Category: God’s will

The Spiritual Dexterity of Our Physical Posterity #164

Saturday, November 7, 2026

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9 KJV).

If our physical posterity could augment its spiritual dexterity, exactly what would that entail?

Prayer can either be a blessing or a burden. We possess the choice to make it the one or the other for ourselves. As with music and song, our prayer life will reflect our Bible understanding or our Bible misunderstanding. Two types of general false teaching are believed with respect to prayer, and two kinds of general faulty practice are implemented. Firstly, there is using the “vain repetitions” of the heathen, thinking we shall be heard for our much speaking (Matthew 6:7,8). Secondly, there is praying like Israel, employing the so-called “Lord’s Prayer,” or better titled, “The Our Father Prayer” (Matthew 6:9-13)—the real Lord’s Prayer, the one the Lord actually prayed, is John chapter 17.

Various concepts, verses, phrases, and words are ripped from their dispensational contexts and haphazardly applied to all sorts of situations and circumstances. The result is nothing but disappointment and confusion. Our Christian life will not operate on the basis of ignorance because it cannot operate on the basis of ignorance. Usually, however, ignorance is all around us and in us, forcing us to confront (endure) the pains and worries of unanswered prayer. If we can somehow acquire the information that describes God’s present-day workings, and then pray in keeping with that, then we will never struggle with unanswered prayer again. Regardless of how much we beg Him, or blackmail Him, or try to manipulate Him, or try to flatter Him, we can never make God do something He is not doing. He will never do anything contrary to His nature.

Indeed, as James 5:16 teaches, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Prayer is mightily active, producing the desired effect, when it matches God’s own work; there is abundant profit or advantage in this type of prayer and no other. However, praying independently of the rightly divided Scriptures is truly a waste, for such prayer has no power of God to uphold it, and it proves our refusal to submit to His will for our lives. Let us see how our Apostle, Paul, prayed….

Arrayed in Hypocrisy

Saturday, October 31, 2026

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:27,28 KJV).

“Looks can be deceiving” is not only true during Halloweentime, but confirmed year-round within Christendom.

Today is Halloween, when children dress up and feign themselves to be creatures they are not. Likewise, many church leaders today wear “Christian” garbs, but their ministries do not bring the Lord Jesus Christ glory and honor. They promote their denomination, and seek to perpetuate it, rather than serve and exalt the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The Bible manifests these who appear to be good, as “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

In today’s Scripture, Jesus Christ exposed Israel’s corrupt religious leaders who misled the nation in His day. In His Parable of the Tares, Matthew 13:24-30,37-43, Christ explained how just as He had sown good seed (wheat, believing Jews) in Israel, Satan had also sown tares/weeds (unbelieving Jews). Tares resemble wheat; unbelieving Jews resemble believing Jews. The unbelieving Pharisees and scribes, for instance, looked like God’s people (believing Israel). Judas Iscariot was another example of Satan’s tares—the apostles never realized who Judas really was until it was too late!

But Satan’s counterfeit believers are not confined to Israel’s program. Today, within local assemblies of the Body of Christ, there are people feigning themselves to be Christians: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

Beloved, beware of the church leaders who are arrayed in hypocrisy, “and avoid them” (Romans 16:17b). If their teaching does not agree with the rightly divided King James Bible, you have no business as a child of God to be listening to them.

*This is excerpted from a larger Bible study with the same name. The Bible study can be read here or watched here.

You may also see our special study, “Should Christians celebrate Halloween?” In addition, “What does the Bible say about ghosts?”

The Spiritual Dexterity of Our Physical Posterity #151

Saturday, October 24, 2026

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9 KJV).

If our physical posterity could augment its spiritual dexterity, exactly what would that entail?

Singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19) is the first evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit in this the Dispensation of the Grace of God (verse 18); the other two proofs are thankfulness (verse 20) and submission (verse 21). All three are “the will of the Lord” (verse 17). We are “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18) when “the word of Christ dwell[s] in [us] richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16). If our Christian life is to operate as Father God planned, we must know what Christ has told us through our Apostle Paul. The Holy Spirit leads us to no other conclusion.

