What Do I Have To Do To Be Saved?

John 3:3 says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

To be saved you must turn away from sin, believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and receive Him by confessing Him as Lord and Savior of your life.

Here is the step-by-step process. First, you must consider your life and then turn away from everything in it that is contrary to what God wants. This turning away from selfishness and toward God is called repentance, (Mathew 3:7; Acts 3:19).

Second, you must acknowledge, and believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross to forgive you of sin. You take Him as your Savior to cleanse you from sin- as the substitute who paid the price due for your sin, (Romans 5:9-10; Titus 2:14).

Believing means to trust in, have faith in, and to be fully convinced of, fully relying on what you are acknowledging. It expresses reliance upon and a personal trust that produces obedience.

Third, you must ask Him to be Lord of your life, acknowledging openly and verbally that Jesus is not only your Savior, but your Lord, (1 John 2:23).

The Bible says that as many as received Him were given the power to become the sons of God, (John 1:12). So when you open your heart and receive Him, He comes into your heart- your inner person- through His Holy Spirit, and begins to live His life in you. From that point on, it is your privilege and call to confess what God has done, (Romans 10:9).

The power is now established at the beginning of every Christian's life in Christ, through this process. His continuing working in our lives is advanced by the same means through faith, the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things unseen.

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What Sin Particularly Blocks The Flow Of Kingdom Power!

Please read the passage of Scriptures in Mathew 18: 21-35 concerning the parable of the unforgiving servant.

Lack of Forgiveness blocks access to the kingdom and to its marvelous power. (See also Mathew 6:5-15; and also Mark 11:22-26)

The first person you probably have not forgiven is yourself. More people lack forgiveness toward themselves than anybody else. They are unwilling to forgive themselves and recognize that God says, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12). If you are a believer, He has already cleansed your conscience from dead works so that you might serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14). God cleanses us for service in order not to leave us with the guilt of past sin. That should all be dead, buried, gone, and forgotten.

"If our heart does not condemn us," the Bible says, "we have confidence toward God" (1 John 3:21). Obviously, we cannot have continuing sin in our lives and expect forgiveness. We have to be free from ongoing conscious sin and rebellion against God. But if we are walking in the light, and walking in forgiveness, then the blood of Jesus Christ is continuously cleansing us from all sin (1 John 1:7).

The second person we have to "forgive," if we have bitterness, is God Himself. There are people who blame God because a child died, because a husband ran away, because they have been sick, because the have not had enough money. Consciously or unconsciously they think all of these things are God's fault. There is a deep-seated resentment; yet you cannot be resentful toward God and experience kingdom power flowing in your life: you have to rid yourself of any bitterness toward God. That may take some soul searching. You must ask yourself, "Am I blaming God for my situation, or circumstance?"

The third person you may have to forgive is a member of your family. You have to get rid of resentments, especially toward those closest to you. The husbands, the wives, the children, and the parents- All must be forgiven when slights and resentments have built up in family situations. Many people say, "Well, I didn't think that counted. I thought it was just a family matter." All lack of forgiveness has to be eliminated, especially toward family members.

Finally, there has to be forgiveness for anybody else who has ever done anything against you. It may be that your resentment is justified. The person may have done a very evil, or terrible thing against you. You may have every legal and intellectual right to hold a grudge and to hate that person. But if you want to see kingdom life and power flow in your life, it is absolutely imperative that you forgive.

Forgive them to the point where you actually feel yourself cleansed of resentment and bitterness and are actually praying for them. If you do not, the lack of forgiveness will make it impossible for God's power to be released to you, in you, and through you. The miracle of life depends completely on your relationship to God the Father. That relationship is built strictly on the strength of His forgiveness of your sin.

The bottom line is that forgiveness is the key. Other sins can be present, and if your heart condemns you for something else, then of course you do not have confidence before God. But it is a lack of forgiveness that most often comes between people and God.
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Righteous Anger!

.....Anger is an emotion that is part of being made in the image of God. Like all other emotions such as love, joy, and sadness it was not tainted by sin. After the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, sin entered into all man. Since then all these emotions have been expressed sinfully including the emotion called anger. Righteous anger is a reaction to wrong doing or sin. This definition of wrong doing or sin is based upon the Bible and not a subjective notion. The Bible must be our guide. This provides the framework which delimits the meaning of righteous anger.

.....How do we know that there is such a thing as righteous anger and that anger was originally part of being made in God’s image? We know that God is perfect. He does not and cannot sin. If there are passages in the Bible that say that God is angry and we are made in God’s image then we will know that anger was part of our original emotional make up. The Bible is replete with the demonstration of God’s righteous anger, from Genesis to Revelation! In fact, the final judgment of the world, Satan and his demons is a demonstration of His righteous anger! Here are some other examples of God’s righteous anger.

