Jesus Is Our Forerunner

Jesus is Our Forerunner

Heb. 6: 19,20 ESV “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

John 14:2b,3 KJV “ I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Under the old Mosaic covenant, no one was allowed to follow the high priest into the Holy of Holies, behind the curtain of separation. The priest entered alone into the presence of God with an offering of blood, which would cover the sins of the Israelites for a year, until the next Day of Atonement.

Under the New Covenant, Jesus entered once, for all of us, into the Holiest Place with his own blood, and restored mankind to right standing with God. He made it possible for us to receive His eternal life and His righteousness.

When Jesus said “it is finished”, and left His body on the cross, the curtain which denied access to the mercy seat in the Jerusalem temple, was ripped apart from top to bottom, showing to all the world, that access to the throne of mercy is now freely available to anyone-Jew or Gentile.

Whoever desires to, is free to approach Him and receive His grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Every miserable sinner, every self-righteous loser- whosoever will, is welcome at the throne of God, because we have a Forerunner who has cleared the way for us. No one will be turned away: including YOU!

According to Adam Clark's Commentary on the Bible, a forerunner runs before, shows the way, does something first, and it also refers to the first fruits of the harvest.

We see here a wonderful picture of Jesus our High Priest and Redeemer.

He went before us, as a man, into the very throne room of Almighty God, secured forgiveness for all of us, and then defeated death by rising from the grave, to live forever as our Intercessor, our King, and our High Priest.

Jesus is the beginning of the new creation. He is the first born, the Forerunner. Through the miracle of the new birth, we who were born into the race of Adam, can now, be born, of the Spirit, into Christ. We have been transferred into the family of God: Jesus, our forerunner, is not only our Redeemer, but He is also our Elder Brother. He is God, and He is also a Man.

By grace through faith, we can enjoy all the benefits and blessings which are made available to us through Christ, our Forerunner and our High Priest.

“ Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who hath called us to glory and virtue. Whereby are given unto us exceedingly great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” II Peter 1:2-4

God bless you, as you rest in His grace!

©2012 Rev. Charles J. Loubert

There Stands One Among You

There Stands One Among You

Jn. 1:10-12 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him,to them gave he power [the right] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

Jn. 1:26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water:but there standeth one among you whom ye know not:

The night that I first received Jesus as my Savior and Redeemer, I realized and felt that He had been with me all through my life; but, until that moment, I hadn't known it as a fact. I had hoped that God had some interest in me, but I didn't know for sure. When the gospel cut through the darkness of my mind and spirit, I then knew that Jesus had died for me, as my substitute, and I accepted his free gift of eternal life.

I have since learned that, as Christians, we are required to walk by faith and not by sight. I don't always feel the presence of God, but in my heart I know that He will never leave me or forsake me. That knowledge has brought me through many dark and dismal days!

Just as Jesus dwells in the heart of the individual believer through the agency of his Holy Spirit, so also, Jesus dwells in the church corporately. The body of Christ is His dwelling place here on earth. He walks among us and in us, and is all around us. "In him we live, and move and have our being."(Acts 7:28)

Matt.18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

The problem that the 'modern' church faces, is not the absence of God's presence, but our unbelief and our failure to acknowledge him among us. Most churches think that if they do all the right things, then God will join them for a couple of hours in the sanctuary, and maybe give them a good feeling about what they have done that Sunday. Most churches that I have visited, have great form, but little substance. Great music will not coerce the Holy Spirit to move among us, neither do impressive prayers or spiffy bulletins where the order of service is precisely outlined for the faithful. We walk by faith, not by sight!

We talk about what we have accomplished, should accomplish, or are going to accomplish, but there is not a lot of focus on what Jesus has accomplished for us at Calvary, and on what he is doing in us right now.

If we have gathered in his name, why do I hear well-meaning church goers ask God to 'grace' them with his presence or to 'manifest his presence' at the start of nearly every church service? why keep asking God for that which you already have? Aren't those kind of prayers an expression of your unbelief, rather than affirmations of faith?

We have one standing among us who we 'know not'!

Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save,he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing."

Isaiah 12:6 "Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee."

If you are in Christ, you are a member of his body, and you are one of the stones that make up the temple which he inhabits. He walks among you, do you know him? Do you know what spirit you are of? Do you thank Him for walking with you in all situations, or do you beg him to show up when you have a crisis? We walk by faith.

There is great peace of mind to be had for the believer who knows that God will never leave or forsake him or her. He knows all our failures, our sins, and our unfaithfulness, and yet he still loves us all with an eternal love. God is every where, how can he not be with you wherever life takes you?

Can you go so far from him, that he can't reach you with his grace? of course not! Don't let anyone tell you that his presence comes and goes as a result of your actions or your thoughts. He is not that fickle! He gave you eternal life, not eternal probation! We are not under the old Mosaic covenant, we are partakers of the New Covenant which has been ratified by the blood of Jesus. The sin problem has been settled forever.

Jer. 31:34b "...they shall all know me from the least of them, to the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

There stands one among you!

God Bless you as you rest in his grace!

©2012 Rev. Charles J. Loubert

Even To Your Old Age

Even To Your Old Age

Isaiah 46:4 ESV "Even to your old age I am he, and to Grey hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and I will save."

I Will be 60 years old next year, and I work as a painter, a very physical and demanding job. Some days I come home exhausted and weary of mind, and my body aches everywhere. I had a ten hour day like that yesterday, but I woke up this morning and the Lord gave me this verse from Isaiah. What a promise! what a blessing to know that I He has everything under control, and I am his forever. (that's not presumptuousness on my part, that's confidence in His grace and faithfulness!)

It is a great comfort to know that I will grow old with the grace and mercy of God still with me and protecting me. Just as He has kept me alive this long, and has brought me through many dark and disappointing days, my God has promised to 'carry' me through this life, and into glory.

Even on those days when we feel useless and decrepit, He is in our corner, at our side, and In the heart of the believer. He has said "I will never leave you or forsake you", and " I will be with you to the end of the age".

As an ignorant new believer, a helpless child, God led me and protected me through many trials and failures, and I am still here in His service, 40 years later, because of his faithfulness and grace. I expect that he will carry me and lead me until I die and go to the Jerusalem Above, where I will see him face to face, and stand before his throne with all the saints who have gone on before me.

Ps.92:12-15 ESV "the righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him."

The born-again Christian is righteousness because of the finished work of the cross. We can continue to grow in Him, as we drink from his endless supply of Living Water. This grace in which we stand (Rom. 5:1,2) is a free gift from our heavenly Father. We flourish in His courts because we are in Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly places.(Eph 1:3, and Col.3:1-3)

We can continue to bear fruit in our old age, because Christ lives in us, and we are in Him! Eternal life flows through us and will carry us through this mortal life, and into eternity, where mortality will be swallowed up by immortality.

The hope that we have, is not 'wishful thinking', it is a confident expectation that God will complete what He has started! Christ in us, is our hope of glory (Col.1:27). Just as surely as Jesus is our Savior and His Spirit is in us, we are assured of a home in glory! Our sin has been washed away by His blood, and is no longer imputed to us (2 Cor. 5:18-21).

Like trees of righteousness filled with the sap of his grace, and rooted in the person of Jesus Christ, we can flourish and bear fruit into and beyond our old age. We won't always feel fruitful, but our faith and hope are in Him and we can remain always confident of His faithfulness.

God Bless you, as you rest in His grace!

©2012 Rev. Charles J. Loubert

Got The Victory?

Got the Victory?

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

Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"

When I was a new believer, there was a brother in our church who was an old-timer with many battle scars, and he would always greet people with the question "good mornin' brother, you got the victory today?"

