God’s Promised Power for Those who Trustingly Pray and Obey

 

“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,To all who call upon Him in truth. 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.” -Psalm 145:18-19.

God will be near to those who “call upon Him.” These are those who give sincere time to earnest prayer and who seek the Lord! God will be near to us if we do so. Do you want to be near to God? Would you like God to be nearer to you? This is His promise to us, so how about we pray more!! Also, those who “fear Him,” that is those who respect and reverence His name, those who obey Him by keeping His word will have His blessing, power, and visible answers to prayer in their lives. That’s His promise! Will you read and obey His word more faithfully? Lord bless you if you will!!!

God will Judge all Persistant Evil-Doers

^“18 so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood; ¹⁹ and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my heart’—as though the drunkard could be included with the sober.

²⁰ “The Lord would not spare him; for then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the Lord would blot out his name from under heaven.” -Deuteronomy 29:18-20

God will deal with all evil doers. He is a merciful God and will “abundantly pardon” those who repent of their sins and who come to Him for mercy (See Isaiah 55:7). Jesus Christ took our sins upon Himself and died for us, taking the punishment or payment for our sins (See Romans 6:23; Isaiah 53:4-6). However, if we turn away from the Lord’s mercy and stubbornly persist in our sins, just trampling upon His grace as if it were a license to sin then we are deceiving ourselves! God will not tolerate such wickedness. The verses above remind us that bitter and stubborn rebellion against God’s ways, or the choice to live in sin, when Jesus is saying, “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11), will be fatal choices. Such a choice to continue living in sin, while comforting yourself with the thought that no retribution or punishment will come for it, would be a fatal one–a seal or mark of death.

The Lord says, “Repent” or “Turn from your evil ways, for why will you die…” (See Ezekiel 33:11). God hates sin. But He loves people. Sin destroys lives. Both our relationship to God and to one another is deeply injured by sin. Therefore, God hates sin. Sin is the opposite of true and pure love. Therefore, because God is love, He utterly hates sin! Since God must destroy all sin, those who choose to persist in their sins will die with their sins.

Some say, “I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my heart” (v.19 above). Such a statement is utter blindness and deception. Only the righteous and pure, cleansed by the blood of Jesus, who follow the “dictates” of God’s Holy word will receive the reward of eternal life (See Revelation 22:14,15; 21:7,8,27; Matthew 5:8). Let us not be deceived by thinking to follow the “dictates” of our own hearts, the worldly desires, lusts, or “imaginations of our own hearts” (as some Bibles have put it). God’s word makes it clear that such will never receive salvation (Hebrews 10:26,27). Let us therefore rather be those who follow the dictates of God’s Holy word and who receive the commendation of God, “Well done thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21; 4:4). Amen?

Video sermon on Busyness and Spirituality!

Are you too busy for God? Feel like you're missing something? Want to be closer to God? Be encouraged in the right direction by this sermon! Maybe you don't feel like your missing anything...? Danger. Find out how to be close with God and be blessed by His spiritual power and presence in your life! Go to our video.

Have a blessed day!

-Ben B.

Finished studying 1-3 John! Studying Revelation next!

Our study of 1st-3rd John was just finished the other day! Those letters talked a lot about walking in the light of truth, loving God and others by sincere and righteous actions towards them, trusting in God as the source of our strength, living pure and holy lives consecrated to Him, and understanding His incredible love and how to live that way towards others! It was truly a blessing from God, as always, to be studying through His word. These letters also warned of the dangers of false teachers whom we must watch out for! Let us always be careful to live by the word of God, not merely the sayings of men. And we should be careful not to be deceived because Satan comes to us as an angel of light! That's a basic summary of what we learned, among other things in our Letters of John study series.

Next up? Revelation!! Starting this study series soon...in about two weeks from now. You can view the page, but sound and other materials will not be available there until two weeks from now.

My you be blessed in the Lord Jesus and seek Him always!

Ben B.
Clear Call Ministries

Mark Series now Posted up on Clear Call Ministries webpage!

Just noticed the other day that somehow our Mark series page was not available on our website! Just fixed that and now it's up and running! You can now access any audio or PDF file from our full study series through the Gospel of Mark! I hope you'll take the time to study the gospel of Mark! It's always a transforming blessing when we study from the life and words of Jesus Christ!

