"I AM THE TRUE VINE"

By: Rob Peralta

I recently blindly opened my bible, as I frequently do (to let the Lord lead), and came upon (John 15:1-2) it says " I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, He discards. And every branch that beareth fruit, He prunes it, that it may bring forth more fruit"

It is amazing how the Lord says so much truth in so few words. Let me tell you the truth I received from these words. The first words " I am the true vine" is a fascinating analogy of "who" the Lord is. We can believe that the Father's being flowed through the Son, and by the Son all life and form came. In imaging the vine, as it is pulsating, breathing, it is giving life through out it's being. We can see our Lord pervading all life and matter(the true vine), and as such He is a part of the good and bad. Aware of His good parts and sadly aware of His bad parts.

His Father, the gardener (ultimate judge) cannot accept the rotten or useless branches, and as such must eliminate them, lest they spread and destroy even the good branches.(Reminds me why the devil was "pruned" out of heaven). Then the Father carefully cares for the "good branches" and helps us to bear fruit to make the Father and Son proud. Just as a gardener stands proud of his beautiful vine.

After reading this I was inspired to talk about this "fruit". How can we produce more of it? The first thing is to stand strong against "sin". Our Christian walk is a lifelong process of sanctification and our sins are not eliminated immediately. I recently was greatly tempted to engage in a previous lifelong sin, which to me, was a dire one. I was in need of some serious help and I prayed earnestly for strength from the Lord and I also rebuked the devil. IT WORKED! Right after I immediately felt relieved. The more victorious we are to each sin temptation, the STRONGER our armour of God becomes. Another bolt is added to our tank. The devils bombs (temptations) become less tempting and our steadfastness becomes easier.

As we continue in our walk, with more and more victories, our mind and heart naturally turns to producing fruit due to the confidence we have in overcoming "sin". God's spirit is pleased and helps us to produce two different types of fruit. One is the fruit produced by showing God we love HIM, and the other fruit is produced by showing our BROTHERS AND SISTERS we love them. By showing God we love Him, the fruit we produce is by keeping His Commandments AND teaching people to obey His Commandments. Also a VERY important fruit to produce is to FEAR Him(hold Him in reverence). Just as the wise man Solomon said ( Ecc. 12:13) " For this is the sum of all that matters, FEAR God and keep His Commandments, for this is the WHOLE DUTY of man".

In producing fruit concerning our brothers and sisters, we become to them, better givers, listeners, and helpers. The down and out, the poor, the sick, strike a cord in us and we reach out to be there for them. A most beautiful fruit is produced and the great "Gardener" stands back and admires this.

In summary, let us make our best effort daily, beginning each day with a thankful prayer. For when we STAY in the vine and produce fruit, we make our Lord and our God, most proud. Amen.

Let us have the kindness and courtesy of Christ, even on the internet

By: Rob Peralta

Our Lord showed much kindness and courtesy while He walked this earth, to be an example for us. Just look at His extreme courtesy and thoughtfulness when, after rising from death, He thoughtfully FOLDED His own burial cloth. His awareness of others was indeed inspiring.

With the advent of the internet, we have many who proclaim His word and truth, which is a great thing. It's helping to fulfill the 3 Angel's message. Amen! But are we also showing thoughtfulness and courtesy in our "proclaiming"? I have noticed some are not.

Paul states in (Gal 6:10) "As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good to all, ESPECIALLY to those who are in the faith". We should strive to be as supportive as possible to our brethren and sisters in the faith. But I've noticed many times that people ignore comments or questions in regards to their post. We should NEVER ignore the questions or compliments to our proclaiming message. How do you think Jesus was to those who inquired of Him? Can we imagine our Lord turning away from a question or kind word? Absolutely not. For we are called to "serve" not "ignore".

The people, even the less knowledgable or ignorant have their "two cents" to add to our message or blog. Does it make them feel a part of our message to ignore them? They may get discouraged and feel they cannot contribute so we in effect lessen their faith. Jesus said in ( Matt 25:40) "...verily I say to you, in as much as ye have done to the least of the brethren, ye have done to me". We, as representatives of Christ, must show "Christ" like behavior and kindness.

