Above Reproach in a Perverse Generation

May 2, 2023 Gracie

Living Above Reproach in a Perverse Generation

Have you ever seen those large domino displays where the builder purposely topples the first domino and the rest, sometimes thousands of them, fall over in a precise pattern?

Interestingly enough, it can take hours, even days, to build one of those displays.

I can see a correlation with today’s world.

Undeniably, we’re in a spiritual war between Good and Evil.

Attacks on our faith (once unheard of in America) are now becoming more commonplace.

There are so many examples of this – too numerous to list them all.

We are seeing man’s rebellion against God played out on the world stage.

Did you ever think our country would sink this far?

Man continues to try to elevate himself above God, following a secular humanist worldview.

People drift from generation to generation, and the morally unthinkable becomes thinkable as the years move on. – Francis Schaefer, theologian and apologist.¹

Christians are to be lights in the world, but how can we live for Him and glorify His name in a perverse generation such as this?

Is there any hope that we can help win souls for Christ while living in what amounts to a house of cards?

Courageous Faith Above Reproach

As the Bible clearly tells us, our hope and assurance is in our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. – 1 Peter 1:3-5, (NASB).²

We are at a pivotal point in human history.

This entire world, under divine judgment, will continue to fall into chaos.

This sets the stage for the Antichrist to establish his deceptive peace plan.

In the meantime, never lose hope.

We are to be shining lights to a dark world.

The beginning signs of Christ’s return are all around us, as prophesied.

But, we can take heart.

God has not forgotten us.

At God’s appointed time, we will be removed during the Rapture of the Church to be with Him forever.

Christian – Your Name is in His Book

In the Book of Malachi, we see an example of God’s provision for His people who were living in perilous times.

The prophet assured the Israelites that the Lord had not forgotten them.

¹⁶Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened attentively and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and esteem His name. ¹⁷“And they will be Mine,” says the Lord of armies, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will have compassion for them just as a man has compassion for his own son who serves him.” ¹⁸So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. – Malachi 3:16-18, (NASB).³

By extension of His love and grace, our unchangeable God has also not forgotten you and me.

God has a Book and in that Book are the people who belong to Him and none of them are going to get washed up in the Judgment. This is important because we have to understand that we are living in a Romans 1 world of judgment. This is how it is, but we are His. We are His own possession. – Pastor John MacArthur, Pastor and Bible teacher from Grace To You.⁴

In these difficult times that we’re living in, we’re to encourage each other.

Everything is falling exactly into place.

As God’s Word tells us, we are to “live above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world . . . ” (Philippians 2:14-17)

No politician or religious figurehead can fix the world’s problems.

Jesus . . . only Jesus.

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¹ Francis August Schaeffer, (1912-1984), evangelical Christian and theologian. Courtesy of azquotes.com. Accessed April 25, 2023.

⁴From MacArthur, Pastor John, “Living In A Perverse World (Philippians 2:12-16)” Courtesy of Grace to You. YouTube Podcast, [14:18- 14:45]. July 14, 2022. Web. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/eSXzUDh7o60

Our Exceptional God

Mustard Seed Of Faith

November 14, 2022 Gracie

A Mustard Seed of Faith

Here’s a little bit of trivia 🙂

Can you guess the answer to this question:

How big is a mustard seed?

Mustard Seeds¹

Or, should I say, how “small” is a mustard seed?

If you guessed a millimeter – you’d be right.

Think of what one millimeter would look like.

Now that is tiny!

This small unassuming little seed, about the size of a single grain of sand, becomes a plant that can grow up to 30 feet tall or more!

Bangladeshi mustard plants²

So much more so our faith.

From one tiny mustard seed of faith, with the urging of the Holy Spirit, to a full declaration of our beliefs, our eagerness to spread the truth of God’s Word starts growing into something beautiful – that is, we start becoming more like Christ.

Our Faith Should Dictate Our Actions

Belief in God gives Him glory. Bearing fruit gives Him glory.

The whole world is watching.

