The Cost of Grace; The Freedom of Repentance

Oh how marvelous the grace of God the Father, the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth!  How awesome the power of the Holy spirit that transforms our lives when we choose to believe His word and obey it's commands!

How deep and wide is Gods mercy towards us when we repent of sin and ask forgiveness; how freely He gives the forgiveness and cleanses us of all unrighteousness by the blood of Christ the Savior!

How comforting that He causes the devil and all evil to flee from us when first we submit to Him and resist the lies and deceits directed toward us!

How free is the Grace He bestows upon us - BUT CHEAP?  Never cheap my friends!

Mistakenly making it appear that grace and holiness is so easy to obtain and repentance and submission optional rather than mandatory only confirms that we have lost sight of the cost, what it cost GOD to make that grace and mercy so freely available to us!

It cost the putting aside of divinity to come to this earth as a human baby to experience in fleshly form all that His creation experiences, so we might better understand His empathy for us.

It cost Him giving up His ETERNAL life to take on fleshly DEATH in order to pay the price required to redeem us from our sin.

How great is grace, how freely given.  How valuable it is, ETERNALLY valuable.  How precious a gift, freely given and freely received.

Unlike every earthly gift which is temporary only, this gift is eternal life, eternal peace, eternal salvation, eternal mercy from our ETERNAL GOD!

WORSHIP HIS HOLY NAME!  PRAISE THE LORD FOR HE IS GREAT AND WORTHY OF ALL PRAISE!

one day

Prompt and blessed

We have been blessed tremendously to be living in such a time as this; instant communication enables us to reach what were once the most unreachable people groups with the Gospel of Jesus.

We enjoy the grace of God in abundance, free from the onerous daily chore of sacrificing animals to atone for sin; Jesus set us free indeed! (John 8:36)

And still we are privileged in the "Old Testament" teachings, as Apostle Paul so lovingly pointed out in Romans 15:4
"For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope",
but we are not beholden to the hundreds of specific laws and observances thanks to the Grace of God made available to us through Christ.

Truly there are many wonderful Old Testament scriptures of great teaching that speak into our lives today, eloquently and truthfully.


One such scripture I believe we should heed with all haste in our hearts is found in the book of the Prophet Isaiah.  During the reign of several Israel kings, God raised up Prophets to speak to to His people, precisely because they had refused to converse directly with their God at the time of Moses (Exodus 20:19).  These Prophets often spoke both to the people of their time and for future reference, to those who would come later.

Isaiah 1:19  If you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel you shall be devoured by the sword.  For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

I believe that this is one of those things which was "written before for our learning" that Paul was referring to that has always continued to have affect on peoples lives even when they may not have been aware of it.

While we most certainly DO enjoy the grace and favor of God, and though His love for us is unconditional, this isn't license to sin!  Now more than ever, it is imperative to our own well being, that each of us, individually "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12) and that we do NOT REFUSE to hear the Lord speak to us personally and directly!

Just as He put it to the Israelites, it is even now a choice put before us much like the choice to choose LIFE over DEATH. (Deuteronomy 30:19) 

IF we are willing and obedient.... which refers to what exactly?  To the rules and regulations of man?  To the statutes and prohibitions of religious leaders?  To an American government (or any other government!) that appears bent on destroying the work of the Lord in our lives?

A simple reading of the verse in context puts it all in perspective and makes itself extremely clear and easy to understand.

Isaiah 1: 18  "Come now and let us reason together" says the Lord.

Then, like He already had planned it for all Eternity, (I really think He did!) the Lord makes clear that He speaks to the Israelites, yes, but also to we who would be saved later, by describing our condition so we will recognize ourselves.

 "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are like crimson, they shall be as wool."

We whose sins that are like scarlet have been washed in the sacrificed blood of Jesus and have been made "white as snow".  

This verse is written FOR OUR LEARNING.

Here is the physical and spiritual principle at work.

If this; then that.  

We all understand how this principle works in every area of life.  If we do this thing then that thing happens.  

The law of cause and effect.  Each action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Christians, the grace of God, as Apostle Paul so clearly taught in Romans 6:1, isn't a license to SIN, but a method to avoid being enslaved by sin!  