I bring this message concerning the proper internet kindness, because our Lord is using this medium in a BIG way, as the 3 Angel's message is being proclaimed. We have taken on this responsiblity and as such, our behavior must be one of "caring" rather than "ignorance"

Let us go forth and proclaim His message, and reach out to our brothers and sisters who support us and want to be a part in what we're doing, Yours in Christ.

Ps. Thank you all, for taking the time to read Todd and my posts! It is truly our pleasure to be serving God and proclaiming His truth!

Results of doing his great Commission

By: Rob Peralta

A few weeks ago I posted on our sister site http://www.godsloveandlaw.wordpress.com/ a post called "Are we DOING His great commission or the great omission?". It warms my heart to bring this story about what can happen when we go out and "do" His great commission (spread the TRUE gospel)

His name is Wilfred Ondande, a pastor from a small town called Kiisi, Kenya. Wilfred is not a man of great worldly wealth, but one thing he does have is the Holy Spirit of God in him. That is wealth beyond measure. He daily survives on meager means but continues to work for God. Not letting up on God's truth.

It is truly great to see how God works His plans and the awesome way He get's results. All the credit goes to God. I am just a regular worker, who He uses to help people see God's truth. From this Job, I do not shrink back. Perhaps it's better to put Wilfred's own words, which I just received recently, in this post.

"Dear brother Rob, to me it seems a big miracle, since it is my first mission in having direct studies with Sunday ministers, on the Sabbath question. Before I wrote you, I had really been pushed to the wall by the brethrens, and even more worse, it was at a time I was considering to begin a ministry but was really in a terrible situation. Although I was somehow working for God, I had bad feelings of despair, since I did not have the funds to start the ministry. Let alone conviction that I am worthy of the task. I was advised by a friend to seek friends through the internet. I really needed books to give to the brethrens, especially those with talks about the Seventh day sabbath. I contacted a brethren in Facebook, but he grew suspicious
, that I might be a scammer and stopped communicating with me. I then abandoned the idea of the ministry and continued our meeting with the brethren. A friend gave me the book called 'The conflict between heavens two sons. They indeed helped me alot. Finally, I contacted you, and it is then that the motivation and surety to continue with the ministry materialized. The website articles have been keeping me going that all lessons we have discussed with them (Sunday pastors), were sourced from your website. The books you sent have really moved them like nothing else on the 10 Commandments. Remember they are pastors, of revival churches. The biggest trouble is that they are keen to ensure their members are not disturbed by their new found faith, and that is that they want us to find a way to reach them before any fall out, if any. They have confessed that they had never known that the question of the Seventh day Sabbath rest was such a serious matter before God. And that they were not aware that the Sunday rest has no Biblical basis, and that they were all along in a church with no history. THEY HAVE SETTLED FOR THE SABBATH REST"

Wow! Praise God! what I love about the pure in heart is that they receive His truth quickly! For just as our Lord said (Matt 18:3) "Truly, I say to you, except unless you become converted, as little children, you shall not inherit the kingdom of God". The puffed up and believers in "man's traditions" will never see the light such as these humble people do, unless they too, become as little children, opening up to God's word and truth. Amen!

How to deal with Sunday keepers

By: Rob Peralta

This situation requires God's wisdom and grace. Perhaps this is one of the most touchy situations that we (believers in ALL the commandments) have to deal with.

On the one hand we are close to our family and friends, yet on the other we know they are not doing His Commandment. We must remember they are "Commandments" meaning we MUST do them. They are not the 10 suggestions. Clearly God's word says that the people living in the last days (which we are) are going to be saved by testifying of our Lord and KEEPING the Commandments(Rev.14:12). So what are we to do?

