Month: June 2023
THE BIBLE TEACHES ABOUT SECURITY:
“The security of the believer” is a theological expression based on Scriptural revelations underlying the doctrine of assurance. While this doctrine is rejected by some, others find it of great spiritual value to accept without question what the Bible teaches about the safekeeping of the people of God.
The believer’s life in Christ is said to be everlasting or eternal—that is, it will never end, John 3:16; Rom. 6:23. Believers shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of the Father’s hand, John 10:28, 29. They are said to be “kept by the power of God,” 1 Pet. 1:5; kept for Jesus Christ, Jude 1, RV. Christ declared that all who believe have everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, John 5:24. He is able “to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him,” Heb. 7:25.
The entire Trinity is involved in the safekeeping of Christians. The Father has given believers to the Son, John 17:9. The Son has asked that they be kept, John 17:11, 20. The Holy Spirit is to dwell within every believer forever, John 14:16; 1 Cor. 6:19. These revealed truths have nothing to do with human experience, but only with the divine purpose and promise. Passages which seem, to some, to contradict the doctrine of security are found to be related to rewards, chastisement, and the fact that an absence of good words reveals a lack of genuine faith, Phil. 2:12, 13; 2 Pet. 3:9–17.
I HOPE YOU FOUND THIS QUICK STUDY TO BE HELPFUL.
PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
EVERLASTING SALVATION CHURCH OF GOD MINISTRIES
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Church link:
Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com
JUST A REFRESHER ABOUT GOD’S CHILDREN:
1 John 3:9-10 Those who have been born from God don’t live sinful lives. What God has said lives in them, and they can’t live sinful lives. They have been born from God. This is the way God’s children are distinguished from the devil’s children. Everyone who doesn’t do what is right or love other believers isn’t God’s child.
1 John 5:18 We know that those who have been born from God don’t go on sinning. Rather, the Son of God protects them, and the evil one can’t harm them.
1 John 2:29 If you know that Christ has God’s approval, you also know that everyone who does what God approves of has been born from God.
1 John 4:7 Dear friends, we must love each other because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God.
1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born from God. Everyone who loves the Father also loves his children.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
SELF-CHECK ARE YOU A CHILD OF GOD?
PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
EVERLASTING SALVATION CHURCH OF GOD MINISTRIES
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Church link:
Everlastiingsalvationchurchofgod.com
“My God”
“My God”“O My God, I Trust in Thee” (Psa. 25:2)See the words “my God” as to what relationship with Him means in the following Scriptures:All need supplied—Phil. 4:19. My God will richly fill your every need in a glorious way through Christ Jesus.All enemies defeated—Psa. 7:1. O LORD my God, I have taken refuge in you. Save me, and rescue me from all who are pursuing me.All safety found—Psa. 18:2. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my Savior, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the strength of my salvation, my stronghold.All...
WORSHIP GOD
Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you.
Psalm 121:1-2
I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 32:8
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Romans 15:5
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.
ALLOW THESE VERSES TO BE A GUIDE UNTO YOUR LIFE.
PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
EVERLASTING SALVATION CHURCH OF GOD MINISTRIES
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Church link:
Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com
“I Am No Good in My Eyes or Anyone Else’s”
“But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.” (Luke 10:33)
Have you ever felt like eyes were all around, watching you? Eyes that silently waited for the next time you slipped up, messed up, or didn’t measure up. Eyes that gave you a haunted, hunted feeling. Eyes that saw you with judgment.
Or maybe they haven’t always been other people’s eyes. Maybe at times they have been your own. When you have been viewed with judgment, sometimes that way of looking finds a home inside your own heart and mind. You routinely look for the negatives in what you have thought and done, and you find them. You regularly second-guess yourself and your motives and are prepared to believe the worst about yourself. You internalize other people’s criticism until it becomes the lens through which you view your own life.
When that happens, it’s a short step to take to assume that this must be how God sees you, too. It just makes sense that he can see every flaw and fault that you can; and if you don’t like what you see, he couldn’t possibly. At the least, he’s got to be deeply disappointed in you. More likely, he’s fed up—right?
Hearing that God loves you won’t mean much if you’re convinced that he’s frustrated and critical, wondering when you’ll get your act together—wondering if you’ll get it together. Little will torpedo your confidence in his love faster or more effectively than believing that he sees you with judgment.
Maybe that’s why Scripture shows you a God who sees people with a compassion so strong that it compels him to help them. Hagar discovers that he’s the seeing God who cares about her in her misery (see Gen. 16:11–13). Moses learns that God is so moved by seeing the Israelites’ misery that he plans to rescue them (see Ex. 3:7‒8). And Jesus, God made flesh, embodied this same combination of traits as he walked on earth. He saw the helpless state of the crowds that flocked to him and had compassion on them, teaching and healing them (see Matt. 9:35–36; 14:14). He was deeply moved when he saw his friend Mary weeping, and he acted to set right what was wrong (see John 11:33).
These aspects of God’s character are so important that Jesus built them into his parables. A Samaritan helps a man who’s been beaten, because he sees him and is filled with compassion (see Luke 10:33). A father runs to greet his wayward child because he is moved with compassion when he sees him return home (see Luke 15:20).
God sees you with compassion. It’s who he is. When you’ve lost confidence in him and believe that he sees you with judgment, you need to remind yourself, “No—he sees me with compassion.” When you cringe and are waiting for someone to rebuke you for what you’ve said or done, remind yourself, “He sees me with compassion.” When that feeling of dread steals over your heart, remind yourself, “He sees me with compassion.” When you’re afraid that you are about to be found out for the fraud that you think you are, remind yourself, “He sees me with compassion.”
Repeat it to yourself—not as a mantra to empty your mind, but as the truth that must fill your soul.
REMEMBER THAT GOD IS WATCHING YOU, AND THAT HE IS WATCHING YOU WITH COMPASSION. REMEMBER GOD WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS.
PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
EVERLASTING SALVATION CHURCH OF GOD MINISTRIES
PayPal.me/donatetochurch
Church link:
Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com