“Many people are violent against one sin, but the true saint hates ALL sin. You may not allow the sin of drunkenness to have dominion over you, but are you selfish and stingy? What have you done? You have only changed your idols. You have dethroned one usurper to set up another. If you were profane and are now hypocritical, you have only changed iniquities.
It is a very curious thing how one sin feeds on another: the death of of extravagance may be the resurrection of greed; the flight of pride may be the advent of shameless folly. The man who was lewd, riotous, and brawling has killed those sins, and on their graves he has sown a handful of poisonous weed called pride, and it flourishes amazingly. It may be London pride, country pride, English pride or American pride, but it is rare stuff to grow, and to grow over the rotting carcasses of other sins.
Unbelief may dethrone superstition, but its own reign may be no real improvement upon that of credulity. If you have only thrown down Baal to set up Ashtaroth, what progress have you made toward God? Little does it signify which of the false gods is set up in the temple of Jehovah, for He hates them all. The right prayer is, ‘LET NOT SIN HAVE DOMINION OVER ME!'”from the writings of CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON — A PASSION FOR HOLINESS IN A BELIEVER’S LIFE published by Bethany House
Good words to ponder today. Have a blessed day.
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“For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” I John 5:4
Dr. Charles Haddon Spurgeon writes that “People who are born again really do overcome the world. How is this brought about? The text says, ‘This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.’
Christians do not triumph over the world by REASON. Reason is a very good thing, and no one should find fault with it. Reason is a candle, but faith is the sun. While I prefer the sun, I do no put out the candle. I use my reason constantly, but when I come to real warfare, reason is a wooden sword. It breaks, it snaps, while faith, the sword of true Jerusalem metal, cuts to the dividing of the soul and body.
Those who do something significant in the world are always men of faith.
The person who wins the battle is the one who knows he will win and vows to be the victor. Those who never get on in this world are those who are always afraid to do a thing for fear they cannot accomplish it. Who climbs to the top of the Alps? The person who says, ‘I will do it, or I will die.’
Let such a person make up his mind that he can do a thing, and he will do it if it is within the range of possibility. Those who have lifted the standard and, grasping it with a firm hand, have held it up in the midst of the stormy strife and battle are the men of faith. Men of fear and trembling run, but men of faith, whose boldness us etched on their foreheads like brass, lift their eyes “unto the hills, from whence cometh my help’ (Psalm 121:1), believing in God.”
from THE TRIUMPH OF FAITH IN A BELIEVER’S LIFE, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon and published by our good friends at BETHANY HOUSE.
Good words to ponder today. Have a blessed day IN CHRIST.

I was blessed with a godly heritage and had the privilege of growing up in a Christian home. My Dad was born in Philadelphia and before meeting my mom he was addicted to alcohol. The day that he was saved, he was set free from his bondage to this addiction and never had the desire to use alcohol again. He never tired of sharing the grace of God in his life with others.
>From the world’s perspective, my Dad was nobody. He was a carpenter by
trade, and believe it or not, he made caskets for Atlas Casket Company in Philadelphia. He loved to sing and share his testimony, and over the years he did that faithfully at his home church, as wells as traveling with the Salvation Army to the Philadelphia prisons. For 25 years he was a featured soloist at the Boardwalk Chapel in Wildwood, NJ. Because of the intensity of his addiction, he took its toll on his body and he suffered several heart attacks, mini-strokes and colon cancer.
Dad’s last ministry on earth was at the Boardwalk Chapel. He gave his testimony and sang one of his favorite hymns, WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS. The last line of the hymn says, “Love so amazing, so divine!
Demands my soul, my life, my all!” Those were the last lines he ever sang. Taking his seat, he had a major heart-attack and stroke and never regained consciousness. Two weeks later he was in the presence of Jesus at age 64. That was over 19 years ago.
My Dad modeled many things for me. But most of all, he taught me the importance of loving and serving Christ. He went home over 19 years ago and I still miss him! Today he would have been 83! Thanks, Dad for the godly heritage you gave me.
Have a blessed day!
Freedom Fighter is a ministry of America’s KESWICK . . . “Where God speaks to hearts and transforms lives!”

from the pen of Charles Haddon Spurgeon
“Sin shall not have dominion over you,” is a very needful assurance . .
. Stand in the strength of faith and in the power of the precious blood of Christ, and though you are beset with evil suggestions a thousand times a day and every sense is assailed by the witcheries of evil, yet ‘sin shall not have dominion over you.’ Cheered by such a word as this, we remain on our watchtower and are not overcome by evil.
Sometimes sin forces its way into our souls and rouses our inward desires to an awful degree so that imagination sets fire to our lusts and the smoke of the conflagration blows in the eyes of the affections and almost chokes the understanding. Yes, sin may invade your soul so as to be your plague and torment. Yes, sin may crush you down, rob you of your comfort, injure your graces, and wreak havoc upon your peace, BUT IT SHALL NEVER HAVE DOMINION OVER YOU!
Sin may haunt your home and follow you down the street in your walks, entering the very room into which you withdraw to pray, but your inmost self shall still cry out against it, FOR SIN SHALL NOT HAVE DOMINION OVER YOU. Sin may trouble you and thrust itself upon you, BUT IT CANNOT BECOME YOUR lord. The devil has great wrath and rages horribly for a while, knowing that his time is short (Revelation 12:12), but he shall be subdued and expelled for the Lord our God gives us the victory THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.
The child of God when he falls into the mire is like a sheep that gets up and escapes the ditch as quickly as possible; it is not his nature to lie there. The ungodly man is like the hog that rolls in the filth and wallows in it with delight. The mire has dominion over the swine, but it has none over the sheep. With many bleatings and outcries, the sheep seeks the shepherd again, but not so the swine. Every child of God weeps, mourns, bemoans his sin, and he hate it when for a while he has been overtaken by it. Sin has an awful power, BUT IT HAS NO DOMINION; it casts us down, but it cannot make us take delight in its evil.”
from A PASSION FOR HOLINESS IN A BELIEVER’S LIFE by Charles Haddon Spurgeon/Bethany House
Good words to remember on this May 10th, 2005.

“Sin is a domineering force. No one can sin up to a fixed point and then say to sin, ‘This is a far as you go.’ Sin is an imperious power, and where it dwells it is hungry for the mastery. Just as our Lord, when He enters the soul, will never be content with divided dominion, so it is with sin. Sin labors to bring our entire personality under subjection.
Hence, we are compelled to strive daily against this ambitious principle. According to the working of the Spirit of God in us, we wrestle against sin that it may not have dominion over us. Sin has unquestioned dominion over multitudes of human hearts, and in some it has set up its horrid throne and keeps it seat with force of arms so that is empire is undisturbed. In others, the throne is disputed, for the conscience mutinies, but yet the tyrant is not dethroned. Over the whole world, sin exercises its dreadful tyranny. It would hold us in the same bondage were it not for the ONE who is stronger than sin who has undertaken to deliver us out of its hand. Here is the charter of our liberty, the security of our safety: ‘Sin shall not have dominion over you!'”
“For sin shall NOT have dominion over you; for you are NOT under the law, but under grace!” (Romans 6:14)
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One of the dangers that I see in the current church growth movement is a moving away from preaching that talks about sin. They tend to go through hoops trying not to offend and package the gospel and the Cross in a way that will not be offensive in the hopes of winning people to Christ.
God hasn’t changed His position on sin. He still hates it! In his book RUMORS OF ANOTHER WORLD . . . WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE MISSING, Philip Yancey writes that the seven deadly sins might be renamed the seven seductive virtues:
Pride: In music, sports and business, we reserve our applause for winners, and those who flaunt it with an attitude tend to garner the most publicity. We strut our medals at the Olympic Games, lavish rewards on winners, and read management books patterned after Machiavelli and Attila the Hun.
Envy: Our entire advertising industry is built on inciting envy of colleagues and neighbors, so that whatever new electronic marvel or body shape my neighbor has, I want too.
Anger: We must get in touch with and express our anger, counselors tell us. Encounter groups, television trash-talk shows, town meetings, and political debates offer ample opportunity to do so.
Greed: The economic engine of our nation, and indeed the world, depends on a constant sense of discontent that motivates each consumer to desire even more.
Sloth: Find an island with a beach, retire early, relax, slow down, feel good — it’s all a part of the American dream.
Gluttony: Every year the “big gulp” drinks and super-size French fries get bigger, as do our waistlines. Currently 64% of Americans are overweight, with half that percentage qualifying as obese.
Lust: From Lycrad-clad professional cheerleaders to dancing babes on MTV videos, lust is ubiquitous in modern America, the single most profitable industry on the Internet.”
Not quite the biblical view on the seven deadly sins. Yancey goes on to say that “we miss the hidden dangers that prompted the ancients to regard these sins as deadly. These sins diminish me and bring disorder to my life. Pride is a kind of addiction, a yearning for ego strokes that will never be satisfied. Greed tempts be to move my focus from people to things. Lust keeps me from connecting in the most meaningful way, diverting that desire in a direction that ultimately does not satisfy. God wants to set me free; evil attempts to enslave!”
God hasn’t changed His position on sin. Get back to the Bible and allow His Spirit to talk to you. Are you enslaved to one of the seven deadly sins?
Good words to ponder on this Saturday, May 7, 2005.

