God’s Grace In Action

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Roland Ledoux


Just wanted to share that God’s Grace in action is still alive and well! We received an unexpected blessing from the Lord Who used someone anonymously to bless us exceedingly. We try not to complain about our health and resources and just take it one day at a time and trust in our Heavenly Father’s ability to see us through.

Some days we are far more successful than others and either way the health issues to hinder us at times in what we would like to accomplish. Like the old adage goes, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” is all too common to many (not all) people our age, but especially those fighting debilitating diseases or conditions.

YET – our Heavenly Father sees ALL and KNOWS ALL and we have tried to be faithful to teach that AND live by that. We give where we can, when we can and do so cheerfully and definitely these days at the direction of the Holy Spirit. Most times it isn’t much, but it is out of an obedient and cheerful heart. Sometimes it’s money and sometimes it is something of value to specific people, but always at the Lord’s prompting.

We don’t expect anything in return, cause we don’t make it a public spectacle and hardly, if ever, let others know about it. It is between us and the Lord and in fact most times do not even consider it much of gift or whatever.

We did get a Social Security raise for the first time in literally years. Medicare didn’t eat into it per se, but despite no Medicare premium increase the cost of medications went up drastically. Go figure. The cost of groceries we have literally seen rise from one visit to the store to another, yet we ARE NOT starving, we have our non-grocery goods when needed, just not a lot of anything for extras.

We try not to waste our money though like many people from time to time like to think what we have earned can give us some “entertainment” pleasure from time to time. We did away with our cable and went to strictly streaming TV/Movies which has been a BIG savings, and we are getting used to the change of not just turning the TV on and watching whatever just happens to be on. Now we can make our own decisions as to what to watch.

We still have unresolved medical issues, my lack of teeth and Susie’s teeth and hearing, yet God is still blessing amazingly and we even get a laugh now and then out of our situation.

AND still God speaks to people’s hearts, just because He loves us and tells them, this couple (whom you may not really know) I want you to bless them. The listener doesn’t necessarily ask why and we the receiver have learned (as hard as it is) to not ask why (of course we do, but have to let it go in God) and so God’s Grace continues to act in unexpected ways, always to remind us, whom He loves, that as a Father, He is ever present and ever concerned with our day to day situation.

Susie and I have kids that love AND serve the Lord and are growing daily in His Wisdom. We have a Grandson that loves and is serving the Lord and learning as we all do through everyday life experiences about the care and presence of a Heavenly Father Who cares exceedingly for him! How could any family be more blessed??!! Other than a great reunion around the Father’s Banquet table can’t think of another blessing greater!

Just wanted to share that God’s Grace doesn’t end when you have reached a certain spiritual age, or a natural age for that matter. God’s love is CONSTANTLY and consistently touching lives to show His presence and mercy!

To ALL my family, by Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, and may Facebook and Internet friends, be blessed richly and abundantly through and in Christ Jesus!!!

Also posted on Facebook as a personal post.
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I John 2:2

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Roland Ledoux


1 John 2:2, “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

In the first verse we discussed at length the Advocacy of Christ Jesus. He is our Interceder, our spiritual Lawyer, as it were. But we need to remember when we try to analogize spiritual concepts, and especially when it comes to the Character and Nature of Christ Jesus, that even a close analogy in the natural, falls way short of what is real in the spiritual.

In this second verse, John tells us how Christ’s advocacy is extended to mankind. The Apostle tells us that Christ is the PROPITIATION for our sins. Now, this is not a common word and definitely not for the age that we live in today. In simplicity and in essence, the word ‘propitiation’ means, satisfaction.

We know from past lessons that God is a JUST God and Father. He is gracious and merciful, yes, but He is most definitely just, for we could not have or even need mercy and grace if it weren’t for His absolute adherence to justice for unrighteousness and sin. We can not state it emphatically enough that God Almighty, our Creator, ABHORS sin.

Since God is a just God, He demands recompense for disobeying His commandments and literally His Word. He loves, beyond measure, His creation, BUT, that very love demands that we be holy as He Himself is Holy! This is something that in our fallen and sinful nature, we cannot accomplish on our own and by ourselves! Ultimately, the penalty for falling short IS justice, death! The Apostle Paul stated it this way, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, …..” — Romans 3:23.

But, Christ Jesus, being our Advocate, our “stand-in” is the SATISFIER of our debt, the justice owed us! This is also where the analogy of a lawyer is insufficient, for what lawyer, in this world, would take the justice, the punishment, the debt we deserve and take it upon themselves!

In the Father’s eyes, our debt for sinfulness is satisfied in atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The blood that needs to be shed for the sins of another, is the satisfaction necessary to appease the just-ness of our Heavenly Father. This brings the Advocacy of Christ Jesus to another level! He doesn’t just PLEAD our case for righteousness to the Father, but He Himself, became the debt “paid-in-full” as well!

This means that the barrier that is built between our relationship with our Heavenly Father is removed by the satisfaction of Christ’s sacrifice. The GUILT that is laid up against us, is no longer an obstacle and a relationship once lost is and can be restored in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice of shed blood! Simply put, we are no longer guilty of sin.

Yet, John writes on; this satisfaction of the debt paid is not just for us only, which if you consider is priceless in and of itself, but the satisfaction that Christ purchased was for the WHOLE WORLD!! Now don’t misinterpret this, which could be easy to do. This does not mean that the whole world is saved, but it DOES mean that the price Christ paid would satisfy the debt for the whole world! This means, the atonement that Christ paid for, can extend as wide and as far as necessary for any and all who wish to ACCEPT as payment this gift that Christ is willing to give to Redeem mankind to God. Man, individually still has to make the conscious and individual choice that this satisfaction offered is for them.

Christ’s Advocacy is limited to those who accept and believe Him, even though the propitiation was offered to the whole world. Sadly, there will always be those who reject, for whatever reason, the offer of Christ Jesus’ Advocacy on their behalf. Doubt and unbelief in the simplicity of God’s plan is the basis for a great majority, but also, self-centeredness, which is the opposite of love is another major problem. Mankind as a whole does not want to surrender their own will, even if the surrendering is for their eternal good, but rather would like to believe they could “make it on their own” despite that the satisfaction that God Almighty demands is found in Christ Jesus and in Him only!

If this doesn’t move the heart of a true believer and cause us to hit our knees in prayer and intercession for those lost, then nothing can or will move us!

Remember, Christ’s sacrifice is AVAILABLE to the whole world, but the sad truth is, if the whole world did accept Christ, there would not be a reason to preach and spread the gospel throughout the world!

In closing, I want to remind everyone of something that I read or picked up long ago about the sacrifice of Jesus. Remember that superscription that was written on the Cross that Christ died on, was in Hebrew, the language of God’s chosen people, His children. But, it was also written in Greek and Latin, the languages of the “then known” world! In essence proclaiming to the whole world that Jesus Christ’s sacrifice is suitable for the whole world.

So, when John adds to the second verse that Christ’s sacrifice is satisfaction to not just us, but the whole world, he had a first-hand mental image to draw from!!!

Next post we will begin with 1 John chapter 2 verse 3.

*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Church – The Body of Christ

Posted on December 16, 2017 by Roland Ledoux

anecdotal stories
2 Samuel 7:1-7, “Now it came about when the king lived in his house, and the LORD had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.” Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your mind, for the LORD is with you.”

“But in the same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying, “Go and say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Are you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle. Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, which I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?'”

Acts 5:12, “At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico.”

The Church Survives Without the Building

On Christmas day, 1983, an uncontrollable blaze destroyed a majestic, old German church. It was built in A.D. 1140, when Florence and northern Italy flourished under the Medicis; when humanists reaped a renaissance in ancient manuscripts from Constantinople; twelve years before da Vinci was born, 35 years before Michelangelo; and 52 before Savanorola. Authorities determined that a Christmas tree, traditionally lighted with candles, must have started the blaze. Hundreds of worshippers had attended services there just hours before the destruction.

Though the church building perished, God’s church survived. After all, a church building provides a meeting place – not meaning – for Christians. Their relationship with Christ, not with a structure, gives them identity and defines their mission. That is why the trappings of Christianity (religion) may perish: by fire, theft, flood, or old age, but the Church survives. All outward signs of God’s kingdom can fail – buildings, hospitals, schools, mission stations – but Christianity goes on going on. The Holy Spirit within empowers God’s people, and that can never be destroyed!

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley copyright © 1995 by Word, Incorporated. Used by permission.
*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Applicable Quotations

The Church is not a gallery for the exhibition of eminent Christians, but a school for the education of imperfect ones. – Beecher

The living Church, though never neat, keeps God’s world from complete disaster.
– Macleod

Unless there are people who are responding to the love of God as revealed in Christ and so are worshipping Him, the Church is not very important. – Blake

We don’t go to church; we are the church. – Southcott

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I John 2:1

Posted on December 14, 2017 by Roland Ledoux


1 John 2:1, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

Though in our Bibles, this is the beginning of a new chapter, it is actually a continuation of the previous verse, but also, at the same time, a look forward to what he is about to share with his followers.

Notice that John addresses the believers as “my little children” for he is talking as a father would discipling the flesh of his flesh, and as joint heirs with Christ, we are one with one another! In his discourse, you can clearly see that he cared and loved his brothers and sisters and wanted them to remember that we actually are one IN Christ, and thus we ARE brothers and sisters together.

John stresses the point again that he is writing so that “we may NOT sin.” He is not saying that just hearing him will keep us from sin, but rather his exhortations will allow us to make the educated CHOICE to NOT sin! Sin is always with us, around us and temptation to sin comes from every aspect of the world. We must view sin as God, our Father views it, with total and absolute intolerance for we must remember that God’s commandment to us is as the Apostle Peter exhorts, “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:15-16. God is perfect and He demands that we be perfect, yet He knows that we cannot within ourselves be that perfection.

Remember, in the words of Jesus we are “to go and sin no more,” NOT “go and sin as little as possible.” Our goal, our motivation then, should be perfection. Our actions and our conduct, as Peter exhorts, should be one that is TOWARDS perfection. It is truly a heart or spirit attitude that we should adopt. But remember this, our Lord KNOWS our frailty, our flaws and weaknesses and in His unbounding and limitless love, He has graciously made provisions for us in the event of failure due to those weaknesses and flaws.

Our effort, our striving should be to the goal of not sinning, not choosing the way of sin as the path we walk. Yet, the beloved Apostle continues on with the thought of sin with this statement, “and if anyone sins,” simply because he knows that sin is apart of the human nature that our reborn spiritual nature is constant at war with. But notice he states, IF, anyone sins. There is a lot of power and principle packed into that simple little word, IF!

You see, we strive, we press on, as the Apostle Paul has told us, toward the goal. That word “if” has at least two implications in what the Apostle John is saying; we don’t HAVE to sin. We have the ability to no longer choose the path of sin, as Christ Jesus gave us the power to actually choose to NOT remain in bondage or as a slave to sin. That word “if” is not predicting the fall back into sin, but rather leaves it open to the individual.

The other implication is that due to our human nature, there is a real possibility that we just MIGHT sin. John is being very pragmatic and is not being unrealistic to man’s abilities in the slightest. He is demonstrating that even though we have the freedom to choose and are no longer in bondage, sometimes our choices can still be in conflict with the goal of perfection.

Then the Apostle continues the explanation concerning the grace that our Heavenly Father has given. “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father.” We have an ADVOCATE. For those not totally aware, an advocate is one who comes to the side of another in a time of need in order to help. It is usually associated with one offering legal help and actually in this case, since sin is the breaking of God’s law(s), it is a legal remedy we need. But, it does go much deeper than just a stranger defending us against charges leveled at us. We will get into that in just a little bit.

We now know what an advocate is, but consider the rest of this verse which is extremely important and especially when meditating on the Living Word; “we have an Advocate with the Father.” John, who is being “patriarchal” in his writing, is not saying, “we have an Advocate with God.” He is clearly making the distinction that that our help is being met with our Father! Think about this for a moment. We all have an individual image of God, Almighty dependent upon our relationship and knowledge of Him. But, our ultimate image as His child should be one of Father and the Apostle is reiterating this fact.

Consider this; one cannot undo their birth. Think about that for a moment. Once born, your Father will always be your Father, whether estranged or not. In the spiritual sense, once you have been reborn, as Jesus stated to Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ – John 3:6-7. Therefore the implication is solid, God, Almighty IS our Heavenly Father, forever. So then, our Advocate is with our Heavenly Father and the “legal” implication is the restoration of our relationship (broken due to sin) with our Father.

This is one of the reasons why we need to understand, from our Heavenly Father’s perspective the devastation of sin in our spiritual lives. It breaks the relationship, the fellowship we have with God, Almighty who IS our Heavenly Father. This is why our heart/spirit goal should be to strive for perfection and the graciousness of our Father has created/instituted an Advocate for us so that the relationship and fellowship will always remain intact even when that fellowship becomes broken due to our inherent weakness!

There is another attribute our Advocate takes care of for us; guilt and the despair and hopelessness that arises from that broken fellowship with our Heavenly Father. In the original Greek, the word ‘parakletos’ (Strong’s Greek #3875) is used for Advocate and it literally means: an intercessor, consoler:–advocate, comforter. Notice, this is EXACTLY the same term used for the Holy Spirit!

When we sin, it is no small matter. We are surrendering to that which we have been set free from and that in itself is enough to break the Father’s heart, especially when you consider what it took for the advocate to become the ADVOCATE! This leads us to the rest of the verse, “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” He is no ordinary Advocate, but rather the One, who at the Father’s behest, came to earth, died, and rose again all to be able to intercede on our behalf.

Satan loves to accuse the brethren and you will find it from the first book until the last when he is defeated and his accusations with him, but – when we sin, we give him fuel for those accusations, again, another reason why sin is so horrendous in the sight of God, because we ARE His children! But again – our Advocate is a RIGHTEOUS One! There is NO sin in Him and never was other than the sin that He took upon His body and purged them on the cursed tree for each and every one of us. His sacrifice can be summed up thus: (a) He bore our sins in His body, (b) He took upon Himself our punishment, (c) God’s wrath and justice against sin was thus poured out upon Calvary.

Because of this very fact, and the fact that Jesus Christ BECAME righteousness, when Satan brings accusations against the children of our Heavenly Father, our Advocate, our Righteous Defender, our Intercessor, can point to the work that WAS finished, once for all, on Calvary, and state to the Father with Authority on our behalf, “Charge that to My account!”

One thing in closing; this is not to make it easier for us TO sin, knowing we have this Mighty Advocate, for we must always remember the price He paid to become our Advocate. This SHOULD make it easier though for us to strive for the goal of perfection, to make it easier to CHOOSE to not sin, but knowing that if in our weakness we do fail, His strength is enough to help us overcome!

Next post we will begin with 1 John chapter 2 verse 2.

*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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I John 1:9-10

Posted on October 9, 2017 by Roland Ledoux


1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Confession is an ACTION of acknowledgement, not just in our thoughts but also with our lips. There it is again, it IS an action. To confess is an act that requires something to be accomplished. Many people today recognize in their hearts that they have sinned or at times continue to sin, but they do not always acknowledge it with their lips. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we must all kneel before a confessor and tell them everything that we have done wrong; even though there are denominations that adhere to that principle, it is not Scriptural to go to a “confessor” so that they may absolve us before God, our Heavenly Father.

1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,….”

Before I was saved, or born-again, I was conflicted with this situation for I knew that I had done wrong in the sight of God, but I never did feel comfortable telling another MAN the specifics of what I had done, no matter his station or office within the church. It was then that I was led to the Scriptures and shown WHO was truly ordained to hear my “confession” and thus my step of true faith in the redeeming power of Jesus Christ began. I know the arguments that some denominations make for this “necessity” of seeking a confessor, but I am here today to tell you that the Scriptures DO NOT lie and only ONE is able to redeem us or absolve us of our guilt of sin! It is not my truth, not my word, but rather it is God’s Word of TRUTH that has stood for millennia.

But concerning our confession; we confess to the Lord ALWAYS when we have done wrong by His Word, AND we confess towards one another WHEN we have wronged them directly. It is important that when we sin against a brother or sister, we confess that fact to them thus allowing them the opportunity to forgive us. The Lord knows our heart, but it is the action of confessing to Him and admitting, thus in effect, siding with Him, that we have sinned against Him and in turn that opens our hearts to the act of forgiveness that comes from Him.

I want to take a moment though to make a distinction here concerning “our sins,” as the Apostle is writing to us. Remember, John is already speaking to us as those who already WALK in fellowship with the Lord. Even though he doesn’t use the term, we can make the leap or assumption that his is talking to us as “Christians.”