If we act contrary to what we say we believe, it’s a terrible witness and that includes on social media, in the workplace, and more.

People should be able to look at your life and say, “You know, your life is different. You affect people differently than others. You have a certain attitude that’s different. Your behavior is different. Your influence is different. Your effect on things is different. There’s a product to your life that’s unlike any other life.” That’s fruit. – Pastor John MacArthur, Pastor and Bible teacher from Grace To You.³

Trust in God like your life depends on it . . . and it does, for all eternity.

Louis Gander’s latest poem, “One Wee Mustard Seed,” captures this beautifully.

One Wee Mustard Seed 9-22-22

Did God not create all the stars in the sky –

and put them in motion, Did they not comply?

Did God not create all the things of this earth,

from evenings to mornings, to growing from birth?

Are we so perplexed when we see Jesus still

the winds and the rains and the seas – all at will?

So why do we question what God can accomplish?

Oh, where is our seed of wee faith in His wish?

Disciples and others, now off from the shore,

could not seem to handle the tempest’s loud roar.

Would stiff winds and violent waves now condemn

as faith dissipated and fear overtook them?

We’ve faith in our keys that our cars will all start,

and faith in our chairs that they won’t fall apart.

Yet we can’t trust God to grant one little need?

Lord, grant me the faith of one wee mustard seed.

http://www.ganderpoems.org/⁴

A Mustard Seed Of Faith As It Matures

Spiritual growth is a matter of glorifying God. We will grow when our lives are filled with praise. We will grow when our lives are filled with fruit and fruitfulness. And we will grow when our lives are characterized by trusting God. Now as we live this way, focusing on His glory, we are changed from one level of glory to the next, moving toward the very image of Christ. – Pastor John MacArthur, Pastor and Bible teacher from Grace To You.⁵

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¹ “Mustard Seeds” photo by David Turner novalis, February 23, 2005, Edited by Consequencefree to replace the coin with an SI measurement reference. 24 February, 2005, via Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Released under the GNU Free Documentation License. Accessed and retrieved November 2, 2022.

² “Bangladeshi mustard seeds” photo by Nafiur Rahman, own work. 8 January, 2021, via Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Released under thexxxx Free Documentation License. Accessed and retrieved November 1, 2022.

³John MacArthur quotation, courtesy of GTY.org/library/sermons-library. “Trust, Praise, and Bearing Fruit.” para. 38, n.d. Web. Accessed 27 October, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/1388/trust-praise-and-bearing-fruit

⁴Poetry courtesy of Louis Gander, ©2022 Louis Gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, “One Wee Mustard Seed.” [online post]. From Gander Story Poems, n.d. Web. Accessed October 27, 2022. https://www.ganderpoems.org/2022/10/one-wee-mustard-seed-9-22-22.html

⁵John MacArthur quotation, courtesy of GTY.org/library/sermons-library. “Trust, Praise, and Bearing Fruit.” para. 75, n.d. Web. Accessed 27 October, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/1388/trust-praise-and-bearing-fruit

Our Exceptional God

The Reality of Hell

October 18, 2022 Gracie

Hell Is Real

This year I wanted to surprise my husband with a fun “experience” for his birthday.

I promised him that it would be “intense,” so he was a little nervous going in.

Can you guess what we did?

Here are some hints and the rules we had to follow:

Water bottle a must
Cotton shirt a requirement
Closed toe shoes a necessity
Sunglasses recommended
Hair pulled back tight

Any ideas what we did?

How about a hands-on, authentic glass-blowing class!

If you haven’t done that yet, I highly recommend it.

Here are our finished projects:The whole experience of glass blowing was exciting, and the cool factor was off the charts.

But, it wasn’t cool temperature-wise. (See what I did there?)

One of the furnaces in the studio was heated up to about two thousand degrees!

Some people might say that is “hotter than hell.”

Which brings up an interesting question . . .

Is there really a hell?

Here’s just one of many Bible verses describing the reality of hell.

