Category: God’s grace

Continue #10

Friday, May 15, 2026

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16 KJV).

A single word can mean the difference between victorious Christian living and notorious Christian dying….

For over a decade in my denominational system, I was comfortable in ignorance and childishness (the death of my Christian life)… but that all changed when two faithful brethren gave me the Bible verses I needed to recover myself out of the snare of the Devil (the revival of my Christian life). For almost 20 years now, I have striven to pass on to others what saved me from spiritual kindergarten, that any poor souls willing to listen and believe may come unto the knowledge of the truth as well.

“Continue” distinguishes between the Christian life surviving (it working as God intended) and the Christian life dying (it separated from its function). Those who “depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrine of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1) have no one to blame but themselves. They did not remain with the Dispensation of the Grace of God the resurrected, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus Christ delivered them through the Apostle Paul’s ministry of Romans to Philemon. Having the completed Bible canon and the indwelling Holy Spirit to teach us, we have no excuse whatsoever for being unaware, immature, or deceived.

“Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:15,16). To “meditate” is “to revolve in the mind, think deeply about, care for, attend to carefully.” Stated another way, Timothy is to contemplate what he has been given in the epistle of 1 Timothy (and 2 Timothy, its companion). Along with the two Timothy Books, Titus and Philemon form the four Pauline pastoral epistles—the handbooks of the local church. Pastors and teachers would do well to concentrate on those four formal doctrinal letters, that they minimize what the Devil does in their assemblies and among their congregants. They should give themselves wholly (completely, entirely) to these words of God’s grace. Let us do likewise, brethren, also depending less and less on man’s intellect and man’s ability. 🙂

Continue #9

Thursday, May 14, 2026

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16 KJV).

A single word can mean the difference between victorious Christian living and notorious Christian dying….

The sequel to 1 Timothy is 2 Timothy. See 2 Timothy 2:24-26: “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” The description “those that oppose themselves” refers to believers who did not continue in grace thinking and grace living; the Christian minister is to teach them sound doctrine, attempting to give them what is necessary to escape Satan’s trap. Today, the professing church overall finds itself in such a snare.

If only we would have continued in the grace principles of Romans to Philemon, our tens of thousands of legalistic denominations that confuse us would have never been started. We would have victorious Christian living—instead of the darkness, blindness, and ignorance that discourage and defeat us. If only we would have continued in the fruit of the Protestant Reformation, the King James Bible, our hundreds of perverted (Roman Catholic) modern English versions that corrupt our minds and deceive our hearts would have never been translated or purchased. If only we would have continued in sound Bible doctrine and the power of the Holy Spirit, we would have surely had enough sense and might to oust our pastors and teachers who were not serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Our church buildings would have never been transformed into the social clubs that they are today and our schools would have never become the breeding grounds for apostasy, heresy, and worship of man’s wisdom that they are today.

Doubtless, none of these problems are God’s fault! They are entirely our fault! Friends, we must accept total responsibility, accepting the blame that is rightfully ours and ours alone. Perhaps there is someone reading this who is now aware of the gravity of the situation. The sooner we learn the problem, the quicker we can solve it.

Let us summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….

Continue #8

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16 KJV).

A single word can mean the difference between victorious Christian living and notorious Christian dying….

Contemplate the words of 2 Timothy 3:14-17, an excerpt from the companion Book of 1 Timothy: “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Timothy had a believing Jewess grandmother and a believing Jewess mother, as 2 Timothy 1:5 makes manifest: “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.” Apparently, these two women raised Timothy (“from a child”), the boy having an unbelieving/Gentile father. Timothy would have grown up with a Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament of Genesis to Malachi. By the time Paul passed to preach in (teenager/young adult) Timothy’s neighborhood (Acts chapters 13 and 14), Timothy became a believer in Christ. When the Apostle returned to the area a few years later, he took Timothy along with him as a ministry helper (Acts 16:1-3).

Whatever sound Bible doctrine Timothy had learned from his grandmother and mother, whatever he had learned from Paul, he was to “continue in [those] things.” The Colossians were exhorted or encouraged to likewise “continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel” (Colossians 1:23). In the midst of fighting with legalists or Law-based teachers at the Jerusalem Conference of Acts chapter 15, Paul and Barnabas and Titus continued in grace doctrine so it would “continue” with the Galatians (Galatians 2:5), for any apostolic abandonment of grace would stimulate the Galatians themselves to abandon grace….

