PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, JOHN COLLINS MINISTRIES: SEEDS, BITTERNESS AND GOD'S PROMISES

From John Collins Ministries:

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” Hebrews 12:14-15 (NKJV).

Bitterness is something that we must be on guard against and we must have complete honesty with ourselves if we are to monitor our hearts so that we can repent if we find ourselves gone astray. Bitterness will creep up on you and it is easy to allow to happen. We like to think of ourselves as deserving the best and we become very offended when others hurt us, reject us and when we perceive that we have not received our ‘due’.

We must be careful to find the balance of self-worth and humility. Sometimes people just don’t think things through with faith. Do you deserve health, happiness, wealth, love, respect, honor, recognition or to walk through this life without hurt? Does the Bible promise that? What about Lazarus? What about our dear Lord Jesus Christ who not only died on the Cross for us but was rejected, told he had a demon, was cursed and taunted, beaten and tormented and forced to carry his own instrument of death?

God does not want us to hurt but there must be a desire for God inside of us and we must come to recognize His lessons and His love. There will be seeds planted in our hearts; seeds of love, anger, hate, joy, bitterness, forgiveness and the list just goes on and is replenished regularly. We must make the choice about which seeds we choose to water and which seeds we choose to pluck out.

We are the children of God and we have Jesus. This world is evil and has no hold upon us. Our home is in heaven and if this is what we know then we should act like it. Remember that we are not promised a blissful life on earth but we are promised that blissful life in heaven, but you have to get there first.

“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper;I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” Hebrews 13:5-6 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: THE PITY POT

Pastor John Collins: Self-Pity

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:4-6 (NKJV).

Pastor John Collins: Grief that comes with life teaches us
that this world is not innocent/

This world is not innocent. So, why do so many take things so personally and get so offended by the grief that comes with life? Why do so many place the blame squarely upon the shoulders of God? What is wrong with sorrow and grief? It teaches you to appreciate the joy and hope. What is wrong with sickness and death? It teaches you that there are seasons to life and health is not a guarantee. What is wrong with loss? It teaches you to appreciate what you have. There is beauty and wonder that we have feelings at all. Life is precious and filled with the ability to emotionally connect with others and death is filled with hope because Jesus has made it possible for you to continue loving those that you love.

People want to feel wounded and offended that they have suffered in this life and they want someone to blame and want to complain about it all, to be the victim. There are victims in this life and there are terrible things that happen but that is part of living among others who have the same opportunity as you have and that is free will. There are bad people in this world and there is evil in this world and that is something that we all have to deal with for now. It doesn’t mean that anyone has the right to blame God or to sit on the pity pot because as long as there is breath in your body, there is hope for salvation and you will not be gaining salvation while there is resentment for God and bitterness toward Him because you find your sufferings too big to accept.

Jesus did not grow old. Jesus did not get gray hair and lose His eyesight. Jesus did not raise a family and rock His child to sleep. Jesus did not take vacations and travel around the world to see different places. Jesus did not have the luxury of a long life. Jesus came to this world and from His earliest age was doing the work of His Father. Jesus concerned Himself with His people, His land and the salvation of this world. Jesus taught others and took the time to heal others and be kind. Jesus is perfect and yet He suffered for you. Jesus was ridiculed and mocked, beaten and hung on a cross to die. For you.

This is not a fairy tale that you have outgrown. This happened. Jesus is not just some man that lived long ago. Jesus is the Son of God and your Savior. Jesus always was thinking of others, the salvation of souls. In the end that is what counts because the soul is eternal and we should all be thinking in that manner, maybe then awareness of the enormity of the gift that Christ has made possible for us all would truly sink in and gratefulness, the kind that produces life, would follow.

“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until the day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.’” Matthew 26:26-29 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: ANTI-BIBLICAL

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: HUMILITY NOT PRIDE OF LIFE

“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:24-25 (NKJV).

God is not a genie who grants wishes.

Name it and claim it! There are many churches out there that have been peddling the law of attraction for some time now. There are many Christians that see no harm in a visualization board, affirmation clippings and scrapbooks of hopes that are created, kept and prayed over. What is wrong with picturing a better life for yourself, creating a visual focal point so that you can put out into the world your hopes and dreams and create for yourself the life that you desire? Many believe that you can state your claims out loud to God and He will answer your heart’s desire. That is your will, not His. As much grace as God is willing to provide, He is not in the business of granting wishes like some genie in the sky.

The challenge of being a true Christian in this life is to deny the passions of your flesh. That is what you fight against. Your flesh wants nice things, joy and happiness above all and most of all it wants validation for your importance and existence. People want success and recognition for their efforts and they want the paycheck that goes along with it. There are many that say to live your life to the fullest, claim your reward, allow God to do more for you than you realize was possible. God is in the business of saving souls, not making your dreams come true. God desires humility and not pride of life. People want to try this and that to make their lives better but do not even see when those things are anti-biblical because people don’t know the word of God.

God saves SOULS!  The gospel needs to be redeemed

This name it and claim it nonsense is of the new age church. There are many churches today that are introducing and blending pagan ideas and activities into their church, whether they realize it or not, which are contrary to true faith and genuine worship of the Father and the Son. Be careful of the influences that you allow into your life, your church and especially your home. Many Christians don’t know about the occult and those practices which makes it hard to rebuke when it enters your life and there are many of these that seem harmless enough but in reality all they do is undermine your beliefs. God has been fighting the evil practices since the beginning and many cannot see that it is nothing new but it is just updated and repackaged for this generation. Paganism and idolatry is an abomination to the Lord and you must be cautious and aware in what you allow to have influence over you. Hold tight to the doctrine of truth and let humility rule your life.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS