Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Foundation’

Righteous from Deep Inside

Posted in Christian Walk, tagged , , , on June 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Scripture reading: Ecclesiastes 7:21-22

We are thinking about the life of Abraham, how God dealt with Abraham and how God deals with us. There is a peculiar thing in God, in that the way He dealt with the people of the Old Testament is the exact pattern of how He will deal with us. Therefore, we do not need to worry about what God will do or how He will do it. If we just look at the Old Testament, the promises that God has given to Israel are the promises that He is giving to you. Somebody said, “But that is Old Testament.” It is Old Testament, but it is God. God is never old! So what God did through these people, He is now doing through you.

Everything that you believe, you should believe it because it is in the Bible. You must have proof as to why you believe so and so, and you must know your Bible and where to prove it from the Bible. If you do not have proof, find out from those who have studied the Bible and let them show you where the proof is, because we are not supposed to preach any doctrine or any dogma that does not have solid biblical foundation. To have solid foundation means in most cases that you must find it in your Bible at least three times. Now, most of your Bible is implied. It is written “So, and so, and so;” but it is implied “So, so, so.” That means that God will imply more in the Bible than what is actually written in words, because He said in John 21:25 that if all that Jesus said and did was to be written in books, the world could not hold the books. Do you understand? So then, for solid working truth you must have biblical foundation. 

Unless you have a pure heart, you will never come to truth. Truth is so elusive that it only comes to those whose hearts are pure. In other words, I can convince myself that I am right, but it does not mean that I am right. There are many things that we believe are true that are not true. We believe that we are right, and because we believe that we are right we will go to lengths with it, but it will never bring forth life for the only thing that brings forth life is “truth.” I am just laying down some principles for you: There are many things that are true, but they are not truth.

Every one of us has skeletons in the closet. Yes! We have some skeletons down there. We lock the door, seal it, and forget them. Now, if you should come and take the platform and begin to preach about the skeletons that I have in the closet from way down yonder, it would be true things that you are saying, but it would not be truth. Truth glorifies Jesus! You may know something about somebody and you tell it to somebody else, but when the person hears it, it disturbs him. It does not lift him up. It does not take him near to Jesus, but it sinks him. If this is so, then it is not truth; and the bearer of evil tidings is working as an emissary of the devil. 

There are some things that we know that we should not talk about. I will prove it to you. Let us say that we know some secrets, some dark deeds that were done in our family. Do we go around talking about them? No, we do not; and if this is so, then why should we talk about somebody else’s secrets? 

God is bringing up a people. He said, “Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord’s servant?” (Isaiah 42:19) 

Also, in Ecclesiastes 7:21 He said that if your servant curses you, you should pretend that you do not hear. Do you know why? The reason is given in the next verse. It is because sometimes you have likewise cursed others. 

God gives us a clear path and it is a little bit narrow, isn’t it? You do not have any leeway. You are not as free as a sinner. But it is the path of righteousness and the Word says, “…few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). There are not many Christians who walk the Christian way. 

You say, “Brother Cecil, these are people who are not going to heaven,” but you are wrong! A lot of wicked people go to heaven. That sounds bad, doesn’t it; but was the thief on the cross a righteous person? He made it though, because he repented at the last edge and he was saved although his shirt was singed with the fire of hell. He was saved. 

So, as righteous people, we have to be righteous from deep down inside. 

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, July 1998, pg. 1-2)

Thought for today: Let us examine our walk before the Lord and see to it that we walk the true Christian way.

Read Full Post »

Foundation to Our Faith

Posted in Spiritual Warfare, tagged , , , , on June 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Scripture reading: Hebrews 11:1-6

Faith!  You must have faith, but your faith must be in something.  In other words, faith is a subsidiary weapon that cannot work by itself.  Let me say it again: Faith cannot work by itself!  You cannot have wild faith like the “Name It and Claim It” type.  That is a wild faith and it does not have substance in anything.  So, therefore, you have faith in a word.  I am going to give you an example. 

