Mislead Through Starvation

True Faith Means Continued Growth

We have been talking about Spiritual Food. We have been talking about the fact that in order to have True Faith, you must continually feed your Spirit. Starting with Milk, and then leading to more substantial and meaningful nourishment. When you are born, you start out with the Milk in your Mothers Breast.Then as you grow, you start eating Pureed Foods, then Mechanical Foods {all chopped up}, then finally Solid Foods.

The same is for those who are Born again, in the Spirit. You are not going to start off by learning who Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are. It really doesn't matter to your Salvation. No, you will not need to understand how long a Sabbath Day Journey is. You do not yet have Eyes to see, Ears to hear, and your Spirit is an infant. Not yet capable of understanding such things..

But what happens if once you are Born, you stop eating all together? Yup. Not only with you fail to grow, but you will die all together. So you must continue to eat. However, WHAT you eat, is just as important as eating in of itself. Just like our Bodies, if we fill our Spirit with Junk Food, it will not be as healthy as it would with a Healthy Diet. Garbage in, garbage out. If you fill your Spirit on a daily bases with the things of this world, and even with things of Religion, you may find your Spirit sick, starving, and you make even Spiritually die.

Just like our Bodies, if you eat a pound of Bacon for Breakfast and Lunch, washing it down with a two litter of Soda, then for Dinner washing it down with a Six Pack of Beer, having say a pound or two of candy for desert, you will not be healthy..

This {Holding up the Bible} Is Fruit, Vegetables, Meat we need to grow our Spirits Strong, Healthy, and make us Wise. This is Holy Food. Or WHOLE Food. This {Holding up the Bible} is the perfect Food. Any time I even walk into a Church, if they hand me anything other than this {Holding up the Bible}, I know that there is an issue with that Church.

What is this? "This is our Book. This tells you what to eat, wear, what time to go to bed. The days you have to observe, the way you need to Pray. This is our Book. It tells you all about our Founder, and his Vision of this Church. We will talk about the Bible of course, But we will be discussing things in our Book as well.. "

Now I understand, that in some cases, that is like candy. Oh it is SWEET, tasty, and oh so good. You can get caught up in learning all about that particular Church. You may find it fascinating.You may even feel it makes sense. But if you do not have a Solid Foundation, or you fail to continue to eat WHOLE Foods that is this {Holding up the Bible}, you can become misled.

I had a friend. Very devoted Woman of God. She was not shy. Problem is, She became whatever Church she was going to at the time. In other words, she came in and told me "Never wear the color Red. It is the Color of the Devil." It is? "Yes, and women should NEVER wear Pants." OK. Then for whatever reason, she would leave that Church and go onto another. She then showed up wearing bright Red Lipstick. Wait, huh? She then told me "You are listening to Devil Music. Any Music that has drums in it is of the Devil because Drums are make of Snake Skins.." I thought they were made of Calfskin or synthetic materials, but OK. Then drums were OK, but I had to eat nothing but nuts and berries. You get the point..

Remember Jesus warned us against such things as well.

"Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition."

Think about that for a second. That IS Religion. We take the Word of God, and we pick and chose what we want to follow and what we want to ignore. Then we create Religions to teach these things. Remember, He is talking to religions folks here. Priests, and such.

"Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

Teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men. Just because you may be following the traditions of men, doesn't mean you are following God's Word. Or HIS Teachings. {Matthew 15:1-9}

Paul, in a rather fiery Letter to the Church in Galatia, writes this..

"Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." {Galatians 1:7-9}

Then a little bit latter Paul makes this statement..

"O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?"{ Galatians 3:1}

Basically, in a nutshell, the Galatians heard the Gospel, accepted it, Started a Church based on it, but then, for reasons unknown to Paul, started to teach things NOT in the Gospel. Instead of teaching Salvation by Faith, they were teaching that you not only could, but HAD to, WORK your way to Heaven. Their emphasis was on what they were doing, rather than on God's work in them. Their focus was on things dealing with the senses. The senses are that of the Physical and NOT Spiritual. They had more faith in themselves, in their own works, to save them than they had in Jesus's Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Intercession. They did not see or know God clearly enough, and the absence of Him in their lives created a void that was quickly and easily filled by these false ideas.

