myPraize

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In 2001, my life, as I knew it, came to a crashing halt, and I hit rock bottom. I was so sick and disgusted with my life, i tried to end it on three occasions. When I couldn't, I called out to God, a God I believed in, but hated. I begged Him to take my life, and He did, but not in the way that I'd hoped He would.
On December 16, 2001, the man I was died, and the man I am today was born. Over the next 20+ years, God nurtured and molded me, until He felt that I was ready to have the only personal prayer I'd ever prayed answered-- to have my family back. In 2021, He brought two young girls into my life who have become my unofficially adopted daughters, in 2023, God brought my son, mother and stepfather back into my life. In 2025, my ex-wife has re-entered my life, I have become a grandfather (through my biological daughter) and my adopted daughters chose to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior-- by their own choice. I have no doubt whatsoever that Jesus Christ died and rose for my salvation. I have seen too many miracles and prayers answered to question His presence in my life and in our world. I look forward to see what He has planned for my life going forward, and I look forward to the day when He finally brings reconciliation between myself and my daughter. And I know that He will do this.
This was my testimony, before being Baptized into the family of Jesus Christ, at the Rushing Wind Biker Church in Holbrook, NY.
2/16/25.
Deus Vult 777

Hate is a Christian value. The Psalmist writes, ?I hate vain
thoughts: but thy law do I love? (Psalm 119:113). Also, ?do not I hate them, O
LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against
thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies? (Psalm 139:21-22).
Jesus says, ?If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and
wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he
cannot be my disciple? (Luke 14:26).

The term hate, as the Psalmist uses it, refers to finding
someone or something abhorrent. It is not the type of hatred that is fueled by
rage or that seeks to destroy.

Albert Barnes says, ?The word hate here, as applied to them,
must be understood in the sense that he disapproved of their conduct; that he
did not desire to be associated with them; that he wished to avoid their
society, and to find his friends among men of a different character.?

Matthew Henry adds, ?do not I hate those that hate thee, and
for that reason, because they hate thee I hate them because I love thee, and
hate to see such affronts and indignities put upon thy blessed name.?

As Jesus uses the term it refers to a ?loving less.? Jesus
also says, ?Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me? (Matt.
10:37).

John Gill points out that that ?these (family) are not to be
preferred to Christ, or loved more than He yea, these are to be neglected and
forsaken, and turned from with indignation and resentment, when they stand in
the way of the honor and interest of Christ, and dissuade from his service:
such who would be accounted the disciples of Christ, should be ready to part
with their dearest relations and friends, with the greatest enjoyment of life,
and with life itself, when Christ calls for it; or otherwise they are not
worthy to be called his disciples.?

Romans 3:9-18 - The Unredeemed Sinner - Part 1 - Vss. 9-12

Verse 9: All people, prior to redemption in Christ, are held ?under? the power, dominion, guilt, and death sentence of sin. The following descriptions then are of those who are yet outside of Christ (Gal. 3:22).

Verse 10: As it is written (Psalm 14:1-3), ?none,? that is nobody, without exception, is righteous, meaning, none are innocent, faultless, or guiltless before God, and none are approved of, or acceptable to, God. All are guilty and all must be rejected by God.

Verse 11: All people, being ?under sin,? there are none who understand God, as He truly is, and none who one seek God, as He truly is. Psalm 14:2 God looked down upon the lot of mankind for those who do understand Him and seek Him. None were found that met these criteria. If God says there were one, there were none, for none could escape the notice of his all-seeing eye.

Verse 12: All have turned aside, or all have declined from the true path of piety and virtue. All have turned away from truth and embraced error, from righteousness and embraced sin, from happiness and embraced misery. All, together, lacking none, have become worthless. All are putrid and offensive, like fruit that is spoiled. All are corrupt and useless. They are of absolutely no value in regard to the way and works of righteousness.

Conclusion: There NONE who are good, not even ONE! Despite what men say about themselves, or what others say about them, God concludes none as good. This does not refer to moral good in general which even the vilest sinner can engage in. This is good as God determines and approves of. We are to observe the people of the unredeemed world with these things in mind.