Our sins, those sins that are inherent as well as our past deeds of unrighteousness, have been JUDICIALLY forgiven us by the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross as we accepted that sacrifice in faith for the penalty that He offered up for us. By judicially is meant that our forgiveness, our penalty paid for, is excepted and granted by God, Almighty, acting as Judge. God looks upon us, as we acknowledge our faith in the redemption of Christ Jesus, as bought and paid for with the price of His (Jesus Christ’s) Blood.

Now compare that once forever sacrifice for ALL of our sins, past, present and future, with the ongoing struggles and temptations that do at times produce sin AFTER our conversion. Remember, we are no longer SLAVES to sin, (Romans 6:16-23), but that doesn’t mean we still don’t sin, whether it is by commission, omission, in our thoughts, in secret or even in public. We must still confess those things to the Lord, for even if done in secret or in thought where no man may see, God sees as no man does, for He sees the heart!

But here is the thing; God Almighty, has become God, our Heavenly Father once we have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord and Redeemer. Thus, the confession we make AFTER conversion is as a wayward child to a loving and caring Father, or parent. I have read it somewhere long ago, that PARENTAL forgiveness, unlike the judicial, once given, always done, is ongoing and a means to KEEP our relationship fresh and clean, between our Heavenly Father and us as His children.

Remember what the writer in Proverbs says in Proverbs 28:13, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” We NEED to continue to confess our wrong-doings, our mistakes (not all sin is willful), to receive mercy and cleansing! This is where the second part of verse 9 comes to bear, “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” It is not just the forgiveness, which we have received at the price of Christ’s Blood, but He is faithful and just to also CLEANSE us from all unrighteousness! What a promise; what an assurance within our relationship with the Father through Christ Jesus, to not just RECEIVE the forgiveness, but to be clean as if the sin had never, ever, even occurred!!

It is the unrighteousness, the lack of holiness that keeps us from the presence, from a perfect relationship with God Almighty, our Creator, as our Heavenly Father. Admitting our sins, our sinfulness through the act of confession is putting our faith in Christ Jesus to action by siding with His assessment of what is and isn’t sin! Thus re-establishing what was lost in the Garden, a RELATIONSHIP with our Heavenly Father. This IS the fellowship John talks about in his Epistle. This is the fellowship that begins IN the Father and extends to every brother and sister who shares in that fellowship with the Father!! We truly become, what we were created to be, a family, sons and daughters, heirs to the Kingdom of God!

1 John 1:10, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

Here John is reiterating verse 8 as he is apt to do in his writings, but also going one step further. Verse 8 is attesting to the fact that man is a sinful creature, thanks to Adam whose legacy we walk in. Verse 10 is also stating that we have actively participated in sin as well. Notice verse 8 says, “if we say we have no sin,” which is a noun stating possession of something, but verse 10 states, “if we say that we have not sinned,” which is definitely a verb or an action. We have actively participated in sin, so Adam is not only to blame, but we ourselves then become accountable for our own actions. So it is not just the legacy left to us, but our own actions that attest to our guilt. This is another reason why we look at the forgiveness of sin judicially as well as parentally. As stated previously, God as our Judge has forgiven us the inherent sin which is in our nature through our faith and commitment to Jesus Christ. BUT – He also forgives our sins, as we confess them to Him, as our Creator/Parent, our Heavenly Father!

As John states, if we deny the truth of that statement concerning sin, we not only deceive ourselves as verse 8 says, but we in essence make God, our Father, out to be a liar. We CALL Him a liar! We don’t need to say it out loud, but we call Him a liar by the very act of denying the truth of our sinfulness. That old saying that “actions speak louder than words,” has never been more true in the eyes of the world then. In essence, as the world watches and sees our lives in action, they DO infer that first, we are hypocrites and second, by assumption we don’t believe God, thus making Him out to be a liar; if we live in accordance with denying the truth about our sinfulness.

There’s that old saying that Christians often use, that “we’re not perfect, just forgiven.” Though true at its core, we must not rely on something that to the world appears superficial, but since we have been freed from the SLAVERY to the bonds of sin, we must make every effort to walk in the freedom of what we didn’t have in those chains, and that is the freedom of righteousness. Righteousness, right-standing AND right-doing in the sight of God and man is no longer outside of our grasp, for we are no longer bound to unrighteousness! Yes we still fall to temptation from time to time, whether it be in our thoughts or deeds, secret or in public, for we ARE still a work in progress, BUT – we do so in the eyes of the world around us and this makes our confession of sin lining up with the Lord’s so much more important. We show the world, or we should be that the STIGMA of sin is no longer a burden to us, for remember what the Apostle Paul told us, “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,” – Romans 5:20b.

If we through our actions and lack of confession, deny our sinfulness we not only make God Almighty out to be a liar, but we also declare to all that His word does not abide in us despite what we say aloud. His Word is Truth, absolutely, and His Word is Life, absolutely, but if we do not believe that we have sin and do sin, that Life is truly NOT in us.

When you look at the simplicity of these scriptures, and the Apostle John truly did write them simply, they are very much black and white; there is NO grey area in these verses and thus it is very easy to see the difference between a true Christian who is WALKING in the Light of God’s Truth and one who only says they are a Christian but yet still walking in darkness. True fellowship, of which John is writing, whether with God, our Father, or one another as brothers and sisters is not a complicated thing. True fellowship is relationship, pure and simple and in any relationship, you KNOW who your family is; you KNOW your Father, you KNOW your brothers and sisters. Freedom from sin, agreeing with the Father through confession, frees us from the obstacles and blinders of not knowing who our family is!

We can see clearly and especially more so today due to the speed of all types of media at our fingertips what is happening today has happened even in John’s day, and his writings are a warning to us that human nature does not change outside of God’s help. Many false teachers and believers wanted to be associated with or acknowledged as Christians, most likely because of the growing prestige within the burgeoning Christian community, but they did not want to live by the truth of God’s word. Sadly, as I stated and as John warned we have the same thing today. Many people, for whatever their motives and reason, want to be acknowledged as Christians, but they do not want to live by even the simple precepts listed in Scripture; and believe me, they have all sorts of excuses to justify their beliefs. When you have been involved in any type of ministry long enough, you hear every justification of why they choose to live the way they do! The scriptures are outdated, they no longer apply to the century in which we live, the translations are all wrong and so we cannot rely on the truth or accuracy of them, and on and on and on!

However, the fact remains, we have sin, and we have sinned, and this is not meant to destroy us as the enemy would have us believe, because as the Apostle Paul reminded us, God’s grace abounds more and our Lord ALWAYS prepares positive way out of our situations. When the Holy Spirit, Whose job it is to convict us, NOT guilt us, but to CONVINCE us of the Truth, gives us a condition for why we should be punished or penalized, He ALWAYS gives us a way to avoid that penalty or punishment through Christ Jesus! God has ALWAYS worked with His creation this way; IF my people who are called by my name, should do this or that, THEN I will hear them, come to them, save them, heal them, and they WILL continue to be my people!

In Christ Jesus we now have an advocate, an intercessor, between us and the Father who is faithful to forgive us, AND cleanse us from ALL sin, and it is through Him and Him alone that we can have a relationship with the very Creator of all that is, which was the Heavenly Father’s plan from the very beginning. This part of being called His, is no secret, it is not complicated and it is available to everyone and anybody who so desires to have this awesome fellowship!

Next post we will begin with 1 John chapter 2 verse 1.

*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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I John 1:7-8

Posted on September 22, 2017 by Roland Ledoux


1 John 1:7, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Praise God for His wonderful promises! Here we see the flip side to verse six. In the scriptures you will always see it worded either, “but” or “therefore.” God, our loving Father, never, ever leaves us with a word of correction or admonition, without giving us a word of encouragement and/or promise to follow through. Every time He instructs us in the ways of righteousness, He is so faithful to show us the benefits or rewards.

Now look at this action statement! But if we walk, if we move forward in that light or at the very least toward that light (and not just say we are) as He Himself does —. There’s our example. He doesn’t just say do this or else. He always gives us a blueprint to follow. Always. Jesus Christ came to earth to bridge the gap between the flesh and the spirit. What could not be done in and of ourselves in our flesh, can be accomplished through Him and in Him. If we walk in the light, and remember the light is God our Father, just as Jesus did all and said all in and through the Father, than we truly have fellowship one with another, and not just because we say we do. Those that follow the same path, in life in general, can be said to be in fellowship with one another; and so it is when we are following the path of Christ Jesus. Those that truly are following that same path are in fellowship with not just who they are following (Christ Jesus) but with one another as well!

Look at one of the most precious, one of the greatest promises that follows those actions: the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin! This is something that I have taught for so long. Just as James writes in his letter that we must put forth works to demonstrate our faith, John is saying the same thing. If you walk in the light, as Jesus Himself is in and of the Light (of God), His blood will and does cleanse us, continually. Think about it; as we walk, we are cleansed. If we depart from the path, there can be no more cleansing. As long as we are in fellowship, there is the promise of cleansing.

We can confess our belief in Jesus Christ in accordance with Romans 10:9, but sadly that is where so many people who call themselves Christians stop. With just the confessing. Just saying that Jesus Christ died for our sins is not enough, for in truth, that is an historical fact. Those witnesses to the time, though they weren’t actual disciples recorded the happenings and even the commentary of the time of Jesus and His crucifixion. There are very few people in the day we live in that do not believe Jesus was a man and an historical figure as well.

Also, we must be careful that even though we ARE disciples of Jesus and we KNOW that Jesus and God are One, just because those around us believe in a “God” does not make that knowledge a redemptive belief! It is Jesus, the Anointed One AND the action of His blood washing us clean that redeems us. It is that confession along with not just the belief, but a belief that eventually evolves into actually KNOWING, that sanctifies and cleanses us from our sin! We must also accept what verse 10 in Romans 10 also says. With the heart man believes, it has to start there, but it comes from the heart (mind) first, then there has to be actions and those actions result in what Paul calls righteousness, or right standing with God. If you look in Romans 10:9-10, you will see that belief takes place first in the heart of man. Then comes the acts of righteousness, and only after that comes the confession. I know many of you think I’m a broken record when it comes to certain verses, but these verses I repeat time and time again have bearing on the soundness of so many other Scriptures. “For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” – Luke 6:45b.

That is exactly what John is saying. You believe in Christ, which then motivates you to walk, or act, according to the light of God, which in its very actions become righteousness, at the same time as you are “walking in righteousness” the blood of Jesus cleanses and washes away all your sin. Now mind you, don’t be confused; it is NOT the actions, the works, that washes away your sin, but the FAITH behind those actions! That puts us then in fellowship with one another as well as with Christ Jesus, thus with Jesus’ Heavenly Father, God Almighty.

I hope you can see as you study these verses, that our walk with the Lord is a serious matter and not one to be taken lightly. It is a very dramatic lifestyle change. We gain our strength and drive from not only Christ Jesus’ example, but also His Spirit. When we actually follow His example, when we walk as He walked, that is when we can claim fellowship one with another and with Him. John is showing us that it is obvious, it can be seen, when someone is in fellowship and when someone is not. It is not a matter of judging in the sense of passing a sentence on someone, but it is a matter of being able to judge by discerning the truth in what we see. If someone calls me his brother but is living a life of sin, a life based on deeds done in the dark, he is not a brother no matter how much I love him. Future verses will clarify and demonstrate why this is important in the Body of Christ.

1 John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

Here again, John is countering the false teachings that were cropping up in his day. Many false teachers were teaching that man is not inherently sinful, his spirit and soul is free from sin at birth, we are all born good, it is only due to upbringing and circumstances that man falls into sin and that because the material being, the flesh is sinful. The Apostle is very forceful, “if we say we have NO sin;” no sin whatsoever, then we are deceived. The interesting part of this verse is the word sin; it is a noun, denoting something that we most definitely possess. John is NOT talking in this verse about the act of sinning, the “sins” we commit (that comes in verse 9) but rather is speaking in defiance to the false teachings that we do HAVE in our possession a sinful nature; a nature that exists already and does not have to be taught to sin!

But as we see in the previous verse, “if we walk in the light—, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.” The sin nature AND the ability to continue to sin, wantonly. First, we have to recognize that we are sinful creatures to be able to even say that we walk in the light, it demands acknowledgement. Just as belief and confession lead to redemption, the acknowledgement that we NEED redemption because we ARE sinful in nature is crucial. Second, and it stands to reason, there would be no need for Jesus’ blood to cleanse us from sin if in fact we had no sin. We would not even have to identify ourselves with the propitiatory sacrifice of Jesus Christ in that case then. Remember, at that moment in time, the sacrifice and the shedding of Blood that Christ voluntarily made, took care of the sinful nature AND sins of those in the past that had faith in the coming Messiah, those at the presence of Jesus’ time and those of us who believe(d) in our modern time and into the future until the last one to be redeemed, is redeemed right before the second-coming of Christ Jesus!!! One sacrifice, to cover all times! What a blessed and magnificent plan the Father in His loving mercy and grace had in store for those who chose/choose Jesus in faith!!!

I want to make a statement that I read a long time ago and have written down in my notes, but sadly I do not remember the source (it is not mine originally); *“conversion does not mean the eradication of the sin nature. Rather it means the implanting of the new, divine nature, with power to live victoriously over indwelling sin.” The Apostle Paul wrote it this way; “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” – 2 Corinthians 5:16-17.

Remember when reading this letter, that John is writing this letter to those he considers as brothers and sisters in the faith, followers of Christ Jesus. John is very clear to establish an order. If you say that you are a Christian, it is automatically understood in his writing, that you are a Christian because you have accepted Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, which was necessary to our fellowship AND redemption. He is reiterating a known fact to Christians because of the false teaching that was already spreading and taking root in his time. We need to be freed from ALL sin, and Christ Jesus IS the only way. God’s plan, acted upon by Jesus took into account EVERY stain that separates us from the Heavenly Father!

If we believe the lie that sin is non-existent, as the world system and the devil would have us believe, than we are only deceiving ourselves, because we are surely not deceiving God Almighty. Again as in verse 6, we are not PRACTICING (remember, practice makes perfect; but you have to practice) the truth if we believe the lie, and in reality we are walking in darkness. The truth then is most assuredly not in us.

Next post we will begin with 1 John chapter 1 verse 9.

*Copyright to original author, unknown.
**Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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I John 1:5-6

Posted on September 18, 2017 by Roland Ledoux


1 John 1:5, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”

THIS IS THE MESSAGE! See with what great importance I am declaring it to you! With that the Apostle is laying the foundation for an announcement of the greatest importance. It is not a message that came out of the blue, or was derived by the intellect of man, rather, John states clearly that the message is from Him; it is not something to be flippantly given or carelessly taken. The Him has already been established in the previous verses, being Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Living Word of God, Himself! That by itself lends credence and authority to the very message itself.

God IS Light! Those simple three words that packs so much theology AND science into them! Maybe back when John was writing them, the science didn’t have much impact, but today, we live in a time and place where science says a lot! Many people and especially Christians believe that science and theology are at odds with one another, but not so when you understand the Character and Nature of God Almighty and thus His Son, Christ Jesus!

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” — James 1:17. There is no darkness, no shadow, no variance in Him at all. Brilliance doesn’t even come close to describing the perfect, absolute light that is Him. He doesn’t cast a shadow, because He IS the source of light, a light more brilliant than we can fathom or understand!

Genesis 1:1-4 states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.”

From the perspective of the message that John is proclaiming, look again at the words again in Genesis. The Spirit of God was moving over the void AND God IS light; He didn’t have to speak the Word, His presence alone scattered the darkness, chased it away. But to show the authority in His Word, He spoke it and created the light apart from Himself and just like that it was done and it was good!

Now the Holy Spirit, for His own reasons didn’t see fit to inspire the writer of Genesis to put down the Words or the Wisdom behind the Words that God Almighty spoke. It wasn’t necessary. God spoke and power and creativity flowed from His person! Science today tells us it didn’t happen instantaneous but happened over a course of billions of years. Is that in conflict with your theology, your beliefs in creation? If it is, let me ask you, “how BIG is your God?” What limitations as to time and space are you placing upon your knowledge of His Character and Nature? Why would what Science has to say, true science as opposed to superfluous or junk science, be able to lessen your faith or cause doubt in your faith? For me, the more science discovers and proves, the greater my faith in a God who FILLS ALL of creation, both natural AND spiritual! I am even MORE amazed, in awe of whom I acknowledge to be my Heavenly Father, God Almighty, Creator of ALL!!

You see, we have far more knowledge today than when the Books of the Bible were first penned by the hands of men inspired by the Holy Spirit! It doesn’t mean they were not educated for their times, for Moses himself, was a very highly educated man, according to history. But he still wrote within the knowledge he had at the time, as did the other writers of the inspired Word!

