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Consider the wondrous works of GOD

5/19/2016

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By the breath of GOD frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened. Also by watering He wearieth the thick cloud: He scattereth His bright cloud: And it is turned round about by His counsels: that they may do whatsoever He commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth. He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for His land, or for mercy. (Job 37:10-13)
     As Elihu wraps up his impassioned speech against Job, his friends, and in a mostly right but somewhat misapplied understanding of the righteousness and holiness of our GOD, he extols the power of GOD in Creation. GOD is still in control, and can direct even the very winds and waters of His creation, in judgment and in blessing of His people. The rain that falls on the just and the unjust may just be rain or it can be a powerful storm to get our attention, though He is not in the whirlwind. The calamity or blessing that comes our way may be allowed by GOD, or it may be directed by GOD, but all for our growth and His good, that He might be glorified in all things.

      GOD is good, and all His doings, though they may be past our finding out, are good. Evil events and the results of sinful acts, as well natural calamities may come our way, either because GOD simply lets them, and lets the weather be the weather we experience, and have since the flood of Noah, or because GOD directs it and sends the storm to chastise and judge. He is GOD, and has the right and power to correct and chastise those that are His because of their repentance of their sin and their faith in Him and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary. He also has the right to judge and reject those who do not repent and receive Him as the Creator of all things. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords and He will return to consummate all things and put all His enemies under His feet, including death.

      All who do not acknowledge their sin and repent and turn to GOD for forgiveness and receive Him by faith in Him and His Word will be rejected, not because GOD wants to cast them out, but because they rejected Him and His ways. GOD demands that His people live in holiness and righteousness the lives we were meant to live in and through Him. He calls His people to service as His ambassadors that we might minister to those around us who are hurting and in need. GOD calls His children to love one another and disciple one another in His Word. GOD has commissioned His witnesses to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, where He sends us, that the saints of GOD may proclaim, as we go, the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son, that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of GOD, might have life in His Name.

     For GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. GOD calls you to trust Him and what He has already done for you to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with GOD, forgiveness from GOD, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of GOD who is GOD the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.

In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
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All flesh shall perish together

5/16/2016

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Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from GOD, that He should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that He should commit iniquity. For the work of a man shall He render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. Yea, surely GOD will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.
For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. For He will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with GOD. (Job 34:10-12, 21-23)
      Elihu continues to speak against those who pervert the nature and character of GOD without wisdom or knowledge of His Sovereignty and Justice. GOD is not a man that He should do wickedly, nor is His justice capricious or petty. GOD always does right. We may not know His plans, or understand His purposes, or even agree with what He allows to happen in this sinful and broken world, but His ways are perfect and His thoughts are righteous. They are above our ways and our thoughts for ours are of the flesh, of the world, and temporary. He is eternal, and sees the beginning and the ending, and is working all things to bring lost people to Himself and His own closer to Him and conformed to the image of His dear Son.

     Tragedy and calamity may come, but we ought to trust GOD even in the loss of that which is dear to us. Those who are in Christ are present with Him when we leave this life, and material things in this world are temporary. All must go the way of all the earth, but only those who are secure in Christ go to be with Him. GOD wants all to come to Him and find safety and the new life in Him which He has already paid for through His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary. He wants every person to be born again through repentance and faith in Him, no to live as they please, for that is sin, but to serve the living GOD. We cannot trust ourselves, our religious activity, nor any other means besides faith in Jesus Christ through His Spirit and His Word to save us and provide eternal life.

     His is the only Name under heaven whereby we are saved, and those who are His are to take His message of hope in this life and the next by faith, peace with GOD through repentance, and the love of the Father to this lost and dying world. His people are to be on mission for Him, serving our Lord as we serve those around us who are hurting and in need, with the Word of reconciliation and righteousness, rightly divided and fitly spoken, that they may know Him and see Christ in us, the hope of Glory. His children are to love one another as members of His family, and disciple one another in His Word that we may grow thereby into the full measure of Him who first loved us. His saints, servants and witnesses of GOD, are to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit as we go, and proclaim to every one every where the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son, that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of GOD, might have life in His Name.

     For GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. GOD calls you to trust Him and what He has already done for you to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with GOD, forgiveness from GOD, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of GOD who is GOD the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.

In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
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What inheritance of the Almighty from on high? 