Every thinking human being can see clearly that all of our actions have consequences.  If we desire pleasant consequences that give us joy, we must choose willingly to be obedient to God.  If we choose to rebel; to do "our own thing" then we will suffer the consequences of those choices, good or bad.

With that in mind, wouldn't it be ridiculous for us to then declare that God is not good because we have reaped the unhappy consequence of our own action?  

God has instructed us clearly, as any loving parent would a child, on right behavior in order that we will reap the result of good consequence.

Right now you might find yourself asking this question; "How can I know God's instructions so I can choose to follow them?"

READ HIS INSTRUCTION MANUAL.

On the first read through, I know it will sound foreign and difficult to understand.  The first time we are introduced to anything it seems hard.  Remember arithmetic?  When they first introduced long division, I was convinced I'd never understand.  I went on to achieve A's in Algebra years later in High School.  

The GREAT thing about the Bible is that it is a living work, spoken into being by a Living God who moved on living men to write His will. (II Peter 1:21)

And it gets better.  The word has a spiritual life to it.  When you are born again of Gods spirit, your understanding is that much greater.  This isn't something that can be taught or explained, but only spiritually discerned by those who are filled with the Holy Spirit.


Reading the Bible regularly you will discover that understanding comes naturally.  Understanding increases with each reading.  

You can read the Bible in any manner that works for you.

Read straight through from cover to cover.

Start at the Gospels and work through the New Testament first.

Skip around from book to book, or even chapter to chapter.

Or you can join us, using the daily reading schedule we follow, and we can journey together toward deeper understanding and closer fellowship with the Lord. (See the Daily Reading page of this website) 

When we know, understand and OBEY Gods commands, we reap all manner of GOOD THINGS!  That is a promise directly from God the Father and Creator of all things to His children.  By the same token, if we choose disobedience we have no one but ourselves to blame when we reap those negative consequences.

Our prayer for you is that you will KNOW and RECEIVE the goodness God desires you to experience in your life, in Jesus Name, AMEN!

Grace and the Rules that Conquer all

GRACE

RULES

They both have 5 letters.  They both contain the letters R and E.  You cannot get “rules” from “grace” and conversely, you cannot get “grace” from “rules”.

Yet, these two work TOGETHER, not against each other, to provide a stable, balanced walk for a believer of Jesus Christ.

We are SAVED by Grace, but the Bible says to be led by the Spirit, to walk by FAITH and not by sight.  There has been a lot of talk over the years about “grace” versus “law” and even more talk and books written about grace setting us "free" from a great many things, like our own consciousness of sin in some cases.

Let’s be clear about something.  GRACE, Gods wondrous favor is a gift we are given.  However, we are set FREE by Jesus. “He whom the Son sets free is free indeed” John 8:36 and the Son sets us free through TRUTH John 8:32 “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

Grace is not a New Testament action, discovery or circumstance that came about with the death and resurrection of our Lord.

GRACE existed and was in operation in the Old Testament:

Genesis 6:8

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Exodus 34:9

Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”

Ezra 9:8

And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.

Make no mistake about it, as Paul so aptly pointed out in Romans, GRACE is not an excuse for sin, but a reason to walk in humble obedience!

Romans 6:1-2  What shall we say then?  Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!  How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

Romans 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the SPIRIT.

The grace of God, like the LOVE of God and the mercy of God is extended to us by the Lord according to His will.  It is not an “entity” that stands on its own, nor can it support any of us on its own!

We must guard against falling into the trap of taking what God so freely gives and by the sinful flesh allowing it to be twisted into something it was never meant to be. It is NOT a “right” or a “privilege” of being born again!

The walk of a believing follower of Jesus is a walk of balance.  Though it is true that we are no longer under the law, we are do have structure.  We have the commands of the Lord Jesus which we hopefully will freely choose to obey, to LOVE one another!  God gives us the tools to succeed –

• the measure of FAITH
• His GRACE
• His LOVE
• The POWER of His Holy Spirit

All these together comprise the balanced, faithful, grace filled life of those SAVED and SANCTIFIED by Christ Jesus the Lord.   We cannot take one tool from the belt of this balanced life of a believer and build an entire religion around it. 

Think about it, meditate on this truth!  You are indeed saved by grace and not of works, it is the GIFT of God!  

Thankfully it is not the only gift our gracious Lord has given.  It is not even the most important gift He has given.  