First, we must realize that great love is when we try to save someone from destruction. These people are heading for destruction (once they know it's a Commandment) because God makes NO exceptions. Jesus said (Matt 7:22, 23) "Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? And cast out demons in Your name? And did many wonderful works in Your name? And then I will say unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, you that PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS." His Law cannot be changed. (Psalms 89:34) "My covenant I will not break, nor alter that which comes from my lips." The great 10 commandments came from His lips and the heart of those Commandments is the Sabbath.

I am NOT saying that ALL Sunday keepers who have ever lived will perish because if they were never shown that the Sabbath is a Commandment and they walked in the light that they "knew" then God's grace may have sufficed. But once they KNOW that the Sabbath is a Commandment of God, then accountability comes unto them. It is our responsibility to help them see that God truly cares for them and wants their obedience to His word. We MUST do this in a humble and caring way. (Hebrews 10:26) is VERY clear about this accountability. "If we sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there remains NO MORE SACRIFICE for our sins" Here it is clearly showing that when we know His truth (i.e. the Commandments) we must obey them.

How important is His word and the thing that came out of His mouth? Read (Psalms 138:2) "...for You have exalted Your word above Your name." So we can see the importance of obeying His word.

Once we have warned them, then we have done our part to try to save them from destruction. We care so much for them that we don't neglect this truly important duty. Yet Jesus made it clear when He said in (Matt 10:37) "he that loves his Father or Mother more than me , is not worthy of me". So to neglect our duty for the sake of our relationship with our family or friends is to put them before our duty.

After we have tried and we meet a hardened heart that will not listen it is important to realize that it is time for us to rely on prayer. The Holy Spirit must take over. If we push too much it will only harden their hearts even more against obeying His Commandment. I have heard of many stories where the family member or friend FINALLY accepted His Commandment after years of prayer from the Sabbath keeper.

Let us always continue to show the way to our family and friends, if our direct words won't persuade them, then our loving actions may. Yours in Christ.

A Glimpse of Righteousness by Faith

PART 1

1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”

For those who love God, His commandments are not to be grievous. Yet why is this so often not the case with us? Instead, usually we are trying our utmost to keep His commandments and are constantly struggling with feelings of weakness and guilt; constantly meeting with defeat after defeat. Other times, we find ourselves on the verge of giving up, feeling that it’s impossible to keep the commandments of God.

“Why,” we wonder, “is this Scripture not true in my life? Why do I find His commandments so grievous?”

Once we are honest enough with ourselves to admit that His commandments are grievous to us, we can then begin to apply ourselves to finding out why. And not only the cause, but also the remedy! And where do you suppose we can find all this? Yes, in the Bible.

Where better to start our search for an answer to a troubling passage of Scripture than in close proximity to that very passage? And so we find that in the very next verse, the issue begins to reveal itself.

1 John 5:4, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

God’s Word says that those born of Himself do overcome the world. And as Christ Himself said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

Yet instead of us overcoming the world, we find the world overcoming us, and are “drawn away after our own lusts.” But, this verse contains a key to unlock the mystery of overcoming, for it tells us what the victory that overcomes the world is…and if we know what it is then we can begin to seek it. And what is this victory of overcoming the world? “Even our faith.”

Faith! Our faith “is the victory that overcometh the world!” And thus is revealed overcoming the world by faith. And what is overcoming the world, except keeping the commandments of God? And what is keeping the commandments of God, except righteousness? And so we have come face to face with Righteousness by Faith.

Here we find the heart of the Gospel; that message which lay dormant in the hearts and minds of Christians for centuries…that message which was proclaimed with such power and clarity in 1888 by A.T. Jones and E.J. Waggoner, who removed all manner of theological sophistry and grasped the pure and true message of Righteousness by Faith, revealing it to us as the matchless charms of Christ.

And so what is it that our faith must be placed in? Christ, and Him alone. For in the very next verse we find yet another key, which unlocks the mystery of our faith, for it describes that which our faith
must be applied to.