5/11/2016

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For destruction from GOD was a terror to me, and by reason of His highness I could not endure. If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much; If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the GOD that is above. (Job 31:23-28)
      Job finishes his lament concerning his condition and the counsel of his so-called friends by declaring his righteousness, not in his own actions, but by faith in the GOD who had redeemed and forgiven him. His offerings and sacrifices, and his obedience by faith, have covered his sin. He did not understand all that was happening, but he knew he strived to live according to the precepts of GOD as he knew them at the time. He understood that he could not make himself righteous nor could he save himself by his works, but that GOD would receive that which was offered in faith in Him and account it for righteousness.

     Job did not put any trust in any thing of this world nor did he expect any thing natural to last. He recognized and acknowledged that GOD is above all and made all things and He is the one we must trust, for Salvation, for our needs, for blessing and prosperity, and even when things seem to go so wrong in this life, for He is our life, our hope, and our peace, even in the midst of the storm. He is above all things, and He is in control of all things, and nothing happens that is not allowed or directed. We are to trust Him and obey His Word, as He lives in us to accomplish His will and do His work in us, and in this sinful and broken world.

     His work, through His church, is to serve and minister to people that they might come to know Him. He has called us to be His servants and ministers, reaching people who are hurting and in need, with the Word of reconciliation and righteousness, rightly divided and fitly spoken, as ambassadors of the Kingdom of GOD. He has commanded His family to love one another as members of His body and to disciple one another in the Word of GOD that we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He has commissioned His people to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every nation, going and serving in the power of the Holy Spirit that is within us, and proclaiming the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary, that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of GOD, might have life in His Name.

     For GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. GOD calls you to trust Him and what He has already done for you to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with GOD, forgiveness from GOD, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of GOD who is GOD the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.

In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
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Doth not He see my ways, and count all my steps?

5/10/2016

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Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud. And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest. By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat. He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes. (Job 30:15-19)

     Job continues his lament over his condition, and lashes out at his so called friends for their harsh words, and others that abused his condition. He is right in that they were not to kind in their explanations, especially since they were wrong about most of what they had to say. Job and his "counselors" were unaware of the spiritual battle and the trial Job was experiencing because he was righteous in the eyes of GOD and his faith and obedience to the Lord was being tested. They did not or would not acknowledge that even in times of trouble, GOD is good and right and just, because they didn't see it themselves.

     We too need to trust GOD, for He is good and right, and He does not change. That trust and faith is not blind, for he has revealed Himself to us, first in His creation, and then through the pages of His Word, the Holy Scriptures, that we might know Him and His righteousness. He has the right to expect righteousness and holiness from His people, and has revealed to us our need of Him. Our righteousness comes through Christ and our faith in Him and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary, not to sin all we want but to live in and through Him the life we were meant to live. In Christ we have received forgiveness which brings liberty, not to sin, but to become more like Him as He works in us to conform us to Himself for our good and His glory.

     We are here, in this broken and dying world but not of it, as ambassadors of His Kingdom, with the Word of reconciliation and righteousness, rightly divided and fitly spoken, to do His will and accomplish His work in this lost and sinful world. We are to serve Him as we minister to those around us who are hurting and in need as He provides. We are to love one another as He loved us and disciple one another in the Word of GOD that we may grow thereby. We are to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ as we go, in the power of Holy Spirit who guides us and sends us as He will, and proclaim the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son, that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of GOD might have life in His Name.

     For GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. GOD calls you to trust Him and what He has already done for you to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with GOD, forgiveness from GOD, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of GOD who is GOD the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.

In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
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I will teach you by the hand of GOD

5/5/2016

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As GOD liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; All the while my breath is in me, and the Spirit of GOD is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when GOD taketh away his soul? Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon GOD? (Job 27:2-4, 8-10)
     Job maintained, and rightfully so, his integrity and righteousness in relation to GOD. He knew his righteousness came from His faith in GOD and in his obedience to GOD'S requirements. His hope was in GOD and he knew, though he questioned what was going on, and why the troubles he was experienced were happening, that GOD would bring him through it all. He believed that GOD'S Judgment was just, and the experiences of this world even by the faithful are complex and frustrating, for we live in a broken and dying world corrupted by sin. He was not trusting in himself, or what He had done, but in GOD who had redeemed him and made him righteous in His sight.

