Narrow Road Insights, StraightTalk Articles

Randy Bell | Yes Virginia, There Really is a Risen Savior (read)

Yes Virginia, there really is a Savior.

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.”

“For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.”

“If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” [James 1:21-27 (New Living Translation)]

Jesus, our Savior, uses supernatural power to save people from sin and change their lives. His death, burial, and resurrection paid the full legal price for everyone’s crimes against God. He saves true Christians from evil and turns them completely around empowering them to do good and right things. Christians do not just talk about justice and goodness but live out pure religion.

But it seems the modern Christian and churches are obsessed with the need to claim Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship. I know I have worn t-shirts with this weak argument in the past.  I’m sure this stems from the oppressive anti-God, anti-Christ and anti-Bible sentiment that drives the majority of Americans in this 21st century dark age. But honestly the lost still contend we are a religion, and for good reason.

In the past Americans demanded politicians to be Christian and they were careful to at least put on the mask of being a believer. Not today, recent polls prove the majority will resist and not vote for a Christian. So much for our founding fathers faith and principles they held when establishing this nation.

Today, the networks make sure they deny any connection to a Christian program aired on their network but gleefully broadcast anything with every sin in the book with their full support. Anything the Bible condemns they seem to support.

Why would we want a Christian politician? A senator or representative? A president? A Christian mayor? A Christian news commentator? Christian networks and news channels?

The consensus today seems to be that character does not matter in how a person governs in our nation. Really? You mean to tell me you want a leader to stand up before you on TV and lie through his teeth to get your vote, or to manipulate you and gain further control over you? What do they have to lose?

For instance, if you think that it is no problem for a politician to secretly cheat on their spouse, and hurt the person they claim to love, what do you think they will really do to you?

But wait, everyone has a sinful past, but I am talking about persistent and continuous present lies and wicked behavior. Beware of the stone throwers who destroy first and seek out truth later because of past sinful mistakes like King David in the Bible. God led him to stop his evil and forgave him. This goes for all of our leaders today.

A true believer can’t do it! The Christian is commanded by God to not lie, and scripture explains a true Christian cannot keep on doing evil. The Bible demands truth from a Christian and states the liar, or adulterer is a big fat fake.

“Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.”

“Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning.”

“But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.” [1 John 3:4-10 (NLT)]

The next consensus of many today is that somehow Christians would cram their faith down the nation’s throat and punish people for not going to church or some other stupid fear. Yeah that’s what the Christian presidents did in the past, like George Washington, Adams, and Jefferson. NOT!

Only Christians fought for the rights of all men and demanded that everyone has the right to free speech, including those who disagree with them, and the free pursuit of happiness including owning their own land, creating their own business, and owning their own gun for self protection against criminals.

But, today the anti-Christian, anti-God movement hates that anyone dare disagree with them and they find ways to silence and push Christians out of the mainstream of culture, politics, and education. They carefully have erased history and lie to gain control of the nation. According to them, we must disarm and trust liars without character, rely upon government for everything instead of God, and blindly trust them to train our children in what is right and wrong through the government controlled schools.

Like a false god, they want government  to tell us what is true and false, tell us what is moral and immoral, and give us the rights they think we should have. No wonder all you hear in the media is the drone of the robots trying to erase the Constitution of the United States of America, one small piece at a time.

To them, that old document has the smell of stupidity in it, from old idiots that believed in God the Creator, the Bible as universal truth, and Jesus as the only true religion. Of course they hate the Constitution it reeks with the divine all over it.

But the atheists demand we came from sea slim, over billions of years, by accident. Their superior knowledge of evolution, no moral rules, and might makes right proves the Christians are dumb sheep who bleat mindless sounds and brainlessly follow their “charlatan” pastors. But their great wisdom gives them the right to deceive and manipulate the nation and force the idiots into their modern Utopian society of slavery. And so we will see the continued misuse of power in America as they bravely push every Christian down the road to oppression.

The children of the devil believe we will comply to their government controlled health care that makes us give up our faith and conscience and allow babies to be murdered through drugs and abortion. And we will pay for it with our taxes and insurance premiums because freedom of religion does not matter, we are stupid in their eyes.