Today, as the Prophet Daniel predicted, our knowledge has and is still increasing. Does that mean the basics of the Word are false or lacking? Most definitely NOT, but rather every new scientific discovery only goes to prove the validity of the Word of God and most definitely the Character and Nature of God Himself!

What does this mean to you and I then in our everyday lives? Let me share a small bit of trivia with you. By now you must realize I have always been a bit of a science buff, and new discoveries and new theories have always intrigued and fascinated me. Science theorizes that in the presence of absolute light, (their wording for completely pure light) there is absolutely no shade or variance of darkness at all. In theory. Why is it a theory? Because science cannot duplicate absolute or pure light. There is always a touch of darkness or shade that changes the brilliance, if even just a bit; it is the taint and stain of sin in the world left by man. But, the Light of God is pure, it is absolute and there is no shade or variance in His light, as James wrote in his Epistle.

What that means to you and I is that when the Light of God illumines our hearts, our minds, our souls, that darkness is literally chased away. Light and darkness, pure Godly light, cannot be in the same place at the same time and it is the light that chases the darkness, NOT the other way around!

I read this on social media somewhere and I tested it and know it to be true. If you enter into the darkest room possible, with no light seeping in under or around the door jamb and you carry with you only a simple wooden kitchen match, when you strike it, the glow from that seemingly insignificant match can light up every corner of the room. It might not be the brightest light, but it WILL chase away and dispel the darkness AND, the darker the room, the brighter the light may seem to be. Now the light isn’t brighter, but our perception of it is. So is it when we come into the presence of Almighty God, our Heavenly Father! If there is any hidden darkness in our hearts, it is most assuredly revealed before Him.

Light stands for everything that is pure, holy, and unblemished. Darkness stands for exactly the opposite, everything that is purely sinful, evil and tainted. That is why the taint and stain of sin is so abhorrent to the Father. It is not just a matter of Him not wanting to look upon sin, His vary nature of absolute pureness will not allow sin to be in the same confines as He exists. Since His presence is everywhere, His light chases sinfulness away from Himself. That is why it is so important when we go before Him, we do not TRY and hide sin, for sin WILL reveal itself. All we have to do is to acknowledge and confess it before Him, thanks to Jesus Christ’s payment for those sins!

The writer of Hebrews told us this in Hebrews 4:13, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”

That is why the importance of Jesus shed blood covering us as believers is so important. Without that Blood, we would be utterly unable to stand in the presence of the Father. Remember when Moses wanted to look upon God on Mount Sinai? Moses had to be hid behind a cleft in the rock as the Father passed by and even then, just the passing by of the Lord had changed Moses so that others couldn’t even look on the brilliance of his countenance for approximately forty days and those around him were fearful and in awe!

This is the message that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, wanted His disciples to pass along. This was not just a casual message. I hope that if you take time to meditate upon this passage, you can come to realize the utmost importance of this concept. Here’s a challenge. The next time you have devotions or you have your time of meditating on the Character and Nature of God Almighty, try and contemplate the importance and significance of the absolute purity of His light; like the concept of eternity, your mind will only be to grasp a small part of the real truth, BUT, even the smallest grasp and contemplation can and does change the heart of man!

1 John 1:6, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

This great message did not end with verse five, with that profound announcement. Remember in the first four verses that John was telling us why he was putting these things to pen. That our joy, that inner spiritual characteristic that is a “Fruit of the Spirit,” (Galatians 5:22), might be complete in us. It is necessary for us to hear and read these things that we might grow and mature in the fullness of the Lord.

Again, we see the importance of practicing or doing what we say we believe. Our walk with the Lord is not a matter of how much knowledge we can attain. It is not a matter of how many verses I can memorize from the Bible, or how well I can debate the scriptures with someone else. It is not based on the religious rituals that I perform or partake in. Our walk with Him, our very FELLOWSHIP with Him is based on the premise that as we ARE in fellowship with Him, and as He IS the Light, we are thus “in the light” with Him; so it stands to reason we cannot also be walking or living in darkness.

Look at how strong John phrases this. This is coming from a man who is known for his great love. The “man whom Jesus loved.” If we confess, if we announce it to the world that I am a Christian, and I believe in God Who is The Father of Christ Jesus, (whom we have established IS light), and yet I walk or practice or take part in anything that is dark or in darkness, then I am a liar and as John states emphatically later on, “the truth is not in us!” My actions truly do demonstrate or speak louder than my words! I didn’t write it, the Apostle John under the inspiration and anointing of the Holy Spirit, put those words down for us to live by.

John is adamantly stating that we cannot love God, cannot fellowship with God, and court sin at the same time. It is impossible. The false teachers of his day, were saying that because the body will be destroyed anyway, I can do what I want in this material body (Gnosticism) and it won’t affect my soul or spirit. But the Word of God says just the opposite. You cannot live, practice, or do anything that is associated with evil or darkness and claim to be a child of the light. You embrace God’s Light and allow Him through Christ Jesus to change you, or you remain a child of darkness.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” Think about what this wise Teacher was honestly saying to us even in the age we live in now. Don’t we see that same philosophy and theology that John preached and warned against, rearing its ugly head again, even today. I want to tell everyone that I am a Christian and yet, the carnal things of this world are still okay to dabble in because, my soul is saved! Let’s face it people, we have to get to a place of repentance and ask the Lord to forgive us of our short sightedness. We either accept and live by the WHOLE Word of God, or we might as well just throw the Word away and live like we want too anyway for there is “nothing new under the sun.”

We CANNOT say that we are one thing and choose to live the way we want and hope that the God of Light will overlook our actions and ignore the darkness in us; the Apostle John tells us it just isn’t possible.

Everywhere we look in the Scriptures we see the importance of faith, belief and understanding, but ALWAYS along with those attributes comes action! As James so succinctly writes, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” – James 2:26.

It is NOT that my works, my “good” deeds will save me, rather, it is that my works, my deeds will demonstrate what motivates me TO those works. It is in my heart and my spirit to do, because my heart and my spirit have been brought into the light and have been reborn!

Next post we will begin with 1 John chapter 1 verse 7.

*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Which Bible Version Is Inspired?

Posted on September 11, 2017 by Roland Ledoux


Other than some training and teaching here and there, I am NOT a formal Bible scholar by any means, and, I have never put myself forward as one, at least purposely. Like the average “church-goer” I know how to use a Strong’s Concordance pretty effectively, I know how to research resources provided by former “church” fathers, like Concordances, Lexicons, Topical Bibles and the like. But I have been “blessed” (blessing from my point-of-view) by not having a University or Seminary education in how to interpret or understand the Bible.

I am NOT however, knocking those that have that form of education, IF it works for them and it doesn’t interfere with the Holy Spirit’s teaching within their own lives and line of study. I’ve witnessed too many scholars whose education is strictly head-knowledge, with no clear understanding of the spiritual depth of the Word of God. They are awesome with history and word usage, but completely fail in their understanding of the POINT being made by the verses they are studying!

Before you castigate me for my stance AND my “narrow” thinking, I want to submit this Scripture from the Apostle Paul as the first piece of evidence in my defense:

1 Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

The second Scripture verse is one that those who know me may be getting tired of reading and yet it is the one verse that guides not just my study but also every attempt I make to read the Scriptures. It also is from the Apostle Paul:

2 Corinthians 3:5-6, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Notice that Paul reminds us right from the start, “our sufficiency is from God and not from ourselves” no matter how highly we make think our knowledge, education, etc., is! God, Himself, our Heavenly Father through the power of His Holy Spirit has made us ministers, or as the word implies, servants, of this new covenant under Christ. It is NOT a covenant of the letter or the words within themselves, but rather a covenant of the Spirit, the very Spirit that has made us servants! The Words can bring and give life, but not the words or the individual letters (no matter the language) themselves for they are merely words, rather, it is the Spirit, the inspiration that penned those Words in the first place, by the hands of many men, it is the Spirit that those words point too, that leads too and gives life! How marvelous that when we read the Word of God, we are reading as the Apostle John points out, the Word of Life! (1 John 1:1).

*What has led me to write this particular article was a post a dear friend made on Facebook. Now, before anyone tears into me, let me say that the post inspired me to write an article so as to reason with my brothers and sisters out there in the blogosphere. I am NOT critiquing the post my dear brother made, though I did comment on it, for I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this brother loves the Lord with all his heart and was putting forth a concern that many God-fearing, truly sincere Christians have when it comes to the validity and veracity of the Bible version they are using for reading and study. I know he will see this post and I want him to know that the intent is to help others open their eyes of faith more fully than rely totally on peer pressure or other outward forces. I am NOT looking to further the debate OR the divide that exists over the translations available, just trying to ask the readers to think of the Holy Spirit in all of these concerns.

2 Corinthians 4:18, “while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Paul is clearly speaking of faith in this instance and especially when it comes to those things that beset us in our everyday lives, but I want you to delve deeper into what this is saying and give it some thought concerning your everyday lives and the Bible (which hopefully is an integral part of that life).

When we read the words within the Great Book, it is the words mission to form a thought that leads to a conclusion within the mind of the reader. If those words were inspired by the Mighty Hand of God, the Holy Spirit, then it is His mission that we understand the conclusion He is trying to make for the purpose of making our lives and relationship with the Father more productive and greater in purpose and scope. In truth, the mission of the Holy Bible, as the Living Word of God, is to draw us into a relationship with our Heavenly Father that was lost to sin!

That’s it; pure and simple. The Bible is a roadmap to get us back on the track to a relationship with God Almighty that we fell off from due to the inherent nature of sin! Everything that is written in the Great Book, is meant to point us to the Cross of Christ, the only True Way back into the graces of our Heavenly Father. That is the TRUE Spirit behind ALL the words found within that Book. That is and always has been the Holy Spirit’s role AND mission, from the initial inspiration through the hands of the many writers, to the counsel and direction He gives to individual hearts who read the words; it is to draw us all to Christ Jesus and thereby restoring our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Now, the Holy Spirit inspired the men who wrote the various books and letters of the Bible to do so in the language they were familiar with and the language that their readers were familiar with. Did the Holy Spirit, Who IS God, the power and counsel of God’s character, choose to stop His inspiration at that moment when the books or letters were completed? Does faith allow us to believe that these writings were for only a specific moment in the history of mankind and no longer hold relevance to the ages of men that followed after?

If that were the case, then every instance of prophecy, of the prophetic words would be to no avail for they would have no relevance to any readers that followed in the ages when those prophecies were to take place. The words of spiritual wisdom would carry no bearing on the affairs of men past the age of those inspired to put them down on “paper.”

So let’s take this a step further; we have had the Bible translated from the original languages of the Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek into the different dialects of those base languages. We have had it translated into Latin, French and Czech and so many more all with the various dialects and so on, all with the purpose of making it accessible to the common man to whom it was basically addressed. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that chapters and verse numbers were added for ease of study.

Yet it hasn’t been until our modern age that controversy over which version is “true” and which version has been mishandled in its translation has arisen. As the Bible has become more common, more accessible to all peoples around the world, those who value the Bible have become coalesced into one faction or another. Yet until the last handful of decades when translations were being put forth one after the other, no one questioned the inspiration behind the translations themselves.

Since the English translation found in the 1611 King James Version of the Bible is one of the oldest used and relied upon, having survived over three centuries of use, I can understand just from a natural standpoint how so many church-goers are adamant and reliant upon that version of the Bible as the go-to Book for spiritual guidance. BUT – you would think that as our time in the Word has increased and our ability to have the Bible in so many formats (speaking of our new digital age) we would have a deeper SPIRITUAL understanding of the Word and our concerns over the text would have diminished. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

My first experience ever with a Bible, was the Catholic coffee table Bible we had in our living room when I was growing up. It was big and thick and full of ornate and beautiful pictures that I could spend hours at a time looking at. I couldn’t however understand much of what I tried to read through my young years. At that time my Parish Priest told me that the Bible was too deep for the common person and that is why God called Priests into the ministry, so they could teach from the Bible (it isn’t for the most part that way now as everyone is encouraged to study individually).

I didn’t start to “get it” until after I was born-again (spiritually reborn) just before my seventeenth birthday when I was gifted with my first King James Version Bible. I was encouraged to first start off with the Book of Romans, read through the Epistle of Jude, then read the Gospels and the Book of Acts and only then attempt to read Revelation and the Old Testament. The Psalms and Proverbs were encouraged, but nothing more than that until I had a grasp upon my faith!

Believe it or not, that advice, though I think it is up to the individual, helped cement my love for the Scriptures and the Word of God! But I was always a person, even at a young age who loved to ask the question WHY and only second to that one, HOW or how come! It was learning to trust in the leading of the Holy Spirit and learning to love the Word of God that my heart and mind started asking the why when it came to the ever increasing translations available from the 1970’s on.

Over the years that I have had experience with the Bible I have seen many things take place that truly shouldn’t. As my faith increased and my ability to let God Almighty out of the “box” I had created for Him, I started to recognize what was happening in the “church” world as a whole. I have always been gifted with seeing the “big picture” as well as the individual “images” that make up the “big picture.” I stated in a previous article that basically there are two types of people; those that “can see the forest for the trees,” or those that “can see the trees for the forest.” But there is a third group that isn’t constrained by one or the other for they “can see the forest AND the individual trees that make up the forest.” One is not lost upon the other. I believe this is a gift from the Lord and nothing remarkable in the makeup of the individual themselves. It all goes back to that Scripture Paul talked about 2 Corinthians 3:5-6.

I have been witness through the years of too many Christians break fellowship with one another over a version of the Bible and especially when it comes to the 1611 KJV. Because of that I have this question I really want my readers to ask themselves seriously:

Isn’t it possible for the same Holy Spirit who inspired the original writers of the Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek to ALSO inspire the English versions from the first even unto the latest?

If the Holy Spirit truly inspired the men of old to write what they wrote (this is rhetorical) and He did so that all men could have this guide to relationship with the Father we once lost, doesn’t it stand to reason that He would also inspire modern men (whether they are aware of it or not) to protect His Word through the various translations being put forth?

I may not always personally trust the men (or group of men) who initiate the translations, but I DO trust the Holy Spirit to protect His Word. When you further realize that the natural man, no matter how well-meaning they are in their motives for the translations, and even if they themselves lack the ability to understand the depth and breadth of the Word of God, you can begin to understand the importance of that other verse I gave you from the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:14.

**I have had opportunity in the past to even read through other Bibles (and I use that title loosely) that were bad translations and in fact NOT translations at all, but the “religious” organization had changed the text to suit its own theological bias in many places. YET — and I want you to understand this, when it came to the two greatest commandments that Jesus was asked to identify in Matthew 22:37-40, love of God above all and love of one another, that commandment, that direction was in that false translation. Also, when it came to the plan of salvation through the person and sacrifice of Jesus Christ as found in Paul’s Letter to the Romans, that plan was there without any mistake. If someone is relying upon that false translation for spiritual guidelines and they stand before Christ Jesus on Judgment Day, they will have no excuse if Jesus turns to them and says, “depart from me for I knew you not.” For they had opportunity to know Him personally and rejected Him willfully.

So, what is the Bible for, if not to point to God Almighty’s plan to restore our relationship with Him eternally by pointing the Way to Him through the Cross of Christ Jesus? If the version of the Bible you read and study is doing that, if the Spirit of the Word is coming through to you as a spiritually discerning person you have nothing to fear or even be slightly concerned about.

One final question: Is the Bible you read and study going to get you into Heaven? Is it what you are reading with your eyes that is temporary and natural, or is it the Spirit (which is eternal) behind the Word that points to the One True Way to God, our Heavenly Father, through His Son, Jesus Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead, that is going to get you into Heaven?

The Bible(s) I read and study point the Way to Christ Jesus and the relationship through Him with my Heavenly Father. My faith, my belief and yes even my knowledge is secure in that fact! How about you?

God bless!

*I am NOT endorsing or promoting one translation over another, but here is a link that I am giving in conjunction with the picture above that has some various versions and their translations, but even more has some well-respected commentaries that show the different word usage and why. It might help in understanding side-by-side the point I was trying to give. Bible Hub – Revelation 8:13
**I would like to add an explanation that I did not mean to make it seem I was including any of the “cult” bibles and/or for that matter, any of the “alternate lifestyle” bibles that have come on the market. They are NOT translations, but rather they are worded to fit the ideology of fallen man rather than inspired theology from the Holy Spirit! I only meant to use the example of the “cult” bible I have read to point out the fact that come Judgment Day, those that have used that bible will have no excuse in denying the knowledge of the plan of Salvation which has been left intact in the bible I read! — Pastor Roland
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I John 1:1-4

Posted on September 9, 2017 by Roland Ledoux

Some Brief Historical Background

Historically and for our purposes this letter was written by the Apostle John. An interesting note is that this letter is not evangelistic in nature, meaning it was not written to the unsaved, rather it was written to fellow Christians, and most notably Christians who were well grounded in the faith, as noted in this statement, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” – 1 John 5:13*.