     Our works don't save us or make us right with GOD but they do follow and reflect the faith that we have. We ought to be doing the works GOD calls us to accomplish for Him because of what GOD has done for us, and because of His love within us, not to save us or to earn any favours with GOD. Those who are trusting in their works, or behaviour, or religion to save them, apart from saving faith in Jesus Christ alone and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary, are fooling themselves and GOD will not receive them unto Himself because we never knew Him. Neither will our works maintain our relationship with Him, for if we truly are a new creature in Christ, that cannot be undone. That is not a license to sin all we want, or to do our will, but liberty in Christ to live in and through Him a life of service and love for Christ and to others.

     Those who are playing games with church, and with GOD, and are not the Christian they think they are, because they have never truly repented of their sins and been born again, will be cast out of the presence of GOD at judgment because they were never His. That which we do, if we do it to earn favour with GOD, and not out of the abundance of the love of GOD shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit of GOD which is within, is of the flesh and is filthy rags in the sight of GOD. GOD demands, and He has the right to as our Creator, the only Redeemer, and soon coming King, our complete and total surrender on His terms for us to be in right relationship with Him. He desires, out of His great love for all, that we come to Him and believe in Him and His Word, and receive Him by faith and complete trust in who He is and what He has done to pay the penalty for our sin, once for all.

       GOD'S Church must stop playing church and playing games with the Gospel, and be about our Father's business. We are here to serve, called to minister to those around us who are hurting and in need, with the Word of righteousness, reconciliation, and Truth, rightly divided and fitly spoken, that they may see Christ in us, the hope of Glory. We are here to disciple, commanded to love one another and equip one another in the Word that we may all grow into the full measure of Him who first loved us. We are here to witness, commissioned to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to this lost and dying world, that as we go, in the power of the Holy Spirit that is within us, we proclaim the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son, that those who believe that He is the Christ, the Messiah of GOD, might have life in His Name.

     For GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. GOD calls you to trust Him and what He has already done for you to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with GOD, forgiveness from GOD, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of GOD who is GOD the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.

In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
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I shall come forth as gold

4/29/2016

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I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which He would answer me, and understand what He would say unto me. Will He plead against me with His great power? No; but He would put strength in me. There the righteous might dispute with Him; so should I be delivered for ever from my Judge.
My foot hath held His steps, His way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have I gone back from the Commandment of His lips; I have esteemed the Words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
(Job 23:4-7, 11-12)
      Job once makes an impassioned plea to speak to GOD and make his case that he was righteous and that his sin was covered by the sacrifices GOD had required. Job knew that without his sin covered on GOD'S terms, he would be unrighteous and unable to stand before a Holy and Righteous GOD. He also knew that His Redeemer and Judge would deliver him, not only from this particular calamity, but from all that was not good, in His time.
 
     Job had remained in the way of GOD, and kept His Commandments as he had them at the time. He had kept the words which GOD had given Him and cherished them more than even food. They were precious to Him, for they were life. He would not turn back, not could he go away from GOD and try his own way, for then he would no longer be right in the sight of GOD and would not get his answer.

    The trials that come our way may not be pleasant at the time, nor are the consequences of sin, if we choose that for a season. GOD chastises those who are His own, and corrects His children that they may grow up into Him and be conformed, not to this world, but to the image of His Son. GOD allows events, evil, and calamities to occur in this sinful and broken world, because we rebelled against Him and our sin has corrupted every thing we once knew as perfect. GOD can direct events to transpire for our growth, to bring people to Himself, or show sinners their need for Him. Most of all He wants His people to be about our Father's business to take the Word of GOD to this lost and dying world that they may know Him and receive His great Salvation.

     We are here to serve, to love and minister, and to preach and proclaim His Word in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. We are called to serve Him, as His ambassadors, with the Word of righteousness and reconciliation, rightly divided and fitly spoken, as we minister to those around us who are hurting and in need. We are commanded to love one another even as He loved us and gave Himself for us, and to disciple one another in His Word as we grow and are equipped, edified, and encouraged in the work of the ministry. We are commanded by our Lord to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ as we go in the power of the Holy Spirit to every one we meet and proclaim His Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son, that those who believe might have life in His Name.

     For GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. GOD calls you to trust Him and what He has already done for you to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with GOD, forgiveness from GOD, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of GOD who is GOD the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.