In “time past,” Israel’s standard was the Law (Hebrew Bible): “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:19,20). Whatever we see and hear in “but now” must align with the doctrinal standard God the Holy Spirit has preserved in His rightly divided Word. Our guidelines are Paul’s 13 epistles, Romans to Philemon: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant” (1 Corinthians 14:37,38).

Few comprehend that many of our popular “Christian” hymns came from writers whose denominational systems are combinations of superstition, heathenism, Judaism, and Christianity. They combine prophecy and mystery, confusing Israel and the Body of Christ, Law and Grace. When church members sing them, the ignorance is reinforced. The songwriters’ poor understanding of spiritual matters is transferred to everyone else. In certain cases, this process has spanned centuries—and, being so widespread, it is almost impossible to correct it. However, the damage inflicted is seldom detected, as the attendant entertainment seems to “justify” the singing (in the minds of the simple, anyway).

Dear friends, we had better grow up concerning music, and that right soon….

The Spiritual Dexterity of Our Physical Posterity #121

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9 KJV).

If our physical posterity could augment its spiritual dexterity, exactly what would that entail?

Local churches and “Christian” schools are crowded, crowded (!), crowded (!) with people exceedingly busy, going along with what they have seen and heard their entire lives. They believe and do exactly as instructed, neither questioning nor resisting: this behavior is known as “corpse-like obedience,” resembling the mindless or mechanical/robotic movements of zombies. For well over a decade, I was guilty of it. Then, I actually started reading the Bible for myself, and ceased depending on preachers and teachers who were telling me only what they assumed the Scriptures taught. All these years later, I am still in the process of rectifying the recklessness and replacing the folly with sound Bible doctrine—forgetting this lie by believing this truth, forgetting that lie by believing that truth, and so on.

It took me quite a long time to make sense of the Lord’s Supper—what it is and what it is not, for whom it is, et cetera. One particular dear brother in Christ pointed me to the Bible verses I needed to study so desperately to recover myself out of the snare of the Devil (2 Timothy 2:24-26). My goal in ministry is to take those same truths and present them in a systematic way for others to consider and, hopefully, believe in their soul for their spiritual health and growth. The Lord Jesus Christ stated in John 7:17: “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” Provided we have a longing to do the will of God, He will furnish us with the light and power to do it. None of us are forced to stay in spiritual darkness, but God in His righteousness and out of respect for our free will, will leave us blind and ignorant if we so choose (Romans 1:18-32)!

As we now tackle the subject of the Lord’s Supper, may we have humble, sincere, believing hearts, eager to discard anything and everything we have learned that is wrong and hold fast only that which is good….

The Thing Which is Good

Monday, September 7, 2026

“Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Ephesians 4:28 KJV).

On this Labor Day, we talk about work, “the thing which is good.”

In this day and age of increasing “government assistance,” people are becoming less and less aware of our hard work being the Lord Jesus’ preferred method of the source of our incomes. While the physically and mentally disabled are obvious exceptions, the God of the Bible expects all of us to contribute labor in order to provide for ourselves. For children and young adults, even being a student in school is work enough!

Observe the doctrine being communicated in today’s Scripture. The grace life does not merely teach us to quit doing bad things, but it also instructs us to start doing good things (Titus 2:11,12). Once a thief trusts the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished crosswork as sufficient payment for his sins, then God expects that thief to quit stealing and find a job so he can provide for his needs!

The God of creation calls work “the thing which is good” (today’s Scripture). Work is not something to be avoided; it is something to be embraced for the Lord’s glory!

When the Lord Jesus Christ put the first man, Adam, on earth, that man had a divine commission. Adam was not to simply loaf around and do nothing: “And the LORD God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Adam was to protect that garden, to till its ground, to prepare it for Jesus Christ to come down and dwell in with he and Eve (because of sin, that earthly kingdom over which Jesus Christ will rule is still awaiting fulfillment!).

