rLn's TESTIMONY 2024

TOday, i KNOW The ONE TRUE Living TRIune GOD Who is THE Creator of HIS Universe -- ALL things visible and ALL things INvisible! And because i am HIS creature, dependent upon HIM for each and every breath, for my very existence -- i owe GOD my total allegiance, committed to obeying HIS revealed Will, as recorded in His HOLY Word, The Bible. i KNOW this Sovereign GOD as my Holy FATHER, as my Beloved LORD JESUS and MESSIAH, as my INdwelling SPIRIT of TRUTH, HOLY Comforter and Helper.

BUT before August 2003, in rebellious PRIDE -- i was senselessly and bullheadedly DISobedient to ALL of GOD's Commandments (whether in thought or word or actual DOing). i broke ALL of GOD's HOLY Laws for godly and righteous living. i bowed my knee to my fleshly idols of SELF-Focus, SELF-Pleasure, SELF-Pride. i misused GOD’s name, violated the Sabbath-Sunday, dishonored my parents, stole, lied, coveted, killed with my words, committed adultery in my heart -- for CHRIST JESUS Himself said that whenever i LUSTed after a man with my eyes, i've ALREADY committed adultery in my HEART!

i was BORN with a sinFULL nature. GOD's Word described my natural SELF before GOD interrupted my HELL-bound spiral INto JUDGMENT and Eternal PUNISHMENT. IT IS WRITTEN: “The ACTS of the SINful NATURE are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies...' Through GOD's TRUTH in Galatians 5:19-21, i was warned: 'that IF i live like this, i will NOT inherit the Kingdom of GOD.'

From the ABUNDANCE of my sinFULL Heart, came forth UNwholesome, filthy and foolish talk, coarse jesting, bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting and slander, ALL sorts of impurity, greed, gossip, malice, impure motives, flattery and "white" lies! GOD's Word convicted me of the TRUTH about my Heart: HOW deceitFULL it is above ALL things, HOW desperately SICK (Jeremiah 17:9)! i was naturally born a SIN-natured SIN-DOer -- practicing what was NATURAL to my sinFULL nature! Like Adam, i was a prideFULL rebel, an enemy of GOD, for it was my NATURAL inclination to rebel against GOD -- choosing to do my OWN will instead of doing GOD's Will, choosing to please MY own SELF instead of pleasing GOD, choosing to glory in MY own SELF instead of ascribing ALL GLORY to GOD!

i WAS part of the Walking DEAD of the world -- physically alive, BUT spiritually DEAD! i WAS HELL-bound, part of THAT UNsaved humanity -- 'the cowardly and UNbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually IMmoral persons and sorcerers and IDOLaters and ALL liars, whose part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the Second DEATH' -- Eternal HELL (Revelation 21:8).

BUT in 2003, when GOD IN CHRIST by The Holy SPIRIT's SUPERnatural LIFE-giving POWER, quickened ALIVE my DEAD spirit by REgenerating me aNEW, REbirthing me by GOD's GRACE alone -- by gifting me with REPENTANCE, with a NEW heart to LOVE GOD and others, a NEW mind SET in His WORD of TRUTH, with a NEW childlike Disposition of grateful and reverential OBEDIENCE to ALL of HIS Commands -- GOD reconciled me back to a LOVE-Relationship with Himself THROUGH and IN CHRIST -- i am a NEW creation, BORN AGAIN of GOD by The Holy SPIRIT; the OLD things that were of MErlin have passed away; and TOday, as rLn -- GOD's NEW things have come! \o/