I didn't know then what I know today, so I thought that 'the victory' was something that would come or go, depending upon my performance as a Christian, or upon my circumstances. Thank God, I have since learned from the Bible, that our victory is the result of our standing in Christ, and not some elusive state of mind or circumstances that can come and go in random fashion.

Our victory is the result of the God-given faith that is the birthright of every Born-Again Christian! When you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and you know that you have been placed in the body of Christ and forgiven through his grace and mercy, you will know that your victory is a guaranteed fact. You are free from all condemnation and guilt as a result of Jesus' victory over sin and death at the cross, and by his resurrection.

Consider these promises from the New Testament:

1 Cor. 15:56,57 "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God , which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (We are victorious because Jesus fulfilled the law on our behalf, suffered the punishment for all of our sin, and defeated death by his resurrection!)

Rom. 8:31-35 "What shall I say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? it is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?..."

Things don't always go our way, and we sometimes feel that we are going to be buried under our trials and our problems, but always remember that God is truly on your side, and he does not withdraw his love from you every time that you make a mistake or fail to do the right thing.

He is our peace! Just knowing and believing in his freely-given grace towards us, gives us the firm expectation that all things will work for our good. Our victory is in Jesus, because WE are in Jesus. Always believe that God is on your side, in spite of how things look to you!

Rom.10:12,13 " 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. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lords shall be saved."

When the frijolies hit the fan, and you get splattered, always remember, you are still his child and he will never leave you or forsake you!

God Bless you, as you rest in him!

©2012 Rev. Charles J. Loubert

Are You Thirsty?

Are You Thirsty?

John7:37,38 "In that last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scriptures hath said, out of his belly [heart] shall flow rivers of living water."

In this scripture, we see Jesus offering living water to anyone who thirsts, and who believes on him. The only prerequisites here: be thirsty, and believe on Jesus. He is freely inviting us to enjoy his Spirit, to partake of his divine, eternal life! Jesus didn't offer Living Water to those who deserve it, or to those who 'tarry' for it, or to those who try to earn it through good works and good intentions; Any one who is thirsty and believes that Jesus is the source of living water, is invited to freely drink it.

Be thirsty, Go to Jesus, drink, and believe. What could be simpler? Yet, God's people, have managed to complicate and distort his simple offer of grace. We have piled on so many prerequisites and requirements, that many of the people who we want to reach, feel that they have been disqualified and must jump through a dozen hoops before Jesus will take time from his busy schedule and hear their prayers.

If you are thirsty for truth, and feel that something has been missing from your life, go to Jesus and freely drink from the fountain of his love! He has made the way clear for you! He has removed the stumbling blocks, and straightened out the road. Jesus has given you the green light, the go-ahead. He has and paid for your ticket!

No man, woman, or devil can prevent you from drinking from the well of eternal life! 'Whosoever will' is free to partake of the life of Christ! Even your own sins can not prevent you from approaching Jesus and receiving his forgiveness and his living Spirit! The people that Jesus has invited to his table of blessings, are all sinners. JESUS CAME TO SAVE SINNERS!

We all have fallen short of his perfect law, and none of us is good enough to earn his love; but through the cross, Jesus has made the way clear. He has paid the price, and has taken upon himself the judgment that we deserve. He has not imputed our sins to us, but has rather made it possible for his righteousness to be imputed to us. Don't take my word for it, read your bible, and quit trying to complicate the simple truth of God's grace with your theological systems and your unbelief. A New Covenant has been established, and everyone is invited to be adopted into the family of God, and to be a citizen of His Kingdom.

It's simple! You need eternal life. Jesus is the source of all life. You are invited to enjoy His life. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and He has freely invited ALL of us to drink from the fountain of his favor.

Isaiah 55:1 "Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; come buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Isaiah 12:3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

©2012 Rev. Charles J. Loubert

Is Salvation Conditional ?

Is Salvation Conditional?

Yes, Salvation is possible only when the required conditions are met; however the good news (the Gospel), is, that all of the necessary conditions for your complete salvation have been met by Jesus! He has lived and died perfectly, as your representative and your substitute. He lived and died for you and as you. Anything that would keep you from a relationship with God has been removed; all your sins and shortcomings have been totally forgiven.

2 Cor. 5:17-19 " Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.

Now all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation."

The account has been settled, payed in full! You have been reconciled to God and forgiven! The sin problem has been settled for all time: all that remains, is for you to believe it. Before you ever heard of Jesus, he had already made a place for you in his family! By believing that he has already taken away your sin and guilt at the cross, your condemnation is dissolved, and you are given eternal life in Christ. You have been given the gift of righteousness; it's all yours if you will receive it. No one is too wicked and too far gone, to be eligible to receive eternal life!

Jn.5:24 "Verily, verily. I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

Jn.6:47 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."

The deal is done, and the covenant has been ratified! You can enjoy the benefits of God's wonderful grace today! No need to do anything to earn it or prove yourself worthy; grace covers all your shortcomings. Don't even waste your time trying to find something good in yourself that will cause God to accept you; your good deeds and virtues are irrelevant, the goodness and mercy of God has got you covered.

Let his grace change you and give you the peace that exceeds all understanding, Let him be the light for your path and the wisdom that you rely on every day. The righteousness of Christ has been imputed to you; receive it and enjoy it. Put away all pretense of self righteousness, and let Jesus shine through you. Your ticket has been paid for, the way has been cleared!

Rom.6:5,6 "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve [be slaves of] sin."

We are free from the guilt and the influence of sin, because we died in Christ, and we share in his resurrection. The very life of God is now available to whosoever will drink freely of his grace and will believe that God has made the way for us to be his very own, chosen, sons and daughters.

He has chosen us in Christ, and made us to be partakers of his divine nature, just because he loves us. Accept the fact that you can enjoy the fruits of the cross and become a new creature in Christ Jesus. Believe the gospel, and accept Jesus as your Savior today, and enjoy the rest of your eternal life!

©2012 Rev. Charles J. Loubert

Imitators Of God

Imitators of God

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”Eph. 5:1,2 NASB

“Be ye therefore merciful, as your father is also merciful.” Luke6:36

In order to imitate God, we must have an idea about what He is like. What is his nature , his personality ? How does He deal with people? God has sent his Word and his Spirit to reveal himself to us. “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

Jesus came to earth to reveal God to us. He said “I and my father are one” And “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father”. The Apostle John knew Jesus well and he said “God is Love”, and also “God is Light.” To See God in action, we need only to observe Jesus as he interacts with the people he encounters, as recorded in the gospels. He told his disciples that he came “not to destroy men's lives, but to save them”. Jesus told the fearful “do not be afraid”. He told the sinner “ your sins are forgiven you”. He told the sick and the handicapped “be healed”, and they were made whole. 

 

Jesus declared his purpose and defined his mission in the synagogue at Nazareth when he read from the book of Isaiah one sabbath day. “ And when he opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:17b-19 Listen also to His open invitation to us; “ Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest, Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matt. 11:28-30

With the enablement of His grace, through His indwelling spirit; we too can be liberators, as we point people to Jesus and allow Him to live through us. ( I speak to those who have been born again, and are new creations in Christ Jesus - otherwise you have nothing liberating to give.) Let us be like Jesus and offer people rest, not like modern day pharisees and lawyers who lay heavy burdens of debt and obligation upon peoples backs, and yet, hold themselves blameless and free.

