His Chosen

The Miracle and Mystery of Regeneration

Posted on February 25, 2012 by mcalmond

I want to write about something that near and dear to me and that’s the truth of the Lord’s miracle and mystery of regeneration. To understand this precious and most holy work of the Lord even a little bit is such a blessing beyond mere words. While in so many ways it is a mystery, it is also a miraculous reality without which no one can truly be saved in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me try to tell you about this wonderful work of God’s awesome and sovereign grace.

It begins for each of us when we were chosen in the Lord Jesus Christ before the world’s foundation was even laid. That’s right, we were chosen (elected) in the Lord Jesus Christ clear back then (Eph 1:4). We were even then blessed of God.

Adam and Eve lived out their existence before the living God and before the fall, that is so very much different from ours. They were pure yet neither righteous nor unrighteous. They were given a single command, to not eat of the one tree in the middle of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

They were naïve and vulnerable, to sin, darkness, and the power of Satan to tempt and deceive them. They didn’t have to walk in faith regarding God, for God simply was and they simply were, because of Him. They walked with Him, talked with Him and fellowshipped with Him daily, in the cool of the evenings. There was no unbelief that had to be overcome, yet. There was no sin nature that had to be conquered, yet. There was nothing in them yet that was fallen and therefore dead. They only had the command of the Lord God Almighty to not eat of this one tree. This command was an opportunity for both faith, faith in God and His Word, and righteousness, the result of adherence or obedience to God’s direct command.

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Categories: Absolute Dependency, Adoption, Calling, Election, God's Faithfulness, God's Love, Grace, His Chosen, Hope, illumination, Imputation, Lies, Mercy, Obedience, Reformed Theology, Regeneration, Resurrection Life, Righteousness, Salvation, Sanctification, Saving Faith, The Power of God, Transformation, Work of God | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Compelling Work of God’s Grace

Posted on February 14, 2012 by mcalmond

1 Cor 9:16-18 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. ESV (cf Acts 20:22; 2Cor 5:14)

Paul did not choose his life course, it was chosen for him. The Lord chose this course of life and ministry for him and as a result, Paul was compelled by the Lord to preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He does not do this out of his own will, but rather he is constrained to do this, faithfully as the Lord’s servant, as a steward of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

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Categories: Abiding, Authenticity, Benefits, Calling, Confidence, Dying to Self Will, Encouragement, God's Faithfulness, Grace, His Chosen, In Spirit and In Truth, Ministry Motivation, Prayer, Repentance, Selflessness, Simplicity | Tags: , | 2 Comments

Who’s Reflection Are We?

Posted on November 29, 2011 by mcalmond

Ecc 7:14 ESV In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

Life is full of both good and bad. Life will always, this side of eternity, be filled with good days and bad days, of good seasons and bad seasons. Good or bad, up or down, the Lord God Almighty remains in their midst. He is in the bad times as well as in the good times. It is here that we must realize that just because there are bad times, this in no way means the Lord has left us to fend for ourselves, or that we are somehow less in his eyes or even that he is always the source of these bad times.

These seasons of good and bad are to keep us in a place of dependency upon the Lord God.  We’re to always look to the Lord, even in the good times and not just in the bad times. He is to be our very breath, our very focus, our very heart and soul. He is one who loves us and remains faithful, in richer or poorer, in good times and bad, in sickness and health. The problem isn’t the faithfulness of God, for as his word tells us, he is faithful even when we are not, for he cannot deny himself, he cannot deny who he is, he cannot deny his righteous and holy character.

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Categories: Authenticity, Being Built Up, Believer, Calling, Christian Maturity, Exhortation, Following Through, Genuineness, Growing in Faith, His Chosen, Mentoring/Discipleship, Ministry Motivation, Profession, Questions, Word | 2 Comments

The Great Falling Away

Posted on October 29, 2011 by mcalmond

The Lord Jesus Christ one day while he was teaching asked a vitally important question. This question is almost too easily overlooked because of the way that it came forth. His question arose at the end of his teaching. He was telling a parable of the importance of persevering in faith, in earnest prayer, of how we need to be those who learn the power of and value of our praying through until we have what we are seeking the Lord.  For in Spirit and Truth, He is willing, just and ready to answer our prayers. As the Lord was finished sharing his brief parable, suddenly, almost as a passing thought Jesus says, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8 ESV)

Will we as believers persevere in faithful prayer, in genuine faith, while waiting for the Lord’s return? Or will we give up and walk away, throwing in the towel, turning around and no longer walking in the faith, hope and love of the Lord Jesus Christ?

