CHECK YOURSELF, BEFORE YOU WRECK YOURSELF

Churches today are filled with people who hold to a faith that does not save. 
James referred to this as a "dead faith"-meaning a mere empty profession (James 2:17,20, 26). Paul wrote to the people in the church at Corinth to test or examine themselves to see if they were truly in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). As important as it was in Paul's day, how much more important it is for people who claim to be disciples today to put their faith to the test and to make sure they have not been deceived.
But where do we start? 
By what criteria do we determine true from dead faith? 
What are the distinguishing marks of grace bestowed saving faith? 
Surprisingly, there are a number of popular standards or tests that really don't prove the genuineness of one's faith one way or the other. So before we look at the tests that prove genuine faith, let's take a look at some popular tests that neither prove nor disprove the genuineness of one's faith.
Here is a list of seven conditions that do not prove or disprove the genuineness of saving faith.
 One can be a Christian and possess these things or one may not be a Christian at all and still possess them. 
While they don't prove or disprove one's faith, they're important to know and understand so you will not be deceived.
Seven conditions that do not prove or disprove genuine saving faith.
1. Squeaky Clean, with no Caffeine
--Visible Morality
There are some people who just seem to be good people. They can be religious, moral, honest, and forthright [trustworthy] in their dealings with people. They may seem to be grateful, loving, kind and tenderhearted toward others. They have visible virtues and an external morality. The Pharisees of Jesus day rested on visible morality for their hope and yet some of Christ's harshest words were directed at them for this very thing.
Many who possess visible morality know nothing of sincere love for God. Whatever good works they appear to possess, they know nothing of serving the true God and living for His glory. Whatever the person does or leaves undone does not involve God. 
They're honest in their dealings with everyone-but God. They won't rob anyone-but God. They're thankful and loyal to everyone-but God.They speak contemptuously and reproachfully of no one-but God.They have good relationships with everyone- but God.
They are like the rich young ruler who said, "All these things [conditions] have I kept, what do I lack?" Their focus is on visible morality, but that visible morality doesn't necessarily mean salvation. Jesus told one of the Pharisees "you must be born again" (John 3:6), not "you must put on an external display of goodness." People can "clean up their act" by reformation rather than regeneration-so reformation in itself is not a mark of saving faith.
2. "Wow! He Really Knows His Word!"
-- Intellectual Biblical Knowledge
Another condition that can be misleading is intellectual biblical knowledge. People can possess an intellectual understanding and knowledge of the truth and yet not be saved. While the knowledge of the truth is necessary for salvation, and visible morality is a fruit of salvation, neither of these conditions by themselves translate into true saving faith. People can know all about God, all about Jesus, who He was, that He came into the world, that He died on the cross, that He rose again, that He's coming again, and even many details about the life of Christ-exegete a text and still turn their backs on Him.
That's what the writer of Hebrews was warning against in Hebrews 6:4-6. There were people in the church who knew all about God and understood gospel truths. They even had a measure of experience with gospel truth. They'd seen the ministry of the Holy Spirit at work in people's lives-and yet knowing all of that, they stood in grave danger of turning away and rejecting Christ.
In Hebrews 10 the writer warns this kind of man that he is treading underfoot the blood of Christ by not believing what he knows to be true. There are many "disciples" who know the Scriptures but are still under wrath.  A man cannot be saved without the knowledge of the truth, but possessing that knowledge alone does not save.
3. Sister Super-Christian 
-- Religious Involvement
Religious involvement is not necessarily a proof of true faith. According to Paul there are people who possess an outward form (a mere external appearance) of godliness but who have denied the power of it. They have an empty form of religion. 
Jesus illustrated this when He told of the virgins in Matthew 25. They waited and waited and waited for the coming of the bridegroom, who is Christ. And even though they waited a long time, when He came they didn't go in. They had everything together except the oil in their lamps. 
That which was most necessary was missing. 
The oil is probably emblematic of the new life; the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They weren't regenerate. They had religious involvement but not a new heart. New birth symbolizes a new life.  A person can be visibly moral, know the truth, be religiously involved, and yet not possess genuine saving faith.
4. "Follow the...LEADER?" 
-- Active Ministry
It is possible to have an active and even a public ministry, and yet not possess genuine saving faith.
• Balaam was a prophet who turned out to be false (Deuteronomy 23:3-6). 
•Saul of Tarsus (later becoming the apostle Paul) thought he was serving God by killing Christians. 
•Judas was a public preacher and one of the twelve disciples of Christ-but he was an apostate. 
•InMatthew 7:22-23 Jesus said, "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" Those whom Jesus spoke of had been involved in active and public ministry-but Jesus said he never knew them. Sobering words indeed.
5. "I Was Cut to the Heart" 
-- Conviction of Sin
