Watching My Mom Transition & Being Inspired

Posted on by conquerorshots

I have not lost my mom to death even though I watched her breathe her last breath. The pain of knowing I can’t call her, visit her any longer is horrific. However, I know she is in Heaven where there is no more suffering to be had. I can only imagine how wonderful it is for her now. That brings me joy. I am thankful for all the years she labored teaching me God’s word rightly-divided. Here is a reflection I began in the hospital and completed today:

I am watching my mom transition into eternity. I can’t help but be reminded of all the years of service (50+) to others teaching God’s Word. My sister and I were her lifetime students. Through the years mom and I have cast an unknown number of seeds of faith in the gospel of the grace of God.

It is for this reason that I am sharing 1 Corinthians 3. Paul’s message in the text lines up with the intention of this writing. It makes no sense to argue, debate or even choose whose message is noteworthy. Gospel seed planting is a group effort with Christ being the LEADER of the group. It does not matter who plants the seeds or who waters the seed to facilitate growth. In fact no seed can thrive on one round of watering. It is necessary for regular hydration agriculturally and Spiritually. Most importantly, all lessons, sermons, publications, blog posts et al require God’s increase for Spiritually, effectual results. No man or woman has the power to cause one’s heart to yield to the authority of scripture. Therefore, we must avoid the temptation to expect or demand instant results when sharing the gospel.

Stop insisting the student/hearer must respond to the Word in the moment of delivery for spiritual validation. Also, avoid being bias to the teaching/preaching of one person. The text indicates that, under the Authority of Christ, God uses multiple vessels to deliver His Word. Be equipped to discern the Authority of Christ and His Word as it is delivered. Or be equipped to discern where man is attempting to deliver the word himself.

Mom taught me, while teaching Bible study throughout the Tri-State area when I was a boy, God is responsible for any and all results after we deliver the Word. All efforts to teach, preach, share or write the gospel should be seasoned with the Spirit. Then, the Holy Spirit adds the increase in accordance to the Father’s will. All the while it is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, sourcing His Word into His children. What a Mighty God we serve. I’ll see you in Glory mom!

What Shall I Render?

Posted on by conquerorshots

Do you struggle giving your first to the Lord?  Do you struggle with giving your last to the Lord? Are you a tither? Do you give church offerings sparingly or bountifully? Most of all, why do you give your offerings? If you do not practice this NECESSARY sacrifice, what prevents you from it?

The answers will undoubtedly cover a wide spectrum of opinionated responses that lack sound Biblical teaching. While Israel’s experiences provide a dominant viewpoint that is upheld throughout Christendom, I want to emphasize that long before God called out the Nation of Israel from the world through Abraham and his promised son Isaac, God has ALWAYS required a sacrificial offering from mankind. More specifically, whenever we are blessed by God OUR THANKSGIVING IS BEST ACKNOWLEDGED THROUGH OUR SACRIFICIAL GIVING.

Abel’s offering to God in Genesis 4 is the first example of sacrificial giving. His brother Cain’s response to God’s acceptance of Abel’s offering is still GREATLY felt throughout the USA. Men and women are still trying to defy God’s requirements for sacrificial giving by rationalizing their human works as a means to get God’s approval. Case and point: a professional legal secretary will bring his/her skills into the church and work on various auxiliaries where the skills are needed. They will give from a place of authority and certainty which is coupled with human merits. In doing so, they will naturally assume that God is pleased with their efforts. They give to the church body with their professional skills. But when the church offering is administered they will struggle with monetary giving because they rendered professional services that were NOT compensated.

God requires sacrificial giving! It literally means GIVING UP SOMETHING GOOD. Noah is the example that represents this best! In Genesis 7:2-3 God tells Noah to gather up every clean beast on the earth by 7’s, both male and female. For example, Noah was responsible for loading 7 male sheep and 7 female sheep. The Godly instruction gives rise to the DIVINE EXPECTATION FOR THE SACRIFICE. The breeding would be maintained by the 6 and the SACRIFICE IS THE 7TH! It is also a revealing appreciation for the PROVIDENTIAL WILL OF GOD CONCERNING MANKIND!

God gave Noah the instruction as He welcomed Noah and his family into the ARK. The UNIVERSAL DEATH OF THE EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS ENSUED. In Genesis 8 the rain ceases and God gives the instruction to exit the ARK:

Genesis 8:15-21 KJV
15 And God spake unto Noah, saying,
16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him:
19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.
20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

Noah did not build a house for his wife and family FIRST! HE BUILT AN ALTAR! His gratitude for SALVATION FROM THE UNIVERSAL DEATH compelled him to sacrifice one of every clean animal to God on the ALTAR. The altar of sacrifice has ALWAYS been a representation for the COMING OF JESUS CHRIST, HIS DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION. Genesis 8:21 once again infers God’s understanding of THE PLAN of REDEMPTION Christ would fulfill. Today God no longer requires blood sacrifice from animals BECAUSE OF OUR ONGOING FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST’S FINISHED WORK!

If you KNOW YOU ARE SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS, like Noah we are REQUIRED to give – “not grudgingly, not out of necessity. God loves a cheerful giver…”(2 Corinthians 9:7) Our cheer, willingness and sacrificial giving of our finances is an outward expression of the THANKSGIVING in our hearts and minds for SALVATION. Under the auspices of God’s grace PROVIDING the FREE GIFT OF SALVATION AND ETERNAL LIFE, we can NEVER give too much. At this stage of Christian development, financial giving, church service through ministry and talents and any other form of “giving” is acceptable and pleasing in His sight.

God’s Priceless Gift

Posted on by conquerorshots

Now that Christmas is over many of you received all kinds of gifts – expensive, inexpensive, thoughtful, thoughtless, etc. – which you are now getting accustomed to having. For example, someone got a new coat and is getting used to it being in their closet. Now he can include it in his selection of outerwear choices or, more simply, she now has a coat to wear as opposed to not having one prior to the gifting. Anyway you look at it, the coat is a blessing and its new owner continues to receive the benefits of the blessing every time he/she wears it and it actually protects her from the elements of the world – the cold, rain, snow, high winds and stormy weather.

gift_box_red_bowGod‘s priceless gift, Jesus Christ, who’s birth we are to celebrate on Christmas day, is a far better gift than any earthly gift we can receive. But once Christmas is over, and the earthly gifts have lost their splendor, many people are still uncertain about the reason for the season. They go on living life, trying to be righteous in themselves, doing the best they believe they can to get on God’s good side. Many are attending all sorts of religious assemblies to manifest a sense of spiritual praise that is heavily influenced by human practices that ease God (who created the Heavens and the Earth) out and allowing for the God of this world – Satan – to have his way. Others are maintaining some appearances of goodness which they feel is their reasonable service to get to Heaven, when all the while they live in  fear, terror, and absolute abandon to the truth of their spiritual salvation and their place in eternal life.

The idea of Heaven seems to be a potential place of arrival often overshadowed by the fantasy of alternative ideas made possible by human imagination. Ecumenical ideas exist -brought about by devout, scholarly theologians – which offer competing approaches to reaching Heaven that are based in worldliness rather than God’s Word. Furthermore, the denouncement of Hell as being a real destination in God’s Word continues to have a growing audience.  it is much more comfortable to assert that Hell is here on Earth. Once the Word of God is challenged as one of many sources for man to understand the future, all kinds of human approaches to Hell become viable alternatives.  Human hope purports Hell as an uncertain aspect of the future that won’t be as bad as it is described. The worldwide deception of the existence of Hell is obviously winning as people are more focused on getting their Earthly wealth and prosperity, and living their best life now rather than getting ready for Judgement Day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ, the priceless gift of God, is Lord.

Thankfully, God’s grace is still making ways for His priceless gift to save lives. You may know someone, or you yourself may have found this “shot” in order to be a recipient of God’s gift to humans. Let any and all know that this good news is available. Here is how His priceless Gift can be yours too:

By faith you can receive His gift – which has 2 parts!
By faith, believe that Jesus Christ was born to die on the cross for your sin- past, present & future – and He was buried and rose up from the grave and now sits on the right hand of the Father making intercession for you daily.    ***He loves you unconditionally.***    As you trust Him daily in your prayers to Him  (end your prayers “in Jesus name Amen.”)  your faith will mature & your life will be enriched more than you can possibly imagine. That’s Part #1 – forgiveness of sin.
Part # 2 is the best one – you are GUARANTEED Eternal Life IN Heaven.  By faith you know that you will spend your life after this life with Him in Heaven.


Here are some verses to help u in your developing faith:
Romans 10:9– because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
 10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.                       Rom 10:17 Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word of Christ.
Romans 12:1-2

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice — alive, holy, and pleasing to God — which is your reasonable service.
12:2 Do not be conformed to this present world,but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God — what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4.
Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand,
2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.
3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received — that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,
4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures


Galatians 2:20&21 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God,who loved me and gave himself for me.
21 I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!


Ephesians 2:8-10 (gift part #1) 8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.


Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of (faith) witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,
:2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

I John 1:8-10 8 If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9 But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

 

1John 5:13 (gift part #2) Assurance of Eternal Life    I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

May the grace of God wrap you in His everlasting care from this day forward. If we never meet in this Earthly life we will praise God together eternally in Heaven.
God bless you & Happy New Year.


Conqueror Ministries is always available for you to experience getting the “more” in Romans 8:37 on a daily basis.