In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
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GOD shall cast the fury of His wrath upon him

4/26/2016

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He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through. It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him. All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle. The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him. The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath. This is the portion of a wicked man from GOD, and the heritage appointed unto him by GOD. (Job 20:24-29)
      Zophar responds to Job's pointed rejection of his counsel and advice by doubling down on his opinion that the wicked perish and do not prosper in this world, so Job must be wicked. He was totally incorrect in application of GOD'S Judgment of sin, and ignored the reality in his own world, as well as the timing of GOD'S patience and long-suffering that sinners may repent. Zophar condemned the wicked without mercy, rejected any idea that sinners often prosper in the sin for a season, that not every one is bothered or convicted by their sin, and failed to consider the testing and trials which GOD may put us through to make us stronger.

     Many things may come upon the wicked, those that have truly rejected GOD and the ardently opposed to Him, but even the most hardhearted person can be saved by the power of GOD, the Word of GOD, and the Spirit which convicts and points people to Christ. Many things also happen to His saints, as He allows, either because He is testing their faith, as in this case, or because He is drawing His people closer to Himself. This life is full of evil and calamities, and GOD can direct events because He is Sovereign,  but He also allows other events simply to happen in this world that is broken and dying because of our sin against Him. Death occurs because sin brings death and rebellion brings judgment. Sin occurs because we are sinners and our nature without the new life which Christ gives those who are His leads us to sin in this lost and sinful world.

     We who have repented of our sin, because we acknowledged our sin and its awful consequences before a righteous and Holy GOD, and received His forgiveness by faith in Him and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary were made a new creature in Him, with a new life and a new nature, and liberty to live in Him the life which we were all meant to live. That does not mean every thing will be perfect, just ask Job, but that GOD will be with us all the way, and He will carry us through whatever He directs and allows to come our way, for His honour and Glory and that we might be made more like Him until He is done with us and takes us Home to be with Him.

     Until that day, all those who are secure in Him, not because of our righteousness, but because of His bestowed upon us, are to serve Him and do His will in this world and accomplish His work while we sojourn here. We are to minister to those around us who are hurting and in need, with the Word of reconciliation and righteousness, rightly divided and fitly spoken, that they may see Christ in us, the hope of Glory. We are to love one another in fellowship and ministry, and disciple one another in His Word that we may be equipped, encouraged, and edified to the work of the ministry and the exhortation of the saints. We are to go with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit which dwells within us, and as we go where He sends us, to proclaim the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son that those who repent and believe in Him might have life in His Name.

     For GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. GOD calls you to trust Him and what He has already done for you to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with GOD, forgiveness from GOD, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of GOD who is GOD the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.

In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
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How long will it be ere ye make an end of words?

4/22/2016

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Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine. The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him. The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down. For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare. (Job 18:5-8)
      Once again Bildad chimes in, and gives an incorrect application and horribly comfortless opinion of GOD'S judgment upon the wicked and concluding that Job must be wicked. He has no regard for GOD'S sovereignty or our free will, or the fact that often the wicked seem to prosper in this life, though that prosperity is temporary, and certainly does not extend into the next. Bildad, because he had no knowledge of the test and trial Job was undergoing, totally disregarded GOD's justice and timing, which is not ours, since His ways are above our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. GOD is Holy and Just, and will punish those who disobey Him, and often times will do so in while they are on the earth. He also chastises His own, to bring them closer or back to a right relationship with Him.

       Bildad was partially right in that, some who are wicked are judged and punished in this life. Often emotionally and psychologically, if their consciences aren't seared and scarred, they fear that judgment and punishment, not usually from GOD, but from the authorities, or from others more wicked than they are. It will come, but it may not happen while they are living. When they die in their trespasses and sins, having rejected their Creator who would have redeemed them from their sins if they had repented and believed in Jesus Christ and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary, they will face Him as their Judge and receive the recompense of their reward for their sins and iniquity. There will be no mercy or grace then, for the time of GOD's wrath will be at hand.

      We who are born again from above, having been made new creatures in Christ by His blood and power, are no longer to live in our self-righteousness, but live the life in Him which He equips and empowers us to live. We are to glorify Him in all we say and do, and lift Him up before others that they might see Christ in us, the hope of Glory. We are not to seek our own way, or follow man's vision and the world's methods, but being transformed by the renewing of our mind through the Spirit and the Word of GOD, fully surrendered to Him who alone is worthy of our obedience and worship.

       We are called to serve Him in ministry, with the Word of reconciliation and righteousness, rightly divided and fitly spoken, as we minister to those around us who are hurting and serve those who are in need. We are commanded to love one another as He loved us and gave Himself for us, and we are to disciple one another in His Word, speaking the Truth in love, that we may grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ. We are commissioned as witnesses unto Him who is our life to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Word of GOD to this lost and dying world, and as we go in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son, that those who believe that He is the Christ, the Son of GOD, might have life in His Name.