By itself, even conviction of sin is not a proof of salvation. Our world is filled with guilt-ridden people. Many even feel badly about their sin. Felix trembled under conviction at the preaching of the apostle Paul, but he never left his idols or turned to God (Acts 24:24-6). The Holy Spirit works to convict men of sin, righteousness, and of judgment, but many do not respond in true repentance. 
Some may confess their sins and even abandon the sins they feel guilty about. They say, "I don't like living this way. I want to change." They may amend their ways and yet fall short of genuine saving faith. That's external reformation, not internal regeneration. No degree of conviction of sin is conclusive evidence of saving faith. Even the demons are convicted of their sins-that's why they tremble-but they are not saved.
6. "I'm a 'Disciple,' that's Why!"
--The Feeling of Assurance
Feeling like you are saved is no guarantee you are indeed saved. Someone may say, "Well, I must be a Christian because I feel that I am. I think I am one." But that is faulty reasoning. If thinking one is a Christian, is all that's required then no one could be deceived. And then, by definition, it would not be possible to be a deceived non-Christian, and that doesn't square with the whole point of Satan's deception. He wants people who are not truly saved to think they are. 
Satan has deceived multiplied millions of committed church people into thinking they are saved even though they are not. They may say to themselves, "God won't condemn me. I feel really good about my salvation. I have assurance. I'm ok." But that doesn't necessarily mean a thing.
7. A Time of Decision
So often "disciples" say things like: "Well, I know I'm a Christian, because I remember when I studied the bible for 9 months, 6 years ago," or "I remember when I prayed a prayer," or "I remember when I walked the aisle" or "when I got baptized." 
A person may remember exactly when their baptism date is and when "it" happened and where they were when "it" happened, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. 
Our salvation is not verified by a past grace or past moment. Many people have studied a man made set of first principals and been baptized, or gone forward in church services, signed cards, gone into prayer rooms, been restored, and joined churches without ever experiencing genuine saving faith.
These are seven common conditions or tests that don't necessarily prove or disprove the existence of saving faith. 
What then are the marks of genuine saving faith? 
Are there some reliable tests from the Word of God that enable us to know for certain whether one's faith is real? 
Thankfully there are at least nine biblical criteria for examining the genuineness of saving faith.
Nine conditions that prove genuine saving faith.
1. Love for God
First of all a deep and abiding love for God is one of the supreme evidences of genuine saving faith. This gets to the heart of the issue. Romans 8:7 says "the carnal mind is enmity [hostility, hatred] against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." 
Thus, if a man's heart is at enmity with God there is no basis for assuming the presence of saving faith. Those who are truly saved love God, but those who are not truly saved resent God and His sovereignty. Internally they are rebellious toward God and His plan for their life. But the regenerate person is set to love the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. His delight is in the infinite excellencies of God. God is the first and highest affection of his renewed soul. God has become his chief happiness and source of satisfaction. He seeks after God and thirsts for the living God.
By the way, we must be careful to distinguish the difference between that kind of true love for God that seeks His glory from the kind of self-serving love that sees God primarily as a means of personal fulfillment and gain. 
True saving faith doesn't believe in Christ so that Christ will make one happy. The heart that truly loves God desires to please God and glorify Him.
Jesus taught that if someone loved their father and mother more than they loved Christ, they were not worthy of Him. In Matthew 10:37-39 Jesus put it like this: "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 10:37-39).
God is most glorified in us, when we find the most satisfaction in Him. 
The question then is this: 
Do you love God? Do you love His nature? Do you love His glory? Do you love His name? Do you love His kingdom? Do you love His holiness? Do you love His will? Is your heart lifted when you sing His praises-because you love Him? Supreme love for God is decisive evidence of true faith.
2. Joyful Repentance from Sin
A proper love for God necessarily involves a hatred for sin that leads to repentance. That should be obvious. 
Who wouldn't understand that? 
If we truly love someone we seek their best interests. Their well being is our greatest concern. If a man says to his wife, "I love you but I could care less what happens to you," we would rightly question his love for her. True love seeks the highest good of its object. If we say that we love God, then we will hate whatever is an offense to Him. 
•Sin blasphemes God. •Sin curses God. •Sin seeks to destroy God's work and His kingdom. •Sin killed His Son. So when someone says, "I love God, but I tolerate sin," then there is every reason to question the genuineness of his love for God. 
One cannot love God without hating that which is set to destroy Him. True love for God will therefore manifest itself through confession and repentance. The man who loves God will be grieved over his sin and will want to confess it to God and forsake it. (We confess our sins to one another for the purpose of "praying" for each other to heal!) James 5:16 
In examining our faith we should ask: 
"Do I have a settled conviction concerning the evil of all sin? 
Does sin appear to me as the evil and bitter thing that it really is? 
Does conviction of sin increase in me as I walk with Christ? 
Do I hate it not primarily because it is ruinous to my own soul or because it is an offense to the God I love? 
