Christ lives in me - Cost of Discipleship Pt 76

Chapter 14 - The Hidden Righteousness

Mat 6:1  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Mat 6:2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
Mat 6:4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.


Bonhoeffer- 'But precisely because the Christian life is of its very nature extraordinary, it is at the same time ordinary, natural, and HIDDEN. If not, it is not the Christian life at all, it is not obedience to the will of Jesus Christ. 

Secondly, we have to ask how the visible and the invisible  aspects of discipleship can be combined, and how the same life can be both visible and hidden. To answer this question, all we need to do is to go back to chapter 5, where the extraordinary and the visible are defined as the cross of Christ beneath which the disciples stand. The cross is at once the necessary, the hidden, and the visible-- it is the "extraordinary."

Thirdly we have to ask how the contradiction between the fifth and the sixth chapters is to be resolved.  The answer lies in the meaning of discipleship. It means an exclusive adherence to him, and that implies first, that the disciple looks only to his Lord and follows him. If he looked only at the extraordinary quality of the Christian life, he would no longer be following Christ. For the disciple this extraordinary quality consists solely in the will of the Lord, and when he seeks to do that will he knows that there is no other alternative, and that what he does is the only natural thing to do.

All that the follower of Jesus has to do is to make sure that his obedience, following and love are entirely spontaneous and unpremeditated. If you do good, you must not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, you must be quite unconscious of it. Otherwise you are simply displaying your own virtue, the virtue of discipleship, can only be accomplished so long as you are entirely unconscious of what you are doing. The genuine work of love is always a hidden work. Take heed therefore that you know it not, for only so it is the goodness of God. If we want to know our own goodness or love, it has already ceased to be love. We must be unaware even of our love for our enemies. After all, when we love them they are no longer our enemies. This voluntary blindness in the Christian (which is really sight illuminated by Christ) is his certainty, and the fact that his life is hidden from his sight is the ground of his assurance.

Thus hiddenness has its counterpart in manifestation. For there is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed. For our God is a God unto whom all hearts are open, and from whom no secrets are hid. God will show us the hidden and make it and the only question is where we shall receive it and who will give it us. If we want publicity in the eyes of men we have our reward. In other words, it is immaterial whether the publicity we want it the grosser kind, which all can see, or the more subtle variety which we can only see ourselves. If the left hand knows what the right hand is doing, if we become conscious of our hidden virtue, we are forging our own reward, instead of that which God had intended to give us in his own good time.

Genuine love is always self forgetful in the true sense of the word. But if we are to have it, our old man must die with all his virtues and qualities, and this can only be done where the disciple forgets SELF and clings SOLELY to CHRIST.

When Jesus said: "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." he was sounding the death-knell of the old man.

Once again who can live a life which combines chapters 5 & 6?

Only those who have died after the old man through Christ, and are given a new life by following HIM and having fellowship with HIM.

Love, in the sense of spontaneous, unreflective action, spells the death of the old man. For man recovers his true nature in the righteousness of Christ and in his fellowman. The love of Christ crucified, who delivers our old man to death, is the love which lives in those who follow him.

"I live yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20)

Henceforth the Christian finds himself only in Christ and in his brethren.'

My thoughts-

NOTHING is about US!
EVERYTHING is about CHRIST!

Hidden Righteousness - Cost of Discipleshp Pt 75

Chapter 14 - The Hidden Righteousness

Mat 6:1  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Mat 6:2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
Mat 6:4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Bonhoeffer- 'The disciples are told they can possess the "extraordinary" only so long as they are reflective: they must beware how they use it, and never fulfill it simply for its own sake, or for the sake of ostentation. The better righteousness of the disciples must have a motive which lies beyond itself. Of course it has to be visible, but they must take care that it does not become visible simply for the sake of becoming visible.

Let your light shine before men…'

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.

'...and yet: Take care that you hide it'!'

Mat 6:4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

'That which is visible must also be hidden. The awareness on which Jesus insists is intended to prevent us from reflecting on our extraordinary position. We have to take heed that we do not take heed of our own righteousness. Otherwise the "extraordinary" which we achieve will not be that which comes from following Christ, but that which springs from our own will and desire.

How is this paradox to be resolved? The first question to ask is: From whom are we to hide the visibility of our discipleship? Certainly not from other men, for we are told to let them see our light. No. We are to hide it from OURSELVES. Our task is simply to keep on following, looking only to our Leader who goes on before, taking no notice of ourselves or of what we are doing. We must be unaware of our own righteousness, and see it only in so far as we look unto Jesus; then it will seem not extraordinary, but quite ordinary and natural. Thus we hide the visible from ourselves in obedience to the word of Jesus. If the "extraordinary" were important for its own sake, we should, like fanatics, be relying on our own fleshly strength and power, whereas the disciple of Jesus acts simply in obedience to his Lord.  That is, he regards the "extraordinary" as the natural fruit of obedience. According to the word of Jesus it cannot be otherwise: the Christian is a light unto the world, not because of any quality of his own, but only because he follows Christ and looks solely to him.'

My thoughts-

When we are told this-

Mat 6:3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth

--it can be no clearer, we are not to LET ourselves know! 

And as everyone knows, you cannot- not know something you are aware of once you are aware of it, unless you happen to forget it. So being aware of trying to forget something almost cements it more firmly in our memory, rather than expunges it.  Purposely striving to forget, purposely striving to not let ONE hand know what the OTHER hand is doing, when both hands are controlled by the same brain seems impossible, so what does Christ mean by all this other than we are NOT to reward ourselves for what we are doing. We are NOT to pat ourselves on the back for what we are doing when we are living the life of a true disciple of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

We like to be rewarded though, don't we? We like it when others notice our "goodness", our "extraordinariness".   This is not of Christ though and it MUST be repented of!

Did our Savior make Himself an earthly king taking obeisance from others because of His goodness?  No. Our Savior did not heap to Himself gold and precious jewels, He did not deck Himself out with the finest clothes, He did not set up a palace for Himself upon earth and He could have done ALL those things and more.

Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God…

Jesus said those words!

He would was only good always said- there is NONE good but ONE, that is GOD.

We know that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all exist as separate beings though they ALL AGREE as one.  When Jesus said that there is NONE good but ONE, that is GOD, He was talking of His Father whom He looked to always for all His strength and guidance. And in essence because He as God the Son agrees fully with His Father He was good too- however- He was NOT there on earth to promote Himself, but to promote His Father's Kingdom.  Everything He did was a finger pointing to the FATHER GOD. Jesus prayed to the Father, not to Himself.