     For GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. GOD calls you to trust Him and what He has already done for you to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with GOD, forgiveness from GOD, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of GOD who is GOD the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.

In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
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Are the consolations of GOD small with thee

4/19/2016

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Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence. (Job 15:2-3, 14, 16, 31)
     Once again Eliphaz speaks against Job and utters the wisdom of man. Though there is some truth in what he speaks of, so much of what he has to say is in error, or misapplied because he is not aware or ignoring the possibility of the righteous testing of Job. Those that are safe and secure in the hand of GOD are not always delivered out of the fire or storm, but often carried through it. The fire purifies and the wind drives away the chaff, and so GOD uses or allows those things to occur to strengthen those of us who are in Him by faith in His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary. But, since the rain falls on the just and the unjust, we must be careful in trying to assign judgment or consequences to GOD without knowledge of what He is doing.

      Eliphaz didn't have it completely right about the ungodly either. Often in this world, those who oppose GOD and choose their own way, seem to be blessed and glorified. But their end is coming, their seeming success in this life will not last, and no can take anything with them into the next. Our idea of justice may be slow or somehow missing, but GOD is faithful and just and will exact punishment on all those who reject Him in His time. His wrath against sin will be poured out on all those who are still in their sins and have not been redeemed by His blood shed for all. We are all guilty and condemned because of sin, and GOD has provided His great Salvation by His mercy and grace, that those who receive it through repentance and faith are justified, not to continue to sin, but to live in and through Him a new life in Christ.

      GOD calls His people to His work of reconciliation and redemption, to ministry and missions, to do His will in this broken and dying world. We are strangers and pilgrims, sojourning here as ambassadors of Christ and His Kingdom, with the Word of GOD, rightly divided and fitly spoken, that we might serve those around us who are hurting and in need,both in word and in deed. GOD commands His children to love one another as He first loved us and to disciple one another in His Word that we might grow into the full measure of Him who is our life. GOD has commissioned His church to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Ghost which is within us, and as we go where He sends and directs, we proclaim the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ might have life in His Name.

     For GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. GOD calls you to trust Him and what He has already done for you to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with GOD, forgiveness from GOD, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of GOD who is GOD the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.

In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet

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Thou numberest my steps

4/18/2016

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Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with Thee, Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
O that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that Thou wouldest keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past, that Thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. (Job 14:1-2, 5, 13-14)
     While Job applied some of GOD'S wrath to his current situation, without a proper understanding of the testing and purifying which GOD accomplishes in those who are in a right relationship with Him, there are some things he got right in his lament. In this world of sin, which is broken and dying because of the fallen nature of man and all creation since Adam rebelled against his Creator, we experience a lot of trouble and woe. Our days are short compared to the eternal nature of GOD, and the nearly 6000 years or so since GOD created all things perfect and we messed it all up with our sin. But we also experience a lot of grace, and blessing. GOD'S mercy is renewed every morning and He cares for us.
 
      GOD knows the heart of men, often better than we know ourselves or our pride will allow us to admit, and He knows the number of our days, which are finite and short, on this earth. For those who are secure in Him by faith in Him and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary, we are saved from sin through repentance, and delivered from this world and the wrath of GOD. That is not a license to continue in sin, but liberty in Christ to live for Him and rejoice in His redemption of us, justified, being sanctified, and one day when He returns, glorified and forever in His presence. That is the message of hope we have not only for our future with Christ, but the abundant and eternal life we already possess now in and through Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us that we might be made the righteousness of GOD in Him.

     Until that day when He returns for His own, GOD is accomplishing His work and will through His Church. He calls His people to ministry, to serve those around us who are hurting and in need with the Word of reconciliation and righteousness, rightly divided and fitly spoken, that others might see Christ in us, the hope of Glory. Our Lord commands His disciples to love one another as He loved us, and to disciple one another in the Word of GOD that we might grow thereby and be conformed to the image of His dear Son. GOD has commissioned His saints to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and teach all nations as we go, and proclaiming the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith, that those who believe in Him might have life in His Name.

     For GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. GOD calls you to trust Him and what He has already done for you to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with GOD, forgiveness from GOD, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of GOD who is GOD the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.

In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
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