Why we exist! Jesus Our Firm Foundation is a Christ-centered, Bible-based, Spirit-filled, disciple-making, mission-driven church in Bocaue, Bulacan. Jesus Our Firm Foundation is a member of the Brethren Church worldwide ministries, committed to honor God and advance His kingdom through church planting, campus ministry, and world missions. Brethren Church has churches and ministries worldwide. We adopt the following Statement of Faith: We believe... The Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God. We believe... That there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe... In the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory. We believe... That for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. We believe... In the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life. We believe... In the baptism with the Holy Spirit and in the exercise of spiritual gifts. We believe... In the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation. We believe... In the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. CORE VALUES G - Gift oriented Ministry U - Unified and Holistic Cell Groups I - Inspiring Worship Celebration D - Discipleship E - Evangelism OVERCOMING TEMPTATION AND Freedom From Temptation We are getting many letters from Christians that are struggling with temptations and sins in their lives. They desire to follow God's laws but they sometimes fall. It is good to hear from people who are honest about their battle with temptations. There is great hope for these people that admit such struggles, they have arrived at the point where their only hope is in God's grace, His mercy, and His infinite compassion. That is the place where the Lord is waiting to meet them, to rescue them, and carry them into victory, for the battle is the Lord's, not ours. The Apostle Paul described his battle with his flesh this way. (Romans 7:14-25 NIV) We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. {15} I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. {16} And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. {17} As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. {18} I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. {19} For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. {20} Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. {21} So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. {22} For in my inner being I delight in God's law; {23} but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. {24} What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? {25} Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. But then Paul gives us the good news in the following verse, (Romans 8:1-2 NIV) Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, {2} because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. The same way that we are saved from our sins is the same way we are set free from sins and even temptations, it is by God's grace. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- {9} not by works, so that no one can boast. It is by the presence of God's Holy Spirit that we are given freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:16-17 NIV) But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. {17} Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. The Holy Spirit sets us free from every bondage, every sin, every temptation, every bad emotion, every evil desire, and then we are free to experience the presence of God, which is Love, joy, and peace. (Galatians 5:16-23 NIV) So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. {17} For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. {18} But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. {19} The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; {20} idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions {21} and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. {22} But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. It is by grace that we are saved from every evil thing past, present, and future. It is by faith that we receive God's grace, and by faith that the power of the Holy Spirit gives us the freedom to do God's will in our lives. Faith comes through the revelation of knowing that God really does love you, even when you sin. You are still His child and He waits for you to turn toward Him so He can give you His mercy, His forgiveness, His compassion, His Love. Because God is Love, and your love for Him comes when you get a glimpse of How much He Loves you. When Jesus taught the disciples how and what to pray He included freedom from temptation in the prayer. (Matthew 6:9-15 NIV) "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, {10} your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. {11} Give us today our daily bread. {12} Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. {13} And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' {14} For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. {15} But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. In this prayer we are taught that God is our loving Father. We are taught to pray His will on earth. We know God's will through His Word, and by the leading and insight given to us by the Holy Spirit. We are taught to pray for our physical needs. We are taught to seek God's grace and mercy for our sins, and to have compassion and mercy on others. Then we are taught to pray that God will keep us from temptation, and from Satan. In this prayer we are taught that we are totally dependent upon God for all these things. So often we fail because we are trying to fight the battle ourselves, when the Lord is trying to continuously teach us to depend upon Him, to trust Him, to have faith in Him. So the Lord gives us all these things and there is only one thing He requires us to do and that is to show mercy to others, have compassion, to allow His Love to flow through us to touch other people. (Matthew 5:7 NKJV) Blessed are the merciful (compassionate), For they shall obtain mercy (compassion). Sometimes the Lord will allow us to go through temptations and even fall into sins because we are trying by our own efforts to fight the battle, this is pride and always leads to a fall because "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." Sometimes God will allow us to fall so that we will be more compassionate to others. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, {4} who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. If we look down with pride upon a brother who has fallen than we could also end up in temptation. (Galatians 6:1 NKJV) Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. The Bible says that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. The reason for Jesus going through this temptation was so we could know that He has compassion for us when we are being tempted, He knows what suffering through temptation feels like. (Hebrews 2:17-18 NIV) For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. {18} Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV) Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. {15} For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. {16} Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Jesus came to set the captives free from all oppression including sin and even temptation. (Luke 4:18 NIV) "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed. If we are bound by sin and burdened by temptation that is not from God, Jesus came to set us free. (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV) "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. {29} Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. {30} For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Jesus told His disciples in (Mark 14:38 NIV) Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Pray and seek God's strength, quit trying to fight the battles on your own, the battle is the Lord's and the victory will glorify Him. The joy of the Lord is your strength, (Psalms 16:11 NIV) You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Remember where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. (Luke 11:13 NKJV) "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (Exodus 33:14 NIV) The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." You were created by your Father so that He could Love you, and so that you would Love Him. God also created you so that you could be a channel for His Love to flow through touching other people with His Love, His compassion. (Jude 1:20-25 NIV) But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. {21} Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy (compassion) of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. {22} Be merciful to those who doubt; {23} snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. {24} To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-- {25} to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. Everyone faces temptation. But the truth is, very few people deal with it effectively. That shouldn’t be the case, and it doesn’t have to be the case for believers. There are some very simple and effective ways of dealing with temptation that you should know, and if you’ll put them into practice, I guarantee, you’ll come out the winner. It has been said, “Fail to plan and you’re planning to fail.” That statement could not be truer when it’s applied to temptation. I don’t know anyone who gets up in the morning and prays to fail when faced with temptation, but I know many people who get up each morning and fail to plan for what the Bible says we will all certainly face. So, first and most important, you must be prepared. That’s so simple, you have to have someone’s help to misunderstand. But, we must have had a lot of help because very few people have taken the time or made the effort to prepare. Second Chronicles 12:14 says it this way, “And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.” This was speaking of Rehoboam, the king of Judah and the son of Solomon. He started off as a good king who was seeking the Lord. But just like many people today, he wasn’t prepared for what would inevitably come his way. When Satan throws temptation your way, if you’re not already prepared, it’s too late. You’ll probably lose the fight. Jesus prepared Himself. He spent thirty years getting ready for His encounter with the devil, and He started preparing early. At the age of twelve, He was asking questions of the doctors of the Law and astounding them with His answers. He had obviously spent many hours reading and studying the Scriptures. I’m sure that study continued all His life, but even Jesus needed more. Before He was tempted by Satan face to face, He was anointed with the Holy Spirit at His baptism by John in the Jordan River. Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, full of the power of the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is an absolute necessity for overcoming temptation. There are many Christians who received the Holy Spirit years ago and haven’t been full of the Holy Spirit a day since. It’s not about what happened to us long ago; we have to stay full of the Holy Spirit. One way of doing that is to speak in tongues on a regular basis. Jude 1:20-21 says, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Praying in tongues builds us up on our most holy faith. How many times have you needed your most holy faith to take you through a certain trial, and yet you haven’t used this gift of the Holy Spirit? Verse 21 also says we keep ourselves in the love of God when we speak in tongues. Have you ever asked the Lord to pour out His love on you? I imagine you have, but this doesn’t say to pray that way; it says we are to keep ourselves in the love of God. We do that by speaking in tongues. We don’t ask God for that which He’s already given, we simply stir up the love that has already been commended toward us, by speaking in tongues. This is a powerful gift. Isaiah 28:11-12 says, “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.” Do you ever need rest or refreshing? I guarantee that you do, and this verse says speaking