Some have a distorted view of God; seeing Him as primarily a judge who is always angry at people, quick to chastise us and rub our faces in our mistakes, while occasionally giving us a pat on the head when we do well. These people are still living under the law, and tend to believe that our acceptance by God is based upon how well we follow his rules. When born again believers try to mix law and grace together, the results are often disastrous. Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Law on our behalf, He brought us grace and truth; he came to save the world (all of us), not to condemn the world. The laws of the old testament were given to show us our need for God's forgiveness and mercy. “The law of the Lord is perfect” , but we are not. “The law is holy”, and we are not. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit,” Rom. 8:3,4 God the Father sent his son Jesus who took upon himself the punishment that we truly deserve. “For He has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2Cor. 5:21 

 

We see from these scriptures that we are made righteous by the blood of Jesus; therefore it is not presumptuous for a born again Christian to declare himself or herself to be righteous, we are only agreeing with the word that God has declared over us. Those who truly trust God and believe his word know that his grace is the reason that we are so blessed and forgiven, it is not due to our worthiness or our efforts. If you believe that He has made you righteous, you will begin to act righteous, if you believe that you are still a sinner (despite the shedding of Jesus' blood), you are not resting in the finished work of Calvary, and you have only your own weak efforts to rely upon as you struggle to imitate Christ. Without the knowledge of God's grace and his mercy toward us, a person will continue to believe that sin is unavoidable; attempting to rationalize and redefine sin, until it becomes almost a virtue in the sinners twisted opinion. Meanwhile, the unrepentant sinner continues to suffer the effects of sin and to reap a harvest of trouble and shame. People will go through all kinds of mental gymnastics to Justify themselves and quiet their troubled consciences. It is much easier to admit your sin and go to Jesus for a new start as a redeemed and forgiven child of God. God's freely given grace will then empower you to become a better person, as he develops character in you through the fruits of his indwelling spirit. “ The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23

The word grace means un-deserved favor, preferential treatment. Romans 3:24 says that we are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ” ; That being the case, we are called to extend grace and mercy to those around us, as imitators of Christ! Jesus never made light of sin, or overlooked the presence of sin: on the contrary, his perfection and the light of his holiness and truth, exposes sin; but he extends forgiveness to all who will receive it by faith, to those who accept Him as their redeemer and Lord.

Some may say they are 'saved by grace', but believe that their salvation can only maintained and retained by doing and saying the right things. A person who believes that salvation is perpetuated by works, will always feel a certain amount of condemnation and doubt, due to the fact that they never know if they have done enough to merit God's favor and keep their salvation. Due to this distorted and false doctrine that is taught in some circles, the misguided follower of Jesus is under the belief that any unconfessed sin, even sins of omission, can land the disobedient child of God a permanent spot in the pits of hell.

(As though God's forgiveness is conditional, and the Blood of Jesus only washes away certain sins!)

Those who see their god as angry and critical, tend to be angry and critical to others. The big board in our eye blocks our vision and distorts our view of things. We spend our time trying to remove specks from other people's eyes and showing them their faults, rather that showing them God's grace, and passing on his mercy and forgiveness. Spiritual pride will make us forget that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” Rom. 3:23

The Christian who mixes works and grace also likes to take credit for the good that he does, and forgets to give God the glory for His grace and providence. When we base our right standing with God on our works, we forsake the riches of his grace, and are left to struggle with life's problems and dilemmas with our own puny resources. When we don't find our rest in God, we tend to deny others rest. Our lack of peace results in a life of turmoil and uncertainty, and yet, we continue to try and help God by passing on bad advice to any who will listen.

The Apostle Paul said to 'cast our cares on him, because he cares for us.' Let us commit our way to our Heavenly Father, and walk in His light, trusting in his grace as we imitate Christ, and allow him to change us 'from glory to glory'. Give yourself a break, quit beating yourself up, and cut others some slack for a change! Imitate Christ as He lives through you in the person of his Holy Spirit, and let's love one another as Christ has loved us.

Chuck Loubert 12-21-08 ©2008 Charles J. Loubert

God is Not Limited by What You Ask or Think

'Now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.' Eph 3:20

Our God has no limitations! We tend to perceive God as though he is limited in his ability, and subject to the natural laws that we have been governed by, but we see by this scripture, that God is bigger than we can imagine or perceive.

