The Faith I Live By

Monday, June 24, 2019

A Change of Heart Needed

Today's Devotion

Thursday, June 27, 2019

A Change of Heart Needed

Nicodemus held a high position of trust in the Jewish nation. He was highly educated, and possessed talents of no ordinary character, and he was an honored member of the national council. With others, he had been stirred by the teaching of Jesus. Though rich, learned, and honored, he had been strangely attracted by the humble Nazarene. The lessons that had fallen from the Saviour's lips had greatly impressed him, and he desired to learn more of these wonderful truths....

Nicodemus had come to the Lord thinking to enter into a discussion with Him, but Jesus laid bare the foundation principles of truth. He said to Nicodemus, It is not theoretical knowledge you need so much as spiritual regeneration. You need not to have your curiosity satisfied, but to have a new heart. You must receive a new life from above before you can appreciate heavenly things. The Desire of Ages, 167-171.

The change of heart represented by the new birth can be brought about only by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit. It alone can cleanse us from all impurity. If it is allowed to mold and fashion our hearts, we shall be able to discern the character of the kingdom of God, and realize the necessity of the change which must be made before we can obtain entrance to this kingdom.Pride and self-love resist the Spirit of God; every natural inclination of the soul opposes the change from self-importance and pride to the meekness and lowliness of Christ. But if we would travel in the pathway to eternal life, we must not listen to the whispering of self. In humility and contrition we must beseech our heavenly Father, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10. As we receive divine light, and cooperate with the heavenly intelligences, we are “born again,” freed from the defilement of sin by the power of Christ. The Youth's Instructor, September 9, 1897.

The mighty power of the Holy Spirit works an entire transformation in the character of the human agent, making him a new creature in Christ Jesus. When a man is filled with the Spirit, the more severely he is tested and tried, the more clearly he proves that he is a representative of Christ. The peace that dwells in the soul is seen on the countenance. The words and actions express the love of the Saviour. There is no striving for the highest place. Self is renounced. The name of Jesus is written on all that is said and done. The Review and Herald, June 10, 1902.

Is not this, the renewal of man, the greatest miracle that can be performed? What cannot the human agent do who by faith takes hold of the divine power? Testimonies for the Church 9:152.

Note: In some areas phrases have been omitted by the compilers for whatever reason. I have restored them as underlined text, that the full intent of the author may be given.

My Thoughts:

My friend, in and of ourselves, we cannot produce righteousness. It is only by the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ that righteousness may be seen us. Our true problem with sin is that our natures are sinful, and unless we receive a new nature, we cannot be righteous.

Righteousness is not right doing as much as it is right being. There is nothing that we can do to become righteous. Just as an apple tree cannot bear oranges, so too is it impossible for us to produce righteousness from a sinful heart. The remedy for our condition is the new birth of the Spirit of Christ within us.

We are not guilty of the sin of our father Adam, but we have inherited his fallen nature. The unrighteous character that we have been born with is not in and of itself sin, but left to ourselves, we sin. The true remedy for sin is not to control our behavior, but to go to the source of our problem, our carnal hearts.

My friend, this is the salvation that is offered to us in Jesus Christ. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. (Ezekiel 36:26, 27).

God bless,

I encourage your comments: wtaitague@gmail.com or directly in the blog (Click Here)

The Seal of God and the Latter Rain - Wes Taitague

In the last days everyone will receive the Seal of God or the Mark of the Beast. In this message we identify what the Seal of God is and how it is that we receive it. Then we take a look at the Latter Rain; what it is, when it happens and how it relates to the Seal of God. This message was presented at the Advent Bible Fellowship on June 15, 2019 on Guam.

RESOURCES:

The Truth About God

Recommended YouTube Channels (New)

Friday: Blessings on the Humble Man

Sunday, June 23, 2019

Help for the Poor in Spirit

Today's Devotion

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Help for the Poor in Spirit

All who have a sense of their deep soul poverty, who feel that they have nothing good in themselves, may find righteousness and strength by looking unto Jesus. Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 8.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Psalm 51:17. Man must be emptied of self before he can be, in the fullest sense, a believer in Jesus. When self is renounced, then the Lord can make man a new creature. The Desire of Ages, 280.

When man has sinned against a holy and merciful God, he can pursue no course so noble as to repent sincerely, and confess his errors in tears and bitterness of soul. This God requires of him; He accepts nothing less than a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Prophets and Kings, 435, 436.

The proud heart strives to earn salvation; but both our title to heaven and our fitness for it are found in the righteousness of Christ. The Lord can do nothing toward the recovery of man until, convinced of his own weakness, and stripped of all self-sufficiency, he yields himself to the control of God. Then he can receive the gift that God is waiting to bestow. From the soul that feels his need, nothing is withheld. He has unrestricted access to Him in whom all fullness dwells. The Desire of Ages, 300.

