by MIMADMIN | Jan 30, 2024 | Uncategorized
“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” John 8:36 Great confusion plagues the body of Christ regarding the relationship between Law, grace, and freedom. Gentiles have never been under the Law; grace has made us free from trying to gain God’s favor by our works. We do well to remember that whatever “freedom” means, it must be understood within the framework of our eternally being His slaves. Men embrace either reason or Revelation as the final court of appeal in their lives. Selecting God’s Revelation means that you are obligated to obey God’s commands, but are free to determine on your own how He wants you to invest your life. When you live under the authority of the objective Truth of Revelation you are “free indeed.” Those who live under the authority of reason are enslaved by the subjectivism of competing with other people’s reason, for no two people can consistently agree on what is reasonable. This means that justice is defined by the strongest; one day you are under the authority of your parents (children have in common that they think their parents are unreasonable), then of the school, next under the authority of your employer, and you may well end under the authority of a tyrant. The freedom of reason leads to slavery. If Christ makes you free, then you are free indeed, but you will never be autonomous ...
by Ron Hocutt | Jan 15, 2024 | Articles, Mentors Corner
I was recently the recipient of an incredibly painful truth about myself. Specifically, God showed me with stark clarity how much I crave the approval of men rather than Him. The way He revealed it to me left no room for argument; I was guilty as charged. It was then, however, that I felt the desperation that comes with increased knowledge of ourselves. How was I to do anything about this? It’s not as if I could simply will myself to be better – self reformation is always doomed to failure. This sort of sin in particular is difficult to overcome as it is a hidden sin of the heart rather than one of action. I was fearful that there was nothing I could do or stop doing to change anything. For half an hour I sat and prayed, completely undone by this revelation of my own dark soul. I had always known I had this tendency, but I worked hard to convince myself it wasn’t severe. It’s as if my entire walk with Christ led up to this moment of realization, and I had nowhere to go. It was at that moment, however, that the Spirit reached down into my heart and pulled out a memory verse I had learned years before from Psalm 51: (5) Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. (6) Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. (7) Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter...
by Bill McCurine | Jan 2, 2024 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us)” (Matthew 1:20-23). The Incarnation was one of God’s greatest miracles. It makes no sense except for the grace of our omnipotent and loving God. Jesus came at a terrible time. The Roman Empire, the greatest power on earth at the time, occupied Israel. Oppressed Israel was a small, insignificant nation without a military. Jesus came in weakness, not in power. He came alone as a baby, the most vulnerable and helpless. Jesus was born to poor, insignificant parents. Moreover, Jesus’s parents were betrothed but not yet married, ensuring that he and they would live under a cloud of gossip and social disapproval all His earthly life. Jesus came in humility, not in grandeur. The source of all splendor was born in a manger with farm animals. Angels announced His birth, but the world was ignorant of His birth except for a few shepherds and wise men from the East. When the wise men told the Jewish leaders of his birth, the Jerusalem leaders were too preoccupied with their worldly...
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