The depth of the benefit of knowing the God of Israel cannot be overstated. Don't miss out on the absolute treasure of a relationship with Him! Believe in the Lord Jesus today!

Psalm 5

"1-2 O Lord, hear me praying; listen to my plea, O God my King, for I will never pray to anyone but you. 3 Each morning I will look to you in heaven and lay my requests before you, praying earnestly.

"4 I know you get no pleasure from wickedness and cannot tolerate the slightest sin. 5 Therefore, proud sinners will not survive your searching gaze, for how you hate their evil deeds. 6 You will destroy them for their lies; how you abhor all murder and deception.

"7 But as for me, I will come into your Temple protected by your mercy and your love; I will worship you with deepest awe.

"8 Lord, lead me as you promised me you would; otherwise my enemies will conquer me. Tell me clearly what to do, which way to turn.

"9 For they cannot speak one truthful word. Their hearts are filled to the brim with wickedness. Their suggestions are full of the stench of sin and death. Their tongues are filled with flatteries to gain their wicked ends. 10 O God, hold them responsible. Catch them in their own traps; let them fall beneath the weight of their own transgressions, for they rebel against you.

"11 But make everyone rejoice who puts his trust in you. Keep them shouting for joy because you are defending them. Fill all who love you with your happiness. 12 For you bless the godly man, O Lord; you protect him with your shield of love."

John 5:24, “I say emphatically that anyone who listens to My message and believes in God who sent Me has eternal life, and will never be damned for his sins, but has already passed out of death into life."

John 11:25-26, "Jesus told her, “I am the one who raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone who believes in Me, even though he dies like anyone else, shall live again. He is given eternal life for believing in Me and shall never perish."

Confess. Repent. Believe.

Romans 3:21-31 (TLB)

"21-22 But now God has shown us a different way to heaven —not by “being good enough” and trying to keep His laws, but by a new way (though not new, really, for the Scriptures told about it long ago). Now God says He will accept and acquit us—declare us “not guilty”—if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like. 23 Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal; 24 yet now God declares us “not guilty” of offending Him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in His kindness freely takes away our sins.

"25 For God sent Christ Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to end all God’s anger against us. He used Christ’s blood and our faith as the means of saving us from His wrath. In this way He was being entirely fair, even though He did not punish those who sinned in former times. For He was looking forward to the time when Christ would come and take away those sins. 26 And now in these days also He can receive sinners in this same way because Jesus took away their sins.

But isn’t this unfair for God to let criminals go free, and say that they are innocent? No, for He does it on the basis of their trust in Jesus who took away their sins.

"27 Then what can we boast about doing to earn our salvation? Nothing. Why? Because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds; it is based on what Christ has done and our faith in him. 28 So it is that we are saved by faith in Christ and not by the good things we do.

"29 And does God save only the Jews in this way? No, the Gentiles, too, may come to Him in this same manner. 30 God treats us all the same; all, whether Jews or Gentiles, are acquitted if they have faith. 31 Well then, if we are saved by faith, does this mean that we no longer need obey God’s laws? Just the opposite! In fact, it is only when we trust Jesus can we truly obey Him."

The G.O.S.P.E.L.

It's the full story of life crushed into 4 minutes,

The entirety of humanity in the palm of your hand crushed into one sentence.

Listen, it's intense right:

God. Our. Sins. Paying. Everyone. Life

The greatest story ever told, that's hardly ever told:

God. Yes. God

The maker and giver of life

And by life I mean any and all matter and substance

Seen and unseen

What can and can't be touched

Thoughts, image, emotions, love, atoms and oceans, God

All of it his handy work

One of which is masterpiece

Made so uniquely that angels looked curiously

The one thing in creation that was made with his imagery

The concept so cold

It's the reason I stay bold

How God breathed in the man and he became a living soul

Formed with the intent of being infinitely, intimately fond

Creator and creation held in eternal bond

And it was placed in perfect paradise til something went wrong

A species got deceived and started lusting for his job

An odd list of complaints, as if the system ain't working

And used that same breath he graciously gave us to curse him

And that sin seed spread though our soul's genome

And by nature of your nature, your species, you participated in the mutiny

Our. Yes. Our sins

Its nature inherited, lack in the human heart

It was over before it started

Deceived from day one and lead away by our own lusts

There's not a religion in the world that doesn't agree that something's wrong with us

The question is, what is it?

And how do we fix it?

Are we eternally separated from a God that may or not have existed?

