HIS Story is my story

HIS Story is historical FACT. HIS Story is FULL of GRACE and TRUTH. HIS Story is The EVERlasting GOOD News of REDEMPTION by the GRACE of The ONE TRUE LIVING GOD -- The FATHER, The SON, and The Holy SPIRIT -- THE Source and Fount of ALL Eternal GLORY.

HIS Story is the REALITY i am utterly privileged and JOYfully obligated to fearlessly proclaim: HE IS Himself 'The WAY and The TRUTH and The LIFE.' No one can even approach GOD The FATHER of GLORY but by HIM -- The LORD of GLORY. HE IS Himself The PATH to Eternal GLORY, Himself The REALITY EVERlasting, Himself The RESURRECTED CHRIST of GOD -- The LORD and The SAVIOR of Creation, of SIN-natured, sin-DOers -- like me.

HIS Story is my own personal LIFE-story. To me, 'TO LIVE IS CHRIST -- TO DIE IS (exceedingly rich, UNspeakable) GAIN!' i KNOW without ANY shadow of doubt that GOD IN CHRIST caused and continue to cause ALL things, ALL circumstances, ALL relationships -- whether good or evil -- to work together for my personal GOOD because i love HIM Who first LOVED me, Who CALLED me by name according to HIS Plan which HE Purposed IN CHRIST even before HE began Time and created the visible and INvisible realms of HIS Universe.

BECAUSE of HIM Who has lavished His INcomparable LOVE and Boundless GRACE upon me; BECAUSE of HIM Who gave up His LIFE for me; BECAUSE of HIM Who quickened me ALIVE to NEWness of LIFE IN CHRIST -- i am compelled by GOD's overwhelming LOVE to speak IN spirit and IN TRUTH about The GLORY of the GRACE of GOD, as demonstrated by The GLORY of HIS SALVATION THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST, as made REALity for ALL Born-Again Believers and Followers IN CHRIST by The GLORY of the SUPERnatural RESURRECTION POWER of The Holy SPIRIT.

The HIStory of CHRIST JESUS my GOD and Master, The LORD of GLORY Who bought (PAID-IN-FULL) my ETERNAL soul with His own BLOOD -- is my personal GOOD News to proclaim, The HIStory in which i am not ashamed, The HIStory in which i make my only boast. For by the GRACE of GOD alone -- i am what i am... IN CHRIST JESUS -- united with HIM in The GLORY -- forEVERmore! \o/

Authentic CHRISTians Gladly Serve GOD

'IF it is disagreeable in your sight to serve The LORD, choose for yourselves TOday whom you will serve -- whether the gods which your fathers served...  or the gods...in whose land you are living -- but as for me and my house, we will serve The LORD.' (Joshua 24:15)

 

i've chosen to serve The LORD -- The One TRUE Living GOD Who canNOT lie, who is The Just JUDGE of His creatures, Who acts with INfinite WISDOM, INcomprehensible LOVE, UNchanging HOLINESS and INfallible TRUTH.

i've chosen to serve The GOD Who gives the Breath of LIFE to ALL (whether yet inside the womb or outside), Who is SOVEREIGN Ruler of the destiny of ALL creation. i've chosen to serve The GOD of Law and Order, not of chaos and rebellion -- The GOD of The Holy Scriptures Whose written WORD is INfallible TRUTH revealed and to be obeyed.

i've chosen to serve The GOD Who SO ABOMINATES ALL SIN and yet SO LOVED sin-natured, utterly helpless, PRIDE-dominated doers of SIN that HE commissioned HIS One and Only SON to be The CHRIST Who died for the SINs of the world and Who is RISEN from the Dead so that repentant SIN-doers may be forgiven and quickened ALIVE to divine EVERlasting SPIRITual LIFE that is a GIFT from GOD Himself.

The GOD i am privileged to serve TOday is my Almighty FATHER Who lives in the UNapproachable LIGHT of His Heavenly KINGdom, Whose very SON JESUS The CHRIST declared The REALITY: 'I AM The WAY and The TRUTH and The LIFE. NO ONE comes to The FATHER except THROUGH Me' (John 14:6).

'The LORD  ​— ​The LORD is a Compassionate and Gracious GOD, slow to anger and ABOUNDING in FAITHful LOVE and TRUTH, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, FORGIVING Iniquity, Rebellion, and Sin. BUT He will NOT leave the GUILTY UNpunished, bringing the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.' (Exodus 34:6-7)

The LORD i serve is a GOOD GOD. His GOODness is what is "admirable, attractive, praiseworthy -- ALL His moral Perfections, His Generosity, His Mercy, His Grace, His LOVE. HE is The LORD Jehovah, The I AM What I AM, The SOVEREIGN Savior -- Compassionate and Gracious, slow to anger, ABOUNDING in LOVE and Faithfulness, maintaining LOVE to thousands and FORGIVING wickedness, rebellion and SIN. YET He does NOT leave the GUILTY UNpunished."

