The Foundation, the Building, the Reward.

The Building Material. 1 Corinthians 3

11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Good Morning. Yesterday we spoke of works a Christian does that are selfish in nature. They were represented as works that are perishable such as hay, wood and stubble. These kinds of works, which are self-centered will be burned up in the judgment seat (Bema) of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). Today we will discuss non-perishable works, these works are durable and withstand the fire of judgment!  They are represented here as precious stones, silver and gold. They are works for Jesus done for the glory of God. They might be works such as teaching, preaching, witnessing or loving people. These are durable works that withstand the firey judgment of Christ. These works will be rewarded! God remembers to give a reward if someone gives even a cup of water in His name. God also writes His Book of Remembrance for those who reverence and honor the Lord (Malachi 3:16). Daniel 12:3 “….And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.” So we see that God not only remembers but He rewards His children for their/our service to Him through Jesus! Remember too that this is a judgment on our works only not our salvation which Jesus paid for on the cross. God bless.

Love in Christ, Terry June 21, 2024 

The Foundation, the Building, the Reward.

The Building Material of Hay, Wood, and Stubble.  1Corinthians 3:11     
                                             11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Good Morning. In 2Corinthians 5:10 we see that we must ALL stand before the judgment seat of Christ to answer what we did in our bodies whether good or bad! Here in our text are reassured of that reality! Jesus is the foundation of our faith and it is how we build on this foundation. Our works can be self-motivated or Christ-motivated and our rewards given to us by God will reflect to which one we have given our allegiance to. Our selfish motives are represented here by the materials used. Notice some materials are durable while others are perishable. The materials must be able to stand up to the fiery trial by which Christ judges us and as we view these materials we see that hay, wood, and, stubble do not stand up to fire very well! These are the self-motivated works we do to gain attention and there are no rewards offered for these works because they are burned up. Remember these works represent rewards, not salvation. The people in this judgment are born-again believers and they/we will be saved but these selfish works shall be burned up! Tomorrow we will discuss the durable works of gold, silver and precious stones. God bless.

Love in Christ, Terry June 20, 2024 

The Foundation, the Building, the Reward. Pt1

• Christ is the foundation. 1Corinthians 2
  9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
  
  Good Morning. Here in our text, we see that God uses people to accomplish His work on earth. The reality of faith is demonstrated in God’s people. The world sees a part of God in God’s Christian people, the church. We as Christians are His building where God lives through the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who encourages us to go forth with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is God through His Holy Spirit who motivates us to teach, preach and witness etc. for Christ in the world! Is preaching, teaching, witnessing the gospel a reality to you and I? Paul is telling us here that by God’s grace he has laid a foundation for our faith and that foundation is Jesus. You and I are called to build on that foundation. How are we doing building on this foundation which is Christ ? Tomorrow the results of building on this foundation. God bless.
• Love in Christ, Terry June 19, 2024

The Work of the Holy Spirit.

The Work of the Holy Spirit. John 16 

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;11 of judgment, because  the ruler of this world is judged.

Good Morning. We can all (Christians) be very thankful for the above verses because if the Holy Spirit did not convict us of our need for a Savior we would never have gotten saved! The bible plainly tells us that we are ALL sinners and those sins have separated us from God. The only One who can mend that separation is Jesus the Son of God. He was sent to earth by the Father for that particular purpose! God’s love and forgiveness is extended to mankind as an olive branch noting Jesus brings peace between God and man (The Mediator). Another work of the Holy Spirit is righteousness and our need for it. Jesus Himself becomes our righteousness (2Corintians 5:21) when we are saved. We of ourselves can never attain that righteousness , God’s perspective of our righteousness is found in Isaiah 64:6. Judgment will come for all who try to approach God their way and the evil one and all who reject Jesus will be judged and sent to the Lake of fire! (Revelation 20:10,15). So we are grateful to God for sending the Holy Spirit to us. AMEN.

Love in Christ, Terry June 15, 2024 

Jesus is manifested.

Indwelling of the Son. John 1419 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and [f]manifest Myself to him.”

Good Morning. After Jesus left this world, He still reveals Himself to His children. Here is a simple truth that Christians own and that is the reality of what happens when a Christian loves Jesus. Keeping Jesus’ commands shows that one is real about their beliefs and loves the Lord! Saying we love the Lord and showing that love through serving Him are two different things, but when we serve Jesus from a true heart a very wonderful thing happens, Jesus manifests (reveals) Himself to that person! Isn’t the revealing of Jesus to the hearts of the ones who love Him is what the Christian life is all about? The revealing of the presence of Jesus by the Father is truly the greatest motivation and joy for the Christian. A true divine appointment with our Lord is an event that is never forgotten. Share your faith today. God bless.