The only reason why we may not have remission of sins that are past is that we are not willing to humble our proud hearts and comply with the conditions. Testimonies for the Church 5:636.

God is very pitiful, for He understands our weaknesses and our temptations; and when we come to Him with broken hearts and contrite spirits. He accepts our repentance, and promises that, as we take hold of His strength to make peace with Him, we shall make peace with Him. Oh, what gratitude, what joy, should we feel that God is merciful! Testimonies for the Church 3:239, 240.

The offering most sweet and acceptable in God's sight is a heart made humble by self-denial, by lifting the cross and following Jesus. Evangelism, 510.

Note: In some areas phrases have been omitted by the compilers for whatever reason. I have restored them as underlined text, that the full intent of the author may be given.

My Thoughts:

My friend, pride is the one thing that keeps the church of Laodicea in the condition that they are in. They are satisfied with their spiritual condition and do not feel their need of anything. The Faithful and True Witness says "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;" (Revelation 3:15-17).

This is the condition of the remnant church of God; this is the condition of the Seventh-day Adventist Church today. The reason why the church cannot see its true condition before God is because they have spiritual pride. They believe that because God has blessed them with the light of prophecy in the past, that they are the favored people of God. This spiritual pride has blinded them from seeing their true condition before God.

Their true condition is that they are "... wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:" (Revelation 3:17). The church is in this condition because they have forsaken the One true God for the false god of the trinity. This is evident in the fact that Jesus is on the outside seeking to gain entrance into the heart of His people saying "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20).

My friend, pride is at the heart of all sin, and unless we humble ourselves before God, we cannot receive His Spirit within our hearts. The message to the Seventh-day Adventist Church that is in the Laodicean condition is a straight message that cuts to the heart of their condition. Those who humble their hearts to receive it will be filled with the Spirit of Christ; those who resist the working of His Spirit upon their hearts, close their hearts to the working of the Spirit of God and are left in darkness.

Jesus said "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22, 23).

May you lay aside your spiritual pride, that the Faithful and True Witness of God may open your eyes to your true condition before God, that you may with a broken and contrite heart, surrender your heart to Him.

God bless,

I encourage your comments: wtaitague@gmail.com or directly in the blog (Click Here)

The Seal of God and the Latter Rain - Wes Taitague

RESOURCES:

The Truth About God

Recommended YouTube Channels (New)

Thursday: A Change of Heart Needed

Saturday, June 22, 2019

Union with Christ

A Personal Pardon

Today's Devotion

Monday, June 24, 2019

A Personal Pardon

We should remember that all make mistakes; even men and women who have had years of experience sometimes err; but God does not cast them off because of their errors; to every erring son and daughter of Adam He gives the privilege of another trial. The Signs of the Times, May 21, 1902.

Jesus loves to have us come to Him just as we are, sinful, helpless, dependent. We may come with all our weakness, our folly, our sinfulness, and fall at His feet in penitence. It is His glory to encircle us in the arms of His love, and to bind up our wounds, to cleanse us from all impurity.

Here is where thousands fail: they do not believe that Jesus pardons them personally, individually. They do not take God at His word. It is the privilege of all who comply with the conditions to know for themselves that pardon is freely extended for every sin. Put away the suspicion that God's promises are not meant for you. They are for every repentant transgressor. Strength and grace have been provided through Christ to be brought by ministering angels to every believing soul. None are so sinful that they cannot find strength, purity, and righteousness in Jesus, who died for them. He is waiting to strip them of their garments stained and polluted with sin, and to put upon them the white robes of righteousness; He bids them live and not die....

Can you believe that when the poor sinner longs to return, longs to forsake his sins, the Lord sternly withholds him from coming to His feet in repentance? Away with such thoughts! Nothing can hurt your own soul more than to entertain such a conception of our heavenly Father.... Come with your whole heart to Jesus, and you may claim His blessing. Steps to Christ, 52-55.

He who through His own atonement provided for man an infinite fund of moral power will not fail to employ this power in their behalf. The Review and Herald, October 30, 1900.

Note: In some areas phrases have been omitted by the compilers for whatever reason. I have restored them as underlined text, that the full intent of the author may be given.

My Thoughts:

My friend, our salvation is a personal salvation, it must be so otherwise we cannot be saved. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9). This confession of sin is for our own sins, not the sins of another, and when we do, the promise is not just that we are forgiven of our sins, but that we are cleansed from all unrighteousness.

Each are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. This work is a personal work that must happen in the heart of all that would be saved. "... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12, 13). Each are to develop that personal relationship with Jesus, that He may come into their hearts and cleanse them from all unrighteousness.

May you work out your own salvation in Jesus today.

God bless,

I encourage your comments: wtaitague@gmail.com or directly in the blog (Click Here)

The Seal of God and the Latter Rain - Wes Taitague

RESOURCES:

The Truth About God

Recommended YouTube Channels (New)

Tuesday: Union With Christ