Shaken Awake

What is the difference between guilt, remorse, regret, and repentance?

GUILT is a prison that will keep you perpetually bound and unchanged.

REMORSE enslaves you in sorrow that engulfs you emotionally and leaves you feeling sad, depressed, hopeless, and unchanged.

REGRET is self-pity that is focused more on your own personal loss than on the pain or loss you caused to others or to the heart of God, and it leaves you unchanged.

REPENTANCE is a quality decision to change — and when genuine repentance occurs in a person’s heart and mind, you can be sure the Holy Spirit will release His power to effect change in that person’s life and lead him to freedom!

Are there any areas in your life in which you have felt guilty, remorseful, or regretful — but unchanged? Could it be that you’ve never really made a firm decision to change, and that’s why you’ve had no enduring victory in these areas of your life?

If you’ve confused tears with repentance, now you know that you don’t have to depend on your emotions to repent. If God is dealing with you about something that needs to change in your life, you can repent right now at this very moment, regardless of what you do or do not feel. God is waiting for you to make a decision!

When you breath your last breath here on earth, and begin your eternity somewhere, hopefully Heaven, no doubt – what needs to change, starting today, that will bless you where your treasures are stored up, and which won’t condemn you when you give an account for your life and every word spoken and action taken to Jesus Himself?

There is no doubt that God, our faith, and our daily walk with Him is the single highest priority and reason we’ve been chosen by God to be here on this Earth for as long as we have here – only God knows how many heartbeats we have left here. There’s no second chance to live another life. Place your life, your actions, your concentration, your faith, your trust, and your undying and relentless pursuit in life to please the Father, and to live a life that’s pleasing to Him in order to hear those precious words – “Well done, My good and faithful servant.” What on Earth could POSSIBLY be more significant? Find out more on this weeks episode of Shaken Awake!

What in your life is stopping you or you’ve decided is more important than putting in 15-30 minutes of your day, every day, into the Word of God? Are you prepared to continue to put The Bible at the bottom of your daily to-do list. What is more important that God’s Living Word? What are your prepared to tell God one day, to His face, if He asks why you never took time out to read the Book He wrote for you?

I challenge you to prayerfully consider the information discussed in today’s podcast. Test it with God’s Word, and ask God where and how He wants you to make His Word more central to your life. Everything you could ever want or need or hope for is outlined inside the pages of your Bible. Set your alarm for 30 minutes earlier each day, and make some time for your Creator and watch your entire life change.

The Bible states in Hebrews 11:6 – “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that He rewards those who seek him.

So, faith is needed, drawing near to him is needed, and those who seek him are rewarded. There’s one answer straight out of God’s Word! Faith, Drawing Near, Seeking Him.

• Faith – without it, it’s dead – faith is stepping out and by your works, actions, and words, it will be revealed by the faith you have.

Drawing Near – If I believe in Him and want to please Him, I draw near to Him by going meeting Him where He’s at, as He does for us. He’s in the Word, He’s in prayer, He’s in our hearts, He’s in our church groups/small groups. He’s everywhere that we draw near to Him in.

Seeking Him – How can you seek something if you don’t go looking?? How do you seek something on your social media, or in a bottle, or in the bar, or on television, or in the news, or while you’re out having “fun” or concentrating on self for your own needs? You cannot.

• So, if you and I believe He exists, we will draw near to Him. If we lack faith, we won’t. Therefore, it will be impossible to please Him without it. You may be saying or thinking right now, “But no, Ben, I believe in him and I have faith and believe He exists, but I don’t exactly seek Him. Then my question back is: Why would you not earnestly seek God, who you believe in, have faith in, and draw near to Him? Is it because you don’t feel like it? Is it because you don’t take the time to think about it or care to? Is it because your life is more important? Is it because, like me, you never were convicted of this because like me, I’d never cracked open my Bible and read these words of Truth? If the shoe fits – KICK. IT. Off.

How are you living your life to please God? WHO by your actions are you pleasing? And finally, is there any area of your life that you can pray and seek the Father’s guidance and direction, in order to serve and please Him, or are you maxed out; meaning, you have nothing more to give to God in your life?

The enemy works overtime to create a world of creature comforts that are self-serving and a world of pleasure and the pursuit of happiness within the world. Take a look around – he’s done a pretty good job at taking God out of everything and the putting the world into everything. We are now what Jesus warned of as being how people will be living their lives at the end of the age – as they were in the days of Noah. The enemy is the master of deception, the master of lies, portrays himself as the angel of light, and is hell-bent on stealing souls from God and His Kingdom and devouring all which is good. Jesus Christ is the only answer for salvation and eternal life. So which master, by your actions and faith, are you truly serving and pleasing? There can only be one answer.