1 John 5:5, “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

And so we find that our faith is the victory that overcometh the world, and that it is in Him who overcame the world: Jesus, the Son of God!

John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

And here is the promise, that in Christ we might no longer find the commandments grievous but, instead, finally have peace.

“But,” we say, “I already have faith in Jesus, believing that He is the Son of God. So why do I not also have the victory that overcomes the world?”

Indeed. So we must keep digging.

PART 2

FAITH...and what is it? Consider this...do we really need to have the definition perfectly pinned down if we know how to get it? If we know how to get as much faith as we'll ever need, does it really matter if we know exactly what it is?

Romans 10:17. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God!"

There it is, friends!! The word of God! That is what will give us the faith we need to overcome the world!

When God brought the people of Israel out of captivity in Egypt and led them through the wilderness until they crossed the river Jordan into the promise land, just as He brings us out of captivity in sin and leads us through the wilderness of this life until we cross the river of death into the promise land of heaven, what did He feed them with? What did He sustain them with in the wilderness? Manna! Manna is what gave them the strength to get through the wilderness into the promise land. As long as they got that manna they had the strength to overcome...and as long as we keep getting faith we will have the strength to overcome!

The Hebrew word manna literally means "What is it?" They had no idea what it was! But they knew where to get it. As long as we know where to get faith, does it matter if we know exactly what it is?

One thing I have noticed when talking to other Christians is that there seems to always be a common denominator when they are struggling with not overcoming the world: lack of consistent searching of the Scriptures.

You would be shocked if you could see the actual number of people who read their Bibles faithfully every single day. If we would all concentrate on just 3 things, our entire lives would be changed, and our entire church would be changed, and the entire world would be changed, and Jesus Christ would be on His way back!

The three things are so simple: Bible study. Prayer. Sharing.

Can you imagine what would happen if every member of our church committed themselves to reading God’s word every day, praying all day, and sharing the Gospel at every opportunity?

This study is not entirely fleshed out and complete...but I have had this written down for a few weeks and wanted to get it out there. I hope that it will be helpful to someone out there. :-) God bless.

Let Us Pray

By: Rob Peralta

It has been said "The less we sin, the more we win". That is a simple yet profound truth. And one of the "big" wins is in our prayer life. We have closer communication with our Lord which brings us to a higher level in our Christian walk. Many today are wondering "Why do I feel when I pray, that the Lord just isn't listening and I'm talking to myself?" In (Isaiah 59:2) we read " your sins have seperated you from God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear." So many times we are walking in many errors before the Lord and therefore, our prayers are given up to Him in our compromising position. Hence the the prior quote comes into truth before the Lord.

From my own experience, I can really feel a bond or closeness in prayer to him, when I am living a more upright life. On the contrary , when I have messed up and did wrong according to my conscience, I have felt very little connection in prayer. But the great thing in our walk is to be able to actually feel and KNOW our Lord is listening from on high! I mean your soul actually grows and glows when we know he is listening to us. The bible says the "prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16).

Many of you have seen the front picture of "The story of redemption" by Ellen White. It shows Jesus in prayer talking to God the Father. To me that picture, like they say, tells a thousand words. One of the primary things I've noticed is that Jesus is kneeling BUT His face is to the heavens. This to me should be our practice in prayer. When you pray, you don't have to tuck your chin into your chest and mumble almost silently. Rise up your face! Speak to him directly as if He is standing right in front of you. How many would like for their friends or family to walk up and start a conversation, chin tucked down, mumbling softly? Jesus should be our example in all things, even prayer. This is not to say that the other method of kneeling and prayer is bad, but to suggest something more uplifting for you.