We live in crucial times with rapidly accelerating darkness and sin all around us. We live in a time that all too quickly approaches, what the Word of God refers to as the time of The Rebellion, The Apostasy, The Great Falling Away.

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Categories: Anointing, Apostasy, Awakening, Being Built Up, Belief System, Believer, Body of Christ, Boundaries, Breaking Forth, Calling, Darkness, Dependency, Disobedience, Dying to Self Will, Edification, Empowerment, Encouragement, Exhortation, Faith, Fear of God, Flesh, Following Through, Genuineness, God Faith, God's Faithfulness, Grace, Growing in Faith, His Chosen, Holy Spirit, Hope, Knowledge, Last Days, Mercy, Ministry, Noise and Distractions, Now Word, Obedience, Open Ears, Open Eyes, Openness, Paradigm Shift, Persecution, Perseverance, Prayer, Presumptions, Priorities, Process, Profession, Promises, Readiness, Relationship, Rest, Righteousness, Rock, Salvation, Saving Faith, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Source, Spirit, Spirit of Truth, Spiritual Warfare, Standing in Faith, Steadfastness, Teacher, Teaching, Tenaciousness, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving, The Lord Jesus, Victory, Vulnerability, Waiting on the Lord, Witness, Word, Word of God, Work, Worship | Leave a comment

Let Us Arise, Yet Again!

Posted on October 8, 2011 by mcalmond

There is so very much more than we are experiencing in and of Christ Jesus. There is so very much more of the Kingdom of God than we know or understand. There is so very much more of life in the Spirit than we are living out on a daily basis. There simply is so very much more yet to do and that needs to be done; I for one, long to know, do and experience the more. I also am haunted by what I have known, have accomplished or think I know. I also understand how tempting, as I get older, it is to remain in what I have come to know and experience.

What I mean is, that what I have known, done or think I know of Christ Jesus and the Kingdom of God, seems at times to get in the way of the more. It gets in the way by having captured my attention, my heart and the battles that were for or needed to contend for it has passed. Yesterdays victories become all too easily today’s excuses. As I look forward to the more, this means more battles, contending, more stretching, more dying, more of that which we already and all too often resist in our growing in the Lord Jesus Christ. This looking forward seems to be less and less attractive when I honestly consider the cost of the past. While I know that nothing of what life and ministry has cost us compares to that sacrifice of Christ Jesus, it still, for us remains a very tangible, real and essential counting of the cost. We have given our all so many times, yet the call remains, to surrender our all yet once again.

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Anointing, Awakening, Belief System, Believer, Body of Christ, Breaking Forth, Calling, Character, Christian Maturity, Church, Commands, Confidence, Covering, Dependency, Dying to Self Will, Edification, Empowerment, Encouragement, Exhortation, Faith, Family, Father, Fear of God, Flesh, Following Through, Foundations, Genuineness, God's Faithfulness, God's Love, Grace, Healing, His Chosen, His Gift of Love, Holiness, Holy Ghost Burdens, Hope, Humility, In Spirit and In Truth, Inspiration, Light, Ministry, Mother, Noise and Distractions, Now Word, Obedience, Persecution, Perseverance, Pioneering, Prayer, Priorities, Process, Promises, Readiness, Relationship, Rest, Resurrection Life, Righteousness, Sacrifice, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Self Justification, Selfishness, Selflessness, Separatism, Simplicity, Spiritual Fathers/Mothers, Spiritual Warfare, Standing in Faith, Steadfastness, Tenaciousness, Thanksgiving, The Lord Jesus, The Lord's Fullness, The Power of God, Timing, Truth, Victory, Wind of the Spirit, Witness, Word, Word of God | Leave a comment

The Vitalness of His Manifest Presence

Posted on October 1, 2011 by mcalmond

Exodus 33:14-16 (ESV) And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

Here in Exodus we see that the presence of the Lord was so vital to Moses that he said to the Lord that if the Lord was not going to come with them, then don’t send Israel up to the Promise Land. The Lord offered earlier to send up an Angel who would assure them of the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise in providing them the Promise Land. For Moses this was not enough. He wanted the Lord’s presence, not simply the presence of an Angel no matter how great the Angel was.