Does the sin itself grieve me or am I only grieved over the consequences of my sin. What grieves me most-my misfortune or my sin? 
Do my sins appear to me as many, frequent and aggravated? 
Do I find myself grieved over my own sin more than the sins of others?" 
Genuine saving faith loves God and hates what He hates, which is sin. That attitude results in real repentance.
3. Genuine Humility
Saving faith is manifested through genuine humility. Jesus said blessed are those who are poor in spirit, and those who mourn [their sin], and those who are meek, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:3-6)-all marks of humility. 
In Matthew 18 Jesus said that "unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). True saving faith comes as a little child-humble and dependent. It is not the man who is sharp and impressive and full of himself who is saved, but the man who denies himself, takes up his cross daily and follows Christ (Matthew 16:24).
In the Old Testament we see that the Lord receives those who come with a broken and contrite spirit (Psalm 34:18; 51:17; Isaiah 57:15; 66:2). James wrote: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). 
We must come as the prodigal son, broken and humble. Remember what he said to his father-"Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son" (Luke 15:21). Those possessing genuine saving faith do not come boastfully to God with their religious achievements or spiritual accomplishments in hand. They come empty-handed in genuine humility.
4. Devotion to God's Glory
True saving faith is manifested by a devotion to God's glory. Whatever believers do, whether they eat or drink, their desire is to see God glorified. Christians do what they do because they want to bring glory to God.
Without question Christians fail in each of these areas, but the direction of a Christian's life is to love God, hate sin, to live in humility and self-denial, recognizing his unworthiness and being devoted to the glory of God. It is not the perfection of one's life but the direction of a life that provides evidence of regeneration.
5. Continual Prayer
Humble, submissive, believing prayer is mark of true faith. We cry "Abba, Father" because the Spirit within us prompts that cry. Jonathan Edwards once preached a sermon titled, "Hypocrites are Deficient in the Duty of Secret Prayer." It's true. Hypocrites may pray publicly, because that's what hypocrites want to do. Their desire is to impress people-but they are deficient in the duty of secret prayer. True believers have a personal and private prayer life with God. They regularly seek communion with God through prayer.
6. Selfless Love
An important characteristic of genuine saving faith is selfless love. James wrote, "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you do well" (James 2:8). John wrote, "Whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (1 John 3:17).
If you love God you will not only hate what offends Him, but you will love those whom He loves. "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death" (1 John 3:14). And why do we love God and love others? Because this is the believer's response to His love for us. "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). Jesus said we will know that we are His disciples by our love for each other (John 13:35).
7. Separation from the World
Positively, believers are marked by a love for God and for fellow believers. Negatively, the Christian is characterized by the absence of love for the world. True believers are not those who are ruled by worldly affections, but their affection and devotion is toward God and His kingdom.
In 1 Corinthians 2:12 Paul wrote that "we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God." 
In 1 John 2:15 we read: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15). True saving faith separates one from the pursuits of this world--not perfectly, as we all fail in these areas, but the direction of a believer's life is upward. He feels the pull of heaven on his soul. Christians are those whom God has delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of His Son. The believer is marked by the absence of love or enslavement to the satanically controlled world system (Ephesians 2:1-3; Colossians 1:13; James 4:4).
8. Spiritual Growth
True believers grow. When God begins a true work of salvation in a person, He finishes and perfects that work. Paul expressed that assurance when he wrote inPhilippians 1:6, "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."
If you are a true Christian, you are going to be growing-and that means you are going to be more and more like Christ. 
Life produces itself. 
If you're alive you are going to grow, there's no other way. You'll improve. You'll increase. The Spirit will move you from one level of glory to the next. So examine your life. Do you see spiritual growth? Do you see the decreasing frequency of sin? Is there an increasing pattern of righteousness and devotion to God?
9. Obedience
Obedient living is not one of the optional tracks given for believers to walk. All true believers are called to a life of obedience. Jesus taught that every branch that abides in Him bears fruit (John 15:1-8). Paul wrote that believers "are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). That speaks of obedience. We are saved unto the obedience of faith (see 1 Peter 1:2).
How can we know our faith is genuine? 
Examine your life in the light of God's Word. 
•Do you see these characteristics in your life? 
•Do you have a love for God, hatred for sin, humility, devotion to God's glory, a pattern of personal and private prayer, selfless love, separation from the world, the evidence of spiritual growth and obedience. 
These are the real evidences of genuine saving faith. Test or examine yourselves to see if you are truly in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). While there's still time...
All I can add after this is...
Grace be with you....!
This pot of coffee is on the house, you may want to be up all night or for a couple of days!
Robbs

