How I came to know Jesus

benotashamed
By: Ron M. of Aurora, CO, USA

I was not married at the time my oldest daughter was born.

My girlfriend and I broke up, and I missed my daughter very much.

I would go into the bathroom and pray that God would return them back to me, and He would remind me of how I would cry and pray. Then He allowed me to remember the pain I suffered when I lost them.

He then asked me, “Do you want to go through that again?”

And, I said “No.”

“Then you need me!”

I ignored that conversation and went on with my life.

One day, a friend of my wife’s came over to update her life insurance policy, because she wanted to put me on it.

I offered him a beer and he said, “I can face reality!”

My thought was ‘what are you trying to say, that I can’t?’

The more I talked to him, the more I didn’t want him in our house.

He told me, “Without the Love of Jesus, you won’t go very far.”

I told him that I had work to do and then he invited me to go to his Church to see a play. I told Him I would go.

I went outside to do the work I had to do.

Just then, the Holy Spirit reminded me of how I used to cry to him and ask him to return my family to me.

I will never forget the last time that I asked God to return my family to me and He didn’t, so I asked Him to either return them to me or send somebody that will love me just for who I am.

To top it off, that day I met my wife! We have now been married 38 years now.

The day came for the play, and I went. They gave an altar call to come and receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior and I didn’t go. I told the Pastor after the service that I wanted to go down there, but he didn’t ask me If I wanted to accept Jesus as my personal Savior.

We left the church and went home.

A few months had gone by, and my wife invited me to go to her Church. I told her that I would go on Easter Sunday morning.

I was impressed by the church; it was very nice inside. I didn’t see any saints along the walls. I was a Catholic, so it was definitely different than the inside of their churches.

When the Pastor of the Church started preaching, he said, “What if Jesus would ask, ‘What are you here for? To show off your new clothes? If you are, get out of here, and don’t come back until you are ready to serve me for the rest of your life!’”

After the service was over, my wife asked, “What did you think?”

I said, “I won’t go back there again.”

The following year was one of the most difficult times I had gone through in my whole life. I quit my job and tried working for myself, but God saw to it that I couldn’t get any work. I could not even get a job, and I had very good working skills.

My wife told me to go apply for food stamps, and I said, “No!”

She said that I needed to swallow my pride and go apply the next day. We went, and we were rejected for any public aid.

What a shame that was to me!

As time went on, I was driving down the road and I got a very sharp pain in my blind eye, so I pulled over, got out of the car and laid on the grass.

I went to an eye doctor shortly after that and he said that I would have to have my eye taken out because it would cause more problems down the road for my other eye.

I left there in tears just thinking of losing my eye.

I called my wife and tried to tell her what was going on, but I couldn’t speak, because I just started to cry.

She said, “Don’t worry, God will take care of you.”

That night I went to bed and I fell apart inside and started to remind God of all of the things I had gone through. I said, “Why did you even create me? First, I lit myself on fire, then I had a dart stuck in my eye and went blind in that eye. I couldn’t look at anybody without being put down. I couldn’t even take off my shirt without somebody saying how gross I was, because of my burns.”

I told God to just take my life, because, “I don’t want to live anymore, but,” I said, ”I am sorry for everything I said, I am sorry and that I tried to live life my own way and I need a new life. I want Jesus to take over my life, now.”

Praise God, He gave me a new life!

The next day, my wife called told me to call this other doctor so I did. I explained to him what had happened and he said to come in to his office.

He examined me and said, “Let me relieve you of your heartache. I can save your eye but it will require surgery.”

I had the surgery done and had to spend the night in the hospital. The doctor came to visit me that night to tell me that it appeared to be okay. The next day I was taken down to get the bandages removed.

He said, “Let’s see if you can see.”

After he removed the bandages, I told him that I could see, and it was like the Lord was hugging me, and He and I were watching the doctor working on me. The doctor removed the bandages and I was able to see for the very first time in 25 years!

I am reminded now about how the blind man, in Mark 8:22-26, came to Bethsaida, and the disciples brought a blind man to Jesus and asked Him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Can you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes, and his eyes were opened! His sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

That is what I am looking forward to, the day I can see Jesus with both eyes!

Praise THE LORD for the blessings he has given me.

©2018 Mark Davis

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Create In Me A Clean Heart

You know it took a post from a dear friend on Facebook to make me think about this passage. She said that she had just moved to a new area and that she had no history there and she was looking forward to getting a new start there. I know that where she was before she didn’t have the “cleanest record” (not legally speaking, just the way that people thought about her – I didn’t personally judge her about what happened in her past) so she was going to a place that had no idea of her past and I am not one to tattle on her – by now I’m sure your mind has already started to grind away imagining things that she may have been guilty of – DON’T.

Ps 51:2 – 15 [KJV]
2Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

I looked this passage up as it just came to mind as I read her post. The main verse that I thought of was verse 10; “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” This passage is part of the prayer that the psalmist, David was praying to God, asking for forgiveness for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba.

I’m sure, well, reasonably sure, that you weren’t reading this after having committed adultery yourself, but as you read this, imagine all of the other sins you are guilty of instead. Even if it is just telling a little lie, the Bible says that even if we are guilty of “thinking about” murdering someone, they are guilty of the actual act of murder. I know, that doesn’t really sound fair, does it?

That being the case, if you think about just the thought of a sin as being just a minor “infraction” (even though most people wouldn’t even think of that as even being a sin/ infraction), and the actual act of murder would, obviously, be a major infraction, your could replace that with any of our bad thoughts, similar to any of those things, and that would make any of us, assuming that you are not in jail as you read this, as guilty of murder as the person in jail for murder – Most of us more than one time a day, especially after driving through a busy city on the way home from work.

Back to the topic at hand…

As I was reading through this passage, I was thinking of myself and, as the Holy Spirit has a tendency of doing, He was convicting me of the sins that I had committed and, as I read it through for the 4th time, I was full on crying as I was ashamed of myself for those sins and many more that kept coming to the surface.

I wonder how many of you out there in cyber-land might fit into the same category. As you read through this, I challenge you too to put yourself in my shoes and dig deep into your own memory and read the passage again (and again, and again…) until you can say with a clear conscience that God can look into your soul and see that it is clear of all sin and you can have a nice talk with Him, one on one.

I pray that this has helped you as much as it has me.  Let me know below, in the comments, what you think…

Thought: “When we feel least like praying is the time when we most need to pray.”

R. A. Torrey from “How to Pray” (1900)

© 2017 Mark Davis

 

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Temptation 2

1 Corinthians 10:13
“There hath no temptation taken you
but such as is common to man:
but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it.”

Matthew 26:41
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation:
the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

– James 1:12-16
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:
for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life,
which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

James 4:7
“Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Hebrews 2:18
“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted,
he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

– Ephesians 6:10-12
10″Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord,
and in the power of his might. 
11″Put on the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12″For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Matthew 4:1-11
“Then was Jesus led up of the
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted
of the devil.” 

Ephesians 4:27
“Neither give place to the devil.”

