Church of the First Born

"Is anybody listening?" We've all asked that question a time or two. It tends to creep in when our faith is waning. When we look at our circumstances, present and future, and forget about the faithfulness we've seen in the past. When we lose sight of the promise and focus on the problem.  When your faith needs a jump start, do a quick review of God's faithfulness throughout His word and throu...

It's been said that those who stand for nothing will fall for anything. We can take it a bit further and say that those who don't stand on the right thing, will fall because of anything. If we aren't standing surefooted on the The Truth, we won't have the power of its sure foundation and we'll be sure to fall when tested. We need to know The Truth; we need to stand firm on The Truth; and, when the...

The things we go through are intended to strengthen us and draw us closer to God. Unfortunately, our responses to trials many times prevent this from happening. Our relationship with Him will determine the outcome. When faced with a trial, will you be found among those who complain, doubt, and flee or will you be among those who draw close and depend on Him?

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." The fear of anything else will have substantially less positive results. 

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Hope is a critical thing to hold on to. Without hope, people fall into despair. What you put you hope in is just as critical as having it. If you put your hope in temporal things, it will come and go as those things can and will. If you put your hope on eternal things, your hope will be anchored and will pull you through any circumstance.

The degree of effort we put toward something is determined by how seriously we take it. There are many things that we don't do as well as we should because we don't take it as seriously as we should. Guarding our hearts may very well be one of them. What if we took guarding our hearts as seriously as it should be? What if we guarded our hearts as if our lives depended on it? 

To "workout your salvation" carries the idea of constant effort. We are only as healthy, both physically and spiritually, as the effort we put into maintaining our health. We need to regularly, if not constantly, ensure we are maintaining a healthy heart. If not we may find ourselves in a place where we are fulfilling religious requirements instead of maintaining a right relationship.

The last place you want to find out you have a physical heart problem is in the back of an ambulance after it has failed you. By then it is probably a little too late to fix things.  The last place you want to find out you have a spiritual heart problem is the day you stand before your Savior and find out your heart was not right. That everything you've done, even for Him, was an outward exer...

Abiding isn't a temporary thing. It doesn't come and go as things in our lives go up and down. To abide, your heart has to be in it. If you heart isn't completely in it, the tendency is to quit as soon as things get tough or don't go your way.

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Even the smallest things done today can have a much bigger impact than we can fully comprehend. The things we do today can have an eternal impact. The fact is, we won't be known for the things we do for today but what we do for eternity.  This realization raises the question "is what I'm doing today counting for eternity?" 

There is only one Truth and there is only one Gospel.  Christ died on the cross as a payment for the sins of all mankind. He was buried and rose again on the third day. It is faith in this work of Christ that saves us and nothing else. Any other gospel preached by anyone else is wrong.

A Holy God deserves and needs a holy people. A people led by and empowered by His Holy Spirit. A people that imitates Him and represents His Kingdom. 

Everything Jesus did for us was motivated by love and to restore what was lost in the Garden. Everything He did was of the Father's will but of His own volition.

Any mission from God will be met with opposition. The hardest opposition to overcome is many times the battle that takes place in the mind. Victory is much more likely if you're listening to the correct voice, but the loudest voice may not be the right voice.

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Each day we are faced with choices. Choices that, though they may not feel like it, can lead to life or death. Each day we have to choose to prepare and soften our hearts. Each day we have have to choose to commit to perseverance. Each day we have to choose to listen for and hear His voice.

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Faith without works is dead, but what works really count? What things that we are doing today will count for eternity? Only things done out of a love of Christ will count. Any other motivation, such as personal gain or glory, will not produce eternal rewards. Are the things you do today motivated by a love for Christ or something else?

The thing that speaks the loudest into your life will influence your life. If the loudest thing speaking into your life isn't The Truth you won't be led by The Truth. If the loudest thing speaking into your life doesn't offer real peace, you won't have the peace that passes all understanding. It is important to ensure the loudest thing speaking into your life is the right thing. Anything leaves ro...

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The world is in a lawless state, cutting the ties from the standard God has set and setting their own. This gives the appearance that the enemy is advancing his agenda but we know the truth. We know it is actually God's agenda that is advancing. We know that these things are just a signal and that now that they have begun to take place, our redemption is drawing nigh.

What do we do now? A question we have all asked ourselves and others. A question that has one right answer. The answer to the question what do we do now is the same thing we should have been doing all along, preparing and aligning ourselves, our vessel to hear the Holy Spirit's direction. Only a properly prepared vessel can contain the "new wine" that the Holy Spirit pours out. If we are not prope...

Now is not the time to be picking and choosing what portions of scripture we want to read and cling to. We need to have the whole counsel of The Word in order to have the whole benefit.  To use The Word as an effective shield, it can't have any weak spots. To be able to test and know deceit, we need to know the truth. To have hope and confidence in Jesus' coming, we need to be purifying ourse...