He is our GREATEST example.  In obedience to HIM we do as He did.  He was SELFLESS! He took NO glory upon Himself.

By His GRACE alone may we LIVE as He commands us to live! Through His power alone! All to HIM in everything!

Righteousness Exceeding - Cost of Discipleship Pt 74

Chapter 13 - The Enemy -- the "Extraordinary"

Exceed

Strong's-
'- Transliteration: Perisseuo
- Definition:
1. to exceed a fixed number of measure, to be left over and above a certain number or measure
a. to be over, to remain
b. to exist or be at hand in abundance
1. to be great (abundant)
2. a thing which comes in abundance, or overflows unto one, something falls to the lot of one in large measure
3. to redound unto, turn out abundantly for, a thing
c. to abound, overflow
1. to be abundantly furnished with, to have in abundance, abound in (a thing), to be in affluence
2. to be pre-eminent, to excel
3. to excel more than, exceed
2. to make to abound
a. to furnish one richly so that he has abundance
b. to make abundant or excellent '

Bonhoeffer - 'What makes Christians different from other men is the "peculiar," the Perisseuo, the "extraordinary", the "unusual", that which is not "a matter of course." This is the quality by whereby the better righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.'

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.

My thoughts-

There IS a difference between those who are Christ's followers and all others. This difference is extraordinary and it does exceed the righteousness that the chosen people, the Israelites, those closest to God in history, the priests- the scribes, the Pharisees- it exceeds all of their righteousness, those who appeared to be most righteous.

To pretend we are all just the same is foolishness, yet at the same time the Christian will be the FIRST to recognize their own inferior self next to the worst of sinners, and NOT condemn the basest of criminals. The Christian can comprehend their own sinful state, their own guilt in the cross, and because they comprehend that guilt they KNOW they have no right to think of themselves as superior to ANYONE!

The Christian is extraordinary, their righteousness exceeding that of those who are not Christ's, and it exceeds it ONLY in comprehending the cross and NO WHERE else. Their good works mean NOTHING! Their own righteousness means NOTHING! It is Christ's righteousness which they claim as heirs with Him. 

Bonhoeffer- 'How does this quality work out in practice ? The "extraordinary" -- and this is the supreme scandal-- is something which the followers of Jesus do.

It must be done like the better righteousness, and done so that all men can see it. It is NOT strict Puritanism, not some eccentric pattern of Christian living, but simple unreflecting obedience to the will of Christ. If we make the "extraordinary" our standard, we shall be led into the passio of Christ, and in that its peculiar quality will be displayed. This activity itself is ceaseless suffering.  In it the disciple endures the suffering of Christ. If this is not so, then this is not the activity of which Jesus speaks.

Hence the perisseuo is the fulfilment of the law, the keeping of the commandments. In Christ crucified and in his people the "extraordinary" becomes reality.

These men are the perfect, the men in whom the undivided love of the Heavenly Father is perfected. It was that love which gave the Son to die for us upon the cross, and it is by suffering in the fellowship of this cross that the followers of Jesus are perfected. The perfect are none other than the blessed of the beatitudes.'

My thoughts--

Obedience to the will of Christ.

And for all those who say Christ asks nothing of His followers, please, read your Bibles. Read them, study them.

Being a follower of Christ IS exhibiting a Christ follower's LIFE.  That life doesn't mean perfection in the sense the Christian will appear impeccable in all things.  A follower of Christ will struggle under the weight of spiritual warfare. A follower of Christ will OBEY the WILL of CHRIST!  And we are told this--

Rev_3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

TRUTH!

REALITY!

Do you really want to be a follower of Christ, an adopted son of the Heavenly Father? Then you must OBEY your Heavenly Father in all things! You must obey Christ in all things! You must comprehend that your life as a Christ follower will be a difficult one, an EXTRAORDINARY life because it is IN HIM!

Please LORD bless us, keep us, forgive us, love us!

Please!

Thank you, LORD.

All glory, praise, and honor unto You LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR now and forever!

Father Forgive Them (My Killers) - Cost of Discipleship Pt 73

Chapter 13 - The Enemy -- the "Extraordinary"

Bonhoeffer- 'The love for our enemies takes us along the way of the cross and into fellowship with the crucified. The more we are driven along this road, the more certain is the victory of love over the enemy's hatred. For then it is not the disciple's own love, but the love of Jesus Christ alone, who for the sake of his enemies went to the cross and prayed for them as he hung there. In the face of the cross the disciples realized that they too were his enemies, and he had overcome them by his love. It is this that opens the disciple's eyes and enables him to see his enemy as his brother. He know that he owes his very life to One, who though he was his enemy, treated him as a brother and accepted him, who made him his neighbor, and drew him into fellowship with himself. The disciple can now perceive that even his enemy is the object of God's love, and he stands like himself beneath the cross of Christ. God asks us nothing about our virtues or vices, for in his sight even our virtue was ungodliness. God's love sought out his enemies who needed it, and who he deemed worthy of it. God loves his enemies -- that is the glory of his love, as every follower of Jesus knows; through Jesus he has become a partaker in this love. For God allows his sun to shine upon the just and the unjust. But it is not only the earthly sun and the earthly rain: the "Sun of Righteousness", and the rain of God's word which are on the sinner, and reveal the grace of the Heavenly Father.  Perfect all-inclusive is the act of the Father, it is also the act of the sons of God as it was the act of the only-begotten Son.'

My thoughts-

Luk 23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Mat_5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Mal_4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

*******

Upon His cross...in excruciating pain, feeling agony unlike we can know, our Savior asked the Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him.

Our Savior PRAYED to the FATHER to forgive those killing Him! 

Our Savior believed that if they really understood what they were doing, if they really knew they were killing the Son of God, then they wouldn't have done it. But they didn't know what they were doing.  To them all they were doing was following orders. They were killing yet another criminal.  There were three right then they were putting to death and to them, not one was different than the other, they were all guilty and sentenced to death. They didn't know, and Jesus did not want them to have the weight of that sin laid to their charge. Jesus wanted His murderers forgiven.

Forgiveness.

Loving our enemies. Doing good to our enemies. Praying for our enemies.  This is all a part of forgiveness. 

We know this--

Mat 6:14  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you

If we do NOT love our enemies then we do NOT forgive them. If we do NOT forgive them, then we are NOT forgiven.

We can't say we are Christ's and forgiven by Christ, saved by Christ, and continue to hate others, even those others who say we have a right to hate- our enemies.

