Category: boldness

Our Secure Identity in Christ

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Timothy 1:12 KJV).

Life is dynamic; life in Christ is not!

This life is filled with uncertainty. It is dynamic, constantly changing. In short, it can be likened to a roller coaster. Emotions intensify that ride, too! We hear of people worried about their financial stability; their health; their social life; their education; and the wellbeing of their children, grandchildren, and friends.

As noted in today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul was certainly not exempt from this life’s troubles. Unbelieving Jews followed him wherever he went (as documented throughout the book of Acts). They persecuted him and his Gentile converts (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16). Eventually, these wicked Jews convinced the Roman government to imprison—and finally execute—Paul.

Today’s Scripture is a portion of Paul’s final epistle, written shortly before his execution. Undoubtedly, when he spoke of his “suffering” for the sake of the Gospel of the Grace of God, he was reflecting on his ministry, the last 35 years of his life. We cannot imagine the horrific suffering of Paul, who endured at least 195 lashes; three beatings with rods; one stoning; three shipwrecks; a night and a day stranded in the sea; food, clothing, and shelter shortages; and numerous other troubling ordeals the Bible only briefly recounts (2 Corinthians 11:23-27).

Above all, while writing this final epistle, Paul is in prison again, and he confesses, “Only Luke is with me” (2 Timothy 4:11a). Over three awesome decades of ministry are drawing to a close, but Paul’s circumstances seem grim. He has been forsaken by nearly everyone, and his beheading is near. Regardless, Paul declares, “I am not ashamed.” He knew, no matter what had happened or would happen to his physical body, his spiritual body was secure in Christ (today’s Scripture).

Dear saints, let us remember this sound doctrine when life is difficult. Our circumstances will change; our identity in Christ never will! 🙂

Future Christian Veterans

Sunday, November 11, 2012

“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3 KJV).

Let us not grow weary, dear saints, for we are Christian veterans-in-the-making!

As one older Christian and veteran affirmed, the spiritual warfare in which we Christians are engaged is far more intense than any flesh and blood battle. The war between good and evil is worldwide, and has transpired for 6,000 years!

Before we trusted Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, we were on Satan’s side of the conflict. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, fighting against God, opposing His will for us (Ephesians 2:1-3)! Now that we have received salvation and become God’s children, we have become Satan’s enemies.

Life is very difficult under the curse of sin and death. What exacerbates that trouble is that we Christians are subject Satan’s attacks. This “present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) is certainly cruel to us, but we should not expect better treatment anyway. After all, the Lord reminded His disciples, “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord” (Matthew 10:24). If the world slandered and executed Christ, they will do the same to us Christians without compunction! Remember, we are in a war, and every conflict has casualties.

Howbeit, the Holy Ghost through the Apostle Paul encourages Timothy (and us) to “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (today’s Scripture). We Christians are not shielded from pain and suffering. Christians worldwide are afflicted for standing firm on God’s Word rightly divided. Hence, we lapse into periods of doubt, wondering if it really is worth it. We grow weary of the suffering, wondering when it will end.

The Holy Ghost reminds us, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:1). We are to be strong, not in ourselves, but “in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Everything that God can do for us through Christ (grace) enables us to “bear” all troubles (1 Corinthians 10:13; Philippians 4:13).

Take comfort, this battle will end, and we Christians will go home to heaven’s glory, becoming Christian veterans! 🙂

A Burdened Musician

Thursday, October 25, 2012

“That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart” (Romans 9:2 KJV).

With the passing of another saint I knew personally, we remind ourselves that our family and friends need to hear from our lips the salvation found only in Jesus Christ.

Mr. Hadley Castille, a world-renowned Cajun fiddler, passed away earlier today at age 79, not too far from my home. A few years back, when we had our newspaper ministry, he read and enjoyed our Bible study columns. The last couple of months of his life, he battled brain cancer, and I was privileged to recently visit him in a rest home and minister to him and his wife.

During his last few days alive, Mr. Castille had such a burden for his lost friends, two of whom were visiting him the same day I was there. He expressed his grief to me that he wanted to tell them how to go to heaven, but he was unsure of where to begin and what to say exactly. I gave him gospel tracts, and suggested that he simply give those to them when they approached his bedside.

