In Everything Give Thanks

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; NKJV) 

To give thanks is to express gratitude.  Thankfulness is gratefulness expressed to another.  Thanksgiving is the expression of gratitude.  Tis the season of thankgiving.  Our Heavenly Father is to be the recipient of our thanksgiving. 

Our GOD created us in His image (Genesis 1:26-27).  We share in His likeness.  He is worthy of praise because He is the Creator:  “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created” (Revelation 4:11; NKJV).  Thank Him! 

Our GOD sustains us (Colossians 1:17).  In Him we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).  Apart from Him there is no life or breath (Acts 17:25).  He upholds us “by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3).  Thank Him! 

Our GOD has redeemed us through His dear Son (Revelation 5:9-10; Ephesians 1:3-14).  Created in His image with the ability to think, reason and choose, each of us has defaced that image by falling short of His glory (Romans 3:10-18, 23).  Sin defaces the image of GOD in our lives.  Love compels Him to restore His image in each of us:  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)!  Christ Jesus has “redeemed us to God” by His blood (Revelation 5:9).  Thank Him! 

Indeed, “Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17; NKJV).  It is all about Him, it is all from Him, it is all returning to Him!  Thank Him! 

Tis the season, therefore, let us thank Him!

Hidden in My Heart

"But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." (Jude 20-21; NKJV)

Does Not Sin

"Does not sin" is in the durative present tense in the Greek which means it is describing a walk, a lifestyle.  A literal translation would be, "Whoever abides in Him does not sin on and on."  Our Father doesn't expect us to never sin, but He does expect us to sin less and less.

1 John 3:4-9; NKJV

4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 

5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 

6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 

8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 

9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

We Shall Be Like Him

His Part - He will make us like Him!

Our Part -  Purify ourselves!

1 John 3:1-3; NKJV

1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 

2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 

3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

He Has Promised Us

 A lot of folks make a lot of promises.  Promises that they can't keep.  Promises, that if they were kept, would still be insufficient to meet our needs. 

This is the promise that the Father has promised us - eternal life.  If we abide in Him and His Son, we will keep this promise.  Eternal life with them is exactly what we need. 

1 John 2:24-29; NKJV

24 Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 

25 And this is the promise that He has promised us — eternal life.

26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 

27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 

29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

Those Who Go Out From Us

At times there are those among us who are not of us.  We may not know that they are not of us until they go out from us.  We only know that they are not of us when they no longer continue with us.

There are many antichrists.  The one who denies the Father and The Son is antichrist.  To deny Jesus as the Christ is to lie and make oneself a liar and an antichrist.

In this last hour, let us know through the anointing that we have from the Holy One that Jesus is the Christ and that we have a Father in Heaven who longs for us to overcome by faith.

1 John 2:18-23; NKJV

18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 

19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.   

21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 

23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

The World is Passing Away

You will never influence the world trying to be like it.  Don't love it.  Do the will of the God and abide forever.

1 John 2:15-17; NKJV

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

16 For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world. 

17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

That Your Joy May Be Full

What the apostles did in the flesh, we do in the spirit. 

They walked with Him in the flesh, we walk with Him by faith. 

Their joy was full in the flesh, ours will be full in the spirit.

1 John 1:1-4; NKJV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life —  

2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us —  

3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 

4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

The Day of the Lord

The First Coming of Christ - Salvation

The Second Coming of Christ - Judgment

Receive His salvation so that you can escape His judgment.

2 Peter 3:10-18; NKJV

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.   

11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 

12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 

13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 

15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation — as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 

16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 

18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Why He Delays

Question:  What keeps Jesus from coming again?

Answer:  His longsuffering.

2 Peter 3:1-9; NKJV

1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 

2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 

3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 

4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." 

5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 

6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 

7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 

9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Hidden In My Heart

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." (James 4:8; NKJV)

It Woud Have Been Better

To build a meaningful relationship with God only to return to the pollutions of the world is worse than never knowing Him.  Imagine going from being near Him to being without Him.  Imagine going from being near Him in time to being away from Him for all of eternity.

Draw near to God an continuing drawing until Jesus comes.

2 Peter 2:12-22; NKJV

12 But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 

13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 

14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 

15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 

16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

17 These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. 

18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 

19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 

20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 

21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 

22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire."

False Teachers Among You

Not everybody wants to build a meaningful relationship with God.  There will be those who oppose God and seek to keep us from Him.  Be encouraged that the Lord knows how to deliver those who would be with Him from those who do not!

2 Peter 2:1-11; NKJV

1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 

2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 

3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 

5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 

6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 

7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 

8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds) —  

9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 

10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, 

11 whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.

The Holy Spirit and the Scripture

The Holy Spirit moved holy men of God to speak and to write the word of God.  When we read the Scripture, we are reading the mind of God revealed.  Listen to the Holy Spirit; read His word.  

2 Peter 1:16-21; NKJV

16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 

17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory:"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 

18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 

20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,   

21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Arise and Add

Throughout the year we have considered our part and His part.  2 Peter 1:5-11 presents our part.  A failure on our part to do our part jeopardizes our entrance into His kingdom...

1 Peter 1:5-11; NKJV

5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 

6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 

7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 

8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 

11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Partakers of the Divine Nature

Consider this as you consider building a more meaningful relationship with Jehovah God...

The desire of Jehovah is not just that we would know Him and have a relationship with Him...

He desires that we partake (koinonos - a sharer) of His divine nature (phusis - one's essential characteristics and qualities).

2 Peter 1:1-4; NKJV

1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 

3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 

4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Hidden in My Heart

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." (James 4:8; NKJV)

The Devil and the God of All Grace

1.  The Devil can be resisted.

2.  The God of All Grace will perfect, establish, strengthen and settle.

3.  Resist the Devil and Glorify God!

1 Peter 5:8-11; NKJV

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 

9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 

10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.  

11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.