– Mark 14:38
“Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.”

James 1:2-4 
2″My brethren, count it all joy
when ye fall into divers temptations; 

3″Knowing this, that the trying
of your faith worketh patience.

4″But let patience have her perfect work,
that ye may be perfect and entire,
wanting nothing.”

Luke 4:8
And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Get thee behind me, Satan:
for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve.

– 2 Peter 2:9
“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly
out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust
unto the day of judgment to be punished”

Proverbs 1:10 –
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”

– Luke 22:40
“And when he was at the place,
he said unto them,
Pray that ye enter not into temptation.”

Revelation 3:10
“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience,
I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
which shall come upon all the world,
to try them that dwell upon the earth.”

Hebrews 2:17-18
17″Wherefore in all things it behoved him
to be made like unto his brethren,
that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God,
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18″For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted,
he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

– Hebrews 4:15-16
15″For we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;
but was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin.

16″Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need.”

John 16:33
“These things I have spoken unto you,
that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation:
but be of good cheer;
I have overcome the world.”

©2016 Mark Davis

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Can God Really Forget Your Sins?

In response to a question from a reader:

“This question is off topic…but what do you think this verse means?”

Hebrews 8:12
“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,
and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

“Do you think it’s bad to go as far to say that when God sees us, He doesn’t see any of our sin and only views us as perfect and righteous?”

This is a great question and one that many people mistranslate much of the time.

The reason I say this is that there are also other scriptures that back this up but also clarify it more, to the point that it changes what it looks like it says in this scripture.

(Hebrews 10:16-17; Psalms 25:7; Psalms 65:3; Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 44:22; Jeremiah 33:8; Jeremiah 50:20; Micah 7:19; Acts 13:38-39; Romans 11:27; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; 1 John 1:7-9; 1 John 2:1-2; Revelation 1:5)

The actual thought behind this statement is this: God the Son – Jesus – came to earth, shed His blood as the perfect sacrifice to forgive our sins, once and for all, and we as Christians have chosen to accept that sacrifice as payment for our sins. That being the case, the fact becomes that Jesus’ blood has enveloped and covered our sins so that it appears that they never happened, in God’s sight.  Once we have been saved, we are saved for eternity – we can NEVER lose His salvation.

Think about this:
If we sin, God sees it. He sees us on the very inside of our souls and sees every sin that we have ever done or ever will do. Since God is omniscient, He knows everything.

Can God forget something to the point that He can’t see it ever again? Since He created man and we are fallible; even though we have asked Jesus to come into our heart and His blood has forgiven and cleansed us of all of our past sins.  At that point, in God’s redemptive eyes, we have never sinned and are therefore perfect in His sight making us, because of Jesus’ blood, worthy of entering Heaven (since there can be no sin in heaven).

Did those sins disappear? NO! We can still remember them. We remember what we did, what it was like when we did it, how we felt and we may even have a propensity of committing that sin again (or one like it).

Can God, now, not see any of that? Yes. Because He knows us better than a brother knows us or our best friend. Being fallible, we have the ability to root up that memory of that action (sin); He doesn’t wipe our memory clean. Even if God had forgotten all of our sins prior to our salvation, if we remember that sin after that, God would know of that sin again.

It is just impossible for God to forget our sins to the point that it appears to Him as though we never sinned. He knows that we are “blood-bought”, “born again”, fallible Christians.

He knows that we have sinned but He also sees Christ in our lives and says, “Since you know My Son, you can come into Heaven.” Jesus has become our door pass into the Party of the Universe!

Remember that I said that Jesus’ blood forgives all of our sins up to that point – the point of salvation?

What happens to the sins that we will inevitably commit after that?

Won’t that then make us dirty in God’s sight and unable to enter Heaven? Yes, and No. We will be dirty but since we still have Jesus in our lives, and the Holy Spirit dwelling within us; we will still be allowed entrance to Heaven.

Does that then give us a free pass to commit any sin we want after we are “saved”? NO! The whole chapter of Romans 6 talks about that.

What happens to the sins that we commit after we are saved?

Wow, that is a whopper of a question. The sins that we committed prior to salvation had, and still have, their consequences.  Even so, sin also has its consequences after we are saved and, if it results (or resulted) in some other consequence, regardless if it is physical, emotional or even judgmental (earthly).

Some of our sins are not seen by other people, maybe they were just a thought, but God sees them and so you are sinning against Him.

Much like the earthly courts, we will also stand before Jesus and face accountability for our unrepentant sins and our actions, whether right or wrong (1 Corinthians 3:1-11). Because of the verses before indicating that God remembers them no more, I believe that the judgment that the believers will face will be two-fold: 1) Judgment for the sins left unconfessed before God prior to the judgment (in Heaven), and 2) Judgement for the acts of service that we did and DID NOT do for God while we had the opportunity here on earth. Yes, we will be charged for the things that we knew we were supposed to do to please God and yet still didn’t do them (James 4:17).

Just for the record, the judgment that we will face as Christians is NOT the same judgment that the unsaved will face. The believer’s judgment is called the “Judgement Seat of Christ” or the “Bema Seat Judgment” (1 Corinthians 3:11-15; Jeremiah 17:7-10; 1 Peter 1:17; Romans 14:11-12; 2 Corinthians 5:9-10; Matthew 25:23; Proverbs 24:12). The unbeliever’s judgment is called the “Great White Throne Judgment” that will ultimately penalize the unsaved to an eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire with the Devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:11-15)

Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, was reminded one day of a vicious deed that someone had done to her years before. But she acted as if she had never even heard of the incident. “Don’t you remember it?” her friend asked. “No,” came Barton’s reply, “I distinctly remember forgetting it.”

Luis Palau, Experiencing God’s Forgiveness, Multnomah Press, 1985.

That little story may be a bit humorous but I assure you that the difference between what God sees and what God doesn’t hold us accountable for, is not going to be too funny when we finally stand before God at the Judgment, whether it be the judgment for the believers or the judgment for the unbelievers.

Friend, if you fall under the heading of the unbeliever, I urge you to settle that between you and God.  Accept Christ’s sacrifice of His life on the cross as He shed His blood to be able to forgive your sins and mine, so that we may no longer have to stand accountable before Jesus and be thrown into everlasting fire (Hell) for never accepting that FREE gift of forgiveness and with it, eternal life in Heaven.

If you need any help in asking God for that forgiveness and don’t really know what to do, please contact me and I will be more than happy to guide you along.  You will never be sorry that you did.

If you have any further questions after studying through this article, please note them at the bottom of this page or you can go to our Contact Us Page to leave a more private comment that will come straight to me.  I will not try to embarrass you, but rather, I just want to make sure your questions are all cleared up.

God Bless You,

–Mark

©2013 Mark Davis

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Why Would YOU Want To Be A Christian?

Wow, what a question.  Have you ever considered why you or anyone else would want to be a Christian? If you were to ask that to 100 people, you would probably get 100 different answers.

I think that God, or Christianity of some sort, has a different appeal to everybody but ultimately, when the answers are sifted out, you come down to the basic reason of Good nature versus Bad nature.