⁴⁹So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous, ⁵⁰and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. – Matthew 13:49-50, (NASB).¹

Our ultimate authority for us today on the absolute truth of God’s Word is what God says in His Word.

Jesus spoke about hell in the Bible.

Denying the existence of what Jesus clearly said, is calling Him a liar.

The reality of hell some day will be a devastating, eternal, wake-up call for those who doubt the words of Jesus.

The Reality Of Hell

Does hell exist?

The verse stated above describes a “furnace of fire . . . “

Here are some other frightening descriptions of hell in the Bible:

the unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43).
the punishment of eternal fire (Jude 1:7).
the lake that burns with fire and brimstone (Revelation 21:8).
away from the presence of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
outer darkness (Matthew 22:13).

The book of Matthew describes the “fiery” and outer darkness nature of hell.

Here’s one commentary of note. Notice the finality of the last sentence.

The scriptural descriptions of hell are meant to emphasize the torment and suffering that will be experienced by those sent there. The “fire” may picture the wrath of God that is experienced by unbelievers in hell, whereas the “outer darkness” may picture the alienation from God’s love, mercy, and grace. Whether the vivid language is symbolic or literal, we can be assured that hell is a terrible, terrifying place. Possibly the most terrifying aspect of hell is its duration. The suffering is eternal. It has no end. For us, here and now, the concept of hell should drive us to the cross of Christ. It is only by repentance and faith in Christ that we can be saved from the wrath to come.– Got questions website.²

Many people today refuse to accept the reality of hell.

Sadly, that kind of destructive thinking is to be expected, considering the dark times we are living in.

Think of this: whole congregations of people are being misled and directed down this dangerous path.

. . . if the culture imposes no consequences, and the family imposes no consequences, the society places no stigma on people for the kind of behaviors that are sinful behaviors, people get so used to sinning without consequences that when you introduce the idea that they will pay in full forever for every sin, that is just alien to their thinking. People sin without immediate consequences, and to try to convince them that there are somehow, down the road, decades from now, if they live, deferred consequences, is a hard sell. – Pastor John MacArthur, Pastor and Bible teacher from Grace To You.³

Aren’t you glad that, through Jesus Christ, we have the way (the only way) out of this torment?

We need to pray for the lost sinners in our lives that they will accept the truth of God’s Word – before it’s too late.

³⁶The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. – John 3:36, (NASB).⁴

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²Quotation courtesy of Got Questions, “What does hell look like?” Accessed October 15, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.gotquestions.org/what-does-hell-look-like.html

³John MacArthur quotation, courtesy of GTY.org/library/sermons-library. 4 December, 2011. para. 9. Web. Accessed 15 October, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/80-376/the-truth-about-hell

Our Exceptional God

Who You Know

December 1, 2020 Gracie

It’s Not Who You Are, But Who You Know

Who is God

Do you know who God is?

If you were to search for the answer on Google, you’d have to wade through about 2,080,000,000 results!!

That’s over two billion web pages for review – delivered to you in about 46 seconds time.

who you know, not who you are

For the truth-seeking person who wants to learn more about God, that would be an exhausting and frustrating search.

How would he or she possibly know which web pages offer the truth about God, and which ones promote a false gospel to stay away from?

Here’s the time-saving answer:

We can learn about God through His inspired Word.

In other words, “it’s in the Book!”

His sovereignty, His mercy and grace, and His never-ending capacity to forgive – it’s all right here in the precious Word of God.

God’s glory embodies everything praiseworthy and everything we ought to desire. It is the centerpiece of heaven’s joys, so radiant and all-pervasive that it totally eliminates the need for any other source of illumination in the realm where God dwells (Rev 21:23). Heaven will never be boring or monotonous precisely because God’s glory will be on full display throughout every detail of the new heavens and new earth. In short, no other charm or pleasure could conceivably provoke more wonder, interest, or delight. Best of all, God’s glory will never lose its appeal or its luster.¹ – John MacArthur, Pastor and Bible Teacher, Grace To You.

learn about God through His Word

People Are Searching For God

Friends, I don’t know about you, but praying for the lost is a big priority for me this year.

