It was January 2, 2008; around 10pm…

I’M LOST!
I’M LOST!
I’M LOST AND I’M GOING TO HELL!!!

…is what I cried out to God in prayer as I lay in despair with empty hands, an empty soul, with an anguishful heart.

There is no convincing of myself otherwise that I am saved. Many of us would advise someone like myself in the same situation not to think this way, that maybe it is only Satan’s doing that I go into such a thought. That I must realize that this is only a sort of test. That these are just lies that Satan has imputed into my mind, doing his best to take me from the straight path.

Oh, wicked generation. How many times have we blamed the devil for each and every mishap that has happened in our lives. “It’s because of Satan. Stand in faith and rebuke him and he will leave! Do you not know what the Scripture says? Resist him and he will leave?”

My friend, if only you knew how to differentiate the presence of God from the presence of Satan.

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“Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live.  Turn, Turn from your evil ways!  For why should you die, O house of Israel “ Ezekiel 33:11.

Before we proceed, I will explain the difference between one who is converted and one who is not.

The Unconverted Person

First, the unconverted or wicked person is one whose chief interests are on earth. He loves his fleshly prosperity above heavenly things, thus He favors the things of the flesh, but neither discerns nor savors the things of Spirit.  Although he may say that heaven is better than earth, he really does not believe it to be true, for if he could be sure of earth, he would let go of heaven, and be content to remain on earth. A life of perfect holiness, in the sight of God, and in God’s love and praise forever in heaven, does not find such appeal in his heart as a life of health, wealth, and honor on earth. And though he may falsely profess that he loves God above all, he never felt the power of divine love within him, but his mind is more set on the world or on fleshly pleasures than on God. In a word, whoever loves earth above heaven, and fleshly prosperity more than God, is an unconverted person.

A converted person, on the other hand is illuminated to discern the loveliness of God; and so believes the glory that is to be had with God, that his heart is set more on it than anything in this world. He would rather see the face of God, and live in His everlasting love and praises, than have all the wealth or pleasures of the world.  He sees that everything else is vanity, and nothing except God can fill the soul, and therefore, let the world go whatever way it wants, he lays up his treasures and hopes in heaven, and for that he resolves to let go of all. As the fire mounts upwards, and the compass needle still points to the north, so the converted soul is inclined to God. Nothing else can satisfy him, nor can he find any content and rest but in His love. In a word, all who are converted love God better than all the world; and heavenly things are dearer to them than fleshly prosperity. The proof of what I have said you may find in the following Scriptures: Philippians 3:18, 21; Matthew 6:19-21; Colossians 3:1-5; Romans 8:5-9, 18, 23; Psalm 73:25-26.

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If God has called you to be really like Jesus He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other people do things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it, and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their successes, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence upon Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

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“The throne of grace.”—Hebrews 4:16

THESE words are found embedded in that gracious verse, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”; they are a gem in a golden setting. True prayer is an approach of the soul by the Spirit of God to the throne of God. It is not the utterance of words, it is not alone the feeling of desires, but it is the advance of the desires to God, the spiritual approach of our nature towards the Lord our God. True prayer is not a mere mental exercise, nor a vocal performance, but it is deeper far than that—it is spiritual commerce with the Creator of heaven and earth. God is a Spirit unseen of mortal eye, and only to be perceived by the inner man; our spirit within us, begotten by the Holy Ghost at our regeneration, discerns the Great Spirit, communes with him, prefers to him its requests, and receives from him answers of peace. It is a spiritual business from beginning to end; and its aim and object end not with man, but reach to God himself.

In order to such prayer, the work of the Holy Ghost himself is needed. If prayer were of the lips alone, we should only need breath in our nostrils to pray: if prayer were of the desires alone, many excellent desires are easily felt, even by natural men: but when it is the spiritual desire, and the spiritual fellowship of the human spirit with the Great Spirit, then the Holy Ghost himself must be present all through it, to help infirmity, and give life and power, or else true prayer will never be presented, but the thing offered to God will wear the name and have the form, but the inner life of prayer will be far from it.

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Holly D. Dye is the founding contributor and General Editor of Refocusing Our Eyes.

One day, outside of a store I frequent, stood two boy scouts – one at the entrance and one at the exit.

The boy at the entrance was speaking toward people, however, because he was rather sheepish and his voice so low; no one paid attention to him. They walked right past him into the store.

In contrast, the boy at the exit, being very bold, was not afraid to confront people. Making sure he had their attention, he then began to plead his cause.

The situation struck me immediately that what I was witnessing was a profound analogy of the preachers in this land.

The god that has been preached in our pulpits – this god who is effeminate and repressively tolerant, is not the true God. This god who is a wish granter and life coach is not the God of the Bible. This god who coercers you into sowing your seed into the most successful ground for the sole purpose of you having all your wealthy dreams come true, is not the same God who told us to store up our treasures in heaven!

Oh how these false ministers have fleeced God’s flock!

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Tags: Holly D. Dye, Holly Dye

“For many walk of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.” Philippians 3:18, 19

There are many now among us, as there were then, who walk in such a manner that we recognize them at once as the “enemies of the cross of Christ.” I do fear that the evil, instead of having decreased, has multiplied and grown in danger. We have more profession now than there was in the age of Paul, and consequently we have mere hypocrisy.

It is a crying sin with our churches that there are many in their midst who never ought to be there, who would be fit members of an ale-house or any favorite resort of the gay and frivolous, but who never ought to sip the sacramental wine or eat the holy bread, the emblems of the sufferings of our Lord. We have — O Paul, how wouldst thou have said it to night, and how wouldst thou have wept while saying it! — we have many in our midst who are the “enemies of the cross of Christ,” because “their God is their belly, they mind earthly things,” and their life is not consistent with the great things of God.

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