“God in His mercy does not keep us alive because of some mission we have to perform, but rather because He desires to reveal Himself to us on earth in ways impossible in heaven.
We are not left here on earth because we have a job to do, but because we have a God to know. And because knowing Him is the purpose of our existence here, we need not frustrate ourselves trying to identify our slot of service or qualifying gifts.
You remain on earth to know God. If your heart is set on knowing Him, all else will fall into place. Every experience in our lives is necessary preparation for the revelation of Him! Do not get caught up in an activity that promises spiritual fulfillment. Do not be deceived. Far more than any job to do, far more than any work to accomplish, we have a
great God to know!” from LETTERS TO THE THIRSTY … For Vision, For
Life, For Rest, by Ed Miller published by our good friends at Waterbrook Press.
Need a great Mother’s Day gift? Why not send you wife and/or Mom to our Spring Ladies Day on Wednesday, May 18th. Our special speaker will be Nancy Mankins. See our website for details or call today to make
reservations. www.americaskeswick.org 800-453-7942.

Today is the National Day of prayer and I want to encourage you to take time today to pray for our President, Vice-President and our nation.
“A Prayer for Guidance”
“O eternal and everlasting God, I presume to present myself this morning before thy Divine majesty, beseeching thee to accept of my humble and hearty thanks, that it hath pleased thy great goodness to keep and preserve me the night past from all the dangers poor mortals are subject to, and has given me sweet and pleasant sleep, whereby I find my body refreshed and comforted for performing the duties of this day, in which I beseech thee to defend me from all perils of body and soul.
Direct my thoughts, words and work, wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb, and purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit, from the dross of my natural corruption, that I may with more freedom of mind and liberty of will serve thee, the everlasting God, in righteousness and holiness this day, and all the days of my life. Increase my faith in the sweet promises of the gospel; give me repentance from dead works; pardon my wanderings, and direct my thoughts unto thyself; the God of my salvation; teach me how to live in thy fear, labor in thy service, and ever run in the ways of thy commandments; make me always watchful over my heart, that neither the terrors of conscience, the loathing of holy duties, the love of sin, nor an unwillingness to depart this life, may cast me into a spiritual slumber, but daily frame me more and more into the likeness of thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time attain the resurrection of the just unto eternal life bless my family, friends and kindred.
Unite us all in praising and glorifying thee in all our works begun, continued, and ended, when we shall come to make our last account before thee, blessed Savior . . . ” From the prayer journal, Mount Vernon, un-dated.
May God bless America this day!

“You can confess your sin without ever repenting, but it is impossible to repent without confessing! And confession doesn’t bring about forgiveness! The blood of Christ has done that for us.
True confession agrees with God not only concerning sin, but also with the truth that we ARE forgiven not that we WILL BE forgiven. Then it goes a step further and agrees with God concerning the proper attitudes and actions that need to be taken in order to ‘work out what has been worked in.’ True confession focuses our mind not on our failures, but back to the finished work of Christ on the cross, which leads to a thankful heart. From God’s perspective, confession isn’t meant to be a sporadic, mechanical response. Instead, it’s to be a continual, dependent attitude pulsating through the life of every believer walking in the truth.
When we learn to agree with God concerning forgiveness, our minds begin to see the totality of grace that God has for us in Christ Jesus.
Understanding God’s grace changes the way we live.” from the pen of of author, Bob George in his book, FAITH THAT PLEASES GOD, published by Harvest House.
Good words to ponder on May 4, 2005. God bless.

“Faith is man’s response to what God has already imitated on his behalf.
God is always the initiator. We are the responders. Our faith responds to the totality of what God has accomplished on our behalf through Christ Jesus, but our faith is never the cause of it.
The faith that pleases God recognizes that there’s no area of our life that God hasn’t recognized. He knows our past, He knows our present, and He knows or future. He knows every hidden motive of our heart and every thought. And because He is a God who loves us, He has initiated a unique plan for our happiness. When we RESPOND to God and learn to walk by faith in Him, we live contented, productive lives — even in the midst of seeming adversity.
Faith is believing that God knows best and is faithful even when we are faithless. The Christian life is not to be lived through self-effort in obedience to the law, but by faith as we are led internally by the Spirit of God. The reason people insist on hanging onto the law is that they have never experienced being led by the Spirit. It thus becomes easy to fall into the trap of being an initiator instead of a responder.
But that’s not God’s plan nor His desire for us. He will not keep us wandering in the wilderness if we allow ourselves to be led by Him.
The Christian life is a life of faith from beginning to end. The faith in Christ that first saved us is the same faith by which we grow and live. Our proper response of thankfulness to God’s gift of grace changes as we see how grace provides for us what we could not provide for ourselves.”
–adapted from THE FAITH THAT PLEASES GOD, by Bob George published by Harvest House.
Good words for us to ponder on this May 3, 2005