Exodus 4:14 , “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.” – Moses was called by God in the burning bush to lead Israel out of Egypt. Moses had been giving reasons why he was not suitable. All the reasons were legitimate and very carefully refuted by God until Moses was left with no more reasons other than to either accept or reject the calling of the LORD. Before this passage, Moses had asked God to send someone else. That was why God reacted in righteous anger to Moses’ unreasonable disobedience.

Exodus 32:10 , “Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.” – Prior to this incident the LORD had spoken directly to the people of Israel with the Ten Commandments out of Mount Sinai. The people’s response was that they would accept the Ten Commandments and obey them. The LORD had been communing with Moses up on Mount Sinai for the past forty days and forty nights. At the foot of Mount Sinai the people, out of impatience, instigated Aaron to make a golden calf and called it the god who brought them out of Egypt. The LORD was very, very angry as the phrase “waxed hot” depicts. Moses prayed and persuaded the LORD not to punish Israel. But when Moses went down later, he experienced the same intensity of righteous anger as the LORD. Exodus 32:19 records, “And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.” The phrase used to describe the LORD was also used to describe Moses to demonstrate that the righteous anger of Moses was a legitimate anger for believers to experience. Out of this righteous anger, the immediate response of Moses was to break the tablets of stone where the Ten Commandments had been written by the finger of God. Then he “took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and cast it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it” (Exodus32:20 ). Then Moses said these words recorded in Exodus 32:26 , “Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.” Moses’ actions were swift and immediate. The serious nature of the sin committed resulted in 3,000 deaths. These were killed by the Levites who said to Moses that they wanted to be on the Lord’s side. Then it was followed immediately by forty days and forty nights of fasting and prayer by Moses inside a tabernacle set a short distance away from the rest of the camp. This intercessory prayer of Moses resulted in God sparing Aaron’s life. But the serious nature of this sin of the golden calf also resulted in the LORD further plaguing Israel. Exodus 32:35 says “And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.”

.....Righteous anger is right anger. If we do not have righteous anger it is a reflection of a lack of love for God, His truth, justice and everything that is pure and good. If we feel no righteous anger when the Lord Jesus Christ is maligned and attacked, we fail the Lord. If we feel no righteous anger when the perfect Word of God comes under grievous attack, especially by people who claim to be defenders of God’s Word, we have sinned. When we love God and His perfect Word with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and they are attacked, righteous anger must well up from within us. When we see God’s people and especially pastors, elders and deacons fall into heinous sin such as idolatry and adultery, we must be angry just as God and Moses were angry with the sin of Israel when they made the golden calf! Our response must also be immediate action, not hesitation and delay in order to maintain “peace” and not to rock the boat! God will surely punish and will definitely not reward them for sin committed, and so must all who love God and His perfect Word take appropriate action!

.....Some people have a wrong understanding of anger, believing that it is always wrong to be angry. This is a worldly and erroneous belief. As a result of this erroneous belief they sincerely believe that to have a ‘cool as cucumber’ demeanor is always best. Even when the perfect Bible or God or Christ comes under attack they show no emotions at all. They are placid and behave like a dead or deaf man! Their passive and emotionless behavior might even be perceived as being ashamed of Christ!

.....Righteous anger is justified and godly. It reflects a healthy spiritual walk with God where the Christian’s emotional make-up is likened to that of God’s. The closer one walks with God, the closer one is like God in all things including the demonstration of the emotion called righteous anger!
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Basic Insights On Knowing God's Will!

God's Will Involves People

God so loved a world full of people that he gave His Son...
It's all too easy for us to become more concerned about things than people today.
If this happens we will always miss the real joy of knowing God's will.

Knowing Basic Needs Removes Fear Of People

Many people have a fear of talking to others.
There is a way of overcoming this fear.
If we were walking down a neighborhood street and happened to see a gathering of people sitting the porch in front of their house, many of us would probably experience a certain fear about the idea of saying hello, concerned with intruding upon their gathering.

However, if we were to see that the roof of their home was on fire, we would overcome our fear instantly. We would be sure that the message we had to give them was one of great importance and one which they needed to hear. We would be quite confident that they would immediately recognize the importance of our message.

So what is our problem with sharing our Christianity with them and others?

1John 4: 17-18 says, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness...
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear."

God Has A Special Concern For Christians

It is quite easy for us to become spiritually discouraged with the spiritual immaturity of some Christians today, and decide that we will not bother with them, but instead will concentrate on only reaching those who are not saved or heard the Gospel.

