In the words of Jim Elliott:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

All else will fade but His words will never pass away.

To know Him is eternal life.

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Well, welcome to series three of The David Lee Martin Show. It’s April 1 here. April Fools Day, so I couldn’t think of a more appropriate time to a way back into the waters and begin sharing my heart in this daily dose of encouragement for you. What began as a short break just for some fasting and prayer during January seemed to turn into without my being able to kind of catch up with it. A three month sabbatical from putting out these podcasts. And then as I was lying in bed last night, my son actually said, have you got anything planned to prank anyone tomorrow?

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Which clearly I had not. I had not even realised that we were already rolling straight into April. But it got me thinking about April Fool’s Day and reminded me of the scripture. Many of you will be very, very familiar with this. The fool has said in his heart there is no God.

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Psalm 53:1, or even the indictment that we find in Romans 1:22. It talks about those who profess themselves to be wise, but in doing so they become fools. And really, their foolish rejection of God and their rejection of the clear proofs all around us of his reality, however clever and however well esteemed they may be among men, makes them kind of foolish when they’ll stand before God and give account for their life and for the people whose hearts and minds they’ve influenced away from reality. And really, this clownish cleverness began with the most slippery fool of all, and his nature and methods have never changed, and they always begin just as they did back there in the Garden of Eden with these same whispered words. Did God really say?

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And of course, he doesn’t come in at the outset and completely seek to obliterate truth. He comes in just to smudge the edges. Only later will he outright contradict the Creator and assert that you will not surely die knowing full well that you will. Now, did God really say that the world was created in six literal days? Are you sure it’s not millions of years?

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Did God really say there’s only one way to heaven? Did God really say that the flood covered the whole world in catastrophic judgement? Did God really say not to add or take away from the words of this book called the Bible? Did God really say, If I or even an angel from heaven preach any other gospel, let him be cursed? Did God really say that you are personally accountable and will be answerable to him alone for every action you take and word that you speak?

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And then he comes with all of his creative adaptations of these age old doubt bombs that he wants to drop in our minds Where’s the promise of his coming nothing has changed for centuries. You’re okay? Or how about, how can a loving God send people to an eternal hell? Or you’re a good person. God will not judge you.

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Or how can you be so proud as to say that yours is the only way to God or all religions are the same. Truth? What is truth? There is no God now. There will come a day when the father of fools himself, Satan, will go screaming with his followers to a fiery eternal day that will never end.

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It will be an endless April Fools Day and I just want to encourage you. Don’t be fooled. The Bible is the true and the trustworthy word of God. 66 Books 39 in the Old Testament 27 in the new One book, many writers with one supernatural author. Any additions, adaptions and addendums are false.

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This is the trustworthy word of God. Jesus is real. He is the one and only begotten Son of the eternal God, the Saviour of mankind, the unique and only way to God. There’s no other name under heaven by which a man can be saved. He’s born of a Virgin, slain for the sins of humankind, buried and raised on the third day and he will soon return to judge the Earth.

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Once overcome with water, the world will next face the fierce fires of God’s. Roth whether we like to accept it or not, whether we want to hear it or not, whether the pulpits are somewhat silent on the matter or not, it is going to happen. The same loving God who sent his only son becoming flesh and blood himself to save his beloved mankind is also Holy and bound by his own spotless character to judge rebellion and sin. And no one is exempt. Our only Avenue out.

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Just as the door of the Ark was the only door you could enter in to step out of the judgement that came on the Earth and in the flood. So the only door today that we need to step into if we want to step out onto dry land on the other side of the coming judgement is Jesus Christ Himself and faith in Him and what he has accomplished through the cross. God’s love is reaching out to you today in the person of Jesus Christ. Be reconciled to Him. Repent, turn from your sins, change your mind, do whatever is necessary, humble your heart before Him and believe the good news.

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I love these words of Jim Elliot again, another famous quote that speaks of being no fool and he said he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and everything else will fade, but his words and his ways will never pass away. To know Him is eternal life. And so here as I come into series three, I just want to say Jesus is Lord. He is the King of all glory and whatever he has in store for us in this coming season of life, whatever he has in store for you in this coming season of life.

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I pray that your heart would be rooted so deeply in his love and in his truth that whatever comes your way and whatever pressures are exerted upon you whatever comes against you, whatever seeks to entice you not one of those things will find a hook in your heart because of your utter devotion to the one true and only living God who was manifest in the person of his son. Such a great way to start a new season of heartfelt delight in the things of God and the creative plans and purposes that he has for you Jesus first everything else follows. Thanks for listening to today’s episode. Hopefully it was a blessing to you if it was do please consider leaving a rating and a review on whatever platform you are listening on. I also would love to encourage you to cheque out my new book faithful creative we’ve got a package of resources designed specifically to encourage you in your Christian creative call.

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You can check that out at faithfulcreativebook.com and if you choose to pick it up use the promo code podcast for 50% off so you’ll get it for half price. Have a great rest of your day and God bless. Jesus first, everything else follows.