All Gods gifts are great and powerful and all work together in the life of His obedient child.  He provides a full array of all we need to walk successfully before Him through Christ Jesus our Lord, where our strength resides, and without Whom, we can do NOTHING!

Now may the GRACE of God keep you according to His will, and may the mercy of God deliver you from all temptations, that you may walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called!  (Ephesians 4) 

A way of foolish wickedness - a way of Eternal Life!

Proverbs 7

1 My son, keep my words,
And treasure my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and live,
And my law as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your nearest kin,
5 That they may keep you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words.

6 For at the window of my house
I looked through my lattice,
7 And saw among the simple,
I perceived among the youths,
A young man devoid of understanding,
8 Passing along the street near her corner;
And he took the path to her house
9 In the twilight, in the evening,
In the black and dark night.

10 And there a woman met him,
With the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart.
11 She was loud and rebellious,
Her feet would not stay at home.
12 At times she was outside, at times in the open square,
Lurking at every corner.
13 So she caught him and kissed him;
With an impudent face she said to him:
14 “I have peace offerings with me;
Today I have paid my vows.
15 So I came out to meet you,
Diligently to seek your face,
And I have found you.
16 I have spread my bed with tapestry,
Colored coverings of Egyptian linen.
17 I have perfumed my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
He has gone on a long journey;
20 He has taken a bag of money with him,
And will come home on the appointed day.”

21 With her enticing speech she caused him to yield,
With her flattering lips she seduced him.
22 Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,
23 Till an arrow struck his liver.
As a bird hastens to the snare,
He did not know it would cost his life.

24 Now therefore, listen to me, my children;
Pay attention to the words of my mouth:
25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths;
26 For she has cast down many wounded,
And all who were slain by her were strong men.
27 Her house is the way to hell,
Descending to the chambers of death.

Take a closer look at verses 14 - 17.  How many of us are exactly as this foolish young woman? We confess our sins and seek forgiveness, but then, because our hearts are wicked and not yielded fully to God in total surrender, we turn right around and commit sin, the same sin even, all over again.

Repentance is not an outward action of the flesh, but an inward, true change of the heart, a turning AWAY from sin that leads to a new heart attitude.  That new heart attitude is what leads to new actions.  

When our heart hasn't changed, just going through the motions counts as nothing with the Lord.  He is ever ready to forgive and give us a fresh start.  For that I am extremely grateful, for I've had more than one totally fresh, clean start thanks to Gods grace.

But He knows the difference. He knows when we are simply "pretending" on the outside - and when we have truly repented in our hearts and are ready to surrender and let HIM change our hearts forever.

Godly sorrow leads to true repentance.  When you are sorry, not because you were caught or there were unwelcome consequences to your actions.  But when you are really hurt in your heart that you have dishonored the Lord, who is worthy of all honor and glory and praise.

Verses 24 - 27 tell the story of her end and the end of those who foolishly follow in her footsteps.  But that isn't the end of the whole story!  No - the whole story is that Christ Jesus came and died for us to not only be forgiven of our sin, but to redeem us from slavery to sin and set us truly free to be brand new creations with Eternal through Him!

Now that is a perfect ending to our story!

The Great HOPE

When I first began to listen, really listen to others teach the precepts and doctrine of the Bible, it inspired me and stirred such a passion in my heart!  How did these people KNOW these things?  How could they be so sure?

As a young child I began reading the Bible, and having no real life experience, most of what I read escaped my understanding completely.  BUT... a layer of wisdom was being sowed in my heart.  As I continued to read, and study, and listen to others, and study some more and read some more I discovered that a great deal of the Bible revealed itself, quite simply, within itself.

Take as an example the great problem of SIN.  Having listened to the teaching of man we come to understand that we each are sinners in need of a Savior, and God provided Jesus as our Savior.  We are blessed at the Great Salvation but are then deceived into condemnation, believing falsely that having once obtained the Great Salvation we are no longer worthy of it, can never be worthy of it and must pay a price, over and over again, in what appears to be a vain hope that we'll squeak by and sneak into heaven.

NAH... that just ain't the truth my friends!

Here's a simple truth in Gods Word taken from the Old Testament.

Jeremiah 3: 1 They say "If a man divorces his wife, and she goes from and becomes another man's, may he return to her again?  would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me" says the Lord.