They think our God is weak and cannot protect us, so they will defeat and control us. Will we quietly gather in our closets and buildings and talk about God among ourselves, because we can’t openly broadcast it on public airwaves or in government schools? They control the media, at least most of it, and they don’t believe in freedom of speech, unless we agree with them.

Will we continue to sacrifice our children to the government machine of propaganda because we won’t offend the teachers, or even stand against false science that is crammed down our kids throats everyday in school?  If we do, our children will rise up and join them, because we are too lazy to dare and give all the real and complete answers to our own children.

If so, indifference, our true sin will have its final way with us, and unlike our forefathers, lies, injustice, and the new un-American way will rule the land. But no one will notice the change because we are so focused on our jobs, families, and having fun on the weekends that we have lost all sense of God’s ways.

Did you know 35-65 million Christians refuse to even vote today, yet each election has been determined by around 2 million votes or less? Our future is dark because so many Christians refuse to even take their responsibility to vote for righteous and just leaders. “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” [Matthew 5:13]

For evil to prevail all it takes is indifference “to be trodden under foot of men.”

But, there will be a remnant, a small band of true believers, who will dare to be different. True believers who will not stop practicing true religion. They will “get rid of all the filth and evil” in their lives and make the Bible their most prized possession. It’s every word will be their guide, they will obey His commands, and will be blessed by the LIVING and ALMIGHTY GOD.

Their hearts divinely influenced by God will bubble inside until they lose their fears and find words of truth to speak to the unbelieving world. With new boldness their tongues controlled by the Holy Spirit they will speak UP and tell the truth to their children, families and neighbors.

In spite of a bankrupt government who will choose to neglect some children, widows and elderly, these saints will practice true religion somehow. They will do what the saints have always done since the atrocities of Rome and its neglect of the poor and needy, they will be Jesus’ hands and continue “caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt” them.

They will not be trodden down, but like the saints in the first century they will overcome the government oppression, cultural hatred, and spiritual darkness. They will not be quiet, but boldly proclaim the truth. They will love their enemies, bless their neighbors, and  practice true religion no matter how many people try to stop them.

Jesus is ALIVE, he rose from the dead!!!!!

How about you Virginia, we have a Savior who is almighty, are you in?

StraightTalk Articles

The Narrow Way of the Kingdom Part 2

Part 2: Narrow Way of Discipleship: Holy Spirit Life  (Matthew 5:6-11)

In THE NARROW WAY TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD, we looked at the brand new revelation of Christ’s way of salvation and eternal life. And the exciting thing is we who have been blessed with repentance do not have to wait until we die to receive our reward!

Remember in Matthew 5:5 the Lord promised the meek “shall inherit the earth.” This is a Jewish way of saying that great blessings are for the here and now, not just in heaven after you die! For the first disciples, that was greatly different from their Jewish experience of spiritual darkness and suffering under the dominion of sin. But these next statements left the disciples struggling to understand His enormous promises of a new and supernatural way of life.

6  God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice (righteousness), for they will be satisfied.

7  God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

8  God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.

9  God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.

1/ The first supernatural change of the Kingdom of God within you is a new heart of love gushing out goodness and righteousness. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6 (NKJV)

Once God blesses a person with repentance and forgiveness He gives them eternal life.  Like a physical newborn, the new spiritual baby immediately is hungry to know God and be like Him. Even the Greek word translated “hunger” is a weak translation. Instead, this word was used to describe being famished and starving. Also, the Greek word used by Jesus for thirst is also extremely strong and was used to describe a deer panting so deeply in need of water that it was near death.

But the great news is God promises to fill the believer with righteousness. But, not the way we use the word filled.

This may help you understand. I am from south Florida and over the years many people lost or released pet pythons into the wild. There are tons of them living in the swamps of the Everglades.

I saw video footage on the news that showed a crazy python who was so hungry he caught a huge alligator, squeezed it until it suffocated, then swallowed it. After that, all you could see was the snake’s head, then the entire form of the gator, and a little snake tail.

He was so gorged he could not move, and his shape was changed from a snake to an alligator.