PLEASURABLY DISAPPOINTED!

Sometimes we all feel like frauds. At times we feel like everyone else is experiencing something so wonderful while we are just putting on a show. Their relationships are so deep, their friendships are so real, their faith is so strong, their worship is so heartfelt, their marriage is so satisfying. But our relationships are so shallow, our friendships are so fake, our faith is so weak, our worship is so distracted, our marriage is so difficult.

That’s life under this sun. It’s a life of inadequacy, a life where we are never as fulfilled and satisfied as we want to be. For all the genuine joys this life brings, there is still and always the lingering sorrow of all that life is not and will never be.

Sometimes I like to sit and think about the books that push their way onto the lists of bestsellers. Almost by definition, each of the books that sells a half million or a million copies is addressing some kind of deep felt need. After all, why else would you buy it and why else would you recommend it to a friend except that it meets you where you’re at—it promises help in an area in which you feel incomplete or inadequate.

•Purpose Driven Life 

•Radical 

•Five Love Languages

•Your Best Life Now

•Every Mans Battle 

Every time a book hits the list of bestsellers, it is worth asking why it is there and what need it promises to address.

You know, most books make the list because we put them there as we try to find answers to our deepest needs. Some of the most popular authors are adept at writing to our needs, even if they don’t answer them in a compelling and satisfying way.

A year ago I wrote about this very topic and suggested that the solution is found in Ecclesiastes and the single word Vapor. This was the refuge of Solomon in his book of Ecclesiastes. He begins his book and he ends it with the same cry of discontent: “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” All of the pursuits of this life are vanity, all of them are vapor, all of them are chasing after the wind, an impossible pursuit that never ends and never brings deep and lasting satisfaction.

Has anyone in all of literary history written words that are more poignant, more unflinchingly realistic, than these?

All things are full of weariness;

a man cannot utter it;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

nor the ear filled with hearing.

What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done,

and there is nothing new under the sun.

Has anyone ever written words than ring truer? 

We are dissatisfied because we must be dissatisfied. 