Those two friends and I shook hands, and then they went to Mr. Castille’s bedside. I heard the urgency in the dear man’s voice as he softly stated, “I want you to go to heaven with me.” Nevertheless, these two friends—both in bondage to world religions—refused the gospel tracts he offered them. One reassured us that his pagan religion would certainly get him to heaven, and the other friend preferred not to have a “theological discussion.”

In today’s Scripture, even the Apostle Paul sorrowed that his fellow Jews were lost and going to hell (cf. Romans 10:1-3). He preached that he “might save some of them” (Romans 11:14). Saints, we should be burdened to share the Gospel of God’s Grace with everyone we know and meet. After all, even those currently suffering in hellfire, have an intense desire that their living loved ones do not come and meet them in that awful place of torment (Luke 16:27,28).

Let us be burdened, just as that musician….

-IN MEMORIAM-
Mr. Hadley J. Castille
(March 3, 1933 – October 25, 2012)

333’s 500th: Grace Publishers

Friday, October 12, 2012

“The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it” (Psalm 68:11 KJV).

Saints, by God’s grace, 333 Words of Grace reaches yet another milestone!

For the past 500 days, I truly have been honored to teach God’s perfectly preserved Word (the King James Bible) rightly divided, to you all. Our goal from the very beginning was to provide free, quality, sound, brief devotionals to anyone who had an open heart, so that he or she could be edified, encouraged, and enlightened by God’s Word rightly divided.

How we desired to “have all men saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4). How we shared God’s desire “to make all men see the fellowship of the mystery” (Ephesians 3:9), to proclaim the precious and clear Bible truths that, sadly, religious tradition has deliberately muddled and hidden. Our goal was to demonstrate that the King James Bible is interesting and practical, intricately designed and divinely preserved, trustworthy and majesty. How we praise the Lord that He accomplished His will!

God is doing something so fantastic in this the Dispensation of His Grace, and as members of the Body of Christ, we are privileged to teach and preach His wonderful grace to us in Jesus Christ as found in His preserved Word, and preserved words, the King James Bible. With humble and thankful hearts, as the Lord gives us strength, we will continue to minister to you here in this venue.

Saints, by God’s grace and faithfulness, and with your prayerful support, we now aim for 1000. We will continue to hope, pray, study, and write, with the intention of further “publishing” God’s Word in a clear, sound manner—dispensationally studied, believed, and taught. My, how we have come such a long, long way, but we have much more from God’s Word to “publish.” Only by God’s grace, our next 500 devotionals will be even better, covering an even greater variety of topics. We do ask for your prayers, as we now have 800 new devotionals planned and begun.

Thank you, and please remember that all of our posts are archived here at https://333wordsofgrace.wordpress.com. 🙂

Expect the Adversaries

Sunday, September 30, 2012

“For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9 KJV).

Hypothetically, if we are the Lord’s children, then we will have an easy life? Right? Wrong!

As one Christian brother expressed it, “God has not promised us Christians a rose petal pathway.” Contrary to the feel-good cliché “God wants you healthy and wealthy,” our membership in the Church the Body of Christ does not ensure our lives will be trouble-free.

While we Christians serve the Lord Jesus Christ, this world has never been and will never be His friend: “They hated [Jesus Christ] without a cause” (John 15:25; cf. Psalm 35:19). During His 33 years on earth, the world was very unkind to our Lord and Saviour. He was hated, belittled, and executed by His own people. The world will “love” Christ living His life in us to the same extent they “loved” Him living His life during His earthly ministry—not at all!

In the verse previous to today’s Scripture, Paul is staying at Ephesus until Pentecost. Today’s Scripture says that while Paul had opportunity to preach and teach in Ephesus, the satanic policy of evil had its men in place. Evil men, Satan’s cohorts, were eager to divide Paul’s audience and persecute Christians, including harming the Apostle himself. Today’s Scripture refers to Acts 19:21–20:1, when Paul preached against the pagan goddess Diana in Ephesus. Fearing financial ruin, the local idol makers anger the Ephesians and cause them to turn against Paul. This riot in Ephesus (present-day western Turkey) forces Paul to depart to Macedonia (present-day northern Greece).

