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The trumpet blows to warn us “Deny yourself, and follow Me”. IF we receive, believe, deny ourselves and follow the Word of God, we will be saved! AW Tozer says: “By surrendering our ways, our will and life to Christ, we enter into a revolutionary relationship with God.” Tozer also warns in tube below that we must not become a victim of a disconnected relationship by merely “ACCEPTING JESUS” as our Saviour. Those words are NOT in the Bible! Jesus cannot save a life unless the entire life has been surrendered to Him. To agree to accept Christ as your Savior is like there was another choice. Jesus is not an option, Jesus is the only way a life can be saved, converted and transformed. Many great sermons end with the question “Have you accepted Christ?” People do not do GOD a favor by their acceptance of His invitation. Jesus does not lose anything if we reject Him, and we gain nothing by simply accepting Him. The popular “accept Christ” theology is painless as it goes unchecked against Scripture. To accept Christ as an impulse response, or out of emotional fear does not cost us anything. Suppose Moses would have told the slaves, smear the blood on the doorposts, then stay right there — and just believe in the power of the blood. God expected the slaves to pick up their mats and walk through the Red Sea to prove they believed in the power of the blood. The Word of God does say: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—” Acts 16:31 Another Scripture quoted as Christians seek to introduce our Savior “Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—” John 1:12 Jesus asks us to give up – and to bear a cost to follow Him. “Then He said to them all: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.” Luke 9:23 Christ alone saves without any human merit or works, and Jesus does not save everyone, why?

A person who is UNWILLING to receive Jesus as Lord, believe in His power, to deny their plans, their preferences, is a person who doubts that Jesus was born, crucified and resurrected in order to offer mankind eternal life with Him – A lost person will remain lost while they scoff at those who believe. We do not want to assume we are saved, we want to be confident that we are saved. Do not gamble your eternity with a mere acceptance. What does it mean to DENY oneself? Jesus did not say “abolish thyself”. In order for God to transform us, to change us, to equip us differently, we must be still like the caterpillar and allow Him to knit together a whole new creature. Our Savior does not want us to abandon who He created us to be. The first step to be an obedient disciple is to disconnect any link to the way of the world. We gladly deny our natural inclinations to lie, steal, gossip, or be jealous of what others have, but are we willing to choose to no longer have the final right to decide how we will respond or where we are going? For many independents, this is where the rubber screeches to a halt on the road to follow Jesus.

“I consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever I face trials of many kinds, because I know that the testing of my faith produces perseverance^. I let perseverance finish its work so that I may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. When I lack wisdom, I ask God, and He gives generously to all without finding fault.  KEY: When I ask, I believe and NOT doubt! — As all who receive, believe, and deny themselves to follow the teachings of Jesus, we rejoice in His way, and in all of His words. Are you ready to be taken up? A Table Awaits

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“For we are the temple of the living God. (the Holy Spirit abides within us) As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Therefore, “Come out from them (the unrepentant sinners) and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” and, I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” 2 Corinthians 6:16-chapter 17 NIV -God stated His promise that He would be a Father to all of us who fulfill His conditions. First condition: Come apart from the unbelievers and do not touch that which is unclean and God will receive me. Derek Prince gives us examples of how it is easy to touch that which is unclean. One way is to fill our minds and spirit with vile content within movies and music. While watching your favorite mystery or TV series, imagine the Holy Spirit as a Person sitting next to you. Would He approve, or would He get up and walk out? Our mental attitude and the content of our hearts is dramatically impacted by what we hear and see. Be vigilant about discerning what is good and evil. Be aware that the Prince of the air uses all sorts of media to gain new followers. Ask yourself “What have I innocently been exposing my spirit to?” Consider that the field is full of imposters. How can we tell who are Wheat and Tares when they look alike? https://amazed2017.com/2021/02/28/the-lion-wins/

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Whatever we allow into our minds will edify our spirit or defile our spirit. God’s Attributes The Word of God warns us to guard our minds as we capture every thought and allow it, or rebuke it. (Phil 4:6 and Proverbs 4:23) “Guard your heart with all your strength for everything there is in life comes out of it.” IF you want a good life, have a good heart, have a pure heart, have a wholly confessed holy heart. Many things God takes care of for us, but we are responsible to “be holy as I am holy”. To accomplish this we must humbly confess our sins to one another so that our Father will heal us. Let us cleanse ourselves of: unholy thoughts, unholy actions, anger, swearing, sexual perversions, and a filthy spirit which holds onto bitterness and revenge. Our motivation for being holy is in our looking forward to the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus. Our Father knows us inside and out, therefore, He asks that we seek Him with all of our mind, and with all of our heart and soul. It is wise to prepare our hearts before we ask God for His kingdom to come unto us as it is in heaven. We can expect our faithful Father to deliver His holy, perfect justice.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see Him as He is. All who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure.” John 3:1-3 NIV Listen to AW Tozer go into detail about Accepting Christ over Obeying Christ.