Now, Devotionals

Luk 21:29-36 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; (30) When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. (31) So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. (32) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. (33) Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. (34) And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. (35) For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. (36) Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape ALL these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Jesus made it very clear that the end of the Church age would come when the fig tree shoots forth. There is a reason Jesus points out the fig tree along with all the trees. Why would he include the fig tree if He said “all the trees.” Doesn’t it stand to reason that there is something special about this particular tree? Why the fig tree? The study of “first mentions” reveals that the first time the fig tree was referred to would have significance. We see in Genesis 3:7 that Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves to cover their sinful nature, passing it along to every human being thereafter.

As well, we see that the fig tree refers to Israel in Hosea 9:10 and Joel 1:7:

Hos 9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

Joe 1:7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

Israel, the fig tree, habitually left God to serve other gods and it no longer bared fruit for the one true living God. Later, in the New Testament, we see it mentioned in Mark 11:13-14:

Mar 11:13-14 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. (14) And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

Jesus points out that the fig tree would not produce fruit and man would not eat of it for ever. What fruit will mankind eat from then? It is the fruit of the Lord Jesus Christ, the fruit of His Spirit!

So back on topic, Israel (the fig tree) became a nation on May 14, 1948. This marks the beginning of the end of the age. Jesus said in our opening verses in Mark that this generation would not pass away before all was accomplished. We are that generation, reader! Jesus said: Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that “For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape ALL these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Escape what? The answer is the “snare.” The Greek word for snare is “pagis” and is defined in Strong’s Concordance as:

pagis
pag-ece’
From G4078; a trap (as fastened by a noose or notch); figuratively a trick or stratagem (temptation): – snare

The Antichrist will most definitely trap the world with his deceptions, tricks and stratagem during the seven-year Tribulation period. But Jesus says that we can escape this trap. How? We know that to be included in the Church, one must be truly and authentically born again. A true born-again believer cannot be a nominal Christian. We see in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that the old sinful life and all parts of that sinful nature is replaced by a new life that desires the things of God. Once one is born again, he/she is a member of the Church, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So how do we escape the Antichrist’s trap? We will be counted worthy to participate in the Rapture of the Church. (1 Corinthians 1:50-52, 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18) This escape is not an easy way out as many Christian scholars claim of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture belief. No, dear reader! This is a promise given to the body of Christ. (See Ephesians 1:14-23) We, the Church, are Christ’s body. He cannot allow His own body to go through the Tribulation, which is a time of God unleashing wrath. Romans 8:1 explicitly tells the Church that we are not under condemnation. The Greek word for condemnation and its definition are below:

katakrima
kat-ak’-ree-mah
From G2632; an adverse sentence (the verdict): – condemnation.

The Church is no longer under an adverse sentence of death with a destination of Hell. No indeed! We have been bought with the price of Christ’s shed blood.

1 Cor 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

1 Cor 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

Once we realize this, we can see how the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is the only viewpoint that makes sense. Friend, you must be born again in order to participate, no matter what viewpoint you hold. Friend, if you are not born again, it is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Don’t you want to be a part of the Church when she is raptured into the clouds to meet Jesus? (1 Thessalonians 4:17) Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

End Time Comfort Found in Psalm 119 – Day 6

By Kate Plourde

On January 12, 2024

In Devotionals, End Time Comfort Found in Psalm 119

Psa 119:9 BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

As we live out our lives in these end times, we can see more and more evil in the world. What used to be thought as good is not bad, and vice versa. The world has turned upside down. But how does a person know what is right and what is wrong? God gave us all a conscience and we are born with the innate ability to know the difference. However, as we get older, the god of this world infiltrates that ability just as he did in the Garden of Eden.

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

“Hath God said,” is probably the devil’s favorite phrase! He causes man to doubt and to change his ways. He numbs the conscience so that there no longer is a conscience! So how does a person know what is right?

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to God’s Word. It’s fitting that Jesus Christ is known as the Word of God. (John 1:1-5) The answer to all of life’s questions actually lie in this verse. Man’s whole life is spent searching for the true meaning of life. Some don’t understand what they are searching for while others take the advice of friends. Mankind is always searching for what will me them happy.