And our hate is displayed in many ways.

People might think hate is only manifested vehemently, but that's not true. You can hate someone and never express it or show any negative emotion towards them.  You can hate someone simply by ignoring their needs, this is truth. Indifference can be hatred.  We need to LOVE and love is active.  We need to love ALL and hate NONE. We can hate their deeds, but not them.  As we hate the deeds of sin we must love the one sinning and pray for the one sinning just as our Savior loves us and prays for us- sinners.

Our Savior LOVED from the cross, and He LOVED those killing him!

We can scarcely love those who love us, let alone love those who hate us.  Only by the mercy of our Savior and the gift of the Holy Spirit will we be able to love, truly love.

All in HIM ALWAYS IN HIM! OUR SAVIOR, OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Pray for your enemies - Cost of Discipleship Pt 72

Chapter 13 - The Enemy -- the "Extraordinary"

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, ...and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you

Bonhoeffer- 'This is the supreme demand. Through the medium of prayer we go to our enemy ,stand by his side and plead for him to God. Jesus does not promise that when we bless our enemies and do good to them that they will not despitefully use and persecute us . They certainly will. But not even that can hurt or overcome us ,so long as we pray for them. For if we pray for them, we are taking their distress and poverty , their guilt and perdition upon ourselves , and pleading to God for them.  We are doing vicariously for them what they cannot do for themselves. Every insult they utter only serves to bind us more closely to God and them. Their persecution of us only serves to bring them nearer to reconciliation with  God and to further the triumphs of love.'

My thoughts--

Prayer. Praying for someone, making supplication for another person. Seeking God, asking for His intervention in another's life.  When we seek God asking Him to be with those who are hurting us, we are recognizing the NEED our persecutor has of God. We are comprehending that the person abusing us needs forgiveness- God's forgiveness, our forgiveness.  We are understanding the VALUE our Savior places upon EVERYONE!  We have NO way of knowing who will be God's and who will not.  The worst of offenders may plead for forgiveness and accept Christ into His life, while the mildest, meekest person who never offended anyone in their lives will NOT accept Christ as their Savior.

We don't know, we can't know.

We are told by our Savior to PRAY for those who are our enemies.  We don't know the even if our enemies will be Christ's or not, but we MUST pray that they will be!

Even knowing the majority of people will NOT be Christ's when He comes, we must pray for all and NEVER ever become complacent in our salvation.

Our life is one of discipleship to our Savior and that means comprehending His words, His instructions to us, and living by them, making them a part of our lives. 

When He tells us to PRAY for our enemies He means for us to PRAY for them, truly pray for them.

Bonhoeffer's saying this-- ' Their persecution of us only serves to bring them nearer to reconciliation with  God and to further the triumphs of love.'  

-- seems strange, doesn't it? Whenever we are persecuted and we do PRAY for those persecuting us, we are bringing the nearer to GOD.   It makes sense, doesn't it?  Remember this--

Act 16:22  And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
Act 16:23  And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
Act 16:24  Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
Act 16:25  And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
Act 16:26  And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
Act 16:27  And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
Act 16:28  But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
Act 16:29  Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
Act 16:30  And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Act 16:31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Act 16:32  And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
Act 16:33  And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
Act 16:34  And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
Act 16:35  And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.
Act 16:36  And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.

Paul and Silas beaten and imprisoned- prayed and sang songs!
Their jailor was ready to kill himself when he thought they'd escaped, and instead that jailer accepted Christ and was baptized.

They PRAYED.

One who was IMPRISONING them was SAVED.

We have NO way of knowing what the result of our prayers will be.  We do know prayer WORKS. Prayer is NECESSARY. Jesus prayed!  It's a blessing to have the ability to pray to our God. It is a blessing to be able to pray for our enemies knowing that we are bringing them up to God and by HIS grace bringing them closer to SALVATION in CHRIST.

All through HIM!

Do good to those who hate you - Cost of Discipleship Pt 71

Chapter 13 - The Enemy -- the "Extraordinary"

Mat 5:44  ...do good to them that hate you…

Bonhoeffer- 'We must love not only in thought and word, but in deed, and there are opportunities of service in every circumstance of daily life.

Rom 12:20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink…

My thoughts-

Our deeds.
Our actions.

These reveal so much about us, don't they?

We can say we love, we can shout we love, but all the while our actions are saying we don't love at all.

What do we do?

Today I was listening to a sermon called, 'The Anatomy of Faith', and one of the points being made was our KEEPING the faith of Jesus.  The word KEEP meaning the following-

1. to attend to carefully, take care of
a. to guard
b. metaph. to keep, one in the state in which he is
c. to observe

When we KEEP the faith of Jesus we are ACTIVELY attending, guarding, observing and what are we attending, guarding, observing?

Rom_10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Faith we are keeping the FAITH of JESUS and FAITH comes by HEARING and HEARING by the WORD of GOD. We are keeping God's WORD! We are actively guarding, observing, attending to the WORD of GOD.  We are doing this in a very literally way! The words we HEAR are meant to be kept close to our hearts, not discarded as if they are merely being spoken to pass time, or entertain us.  Faith is a REAL thing, not something that doesn't exist. 

Heb_11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

It is SUBSTANCE, it is REAL. It is a REAL HOPE, a SOLID HOPE, and the EVIDENCE, the PROOF of things NOT SEEN.

NOT SEEN!

But HEARD. Remember- faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

We must HEAR the word of God if we would have FAITH.  It must be a REAL ACTIVE HEARING.

We are to love others and that LOVE must be REAL in our doing GOOD to them that HATE US!

They hate us!

HATE US.  DETEST US. PERSECUTE US.

We are to LOVE THEM!

And if we are to love those who HATE us, it's already a given that we are doing good to those we love, right? Shouldn't we be?

Luk_6:33  And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.

It's a lot easier to do good to those who do good to you, right? But to do good to those who hate you, that is truly much more difficult, and I’m going to say nigh unto impossible without CHRIST living in us!

We shouldn't hesitate to say that WE cannot love our enemies, WE cannot do good to those who hate us, because it's true!  ONLY CHRIST IN US CAN MAKE THIS LOVE POSSIBLE, BECAUSE IT IS HIS LOVE!

His LOVE!

Love them! Do good to them! All through CHRIST'S POWER, not any of your own!

All though HIS GRACE, HIS MERCY, HIS LOVE, AMAZING WONDERFUL LOVE!

