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A sharing of Christian video sermons delivered globally by Archbishop Foley Beach
Episodes
Friday Jun 09, 2023
Friday Jun 09, 2023
Our Awesome God -- Part 3: Trinity; Jesus, the Christ
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
We pray and sing to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – the Trinity: one God and yet three persons in the one God. All analogies fall shot in explaining an incomprehensible God and the Trinity. The Trinity is a mystery, and the word Trinity is not found in the Bible – the Bible has inferences to the Word Trinity and each of its component persons without naming the overarching word “Trinity”. However, the authority of speaking about the Trinity comes from the Bible.
During the first few centuries of the Church, Christians wrestled with how to describe and communicate God in writings and teachings. These early Christians, in their study of the Scriptures, saw that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all Devine; however, they knew that God was one. Therefore, these early Christians concluded that the Scriptures taught that there was only one God; but that the Father is God, the Son is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God – what we now call the Trinity.
Today, we will look at the second person of the Trinity – Jesus. Jesus is the rock upon which Christianity is built. Typically, we refer to “Jesus Christ”; however, “Christ “is not Jesus last name. “Christ” is a title that means Messiah. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, is viewed from three perspectives: 1) the pre-incarnate Christ; the incarnate Christ (God man); and the post-incarnate Christ.
In John 1:1-5, the Apostle John tells us that the pre-incarnate Christ was the Word (Logos) and in the beginning. Also, the pre-incarnate Christ was a person, but He was: with God, a deity (God), and a participant in the Creation. Also, the pre-incarnate Christ, in the Old Testament, is referred to as “The Angel of the Lord” (Exodus 3:1-18). Whenever The Angel of the Lord appears in the Old Testament, God ends up being referenced as the person speaking. In John 8:58, Jesus removes all doubt that He was God, The Angel of the Lord, speaking to Abraham in Exodus 3: “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’".
In John 1:14, the Apostle John identifies the God-man Jesus, the incarnate Christ, as God: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.". Jesus was the person of God’s Son and He was Devine. In the year 325, leaders from all over the Church met in Nicaea to debate and understand who Jesus was. These Church leaders came out of this meeting saying that Jesus was co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father. In the Incarnation, Jesus remained God; but, also, Jesus became fully a sinless human – Son of Man and Son of God.
The incarnate Christ was crucified, and He was resurrected; and He is living today as the post-incarnate Christ. As the post-incarnate Christ, Jesus is the reigning and redeeming Christ. Also, we are told that the post-incarnate Christ will return. Therefore, Jesus is the visible expression of the invisible God. It is because of Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, that we are able to have access to the first person of the Trinity – God the Father. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are inseparable because they are one God together in the Trinity.
We are God’s children; but God, our Father, has no grandchildren. Jesus tells us in John 14:6-7: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’". The understanding of the Godhead and the Trinity are a gift to us through our Salvation brought to us by Jesus.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): John 1:1-5; Exodus 3:1-18; John 8:58; Exodus 17:1-6; 1 Corinthians 10:4; John 1:14; Luke 1:35; John 14:6-12; 1 Corinthians 15:3-11; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 1:19-24; Revelation 19:1-21; Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:15; Ephesians 2:18.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Jesus Followers’ Righteousness Will Flow, with the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit, from Their Heart Through Their Personal Relationship with Jesus”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Friday Jun 02, 2023
Friday Jun 02, 2023
Our Awesome God -- Part 2: Trinity; Our Father
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
We worship an awesome, majestic, exalted God. We worship our God with extreme wonder. Our awesome God has revealed Himself as Trinity – three persons of the Godhead comprising one God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all coequal. We worship Him in extreme reverence, fear, and wonder. All analogies fall shot in explaining an incomprehensible God and the Trinity. The Trinity is a mystery, and the word Trinity is not found in the Bible – the Bible has inferences to the Word Trinity and each of its component persons without naming the overarching word “Trinity”.