God anointed David to be king from when he was a young boy.  He told David, “You will be king over Israel.”  Now David knows that if God said he would be king then God could not allow him to be killed.  So later, young David faced Goliath with impunity knowing that his God will bring Goliath down.  He knew this, because God had told him he was supposed to be king down the road. 

Have you ever gotten a prophecy?  Do you remember in your mind what the prophecy said?  Do you know that the devil cannot kill you, because God gave you a prophecy that down the road you are going to be somebody?  Now, God does not say you can be presumptuous, go throw yourself over a precipice and say, “Well, God said I am going to be king (or queen), so therefore let me throw myself over this precipice, because God will keep me up.”  Presumptuous sin is against God. 

So therefore, you have a word from God.  If you do not have a word from God, go to God and get yourself a word.  Did you hear me?  Let every man of God, woman of God, child of God get a word from God that is absolutely, completely yours; and hold that word because there is a song that says, “When the storms of life are raging and you are tossed o’er sea and land, you will find a place of refuge in the hollow of His hand.” 

If you will take refuge under that word that God has given you, it will be “a lamp to your feet, and a light to your path” (Ref. Psalm 119:105).  It also says in Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”   Glory to God! 

If God gives you a word, the word becomes a fortress and a weapon and something to hold on to.  And so, you must have faith in something.  You must have faith in a word of God and anybody who does not have a word, get one! 

I will give you a word.  When I was freshly saved, I did not know what salvation was and I did not know who God was.  When God came into my room, He gave me a word and He has given me the same word seven times.  He said, “As I was with Moses, so will I be with you.  I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  He also said, “No man shall stand before you all the days of your life.  Anywhere the soles of your feet tread upon that will I give to you.”  That is what He spoke to Joshua, but Jesus came to my room and He said it to me seven times.  There is no way or possibility of anybody ever discouraging me—any demon, any devil, any man!  Do you hear me?  The word of God has become a fortress and a monument in my soul.

Because of the word, the soul of man becomes a bulwark of God!  Do you hear me?  Your soul becomes a bulwark for God!  A walking, talking, conquering soul; not able to be defeated, because you have a word of God. 

So then, the faith of God must work with the word of God.  If God gives you a word, then you have faith.  If God gives you no word, then you have no faith.  You cannot have faith without having some foundation to your faith. 

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, January 1997, pg. 18-20)

Thought for today: Stand in faith on the word God has spoken to you.  If you have not a word or prophecy from Him, then go to God and let Him give you a personal word so that you can have foundation to your faith.

Read Full Post »

The Written Word

Posted in The Living Word, tagged , , on May 20, 2011| 1 Comment »

Scripture reading: II Timothy 3:10-17

The Word of God is explicit, direct, and without ambiguity.  It is the life of the believer and a chart and compass to those who would walk in truth.  Without it, the church would be confused by the voice of many spirits and men and would lose her way in a maze of lights not knowing which beam to follow.

There are basic principles of belief which are vital to the believer, which will, under the vigorous testing which follows the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior, be the very life-blood of the Christian and the determining factor as to whether he or she will overcome or fail.  The most important basic principles are: 

(1)  The Bible is written by God and is the Word of God.

(2)  There are no mistakes in the Bible.

(3)  The truth of the Word is contained in its meaning and not in human interpretation of what the Word means.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (II Timothy 3:16).

“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (II Peter 1:21).

These tenets are like the foundation of a very large building which must be laid deep down in the heart of the believer so that when the storms come, the winds blow and the billows roar, he will stand and not fall.  So many mighty men have fallen and are falling. The reason is that their building was not founded on the Word of God, but in most cases on what they thought about the Word of God.  We have to understand that thoughts about a thing are not necessarily the truth about the thing.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1993, pg. 13-14)

Thought for today: As we read our Bibles let us remember that the foundation of the Word of God must be firmly established in our hearts so that we would be able to withstand the storms of life.

Read Full Post »