Scripture instructs us on how to be happy. True happiness can only be found when we have Christ as our Saviour. There’s no other that can bring total joy and satisfaction. Christ’s saving blood covers our sin and His word allows us to learn and draw from Him. In these difficult times, draw close to His side through the Bible. Read and absorb and then reach out to others to share the Gospel.

James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

The Psalmist knew hundreds of years ago just how to cleanse his way and that was through the Word of God! He knew that cleansing only came from God.

Psa 51:2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Psa 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

This cleansing occurs when one is born again! (John 3:3, John 3:7) When one’s spirit is born again, it’s a totally new life! (2 Corinthians 5:17) A thief no longer steals, a liar no longer lies; it is a change of one’s mind and a decision to no longer live in sin but live with Christ as the Captain of your ship. He directs and guides, like a rudder, through His Word.

Friend, it is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Peace Through Troubled Times – Disobedient

By Kate Plourde

On December 11, 2023

In Devotionals, Peace Through Troubled Times

Rom 1:28-32 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; (29) Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, (30) Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, (31) Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: (32) Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Today’s topic has to do with disobedience. Is it me, or are there more disobedient children in our society? It makes me so sad when I see children left to their own devices and they rule the house with their tantrums. Rather than deal with teaching them and disciplining them at that moment, they are too tired and leave them alone. The problem with that is that no directions from Dad and Mom let the children know that your silence means accepting their behavior.

But today’s devotional is not about a child’s disobedience, although it fits in nicely. It’s about adults’ disobedience. Notice verses 29, 30 and 31! Look at all those sins! They are not normally committed by young children but by grown adults! Verse 32 even attributes it to those who know the judgment of God!!! Children do not know in the early years, but adults sure do.

Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:9-10 that disobedience to the Law, meaning the Ten Commandments, is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In his second letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 2:1-5), Paul says that these sins will increase in the end times. These warnings are not in the Bible for nothing, Reader. You must take heed to what God wants you to know! You commit these sins because you have not repented of your sin to be saved. Repentance is a reversal of one’s direction in life. When you were born, you inherited a sinful nature handed down to you by Adam and Eve. You don’t have to teach a toddler to do wrong because it is part of him from birth. You DO have to teach that toddler to do right. Jesus said:

Luk 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Friend, repentance means that you must consciously make a decision to follow Christ and His teachings. The Law, the Ten Commandments, prove to us that we are sinners because there is not a day that goes by in a person’s life where he doesn’t break at least one of those commandments. The first of those commandments is to love the Lord God with all your heart, mind and soul. Do you? Ding, ding, ding! You have broken one. Have you lied to someone today? Ding, ding, ding! There’s another. They add up after a while. But even if you only had ONE sin (which is virtually impossible), you are found guilty before God of breaking all the commandments!

Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

So know that the Ten Commandments teach us about sin. That was God’s old covenant to the Jewish people. People needed to realize that they could not possibly live a sin-free life, a righteous life, because they failed every day. Israel had to sacrifice lambs to “cover” their sins. They had to shed the innocent blood of a lamb.

From the beginning of time, God provided a way to be reconciled to Him. He gave us a new covenant. Jesus became the Perfect Sacrificial Lamb to die for our sins. The blood of goats and lambs could not wash away our sins. But the blood of Jesus can. When we repent and confess our sins, Jesus hears us. His blood on that cross gives Him the power to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all sin. Furthermore, He is faithful so this will always be!

1 Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

1 Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Some believe you can go to confession and tell a priest your sins and that is it. You’re good to go. But that is not repentance, friend. So what exactly is the repentance? The Greek word is:

μετάνοια
metanoia
met-an’-oy-ah
From G3340; (subjectively) compunction (for guilt, including reformation); by implication reversal (of [another’s] decision): – repentance.
Strong’s concordance

Notice the one in needs to have repentance must feel the guilt and shame of his sin. Secondly, that person must be reformed (John 3:3, 3:7, 2 Corinthians 5:17). Thirdly, to be repentant means to change directions. If you were facing South and wanted to go in the opposite direction, you would go North. In the case of repentance, means you turn around from your current sinful path and go in the exact opposite direction – meaning, you go toward the Lord. Fourthly, you change your mind completely. Instead of giving in to sin, you seek salvation through Jesus Christ and say no to sin. There is no other way to be saved!

Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Sin is a choice after salvation. You are no longer a slave to sin. You can now say no to it.

