The Bible and Life

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

The Gateway

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

THE GATEWAY.

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In Romans 12:1 Paul brings us face-to-face with this gateway: 'Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing

to God—which is your spiritual worship."

In the preceding eleven chapters of Romans, Paul has expounded on the boundless mercy of God toward the human race and the full provision He has made for all men, Jew or Gentile, through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Now he comes to the response God requires from each of us. It is simple and down-to-earth: Offer your body to God as a living sacrifice. It is a sacrifice that God requires of us for His plan to work.

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But why does Paul emphasize that it is to be a living sacrifice?

Because he is contrasting it with the sacrifices of the Old Testament, which were first slain and then placed dead on the altar. In the New Testament God requires each believer to offer his or her body just as totally on His altar—but it is to be a living body, one that is active and dedicated in His service. There is no difference in the totality of the sacrifice. In the New Testament as in the Old, God requires complete, unreserved surrender.

To offer your body to God in this way means that you no longer claim ownership or control of it. You no longer decide where it is to go, what it is to eat or wear, or what kind of service it is to perform. All that is now decided by the One to whom you have yielded complete and final control. Since He is your Creator, He knows better than you do what He can accomplish in and through that yielded body of yours.

The first result of this surrender is that it makes your body holy. In Matthew 23:19 Jesus reminds the Pharisees that it is the altar that sanctifies—or makes holy—the sacrifice placed on it, and not the other way around. This applies to your body when it is placed on God's altar. By this act it is sanctified, made holy, set apart to God.

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In Romans 12:2 Paul goes on to describe the second result of offering your body upon God's altar: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

In response to your surrender, God will do for you what you cannot achieve by any effort of your own will: He will renew your mind. He will change the way you think. This includes your goals, your values, your attitudes, and your priorities. All will be brought into line with those of God Himself.

This inner change will find expression in your outward behavior. You will no longer be "conformed," acting like the unregenerate people all around you. Instead, you will be

"transformed," and begin to demonstrate in your conduct the very nature and character of God.

Until you begin to experience this renewal of your mind, there are many wonderful things God has planned for you that you cannot discover. In Romans 8:7 Paul calls the old,

unrenewed mind "the carnal mind," which is "enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be" (KJV).

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God will not reveal His secrets or open up His treasures to a mind at enmity with Him. But when your mind is renewed, you will begin to discover all that God has planned for your life.

This unfolding of God's plan to your renewed mind will be progressive. Paul uses three words for it: good, pleasing, perfect.

Your first discovery will be that God's plan for you is always good. God never plans anything bad or harmful for any of His children. In making this discovery, you will probably have to reject the devil's lies. He will be very insistent in suggesting that full surrender to God will cost you everything that is interesting and exciting in life. He will whisper negative insinuations to your mind: "You'll have to give up everything you enjoy.... You'll be no better than a slave.... That kind of life leaves no room for fun.... You'll lose all your friends.... Your personality will never develop...." and so on.

In fact, the opposite is true. Not merely is God's plan good; it is also pleasing. Full surrender to God is the gateway into a life filled with challenges and pleasures that cannot be experienced in any other way. Over the years I have met many Christians who made this kind of surrender. I have never yet met one who regretted it.

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I know other Christians, on the other hand, who were challenged to make this surrender and refused. Almost without exception, they ended up frustrated and unfulfilled. As you continue to progress in your discovery of God's plan, you will go beyond the good and the pleasing to the perfect. Fully embraced, God's plan is perfect. Complete. There are no omissions. It covers every area of your life, meets every need, satisfies every longing.

If marriage is part of God's plan for you, then you can trust Him to work out every detail, both for you and for the mate He has destined for you. He will bring you together with a person who is so exactly suited to you that, together, you may experience marriage as God originally designed it. This will be on a level higher than the world has ever dreamed of.

Perhaps you have never made this kind of total surrender to God. You have never "offered your body to God as a living sacrifice." Perhaps you never knew God required this of you. But now you find yourself standing before this gateway—the gateway of full surrender. You long to explore all that lies on the other side, yet you are afraid. Already you begin to hear in your mind the whispered insinuations of the devil.

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Let me say that I understand your feelings. More than forty years ago, I stood before the same gateway. I experienced the same inner tensions—the longing to explore all that lay on the other side; the fear of what it might cost me. My mind was flooded with questions: What will my friends say? And my family? What will happen to my university career? Finally I made the decision. I committed my whole life to God.

Never once since then have I regretted that decision or been tempted to revoke it. It opened the way into a fife that has proved richer, fuller, more exciting than I had ever dreamed possible. Included in it was a mate prepared by God in each of two successive marriages. One thing I can say with full assurance: God's plan works!

I cannot force you through this gateway. Not even God can do that. But I can show you how to enter. All that is needed is a decision, followed by a simple prayer. If you are ready to make the decision, here is a prayer you may offer:

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Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You that on the cross You gave Yourself as a sacrifice for my sins, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life. In my turn, I now give myself to You. I offer my body as a living sacrifice on Your altar. From now on, I belong wholly to You. Make me what You want me to be; lead me where You want me to go. Open up Your plan for my life.

Now seal your decision by thanking the Lord. Thank Him that He has heard you and received you. Thank Him that your whole life now belongs to Him. You are His responsibility. He

will open up every door of His will for you. He will fulfill every plan and purpose He has for your life.

- Derek Prince (GOD IS A MATCHMAKER)

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Friday, December 12, 2025

Be Willing To Move With God

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is a testimony about moving when God wants us to move. Enjoy.

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BE WILLING TO MOVE WITH GOD.

When I spent some years in England before World War II, I was in London and wanted to hear G. Campbell Morgan, a great preacher who belongs with the nineteenth century spiritual giants. He pastored a church that had more than three thousand people in its Bible study even in those days.

London is a very congested city, having been laid out by the Romans some two thousand years ago — and they apparently could not see straight! The streets turn and twist and are not laid out in a pattern. However, I was trying to find a big church that I thought everyone would know about.

I went up to a policeman on the beat and said, "I'm looking for the church of G. Campbell Morgan."

And he said, "I've never heard of him."

I could not believe my ears, and I said, "Why, he is world famous. He has written thirty or forty books. He is a great expositor of the Bible."

He said, "Well, I've never heard of him."

A passer by heard me arguing with the "bobby," and I said, "Who is it you want?"

When I told him, he said, "The first door right there and to the left."

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A lot of the big churches in London have a facade in front, but you cannot tell what is behind it if you do not already know. The church was less than ten steps away, and the big cop on the beat had never heard of the pastor. If I had asked him where to find a girl, I am sure he could have told me, but he could not tell me where to get my soul fed.

The devil never wants us to get smart in spiritual things. If God sends a new breath of His power, Satan does not want us to know where it is. Or he wants us to think it must be wrong, because we "did not get it that way. '

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If I had lived at the time of John the Baptist, I would have joined him.

If I had lived at the time Jesus ministered on the earth I would have joined Him.

If I had lived during the time of Martin Luther, I would have become a Lutheran because they were the ones who were carrying the banner of God.

If I had been living in the days of John Knox, I would have joined the Presbyterians, because they were carrying; the flames of revival.

If I had lived in the days of John Wesley, I would have joined the Methodists, because that was where God was moving.

If I had been living in the time when the Salvation Army was founded by William Booth, I would have joined that group, gone to the street corners, and "tooted a horn" for Jesus, because they were getting people saved. I want to be where the blessing of God is being poured out. I want to be where the anointing is on people. I refuse to get stuck in some place or group where the Holy Spirit is not being poured out.

If you are not willing go to move with God, then you need to understand that God is on the move and you are not. The Church needs to be on the move with God!

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Why does the Lord tarry when the world looks as if it is in its final days? There are millions in India, millions in China, and even millions in America who have not yet made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. They are headed for hell. That is why the Lord tarries. We need to know our spiritual roots to propagate Christianity throughout our own country and around the world.

- Dr. Lester Sumrall ( The Pioneers Of Faith )

DON'T EVER CONFESS YOUR FEARS.

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Wrong Confessing

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

WRONG CONFESSING.

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In this lesson, let us talk for awhile about wrong thinking, wrong believing, and wrong confessing. Then we’ll bring confession back to the positive side again before we conclude.

Wrong confession, of course, is a confession of defeat,of failure, and of the supremacy of Satan. To talk about how the devil is hindering you—how he is keeping you from success, how he is holding you in bondage, and how he is keeping you sick—is a confession of defeat.

Such confessions as those simply glorify the devil. Confessions that glorify the devil are wrong confessions! Remember, our confession is proclaiming a truth that we’ve accepted wholeheartedly or it is declaring something we know to be true and stating something we believe.

Testimonies that we give in church, for example, are our confessions. And sad to say, many of them glorify the devil rather than God. I remember some time ago, one woman got up in one of my meetings, and said, “The devil has been after me all week, bless his holy name.” I know she got her praise misplaced and didn’t mean to praise the devil! She meant to praise God, yet she was glorifying what the devil was doing by getting up and talking about it.

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Now I want to ask you a question. When you talk about what God has done, and what Jesus has done, and is doing, aren’t you glorifying Him? Well, by the same token then, if you talk about what the devil is doing, and what he has done, you are glorifying the devil. And so many times people miss it by making the wrong confession. They lose the blessing and they are defeated, and life is a grind to them.

So a wrong confession glorifies the devil, and we don’t have any business glorifying the devil. Actually, a wrong confession is an unconscious declaration that your Father God is a failure.

And as I said, many of the testimonies and confessions we hear today glorify the devil. Such confessions simply sap the very life out of you. A wrong confession destroys your faith; it holds you in bondage. But the confession of your lips that has grown out of faith in your heart will absolutely defeat the devil in every combat.

On the other hand, the confession of Satan’s ability to hinder you and to keep you from success, gives the devil dominion over you. You see, with your mouth you are either going to give God dominion over you or you are going to give Satan dominion over you!