God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecc. 3:11) but we locked ourselves in a temporal world. God created us to find our highest joy and delight in him, but we chose to seek delight in the things he made. We worship the creation rather than the Creator. Even those of us who have been drawn back to the Creator still turn to this side and that, to this idol and that. We have even made our ministry or church an idol. 

We can cry out that we were made for more, that we were meant for more, from now until eternity. We will cry out from now until eternity. We will simply be expressing what Solomon told us so much more pointedly so many years ago. “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” This world cannot deliver all we want from it. This life cannot deliver all the satisfaction we long for.

This dissatisfaction is ugly when it paralyzes us with guilt or when it motivates us to act rashly out of guilt. It is unhelpful when it traps us in complacency and despair. Solomon did not advocate guilt, he did not cry out in complacency and hopelessness. Far from it. 

I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. 

This dissatisfaction is a gift when it motivates us to pursue the best and purest source of delight. God’s gift to us is that we find all the pleasure we can, all the pleasure there is, in the good things of this life. God’s gift is that we can pause and enjoy the rich scent of a rose in full bloom. 

We can watch the sunset until darkness has taken the sun’s last ray from the sky. These are pleasures to enjoy to the full and with God’s richest blessing. 

Even two thousand years ago Solomon could say, “Of making many books there is no end.” There is no end of books that expose our dissatisfaction and propose solutions. 

None of the solutions last. 

None of the solutions deliver all we want and all we long for. You could follow every application in every one of those books and you would still be discontent. We will all die dissatisfied, still longing for more. 

But those who die in Christ have the great promise that we will awake to all the pleasures, all the satisfaction we have ever longed for, and so much more besides.

Find pleasure in your toil. That pleasure is in God, seek ye first the Kingdom!  The value you desire is in Christ and eternity, attach God's promises and glory to them and trust "the process!" 

So remain hopeful  in your disappointments and stress and suffering, for there is joy in your toil, if you view it correctly!  

Tall Hot Mocha Latte,

Robbs

WHO PUTS A THIEF IN CHARGE OF MONEY?

Jesus put a thief in charge of his moneybag. Has that ever struck you as odd?

Remember Mary, who poured a year’s wages on Jesus’s feet, and Judas, who saw Mary’s worshipful act as a huge waste, because “he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it” (John 12:6).

But this fact begs the question: Why was Judas carrying the moneybag in the first place?

Jesus could have given the moneybag to Nathaniel, “an Israelite indeed, in whom there [was] no deceit” (John1:47), or to John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:20), or to Levi, who had extensive financial experience (Luke 5:27). But he didn’t. Jesus chose Judas to be the treasurer of his itinerant nonprofit.

One is tempted to offer the Lord some consulting on good stewardship. Donors were supporting this ministry financially (Luke 8:3), and Jesus appointed the one guy he knew was a “devil” (John 6:70) to manage the money. But this was not poor judgment on Jesus’s part. It was deliberate; Jesus knew Judas was pilfering. Why did Jesus allow it?

Putting Jesus’s Money Where His Mouth Was

I believe Jesus was putting his money where his mouth was.

Jesus had said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where . . . thieves break in and steal” (Matthew6:19–20). In letting Judas carry the moneybag, Jesus showed us by example what he meant.

Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew6:21). In Judas, Jesus showed us the heart-hardening, heart-blinding, heartbreaking end of treasuring the wrong thing.

And Jesus had said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). In Judas, Jesus showed us an alarming example of what loving money and hating God can look like.

What Is So Unnerving About Judas

Shockingly, for quite a while loving money and hating God can actually look to others like devotion to God. This is what is unnerving about Judas.

For a long time, Judas’s reputation was as a student and close companion of Jesus. Judas lived with Jesus and the other eleven disciples for the better part of three years. He traveled long, dusty roads with these missionary comrades. He ate with them, sat around evening fires with them talking about the kingdom of God, and he prayed with them. He heard more of Jesus’s sermons than almost anybody. He received personal instruction from Jesus. He witnessed Jesus’s incredible miracles and saw the Father provide for their needs over and over again.