Rom 6:20-23 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. (21) What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. (22) But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. (23) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Friend, do you know how many so-called “Christians” are out there that have not repented? They go to church and think about God during the service (if they are not sleeping or reading their phone). But after church, they go back to their lifestyle and they’re happy with that. That is not repentance. These people do not feel guilty or remorse for their sin.

After you have read today’s devotional, do you see the difference of what believers call nominal Christianity and true Christianity? You can call yourself a Christian, but if you haven’t changed from your old life, you are not. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

If you are not truly born-again, you won’t see today’s topic as a sin. But there is coming a time when it will be too late for you to repent and be saved. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Hymns 2.0 – Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

By Kate Plourde

On October 16, 2023

In Devotionals, Hymns 2.0

Lyrics (click here to hear instrumental)

1. O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

2. Thro’ death into life everlasting,
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion–
For more than conqu’rors we are!

3. His Word shall not fail you–He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
Helen Howarth Lemmel

The History Behind the Hymn

Born in 1864, Helen Lemmel moved to the United States around the age of twelve. From a young age, her musical ability was noticed by all those around her.

In 1907, She moved to Germany for 4 years to undergo intensive music training. It was here that she would meet her husband. Together, they returned to the United States in 1911. While in America, she served faithfully in the Lord’s work. She dedicated herself to writing, arranging, and teaching songs and hymns of the faith

A few years after her marriage, a tragic illness caused her to lose her vision. Her husband, refusing to attend to a blind wife, left her. This time of hurt and loss weighed heavily upon Helen.

Then, in 1918, Lemmel was introduced to a pamphlet written by Algerian missionary Lilias Trotter. Trotter was a well-known artist who had given up a rising and lucrative career to serve the Lord on the misson field. Her words stirred the heart of Lemmel. She writes, “Suddenly, as if commanded to stop and listen, I stood still, and, singing in my soul and spirit was the chorus, with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme, or note to note to make melody…These verses were written…the same week…”

The words that so captivated Helen were these: “How do we bring things to a focus in the world of optics? Not by looking at the things to be dropped, but by looking at the one point that is to be brought out. Turn full your soul’s vision to Jesus, and look…look at Him, and a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him, and the Divine “attrait” by which God’s saints are made…will lay hold of you. For “He is worthy” to have all there is to be had in the heart that He has died to win.”

Helen kept her eyes on the Lord Jesus and continued to serve Him faithfully.
enjoyingthejourney.com

A Lesson for Me

Mat 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

I’ve often quoted this Bible passage. In fact, these were the first verses I committed to memory after I was born again. My husband was furious at the change that came upon me (John 3:3, 6-7; 2 Cor. 5:17). I was no longer the woman he had married. I longed for the rest that the Lord Jesus promised in this passage. I longed for my burdens to be made light. This is the believer’s confidence, dear Reader.

Psa 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

Without the Lord, there is no such confidence but that of the flesh. (Proverbs 14:30a) Only a heart that is fixed on the Lord can survive the struggles in life.

His Word shall not fail you–He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Message for today

Will life have no struggles after salvation? Of course not! The unbeliever has no one to turn to who will provide peace and comfort. However, the believer in Jesus Christ does! Can’t you see that? Our trials and tribulations are not taken away. Instead, we are promised that the Lord Jesus will walk beside us and provide the right amount of grace to persevere!

How do I know this? Jesus calls those who are born again His friends! Not only are we His friends, but we are now His Bride!

Joh 15:14-15 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. (15) Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

Jesus Christ did not leave us empty handed to live willy-nilly in the world. He left us His Word so that we could learn and find comfort. There is comfort to be had while we go through the trials of life. It is up to us to spend time in prayer and in the God’s word! Jesus is the spoken word of God Himself, dear Reader!

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

It is in the light of the Bible that you will find solace for your soul. It is between those blessed pages that you will find peace which passes all understanding! The born-again child of God is not left to his own devices but is given rest during difficult times.

Joh 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) The same was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (4) In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (5) And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

If you are not truly born-again, you cannot possibly have this peace. There is coming a time when it will be too late for you to repent and be saved. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Hymns 2.0 – Victory in Jesus

By Kate Plourde

On October 11, 2023

In Devotionals, Hymns 2.0

Lyrics (click here to hear instrumental)

I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow’r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and bro’t
To me the victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.
Eugene M. Bartlett Sr.