It is important for us to proclaim the Gospel to those who have never heard. But when there are already Christians in the area, it is also important to bring them up to their full maturity in Christ. If we don't do this, their immaturity will cause others to stumble, and we will know how to solve similar immaturity in those we lead to Christ.

This is the main reason we are able to "Do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household faith."
Galatians 6: 10

In determining God's will for our lives, one of the most important questions we must ask ourselves is: "How can I help the Christians around me to mature and by doing so, beautify the Body of Christ?"

We Are To Assume Responsibility For The Reputation Of Our Lord Jesus Christ

When one member of the Body of Christ sins, (Missing the mark), or displays spiritual immaturity, the reputation of Christ is damaged and the whole Body of Christ suffers. When David sinned with Bathsheba, in 2Samuel 12: 14, Nathan the Prophet stated, "... by this deed thou has given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme..."

Because of this, Hebrews 3: 13 says, we are to "exhort one another daily... lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." Just as the corpuscles in our blood surround a wound in the skin, laying down their own life and dieing, in order to stop the infection from spreading, we too are to "lay down our own lives for the brethren." 1John 3: 16

Three Types Of Christians Exist In Most Church Groups

When I had the privilege of working directly with a few churches and youth groups, I could always expect to find three types of Christians: Those that were cold, those that were spiritually hot, and those that were in between.

I soon learned why the in between or "lukewarm" Christians were and are nauseating to God.

Revelation 3: 15-17 says, "I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot: I would rather see that you were cold or hot. So then because thou are lukewarm, and neither cold or hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have no need of nothing , and knowest not that thou are wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.

Cold Christians needs are fulfilled from the world and all it has to offer. They view lukewarm Christians as having no difference between them. The reason is "No Conviction." Their thoughts are, "He is closer to God than I am, but He does the same things I do!"

While cold Christians see the difference between them and the hot Christians. They can see that their needs are focused and centered around Christ. They can see the "Conviction" by which they live. Their thoughts are, "His life is so different from mine. I want to know what he is doing differently than me, maybe I had better start doing something about it."

2Chronicles 7: 14 says, "If my people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God." 1Peter 4: 17

God's Will Involves Leading Those For Whom We Are Responsible To Spiritual Maturity

When we determine which individuals are under our spiritual care and purpose to give ourselves to the high calling of leading them to spiritual maturity, we have established the basis for a fulfilling ministry in our lives. Then, as God allows us to experience death to our natural inclinations, we will discover His way of responding to life's situations. We are then... "able to comfort others who are in trouble, by the comfort where with we ourselves are comforted by God." 2Corinthians 1: 4

We Are Responsible To Deepen Our Message.
God Is Responsible To Broaden Our Ministry.

We are prone to be concerned with how many people we are reaching with the Gospel. But God is only concerned that we bring those we reach to spiritual maturity. Colossians 1: 28 says, "Those who become mature are then able to reproduce the life and character of Christ in others as well."

God's Will Involves The Message We Develop More Than The Job We Are Doing

As each one of us dies to the natural inclinations of our old ways, which were contrary to the Word of God, and as we experience the life of Christ by applying the principles of His Word to our daily lives, we build a "Life Message."

God desires that each one of us becomes a "Living Epistle." 2Corinthians 3: 2
As we do, we will experience more and more joy. Proverbs 15: 23

God has chosen us and ordained us that we should go and bring forth fruit, and that our fruit should remain. John 15: 16

2Peter 1: 4 says, "God has given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we might be partakers of His divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in this world."

May this help you on your journey today!
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Temptation

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Sin will always take you farther than you are wanting to go.
Keep you longer than you are wanting to stay.
And cost you more than you are willing to pay.

.....Today I wish to speak truth into your life about Temptation. We all face temptations everyday in our own lives, sometimes causing us to sin, or miss the mark of the upward calling that God has and desires in our lives. I shall also try to convey how temptation works, and also the 7 stages of temptation.

.....Let's start with 1Corinthians 10: 12- 13 which says, "Therefore let him who think he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

Some things to note from this are:

1. We are in dangerous territory when we think we can't fall.
2. Your temptations will always seek to overtake you.
3. Your temptations are not unique to you, but are common to all of us.
4. God never abandons you in temptations due to his faithfulness.
5. God never permits any temptation to go beyond what you are able to bear.
6. God always makes the way of escape in every temptation.
7. God always limits every temptation so that you will be able to endure it.

.....James 1: 13-17 says, "Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."