TOday, my personal REALity is this -- 'to LIVE IS CHRIST and to DIE IS GAIN' (Philippians 1:21). Because my Beloved LORD JESUS DIED in my place to pay IN-FULL the Price of DEATH for my SINs, because The Holy SPIRIT joined me INto CHRIST's Body, because my Holy FATHER chose me as one of His LOVE-Gifts to His ONE and ONLY Begotten SON -- i am NO LONGER under GOD's Condemnation, NO LONGER under His WRATH, NO LONGER bound for EVERlasting HELL! HalleluYAH! \o/

i KNOW (intellectually AND experientially) that because GOD has lavished HIS own Agape-LOVE into my heart -- i am enABLEd by The Holy SPIRIT withIN to personally LOVE GOD and others. i KNOW that GOD causes ALL things to work together for my GOOD, because HE has made me part of the CALLED according to HIS Purpose. Because HE foreknew me before Time, HE also PREdestined me to become conformed to the Image of His SON, CHRIST JESUS, THE PREEMINENT Firstborn among many brothers and sisters in The FATHER's Eternal Family; and because GOD The FATHER predestined and called and justified me through GOD The SON -- i also SHALL be glorified: spirit and soul AND body! HalleluYAH! \o/

i KNOW that i was not REDEEMED with corruptible things like silver or gold... BUT with Precious BLOOD, as of a LAMB unblemished and spotless, the very BLOOD of CHRIST. i KNOW that i have been BORN AGAIN not of corruptible seed but INcorruptible --  through the LIVING and ENDURING Word of GOD. i KNOW that GOD's GRACE is ALWAYS sufficient for ALL my circumstances, for HIS SUPERnatural POWER is perfected in my weakness. For UNITED WITH CHRIST, by The SPIRIT's ALL-Mighty Work withIN, both to WILL and to DO -- i am emPOWERed to do ALL things through HIM Who strengthens me.

i KNOW that my 2xborn soul is wholly GOD's Workmanship, REcreated IN CHRIST JESUS for good works, which GOD my FATHER prepared beforehand so that i would walk in them. i KNOW that because of GOD's Saving Work through CHRIST -- i have been made a citizen of GOD's Kingdom, with a glorious inheritance awaiting me IN The GLORY. i KNOW that i am indeed a child of GOD because The Holy SPIRIT withIN leads me to follow hard after CHRIST, conforming me more and more INto CHRIST's likeness, so that i may BE to the Praise of The GLORY of CHRIST -- my ALL IN ALL! \o/

i KNOW that NO one and NO thing can EVER separate me from the LOVE of CHRIST JESUS, my Beloved LORD! NO affliction, or turmoil, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword! i am FULLY convinced that NEITHER Death, nor Life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, NOR ANY OTHER created thing, will be able to separate me from the LOVE of GOD, which is IN CHRIST JESUS my Beloved LORD! \o/

Therefore -- the ONE THING i do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching, straining forward to what lies ahead, i PRESS ON -- one day at a time, one step at a time -- with ALL my Soul and Heart and Mind and Strength toward the Goal, for The PRIZE of the UPward call of GOD IN CHRIST JESUS. For i have been crucified with CHRIST, and it is NO LONGER i who live -- but CHRIST lives IN me. And the LIFE which i NOW live in the flesh, i live by FAITH IN The SON of GOD, Who LOVED me and GAVE Himself up for me (Galatians 2:20). 

BLESS The LORD JESUS, O my soul! ALL that is withIN me -- BLESS HIS HOLY Name! BLESSED BE The GOD and FATHER of my Beloved CHRIST JESUS, Who has blessed me with EVERY spiritual blessing in the Heavenly Places IN CHRIST! BLESS The SPIRIT of TRUTH, my HOLY Comforter and Source of LIVING Water! BLESS The ONE TRUE Living TRIune Sovereign GOD! AMEN. \o/

CONTEXT Matters to GOD

The BEST-known Bible verse is probably John 3:16 -- 'For GOD SO LOVED the World that HE GAVE His ONLY Begotten SON that whoever BELIEVES INto HIM shall NOT PERISH, but have EVERlasting LIFE.' (https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-john/the-love-of-god/)

You yourself probably KNOW it by heart--but do you REALLY understand, ACTUALLY comprehend its GREATness of meaning and WEALTH of doctrinal TRUTHs? John 3:16 is like a mountain peak with such GREAT elevation that the other great mountain peaks around it are over-shadowed and even remain UNclimbed. (https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-john/god-so-loved-2/)