Love in Christ, Terry June 14, 2024 See Blog: walkingwithjesusbyhisword.wordpress.com

Sin. Pt3

From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God  Romans 6 

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were [e]delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness [f]for holiness.

Good Morning. These verses certainly tell the truth about how a person can become entangled in sin and sin becomes their master controlling their lives. Look at how many people get addicted to illegal drugs and alcohol or other immoral activities. Even after serving years in prison, many come out of prison doing the same thing that put them in prison! We see the stranglehold sin can have to make one a slave (servant) to it. Conversely, we see that a Christian can become a servant to God through Jesus Christ ( The bondage breaker) and live in freedom and righteousness. This righteousness leads one to holiness which causes a Christian to live a life separate from the world and devoted to God. All this is possible for the Christian because Jesus through the Holy Spirit gives one the power to live for God! In our flesh or living for the flesh, we distance ourselves from God and sin can enter in, but if we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit Jesus will become close to our hearts and we will have the joy of living for our Lord and be freed from sin’s bondage! God bless.

Love in Christ, Terry June 10, 2024 See Blog: walkingwithjesusbyhisword.wordpress.com

ABIDING.

• John 15  Abiding in Jesus.
  4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 
  Good Morning. I believe the key word in our passage today is abide. Abide has the meaning of remaining or staying, like remaining at home. We abide at home or remain there as a branch abides in the vine. Jesus is telling us that in order to bear fruit for Him we must abide in Him. What can we do that would allow us (Christians) to abide in Him? There are five things I can think of to cause us to abide in Jesus. The first is to give your heart to Him believing in Him as Lord and Savior. The second thing is to study and obey His word, the bible. The third thing is to pray often to the Father in Jesus’ name. The fourth thing to allow us to abide (remain) in Jesus is to tell others of His gospel. One more thing I would like to add to the list to enable us to abide in Jesus is to have fellowship with other Christians. These things can allow us to be fruitful for our Lord. The fruits of the Holy Spirit will become more prevalent in our lives and maybe Jesus would allow us to lead a lost soul to Him. All the successful things we accomplish for God can only happen through Jesus, for without Him we can do nothing! God bless. Love in Christ, Terry June 6, 2024 PS. Remembering back 80 years on this day our brave allies invaded Normandy France to take out a ruthless dictator and free Europe of this evil. We must never forget their ultimate sacrifice!

JOY Inexpressible. Pt1

1Peter1  God keeps His promises to His people.

5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been [c]grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not [d]seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

Good Morning. God certainly keeps His promises to His people until the Day of salvation. God has made possible that day when we were saved, born again from above by the Holy Spirit trusting Jesus as Savior this is Justification or made right before God through Jesus! God also has been guiding us through life and teaching us to trust His Holy Word and grow closer to Him by faith, that faith He gives to all who believe in Jesus this is Sanctification!  God also will show His faithfulness to us as we receive the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls when we receive our new bodies, this is Glorification. But while we are in this life we have to endure trials, these trials of life are meant to enhance and grow our faith. We learn that God is faithful to take us through our trials and temptations and in that experience our faith grows and we draw closer to our Lord Jesus! God tells us here that it is in the trial of faith (disappointments, hurts, heartaches etc.) that we will look back and see the experience was much more precious than gold because our walk with God was made more intimate. Let’s look into the inexpressible Joy tomorrow. God bless.

Love in Christ, Terry May 28, 2024 

I am crucified….

I am crucified…. Galatians 2       
 19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”[e] Good Morning. Probably one of the hardest things to do as a Christian is dying to self! Here we have God’s word telling us to do just that, to be crucified with Christ! A new creation is born when we come to receive Jesus as our Savior, the old nature is forsaken and the new nature takes over. The problem is that old nature wants to still run the show! It is our choice to de-power the ways of the old self. That is a choice we all have to make and we can do that because there is now a greater power within us to overcome that power of the old nature and that power is the Holy Spirit (1Corintians 6:19). So as we live our lives we find that  Christ is living in us through the Holy Spirit and now we live for Him, trusting Him by faith! And as 2Corinthians 5:21 says, ” 21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”! That verse will make any Christian’s day hopeful, joyful and thankful! God bless.Love in Christ, Terry May 21, 2024

Christian Behavior.

Behave Like a Christian   Romans 12  

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient[c] in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given[d]to hospitality.

Good Morning. Yesterday we spoke of being kindly affectionate to one another in love, today I would like to address how we should serve the Lord. One thing I see here in our text is to serve with diligence. That word has the meaning of painstakingly, with zeal in the Spirit earnestly doing the work of the ministry serving the Lord Jesus. Proverbs 16:7 states: “When a man’s ways please the Lord,He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” So we see living our Christian life, by serving Jesus can put even our enemies at peace with us! Are we serving our God with zeal, love, and diligence (earnest devotion)? He is worthy! 

Love in Christ, Terry May 12, 2024