But that's another subject. Let's keep grinding

Besides trying to prove God is like defending a lion homie

It don't need your help, just unlock the cage

Let's move on how our debt can be paid

Short and sweet

The problem is Sin

Yes. Sin

It's a cancer. An asthma. Choking out our life force

Forcing separation from a perfect and holy God

And the only way to get back is to get back to perfection

But silly us, trying to pass the course of life without referring to a syllabus

This is us

Heap up your good deeds. Chant, pray, meditate

But all of that of course is spraying cologne on a corpse

Or you could choose to ignore it as if something don't stink

It's like stepping it dog poop and refusing to wipe your shoe

But all of that ends with how good is good enough?

Take your silly list of good deeds and line them up against perfection, good luck

That's life past your pay grade

The cost of your soul, you ain't gotta big enough piggy bank

But you could give it a shot

But I suggest you throw away the list

Cause even your good acts are an extension of your selfishness

But here's where it gets interesting

I hope you're closely listening

Please don't get it twisted

It's what makes our faith unique

Here's what God says is part A of the gospel

You can't fix yourself, quit trying it's impossible

Sin brings death

Give God his breath back, you owe him

Eternally separated and the only way to fix it is someone die in your place

And that someone gotta be perfect

Or the payment ain't permanent

So if and when you find the perfect person

Get him or her to willingly trade their perfection for your sin and death in

Clearly since the only one that can meet God's criteria is God

God sent himself as Jesus to pay the cost for us

His righteousness, His death, functions as Payment

Yes. Payment

Wrote a check with his life but at the resurrection we all cheered cause that means the check cleared

Pierced feet, pierced hands, blood stained Son of Man

Fullness, forgiveness, free passage into the promise land

That same breath God breathed into us God gave up to redeem us

And anyone and everyone

And by Everyone, I mean Everyone

Who puts their faith in trust in Him and Him alone can stand in full confidence of God's forgiveness

And here's what the promise is

That you are guaranteed full access to return to perfect unity

By simply believing in Christ and Christ alone

You are receiving Life

Yes. Life

This is the Gospel

God. Our. Sins. Paying. Everyone. Life

Everyone reading this, God has a message for you!

The message is this: if you aren't already in Christ, repent of your sins and believe in Jesus! This life will not last forever. Some day, maybe some day soon, each and every one of us will stand before the Lord to be judged. For those who repent and receive God's offer of pardon through the Lord Jesus' sacrifice, they will obtain eternal life. Those who refuse the Lord Jesus and die in their sins, they will receive condemnation and everlasting punishment. Please, I beg you, don't let yourself be counted among the latter!

If you are already walking with the Lord, then I encourage you to dig deep. Study the Scriptures daily, let the Bible be ever more important to you. Spend time with the Lord in prayer, and share the Gospel at every opportunity! We have only a limited time on this side of eternity to contribute to the Great Commission. Don't waste it!

If you read this and you want to know more, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.

I love you all. I'll be praying for you!

Romans 10:9-13

"...9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”"

Titus 2:11-14

"11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works."

Titus 3:3-7

"3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

2 Thessalonians 1:5-10

"5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might, 10 when He comes on that day to be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed."

Revelation 20:11-15

"11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus, now, while you can!

The days are dark and getting darker, and this age will soon come to an end. Flee from the wrath to come. Turn to the Lord now, with your whole heart, and inherit eternal life!

For those who are in Christ:

Jesus isn't too busy for you. Jesus is our advocate with the Father. Jesus defends us against all accusations. Jesus is always available to hear your prayers. He has promised that He will never cast out those who come to Him sincerely. He knows how difficult it is to walk through this veil of tears. He is merciful and compassionate, ready to forgive, and eager to help.

Go directly to Him.

I'm a little out of my depth here, because I've never experienced what you're going through. But I do know other Christians that have. It sounds to me like you have what some call a "seer" gift. It's a particular manifestation of a prophetic gift. People with this gift can sometimes see into the spirit realm.

I wish I could give you some specific answer, but without the Lord telling me why, I really can't say what His reasons are for what He's permitted in your life. We know that God is good, and that He turns about all things for the good of them that love Him. And we also know that God is all-wise and all-knowing, and every decision He makes is correct. We further know that the Lord has complete, providential control over all history, and that He allows events and various circumstances in the lives of different people in order to develop in them the traits and qualities they need to become who He's destined them to be. I'm sorry I can't be more specific.

If I were you, I would continually pray that God would instruct me on the use of the gift and allow me to serve Him with it. I'd keep seeking the Lord about it and follow Him wherever He leads. If you're already doing that, then trust the Lord will open the right doors at the right time, and eventually you'll see the point of it all. I'll be praying for you, too.

I hope this helps. Be blessed!

I'll definitely pray for you, friend. I'll pray right now, and I'll add you to my prayer list.

As for practical advice, here's a relevant post I wrote some time ago where I detailed the steps I took to get free from my own battle with lust:

"Hey friend. I'm really sorry you're struggling like this. I know what you're going through. I was in that very same place years ago. I'll share with you what the Lord gave me to get free.

