We are all fallen creatures, and although we praise and thank God that we have been saved by grace through faith in Christ, have been made a new creation in Him, and have been given His resurrected life, our old, fleshly nature lusts against our new~life~in~Christ and our new nature lusts against our old, fleshly, sinful self. Only God can fully know and understand our inner heart. May we submit to His purifying gaze and be ready and willing to say: "Purify my heart O Lord," no matter what it may cost.

Carli • Saved by Grace

When we truly identify with our Saviour and trust in Christ's capacities alone for our journey through life, it is then that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness; it is then that the wind of God will lift us up on eagles' wings and carry us through life's stresses and strains, in the power of His Holy Spirit.

Carli • Saved by Grace

The resolve to serve the Lord will inevitably cause believers to swim against the tide of popular opinion as our heart focusses on Christ and gazes steadily upon Him and His ultimate goal, which is that Christ is all, and all in all. The man or woman, mother or father, boy or girl who is prepared to lead in this important life~choice, will most likely be one that will influence those in their own 'household' in this eternally significant decision, and will be able to say with Joshua: "As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

Carli • Saved by Grace

God is not only in the midst of us, but He is the Almighty God and as such, He is mighty to save His people, not only from their enemies without and their fears within, but also from the curse of sin and death. Christ is the provision for our need, the remedy for our fear, the cure for our problems, and the antidote to sin. He is our protector and defender and as such He is our victorious warrior. He is our triumphant Saviour, Who is mighty to save.

Carli • Saved by Grace

Union with Christ is the most wonderful truth of our salvation that staggers the imagination... for the Holy Spirit baptises us into the Lord Jesus and then comes to live inside our bodies. This spiritual baptism only happens once... at the point of salvation, but from that moment on, through time and into eternity, believers will never be out of union with Christ. This position of security does not depend on our merit or demerit. It does not depend on what we do or what we don't do, but on the efficacy of the finished work of Christ at Calvary.

Carli • Saved by Grace

Paul reminds us that death is the greatest enemy of a man's soul and the sting and severity of sin is death, while the terrible power of sin is the perfect law of God which is His greatest tool to identify men's sinfulness and point us to Christ. But thanks be to God, for on that day, death is overcome by life. Death is consumed into victory. Death will be triumphantly destroyed.
This is indeed a blessed hope for everyone who has been born of God and positioned in Christ, for on that day we will be able to say: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

Carli • Saved by Grace

God is Light ~ unapproachable Light, and yet He has placed His Spirit of Light into our hearts to lead us aright, to guide us into all truth and to shine His love into the hearts and lives of all with whom we come in contact. Let us walk in the light as He is in the light and may the light of His presence within each of our hearts, shine through our lives to proclaim to all we meet, the light of the glorious gospel of grace that has been shed abroad in our hearts and lives.

Carli • Saved by Grace

The Lord establishes our steps because He loves His children and is pleased to be our Provider, our Protector, and our Establisher, not only in this life but in the eternal realms to come, which are reserved for us in heaven. How blessed we are to have a God Who delights in our way, Who is intimately involved in every detail of our life and Who upholds us with His righteous right hand. No wonder this Psalm begins with the words "Do not fret”~ but let us, like David, rest in the safe arms of the Protector of our soul, the Establisher of our steps.

Carli • Saved by Grace

This verse is a lovely testimony of Philemon's developing Christian character, for news had reached the apostle Paul’s ears that other believers were being refreshed through Philemon's ministry. What a joy for Paul, who not only led this man to Christ but received news of his ongoing spiritual progress in his Christian life. May we also seek to act in a similar godly manner and obey the instructions we receive from Scripture in thought, word, deed, and motive, so that the testing of our faith does not cause any ungodly reaction, but demonstrates a maturing faith, a growth in grace, and a response that honours the Lord.

Carli • Saved by Grace

It is this confidence in Christ that enables John to write that we know that the Son of God has come. We know that Christ has made the Father known to us, and we know that in Him we have been given spiritual understanding and godly wisdom. God, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, came to earth to reconcile man to the Father through the Son and to give spiritual understanding and godly wisdom to all who would trust in His name. And He is the only way to God, the only truth from God, and the only life of God.

Carli • Saved by Grace

Jude warns of the many ways that we believers can be enticed away from the word of truth into unbelief through heretical teachings, apostate teachers and false prophets.. and he exhorts each one of us to contend earnestly for the faith which was given to us through God's holy apostles and prophets. May we recognise the importance of being firmly grounded on the word of truth so that we will not be influenced by every wind of doctrine but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Carli • Saved by Grace

Original link on Instagram is https://www.instagram.com/p/C-qHjlLuBEa/

I find it interesting that the majority of those who make extremely negative comments on my pretrib YouTube videos come from folks who have channels which focus on their hobbies: computer games, cats, NASCAR, basketball, half-naked ladies, marijuana, secular rock music, whisky, and the like. I guess expertise in the world qualifies them as experts in biblical understanding.

Paul's stated purpose in this verse should be the motivation for all of God's children in these increasingly evil days in which we are living, so that in Christ we may encourage one another in the faith and be united together in a godly love of the truth. May we look to Christ, Who is the centre and circumference of our entire life, knowing that in Him alone are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and Who is the only secure foundation upon which our faith must rest.

Carli • Saved by Grace

THE watershed passage in the Bible which divides the literal hermeneutic from the allegorical hermeneutic is Daniel 9:24-27.

24 "Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.
25 "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
26 "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate."

Never question the length and depth and height and breadth of God's gracious love towards you, for God demonstrated His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And the hope that comes through faith in Christ does not disappoint, because the supernatural love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who was given to us, through time and into eternity.

Carli • Saved by Grace

Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.