Please Lord, live in us, love in us!

Bless those who curse us - Cost of Discipleship Pt 70

Chapter 13 - The Enemy -- the "Extraordinary"

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you

Persecute you.

Bonhoeffer- '"Bless them that persecute you." If our enemy cannot put up with us any longer and takes to cursing us, our immediate reaction must be to lift up our hands and bless him. Our enemies are blessed of the Lord. Their curse can do us no harm. May their poverty be enriched with all the riches of God, with the blessing of Him whom they seek to oppose in vain. We are ready to endure their curses so long as they redound to their blessing.'

My thoughts-

How many read that and found it all but impossible to imagine?

Blessing one who is cursing you.

First of all, when we are being cursed at the feelings those curses cause to rise up in us generally are no where near the sort that would have us wanting to bless anyone, right?

It's that knee jerk, gut reaction we've honed to perfection over the years- respond in KIND, give as you are getting.  The idea of blessing one who is actively cursing us, it's all but unthinkable, isn't it?  We're being cursed! The awful flood of negative reactions that creates in us leave very little room, alright, no room at all for blessings, right?

Seriously, we respond with hurt, anger, but seldom, if not at all, with blessings.

We feel abused wrongly when we are cursed, believing that no matter what's happened we do NOT deserve to be cursed.

Bonhoeffer says, 'our immediate reaction must be to lift up our hands and bless him'.  Our immediate reaction to bless those persecuting us. He goes on to say, 'Their curse can do us no harm.'  This is true isn't?  The harm it commits is wounding our feelings and producing un-Christlike reactions in us, which if we were to respond with a blessing, it would NOT do!

If we do as our Savior instructs us to do, we are NOT sinning in kind!

If we do as our Savior instructs we are REVEALING CHRIST to the one persecuting, cursing us. 

The blessing we give to them- what should it be?  What do you imagine you should ask for as a blessing to one who is hurting you? Should it be a generic blessing, asking God to bless them as He knows they have need of a blessing? Should it be something more? Truly it's probably a situation of deciding such a thing in the moment, but imagine someone cursing you, go on, imagine it.  What does the imagining bring to mind, besides that instant hurt feeling, pained reaction?  Using your imagination let's go do away with that self-centered reaction and listen to our Savior's instruction.  We are cursed and as the cursing assaults us we…  maybe close our eyes and pray silently, or perhaps we don’t even close our eyes, but we instantly pray-  Lord, please bless this person cursing me. 

The prayer takes our minds off ourselves, doesn't it, shouldn't it?

Isn't this what our Savior has been trying to teach us all along? To LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS, to LOVE GOD?  NOT to simply focus all on ourselves.  There is NO commandment to selfish love, not one.  Loving others as we love ourselves means to love others as we desire love, not necessarily as we are loved, or love/like ourselves. No commandment saying LOVE YOURSELF, PUT YOURSELF FIRST.

Even when we are being abused, the abuser comes first.   It sound so WRONG, doesn't it? But we've abused God so much, our every sin has abused Him, and He put us first! Did Christ put His abusers first?

Luk_23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

And Christ tells us--

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you

Did our Savior mean what He said?  Is this truth He is speaking to us?  Would He ask us to do the impossible?

Mar_11:25  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Mar_11:26  But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Would He ask us to FORGIVE if He thought it was impossible to do so?

Mat_19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

WITH GOD all things are possible!

Jesus is NOT asking us to do any of those things without HIM, only WITH HIM, only as HIS FOLLOWERS, HIS DISCIPLES!

Sure, if we try to bless anyone that curses us, we won't be able to- but Christ in us can do that.

We need to decide if we are truly Christ's disciples or if we are simply pretending to be His disciples.

If we are truly Christ's disciples we must LIVE as His disciples, IN HIM, THROUGH HIM! 

All by HIS AMAZING LOVE AND GRACE!

Bless, do good, pray for your enemies - Cost of Discipleship Pt 69

Chapter 13 - The Enemy -- the "Extraordinary"

Bonhoeffer- 'Love asks nothing in return, but seeks those who need it. And who needs our love more than those who are consumed with hatred and are utterly devoid of love? Who in other words deserves our love more than our enemy?

Am I asked how this love is to behave? Jesus gives the answer: bless, do good, and pray for your enemies without reserve and without respect of persons.

"Love your enemies."  The preceding commandment had spoken only of the passive endurance of evil; here Jesus goes further and bids us not only to bear with evil and the evil person patiently, not only to refrain from treating him as he treats us, but actively to engage in heart-felt love towards him. We are to serve our enemy in all things without hypocrisy and with utter sincerity. No sacrifice which a lover would make for his beloved is too great for us to make for our enemy. If out of love for our brother we are willing to sacrifice goods, honor and life, we must be prepared to do the same for our enemy. We are not to imagine that this is to condone his evil; such a love proceeds from strength rather than weakness, from truth rather than fear, and therefore it cannot be guilty of the hatred of another. And who is to be the object of such a love, if not those whose hearts are stifled with hatred?' 

My thoughts-

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you

Jesus' words.

These aren't words coming from just anyone. These aren't words being spoken by someone who knows no enemies.  Jesus has the greatest enemy in existence.  All the evil people in the world are evil because of this greatest of enemies.  The evil people would not be evil except this being exists to encourage evil to flourish.

From the ONE who knows the most evil being in existence we hear these words.  "Love your enemies."

From the ONE who knows the depths of evil's power, the depravity that it will go to, we are being taught this lesson. "Love your enemies."

Suffering unlike anything we can imagine was known by Jesus.  Some might say He was not tortured for years, He was never abused all His life from His youth up, He was never put through some of the hideous acts that people can suffer, and they'd be right.  But no human being who has ever suffered from the greatest to the least, the youngest to the oldest, has ever known heaven, has ever known everlasting to everlasting.

What our Savior is teaching when He tells us to love our enemies is that we are to love with the love that HE loves with.  

He, by HIS life and death, has made it possible for US to be forgiven our worst of sins.

He died to SAVE ALL that would be SAVED.

He offered us this amazing LOVE and He asks that WE through HIM and HIS power LOVE the same.

He can ask us to love the worst of the worst, because He already has. He's forgiven the worst.

EVERY stroke of evil ever made has been felt by our Savior. He's not immune to suffering, He's felt and feels it all.  He knows our pain. Every strike that Satan makes it's against God, it's made to hurt God. Our Savior loves in a way we can scarcely comprehend and that is truth.