But the CONTEXT of John 3:16 is revealed by The Risen LORD JESUS Himself in verses 11-21 as He enLIGHTens the highly educated, but spiritually DEAD Nicodemus -- a Pharisee, a ruler of Israel, a teacher himself, YET ignorant of the REALity of The TRUTH, YESHUA Himself -- The CHRIST of GOD, The MESSIAH of Israel. (https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-john/understanding-the-spiritual/)

CHRIST JESUS Himself said: 'TRULY, TRULY, I SAY to you, We SPEAK of what We KNOW and bear witness of what We have SEEN, and you do NOT accept Our witness. If I told you earthly things and you do NOT believe, HOW will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? And NO ONE has ascended into Heaven, but HE Who descended from Heaven, The SON of Man. And AS Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, EVEN SO MUST The SON of Man be lifted up; SO THAT whoever BELIEVES will IN Him have ETERNAL Life. (https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-john/the-nature-of-belief/)

'For GOD (The FATHER) SO (intensely and supremely, eternally and infinitely) LOVED the (perishing and ALREADY judged and condemned) World (of SIN-natured SIN-practicing Humanity), that He GAVE (delivered up to shameful degradation, excruciating crucifixion) His ONLY Begotten (NOT created) SON (Who IS CO-Equal, CO-Essence, CO-Eternal with The Holy TRInity), that whoever BELIEVES INto Him shall NOT PERISH (condemned INto EVERlasting HELL), BUT have ETERNAL Life (with GOD The FATHER and GOD The SON and GOD The Holy SPIRIT -- forEVERmore). For GOD did not send The SON INto the World to JUDGE (condemn) the (ALREADY condemned) World, but that the World (of hopeless, helpless, perishing Sinners) might be SAVED (from the Power of SIN, Satan, SELF -- from HELL EVERlasting) THROUGH Him (The Sacrificial LAMB of GOD, The PRINCE of Peace, The KING of kings and LORD of lords -- CHRIST JESUS Himself). (https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-john/man-and-his-need-of-salvation/)

'He who BELIEVES IN Him is NOT JUDGED; he who does NOT BELIEVE has been JUDGED ALREADY, because he has NOT BELIEVED IN the Name of the ONLY Begotten SON of GOD. And THIS is the JUDGMENT, that The LIGHT has come INto the World, and men LOVED the Darkness RATHER than The LIGHT, for their deeds were EVIL. For EVERYone who does evil hates The LIGHT, and does not come to The LIGHT lest his deeds be exposed. BUT he who practices The TRUTH comes to The LIGHT, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by GOD.' (https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-john/the-light-has-come/)

The LORD JESUS proclaimed: 'I AM The (ONLY) WAY, The (REAL) TRUTH, and The (EVERlasting) LIFE. NO ONE can come to The FATHER (IN the Heavenly GLORY) except THROUGH Me' (John 14:6). (https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-john/the-only-way-to-god/)

Friend -- your personal response to GOD's ONLY Way of SALVATION determines your IMmortal soul's ETERNAL Destination. Your stubborn rejection OR grateful acceptance of GOD's Invitation to His Kingdom of GLORY through His ONLY Begotten SON, CHRIST JESUS, seals your EVERlasting Place. Your willful UNbelief OR heart-and-soul FAITH in The TRUTH, The Incarnate WORD Himself -- cements your Eternal NOW. May you respond GOD's Way. AMEN. \o/

You MUST be Born AGAIN!

CHRIST JESUS Himself said -- "TRULY, TRULY, I SAY to you, unless one is born AGAIN -- he CANNOT see the Kingdom of GOD.

"TRULY, TRULY, I SAY to you, unless one is born of water and The SPIRIT he CANNOT enter INto the Kingdom of GOD. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of The SPIRIT is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You MUST be born AGAIN’" (John 3:3,5-7).

