Mat 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
Giving up of self.
Jesus is teaching us, trying to teach us to give up our selfishness. We cling to it so desperately. The world revolves around…us. How could it be any different? Seriously, how can we take ourselves out of the center of our own existence. We've heard often the saying about somebody 'being their whole world'. A mother for a child- that child being the mother's whole world. A husband for a wife- that wife being the center of the husband's whole world. Or we hear that someone's job is their life. Of course we've ALL heard that we need to have a WELL BALANCED life without anyone becoming another's whole world. Well balanced meaning that instead of having your life revolve around anyone's or anything's world you have time for yourself, time for others, time for work, time for play- balance. What does Jesus want us to have? A well balanced life? I don't think so. Seriously, I think Jesus would have us have our life revolve around Him, because ONLY in Him can we find real life, real love. If our Savior is the center of ALL we do we are not in any danger of putting ourselves, anyone else, or anything else before our God. The only way our life is ever really balanced is in Christ. With Christ as the center of our lives then others will come first before ourselves and these words…
Mat 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
… will be understood.
Giving to others. If someone asks you to do something, doing that and more for them without their asking is truly us revealing Christ in us.
Do some people take advantage of those who are *good* to them, knowing they'll give more of themselves than asked? Yes. Can you feel taken advantage of if you are giving from your Christ-centered heart? Seriously? Can you? Doesn't selfishness demand we feel resentful, that we feel taken advantage of when someone truly does take advantage of us? This is why we TURN THE OTHER CHEEK. This is why we go TWO miles when we are only asked to go one. This is Christ, this is selflessness. We can NEVER feel taken advantage of if Christ is our center, never. He wants us to give, give, give even to the undeserving, or those we perceive as undeserving. We can never be deserving of Christ, He gives us undeserved love and forgiveness. We have to live our lives the same way towards others, not questioning whether anyone is deserving of our giving, of our love.
We are NOT the way. We are NOT the truth. We are NOT the life.
Christ is the way, the truth and the life!
These words of Christ are OTHER centered. Jesus came to SAVE us. Jesus' life was OTHER centered- God the Father first and others second. Never was Jesus to teach us to be self centered. Never were we commanded to love only ourselves, never. God and others- this should be our focus. God always first! It's wonderful to be other centered but only if we are God centered first, pulling in others to that center where God lives in us.
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
Christ in us!
By His grace!
Amen!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Jesus' love- not our love
Mat 5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
Mat 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
I didn't touch on this so much yesterday but it does need to be touched on especially in our day and age when we think nothing of suing people. It's true, we sue for anything nowadays. We cannot fathom being sued by someone and NOT trying to get away from having to pay them, or trying to get away with paying them the least amount possible. It's always considered a 'good deal', a 'win', when a person gets sued and they don't have to pay a lot of money. You won! You only have to give them a 100 dollars! It could have been much worse, you might have had to pay them 1000 dollars! Do you see the thrill? The thrill is with getting away without having to pay- it doesn't matter if it's due the person or not if we can get away without having to pay much we will and call it wonderful, call it good.
So here is our Savior and He says- if any man sues us and takes our coat- we give him our cloke too. WHAT?! Time to do a double take, right? If we're sued and someone *wins* and gets our coat we are not to only give him our coat but MORE! We are to give more than is rewarded, how can we possibly get our heads around this? Seriously. Being sued is horrible. I wouldn't want to be sued. You know, Jesus doesn't specify whether or not this is a justifiable suing- that we deserve to be sued, but in truth most people never believe they deserve to be sued, they'd rather work things out without involving the justice system. Not all believe that way, there are some that understand things happen - like an accident on their property- and they know they should be sued. Not everyone fights being sued.
There are a lot of different scenarios but the fact is - Jesus simply said if any man sues us.
Does this mean we are to give more to someone who is already taking us for something? Can you imagine being sued and having to pay 1000 dollars and then giving the person suing you 2000 dollars? Giving more, giving perhaps undeservedly. Giving. This does go hand in hand with turning the other cheek it really does and the same principle applies. Compassion. Revealing Christ not revealing ourselves. Our nature is completely selfish. It really is because so often those who do give and think themselves unselfish are even more selfish than the takers because they lament no one appreciating them enough-- SELFISH. We are selfish…are carnal nature will constantly try to rule us and it does a good job. Turning the other cheek, giving more than we are required to someone taking from us, deserved or not, these things are not common.
Jesus is not common.
Jesus wants HIS love to be revealed, love we embrace and let shine through us, not our love, not love that we give in order to get, not love that is corrupted by selfishness. Jesus' love! JESUS' LOVE!
By His grace me His love be revealed through us now and always!
His LOVE, not our love, HIS LOVE!
In Him forever!
Amen.
Mat 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
I didn't touch on this so much yesterday but it does need to be touched on especially in our day and age when we think nothing of suing people. It's true, we sue for anything nowadays. We cannot fathom being sued by someone and NOT trying to get away from having to pay them, or trying to get away with paying them the least amount possible. It's always considered a 'good deal', a 'win', when a person gets sued and they don't have to pay a lot of money. You won! You only have to give them a 100 dollars! It could have been much worse, you might have had to pay them 1000 dollars! Do you see the thrill? The thrill is with getting away without having to pay- it doesn't matter if it's due the person or not if we can get away without having to pay much we will and call it wonderful, call it good.
So here is our Savior and He says- if any man sues us and takes our coat- we give him our cloke too. WHAT?! Time to do a double take, right? If we're sued and someone *wins* and gets our coat we are not to only give him our coat but MORE! We are to give more than is rewarded, how can we possibly get our heads around this? Seriously. Being sued is horrible. I wouldn't want to be sued. You know, Jesus doesn't specify whether or not this is a justifiable suing- that we deserve to be sued, but in truth most people never believe they deserve to be sued, they'd rather work things out without involving the justice system. Not all believe that way, there are some that understand things happen - like an accident on their property- and they know they should be sued. Not everyone fights being sued.
There are a lot of different scenarios but the fact is - Jesus simply said if any man sues us.
Does this mean we are to give more to someone who is already taking us for something? Can you imagine being sued and having to pay 1000 dollars and then giving the person suing you 2000 dollars? Giving more, giving perhaps undeservedly. Giving. This does go hand in hand with turning the other cheek it really does and the same principle applies. Compassion. Revealing Christ not revealing ourselves. Our nature is completely selfish. It really is because so often those who do give and think themselves unselfish are even more selfish than the takers because they lament no one appreciating them enough-- SELFISH. We are selfish…are carnal nature will constantly try to rule us and it does a good job. Turning the other cheek, giving more than we are required to someone taking from us, deserved or not, these things are not common.
Jesus is not common.
Jesus wants HIS love to be revealed, love we embrace and let shine through us, not our love, not love that we give in order to get, not love that is corrupted by selfishness. Jesus' love! JESUS' LOVE!
By His grace me His love be revealed through us now and always!
His LOVE, not our love, HIS LOVE!
In Him forever!
Amen.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Compassion for evil doers
Mat 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mat 5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
*******
Exo 21:24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Exo 21:25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Lev 24:20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.
Deu 19:21 And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
*******
It had been said, in fact it was a common practice for criminal matters to be handled this way- an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. If you did something bad to a person and were caught- you paid with a *like* action. It sounds like fairness doesn't it? More than one person would easily say that a person who steals deserves to have their things taken from them, a person who maims another deserves to be maimed, a person who murders deserves to be killed, and so on. It's only fair, right? Those who intentionally hurt others deserve to be hurt- justice needs to be served, vengeance needs to be had.
We've thought it, we've felt it, we've wanted justice, we've wanted others to get their just reward, we're guilty of this - none of us are exempt. Now with that in mind ask yourself this question… did you ever want *more* than justice for some wrong done to you or a loved one of yours? Did you ever want them to suffer more than they really deserved? Did you want that simply because that person had the audacity, the evil in them to commit the evil act? Do we want a person to pay double, triple because they had NO right to do what they did? Do we sometimes want their death even if they did not commit murder- simply because of the horrifying pain they caused? Do we in our finite judgment really believe we have a right to take life from anyone?
I'll be the first to admit that evil, true, real evil exists- that there are people who have embraced evil to its fullest and their lives reflect that. Evil deserves to be wipe out, but we aren't the ones who are to do that wiping out.
We were given an instruction on how to deal with the wrong doing others would inflict upon us and we weren't satisfied with getting just and eye for an eye- we wanted two eyes for one eye. We weren't happy with getting a tooth for a tooth we wanted a whole mouthful of teeth for a single tooth. We couldn't be trusted to err on the side of good because inevitably we would err on the side of evil. Our own evil nature would take over and we don't mete out justice fairly but allow our judgment to be colored by all that makes us who we are. Who hasn't heard about a judge being harsh because he/she was having a bad day? We can try our hardest to be fair and that's a good thing- as far as it goes- but we are very imperfect and the imperfect judging the imperfect is never very good.
Does this mean I think all evil should be simply ignored? No.
But I believe ANY evil person we judge needs to be judged with compassion.
Mat 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mat 5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
Those who would hurt us need to get compassion from us- not returned evil. What's this doing? What's this compassion all about? It does what? It REVEALS JESUS.
The salvation each of us can have is given to us freely and totally undeserved. The compassion that is within us through the love of our Savior can be freely given to those undeserving. This is the message we are to hear from these words of our Savior, this is the lesson we need to learn. Not to do unto others as they've done to us, no… but do what our Savior would have us do unto them… reveal undeserved compassion and in doing so we reveal the love of God.
By His amazing love and grace may we seek Him and His wisdom whenever we are in a situation needing compassion over justice or revenge.
In His love!
Mat 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mat 5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
*******
Exo 21:24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Exo 21:25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Lev 24:20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.
Deu 19:21 And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
*******
It had been said, in fact it was a common practice for criminal matters to be handled this way- an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. If you did something bad to a person and were caught- you paid with a *like* action. It sounds like fairness doesn't it? More than one person would easily say that a person who steals deserves to have their things taken from them, a person who maims another deserves to be maimed, a person who murders deserves to be killed, and so on. It's only fair, right? Those who intentionally hurt others deserve to be hurt- justice needs to be served, vengeance needs to be had.
We've thought it, we've felt it, we've wanted justice, we've wanted others to get their just reward, we're guilty of this - none of us are exempt. Now with that in mind ask yourself this question… did you ever want *more* than justice for some wrong done to you or a loved one of yours? Did you ever want them to suffer more than they really deserved? Did you want that simply because that person had the audacity, the evil in them to commit the evil act? Do we want a person to pay double, triple because they had NO right to do what they did? Do we sometimes want their death even if they did not commit murder- simply because of the horrifying pain they caused? Do we in our finite judgment really believe we have a right to take life from anyone?
I'll be the first to admit that evil, true, real evil exists- that there are people who have embraced evil to its fullest and their lives reflect that. Evil deserves to be wipe out, but we aren't the ones who are to do that wiping out.
We were given an instruction on how to deal with the wrong doing others would inflict upon us and we weren't satisfied with getting just and eye for an eye- we wanted two eyes for one eye. We weren't happy with getting a tooth for a tooth we wanted a whole mouthful of teeth for a single tooth. We couldn't be trusted to err on the side of good because inevitably we would err on the side of evil. Our own evil nature would take over and we don't mete out justice fairly but allow our judgment to be colored by all that makes us who we are. Who hasn't heard about a judge being harsh because he/she was having a bad day? We can try our hardest to be fair and that's a good thing- as far as it goes- but we are very imperfect and the imperfect judging the imperfect is never very good.
Does this mean I think all evil should be simply ignored? No.
But I believe ANY evil person we judge needs to be judged with compassion.
Mat 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mat 5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
Those who would hurt us need to get compassion from us- not returned evil. What's this doing? What's this compassion all about? It does what? It REVEALS JESUS.
The salvation each of us can have is given to us freely and totally undeserved. The compassion that is within us through the love of our Savior can be freely given to those undeserving. This is the message we are to hear from these words of our Savior, this is the lesson we need to learn. Not to do unto others as they've done to us, no… but do what our Savior would have us do unto them… reveal undeserved compassion and in doing so we reveal the love of God.
By His amazing love and grace may we seek Him and His wisdom whenever we are in a situation needing compassion over justice or revenge.
In His love!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Swear not at all
Mat 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Let your communication be Yes or No- whatsoever is more than these comes from evil.
When we use 'Maybe', what are we really doing? Seriously, think about it for a moment. We've ALL used the word maybe when someone wanted us to say yes or no, haven't we? Ask a question and someone says maybe… you get that gut feeling their real desire is to say no, but when we want them to say yes, or yes when we want them to say no. Maybe is used when a decision isn't ready to be made and that's not such a bad thing. But this isn't really talking about saying maybe it's talking about swearing an oath. We need to understand something- historians of the day tell us that it was common for people before Christ to swear and oath to someone but NOT feel obligated to truly keep that oath believing that God would understand the reasoning- the performing unto the Lord the oaths and NOT the people to whom you've made them was a way to appease the guilt of not keeping your word- and THIS wasn't right. Just as God allowed people to divorce for petty reasons until Jesus came to set them free with the truth because of the people heart hardness- people were allowed to appease their guilt of being unable to complete an oath by claiming God's understanding.
No more! This would be allowed NO longer! People who were genuine in their needing God's help, God's forgiveness when they failed to keep an oath were overshadowed by those abusing the situation. How easy it became for them to make an oath and then know that they NEVER really had to keep that oath- they LIED. Just as people used the allowable reason for divorce and abused that reason, they abused this too.
No reason was good enough to lie! No reason was good enough to make an oath and then NOT keep it! People have DIED to stand by their oaths, but for some reason others think absolutely nothing of lying to a person. Some think nothing of making an oath all the while they know even as they are making that oath that they won't keep it. LIARS!
God cannot abide a liar, and is it any wonder???
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
The devil is a LIAR. The devil is the Father of LYING!
Is it any wonder Jesus said this--
Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Swear NOT at all.
Swear by NOTHING!
Don't even swear by yourself, not even a HAIR on your head!
If you don't swear - if you don't make any oaths- if you don't make any promises especially if you don't know if you can keep them- then you won't be lying. An oath, a promise, is important. We are NOT to make any oath lightly. In the third commandment God states we are not to take His name in vain. We do take it in vain when we swear by God, when we perform our oaths to God while lying to others. Jesus would have us understand that sin separates us from Him. Lies separate us from God. Every time we lie we sin. People don't want to believe that, they just plain don't want to believe that it's true. They love their lying, they love their cherished white lies, they love the ease with which they can tell untruths and deceive others and they pacify themselves by telling themselves that it isn't hurting anyone. Wrong. It hurts God. It hurts us and we don't even realize it because we don't feel physical pain when we lie. We don't feel physical pain when we are being separated from God. If we felt the pain we wouldn't believe that lying hurts no one. Spiritual pain, agonizing spiritual pain… if we could only realize. God realizes, God knows. Jesus knows and anything that separates us from Him is not acceptable to Him. Love, this is love- God and God with us.
By His grace may we keep from swearing any oaths. By His grace may we keep from lying. By His love now and forever and ever!
Amen.
Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Let your communication be Yes or No- whatsoever is more than these comes from evil.
When we use 'Maybe', what are we really doing? Seriously, think about it for a moment. We've ALL used the word maybe when someone wanted us to say yes or no, haven't we? Ask a question and someone says maybe… you get that gut feeling their real desire is to say no, but when we want them to say yes, or yes when we want them to say no. Maybe is used when a decision isn't ready to be made and that's not such a bad thing. But this isn't really talking about saying maybe it's talking about swearing an oath. We need to understand something- historians of the day tell us that it was common for people before Christ to swear and oath to someone but NOT feel obligated to truly keep that oath believing that God would understand the reasoning- the performing unto the Lord the oaths and NOT the people to whom you've made them was a way to appease the guilt of not keeping your word- and THIS wasn't right. Just as God allowed people to divorce for petty reasons until Jesus came to set them free with the truth because of the people heart hardness- people were allowed to appease their guilt of being unable to complete an oath by claiming God's understanding.
No more! This would be allowed NO longer! People who were genuine in their needing God's help, God's forgiveness when they failed to keep an oath were overshadowed by those abusing the situation. How easy it became for them to make an oath and then know that they NEVER really had to keep that oath- they LIED. Just as people used the allowable reason for divorce and abused that reason, they abused this too.
No reason was good enough to lie! No reason was good enough to make an oath and then NOT keep it! People have DIED to stand by their oaths, but for some reason others think absolutely nothing of lying to a person. Some think nothing of making an oath all the while they know even as they are making that oath that they won't keep it. LIARS!
God cannot abide a liar, and is it any wonder???
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
The devil is a LIAR. The devil is the Father of LYING!
Is it any wonder Jesus said this--
Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Swear NOT at all.
Swear by NOTHING!
Don't even swear by yourself, not even a HAIR on your head!
If you don't swear - if you don't make any oaths- if you don't make any promises especially if you don't know if you can keep them- then you won't be lying. An oath, a promise, is important. We are NOT to make any oath lightly. In the third commandment God states we are not to take His name in vain. We do take it in vain when we swear by God, when we perform our oaths to God while lying to others. Jesus would have us understand that sin separates us from Him. Lies separate us from God. Every time we lie we sin. People don't want to believe that, they just plain don't want to believe that it's true. They love their lying, they love their cherished white lies, they love the ease with which they can tell untruths and deceive others and they pacify themselves by telling themselves that it isn't hurting anyone. Wrong. It hurts God. It hurts us and we don't even realize it because we don't feel physical pain when we lie. We don't feel physical pain when we are being separated from God. If we felt the pain we wouldn't believe that lying hurts no one. Spiritual pain, agonizing spiritual pain… if we could only realize. God realizes, God knows. Jesus knows and anything that separates us from Him is not acceptable to Him. Love, this is love- God and God with us.
By His grace may we keep from swearing any oaths. By His grace may we keep from lying. By His love now and forever and ever!
Amen.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Two As One
Mat 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
Mat 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
The cause of fornication.
Fornication-
FORNICA'TION, n. [L. fornicatio.]
1. The incontinence or lewdness of unmarried persons, male or female; also, the criminal conversation of a married man with an unmarried woman.
2. Adultery. Mat 5.
3. Incest. 1 Cor 5.
4. Idolatry; a forsaking of the true God, and worshipping of idols. 2 Chr 21. Rev 19.
*******
Save for the cause of fornication. If a married man or woman commits adultery then they may be divorced- but other than this there is NO cause for divorce. Simple NOT enjoying the company of your married partner any longer is not a reason for divorce. Let's read the OLD law of divorcement-
Deu 24:1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
Deu 24:2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife.
Deu 24:3 And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;
Deu 24:4 Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Some uncleanness- the world here for uncleanness is…
From H6168; nudity, literally (especially the pudenda) or figuratively (disgrace, blemish): - nakedness, shame, unclean (-ness).
1. pudendaplural of pu·den·dum
Noun: A person's external genitals, esp. a woman's
If a husband found uncleanness in his wife- obviously it can't be nakedness because a husband and wife are allowed this privilege- so figuratively if they found some disgrace, some blemish the man could divorce his wife. This left it open to so many possibilities for divorce. A blemish… can you even imagine. A woman gets a freckle that the husband doesn't like- he could divorce her! You know that's not much different than it is today. We can divorce a person for any reason we like- we just have to say we're incompatible and what exactly does that mean? It means we just don't get along with each other any more. That could be ONE person not getting along with the other even if the other does everything in their power to please them. We have NO real binding contract any more, none whatsoever. And guess what, they didn't in the Old Testament times, the times before Christ, either. Is it any wonder at all that Jesus once again explained the TRUE meaning of God's word? This all goes so much deeper than just marriage between a man and a woman. This symbolizes God and His church, God and His people!
Jer 3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
God's people committed adultery! God's people can choose to worship other gods and when they do they are committing adultery! There is NO way God would frivolously divorce His people, no way!!! This was a SERIOUS offense. To believe that God would use fickleness as a reason to divorce His people is to misunderstand God completely! Is it any wonder we as married people should NEVER divorce save for adultery? If we believe it's fine to divorce each other for any little reason, then we have to believe it's fine for God to divorce Himself from us for any little reason.
Let's read more...
Mar 10:2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
Mar 10:3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
Mar 10:4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
Mar 10:5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
Mar 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
Mar 10:7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
Mar 10:8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
Mar 10:9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
For the hardness of your heart- this was the reason that they had been allowed to divorce so frivolously because they didn't have their hearts right! There hearts were hard, and a hard heart is a heart that isn't fully open to our Savior's love. When we harden our hearts we are pushing God out of our lives.
These words- hardness of your heart- means this:
sklērokardia
sklay-rok-ar-dee'-ah
Feminine of a compound of G4642 and G2588; hard heartedness, that is, (specifically) destitution of (spiritual) perception: - hardness of heart.
Destitute of spiritual perception! Being UNABLE to perceive GOD! People hardened their hearts and in doing so they can no longer perceive God's love! Unable to perceive God in His full truth God allowed the people to have their way to because they were too HARD hearted to perceive what marriage between a man and woman really meant.
No longer would our Savior accept a hard heart- no longer would divorce for frivolous reasons be allowed.
From the beginning God made man and woman- a pair that would procreate, a pair that would stay together as one, a pair that would LEAVE their parents to join with one another. Two that would become ONE joined by GOD. A spiritual joining that if God joins NO man can separate.
The idea that we can be separated from God is very frightening! Separated from our Creator, our Redeemer, our Sustainer! Loving God- longing to be ONE with God through the grace of our Lord and Savior who makes the ONENESS possible (makes ATONEMENT for us), this is LIFE. We only have real LIFE in our God, in our Savior, in the Holy Spirit!
Is it any wonder at all that God wants married couples to stay together as one?!
If God's people separate themselves from God they are committing spiritual adultery.
If a man or a woman separates themselves from their husband or wife by taking ANOTHER husband or wife, they are committing adultery.
Separation- something together coming apart. Something that is two becoming one and then becoming two once again.
We don't ever want to be separated from God!
And we should never want to be separated from our marriage partner.
Yes, divorce is allowed when there is fornication, why? Because God will NOT join with a people who have separated themselves from Him and gone with other gods. God does not force people to stay with Him. People are allowed to choose to separate themselves from Him, Satan chose to separated Himself from God. The price that is paid for those who choose to apostatize from their Creator, their Sustainer, their Redeemer, their God is very high- eternal death, it will be as if you never were. Why? Because the truth is, we CANNOT survive eternally without God, it's just not possible. We can try all we want to come up with our own plan to be saved and live eternally but nothing we do will work, nothing. We cannot LIVE without God. People think they can because they really believe this life here and now is real living, they don't understand this is just a stepping stone. This isn't REAL life, we are living under the weight of sin, suffocating under sin and people call this life. Life is in Jesus! Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Mat 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
Mat 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
By the grace of God may we never leave our Savior, may we NEVER leave our God, may we stay true to Him now and always!
In Him always and forever!
Amen.
Mat 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
The cause of fornication.
Fornication-
FORNICA'TION, n. [L. fornicatio.]
1. The incontinence or lewdness of unmarried persons, male or female; also, the criminal conversation of a married man with an unmarried woman.
2. Adultery. Mat 5.
3. Incest. 1 Cor 5.
4. Idolatry; a forsaking of the true God, and worshipping of idols. 2 Chr 21. Rev 19.
*******
Save for the cause of fornication. If a married man or woman commits adultery then they may be divorced- but other than this there is NO cause for divorce. Simple NOT enjoying the company of your married partner any longer is not a reason for divorce. Let's read the OLD law of divorcement-
Deu 24:1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
Deu 24:2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife.
Deu 24:3 And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;
Deu 24:4 Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Some uncleanness- the world here for uncleanness is…
From H6168; nudity, literally (especially the pudenda) or figuratively (disgrace, blemish): - nakedness, shame, unclean (-ness).
1. pudendaplural of pu·den·dum
Noun: A person's external genitals, esp. a woman's
If a husband found uncleanness in his wife- obviously it can't be nakedness because a husband and wife are allowed this privilege- so figuratively if they found some disgrace, some blemish the man could divorce his wife. This left it open to so many possibilities for divorce. A blemish… can you even imagine. A woman gets a freckle that the husband doesn't like- he could divorce her! You know that's not much different than it is today. We can divorce a person for any reason we like- we just have to say we're incompatible and what exactly does that mean? It means we just don't get along with each other any more. That could be ONE person not getting along with the other even if the other does everything in their power to please them. We have NO real binding contract any more, none whatsoever. And guess what, they didn't in the Old Testament times, the times before Christ, either. Is it any wonder at all that Jesus once again explained the TRUE meaning of God's word? This all goes so much deeper than just marriage between a man and a woman. This symbolizes God and His church, God and His people!
Jer 3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
God's people committed adultery! God's people can choose to worship other gods and when they do they are committing adultery! There is NO way God would frivolously divorce His people, no way!!! This was a SERIOUS offense. To believe that God would use fickleness as a reason to divorce His people is to misunderstand God completely! Is it any wonder we as married people should NEVER divorce save for adultery? If we believe it's fine to divorce each other for any little reason, then we have to believe it's fine for God to divorce Himself from us for any little reason.
Let's read more...
Mar 10:2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
Mar 10:3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
Mar 10:4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
Mar 10:5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
Mar 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
Mar 10:7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
Mar 10:8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
Mar 10:9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
For the hardness of your heart- this was the reason that they had been allowed to divorce so frivolously because they didn't have their hearts right! There hearts were hard, and a hard heart is a heart that isn't fully open to our Savior's love. When we harden our hearts we are pushing God out of our lives.
These words- hardness of your heart- means this:
sklērokardia
sklay-rok-ar-dee'-ah
Feminine of a compound of G4642 and G2588; hard heartedness, that is, (specifically) destitution of (spiritual) perception: - hardness of heart.
Destitute of spiritual perception! Being UNABLE to perceive GOD! People hardened their hearts and in doing so they can no longer perceive God's love! Unable to perceive God in His full truth God allowed the people to have their way to because they were too HARD hearted to perceive what marriage between a man and woman really meant.
No longer would our Savior accept a hard heart- no longer would divorce for frivolous reasons be allowed.
From the beginning God made man and woman- a pair that would procreate, a pair that would stay together as one, a pair that would LEAVE their parents to join with one another. Two that would become ONE joined by GOD. A spiritual joining that if God joins NO man can separate.
The idea that we can be separated from God is very frightening! Separated from our Creator, our Redeemer, our Sustainer! Loving God- longing to be ONE with God through the grace of our Lord and Savior who makes the ONENESS possible (makes ATONEMENT for us), this is LIFE. We only have real LIFE in our God, in our Savior, in the Holy Spirit!
Is it any wonder at all that God wants married couples to stay together as one?!
If God's people separate themselves from God they are committing spiritual adultery.
If a man or a woman separates themselves from their husband or wife by taking ANOTHER husband or wife, they are committing adultery.
Separation- something together coming apart. Something that is two becoming one and then becoming two once again.
We don't ever want to be separated from God!
And we should never want to be separated from our marriage partner.
Yes, divorce is allowed when there is fornication, why? Because God will NOT join with a people who have separated themselves from Him and gone with other gods. God does not force people to stay with Him. People are allowed to choose to separate themselves from Him, Satan chose to separated Himself from God. The price that is paid for those who choose to apostatize from their Creator, their Sustainer, their Redeemer, their God is very high- eternal death, it will be as if you never were. Why? Because the truth is, we CANNOT survive eternally without God, it's just not possible. We can try all we want to come up with our own plan to be saved and live eternally but nothing we do will work, nothing. We cannot LIVE without God. People think they can because they really believe this life here and now is real living, they don't understand this is just a stepping stone. This isn't REAL life, we are living under the weight of sin, suffocating under sin and people call this life. Life is in Jesus! Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Mat 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
Mat 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
By the grace of God may we never leave our Savior, may we NEVER leave our God, may we stay true to Him now and always!
In Him always and forever!
Amen.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Horror of Sin
Mat 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Mat 5:30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Do you think for ONE moment that plucking out an eye or cutting off a hand would stop a sinner from sinning? Seriously. How wondrous it would be to think that all we had to do was sacrifice and eye and we would no longer sin through the things we look on to lust for. And our hand, is it truly the hand that is sinning? Think about it. If we could lose a hand and gain salvation why we'd have whole churches filled with one-handed, one-eyed people guaranteed salvation. Sin is in our hearts and we can't pluck or cut those out.
Jesus knew that the actuality of us plucking out our eyes and chopping off our hands wasn't what He was trying to teach us. Using such GRAPHIC depictions allows us to realize just how important it is that we don't accept sin in any form in our lives. We cannot condone sin. It's better for us to do all we can not to sin, to rid our hearts of sin through Him than it is to die eternally. It's better for us to SUFFER the agonies of denying ourselves our sinful desires than to burn in the lake of fire.
Remember our study on Hell? Maybe not, let's just recap a bit of it…
We talk of hell and there are different meanings for that word throughout our Bibles. Geenna is one of those words--and the particular word used here in Matthew 5:29,30
G1067
γέεννα
geenna
Thayer Definition:
1) Hell is the place of the future punishment call “Gehenna” or “Gehenna of fire”. This was originally the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned; a fit symbol of the wicked and their future destruction.
Originally the valley of Hinnom- a place that had a fire continually burning to burn the constant refuse brought to be destroyed- much like a garbage dump only this dump destroyed the garbage turning it into ash rather than let the garbage just simply accumulate. The fire there in the valley never went out - day and night it burned having a constant, steady stream of refuse to feed it.
Using this word for hell here in Matthew 5:29,30 refers to the body being cast in the 'lake of fire' the lake of permanent punishment that all wicked will be burned in.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Obviously Jesus is telling us that it's better to SUFFER whatever we need to suffer in order not to sin than to give into sin and make it part of our lives- accepting sin, indulging in the perversities of sinning rather that risk being among the wicked not found in the book of life.
THESE are Jesus' words! These aren't my words! I'm not telling you it's better to pluck out your own eye, or cut off your hand than be burned to the point of total annihilation in the lake of fire reserved for the wicked.
I can already hear the cries- WE CAN'T SAVE OURSELVES! You're telling us by our actions we are saved! You're telling us if we don't sin then we are saved! You're telling us if we mortify the flesh we have salvation! It's not me, it's not my words, it's the word of Inspiration! It's the word of GOD!
Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Col 3:6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
Col 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him
Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Don't you see? It's better for US to realize that we are NOT the same people after we accept Christ as our Savior. We have HIM on our side. We have the Holy Spirit to lead us! We HAVE to put off sinning. We HAVE to mortify our members. We HAVE to mortify the deed of the body. We have to live after the Spirit, not the flesh at all costs! And don't make the mistake of thinking that it's not hard, or that you must not be right with God if it's hard. Such a HUGE mistake. Jesus is telling us to CUT OFF OUR HANDS! Jesus is telling us to PLUCK OUT OUR EYES! Just for one moment imagine doing it…go on, IMAGINE IT!
Visualize yourself bringing your hand up to your face, your thumb and forefinger heading towards your eye… touching your eye…pressing inwards… are you shuddering at the thought yet? Can you truly imagine plucking your own eye out? How about raising a butcher knife over your wrist getting ready to slam it down and hack your own hand off? SICK! Disgusting! Horrifying thoughts! We NEED to understand how horrific sin is. You and I will suffer when we war against the cherished sins in our lives. You and I will agonize over the hold sin has on us as we weep at the feet of our Savior begging forgiveness. We must constantly seek forgiveness and we must constantly place our salvation in the hands of our Savior who alone has the power to save us. We must never forget the horror of sin and Satan would have us do just that, Satan wants us to trivialize sin and make it of little consequence. We can't do that, we mustn't do that! We have to recognize sin and fight it, mortify our flesh, resisting sin, striving unto blood against sin!
Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Never minimalize sin, never ever think that it is of no importance, it is sin that brings eternal death, it is sin that reserves for us a place in the lake of fire, it is sin that will make us as if we never were one day, it is sin that killed our innocent Savior!
Jesus was talking to a group of people who had a sacrificial system in place- they knew all about sin and what they needed to do to find atonement - to be one with God again. They had daily sacrifices, yearly sacrifices- they knew that sin cost the life of an animal that symbolized the coming Messiah. They knew blood had to be shed for the remission of sins. These people understood, but they'd grown complacent, they'd become immune to the horrors of sinning. This had become a way of life for them- they sin- they sought forgiveness through a sacrifice the priests made for them. Sin had lost a lot of it's horror, much as it has today for so many people - in fact for the majority of people.
Here Jesus was teaching that what they knew to be sin was even more sinful than they'd imagined, that their thoughts could be sin, that their hearts could be corrupted by sin and that sin was so horrific they needed to understand that it would be better to maim themselves than sin and warrant everlasting destruction. And we understand just as our Savior wanted us to understand that to rip out our own eyes, to cut off our own hands are very graphic reminders of the horrors of sinning going unchecked within us.
By His grace through the Holy Spirit may we keep from sinning, may we be found in the Book of Life! In His amazing love now and forever!
Amen.
Mat 5:30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Do you think for ONE moment that plucking out an eye or cutting off a hand would stop a sinner from sinning? Seriously. How wondrous it would be to think that all we had to do was sacrifice and eye and we would no longer sin through the things we look on to lust for. And our hand, is it truly the hand that is sinning? Think about it. If we could lose a hand and gain salvation why we'd have whole churches filled with one-handed, one-eyed people guaranteed salvation. Sin is in our hearts and we can't pluck or cut those out.
Jesus knew that the actuality of us plucking out our eyes and chopping off our hands wasn't what He was trying to teach us. Using such GRAPHIC depictions allows us to realize just how important it is that we don't accept sin in any form in our lives. We cannot condone sin. It's better for us to do all we can not to sin, to rid our hearts of sin through Him than it is to die eternally. It's better for us to SUFFER the agonies of denying ourselves our sinful desires than to burn in the lake of fire.
Remember our study on Hell? Maybe not, let's just recap a bit of it…
We talk of hell and there are different meanings for that word throughout our Bibles. Geenna is one of those words--and the particular word used here in Matthew 5:29,30
G1067
γέεννα
geenna
Thayer Definition:
1) Hell is the place of the future punishment call “Gehenna” or “Gehenna of fire”. This was originally the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned; a fit symbol of the wicked and their future destruction.
Originally the valley of Hinnom- a place that had a fire continually burning to burn the constant refuse brought to be destroyed- much like a garbage dump only this dump destroyed the garbage turning it into ash rather than let the garbage just simply accumulate. The fire there in the valley never went out - day and night it burned having a constant, steady stream of refuse to feed it.
Using this word for hell here in Matthew 5:29,30 refers to the body being cast in the 'lake of fire' the lake of permanent punishment that all wicked will be burned in.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Obviously Jesus is telling us that it's better to SUFFER whatever we need to suffer in order not to sin than to give into sin and make it part of our lives- accepting sin, indulging in the perversities of sinning rather that risk being among the wicked not found in the book of life.
THESE are Jesus' words! These aren't my words! I'm not telling you it's better to pluck out your own eye, or cut off your hand than be burned to the point of total annihilation in the lake of fire reserved for the wicked.
I can already hear the cries- WE CAN'T SAVE OURSELVES! You're telling us by our actions we are saved! You're telling us if we don't sin then we are saved! You're telling us if we mortify the flesh we have salvation! It's not me, it's not my words, it's the word of Inspiration! It's the word of GOD!
Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Col 3:6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
Col 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him
Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Don't you see? It's better for US to realize that we are NOT the same people after we accept Christ as our Savior. We have HIM on our side. We have the Holy Spirit to lead us! We HAVE to put off sinning. We HAVE to mortify our members. We HAVE to mortify the deed of the body. We have to live after the Spirit, not the flesh at all costs! And don't make the mistake of thinking that it's not hard, or that you must not be right with God if it's hard. Such a HUGE mistake. Jesus is telling us to CUT OFF OUR HANDS! Jesus is telling us to PLUCK OUT OUR EYES! Just for one moment imagine doing it…go on, IMAGINE IT!
Visualize yourself bringing your hand up to your face, your thumb and forefinger heading towards your eye… touching your eye…pressing inwards… are you shuddering at the thought yet? Can you truly imagine plucking your own eye out? How about raising a butcher knife over your wrist getting ready to slam it down and hack your own hand off? SICK! Disgusting! Horrifying thoughts! We NEED to understand how horrific sin is. You and I will suffer when we war against the cherished sins in our lives. You and I will agonize over the hold sin has on us as we weep at the feet of our Savior begging forgiveness. We must constantly seek forgiveness and we must constantly place our salvation in the hands of our Savior who alone has the power to save us. We must never forget the horror of sin and Satan would have us do just that, Satan wants us to trivialize sin and make it of little consequence. We can't do that, we mustn't do that! We have to recognize sin and fight it, mortify our flesh, resisting sin, striving unto blood against sin!
Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Never minimalize sin, never ever think that it is of no importance, it is sin that brings eternal death, it is sin that reserves for us a place in the lake of fire, it is sin that will make us as if we never were one day, it is sin that killed our innocent Savior!
Jesus was talking to a group of people who had a sacrificial system in place- they knew all about sin and what they needed to do to find atonement - to be one with God again. They had daily sacrifices, yearly sacrifices- they knew that sin cost the life of an animal that symbolized the coming Messiah. They knew blood had to be shed for the remission of sins. These people understood, but they'd grown complacent, they'd become immune to the horrors of sinning. This had become a way of life for them- they sin- they sought forgiveness through a sacrifice the priests made for them. Sin had lost a lot of it's horror, much as it has today for so many people - in fact for the majority of people.
Here Jesus was teaching that what they knew to be sin was even more sinful than they'd imagined, that their thoughts could be sin, that their hearts could be corrupted by sin and that sin was so horrific they needed to understand that it would be better to maim themselves than sin and warrant everlasting destruction. And we understand just as our Savior wanted us to understand that to rip out our own eyes, to cut off our own hands are very graphic reminders of the horrors of sinning going unchecked within us.
By His grace through the Holy Spirit may we keep from sinning, may we be found in the Book of Life! In His amazing love now and forever!
Amen.
Friday, March 25, 2011
In our heart
Mat 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
From OLD times, from LONG AGO, in AGES PAST the word came- 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.'
Then man decided this meant simply the act of adultery and not the thought of it. The thought was okay, but was it ever okay? We know this...
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Temptation begins in the thoughts, in the mind. Seriously, temptation begins when we allow our thoughts of temptation to take over. Jesus was tempted but He did not succumb to temptation, He NEVER let His thoughts take over. He didn't stand on the highest pinnacle and begin to contemplate what it would be like to have all mankind right then and there bow down to Him. He didn't allow His mind to dwell on thoughts of how good a piece of bread would taste, how filling it would be to his fast starved body. He didn't stop for a few moments and think about how wonderful it would be to show off to Satan by falling and letting angels bear Him up. Our Savior didn't allow any thought of the temptation to take over Him. When tempted He was QUICK with a rebuke to that temptation. His first thought was REBUKE.
re·buke
1.
to express sharp, stern disapproval of; reprove; reprimand.
–noun
2.
sharp, stern disapproval; reproof; reprimand.
Pasted from
What is our first thought when we are tempted? Seriously, lets consider this for a moment and be frank about our answers. We all know of times we've given into temptation and sinned. The moment the temptation came did we rebuke it? We may have recognized it as temptation but recognizing temptation IS NOT rebuking temptation. Recognition is good but after the first moment of recognition that we are facing temptation we need to be instant in our rebuking of that temptation.
All too often we recognize that we are being tempted but then something else comes into play- our lust to give into that temptation. We feel a rush of desire towards that temptation. That IS what temptation is, isn't it? Being face to face with the opportunity to give into a desire, a lust we hold. I'm not talking uniquely sexual desire or sexual lust, but a desire or lust for anything that is sin. You can desire an object, you can lust after gold. When the desire is for something forbidden- another man's wife, a treasure of gold belonging to another- you are tempted wrongly, tempted towards sin. When you indulge that temptation in your thoughts you are imagining yourself committing the sin, you are entertaining sin as being something good- allowing it to fill your mind crowding out truth, crowding out God because God cannot dwell where sin dwells.
Mat 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
'Whosoever LOOKETH on a woman to LUST after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.'
It's not enough to just keep ourselves from the act of outward sin- we MUST keep our hearts and minds pure, we must keep our hearts and minds on our Savior, not self and self desires, self lusts.
We must REBUKE temptation instantly! We must not look upon our temptation and lust for it in our heart. We must not come face to face with temptation and embrace it. We must not think about our temptation and continue to think upon it. The more lust after our temptation the more likely we are to give into that temptation, the more we lust after our temptation in becomes sin right there in our minds even if we never act upon that lust.
Lust--
epithumeō
ep-ee-thoo-meh'-o
From G1909 and G2372; to set the heart upon, that is, long for (rightfully or otherwise): - covet, desire, would fain, lust (after).
If our hearts are SET upon, if we are coveting in our hearts ANY SIN we are guilty of that sin. May God keep us from coveting any sin whatsoever! Sin is to be abhorred, not just - not physically committed. How many, many people do not commit the physical act of sin yet in their hearts they sin continuously all the while patting themselves on the back for NOT actually sinning. Is it any wonder our Savior is going to say to so many people that He never knew them, when there they'll be thinking they should be saved. Sin begins in the heart. When our hearts desire is to sin we are sinning. Our Lord must be our all in all. Our treasures MUST be in heaven. Our hearts desire must be towards God, towards His love and not towards self. We have resist the pull to self and that pull is soooooooooo great because we have people on all sides wanting to help us indulge self, and we have a GREAT adversary who wants nothing more than for us to put self first, we have a flesh nature that wars against the spiritual nature.
The path is narrow, few will find it, please God we pray that we are among the few! We pray we are known by You! We pray for the ability to rebuke temptation, to rebuke even thoughts of temptation. By Your grace! By Your will! In Your love!
Amen!
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
From OLD times, from LONG AGO, in AGES PAST the word came- 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.'
Then man decided this meant simply the act of adultery and not the thought of it. The thought was okay, but was it ever okay? We know this...
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Temptation begins in the thoughts, in the mind. Seriously, temptation begins when we allow our thoughts of temptation to take over. Jesus was tempted but He did not succumb to temptation, He NEVER let His thoughts take over. He didn't stand on the highest pinnacle and begin to contemplate what it would be like to have all mankind right then and there bow down to Him. He didn't allow His mind to dwell on thoughts of how good a piece of bread would taste, how filling it would be to his fast starved body. He didn't stop for a few moments and think about how wonderful it would be to show off to Satan by falling and letting angels bear Him up. Our Savior didn't allow any thought of the temptation to take over Him. When tempted He was QUICK with a rebuke to that temptation. His first thought was REBUKE.
re·buke
1.
to express sharp, stern disapproval of; reprove; reprimand.
–noun
2.
sharp, stern disapproval; reproof; reprimand.
Pasted from
What is our first thought when we are tempted? Seriously, lets consider this for a moment and be frank about our answers. We all know of times we've given into temptation and sinned. The moment the temptation came did we rebuke it? We may have recognized it as temptation but recognizing temptation IS NOT rebuking temptation. Recognition is good but after the first moment of recognition that we are facing temptation we need to be instant in our rebuking of that temptation.
All too often we recognize that we are being tempted but then something else comes into play- our lust to give into that temptation. We feel a rush of desire towards that temptation. That IS what temptation is, isn't it? Being face to face with the opportunity to give into a desire, a lust we hold. I'm not talking uniquely sexual desire or sexual lust, but a desire or lust for anything that is sin. You can desire an object, you can lust after gold. When the desire is for something forbidden- another man's wife, a treasure of gold belonging to another- you are tempted wrongly, tempted towards sin. When you indulge that temptation in your thoughts you are imagining yourself committing the sin, you are entertaining sin as being something good- allowing it to fill your mind crowding out truth, crowding out God because God cannot dwell where sin dwells.
Mat 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
'Whosoever LOOKETH on a woman to LUST after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.'
It's not enough to just keep ourselves from the act of outward sin- we MUST keep our hearts and minds pure, we must keep our hearts and minds on our Savior, not self and self desires, self lusts.
We must REBUKE temptation instantly! We must not look upon our temptation and lust for it in our heart. We must not come face to face with temptation and embrace it. We must not think about our temptation and continue to think upon it. The more lust after our temptation the more likely we are to give into that temptation, the more we lust after our temptation in becomes sin right there in our minds even if we never act upon that lust.
Lust--
epithumeō
ep-ee-thoo-meh'-o
From G1909 and G2372; to set the heart upon, that is, long for (rightfully or otherwise): - covet, desire, would fain, lust (after).
If our hearts are SET upon, if we are coveting in our hearts ANY SIN we are guilty of that sin. May God keep us from coveting any sin whatsoever! Sin is to be abhorred, not just - not physically committed. How many, many people do not commit the physical act of sin yet in their hearts they sin continuously all the while patting themselves on the back for NOT actually sinning. Is it any wonder our Savior is going to say to so many people that He never knew them, when there they'll be thinking they should be saved. Sin begins in the heart. When our hearts desire is to sin we are sinning. Our Lord must be our all in all. Our treasures MUST be in heaven. Our hearts desire must be towards God, towards His love and not towards self. We have resist the pull to self and that pull is soooooooooo great because we have people on all sides wanting to help us indulge self, and we have a GREAT adversary who wants nothing more than for us to put self first, we have a flesh nature that wars against the spiritual nature.
The path is narrow, few will find it, please God we pray that we are among the few! We pray we are known by You! We pray for the ability to rebuke temptation, to rebuke even thoughts of temptation. By Your grace! By Your will! In Your love!
Amen!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Agree with thine adversary quickly
Mat 5:25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Mat 5:26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
Agree- reconcile with
Adversary- enemy, opponent
This seems strange doesn't it? Agreeing with one you don't agree with on principle. To have an enemy, to have an opponent means not agreeing with that person- they are your enemy, you obviously don't agree. Can you think of a person who is or has been your adversary in the past, or even currently? In thinking about them what makes them your adversary? You could say something as simple as ' "I just don't like them." and that could be true, we don't instantly like everyone, some people are very abrasive to our personalities and seem very incompatible. So we just don't like them and they just don't like us and in not liking each other we aren't inclined to want to be agreeable with each other. However, and this is a big HOWEVER, Jesus would have us LOVE our enemies and adversaries.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies...
Just in the previous verses Jesus is teaching us the importance of loving our fellowman. How we aren't to treat others badly, we can't judge another's eternal life, we can't KNOW another as God can know them.
So when Jesus tells us to agree with our adversaries He's NOT telling us to BE LIKE our adversaries. Jesus is NOT telling us to agree to their evil and commit evil with them. Jesus is really telling us to LOVE our adversary. We can LOVE our enemies, we can love our adversaries because GOD loves us! If we are loveable to God, then our enemies are loveable to God, and if our enemies are loveable to God they are loveable to us. Do we have to like them? No. Do we have to like what they do? No. Can we judge their actions? We HAVE to judge their actions because the actions people make reveal right and wrong and by judging an action we decide whether or not we're going to do right or wrong ourselves. We must love but commit no sin in doing so. Agreeing with our adversaries does not mean going along with their sins, their crimes, their wrongs. If we were asked by our adversary to commit sin we should NOT commit sin- it's not that sort of agreeing!
Agree- G2468 G2132
G2468
??´s??
isthi
is'-thee
Second person imperative present of G1510; be thou: - + agree, be, X give thyself wholly to.
e????´e?
eunoeo¯
yoo-no-eh'-o
From a compound of G2095 and G3563; to be well minded, that is, reconcile: - agree.
Be well minded, be reconciled-
Webster--
Reconciled
RECONCI'LED, pp. Brought into friendship from a state of disagreement or enmity; made consistent; adjusted.
Webster--
Agree
AGREE', v.i.[L. gratia. the primary sense is advancing, from the same root as L. gradior.]
5. To come to a compromise of differences; to be reconciled.
AGREE', v.t. To admit, or come to one mind concerning; as, to agree the fact. Also, to reconcile or make friends; to put an end to variance; but these senses are unusual and hardly legitimate. Let the parties agree the fact, is really elliptical; let them agree on the fact.
I like this definition- to come to a compromise of differences- to be reconciled.
When we are with our adversaries and there are intense disagreements, resolving things is very important. When two people usually buckle down and don't *agree to disagree* they are digging their heels in and that refusal to PUT SELF aside is where Jesus would have us emulate Him and shove self totally aside and when that happens more often than not there is a reconciliation.
Self is often unwilling to agree to disagree. Self is right there wanting victory. Self wants to be proven right at all costs. Self wants earthly justice which is often missing in many, many trials between adversaries. I've found out personally dealing with the courts and my ex-husband for child support issues that fairness, justice is RARE! That's just my experience there but I'm sure there are a lot of instances where justice seems absent and the guilty win over and over again. We see a whole lot of *proven innocent years later through DNA evidence* going on and for every case that is proven you know there have to be so many more that are as well but they're not proven. Satan loves when the innocent suffer and if he can get an innocent put in jail he has an easy situation in which to corrupt that person. They might not have been guilty before but the incarceration experience changes all that. Is it any wonder we should not be eager to get involved in situations that lead to adversarial disagreements that could have us end up in jail?
Brotherly love, selflessness, these are things Jesus wants to teach us, things we should all be learning and building on that learning experience daily. We have countless opportunities to love, to show the love of our Savior.
Mat 5:25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Mat 5:26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
We should show brotherly love and selflessness when we are with our adversaries, having a willingness to agree to disagree, having a willingness to be cheated, abused, face injustices without seeking vengeance. Jesus is our example in ALL things and there were many adversaries He faced that wanted to do Him harm. He didn't provoke them. He didn't taunt them. He didn't seek earthly justice. He spoke truthfully in all things but He did not egg on His adversaries hoping they'd drag Him to court. The Apostles were the same. They did NOT provoke their adversaries, they did stand up for the truth in all things and they were judged and killed for their faith. Does this mean they didn't listen to Jesus? That they didn't *agree* with their adversaries? No. They did listen to Jesus. They NEVER senselessly sought to provoke their adversaries, never.
Jesus would have us love one another selflessly. When we find ourselves in-- let's call them *tense* situations, when we face adversarial encounters , let's remember Jesus' words. It's not important that we garner justice here on earth no matter how much we desire that justice. Allowing others to seek our pain and use the government court system to increase that pain tenfold- or to the *uttermost farthing* isn't what Jesus would have us do. We must do as He would have us do, we must learn what Jesus wants to teach us and by His grace we will!
In His love!
Amen.
Mat 5:26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
Agree- reconcile with
Adversary- enemy, opponent
This seems strange doesn't it? Agreeing with one you don't agree with on principle. To have an enemy, to have an opponent means not agreeing with that person- they are your enemy, you obviously don't agree. Can you think of a person who is or has been your adversary in the past, or even currently? In thinking about them what makes them your adversary? You could say something as simple as ' "I just don't like them." and that could be true, we don't instantly like everyone, some people are very abrasive to our personalities and seem very incompatible. So we just don't like them and they just don't like us and in not liking each other we aren't inclined to want to be agreeable with each other. However, and this is a big HOWEVER, Jesus would have us LOVE our enemies and adversaries.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies...
Just in the previous verses Jesus is teaching us the importance of loving our fellowman. How we aren't to treat others badly, we can't judge another's eternal life, we can't KNOW another as God can know them.
So when Jesus tells us to agree with our adversaries He's NOT telling us to BE LIKE our adversaries. Jesus is NOT telling us to agree to their evil and commit evil with them. Jesus is really telling us to LOVE our adversary. We can LOVE our enemies, we can love our adversaries because GOD loves us! If we are loveable to God, then our enemies are loveable to God, and if our enemies are loveable to God they are loveable to us. Do we have to like them? No. Do we have to like what they do? No. Can we judge their actions? We HAVE to judge their actions because the actions people make reveal right and wrong and by judging an action we decide whether or not we're going to do right or wrong ourselves. We must love but commit no sin in doing so. Agreeing with our adversaries does not mean going along with their sins, their crimes, their wrongs. If we were asked by our adversary to commit sin we should NOT commit sin- it's not that sort of agreeing!
Agree- G2468 G2132
G2468
??´s??
isthi
is'-thee
Second person imperative present of G1510; be thou: - + agree, be, X give thyself wholly to.
e????´e?
eunoeo¯
yoo-no-eh'-o
From a compound of G2095 and G3563; to be well minded, that is, reconcile: - agree.
Be well minded, be reconciled-
Webster--
Reconciled
RECONCI'LED, pp. Brought into friendship from a state of disagreement or enmity; made consistent; adjusted.
Webster--
Agree
AGREE', v.i.[L. gratia. the primary sense is advancing, from the same root as L. gradior.]
5. To come to a compromise of differences; to be reconciled.
AGREE', v.t. To admit, or come to one mind concerning; as, to agree the fact. Also, to reconcile or make friends; to put an end to variance; but these senses are unusual and hardly legitimate. Let the parties agree the fact, is really elliptical; let them agree on the fact.
I like this definition- to come to a compromise of differences- to be reconciled.
When we are with our adversaries and there are intense disagreements, resolving things is very important. When two people usually buckle down and don't *agree to disagree* they are digging their heels in and that refusal to PUT SELF aside is where Jesus would have us emulate Him and shove self totally aside and when that happens more often than not there is a reconciliation.
Self is often unwilling to agree to disagree. Self is right there wanting victory. Self wants to be proven right at all costs. Self wants earthly justice which is often missing in many, many trials between adversaries. I've found out personally dealing with the courts and my ex-husband for child support issues that fairness, justice is RARE! That's just my experience there but I'm sure there are a lot of instances where justice seems absent and the guilty win over and over again. We see a whole lot of *proven innocent years later through DNA evidence* going on and for every case that is proven you know there have to be so many more that are as well but they're not proven. Satan loves when the innocent suffer and if he can get an innocent put in jail he has an easy situation in which to corrupt that person. They might not have been guilty before but the incarceration experience changes all that. Is it any wonder we should not be eager to get involved in situations that lead to adversarial disagreements that could have us end up in jail?
Brotherly love, selflessness, these are things Jesus wants to teach us, things we should all be learning and building on that learning experience daily. We have countless opportunities to love, to show the love of our Savior.
Mat 5:25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Mat 5:26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
We should show brotherly love and selflessness when we are with our adversaries, having a willingness to agree to disagree, having a willingness to be cheated, abused, face injustices without seeking vengeance. Jesus is our example in ALL things and there were many adversaries He faced that wanted to do Him harm. He didn't provoke them. He didn't taunt them. He didn't seek earthly justice. He spoke truthfully in all things but He did not egg on His adversaries hoping they'd drag Him to court. The Apostles were the same. They did NOT provoke their adversaries, they did stand up for the truth in all things and they were judged and killed for their faith. Does this mean they didn't listen to Jesus? That they didn't *agree* with their adversaries? No. They did listen to Jesus. They NEVER senselessly sought to provoke their adversaries, never.
Jesus would have us love one another selflessly. When we find ourselves in-- let's call them *tense* situations, when we face adversarial encounters , let's remember Jesus' words. It's not important that we garner justice here on earth no matter how much we desire that justice. Allowing others to seek our pain and use the government court system to increase that pain tenfold- or to the *uttermost farthing* isn't what Jesus would have us do. We must do as He would have us do, we must learn what Jesus wants to teach us and by His grace we will!
In His love!
Amen.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Merciful love
Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Mat 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Mat 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
What exactly is our Savior teaching us here? Brotherly love? How important is it that we not even get angry with each other? Seriously. We so easily get angry with each other that it's become common place and we've minimalized it into being something of non-importance. To hear someone say that another person made them so angry- means nothing, we're not shocked by it at all, in fact we expect that people will anger each other. Controlling our anger has become something people have made jobs out of. Anger management is something a court will sentence a person to in an effort to rid them of destructive anger. We have doctors prescribing pills to relax people and keep them from allowing their natural tendency for anger to get the best of them. We teach our children that anger is punishable all the while they witness our anger in our every day lives- on the drive to the store, as we rant about being short changed, when we yell at them and get angry with them for some misbehavior. I've seen babies - yes, babies throwing tantrums, we all know about the 'terrible twos'. A two year old throwing a fit of anger. How about a one year old screaming and turning red in the face, little bodies shaking because they've been denied something they want?
Anger is another trait of our flesh- just as lust is, just as so many detrimental attributes we are born with. These flesh traits are not something we can ignore and just say oh well, that's just how it is. These flesh traits can and will dominate us if we simply let them, submitting to the flesh, embracing the natural. Many will say that because something is natural it has to be acceptable and fine. It's natural but we only allow that up to a point as an excuse for naturally bad behavior. People *born* that way, born with the natural tendency towards evil we've locked up and even put to death.
There is a line WE - in our world-wide civilized society - draw. We draw the lines and make them into our laws that must be followed and if not followed then there is a penalty for breaking those laws.
God's laws coincide a lot with our supposed man-made laws. We have laws against murder and God has a law against murder. We have laws against stealing and God has a law against stealing. And so on…
Yet God's laws start to differ from ours when God says- 'Thou shalt have no other God before me', 'Thou shalt not worship any graven image.', 'Thou shalt not take God's name in vain.' , 'Thou shalt not covet.' Do you see… God's laws differ and become what people consider religious laws- not civil, not government laws. This allows those who choose NOT to follow God's law freedom from having to obey them. While people in our society generally have NO problem keeping government law the majority do have a problem with keeping God's laws, even the most staunch civil law keepers in existence, the most upright citizens- those who have been rewarded for their honesty - even they will think nothing of breaking God's laws, thinking they don't matter at all.
People have tried to do away with God's laws, people have tried to change God's laws, but God's laws do not change and they can't be done away with- remember this…
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
When Jesus tells us this…
Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Mat 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Mat 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
… we must listen!
Jesus isn't giving us a NEW law, Jesus is explaining an OLD law, the real meaning of the law, undistorted. The law of love, and that law is for the love of God and our fellow man. LOVE. MERCIFUL LOVE.
And merciful love demands we go beyond what has been deemed acceptable- to what is truly acceptable by our Lord and Savior.
We are not to be angry without cause- true cause- not trumped up causes of selfishness, not petulant causes. We are not to call others worthless, to God none are worthless, all are worth saving not all however choose to be saved. We should not call others foolish, stupid again because we are to be judged by God. Yes, we judge actions and the actions a person makes may be stupid and foolish, but that doesn't mean that they are stupid and foolish. Labeling another human being tends to make it so they are judged and to judge so that we look down upon another person is NOT our right- only God's. The worst of the worst can only truly be judged by our Lord who knows the end from the beginning, who knows the heart inside and out, who knows a person like no other can ever possibly know them. We might THINK we know people, especially those we live with and those we love, but we don't. We do NOT know the heart, we do not know the spirit of a man, be hardly know ourselves let alone any others.
We need to know that what we say and what we do has an affect on others and if we demean another human being it puts us in danger and we cannot be right with our Lord until we do all we can to make things right with that person we've demeaned.
People joke about the 12 Steps in Alcoholics Anonymous when it comes to the part about having to go to all those you've hurt and make amends, there have been numerous comedies that have included this step- that's not to say there haven't been drama's and based on true story movies as well with this included. The point I'm trying to make with mentioning the amendment step in the 12 steps of AA is that this program uses this principle of making amends with our fellowman and that's something very important for ALL mankind not just those in AA.
Our great teacher wants us to learn from Him that we are to be like Him in any way we can. No, we aren't perfect and any perfection we ever do hope for comes from Him. We need to love like Jesus loves and treat others as Jesus would treat them. We have to forget about what our society thinks because the world is not of Jesus, another is in control of this world and governs the majority of the people. With that knowledge we have to realize that the only source of truth comes from our Savior. Not that other people can't be honest and such, but Jesus was honest and truthful in ALL things, in ALL ways.
Our Savior would have us love and we need to learn to love, and love through Him.
By His grace!
Amen.
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Mat 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Mat 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
What exactly is our Savior teaching us here? Brotherly love? How important is it that we not even get angry with each other? Seriously. We so easily get angry with each other that it's become common place and we've minimalized it into being something of non-importance. To hear someone say that another person made them so angry- means nothing, we're not shocked by it at all, in fact we expect that people will anger each other. Controlling our anger has become something people have made jobs out of. Anger management is something a court will sentence a person to in an effort to rid them of destructive anger. We have doctors prescribing pills to relax people and keep them from allowing their natural tendency for anger to get the best of them. We teach our children that anger is punishable all the while they witness our anger in our every day lives- on the drive to the store, as we rant about being short changed, when we yell at them and get angry with them for some misbehavior. I've seen babies - yes, babies throwing tantrums, we all know about the 'terrible twos'. A two year old throwing a fit of anger. How about a one year old screaming and turning red in the face, little bodies shaking because they've been denied something they want?
Anger is another trait of our flesh- just as lust is, just as so many detrimental attributes we are born with. These flesh traits are not something we can ignore and just say oh well, that's just how it is. These flesh traits can and will dominate us if we simply let them, submitting to the flesh, embracing the natural. Many will say that because something is natural it has to be acceptable and fine. It's natural but we only allow that up to a point as an excuse for naturally bad behavior. People *born* that way, born with the natural tendency towards evil we've locked up and even put to death.
There is a line WE - in our world-wide civilized society - draw. We draw the lines and make them into our laws that must be followed and if not followed then there is a penalty for breaking those laws.
God's laws coincide a lot with our supposed man-made laws. We have laws against murder and God has a law against murder. We have laws against stealing and God has a law against stealing. And so on…
Yet God's laws start to differ from ours when God says- 'Thou shalt have no other God before me', 'Thou shalt not worship any graven image.', 'Thou shalt not take God's name in vain.' , 'Thou shalt not covet.' Do you see… God's laws differ and become what people consider religious laws- not civil, not government laws. This allows those who choose NOT to follow God's law freedom from having to obey them. While people in our society generally have NO problem keeping government law the majority do have a problem with keeping God's laws, even the most staunch civil law keepers in existence, the most upright citizens- those who have been rewarded for their honesty - even they will think nothing of breaking God's laws, thinking they don't matter at all.
People have tried to do away with God's laws, people have tried to change God's laws, but God's laws do not change and they can't be done away with- remember this…
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
When Jesus tells us this…
Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Mat 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Mat 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
… we must listen!
Jesus isn't giving us a NEW law, Jesus is explaining an OLD law, the real meaning of the law, undistorted. The law of love, and that law is for the love of God and our fellow man. LOVE. MERCIFUL LOVE.
And merciful love demands we go beyond what has been deemed acceptable- to what is truly acceptable by our Lord and Savior.