If the "text" for the sermon were to stop there, we would only grasp how woefully we lack, how we fall so far short.  We might say we believe that God forgives us, certainly, but there would linger an edge of fear, a slice of doubt that could keep us enslaved to our sin as a burden that, though lifted, the shadow would remain to cloud our life still.

Continuing to read we will find within the same passage of scripture these words of truth:

Jeremiah 3: 12 -13  ...For I am merciful, says the Lord; I will not remain angry forever.  Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God....

Forgiveness is a complete and utter thing with God.  He requires that we acknowledge our sin in order that we will take responsibility and turn away from sin.  He doesn't hold it over our heads, count it against us forever or bring it up to humiliate us.  He throws it in a sea of forgetfulness, He separates us from it as far as the east is from the west and He remembers it no more.  GRACE.

In His Word, the Bible, we find we can indeed have the Great Salvation.  In our human frailty we find in Him we have Great Hope of His strength being our strength.

Be encouraged today!

IF you have confessed your sin to God, and turned away, repented of it, He has forgiven you and you walk, not burdened or shadowed, but FREE indeed as Christ Jesus declared!  Truly free to live in newness of heart, strength of purpose and JOY as you fulfill the great and mighty plan God has for your life!

IF you have not yet taken this step yet, today can be the day of your rebirth as a new creation in Christ, set free from enslaving sin and moving forward in the Grace of the Lord our God.

This is our Great Hope, to live eternally through Christ in God.  Allelujah!

Want to know more, understand more, gain more and receive all that God has for you?  Read, dear friend, His matchless wonderful words of life and love and hope and joy found in His book that we call the Bible.

It isn't just "a" book, it is THE BOOK.
Through it for centuries God speaks to those
who will LISTEN.

...and Be Filled with the Holy Spirit...

You can choose to LISTEN or read for yourself!  WELCOME to Sunday Sermon with Turn the Tide Ministries!  May God bless you richly in wisdom and understanding as you receive His Word of Truth!

I've seen a lot of methodology be put into practice both as a lay person growing in the Lord and as Clergy encouraging others to grow in the Lord, so I've seen most if not all of the actions people take and the things they're willing to try in order to BE LIKE JESUS.  Don't get me wrong, that IS a goal we are instructed to work toward and a prize worth aspiring to, however, it is not something we will EVER attain in our flesh, by our own actions no matter how badly we want it or how hard we try.

What then is the answer to the puzzle of Gods word telling us to "be holy as I am holy, be ye perfect as I am perfect, the things that I do you shall do also and greater than these because I go the Father, and imitate God dear children, and...you get where I'm going with this, right?  How do we DO these things, like in all trials count it JOY, in all our tribulations be MORE THAN CONQUERORS?
(ps - all of the above are in the Bible - look them up and be blessed at what God thinks of His kids!)

Together, lets you and I take a look at Luke 3:21-22 and Luke 4:1 and Acts 1: 6-8 (I'll be reading the New King James Version and you follow along with whatever version you are most comfortable with)

When all the people were baptized it came to pass the Jesus also was baptized and while He prayed the Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily from like a dove upon Him and a voice came from heaven which said "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

Then Jesus being filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness...

Therefore when they had come together they asked Him saying "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"  And He said to them "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.  But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jersusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth."

Notice anything each of these scriptures has in common?  Jesus, who was fully God and fully man, while He operated as flesh on this earth had done no miracles before this time, needed to be  FILLED  WITH  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  The most the scripture says of Him before He was baptized in the Jordan was that He grew in stature and in wisdom and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:52)  But once He was baptized in the Holy Spirit things changed dramatically!  Suddenly He had the power as well as the wisdom of the Word of God to suffer 40 days of temptation by satan and  WIN !  Suddenly, filled with the Holy Spirit the scripture tells us, He begins to heal people and preach with authority like had never been seen before and perform miracles!