Today, we are going to look at the Fatherhood of God – the first person of the Trinity. God is beyond gender, but He has revealed Himself as Father in the Bible. In the Old Testament, God is constantly referred to as Father. In the New Testament teachings of Jesus, we are presented with a new level intimacy with God the Father. As in Jesus’ “Parable of the Prodigal Son” in Luke 15:11-32, the father gave his son his independence and freedom of will when requested by the son so that he could stray, but the father was always looking for the return of his son, just as God, as our Father, looks for our return to Him from our sinful lives. The father in Jesus’ parable exhibited both “mercy” and “grace”, just as God our Father provides us “mercy” and “grace” through the Cross and the Resurrection. Jesus, through His parable, wants us to know that God loves us and God desires a relationship with us.
Today, the implications of God our Father to us are: 1) we are adopted into God’s family; 2) the Father makes us Spiritual persons – God gives the Holy Spirit; and 3) God the Father allows us to become “Spiritual Heirs” – including an inheritance of eternal life. It is because of Jesus that we can have access to this loving Father.
We cannot rely on someone else for our relationship with God – we are God’s children; but God, our Father, has no grandchildren. Jesus tells us in John 14:6-7: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’". The understanding of the Godhead and the Trinity are a gift to us through our Salvation brought to us by Jesus.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM RIGHTEOUS IN GOD’S EYES. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Psalms 68:5; Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 64:8; Malachi 2:10; John 14:23; John 20:17; Matthew 6:9; Ephesians 4:6; Romans 8:15; Luke 15:11-32; John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 6:8; Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:16; Romans 8:17; Ephesians 2:18; John 14:6-7.
WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Jesus Followers Have a Personal Relationship with the Creator of the Universe So Pray, Listen, and Be Patient for God’s Call”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Friday May 26, 2023
Friday May 26, 2023
The Day of Pentecost – The Promise Fulfilled (All Saints Anglican Church; Peachtree City, GA)
In 1900, a Roman Catholic Nun obeyed the voice of the Lord, and she wrote to Pope Leo encouraging him to pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This request began a chain of events: a nun wrote a letter; a Pope and his Cardinals prayed; and the world received a Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit through many Christian denominations during a great revival in the early twentieth century.
Today, the world, along with all of us, needs to be renewed with a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost, initially, was about: people being filled with the Holy Spirit; people received Spiritual gifts; and people witnessing for Jesus. On this initial day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and preached a sermon. Afterwards, he was asked: “What must we do to be saved?”. Peter responded in Acts 2:38-39: “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.’". These events of the initial Pentecost and from the various revivals of the 20th Century relating to the Charismatic Movements are normal Christianity; this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is what God intends for His people. If we are going to have a growing relationship with Jesus, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit who enables us to know and commune with the Lord. The Holy Spirit will never lead followers of Jesus in any thing that contradicts the Bible, God’s Word. In recent times, there have been teachings, regarding the Holy Spirit, that do not conform to the Bible.
Too many of us are trying to live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit. The question is asked: “When do we receive the Holy Spirit?”. We cannot put God in a box regarding a timing for the receipt of the Holy Spirit. However, a better question is: “Have we received the Holy Spirit?”. We are told in John 3:8: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.". Therefore, the real question should be: “Does the Holy Spirit have me?”. Until we surrender our lives to Jesus, the Holy Spirit cannot indwell our lives and lead us. The best answer to the timing our receipt of the Holy Spirit is: “We should receive the Holy Spirit every day.”. We should pray every day for the Holy Spirit to fill us.
We know that, if we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are given the “fruit of the Spirit”, as described by Paul in Galatians 5:16-26: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." If we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we will bear the fruits of the Spirit and not the flesh. However, if we sin, we are not in the Holy Spirit. Pentecost reminds us that if we yield our lives to the will of God through the Holy Spirit, we are filled with the Holy Spirit; and we are given Spiritual gifts to witness for Jesus. If we are filled with the Holy Spirit; others see Jesus in us – this countenance of Jesus, seen through our lives, is the most powerful tool a Christian can have for evangelism.
Are you grieving the Holy Spirit or are you filled with the Holy Spirit?