Let's note a few things from this scripture also:

1. God is never the ultimate source of any evil temptation.
2. God is always the ultimate source of every good gift.
3. Every temptation purposefully seeks to deceive
4. Every temptation becomes a temptation when you are drawn away from God's plan for your life.
5. Every temptation can only temp you because of your own desires.
6. Every temptation attempts to cunningly entice you, into making the wrong choice.
7. Every temptation has only one ultimate goal, which is to make you sin.

Remember, There is always free cheese in a mouse trap.

Let me show you the 7 stages of temptation from the above scriptures so that you have an awareness from now on:

• He is drawn away ..........The Look
• By his own desires ..........Your Lust
  
• And enticed .........The Lure
• Desire has conceived .........The Conception
• It gives birth to sin ..........The Birth
• And sin when full grown ..........The Growth (Maturing)
  
• Brings forth death ..........The Death (Separation From God)

.....There is a way to deal with temptation in our lives today. I call it the Quick Signal Principle. Anytime we are tempted, that is our signal that we need to turn to God, for the way of escape. God has already given us the way of escape. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth, and The Light, (John 14: 6). We have The Way through His Son's Finished Work, who has already defeated the enemy. The Truth, in His Word, which is our standard to compare everything to. And The Light, to lead us out of the darkness, lighting our path so that we may not stumble. Setting us Free to serve Him, fulfilling our calling in life.
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The Temptations Of Christ!

.....Mathew 4: 1-11 says, "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward hungry. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto Him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil took Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto Him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil left Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him.

.....Today I would like to take a look at the temptations of Christ, and share some things concerning this. But before we do, let us take a look at the real meaning of the word tempt. In English, the word tempt has a uniformly and consistently bad meaning. It always means to entice a man to do wrong, to seek or seduce him into sin, and try to persuade him to take the wrong way. But the Greek word for tempt, "Peirazein," has a quite different element in its meaning. It means to test.

.....An Old Testament example of this would be the story of how narrowly Abraham escaped sacrificing his only son Isaac. Genesis 22: 1 says, " And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham. Now clearly, the word tempt here did not mean to seek or seduce into evil. We all know that it is quite unthinkable that God would try to make any man sin or do wrong. What is quite clear here is the true meaning, "After these things God tested Abraham." A supreme test of loyalty. Just as metal has to be refined and tested far beyond any stress and strain that it will ever be called upon to bear before it can be put to any useful purpose, so a man has to be tested before God can use him for His purposes. What we call temptation is not meant to make us sin; it is meant to enable us to conquer sin.It is not meant to make us bad; it is meant to make us good. It is not meant to weaken us; it is meant to make us emerge stronger, and finer, and purer from the ordeal. Temptation is not the penalty of being a man, temptation is the glory of being a man. It is the test which comes to a man whom God wishes to use. So then, we must think of this whole incident concerning Jesus, not so much as a tempting, but a testing.

.....So why did the test that Jesus had to endure have to take place in the wilderness? Because Jesus had to be alone. His task had to come to Him, and God had spoken to Him. He had to think and ponder as to how He was to attempt the task which God had given Him to do. He had to get things straight in His mind before He started out on His mission, and He had to be alone to do this.

.....How many times do we often go wrong simply because we first never try to be alone with God, and to receive the instructions for what He has called us to do. There are certain things today which every man has to work out alone, with God. And, there are times when no one else's advice is any good to him. Such times is when a man has to stop acting, and start thinking. We all would and could make less mistakes in life today if we would just set aside the time, as Jesus did, to be alone with God. So please, take some time out of your day today, to be alone with Him.
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For Those Now Struggling With Sin

Let me ask you:

Have you ever tried to save a drowning man?

.....The trouble is that his F.E.A.R. ( False Evidence Appearing Real) prevents him from trusting himself to you. When this happens, there are only two ways of helping him. Either you knock him unconscious and then drag him to shore, or leave him to struggle and shout until his strength gives way before you rescue him. If he has any strength left, he will clutch on to you and drag you under and you will both drown. God is waiting for each of us to totally exhaust our strength before He can deliver us from the exact sin that we are wrestling with in our lives today. Once we have ceased to struggle, really "Let Go, and Let God", then and only then, will He do everything that needs to be done to remove that sin or Life Controlling Issue from you and your life. So my advice to you today is surrender and sit. When we seek to do it ourselves, we place ourselves back under the Law, which is absent of His Grace and Mercy. Mathew 11: 28 - 30 sums it up pretty well, " Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." The secret of deliverance from sin, any sin, is not in doing something, it is in sitting, (setting yourself apart), finding, (seeking the Truth), and resting, (accepting and renewing the mind), on what God has done. Let God's Truth Set You Free.
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Thought of the Day

.....If I put a dollar bill in an envelope, and then burned the envelope, where is the dollar bill?.....

.....It has gone the same way as the envelope, - to ashes. Where one goes, the other goes too. Their history has become one.

.....God has put us in Christ. What happened to Him, has also happened to us. Romans 6: 5-8 says, "For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him."

.....This fact is not something to struggle with. It is actually pretty simple, it's our history, written in Christ before we were born. Romans 6: 11 says, " You also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." You just have to consider it, or see it.

.....Now that you see it for yourself, rest upon this fact. You have now found a secret leading to a Holy Life.
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COVENANTS

.....Psalms 25: 14 says, "The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant."


.....My goal today is to give you a little bit of background about covenants, and show you in the Bible, three different styles of covenant that God developed.


.....Covenant in Genesis 17: 7 -- in Hebrew, the root word is Berit (Beh-reet), which was a pledge, treaty, or agreement made between two. The foundation of any relationship on which all promises are and should be based upon. Note that curses always came upon those that broke covenants, Jeremiah 11. In the Old Testament, God initiated the whole action, set the conditions, and defined the parameters, for the establishment of a covenant. Examples of some of the covenants made in the Old Testament were with Noah, Abraham, Moses, Israel, and the Levites

Noah - Genesis 6: 18, God's protection from flood and disaster.

Abraham - Genesis 15: 18, First blood covenant, based on a sacrifice, with the promise of prosperity.
..................- Genesis 17: 4, Promise to be the father of many nations. An oath confirmed also to Isaac, and Jacob

Moses - Deuteronomy 10, The Ten Commandments

Isreal - Exodus 31: 16, Perpetual covenant, keeping of the Sabbath

Levites - Numbers 18:19, Covenant of salt, heave offerings, tithe offerings for the priests

.....Covenant in Mark 14: 24 -- in Greek, the root word is Diatheke (Dee-ath-ay-kay), which is a will, a testament, a pact, a contract, or an agreed-upon plan to which both parties subscribe. In the New Testament, Jesus ratified a new covenant by His death on the Cross, because no man could keep from breaking the Ten Commandments, explained in Hebrews 7: 22. In Luke 22: 20, Jesus shed His blood for us, giving us a better covenant, with better promises, Hebrews 8: 6. This was prophetically spoken by Jeremiah 31: 31- 40. Also, the Law cannot annul the covenant confirmed before God, in Christ, (Gal. 3:17). That is why the 1st covenant (The Law) is obsolete, growing old, ready to vanish away, (Heb. 8: 13).

.....The three styles, types, or levels of covenant today are the Shoulder to Shoulder or Side-by-Side, the Face-to-Face, and the Back-to-Back.


.....In the Shoulder to Shoulder covenant, (shallow), God established this in Genesis when He created Eve to be Adam's helpmate. Today, it is seen in dating, and common cause situations, such as community revivals, benefit drives for the needy, crusade marches, and political events. A laying down of personal agendas for a greater good.


.....In the Face-to-Face covenant, (a little deeper), referred to Genesis 32, where Jacob had to see himself and admit he was a deceiver. Then and only then God could and would deal with his heart. This level requires total honesty, with ourselves first, then with God, and then with others. We try to get a blessing without dealing with the issues that are hindering us. Until we do, we can develop no honest, healthy relationships with others and God. We just keep ending up wearing those religious masks. Marriage would be seen as a Face-to-Face covenant today.

.....In a Back-to-Back covenant, (a blessed level of relationship), we come to the understanding that this is the least complicated and yet most powerful. (1 Chronicles 11: 13 - 14, David and Eleazar) A covenant of total trust and reliance upon each other.


.....Let me put this all in the proper perspective, I want to take you back to the crucifixion of Christ. When Christ was on the Cross, the Bible says that, "He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we may be made the righteousness of God in Christ". We also know from the Word of God, that He could not look upon sin, and that, "The punishment for sin was death". So here's God at the crucifixion, looking at His Son, Jesus, who then becomes sin for you and me, (the sin of the world). At that point, the sin, being placed on Jesus, for us and as us, separated Him from His Father. God had to then turn away from Him. Jesus is completely alone at that moment. We know that because He cried out, " Father! Father! Why have you forsaken me?" God had turned away from His Son, (Back-to Back), and was then able to turn to us, (Face-to-Face). God had total trust in this covenant He was establishing when He heard His Son say, "It Is Finished!" Isn't that Powerful? Here is the least complicated part. For us to enter into this covenant today, all we have to do is believe in our hearts, and confess with our mouth, the Finished Work of the Cross and Christ! (Romans 10:9-10). That is it, because God has reconciled the world to Himself through His Son. For us to enter into that new covenant, all we have to do is believe and receive!
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