John has always been considered the Apostle of Love, and it is evident in this letter that was written to fellow believers. He truly considered those who believed with him, as his children. John truly had a pastor’s heart. This letter was written before his exile to Patmos, most probably while he was still ministering in Ephesus. It was believed to have been written between A.D. 85 and A.D. 90. What makes this so significant is the fact that John was probably one, if not the very last of the Apostles who had been an eyewitness to the events in Jesus life and had actually walked with the Savior. He was allowing this new generation a glimpse into the life of Christ and the assurance of their standing in Christ by faith.

Just as time and man have a tendency to pervert the truths that were told, John was living in a time when several false doctrines were creeping into the church. Gnostic heresy taught that matter is inherently evil, and therefore, a divine being such as Jesus claimed to be could not take on human flesh. Gnostics also believed that hidden knowledge made them superior than the common man. The other doctrine which was similar, Docetism, claimed that Christ only seemed to have a human body. Both of these doctrines denied the fact of the Incarnation. So we see that even in the very new and early church, false teachings and lies were being spread to water down the true Gospel of Christ. In the light of that, should we be surprised that there is so much doctrinal controversy today?

This is why I so firmly believe in the importance of reading and “studying to show yourself approved,” (2 Timothy 2:15) in this day and age in which we are living. As I stated in the I John Introduction & Overview, keep your heart and mind open to the Holy Spirit and you will glean a treasure of inspiration and assurance.

*As with all of my articles, Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 John Chapter 1:1-4

1 John 1:1, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—”

John is stating with authority and as a matter of established fact, that he is talking from experience and not just what he has heard, but also that he was witness to the events that followed Jesus Christ, the Living Word. Also, Jesus Christ was real to the touch, He could be handled. John may have been remembering the Last Supper when he laid his head upon the Savior’s bosom. Remember also the instance when Thomas, later known as the “Doubter,” was instructed by the risen Jesus to, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” – John 20:27.

John does not falter in claiming that Jesus truly IS, the Word of Life, as he wrote in his Gospel; John 1:1-4, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

He was in the beginning. That word “was” denotes in the Greek, always being, never having been created. God is eternal. He has no beginning nor ending. Man, on the other hand is also eternal; but the difference is that man was created, and did have a beginning, although he will never experience an ending. Jesus being God, always was and forever will be; Jesus being man, in the flesh knew a beginning. This has caused a lot of confusion through the years as some who study the writings of John especially, stumble over semantics concerning the Godhead.

Today, we have denominations that call themselves, Trinitarians (not to be confused with the Catholic order under that name), trying to explain the Godhead as three Gods-in-One. On the other hand and in direct conflict with them, we have denominations who espouse themselves as Oneness, who delight in debate with other denominations just to prove their point that they are right above all others. I won’t at this time add to the debate, for I have first-hand experience with both sides, but I do firmly believe it is more a case of semantics as I have stated than actual doctrine. John is stating in clear terms that “the Word was with God and the Word WAS God!” (Added emphasis mine).

Notice also that John doesn’t just write the term, Word of God, but rather in this instance, the Word of Life. In his Gospel, he is talking to mankind as a whole, as an evangelist, sharing with them the Good News, the Way of Redemption and Salvation. Here in this letter, he is sharing with established believers already walking in that lifestyle. Jesus Christ IS the Word of Life, the Good News taken to the next highest step; the Word that brings Life into the believers heart and being. When we mature, beyond the baby steps of Christianity, that Word in our lives should demonstrate to all around us the Life that resides within us.

1 John 1:2, “the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—”

John says “the life was manifested,” that life being the Word, who was Jesus, was shown so as to be seen by all men. He was not a figment of some man’s imagination, He was not an apparition, but He was real with real material substance. His life among us was real, something to be witnessed and observed, it was not a façade so that He could just “pass” as a man. John reasserts that he himself was a witness in actuality to that Life. John’s mission, or his calling was to bear witness and proclaim that very fact.

So much is the character of John, his humility, his modesty, that he reaffirms his calling or appointment as an apostle without really saying it. The Apostle’s calling, then and today is to bear witness and proclaim or declare, to show the truth of that Life that is Christ Jesus’. We know, even by historical records that Jesus was a man who lived among us. It is the Apostle’s calling to reaffirm that fact, but not just as an historical figure but as the “eternal life, which was with the Father.”

I found this statement from an unknown author in my background research of this letter:
**”I am glad that my knowledge of eternal life is not built on the speculations of philosophers or even theologians but on the unimpeachable testimony of those who heard, saw, gazed at, and handled Him in whom it was incarnate. It is not merely a lovely dream, but solid fact, carefully observed and an accurately recorded fact.”

When I first read this, so many years ago, it stuck with me AND struck with me of the simplicity of the wisdom behind it!! Our belief, nay, as the writer says, our KNOWLEDGE of eternal life does not have to be a fantasy or some form of wish fulfilment, but rather based on honest-to-goodness, historical fact!

So to sum up so far, in this second verse, John is answering the first, and reiterating the fact that Jesus and the Father ARE One and have always BEEN One, (see John 10:30). Jesus was manifested or shown to us through the unwavering testimony of His disciples and Apostles, and so because of their witness, so through them also we can, without hesitation, bear witness to Jesus, and thus, we can bear witness to the Father’s presence among ourselves as well!

1 John 1:3, “that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

Again John is reiterating with authority and a strong pronouncement that what they have witnessed personally he is not just holding to himself as some guarded secret or treasure, but rather is proclaiming and declaring it to all who would hear and listen. Notice that John says we, so as to lend authority to the statement that it was not just himself who witnessed the events of the Word of Life among them, but that it was the company of them, ALL of the disciples who were in the presence of Jesus. John was not standing alone and he was not expecting his hearers to believe it was only him who was witness to those events.

One of the underlying reasons for the writing of this letter is stated right here also. John is saying that by him proclaiming or sharing these things, the knowledge it gives a person allows those hearing and listening the ability to have fellowship also with him as a disciple. Thus, since his fellowship is with the Father, and Jesus Christ the Son, we can also have fellowship with them. In other words, it is the same as if my being friends or associated with you, allows me to be associated with all of your friends, and vice-versa.

Do not be misled by the now common usage of the word fellowship. That word “fellowship” is not just a connotation of friendship, but rather it goes much deeper than that. The Greek word used is the word, “koinonia” which means a partnership, or an intimate communion. When we enter into the fellowship of believers, we are not just entering into a social communion, an unbreakable band of brothers/sisters, so to speak, but we are entering into something much deeper and more abiding. After all, it is based in the intimate relationship of the Creator of all that is, ever was or ever will be, both in the natural AND the spiritual, and the Word of Life Who brings it and us all together in spiritual unity.

We have a bond that is unlike anything that has ever been on this earth, except with possibly Adam and Eve (or Enoch) who actually “walked” and communed with the Living God. It is an intimacy that the world cannot, nor ever will really understand. We need to be very careful that we do not attempt to understand our relationship with the Heavenly Father in the light of the world’s standards.

The beloved Apostle ends this sentence with, “His Son Jesus Christ.” There is a whole lot of doctrine packed into just those four words! Many of you who have been following my writings, not just on this blog of a few years, but who have known me well before I started this blog, have known me to be very “generous” in using the term, “Christ Jesus” in my writings. It would be hard to explain how important this acknowledgement of Christ’s deity is to me and why I feel compelled to express it so much.

First, I can tell you it comes from my personal relationship with Christ Jesus. Jesus and Christ are One and the same. They are not two distinct personalities AND they are NOT the first and last name of Jesus either! Believe me when I tell you there have been some through the years that have sincerely asked that question!

Jesus, is the name given to Him at His birth and denotes His real humanity. He was born into a natural body just like any other baby and He grew into a man, just like any other man, at least in the natural. Christ is the name that denotes that He IS God’s Anointed One, the Messiah. The word Christ means, the Anointed One. Thus, Jesus, the Anointed One. Proclaiming His humanity AND His deity in One Person!

When I write or when I am preaching/teaching, I often times say, Christ Jesus, because at this period in our history, “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God,. . .” – Acts 2:32-33a. Jesus has fulfilled His mission as a man and Christ continues in His mission at the right hand of the Father. The Anointed One is continuing His work amongst us through the power of His Holy Spirit, whom the Father had promised. “and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.” – Acts 2:33b. Thus, to me, and this is my opinion and lifestyle, the Anointed One, Who IS Jesus is being exalted above all men! So, whether you proclaim, Jesus Christ, or Christ Jesus, we are proclaiming, exalting AND magnifying the Son of God, whose Name is above every name!!

1 John 1:4, “And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”

John sums up not only the previous three verses, but also all that is to follow in his letter, for the main reason or purpose of writing the letter. That our joy may be complete. Now I want to take a moment to clear something up. The KJV and the NKJV and some other versions of the Bible say that “your” joy may be complete or “full.” Others say, “our” joy may be complete. Some people look at that as contradiction in translations or text, but rather it is updating the original language to modern language or idioms. Remember as I have stated countless times before, it is the spirit of the Word that we attain too and not just the letter.

John is including himself for the reason that he is writing the letter. It gives joy, not only to the reader, but to whom-ever will take to heart the message. Such was his humility that he is counting himself with us. Remember, in the previous verses he was talking about the fellowship we have with one another. We in essence, become one with each other, just as we become one with the Father and Son. So, your joy is his (John’s), his joy is ours. It is made complete or full when we take his testimony and witness to heart.

That brings up the issue of joy itself. In the world today, even in the church world, there is a lot of mistaking joy for happiness. Joy is the second quality that is listed as a “fruit of the Spirit.” See Galatians 5:22. Joy is God’s will for the believer, ALL believers in Him. It is a spiritual quality or characteristic and not a carnal or natural one, therefore, it is not dependent upon our outward natural circumstances. Rather, joy is a characteristic that is independent of outward circumstances and totally dependent upon our relationship with the Father, through Christ Jesus and empowered by His Holy Spirit. Do not confuse joy with happiness which IS totally dependent upon outward circumstances.

Lack or loss of joy came about due to the result of sin and our estrangement from our Heavenly Father. Where sin is forgiven through the Redemption of Christ Jesus, our Savior, joy abounds. This fullness or completeness of joy is mentioned approximately six times by the Apostle, in his Gospel as well as his Epistles:

Joy associated with consecration—–John 3:29
Joy associated with obedience——–John 15:10-11
Joy associated with prayer————-John 16:24
Joy associated with protection——–John 17:13
Joy associated with fellowship——–I John 1:4
Joy associated with brotherly love—II John 12

Next post we will begin with 1 John chapter 1 verse 5.

**Believer’s Bible Commentary Copyright © 1995, 1992, 1990, 1989 by William MacDonald. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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I John Introduction & Overview

Posted on September 7, 2017 by Roland Ledoux


To me personally the Epistle of 1 John is by far one of the greatest books or letters in the Bible. You may be asking yourself how I can come to that conclusion, after all, it is only five short chapters long. The truth is, in those five chapters you will find the answers to who we are in Christ, our relationship with the Father, our condition in regards to sin, our assurances concerning eternity and the contrasts of good and bad, light and dark, truth and falsehood.

Like nowhere else in the Bible, you will find your reason for being, pretty much given specifically. It is almost as if God, our Father and Creator, centered the rest of His Word around this one little book. Now, I know that everyone who reads their Bible on a daily basis has derived favorites, chapters or passages that are especially endearing to them. The truth of the matter is, we need the WHOLE Word of God to be able to gain an insight and understanding into the character and nature of our truly loving Father, but that doesn’t negate the fact that we do and can have favorites.

For verse by verse, line upon line teaching, this Epistle is a good jumping off point, and by the time you are through it, I hope that you will agree with me that this IS just one of the greatest letters ever written. My goal in presenting this teaching format will be to give you an understanding of the Word of God, not just in bits and pieces, but as a whole picture. You have heard the old adage that says “You can’t see the forest for the trees, and/or you can’t see the trees for the forest.” Sometimes this is the problem that we encounter as we try and study God’s Holy Word. Our eyesight tends to be focused on maybe just a few scriptures here and there thus we don’t see them in context with the rest of the written word, thereby losing a necessary balance in our lives, or, our focus is on the word as a whole and we forget the little things that lend precise direction in our everyday lives.

I stated in my previous article, Expository Introduction, that one of the reasons I took to this epistle so completely was the apparent “grandfatherly” way in which the beloved Apostle wrote this letter. When read it appears very casual and informal and yet at the heart, exposes the very in-depth reasons for our walking in a Christian lifestyle. It truly exemplifies the Apostle’s pastoral heart and the Apostle John doesn’t pull any punches when talking about Jesus Christ being our One and True example of Godly living.

Now notice, I specifically ended the last sentence with “Godly living.” It, is an action, for to truly live, is to be doing; it is NOT a passive lifestyle as so many in the modern religious world would have you to believe, wrapped up with “religious” feelings and emotions to denote your true place in Christendom. Rather, John shows us that to be a true Christian, it can only be demonstrated by how we act and what we do!

Don’t get me wrong, I am NOT stating or putting forth the prospective that it is by our works that we come to Christ or are redeemed. On the contrary, it is BECAUSE of our redemption and our place IN Christ that our true love of God and others can be demonstrated by our works!

The Apostle James stated it this way; “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” – James 2:15-18.

The world would say it this way; we are supposed to FEEL love first and when we do then we will be motivated to do something for others (for how can we do without feeling motivated first to do something?). BUT, Jesus’ form of love says to DO something for others FIRST and unconditionally to demonstrate our love and the feeling may or may not come upon the heels of the action. Our motivation is the love that is within us, because of Christ within, and not whether we “feel” love for the other or not. Jesus’ way is the way of faith, but the world would make it seem only logical and right to do it their way. So it is that the Apostle John lays it out to follow the example “as He” does, or “even as He” does, meaning to follow the example of Christ. This John laces throughout the five chapters of his Epistle. John definitely backs up the premise that the Apostle James was proposing in his Epistle.

One of the key themes to this Epistle is “fellowship, with God and with one another” and it is what ties all of the writing within this letter together. John, in detail outlines just what this fellowship with our Heavenly Father accomplishes in the believer and what awaits those who reject this fellowship.

It has been known in theological circles and thus taught when I was approaching my later teenage years that John proposed three tests to determine, or measure, our “fellowship healthiness” as it were, and this so impressed me as a young man that there could even BE a measurement, that I have never forgotten the “markers.”

We will go into these a little deeper as we get into the expository teaching, but as a summation, I will put them here:
Marker or test number one can be found in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” First marker, have we confessed all our known sins so that we might be cleansed, thus being ABLE to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16.

Marker or test number two can be found in 1 John 2:5, “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.” Notice this does not state that OUR love for God is perfected (realized in practice); but rather, God’s love is realized as a truth/fact within us! Do we know His Word(s) so that we MAY even be able to keep them? Are we walking in obedience to God? Walking is another action, not a passive, indicator of our status of fellowship with God!

Marker or test number three can be found in 1 John 2:10, “He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.” Are we demonstrating, by actions, a love for our brethren in an ongoing, practical way? Are we in “fellowship” with them as we are with our Heavenly Father? As the writer of Hebrews states/commands, “Let brotherly love continue.” – Hebrews 13:1.

Fellowship with God and with our brethren should not be an abstract or vague thing. As we read/study 1 John, we will see some key themes that are applied to the main theme of “fellowship.”

The beloved Apostle is very specific in his message concerning, our fullness of joy, our power over sin and assurance of our salvation, all of which he writes to foster our ability to protect holiness and righteousness (2:1), to prevent heresy and false teaching (2:26), AND to provide assurance and hope (5:13).

Again, as we study this Epistle together, keep an open heart and mind, don’t let the casualness of the writing style make you think this letter is of any less important than any of the other writings inspired by the Holy Spirit and do not let some of the underlying deep concepts hinder your acceptance of simplicity of what the Apostle is trying to get across. When you study and read, do so with Holy Spirit as your ultimate Counsel, for even though we need one another for encouragement, strength and edification, it is His job to teach you what He would have you glean from this work.

From John’s own words, “These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” – 1 John 2:26-27.

Next post we will begin with 1 John chapter 1.

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Expository Introduction

Posted on September 5, 2017 by Roland Ledoux


Isaiah 28:9-13, “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, To whom He said, “This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,” And, “This is the refreshing”; Yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little,” That they might go and fall backward, and be broken And snared and caught.”