The word that Paul used, "foolish," means unintelligent or unwise. He was not trying to insult them, well, maybe, but he was telling them, they know no better. They should, but they do not, know what they are doing is wrong. Remember, in Paul's letter to Timothy, he warned him this...

"If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself."{1 Timothy 6:3-5}

Remember Jesus warned us that if we do not know the Truth, WE could be misled...

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." {Matthew 24:24}

What does this mean? YOU are the elect. You did not stumble upon this Blog, or just by happenstance, end up watching that TV Preacher, or come to this Church by accident. You were called out. You were chosen by God. He led you to this message. He led you to this or that Church. He called you out of the World. He fills you with His Spirit. He gives you to Jesus. You have little to do with it save saying "Yes." "I accept Jesus's sacrifice for me." Now if that is all you do, and you do not eat the Bread of Life. You do not feed your Spirit with Whole Food {Holding up the Bible}, you will remain a Child, or worse, you can fall away altogether.

The simple truth is, if you do not know the Truth, you will believe the lie. Your Spirit is hungry. It wants something to believe in. It wants to be filled. If you do not allow God to fill it with good and whole Food, it will be filled with junk. Know the Truth. Then it will not matter how charismatic, or smooth tongued, or even how right it may sound, you will never fall for the Lie. Do not be mislead through the starvation of your Spirit.. Eat up..

Do you know Jesus as your Savior? Have you been adopted into the Family of God? If not, say this Prayer. Right now. Wherever you may be. Say it in your own words, and do not doubt in your heart. God will hear you. He will send the Spirit of Life to you. Let us Pray..

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus's sacrifice for me. I repent my sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"

That's it. It really is that simple. Now go tell someone what you have just done. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." {Romans 10:9} You need to find a Church that God leads you to, and be Baptized the way Jesus said to be. You are now a Child of God. A new Creature. You "have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." {Colossians 3:10}

If you want to tell me, or comment, question, give testimonials, or just say "Hi," the Email is opntalk@gmail.com

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. {2 Corinthians 13}

Until next time, be Blessed, be a Blessing, and Jesus IS Lord..

Feeding Your Spirit To Grow

True Faith Means Continued Growth

Have you eaten today? Did you have a big Breakfast? Or did you have a huge Dinner last night. So you are good right? You do not need to eat again. Right? Good luck with that.. No, you really do need to eat again. If you do not, all that energy and nourishment that you put into yourself , will be spent, and if not filled up again, your body will shut down and die..

Just like your physical body will starve and shut down with the lack of food, your Spiritual Body needs food continuously or it will shut down and die. Remember when Jesus was being tempted by the Devil? The very first temptation was physical.

"If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."

Remember, Jesus had not eaten in 40 days. What was Jesus's response?

"It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

You can read of this exchange in Matthew 4.. What Jesus is talking about here is that Life is more than physical food. When Jesus was telling us about our needs will be met {Matthew 6:26} He said this..

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"

Just like you when you were an infant, you have to start out with the Milk. You are not ready for solid food yet. You need to understand that Jesus is Lord. You need to understand that He came and died for you. Yet rather, that He resurrected to overcome Death, Hell, and the Grave, so that you do not have to. You need to understand John 3:16. You need to understand the Love of God. You need to believe..

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." {Romans 10:9}

You need to understand the Basics. As Jesus told us...

"He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." {John 12:44-48}

You see, you are not going to eat a Steak fresh out of the Womb. You are not going to understand some of the Mysteries of the Word, and of God, right from day one that you are Born again. But just like the fact you grow physically, you start eating food of more substance, you need to eat Spiritual Food of more Substance. Paul put's it this way..

"We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." {Hebrews 5:11-14}

Paul is saying to them, you should know this. But we cannot talk to you about these things because you will never understand them. He said, instead of them being Sowers of the Seed, Teachers of Truth, and Showers of the Way, they need someone to teach them the Basics. He even list some of them.

"Repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment." {Hebrews 6:1-2}

Paul warns that if we, as Children of God, fail to grow, fail to continue to learn, we can fall into a trap. We fail to lay for ourselves a solid foundation, we can be misled and fall away from God's Plan and Purpose for our lives. If we, as Children of God, fall away from the Truth, he warns us, that we will be worse off than them who have never been Saved. Paul puts it like this..

"It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace."{Hebrews 6:4-6}

If there was any doubt, Paul later states this...

"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,"{Hebrews 10:26,29}

Then this...

"Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?"

Wait, Are you saying that you can lose your Salvation? Well, some say "Once Saved always Saved." But then we would not have Free Will. Right? If you come to me, and say, please adopt me into your family. I agree. However, I tell you to be a part of my family, I will require from you the same as I would require from all my children. If you are a faithful and good Child, you, as with all my children, will inherit part of my vast estate and fortune.

However, you have Free Will. Lets say you decide to stop coming to my house. You decide to go off and do your own thing. You decide to forsake me and my family. That is totally your choice. By doing this though, you are disqualifying yourself from all my blessings and promises. I can not bless you, help you, or even love you, if you are no longer with me. As in all things, the choice is yours.

This is why it is so very important, I believe now more than ever, for you to feed your Spirit EVERY DAY. If you feed from The Word, your Spirit will grow older, stronger, and wiser. Jesus warned us that...

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." {Matthew 24:24}

We will discuss this more in detail next time. The bottom line is, our Spirit needs food to grow, become strong, and stay healthy. Just like our Bodies, if we fill our Spirit with Junk Food, it will not be as healthy as it would with a Healthy diet. Garbage in, garbage out. You must Read God's Word. You must Pray. You must go a Church that God leads you to and become an active member. Not just a Pew Warmer. But an active member.

As you grow, you will need Spiritual Food of more substance and Spiritual Benefit. Instead of Milk, you will be eating Steak and Potatoes. However, do not forget this fact, if you do not feed your Spirit, you will not, nor can ever, grow. Your Spirit will never grow, mature, and become healthy. Do not starve your Spirit. It would not be a good thing..

Have you been Born Again? Do you know Jesus as your Savior? Have you been adopted into the Family of God? If not, say this Prayer. Right now. Wherever you may be. Say it in your own words, and do not doubt in your heart. God will hear you. He will send the Spirit of Life to you. Let us Pray..

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus's sacrifice for me. I repent my sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"

That's it. It really is that simple. Now go tell someone what you have just done. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." {Romans 10:9} You need to find a Church that God leads you to, and be Baptized the way Jesus said to be. You are now a Child of God. A new Creature. You "have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." {Colossians 3:10}

If you want to tell me, or comment, question, give testimonials, or just say "Hi," the Email is opntalk@gmail.com

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. {2 Corinthians 13}

Until next time, be Blessed, be a Blessing, and Jesus IS Lord..

True Faith Means Continued Growth

Never stop learning..

Hey folks,

I want to spend a few times we get together to explain a concept, that is in essence, the whole reason TAG exists. You see, I am not all about finding the lost, and leading them to Salvation. I will. Of course I Pray that people that have never heard the Truth will find it. Of course I Pray for an unlimited number of Salvations daily. Of course I end every Message with this.....

Do you know Jesus as your Savior? Have you been adopted into the Family of God? If not, say this Prayer. Right now. Wherever you may be. Say it in your own words, and do not doubt in your heart. God will hear you. He will send the Spirit of Life to you. Let us Pray..

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus's sacrifice for me. I repent my sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"

That's it. It really is that simple. Now go tell someone what you have just done. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." {Romans 10:9} You need to find a Church that God leads you to, and be Baptized the way Jesus said to be. You are now a Child of God. A new Creature. You "have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." {Colossians 3:10}

But this is not the main reason TAG exists. The main reason TAG exists is to feed Christians with the Truth According to God. To help Children of God, find nourishment in The Word of God. To help Children to grow Spiritually. If someone that does not know God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, finds the Truth through TAG, GREAT. All the Praise and Glory be to God in the Highest..

However, it is EXTREMELY important, Vital even, that you never stop learning. Never stop growing. Never think for one second, you know it all. Trust me, you really don't..

Just like your Body, you have a Birth. You grow. You mature. Your Spiritual Life is the same. You have a Birth. You grow. You mature. Or at least you should. Remember, Jesus said this..

{John 3}

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Now this is a confusing statement. This is not today. Today we say it all the time. Today there are whole Religions that call themselves "Born Again Christians." But this was the very first time anyone heard the phrase "Born Again." So Nicodemus asked Jesus what He meant by this..

"How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?"

Then Jesus answering him said this..

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."

We will be discussing this Truth for the next few times we come together. We will start with this, "Birth." Then we will be talking about the food we need. Then we will wrap it up with what comes next.

So Jesus continues in John 3...

"And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

Jesus tells us that HE is the only way, that we must believe on Him to be Saved. The Word put's it this way..

{1 Peter 1:3}

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"

Paul writes this....

{Romans 6:3}

"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"

And...

{Colossians 3:9-11}

"ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all."

So what happens when you become "Born Again" is that the old you dies off. The old you, full of Sin, is Crucified, and the new you is born into the world..

Think about this for a few seconds. How many of you out there are Parents? I will never forget the Birth of my first Son, Joshua. The Pregnancy. The trips to the Hospital for "False Alarms." The Labour of my Wife. The actual Birth and the first time I saw my baby Boy. All loving and fond memories.

I did all the right stuff. I went and made sure I had the right Car Seat. I made sure the house was "Baby Friendly." I even had a Nurse check to see if the Car Seat was correct. They wheeled my Wife out and a Nurse is holding our Baby Boy and I help my Wife up out of the Wheelchair. Then the Nurse turns, hands me this Baby and says, "Congratulations Dad. Good luck." Then she walks away...

Wait. What? Here I am holding this perfect little Human. This completely helpless, and precious, little person. The little Child who can do NOTHING for itself. This little Child who knows NOTHING. I am hold him in my arms and I have just become, his FATHER. Now what? I actually remember asking my Wife, "Did you get the instruction manual to go with this?"

Jesus said,,,

{Matthew 18:3}

"Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

Why? Because as newborn children, we know NOTHING. We can do NOTHING. We need our Father to teach us. We must, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby" {1 Peter 2:2} You have to drink the Milk. Be led by the Spirit. Allow yourself to be molded into that of which God wants you to be..Totally innocent, ever learning, never doubting, God and His Authority.

As much as I may have wanted to, give Joshua Prime Rib, or a Five Course Meal every night, I could not. Why? He was just a baby. He did not even have any Teeth yet. He was unable to eat Red Meat. The same is true for Babes in Christ. Paul put it this way..

{1 Corinthians 3:1}

"But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ."

Why did he made such a statement? Because it is true. You see, once you become a Child of God, you know NOTHING. You will not know, nor understand who Gabriel is. You may have no idea what King David did to Uriah the Hittite. Or even who the Holy Spirit really is. You may not understand that Jesus is coming back as a Conqueror and Destroyer. Or that the World is heading for self destruction. But you know what? None of that even matters. What does? You learn the simple things. Who is Jesus? What did He do for YOU? Repentance of Sin. ETC.

You must learn and lay for yourself and solid foundation of truth.. However, God never intends for you to stay as Babes. Just like the Milk, the simple things, God wants you to take in as much as possible "that ye may grow thereby:" You will not understand all things in the beginning. But you are not really meant to. However, you cannot stay a Baby forever. We will be talking more about growing up in Christ next time.

If you said this Prayer....

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus's sacrifice for me. I repent my sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"

You have been Born again. You have been adopted into the Family of God, through the Adoption of the Holy Spirit, through the Sacrifice of Jesus. Take to the Nipple. Enjoy the Milk. Open your eyes and look around. Explore your new World and understand that you will need to Grow Up before you know it..

If you want to tell me, or comment, question, give testimonials, or just say "Hi," the Email is opntalk@gmail.com

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. {2 Corinthians 13}

Until next time, be Blessed, be a Blessing, and Jesus IS Lord..