Take Courage!

(Jude 1:22-23) “And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

I must openly confess how I begin like never before to hate, yes hate, the fruit of my flesh as it persistently looks to produce sinful fruit against every good intention I may have to put it to death. This constant war we fight of the spirit which is good and holy, against the fallen flesh that can do nothing but sin. That however does not mean that we must to be slaves to sin, because we are now under the law of sin and death. We are now under the law of grace. (Romans 8:2) “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” What sin does is weakens my faith and therefore gets me to doubt my salvation. We must never accept sin in our lives, we must never condone it, the war and the battle against sin must be a constant resolve to put it away, whatever it may be. Our lives must constantly be full of repentance and humility before our gracious heavenly Father, if we sin and fall and we repent He is just and faithful and will forgive us of our sin. (1John 1:9) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” So my beloved sister if you find that life is squeezing so tightly that you find that you doubt you very own salvation, please remember it is not about what you have achieved but what Christ Himself did on that cruel Roman cross, He died for many and you where in His thoughts when the onslaught of the wicked one was upon Him. He was remembering the weak in faith, because not all will be strong, it was never meant to be that way. The weaker a believer is the more He needs to be carried, may we all remember what Peter so boldly taught “God resists the proud but He does give grace to the humble” and it is grace we all need to get us home. So be of good cheer, we have a Saviour who not only has the ability to get us to our heavenly quarters but is willing to achieve the very objective. He will accomplish what He has set out to do, and that is to present a spotless bride unto Himself before His Father in heaven. If you believe in your hearth that Jesus died for you and you believe that He rose from the dead and you confess this openly with your mouth, the bible very clearly teaches that you will be saved. Take courage all you that find doubt a constant companion, my great Saviour has conqueror every doubt they could throw at Him, He even had to confront His own Father turning His back on Him because of sin, our sin! He cried, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” Look to Him if you suffer from doubt as He knows exactly what turmoil you are in, trust Him, He has overcome, He was victorious so you will also be victorious, even if you are unable to see it now. Call out to Him with all your entire being and He will restore your faith and strengthen you; He has the power to accomplish exactly that.

If we look back in history and use the bible as our reference, it does not surprise me that mankind has the same struggles from generation to generation. The dynamics of life take on a slightly different perspective, today we drive cars and are bombarded with marketing like never before, but the same enemy raged then as he does now. Sin is his weapon and to get us to fall into sin is his main objective. This truth must resonate deep within our minds and we must not glibly put it in the back of our psyche. We must constantly remember to wield the shield of faith and lunge with the sword of the spirit. We must believe God and His willingness to save all His children, do not believe the lies from the Father of lies, He was a liar from the beginning and He will continue to lie seeking out His own will, the will that defiantly resists all that God is and stands for. We are at war, so I encourage all of you who are somewhat bruise to lock hands with a brother or sister that will point you to Christ, we need each other, this is God’s design, the body of Christ is where we will be strengthened, so make sure at every possible opportunity you look to find yourself in fellowship with other believers and not with the enemy (unbelieving friends) that will feed you doubt. Avoid at all costs anything that will defile and stain the flesh with sin.

May God our ever knowing, ever powerful, the One who is full of mercy and grace hear our cry and He Himself pour in the oil and the wine to repair whatever needs repairing, so that we may serve Him with a clear conscience.

To Him be glory forever and ever Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone