The Lord has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, and all His promises to us are 'yes' and 'amen' in Jesus Christ our Lord. All that we have to do is to appropriate them so that no matter how fiercely the storms of life batter our tiny boat, we have confidence in the One Who rules the tempest with His Word and causes the stormy seas to be still.
No matter what life throws your way, you can have confidence in the truth of God’s Word and joyously proclaim, "The Lord is my strength and He is my peace."

Carli • Saved by Grace

Error runs around the world twice before truth can get its pants on.

God has stepped into time on various occasions to disrupt the world in its established course and judge mankind. Judgement fell in Eden and was poured out on the antediluvian world of Noah. Judgement fell on the tower of Babel and struck down the ten god's of Egypt. Israel was judged through the Assyrian and Babylonian dispersions and sin was judged at the Cross of Calvary, when the wrath of God fell on the Lord Jesus Christ, our substitute for sin. Let us pray that many will come to a knowledge of the truth while there is still time.

Carli • Saved by Grace

Some sweet day our piles of battlefield trials will turn into piles of eternal smiles.

A ministry follower made this cool slide for me. Love it when folks do this with my quotes. I don't have the time.

The Holy Spirit is our guarantee. He is the down~payment of our full inheritance in Christ, which is being kept by God in trust for us unto the day of redemption, that wonderful day when Christ comes in the clouds of glory to take us to be with Himself in heaven. Today, we have the first~fruits of the Spirit, which are as yet incomplete and imperfect. But on that glorious day, Jesus will consummate His pledge to us and we shall be without spot and wrinkle, having a body like unto His glorious body. In that day, we shall be fully redeemed, body, soul, and spirit.

Carli • Saved by Grace

Sherlock Holmes --- “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”

Although the unregenerate man can gain much value from reading the book of Proverbs and applying its wisdom in their lives, the underlying principle that should govern our acquisition of knowledge and understanding, and which should impact our entire life, is in reverence of the Lord in the beauty of His holiness, for doing so will not only influence the lives we live today in a positive way, but will enable us to reap glorious rewards in the eternal ages to come.

Carli • Saved by Grace

"While we attempt not to be wise ABOVE what is written, we should attempt, and that most studiously, to be wise UP TO that which is written." Dr. Chalmers.

The choice of God's blessing or cursings is simply an invitation to believe, or a warning against unbelief. It is a gracious invitation to the world, to consider their ways. It is a godly summons to the lost, to come to HIM, and trust Him for salvation, for it is not God's will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and faith in Christ. Isaiah wrote in chapter 55, "So will My Word be, which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty; it will accomplish what I desire, and succeed in the matter for which I sent it", and this should be a HUGE wake~up call for Christians to mend their ways and for sinners to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, for there is NO OTHER NAME given among men whereby we must be saved. REMEMBER ~ God has placed His Word above His holy name and ALL that is written in Scripture WILL be fulfilled.

Carli • Saved by Grace

If you can hate error without hating the errorist,
If you can show mercy without winking at sin,
If you can admire men, but not too much,
If you can balance independence and submission,
If you can be free while staying eternally focused,
You'll be a true disciple my friend.

Each believer is a glorious trophy that has been rescued from the clutches of sin and death and brought into the family of God. Each of us are called to stand firm in the faith so that we can be used by God to tell others of the glorious gospel of Christ, both in word and in deed.
We are called to encourage those that are struggling, to pray for those that do not know Him, and to sow eternal seeds of hope, joy, and rejoicing in the hearts of all we meet so that together we will one day rejoice as we stand and worship our great King of kings and loving Lord of glory.

Carli • Saved by Grace

Rev 3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Food for thought. You can't use general arguments to prove a particular point.
— Arguments on the fact of the resurrection don't prove a pretribulation rapture.
— Arguments that there is no marriage in heaven don't prove that there are no males and females in heaven.
— Arguments about harvest season and summer season don't prove New Wine Pentecost.

Just received a phone call that my son Ezra, his wife, and their four kids were on a boat on the Amazon that caught fire, exploded, and sank. They escaped with only their lives and the clothes on their backs. Not everyone on the boat made it. They are now without passports and paperwork. Praise for deliverance. Prayers for provision.

Riverboat update. Ezra and family lost phones, tablets, wallets, clothes, and vital documents. They were halfway to Benjamin Constant from Manaus (five-day trip) when an explosion occurred on the boat. They are now on a military boat taking them back to Manaus. They expect it will take two months or more to replace their documentation, passports, etc. If interested in donation information, please connect with me at leebrainard@soothkeep.info.

This miracle of salvation by grace through faith in Christ, is freely available to ALL, just as it was when Peter stood up on that first day of Pentecost and taught this life~changing truth. The miracle of salvation is a free gift to ALL who believe. Salvation costs us nothing. But NEVER forget what it cost God to give His dearly beloved Son, to hang on the Cross as the sacrifice for sin, and NEVER forget what it cost the Lord Jesus to go to the Cross on behalf of you and me.

Carli • Saved by Grace

Riverboat deliverance update.
We are still only getting snippets of information. We had heard that they were on a military boat taking Ezra, Joanna, and the kids to Manaus, but the military boat dropped the not seriously wounded off in the town at Uarini, AM, Brazil and continued on their journey with those who had significant medical needs. The townspeople gave them shelter, clothes, and food. Here is their temporary shelter in Uarini.

We are expecting that Joanna will be able to call her mom some time today and give her the full storie. Most details are still lacking.

A common expression today in some prophecy-loving circles runs down the path of "The Holy Spirit continues to send new revelation today." If taken literally, this is heresy. The only revelation today is the Bible. The Bible is the only "thus saith the Lord." Men do receive illumination and providential direction in a thousand amazing ways, but all who have discernment know the difference between revelation and illumination. The former is equal to the word of God that we have. It is truly the word of God. The latter is to be tested by the word of God.

Hopefully, when folks say things like "the Holy Spirit still sends revelation," they are just operating with theological sloppiness, and they only mean further illumination as men mix absolute confidence in the historical-grammatical hermeneutic with the leading of the Spirit into all truth—-"thy word is truth."

I have observed that the more committed men are to using the term "revelation" to describe the teaching they supposedly learn from the Holy Spirit, the more frustrated they get when men encourage them to be more consistent with the historical-grammatical hermeneutic. They cast shade on the historical-grammatical hermeneutic with the claim that they are spiritual men taught by the Holy Spirit, while evangelicals are hindered because they trust a dead hermeneutic and the dead letter. This, too, is a heretical approach to the word of God. The word of God is spirit and truth. The word of God is powerful and living. The word of God is God's perfect revelation to man designed to fully equip the saints for holy living and right understanding. The Holy Spirit doesn't take men on a path independent from the word of God. He takes them deep into the word of God. He strengthens their trust in the word of God and the literal interpretation of the same.

Riverboat update sent by Joanna's mom. A fuller update will come out later.

"I just got off the phone with Joanna. It was a COMPLETE miracle! They and passengers jumped from the burning boat and survived. They are WELL right now. The gospel has been going out. I am going to transcribe what Joey told me and it will be a bit jumbled but it is just the work of the Lord that they are alive. Thanks so much for your prayers.
Everyone has a story Joanna said, but people are singling them out because they had the largest family and the youngest baby. Joanna said she was preaching the gospel on the shore and didn’t know where Eric was or Ezra."