From the desk of KEN AND CINDY LAMBERT
February 2016
Hello Everyone!
We want to praise God for Ken’s continued healing! He just had his 7th week checkup since the accident and everything is looking good. He is starting to drive short distances and is going back into the local jail every week again. The good news is that they missed him! He did have to miss the trip to Angola Prison in December and Dixon Correctional in January. However he will be up and running when the next visit comes in April! He has some things with Richard Coss coming up in February and March, so please keep praying for him!
We started another Precept Bible study, Ezekiel, at the beginning of the year. As you may know, since it is a prophetic book, it is full of warnings and judgments, not only for Israel’s future, but for us! Their idolatrous disobedience is what God warned them about over and over again. Idols can be man-made gods, but they can also include things such as lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life…sex, money, immoral relationships, selfishness, and greed. Their sins were no worse from what ours have become. Anything that takes us away from our intimate relationship with our Lord is an idol. As far as idolatry and disobedience go, I think we are nearing absolute tragedy, if not God’s divine judgment, in this country. And that brings me to the point I want to talk about with you this month…OBEDIENCE.
So many people, even in the church, seem to confuse the grace of God with His willingness to overlook sin, because, you know, this is the New Covenant of grace, they say. Well I pray that every eye that reads this letter knows better than that! That goes against everything that God is! He is holy and His love has boundaries, with consequences…just as a parent should. Remember, God is just. He can not lie. He is immutable. That means that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. So, every word that is in His word, is still true for today. After all, what did Jesus die for? He died so that our sin might die with Him. Otherwise, it nullifies the purpose of the work on the cross. We are to be crucified with Christ. Ezekiel 11:19-20 prophesies, “I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them. They will be my people and I will be their God”. Jeremiah 31:31-33, a contemporary of Daniel and Ezekiel, prophesies, “…I will make a new covenant with them…I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it”. Yes, that is the New Covenant… When we, by faith, accept Christ Jesus as Lord, [which means master], (Romans 10:9), and are indwelled by the Holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13-14), we become new creatures, (2 Corinthians 5:17). THAT is the free gift of God’s grace! He changes us. We DO NOT stay the same because? He has empowered us with His Spirit of truth! His moral law will now be in us and we will live for Him. It does not merely mean we are forgiven for past sins, but we are new creatures in Christ, transformed, redeemed and saved! Now that’s a hallelujah, isn’t it?
So let’s make sure that we are sharing the whole word, and helping others, by loving them enough to tell them the truth. Do we really want to watch others go down the road to destruction, by them ignorantly believing a lie? Will the blood be on our hands, as Ezekiel 3:18 states? Yes, we do it in love, in gentleness and with patience…but we do it. We must watch our holier-than- thou attitudes so that it doesn’t look like hate. We must remember from where we have come, and from what God has saved us from, but, we must not be ashamed of the gospel. We must shine the Light into the darkness with His free gift of love and truth. God says, “…He wants none to perish, but all to come to repentance”. 2 Peter 3:9
Now, THAT is His grace…That is His mercy…and That is His love…And remember, we don’t save people. Our sole responsibility is to “Go tell” them the truth about Jesus……….
He lived…He died…He rose again…and by His blood we are redeemed and saved! And walking in righteousness is only a result of our faith, not what saves us. But, if we are saved, we will be striving to walk in righteousness, for HE abides in us…
Just a thought…We love you…Now let’s go and love others!
In His grip,
Ken and Cindy