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For example, to be saved, you had to confess the Lordship of Jesus. Romans 10:9 says, “. . . if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus [or, Jesus as Lord].. . .” That means you are to confess Him as your Lord. You are to confess Jesus’ Lordship over you. Then He begins to have dominion over you, as you give place to Him in your life.

But, you see, when you confess Satan’s ability to hinder you and to keep you from success, then even though you are a Christian, you are giving Satan dominion over you. Satan is the god of the world (2 Cor. 4:4), and he will move right in to your life if you permit him to. Now it may be a permission of ignorance or an unconscious consent, but if you give Satan dominion over you, it is still consent. And naturally, when Satan has dominion over you, then you are filled with weakness and fear!

Let me say it again, your confession of Satan’s ability to hinder you and to keep you from success gives Satan dominion over you. Your confession of your fear gives fear dominion over you.

•. BOOK QUOTE ; Bible Faith Study Guide.

- Kenneth E Hagin

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William James Roop

Friday, December 5, 2025

Prayer Gives Us Options

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is another great story about prayer and the options it provides. Enjoy.

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One of the ultimate benefits of prayer, I'm convinced. It trains us to go over our options, to pray through every angle of a decision, and to see things more clearly through the eyes of faith. Have you ever made a bad decision because you didn't take the time to pray it through?

I have. I remember clearly when a church in South Bend, Indiana, approached me about being their pastor. I flatly told them no, I wasn't interested. I felt God had called me to a different area of ministry. Besides, I wasn't particularly attracted to South Bend.

The next night, I received another call from the South Bend church. The man on the other end told me that the church people had fasted and prayed all day and once again had voted unanimously to call me.

"That's very interesting," I said. "I appreciate that very much, but I can't come." And I hung up.

The next night another call came from the church. They were convinced I hadn't prayed about my decision. If I prayed it through, they felt, I would change my mind. They were right, and I accepted the call.

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Several years later, after I had left South Bend to spend several years overseas, the Lord gave me an almost identical decision to consider. I had recently returned to the United States and was seeking the Lord's will about a location for our international headquarters. One day I received a telephone call asking me to come back to South Bend to begin a new church there. Sixty-nine people, who were meeting in a basement and had no pastor, had signed a petition asking me to come be their spiritual leader. I told them I could not make a quick decision. My former church, located in a different part of South Bend, was still going strong. I couldn't see going back to start from scratch again.

But this time, I knew better than to try to make the decision without spending time in prayer. After seeking the Lord's will diligently on my knees, I knew what He wanted me to do. I said yes to the group in South Bend, and our ministry has been located there ever since.

More often than I can remember, I have been saved from a bad decision because I took the time to pray it through. In the course of praying, I saw things more clearly from God's perspective. Just as often I have experienced what Nehemiah did. After a season of prayer about something I feel deeply for, I find myself more committed than ever to what I began to pray for. Either way, prayer enables us to see things in sharper focus through the eyes of faith.

- Dr. Lester Sumrall ( The Making Of A Champion )

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Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Praying Down Revival

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

PRAYING DOWN REVIVALS

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While most people thought of revivals only as moves of God, who, in His sovereignty, poured out His Spirit (another instance where the ministers of the day used God’s sovereignty as an excuse for their lack of effective ministry), Charles Finney believed that human beings could set the stage for revival through prayer, fasting, and holding God accountable to His promises in the Bible.

Charles wrote about this spirit of prayer as it affected him during the revival at De Kalb in upstate New York: I found myself so much exercised, and so borne down with the weight of immortal souls, that I was constrained to pray without ceasing. Some of my experiences, indeed, alarmed me. A spirit of importunity sometimes came upon me so that I would say to God that He had made a promise to answer prayer, and I could not, and would not, be denied.

I felt so certain that He would hear me, and that faithfulness to his promises, and to himself, rendered it impossible that he should not hear and answer, that frequently I found myself saying to him, “I hope thou dost not think that I can be denied. I come with thy faithful promises in my hand, and I cannot be denied.”

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I cannot tell how absurd unbelief looked to me, and how certain it was, in my mind, that God would answer prayer—those prayers that, from day to day, and from hour to hour, I found myself offering in such agony and faith. I had no idea of the shape the answer would take, the locality in which the prayers would be answered, or the exact time of the answer.

My impression was that the answer was near, even at the door; and I felt myself strengthened in the divine life, put on the harness for a mighty conflict with the powers of darkness, and expected soon to see a far more powerful outpouring of the Spirit of God, in that new country where I had been laboring.

Oswald J. Smith explained why this kind of prayer was so important to Charles’s ministry:

He always preached with the expectation of seeing the Holy Spirit suddenly outpoured. Until this happened little or nothing was accomplished. But the moment the Spirit fell upon the people, Finney had nothing else to do but point them to the Lamb of God. Thus he lived and wrought for years in an atmosphere of revival.

- God’s Generals ( The Revivalists )

Roberts Liardon

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