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM RIGHTEOUS IN GOD’S EYES. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Acts 1:5; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Acts 2:38-39; Galatians 5:16-26; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Philippians 4:13; John 3:8; Luke 11:13; Ephesians 5:18; Romans 12:9-31; Ephesians 4:30-32.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “To Be a Jesus Follower, You Must First Enter the Only Door to God’s Kingdom and that Door is Jesus – the Door to Eternal Life”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Friday May 19, 2023
Friday May 19, 2023
Are You Filled with the Holy Spirit? (Highland Chapel; Chattanooga, TN)
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Are You Filled with the Holy Spirit? (Highland Chapel; Chattanooga, TN)
As we follow Jesus in our daily lives, it is difficult to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” as we are instructed in Ephesians 5:18: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,". When we believe in Jesus the Christ as our Lord and Savior; accept God’s Grace of Salvation; and follow Jesus, then God provides us with His incredible gift of the Holy Spirit – God Himself who comes to us in His presence, in the third part of the Holy Trinity, as the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us, in Ephesians 1:13, that when we become a follower of Jesus, we are “sealed with the Holy Spirit”.
Paul, in Ephesians, tells us that we only have two choices in our life relationship with the Holy Spirit: we either “grieve the Holy Spirit” or we are “filled with the Holy Spirit” – these two options, regarding the Holy Spirit, mean that, as we live our lives, we are either “strong in the Lord” or “we are not strong in the Lord”. In Ephesians 4:30, Paul speaks of “grieving the Holy Spirit”: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”. “Grieving the Holy Spirit” means that we hurt or wound God’s expectations for us as Followers of Jesus, as we live our lives, by not being “filled with the Holy Spirit”.
Most of Ephesians 4 and Ephesians 5 describe the binary positions of lives that “grieve the Holy Spirit” or are “filled with the Holy Spirit”. When we “grieve the Holy Spirit”, we limit the power of the Holy Spirit and our access to God through our personal relationship with Him. Therefore, anytime we sin we “grieve the Holy Spirit”. God, through the Holy Spirit, will make us aware of when we grieve Him: and we then have the opportunity for Confession and Repentance of our sin; therefore, we can continue to “be filled with the Holy Spirit” as God wishes and expects.
Are you grieving the Holy Spirit or are you filled with the Holy Spirit?
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Ephesians 5:18; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 1:17; Ephesians 4:1; Ephesians 6:17-18; Ephesians 4:31; Ephesians 4:32; Ephesians 5:1-2; Ephesians 5:3-4; Ephesians 5:5; Ephesians 5:6; Ephesians 5:7-11; Ephesians 5:12-14; Ephesians 5:15-17; Ephesians 5:18; John 7:38-39; 1 John 1:8-9.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “God Sees Jesus Followers as “In Christ”: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus””: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Saturday May 13, 2023
Saturday May 13, 2023
Come Holy Spirit
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Special Introduction – The Spiritual Discipline of Giving: We are challenged by God to bring our whole tithe into the storehouse (church) because God tells us that we cannot out give Him. After all, everything we have is from God. Our gifts to God should be from our first fruits and not our last fruits. Developing the discipline of returning our first fruits to God breaks the hold of materialism on our lives.
Today’s Message – Come Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is God Himself. The Holy Spirit is a presence of God in the Trinity of one God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells us, as our counselor, always pointing to Jesus in truth. People are not convicted and converted in their hearts and minds to become followers of Jesus without the Holy Spirit. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our churches, not much will be accomplished.
It is impossible to be a Christian and to live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit. The character of Jesus’ followers is manifested through their lives bringing forth the fruits of the Holy Spirit, as presented in Galatians 5:22-23: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control . . .”. Otherwise, our lives will only reflect the fruit of the flesh as presented in Galatians 5:19-21: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these . . .". The Holy Spirit seeks to work through us in a way that those around us see the fruit of the Spirit and not the fruit of the flesh.
What do people see when they look at Your life? As followers of Jesus, we need to live through God’s gift to us of the power inherent in the Holy Spirit.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Malachi 3:8-12; Proverbs 23:5; Genesis 1:2; Psalms 1:39; Acts 1:4-5; 1 Corinthians 2:10; Hebrews 9:14; Luke 1:35; Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Corinthians 3:17; John 14:16; Acts 2:42; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:6-7; John 3:4-8; John 14:16; John 16:7; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 5:18.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Your Sin Is Never Too Great so that You Are Lost to God’s Salvation - “Return to Me {God}, and I Will Return to You””: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Saturday May 06, 2023
Saturday May 06, 2023
The Resurrection -- Part 3: Jesus Gives Us His Great Commission Just Before His Ascension
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Introduction from “The Resurrection -- Part 3: Jesus Gives Us His Great Commission Just Before His Ascension:
At Jesus last appearance to His Eleven Disciples as a group and just before His Ascension, Jesus gives His Great Commission to us and to His Disciples. In Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus commissions or, indeed, commands us: “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”.
Jesus, in Matthew 28:16-20, has commissioned us and commanded us to: Go, Make Disciples, Baptize, and to Teach everything that he has taught us (e.g., the Bible, our walk with the Holy Spirit) to the “ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Remember again, that this commission and commandment (i.e. “as you go”) was the last thing that Jesus, as the Incarnate God-Man, told His Disciples and, therefore, us before His Ascension into Heaven to become solely God again.
Because of the Resurrection and God’s Grace, we have the opportunity for Salvation and Eternal Life; and God has given this opportunity to others next door and around the world, through us, if we Go, Make Disciples, Baptize, and Teach!
Today’ Message – Hearing God’s Voice:
In John 10:1-18, Jesus presents the picture of the Shephard and the Shepherd’s relationship to His flock. Shepherding, in the First Century, was an intense and demanding occupation with the need for the Shepherd to lead and communicate with His sheep and to prevent “false shepherds” from stealing sheep. In communicating with His sheep, the sheep learn and listen for the Shepherd’s voice which protects the sheep from “false shepherds”. Jesus tells us, in John 10:7-11, that He is the Shepherd and only through and with Jesus can we enter into the Gate, which is our Salvation and Eternal Life:’ So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’”.
Jesus tells us that the sheep will hear His voice; therefore, if we are followers of Jesus, we should hear Jesus voice – we are all called to be Jesus’ sheep.
How do we know the voice of Jesus our Good Shepherd? To hear and know Jesus’ voice, we need to consider: 1) we must “enter through the Gate” – the “Gate” is only Jesus; 2) we must be a sheep (i.e. must be saved and have a personal relationship with Jesus) of the Good Shepherd to hear and distinguish His voice from the “false shepherds”; 3) we must learn to listen – God’s voice can present to us in many ways, especially through the Holy Spirit – the Holy Spirit gives us an insight into the mind of God and puts our mind in sync with God; 4) the voice of Satan is discernable from the voice and message of Jesus; and 5) we must obey the Lord as we listen – in the New Testament, the words “hear” and “obey” are the same; and God wants to guide and direct us.
Ultimately, God tells us: “Be still and know that I am God.”.
He is Risen, and He is alive today!
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM A CHILD OF GOD. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. John 1:12f
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 28:16-20; John 21:1-14; Acts 1:8; John 3:3-8; John 10:1-27; Ezekiel 34:22-24,31; Psalms 23:1-6; John 5:25; Ezekiel 1:28; Ezekiel 43:2; 1 Kings 19:12; Isiah 30:21; Ephesians 1:17-18; Hebrews 3:7.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “As a Jesus Follower, the Greatest Witness for the Gospel that You Can Give Is for Others to See Jesus IN You”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Friday Apr 28, 2023
Friday Apr 28, 2023
Marriage – A Current Assessment (Christ the King Anglican Church; Birmingham, AL)
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Marriage and the family, in current decades, have been under attack to the degree that marriage is now losing its value in our culture.
In Mark 10:6-9, Jesus speaks to God’s plan for marriage: “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.’”
In our culture’s attacks on marriage and the family, we see ten ways in which marriage and the family have been and are being perverted: 1) US Supreme Court’s decision on same sex marriage – as followers of Jesus, we don’t believe the courts have the right to define/redefine marriage as established by God; 2) sex before marriage is becoming the norm; 3) sex outside of marriage has become acceptable; 4) the prevalence of divorce; 5) acceptance of cohabitation; 6) birth of children out of wedlock; 7) multi-spouse marriage; 8) escalation and the acceptance of pornography; 9) the acceptance and practice of abortion on demand; and 10) the acceptable “choosing” one’s own gender by some people. These perversions of marriage and the family are chipping away at the value and importance of marriage and the family in the US – even among Christians. Too many of our Christian young people don’t know why they should get married -- this diminution of marriage’s value is a failure, mostly, of the Christian Church.