To find our Mark lesson series, please visit this link, Go to Mark Series. Or, just go to the clearcallministries.org Audio resources page and find the link to our Mark series in the navigation menu.

May God Bless you today as you study His word and seek Him more!!

-Ben B.

Finished 2nd Peter! Now studying 1st John!

Studying through 2nd Peter was a blessing because this was the last letter of Peter, which we have, that was written before his death. He shared strongly his testimony and witness of how he had seen the 1st coming and power of Jesus Christ as "an eyewitness" (2 Peter 1:16); "We have not followed cunningly devised fables...", he said, but we have believed in the very truth for which Peter lived and died! And, we don't only have to take his word for it! There is also the "sure word of prophecy" (2 Peter 1:19) which we would do well to take heed unto until true faith develops in our hearts! It was also a blessing to consider how our characters must be reshaped from sin to holiness by the power of God, His promises, and our daily choices! Peter stressed that we must become godly as we are waiting for the coming of our Holy God and making plans to live in His new holy land--the earth made new!! Peter stressed that we should not be led astray by false teachers (chapter 2), who make light of sin and live wicked lives! We are to follow holiness because God who is holy said, "Be ye holy for I am Holy!" (1 Peter 1:16). Second Peter was a real blessing for these reasons! I hope you'll check it out and study it!

Now we are beginning the 1st Letter of John and we're off to a good start--learning to "walk in the light as He is in the light!"

God Bless,
Ben

Rulers who were Placed and Chosen by Men (not by God)

“They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.” -Hosea 8:4

It is a well known Bible fact that God raises up kings and He takes them down. You can get the basic idea from Daniel 4:32 where it says, “…the most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will.” But is it also true that men choose and put up leaders of their own accord without God choosing them as the leaders? Absolutely!

Should we ever assume that God raised up someone like Hitler to be a king or ruler? No, we don’t have to. God did raise up the ancient Pharaoh of Egypt in Moses’ day who was a real scoundrel. But, God allowed the man to rule Egypt because God wanted to let the man reveal his own evil heart tendencies, and stubborn sinful rebellion, before finally showing the power of Heaven to judge such evil doers (See Romans 9:17).

Men are always putting up people they want to put up in spite of what God would prefer! That is sin and rebellion at it’s core! Lucifer exalted himself to a place of leadership in sin, where God never would have put anyone! Now, having said that, it is true that there is no king or ruler who can take any position without God allowing it to happen. We have to make a distinction here. God allows freedom of choice, even to sinful beings. He does not always interfere with sinful man’s plans. He allows them to work their chosen course of evil and rebellion until finally one day God says, “Enough is enough!”

Hosea 8:4 (above) shows us that men often raise up their own leaders who God did not choose. Also look at Jeremiah 23:21, “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran…” The Bible says of many church goers in the last days, “…after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3,4).

So, be on your guard! And do not think that God has raised up every person to every position. That is NOT the true case. God has allowed the liberty or freedom for them to be raised up (by theirs and others choice), but He has not specifically raised all men to their places. Many have climbed up by some devising of their own. God has simply permitted it, by His gracious Liberty. However, we should be most certain that God will judge all men. One day every sinner who persists in their rebellion without repentance will meet the stern rebuke of God! When God is ready to take them down because they’ve far transgressed the boundaries of His Divine mercy and forbearance, they will come down hard by His Divine justice and judgment! (As happened to Pharaoh, Exodus 15; to King Herod, Acts 12:21-23; Nebuchadnezzar, in Daniel 4, and Belshazzar in Daniel 6).

Be faithful in the Lord and serve Him humbly!

Beginning our study of 2nd Peter! (6-4-2013)

Today we just finished studying through 1st Peter! In the final chapter we learned about God's call to faithful leadership in the church and how leaders should conduct themselves in working with others. We also looked at God's warning about our enemy the Devil going about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour! We are instructed to be sober and alert towards this cunning and dangerous enemy. The Bible says, "Resist [the Devil] steadfast in the faith" (1 Peter 5:9). We are to "resist" the devil "steadfastly in the faith." Let us have this "steadfastness" in the faith, by deep and fervent prayers, diligent searching of the Bible, vigilant watching,  and decided commitment to Christ Jesus! The end is at hand and Satan knows it! Let us be faithful to the Lord!

May God Bless you today! Tomorrow we will begin our study of 2nd Peter!!