Continue #7

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16 KJV).

A single word can mean the difference between victorious Christian living and notorious Christian dying….

Following Paul’s lengthy non-legalistic (verses 38,39) sermon in the synagogue of Antioch of Pisidia (central Turkey), Acts 13:43 tells us, “Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.” Ministering later in the same area, Barnabas and Paul went about “confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith,…” (Acts 14:22).

Re-read Acts 20:28-30, Paul guiding the church leaders of Ephesus: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” There is a warning to “take heed” (watch out, be careful, exercise caution) here, and the Apostle repeated it years later in today’s Scripture when writing to Timothy who was serving as pastor in Ephesus (cf. 1 Timothy 1:3). In Acts chapter 20, the church leaders are to “take heed” regarding themselves and their congregations.

The Apostle’s counsel resumes: “Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:31,32). Satan’s work will go in the world and in the local church until Christ’s return, but we can prepare for it and act accordingly so as to minimize it. By teaching “the word of [God’s] grace,” we lessen the effectiveness of Satan’s lie program. Conversely, if we do not understand the Word of God’s Grace (which can only be identified via dispensational Bible study), then we teach denominational absurdities and thereby further Satan’s lie program….

Continue #6

Monday, May 11, 2026

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16 KJV).

A single word can mean the difference between victorious Christian living and notorious Christian dying….

For a moment, think of the prophetic program of Acts 3:21. Overall, Israel did not continue in the Divine revelation given them through their Old Testament Prophets or Hebrew Bible, the Books of Genesis to Malachi (refer to Moses’ words in Deuteronomy 4:1-10). However, regarding Israel’s believing remnant, the Little Flock of Luke 12:32, the Messianic Church of Matthew 16:18, the “church” (“called-out group belonging to the Lord”) in Acts 2:47, the Bible reports in Acts 2:42: “And they continued stedfastly [firmly/resolutely, were unwavering] in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Though national Israel was under Satan’s influence and thus apostate (standing away from the truths of JEHOVAH God, the LORD God—chiefly, committing the sin of refusing Jesus as their Messiah), a believing remnant within it was following Christ’s 12 Apostles’ teachings.

As touching our mystery program of Romans 16:25,26, Satan’s present evil world still convinces individuals to abandon the right side of issues and go over to the wrong side. Sometimes it is inadvertently or mistakenly, people just being so utterly clueless that they have no spiritual stability and therefore believe practically anything they hear from religious leaders. The graver situation, the more serious matter, is how certain others have made a conscious choice to believe and teach lies. Paul advised the elders of Ephesus: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse [distorted, corrupted] things, to draw away disciples after them [to gain a following, to start a cult!]” (Acts 20:28-30).

False teachers will not continue in sound doctrine, and, unless we continue in sound doctrine, we have no option but to become their victims….

Continue #5

Saturday, May 9, 2026

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16 KJV).

A single word can mean the difference between victorious Christian living and notorious Christian dying….

Notice: the key term distinguishing between victorious Christian living and notorious Christian dying is “continue,” persisting in teaching and believing sound Bible doctrine or grace doctrine. The opposite is “revert,” as in “turn back” or “regress” or “relapse.” Ephesians 4:17-19 exhorts, “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”

What happens to those whose Christian life dies (fails to function properly) is they increasingly rely on their own understanding, turning to the Bible less and less, eventually throwing it away altogether—or, they keep the Bible, but do not “rightly divide” it (2 Timothy 2:15).

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-9). These Galatians did not continue in “grace,” but went back to the Law: they were swiftly “removed” from Pauline influence. These too did not “continue” in, or “endure,” “sound doctrine:” “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3,4).

To ensure victorious Christian living, we must progress in grace edification instead of returning to our former (heathen) thoughts and ways….

NOTE: In order to bring you a special study tomorrow, we will temporarily break away from this devotionals arc….

Not Thy Righteousness, But Their Wickedness #10

Sunday, April 19, 2026

“Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Deuteronomy 9:5 KJV).

May we have the proper perspective of wickedness versus righteousness….

On the one hand, there is “righteousness” or “right standing before God, the condition of justification.” On the other hand, there is “wickedness,” or “the condition of being evil or morally wrong” (interestingly, the root “wicked” is derived from “witch!”). Every human, except the God-Man Jesus Christ, is born in wickedness rather than righteousness.

Ephesians chapter 2 reviews this individual history of believers in Christ: “[1] And you hath he [Father God] quickened [given life to], who were dead in trespasses and sins; [2] Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan], the spirit [attitude/mentality] that now worketh in the children of disobedience [unbelievers, lost people]: [3] Among whom also we all had our conversation [manner of living] in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”

“God’s Grace Factory”—as it has been so aptly titled—removed us from such a wretched, wicked position in Adam and placed us into a glorious, righteous position in Christ: “[4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, [5] Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved; ) [6] And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: [7] That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

This is not our righteousness, but God’s righteousness….

Not Thy Righteousness, But Their Wickedness #9

Saturday, April 18, 2026

“Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Deuteronomy 9:5 KJV).

May we have the proper perspective of wickedness versus righteousness….

“Behold, he [God] putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight” (Job 15:15). “Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight” (Job 25:5). “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [heavenly] places” (Ephesians 6:12). The Scriptures declare how Satan has defiled outer space with his plan to “worship and serve the creature more than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). Such polluted Heavenly Places will not be cleansed until the ages to come.

Here is the ultimate removal of evil from the Heavenly Places, which realm we subsequently occupy as members of the Church the Body of Christ: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:7-9).

“And [Father God] hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6,7). God in His grace wanted to save (rescue, deliver) people from sin, so Christ died for those sins. This bridges the gap between us and God, qualifying us believers to receive “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).

To repeat, this is not because of our righteousness, but God’s goodness and the fallen angels’ wickedness….

Not Thy Righteousness, But Their Wickedness #5

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

“Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Deuteronomy 9:5 KJV).

May we have the proper perspective of wickedness versus righteousness….

Abraham understood that the LORD God would work in His grace to make of his lineage a people whom God would use to serve Him in the Earth. This unconditional contract or agreement is the Abrahamic Covenant: “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3). Israel is that “great nation,” which descended from Abraham’s son Isaac, Isaac’s son Jacob, and Jacob’s 12 sons (patriarchs or forefathers of Israel’s 12 tribes). God’s covenant was transferred to each successive generation, as today’s Scripture states.

Of course, like every other sinner, Abraham wanted to “help” God, so he and wife Sarah plotted to produce a son (Ishmael) in Genesis chapter 16. This was human effort, not grace; God’s son for Abraham was Isaac, born many years later (chapter 21). By the time of Moses and Sinai, Israel favored the Law and foolishly entered into that (conditional) Mosaic agreement (Exodus 19:3-8). This religious system was still on the minds of the Israelites of today’s Scripture, and Moses prompted them to recognize how God’s promise of blessings of grace to father Abraham came long before their promise to “do good” and inherit blessings based on their works. If they would receive anything from God, it would be solely because of His faithfulness, not theirs.

Notice! Sinful Israel did not “deserve” the Promised Land any more than the sinful Gentiles whom God was throwing out of it….

Not Thy Righteousness, But Their Wickedness #2

Saturday, April 11, 2026

“Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Deuteronomy 9:5 KJV).

May we have the proper perspective of wickedness versus righteousness….

It is human nature to have a high opinion of our ourselves, to overestimate our worth. One classic biblical example is the Israelites at Mount Sinai, boasting they could work in the energy of their flesh to make themselves God’s people. Consequently, they insisted on having a Law-based acceptance system. “All that the LORD hath spoken we will do!” They could not have cared less about God’s grace, or all that He had done to rescue them from bondage to Egypt. In short, they would show God just what a “deal,” what a “bargain,” He had gotten when He selected them out from the nations!

Read Exodus 19:3-8: “And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.”

Of course, the generation of “pious” Israelites here in Exodus had died off in rebellion against God by the time of Deuteronomy (today’s Scripture, reading especially verses 7-29)—perishing during the 40-year wilderness wanderings of Numbers 14:26-39. Their righteousness was insignificant, for they had none….