He can tell us to LOVE our enemies because He knows if we do NOT love our enemies then we are really hurting ourselves.

He can tell His followers to LOVE their enemies because His followers will know HIS love and it is only with HIS love they can love their enemies with.

This is truth.

Those that are NOT His followers will not be able to truly love, let alone love their enemies.

By HIS GRACE alone we can LOVE!

When Bonhoeffer writes of how we are to love our enemies, not by merely and passively forgiving but by truly being LOVING and all that means towards those enemies, HE UNDERSTANDS, this is the love Jesus loves with!

Requite hostility with love - Cost of Discipleship pt. 68

Chapter 13 - The Enemy -- the "Extraordinary"

Bonhoeffer- 'The Christian must treat his enemy as a brother, and requite his hostility with love. His behavior must be determined not by the way others treat him, but by the treatment he himself receives from Jesus; it has only one source, and that is the will of Jesus.'

My thoughts-  Imagine that. OUR behavior NOT being determined by the way we are treated by others. Isn't that was establishes our behavior?  Seriously. We are treated certain ways and that treatment is geared to get certain reactions from us. A person doesn't ridicule us without wanting it to hurt us in some way. A person doesn't yell at us without intending that yelling to have an affect on us. The behavior desired is seldom lacking. When we yell at someone what are we expecting the response to be? Sometimes we yell because we want to get a point across not necessarily wanting to be yelled at in return. But yelling often encourages the response of yelling. Anger can result in producing more anger, or it can bring on despair, depression, and various other results, but normally contentment and peace are not among those results. Yet, we as CHRIST'S are treated with LOVE, pure LOVE unlike anything that exists  outside of Christ.  The mere attempt to comprehend Christ's love is mind boggling. This love is how we are TREATED by CHRIST. And this LOVE is how we are to TREAT others. We are NOT to treat others based on how they treat us. We can't if we are Christ's because that sort of treatment results in us being treated that way in return.  If we cannot forgive, we will NOT be forgiven.  If we cannot love others, we cannot be loved in return. If we cannot respond in LOVE towards one who is persecuting us, how can we expect to be loved when we have been the persecutors?

We love our enemies because we as enemies of our Savior through our embracing of sin, are LOVED when we seek forgiveness, repenting and longing to be Christ's! When we are forgiven, when we are LOVED, we are instructed to LOVE. This is OUR instruction- to LOVE, no matter what, we LOVE. Undeservedly we LOVE.  We will never have deserved Christ's love, NEVER! And there may be hundreds, thousands, of occasions that others will not deserve our love, they may NEVER deserve our love, but we MUST love!

Are we forgiven much?
Then we MUST forgive much!
Are we loved much?
Then we MUST love much!

ALL by the GRACE of our God all because HE loves, it's HIS LOVE!

IN HIS LOVE!

Defeat your enemies by loving them - Cost of Discipleship Pt 67

Chapter 13 - The Enemy -- the "Extraordinary"

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Mat 5:46  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Mat 5:47  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Mat 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Bonhoeffer - 'From now on there can be no more wars of faith.  The only way to overcome our enemy is by loving him.
     To the natural man, the very notion of loving his enemies is an intolerable offence, and quite beyond his capacity: it cuts right across his ideas of good and evil.  More important still, to man under the law, the idea of loving his enemies is clean contrary to the law of God, which requires men to sever all connection with their enemies and to pass judgment on them. Jesus, however, takes the law of God in his own hands and expounds its true meaning. The will of God, to which the law gives expression, is that men should defeat their enemies by loving them.'

My thoughts-

The wars of faith were fought plentiful and often, just read your Old Testament and the call to war was seemingly constant. It was a war against those who were idol worshippers, those who broke the law of God consistently as a way of life.

God destroyed all but eight human beings because of the evil of mankind. The evil that was man living separate from God without any desire whatsoever to establish a connection with Him ever again.

The Creator did NOT create us to be separate from Himself, this is what people fail to comprehend.

Only in Him are we truly complete as we were meant to be, as we were created to be.  We were NOT created to be apart from God, we were made in His image. We were made by a Creator who KNOWS that us without Him- equals nothing.

People rail against this bond, they fight against is as if they created themselves and know what's best for themselves. People judge that God is against them, when HE created them! 

He truly does have the RIGHTS to us, the RIGHTS of OWNERSHIP.  And yet… He created us with the ability to CHOOSE whether or not we comprehend and accept the LOVE of this OWNERSHIP.  It's not a MASTER - SLAVE relationship. It's a MASTER - COMPANION relationship.   We are NOT forced to remain as slaves are forced, we can choose to break the relationship whenever we want.  This is a FATHER- CHILD (ADOPTED) relationship to those who choose to remain. 

However, if we do NOT choose to remain in a relationship with our Creator, the ONLY relationship that really complete who we were created to be, then we forfeit our life.  When we choose to live outside the ONLY relationship that can sustain us eternally, we are choosing our own death.

In the very beginning God told Eve she would die if she separated herself from Him by choosing to believe that she could live apart from Him.

Yes, people say it was just a piece of forbidden fruit, none of that separation stuff. But Eve knew that God had created her, and loved her. Eve knew that God denied her nothing she needed. Even knew that God wanted to be in a relationship with her, and she wanted for NOTHING.  The choice she had to make was whether or not to BELIEVE in Her Creator, the One who had given her life and everything she ever needed.  Satan entered the picture and lied to her about God and she LISTENED to Satan. She chose to DISBEILEVE God. She chose to abandon HIS TRUTH. She chose to SEPARATE her life from God's. God told her that separation would mean death and He did not lie, He cannot lie.

Because Eve did NOT on her own make this choice, but was INFLUENCED to do so, mankind was given an OPPORTUNITY to RECONNECT with their CREATOR, while Satan was condemned permanently.

This opportunity is given to us all. We still are all subject to death, but we are not all going to be subject to permanent death.  Those who CHOOSE to believe, those who CHOOSE to accept the sacrifice of our Savior, the price He had to pay to once more reconnect us fully with Him will live eternally as we were originally intended to live.

When we do not choose to reconnect, we are choosing permanent death.

Millions have chosen to die rather than reconnect with their source of eternal life.  There are a myriad of reasons they give for this choice, but none matter. The fact they have chosen death over life is the bottom line.

Our God hasn't kept silent about this choice- it is well known and has been since the beginning sin.

