by David Long
Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:3). Truth is objective not subjective. The idea that what may be truth to you, may not be truth to me is nonsense. "Sanctify them through thy truth: they word is truth" (John 17:17). It's not your truth or my truth, it's God's truth. We don't get to decide what truth is, God does. Truth doesn't change. If we want to be saved we must obey the truth of God's word (1 Pet. 1:22).
by David Long
"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit" whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that" (James 4:13-15).
Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Only God does. There are those who claim to be able to tell what will happen tomorrow but no one knows the future but God. Trust God, no matter what tomorrow brings. Live godly, no matter what happens tomorrow (Titus 2:11-12).
by David Long
"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (James 1:13-15).
That is how the process of temptation and sin works. God is not the tempter, the devil is (Matt. 4:1-3). Don't give in to the temptations of the devil.
by David Long
"And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:4-5). See how Satan works? He convinced Eve what would not happen and what would happen if she ate of the forbidden fruit. She wouldn't die and she would be become like God. Maybe Eve thought that she could even become God. Did anything good come from disobeying God? No and it never will (2 Thess. 1:7-9).
by David Long
"And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also" (Acts 17:6).
That's the world's view of what the gospel does. The gospel actually turns the world right side up. Those who do not want the truth of God's word accuse those who preach and teach the truth as being the trouble makers. Actually the opposite is true (1 Kings 18:17-18). If you preach, teach or believe a lie then you are turning the world upside down.
by David Long
"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. 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" (Rom. 12:1-2).
Don't let the world shape you into its mold. It's all about mind control. The world want's to control the way you think. Don't let it. Let the Bible be your guide (2 Cor. 10:5). The Devil wanted to control Jesus but Jesus wouldn't allow it (Matt. 4).
by David Long
What has God done for you?
"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?" (Rom. 8:32).
"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (Rom. 5:6-10).
Does it get any better than that?
by David Long
"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" (John 1:18).
"Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father" (John 6:46).
"No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us" (1 John 4::12).
God is somewhat at a distance. We can't experience God with our 5 senses. We can know and see God through Jesus. "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?" (John 14:7-9).
by David Long
"Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers" (Matt. 23:1-4).
Sounds like a lot of leaders today.
by David Long
"And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains" (John 9:39-41).
Their sins remained because they were unwilling to repent. In their minds they didn't think that they needed to repent. They claimed that they could "see." But they were really blind, spiritually speaking. How true of many today. Jesus was not talking about their physical condition but their spiritual condition.
by David Long
"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses" (1 Tim. 6:12).
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7).
The battle is real. It is a battle for your mind, the way you think, what you believe (2 Cor. 10:3-5). Do you believe the lies of the Devil or the truth of God's word?
by David Long
"And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living" (Mk. 12:41-44).
The Lord measured giving not by the amount gave but how much was left over.
by David Long
"Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye" (Prov. 7:2). The apple of the eye is the pupil. How important is the pupil? Without it, we don't see. The word of God ought to be just as important as the pupil of our eye. Lose focus of the word of God and we can't see. Make the word of God a distant thing in our lives and we lose sight of what's really important. Can't make it to heaven if the word of God is not the apple of our eye.
by David Long
The Bible clearly teaches that a Christian can fall from grace.
"Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace" (Gal. 5:4).
"Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness" (2 Pet. 3:17).
"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God" (Heb. 3:12).
by David Long
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matt. 7:15-20).
If we are going to beware of false teachers then we gotta know the truth and put the teachers to the test (1 John 4:1).