It is the same with us.  Until we  RECOGNIZE  that we cannot even under the very best of circumstances ever control our flesh with rules and laws (if it could have been done wouldn't the Israelites have done it?) accept Gods incredible grace and realize that only by yielding to the Holy Spirit, following the Holy Spirit, being LED by the Holy Spirit can we ever accomplish anything truly satisfying in life whether simply doing a great job at work, being a terrific parent or wonderful spouse, friend, sibling, daughter or son - only in surrender to the Holy Spirit will we ever begin to behave and talk and BE the victorious Christian we desire to be.  In the flesh it just cannot be accomplished!  Jesus told the disciples plainly, apart from Me you can do NOTHING!  Why why why why WHY do we keep putting ourselves in  BONDAGE  to sinful flesh, trying to force our flesh to behave though God has revealed to us that it cannot be done, which is why he did it for us?   But because we have Christ in us (Colossians 1:27) the hope of Glory, because the Holy Spirit is in charge, then we can do ALL  THINGS  THROUGH  CHRIST  WHO  STRENGTHENS  US  (Philippians 4:13)

God sent His only begotten Son to sacrifice Himself as the substitute for us, paying the penalty for our sin, so we could experience salvation.  Not  JUST  get a ticket into heaven, but to live a life of victory, joy and satisfaction RIGHT  NOW.  Simply because God created us and He loves us and He wants us to be happy and full of JOY.  Yes, we live in a fallen world full of sin and it affects us negatively routinely and regularly,  however, we are not stuck there, we have HOPE of much more, something much better.  Fellowship, right standing and full friendship with the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth.  We just say "THANK  YOU   FATHER" and receive it because we can never earn it or deserve it.  Thank you Lord for Your mercy, grace and kindness to forgive me, a sinner, and let me live according to your abundant riches in glory! Amen.

IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A CHRISTIAN NATION?

Founded on the idea of freedom.  Not freedom FROM religion, but freedom OF religion, this great country began.  Humble but strong in the belief of individual freedom to worship. To pray. To express praise to Almighty God. ARE WE STILL THAT NATION?
I offer no apologetics. A simple question, you answer.
 IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A CHRISTIAN NATION?

Is there a Doctor in the House?

I was absolutely certain of what was in my heart, but not so certain if it were just me in my own desire.  So I asked God “Why would you call ME Lord, to preach your righteous, holy words of life giving salvation to others?”  I knew well, as did God, the sin in my life.  Though I had repented, surely such a past as mine disqualified me from the future dream my heart was forming even as I rejected it as nonsense. 

But I had vowed a vow, when that day of full surrender came to my heart finally after years of stumbling and sinning and trying to “be good” on my own.  A simple yet powerful vow I could do nothing else but keep.  To obey Him, the Lord, in all things as best I could, no matter the difficulty.  And God was, as clearly as I could understand it, calling me to take the necessary steps to obtain the validation of men He had already freely anointed me for, to be a Minister of the Gospel.  Every ordinance man had ordained was against such an occurrence, yet the strength of conviction in my heart could not be denied.

So I began a journey, difficult yet filled with joy in obedience to the Call of my Heavenly Father.   Who would accept one such as I, divorced, bankrupt, a sinner with sin that was very evident and impossible to hide.   To make it even more difficult, I am female! 

The Lord, so full of Love for His children, took me to an earthly ministry known for its stringent regulations concerning Ministers, particularly concerning women.  I hid nothing, kept nothing back, and even as all the rules of man said NO, God said YES! Accepted into the Ministerial Program, I was credentialed in June 2006.  Next, on to full Ordination.  I was on track, with many powerful and influential men and women speaking for me in this.

BUT GOD…. Have you ever noticed that when man says “But…” it is usually something rather negative that follows?  BUT GOD, when He steps in, He brings about miracles.  He overcomes the world, just as He promised when He walked this earth as a man, and encouraged His disciples, warning them that in this world there would be trials and tribulations, but we should take heart, for He has overcome the world!

Years before, when I finally let go of my dreams and desires and surrendered all to the Lord, broken, broke and divorced,  in jest to my friends I declared I would never marry again unless God Himself brought that man right to my front door!  Then I put all that aside and began to walk in the path my Lord was leading.

As I was moving forward in the hierarchy of the church, Thanksgiving day 2007 there came a knock on my door.  January 2008 I married for the last and only TRUE time in my life.  But man – man declared this was “unrighteous” and removed all support for me as a Minister, even so far as taking away those hard-earned credentials!

BUT GOD – who is the One who called and anointed me, brought me to a place where GRACE was spoken, and once more His call as anointed Minister was validated by man as I received  full Ordination as Minister of His precious Gospel. 