Bonhoeffer's saying this--  'From now on there can be no more wars of faith.'    He was saying that all the wars that had been fought prior to our Savior's sacrifice and resurrection, were wars fought because our Savior had NOT lived and died. The FINAL sacrifice, the ULTIMATE sacrifice had to be completed not something looked for, not something anticipated.  Satan, up until Christ died on that cross, had hope that He could keep Christ from making that sacrifice. Satan wanted to thwart God's plan of salvation. This war of faith was all the revelation of the GREAT battle truly going on in life- the battle between good and evil, God and Satan.  A real WAR with real consequences!  When our Savior died and rose to live again, the BATTLE was WON.  And our Savior did not want there to ever be another war of faith- a war that cannot lay claim to Victory. The WAR was WON!   And if we BELIEVE the WAR was WON by CHRIST, we know that no physical war in the name of faith is being fought to determine a victor.  The VICTOR, CHRIST JESUS OUR SAVIOR, told US NEVER to fight the physical battle of faith again, never in His name strike another person.  When we do that we are fighting the wrong war. 

We are still in the war. The enemy keeps on fighting only he is not fighting to win the war, but to take as many people with him as he possibly can. We can choose to side with the VICTOR and place our FAITH in HIM. Knowing that even if Satan attacks us physically, provoking us to war, that we are NOT to fight back in that way.

Right there in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus healed the Roman soldier's ear that Peter cut off, we are being shown beyond a doubt that it would NOT EVER BE by the sword we should fight again.

Bonhoeffer said this-- 'The only way to overcome our enemy is by loving him.' 

Christ said this--

'Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you'

Truth!

Bonhoeffer said - ' To the natural man, the very notion of loving his enemies is an intolerable offence, and quite beyond his capacity: it cuts right across his ideas of good and evil.  More important still, to man under the law, the idea of loving his enemies is clean contrary to the law of God, which requires men to sever all connection with their enemies and to pass judgment on them. Jesus, however, takes the law of God in his own hands and expounds its true meaning. The will of God, to which the law gives expression, is that men should defeat their enemies by loving them.'

Defeat our enemies by LOVING them!

Christ's LOVE.

All through CHRIST!

This is truth!

And we MUST live in TRUTH, live in CHRIST!

Yes, we still have the power of choosing eternal life, or eternal death, that will not be taken from us.  We will choose, all of us will choose, and by the grace of CHRIST may we choose life in HIM! To be with our Creator as we were intended to be, no longer separated but united to Him in LOVE, selfless love!

Please LORD, all by YOUR GRACE, YOUR MERCY, YOUR LOVE!

Victory Over Evil - Cost of Discipleship Pt 66

Chapter 12 - Revenge

Bonhoeffer- 'It looked as though evil had triumphed on the cross,  but the real victory belonged to Jesus. And the cross is the only justification for the precept of non-violence, for it alone can kindle a faith in the victory over evil which will enable men to obey that precept. And only such obedience is blessed with the promise that we will be partakers of Christ's victory as well as of his sufferings.

The passion of Christ is the victory of divine love over the powers of evil, and therefore it is the only supportable basis for Christian obedience. Once again, Jesus calls those who follow him to share his passion. How can we convince the world by our preaching of the passion when we shrink from that passion in our own lives? On the cross Jesus fulfilled the law he himself established and thus graciously keeps his disciples in the fellowship of his suffering. The cross is the only power in the world which proves that suffering love can avenge and vanquish evil.  But it was just this participation in the cross which the disciples were granted when Jesus called them to him. They are called blessed because of their visible participation in his cross.'

My thoughts-

Victory over evil.

The cross.

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.


We shall not all sleep death's sleep. Some, those saints living in the last days in Christ, will never taste of the first death- the sleep.  But we will ALL be changed.  Those who sleep and those who have not slept death's sleep will ALL be changed. 

In a twinkling of an eye.

At the last trump.

The dead (those sleeping in their graves) will be raised up out of their graves incorruptible.

Corruption turned to incorruption. Mortal turned to immortal.

Death swallowed up in VICTORY.

Thanks be to God which gives us the VICTORY through our LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Without Christ's sacrifice of His life in every way, all the way to the cross, and His death, there would be NO victory over evil.

He's the ONLY One who has ever triumphed completely over evil. Without Him there is NO triumphing over evil, none.

The cross of our Savior is His WILLINGNESS to let LOVE triumph over EVIL.
The cross of our Savior revealed SUFFERING- temporary suffering- endured as evil had its full sway in the crucifixion of One who was completely innocent of any evil at all.

We who are guilty complain when we are called to suffer at the hands of evil.
He who was innocent complained NOT when He was called to suffer at the hands of evil.
He calls us who would be HIS to complain NOT when we are called to suffer at the hands of evil, any manner of evil.
We are to be subservient as HE was subservient.
The GREATEST EVER- a SERVANT to ALL!

What does that tell us?

We who strive to NOT serve but be served?

It tells us how far off the mark we are in our lives when we choose to NOT SERVE.

Christ's disciples were called BLESSED because of their VISIBLE participation in the suffering of Christ on the Cross- Bonhoeffer wrote.

It is true.

The disciples did not hide their love of Christ in following His teachings.

It wasn't always easy for them, but the very nature of suffering makes it far from easy.

This is the voice of one who is suffering-

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

That was Paul speaking, calling himself a wretched man, seeking deliverance. 

Our suffering at the hands of evil people, does not end there. We suffering evil throughout our lives and do so in many ways. 

Visibly suffering where others witness the suffering is not easy at all.

We hate to be abused by evil people and our NATURAL inclination is to do all we can to avoid that. When we are confronted by these situations we are required by our Savior to suffer as HE suffered.  The suffering is NOT deserved, but endured all because of the LOVE of Christ. The love of Christ is TRIUMPHING over evil by NOT becoming evil in any way, enduring evil without rendering evil in kind, suffering as evil has its way.

Please LORD in whatever situations we find ourselves in confronted by evil help us to look to You for all our needs. You who suffered and died for us, let us be YOURS.

All by YOUR GRACE!
YOUR LOVE!

Renouncing Self Defense - Cost of Discipleship Pt 65

Chapter 12 - Revenge

Bonhoeffer- 'To leave everything behind at the call of Christ is to be content with him alone, and to follow only him. By his willingly renouncing self-defense, the Christian affirms his absolute adherence to Jesus, and his freedom from the tyranny of his own ego. The exclusiveness of the adherence is the only power which can overcome evil.