All during the time Judas was part of the Twelve, he mostly said and outwardly performed the right things. It’s astonishing that none of Judas’s fellow disciples perceived his deceitfulness. Even when Jesus finally sent Judas off to carry out his betrayal, the others didn’t seem to suspect him (John 13:28–29). It was a stunning and grievous blow to them all when in the end he sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15).

Judas’s masquerade is a lesson for us. Wolves can look and sound almost exactly like sheep. And sometimes Jesus, for his own reasons, allows the disguised wolves to live among the sheep for a long time and do great damage before their deception is exposed. When this happens, we must trust that the Lord knows what he’s doing. Judas reminds us that even ravaging wolves have a part to play in the drama of redemptive history.

What Not to Trust

But in knowingly giving dishonest Judas the moneybag, Jesus specifically modeled for us where not to put our trust: money. Jesus trusted his Father, not money, to provide everything he needed to fulfill his calling. He slept in peace every night, knowing that Judas was embezzling.

Judas, on the other hand, became the archetypal model of 1 Timothy 6:10: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” In Judas’s example, Jesus warns us that the love of money can be so deceptive that we can wander to the point where we are willing to sell eternal Treasure for a handful of coins. The seductive power of wealth must make us tremble.

Not all parts of this story have direct application for us. Jesus doesn’t intend for us to follow his example in appointing thieves as treasurers. Only God is wise enough to do that.

But Jesus does intend for us to follow his example in seeking the kingdom first, believing that all we need will be given to us by our Father (Matthew6:33). His word to us is “fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Our Father can easily out-give what any thief can steal.

THE REAL DEAL HOLY-FILLED!

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him (1 John 5:13-15, ESV). The apostle John didn’t leave us guessing as to why he wrote his letter. The reasons are stated clearly in 1 John, “I write these things . . .  so that you may know that you have eternal life.”   You can be assured of eternal life. Some might say, “I think it’s kind of arrogant when people claim they know they’re going to heaven.” But it’s not arrogant; it’s biblical. The Holy Spirit inspired John to write these words and God wants you to have this certainty. In this letter John included several marks of an authentic Christian—indicators that give evidence, not perfectly but increasingly, of those “who believe.” We love deeply. A true follower of Jesus Christ loves deeply. You love God more as time goes on. You love other people more than you used to. You often reflect on the Father’s love through His Son Jesus Christ. It’s different than any other love you will ever experience from any human being. The love of Jesus is totally unselfish, and it lasts forever. It is a love that knows you completely, and is perfect. A true follower of Jesus loves like Him. We obey faithfully. You used to do your own thing. That was before you came to know Christ. Now you’re becoming more concerned about what God wants you to do, and you’re obeying faithfully and increasingly. We live authentically. In his first letter, John can hardly wait to share what he’s got. That’s the cherry on the sundae of the Christian life—leading someone to Christ and sharing what God has done for you. But you must have it to share it. Your old behavior may have been to put on a mask and make people think certain things about you. But now you don’t want to play games; you want to be authentic. True followers of Jesus strive to be real, honest, open, and transparent. We believe confidently. You used to be filled with fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. But you’ve learned to trust God with your life. You don’t know what’s coming up ahead, but with His help you’re going to get through it. This is the Good News; you don’t have to go to hell to pay for your sin yourself. And sitting here and reading it won’t get it done for you. You have to say to God, “I need it. I want it. Ichoose it.” Jesus offered Himself as our substitute and took upon Himself the payment for our sins. Your salvation is secure in Christ. These are marks of authenticity—challenge yourself to pursue them. Be diligent in your pursuit, and by God’s grace these marks will be increasingly evident in your life. Pray Father, thank You not only for the promise of transformation in Your Son, but also for the personal details of Your work in me so I can track my progress and allow You to correct my failures. Thank You for the deep thrill of knowing I have eternal life, not by any merit of my own, but fully and freely given to me by You. And I’m so very thankful to Your Son, Jesus, who made all this possible. In His name I pray, amen.

DRINK! DRANK! DRUNK!