All through I kept questioning, asking “Why would you call ME Lord, to preach your righteous, holy words of life giving salvation to others?”   One day, the Lord spoke these words to my heart, and I repeat them now to encourage others, broken Brothers and Sisters who need to hear.  I heard these quiet questions in answer to my seeking.

“When you have an electrical problem, who do you call?   An electrician!  When the plumbing isn’t working, who do you call?  A plumber!  When you want a picture drawn, who do you call? An artist!  When I want sinners to hear of my forgiveness and grace – I call a sinner who has been forgiven.”

This is why Turn the Tide Ministries exists, why we travel all over the USA , presenting our dramas and working with local churches.  To bring life giving truth to sinners, that it is the GRACE of God that will set them free and change their lives.   He alone is the Healer of broker hearts! That no matter what the sin, there is forgiveness and wholeness through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! 

RESOLUTIONS

Great insight and great revelation was given to the Apostle Paul after his conversion on that road to Damascus.  Once introduced to TRUTH Himself, Paul never looked back, but set himself on a forward seeking mission that cost him a great deal in his personal, physical life but gained him a far greater reward in his spiritual, eternal life!

Phil 3:10-11 (Amplified Version) “For my determined purpose is that I may know Him, that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection which it exerts over believers and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed in Spirit into His likeness even to His death in the HOPE that if possible I may attain to the spiritual and moral resurrection that lifts me out from among the dead even while in the body."

WOW! Now there is a mouthful of spiritual transforming POWER! Read that a few times to let it sink fully into your heart.

From this we see that Paul had 2 distinct, specific and IMPORTANT goals in mind for his relationship with Christ.

1.)  TO KNOW JESUS

            How do we ever really get to know the heart, thoughts and being of another?  First, we must spend TIME with them and pay close attention to them; observe them in situations; listen to the words they speak; discover their likes and dislikes, the behavior patterns that indicate who they are in relation to others and how they treat other people.  Not just their friends and families, but people in general, how they behave toward them, how they speak of others, especially when not in the presence of those persons!

To KNOW JESUS we need to observe Him both in His humanity that we can relate to which we will find in the Gospels, and also in His divinity which shines through the Old Testament prophesies of His coming.  To know Him, we must read the book written about Him.  Whether for five minutes, an hour or a chapter a day – immerse yourself in His written Word and you will get to know WHO HE IS IN RELATION TO YOU!

2.) TO KNOW THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION

            This goes far deeper than simply acknowledging that Jesus was raised from the dead.  Lazarus was also raised from the dead as was Jarius’ daughter, but in their resurrections there is no indication of power on their parts.  In Jesus’ resurrection POWER from Him personally and made known to US PERSONALLY is available!  Power to overcome sin!  Power to transform lives!  Power to bring LIFE and that ETERNAL!  How does it work?  Why does it work?  How does it affect each of us in our lives?

TO KNOW THAT POWER is to understand your own place in this world, the purpose you were born and live for and why the Almighty Maker of Heaven and earth loves you so very much!  You can read about this power in the Bible, but that isn’t the extent of it.  That tells you stories of this power, but it isn’t personal – YET!  Once you KNOW JESUS, then you are in a position to KNOW THE RESURRECTION POWER up close and personally in your own life, your own circumstances.

From this knowledge springs forth a life that honors God the Father and releases extraordinary JOY into the life you live right now – and ushers you into a joy filled ETERNAL LIFE as well.

Paul knew how to make a New Years Resolution!  What is your resolution?  Will you move closer to the One Who created you this year?  “Draw near to me” says the Lord, “and I will draw near to you.”

THE RIGHT KINDLING

You cannot start a fire without kindling of some kind, something that will spark a flame.

Since we are still here and the earth hasn’t been destroyed and civilization hasn’t ended – not yet anyway – the Christian call to carry out The Great Commission continues.  We are to go into all the world and be witnesses for Christ.  I am certain we are not the only ones finding this more difficult in these “last days”.   The things that motivate people have changed, apparently drastically, and so our task becomes FINDING THE RIGHT KINDLING TO SPARK THE FIRE in each individual. 