We are not to be angry without cause- true cause- not trumped up causes of selfishness, not petulant causes. We are not to call others worthless, to God none are worthless, all are worth saving not all however choose to be saved. We should not call others foolish, stupid again because we are to be judged by God. Yes, we judge actions and the actions a person makes may be stupid and foolish, but that doesn't mean that they are stupid and foolish. Labeling another human being tends to make it so they are judged and to judge so that we look down upon another person is NOT our right- only God's. The worst of the worst can only truly be judged by our Lord who knows the end from the beginning, who knows the heart inside and out, who knows a person like no other can ever possibly know them. We might THINK we know people, especially those we live with and those we love, but we don't. We do NOT know the heart, we do not know the spirit of a man, be hardly know ourselves let alone any others.
We need to know that what we say and what we do has an affect on others and if we demean another human being it puts us in danger and we cannot be right with our Lord until we do all we can to make things right with that person we've demeaned.
People joke about the 12 Steps in Alcoholics Anonymous when it comes to the part about having to go to all those you've hurt and make amends, there have been numerous comedies that have included this step- that's not to say there haven't been drama's and based on true story movies as well with this included. The point I'm trying to make with mentioning the amendment step in the 12 steps of AA is that this program uses this principle of making amends with our fellowman and that's something very important for ALL mankind not just those in AA.
Our great teacher wants us to learn from Him that we are to be like Him in any way we can. No, we aren't perfect and any perfection we ever do hope for comes from Him. We need to love like Jesus loves and treat others as Jesus would treat them. We have to forget about what our society thinks because the world is not of Jesus, another is in control of this world and governs the majority of the people. With that knowledge we have to realize that the only source of truth comes from our Savior. Not that other people can't be honest and such, but Jesus was honest and truthful in ALL things, in ALL ways.
Our Savior would have us love and we need to learn to love, and love through Him.
By His grace!
Amen.
Except your righteousness shall exceed...
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Remember this… Mat 7:29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
We talked about this verse before and the fact that Jesus taught as one with authority and NOT as the scribes. We discovered that the scribes were proud men who wanted adoration, who wanted to be thought of as being very important. These were men that were more interested in their status than in their relationship with God. These men believed themselves to be the 'greatest' among other men and so is it any wonder that Jesus taught NOT as the scribes. Is it any wonder these words of Jesus come to us?
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
OUR righteousness has to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.
We already know that it is our Savior's righteousness that saves us not our own- yet we read these words- except our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees we will NOT enter the kingdom of heaven. This clearly states *our* righteousness. And you know what? From all we've learned so far OUR righteousness is CHRIST'S righteousness. We have to RELY on His righteousness and NO scribe, and NO Pharisee was willing to accept Christ's righteousness.
Those who are UNWILLING to accept Christ's righteousness will NOT be saved, they will NOT enter the kingdom of heaven, they CAN'T enter the kingdom of heaven because our Savior has reserved the kingdom of heaven for those who are HIS.
Our righteousness, if we accept Jesus as our Savior, is HIS righteousness. We cannot forget this! We have to live with this as our reality.
Psa 71:2 Deliver me in thy righteousness
We are delivered in GOD'S righteousness.
The scribes and Pharisees believed their own righteousness was a righteous as you could get, never believing their righteousness meant absolutely nothing. They believed they could save themselves because they were after all Scribes, the were the elite Pharisees of God's chosen people. Obviously they didn't learn the lesson their revered Moses had to learn. We are to take NO glory to ourselves, none. It's by the grace of God alone we live. It is God's power, not ours that saves us. It is God's power not ours that all good things come from. God's glory is everything, we have NO glory except in Him. We HAVE TO LEARN THIS! This is the lesson our Savior needs for us to understand. This is the lesson our great Teacher is bringing to us. In the flesh He is bringing to life all that we need to know all that God has desired we know, that we learn of Him. He is our all in all. Our very breath comes from Him, our lives come from Him, our eternal life will come from Him.
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
By the grace of our Savior we will have His righteousness as ours, the only righteousness that will deliver us.
Amen!
Remember this… Mat 7:29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
We talked about this verse before and the fact that Jesus taught as one with authority and NOT as the scribes. We discovered that the scribes were proud men who wanted adoration, who wanted to be thought of as being very important. These were men that were more interested in their status than in their relationship with God. These men believed themselves to be the 'greatest' among other men and so is it any wonder that Jesus taught NOT as the scribes. Is it any wonder these words of Jesus come to us?
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
OUR righteousness has to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.
We already know that it is our Savior's righteousness that saves us not our own- yet we read these words- except our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees we will NOT enter the kingdom of heaven. This clearly states *our* righteousness. And you know what? From all we've learned so far OUR righteousness is CHRIST'S righteousness. We have to RELY on His righteousness and NO scribe, and NO Pharisee was willing to accept Christ's righteousness.
Those who are UNWILLING to accept Christ's righteousness will NOT be saved, they will NOT enter the kingdom of heaven, they CAN'T enter the kingdom of heaven because our Savior has reserved the kingdom of heaven for those who are HIS.
Our righteousness, if we accept Jesus as our Savior, is HIS righteousness. We cannot forget this! We have to live with this as our reality.
Psa 71:2 Deliver me in thy righteousness
We are delivered in GOD'S righteousness.
The scribes and Pharisees believed their own righteousness was a righteous as you could get, never believing their righteousness meant absolutely nothing. They believed they could save themselves because they were after all Scribes, the were the elite Pharisees of God's chosen people. Obviously they didn't learn the lesson their revered Moses had to learn. We are to take NO glory to ourselves, none. It's by the grace of God alone we live. It is God's power, not ours that saves us. It is God's power not ours that all good things come from. God's glory is everything, we have NO glory except in Him. We HAVE TO LEARN THIS! This is the lesson our Savior needs for us to understand. This is the lesson our great Teacher is bringing to us. In the flesh He is bringing to life all that we need to know all that God has desired we know, that we learn of Him. He is our all in all. Our very breath comes from Him, our lives come from Him, our eternal life will come from Him.
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
By the grace of our Savior we will have His righteousness as ours, the only righteousness that will deliver us.
Amen!
Monday, March 21, 2011
To obey- to love.
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
No one is to think that Jesus came to destroy the law or the prophets.
Obviously some would think that Jesus came to do away with the law and prophets. What would that mean? Let's think about it in relation to our laws for a moment. What would we think about someone who wanted to do away with our laws? Some people would be thrilled to have certain laws done away with. In fact our history here in America shows we've made many laws we've later done away with. However there are certain laws we have no one in their *right* mind would want to be done away with, right? Who wants to live in a lawless society? Who wants to live where no one is accountable for their actions? That's just it… we are accountable to our God. There was NO way at all whatsoever that Jesus could have come to destroy the law. Jesus could not take away our individual accountability, it's just not possible. And where there is accountability there is something you are accountable for. Jesus - one in agreement with the Father in all things- would NEVER do away with the commandments that God gave to His people etched in stone, put into the ark of God's covenant, sacred forever- the basis of all of them the Love of God and the Love of our Fellowman. Jesus did not come to destroy LOVE.
Jesus came to fulfill the law- He NEVER broke the law- He kept it fully.
Jesus was emphatic when He taught us- 'Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.' I say He was emphatic because He had to say- 'For verily…' Truly He says unto us. Truly. He prefaced His words - the words that could only be spoken in truth by emphasizing He was speaking truly. You don't get a more sure word than this.
The law would NOT be done away with, period.
There would be a price to pay if the law was broken, if the law was set aside, if the law was taught to be done away with.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Even what we perceive to be the *least* of the commandments should NOT be broken. I have to note here that we should look the commandments - or maybe you have looked at them- and now the question has to be asked. Which do you think is the least? Do you think murder is greater than stealing? Is that a foolish question to ask? Most would say it's obvious that stealing isn't as bad as murdering. If we are thinking about our lives here and now and not our eternal life it is true. When we look at the commandments with eternal life in view we have to understand that breaking the least of God's commandments costs us eternal life, and our breaking those commandments also cost Jesus His life.
Accountability. We are accountable and we will be held accountable, and ONLY if we have Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior standing there before God the Father saying our name when He is asked who among us have accepted His salvation, will we be saved. Jesus will have PAID for our sins, Jesus will ACCOUNT for us. Every commandment we've ever broken will be paid for by His innocent blood.
Every commandment from the first to the tenth is still in effect, still to be kept, still vital.
May we keep God's law and teach others to keep God's law as well. We desire to be His and He desires us to obey- to love.
Amen.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
No one is to think that Jesus came to destroy the law or the prophets.
Obviously some would think that Jesus came to do away with the law and prophets. What would that mean? Let's think about it in relation to our laws for a moment. What would we think about someone who wanted to do away with our laws? Some people would be thrilled to have certain laws done away with. In fact our history here in America shows we've made many laws we've later done away with. However there are certain laws we have no one in their *right* mind would want to be done away with, right? Who wants to live in a lawless society? Who wants to live where no one is accountable for their actions? That's just it… we are accountable to our God. There was NO way at all whatsoever that Jesus could have come to destroy the law. Jesus could not take away our individual accountability, it's just not possible. And where there is accountability there is something you are accountable for. Jesus - one in agreement with the Father in all things- would NEVER do away with the commandments that God gave to His people etched in stone, put into the ark of God's covenant, sacred forever- the basis of all of them the Love of God and the Love of our Fellowman. Jesus did not come to destroy LOVE.
Jesus came to fulfill the law- He NEVER broke the law- He kept it fully.
Jesus was emphatic when He taught us- 'Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.' I say He was emphatic because He had to say- 'For verily…' Truly He says unto us. Truly. He prefaced His words - the words that could only be spoken in truth by emphasizing He was speaking truly. You don't get a more sure word than this.
The law would NOT be done away with, period.
There would be a price to pay if the law was broken, if the law was set aside, if the law was taught to be done away with.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Even what we perceive to be the *least* of the commandments should NOT be broken. I have to note here that we should look the commandments - or maybe you have looked at them- and now the question has to be asked. Which do you think is the least? Do you think murder is greater than stealing? Is that a foolish question to ask? Most would say it's obvious that stealing isn't as bad as murdering. If we are thinking about our lives here and now and not our eternal life it is true. When we look at the commandments with eternal life in view we have to understand that breaking the least of God's commandments costs us eternal life, and our breaking those commandments also cost Jesus His life.
Accountability. We are accountable and we will be held accountable, and ONLY if we have Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior standing there before God the Father saying our name when He is asked who among us have accepted His salvation, will we be saved. Jesus will have PAID for our sins, Jesus will ACCOUNT for us. Every commandment we've ever broken will be paid for by His innocent blood.
Every commandment from the first to the tenth is still in effect, still to be kept, still vital.
May we keep God's law and teach others to keep God's law as well. We desire to be His and He desires us to obey- to love.
Amen.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
You are the light of the world
Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
A city on a hill. Have you ever seen one? I've seen mansions built on a hilltop and littering the hillside other homes. The mansion most assuredly could not be hidden.
Balestrino, Italy
Craco, Italy
Monteriggioni, Italy
Gangtok, India
Kirkuk, Iraq
These are just a few cities on a hill.
When you place something on a hill top it's in a position of prominence, it is MEANT to be seen. WE are meant to be seen. We are the light of the world. The ONLY way we are the light of the world is if the light in us is of Jesus, He is the light of the world.
Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Jesus has been teaching us this whole time that life is found in HIM and only in HIM. In Jesus we are blessed not in ourselves and not in any other. When Jesus tells us we are the light of the world He is talking to the same people He has taught about being blessed. They aren't the elite of the world, these are ordinary people who place their trust wholly in the Lord. We are ONLY blessed in the Lord there is no other way whatsoever to be blessed. We ARE the light of the world when we live in Jesus. Unfortunately there are many pretend lights, many false lights in our world too.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Jesus wants us to learn that we are the light of the world and because we are the light of the world we have a purpose as that light. We are to SHINE brightly before all men.
Mat 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
We are to let our light shine- we are to let our Jesus be seen in us!
Anything good that is in us we cannot lay claim to, Christ in us lives and any good *work* we do is done to glorify God the Father, NOT us!
Satan would have us desire to be given pats on the back for doing good. We grow up learning that we supposedly deserve rewards when we excel at things. We think we deserve recognition for jobs well done. You know what… it is good to be recognized for doing good but ONLY when we shine the light upon our Savior, the Savior in us that enables us to do the least bit of good to the greatest bit of good. All the recognition we can garner is wonderful as long as the true recognition goes to God.
Do people automatically glorify God our Father in heaven?
That's an easy answer isn't it? No, they don't.
You hear an occasionally- 'Thank God.' And sometimes you might hear a huge- 'Thank God!' from sports players or tv contest winners and even then it's good to hear because it's not common.
All glory is to go to God the Father! We are to Glorify our Father in Heaven. Glorifying the Father in heaven must be something we do all the time! Our light which is Jesus in us and visible to others must be such a reality that people KNOW we are Jesus'. Jesus is our light, our life! We must be recognized as belonging to Jesus. These are Jesus' words--
' Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. '
People say we are not to worry about 'good works' because we are saved by grace not works but they have to realize that a NATURAL result of being saved by grace is accepting Jesus into your life and Him becoming the light in you that will shine through in your good works. Is it any wonder why people will make fun of *Jesus freaks*, or make jokes about someone refraining from questionable behavior by calling them *saint*. People try to make us feel bad for being good. People try to make us feel as if we don't fit in quite right or that we are taking on airs, thinking we are better than they are. They want us to do things questionable to prove to them we aren't taking on airs. We have to be so incredibly careful because when we worry at all about fitting in we leave ourselves wide open for evil-spirit attacks. We have to worry about fitting in HEAVEN and NO where else. Our good works must be seen and in being seen glorify the Father in heaven. We have no clue whatsoever how our actions affect other peoples lives. We can't know that someone might see our good works and be led to the Lord, led to glorify the Father in heaven.
Jesus wants us to live for Him. Jesus wants to live in us.
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Jesus would have our lights shine!
By His grace may our light forever shine and shine and shine!
Amen.
A city on a hill. Have you ever seen one? I've seen mansions built on a hilltop and littering the hillside other homes. The mansion most assuredly could not be hidden.
Balestrino, Italy
Craco, Italy
Monteriggioni, Italy
Gangtok, India
Kirkuk, Iraq
These are just a few cities on a hill.
When you place something on a hill top it's in a position of prominence, it is MEANT to be seen. WE are meant to be seen. We are the light of the world. The ONLY way we are the light of the world is if the light in us is of Jesus, He is the light of the world.
Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Jesus has been teaching us this whole time that life is found in HIM and only in HIM. In Jesus we are blessed not in ourselves and not in any other. When Jesus tells us we are the light of the world He is talking to the same people He has taught about being blessed. They aren't the elite of the world, these are ordinary people who place their trust wholly in the Lord. We are ONLY blessed in the Lord there is no other way whatsoever to be blessed. We ARE the light of the world when we live in Jesus. Unfortunately there are many pretend lights, many false lights in our world too.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Jesus wants us to learn that we are the light of the world and because we are the light of the world we have a purpose as that light. We are to SHINE brightly before all men.
Mat 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
We are to let our light shine- we are to let our Jesus be seen in us!
Anything good that is in us we cannot lay claim to, Christ in us lives and any good *work* we do is done to glorify God the Father, NOT us!
Satan would have us desire to be given pats on the back for doing good. We grow up learning that we supposedly deserve rewards when we excel at things. We think we deserve recognition for jobs well done. You know what… it is good to be recognized for doing good but ONLY when we shine the light upon our Savior, the Savior in us that enables us to do the least bit of good to the greatest bit of good. All the recognition we can garner is wonderful as long as the true recognition goes to God.
Do people automatically glorify God our Father in heaven?
That's an easy answer isn't it? No, they don't.
You hear an occasionally- 'Thank God.' And sometimes you might hear a huge- 'Thank God!' from sports players or tv contest winners and even then it's good to hear because it's not common.
All glory is to go to God the Father! We are to Glorify our Father in Heaven. Glorifying the Father in heaven must be something we do all the time! Our light which is Jesus in us and visible to others must be such a reality that people KNOW we are Jesus'. Jesus is our light, our life! We must be recognized as belonging to Jesus. These are Jesus' words--
' Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. '
People say we are not to worry about 'good works' because we are saved by grace not works but they have to realize that a NATURAL result of being saved by grace is accepting Jesus into your life and Him becoming the light in you that will shine through in your good works. Is it any wonder why people will make fun of *Jesus freaks*, or make jokes about someone refraining from questionable behavior by calling them *saint*
Jesus wants us to live for Him. Jesus wants to live in us.
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Jesus would have our lights shine!
By His grace may our light forever shine and shine and shine!
Amen.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Salt of the earth
Mat 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Lev 2:13 And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.
Mar 9:50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
G217
ἅλας
halas
Thayer Definition:
1) salt with which food is seasoned and sacrifices are sprinkled
2) those kinds of saline matter used to fertilise arable land
3) salt is a symbol of lasting concord, because it protects food from putrefaction and preserves it unchanged. Accordingly, in the solemn ratification of compacts, the orientals were, and are to this day, accustomed to partake of salt together
4) wisdom and grace exhibited in speech
Those who are Christ's will speak of Christ, they will live Christ. When we are Christ's we are well salted- we are the SALT of the EARTH. It is Christ in us that makes us the salt of the earth. Without Christ we have NO salt, no savor, we are good for NOTHING but to be cast out and trodden under foot. We must be filled with Christ! Filled with all He has to teach us!
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Christ in us!
Christ our hope of glory!
Christ our all in all!
Christ in our words!
Col 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
Our speech is to be always with grace- whose grace? Our Savior's! Seasoned with salt- seasoned by our Savior! That which makes us worthy is Christ and we cannot forget this.
Too often we do forget that we are Christ's. Seriously, we do. When we are in the midst of the world and worldly ways we find ourselves conforming to the world, to those around us that rather than stand out we blend in. People will justify it by saying that's just human nature. I wouldn't dispute that at all whatsoever. It is human nature but it's not Christ's nature. If we are living for Christ, if Christ is in us- our hope of glory- would that we would not care a whit about fitting in with the world.
Our Teacher would have us understand--
Mat 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
We are salt and salt CAN lose its savor.
If I had a quarter teaspoon of salt to a huge pot of soup and then taste the soup will I taste salt? Probably not. Did the salt I put in that soup lose its savor? It did, didn't it? The dilution of that little bit of salt was too much for me to even get a miniscule taste of salt. So what would I have to do? Add more salt until I tasted the flavor as desire- the salt bringing that flavor out. So that little bit of salt didn't disappear completely but by itself it had lost all flavor. That little bit of salt contributed to the additional salt to eventually give me the flavor I wanted for my soup. That doesn't negate that salt can lose its savor, it really can.
If we who are close to Christ - living and breathing Him in our lives- are the salt of the earth than it stands to reason that those who do NOT have Christ in them are salt-free. The flesh nature can control a person and when that happens they are salt-free. When we who are salty with the spiritual nature allow our flesh nature to dilute us we begin to lose our saltiness. Our saltiness can be diluted by the world if we let it.
It needs to be pointed out that without salt in our body we would die. People have died when they've mistakenly diluted their bodies with too much water- they diluted all the salt, potassium, and natural electrolytes in their bodies to the point the heart muscle could no longer contract properly and yes, they died. Salt inside our bodies is necessary. The talk of salt being bad for you is true- TOO MUCH salt in your body isn't good- but having read up on it a bit it's the kind of salt we have today that has been altered drastically from what it was intended. Salt today isn't the salt of Jesus' day. We've chemically stripped natural salt of a lot of it's good minerals and such and turned it into pure sodium. Have you noticed on your grocery store shelves- Sea Salt? Have you noticed on potato chip bags- 'Made with sea salt.' ? The whole point being they are trying to use a HEALTHIER salt rather than the pure sodium they've given us for years.
Salt.
Jesus is vital to our eternal salvation, just as salt is vital to our physical bodies. We need Jesus vitally if we are to live. Satan will attempt to dilute the spiritual salt in us every chance He gets. We retain our salt with all its savor by keeping Christ in our lives first and foremost! We have to be careful of losing our salty savor through the dilutions of Satan. He'll throw more and more worldly, fleshy ways at us - bombarding us day after day with anything and everything He can to distract us from our Savior. We can't let him dilute us! By the grace of God we will not let Him steal us away- take our savor from us- in in the same vein - take our Savior from us.
In the love of our Lord!
Amen!
Lev 2:13 And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.
Mar 9:50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
G217
ἅλας
halas
Thayer Definition:
1) salt with which food is seasoned and sacrifices are sprinkled
2) those kinds of saline matter used to fertilise arable land
3) salt is a symbol of lasting concord, because it protects food from putrefaction and preserves it unchanged. Accordingly, in the solemn ratification of compacts, the orientals were, and are to this day, accustomed to partake of salt together
4) wisdom and grace exhibited in speech
Those who are Christ's will speak of Christ, they will live Christ. When we are Christ's we are well salted- we are the SALT of the EARTH. It is Christ in us that makes us the salt of the earth. Without Christ we have NO salt, no savor, we are good for NOTHING but to be cast out and trodden under foot. We must be filled with Christ! Filled with all He has to teach us!
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Christ in us!
Christ our hope of glory!
Christ our all in all!
Christ in our words!
Col 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
Our speech is to be always with grace- whose grace? Our Savior's! Seasoned with salt- seasoned by our Savior! That which makes us worthy is Christ and we cannot forget this.
Too often we do forget that we are Christ's. Seriously, we do. When we are in the midst of the world and worldly ways we find ourselves conforming to the world, to those around us that rather than stand out we blend in. People will justify it by saying that's just human nature. I wouldn't dispute that at all whatsoever. It is human nature but it's not Christ's nature. If we are living for Christ, if Christ is in us- our hope of glory- would that we would not care a whit about fitting in with the world.
Our Teacher would have us understand--
Mat 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
We are salt and salt CAN lose its savor.
If I had a quarter teaspoon of salt to a huge pot of soup and then taste the soup will I taste salt? Probably not. Did the salt I put in that soup lose its savor? It did, didn't it? The dilution of that little bit of salt was too much for me to even get a miniscule taste of salt. So what would I have to do? Add more salt until I tasted the flavor as desire- the salt bringing that flavor out. So that little bit of salt didn't disappear completely but by itself it had lost all flavor. That little bit of salt contributed to the additional salt to eventually give me the flavor I wanted for my soup. That doesn't negate that salt can lose its savor, it really can.
If we who are close to Christ - living and breathing Him in our lives- are the salt of the earth than it stands to reason that those who do NOT have Christ in them are salt-free. The flesh nature can control a person and when that happens they are salt-free. When we who are salty with the spiritual nature allow our flesh nature to dilute us we begin to lose our saltiness. Our saltiness can be diluted by the world if we let it.
It needs to be pointed out that without salt in our body we would die. People have died when they've mistakenly diluted their bodies with too much water- they diluted all the salt, potassium, and natural electrolytes in their bodies to the point the heart muscle could no longer contract properly and yes, they died. Salt inside our bodies is necessary. The talk of salt being bad for you is true- TOO MUCH salt in your body isn't good- but having read up on it a bit it's the kind of salt we have today that has been altered drastically from what it was intended. Salt today isn't the salt of Jesus' day. We've chemically stripped natural salt of a lot of it's good minerals and such and turned it into pure sodium. Have you noticed on your grocery store shelves- Sea Salt? Have you noticed on potato chip bags- 'Made with sea salt.' ? The whole point being they are trying to use a HEALTHIER salt rather than the pure sodium they've given us for years.
Salt.
Jesus is vital to our eternal salvation, just as salt is vital to our physical bodies. We need Jesus vitally if we are to live. Satan will attempt to dilute the spiritual salt in us every chance He gets. We retain our salt with all its savor by keeping Christ in our lives first and foremost! We have to be careful of losing our salty savor through the dilutions of Satan. He'll throw more and more worldly, fleshy ways at us - bombarding us day after day with anything and everything He can to distract us from our Savior. We can't let him dilute us! By the grace of God we will not let Him steal us away- take our savor from us- in in the same vein - take our Savior from us.
In the love of our Lord!
Amen!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Persecuted for Christ, rejoice!
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Revile- To reproach; to treat with opprobrious and contemptuous language. (Opprobrious- 1. Reproachful and contemptuous; 2. Blasted with infamy; despised; rendered hateful; as an opprobrious name.)
Persecute- 1. In a general sense, to pursue in a manner to injure, vex or afflict; to harass with unjust punishment or penalties for supposed offenses; to inflict pain from hatred or malignity.
2. Appropriately, to afflict, harass, or destroy for adherence to a particular creed or system of religious principles, or to a mode of worship. Thus Nero persecuted the Christians by crucifying some, burning others, and condemning others to be worried by dogs. See Acts 22.
3. To harass with solicitations or importunity.
Falsely Accused.
God's people are blessed when they are reviled, when they are held in reproach, when they are held in contempt, when they are despised, when they are hated, when they are injured, when they are afflicted, when they are harassed and unjustly punished for no reason, when they are inflicted with pain, when they are falsely accused.
BLESSED! A blessing is received by those who are Christ's and endure all manner of suffering because they are Christ's.
We don't consider ourselves blessed when we are persecuted, do we? Have we been persecuted as Christian's - for being Christians? Can you remember a time you were reviled for being a Christian- truly reviled? Has anyone ever spit in your face for being a Christian? Has anyone ever beat you for being a Christian? Has anyone ever punished you in any way for being a Christian? Seriously? Have you ever had to face another person and have them hate you, revile you, persecute you, falsely speak evil against you for your FAITH?
I've personally had people *not like* the fact I worship God as I do but they didn't really revile me, or hurt me physically. I didn't like it at all when they *acted out*, it was bizarre to me, it felt incomprehensible at the time. A wave of disbelief rushed over me and as the strange miniscule persecution ran its course I was left with the feeling that what just happened was of the devil- not truly of the person who was doing what they were doing. It was just that bizarre of a situation. Even now looking back on that happenstance I'm left with that same feeling of it being totally absurd. Was I allowed a teeny tiny glimpse into persecution for my faith? I believe I was. I have to wonder how people who live day in and day out with that sort of incomprehensible behavior towards them only a hundredfold, no, a thousand-fold worse, feel. It is truly inexplicable to be abused physically, mentally, and emotionally for your faith- it is something so incredibly personal and one of those inalienable rights we here in America are taught to believe in.
How many of us LIVE our faith?
Let's for a moment consider the Amish, the Quakers, the Jewish people - just three examples there. This people as a rule LIVE their faith and by that I mean their every day lives are so entwined with their religion that people find it hard to separate the two. We think of the Amish and the Quaker people and we know how they shun modern living- electricity etc; and are known as God-fearing people having their own beliefs and those beliefs are intricately woven into their lives. The Jewish people cannot escape their religious heritage no matter how modernized they become. We think of Orthodox Jewish as those who live their faith. There are others - many others known for living their faith- Jehovah's Witness', Seventh-day Adventist, and more. What sets all these people apart is the way their beliefs form their way of life. Their faith is revealed in their lives.
It's very easy to say that the majority of the world do NOT live in any sort of real faith. Their lives do NOT reflect their faith. Or rather their EVERY DAY lives do NOT reflect their faith.
If your life reflects the world and not your faith is it any wonder you are not persecuted? Seriously. If our lives are so similar to the lives of those who have no faith what sets us apart from the world? Those who are set apart from the world seem to invite persecution. Those who LIVE their faith, those who are KNOWN for their faith are those who will be persecuted not those who blend so completely in with the world that the world can't tell them apart.
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
It HAS to be understood that those being persecuted for Christ are - poor in spirit, mourning, meek, seeking righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers - not those who are mean in spirit, not those who are content to be of this world, not boasters, not the proud, not the unrighteous, not the merciless, not the impure in heart, not the warmongers. Yes, the mean spirited, the discontented, the boaster, the proud, the unrighteous, the merciless, the impure in heart, the warmongers of any faith CAN be persecuted, but only those who are CHRIST'S and are persecuted for Christ's righteousness, for our Savior, will be blessed. If you are mean spirited and fight your persecutors you are not of Christ. Seriously! Jesus is teaching us! Jesus is revealing Himself to us fully and letting us know that if we are truly His will we manifest Him in our lives. If we truly surrender our lives to our Savior- accepting Him completely as our Deliverer giving up our selves then we are His and HE will be reflected in our lives and the lessons He is teaching us will be real, they will be lived in our lives!
That little persecution I experienced which caused me to wonder at how bizarre it was, that gave me bit of dismay, that opened my eyes to see the reality of persecution- was allowed- to teach me a valuable lesson. All praise to God may I not forget and always remember that any persecution large or small should be cause for rejoicing!
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Those persecuted must realize that they have cause to rejoice! Rejoice and be exceeding glad! Why? Because GREAT is their reward in heaven. The prophets of God were persecuted before they were!
May we all learn the lessons Christ has to teach us now and always!
By His most amazing LOVE! By His mercy! By His grace! All in Him!
JESUS CHRIST our LORD and SAVIOR!
Blessed by the name of our LORD!
Amen.
Revile- To reproach; to treat with opprobrious and contemptuous language. (Opprobrious- 1. Reproachful and contemptuous; 2. Blasted with infamy; despised; rendered hateful; as an opprobrious name.)
Persecute- 1. In a general sense, to pursue in a manner to injure, vex or afflict; to harass with unjust punishment or penalties for supposed offenses; to inflict pain from hatred or malignity.
2. Appropriately, to afflict, harass, or destroy for adherence to a particular creed or system of religious principles, or to a mode of worship. Thus Nero persecuted the Christians by crucifying some, burning others, and condemning others to be worried by dogs. See Acts 22.
3. To harass with solicitations or importunity.
Falsely Accused.
God's people are blessed when they are reviled, when they are held in reproach, when they are held in contempt, when they are despised, when they are hated, when they are injured, when they are afflicted, when they are harassed and unjustly punished for no reason, when they are inflicted with pain, when they are falsely accused.
BLESSED! A blessing is received by those who are Christ's and endure all manner of suffering because they are Christ's.
We don't consider ourselves blessed when we are persecuted, do we? Have we been persecuted as Christian's - for being Christians? Can you remember a time you were reviled for being a Christian- truly reviled? Has anyone ever spit in your face for being a Christian? Has anyone ever beat you for being a Christian? Has anyone ever punished you in any way for being a Christian? Seriously? Have you ever had to face another person and have them hate you, revile you, persecute you, falsely speak evil against you for your FAITH?
I've personally had people *not like* the fact I worship God as I do but they didn't really revile me, or hurt me physically. I didn't like it at all when they *acted out*, it was bizarre to me, it felt incomprehensible at the time. A wave of disbelief rushed over me and as the strange miniscule persecution ran its course I was left with the feeling that what just happened was of the devil- not truly of the person who was doing what they were doing. It was just that bizarre of a situation. Even now looking back on that happenstance I'm left with that same feeling of it being totally absurd. Was I allowed a teeny tiny glimpse into persecution for my faith? I believe I was. I have to wonder how people who live day in and day out with that sort of incomprehensible behavior towards them only a hundredfold, no, a thousand-fold worse, feel. It is truly inexplicable to be abused physically, mentally, and emotionally for your faith- it is something so incredibly personal and one of those inalienable rights we here in America are taught to believe in.
How many of us LIVE our faith?
Let's for a moment consider the Amish, the Quakers, the Jewish people - just three examples there. This people as a rule LIVE their faith and by that I mean their every day lives are so entwined with their religion that people find it hard to separate the two. We think of the Amish and the Quaker people and we know how they shun modern living- electricity etc; and are known as God-fearing people having their own beliefs and those beliefs are intricately woven into their lives. The Jewish people cannot escape their religious heritage no matter how modernized they become. We think of Orthodox Jewish as those who live their faith. There are others - many others known for living their faith- Jehovah's Witness', Seventh-day Adventist, and more. What sets all these people apart is the way their beliefs form their way of life. Their faith is revealed in their lives.
It's very easy to say that the majority of the world do NOT live in any sort of real faith. Their lives do NOT reflect their faith. Or rather their EVERY DAY lives do NOT reflect their faith.
If your life reflects the world and not your faith is it any wonder you are not persecuted? Seriously. If our lives are so similar to the lives of those who have no faith what sets us apart from the world? Those who are set apart from the world seem to invite persecution. Those who LIVE their faith, those who are KNOWN for their faith are those who will be persecuted not those who blend so completely in with the world that the world can't tell them apart.
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
It HAS to be understood that those being persecuted for Christ are - poor in spirit, mourning, meek, seeking righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers - not those who are mean in spirit, not those who are content to be of this world, not boasters, not the proud, not the unrighteous, not the merciless, not the impure in heart, not the warmongers. Yes, the mean spirited, the discontented, the boaster, the proud, the unrighteous, the merciless, the impure in heart, the warmongers of any faith CAN be persecuted, but only those who are CHRIST'S and are persecuted for Christ's righteousness, for our Savior, will be blessed. If you are mean spirited and fight your persecutors you are not of Christ. Seriously! Jesus is teaching us! Jesus is revealing Himself to us fully and letting us know that if we are truly His will we manifest Him in our lives. If we truly surrender our lives to our Savior- accepting Him completely as our Deliverer giving up our selves then we are His and HE will be reflected in our lives and the lessons He is teaching us will be real, they will be lived in our lives!
That little persecution I experienced which caused me to wonder at how bizarre it was, that gave me bit of dismay, that opened my eyes to see the reality of persecution- was allowed- to teach me a valuable lesson. All praise to God may I not forget and always remember that any persecution large or small should be cause for rejoicing!
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Those persecuted must realize that they have cause to rejoice! Rejoice and be exceeding glad! Why? Because GREAT is their reward in heaven. The prophets of God were persecuted before they were!
May we all learn the lessons Christ has to teach us now and always!
By His most amazing LOVE! By His mercy! By His grace! All in Him!
JESUS CHRIST our LORD and SAVIOR!
Blessed by the name of our LORD!
Amen.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Persecuted for righteousness' sake
Mat 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Remember this-- Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Those who seek the righteousness of Christ may be persecuted. Jesus knew this! Jesus understood the world we live in with all its injustices, all its horrors. Jesus knew the hearts of people and He knew there was real righteousness and real evil.
How many people have persecuted others in the name of our Lord? How many people have sought vengeance in the name of our Lord? How many commit great evils and do it all in the name of the Lord? So many believe they are being righteous when they destroy what they consider evil and they forget completely that our Savior did not kill people, our Savior did not make the evil people of His day suffer. Our Savior did not hunt down the unrighteous and wipe it off the face of the earth. Our Savior did NOT tell us we were to do any of that and yet people have killed over and over, people have made those who they consider evil suffer untold agonies believing they are only doing God's will.
Jesus does not say-- Blessed are they which get revenge on their enemies. He did not say-- Blessed are they who kill the evil people.
Jesus teaches us that the people who are persecuted will be blessed with the kingdom of heaven!
Persecuted.
'PER'SECUTED, pp. Harassed by troubles or punishments unjustly inflicted, particularly for religious opinions.'
The people who are harassed by troubles or punishment UNJUSTLY inflicted will be blessed with the kingdom of heaven, they will be bless with our Lord and Savior!
Persecution. Sometimes it's not just other people persecuting us, it is the persecution of the unseen world we share our lives with. It is the persecution of *LIFE*, what we consider to be life's- problems. Daily we are swamped with bad news, bad times, bad moments that mingle with good news, good times, good moments. We are persecuted and often is seems that we will succumb to all that persecution, that it is just too much for us to deal with and you know what, it's supposed to be. We have to place our all in all in Christ! We have to stop living for this world! No, I'm not saying to latch on to a death wish, not at all! We have to endure in Christ! We are to live IN Christ, FOR Christ, always! If we suffer we must do so knowing that our end is in CHRIST. Easy for me to say, right? It is easy to say and I pray to my Savior that if I'm called to suffer that I endure in HIM and only in HIM.
Our great Teacher doesn't leave us without the lessons we need to live.
Mat 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
We can't let this one point go without noting- PERSECUTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS SAKE.
Every one is persecuted but only those who are persecuted for righteousness sake will have the kingdom of heaven.
Righteousness sake is… OUR SAVIOR who is OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!
It's for our Savior's sakes. Persecuted because we live for our Savior. Make NO mistake whatsoever, Satan will stop at nothing to persecute those who are Christ's. He knows our every weakness, he knows just how far to push us and when to pull back. Does Satan care about us? Do we matter to Him? YES!
Does Jesus care about us? Do we matter to Jesus? YES! Our Savior died for each and every one of us to give us the chance for salvation. If we don't find this hard to believe then why do we find it hard to believe that Satan wants us just as much to be His, to die eternally for him, with him.
The bottom line- if you believe in Jesus you have to believe in Satan. If you believe in Jesus dying for your salvation you have to believe that Satan wants just as desperately to keep you from that salvation.
This is REALITY! Our reality!
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior may we be persecuted for righteousness sake and for no other reason, may we have the kingdom of heaven, our Savior!
Amen.
Remember this-- Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Those who seek the righteousness of Christ may be persecuted. Jesus knew this! Jesus understood the world we live in with all its injustices, all its horrors. Jesus knew the hearts of people and He knew there was real righteousness and real evil.
How many people have persecuted others in the name of our Lord? How many people have sought vengeance in the name of our Lord? How many commit great evils and do it all in the name of the Lord? So many believe they are being righteous when they destroy what they consider evil and they forget completely that our Savior did not kill people, our Savior did not make the evil people of His day suffer. Our Savior did not hunt down the unrighteous and wipe it off the face of the earth. Our Savior did NOT tell us we were to do any of that and yet people have killed over and over, people have made those who they consider evil suffer untold agonies believing they are only doing God's will.
Jesus does not say-- Blessed are they which get revenge on their enemies. He did not say-- Blessed are they who kill the evil people.
Jesus teaches us that the people who are persecuted will be blessed with the kingdom of heaven!
Persecuted.
'PER'SECUTED, pp. Harassed by troubles or punishments unjustly inflicted, particularly for religious opinions.'
The people who are harassed by troubles or punishment UNJUSTLY inflicted will be blessed with the kingdom of heaven, they will be bless with our Lord and Savior!
Persecution. Sometimes it's not just other people persecuting us, it is the persecution of the unseen world we share our lives with. It is the persecution of *LIFE*, what we consider to be life's- problems. Daily we are swamped with bad news, bad times, bad moments that mingle with good news, good times, good moments. We are persecuted and often is seems that we will succumb to all that persecution, that it is just too much for us to deal with and you know what, it's supposed to be. We have to place our all in all in Christ! We have to stop living for this world! No, I'm not saying to latch on to a death wish, not at all! We have to endure in Christ! We are to live IN Christ, FOR Christ, always! If we suffer we must do so knowing that our end is in CHRIST. Easy for me to say, right? It is easy to say and I pray to my Savior that if I'm called to suffer that I endure in HIM and only in HIM.
Our great Teacher doesn't leave us without the lessons we need to live.
Mat 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
We can't let this one point go without noting- PERSECUTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS SAKE.
Every one is persecuted but only those who are persecuted for righteousness sake will have the kingdom of heaven.
Righteousness sake is… OUR SAVIOR who is OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!
It's for our Savior's sakes. Persecuted because we live for our Savior. Make NO mistake whatsoever, Satan will stop at nothing to persecute those who are Christ's. He knows our every weakness, he knows just how far to push us and when to pull back. Does Satan care about us? Do we matter to Him? YES!
Does Jesus care about us? Do we matter to Jesus? YES! Our Savior died for each and every one of us to give us the chance for salvation. If we don't find this hard to believe then why do we find it hard to believe that Satan wants us just as much to be His, to die eternally for him, with him.
The bottom line- if you believe in Jesus you have to believe in Satan. If you believe in Jesus dying for your salvation you have to believe that Satan wants just as desperately to keep you from that salvation.
This is REALITY! Our reality!
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior may we be persecuted for righteousness sake and for no other reason, may we have the kingdom of heaven, our Savior!
Amen.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The peacemakers
Mat 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed. Who doesn't want to be blessed? We've read now several verses and each one begins with- 'Blessed'.
We hear people say- 'Oh he was blessed with that hair.' Or 'She is blessed with her mother's eyes.' Or 'Oh they have such talent, they're so blessed!' We considered someone blessed when they have some wonderful talent, when something good happens to them or there is something good about them. Being blessed is a good thing, a desired thing.
Jesus is teaching us that certain people are blessed for various things-
People - Poor in spirit Blessed with - kingdom of heaven
People - Mourners Blessed with - comfort
People - Meek Blessed with - inheriting the earth
People - Hungry & thirsty for righteousness Blessed with - being filled
People - Merciful Blessed with - mercy
People - Pure in heart Blessed with - seeing God
And today we are talking about the peacemakers being blessed by being called the children of God.
Do you think that Jesus was teaching us that here on earth people would suffer, but for all their suffering there would come a time when they would be rewarded for that pain? I think He was. He was giving us a message that it's not always the *seemingly* happy, the *seemingly* content, the *seemingly* rich, the *seemingly* favored who will be blessed. Those who are considered blessed by earthly standards might not be those truly blessed by God's standards. Some of those who seem the least blessed here and now might be the most truly blessed by God in eternal matters. We have to see our selfishness, our desperate state of neediness. We have to be taught to understand that without the things of God, without the blessings of God, we have NOTHING. Our poor spirits, our mourning, our meekness, our hunger and thirst for righteousness, our mercifulness, our pure in heart all of this gives us an understanding of something OUTSIDE ourselves.
Jesus would have us learn and we must learn from Him.
Mat 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Peacemaker. One who makes peace, one who promotes peace. Is this possible? We hear a lot about the Mid-East Peace talks. Palestine and Israel striving for peace, with other countries trying to lend their *peacemakers* to help this process along. Two opposing groups of people each with different agendas and the fight for peace comes with compromises being made. Without compromises peace won't be achieved. Peace making, peace talks, world peace, goals strived for but inevitably since Adam and Eve sinned there has been trouble in the world- a lack of peace for without that unity with God there can be NO true peace. Even in seemingly perfectly peaceful places strife arises. God and God alone has perfect peace. When we seek HIS perfect peace, when we seek to have peace IN Him we are truly peace makers. Seeking peace where sin abounds is not the sort of peace that would please God. God's peace is not man's peace. Too often people who would follow the Savior are told they are causing strife because they won't compromise their beliefs. If they would only stop causing trouble peace would be had. But we do not WANT, or rather we should not strive for worldly peace! I know I sound nuts, but it's true. God's peace, the peace we know will only be achieved fully when our Savior comes again is the peace we are to seek. We are to be a peacemaker of God's peace! When we determine to seek God's peace given to us through the Holy Spirit, by the grace of our Lord and Savior we are striving for a peace that the worldly- those of the world whose true father is Satan- cannot comprehend. They'll try to say that peace is peace, but at what price is the peace of the world over the peace of our Savior? Eternal death is the price people will pay.
Remember these words of our Savior- I've talked on them several times:
Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Not as the world gives.
Jesus' peace is not the same peace of the world.
Jesus' peace is found in eternal salvation in His love!
By His grace may we be blessed as peacemakers- blessed as those who love Him wholly and seek the peace HE has to give, may we be called the children of God.
In His love!
Amen.
Blessed. Who doesn't want to be blessed? We've read now several verses and each one begins with- 'Blessed'.
We hear people say- 'Oh he was blessed with that hair.' Or 'She is blessed with her mother's eyes.' Or 'Oh they have such talent, they're so blessed!' We considered someone blessed when they have some wonderful talent, when something good happens to them or there is something good about them. Being blessed is a good thing, a desired thing.
Jesus is teaching us that certain people are blessed for various things-
People - Poor in spirit Blessed with - kingdom of heaven
People - Mourners Blessed with - comfort
People - Meek Blessed with - inheriting the earth
People - Hungry & thirsty for righteousness Blessed with - being filled
People - Merciful Blessed with - mercy
People - Pure in heart Blessed with - seeing God
And today we are talking about the peacemakers being blessed by being called the children of God.
Do you think that Jesus was teaching us that here on earth people would suffer, but for all their suffering there would come a time when they would be rewarded for that pain? I think He was. He was giving us a message that it's not always the *seemingly* happy, the *seemingly* content, the *seemingly* rich, the *seemingly* favored who will be blessed. Those who are considered blessed by earthly standards might not be those truly blessed by God's standards. Some of those who seem the least blessed here and now might be the most truly blessed by God in eternal matters. We have to see our selfishness, our desperate state of neediness. We have to be taught to understand that without the things of God, without the blessings of God, we have NOTHING. Our poor spirits, our mourning, our meekness, our hunger and thirst for righteousness, our mercifulness, our pure in heart all of this gives us an understanding of something OUTSIDE ourselves.
Jesus would have us learn and we must learn from Him.
Mat 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Peacemaker. One who makes peace, one who promotes peace. Is this possible? We hear a lot about the Mid-East Peace talks. Palestine and Israel striving for peace, with other countries trying to lend their *peacemakers* to help this process along. Two opposing groups of people each with different agendas and the fight for peace comes with compromises being made. Without compromises peace won't be achieved. Peace making, peace talks, world peace, goals strived for but inevitably since Adam and Eve sinned there has been trouble in the world- a lack of peace for without that unity with God there can be NO true peace. Even in seemingly perfectly peaceful places strife arises. God and God alone has perfect peace. When we seek HIS perfect peace, when we seek to have peace IN Him we are truly peace makers. Seeking peace where sin abounds is not the sort of peace that would please God. God's peace is not man's peace. Too often people who would follow the Savior are told they are causing strife because they won't compromise their beliefs. If they would only stop causing trouble peace would be had. But we do not WANT, or rather we should not strive for worldly peace! I know I sound nuts, but it's true. God's peace, the peace we know will only be achieved fully when our Savior comes again is the peace we are to seek. We are to be a peacemaker of God's peace! When we determine to seek God's peace given to us through the Holy Spirit, by the grace of our Lord and Savior we are striving for a peace that the worldly- those of the world whose true father is Satan- cannot comprehend. They'll try to say that peace is peace, but at what price is the peace of the world over the peace of our Savior? Eternal death is the price people will pay.
Remember these words of our Savior- I've talked on them several times:
Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Not as the world gives.
Jesus' peace is not the same peace of the world.
Jesus' peace is found in eternal salvation in His love!
By His grace may we be blessed as peacemakers- blessed as those who love Him wholly and seek the peace HE has to give, may we be called the children of God.
In His love!
Amen.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Pure in heart by the grace of God!
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Can you picture these words coming from the Savior's lips? Can you picture His eyes scanning the crowd of people about Him as He speaks? Let's suppose for a moment you are there sitting on a rock, your eyes intent upon Jesus and His gaze reaches yours and for a moment your eyes lock and He speaks these words…
"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."
