GOSPEL NUGGET #451

Ex 14:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea.
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Researchers who went and explored the actual site specified in this verse discovered that this land area is actually a cul-de-sac. It is a dead-end. God led them to a place where it was humanly impossible to escape.

From the human standpoint, Israel’s position was a hopeless case. They were actually cornered. In front of them was a sea, behind them were the Egyptians coming after them, flanking them on the sides were mountains. And it was all God’s plan.

God intentionally placed them there to make them realize how helpless and hopeless they were in themselves in saving themselves from the Egyptians. At this point, all they could do was look up, stand still and totally rely on His mighty saving arm to deliver them. Their only hope was Him.
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In the salvation of a sinner, God always works toward this end. He seeks to bring us to the end of ourselves and make us realize that we have always been like that ever since----helpless and hopeless in ourselves to save ourselves.

Spiritually speaking, we can’t escape God’s judgment. We are all cornered. We are all shut up in one corner awaiting destruction. Our only hope is the grace and mercy of God in Christ Jesus manifested when He died on the cross for our sins.

Spiritually speaking, have you been at your Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea?

Come to Christ. He's your only hope.

GOSPEL NUGGET #450

Can A Homosexual Be Saved?

First of all, let's define what a homosexual is. A homosexual is someone who is sexually attracted and has sexual desires towards the same sex.

Just as it is wrong and sinful to have sexual desires towards someone else's spouse (it's adultery), so it is wrong to have sexual desires toward members of the same sex. God designed man for the woman and vice-versa.

Just as an adulterer must repent of his or her adultery, so a homosexual must repent of his or her homosexuality.

A man who is resisting his adulterous desires and not practicing it is not an adulterer even though he has a weakness in this area. A person who is resisting his homosexual desires and not practicing it is not a homosexual even though he has a weakness in this area.

When a homosexual comes to Christ for salvation, Christ will give him a new nature that will counter his old sinful nature. He will be transformed into a new man.

If you are struggling with this sin, come to Christ in repentance and faith and He will give you new and holy desires to live the life that God intended you to live.

1Co 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor HOMOSEXUALS, nor SODOMITES,

10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

11 And such WERE (past tense) some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

You see, being a homosexual must be a thing of the past if you want to inherit the kingdom of God. You must be washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God.

GOSPEL NUGGET #449

Exodus 12---The Redemption Chapter

Learn something about redemption in this chapter. Redemption is deliverance by payment of a price.

And that’s exactly what we see here in this chapter. Before Israel could be set free, a price has to be paid. What was the price of Israel's redemption? The life of the Passover Lamb that served as a substitute for Israel’s firstborn sons who would have died without it.

In the same way, we are all in bondage to sin. We are in bondage to its power, its penalty and its very presence. No amount of self-effort on our part could free us from sin’s bondage.

The price must be paid. We could not pay the price ourselves but God has provided it in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ when He died on the cross for our sins.

If we avail ourselves of the provision, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross, we will be redeemed.

GOSPEL NUGGET #448

The God Of Design

Everywhere we look, if we have eyes to see, design leaps out and stares at us in the face. Consider the following:

* The staggering design found in snowflakes
* The snazzy arrangements and patterns in flowers and leaves
* The stupendous systems operating in the human body
* The spectacular symmetry found in the insect world
* The superb biological machinery of a cell
* The stunning razor-sharp precision of the mathematics behind the universe
* The skillful programming in the DNA

If your life has been a mess and screwed up by sin, if it has been nothing but a moral mayhem and a spiritual shamble (it's always like that without God in your life) come to Christ.

He can make you whole again. God is a God of order and design. He can give your life meaning, purpose and design. Come to Him through Christ, repenting and trusting in Him and what He did on the cross for your salvation.

GOSPEL NUGGET #447

When Morality Becomes A Highway To Hell

Morality becomes a way to hell when it becomes a substitute for the Savior and His work on the cross for one's salvation.

Satan will do anything to promote morality so long as it becomes one's reliance for salvation instead of the Savior. He's not against it but all for it.

In fact, that's what he is doing right now. In many churches today, morality is emphasized while the Savior and His work on the cross is de-emphasized, if not ignored and neglected altogether.

The first and foremost need of a sinner is to be saved, not moralized. A moralized sinner will still go to hell for morality never saved anyone for salvation is not found in anyone or anything else except in the Savior.

GOSPEL NUGGET #446

EX 12:21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb.

EX 12:22 “You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.

Notice that the availability of the blood of the Passover Lamb does no one any good if one does not apply it on one’s lintel and doorposts.

He must take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood of the lamb and apply it. Hyssop is a fluffy little plant that was used to apply or sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice.

Hyssop represents faith. We apply and avail ourselves of the benefits of the atonement of Christ by putting our trust in Him and what He did on the cross.

An available and yet untrusted Savior saves no one. He only saves those who put their trust in Him.

He died for your sins and rose again from the dead. Trust Him now for your salvation.     

GOSPEL NUGGET #445

Asking For Forgiveness Does Not Necessarily Mean Repentance

Pharaoh asked for forgiveness but later on revealed his true heart condition.

* Pharaoh asking for forgiveness: "Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, "I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat the LORD your God, that He may take away from me this death only." Exodus 10:17-18

* Pharaoh later on revealing his true heart condition: "Then Pharaoh said to him, "Get away from me! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more! For in the day you see my face you shall die!" Ex 10:28

Repentance is a change of heart attitude towards God, sin, self and Christ. It is taking God seriously, hating sin, realizing one's helplessness in saving oneself and trusting in Christ for salvation.

It is possible for our mouths to ask for forgiveness somewhat like Pharaoh's and yet, all the while, the heart remains unrepentant as ever. It is true that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, but it is also true that the mouth can profess what it does not have in the heart.

People put labels on a can because that's exactly what's inside of it. But it is also possible to put labels on a can without any substance at all on the inside.

Sadly, a lot of people only have the label in their mouths but never have the substance in their hearts. Are you one of them?