Study Desk

Why did I do it? Why did I work so hard without being a burden? Do you think it's because I don't care about y'all? Only God knows how much I love y'all.

Other cowboys are bragging about their wild rides so I will too.

Y'all are the wise ones, so put up with me for a little spell.

When I was in Damascus, the governor posted spies at all the gates so they could find me and arrest me.

So I suggest you test yourselves to see if your faith is true. If you don't realize Jesus lives in you now then you have failed the test.

We pray that y'all will not refuse correction. I hope we have no need to exercise the authority we've been given when we get there. Please, do the right thing and fix what needs fixing so we don't have to when we arrive. I don't even care if it looks like we failed. If it gets fixed, that's all that matters.

Again, I'm writing all of this before I get there so y'all will have time to fix things. I don't want to get there and immediately start punishing people. I have the authority, but I want to use it to make you better cowboys, not tear you down. But the choice is yours, not mine.

If you think I ride for the brand so people will like me, you've got things all twisted up. God is the only one I aim to please. If I wanted people to like me, I wouldn't be riding for the Lord.

"So if we try to be right with God through faith in Jesus, and on the day of judgment we find out we should have obeyed the Code, would that mean Jesus caused us to sin? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!

When I tried to keep the Code, I was condemned because I couldn't do it. So, I gave it all up and trusted Jesus did for me what I couldn't do for myself. Instead of being condemned by the code of Moses, I now live for the brand of God.

So every cowboy who has faith in God shares the same blessing as Abraham did.

So, what good was the Code? It was to show us how often we do wrong things. These rules would continue until the special cowboy came along—the child of Abraham. The Code was given through angels to Moses. And Moses was the middleman between God and his people.

So, is it possible things don't line up between the code God gave and the promise he gave to Abraham? Absolutely not! If the Code could grant us eternal life, then we would have it by being good at following rules.

God sent his boy to buy our freedom so he could adopt us as his very own.

Remember, I was so sick when I brought y'all the good news.

I wish I were there so I could help y'all. But as it is now, this is all I can do.

So, cowboys and cowgirls, we ain't kids of the slave, we are children of the free.

Man, y'all were doing so good! What on earth made y'all sidestep the truth? What did that fellow say to y'all to make you turn away from Jesus?

Our new life come from the Holy Spirit and so we must give him the reins.

So don't give up doing the right thing. If you keep to the right trail, you're gonna find the narrow gate that leads to everything you never dreamed possible.