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This battle between works (the law) and grace (freedom) begin in that very first church. People have been trying to save themselves through their good works ever since. But “if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

My experience has been that every time anyone humbles themselves by crying out to God for help, He ALWAYS responds. This has been true in my own life. I’ve observed it happen to others. And it happened over and over to the people in the Bible.

Isaiah 30 is my promise chapter. Many decades ago, God gave a word to me through another believer from Isaiah 30:18-26. I didn’t understand how it applied to me back then. But over the years, God has revealed more and more of its meaning to me.

This hasn’t been easy. But through it all God has guided us and miraculously worked out the details. We never would have made these choices to end up here on our own. Did I mention, this hadn’t been our plan? But here we are. Most of the hard work is done now.  And we have fallen madly head-over-heels in love with this place.  God’s plan was so much better than ours!

People don’t like judgment God. They try to explain away judgment God… ‘Oh that was just the Old Testament,’ they say, ‘We live in the New Testament times now. God isn’t judging anymore.’ But that just is not true. God never changes. Jesus came to earth and died for us because God IS STILL judging righteously. God will ALWAYS be the righteous judge. But God ALSO forgives. He forgave the Israelites over and over and over again. Every time they cried out to Him, He heard them and delivered them. He does the same for us. He is BOTH the holy righteous judge AND the God who loves and forgives us.

Don’t worry if no one recognizes your work and sacrifices for God. God sees and He is the only one who matters. God recognizes His servants who love and serve Him. That is more than enough. Don’t lose heart. Don’t give up. We are often ridiculed and despised. Kingdom work is usually the most thankless work in this world. But the rewards are eternal!

There is ONE thing that matters, only ONE thing that determines if someone is truly CHRISTIAN or not. That is the blood of Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus saves us, washes away our sins, and grants us access to eternal life with God. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO SALVATION.

Do you practice spiritual warfare? Do you know how? If not, then you are naked and unarmed on the battlefield. These three sentences in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 are the foundation of spiritual warfare. God’s word truly is our sword and in its pages we find powerful weapons to fight against our spiritual enemies.

One phrase seems to be repeated more than any other in the Old Testament. “His love endures forever.” Isn’t that a lovely phrase to be repeated so often?