On the Good Side, most people’s image of Christianity says:

  • If you are at the lowest that you think you can get, Christianity can make everything better for you.
  • If you are having problems, regardless what they are, God can make things all better.
  • If you have poor health, Jesus will heal you – just like He did in the Bible.
  • I want to be rich and Christians say that if you are walking closely with God then He will let you have anything you want.
  • I want to see my deceased loved ones.
  • And the list could go on for a long time.

When in actuality, God, in His Word, The Holy Bible, says:

Come unto me all you who are weary
and I will give you rest.

-Matthew 11:28-30

“But as it is written, 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 Corinthians 2:9

2In 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.

-John 14:2-3

4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:
for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me,
Write: for these words are true and faithful.”

-Revelation 21:4-5

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him
shall be in him a well of water springing up
into everlasting life.

-John 4:14

13But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them which are asleep,
that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,
that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:
and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds,
to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
-1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 

Christ transforms the Christians

Yet, on the Bad Side, people would say about Christianity:

  • “There really is no hell.”
  • “If God is real, He is very loving and would never send anyone to hell.”
  • “Christianity is nothing but a bunch of rules that if you break them you go to hell.  There is no way to keep them all so why try?”
  • “The God I know of from the Bible is not loving at all, in fact He is very angry and vengeful. Why would I want to spend eternity with a God that caused the whole earth to be flooded and He chose to make total nations be slaughtered by His people?”
  • “I’m having too much fun doing the things that the Bible says are wrong.”
  • “I believe that when we die we don’t go anywhere – there is no eternity – we just cease to exist.”
  • “I believe that hell is the bad stuff that we go through while we are on earth and when we die, God lets us all go to heaven.  If we are really good, we get really nice things when we get there.”
  • “I go to church every time the doors are open and I even give my 10% to the church. I try to be as good as I can and love everyone else.  That should mean that I will get into heaven if I’ve been good enough.”
  • “I was baptized when I was little and went through catechism so I should skip purgatory and go right into heaven when I die.”
  • “God has blessed me with plenty of money while I’ve been on the earth and I’ve even given a lot of it to the poor. Since I’ve done so well on earth, then God must love me enough to let me into heaven. I’ve never done anything really bad so I should have no problem getting into heaven.”
  • “I don’t think that anybody can really KNOW that they are going to heaven for certain.”
  • “And there are so many more that I can’t list them all, but most of them are similar to these.”

Instead of giving you a bunch of scriptures that refute what I just wrote above, let me ask you a question (or three or four).

What is it that you are relying on to get YOU to Heaven?

If you were to die in the next 10 minutes and you are standing face to face with God and He asks you, “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” — What would you say to Him?  

If what you were relying on to get you to Heaven was wrong, would you like to know? If you can say, “YES“, to this question, please read on.

If you can relate to any of these statements on the BAD side here, and your answer happens to be, “NO“, then you can close out of this page and find something else to read (I suggest reading “I’m Dead, Now What?“) because you won’t want to listen to anything that I have to say anyway.

Moving on…

According to the Bible only (I am not making any of this up) since we count the Bible as God’s own Words – He doesn’t just come out and talk to us person to person (yet).

First – Every man is a sinner (breaker of any/all of God’s 10 commandments as set forth in Exodus 20)

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

Romans 3:10 –
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.”

Romans 3:23 –
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Second – The penalty of sin is eternal death!

Romans 6:23 –
“For the wages of sin is death;
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Third – Eternal Life is offered to us ONLY through Jesus.

John 3:15-16 
15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life.

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.

John 14:6 –
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Romans 5:8 –
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Fourth – How do we receive this GIFT of God?

Romans 10:9 – 13 –
9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith,
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek:
for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

It’s as easy as that!

If you are relying on anything more than what I’ve just described, then you are not putting ALL of your faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and His redeeming blood that was shed to wash away all of our sins.

God doesn’t want us to add anything to this because if we do, it becomes a “works based” salvation. What do I mean by that?  I mean that if there was ANYTHING that we could personally add in order to get to heaven, we would be relying on ourselves to do something special to buy our salvation into heaven.  God won’t let that happen!

Why?  Because, if you or I were able to add anything to that very basic salvation then, whether on this side of heaven or even once we get into heaven (which won’t happen), we would be bragging to our friends or anyone we come in contact with about what WE did to get to heaven. Can you tell me what sin that would be called?

PRIDE!

Proverbs 16:18 –
“Pride goeth before destruction,
and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 –
8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Pride is one of the biggest sins that there is.  If you think about it, most of our sins that we commit on a daily basis are based on pride or at least are stemmed from it.  They can almost all be linked back to pride.  That being the case, and pride being a sin, and heaven can contain NO SIN, we would never be allowed into heaven based on anything that we are able to personally do.

All God wants us to do is to put our faith and trust in Him.  Believe in Him and His salvation-work at Mt. Calvary as all that is needed to get into God’s Heaven.

Doing some of those extra things that you do to get into heaven on your own might make you feel really good, but imagine how much better you could feel if you trust Christ first and then all of those good things that you would have done for your salvation, if there is still any virtue in their accomplishment, you can do them for God’s glory rather than your own.

You see, in Matthew 6:16, Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees of the day for doing works out in the open so that they can look more pious than others, but in verses 17 and 18 He goes on and tells them that they should do their “works” in private so that only God can see them.

Because, in verses 19 through 21 He goes on to say:

19 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
– Matthew 6:19-21

What’s even better than this is in:

John 14:2-3 –
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.”

These verses give me great promise and comfort that when my time on earth is finished, I will have a place of extreme comfort to be able to finally rest.  Jesus ascended into Heaven after His resurrection from the dead so that He could prepare a place for me.  If you put all of the verses together, that tells me that after we are saved from our sin’s penalty in Hell, and I start doing things for Him (not for myself and my own glory), I start to lay up treasures in Heaven.

Those verses indicate that there are many mansions in Heaven and that Jesus is going to prepare a place for me and if I lay up treasures in Heaven, as the other verse says, then, when I get there, I should have, as I picture it, a larger mansion with many treasures in it.

Why would anyone in their own right mind want to, knowing this, please ourselves and others around us for our own vain glory when we have so much more waiting for us when we do things the way God wants us to do them?

I mean, seriously, WHY?

Yet, people do it all the time — WE do it all the time!

Yes, I’m guilty too!  It is the “old man”, the “sin nature”, that is in us that naturally wants to receive the pleasure from the gratitude that we get or the trophy (or equivalent) that we would get for doing something especially well and so that others around us can see how GOOD WE are.  We have to fight that sin nature to make sure that God gets the glory for our accomplishments instead of us – after all, He is the one that gave you the ability to do the thing that got you that glory.

I can speak from experience that if you continue to bring glory to yourself and God has other plans for you and you continue to do your own thing to please yourself rather than do the things that would bring God the glory… He can arrange it to where you are no longer able to do those things that bring you pleasure/glory, but make it so that you have no choice but to turn to Him.