We are concerned not with evil in the abstract, but with the evil person. Jesus bluntly calls the evil person evil. If I am assailed, I am not to condone or justify aggression. Patient endurance of evil does not mean a recognition of its rights. That is sheer sentimentality, and Jesus will have nothing to do with it. The shameful assault, the deed of violence and the act of exploitation are still evil. The disciple must realize this, and bear witness to it as Jesus did, just because this is the only way evil can be met and overcome. The very fact that the evil which assaults him is unjustifiable makes it imperative that he should not resist it, but play it out and overcome it by patiently enduring the evil person. Suffering willingly endured is stronger than evil, it spells death to evil."

My thoughts- 

'Renouncing self-defense, the Christian affirms his absolute adherence to Jesus, and his freedom from the tyranny of his own ego.'

The tyranny of our own egos. 

Our own egos. You know what that is, that part of you that seems to always consider yourself first in light of all you do.  It doesn't mean you won't help others, but it means you instantly help at the expense of yourself.  Let me try to clarify. You are asked to help someone do something- instantly your thought is of what you are doing, whether or not you can rightly stop what you are doing, and whether you even want to help.  These thoughts have become automatic and happen in an instant. Even if you know you are going to help, the thoughts take place and in there is the thought about how you are helping at the expense of your own desire to continue on with whatever you were doing, even if it was nothing.  We think of ourselves first almost automatically. That is our EGO. 

Our ego also seems to demand we defend ourselves from any insult or any sort. Why? Because any SELF respecting person would NOT just allow themselves to be insulted or injured in any way at all, they'd defend themselves. We have been taught to believe that our SELF respect means not simply allowing insult/injury but railing against it.  To us, someone who take insult and/or injury without standing up for themselves, is a loser.  By that way of thinking we are actually calling our Savior a loser without even realizing it because HE led the example with His life, and death.  He took insult, He took injury and He did NOT stand up for himself, He did NOT rail against the unwarranted abuse. 

When we renounce our SELF-DEFENSE, when we renounce defending ourselves against any and all abuse- we are truly AFFIRMING our adherence to Jesus. The tyranny of our own ego, being a slave to our own egos, is GONE. The self we worship is gone and in its place is the choice made to live as our greatest example, our Savior.

'The disciple must realize this, and bear witness to it as Jesus did, just because this is the only way evil can be met and overcome. The very fact that the evil which assaults him is unjustifiable makes it imperative that he should not resist it, but play it out and overcome it by patiently enduring the evil person. Suffering willingly endured is stronger than evil, it spells death to evil.'

This is truth. Read it a few times.

Do we want to overcome evil through our SAVIOR? Then we must live His example.

We should NOT resist evil assaults against us- but PATIENTLY endure the evil person.

Suffering WILLINGLY endured is stronger than evil- it spells DEATH to evil.

Satan has convinced people that those who suffer willingly are weak, stupid, foolish and so on.

We've grown up surrounded by this concept. We have to stand up for ourselves, this is what is applauded by the world. The truth is not of the world, but of GOD and we have to live for God's truth, not the worlds!

We need to recognize the difference and comprehend what the LORD desires of us and live by HIS grace, not caring what the world thinks of us. Our ONLY concern should be how God views us, not mankind.

If we live in HIM, truly in HIM, then we will live loving Him and our neighbors, and this is God's will. 

1Jn_5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

Rev_14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Rom_12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

1Pe_3:17  For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

All by HIS LOVE!

Jesus - Our Creator

Jesus - Our Creator.

The Word- all things were made by Him.
God ended His work which He had made.
God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth.
By Him all things consist.
They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Gen 2:1  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
Gen 2:2  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Gen 2:3  And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

1Co 10:1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
1Co 10:3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.


There is NO doubt that scripture teaches us that God along with Jesus Christ created the world.
There is NO doubt that is was God with Jesus Christ who was with Moses as the ten moral laws, the ten commandments were given in stone.
There is NO doubt that our CREATOR, our REDEEMER, our FATHER GOD, the SON of the FATHER GOD, the HOLY SPIRIT GOD all had a part in Creation and in Redemption.

Rev_1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Luk_6:5  And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

We cannot doubt that the Creator-Jesus God - rested on that seventh day and sanctified it, and blessed it.
In the very beginning of Creation this amazing act was done.  Before SIN entered into humanity, the seventh day was blessed and sanctified. 

Before mankind's sinning the sabbath was created.
Before self-serving humans existed the sabbath was created.

God created the earth, God created human beings. God created the garden and placed mankind in the garden along with all the animals and all the fruits, vegetables and such. Man was to TEND the garden, man was to TEND the animals having dominion over them. Sinless tending, sinless dominion.  There was joy in this life that we can only catch a mere glimpse of. A joy in the life where man was covered in the righteousness of God, clothed in the light of that righteousness, that purity, that sinlessness. Joy, peace, all the things we long for, all the things we were created for. And yet…

God wasn't dwelling with mankind.

God created man and the earth and all… but God did not choose to dwell on earth with mankind. Mankind were left to their own to live in this joy created for them.  They lived in constant connection to God by their very God's righteousness clothed existence.  He was ONE with them at all times, but He did not dwell with them in the Garden.

God VISITED them in the Garden. God's righteousness was with them always and they were surrounded by all that God had created, knowing they were creatures themselves having been created by God. Their Creator was a part of their lives always, but in that face to face communication, He wasn't always there walking beside them all the time. He came and visited with them.

Remember this--

Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day...

IF God were at their side constantly and they were never a part from Him, they would never have HEARD the VOICE of the LORD GOD walking in the garden in the cool of the day.

God was visiting with them.

We know for a fact God rested on the seventh day when He had no need of resting, it wasn't as if He had worn Himself out.  God made the Sabbath for man.  God PURPOSEFULLY set aside ONE day out of seven, the SEVENTH day, for US to always and forever REMEMBER HIM. We keep the sabbath holy when we keep God in the sabbath, when He is our delight on the sabbath. God has made the sabbath holy- He blessed and sanctified the seventh day and what makes it holy is God, what sanctifies it is God.  We can profane the day God has set aside as holy by not observing its holiness. We profane it when we do not delight in God, delight in His presence on this day. We are called to remember… meaning do not forget. 

Seriously if we cannot delight in God for one 24 hour period out of 168 hours making up seven days, what in the world makes us believe we will delight in Him for eternity? 

Are we expecting some magical transformation that makes us suddenly delight in God?

We choose to believe in Christ Jesus as our Savior, we need to choose to believe in Christ Jesus as our Creator as well.

Delighting in Him.

