Kingdom Seekers

Crosswalk Reading: Luke 18:18-23 "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me" (Lk 9:23) These words of Jesus set the supreme condition for discipleship. All the four Gospels record them. Actually in  Matthew and Luke this saying of Jesus is found twice (Mt 10:38; 16:24; Mk 8:34; Lk 9:23; 14:27; Jn  12:25). Many people come "to" Jesus; but very few come "after" Him. "Come to Me" was Christ's message to the  unsaved; "Come after Me" was His message to those who joined Him. Coming to Jesus means enjoying  privileges, primarily; but going after Him involves enduring problems, essentially. When we come to Jesus we  receive forgiveness of sins; when we go after Him, we must renounce our sinful self. The percentage of backsliders is high these days because the call to come to Jesus is proclaimed repeatedly  whereas the challenge to go after him is presented rarely. There are n...

   Hold Fast Your Confession Your confession is what you say. The Bible tells you to hang on tight to saying God's Word. HEBREWS 10:23 NKJ 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. God has no reason to tell us to hold fast, or hang on tight, to our confession, unless someone, or something, will be trying to get us to turn loose of it — and say something else. HEBREWS 3:1 NKJ 1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, HEBREWS 4:14 NKJ 14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Jesus is the High Priest of our confession — what we say. He represents us before God with the words we speak. The Bible says: You are righteous in Christ. Romans 3:22 You are forgiven. Colossians 2:13 You are healed. 1 Peter 2:24 You are ...

                   Talk Back To the devil MATTHEW 4:10 ESV 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written," 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" When Jesus was tempted by the devil, He talked back to the devil by quoting the written Word of God. You should do the same thing. Let's read the whole story. MATTHEW 4:2-11 ESV 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4 But he answered, "It is written," 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written," 'He will command his angels conc...

        Overcome That Problem You Face I JOHN 5:4 NIV 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Yes, we do face difficulties in life, but they only give us an opportunity to trust the Lord and overcome. Without problems we would have nothing to overcome, and thus not be able to receive all the blessings promised to those who do overcome. There are seven promises given to overcomers in the second and third chapters of Revelation. Here is the last one: REVELATION 3:21 NIV 21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. As you face the problems of life, keep your eyes on your destination, just as Jesus did. Walk close to God and depend on Him. He will not fail you. I JOHN 4:4 NIV 4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in y...

       How God's Word Will Make You Free John 8:31-32 NRSV 31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." Notice carefully what Jesus actually said. It is not those who "start in the word" or "try the word for awhile" who will be made free. You must continue in Jesus' message -- His Word. It must be His accurate message -- not just someone's idea of it, or tradition. Some translations use the word "abide" instead of "continue." Abide means to stay somewhere continually. Either way, the meaning involves staying with it. Note that Jesus said in verse 32, "and you will KNOW the truth . . ." Just hearing the truth does not necessarily make you free. You must KNOW that it is the truth. When you KNOW something, you will act on it. If you are not acting on something, yo...

            You Are A Citizen of Heaven PHILIPPIANS 3:20 NRSV 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you have a new citizenship. Your name is written in Heaven. Heaven is your homeland. Because you are its citizen, Heaven is responsible for you. If necessary, Heaven will send its soldiers (angels) to assist you, and when necessary, to evacuate you. Although we live on earth, we operate under the laws of our homeland, Heaven, as well as the laws of earth. As a citizen you have certain rights and obligations. To understand them you need to read the Bible with the help of illumination by the Holy Spirit. You need to ask the Lord to teach you and give you understanding of these things. COLOSSIANS 1:13 NRSV 13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, As believers, we are...

Psalm 34:18 (New International Version) The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Ac cording to   Wikipedia   brokenhearted is defined as a common metaphor used to describe the   intense emotional pain or suffering one feels after losing a loved one, through death, divorce, moving, or being rejected or neglected or other means. For me it can also be defined as a state of being discouraged and demotivated due to various reasons. Can you identify with this feeling? Can you see yourself in this state right now? Or maybe a better question is have you been broken-hearted before? The Lord through His WORD had said,   "He is close to the brokenhearted" .   Praise the Lord!   That's one more promise that each one of us can cling onto. God is actually saying that when people   reject   you, when people   leave   you, when people   neglect   you, when everyone else   deserts  ...