The eternal stakes for the unsaved are high and they either don’t realize it, or worse, they don’t care.

Sadly, and as Christians, we know that there are people around us who mistakenly believe that “being a nice person” is all that it takes to receive eternal life.

The truth is, a good personality is admirable, but it isn’t what gets you into Heaven.

A person may be a good parent, an understanding boss, a happy volunteer, a consistent winner of a congeniality award – but none of those descriptions matter when it comes to their eternal salvation.

What does matter is the truth on how to obtain it.

It’s not who we are and how good we think we are, it’s who we know.

Salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not by any of our own efforts.

To think otherwise diminishes His death on the Cross for our sins, and His triumphant Resurrection.

Considering everything the Lord went though on that horrific cross, He still forgives.

There are so many broken people out there who don’t know that God can forgive them no matter what they’ve done in their past.

Their lives are worth saving, if only they’d come to the saving knowledge of our Savior.

Watch as this encouraged young man finally receives that blessed hope.

Grace Beyond Measure

It’s beyond comprehension that Jesus Christ died for our sins knowing that we will sin again.

We are so unworthy of a love like that.

But, He does love us.

How many chances does He give us to turn from our sins and turn back to Him?

Way more chances than we deserve.

In fact, a lifetime of chances to ask forgiveness from Him every time we sin.

The Character of God

As Christians, we’d do well to remember that, when we reach Heaven, it’s not because of who we are, but who we know and because of who He is.

Thank You Father for who You are

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¹ John MacArthur quotation, courtesy of The One Passion Blog via One Passion Ministries. “The Reason For Everything.” 7/27/2015. para. 12. Web. Accessed November 28, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.onepassionministries.org/blog/2015/7/27/the-reason-for-everything

Our Exceptional God

Our Real Source Of Power

August 11, 2020 Gracie

Our Real Source of Power – Where Does It Come From?

news across America

The mainstream news coverage of what’s going on in America, when you can bear to listen to the reports, continues to be disturbing.

I’m sure you’ve heard that our Christian faith (as well as some churches across the country) is under attack.

A reported bible-burning during a Portland riot.

Churches closed down.

Threatening churches with fines, or shutting off their power and water, and in some cases, arresting the pastors – these are incidents that are happening more often.

If you’d told me about these news stories twenty years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you.

No, it can’t be, not in America –we’re the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

Christians, fasten your seatbelts, unsettling times are ahead.

Regardless of which side of the mask debate you are on, (both viewpoints have merit) the fact is, shutting down churches *with no end in sight* would set a very dangerous precedent for the future.

Wouldn’t the Evil One just love that?

What an upside-down world we live in.

our real source of power

The godless can try and shut off the power to a church all they want, but they will never be able to turn off our “real source of power”.

I’m talking about the real power that we have as believers in Jesus Christ.

Are we ready for this ongoing spiritual battle?

Be prepared . . . for anything.

Can they stop us from worshiping?

The godless may win some victories along the way.

That means we may have to get more creative and find other ways of being together and/or sharing our faith.

God’s Word reminds us that no matter how awful the persecution gets, the light of the gospel always shines through the darkness.

Consider Paul and Silas in the Book of Acts.

Although they were severely beaten and bound, Paul and Silas prayed and sang to God – a powerful witness to their jailer and his family, as well as the other prisoners in that brutal jail.

Paul and Silas witness in prison

Do we have that same admirable courage and conviction today?

Our real source of power comes from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

No one will ever be able to shut off His light.

We’re going to see, in the days and years to come, evil as we have never seen it. And we’re also going to see the greatest revivals, the greatest awakenings, and multiplied millions of people are going to come to Jesus Christ. – Pastor Dr. Ray Pritchard, keepbelieving.com.

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² Quotation from Pastor, Dr. Ray Pritchard. Courtesy of AFA Journal magazine interview by Matthew White, “In a World of Chaos, Keep Believing.” n.d. Accessed August 5, 2020.

Our Exceptional God