The Kingdom of GOD is the eternal RULE over ALL Creation of the BLESSED and ONLY Sovereign, The KING of kings and LORD of lords, Whose throne is in the heavenly realm of UNapproachable LIGHT. The Kingdom of GOD is the SPIRITual RULE over the hearts and lives of those who have trusted and believed in the SAVING Work of CHRIST JESUS. The Kingdom of GOD is the ETERNAL destination of the born AGAIN from Above.

To enter INto GOD's PERFECT Heaven, His utterly PURE and HOLY and RIGHTEOUS and altogether LOVELY Kingdom of LIGHT -- YOU must be utterly pure, holy, righteous and altogether lovely! Since every SOUL born physically is a SIN-natured SIN-doer, he cannot enter GOD's Holy Domain. GOD abominates SIN. And His hatred of SIN was demonstrated at The CROSS, where He smote His ONLY Begotten SON, CHRIST JESUS, for your SINs and mine. 

BUT at The CROSS where The LAMB of GOD was sacrificed to SAVE penitent SIN-natured SIN-doers like you and me -- GOD also demonstrated the UNsurpassed greatness of His amazing GRACE, the UNfathomable depth of His amazing LOVE, the INcomprehensible GLORY of His amazing SALVATION! HalleluYAH! \o/

'He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of REgeneration and reNEWing by The Holy SPIRIT' (Titus 3:5).

By the GRACE (UNdeserved Mercy and Favor) of GOD alone, through genuine FAITH alone, IN CHRIST alone (His perfect LIFE, atoning DEATH, historical RESURRECTION and witnessed ASCENSION back INto The GLORY of Heaven) -- repentant SIN-natured SIN-doers are quickened ALIVE from spiritual DEATHness! Believers IN The Risen LORD JESUS are REborn, REgenerated, REnewed children of GOD. HalleluYAH! \o/

https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-john/you-must-be-born-again/ -- What is so dangerous about the religious life? "It is the mistake of trying to grow BEFORE you've been born" (Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones). He says that often times people who claim to be Religious are trying to live as CHRISTians without actually being SAVED. They try to be Sanctified without being Justified.

https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-john/born-again/ -- Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks about the clear and visible marking of the TRUE CHRISTian in that the child of GOD ought to be more interested in the state of one’s SOUL than in their nationality, class, or ability. CHRIST-like LOVE is the one common language that binds the Church together.

THESE Things are TRUE JOY Always!

TRUE JOY is Holy, Serious, Deep... IT is the JOY of The LORD JESUS! THIS Pure JOY that was set before CHRIST strengthened Him SUPERnaturally to endure The CROSS of shame and torture and abandonment. THIS UNassailable JOY of GOD The SON was absolutely INdependent of earthly circumstances, of people that negatively impacted His Life on earth. And THIS same UNfathomable JOY of JESUS is available to ALL 2xborn Believers and Followers IN CHRIST! HalleluYAH!

The LORD JESUS Himself said to His disciples before His Crucifixion: "THESE THINGS I have spoken to you so that My JOY may be IN you, and that your JOY may be COMPLETE. THESE THINGS I speak in the world SO THAT they may have My JOY made FULL in themselves" (John 15:11; 17:13). What are "THESE THINGS" we must know and understand SO THAT the JOY of The LORD may be our REALity, our experiential JOY for the world to see for GOD's GLORY?

THESE THINGS are TRUTH. 'DO NOT LET your heart be troubled; BELIEVE IN GOD, BELIEVE ALSO IN Me. In My FATHER’s House are many dwelling places; IF it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And IF I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL come AGAIN and receive you to Myself, that where I AM, there you may be ALSO' (John 14:1-3).

For TRUE Believers IN CHRIST, there are NO IFs -- only AMENs! We who are born again from Above by the GRACE of GOD will be WITH The LORD of GLORY, IN His Kingdom of GLORY, even NOW positionally -- and actually, forEVERmore! HalleluYAH!

THESE THINGS are PROMISES of GOD. 'And I will ask The FATHER, and He WILL give you another ADVOCATE, that He may be WITH you forEVER; The SPIRIT of TRUTH, whom the world cannot receive, because it does NOT see Him OR know Him. You KNOW Him because He abides WITH you and will be IN you. I WILL not leave you as orphans; I WILL come to you' (John 14:16-18).