Saints, may we work to provide for our families (1 Timothy 5:8), and may we work to help those who truly are needy (today’s Scripture). In the words of God the Holy Spirit, that is “good!” 🙂

Saints, please remember this work of the ministry requires monthly financial support to operate (Galatians 6:6; Philippians 4:16-17; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7). Those who prefer electronic giving can donate securely here: https://www.paypal.me/ShawnBrasseaux. Anyone who wishes to donate by regular mail can visit https://333wordsofgrace.org/contact-us-mailing-address-for-donations/ for details. Thanks to all who give to and pray for us! Unfortunately, since our ministry audience is so large and our ministry staff is so small, I can no longer personally respond to everyone. Thanks so much for understanding in this regard. 🙂

The Spiritual Dexterity of Our Physical Posterity #100

Monday, August 31, 2026

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9 KJV).

If our physical posterity could augment its spiritual dexterity, exactly what would that entail?

According to the four Pauline pastoral handbooks—the epistles of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon—a local church is an assembly of believers in Christ who regularly fellowship with each other around His life. However, for many, “going to church” is typically nothing more than communing with a manmade system (this present evil world). “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

Visiting a building that alleges to be a “church” does not necessarily mean we are in God’s will. “Sound doctrine”—nourishing teaching worthy of our faith—must be preached and taught there! “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17,18). “If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself” (1 Timothy 6:3-5).

Submission to religious leaders is not automatic obedience to Almighty God….

arC Ministries Is 19!

Friday, July 31, 2026

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20 KJV).

To our Lord Jesus Christ’s glory, arC Ministries celebrates its 19th anniversary today!!!

Nineteen years ago, as a 19-year-old college student, I endeavored to use Facebook to create a Bible study group for teens and college students. Thus, “ambassadors for the risen Christ ministries” was born. As I grew more in God’s Word rightly divided, I grew increasingly aware of the need for additional ministry projects. The more I had been learning drove me to share those precious truths with others. That eventually led me to look for supplementary avenues of ministry.

During these past 19 years, God’s grace has enabled us to continue the original group on Facebook. In addition, we have branched out quite a bit in other areas. This devotionals blog has been operating for over 15 years now. For the last 14 years, we have focused on developing and drafting a grace study Bible (now in its fifteenth year). Other ministry projects include a 22-week newspaper ministry column (this devotionals blog’s predecessor), a YouTube channel with home Bible study videos, a Twitter feed, a full-length Bible studies blog, a college campus ministry, a nursing-home ministry, and our Bible-question-and-answer blog. Ten years ago, we launched our new main ministry website and now have a line of printed Bible study booklets available for sale there. Seven years ago, we recorded and distributed our Old Testament Survey video series. Later that year, we launched our New Testament Survey video series (which will last a few years). We hear from people all over the world!

Our name says it all: we serve the risen Lord Jesus Christ, not some “dead Jew” and not ourselves. The original motto of our ministry was, “To equip ambassadors, and to encourage others to become ambassadors.” Our primary goal is to teach Christians, and our secondary goal is to evangelize the lost world. Nineteen years later, we still endeavor to uphold God’s Word (King James Bible) rightly divided, whether it be in edifying the Christian brethren or preaching the clear Gospel of the Grace of God to this lost and dying world. For those of you who have been with us from day 1, thank you for your prayer and encouragement. We pray for you upon every remembrance! There is still plenty more for the Lord Jesus Christ to do in and through us, so let us give Him all the praise and glory as we enter Year 20! 🙂

The Spiritual Dexterity of Our Physical Posterity #61

Monday, July 20, 2026

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9 KJV).

If our physical posterity could augment its spiritual dexterity, exactly what would that entail?

Christendom is rather notorious for severe controversies and bitter contentions. Its tens of thousands of denominations, cults, and sects all fight over a multitude of positions, practices, and persons. Yet, these can be reduced to one simple fact: different levels of spiritual maturity result in discussions of various degrees of importance. It is usually challenging for non-Christians or new Christians, or even longtime professing Christians, to make sense of it all—and to determine if it is even worth getting into. The matters that are most serious regard anything and everything that complicates salvation from sin and/or salvation from erroneous teaching, for these two points involve God’s will for us: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4).