This is how the Greek word is used and helps us see the promise of Jesus. He promised to gorge Christians with righteousness that they would no longer have the old shape of sin. After Christ returned to heaven, the Holy Spirit bloated them and even bloats us today with His goodness that we are no longer recognizable from our old days. Righteousness stretches us way out of shape and our old sinful souls are overwhelmed by God’s goodness. You cannot miss this change!

Here are the plain words of Jesus when he later describes this spiritual experience. “Jesus took his stand. He cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.’ (He said this in regard to the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)” John 7:37-39 (MSG)

So what righteousness is flooding and gushing out of us? Long before this day when Jesus introduced the new abundant life, it was already promised by God to absolutely change people. Ezekiel the prophet proclaimed this amazing promise hundreds of years before Jesus walked the earth: “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NLT)

When Jesus promised to fill his followers with righteousness, he meant a real life alteration that forces Christians to follow His commands. He meant such a drastic change that the rushing force of righteousness exploding from God’s Holy Spirit within would cause his people to obey His laws. This great force of God’s Spirit would burst out of their hearts like a flood of water rushing and force them to fulfill God’s will! The flood of the Holy Spirit’s righteous is so powerful it explodes in the believer’s heart.

Yes, the true saints can and do follow the will of God!

Surfers experience this all the time. If they actually try to surf against the wind and waves they will exhaust themselves and fail. But, if they work through the waves and then turn around and let the waves push them toward the beach they get the joy of riding the waves.

True believers get the joy of riding the waves of the righteousness pouring out of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside their new hearts. Their hearts and souls are bloated by the love of God. Paul plainly exclaims, “…the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us…”  2 Corinthians 5:14 (AMP)

He always spells it out this way, “Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.” Romans 6:18 (NLT) And, “now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.” Romans 6:22 (NLT)

2/ The second supernatural change is a new heart gorged with mercy. “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew 5:7 (NLT)

Again Jesus later clarifies what he means, for example in Matthew 9:10-13 (NLT) he encounters the resistance of the rabbis, “Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with such scum?’ When Jesus heard this, he said, ‘Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.’ Then he added, ‘Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.’”

The kind of mercy that pours from the heart of God is the kind that rushes to the side of people all messed up with sin. They have ruined their lives. They are not acceptable sinners but those that are repulsive. He did not join them in their sin, but he helped them in spite of their sin. Like a doctor, he diagnosed their spiritual sickness, and did not approve of disease of sin, but instead sought to help heal them.

All outward religious practice void of this extreme form of mercy is empty religion. Everyone needs forgiveness and salvation. Jesus has a heart that gushes out mercy and compassion to those trapped in darkness.

The heart of our Lord was constantly expressed through his encounters with the Jewish rabbis. In Matthew 23:23 (NLT) he confronts them about what is the priority of God. “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice (righteousness), mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.”

God blesses those who give mercy because when you are born again, the Holy Spirit floods you with mercy for the hurting, lonely, broken sinners of this world! Our new hearts driven by God himself powerfully influencing us by altering our priorities. The important things to God become the important things to us. God causes us to fulfill HIS WILL. It is a miracle!

3/ The third supernatural change is a new heart glowing with purity  “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 (NLT)

Our Lord makes it clear the spirit of holiness is pumped into the new creature in Christ. Later Jesus explained to Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”  John 3:3 (NLT) Putting the two together shows us the “pure in heart” are the born again who can only see heaven.

The Pharisees were full of corruption and defilement, but remember they were the best the Jewish religion could produce under the law. In contrast, the new Holy Spirit filled Christians became so gorged with righteousness that their pure lives outshined the only spiritual leaders the disciples knew before they met Jesus.

Many years later Paul agreed and tries to explain this incredible change. First, he describes the way of the Pharisees without being born again. “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,  envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21 (NLT)

Despite their best efforts the old way of the life the disciples were taught to live they were stuck in impurity, and their lives proved it.