A simple message of “repent of sin and receive forgiveness” no longer resonates in the hearts of those who hear it, for they have little to no concept of sin.  Sin has been validated as normal, common and everyday in the society we currently live in.  In fact, it has been legalized by misguided (though I’d like to believe well meaning) judges in the United States attempting to discern the Constitution devoid  of any Biblical moral guidance for the general citizenry of the country.  Murder becomes a gentle “choice”, reprobate sexual perversion is simply an “orientation”.  To say otherwise is HATE SPEECH.   How clever of our adversary satan to compromise the very message of Gods great LOVE by causing the world to declare it hate. 

To reach the heart of each person requires we carefully work our way through layer upon layer of

• political correctness
• deeply embedded false teaching
•  acceptable social thinking
• AND the inherent  sin nature of mankind! 

Many have tried to do this by mimicking the ways of the world in order to appeal to a wider audience.  Our message has become watered down in its insistence of being “seeker friendly” or has become completely compromised in favor of filling seats in our church services.   In my humble opinion this has failed and falls FAR SHORT of fulfilling our mission to Preach the Truth, as well as failing to Glorify God as Holy and Righteous.  We find ourselves DEFENDING God as good.   God does not need or desire our pitiful attempts at defending Him!   

Jesus warned against and warned of all that we currently see occurring.  

He prophesied in Matthew 24: 8-13 (KJV)

ALL THESE ARE THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS.   

THEN SHALL THEY DELIVER YOU UP TO BE AFFLICTED AND SHALL KILL YOU;  AND YOU SHALL BE HATED OF ALL NATIONS FOR MY NAME’S SAKE.    

AND THEN SHALL MANY BE OFFENDED AND SHALL BETRAY ONE ANOTHER AND SHALL HATE ONE ANOTHER.    

AND MANY FALSE PROPHETS SHALL RISE AND SHALL DECEIVE MANY.     

AND BECAUSE INIQUITY SHALL ABOUND THE LOVE OF MANY SHALL WAX COLD.  

BUT HE THAT SHALL ENDURE UNTO THE END THE SAME SHALL BE SAVED.

TRUTH is the ONLY kindling that will start the HOLY SPIRIT fire burning in a heart!

The fire of the Holy Spirit cleanses and refines us, but until it’s lit and burning brightly…

Tragic Child Massacre!

Like everyone else, I am horrified, sickened and sad beyond words at the senseless, dreadful and tragic loss of human life - especially one's so young!  My heart aches in pain, not only for those beautiful babies from Newtown, CT, but for those who haven't even been allowed to draw a single breath on this earth, because the GOVERNMENT of the United States of America has declared it will NOT PROSECUTE any man or woman who MURDERS an innocent baby as long as it has not drawn a breath outside the womb!

The majority of people would like to separate these two events, and pretend they are not the same thing.  Most will avoid saying the obvious because it isn't politically correct and acceptable.

Since the innocent children died in Newtown, how many MORE innocent have been brutally torn from the wombs of their mothers into just as painful, just as horrible and just as tragic DEATH?

We talk talk talk about CHOICE - but we are afraid to declare the TRUTH.  CHOICE isn't about whether a child conceived has the right to be born and live a life.  CHOICE is made BEFORE action is taken that could lead to conception.  THAT is when a woman has ONLY HER OWN BODY to make choices about.  After conception, her body houses another - a separate body that belongs to a different human being - NOT HER. 

Evil flourishes when people will not stand and speak TRUTH.  Let that NOT be our crime here at Turn the Tide Ministries.  We will stand, we will speak and we will not be silent for political correctness or social acceptance or any other reason.

We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.  He created us.  He loves us.  Everyone has the right to REJECT that truth precisely because He gave us freewill to do so.  BUT THAT DOESN'T CHANGE THE TRUTH OR ALTER IT ANY WAY! 

Those who have made that terrible choice to end the life of a child live with a knot in their hearts that will never cease.  Those who have repented of sin - this and any and every other sin - and have asked the forgiveness of God our Father and Creator - have received it and sin is remembered NO MORE!

While we are mourning the 20 - don't forget the MILLIONS who deserved the same right to live.

I do not write because I have any moral high ground - I write precisely because I am a sinner who has been forgiven by a gracious God, though I did not deserve it - and for that reason I share the TRUTH of His forgiveness and love with others.