Folks, He will continue to allow bad things to come your way so that little by little you are disabled of the things that bring you that pleasure.  It doesn’t matter what it is.  God has control over all!  He can and WILL do what is necessary to get your attention… until… some day, He may finally determine that you are a hopeless case and you will never turn to Him to do His will and He will bring you home.  That “home” may be Heaven, or it may be Hell, but if you don’t listen to Him and His callings, the outcome may not be the way you would really have liked it.

God wants your talents and your time and abilities – let Him have them.  <I’m pleading with you> Turn your life over to His will.  You will have more peace and joy in your life than you ever imagined.

Yes, you will still face adversity but the difference now is that when you do, you will have a friend with you that sticks closer than a brother, that will NEVER leave you or forsake you and will never steer you wrong by giving you bad advise.  He is the Comforter.

You see, all of those things that I listed at the beginning of this article can still be yours but only if you are serving God.  He will NOT grant those things to you because of your own selfish pleasures. He truly knows the best way to live your life – better than you do.  Let Him have control over your life so that He can show you what He has in store for you.  It may not be what you thought you would be doing, but I guarantee you won’t regret it.

Lord, I ask that you get into the heart of those reading this article right now and convince them of all of the great things that You have in store for them – at the very least, You can take away the heartache and hurt that they are feeling right now.  Give them comfort in knowing that You are now in control of the situations in their life.  Please, bring healing to their hearts and lives.  In Jesus’ Name and for His glory I ask these things, Amen.

If you have received the blessing from this article and or this prayer, please leave a comment (or go to my contact page if you wish to stay anonymous) and let me know that you have received a blessing from this.  I would really love to share your joy so that I can give God the glory as well.  As always, if there is anything you need from a spiritual point of view, please feel free to let me know.

God bless you, –Mark

©2013 Mark Davis

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Here’s The Problem With Our Churches Today

I’m reading a lot in different places about how everybody (that is talking) is a “Christian” and how there should not be division among the “Christians” and, in general, churches/ religions/ denominations.

They think that all they have to do is call themselves a “Christian”, when in actuality, there’s a lot more to being a “Christian” than just saying you’re a “Christian” and then doing a bunch of good things.

First, let us look at what it means to be a “Christian”.

The definition of “Christian”: Christ – like or Christ – follower

How do you become a Christian?

If you look at Romans 10:9-10, it says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”.

And then Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”

First, to be a Christian, we have to confess with our mouths that we are going to follow Jesus AND we have to believe in our hearts that God actually did raise Jesus from the dead on the third day, and that’s all it says we have to do. Then it says that with the heart man believes unto righteousness (or salvation or becoming a “Christian” by more than just name). Not only do we have to say that we are going to follow Jesus, we have to believe it.

It’s not enough to just believe that we are going to follow Jesus, but we also have to confess that we have, and to open our mouths and tell people and then, and only then will we be saved. (Step by step guide through salvation)

You see, there’s nothing there that says that we have to do anything special other than this, there’s no good works, there is no baptism, there’s no “Hail Mary”s. That’s IT!

Ephesians 2:8-9 backs up that statement by saying that it’s only by God’s grace that we are saved and the reason for that is: it can’t be because of anything WE DO, “and that not of yourselves,” means that there’s nothing we can do that will get us into heaven. Salvation is a gift of God, requiring no works because God doesn’t want any man to be able to brag about what they did to get to heaven.

Joining a church, giving money to a church or any other charity, working in a soup kitchen to help the poor, just generally being a good person, WILL NOT GET YOU TO HEAVEN! Really good people such as: Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Pope John Paul, Buddha, or your next door neighbor can NOT get to heaven by their works!

At that point, and only after all of this is completed, can we call ourselves, “Christian”!

If you have not done that, then you cannot call yourself a “Christian”! If you are relying on other things besides confessing sin and claiming Jesus as your Savior for your salvation, then you MAY NOT BE a Christian.

This is not being judgmental! This is only repeating what God’s Word says. It is stated again many other times through Scripture. What more do we need?

Once this is completed, the hard part begins. Now we have to BE LIKE Jesus!

Matthew 16:24
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Many people figure being like Jesus is just loving people. When in actuality, Jesus tells us to keep His commandments. How many commandments are we supposed to keep? Is it only “love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor”? No, it’s not!

We have to remember that Jesus is God, no question about it. We also have to remember that God gave the 10 Commandments along with many other commandments after that in the Old Testament.

Then we have the much-debated-upon “doctrines”. These doctrines come out of the same Book that tells us about Jesus and explains to us what Jesus wants us to do. The whole Bible is filled with His commandments. If we are not doing EVERYTHING that is written within the pages of the Bible, then we are not doing what God wants us to do.

Now, you want to know why people argue? It’s because of the doctrines! Are these important? ABSOLUTELY!

Some of these doctrines are cut and dried; you don’t have to wonder what they’re telling us to do. Some of them are not so cut and dried. That is where religions and denominations come in. That is why people have to argue. That is why there is dissension in our churches. That is why we have church splits as well.

With all of the “education” that we have out there today, each individual teacher (or pastor/priest) is going to teach their own point of view. In other words, too many of them, what the Bible says at that time means absolutely nothing. The unfortunate thing is that we, as the little people, end up being taught the wrong things… And we believe them.

We are told Acts 17:13, that we are to be like those in Berea, and search the Scriptures daily to see if any of these things are true.

You don’t have to believe me about any of this. You can go on living the way you want to. You can call me all sorts of names. You can do anything, but if you don’t believe the Bible, you’re wrong. I challenge you to prove me wrong. The Bible does not contradict itself.

I may consider myself to be a particular denomination; that denomination does not make me a Christian, nor does it even make me better than anyone else. I’ve chosen the denomination that I belong to, because of what they believe, instead of a non-denominational church because they don’t want to tell you what they believe or they only tell you part of the story.

It’s up to you to figure it out by studying the Bible and to find out if they are right or wrong. If they are wrong and you stay there, you are wrong. In James 4:7, it says, “for to him that knows to do good and doeth it not, to him it is SIN”! [emphasis mine]

I’ll tell you what, the journey really begins after a person becomes a Christian. As a Christian, we are to be discerning of what is right and wrong, and then call it what it is – and then do something about it!

You never saw Jesus, when confronted with something that was wrong, just walk around it. He always confronted it head-on. Think about the temple and the money changers and how He overthrew their tables, and He cast them out of the temple. He actually got mad. And this was Jesus – He got mad! Sometimes we have to, too!

When somebody says something that goes against what you THINK you believe, instead of trying to fight with them, try trying to figure out if what that person said is actually true or not. How do we find out? By going to God’s Word. Because, you see, if it doesn’t go along with what the Bible says, it’s most likely WRONG!

In a perfect world there would not be any argument between different religions or denominations. In fact, there would be no religions or denominations, we would all believe the same things. That IS coming in the near future. It will either be after Jesus comes to take us to be with Him, or it will be when this world sets up a (false) one-world-religion and demands tolerance among all religions.

