Category: encouragement

Let Them Recover Themselves

Friday, August 2, 2024

“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” (2 Timothy 2:24-26 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is great advice for ministry workers!

Recently, I had a phone conversation with a dear brother in Christ who has been following our ministry, reading our studies and watching our Bible videos, for a few years now. For some decades, he was part of a “Christian” denomination. Whatever information he was learning from them did not match what he was experiencing in his life. In other words, they had make-believe as the foundation of their Bible understanding. It was very discouraging and confusing for him.

Eventually, he left that and joined an online “Bible study group,” but they too proved to be another disappointment. These people studied books about the Bible instead of the actual Bible—and he was interested in what the Bible said as opposed to what “Doctor So-and-So” thought the Bible said. A couple of years ago, he landed on our ministry websites and subsequently came to understand and enjoy the Bible. Ever since, he has been growing in the Word rightly divided and is teaching others what he has learned. As a business owner, he has informed his employees of sound Bible doctrine. Also, he wants to reach out to certain clients who belong to a particular works-religion cult.

Some people wish to hear him, while others could not care less. I told him that we teach them to cause them to think, leaving God the Holy Spirit to take care of the rest. He should not be disheartened if people are happy in their Bible ignorance. All we can do is tell them sound Bible doctrine and let them recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil (today’s Scripture). We cannot recover them; they must recover themselves by placing their faith in the rightly divided Scriptures we give them. Brethren, let us be faithful in providing them those verses! 🙂

arC Ministries Is 17!

Wednesday, July 31, 2024

“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 17th anniversary today!!!

Seventeen 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 17 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 13 years now. For the last 12 years, we have focused on developing and drafting a grace study Bible (now in its thirteenth 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. Eight years ago, we launched our new main ministry website and now have a line of printed Bible study booklets available for sale there. Five 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. Seventeen 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 18! 🙂

 

Liberated to Serve

Thursday, July 4, 2024 🇺🇸

“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 248th 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.

Cramming for Finals!

Wednesday, July 3, 2024

“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13 KJV).

One joke features an elderly Christian woman spending a great deal of time reading her Bible. Her young grandson’s friend asks him, “What is your grandmother doing so often with that book?” The grandson replies, “She is cramming for finals!” Although comical, it does prove a valid lesson—and fosters some ignorance too.

Students who procrastinate, such as putting off studying for an exam, will wait until the night before the test to do their most intensive examination of their textbook and class notes. This is especially true of college people who are busy working jobs, partying, and so on. In the above joke, grandma is assumed to be closer to being with her Lord in Heaven by virtue of her advanced aged, so she is getting better acquainted with her Bible before she soon meets Him.

However, in real life, people much, much, much, MUCH younger than grandma leave this world for Heaven or Hell. Perhaps it is a 50-year-old pastor’s wife dying after a long battle with cancer; a 45-year-old man suffering a sudden, massive, and fatal heart attack; a 20-year-old mother perishing in a violent automobile crash; a 20-year-old jogger killed by lightning; a 10-year-old departing by suicide; a two-year-old accidentally run over by a car; and a child just a few months old succumbing to a fatal congenital disease. Then again, people live well beyond grandma’s age too. The deceased might be 105 or 110 years old, or maybe even 120-plus!

Certainly, placing our faith exclusively in the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour guarantees us a place in Heaven: “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). Yet, once we get to Heaven (whenever it is), what will we say when the Lord Himself asks us why we believe this or that? Will we be familiar enough with the Bible to be able to point to a chapter and verse for support? After all, “My church told me…,” “Tradition says…,” and “My priest or preacher taught me…” will not be valid answers.

We should all “cram for finals” in the spiritual realm—because finals just might be much, much, much, MUCH closer than we think!

The Greatest War Hero

Monday, May 27, 2024

“For God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 KJV).

In the United States, today is Memorial Day, when we remember those who sacrificed their time and lives to provide our physical freedom. Likewise, as Christians, we have spiritual freedom, which was more costly. Someone had to die to give us the eternal life we now enjoy….

Scripture describes a spiritual warfare between good and evil, God’s truth program versus Satan’s lie program: “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles [schemes] of the devil. 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 places” (Ephesians 6:11,12; see also verses 13-20).

Satan distracts mankind from God’s pure Word, the Bible, keeping unbelievers lost (dead in their sins), and preventing unbelievers and Christians from knowing God’s will. The devil draws them away (seduces them) from God’s Word by using religious tradition and human “wisdom” (1 Timothy 4:1-3; cf. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Galatians 3:1-3).

God loves us, so at Calvary’s cross, Christ fought for us sinners, died in battle (today’s Scripture), shed His divine sinless blood, and eternally rescued us from Satan and sin: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:14,15).

Hebrews 9:12 says Jesus Christ has “obtained eternal redemption for us.”

If we have trusted Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13). Now, God can use us for His glory for all eternity.

Beloved, let us rejoice in our victory over sin, death, and hell that Jesus Christ secured for us by going to Calvary’s rugged cross! Jesus Christ is now alive forevermore—He is our Hero, the Greatest Hero!

*Adapted from a larger Bible study “The Greatest Hero,” which can be read here or watched here.

A Higher Education: It Is Up to You!

Sunday, May 19, 2024

“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12 KJV).

Eighteen years ago today, I graduated high school. Consequently, we dedicate this devotional to high school students who are nearing graduation.

Are you about to graduate high school? What would God have you do afterward? Go to college? Trade school? Something else? What career should you pursue? If you do plan on education after high school, where should you attend school? These are tough questions, and while God’s Word does not answer them, you can make decisions that conform to sound Bible doctrine—that is God’s will.

In today’s Scripture, Paul encourages downcast Timothy. Timothy was considerably younger than the Apostle Paul. Older people who are teaching false doctrine are intimidating young Timothy: “Tim, you are too young to teach God’s Word. Let us handle it.” Young Timothy conceded, became silent, and allowed the (“older and wiser”) false teachers to continue teaching their damnable heresies (cf. 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 2 Timothy 1:5-8). Paul replied, “Timothy, Speak up! Let no man despise thy youth!”

Christian youth can be just as effectual in their station in life as Christian adults. The lost world is watching us Christians, and we need to be sure that our actions are in accordance with the sound Bible doctrine we claim to believe (lest we be guilty of confusing the already-puzzled unbelievers). Whether “young or old,” our speech, our lifestyle, our acts of love, our determination, our belief in sound Bible doctrine, and our separation from that which God hates, is the way we communicate to the lost world God’s Word and its preeminence in our lives and hearts (today’s Scripture).

Above all, dear graduates, whatever you do post-graduation, “do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:17). After all, it really is not your life—it is Christ’s life in you (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:4), so He alone deserves the glory! 🙂

*Based on a Bible study by the same name, which can be read here. Also, see the study “The Spirit-Filled Student.”

By the way, you may also be interested in reading this archived special-edition study about my own college experience.

Mother: A Virtuous Woman

Sunday, May 12, 2024

“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies” (Proverbs 31:10 KJV).

Today is Mother’s Day, so we dedicate this devotional to godly women (specifically mothers). I especially dedicate this to the virtuous woman who has been in my life for almost 36 years… my mom!

Today’s Scripture is the first verse of the Bible’s “Virtuous Woman” passage (Proverbs 31:10-31). King Solomon explained that the virtuous woman:

  • has a husband who safely trusts in her (verses 11,12).
  • is not lazy, but is strong because she works to feed and clothe her family and herself (verses 13-19,21,22,24,25,27).
  • pities the poor and needy (verse 20).
  • has a husband who is well-known because of her godly lifestyle (verse 23).
  • opens her mouth with wisdom, and speaks kindly and lovingly (verse 26).
  • has children and a husband who praise her (verse 28).
  • excels in what she does (verse 29).
  • has works that praise her (verse 31).

Verse 30 explains the virtuous woman is “a woman that feareth the LORD.”

The Apostle Paul wrote that godly women should: not slander/gossip, not be controlled by alcohol and emotions (sober minded), be teachers of good things, love their husbands and children, be cautious and modest, maintain the home, be “good,” and should obey (respect) their husbands… “that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:3-5). A Christian woman, especially a mother, should be a virtuous woman in beliefs as well as in deed. She needs to set an example for her children (especially her daughters).

A Christian woman and/or Christian mother places her faith in this sound Bible doctrine, the indwelling Holy Spirit will then take that doctrine and transform her for God’s glory (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Her mind will be renewed by sound Bible doctrine, and that will transform her outward activity (Romans 12:1,2).

Are you a Christian woman or Christian mother who desires to be the woman God intends you to be in Christ Jesus? Place your faith in this sound Bible doctrine, and God will take care of the rest!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO OUR READERS WHO ARE MOTHERS!

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

Archived: “What does the Bible say about motherhood?”

Christ Liveth in Me

Sunday, March 31, 2024

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 KJV).

“He is risen” is not a simple blasé cliché!