The Holy SPIRIT Who INdwells EVERY child of GOD is the Almighty ADVOCATE against the devil Satan. The SPIRIT of TRUTH illumines and transforms our MINDset with the Mind of CHRIST (1 Corinthians 2:16) -- GOD's TRUTH as WRITTEN in Holy Scriptures. The SPIRIT of The Risen LORD JESUS is our Comforter, Helper, TRUTH-Teller -- conforming the BLOOD-bought Redeemed into the Image of CHRIST, from glory to Glory to GLORY (2 Corinthians 3:18)! HalleluYAH!

THESE THINGS are HOLY Scriptures. 'Just AS The FATHER has LOVED Me, I have ALSO LOVED you; ABIDE IN My LOVE...Greater LOVE has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends IF you DO what I COMMAND you. NO LONGER do I call you SLAVES, for the slave does not know what his Master is doing; but I have called you FRIENDS, for ALL things that I have heard from My FATHER I have made known to you. You did NOT choose Me but I CHOSE you, and APPOINTED you that you would GO and BEAR Fruit, and that your Fruit would ABIDE, SO THAT whatever you ask of The FATHER IN My Name He may give to you' (see John 15:1-16). 

The born-again IN CHRIST are lavishly LOVED by The GODhead, are INtimate Friends of GOD, are CHOSEN Fruit-Bearers, are APPOINTED witnesses for the GOOD News -- richly supplied with GOD's sustaining Providence! HalleluYAH!

THESE THINGS include PEACE -- the INcomprehensible Peace of GOD that surpasses ALL human understanding (see Philippians 4:7). 'Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I AM not alone, because The FATHER is with Me. THESE THINGS I have spoken to you, so that IN Me you may have PEACE. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I HAVE OVERCOME the world' (John 16:32-33).

CHRIST's UNassailable PEACE was His KNOWing the REALity that His FATHER was with Him ALWAYS! And THAT is ALSO the REALity for the Believer IN CHRIST -- experiential PEACE from The PRINCE of Peace Himself. The LORD CHRIST JESUS IS The OVERCOMER of Death and Sin and Satan and the world system -- and IN CHRIST, we ALSO are more than conquerors (see Romans 8:37)! HalleluYAH!

THESE THINGS are PRAYERS of CHRIST for Believers. 'I ask on their behalf; I do NOT ask on behalf of the world BUT of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and ALL things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been GLORIFIED IN them... I have given them Your Word; and the world has HATED them, because they are NOT Of the world, even as I AM NOT Of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to KEEP them from the evil one... The GLORY which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be One, just AS We are ONE; I IN them and You IN Me, that they may be PERFECTED IN Unity, SO THAT the world may know that You sent Me, and LOVED them, EVEN AS You have loved Me' (see John 17:9-23).

TRUE Believers are prayed for by GOD The SON Himself (as our Great High Priest -- see Hebrews 4:14-16), are granted the highest privilege of glorifying His amazing Name, are kept by The ALL-Mighty FATHER, are LOVED by GOD The FATHER just AS He loves GOD The SON -- INfinitely, INtimately, Eternally! HalleluYAH!

THESE THINGS The LORD JESUS Himself 'have spoken to you SO THAT you may be kept from stumbling... SO THAT His 'JOY may be IN you, and that your JOY may be COMPLETE' (John 16:1; 15:11). Are you personally experiencing the exhilarating REALity of the Holy, Serious, Deep JOY of The LORD JESUS?

O magnify with me The LORD JESUS! GOD The SON, The CHRIST of GOD, is altogether WORTHY of ALL Praise and Honor and Worship and GLORY! \o/

WHEN (not IF) GOD my Holy FATHER has called me UP to be with my Beloved JESUS, His ONE and ONLY Begotten SON -- The LORD of my rejoicing Heart, The SAVIOR and LOVER of my immortal Soul -- i pray that GOD The Holy SPIRIT will use my other GAZILLION words for GOD's GLORY! \o/