A warm place in a cold world.

THE GAME ROOM

How can a person be set FREE from guilt, shame, addiction and self-destructive habits?

Here are the

Rules Of The Game

 Life is a lot like a game; but you're playing for your soul.

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If you've read through the main-points Bible Study (below, or on Testimony House home page) and you believed it, then you're ready to move on. You're ready to start living what you believe. But how and where do you start????

You need to learn the Rules of the Game.

Do you ever wonder why movies, games, and books with tales of alternate universes are so popular? Ever wonder why the idea of man struggling against supernatural beings is used again and again and again, and people don't get tired of this storyline?

You know why. It's because deep down inside we all know it's true. There IS an alternate universe -  a spiritual world;  even though we can't see it, it's more real than what we see.

The same theme is in every culture, year after year, century after century because it's a reality. But if we ARE in a battle with unseen forces, then realize most of the movies, books and beliefs about the supernatural have been twisted by our enemy to throw us off!

If you really believe the Good News that Jesus loves you, died to pay YOUR debts, was raised from the dead to forgive you of your sins and live inside you through his Holy Spirit, then you're called a "believer".

A believer has been rescued from the prison his spirit was in. He was dead spiritually, but now he's ALIVE. If you're a believer, Satan can no longer control you.

However!

The battle isn't over. In fact, it's just beginning! When you decided to believe, all the forces of evil freaked out.

In this real-life game, your objective is to grow up (you're a spiritual baby!) and  move forward, toward VICTORY and the amazing life God has for you, and to let God use you to rescue others from Satan's prison and the prison of their own sinful nature.

Your enemy's objective is to lure you away from Jesus (who is protecting and empowering you) and get you trapped up in sins again. He knows that Jesus is protecting you and that if you are full of the Holy Spirit, you're serious trouble for "his kingdom" and that you'll steal his prisoners. But he also knows that if he can trick you, confuse you, keep you like an ignorant baby or tempt you in to sin, you can be defeated and stuck in a pit.

We know you can be free from your guilt, bad behavior, self-destructive habits and the pain of things that happened in the past. We know you can win this game. How do we know? Because we've been there, and we've experienced victory! (And also because Jesus promised it.)

Your FIRST and most powerful weapon is humility. Humility means to submit to someone out of love, respect, fear or all three. You have to lay down your pride so God will fight your battles for you!

You have to get to a point where you admit you're no match for your bad habits, or for the past OR for evil forces. If you're struggling now, that means you are trapped and need helping getting free:

". . . for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him." (2 Peter 2:19b NIV)

"But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
   "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."  Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:6-7 NIV)

"What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in^[a] Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:21-23 NIV)

". . . Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31b-32 NIV)

"The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to [Jesus]. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
     "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,
      to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  ^{(Luke 4:17-21 NIV)}

Your SECOND most powerful weapon is the TRUTH:

Jesus calls himself THE TRUTH. His words and the scriptures are TRUTH. You must read the Bible, regularly. As if your life depends on it. Why? Because we're living in a time when Satan runs more "Christian Churches" than God does. We know this because the majority of "Christian Churches" now teach and believe things that are the OPPOSITE of what God's Word says is true.  Read Matthew 13:24-28 and 13:36-43.

To escape the traps and lies of Satan, you'll need to know for YOURSELF what the Bible says. 

START STUDYING! I recommend you begin in the New Testament, with the book of JOHN and read through the entire New Testament before you tackle the Old.  Anytime you approach the Bible, stop first and ask God to OPEN YOUR mind to what it's saying.

"Then he [Jesus] opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke 24:45-47 NIV)

What's next? PRAYER! More than a secret weapon; not just another "power-up" -- prayer is your LIFE FORCE.

Poor old prayer . . . it's been so badly misused and misunderstood. When you hear the word prayer, do you imagine something like this: five times a day you turn toward the east, chant the "our father" and wave a burnt banana in the air?????  That's NOT PRAYER. That's called "ritual".

Imagine for a minute that you're a guy named Jack. Okay?  You met a girl named Jill, went WOW and asked her to marry you. For whatever reason, she said yes. From that day on, your dating or courtship or whatever you might call it went something like this:

Monday: called Jill twice today and asked her to help me because my roommates were being jerks. Stayed on the phone with her for 30 seconds each time.

Tuesday: didn't need to call Jill today because it was an easy day; my friends and I hung out at the lake and had a blast.

Wednesday: had to go over to Jill's house and beg her to help me today because my rent is due and I don't know where I'll get the money. Stayed for 30 whole minutes at her place!

Thursday: sent Jill an email asking her to forgive me because I've been dating someone else on the side and I just realized that wasn't nice. I wonder exactly how much/what types of things Jill would consider "dating". I'll need to ask her. I'm sure she doesn't want to spoil my fun.

Friday: had a great day. Didn't need Jill's help once.

Saturday: my whole life is falling apart. I was on the phone on and off with Jill all day. She's such a good listener. I don't think I ever stopped talking, except to take a breath now and then. It's cool that Jill loves me. I'm so glad we're engaged; it's going to be great being married to Jill!

Sunday: I went over to Jill's house today and listened to her talk for 45 minutes. It was fine and I learned a lot. I wanted to stay longer, but had to go to lunch with my buddies.

Does this sound kind of like your relationship with God? Poor him! Christianity, as described in the Bible (not as distorted by human cultures!!) is a divine romance! Does that seem strange? God CREATED romantic love (as in a marriage between two people who are loyal to each other) to illustrate his desire for our relationship with him. It wasn't the other way around (God seeing how marriage works and then wanting to imitate it).

