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“But I keep my body under subjection and discipline so that when I have preached and proclaimed the message to others, I myself will not be rejected and disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27)

Today, I want to talk about Gods forgiveness, and His love and His grace. I’m sure many of you reading this like this part of the Lord but if I were to ask you how is your personal obedience to Jesus? Are you and I taking up the cross and following Him? Does this second part challenge you or make you feel a little uncomfortable? When the Lord gives us instructions from His Word are we following and obeying that? Or do we just like the part about Gods love and grace and His forgiveness but NOT take to heart His specific instructions for our life and what He is asking of you specifically. This is why we can’t pick and choose what we want to believe in and follow from Gods Word, we must follow everything the Bible teaches as the Holy Spirit reveals it to our hearts. Ask yourself, Have I been disobeying God? Have I been disobeying God in an area of my life? Have I been compromising in an area and doing things that I should not have? The Lord does not want us to be this way. We need to repent, turn around and get doing what the Lord is telling us and not be like “Jonah” who went the opposite way the Lord instructed him. Let me also say this, let’s say there are some things you’ve done that you regret, maybe you like “Jonah” have done a mistake and you know in your heart you were wrong. Lets say you’ve been going the opposite direction of the Lord. The good news is we serve a God of second chances. Just like God gave “Jonah” a second chance to turn his life around and go back to Gods original instructions and commands over his life and do what God wanted him to do, you also can receive a second chance from the Lord because He does love you, He wants to show you His grace and forgive you BUT you need to REPENT. If you right now are feeling genuinely sorry for your mistakes and are willing to turn from your sins and turn toward the Lord then God will forgive you and give you a second chance. I pray that the Lord will give you another opportunity to obey Him.

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Thinking that you are saved but knowing that you are not

 Today I want to talk about those who think they are saved, they believe they are children of God, they think they belong to the Lord BUT in fact they know in their heart that they are not.  These individuals do not have the full assurance that they are saved, something inside of them testifies that something is wrong, they know they are not close to the Lord and this triggers that they are not “assured”, they are not “sure”, they have no “confidence” that they are saved. All they know is that at one time in their life they made a profession of faith to be a believer, or at one time they were washed in a baptism, or even at one time their own parents dedicated them to the Lord by going to Church, etc. Let me say, if any of these relates to you and if you can identify with any of this then you will also relate to what Jesus said when He said “You search the Scriptures, because you think in them you have life everlasting” (John 6:39a). The reality is, some individuals think they have everlasting life, they think they are saved but when they read the Scriptures and when they search the Scriptures they realize they are so far OFF from living a life that resembles a saved believer. It is then they realize that their own lives are not even close to living a life Jesus intends for us to live. This is why Jesus says “By their fruits you shall know them”. By reading the Scriptures, you and I will know if our lives are following Gods Word or not. By reading the Scriptures, you and I will know if we are close to Gods Word or not so when Jesus was saying “You search the Scriptures”, it is a word for us to really search the Scriptures and then examine our lives to see if they are connected or not to the obedience to Scripture. Someone might say they are “saved” or a “believer” BUT if their not searching the Scriptures and living in obedience to the Scriptures then their lifestyle does NOT match what they are saying. “By (from) their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:16) means by your lifestyle you will know if you are saved or not. I encourage you today, don’t just “think” you are saved BUT instead “know” you are saved, “know” that you belong to God. How you will know? You will know if you are living a life that is pleasing to Him, living a life that is in harmony to His standard, living a life according to the Scripture. This is how you will know NOT by your words but by your fruits, your lifestyle, your behavior. If you get “convicted” by the Holy Spirit when you sin, that is a good sign! BUT if you don’t feel bad, remorse, convicted when you sin then that is concerning. Please make sure that you “know” that you are saved! Make sure today!