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians5:18, ESV). On your own, you cannot be like Jesus. You can’t will yourself to change your sinful patterns or to choose right. So how do you live a powerful life in Christ? How do you live out the exchanged life—Christ in you? The Holy Spirit. You can talk till you’re blue in the face, you can serve till you drop, you can try your absolute best. But until you let Jesus reign in you through His Spirit, you are going to be lost and exhausted. Ephesians 5:18 commands, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” The Greek word for filled means controlled, intoxicated, permeated, thoroughly influenced, overcome by a power greater than your own. We know what it is to be filled with pain, with joy, or with sadness. Being filled with excruciating pain, for example, eclipses everything else in our consciousness. We feel only the pain and fixate exclusively on it. The filling of the Holy Spirit is a similar experience—the Christian is overcome and under the influence of a power greater than himself. It's likened to being under the influence of alcohol (Luke 1:15; Acts 2:4, 13–17), in that when people are drunk, they don’t act like themselves. They have little control of their minds, emotions, words, or actions. In the same way, we are to yield control of ourselves to the Holy Spirit. But unlike alcohol, we can’t get too much of the Spirit. We can never be too filled. This one little verse contains four essential truths about the filling of the Spirit: The filling is commanded. Notice God’s tone. He is not giving us a mild, optional suggestion. If you have some extra time, you might want to consider being filled with the Spirit. It’s a command: “Be filled.” And because God commands it, we know it’s possible. Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to be indwelt, baptized, or sealed with the Spirit because those are God’s work in us at conversion—but we are commanded to be filled.   The filling is passive.  Think back to English class. We are not the subject of the sentence, the one doing the action. We do not perform the filling, but are the object being acted upon. God is implied as the source. When we ask Him, He will fill us; we cannot do it ourselves.   The filling is for everyone.  In the original Greek, the understood you is plural, as if to say, “All of you  followers of Jesus, be filled with the Spirit.” This filling is a widespread, universal offer for every believer, not one exclusive to the “spiritual elite.” (Because there aren't any spiritual elite!) It is for all who God has justified—it’s for you.   The filling is not permanent.  Rather than “be filled,” some translations use the wording “be being filled”—it's an ongoing (moment by moment) process. We are to be continuously filled, day by day. Check out Acts 2:4, 4:8, 9:17, 13:9. There is only one baptism at conversion, but there are many fillings of the Spirit. Because Ephesians 5:18 is a clear command, we don’t have to wonder how to apply this teaching.  Simply “be filled”!  Yes, crazy, knuckle-chip, messed up imperfect you with your overwhelming day and feelings of inadequacy and exhaustion.  Get right with the Lord and be filled.—“Confess [your] sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Pray God, I know You want to fill me but will not until I remove the barriers. Please bring to my mind my unconfessed sins and help me repent of them, by Your grace. Transform me. Change Me.  Then will You fill me with Your Holy Spirit? Live Your life through me today. Make me the person You want me to be for the fame and glory of Your great name. I believe You will fill me with Your Spirit, and pray this now, as I spend time alone with you in the precious name of The Saviour of Sinners, Jesus, amen.

"ROBBIE! ROBBIE! DON'T MAKE ME CALL YOU AGAIN!"

In the Holy Bible, when God called a person or a city’s name twice, each occasion immediately was elevated to one of great biblical importance to that person and that city involved. 

For example, in the Old Testament, when Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, God called out to him, “Abraham! Abraham!” (cf. Genesis 22:11), when Israel was in old age and moving to Egypt, at the invitation of his lost son, God called Israel’s birth name twice, “Jacob, Jacob” (cf.Genesis 46:2; see also Genesis 35:9-15, ESV); when God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, He called out, “Moses! Moses!” (cf.Exodus 3:4, ESV); and when God called Samuel’s name twice (cf. 1 Samuel 3:10, ESV), it happened after He had called out to him two other times, but Samuel had mistaken God’s voice for that of Eli’s. 

In each of these instances, especially the last one, most people say that God uses the double salutation because He wants to get that person’s attention.

Perhaps getting someone’s attention is a true reason for these aforesaid double calls, because there is no doubt that after each time God used the double hailing of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Samuel’s name, He had something vitally important to say to them. 