"First, you have to believe and confess the truth: as one who is in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit in you. The Lord God has broken the power of sin over you, and granted you all that you need to overcome. You have the power to throw down your sinful temptations and choose to serve God rather than sin (Romans 6). The first step towards getting free after coming to Christ is receiving this truth by faith. Grab on to it. Confess and believe it. You are a blood-bought adopted child of the Most High God, with God's own Holy Spirit in you. Speak that over yourself, confess it out loud: "I am a child of God through the blood of Jesus, I have the Holy Spirit in me. I -will- be loyal to my Father."

"Then, as you stand in faith believing God's declaration through Paul in Romans 6, you have to begin practicing self-discipline (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). This step will require a lot of grace-enabled effort on your part. It will be hard. But if you keep confessing the truth that Jesus has made you free and the Holy Spirit is in you to help you live a holy life, and you keep giving your all to practicing self-discipline, you will succeed.

"It begins in small ways. You learn to tell yourself "no." When you have a craving for something small, like a soda or a piece of candy (or something like that), and there's no reason you can't have it, choose to deny yourself. Refuse to have it just for the sake of self-denial. When that becomes easy, start challenging your flesh in other ways. Allow yourself to be a little too hot, or a little too cold, and refuse to seek comfort. Just endure it. When this gets easy, begin to practice fasting. Go without one meal per week, and give that time to the Lord (if you have a medical condition that prevents you from going without food, then sacrifice something else that you love; give up something you do regularly just for the fun of it and give that time to the Lord). As these exercises get easier, you'll notice that resisting the temptation to seek sexual gratification also becomes easier.

"This is half of the battle.

"In addition to the above, you must also set up road blocks in your life to keep yourself out of temptation. Figure out what your triggers are, then deliberately rearrange your life so that you consistently stay away from those people / places / situations. Stop ingesting all forms of media with sexual overtones; movies, tv shows, books, music, all of it --anything that enflames your passions. This may make things awkward with others, friends and family who don't understand why you won't partake of whatever the thing is, but stay the course. You'll find that this discipline over time also greatly reduces the strength of the temptations when they come.

"And finally, you need to give more of your time to private prayer and worship, and studying the Scriptures. This is the most important part: Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches (John 15). The strength to walk in this dark world as a child of God flows from the Lord Jesus into us as we seek His face and abide in His presence. Regularly spending time in private prayer and worship revitalizes you and gives you great strength for the battles you're facing. Call out to Him for what you need, and trust that He loves you enough to answer you. Minimize your consumption of secular media, limit your time doing secular stuff, and increase the time you spend with the Lord and with other Christians. Get plugged into a good church (if you aren't already), and find older Christians that you can confide in. Tell them about your struggles, and ask them for prayer and to keep you accountable.

"If you're diligent to do all of these things, victory over your issue is guaranteed. You will eventually be completely free if you just don't stop. You will be holy for the Lord. When you fail, confess, repent, and get back to the fight. Realize that God has given you more grace than you can imagine. He loves you, and He's on your side. God is not angry with you, and He will not reject you. Learn to rest in His grace, and to allow His kindness towards you to spur you onward in your pursuit of holiness for the Lord.

"I'm here to talk if you ever need to. I'll be praying for you!"

I hope you find this helpful!

Be blessed!

Romans 11.

Romans 8:26-28

"26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose."

John 15:1-2

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

Hebrews 12:3-11

"3 Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

nor be weary when reproved by Him.

6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves,

and chastises every son whom He receives.”

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

When I'm in that place, I go to the Scriptures to be reminded that God is in control and knows what He's doing, that He is faithful, and good, and compassionate, and that He knows what I'm going through and that He loves me.

These are the times when prayer is most important. When you feel empty, exhausted, and heavy, like you're pinned down under a gargantuan weight, that's when prayer really matters. You have to fight through the feelings and pray anyway. I know, that's much easier said than done. It's so hard to do when it feels so useless. But we have to walk by faith and not by sight. We can't let our feelings dictate our behavior. The purest worship we can offer the Lord comes out in moments like these.

If you can't form the words to pray dynamically, then pray traditional prayers, or pray the psalms. Be honest with the Lord and tell Him what you feel. And confess that you're going to trust Him anyway. No matter how you feel, stay the course. This time will come to an end, it won't last forever. At the right time, God will move. He will answer you, He will keep His promises and show you His faithfulness, and you'll come out better than when you went in. And when He does, publicly thank and praise Him for all He's done.

I know it's hard, believe me, I feel for you. But hang in there. The Lord will come through for you, and be glorified in you. I'm praying for you too!

Be blessed!