PRAYER is not a ritual that saves you . . . it isn't a crisis hotline . . . it isn't a mystical power-up. Prayer is all about having a relationship with your creator. Be sure you remember this when you pray.

Pray without ceasing. ("Listening" is part of prayer!)

IS THERE MORE?

If you're PRACTICING the things above, you're going to win this game.

Will it be easy??

Of course not. THIS IS A BATTLE! Be on your guard. EXPECT difficulties, attacks and traps! But take a lesson from the dogs: PERSEVERANCE, DETERMINATION and the power of the Holy Spirit are the answer. Do you know what the word GAME means?

Game: adjective 

1 a: having or showing a resolute unyielding spirit <game to the end> b: willing or ready to proceed <were game for anything>

I know it stinks living in this world, and sometimes we'd rather just be done with everyone and go off and live alone in the hills. But God called us to be the salt (preservative) and the light in this dark world. And that would be hard to do from the hills. 

Besides, you can go to the farthest hill, live in a cave even, and not escape. Because the things that hurt us, that hurt a family, come from inside us....

If you're practicing the things above, God will protect you from the outward stuff. But who will protect you from your own self? That's where the battle is won or lost. Main point, ask Jesus to fill you with his Holy Spirit and live HIS life through you each day.

Take a lesson from the dogs; never grow weary in doing good. In due time, you'll reap a harvest if you do not give up.

" The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. "(2chronicles 16:9)

It's your move.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

(Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV).

"The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galatians 6:8-10 NIV)

What's The Main Point?

We believe that ONLY Jesus can set us free from self-destructive lifestyles - he HAS set us free and we believe he will do the same for all who will come humbly to him.

We believe the Bible is the true and inspired Word of God.  We believe in miracles because we have SEEN them. We believe that these (below) are the highlights, and the main points of the Bible:

God loves you. He loves you more than anyone ever has or ever will. He made you to be his friend. He thinks about you more than you think about yourself. He wants you to know him, like he knows you.

He has a beautiful and important plan for your life.

"God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16 NIV).

“How precious concerning me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. . . ” (Psalms 139:17-18)

[Christ speaking] "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly" [that it might be full and meaningful] (John 10:10).

But most people aren’t living a meaningful life as God’s friends. We have a big problem. God is all things right and righteous. He’s love and truth. He’s holy and perfect. We’re not.

We’ve done wrong things; it came natural to us . . .

Our wrongness separated us from God. Now we can’t hear him when he calls; our guilt makes him turn his face away when we pray.

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

"The wages of sin is death" [spiritual separation from God] (Romans 6:23).

“. . . the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." (1 Peter 3:12)

We might try to convince ourselves that we’re okay. We can compare ourselves to others and say, “See? I’m not that bad.” The world is filled with false religions, psychology and philosophies that tell us we’re good enough; we may believe and try each one.

But they won’t set us free.

No, not even religion can save us – we’ve already broken one law; we might as well have broken them all. We can’t be good enough to make up for it. Even if we’re good compared to most people, there’s still a canyon of guilt between us and a perfect God. Our soul remains hopeless; our spirit lifeless and lonely.

“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10)

“My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.” (Psalm 38: 4-6)

But God loves you, and he made a bridge over this canyon.

“. . . the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22)

God sent a savior to suffer and pay the penalty for our sins.

Jesus Christ was the only person who ever lived a perfect and sinless life. He claimed to be God in human form. He proved it by fulfilling hundreds of prophecies, healing sick people, casting demons out of others, bringing dead people back to life and by rising from the dead himself.

His death was an acceptable substitute for yours, because unlike everyone else, he was not dying for his own sins. He was dying for yours.

There are many false beliefs and useless religions. But (this is important!) there’s only ONE bridge to God! Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for forgiveness from sin. Through Him you can know God's love and plan for your life.

He Died in Our Place

"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

He Rose From the Dead

"Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures...He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).

He Is the Only Way to God

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me'" (John 14:6).

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

If you don’t know Jesus, you are not God’s friend, yet. You’re still stained by the things you’ve done wrong. You’re separated from God who is perfect. You can’t be good enough.

But you can cross over on the bridge God worked so hard to give you.

"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.” (Acts 13: 38-39)

“. . . a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16)

You can be God’s friend. You can be set free from your sins, guilt and shame. You can accept Jesus’ payment for your wrongs and his “goodness” because he wants to share it with you. And what does he ask for in exchange?

You.

All of you: heart, mind, body and soul.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)

You must believe. You must ask Jesus to take away your guilt, give you a clean heart and carry you over the bridge and into friendship with God.

[Jesus said] “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24)

“He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he [Jesus] is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." (Acts 10: 42-43)

‘If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8,9)

If you believe, are forgiven and ask, God will send you his Holy Spirit to live in your heart. This spirit will explain spiritual things to you, give you the power to change and help you discover the important plan God has for your life.

“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:7)

“I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, [the Holy Spirit] that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16)

If these Bible facts are new to you and you believe or want to understand them better, talk to God about this. Ask him to forgive your sins through the work Jesus did. Ask him to fill you with his Holy Spirit and open your eyes so you can understand him. Begin to read the Bible and pray that he will explain it to you.

If you've read and believed this, you're ready to move on to the RULES OF THE GAME Bible Study

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