Our God-given faith allows us to reach beyond our limited thinking and our natural perceptions. The eyes of our understanding can be energized by the Spirit of wisdom and we can see with the eyes of our heart into the realm of God's unlimited ability. As we learn to trust in his unconditional love, and his unmerited favor, we come to understand that he will not withhold any good thing from us. With faith and patience working together, we can receive all that we need in this eternal life that we live in him.

The same power that raised up Jesus of Nazareth from the dead, works in us, and energizes us. He wants to bring us into conformity with the image and nature of Christ. The Spirit of God is working in the born-again child of God to develop the fruits of the Spirit, and he is wanting to manifest the gifts of power and love that are available in Him. We have been predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ!(see:Rom.8:28,29 )

You and can trust in the love that God has for us, no matter how things may appear to us. in good times or bad, He has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us!

Rev. Chuck Loubert

Your Heavenly Potter

Your Heavenly Potter                                                                         6-16-12

Eph. 3:20 "Now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."

Isaiah 64:8 "But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all the work of thy hand."

Eph. 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

When we surrender ourselves to Jesus, and accept the gift of eternal life in him, we have in effect become clay in the hands of our Heavenly Father. You can trust him to shape your life into something that will show the world how good and merciful he is. You are his work of art, to be displayed to all the world and admired as the product of his artistic ability and his loving care.

Don''t fight the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life, as he tries to change your thinking and behavior, you are being changed into something wonderful! What makes you think that you know better than your creator, what you can become when he is finished working on you?

No matter how things may appear to you, at any given time, he is working his will on the raw material of your life. You don't know what you are capable of being, but your Heavenly Potter has a picture of the finished vessel that you are becoming in his hands. 

 

Let him knead all the meanness, fear, and insecurity out of your life. Allow his love to heal all your hurts and change your nightmares into pleasant dreams of safety and peace. He will heal your sick conscience and wash away your your regrets. His gift of righteousness will restore your twisted self image and give you hope for a better future.

Rom. 8:29 "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he [Jesus] might be the first born among the brethren,"

Expect him to fashion you into someone special! don't limit your expectations only to what you can desire or imagine, let God supply the picture of who you are, and who you are to be. Trust him to exceed your wildest dreams, and keep in mind, the things that are not seen are eternal. In other words, he is developing character and virtue in you that you haven’t yet realized. You are a new creation in Christ, the old you is no longer relevent, and you have no idea what God has in store for you! We get glimpses of our potential from the Holy Spirit occasionally, but the revelation of Christ in you is not yet complete.

Don't make the mistake of trying to continually assess your rate of spiritual growth, and don't judge your progress against the standard that other well-meaning Christians try to supply for you. Your Heavenly Potter has everything under control, even though you may not see the growth that is taking place in your life. He knows what he is doing, and he knows how to accomplish his will in you.

You are unique, and you are perfect for the role that you play in the Kingdom of God. You are right where you are supposed to be right now, and you are loved by your Heavenly Father just as you are! Trust him to lead you through all difficulties and trials, as he shapes you into the perfect vessel that you are. You are accepted in the Beloved, and your future is secure in the Heavenly Potter's hands.

©2012 Rev. Charles J. Loubert

God's Word and His Spirit Work Together to Change Us                   6-12-12

Psa. 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

Psa. 19:8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

Psa. 19:9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

Psa. 19:10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Psa. 19:11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

The Word of God, conveys the life of God; His Spirit and Life act upon us, and make changes in us as we give His Word access to our hearts and minds.

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

As you read your Bible, look for Jesus there. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you deeper into the knowledge of the truth about who Jesus is to you, and who you are to him. Your relationship with Him is secure and complete, but our awareness of our place in him is incomplete in many ways. The gap between truth and awareness can only be closed by the work of the Holy Spirit and the Word, as they work in our hearts and minds together, to enlighten, encourage, and empower us.