Your heart skips a beat, you gently suck in your breath and for a moment you refuse to release it as you become lost in that single moment. Jesus spoke to you! Jesus gave you this message and it's a message He wants you to understand fully because He is teaching you. To not comprehend what He's saying would mean His words were meaningless to you, just drivel, just someone flapping their lips while you nod and smile- don't pretend you've never nodded and smiled as someone was speaking. Don't pretend you've never had your mind wander as someone spoke to you. Absolutely do not try to convince yourself that you've never been formulating your own thoughts, replies to what has been said already, and in so doing you've missed more of what another was saying. You have to admit that you've sat in a classroom and only half listened as your teacher spoke. Your ears perked up when the word 'quiz' is mentioned and you groan when you hear the words 'study'. A quiz is on the way and what is that quiz on? The things the teacher has been teaching you. You are supposed to study and lucky for you the teacher has provided a handout that highlights the things you will be quizzed on. Now you have the basics there to refer to, to study and yet you know the teacher explained each of what are now brief summaries in great detail during class. Will there be questions on the test based upon the lecture- things not fully covered in the notes? Most likely, but because you have the handout you can study it and even perhaps look up things in your school text book to fill in gaps you may have missed when your mind wandered.
We know that Jesus did and said so much more than we've been blessed to read.
'Joh 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. '
What does that tell us? That Jesus *lived* the word we read! We have only a fraction of the life of Jesus at our disposal, but that fraction is enough and with the Holy Spirit guiding us we can be led into all the truth we need to be known as our Savior's.
We have these words given to us-
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
If we simply read them without studying them we lose so much that our Savior is teaching us.
Some will argue that it's simple, the meaning is very simple and there is really nothing to study and you know what- that's their prerogative. Maybe this isn't a message they need to learn, or a message they need to learn to at this time. The Holy Spirit will guide us all individually and at times collectively, but we can't deny that as individuals we answer to our God for our learning. We each have our own refiner's fire to go through individually forged.
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
If you are NOT pure in heart what else can you be?
Filthy in heart.
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross…
Psa 119:70 Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.
Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Act 8:21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
Our hearts- our minds- what makes us who we are!
H3820
lêb
labe
A form of H3824; the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything
G2588
kardia
kar-dee'-ah
Prolonged from a primary κάρ kar (Latin cor, “heart”); the heart, that is, (figuratively) the thoughts or feelings (mind)
When our heart is not right in the sight of God it doesn't mean our heart is diseased physically. Our lives are not right with God. We as whole individuals are not right with God. The heart is figurative for our center- the controlling aspect of who we are- not JUST the intellectual part of us but our emotional part as well- the ALL of us. When our hearts are corrupt, when our hearts are filthy, gross, unclean we are not God's.
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Is it any wonder we are blessed to have a pure heart?!
That we would ALL have pure hearts! What a world that would be. But our hearts are corrupt, our hearts are filthy! We are so filled with self, so filled with the world, so grossly fat with our corrupted ways.
So how can our hearts be pure- how can we have our filthy hearts purified?
Mal 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
Mal 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Our Savior is like a refiner's fire, a fuller's soap. Seriously. We can be cleaned through Christ and ONLY through Christ. We don't have refining fire, we don't have the fuller's soap. We are NOT the refiner, we are NOT the fuller! We have NO righteousness of our own, we talked about that the other day when we studied this verse: Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
And just as we have NO righteousness of our own we have no cleanliness that we can claim as ours. We are filthy sin-stained people with filthy sin-stained hearts and ONLY ONE can cleanse us, ONLY ONE has the RIGHT to cleanse us!
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
PURIFY unto HIMSELF a peculiar people.
Read that again- PURIFY unto HIMSELF. He purifies us unto HIMSELF. We do not purified ourselves. We can place ourselves where the purifier can cleanse us, but we cannot cleanse ourselves. We can do the will of God in all things by His grace living lives following His commandments, loving God and our fellow man with all that entails. It's not as if we should do nothing but embrace evil, not at all, we must shun evil. As we shun evil we understand that the evil we shun doesn't cleanse us. Our Savior cleanses us, we can't save ourselves.
Jas 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Jas 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
We must SUBMIT ourselves to God.
We must resist the devil but ONLY after we've submitted ourselves to God. We must draw NIGH to God so He will draw NIGH to us. We must cleanse our hands, purify our hearts but ONLY after we've submitted ourselves to God, only after we've drawn night to God. We are afflicted, we mourn, we weep, our laughter becomes sadness, our joy turns to heaviness. We have to humble ourselves in the sight of the LORD and HE SHALL LIFT US UP!
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
The pure in heart-- will see God. Those who give themselves to God allowing God to work in them, to cleanse them will see God.
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Please GOD, please create in us a clean heart! Purify our hearts! We long to be among those who are blessed, among those who have pure hearts, among those who shall see God!!!
By HIS GRACE! In HIS LOVE!
AMEN!
Can you picture these words coming from the Savior's lips? Can you picture His eyes scanning the crowd of people about Him as He speaks? Let's suppose for a moment you are there sitting on a rock, your eyes intent upon Jesus and His gaze reaches yours and for a moment your eyes lock and He speaks these words…
"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."
Your heart skips a beat, you gently suck in your breath and for a moment you refuse to release it as you become lost in that single moment. Jesus spoke to you! Jesus gave you this message and it's a message He wants you to understand fully because He is teaching you. To not comprehend what He's saying would mean His words were meaningless to you, just drivel, just someone flapping their lips while you nod and smile- don't pretend you've never nodded and smiled as someone was speaking. Don't pretend you've never had your mind wander as someone spoke to you. Absolutely do not try to convince yourself that you've never been formulating your own thoughts, replies to what has been said already, and in so doing you've missed more of what another was saying. You have to admit that you've sat in a classroom and only half listened as your teacher spoke. Your ears perked up when the word 'quiz' is mentioned and you groan when you hear the words 'study'. A quiz is on the way and what is that quiz on? The things the teacher has been teaching you. You are supposed to study and lucky for you the teacher has provided a handout that highlights the things you will be quizzed on. Now you have the basics there to refer to, to study and yet you know the teacher explained each of what are now brief summaries in great detail during class. Will there be questions on the test based upon the lecture- things not fully covered in the notes? Most likely, but because you have the handout you can study it and even perhaps look up things in your school text book to fill in gaps you may have missed when your mind wandered.
We know that Jesus did and said so much more than we've been blessed to read.
'Joh 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. '
What does that tell us? That Jesus *lived* the word we read! We have only a fraction of the life of Jesus at our disposal, but that fraction is enough and with the Holy Spirit guiding us we can be led into all the truth we need to be known as our Savior's.
We have these words given to us-
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
If we simply read them without studying them we lose so much that our Savior is teaching us.
Some will argue that it's simple, the meaning is very simple and there is really nothing to study and you know what- that's their prerogative. Maybe this isn't a message they need to learn, or a message they need to learn to at this time. The Holy Spirit will guide us all individually and at times collectively, but we can't deny that as individuals we answer to our God for our learning. We each have our own refiner's fire to go through individually forged.
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
If you are NOT pure in heart what else can you be?
Filthy in heart.
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross…
Psa 119:70 Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.
Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Act 8:21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
Our hearts- our minds- what makes us who we are!
H3820
lêb
labe
A form of H3824; the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything
G2588
kardia
kar-dee'-ah
Prolonged from a primary κάρ kar (Latin cor, “heart”); the heart, that is, (figuratively) the thoughts or feelings (mind)
When our heart is not right in the sight of God it doesn't mean our heart is diseased physically. Our lives are not right with God. We as whole individuals are not right with God. The heart is figurative for our center- the controlling aspect of who we are- not JUST the intellectual part of us but our emotional part as well- the ALL of us. When our hearts are corrupt, when our hearts are filthy, gross, unclean we are not God's.
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Is it any wonder we are blessed to have a pure heart?!
That we would ALL have pure hearts! What a world that would be. But our hearts are corrupt, our hearts are filthy! We are so filled with self, so filled with the world, so grossly fat with our corrupted ways.
So how can our hearts be pure- how can we have our filthy hearts purified?
Mal 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
Mal 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Our Savior is like a refiner's fire, a fuller's soap. Seriously. We can be cleaned through Christ and ONLY through Christ. We don't have refining fire, we don't have the fuller's soap. We are NOT the refiner, we are NOT the fuller! We have NO righteousness of our own, we talked about that the other day when we studied this verse: Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
And just as we have NO righteousness of our own we have no cleanliness that we can claim as ours. We are filthy sin-stained people with filthy sin-stained hearts and ONLY ONE can cleanse us, ONLY ONE has the RIGHT to cleanse us!
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
PURIFY unto HIMSELF a peculiar people.
Read that again- PURIFY unto HIMSELF. He purifies us unto HIMSELF. We do not purified ourselves. We can place ourselves where the purifier can cleanse us, but we cannot cleanse ourselves. We can do the will of God in all things by His grace living lives following His commandments, loving God and our fellow man with all that entails. It's not as if we should do nothing but embrace evil, not at all, we must shun evil. As we shun evil we understand that the evil we shun doesn't cleanse us. Our Savior cleanses us, we can't save ourselves.
Jas 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Jas 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
We must SUBMIT ourselves to God.
We must resist the devil but ONLY after we've submitted ourselves to God. We must draw NIGH to God so He will draw NIGH to us. We must cleanse our hands, purify our hearts but ONLY after we've submitted ourselves to God, only after we've drawn night to God. We are afflicted, we mourn, we weep, our laughter becomes sadness, our joy turns to heaviness. We have to humble ourselves in the sight of the LORD and HE SHALL LIFT US UP!
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
The pure in heart-- will see God. Those who give themselves to God allowing God to work in them, to cleanse them will see God.
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Please GOD, please create in us a clean heart! Purify our hearts! We long to be among those who are blessed, among those who have pure hearts, among those who shall see God!!!
By HIS GRACE! In HIS LOVE!
AMEN!
Monday, March 14, 2011
For they shall obtain mercy
Mat 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Compassion.
Some might say that there is a great lack of compassion in our world and they'd be right. Oh, when there is a *cause* to show compassion for that makes you look good people will generally step up. And we LOVE to believe that we live in a compassionate world where the majority of people are compassionate. Sometimes we get just enough evidence of compassion around us that we start to believe that things aren't so bad in our world, but truly there is a great lack of compassion, a great lack of mercy. I know I sound so cynical and perhaps I am.
Showing mercy, showing undeserved compassion this is truly a good thing. We read about the lack of mercy in our world daily, we hear about it on the news, we see it for ourselves and sometimes, maybe all too often we see it IN ourselves.
Hos 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
How many would rather *pay* for salvation rather than be merciful? Seriously. There was a time in our history (the history of mankind that is) when the Catholic Church sold Indulgences - rather than take what they perceived their just punishment for their sins they paid to have the punishment taken away. Even today many believe that after confessing a sin- they have to pay for that sin - and after they've paid for that sin they are free and clear. When a person believes they have to PAY for their sins aren't they in essence believing they have a hand in their own salvation? We cannot save ourselves! But many believe they can. They need to be good enough, they need to do something, anything because doing nothing just doesn't seem right, doing NOTHING is admitting that they are POWERLESS and people do NOT want to admit they are powerless, that they want control of their own salvation.
The question up there was- How many would rather *pay* for salvation than be merciful? The answer is - way too many. Another question, how many would rather *work* for salvation than learn of God? The answer- way too many.
Mat 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
The merciful will obtain mercy. Not the unmerciful who believe their money can buy mercy, and not the unmerciful who believe they can simply commit their unmerciful acts and then ask for forgiveness- believing they HAVE to be forgiven when in truth it is ONLY by grace we are forgiven- when we have a contrite heart not an arrogant belief. If there isn't genuine repentance there is no forgiveness and yet so many people believe otherwise.
Mercy. Compassion.
We need to be merciful even when mercy is seemingly undeserved in fact that is when we need to show mercy the most. Mercy shouldn't be only allocated to the deserving as many believe. The old I'll be good to you because you've been good to me, rather than I'll be good to you even though you haven't been good to me.
You hear a lot about rendering to another what they render to you- when in truth we need to have compassion upon ALL others no matter what they do to us.
We need to be merciful!
You've heard the saying- "Cry mercy." Haven't you? Someone crying for mercy when it's not warranted. "Throw yourself on the mercy of the court." Meaning ask for undeserved lenience. Meaning plead your case and beg for a lesser punishment than what you deserve. Mercy is just that - not something you can give to a deserving person, but rather something that is undeserved.
Being merciful.
May God help us to be merciful.
Mat 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
We all need the mercy of our Lord, we all need mercy because NONE of us deserve His love, His forgiveness.
Please Lord help us be merciful, truly merciful- create in us a CLEAN HEART, renewing a right spirit within us- we know there is nothing good in us, no righteousness of our own but ONLY Your righteousness, only Your love and Your mercy working in us. Help us to trust in You fully! All mercy comes from You and by Your grace may we show mercy.
In Your love!
Amen!
Compassion.
Some might say that there is a great lack of compassion in our world and they'd be right. Oh, when there is a *cause* to show compassion for that makes you look good people will generally step up. And we LOVE to believe that we live in a compassionate world where the majority of people are compassionate. Sometimes we get just enough evidence of compassion around us that we start to believe that things aren't so bad in our world, but truly there is a great lack of compassion, a great lack of mercy. I know I sound so cynical and perhaps I am.
Showing mercy, showing undeserved compassion this is truly a good thing. We read about the lack of mercy in our world daily, we hear about it on the news, we see it for ourselves and sometimes, maybe all too often we see it IN ourselves.
Hos 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
How many would rather *pay* for salvation rather than be merciful? Seriously. There was a time in our history (the history of mankind that is) when the Catholic Church sold Indulgences - rather than take what they perceived their just punishment for their sins they paid to have the punishment taken away. Even today many believe that after confessing a sin- they have to pay for that sin - and after they've paid for that sin they are free and clear. When a person believes they have to PAY for their sins aren't they in essence believing they have a hand in their own salvation? We cannot save ourselves! But many believe they can. They need to be good enough, they need to do something, anything because doing nothing just doesn't seem right, doing NOTHING is admitting that they are POWERLESS and people do NOT want to admit they are powerless, that they want control of their own salvation.
The question up there was- How many would rather *pay* for salvation than be merciful? The answer is - way too many. Another question, how many would rather *work* for salvation than learn of God? The answer- way too many.
Mat 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
The merciful will obtain mercy. Not the unmerciful who believe their money can buy mercy, and not the unmerciful who believe they can simply commit their unmerciful acts and then ask for forgiveness- believing they HAVE to be forgiven when in truth it is ONLY by grace we are forgiven- when we have a contrite heart not an arrogant belief. If there isn't genuine repentance there is no forgiveness and yet so many people believe otherwise.
Mercy. Compassion.
We need to be merciful even when mercy is seemingly undeserved in fact that is when we need to show mercy the most. Mercy shouldn't be only allocated to the deserving as many believe. The old I'll be good to you because you've been good to me, rather than I'll be good to you even though you haven't been good to me.
You hear a lot about rendering to another what they render to you- when in truth we need to have compassion upon ALL others no matter what they do to us.
We need to be merciful!
You've heard the saying- "Cry mercy." Haven't you? Someone crying for mercy when it's not warranted. "Throw yourself on the mercy of the court." Meaning ask for undeserved lenience. Meaning plead your case and beg for a lesser punishment than what you deserve. Mercy is just that - not something you can give to a deserving person, but rather something that is undeserved.
Being merciful.
May God help us to be merciful.
Mat 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
We all need the mercy of our Lord, we all need mercy because NONE of us deserve His love, His forgiveness.
Please Lord help us be merciful, truly merciful- create in us a CLEAN HEART, renewing a right spirit within us- we know there is nothing good in us, no righteousness of our own but ONLY Your righteousness, only Your love and Your mercy working in us. Help us to trust in You fully! All mercy comes from You and by Your grace may we show mercy.
In Your love!
Amen!
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