The Philippian believers endured intense persecution, yet Paul encouraged them: “And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God” (1:28). Do not fear or be intimidated by Satan’s evil world system. (“Satan” is a Hebrew word meaning “adversary.”) The devil is our adversary because he is God’s adversary. Thankfully, Satan’s tactics do not have to destroy us: God’s grace is sufficient for us to bear them (2 Corinthians 12:9,10).

Expect the adversaries, and expect God’s grace to endure them! 🙂

Not in Vain

Saturday, September 8, 2012

“For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain” (1 Thessalonians 2:1 KJV).

The believers in Thessalonica demonstrate that ministry work for the Lord is not done in vain.

Paul and Silas, on Paul’s second apostolic journey, arrive in Thessalonica in Acts 17:1. Here, there are Judaistic Jews and Greeks (verse 1), people who have some comprehension of the Old Testament and the one true God. However, there are also pagan Gentiles, individuals who later “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

The Lord through Paul and Silas preached the Gospel of God’s Grace to us in Christ (dispensational Bible study). By placing their faith in that message, the Thessalonians either progressed to further understand God’s Word (that is, how God was now revealing advanced information—the mystery program—not found in the Old Testament), and/or learned that the one true God, unlike the pagan gods they had worshipped as heathens, had come in the form a Man to die for their sins. After the Thessalonians trusted Christ, today’s Scripture and its context (1:3–2:1) describe how God used them to evangelize their neighbors!

Ever wonder, “Are our preaching the message of God’s grace and teaching the King James Bible rightly divided, really worth it?” After all, many—even professing Christians (!)—hate it. Too prideful and too attached to their religious tradition to admit that God’s message to us Gentiles is Paul’s epistles (Romans through Philemon), denominational Christians vehemently oppose and attempt to suppress dispensational Bible study… THAT is vain. For, though we are few in number, we Pauline dispensationalists “serve the living and true God,” and nothing God does is ever “in vain” (worthless, futile). “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Again, “Are our preaching God’s grace and our teaching the King James Bible rightly divided, really worth it?” Today’s Scripture is a resounding, “Yes, it is worth it! It is ‘not in vain!’” 🙂

Refuge in the Storms of Life

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21 KJV).

Whether in life, or in death, our refuge is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Later today, here in south-central Louisiana, we are expecting a category 1 hurricane, Isaac. Its sustained winds of over 74 miles per hour (119 kilometers per hour) and its potential flooding have many residents worried, especially considering the damage Hurricane Katrina inflicted here along the United States Gulf Coast exactly seven years ago today. But, as during every “storm of life,” we rest in Jesus Christ!

Life is unpredictable. It has its good times, and its bad, and we never know which type will come when. Considering, almost nothing in life is certain… almost….

What is certain is that, regardless of our circumstances, God our Father has equipped us in Christ Jesus to handle them all: “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:11-13).

We as saints of the Most High God have within us the resurrection life of Jesus Christ. When we live by walking by faith in an intelligent understanding of God’s Word to us, it is literally Jesus Christ living in and through us (today’s Scripture). Our Lord Jesus Christ is our refuge, and His strength enables us to handle all of the troubles of life (our flesh is too weak).

Additionally, we have comfort that even if one of these “storms of life” causes our physical death, we will still have refuge in Jesus Christ. We will still be secure in Him, in perfect peace and free from this life’s troubles: “to be with Christ… is far better” (Philippians 1:23; cf. today’s Scripture). However, saints, until then, hang in there. God still has work to be done on Earth! 🙂

Myriads of Itching Ears #3

Thursday, August 23, 2012

“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 KJV).

Beware of the megachurches, for they teach mega error!

Today’s Scripture teaches how, as time would pass, people with “itching ears”—an eagerness to hear an entertaining, soothing message void of God’s truth—would “heap to themselves teachers.” Literally, they accumulate (“heap”) more and more of these false teachers to themselves. Religious (false) teaching is like a drug. Not only is it addictive, it also inhibits common reasoning, it promotes incontinence and hysteria, and worst of all, it prevents Bible understanding.