But Paul continues by contrasting the new way of life that Jesus brought through a new heart and new spirit. Let’s read it, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”  Galatians 5:19-24 (NLT)

This is not spiritual idealism, but the drastic change of life as the Holy Spirit supernaturally floods the souls of the born again believer. He is not saying Christians ought to, or are supposed to or hope to live this way some day. As clearly as he stated hell waits for those who live in sin, heaven waits for the pure-hearted saints who LIVE THE NEW WAY of Jesus! The Holy Spirit produces, submerges, and saturates the hearts of the saints with the fruit of the Spirit. And again I quoted Paul, “…the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us…”

4/ The fourth supernatural change is a new heart pouring out peace. “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9 (NLT)

In selfishness, Americans see this statement as personal rest and quietness. But the Lord Jesus reveals the fourth life altering change of a born again saint by explaining that just like he was a peacemaker, he makes his disciples peacemakers. Like Father, like Son. Christ came to make peace with God’s enemies by legally paying the full price for all men’s crimes against God.

Paul goes into great length to explain this, so we must read portions of his letters. First, he says, “For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.” Colossians 1:19-22 (NLT)

Then Paul explains what Jesus meant in Matthew 5:9 and how it relates to all of us. He says, “And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’” 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NLT)

God does not leave us to decide how we live out this life but gives further instruction through James. Contrasting the way everybody in the world thinks because of the Satanic darkness he says, “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.” James 3:17-18 (NLT)

Righteousness, righteousness and an abundant harvest of more righteousness pours from the lives of the church that God fills with His Holy Spirit. As James explains the flood of righteousness that flows from God’s people, he makes his point by using the four foundational blessings God gives to the newly born again.

1/ righteousness

2/ mercy

3/ purity

4/ peace

Paul declares, “…What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.” Galatians 6:15-16 (NLT)

God blesses the fully repentant person, yes the new people of God by giving them a new heart and spirit. This fully transforms them pouring through their souls: righteousness, mercy, purity, and peace. The force of the Holy Spirit within drives and controls the church creating a new breed of people.

All four of these blessings from God reveal your new identity in Christ. What is your new identity? The non-optional character change that grips your whole being, changing your focus and direction for the rest of your life. You are like Jesus, following His every move and command!

Now, does Jesus mean this is the new transformed way of life? Yes, He immediately warns the disciples that the world will hate them and oppose them. “God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” Matthew 5:10 (NLT) This narrow way of life will tick off the ungodly because they will feel guilty for their sins and feel condemned just being around this supernatural lifestyle. The contrast cannot be any clearer, our God expects us to get pushback for just obeying Him.

5/ The supernatural flood of the Holy Spirit is what drives us to live MORE righteously (verse 20)

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness (your uprightness and your right standing with God) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20 (AMP)

You must understand this righteousness is not just an applied righteousness from God like a coat, but the real righteousness that transforms your behavior. You cannot live like the Pharisees and just believe you are more righteous because of Jesus. He makes this abundantly clear through the next whole section by of His talk.

He compared the lifestyle demanded by the Law that the Pharisees taught (“You have heard…”) to the FAR MORE righteous life of the new heart and new spirit that He provides to His followers (“But I say…”). The very Greek word that is translated “more” or “exceed” does not mean the same as we use those words in English. Superabound is the true meaning and that is the difference between I giving you a gift of a penny or 1 million dollars. It is not giving you two cents instead of one.

We look at this next time. For now, read this again and again and ask God to open your eyes to His Narrow Way of Life.

Kingdom Life Principles

The Power of Grace: Steps to Overcome Anger (audio/video)

Resolve your anger today! When bitterness and wrath take hold it becomes a spiritual problem!

Take responsibility for your anger with no more blaming others or excuses.

Eph 4:31 AMP
Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).

Kingdom Life Principles

It is Urgent That You Overcome ANGER! (video)

A survey of 10,000 American men revealed that 95% openly admitted to an anger problem.

Anger is a strong emotion…

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, [20] idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, [21] envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” [Galatians 5:19-21].

Without God people are… Bored with the things of God, enslaved to desires of the flesh, not the will of God, selfishness that ruins the heart and causes unloving attitudes, actions, and words, a guilty conscience, and frustrations, faithlessness leads to sinful slavery, foolishness brings stupid or dangerous wrong choices, etc. Without the restraining power of the Holy Spirit people are out of control and driven by selfishness, lust, greed, emotion, and circumstances.