There is only one way to heaven. If your church does not teach that, it is wrong! And, if you stay there, knowing what I have just said, you will be wrong too and God will hold you accountable for it at the Judgment!

IT’S YOUR CHOICE…

©2013 Mark Davis

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The Christian Pumpkin

Christian Pumpkin


A 10-year-old little girl was asked by another classmate, “what is it like to be a Christian?”. The girl replied, “it’s like being a pumpkin, God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then He cuts open the top and scoops out all of the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc., and then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.”

2 Corinthians 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.”

Just like the carved pumpkin in the illustration, once we become saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, we begin looking at life through His eyes. Those things in our lives that don’t belong there, the Holy Spirit convicts us of them and tells us that we need to change in those areas. We need to be aware of what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us and then DO what He tells us to do.

©2013 Mark Davis

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Have You Ever Considered?

Is there really a heaven or hell?  

If you died today and went into eternity, where would you go? Heaven, or Hell?  There is NO in between and if you cannot answer definitively that you would be going to heaven with conviction, you are going to hell!

When asking this question to random people on the street, most people would not be able to tell you one way or the other.  Some would say that they HOPE or THINK that they would go to heaven, but have no reason why or have no basis as to their thought process.

If you stood before the All Powerful, All Knowing, God and He asked you, “Why should I let you into MY heaven?”, what would you tell Him?  If you don’t have any definite reason WHY, you don’t get to go in!

Why would that matter?  Because if you don’t get to go into Heaven, you WILL go to HELL!

Yes. Hell is a very real place.  It is NOT a place where a person will get to party for the rest of eternity. Think about this…

Who is the one that presides over all of today’s parties that are filled with debauchery and drunkenness and sex and filth and drugs and … the list goes on…?  Who is the Father of all of that sinful behavior?  Why, it is none other than the “Father of Lies” himself, Satan – or as he is otherwise known, the Devil.

Why is that important at all?  Because, if Satan is going to be punished for the rest of eternity for revolting against God (along with a third of the angels) by being thrown into the “Lake of Fire” full of pain and sorrow and weeping and gnashing of teeth where a person will want to die but it will never happen, where there will be torment and torture for the rest of eternity (a very long time – NEVER ENDING!)  That is what is in store for Satan and his angels according to Revelations 21.

But, what does that have to do with you?  Well, as it says that Satan et al will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, it also says that death and the grave will be thrown into the Lake of Fire with him (them).

If you were not able to give God the right answer to the question above, then you will be included in the “death and the grave” part of that statement.

There is no purgatory, unlike some might think.  It is never mentioned in the Bible, but rather, it was made up by a pope many years ago as a ploy to get the catholic people to feel sorry for their dead loved ones and the pope allowed the living relatives to give gifts to the church in order to shorten the time that they will have to spend there before they are finally prayed/payed into their heavenly place.  Sorry, it isn’t going to happen that way.  I challenge you to find me one place in the Bible where it says that any of this purgatory stuff will actually happen – you can’t do it because it isn’t there.

Back to the important topic at hand… Where are you going to spend eternity?

Friend, if this were not important, do you really think that I would be wasting my valuable time talking to you about this?  In fact, in God’s eyes, this is the most important topic in the world!

You see, God desires more than anything in this world to have you spending eternity with Him in His heaven.  In fact, since heaven is a sinless place and we humans are very sinful beings, we are not going to be allowed in to God’s heaven the way we are.  In fact, you could be the absolute best role model on the face of the earth but you would still be far from the perfect being that would be required to enter God’s heaven.

See, God knew this ahead of time (He knows everything from eternity past to eternity future – even the stuff that hasn’t happened yet), that is why He devised a plan to provide a substitute sacrifice for your atonement of your sins.  What does that mean?  As we have determined in the last paragraph, we are not good enough to get into God’s heaven, so the alternative is only to go to Hellllllllll!

God’s substitute sacrifice happened to be God the Son – the Second Person of the Godhead out of the “Trinity” (that is discussed in another post),  You see, God the Father was going to send His Son down to live with man for an honest-to-goodness sinless lifetime.

He started with the immaculate conception when the Holy Spirit implanted the seed that was to be Jesus within Mary’s womb.  No, it’s not what you think – contrary to what some religions believe, there was no sexual intercourse that occurred between God and Mary or an angel and Mary.  Mary was a virgin before conception and continued to be a virgin until Jesus the Christ was finally born. After that Mary and Joseph produced a very healthy family in the conventional manner known to man and woman.

Jesus’ mission on earth was to be born as a man-child, to be raised in the normal Hebrew manner, being taught the scriptures that they had up to that time (Moses’ writings and the prophets).  He frequented the temples where he would debate the scriptures with the priests and pharisees, usually ending up with Him teaching them rather than them teaching Him.  He would literally sit with them for days (and we get upset when the pastor of our churches takes more than an hour for a sermon).

He would live out a normal life as a child developing into a man – the only difference is that He was tempted in every sense of the word, just as we are now, but rather than succumbing to the temptations in front of Him, He remained clean and perfect and without sin.  You see, only a sinless, perfect sacrifice could take our place in death.  The death that was the penalty for the one sin that we have committed – yeah, right; I know that you’ve sinned many more times than once.

As a slight side note:

I’m sure you are familiar with the 10 commandments that are referenced in Exodus 20.  Among those are: killing, adultery, idolatry, lust, envy, putting any god in front of the only One and True God, disobeying your parents. Did you also realize that the Bible also tells us that if you were to even think in your heart about any of these commandments to break them, you are guilty of breaking that commandment.  In fact, it goes further and says that if you are guilty of one, you are guilty of all of them.

According to that statement, where does that put you?  Did you know that you are surrounded by a group of mass murderers?  That might sound a bit comical, but in God’s eyes it is totally true!  And, as we established earlier, the penalty of any sin – regardless what sin it might be – is DEATH!  This doesn’t mean that you die and then that is it.  NO! That could not be further from the truth.  Rather, when we die physically, our bodies might be buried or cremated or whatever your preference might be, but someday there is going to be a resurrection.  In fact there is going to be two resurrections. One for the ones that are truly on their way to Heaven and the other will be for those who will be thrown into the Lake of Fire with Satan.

As I said, Satan is not the ultimate party DJ, although he might be the loudest of the screams of pain that will be emanating from the pit of hell.  This trip to hell is not going to be a vacation.  It will not be a party with 72 virgins (or however many they think they will get).  In fact, even though, as the name depicts, “Lake of Fire”, it isn’t going to be like it is here on earth where when something encounters fire of differing temperatures, it will be consumed and that is that – no more existence! In fact, the Bible says that it is a place of eternal torment, where the thirst is not quenched and the “worm dieth not” – you’ve just become a worm….

What is my point in telling you all of this morbid stuff?  You see, we only seem to think that it is morbid because it is depressing since all we want to do while we are on this earth is to make lots of money, have lots of fun, travel, even have as much sex as possible (I only say that because it is true).