Isaiah 28:10 — “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”

Many of my Calvary Chapel peers and friends will recognize these verses for they are the foundation of the teaching style of many Pastors within the Calvary Chapel churches. AND, before you think I might be critical or criticizing, I am NOT criticizing this style of teaching/preaching! This actually encompasses some of my favorite teaching style and led me to truly recognize and understand the importance of keeping the Scriptures in context. My years in ministry within the Calvary Chapel *“organization” helped me to develop my own style of teaching.

If you think about it, the Scriptures were written in an orderly fashion (as inspired by the Holy Spirit) to portray a specific line of thought. It only stands to reason that to “expose” or analyze that line of thought, you read it, study it in the way and order that it was written.

I have many peers in the blogosphere who teach by exposition in their writing and posts and their teaching and writing is excellent AND inspiring. When I was actively preaching, I tended to use expository teaching more actively from the pulpit and even when I resorted to thematic teaching, it was the expository study of the Scriptures that allowed me to teach the theme I was covering within the context of the written Word.

The one thing about the above Scripture though and the context with which it is given, is that rather than “dictating” an inspired style of teaching “approved” by God, it is actually a treatise of the Lord mocking a grumbling and disobedient people at a particular time in Israel’s history. You can read most of Isaiah 28 and see that the Lord is criticizing His people who are criticizing the teaching and the way it is done. In today’s parlance, you might say the people are reacting the way of teaching by repeating, “blah, blah blah, blah blah, blah blah!” More or less snubbing the teachers of the time.

Still, because this WAS the way the Scriptures to that time had been taught, it was a very reasonable and practical way of teaching. This is not to say that thematic preaching/teaching (expounding on a theme, such as sin, or love, for instance) is not an effective way to preach or teach, it is just that thematic teaching or even studying a theme has its pitfalls if the student is not careful.

Today, we have many religious fads and false teachings that have crept into the church due to preachers and teachers taking OUT of context, Scriptures that fit a theory or idea, and once that germ of a thought has taken root, a preacher or teacher will do all within their power to make the Scriptures fit their theory! Whatever the motive, no matter how it makes the listener feel, it is still false teaching because it is TWISTING the Scriptures to fit a person’s theory, rather than making a person’s theory fit the contextual Scriptures!

This is one of the reasons why I hold so dearly (and yes, use it quite often) the Scripture that the Apostle Paul wrote, stating, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” – 2 Corinthians 3:5-6. It is the Spirit of the Word, the Bible, that gives it life, the inspired meaning behind the words and not the words themselves. I have said it many times before and written in my articles that the Scriptures can be made to say just about anything a person wants them to say. This is one of the reasons we have so many cults cropping up from time to time and the false teachings that have infiltrated the church. Does that make the Scriptures flawed? Undoubtedly, it is the user and his ideas that are flawed. The Scriptures will remarkably confirm themselves when dealt with in the right spirit and context!

Plus, we need to be reminded that it is not just the preacher or teachers faults wholly, for individually we are responsible on what we accept as “gospel” and truth. When we stand before our Redeemer at the final judgment, He is NOT going to accept the excuse, “well, that is what my preacher/teacher taught or told me!”

Another of my favorite Scriptures was written by the Author of Acts when describing the exploits of Paul and Silas, “Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.” – Acts 17:10-12.

I want you to focus on verse 11 where it says, “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica,” some translations use the word “noble” in place of fair-minded. WHY were they this way? Because, “they received the word with all readiness,” first and foremost, their hearts were open, then, and here is the main reason, “and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” They didn’t search the Scriptures to find fault with Paul and Silas, because their hearts where already open to the Word, BUT, and it is a big BUT, they wanted to make sure that what they received was the TRUTH!!! They held themselves, individually accountable for what they received in their hearts and minds!!!

If we, almost two thousand years later, would do the same thing when it comes to the Scriptures and the Living Word of God, our churches and most likely our societies wouldn’t be in the mess that it is today. But rather than be like the noble Bereans, we have become more like the grumbling and complaining Israelites in the days of Isaiah! This goes to prove a point I have stated time and time again; human nature just does not change despite our knowledge of history! There is only ONE way for which our natures can change from the grumbling, complaining and deceitful to the fair-minded and noble and that is by the very BLOOD of Christ Jesus and our willingness to be spiritually bathed or washed in it!

When we surrender our very nature, our very willfulness to the Holy Spirit who leads us directly to the Cross of Christ and we accept that sacrifice for the penalty of our sinfulness, then and only then does the Holy Spirit take up residence with our spirit to guide, to teach and to convict (convince) us of spiritual truth. Then and only then can our minds and spirit be reawakened as children and heirs of God Almighty, our Heavenly Father and it is then that the spiritual gift of discernment becomes active and allows us to see the spirit of the Word of God and not just the letter. We then step into the realm that the Apostle Paul wrote about to the Corinthians, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:12-14.

Anyway, I wanted to give you this introduction, so to speak, because I want to start some expository teaching on one of my favorite Books of the Bible, the Epistle of 1 John. It will be predominantly, verse by verse, line upon line teaching; thus the explanation given to this point.

Ever since I became born-again, just before my seventeenth birthday and started reading a Bible gifted to me, I quickly found that 1 John was to become an exceedingly favorite portion of the Bible. I think, for me, it was because of what I presumed to be the “grandfatherly” way in which John, the Apostle wrote it. It quickly touched my heart and spirit as a youth and was a big step to encouraging me to truly get in and read the Bible as a whole! I have been in love with the Bible ever since.

I hope and pray that 1 John will awaken/reawaken the love for God’s Word in you as it has me.

In closing, however you teach, or if you are a preacher, a minister (servant) of the Word, I hope and pray that you take to heart the importance of precept upon precept, line upon line in your study of the Word and especially as a guide for keeping the Scriptures in context. We WILL be accountable and answerable to Christ Jesus our Lord AND Master, for the words we speak towards the goal of instructing others; so, let not our words of instruction be in vain.

God bless and may the Spirit of the Living Word encompass your hearts, minds and spirits, always!

*Calvary Chapels for the most part do not want to associate their churches within the framework of a denomination and even though there are thousands throughout the world as an “organization” they consider themselves to be “undenominational.” This is given just as some informational background to my readers.
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The Cure

Posted on September 3, 2017 by Roland Ledoux


Romans 16:17, “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.”

Colossians 2:8, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”

1 Timothy 1:3-4, “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia–remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.”

1 Timothy 5-11, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.”

2 Timothy 4:2-4, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

Jude 1:16-19, “These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.”

Okay, starting off, I’m going to admit a weakness or a fault of mine that I have been experiencing for several months now. If hearing a teacher or preacher claiming faults or weaknesses is disconcerting to you, then you have my permission to “disengage” right now and go no further.

I have been heartsick! There I said it. A Christian teacher and preacher who admits to being heartsick for several months!!! Unheard of, right? Well, I’d rather be honest and truthful with you upfront, than lead you on into believing I am perfect without a care in the world!

It has nothing to do with my battle with physical pain, though that can be a hindrance, but rather it has to do with something beyond emotional pain, a spiritual pain as it were. Honestly! I am hurting in my spirit, greatly.

Now before you lecture (or scold) me, that I should be praying more, reading the Word more, “giving it all to God” more, etc., etc., let me tell you that those parts of my life, though they can always be improved, have not been the cause of any spiritual deficiency leading to my being “heartsick!”

No, in truth, the only thing that might clear my mind and spirit of this condition would be for me to become a total, dedicated hermit, or for the Lord to come and take me home! I know, I know, both these solutions seem to be incredibly drastic, but my mind has strayed that way for months now.

You see, I try to avoid the news outlets, the world goes on right outside my door. I try to avoid social media so I don’t see what is going on from the perspective of internet commentary and I have to go to the store, or the doctor’s office or any other countless, mundane routines of someone who is retired from public, let alone any other kind of service. I still see the world going by on its merry way as if they have an eternity of time to accomplish their own personal “bucket lists” before they have to depart, leaving behind “their” indelible marks on the remaining world!

I realize that I am speaking in the midst of some great heroic and unselfish deeds coming out of the natural disaster named hurricane “Harvey” hitting the state of Texas, predominantly, but effecting people in the other states adjacent to Texas as well. But, “Harvey” is recent (I am beginning to write this 9-3-2017), and I am looking back several months as my “spiritual” melancholy began to set in.

Riots in our streets, the breakdown of civil obedience, the assassination of our police officers, a backward spiral of race relations, a progressive, liberal media that doesn’t count on the truth to further its journalism endeavors, corruption beyond measure in an outgoing government being taken place by alleged (but not proven) corruption in an incoming new government, further wars and rumors of wars, etc., etc., so on and so forth!! This is just in the WORLD as a whole!

Then take into consideration, seeing corruption and crime firsthand in a small town that shouldn’t even be touched by such things, watching as the police time and again, trying to apprehend a neighbor/neighbors that time after time, demonstrate by their actions that the law doesn’t apply to them. Going to the neighborhood chain store, or grocery store and watch as people plow down the aisles without a look-see before entering the main aisle (I’m pretty much relegated to a wheel chair as my knees don’t support me more than a minute or two) as if they are in some sort of ultra-reality, crash-cart derby! I mean, most stores, grocery or department are laid out just like the lanes and throughways of a city traffic grid; you have your main lanes and then your cross lanes. If people drove out in their cities like they do in the stores, it would solve the population crisis real simply, and quite fast!

Okay, maybe, just maybe you are thinking I’m exaggerating just a little. Maybe I am, and my perspective has just become a little hypersensitive, but this much I will tell you, I have seen mankind in general, locally by people’s actions and on a world-scale by the news I have seen becoming more and more self-occupied and a lot more self-centered. Whether it be spending all their time on their cell phones (whether in traffic or not), or just doing whatever they can to get to their destinations, by whatever means necessary.

This has led me to another aspect of the human-nature condition that I have been a student of most of my life; human nature does not seem to change through the generations or, in fact, the centuries! It truly reminds me of that saying that everyone is familiar with, “those who fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it!”

The truth of this can be found throughout the Old Testament of the Bible, the Living Word of God. The children of Israel were created to be the heirs and children of God Almighty. All He asked of them was to follow Him in all their ways, His commands and directions. It just seems that at every turn, no matter the many heroic actions and incidents of their history, they also seemed to have an ongoing history of disobedience and willfulness. By the way, willfulness could be construed as self-centeredness as well!

So if you are reading this, tell me, in all of mankind’s history from the very beginning, other than the environment and the circumstances, WHAT HAS CHANGED?

Now I know, you are probably thinking, Pastor Roland, you are very pessimistic! It may appear that way, but in fact, I am very OPTIMISTIC! It’s just that my optimism isn’t in mankind’s ability to correct itself, but rather in the fact that God, our Heavenly Father, through the Redeeming quality of Christ Jesus is the only hope we have for mankind and that in Him AND only in Him will we ever find the “cure” to human-nature!

Then why the melancholy, the “heart-sickness,” you may be asking? The truth of the matter is that it is not just the world that I am witnessing this self-centeredness, but in many of my “peers” and friends in the “religious” arena. I have known for years what the Bible has prophesied and if the truth be told, for some reason, whatever the reason, I didn’t think I would be around to actually see some of what I am seeing take place! I am trying to be very transparent and yet at the same time, kind of put out there in the “blogosphere” a warning call, or an alarm call that all is not right in the organized “church-world!”

You see, we have been given an awesome gift, a roadmap as it were, a foundation for life that has been placed in our little hands for our benefit, individually, as well as corporately, for the betterment of those around us. The truth is, not everyone sees this as a benefit, and some go so far as to believe it is a recipe of “suggestions,” for the creation of a “happy” lifestyle. Some believe that it is a mythology for Utopia, a mystical magical formula that is only for some and not for all.

The Bible isn’t a “book of suggestions” but rather a key, a link, to what is missing in a life separated from its Creator, and the Way to get back that which has been missing. It’s not magic, it’s not mystical, but rather it is SPIRITUAL and it only works when the inner spirit has been reawakened and is sincerely curious as to what more there is to this mystery we call LIFE.

It is the answer to the question, “is this (this natural, physical, existence) all there is to life? In its inspired (inspired by the Holy Spirit) writings we see that this natural existence is only the finite stepping-stone to our REAL Life!

Sadly, we have people, who claim to be “from God” who do some of the very things the writers of the verses I gave at the beginning prophesied would happen. They have become more concerned with what the MAJORITY of people will think about them, than giving, out of a heart and spirit of love, the TRUTH which is only found in the whole Word of God! That, is the definition and demonstration of not love, but self-centeredness!

Jesus told some of the Jews that believed in Him, that “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” – John 8:32. But the Jews were confused or unsure and Jesus had to give the explanation to clarify His statement by saying, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” – John 8:34-36.

Jesus demonstrated His love to those believing in Him and even those confused or unsure, not by skirting the issue of sin, but by explaining the hold living in sin has on mankind, AND by pointing out the fact that the Son is the way to overcome that hold! It would not have done the Jewish converts any good to avoid the issue of sin, for they would not have understood then the hold it had and the NEED they had to be released from it!

But today, it is neither fashionable nor expedient to point out sin, or the hold it has on people and thus the way to escape it, because if the subject DOES surface, it would not be “loving” towards those who are living in it!!

We have “religious” organizations that are literally changing, NOT TRANSLATING, but changing the words of the Bible so that they won’t appear to be so offensive to certain groups of people for fear that those groups might make a public spectacle and cause embarrassment to the “church!” OR, to garner more memberships, (so as to keep their coffers full) or to maintain their power structure within these organizations, they refuse to acknowledge outright sin, using the philosophy that to do so is NOT loving to the people living a lifestyle of sin!

Just to make it clear, I am NOT just speaking about a lifestyle of homosexuality either, though it is the one thing that is in the public eye right now. I am talking about any lifestyle that is actively engaged in sinful activity and is enabled by ignoring it, out of “love” for the person involved. To give you an example, many years ago, we attended a church for a very short time in Arizona, where the Pastor’s son was leading the Praise and Worship service while he (the son) was also having an adulterous relationship with a woman in the church. The Pastor was well aware that his son was living in active, ongoing sin, yet didn’t feel that it had any influence on the Praise and Worship, the very tool that is used to try and garner the manifest presence of the Lord, through His Holy Spirit, into the midst of the congregation!! The son still “loved” the Lord, but he also “loved” another man’s wife as well, so the “Love covered the sin!” —- (“By the way, the woman was separated, but still married to her husband.”)

Do I need you to guess whether the Spirit of the Lord rested upon that congregation or not? Some said it was always a great time of Praise and Worship. He was a very skilled musician, but I have seen the results first-hand of the Holy Spirit washing over an open and transparent congregation and this congregation didn’t exemplify that. The Holy Spirit, the Lord, will not manifest His presence upon a congregation that does not recognize, but rather enables continued, open sin within their congregation! You can have a wonderful time of music, you may experience great emotional exuberance, but the lasting, healing and redemptive quality of the Holy Spirit’s manifestation will not be present while sin reigns in the camp! The emotions die out soon after the service, the touch of the Holy Spirit lasts through many trials and tribulations!

I don’t need to reiterate the Scriptures I gave you in the beginning. If you read them, the Holy Spirit will illuminate the truth of them to you. You truly don’t need me to relay to you what is truth and what is falsehood. If you truly are a child of the Lord’s, you already have the Holy Spirit Whose mission it is to convict (meaning to convince) you of what His Word truly says.

I will end on this though; if you truly want to Love others as Christ Jesus loves, as our Heavenly Father commands, then don’t twist or run and hide from the truth when it needs to be revealed. To do so, is not love, but self-centeredness, because you are fearful of how someone feels or will react to you. If however, you want to truly love, give them the possibility of freedom, give them the Son, the Truth, the Light, the Life and the Way. If we determine to do this, as opportunities present themselves (not forcing it on others) then the love will take care of the sin.

My concern right now, more than anything else in the spiritual realm is that those teaching the Word of God, will teach/preach ALL of the Living Word of God and not just the parts that are pleasing to their role as “minister” etc. My concern is that we don’t become like the shepherds of the Prophet Jeremiah’s teaching and scatter the sheep, or bruise the sheep. The things that the Lord told the Prophet Jeremiah to prophesy about the religious leaders of his day, are repeating themselves in this age in which we are living and the Apostle Jude has told us this is a sign of the last days! All I can say to that is what the Apostle John ended with in the Book of Revelation, “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” – Revelation 22:20.

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When You Pray, Pray This Way – Part III

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Roland Ledoux

Matthew 11:15, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Let’s continue on from Part II to look at the SPIRIT of “The Lord’s Prayer”:

And Forgive us Our Debts, As We Forgive Our Debtors —– In other words, forgive us from those things, those circumstances, those instances where we have actually indebted ourselves to others because of transgressions, mistakes and outright sin. Our overall forgiveness comes from our faith in the Redemptive payment through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus and the Grace that pours forth in our acceptance, individually and personally for our own accountability.

But – what Jesus is saying here, are the day to day circumstances that demonstrate our individual transgressions toward others that we come into contact with or have influence over. We become indebted to others when we allow our will and desires to take selfish precedent over others needs and concerns. We need to DAILY ask the Lord to forgive us of these transgressions, but with one very important proviso; that while we are asking for our own forgiveness from these transgressions, we also hold no one else in debt to us for their transgressions. We hold no bitterness or accountability, but release their “indebted to us” back to the Lord!

The condition of our forgiveness depends on our ability to forgive those who have wronged us, no matter the circumstance!! I bring the importance of this up because years ago (and it still crops up its head from time to time) my wife and I were actively involved in a teaching/preaching ministry at a church in Globe, Arizona. The pastor there actually got to a point, where he started teaching from behind the pulpit and the Sunday School lectern that you DO NOT have to forgive another, unless they come to you and personally ask forgiveness!

They completely ignored the Biblical teachings of Jesus directly, as well as so many other Scriptures that the writers of the Bible, inspired by the Holy Spirit, instructed us to follow concerning the NECESSITY to our spiritual well-being for forgiving others, no matter what!! For those wondering, no, we didn’t stay much longer after this, though we tried so hard to correct their teaching. I am not exaggerating when I tell you today that this particular church has no more than a handful of people attending today. So sad.

The one thing that has been impressed upon my spirit time and time again is this; if we are truly forgiven ourselves, washed in the Saving Blood of Christ Jesus, our hearts and spirits are reborn to the point where we couldn’t hold back forgiveness from another if we wanted too!! I will ALWAYS remember the instance in the Bible where the sinful woman anointed the feet of Jesus at the house of Simon the Pharisee and this is what Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” – Luke 7:47.

We have all sinned, and we all still transgress daily, whether it is through deed or thought and we ALL have to ask the Lord to forgive us as we forgive others. Yes our sins ARE forgiven, but we are not yet perfect and won’t be until He Who IS perfect comes for us to take us home and we must NEVER forget that fact!

Philippians 3:12-14, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

And Do Not Lead Us Into Temptation, —– This is NOT speaking of the same types of temptations that James speaks about his Epistle: “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” – James 1:13. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to not just read your Bible, but to study it, to meditate on what it says. The Bible DOES NOT contradict itself, despite what some may say, but rather it is in our interpretation and/or understanding of it that causes conflict. When these situations arise, ASK the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you and HE most assuredly will!!

This part of our daily prayer is simply this; just as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane as stated earlier, asking His Father to remove the “cup of suffering” from Him, we ask the Lord to remove the tests and trials of our daily lives as well. BUT – remember this; we ALWAYS qualify it with, “nevertheless, not my will, but THINE (Yours, Heavenly Father) be done!”

Why do we even pray this way? It is a further acknowledgment of our total and complete dependence upon our Heavenly Father as well as the total and complete surrender of our will to His! We recognize our own weaknesses in coping with the day to day trials that come our way. A person who does not recognize God Almighty as their Heavenly Father does not understand the humility in recognizing our limitations. We need to remember that this all ties back to the Father’s “will on earth as it is in Heaven”; meaning specifically His will be accomplished in our individual lives, just as His will is accomplished completely in Heaven, this very moment!

There is a part of the “Christian” church that today does not believe that God “tests” us so that we may recognize our limitations and weaknesses. The truth of the matter is that the Lord does ALLOW testing in our lives even if He is not the One actually “testing” us for the Bible tells us that “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” – James 1:2-4.

This falls into line with this part of our daily prayer. James was truly reiterating what the Savior was teaching to the disciples gathered around, and — this leads us into the second part of that prayer guideline:

But Deliver Us From the Evil One. —– We can ask for relief from daily testing and trials, but even though we may not avoid them, we can further ask, out of acknowledged weakness and limitations that our Heavenly Father, AS A FATHER, provide us with protection and strength from the very one, the devil, who is the very enemy of not just our soul but of our very existence. There is and there should be NO shame in crying out on a daily basis for protection from the very same adversary that TRIED to tempt Jesus in the wilderness!

When we ARE tested with trials and tribulations in our daily routine of life, the Father’s purpose in allowing it, is to make us stronger in spirit, a well-grounded heir to His Kingdom. But through the trials and such, it can and often does take a toll on our physical being, our natural self. It is during this time of weariness when the enemy tries to take advantage. It is for this very reason why we pray for deliverance from the evil one and this has the added advantage of also protecting us from falling into the trap of wronging others and becoming indebted to them as stated earlier.

For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory Forever. Amen. —– Again, we are acknowledging the fact that our Heavenly Father is the Ruler, the King of a vast Kingdom and that in the natural scheme of things it surpasses and dominates anything that our minds can fathom! We acknowledge once again through the power of PRAISE that all that we have “prayed” and asked for to this point is in recognition of His Majesty, Power, Glory and Bountiful, Eternal Love!

This ending is not found in some of the older manuscripts and is omitted in SOME Protestant and the Catholic Bible and yet, here again, while we are looking at the SPIRIT of the Living Word and not just the text, it is fitting that while we start our prayer to our Heavenly Father in praise and adoration, we should, after asking all from Him, end with the same, giving Him praise and adoration!

We can remember through the structured guideline of this prayer “form” that He truly is the Alpha and Omega of our lives! Remember what John wrote in his Gospel, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” – John 4:23-24.

Our Heavenly Father is ALWAYS seeking those who WILL worship Him. He desires and WANTS communion with His creation for it was by His Eternal, Unconditional Love that we were created and it was FOR that Love that He has made a way in which we can, once again, walk daily, with Him until that time when He calls us to our TRUE Home!


Jesus gave us further guidelines as found in Matthew and Luke. True intimacy isn’t in the constant repetition, it isn’t in the loud, boisterous proclamations that draw attention to oneself, but rather it is the simple, private, personal and individual communication that takes place between two Loved ones!

Remember, this prayer guideline, often referred to as the “Lord’s Prayer,” was not meant to be just repeated, but rather to be used as what I have often referred to as a guide, a pattern in which we can direct our innermost thoughts. True intimacy, true adoration, worship and love happens not just in the darkened recesses of our homes, but constantly, throughout our day; no matter what our activity, once our spirit has been reawakened, reignited anew, Christ Jesus draws us to the Father through Him, empowered by His Holy Spirit and we begin to realize that our real lives are not seen (for they are spiritual) and not of this natural world, but are ready to be lived in something much more precious, something much more grand!!!

This is all because God Almighty, the Creator of all that is, all that ever was and all that ever will be, chose us to be His children, and we have a home that is beyond explaining, with a Heavenly Father who loves us beyond condition!

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When You Pray, Pray This Way – Part II

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Roland Ledoux

Matthew 11:15, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Let’s continue on from Part I to look at the SPIRIT of “The Lord’s Prayer”:

Your Kingdom Come —– Your Kingdom Come, denotes the place where You have personal rule and have supreme domain, the place where Your Law, Your edicts, Your plans, Your Will not just reside, but emanate from. This is the place where You and You alone as God Almighty are the ultimate Ruler, ultimate King, without question having total and absolute authority! Let them advance or proceed from Your Throne where You govern, and allow them to advance to/towards us. By remembering this, we acknowledge His rule, His Lordship, but we also remember in this acknowledgment that we are a part of that very Kingdom, for in truth, His Kingdom is everywhere that He resides and He DOES reside everywhere! Therefore, His absolute authority is everywhere and we are subject to that authority. He IS our authority as Father, but even though we are His children, we are his subjects as well.

Your Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven —– When we ask the Lord, out of our Love for Him and not out of obligation, as future heirs and present-day children of God Almighty, to let His Will be done where we now reside, in the natural realm, because we KNOW that is how His Will operates in Heaven, in the Eternal, we are SURRENDERING our wills, desires, plans, wishes, etc., to the One that we KNOW is more loving, more intelligent, more wise and we acknowledge that He has our best interest in mind, because He IS our Heavenly Father!

For too long man’s will has taken precedent over the Lord’s will and we are just shy of completely destroying this island we call earth! Man’s will has not advanced our position in the Eternal even momentarily. It is only by totally surrendering our will and acknowledging that our Heavenly Father, God Almighty is wiser and has our BEST interests at heart that we actually can become the “heirs to the Kingdom” that our Heavenly Father wants for each of us!

It has been stated in many articles recently that when we ask the Lord to “let His will be done,” in relation to prayer and communion, that it is because we lack faith, or we do not know His plans or “will” for our future or His desires concerning certain events taking place in our lives.

But here is the thing; we can and should be communing with our Heavenly Father on a daily basis already, but just because we are, doesn’t mean that He will be divulging all His plans for us in specific detail, or that if we don’t know what tomorrow holds for us, it is a lack of faith. The very fact that we still need to TRUST in Him for tomorrow and the very fact that we can still say in our prayers, “thy will be done,” is the act of faith that the writer of Hebrews states allows us to “please God,” for as it is written, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” – Hebrews 11:6.

This is speaking directly about communing with God Almighty in that it states those who “diligently seek Him.” We do that in communication and ESPECIALLY when we believe that our answers, (whether yea or nay) and our rewards come FROM Him and that He is indeed God, and they (the answers and rewards) are His will and His will alone! If you take away our reliance upon what He holds for us in the future, and the TRUST needed to believe that He has our best ETERNAL consequences at heart, then we can NO LONGER please Him because faith would not and is not any longer needed.

When God appeared to Abraham and told him that his wife Sarah would bear children, God divulged to Abraham his general plan for his life. BUT – God did NOT divulge specifics because if He had, Abraham would not have to “practice” faith in God’s Word, all he would have to do would mark off the calendar until the specific time arrived! We see in the news today, just what happens when we don’t move in the direction of “thy will be done,” but take it upon ourselves because we THINK we know God’s plan for the moments still in front of us. Abraham’s rush to fulfill God’s promise out of God’s time has created a centuries old feud that will NOT disappear until Christ Jesus returns!!!

Jesus Christ Himself put His very own words into practice at the Garden of Gethsemane when He asked His Father to take away the “cup” that He would soon partake of. Jesus KNEW His mission, (His job, to put it crudely) and KNEW that He HAD to go voluntarily to the Cross until the very end, yet, because as a man, He wanted to avoid the suffering and pain, etc., He asked if it were at all possible, crying out to His Father “saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” – Luke 22:42.

He had faith in His Father’s ability to remove the pain and suffering, yet He subjected His own will as the suffering man to that of His Heavenly Father’s will! IF IT IS YOUR WILL!!! He knew it was the Father’s will for He had been about His Father’s business since He could BE about His Father’s business!

So, when you pray, you are making a statement of faith concerning your acknowledgement of God’s greater will over yours, you are asserting His Kingdom to be accomplished here on earth, and you are subjecting yourself under Him as your Father and you are letting Him take the reins of your life trusting that He WILL fulfill His promises and that He WILL illuminate your footsteps and direction!

Do NOT get trapped in these New Age fads that turn simple, God pleasing faith into some “magic” formula where you will receive what YOU want despite God’s Wise and Eternal Will! This type of religious fad has infiltrated the organized church establishment and has only led to confusion, heartache and disbelief; ALL tools of the enemy of your soul! Not everything that SEEMS or sounds right, IS right, and you NEED to discern the truth from the lie and deception and especially in the age we live in right now!

Wheat.

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread —– We have a right, as acknowledged heirs, of our Heavenly Father Who created us and also created the means for our survival and existence, to ask individually and personally for those necessities that determine that very existence and survival for the here and now and to do so on a day by day basis. Jesus shows us this is not selfishness, but rather this also is another expression of our faith, for what child would ask something of their Father and NOT expect to receive? This is another area in which we are pleasing our Heavenly Father, because we are asking in faith, not just believing, but KNOWING that His promises include our daily sustenance, etc.

Luke 11:11, “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?”

Notice also that Jesus is not telling us to ask for tomorrow’s bread! The following is Jesus actually explaining further to the disciples WHY we do not have to worry about what we ask of the Father in His (Jesus’) own words:

Matthew 6:25-33, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ “For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

END OF PART II

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When You Pray, Pray This Way – Part I

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Roland Ledoux

1 Corinthians 3:1-4, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?”

Hebrews 5:12-14, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

Matthew 11:15, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

There has been so much talk lately on social media and in the news (yes in the news!) about prayer, and so many articles written about different ways to pray and prayers that will bring miracle answers, and miraculous healings and so forth and so on that it has caused a “restlessness” in my spirit!

Last night, the Lord kept speaking to me over and over again in my mind and spirit about HIS Word, what has HE said, what has HE instructed! Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against “praying” the Scriptures, reciting those things from long dead Prophets of God, especially when there are living truths in their recorded words as inspired by the Holy Spirit.

BUT ——- in all the things written about prayer and how to pray and what to pray and what you should and shouldn’t say in your prayers, teaching on WHY we pray to begin with has gone by the wayside and with that lack of teaching, HOW to pray and WHO to pray too has also suffered! This is the Churches fault; those like myself that have been called to SERVE others through teaching and exhortation, etc., gifts given from the Holy Spirit for ministry (service) to the very Church we are called to hold up and strengthen!

We have become so split in our organizations that our doctrines and theocracy and what we believe has become more central and more important than what the BIBLE, the Living Word of God, tells us to do! We need to remember that when our Heavenly Father, God Almighty commands His Son to return for His children and when Christ Jesus, Himself breaks through the clouds, He is only coming for one Body, one Bride, one CHURCH!!!!

Do you not remember the implication (see Genesis 3) found in the beginning of the Book of Genesis, that God WALKED with Adam and Eve and communed with them intimately. Why did He do that, if not for His love of His creation and the desire for their love in return? Do you think that their sin stopped the Father’s willingness to continue in communion, for wasn’t it after their initial sin that the implication of God’s willingness to continue to commune with them is stated in the examples given? God CONTINUED to speak to mankind in a way that man COULD hear and understand Him for a long while after that initial fall into sin!

The whole point of the first chapters of Genesis is to show our Heavenly Father’s undying love AND desire to continue to commune with mankind. Our Heavenly Father, God Almighty, the Creator of everything that is and ever was, WANTS an intimate relationship with His Creation and it always came through communion or communication!!!

Remember that when you read man’s journey from his first sin until redemption that it was NEVER God who stopped talking to man, but rather it was man’s shame because of his sin that caused man to stop communing with God, his Heavenly Father! This is what prayer is all about, communion and communication with the ONE Who created us to be a part of Himself!!!

So why make “prayer” so hard? Why turn it into something that is so extravagant, so convoluted that even a person with average intelligence is afraid to tackle it or explain it, let alone a little child? Have you ever watched a little child truly pray? In their innocence and simplicity, it is one of the most precious events you can ever be privy too! Yet that is exactly what the Lord wants from us and Jesus Himself taught us through His disciples!

When we pray, when we “TALK” to our Heavenly Father, we approach Him like we truly are, HIS CHILDREN! Jesus taught it very simply, very straight-forward this way as found in the Gospel of Matthew, as well as the Gospel of Luke:

Matthew 6:7-8, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”

“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” —- Matthew 6:9-13.

NOW — let’s break down this prayer into the components that are important and why Jesus taught us to pray following this guideline. Remember also, this IS a guideline and not just some words to memorize. It comes back to what I repeat from the Scriptures again and again concerning HOW I should look at the Word of God:

2 Corinthians 3:6, “who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Let’s now look at the SPIRIT of this prayer:

Our Father in Heaven —– Jesus immediately starts off with WHO we are to pray too! Why is there so much confusion today? I don’t get it or understand it and especially so for those that say they read their Bibles daily! Jesus makes it perfectly clear that we are to pray to our FATHER in Heaven! It is God, our Father Who created us, it is God our Father from the very beginning that desired (and still desires) communion with us. Jesus came to pave the way so that the spiritual connection that was broken could be reignited!

John 14:4-11, “And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.”

Our Father in Heaven denotes a personal, intimate relationship with the ONE Who looks upon each of us as more than a mere creation, but looks upon us as an individual, personal child of His! It denotes a belonging and an heir to the One Who loved us enough to bring us into existence. He IS a Father, but not just that, when we pray, we recognize Him as OUR Father. We recognize immediately that He is NOT as our or other earthly Fathers, but has a home in a spiritual realm that will one day, by virtue of our being His child and heir, be our home also. We are NOT orphaned, or abandoned, but rather are away “at school” as-it-were, to learn and to grow into the heirs that He wants us to be, for when we DO return Home!

Hallowed be Your Name —– Hallowed be Your Name meaning that not just You as our Heavenly Father, not just the Person that You are, but your very NAME is to be honored as holy, exalted, revered, praised as divine, worshipped and adored. It is not just Him as our Father, for truly He IS God Almighty and HE IS Holy and to be praised, etc., but His very Name is Holy for His Name cannot be separated from Who He IS! His Name also identifies who we are to Him and who IS His by the very fact that we ARE His progeny, His children having and identity with Him spiritually!

1 Peter 1:14-16, “as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

When we commune or communicate with our Heavenly Father Who Is God Almighty, we must remember that we are communing with a Loving Father, but a Father who is also Holy, Just, Perfect, Eternal, etc., and Who deserves by the very virtue of His Existence to be praised and exalted, magnified and LOVED above all other things! These are not things that should be done out of obligation, but rather out of the Love that SHOULD be reawakened in us spiritually by the very fact of His Spirit drawing us to Him!!

END OF PART I

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Study To Show Yourself Approved

Posted on June 12, 2017 by Roland Ledoux

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2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (KJV)

2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (NKJV)

2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (NKJV)

In August of 2017, I will turn 65 years old and I surrendered my heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ, just before my 17th birthday, so I have a few years of immersing myself into the Living Word of God, the Holy Bible. Even before being “born again/saved” I used to try and read our big ornate Catholic Bible that used to sit on our living-room coffee table.

From a young age I truly wanted to learn its spiritual secrets, but until surrendering my heart and soul to the Lord, it was a mixture of mystery, mysticism and religion that I couldn’t quite fathom. 1 Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

I am now all these years later (and have been for several decades) a teacher of the Word and I have learned several things along the way. Now, this is not an auto-biography of my life in the Word, but rather a setting forth of some tips, as it were, to help those who might want to get more out of their own study in the Word of God.

There are several legitimate ways in which to study and even teach the Word of God, but the two main ones I want to cover are probably your most basic. You might be asking at this point, why even put forth these “tips” as most everybody knows how to read. The truth of the matter is that in my many years of being a minister/servant of the Word of God, I have come across many, many individuals who actually do NOT read the Bible themselves, let alone study or even meditate on it, but rather rely totally upon their Pastor/Preacher/Teacher or some other expositor to tell them what the Bible has to say to them as individuals.

The sad circumstances of this practice is that without studying for yourselves you do not know if you are being given the whole truth, a partial truth or an outright false teaching and with have many pews and seats in our churches today filled with people suffering from this very sad state of events.

Our salvation is a very individual circumstance and we will NOT enter into eternity on the apron-strings of anyone else, teacher, preacher or otherwise! The Bible IS the Living Word of God because it has the ability to speak to each individual heart as well as a whole congregation of hearts. This is probably why, also, the Pastor/Preacher/Teacher has so much responsibility before the Lord for the very words that come forth from their mouths! We have not just been given a calling to express forth the TRUTH of the Word of God, but we have been given the responsibility of making sure we are teaching the truth and nothing but the truth!

As I stated earlier, there are several ways to approach a study in the Word of God. The two I am going to touch on is the Thematic and the Expository way, sometimes referred to as the Contextual way. Simply put, the Thematic is when you have an idea or a subject reference, for example, say you want to study on the Grace of God. You would reference and study different Scriptures and passages of Scripture that deal with that subject matter or theme.

By comparison the Expository or Contextual is when you start with a particular verse or paragraph and you go as the Prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 28:10, “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” When you read/study/teach this way, everything is in context, everything around a particular Scripture refers to or makes meaning to that central Scripture or paragraph.

Expository teaching forces you to keep your study and/or teaching in CONTEXT and doesn’t allow you to stray from the main theme of the subject being discussed. You can still reference NOT just the text, but the spirit of subject and you can still identify, commands to follow, examples put forth for demonstration, etc. Remember this is ALL of your study and/or teaching, it is NOT just the words you are trying to convey for the words are NOT what brings forth life, but you are pursuing the SPIRIT of the subject; what is really hidden behind the text!

Paul wrote this principle clearly for ALL of us in 2 Corinthians 3:5-6, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Thematic study/teaching is different and especially so in its discipline of the actual study/teaching! One of the main reasons why we have so many false teachings in the church-world today and so many religious fads that people follow “hook, line and sinker,” is because of the lack of discipline in Thematic study and especially from the pulpit or Sunday School Teacher in the classroom.

In Thematic study/teaching you STILL have to take things in context as you do with Expository, BUT, the big difference is, with Thematic, the studier or teacher can pull Scriptures from this part of the Bible and that part of the Bible and without the context of the Scripture(s) used, you can actually make the Bible say whatever you want it to say! It is for this reason that so many will say that the Scriptures contradict themselves or the Scriptures only apply to life in general!

The Word of God as a whole is definitely many-faceted and I/you can read one Scripture today and be really impacted by it and a week from now, see or perceive a meaning far deeper than first realized. This is one of the spiritual aspects that truly DOES make the Word of God, a LIVING force! This is what makes the Word of God, the textual/spiritual embodiment of Christ Jesus, Himself who is referred to as The Word of God! (John 1:1, 14). But – the Scriptures NEVER stray from the context in which they were given and when discerned by the inner spiritual man, they never stray from the context in which they are meant for the individual studying it!

One of the Scriptures I love to use when referring to those studying the Word of God and especially to those who value the TRUTH in the Word, AND equally special to those who might repeat a teaching, is found in the Book of Acts.

Acts 17:10-11, “Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”

What made the Bereans so noble when it came to the Word of God, is not that they were looking to find FAULT with Paul’s teaching, but rather, they were seeking to confirm and verify the TRUTH of his teachings for their own spiritual welfare! Too many in our churches today, do NOT seek to verify whether the person behind the pulpit is telling you the WHOLE truth, a partial truth or even a fable!! The rely solely on the charisma of the individual, how many others believe what they teach and so on and so forth!

When we stand before the Lord on Judgment Day, He isn’t going to ask us if we believed in everything we heard and who we heard it from. He is either going to say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” (Matthew 25), or He is going to say, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7).

We truly need to take responsibility on how we apply the Living Word of God to our own lives. Teaching from others is important; if it weren’t so important, people like myself and my peers in Teaching Ministries wouldn’t have this type of calling on our lives. But, before any of us can teach, can be a “workman” who is equipped to do the work called too, we HAVE to study, as the New King James Version of the Bible says, we have to be DILIGENT in our study, we have to use the spiritual gift, given freely to all who are renewed in the spirit (born-again), that discernment, which IS a gift, to be able to delve into the treasure that IS the Word of God!

I want you to consider this; the beloved, Apostle John states this in 3 John 1:2, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” The word prosper also means to profit, which confirms and verifies what the Apostle Paul wrote Timothy in the Scripture listed at the start of this article. The Living Word of God “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped…..”


It, the Word of God, is PROFITABLE, you gain more from it than what you put into it! You come out ahead, you PROSPER, by taking into yourself, the Word of God!! When you read/study the Living Word of God, and you apply the spiritual gift of discernment and you LEARN the truth of that Word, your soul/spirit and yes even human nature prospers from it. For one thing, you GAIN (profit, prosper) wisdom, a commodity that is sadly in very, very short supply today! You GAIN (profit, prosper) in TRUTH! You actually strengthen yourself against falsehoods, both naturally and especially spiritually! BUT – this all comes to you by being “diligent,” or “studying to show YOURSELF approved to God,” and able to walk in this world of spiritual landmines by being equipped in truth and integrity!

The Word of God, when made to be a part of who you are in Christ, by the systematic study of its contents, changes you into a better person in the natural, yes, but more importantly it works an ETERNAL transformation in the spiritual!

Study to show YOURSELF approved to God, study to prove the truth of what others are teaching you, study to profit and prosper in your spirit and soul, for that is where the REAL gain is, and study to be equipped that you might help others who need a steady and sure spiritual hand! Remember what Paul wrote Timothy, the Word of God is profitable, it earns dividends, “for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness!” You CAN be equipped in all these areas, through the study, meditation and contemplation of the Word of God!

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Treasure Hunting

Posted on May 15, 2017 by Roland Ledoux


You know, for all of our “advanced” learning and education, and all of our technological achievements and advancements, it should be no surprise as to why the Bible, the Living Word of God is still so relevant for today. Human nature, never changes; at least without help from our Creator and Heavenly Father’s Hand in our lives.

Ever since mankind left the garden, he has always been pursuing treasure; to either increase his wealth among other men or status and power to appear to rise above others.

Yet the Bible tells us where true treasure lies and it is not in the ground or under a mountain.

Proverbs 8:10-11, “Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold; For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.”

Proverbs 16:16, “How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.”

Proverbs 4:1-13, “Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding; For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law. When I was my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, He also taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words; Keep my commands, and live. Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace; A crown of glory she will deliver to you.”
“Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, And when you run, you will not stumble. Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; Keep her, for she is your life.”

Proverbs 11:14, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”

Proverbs 12:15, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise.”

Proverbs 13:10, “By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom.”

Proverbs 15:21, “Folly is joy to him who is destitute of discernment, But a man of understanding walks uprightly.”
22, “Without counsel, plans go awry, But in the multitude of counselors they are established.”

Proverbs 19:20, “Listen to counsel and receive instruction, That you may be wise in your latter days.”
21, “There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the LORD’S counsel-that will stand.”

Proverbs 24:3-6, “Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; By knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong, Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength; For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.”
7, “Wisdom is too lofty for a fool; He does not open his mouth in the gate.”

The Bible is a treasure trove and wisdom is the treasure that won’t be corrupted, as Jesus stated in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Just some spiritual “food for thought”!!

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Run, Run The Race

Posted on April 30, 2017 by Roland Ledoux

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1 Corinthians 9:24-25, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.”

Philippians 3:12-14, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Hebrews 12:1-3, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

The Apostle Paul speaks a lot of the analogy between our Christian walk and that of a “race.” Paul, being not just a Jew, but a Roman as well, and as a soldier would have been very familiar with the Ancient Olympic Games. The Ancient Olympic Games had evolved from a “stadia” or a foot race into many other games and especially the horse and chariot races that Paul would have been familiar with.

The races occurred usually during one of two religious ceremonies to honor and deify the ancient Greek gods. It was a time when truce between armies of the region would be called, and politics for the most part would be put aside. But Paul in most of his Scriptural writings concentrated on the actual “racing” aspect of the games.

The analogy is not lost on this age that we also live in due to the level of fervor surrounding not just the modern Olympic Games, but other sports such as Football, Baseball and Basketball to mention just a few.

It should be no surprise then, that the analogy that the Apostle uses, written under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is still very applicable and fitting today! When I was a younger man, I used to run a lot, it was something I was good at. In my early High School days, it was Cross-Country running. I tried hurdles, but didn’t do good, but found out I had stamina to run distances. The thing about a runner is that there is always a reason to run. Whether it is for a goal such as a ribbon or trophy, for health reasons, or even for sponsored donations to help a worthy cause, as the Apostle Paul wrote it was for the prize at the end of the run, the crown as it were.


It hasn’t changed either in whatever you choose to “run” for. There is always a goal, something to be realized upon your finish. Unlike running though in the natural world where our “prize” is a perishable crown as Paul writes, when we are running a spiritual race, which equates for the most part as a long-distance or marathon race, we are running for something that can’t be taken from us, that can’t rust and break down or be destroyed.

Yet with any type of race, there can be stumbles, obstacles, hurdles as it were to climb over or to overcome. I learned early on that even though these “setbacks” can cost me the win, the ultimate goal of any runner is to finish. Paul makes this clear when writing to the various Churches. It’s the goal of the finish, of crossing that finish line where the real reward lies. We can’t look back upon the times we tripped or had to overcome an obstacle for those things are in the past and will always be a part of our past.

I didn’t have family support when I was running in Cross-Country, I was doing it for myself and to a degree for friendship. I always envied the other kids that were running who had a family member on the finish line, cheering them forward. Yet, inevitably, it had to be what was inside that caused each of us to keep moving forward no matter how winded or weary our muscles felt, that goal line was always in front of us until the very end!

The writer of Hebrews reminds us of the same thing when face discouragement or even troubled times in our Christian walk. As Christians, walking a spiritual walk as compared to just a religious lifestyle, we DO have, as the writer says, a “great cloud of witnesses,” who are cheering us on, who have shown before-times that this “race” CAN be won and we CAN successfully cross that finish line, as did others before us!

Discouragement, disappointment may and most likely WILL come, but by pushing aside the burden of those things, we continue to press forward with the goal in sight! We do this by keeping our spiritual eyes focused on what is ahead, neither looking to the sides at what is going on around us, or what we have already passed behind us!

Lately, I have had to re-evaluate MY running to see where my “sight” has been focused. This is what a runner does after every race. He looks back and analyzes what slowed him down or what caused him to stumble. Now, granted, unlike the natural runner who can do race after race, after race, we have one go at this marathon and we HAVE to run it with endurance, as the writer of Hebrews encourages. But, we are able to analyze, by the power of the Holy Spirit within, what is driving or motivating us, what is causing us to slow or to stumble, at all times while STILL in the race!

The only time a Christian “could” lose the race, would be if we were to give up completely. Now, I won’t get into it here, but the Bible does tell us that in the Last Days, there will be a great falling away or Apostasy. Some don’t believe in this Apostasy, or it doesn’t apply to Christians, yet the Bible speaks of it and just like Repentance is turning away from the darkness to the Light of Christ, Apostasy in the sense mentioned is turning away from the Light of Christ back to darkness.

My point is this, the choice to FINISH the race is always in your hands given the analogy of the writer of Hebrews and the Apostle Paul! This is why you lay aside discouragement, disappointment and even the sin that the Hebrews writer says can “easily ensnare” or slow us down!

We do this by first and foremost looking to Christ Jesus who is the Author AND Finisher of our faith AND by considering what He went through at the hands of sinners so that we might obtain the “prize” waiting at the goal-line! Christ Jesus is our sponsor AND trainer through the power of His Holy Spirit! When we consider what He has “put up” for each of us to be able to run, and when we can consider what He went through and we take to heart His teaching, then we have the ability and are equipped to cross that finish line!

We must never assume, no matter how far we have run, or how LONG we have been running that we have arrived, for to assume that we have arrived at the goal before the finish line is to stop in our tracks just shy of the goal! We haven’t, none of us, achieved a perfect course UNTIL we break that ribbon at the finish line and only then have we achieved the goal set before us.

I guess the real moral written here, is to run and to never give up. No matter how weary, we have a constant source of energizing Power available to us in the Holy Spirit. No matter how many times we stumble, we have a Redeemer and Savior that has already run this course against impossible odds and has beat the odds! This was ALWAYS His Father’s plan for us through His Son!

But we HAVE to enter the race and once entered begin running! Here’s a secret to keeping our eyes on the prize; unlike in the natural where the prize is shown as a motivation to those running and seen by all, in the spiritual, we have been told and retold and reminded again and again what that prize will be and the worth of that prize. We don’t actually see it, we have to “visualize” it in the spirit through faith. We have to go from believing what that prize is, in the beginning, to actually KNOWING what that prize is, BECAUSE we are getting closer to the finish line and our vision gets clearer and more focused the closer we get!

The closer you become to your trainer, Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the more you learn and “relate” to the Father and the more you recognize the prize He is offering you, BUT, you have to START running towards that goal!

What we as individuals need to do, is not just to run this race, but while running, we need to encourage one another to keep running. Just like that “great cloud of witnesses” we need to cheer one another on, remind each other that this race HAS been run by others and that the finish line is within each of our grasps.

The day that our feet step over that goal-line, will be for each of us individually the greatest day in our lives and our lives will truly begin eternally right there!!! Unlike when I was younger and envious of the other runners that had a parent cheering them on at the finish line, we are each going to experience our Lord and Savior with outstretched arms, welcoming our final footsteps into our new life! What a PRIZE that will be!!

Hebrews 3:6, “but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.”

14 “For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, . . .”

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Show Us A Sign

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Roland Ledoux

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Matthew 12:38-42, “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.”

Matthew 16:1-4, “Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.”

Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

14-16a, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life……..”

“Show us a sign. Prove to us that You are Who You say You are!” Or for this present age, “prove to us that what you say (preach/teach) is true!” “If God is real, if Jesus is truly His Son, show us a miracle!”

I want to ask you, “as a true believing Christian, a follower, a student, a disciple of Jesus, the Christ (Anointed One), how many times have you been confronted in a normal conversation with your friends, family or co-workers, concerning your belief?” It is rhetorical and yet, even though I don’t get out much anymore, I still am asked that question, or presented with that situation, both in the “real” world and online.