Remember, just because it is in the Bible does not necessarily mean it is something that pertains to us or something we should do. Whether water baptism, confession of sins, tithing, the Lord’s Supper, Sabbath-Day keeping, good works, or spiritual gifts (including tongue-talking and healing), these exemplify the areas of debate amongst church members. The extent to which we are receptive to the Holy Spirit’s teaching ministry determines how successfully we navigate through such issues and arrive at correct conclusions. We are destined to wind up with wrong views once we insert the traditions, assumptions, and opinions of men.

While most inconvenient, it has to be stated. There is a great deal of blind allegiance to religious leaders in our “Christian” churches and schools. Consequently, commoners do not think beyond where their denominational officials leave them, being too fearful to venture outside of anything they are not taught in their theological system. Sometimes, this is done in innocence: people who just need to be taught the truth and want to be taught it, but few are willing to teach them. However, others need to be taught the truth but do not care to be taught it, so they turn away from those who would teach them.

Beloved, let us see if we wish to resolve these disagreements for ourselves….

Liberated to Serve

Saturday, July 4, 2026 🇺🇸

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13 KJV).

Today, as we in the United States celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s independence, we invite our Christian brethren worldwide to rejoice with us concerning our freedom in Jesus Christ.

When we proclaim Romans 6:14—“Ye are not under the law, but under grace”—people tend to assume “loose living.” Does “grace living” really mean we can now live any way we want? Lest anyone be misled in that regard, God the Holy Spirit moved the Apostle Paul to write in the next verse, “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid [May God never let that happen!]” (Romans 6:15). Grace living is not Law-keeping, but it certainly is not Law-breaking either.

God still cares how we live, albeit He is not operating the “weak and beggarly” system of “bondage” (Law) that He once did with Israel (Galatians 4:9). God proved to the entire world that since Israel could not keep His commandments perfectly, no other sons of Adam (the Gentiles) could either: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them [Israel] who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world [Gentiles] may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19).

We sinners cannot keep the Law. However, God in His grace provided us a way to escape that condemnation by sending Jesus Christ to offer Himself on Calvary’s cruel cross to pay for our sins. By simple faith in Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as the fully-satisfying payment for our sins, we can now be “made the righteousness of God in [Christ]” (2 Corinthians 5:21). We can be delivered from the penalty of sin (hell and the lake of fire) and the power of sin (flesh-walking).

Why are we Christians free? To selfishly live any way we want? NO! Today’s Scripture says we are liberated to now serve others, especially our Christian brethren, just as Jesus Christ selflessly served His Father and selflessly died on our behalf. That is grace living!!!!

Please see our 2011 Fourth of July Bible study “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land,” which can be watched here or read here.

The Spiritual Dexterity of Our Physical Posterity #44

Thursday, July 2, 2026

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9 KJV).

If our physical posterity could augment its spiritual dexterity, exactly what would that entail?

Some of the most unfortunate verses, written forever (!) in the Holy Bible, are 1 Corinthians 3:1-3: “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual [filled with the Holy Spirit], but as unto carnal [fleshly], even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” Paul had preached the Gospel of the Grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:3,4) to these Corinthians in Acts chapter 18, prior to writing them. Considering the passage of time, they should have matured in the faith, gaining a capacity for solid food. Yet, remarkably, they were still spiritual newborns, sucking on a baby bottle of milk! It made no sense at all, but we can easily understand what happened. They depended on philosophers (human “thinkers”), assuming these could bring them the life and words of God. How terribly mistaken they were!

Dispensational Bible study is the only system that has been proven useful in extracting maximum profit from the Word of God. We do not deny that even denominationalists get a little something here and there out of the Scriptures. Yet, this “little something” is equivalent to snacking on miniscule appetizers and sipping froth from a diluted beverage. They could be feasting and growing rapidly, developing exponentially to become spiritual adults who actually possess an awareness of what God would have them believe and what He desires to accomplish in and through them. Alas, like the Corinthians, they are in the snare of the Devil, taken captive by him at his will, existing in a spiritual nursery (manmade system) where they struggle to think, walk, and speak even the simplest of sentences. We can rest assured that they are no bother to Satan, for his evil world system has indoctrinated them to be exactly where he strove to have them.

It does not have to be this way….