I find this so very significant for us today as well. The evidence of Gods manifest presence with and amongst His people is both that which confirms the favor of God concerning His people and that which makes them distinct from the rest of the World. This distinction is vital for us as the people of God. We’re to be in, yet not of the world. The question remains however, how far shall we go without His manifest, evident, or tangible presence?

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, A Simple Reminder, Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Angels, Anointing, Authenticity, Belief System, Benefits, Body of Christ, Boundaries, Breaking Forth, Calling, Church, Church Forms, Churches, Communion, Confidence, Core Values, Covering, Dependency, Edification, Empowerment, Encouragement, Exhortation, Family, Father, Genuineness, God's Faithfulness, God's Love, Grace, Healing, His Chosen, Holiness, Holy Spirit, Hope, Humility, In Spirit and In Truth, Intimacy, Mercy, Ministry, Prayer, Presumptions, Relationship, Rest, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Signs & Wonders, Simplicity, Spirit, Spiritual Hunger and Thirst, Stirrings, Surrender, Teaching, Thanksgiving, The Lord Jesus, The Power of God, Transcendence, Truth, Waiting on the Lord, Witness, Word of God, Work of God, Worship | 2 Comments

Bring It On World!

Posted on September 18, 2011 by mcalmond

It wasn’t all that long ago when I was reading an article on the World Magazine web site titled “R is for Religion[1]”, written by Gene Edward Veith. He was making us aware of the very real possibility of a day sometime soon when we will find ourselves as Christians rated in the same way that sex, nudity and violence is rated, with a warning, “you are entering a strongly religious zone in which the messages are from one religion and therefore might indeed be offensive to those of other faiths or even those with no faith at all.”

Within this article the question is asked, “Why are references to Christ so offensive?” and then he goes on to explain, “In today’s climate, religion is relative. According to the conventional wisdom, no one religion is true for everyone, and all religions are equally valid. Mention of a generic “God” is acceptable, as long as He is not defined. So is invocation of other concepts common to various religions, such as prayer, spirituality, mystical experiences, and salvation by good works.

But Jesus Christ is too specific. God in the flesh is too tangible. And He says, “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). That Jesus—despite His goodness and love—offends people is simply more evidence that the Bible is true. He is “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” (1 Peter 2:8). That He died on the cross for our sins is especially offensive (Galatians 5:11).

So no one should be surprised when secularists react to Jesus with shock and outrage. But “blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Matthew 11:6).”

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, A Simple Reminder, Absolute Dependency, Authenticity, Awakening, Baptist Theology, Believer, Body of Christ, Boundaries, Breaking Forth, Calling, Character, Christian Maturity, Church, Commands, Confidence, Covering, Encouragement, Following Through, Genuineness, God Faith, God's Faithfulness, God's Love, Grace, Growing in Faith, His Chosen, His Gift of Love, History, Holiness, Holy Spirit, Hope, Humility, In Spirit and In Truth, No Other Name, Noise and Distractions, Obedience, Persecution, Perseverance, Political Correctness, Process, Profession, Promises, Prophetic, Protection, Readiness, Relationship, religious idolatry, Resurrection Life, Sacrifice, Salvation, Saving Faith, Separatism, Spirit of Truth, Standing in Faith, Steadfastness, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving, The Lord Jesus, The Power of God, Transformation, Truth, Victory, Waiting on the Lord, Word of God, Work of God | Leave a comment

Is It All About Knowledge, Really?

Posted on August 27, 2011 by mcalmond

It is how you live in Christ Jesus that is all important, not just what you know. Having said this, there has been many times in and throughout history when this issue of knowledge for knowledge sake, came to a head. It was this issue of Knowledge first, over the simplicity of Knowing Jesus first that seemed to be what the battle was about.

For example, there was a time in the later middle ages when the theologians of that day had gone so far as to create a theology that no one but they themselves could understand or relate to. Their theology had become increasingly complex and stood in direct contrast to the simplicity of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As this gap widened, so did the reactions of the people. Their reactions were focused upon a theology that was fraught with an over emphasis of subtleties, developing its own exclusive and elitist language with an insistence upon precise definitions and fine distinctions, theologically.

In the book, “Imitation of Christ”, we discover what was the commonly held belief’s of the day, beliefs that were reactions against the theologians and their theology of the day. Here is a taste of it (1.1.3):

“What good is it for you to be able to discuss the Trinity with great profundity, if you lack humility, and thereby offend the Trinity?”

“Verily, high sounding words do not make one holy and just. But a life of virtue does make one acceptable to God.”

“It is better to feel repentance, than to be able to define it.”

“Were you to memorize the entire Bible and all the sayings of the philosophers, what good would this be for you without the love of God and without grace?”

“Vanities of vanities. All is vanity, except loving God and serving only God.”

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Categories: A Simple Faith, A Simple Reminder, Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Anointing, Authenticity, Character, Church History, Communion, Confidence, Core Values, Dependency, Edification, Elitism, Empowerment, Faith, Foundations, Genuineness, Grace, Growing in Faith, His Chosen, History, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit Benefits, Humility, Intellectualism, Intimacy, Knowledge, Ministry, Ministry Motivation, Obedience, Priorities, Questions, Readiness, Reflections, Relationship, Rest, Resurrection, Resurrection Life, Revelation, Righteousness, Rock, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Separatism, Simplicity, Source, Standing in Faith, Steadfastness, Surrender, Teacher, Teaching, Tenaciousness, The Lord Jesus, The Lord's Fullness, The Power of God, Theology, Training, Transcendence, Transformation, Truth, Victory, Word, Word of God, Work of God | 2 Comments

The Truth and Nothing But The Truth!

Posted on August 14, 2011 by mcalmond

Why is it that when we speak to unbelievers that we do not tell the whole truth concerning Salvation?

26  “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? … 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26-33 (ESV)

Why is it that if we do tell others the whole truth, it isn’t until we think that we have gotten them in to the Kingdom of God that we then explain to them that yes, that there is more, there is a whole lot more to this living in the Lord Jesus Christ than we first explained to you?

So, again, why is it that we do not tell the whole truth concerning Salvation, upfront, allowing them to genuinely count the cost?

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Categories: A Simple Faith, Alone, Authenticity, Body of Christ, Church, Commands, Dependency, Dying to Self Will, Empowerment, Exhortation, Faith, Foundations, God Faith, His Chosen, Hope, In Spirit and In Truth, Mercy, Ministry, Obedience, Open Ears, Open Eyes, Preaching, Priorities, Salvation, Saving Faith, Self Justification, Surrender, Teaching, The Power of God, Theology, Truth, Witness, Work of God | 3 Comments

We Were Created For More

Posted on July 2, 2011 by mcalmond

Yes, we were created for more, so very much more, in and through the Lord Jesus Christ! Regardless of our original creation, we, as His new Creations, His newly regenerated and transformed children of the Most High God, most certainly were and are created for more, so very much more!

I cannot help but cry out concerning this. I so see this truth, this vital reality. The Lord Jesus Christ has opened my eyes to catch such a glimpse of the more that we were created in the Lord Jesus Christ for. The result of this, is that I am forever ruined for anything less. Yes, I only saw in part. Yes, I only see in part, yet what a part that I have seen and heard in the Lord Jesus Christ. To taste of the heavenly gifts, to taste of the eternal life of the Kingdom of God, to taste of the things to come, yet not in fullness, is to have one’s very life forever changed and transformed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Authenticity, Awakening, Being Built Up, Believer, Benefits, Body of Christ, Breaking Forth, Calling, Character, Confidence, Core Values, Dependency, Edification, Empowerment, Encouragement, Faith, Father, Foundations, Genuineness, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Grace, Growing in Faith, His Chosen, Holy Spirit, Hope, Humility, illumination, In Spirit and In Truth, Inspiration, Ministry, No Other Name, Now Word, Obedience, Openness, Prophetic, Resurrection Life, Revelation, Simplicity, Surrender, The Lord Jesus, The Power of God, Transcendence, Transformation, Victory, Witness, Word, Word of God, Work of God | Leave a comment

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