I am asked those questions not just about the existence of God, MY Heavenly Father (not just any god), but also about the Bible; and why do I insist on calling it the Living Word of God?! After all, before proving that the Bible is more than just a book, that it is in fact God’s Book, you have to prove that there is a God! Don’t you? Show us some signs and wonders, some real miracles! Then we will believe!

When I was younger and just newly “saved,” born-again, spiritually reborn, whatever term you choose to use, I truly thought it was my duty to defend the Bible. After all, it was the Bible that opened my eyes to the TRUTH that I personally had been missing. You have to understand, right before my 17th birthday, I was and had been a “religious” kid. I was raised Catholic, (NOT knocking Catholics at all, just speaking from MY limited experience) baptized in the Catholic Church, had been through Confirmation, been an Altar Boy, attended Catholic school (part of the time in grade school), attended Catechism, but, still had so many questions about God and mankind in general. I LOVED talking to anyone who would listen and reciprocate when in High School, about “religion!”

The Church says this, we observe that, we don’t do this, this is what “we” believe. And YES, we had a big, a huge Catholic Bible sitting on our living-room coffee table. I used to try and read it every chance I got, but when I would ask the young Priest of my Parish what something meant, I was told the reason there are Priests is so that THEY can interpret and teach from the Bible because it is just too complicated for the “normal” person to understand.

It was about in my junior year in High School when I became friends with a young man who “seemed” to share my interest in “religion.” When I would talk to him about what the Church says is this or that, he would listen and then tell me that the Bible says this. He was never confrontational, just confident that when I said the Church said something, he would question its basis or foundation and then counter with what the Bible stated. I learned that when he would give me a Scripture, I could go home, open that big, huge Bible on our coffee table and sure enough, for the most part it said the same thing almost word for word!

That’s when the Holy Spirit started doing something within me! Like the proverbial fish gazing at a hook, I was seeing the bait dangling in front of me and hungering for what was there, and I was getting ready to strike at it, “hook, line and sinker!” It was the temptation of having real, deep probing questions answered in a simple, non-confrontational way! My thirst for more knowledge of Who God is and why are we (mankind) even here, and why did He create us, was promisingly close.

For me, the Word that became alive and living, the Word that caused me, NOT to turn from my “faith,” but caused me to move into a different direction, was when, at the time, my best friend (he is now my brother-in-law) quoted 1 Timothy 2:5-6, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, …….”

To be honest with you, he quoted the first SEVEN verses, but it was verse 5 and 6 that opened my eyes and changed my life forever! It was soon after that I was able to attend a special youth service his little church was having and as soon as the preacher called for people to come up to the altar, I struck with full force at that “dangling fish hook!” That night, I surrendered my heart, mind and spirit to our Heavenly Father in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ and my life was never the same!

I said my life was never the same. It’s not like I had years and years of life behind me, but my thirst for knowledge ABOUT God, turned into a thirst for not just more knowledge, but an actual relationship WITH Him! I’m going to share something with you though, it didn’t go well with my family. My mother wasn’t concerned as much (she was my step mother and always took me to church) but my father would have none of it, for we were Catholic and that was that! (He NEVER went to Church though still claimed to be a Catholic), but my grandmother on my real mother’s side was ecstatic, for though she also was a die-hard (and very devout) Catholic, she told me my real mother (who passed when I was three) was the same as me, always going to other churches with her girlfriends.

I ended up moving out of our house with only the clothes on my back at age 17. My Aunt took me in, until I was 18. But oh was I learning! And the JOY I was experiencing despite all the teenage troubles and such!!! The only thing I told my best friend during those times, is that when someone makes a commitment to surrender their lives to Christ, maybe, just maybe we should let them know that it is analogous to accepting a bouquet of roses; it’s a beautiful thing, but beware of the thorns! The enemy of our soul, the devil, would love for us to remain ignorant and unquestioning, and when you make a life-changing decision like that he tries to wound you with “thorns” but you can’t have a relationship with our Heavenly Father through Christ Jesus without questions and without truly KNOWING Who He is and His unconditional love for each of us! And THAT takes experiencing what He has in store for you! THAT was my sign!

You might be asking at this point what any of this has to do with the main title and the topic of people asking about proof of God or the legitimacy of His Living Word. You know that old saying, “hindsight is better than foresight?” Well, it couldn’t be more true. When I left the Catholic church, it was at a time in the late 60’s when it was going through a lot of major changes. I had begun attending the local Community College and many of the students in my classes were Catholic friends. They could not understand my “denial” of the faith AND I was upset that the Catholic Church hadn’t been the one to show me what I considered a new and real truth! But – I tried so hard to prove that God was more than a thought and His Word WAS living and true! It took the Holy Spirit some time for me to realize AND recognize that Christ Jesus has His TRUE followers in every church that is not afraid to speak His Name or recognize Him as Savior. By the same token, I had to learn that every church who teaches Jesus as Christ also has those who are there out of tradition or obligation and not necessarily for the same personal reasons or with the same personal experience as myself.

This is the importance of the verses quoted above that the Apostle Paul penned to the Philippians when he told them to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” – Philippians 2:12-13. It IS God our Creator, our Heavenly Father Who does the work in each of us and it is for HIS good pleasure and will, it is only our job to be pliable and yield to any direction He wishes to take us. But – it IS a personal experience and we should view it with awe and sincerity before Him!

I have learned through time that the real PROOF of the veracity of the Bible, the Living Word of God is found in those of us who follow its teachings and precepts with a sincere and surrendered heart, mind and spirit. The proof is in the FACT that IT never changes, but it changes US! The same is true of the manifest Word of God, Christ Jesus, as the writer of Hebrews 13:8 states, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Now in the Scriptures cited at the top of this article, I gave two different examples of times that the religious leaders of Jesus’ day tried to trip Him up and trick Him with demands of signs and wonders to prove Who He was. At least two different times, they demanded the same thing despite what He had already accomplished up until those times. These religious leaders had the writings of the prophets and patriarchs to guide them and show them what they needed to know to believe the truth that was standing right before their very eyes. The sad fact of the matter is, they had twisted and perverted the Words they had until that time to the point they couldn’t even recognize them manifested in the Man standing in front of them! It is no wonder that Jesus called them out and told them they were a “wicked and perverse generation!”

Today it is exactly the same and we are at a nexus; history is repeating itself all over again within the spiritual! The religious leaders of our day aren’t called Pharisees or Sadducees though; today they are called by other titles, but their lust for power and position is no different and they are doing all they can to take the Proof of the Living Word and by culling and ripping out of it what is an inconvenient truth for the maintenance of their power and egos, they teach a watered-down, twisted gospel so they can continue in their supposed authority. Then they have the audacity to say to those that teach the WHOLE counsel of God, “show us a sign! You are NOT Christian, prove to us by what authority YOU teach, for Christ would not do that thing or do this thing!” In their attempts to grow in number and influence, they forget that our Heavenly Father DOES LOVES ALL His Creation, but He does NOT love His Creation’s sinfulness and when they (His Creation) reject as false the only true Redemption available to them, they deny it is really God’s way to demonstrate that a part of His Loving Nature is also by demonstrating He is also a Just God! You cannot have unconditional, agape love, mercy AND grace without Godly justice as well!

Jesus told them as He is telling us today, “Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.”—Matthew 16:3b.

Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

But today, it is not “politically correct” to point these things out. After all, you might lose some of your congregation, you might ostracize someone or a group of people as a whole. Isn’t it better that they at least attend and hear SOME of the truth rather than chase them away with the WHOLE truth which might offend them? What about letting them “work out their own salvation with fear and trembling” I ask?

I’ll give you or present you with a sign; AND it was not given to the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, but to His followers. It was given not so that His disciples would fear, but so that they would be prepared and remain steadfast. It was given so that His TRUE followers would remain ever vigilant. I’ll present you a sign with the very words of Christ Jesus:

Matthew 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

4-13, “And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”

35-39 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

The signs, the proof, the TRUTH is all around us. We need to remain vigilant and steadfast. We need to demonstrate by actions our love for others WITHOUT compromising the truth in the process. There are those coming using the (in the) Name of Christ, yet do not KNOW Him in a personal, surrendered life way. We have to be aware, be discerning and we have to cling to what the Word of God says is truth.

Jesus, Himself stated this as written in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

How can this even be? Doing great wonders and performing signs using His Name, yet He clearly states He doesn’t (didn’t) KNOW them! Just because we SAY we are a Christian and believe in (a) god, doesn’t mean we have a personal, “submitted to His will,” lifestyle that is directed and guided by Him, the One True God, our Creator, our Heavenly Father.

The best sign we can give? The best proof we can provide? “….work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” – Philippians 2:12-13.

I’ll show you a sign, I’ll give you undeniable proof:
WE AS TRUE CHRISTIANS ARE LIVING THE SIGN AND THE PROOF!!

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No Foundation? The End!

Posted on April 23, 2017 by Roland Ledoux

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Luke 6:47-49, “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:
“He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. “But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

John 1:12-14, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

I went through a couple of months where I couldn’t keep away from the news. Politics, world events, all the unsavoriness of what populates most news today. Since I am conservative in my beliefs, I pretty much kept to one news organization, so it took its toll on me. Seeing all they had to offer and dealing with increasing pain in my crippled knees and lower back didn’t help my outlook either. Excess pain SEEMS to heighten awareness and perspective, but much of the time it clouds or “filters” what you are actually seeing.


Then I just got fed up enough to actually cut it off cold-turkey except for the occasional online news “blurb” that might strike out at me. Of course, no matter what we are going through, we still have to live life away from the television or computer and sure enough, I couldn’t escape the “news” that was happening all around me in everyday life!

Now you have to understand something; as a Pastor (active behind a pulpit or not) I believe that we NEED to stay informed of world events, for it HAS an impact on our lives in general, but especially our spiritual lives for those of us who are trying and practicing to be true disciples and followers of Christ Jesus.

There’s an old saying that “knowledge is power” and for the most part, it is true, as long as the knowledge can be utilized in a wise way. Knowledge by itself is only trivia if it doesn’t affect your life in a positive way, even if only a little bit positive. For a true Christian, it comes back to what the Apostle Paul stated in Romans when he wrote, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” – Romans 8:28.

But witnessing the “news” and “world events” taking place around me on a local basis in the lives of those I pass by on a daily basis has made me realize that to many, knowledge, and especially wisdom, once referred to as “common sense” is sorely lacking.

I’m going to be blunt so you are going to have to bear with me. I have said for some time now that common sense has died. What used to be referred to as common sense, or normal, everyday wisdom has long been forsaken. When you witness someone who displays any kind of sense at all today, it is truly uncommon!

Pastor Roland, you are being “harsh and unloving again with statements like that!” Yes, I’ve been told that – many times in fact and yet I am speaking facts that are being witnessed by many who even today rely not just on “common sense or wisdom” but who walk by a spiritual wisdom, guided by the Holy Spirit! I am NOT the only one who is witnessing or has witnessed the demise of a commonality of good sense that used to direct our lives!

The sad truth is that it has progressed from something that I have written about and spoke about for quite some time now; self-centeredness or selfishness, which I have taught for years is the opposite of true love or loving! Loving, I state because true Godly love is an action, doing, NOT a noun or feeling. Love doesn’t become the noun, or the “thing” UNTIL it has actually taken place to the benefit of another life!

You may be wondering what I am leading up too with an introduction based on foundations, but the truth is, it isn’t just common sense that is lacking. Because common sense has been replaced as a “guide” or a “direction” for our lives and the way we interact with one another we have witnessed an epidemic and in actuality a PANDEMIC of stupidity that has risen across this world as it gets ever smaller and smaller due to technology! Wasn’t technology supposed to MAKE our lives better and more fruitful? Instead with the increase in knowledge that the Prophet Daniel wrote about that would take place in Daniel 12:4, we see with that knowledge also an increase in stupidity! Notice, I DID say stupidity and NOT ignorance! Ignorance can be cured and corrected, but stupidity is a disease of choice! How can knowledge increase to the degree it is and yet stupidity reach globally pandemic volumes?

By now you must know, where I’m heading! Foundations. Foundations are the literal bedrock of what not just secure and stable buildings are built upon, but also lives and especially spiritual lives. I am making a point to specify SPIRITUAL lives as opposed to religious lives. The love of money can be religious and we all know the Bible says it leads to evil. (Again, not money itself, but the love or IDOLIZING of money). There are many, many things in life around us that have become religions of themselves. Being religious does not make something spiritual.

Paul wrote to his beloved student and disciple, Timothy this concerning learning and knowledge and how it relates to TRUTH: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” – 2 Timothy 3:1-7.

Before you become incensed that I would post the scriptures targeting gullible women as defined in verse 6, remember the times of which Paul was speaking to Timothy and the problems the early church was having with gossip and other sins. Today, we could substitute the term people just as you could for the term men in verse two! The POINT of the scripture is that it is not JUST perilous times that will come, but a time of learning, Paul says ALWAYS learning, knowledge on the increase, BUT never able to come to the knowledge of the TRUTH!!! What does that mean? Simply put, always learning and gaining new knowledge but always walking in stupidity, lacking the general COMMON sense that used to lead us in the past!

This is why we can have religious organizations and religious people who claim to be something and yet they are NOT spiritual! They DENY, Paul writes, the power of the Spirit, yet still retain their traditions and rituals so they appear to be religious! No wonder the Heart of our Heavenly Father is heavy with grief! No wonder so many true Christians look around and see all the religious entities and yet never sense a breakthrough into the manifest presence of Christ Jesus Himself!!

When “religious” leaders take the Living Word of God and decide to pick and choose what they will and will not follow, when they decide what is and what is not relevant for today they are doing exactly what the Apostle Paul prophesied to Timothy in keeping the FORM of godliness, but DENYING the power behind TRUE Godliness!!!

I started noticing this years and years ago when one religious fad after another would rise up and grab hold of the church-going people because some charismatic, honey-tongued preacher or teacher would take certain Scriptures out of context and weave great sounding doctrines that tickled the ears of all those who heard them! I also watched as true Christians fought with the concept of some of these doctrines as the truth unfolded in their personal lives and those of us who stood upon the WHOLE counsel of God had to do damage control with the TRUTH of the whole LIVING Word!

These teachers and preachers (and I use the term loosely) didn’t and still don’t understand that what they are doing is taking a jack-hammer to the foundation and turning parts of that foundation into rubble that is as worthless as sand or pea-gravel; and not able to secure and stabilize the building (life) that is standing on it! The sad part about it is that it is always, just a little here, and a little there until the very foundation itself is totally undermined!

When you start compromising the Living Word of God, when you start taking the parts that will make you popular but leave out the parts that are necessary to make the building strong, you are wounding Christ Jesus again by tearing out His Heart, or His Character or His Spirit! In essence, you are closing the very door to a relationship with His Father that can only be had THROUGH ALL of Him, because parts of the Living Word of God are NOT convenient, or might cause controversy or dispute within the four walls of your RELIGIOUS organization and you substitute that lie that comes straight from the devil and call it love, or tolerance. Yet like the blind leading the blind, you have already led many into the proverbial ditch, because you failed to understand that the strength of the building is in the FULL FOUNDATION and the form of the foundation is based on the cornerstone, which IS Christ Jesus!

When the Word of God tells me that there is ONLY one way to the Father, and that way is the Foundation already laid in the person of Christ Jesus, and when a religious organization says it’s alright to allow those living in sin to lead a religious organization and to lend their sinful teaching to its doctrines, then that religious organization is moving its building from the foundation and placing it on a bed of gravel or sand and it will NOT stand the storm that is already blowing upon us. As that wind becomes stronger, ONLY those built on the SOLID foundation will stand what is coming and coming so very soon.

I’m going to end this article with the LAST part that the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and show you by the LIVING Word of God, that though we will face this ever growing storm and as the stupidity continues to increase and the LACK of the knowledge of the TRUTH is learned by those we come into daily contact with, we can have hope in Christ Jesus for them and we can still LOVE those afflicted because of Christ Jesus because Paul gave us this promise, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

ALL Scripture is given by inspiration, not just some, not just the convenient ones, but ALL Scripture and it is ALL profitable for doctrine, for reproof (for putting on the right track and proving truth) and for CORRECTION of falsehoods and for instruction on how to be righteous, (for whom is it given?) that the MAN OF GOD, may be complete and equipped for the task at hand!!!

If you are a man (or woman) of God, you can only be equipped for what is at hand by standing upon the WHOLE FOUNDATION (Christ Jesus, the WORD) and facing the world, however perilous it becomes, on the strength of that foundation and that foundation alone!

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