Many Christians, today, are being deceived and led away from God’s Word by the Evil One (e.g., John 10:10). Therefore, we need to read and understand God’s Word, especially as it relates to His plan for marriage that Jesus posits in His quote from Genesis in Mark 10:6. Throughout history humans have corrupted God’s beautiful plan for His Creation. In Mark 10:7, we see God’s pattern for marriage. In Mark 10:8, we are provided with God’s purpose for marriage; and the product of this “one flesh” is children. By becoming “one flesh” in marriage, the man and women become a “new trinity” – husband, wife, and the Lord. In this “marriage trinitarian relationship”, each child is brought into this family relationship in the same way that we, as followers of Jesus, are brought into our personal relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit through the Gospel. In Mark 10:9 we see God’s expressed permeance of marriage.
God’s design and plan for marriage, as presented by Jesus in Mark 10, is ideal for us as humans, our nation and our culture; but His plan is being increasingly perverted. Therefore, what should we do, as followers of Jesus, about these “attacks on marriage”? We can: 1) stand up, speak up and speak God’s truth – Christians need to stop be trampled upon by this divergent culture; 2) model good and Godly marriage and family life to the culture; 3) you teach your children, you not the church/school/government, about God and His plan for marriage and the family; and 4) pray and ask God to intervene in these attacks and to support our seeking to achieve His plan for our own marriage and the family – prayer does change things, and it brings the power of God.
We are blessed to live in an incredible time in history, but the plan and fabric that God designed to keep us together and thriving – marriage and the family – is being perverted. However, we, as followers of Jesus, hold the key to stopping this perversion though getting our own family and marriage in line with God’s plan and then witnessing and voting to stop this perversion – the time is now.
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM RIGHTEOUS IN GOD’S EYES. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mark 10:6-9; John 10:10; Genesis 2:21-25.
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Is Your Faith Yours, or Is Your Faith a Faith Derivative of the Faith of Others?”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
Friday Apr 21, 2023
Friday Apr 21, 2023
The Upper Room Part 1: The Promise of the Spirit (Apostles Anglican Church; Knoxville, TN)
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
The Upper Room Part 1: The Promise of the Spirit (Apostles Anglican Church; Knoxville, TN)
In John:14, Jesus is on His way to the cross, and He is arrested – it is the night of the first Holy Communion and the washing of feet. Jesus and the Apostilles are in Jerusalem, and their activities begin in the “Upper Room” and move to the Garden of Gethsemane. In this text, Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit; and He tells how the Holy Spirit will work in our lives. Also, Jesus reminded the Apostilles of His prior teachings and that they should “let not your heart be troubled”.
In John 14:23, 26: Jesus is telling the Apostilles about the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit’s role: “Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him . . . But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.’". Subsequently, Jesus tells the Apostilles that they “must be born again” of the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
After twenty-one centuries, how should we consider the Holy Spirit as followers of Jesus? We should consider that: 1) the Holy Spirit is very important for us as we follow Jesus because, like God, we are triune beings – body, soul, and spirit -- with our worship and communication with God conducted through our spirit enabling us to be “filled with the Holy Spirit”; 2) the Holy Spirit brings the presence of the Father and the Son to be both with us and in us; 3) the Holy Spirit helps us to live our Christian life – our “helper”; 4) the Holy Spirit is our teacher to teach us to understand the Bible, how to pray and to acquire the other knowledge that we need to follow Jesus; and 5) while we may want to be filled with the Holy Spirit and our “pilot light is lit”, our “furnace is not engaged” to bring the Holy Spirit into our lives.
It is one thing to know Jesus in our lives, but it is another thing to love and obey Jesus in our lives. In other words, are you willing to let go of controlling your life and turn your life’s control over to the Holy Spirit – God’s will not your will be done? God does not force His will on you. You must seek Jesus to follow Him, and you must follow Jesus “in truth and in {Holy}Spirit”.