The History Behind the Hymn

In 1939 at age 53, Eugene Bartlett’s world changed drastically. He suffered a paralyzing stroke that left him unable to walk or even speak and for the most part, he was bedridden. Many felt the stroke ended his teaching ministry, yet it was during these dark days that Eugene would write his best-known hymn, Victory In Jesus. While looking back over his life he began to think back to the night he was born again and the rich life he had since that night. He picked up a pen and began what would become his best-known song. He began with the following words, “I heard an old, old story, How a Savior came from glory, how he gave his life on Calvary to save a wretch like me”. Realizing that the love of God had sustained him and brought him to where he was that day, he is quoted as saying he felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to add another verse. He wrote, “I heard about his healing, of his saving power revealing, how he made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see”. When he completed the song, he looked back over it and seen it was a story of redeeming power from start to finish. He wanted the song to be joyous. And while written during the darkest period of his life he chose to make the melody full of happiness and enthusiasm.
https://backstorysongs.com/2019/10/31/victory-in-jesus/

A Lesson for Me

1 Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Victory is usually viewed in light of wars or overcoming a challenge or race. But in the Christian’s life, victory is provided by Jesus Christ, the Lord. He not only conquered sin and death, but He gives us the victory through faith in Him.

I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.

Message for today

The benefit of Christ’s victory is given to each person who is born-again. At that point, our corruptible spirit and body has been given an incorruptible spirit and body. That is the whole meaning of born again. (John 3:3, 7; 2 Cor. 5:17)

1Cor 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

1Cor 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

1Cor 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

When a Christian is born again, he than changes direction from heading down the road to destruction and Hell. The new direction becomes moving toward living forever with the Lord. Death is no longer scary but is simply moving from one location to another. It’s like leaving the living room and walking into the kitchen. It no longer has a “sting of fear” for the believer but is a welcomed event because once our eyes close in death, they open in Heaven! Praise be to God!!

I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.

Don’t you want to wake up to behold the streets of gold and a crystal sea? Don’t you want to be rid of the fear of where you will spend eternity? It will be Heaven or Hell. There is no other choice, Reader. You can either be singing the song of victory with the other saints in glory or you can be weeping and gnashing your teeth in everlasting pain and suffering. It’s a choice … your choice, so you can’t blame anyone but yourself; nor can you blame God. He will have the final word.

If you are not truly born-again, there is coming a time when it will be too late for you to repent and be saved. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Hymns 2.0 – Christ the Lord is Risen Today

By Kate Plourde

On September 25, 2023

In Devotionals, Hymns 2.0

Lyrics (click here to hear instrumental)

Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
Foll’wing our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, Thy pow’r to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!

Charles Wesley 1739

The History Behind the Hymn

Of the thousands of churches across the world, you would only be able to walk past a few during the Easter season and not hear the congregation boisterously singing this tune. It was written by a man who wrote so many hymns that he himself would not be able to name half, and it sat as just another of his many works for many years. It wasn’t until one significant change to the hymn caused it to explode in popularity and become an essential pick for the celebration of the risen Savior.

Charles Wesley was born in 1707 as the eighteenth child of Samuel and Susannah Wesley’s overall nineteen. He was born premature, and was at first thought to be dead. But God had much in store for little Charles, and wouldn’t allow death to take him just yet. It took a few unsure weeks, but baby Charles finally became healthy. It’s a good thing too, because Charles Wesley went on to become the most successful hymn writer to ever live.
https://www.hymncharts.com/2022/01/14/the-story-behind-christ-the-lord-is-risen-today/

A Lesson for Me

Luke 24:6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

Out of all the “gods” that this world has created to date, not one can boast a resurrection of the dead. Not one! We are seeing more and more open dissention against Christianity as we near the Tribulation period. Christians are made fun of and are now thought to be insane. How does one live in a world such as this? The early church had it so much worse, Reader! One only has to read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs to see that Christians are not really under persecution here in America … yet. If you’ve not read it, you can follow the link and download it for free. It is a very hard read – one comes to the realization of just how these martyrs were tortured for their faith.