Once Saved Always Saved, that many who believe in it – mostly Calvinist and Baptist, they say it’s in the Bible, throughout. It isn’t. It wasn’t in the Bible, either, growing up, yet I believed that as well. The more I venture out and speak to many professing Christians, I find an almost 50/50 mix, with ~ 50% believe in OSAS, as well. They choose some verses as we’ll be discussing today, to back up their philosophy and lifestyle, but refute the other half of the Bible that provides that the doctrine is a false one. My hope is, that you will see the doctrine for what it is – not by me, but as outlined in the Word of God, and as stated by Jesus, His disciples, and many others throughout the Bible. Like many disbeliefs, I don’t understand why a self-proclaimed “Christian” believes in a man-made, false doctrine, but like atheism, the enemy has many flavors of deceptions, lies, and blinders he uses to trick and fool us and this one is one he uses quite frequently, especially in today’s society. Why do I say this? Because many proclaimed believers I’ve known during my lifetime falls into this category, and I’m talking about the one’s that proclaimed they’re Christians! And, sadly, as I try to moderate Christian forums online and speak to other believers, I’m finding this false doctrine has penetrated through the body of Christ and has been doing so from the beginning of time, with our current time being the worst on record for being blinded in and of it. I can’t sit and keep the wisdom that God, His Word, and The Holy Spirit have provided me with to myself – it’s not right, it helps no one except the enemy, and no one gains the insight – there are gifts given by The Holy Spirit, of which, none are given to keep to yourself. They’re meant to be carried out as God has asked believers to do. Become fishers of men, He said. Now I realize, He wasn’t just talking about the unconverted or lost, but also those that believed they were saved, but were living in deceit. Therefore, this episode is dedicated to all those out there that, like I had been for 41 years of my life, in the belief that I was saved, I was a “Christian” and that I was going to Heaven – yet because my belief system was flawed and didn’t align with the entire Bible, I was headed for hell. This might also resonate with you, or with someone you know. I ask that if you feel led or moved by The Holy Spirit in any way today, you don’t hold it in or keep it to yourself – but share. You can share this podcast, or you can share the verses contained in this episode and relay this to those you know and love. God gives us ALL one chance, called life, to get it right, call on His name, follow His Word, and to love and run the race He’s set before us.

To be involved with other believers is vital to a fruitfully spiritual life with God – He backs this up when Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 18:20 when He said, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” More proof that gathering with believers is encouraged, but not necessarily limited to a physical building called a church as a check-the-box item off your spiritual life’s To-Do list!

God gives us our checklist of life – one of those is to BE THE CHURCH. Use your time, gifts, talents, and heart to give to others. If Jesus came to save the world, yet spent His entire 33 years of life being a servant, literally washing the feet of those that loved Him…..it leads me to my final question to you today……Whose feet are you washing today or tomorrow?

The point of this episode that God’s placed on my heart to speak with you on today is one of the most important decisions you can make in your lifetime. Everyone that is truly saved and forgiven has been given a gift that millions and millions have either not been offered, or have missed or have turned down in their lifetime, and you have authority, power, and demand to exercise your ability to speak about that gift to anyone you choose and anyone God puts in front of you to speak with. The question is: have you been? The next question for those that haven’t is: Why not? The next questions for that say it’s because they’re too shy, not knowledgeable enough about the Bible and/or God yet, they’re too new in the faith, they're introverted, they're scared of looking like a fool or Jesus Freak, feel it’s not their job, feel that it’s not their calling, feel like someone will do it, but it doesn’t need to be them, that they will mess it up, that they don’t feel comfortable doing so, and for those that don’t know how to initiate the conversation to witness to others’: Welcome to MY WORLD! Welcome to the reasons I had justified in MY HEAD for the past 41 years, and if you fall into one or more of the categories I just mentioned, that by the way, I was in ALL of them, then this podcast is going to help you get unstuck and headed in the right direction towards helping to water and/or harvest that have too few laborers to work. The message today will be a message to show you what the Bible says we are to do, as well as tips, tools, tactics you can use to start leading others to Christ immediately and show you How and Why to begin immediately.

Everyone has one chance – it’s called LIFE. It’s the dressing room for eternity. What you CHOOSE to do, as God gives everyone free will, will determine your eternal resting place, and the intensity of that place; whether Heaven or Hell. The Bible is not only the ONLY TRUE fact-checker in life, it’s also the playbook of life, the roadmap of life, and the checklist/litmus test of life. There is no ‘almost Christian’ and there is no ‘almost saved’; therefore, there is no ‘almost Heaven’. There are no second chances, no reset button, and no going back.

Where will your first breath take place, once your last breath is taken here on Earth? That’s up to you and God.

STOP filling your hearts with earthly treasures and rewards and ‘feel-goods’, while God wants to fill your hearts with the same, but with a more heavenly form of each and eternal form that fulfills your hearts with every desire you’ll ever need or want. If the Shoe Fits – and, I’m not implying anything – KICK IT OFF! JESUS DOESN’T WANT JUST A PART OF YOUR HEART – HE WANTS IT ALL AND DESERVES IT OF YOU.

So, my questions to you today are this: Is there anything you’re relying on or seeking or desiring that is not from God? Are you seeking to live for yourself or man, or are you seeking to live for God? Are you placing ANYTHING above, before, or in place of Him, or are you putting God first in your life, and in every aspect of your life? Are you seeking guidance from God and His Holy Spirit and the Living Word, the Bible, or are your seeking guidance from your own selves, others’, or other idols?

Join Shaken Awake as we get SHAKEN AWAKE by special guest, Ethan Vanscoy! Listen to Ethan share his story of being shaken awake by God, being led out of a life of worldliness and despair into a new life, one that gives God the glory. Now, a brother in Christ and a new friend of mine that no doubt was a divine connection orchestrated by God. He’s an ex-meth cook, a man given to violent outbursts, a whoremonger, alcoholic, narcissist, egotistical, selfish man who met Jesus AGAIN, in Prison on his own road to Damascus and now, has a healthy fear of the Lord and wants to bring Him glory each and every day. Join me in welcoming onto Shaken Awake, Mr. Ethan Vanscoy!