Therefore, the question becomes not “do you have the Holy Spirit”, but “does the Holy Spirit have you”?
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): John 14:23, 26; John 3:3-8; John 4:24; John 7:37-39; John 14:15-17; John 15:26; Jon 16:4-14; Ephesians 2:1; John 14:16-17; Genesis 1:2; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20; Ephesians 5:18.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “God, the Father, Is Spirit; Jesus Followers Must Worship the Father in Spirit and Truth with Reality and Honesty and Not a Façade”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
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Friday Apr 14, 2023
Friday Apr 14, 2023
Jesus Appears Again
MESSAGE SUMMARY: Repentance is a turning away from evil.
In Luke 24:15, Jesus appeared again after His resurrection: “While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.". Most Christians around the world see Easter not as one day but as the Season of Easter, lasting fifty days. During this Season of Easter, Jesus appeared many times to many people, including several encounters with His disciples and the Apostles along with an appearance to a group of more than five hundred people. On the fortieth day, Jesus ascended into Heaven. After Jesus Ascension, He appeared to Saul, who became the Apostle Saul, on Saul’s trip to Damascus.
Beginning in Luke 24:36 (“Luke’s Great Commission”), Jesus opened the Apostles minds spiritually to the Gospel; and the Gospel is summarized in “five truths” – the Gospel is a: 1) “double historical event” – Jesus death and His Resurrection, which really happened; 2) “double proclamation” – repentance (the Gospel demand) and forgiveness (the Gospel offer) of sins will be preached in His name; 3) “double reach or focus” – the preaching of the Gospel was to begin in Jerusalem with the Jews, but it was to be extended to all nations; 4) “double validation” – validated by the prophecies of the Old Testament and the Apostles’ witness through their writing of the New Testament; and 5) “double sending” – Jesus promised the sending of the Holy Spirit to His Apostles, and the sending of the Apostles to the nations of the world in the power of the Holy Spirit..
If Jesus was speaking to His Apostles in Luke 24, what is He saying to us, His modern-day disciples, about two thousand years later? Jesus is telling us, today, the same thing that He told His Apostles in Luke 24!
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Luke 24:36-49; Psalms 119:18-20; Romans 1:16; Acts 1:8.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Jesus Followers Have Eternal Life, Even Before their Earthly Death, Because Whoever “believes him {God} who sent me {Jesus}””: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/
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Sunday Apr 09, 2023
Sunday Apr 09, 2023
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
Easter -- I Am the Resurrection – (Holy Cross Anglican Cathedral; Loganville, GA).
We are bombarded with news reports, today, about death in all forms and from a multitude of sources -- our earthly culture, today, is a culture of death. This Holy Week and this Easter Day, God gives us the means of Grace and the Hope of Glory for Life. The Resurrection of Jesus contradicts our culture of death, and God's Grace, through Jesus’ Resurrection and life after His death on the cross. Jesus' Resurrection, gives us, today, a culture of life!
Steve Jobs was a Billionaire, at his death; and he was the founder of Apple. Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) and, as God, the Creator of the Universe. From his death bed, Steve Jobs wrote his perspective on his life in comparison to his impending death. Earthly death is a fact which we all must face. On the other hand, Jesus gives us his perspective on human death, earthly life, and Eternal Life (John 11: 25– 26): “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”.
In our message today, Archbishop Beach provides a summary of these two different perspectives on living our earthly lives while always considering that our earthly death is inevitable. However, for those of us that follow Jesus, earthly death is only the predecessor event for our Eternal Life.
With your faith in Jesus as the Son of God and through God's Grace, you can live your life, both your earthly life and your eternal life, to their fullest with God as your Lord. Yours will be a culture of life even though the world is a culture of death.
He has risen! He has risen indeed!!
TODAY’S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM A CHILD OF GOD. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1:12f).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): John 11:25; 1 John 5:10-12; Psalms 101:1-8; Mark 16:1-8: 1Peter 3:18; John 3:3-5; John 10:10.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/
A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org.
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