I realize that if I should live until the Rapture of the Church, I will see persecution. America is beginning to see this and it will get much worse according to the Scriptures which depict the end times. (2 Timothy 3:1-3) The only way I can live through the upcoming persecution is to be grounded in God’s Word. My focus must be on the risen Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ. This life is not a race but a Christian marathon. Each day brings new challenges and trials. However, the Father gives strength with each one. Our eyes must be fixed on the only One who can help! He is not a god made with hands! He is the Almighty, the Creator of all things, the Alpha and Omega! There are so many names for Him that if I were to include them all, this post would be endless!

Today’s hymn is at the center of the believer’s core beliefs and values. Without the resurrection, there is no conquering of sin or death!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Message for today

Love’s redeeming work is done! This praise should be ever on our lips, Christian! Jesus Christ gave His life on the cross to purchase our pardon. All humanity is born to be destined for Hell. But to those who recognize their sinfulness and desire pardon from their sins, there is One who has paid the ransom; He has paid the penalty for those sins! Had Jesus simply died on the cross with no resurrection, there would be no forgiveness of sins. Because Jesus rose on the third day, His promise to His followers is that they will also!

Psa 34:22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

1 Timothy 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Born-again Christians will go to Heaven in one of two ways: when they die, or when the Rapture occurs. In the meantime, we were given a new life after our salvation. At the moment one is born again, the Holy Spirit come to live within. This same Spirit gives us the ability to say no to sin, which we could not do before. He gives us the ability to walk in the light as He is in the light. (1 John 1:5-7)

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
Foll’wing our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

At the end of our pilgrim journey, we will be taken to our exalted Head and be like Him. We will have eternal bodies, just as Jesus did. We will be able to enjoy eternity in a place that will be beyond anything we can imagine. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Rapture and End Time News – Peel and Stick Vaccines

By Kate Plourde

On July 21, 2023

In Devotionals, Rapture and End Time News

Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

There is going to come a time when the “powers that be” will want to get those people who refused the Covid vaccine to get a future vaccine. This is a picture of a flu “patch” vaccine created by Micron Biomedical. It has passed clinical trials and it is well on its way to be released to the public.

So think about it, if these powers that be really want to reduce the world’s population, what better method could they use than a “flu” vaccine with a little “extra cocktail” in it? The elderly and those with compromised immune systems are the most affected. Why not kill those weaker people off?

Gates, WHO, CDC See Peel & Stick Vaccine Patches Mailed Directly To Peoples’ Homes

These methods are not even hidden from the public! It is in the open. How convenient to have them “sent to your home.” It leads me to think that the 15-minute cities will promote this type of thinking as well. I’m sure if we are thinking of the methods to be used by wicked people to achieve the wicked goals of the antichrist, they have as well – and more!

Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center and co-author of the 1985 book “DPT: A Shot in the Dark,” told The Defender:

“Whether it is delivered by a needle or a patch, a VMAP is a biological product that atypically manipulates the immune system to provoke strong inflammatory responses that can lead to injury or death for some who receive it.

We are living in fearful times for those who are not born-again. (John 3:3, 3:7) You can be a Christian, but in name only. There is proof when one is born-again. (2 Corinthians 5:17) The true Christian changes and desires to live for Christ and to sin less.

The time is coming when it will be too late for you to repent. You will remember each opportunity you were given by God to be saved; you will remember each time you laughed it off and ignored it. Please Reader, repent and accept Christ into your life. (Act 16:31, Rom 10:9) I want to be sure that anyone who reads the posts on this blog can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are going to Heaven. Have you received Christ as your Saviour? If no, your sins are not covered by His sacrificial offering of Himself. You have not been redeemed by His blood. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Rapture and End Time News – Wars and Rumors of Wars

By Kate Plourde

On June 14, 2023

In Devotionals, Rapture and End Time News

It’s not only here in the United States, but people all over the world are seeing wars and conflicts. There are many rumors of wars and there are blatant all out wars, like that of Russia and the Ukraine. Make no mistake, the Bible is never wrong! NEVER!

Is it any wonder that the suicide rates are as high as they are? Does it surprise you why people are confused and looking for answers? But where are they going to for those answers? One would think that they would be flooding the Bible-believing churches by the thousands to see what God’s Word has to say. But no, people don’t want to seek biblical warnings about their sinful nature. Why should they want to feel worse, they ask themselves. Instead they go to motivational “preachers” to hear messages that make them feel good. But guess what? Those sermons do not do anything for the soul. They do not lead a person to repentance of their sins. They do not reveal to them that God is waiting to fill that emptiness inside with the presence of His Holy Spirit once they accept the beautiful Gospel of Jesus Christ and the salvation for which He gave His precious blood! Repentance is key!