As we all know, communication is best when it is shared and not just a "one-way" street. In prayer it is JUST AS IMPORTANT to LISTEN as to speak. How many actually kneel and listen instead of talking and talking? If we are walking upright with our Lord, his small still voice can be heard through the Holy Spirit. You're at his command, silent and ready for His ideas and thoughts to come into you. THEN you can talk back to Him based on what He has "occured" to you. I like to call Him the "Great God of occurrence" because often, thoughts that just happens to "occur" may indeed be sent from Him(Like my being told a dream was coming). Again I cannot stress the supreme importance of walking righteously before Him, not "perfectly"(although we should always strive for this) but righteously according to His Commandments. In (Proverbs 28:9) we read "If ANYONE ( and that means Jews, Gentiles or even "Born again Christians") turns his ear from hearing of the Law, even his prayers are an abomination". Wow, pretty powerful words from our Lord!

Finally, I would like to add some personal thoughts. In prayer Jesus referred to His Father as "Abba". Which was considered a very affectionate term for Father. In prayer I call our Lord "Pops" and I really feel close to Him when I call Him this. But keep in mind if you do call Him an affectionate name, DON'T use that same name for ANYONE else! Also it is better to use "less" words in prayer than "many" words. Jesus said "let your no be no, and your yes be yes"(Matt 5:37). I amazed sometimes when I hear a pastor on TV or somewhere, go on and on in prayer, rarely even remembering their prayer a couple days later.

May you discover one of the greatest experiences we have, and that is in PRAYER! May your prayers be clearer and heard by our most gracious and loving Lord.

Get ready. The dreams they are a comin!

By: Rob Peralta

For a little over a year I have been praying this frequent prayer "Dear Lord, please help me walk in your righteousness and according to your Laws. Please admonish me if I walk in error, make it CLEAR to me, that I might know my wrongdoing." And the Lord did not disappoint!

Ever since I was a young teenager I have been a avid boxing fan. I mean I almost worshipped the sport. I watched every big fight through the years. I knew all the boxers and even bought the boxing magazines (before there was the Internet, lol). I would not hesitate to cancel any and every important thing that stood in the way, in order to watch a good fight. Then I came back to the Lord. But guess what? I still did not want to give up my beloved boxing. That all changed just a few days ago.

Remember my prayer above? Well I was in my kitchen the other night and I heard the Lord say to me "Tonight I am going to give you a dream" I said "Ok, Lord I am ready, you know how I really look forward to hearing your messages in the dreams." Since I have been "born again" I have had several dreams which were messages from the Lord, affecting my life. Little did I know this one would "knock me out" lol.

I knew that this particular dream would be something profound. Because I had never before been "told" beforehand a dream was coming. So I went to sleep that night. And I did get a dream. Normally I am one of those who won't really remember a dream, or not have any at all. Here's what happened.

I was in a room and I see Oscar De La Hoya (world famous former champion boxer) sitting at a desk with some other people (like body guards). I approach him and reach out to shake His hand. We shake firmly. I sit down and began to tell him "Hey Oscar, you know it's not right, you really should return the rental deposit back to your tenant"(Don't ask me why I asked this,lol)
Then all of a sudden Oscar eyes flashed at me, and I mean really flashed, with immense hatred towards me. Like he wanted to kill me. he said "Ok, I'll do it" but He continued to stare at me angrily. Then I get up to leave. Next I am at the rental house thinking he's coming over to get me. But strangely I feel not alone but protected. Then I awake.

When I awoke I remembered clearly this dream, yet I wondered "what was that about??" Then the Lord reminded me about His promise of a special dream. And here is the best part HE EXPLAINED IT TO ME! Praise God! The shaking of the hands was me "embracing boxing" The hatred of Oscar towards me was "boxing wanting to kill me or do me harm." the Lord was telling me this is a wicked sport and it will do you harm if you continue to sin in watching this brutal sport. Amen Lord! Thank you for answering my prayer in guiding me to stay on the righteous path.

So please be aware that the Lord will speak to you in many different ways. And one of the best and clearest is in dreams! Keep praying that he will guide you in ALL areas of your life. Will I miss boxing? I probably will for a while but you know what? My elation of knowing that our ever watchful Lord has guided me FAR outweighs this loss.

May you look to the Lord for every aspect of your life. He'll guide you always!