The thought of interrupting our plans of doing all of this to just stop and turn around and start making dramatic changes in our lives and start actually following Jesus and doing the things that are commanded us to do in the Bible – I can’t list them all here.

The main thing is that we were not put on this earth, much less to become a Christian, but to serve ourselves and make our existence on this ball of dirt to please our own desires and pass into eternity to be punished in hell for not serving God.

Why do we need to serve God so badly?  Many years ago in the Garden of Eden, God created two beautiful humans that were sinless and faultless and naked without shame.  Why did He create them?  He wanted to have some intelligent companionship that WANTED to be with Him.  And He even gave them a choice of being with Him or death if they ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Satan tempted them, they gave in to his temptation and they eventually died.  The worst part of it all was that they didn’t only die physically but they also died spiritually – and that is why we are put on this earth.

I know that this world has a way of sugar-coating evil to make it look like it is fun – and it may be, but that fun wears off after a while and then there are penalties and consequences that must be paid. These payments may be in the form of a traffic ticket fine or you may do something that requires you to have a physical impairment for the rest of your life, or even worse yet, someone else might have that impairment or even lose their life.  Or, your penalty may only be the eternal penalty of death in hell.

Friend, if you couldn’t tell God why He should let you into His heaven, you need to get this taken care of between you and God.  Please, get on your knees before Him and beg for Him to forgive you and that you want to receive the gift that Jesus is willing to give you of eternal life in heaven with God and then give your life over to God to let Him use you to help show others about how God wants them to go to heaven too.

You know, you could walk away from reading this and go back to doing the same old sinful things, but God has a much bigger plan for you. And, trust me when I say to you, that being in God’s service and doing the things that God wants you to do, you could never get more joy and happiness from anything else that this world has to offer you.

In John 14, Jesus tells us:

John 14:1-3

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.

What many people don’t quite grasp about being a Christian is that even though Jesus is not walking this earth right now, He will be coming to get us soon so that we can spend eternity with Him.  He said that this is a word of encouragement that in His Father’s house (Heaven) are many mansions – these mansion (of whatever sort they might be) are made for us!  I don’t see these being apartment buildings or condos, but mansions!  He is going, at that time until He comes back, to be preparing these places for us.  We get our very own mansions.  These aren’t time shares either – we aren’t just buying a week or a year out of eternity to be there.  He continues and says that He is going to come back again and get us and take us to where He lives (Heaven) so that we can be with Him as He intended for mankind in the first place.

In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul is talking to the Thessalonian church.  They were concerned that they would never get to see their loved ones again that had passed into eternity before them.  He tells them this:

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:

13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Brothers, I don’t want you to be ignorant (or unknowing) about those who have died already, that you don’t weep and feel like you will never see them again like those who are unsaved do (they have no hope of eternal life).  If you truly believe that Jesus died and rose again, then you will see them again if they were saved when God brings them with Him.  Paul speaks this by the authority of the Lord, that those of us who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord will not keep this from happening to those who have already died.  Verse 16; For the Lord Himself (not angels or Michael the archangel) will come down from the heavens with a SHOUT, with the calling of the archangel and with the trumpet sound of God, Himself: and at that point, faster than we can even imagine, the dead that had been saved before they died, will rise to meet Him in the clouds: then the rest of us (who have been saved up to this point) will be caught up (modern term is “raptured”) into the clouds to meet them all even including the Lord – or Christ – and from that point on, we will always be with the Lord!  Because of this, brethren, comfort each other with these words.

How much more beautiful could you imagine it?  If you want a wonderful description of the “New Jerusalem”, you should check out Revelation Chapter 22. … No more sorrow, no more pain … I can’t wait!

My friends, the point in this article is not to, necessarily, get you saved, but to try to light a fire under you to sense the urgency of making sure that anyone and everyone that you come in contact with in the future, that you spend a few minutes and ask them what lies in store for them in eternity and give them the Gospel news that they could spend eternity in heaven with Jesus – and you and me.

Consider this …

… the cashier at the local grocery store is checking your groceries out and all you have to do is ask them that if they died today, would they go to heaven?

… the waitress at your favorite restaurant may have a car accident on the way home from work and end up in hell because you didn’t share Jesus with her.

… the friend you have had since childhood that has never accepted Christ as their personal Savior and you may be the last person that they get a chance to hear it from.

… maybe your parent(s) have never heard God’s plan of salvation and you are just the person that they need to hear it from so that they can make that final decision for Christ.

Remember that we, as Christians, are not out there to twist arms of everyone that we know and force them into a decision.  All we are required to do is tell them what God’s Word has to say about their eternal future.

Some sow the seeds; some water the seeds; but God makes them grow. Occasionally, we have the distinct pleasure of actually leading someone to Christ and verifying with them that they are on their way to heaven with you.  Even if you don’t get to do that, you – if you have done your duty – have done your duty.  Just present God’s Word to them.  If you need help knowing what to share with them or how to do it, there are quite a few different approaches listed in the “Salvation” section of my blog site here – or you can follow the links that I supply to you below.

Christian, I really hope that this has made you think about how you can spread the Gospel.  The time is getting near when the Lord is going to come back for us and we don’t want to have to stand before Him and try to give Him excuses about why we didn’t do our job and why, now, that person is in hell.

God bless you and your soul-winning efforts.  If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below or you can go to my Contact page to contact me privately.

©2013 Mark Davis

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Is Your Bible Version The Only One That Has God’s Word In It?

DOES YOUR BIBLE ONLY,

CONTAIN GOD’S WORD?

King James Version of the Bible

Words by Jim Finn from the blog: “Thoughts of an Old Man”
July 2, 2013    by Jim Finn
“The words of the LORD are pure words:
as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 
Thou shalt keep them, O LORD,
thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” 

Psalm 12:6-7
The above says His WORDS, not His thoughts. It says we have God’s pure Word today. For every generation. Even for English-speaking people. His Word is not only here, His Word is not hidden. It is for every generation. It is in the open so ALL can read.
”Heaven and earth shall pass away:
but my words shall not pass away.”
Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33

Not just His thoughts but His Words. What is the Bible? It is not the words of men but the Word of the Almighty God, who is the Creator of the world. The human penmen were employed of God to write His very words.

When we say it was given by inspira­tion of God, we mean that God Himself gave us His own words. That is why we use the terms verbal and plenary to describe what it is. Verbal has to do with His actual words. It is not just His ideas or concepts, but His words. When we say plenary, we mean inspired fully. It is not somewhat of God with the rest of it being man-made. It is in every sense a God-made Book.

So let us sit up and take notice. This Book I hold in my hands is God’s Book. It is the word-for-word, precisely expressed rev­elation of God.

Is the King James Bible the Word of God?
Absolutely! Let us stop the quibbling. Either you have the Word of God or you do not. If your Bible is the Word of God, then you have something totally unique and very, very special.

What is your problem? Why do you feel the necessity to dismember, dissect and dilute the text? Why can you not just say, “My Bible is the Word of God; I believe it, I trust it and I honor it to the fullest?” Shelton Smith

A KJB critic told me just yesterday that God’s Word is locked up in New York City and Israel. Really? God preserved His Word but sees fit to lock it up?