There were perhaps 250 million people on Earth during the New Testament times. Today, almost 2,000 years later, Earth’s human population has increased nearly 30-fold. False teaching has also exponentially increased, especially due to megachurches.

What are we Bible-believing Christians to do? Throw up our hands in defeat, and just “go along with the crowd” in their doctrinal error? This would be quite easy to do, but it would not honor the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The context of today’s Scripture explains that our surrendering to the devil’s policy of evil is not the answer!

In his final instructions to Timothy, the context of today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul “charged” (commanded) him “before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (verses 1,2). Paul urged Timothy to continue in sound Pauline Bible doctrine: “Preach the Word, Timothy. Prepare yourself for the false teaching that will grow progressively worse and widespread [as described in today’s Scripture].”

Paul’s directions to Timothy are God’s instructions to us. As more professing Christians abandon sound Bible doctrine, we continue in faith in God’s Word (the King James Bible) rightly divided, and we refuse to join the “myriads of itching ears.” 🙂

A Competitor Who Could Not Be Eliminated

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

“And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him, and could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him” (Luke 19:47,48 KJV).

The Lord Jesus Christ is “bad for business.” Israel’s crooked religious leaders need to quickly get rid of Him: He has caused their funding to run dry and now He is challenging their “authority!”

Today’s Scripture is quite comical, and once we understand its context, we cannot help but smile. The Lord Jesus has just exposed and thrown out the dishonest individuals who were selling overpriced goods in the Temple (verses 45,46), and this greatly angers the money-hungry chief priests, scribes, and chief of the people. Now, in today’s Scripture, these religious leaders are frantic—Jesus has got to go! He has not only removed their source of income, but now He is teaching in the Temple everyday!

These religious leaders conspire to kill Jesus, but there are hindrances. God the Father is not ready for Jesus to die, and Jesus’ audience is so fascinated with the doctrine that He is teaching, that the religious leaders cannot take hold of Jesus without making a commotion. Thus, throughout Luke chapter 20, these religious leaders utilize many ploys to publicly discredit Jesus, to hopefully “outsmart” Him with a question and thus silence Him before His audience.

On several occasions, these religious leaders proceed to ask Jesus captious questions, inquiries designed to trap Him in His speech (Luke 20:1,2,20-22,26-33). Finally, “Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said. And after that they durst [dare] not ask him any question at all” (verses 39,40). These religious leaders hated Jesus for exposing their hypocrisy and Bible ignorance. Though they fervently tried to silence Him, He had put them to complete shame: ultimately, they could do nothing but agree with Him and remain quiet.

God’s Word is always a threat to religion, so let us not be surprised or discouraged when religionists treat us as they did our Lord Jesus Christ. 🙂

Devoted Epaphroditus

Friday, July 20, 2012

“Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants” (Philippians 2:25 KJV).

Epaphroditus, whose (heathen) name means, “Devoted to [the goddess] Venus,” was actually devoted to the true and living God, the God of the Bible.

Read the context to learn more about Epaphroditus: “For he longed after you all [Philippians], and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:” (verses 26-29).

Paul is writing to Philippi from his prison in Rome, and he is sending the epistle of Philippians to Philippi by a courier and fellow Christian—Epaphroditus. The Apostle explains that Epaphroditus had been sick, but Paul is thankful that he has since recovered: Paul is depressed in prison, and he does not need more “sorrow” (the death of a saint, “fellowsoldier,” and someone who had provided for his needs, would certainly add to Paul’s distress).

Both the Philippians and Paul will be encouraged when Epaphroditus arrives in Philippi: the Philippians will read news from Paul, and Paul will be relieved that God’s Word (his epistle) reached the saints in Philippi. Paul urges the Philippians to “hold such [Epaphroditus] in reputation.” Why? Verse 30 explains: “because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.”

Epaphroditus had literally worked in the ministry to the point of near-death! Paul had needs, and the Philippians failed to supply for them, so Epaphroditus risked his life to compensate. What dedication! Epaphroditus was devoted (but not to Venus): may we be as Epaphroditus, who served the Lord Jesus Christ, “not regarding his life.”