in tongues is the way to get it. We have a tremendously powerful gift available to us through the Holy Spirit, but few people take advantage of it. Instead, we ask God to do what He told us to do. We need to use this gift of speaking in tongues to stir ourselves up, or we risk sinking to the bottom. You must also know who you are. Matthew 4 and Luke 4 record the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. One of the most amazing aspects of those temptations was that Satan began two of the three temptations with the words, “If thou be the Son of God.” Many people have missed this point. The real temptation was Satan’s attempt to get Jesus to doubt who He was. That’s the same way he attacked Adam and Eve. The serpent told Eve that if she would eat the forbidden fruit, she would be like God (Gen. 3:5). The truth was that she was already like God, but she didn’t know it. The first Adam sinned, because he didn’t know who he really was. The second Adam, Jesus, didn’t sin, because He did know who he was. Knowing your true identity in Christ is one of the greatest defenses you can possibly have against temptation. Jesus had just heard His Father speak to Him in an audible voice saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). There was also a visible sign from God when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the shape of a dove. Jesus had to anchor His faith in who His Father said He was. But immediately, Satan came to Him saying, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matt. 4:3). The real temptation was never about turning stones into bread. It was Satan’s attempt to manipulate Jesus into doubting His Father’s Word and doing something to prove who He was. Satan was trying to find and exploit any insecurity in Jesus. When you were a kid, I’m sure someone at some time dared you to do something stupid. The real issue wasn’t whether or not you could do it but whether you were “afraid” to do it. And sad to say, many of us took the dare and did something that hurt us or shamed us just to prove that we weren’t. All we really succeeded in proving was that we feared their disapproval so much that we weren’t willing to do what was right. The truly fearless response would have been to walk away, secure in who we were, earning their respect through character rather than performance. Satan was daring Jesus—”If You’re really the Son of God, if what You heard from the Father in an audible voice is really true, then prove it, and turn this stone into bread.” Turning a stone into bread would not have been sin. It would have been sin if Jesus had doubted the words of His heavenly Father declaring who He was by placing more faith in what a miracle could say about Him. You must know who you are if you want to overcome temptation. No matter what form Satan’s temptations may take, they are all directed at causing us to doubt who we are. It’s also important to understand that all temptation is rooted in selfishness. In fact, our selfishness is really Satan’s beachhead. Jesus stripped him of his power two thousand years ago, so the only thing he can really do is deceive us through our own selfish desires. The Bible tells us exactly what they are in 1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” And in James 1:14 we read, “But every many is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” Satan is not limitless; deception is his only weapon. All he can do is try to deceive us into thinking that God really can’t or won’t fulfill our lives. Every single temptation of the enemy is packaged in the form of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life. But they’re all designed to entice us and cause us to doubt that God will meet our needs. Selfishness is always the favorite playground of the devil, and when selfishness rules in our lives, we open the door to his deceptive schemes. You can’t be tempted unless you have first thought about it. All temptation is linked to what you think on. Therefore, control your thoughts, and you will control temptation. This is a simple but profound truth. It’s the reason most people fall into temptation. It’s like a woman who doesn’t want to get pregnant but continues to have sexual relations without any contraception. Sooner or later, she will get pregnant. Think on the wrong things long enough, and sooner or later you will fall into sin when tempted. Philippians 4:8 says this, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Temptation will come, but it’s hard for the devil to deceive you when your mind is stayed on those things. Satan can only work with what you give him, so don’t give him any space in your mind. You’ll be able to avoid many of the temptations you face if you will put this into practice. The Word is powerful—use it. Jesus countered every temptation of the devil with the Word. Think about it, Jesus was the Word, and everything He said would have been Scripture and more than sufficient to rebuke the devil. Yet He would say, “It is written” then He quoted God’s Word. If it was important for Jesus to quote the Word, it’s even more important for us to do the same. We must know God’s Word to effectively overcome temptation. That goes back to being prepared; you can’t quote scripture you haven’t learned, and there isn’t any power in what you don’t know or understand. Don’t wait till you’re in the middle of a huge temptation to start thinking about how to deal with it; it will be too late. Take the time now to prepare yourself for those temptations that will inevitably come your way. To help, I produced a five-part album entitled How To Deal With Temptation. In this album, I teach on: being prepared, knowing who you are, how selfishness is the beachhead of Satan, why speaking the Word is so important, and how temptation is tied to your thought life. These are all vital to understanding and overcoming temptation. 
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keep falling in lovelove
 joff tributes to grads and with honors.mpg
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