What about versions of Gods Word?

Each version, and in the English-speaking world there are over 400 versions, the Words are different. God told us in Deuteronomy and Revelation not to add to or take away from His WORD. Yet in most of the versions there are over 60,000 Words removed. [NASB, NIV, NAS etc.]

Has God Preserved His Word in the English Language?

The short answer is YES! Not only has He done so in the English language but the original manuscripts were written in 3 completely different languages. [Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek] We no longer have any of the original manuscripts, yet God said He would Preserve His Word. Did He ever one time say that His Word would only be preserved in the original languages? NO HE DID NOT! WE HAVE HIS WORD TODAY!

Why Do We Not Use Other English Bibles?

  1. “Since God has preserved His Word for us, when two different Bibles say two different things, it poses a major prob­lem. If they are different, at least one of them is incorrect. I simply do not want my Bible to be a source of confusion.

  2. “In the second place, there is a logistics problem. Almost all English Bibles which have come into being in the past 125 years are based on the Westcott-Hort texts. The Westcott-Hort texts are frankly spurious texts in that they have been tampered with. Scrivener, a contemporary of Westcott and Hort, produced a Textus-Receptus New Testament Greek text in which he documents that Westcott and Hort changed the New Testament text 9,970 times. They amended! They emended! They deleted! They added things! They literally pilfered the Greek text. It is therefore my conclusion that no matter how sincere or how skilled the translators, if you have them work­ing with a bad text, you will come out with a bad English version.

  3. “In almost all cases when someone pro­duces a new English text, his motivation for doing so is either bias or bucks! That is, he either has a doctrinal agenda he is trying to accommodate or he is trying to make a dollar. In some instances, it has been bias and bucks!

  4. “If you do not have a Bible that is your standard text, the consequences are going to be costly. Where there is not a standard text, the preacher and the people are never quite sure of anything. If they are sure, they do not know why they are. The problem is, they do not have a Bible to which they can turn with confidence and certainty. In the absence of an authoritative Bible, the people will not become strong Christians. They will drift and shift because necessity for an authoritative text that is, in fact, the Bible!”      Shelton Smith

Some say other versions are easier to understand; What does God say about understanding the Bible? Does it point to languages as a barrier?

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:”
2 Corinthians 4:3

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him:
neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.”
1 Corinthians 2:14

“There are those that desire God’s Word to be put into street language. It is not street language, it is God’s Holy WORD.  What About “Correcting the Text?” None of us who love the Bible and believe that God has preserved His Word for us are in the business of “correcting the text.” We believe the text! We honor it! We hold it to be trustworthy in detail, so “cor­recting” it is not what we are about.

“However, let me quickly say that there is nothing “corrective” about defining words, explaining the text, and in general, getting at the intended sense of what it says. “Correct” the text we do not do, because we believe it is already correct. God in His omniscience and by His omnipotence has first provided His Word and has now preserved it for each generation.” Shelton Smith

If you say that the KJB is not 100% accurate, you then have the duty to state and explain which version is 100% accurate. To say otherwise is the same thing as saying, “you do not have a perfect Bible”. If you say the KJB is not perfect or that there is no perfect Bible, you then must admit that we do not have God’s perfect Word and that it has passed away. Are you then willing to stand up and say the Bible is not God’s Word but only perhaps contains Gods Word?

I am proud to say that the Bible I hold in my hand is the very Word of God. Gods pure and perfect WORD! DON’T MESS WITH GODS PURE WORD! YOU DO NOT HAVE GODS PERMISSION TO CORRECT OR CHANGE GODS WORD.  More later as I recall………………..

Revelation 22:18-19
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
“And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.”

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Continued Reading:

Temptation 1

Proverbs 1: 10
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”

Luke 4: 8 —
“And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve.

1 Corinthians 10: 13
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

— Matthew 26: 41
Watch and pray,
that ye enter not into temptation:
the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

James 4: 7
“Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

James 1: 12 – 16
12 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
13 “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14 “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
16 “Do not err, my beloved brethren.”

Hebrews 2: 18 —
“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted,
he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

Ephesians 4: 27
“Neither give place to the devil.”

— Mark 14: 38
Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

Hebrews 4: 15
“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

Luke 22: 40 —
“And when he was at the place, he said unto them,
Pray that ye enter not into temptation.

James 1: 2 – 4
2 “My brethren,
count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 “Knowing this,
that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 “But let patience have her perfect work,
that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

— Hebrews 12: 4
“Ye have not yet resisted unto blood,
striving against sin.”

2 Corinthians 2: 11 —
“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us:
for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

1 Peter 4: 12
“Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,
as though some strange thing happened unto you:”

Mark 9: 42 – 47
42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
44 “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

— 1 John 4: 4
“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 Peter 4: 1 – 2
1 “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh,
arm yourselves likewise with the same mind:
for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
2 “That he no longer should live the rest of his time
in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.”

1 Peter 1: 7 —
“That the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honour and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

Ephesians 6: 10 – 17
10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”

— Romans 6: 12 – 14
12 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body,
that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 “Neither yield ye your members
as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:
but yield yourselves unto God,
as those that are alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you:
for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

Luke 4: 1 – 13
1 “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 “Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
3 “And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
4 “And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
5 “And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 “And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7 “If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8 “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
9 “And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
10 “For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
11 “And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
12 “And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
13 “And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.”

— 2 Chronicles 32: 31
“Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon,
who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land,
God left him, to try him,
that he might know all that was in his heart.”

Revelation 3: 10 —
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience,
I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
which shall come upon all the world,
to try them that dwell upon the earth.

2 Peter 3: 17
“Ye therefore, beloved,
seeing ye know these things before,
beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own steadfastness.”

2 Timothy 4: 18
“And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Galatians 5: 17 —
“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh:
and these are contrary the one to the other:
so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

Luke 22: 46
“And said unto them, Why sleep ye?
rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

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

1 John 2: 15 – 17
15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

1 Peter 4: 7 —
“But the end of all things is at hand:
be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”

— 1 Peter 1: 6
“Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be,
ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:”

1 Corinthians 6: 18 – 20
18 “Flee fornication.
Every sin that a man doeth is without the body;
but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 “What? know ye not that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you,
which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 “For ye are bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body,
and in your spirit,
which are God’s.”

Romans 7: 5 —
“For when we were in the flesh,
the motions of sins, which were by the law,
did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.”

— Luke 11: 4
And forgive us our sins;
for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.

Luke 8: 13 – 14
13 They on the rock are they,
which, when they hear, receive the word with joy;
and these have no root, which for a while believe,
and in time of temptation fall away.
14 And that which fell among thorns are they,
which, when they have heard, go forth,
and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life,
and bring no fruit to perfection.

Mark 10: 21 – 25
21 “Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
22 “And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
23 “And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
24 “And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Matthew 12: 41 —
The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment
with this generation, and shall condemn it:
because they repented at the preaching of Jonas;
and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

— Proverbs 13: 14
“The law of the wise is a fountain of life,
to depart from the snares of death.”

Psalms 94: 18
“When I said, My foot slippeth;
thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.”

— Psalms 66: 8 – 12
8 “O bless our God, ye people,
and make the voice of his praise to be heard:
9 “Which holdeth our soul in life,
and suffereth not our feet to be moved.
10 “For thou, O God, hast proved us:
thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
11 “Thou broughtest us into the net;
thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
12 “Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water:
but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.”

Genesis 39: 7 – 14
7 “And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
8 “But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
9 “There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
10 “And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
11 “And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
12 “And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
13 “And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,
14 “That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:”

Revelation 12: 11
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony;
and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

Hebrews 12: 3 —
“For consider him that endured such contradiction
of sinners against himself,
lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

1 Timothy 5: 15
“For some are already turned aside after Satan.”

— 1 Corinthians 7: 5
“Defraud ye not one the other,
except it be with consent for a time,
that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer;
and come together again,
that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.”

Romans 14: 13 —
“Let us not therefore judge one another any more:
but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block
or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”

Zechariah 13: 9
“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”

— Ecclesiastes 1: 9
“The thing that hath been,
it is that which shall be;
and that which is done is that which shall be done:
and there is no new thing under the sun.”

Proverbs 14: 27 —
“The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
to depart from the snares of death.”

Psalms 66: 10 – 13
10 “For thou, O God, hast proved us:
thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
11 “Thou broughtest us into the net;
thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
12 “Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water:
but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.
13 “I will go into thy house with burnt offerings:
I will pay thee my vows,”

— Psalms 17: 4
“Concerning the works of men,
by the word of thy lips I have kept me
from the paths of the destroyer.”

Job 7: 18
“And that thou shouldest visit him every morning,
and try him every moment?”

Joshua 7: 21 —
“When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment,
and two hundred shekels of silver,
and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight,
then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold,
they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent,
and the silver under it.”

— Genesis 27: 6 – 13
6 “And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying,
Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,
7 “Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat,
that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death.
8 “Now therefore, my son,
obey my voice according to that which I command thee.
9 “Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats;
and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:
10 “And thou shalt bring it to thy father,
that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.
11 “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother,
Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:
12 “My father peradventure will feel me,
and I shall seem to him as a deceiver;
and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.
13 “And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son:
only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.”

Genesis 22: 1 – 14
1 “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 “Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 “And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 “And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 “And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 “And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 “And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 “And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 “And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.”

Genesis 3: 1 – 19 —
1 “Now the serpent was more subtile 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?
2 “And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil.
6 “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired to make one wise,
she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,
and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 “And the eyes of them both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together,
and made themselves aprons.
8 “And they heard the voice of the LORD God
walking in the garden in the cool of the day:
and Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 “And the LORD God called unto Adam,
and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 “And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden,
and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 “And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree,
whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me,
she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 “And the LORD God said unto the woman,
What is this that thou hast done?
And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 “And the LORD God said unto the serpent,
Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle,
and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go,
and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 “Unto the woman he said,
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception;
in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;
and thy desire shall be to thy husband,
and he shall rule over thee.
17 “And unto Adam he said,
Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife,
and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake;
in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee;
and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,
till thou return unto the ground;
for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art,
and unto dust shalt thou return.”

— Revelation 12: 10
“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,
Now is come salvation, and strength,
and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ:
for the accuser of our brethren is cast down,
which accused them before our God day and night.”

2 Peter 2: 18 —
“For when they speak great swelling words of vanity,
they allure through the lusts of the flesh,
through much wantonness,
those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.”

2 Peter 2: 15
“Which have forsaken the right way,
and are gone astray,
following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor,
who loved the wages of unrighteousness;”

— 2 Peter 2: 9
“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations,
and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:”

1 Peter 4: 5 —
“Who shall give account to him that is ready
to judge the quick and the dead.”

Hebrews 11: 17
“By faith Abraham,
when he was tried, offered up Isaac:
and he that had received the promises
offered up his only begotten son,”

— 2 Timothy 3: 13
“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,
deceiving, and being deceived.”

1 Timothy 6: 9 – 10
9 “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

1 Timothy 5: 8 —
“But if any provide not for his own,
and specially for those of his own house,
he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”

— 1 Thessalonians 3: 5
“For this cause, when I could no longer forbear,
I sent to know your faith,
lest by some means the tempter have tempted you,
and our labour be in vain.”

Galatians 4: 14 —
“And my temptation which was in my flesh
ye despised not, nor rejected;
but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.”

2 Corinthians 12: 7
“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”

2 Corinthians 11: 14 – 15
14 
“Therefore it is no great thing
if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness;
whose end shall be according to their works.”
15 “And no marvel;
for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”

— 2 Corinthians 11: 3
“But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty,
so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

1 Corinthians 10: 28 – 32
28 “But if any man say unto you,
This is offered in sacrifice unto idols,
eat not for his sake that shewed it,
and for conscience sake:
for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof:
29 “Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other:
for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?
30 “For if I by grace be a partaker,
why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do,
do all to the glory of God.
32 “Give none offence, neither to the Jews,
nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:”

1 Corinthians 8: 9 – 13
9 “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that are weak.
10 “For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;
11 “And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?
12 “But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.
13 “Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.”

Romans 14: 15 —
“But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat,
now walkest thou not charitably.
Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.”

Romans 12: 21
“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

—  Romans 8: 35 – 39
35 
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long;
we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us.
38 “For I am persuaded,
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

John 10: 10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Luke 22: 55 – 60 —
55 “And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall,
and were set down together, Peter sat down among them.
56 “But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire,
and earnestly looked upon him, and said,
This man was also with him.
57 “And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not.
58 “And after a little while another saw him, and said,
Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not.
59 “And about the space of one hour after another
confidently affirmed, saying,
Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean.
60 “And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest.
And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.”

Luke 22: 31 – 32
31 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:
and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
32 
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold,
Satan hath desired to have you,
that he may sift you as wheat:

Luke 21: 33 – 36 —
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.”

— Luke 12: 35 – 38
35 Let your loins be girded about,
and your lights burning;
36 “And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord,
when he will return from the wedding;
that when he cometh and knocketh,
they may open unto him immediately.
37 Blessed are those servants,
whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching:
verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself,
and make them to sit down to meat,
and will come forth and serve them.
38 And if he shall come in the second watch,
or come in the third watch, and find them so,
blessed are those servants.

Mark 14: 67 – 71
67 “And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.
68 “But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.
69 “And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.
70 “And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.
71 But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.”

Mark 14: 37
And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping,
and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou?
couldest not thou watch one hour?

Mark 13: 33 – 37 —
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is.
34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey,
who left his house, and gave authority to his servants,
and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore:
for ye know not when the master of the house cometh,
at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 “And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch!

Mark 13: 21 – 22
21 And then if any man shall say to you,
Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not:
22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise,
and shall shew signs and wonders,
to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

©2013 Mark Davis

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