When Jesus’ disciples came to His tomb on that glorious Sunday morning nearly 2,000 years ago, they were startled to find it empty! Angels inform them that He has resurrected, but they are still in shock (Matthew 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-8). Jesus Christ Himself must later explain the Scriptures to them regarding what happened those last few days (Luke 24:44-46).

However, until Paul’s ministry, Christ’s finished crosswork is not preached as good news for salvation. Peter and Israel’s other apostles simply preach that Jesus Christ is now resurrected to “sit on [David’s] throne” (Acts 2:30)—that is bad news for much of Israel, for they still reject Him, weeks and months after His resurrection and ascension. Throughout early Acts, Israel’s apostles warn her that Jesus Christ is coming back to judge them.

When we come to the Apostle Paul’s ministry, we learn that we Gentiles can benefit from Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork. Israel’s rejected Messiah is now our way to heaven! Yes, Israel hated Him, and demanded that He experience the most awful method of execution devised, but God allowed it in order to accomplish His will. Satan attempted to hinder God’s will by having Christ killed, but all that did was provide the method whereby God could save us pagan Gentiles. Calvary’s finished crosswork frees us from Satan’s evil system and gives us a chance to be God’s people (Acts 26:17,18)!

As people who have trusted Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for our sins, that crucifixion is our death to self and sin, and that resurrection is our raising to walk in newness of life—His life (today’s Scripture; cf. Romans 6:1-11)!

Indeed, Jesus Christ is alive, and He lives in and through those who walk by faith in God’s Word to them, Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon! 🙂

HAPPY EASTER!

*Adapted from a larger Bible study by the same name. That study can be read here or watched here.

As Ye All Are This Day

Monday, February 12, 2024

“I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women” (Acts 22:3,4 KJV).

A dear brother in Christ and coworker in grace ministry—just a few years into right division—recently told me how astonished he was to realize the great opposition to sound Bible doctrine! Not only has he read our Bible studies on this subject of antagonism, he now faces it firsthand when sharing dispensational Bible truth with his friends. Instead of receiving the spiritual light he offered them, they favored their denominational doctrine (especially an obsession with Matthew through John).

In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul delivers a speech to lost Israel gathered in Jerusalem, opening with his testimony. Some weighty words are, “[I] was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.” There was Paul, trained in Judaism, the Law of Moses and all the “supplementary” rabbinical traditions. As Saul of Tarsus—lost in works-religion and headed for an eternal Devil’s Hell—he had wreaked havoc on the Little Flock (Israel’s believing remnant) during the early Acts period. However, in Acts chapter 9, he met and trusted as his personal Saviour the resurrected, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus Christ.

Now 30 years into ministry, Paul is pleading with Christ-rejecting, works-religionist Jews in today’s Scripture. Essentially, he exclaimed, “I used to be where you are in your fanatical unbelief, so you should give me a fair hearing to see why I am no longer where you still are and see where you should be!” People can never argue with our testimony—what spiritual darkness the Lord saved us from, what spiritual error they can be delivered from (if only they would allow us to share Bible verses with them). Let us not be disappointed when they decline our Bible verses… for unsaved Israelites also refused to hear and believe Paul (read Acts 22:1-22).

A Family Enterprise #7

Saturday, February 10, 2024

“The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger” (Jeremiah 7:18 KJV).

What is their family enterprise? (It is devil worship!)

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). This verse is non-negotiable, not open for debate or discussion. It says exactly what it means, and it means exactly what it says. Furthermore, we already know it is primarily the father’s responsibility to teach his children the Holy Scriptures. Alas, parents have a tendency to pass their duties onto others. Teachers, coaches, preachers, Sunday School teachers, psychologists, professors, and babysitters are expected to take care of the spiritual needs of these precious children—and even most of these leaders are far too ill-equipped or totally unequipped in sound Bible doctrine themselves (how can they guide others when they themselves must first be taught the basics?).

Our family enterprise as Bible believers is storing sound Bible doctrine in the younger generations. As English-speaking people, this is being educated in the King James Bible rightly divided. No matter what “CULTure” dictates or encourages, there are absolutes—a stark difference between right and wrong. Therefore, we need to endeavor to know, understand, trust, and teach the Holy Bible dispensationally, especially the Books of Romans to Philemon. The Lord Jesus Christ’s life in us is the key to overcoming all this world’s challenges. If we are to have even the slightest hope or prayer of making a difference for God’s glory, we must know about life the way He designed it, and not devise our own schemes (for our sin shall find us out, whether this generation or the tenth!).

 “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” (2 Timothy 3:16,17). “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5,6).