The LORD GOD i serve is 100% PERFECT in ALL His GOODnesses -- "His TRUTHfulness and TRUSTworthiness, His UNfailing Justice and Wisdom, His Tenderness, Forbearance and ENTIRE Adequacy to ALL who penitently seek His Help, His NOBLE Kindness in offering Believers the EXALTED Destiny of Fellowship with Him in Holiness and LOVE... GOD NEVER COMES SHORT of the GOODNESS to which HE has laid claim." (notes from J.I. Packer's "Knowing GOD" p.161)

Who do YOU serve TOday? god of SELF... the gods of THIS world... the father of lies that is the Devil? OR do you NOW serve GOD IN CHRIST JESUS?

The GRACE of GOD and The Graces of The Holy SPIRIT

WHAT is the GRACE of GOD?

J.I. Packer in "Knowing GOD" wrote that "GRACE means GOD's LOVE IN ACTION toward people who merited the opposite of Love. GRACE means GOD moving Heaven and earth to SAVE sinners who could not lift a finger to save themselves. GRACE means GOD sending His Only SON to The CROSS to descend into Hell so that we GUILTY ones might be RECONCILED to GOD and RECEIVED into Heaven. 'GOD made CHRIST Who had NO Sin to BE Sin for us, so that IN CHRIST we might become the Righteousness of GOD' (2 Corinthians 5:21).

"The New Testament knows both a Will of GRACE and a Work of GRACE. The former is GOD's ETERNAL Plan to save; the latter is GOD's 'good work IN you' (Philippians 1:6), whereby He CALLs you into a Living Fellowship with CHRIST (1 Corinthians 1:9), RAISES you from Death to Life (Ephesians 2:1-6), SEALS you as His own by the GIFT of His SPIRIT (Ephesians 1:13-14), TRANSFORMS you into CHRIST's image (2 Corinthians 3:18), and will finally RAISE your body in Glory (Romans 8:30, 1 Cor 15:47-54).

"WHAT is the PURPOSE of GRACE? Primarily to RESTORE our Relationship with GOD. When GOD lays the Foundation of this restored Relationship, by FORGIVING our sins AS we TRUST His SON, He does so in order that henceforth we and He may LIVE in Fellowship. And what He does in RENEWING our nature is intended to make us CAPABLE of, and ACTUALLY to lead us into the exercise of Love, Trust, Delight, Hope and Obedience GODward -- those acts which, from our side, make up the REALITY of Fellowship with GOD, Who is constantly making Himself known to us. This is what all the Work of GRACE aims at -- an EVER deeper Knowledge of GOD, and an EVER closer Fellowship with Him. GRACE is GOD drawing us sinners closer and CLOSER to Himself.

"HOW does GOD in GRACE prosecute this purpose? NOT by shielding us from assault by the World, the Flesh and the Devil, nor by protecting us from burdensome and frustrating circumstances, nor yet by shielding us from troubles created by our own temperament and psychology -- BUT rather by EXPOSING us to ALL these things, SO as to OVERwhelm us with a sense of our own INadeqacy, and to drive us to CLING to Him more closely.

"This is the ULTIMATE reason, from our standpoint, WHY GOD fills our lives with troubles and perplexities of one sort or another -- it is to ENSURE that we shall LEARN to HOLD Him fast. The reason the Bible spends so much of its time reiterating that GOD IS a STRONG Rock, a FIRM Defense, and a SURE Refuge and Help for the weak -- is that GOD spends so much of His time bringing home to us that we ARE weak, both mentally and morally, and dare NOT trust ourselves to find, or to follow, the RIGHT road.

 

"GOD wants us to feel that our way through Life is rough and perplexing, so that we may LEARN thankfully to LEAN ON Him. Therefore He takes steps to drive us out of SELF-confidence to TRUST IN Himself -- in the classical Scriptural phrase for the SECRET of the godly Life, to 'WAIT ON The LORD.'" (J.I. Packer, "Knowing GOD" -- pp.249, 250)

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones in his sermon "The Fruit of The SPIRIT" -- expounds that Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control are GRACES of GOD. With the apostle Paul, authentic CHRISTians can JOYfully and gratefully say, 'By the GRACE of GOD, I am WHAT I am' (1 Corinthians 15:10), for by The Holy SPIRIT dwelling withIN the Born-Again Child of GOD, the Fruit of The SPIRIT -- these GRACES of  GOD -- are being cultivated and grown by GOD Himself so that CHRIST-likeness may be manifested more and more in GOD's children.

LONGSUFFERING is a GRACE of GOD that is certainly much needed in TOday's troubled world. The COVID pandemic, economic woes, political havoc, social unrest, family and relationship problems -- the REALITIES of Life seem overwhelming. What happens to LOVE, JOY, PEACE when these stress-FULL pressures come like a flood?