In the case of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Samuel, the significance of each double call respectively pertains to Abraham becoming the father of Jacob (Israel) and the father of Faith; to Jacob becoming Israel, which is God’s chosen name for His chosen people; to Moses becoming the deliverer of Israel and the giver of the Law; and to Samuel becoming the first in a line of prophets who faithfully would bring God’s Word to His people. 

For sure, all four of these Old Testament individuals were key people in Israel’s history, and this truth no doubt is why God’s redoubling of their names happened at the key turning points in their lives.

Getting people’s attention because the Lord had something momentous to tell them is also why, in the New Testament, Yeshuas redoubling of names has biblical significance. 

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Olivet Discourse, and two other times, when Yeshua was making a crucial point to His disciples and the multitudes, He repeated, “Lord, Lord” (cf. Matthew 7:21-22, 25:11,ESV Luke 6:46; 13:25, ESV; when Martha was upset with Mary for not helping her prepare the big dinner for Yeshua, who was visiting with them, the Lord called out to her, “Martha, Martha” (cf. Luke 10:41, ESV); when, after the Lord’s Last Supper, the Lord predicted Peter’s denial, He called out to him, “Simon, Simon” (cf. Luke 22:31, ESV); when Yeshua was on the Cross and it was the ninth hour, just moments before the Lord said “it is finished,” He cried out to God, “Eloi, Eloi” (cf.Mark 15:34); when Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest and put in chains any followers of the Way so that he could bring them back to Jerusalem to stand trial, the Lord called out to him, “Saul, Saul” (cf. Acts 9:4); and when the Lord expressed His intense emotions for Jerusalem, which had become a wicked city, even though God intended for it to be His holy city, Yeshua called out, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem” (cf. Matthew 23:37and Luke 13:34). 

In each of these instances, the Lord uses the double salutation in a time and in a situation when it was urgent for Him to say (or teach) something that was critically important.

For sure, through the Lord’s redoubling of names believers learn that the significance of each double call respectively pertains to His followers becoming those who would be so sold out for Yeshua that they no longer would give Him lip service with their ‘Lord, Lord’ but would call Him ‘Lord’ because they would be doing the will of the Father, which began with loving God with all of their heart. 

Here are some examples: to Martha becoming like Mary, who experienced Yeshuas ultramodern radicalness (His teaching/discipling of a woman who sat at His feet, for in the Lord’s day a Jewish Rabbi only would teach/disciple males); 

Or to Simon Peter becoming the firm and solid little “rock” built on the massive ROCK foundation of Yeshua.  The redoubling of Simon’s name was primarily to accentuate the weaker part of his nature—Simon's  wishy-washy nature—rather than to draw attention to the strong, emotional, and bold part of Simon Peter’s nature. 

Or to Saul becoming the greatest Christian missionary of the Gospel, in spite of the fact that he started out as the greatest Jewish persecutor of the Way; and lastly, to Jerusalem becoming a city that not only would reject God’s messengers but also would slay them, including Yeshua the Christ.

All six of the abovementioned key incidents are included in Israel’s history. More important, the three individuals to whom the Lord directly speaks the double calls each play major roles in the history of the Body of Christ, which is why Yeshuas redoubling of Martha, Simon, and Saul’s names happens at the key turning points in their lives!

As mentioned earlier, when God called a person or a city’s name twice, each occasion immediately was elevated to one of great biblical importance to that person and that city involved. 

Furthermore, this biblical importance also affects those of us who have come to Christ by Grace through Faith!! 

That’s why we need to be able to answer these questions: 

Do we truly understand the significance of the double call? 

Are we listening (paying close attention) to God’s voice, so as to hear Him when He speaks to us? (Reading & Studying the Bible) 

Has He called out to us with a redoubling of our individual names, and if so what does His double call say about our roles as Body of Christ members?

"Robbie! Robbie! Once have I called you, twice have you heard me!"

"Speak Lord, for Your servant IS listening!" 

Sssssssshhhhhh! 

Drink this cup of theoffee while its HOT!  

Robbs.