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Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!
Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge (confess) your known unconfessed sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).
1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins] ." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]; we call this REBOUND, read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. REBOUND
If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to simply exercise faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life; when you do, you will instantly receive Eternal Life: John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 20:30, 31.
John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]
Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.
John 3:14-15, 16, 17, 18, says: "14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV
Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:
Study to show yourself approved to God!
Grace Bible Church
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
STUDY TITLE:
Christmas Message
One of the most popular questions that many believers have during the Christmas Holiday is the question; What do you get for the one individual who has everything? After all, December 25 has been celebrated as a day of Deity in many other of cults. I have asked you this question before: Is there anything that you know that our LORD loves and desires, that HE cannot get right now?
We know that every day we are given natural and spiritual logistics as soldiers for our LORD Jesus Christ Who, as Jehovah Jireh, (meaning the LORD Who provides) always provides more than enough for all.
Why?
This is something very vital and important and why our LORD taught those disciples what to expect once they begin carrying our LORD’s Word, which most Jews reject.
First of all, John 3:15-18, that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. For GOD so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For GOD did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of GOD.
Here’s the main verse, short but powerful. John 3:30-32, He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. What He has seen and heard, of that He bears witness; and no man receives His witness.
Our LORD always provided whatever His earthly army would need so that they were not preoccupied and therefore ignoring our LORD. Solders must win without compromise. When you began on the road to spiritual self-esteem, there were many different situations that Satan and the kingdom of darkness were becoming aware of. Because of that they began to prepare his demons and fallen angels to handle the satanic attacks that will come our way. Everything that HIS spiritual army would ever need concerning the details of life and the spiritual life (Matt 6:34; Phil 1:2).
You have the power and the ability to give a present to our LORD or to fulfill certain desires with certain gifts that may be are in our reach. Then why should Jesus’ birthday be any different? Christmas is not a time where the people of GOD should quarrel about what day our LORD was born. Most of us realize that December 25 is not the exact date when our LORD was born, it is just a date that Christians would see and celebrate our LORD’s birth.
Why?
First of all, because, for thousands of years before Christians claimed ownership of December 25th, it was a Pagan holiday celebrating the birth of the Sun GOD “Sol Invictus.” This festival concluded their annual winter festival of Saturnalia which was also a period of general merrymaking, wild parties, etc. On 25 December AD 274, the Roman Emperor Aurelian made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults. And so, Christmas is another distraction to attack the believer in Christ because their LORD has been rejected.
What we should be celebrating is a birthday that was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah in Isa 7:14 who wrote: Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel [GOD with us]. Notice the difference, we have Immanuel or GOD “with us” which is the prophecy of the Virgin Birth in the OT. On the other hand, Immanuel is “GOD in us” as a NT manifestation of the Shekinah Glory from the OT. So, why don’t we give Jesus some gifts for HIS birthday? It’s weird,” you say, because we can’t see Him, can we?
Well, listen to what the apostle Peter says in 1Pe 1:8, and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, Of course, HE’s not physically here to open any of our gifts and what in the world would we get HIM anyway? What do you get when the universe is HIS? If you believe what the apostle Paul said, then there are a lot of gift possibilities that our LORD would be delighted to get for HIS birthday. The most obvious answer as to what we should get for our LORD’s birthday is “Something WE buy; Prov 23:23.
You all have Time, Talent or Treasure, and a spiritual gift. PRO 23:23 says: Buy truth, and do not sell {it,} {Get} wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Our LORD knows you heart and what you think about being in the presence of the people of GOD. Psa 133:1, Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! That’s a great birthday for our LORD because in Luk 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Because of that our LORD says John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” There are plenty of gifts you could give for free, but you will find in many of those cases, they’re even more costly than something you could purchase. – Such as reconciliation. One of the most popular passages upon the principle of giving at the First Christmas is John 3:16 where we read; “For GOD so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Matt 10:1, And having summoned His twelve disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
So, if you’re new to the idea of giving a gift for Jesus’ birthday, this is a very simple place to start. There are many area’s and many ways you can use your Time, Talent and Treasure to honor Jesus this Christmas:
Give HIM your worries and fears.
Give HIM your bitterness and resentment.
Give HIM your obedience.
Give HIM your negativity.
John 3:16, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Sacrifice is the highest expression of love and proof that it is sincere.
The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.
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