Dr Lloyd-Jones "challenges the listener to examine the REAL fruit exposed when a person is under pressure. A TRUE CHRISTian will demonstrate the Fruit of The SPIRIT. As a CHRISTian faces SUFFERING, TRIAL, DISCIPLINE, and PERSECUTION, it will reveal the nature that is being built withIN. Do trials and sufferings produce PERSEVERANCE, LONGSUFFERING, and HOPE? When one is cut, do they bleed the Fruit of The SPIRIT? When they are reviled, do they revile in return? Does the CHRISTian entrust themselves to GOD who judges justly? Do the pressures of Life reveal a GROWING Patience, Kindness, and Meekness that is GROWing in the Soul?" (from "The Fruit of The SPIRIT" by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones -- https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons-online/john-1-12-13/the-fruit-of-the-spirit/)

LET us carefully and prayerfully EXAMINE our own life to see whether the pressures of Life REVEAL a NEW creation IN the Soul -- OR a Soul IN NEED of NEW Life. \o/

The LIGHT is The TRUTH -- The WORD Himself

WHY is the World as it is TOday? WHAT is the source of the World's current mayhem, the present chaotic culture, the rock-bottom REASON for the cause of all the UNhappy events, volatile UNrest, UNmistakable DARKNESS that can be plainly discerned by any REASONable MIND?

IGNORANCE -- Ignorance of TRUTH. Ignorance of REALITY. Ignorance of the TRUE Nature of GOD and of the TRUE nature of his own SELF.

Man's PRIDE of his intellect, PRIDE of his education, PRIDE of his ethnicity -- PRIDE of SELF -- has made him IGNORANT to his own IGNORANCE that he himself is IN DARKNESS and IS DARKNESS himself.Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached that the world is as it is today because of IGNORANCE -- ignorance of WHO GOD IS, ignorance of WHAT man REALLY IS. The world is as it is today because of the DARKNESS in the world itself -- and the IGNORANCE of man NOT KNOWing his OWN IGNORANCE -- NOT REALIZING that the DARKNESS is withIN his own HEART, his own MIND, his very own deepest SELF."The world is in a current state of DARKNESS that has pervaded EVERY aspect of human history since The FALL. Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones notes that this DARKNESS is twofold in that it is not only a state of IGNORANCE that mankind is IN, but that the DARKNESS is also withIN man's HEART, as manifested by his LOVE of SIN and HATRED of CHRISTian Doctrine. However, GOD has sent Believers The Holy SPIRIT, who through enLIGHTening the Believer's eyes to The TRUTH about GOD and the GLORY of His Salvation, enables them to be LIGHTs themselves in the persistent DARKNESS." (The LIGHT Shines In The Darkness -- by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones -- https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons-online/john-1-5/the-light-shines-in-the-darkness/)

The LIGHT is CHRIST JESUS. He Himself proclaimed, "I AM The LIGHT of the world. IF you follow Me, you won't have to walk in Darkness, because you will have The LIGHT that leads to LIFE" (John 8:12).

 

 And what is enLIGHTenment but TRUTH-fullness? And the REAL FULLness of TRUTH is only found in the very Person of CHRIST JESUS Himself. HE is The WAY to The TRUTH. HE is The LIGHT that leads to The LIFE with RESURRECTION POWER, that is lived out before the HOLY Presence of GOD, in His Kingdom of MAJESTY and GLORY.

 

CHRIST JESUS Himself proclaimed, "I AM The RESURRECTION and The LIFE. Anyone who BELIEVES INto Me will LIVE, even after dying" (John 11:25).

Do you have The LIGHT that leads to The LIFE, to The RESURRECTION? Do you KNOW this very LIGHT that pierces the Darkness -- this TRUE LIGHT that the Darkness can NOT spiritually discern or comprehend, and can NEVER extinguish or overcome?

The LIGHT of TRUTH is CHRIST JESUS Himself. The LIFE to Heavenly RESURRECTION is The LORD JESUS, SON of GOD. Has The LIGHT pierced the Darkness of your own SOUL? Do you have The LIGHT -- CHRIST JESUS Himself as your WAY to The FATHER?

 

Do you BELIEVE the Word of The WORD Himself -- The WORD Who IS GOD made Flesh -- Who left His GLORY and MAJESTY with The FATHER in the Heavenlies, to come into His OWN Creation as a helpless human Baby, to grow up sinless and blameless, yet rejected and persecuted by His own people, so that He can pay with His OWN shed BLOOD, the just penalty and punishment of SIN-natured men and women like you and me by Crucifixion -- the utterly most horrific method of execution ever devised by SIN-full man.

Do you have The LIGHT of JESUS shining withIN your soul, withIN your heart of hearts? IF so -- are you shining your JESUS-LIGHT in the Darkness of 2021?

When one has The LIGHT, he or she is IN CHRIST -- with EVERlasting JOY unspeakable! \o/

("The LIGHT Shines IN The Darkness" -- by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones -- This post was written after listening to the sermon several times. Though it was preached in October 1962, the timeless TRUTHs expounded are SO very relevant today, 2021 -- especially with the very challenging trials that so many individuals, as well as the nations of the world, are experiencing. Dr Lloyd-Jones' message is one of HOPE, despite the REALITY of today's UNcertainties.)