Luk 24:46-47 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: (47) And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

For without repentance, there is no change. A person has to have evidence of the new birth! This is why you see so many “so-called” Christians living worse than the religious people in their cities!

2 Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Is it any wonder then that people are afraid of what is coming? Will those wars and rumors of wars come to our own country? The world is falling apart at the seams and there doesn’t seem to be any turning back.

In fact, “Americans fear Middle Eastern terrorists will use the border crisis to unleash catastrophic attacks inside the homeland.”
New Poll Reveals Many Americans Fear Nuclear-9/11-Type Attacks

As born-again Christians, we need not fear what is to happen during these end times. Jesus Christ will Rapture His church before the worst events of the end times come about. He keeps us safe in Heaven while God unleashes His wrath upon an unbelieving world. If you are not born again, do so before it is too late. People who get saved during the Tribulation will likely lose their lives.

Rapture and End Time News – Gender Identity

By Kate Plourde

On June 7, 2023

In Devotionals, Rapture and End Time News

Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Gen 5:2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

Mar 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.

Mat 19:4-5 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, (5) And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

There are no mistakes with God. The genetic makeup of a man and a woman are most certainly different. When God created mankind, He said His work was very good! (Genesis 1:31) There are no mistakes with God.

I am not here to pass judgment on anyone because that is God’s job. (Revelation 20:11-15) My job as a Christian is to draw sinners to Jesus Christ so they can be saved, just as my friend drew me to Him in 1980! (Mark 16:15) Thank you, Vicky!!! 🙌🙌 Praise the Lord that she shared the good news with me. That is true love and that is how Christians should behave.

If you have been scarred by hurtful and condemning comments made by “Christians,” then they have been disobedient to God’s Word. We are to love all of God’s creation and to point them to everlasting life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

1 John 4:20-21 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (21) And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Reader, you must understand that your actions today are not going to condemn you before God! Really, Kate??? The Bible says that everyone who is born is already condemned because they are born with a sinful nature. Just as I was already condemned before I became born-again. (John 3:3, 3:7)

Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

That is the whole purpose of being “born-again”! One must be born-again in order to go from the “condemned” line to the “not condemned line. Once one is born-again, the old sinful nature is replaced with a desire to live for God. Christians are not sinless but they will sin less and less as they grow spiritually. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Friend, today’s end-time agenda is deceiving many into believing that because they are the result of evolution, there are genetic “mistakes.”

What used to be a “theory of evolution” is now looked upon as fact. But in the beginning, it was not so. Can you not see that these are lies that are being thrown at people from the father of lies!

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The devil desires to kill you so you will go to Hell. That is his ultimate goal. He is filled with lies that are powerful. He is the opposite of God. God has truth and life (John 14:6) while the devil has lies and death. In fact, he will cause those lies to appear as though they are from God! They are from the god of this world.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

2 Cor 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

2 Cor 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Reader, God did not make a mistake when He created you. He loves you (John 3:16) and wants you to be saved so you can spend eternity with Him. God made you in His image and He said His creation was very good.

Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

The only way to find the truth in a world filled with lies is by reading the Bible. It is our manual for life as we walk this earth. God didn’t leave us empty-handed to go willy-nilly into a world that has gone crazy. He loves us and has given us the Bible so we can find out His will for us.

Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

If you believe that you are a mistake of evolution, then you are not alone. There are at least one-third of children in England between 16-18 that believe it as well. I’m saddened by this article.

Almost a third of youngsters have been taught that a woman can have a penis. That is just one of the concerning findings that Civitas, the Institute for the Study of Civil Society, a British think tank, has revealed in a new report. Show, tell and leave nothing to the imagination: How critical social justice is undermining British schooling.

The organisation conducted a survey in England of more than 1,100 youngsters aged 16 to 18 and a poll of a similar number of parents of younger teenagers.
Gender Identity

This is not a new thing, nor is social justice. The Bible has much to say on the topic and we can know what is the truth if we only read the Bible. If you are a believer, your job isn’t to scream and yell as the unbelievers do to us. Our job is to point them to the truth and to love them. God will reveal their sin to them – it is up to you to reveal His Word to them. Let the Holy Spirit do the rest.