Rom. 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Rom. 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

God's word transforms us, reveals God's will to us, and renews us. The word 'transformed' in this verse, is derived from the Greek word 'metamorpho', from which we get the word 'metamorphosis'! The word of God fundamentally and literally, transforms us in such a way, that we are no longer what we once were!

Just as a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, we are 'changed' [gr.metamorpho] "from glory to glory". ( II Cor. 3:18 ) We behold the face of God through his word, and He changes us as we focus on Him, and trust him to lead us into all truth.

God's word will guide us and direct our steps as we read and study it:

Psa. 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Psa. 119:104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

Psa. 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

The Holy Spirit is our teacher, and he uses the written word which we have planted in our hearts and minds, to guide us and counsel us.

Isa. 30:20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:

Isa. 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

God's word heals us, mentally, emotionally, physically,and spiritually:

Psa. 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

He has promised to give us a new heart and a new spirit, and to write his statutes,

laws, and judgments (words) on our hearts. the new covenant is God's Living

Word dwelling in us and changing us from within, to become conformed to the

exact likeness and image of Christ.

.

Jer. 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jer. 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more

(Good news! He doesn't remember your sins, they are forgiven!)

Eze. 36:25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

Eze. 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Eze. 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

We can trust God's word, because He is truth, and he will not lie. What he says, will stand

forever.

Psa. 119:89 For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. 

 

Num. 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

We grow in grace through the knowledge of Jesus our Savior, and that knowledge is made

alive in our hearts and minds by the Word and the Spirit working together, to bring us into

conformity with the perfection of Christ. (See: 2Peter 1:2, and 3:18)

God Bless You, as you continue to read and study His Word and seek to know

him better!

©2012 Rev. Charles J. Loubert

How To Be An Overcomer

How to Be an Overcomer

Rev.3:21 "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."

Do you have things in your life that you need to overcome? If you are like the rest of us, you know that there are areas and situations in your life that need to be improved or overcame.

Those who overcome will find rest at the throne of the Father, even as Jesus, our forerunner, rests on the throne, secure in his victory over hell, sin, and death.

Jesus is pointing us to the fact that his victory over death and sin was done for us. To all those who are 'in Christ' by faith, and who believe that he is the Lamb of God who took our sins away, His victory is our victory! Jesus died as every person, not just for every person.

Look at the words of Jesus in 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."

'In Jesus' we are overcomers! No matter what kind of tribulation the world throws at us, we can't lose, because of our identity with Jesus, and our trust in our relationship with him. He is our peace. He is our victory. He is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption!

Because Jesus is in us, and we are in him, we are overcomers. We are more than conquerors because of him who loves us. We have been saved by his grace, through the faith which he has freely provided. Hallelujah!

1 Jn. 5:4,5 "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus Christ is the son of God?

All our striving, good intentions, and our firmest resolutions are not as effective as the faith which is born of God! Christ within us is the overcomer! No matter how things look to us, whatever evidence our natural minds or circumstances present to us, our God given faith tells us that we will overcome by trusting in God's love for us.

Look to Jesus in every situation. Listen to the Holy Spirit as he whispers to you that you have been given the gift of righteousness, and you have not been abandoned by your Savior. Your sins and shortcomings will not scare God away or make him love you less than he did at the Cross when he gave his all for you! Don't give up! His grace is more than sufficient, and his love for you is un-quenchable! You are engraved on the palms of his hands, he hasn't forgotten or forsaken you. there is no place where his grace cannot reach you and give you what you need!

Do you want to be an overcomer? You must be born from above; ask Jesus to be your personal Savior and Lord. Rest in his love and know that, no matter what happens, you are his, and nothing can separate you from him! His work on your behalf is finished. He has given you eternal life!

Keep on trusting God, quit trying to do things your way, and remember that you are a new creature in Christ. You are predestined to be conformed to his image. Trust in his victory, and overcome everything that the world, the flesh, and the devil try to throw at you. Enjoy your new freedom in Christ,and remember that He loves you, no matter what!

Rev. Chuck Loubert 4-30-12