Luk 10:25  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Luk 10:26  He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
Luk 10:27  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
Luk 10:28  And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.


JESUS' WORDS!

Mat 19:16  And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Mat 19:18  He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Mat 19:19  Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

JESUS' WORDS!

Rev_12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The remnant of God's chosen- KEEP the COMMANDMENTS of GOD and have the TESTIMONY of JESUS CHRIST.

Rev_14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

The SAINTS- KEEP the COMMANDMENTS of GOD and the FAITH of JESUS.

Try all we want we will never negate the scriptural facts, the Sabbath is an integral part of God's ten moral commandments and NONE of those ten moral laws will EVER be acceptable to break, not then, not now, not ever. If you want to yank out the Sabbath and trample on it, you do so at your own eternal risk.

As it was in the beginning, may we keep the Sabbath a delight unto the LORD. May we fellowship with God as it is permitted to us- sinners now.  In prayer, study, contemplation, song, worship.  May our selfishness be overcome by HIS glorious love! 

All in HIM!

Selfless for a Single Day?

Gen 2:1  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
Gen 2:2  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Gen 2:3  And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Blessed.
Sanctified.

Exo 20:8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11  FOR IN SIX DAYS THE LORD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH, THE SEA AND ALL THAT IN THEM IS, AND RESTED THE SEVENTH DAY: wherefore the LORD BLESSED the sabbath day, and HALLOWED it.


Blessed.
Sanctified.

Mat_12:11  And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
Mat_12:12  How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

Jesus confirmed the keeping of the Sabbath- saying it is LAWFUL to do well on the sabbath days.


Mat_24:20  But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day

Speaking of the future- Jesus confirmed the sabbath would be KEPT in the future.


The day not only blessed but sanctified by God during the week of Creation.

Blessed.
Sanctified.

Special to God, made special for us.


Mar_2:27  And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath

Made for us!
Blessed for us!
Sanctified for us!

Kept by GOD!
Kept by JESUS!
Kept by those who are God's!
Kept by those who are Jesus'!

Rest.

Commanded to Rest.
Commanded not to Work.

And yet… people find it too hard not to work, so they work, they break the fourth commandment of God's  ten moral commandments.

Commanded not to cause any other to work.

And yet people find it too hard not to cause others to work, serving them by their working.

Commanded not to buy and sell,  causing others and themselves to work.

And yet people find it too hard not to buy and sell, causing other and themselves to work.

Neh 10:31  And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath

Commanded not to be selfish.

Isa 58:13  If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
Isa 58:14  Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

And yet people cannot keep from being selfish for a single day.

Our Savior wants us to live selflessly, putting God and others before ourselves and yet we can scarcely comprehend that idea for a single day, let alone a life time.

Delight in the Lord.
Call the Sabbath a delight.

Call the Sabbath a luxury, a pleasure, a delight.
To be happy about the Lord.

Psa 37:4  Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

1Pe 1:8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory

Delighting in the Lord, can we even do that for a full day?  If we cannot delight in the Lord for a day, rather than ourselves, how are we to ever expect to delight in the Lord endlessly, eternally?

Truth.

All by HIS grace.
All by HIS mercy.
All by HIS love.
All by HIS righteousness.
All by HIM.

Thank you Lord for this blessed, sanctified, sabbath!  In You alone can we keep it as You command.

Praise GOD!
All Glory and Honor to our GOD
Always!

Free from possessions - Cost of Discipleship pt 64

Chapter 12 - Revenge

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.
Mat 5:41  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
Mat 5:42  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Bonhoeffer - 'At this point it becomes evident that when a Christian meets with injustice, he no longer clings to his rights and defends them at all costs. He is absolutely free from possessions and bound to Christ alone. Again, his witness to this exclusive adherence to Jesus creates the only workable basis for fellowship, and leaves the aggressor for him to deal with.

The only way to overcome evil is to let it run itself to a standstill because it does not find the resistance it is looking for. Resistance merely creates further evil and adds fuel to the flames. But when evil meets no opposition and encounters no obstacle but only patient endurance, its sting is drawn, and at last it meets an opponent which is more than its match. Of course this can only happen when the last ounce of resistance is abandoned, and the renunciation of revenge is complete. Then evil cannot find its mark, it can breed no further evil, and is left barren.'

My thoughts-

Reread the above, please.

'Absolutely free from possessions and bound to Christ alone.'

We've accumulated so many things, our hearts are wrapped around our possessions. Can you even imagine not having possessions? We mourn the loss of our things when we lose them. Some people would rather die than lose their possessions. Some people would rather kill others than lose their possessions.  Some endlessly dwell on their possessions- and the possessions they are looking forward to acquiring. It's true that some people live for their possessions, and some even try to control their possessions after they're dead.

When we belong to Christ we need to be FREE FROM POSSESSIONS.

No, I'm not saying you need to get rid of everything you own. I'm saying you have to get rid of the HOLD the things you possess have over you. You have to put CHRIST first in ALL THINGS.

Mat_6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The kingdom of God - Our Savior! Our Savior's righteousness- these are the things we should desire to possess more than anything else.

Free from possessions and bound to Christ alone, this is the ONLY way we can truly live in Christ and even have the hope that NO person will EVER provoke us to evil.

We almost instinctively want to fight back when we feel ourselves threatened. When someone hits us, we want to hit back. The ONLY thing that stands between us and that instinct is our SAVIOR. When we STOP living for ourselves and start living for CHRIST we are choosing to live as Christ would have us live. And Christ wants us to live this way-

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.
Mat 5:41  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
Mat 5:42  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Do we live this way?

Do we live for others?

We need to by the GRACE of GOD!

This is truth-

'Absolutely free from possessions and bound to Christ alone.'

Bound to Christ alone.

Are you bound to Christ alone?

This needs to be our prayer, our desire, to be bound to Christ alone. Christ first and last in our lives, Christ our all in all.

Live in Truth - Cost of Discipleship Pt 63

Chapter 11 - Truthfulness

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.

Bonhoeffer- ' "Let your speech be Yea, yea, and Nay, nay." This is not to say that the disciples are no longer answerable to the omniscient God for every word they utter, it means that every word they utter is spoken in his presence, and not only those words which are accompanied by oath. Hence they are forbidden to swear at all. Since they always speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth, there is no need for an oath, which would only throw doubt on the veracity of all their other statements. That is why the oath is "of the evil one." But a disciple must be a light even in his words. 

It is clear that the only reason why Jesus prohibits the swearing of oaths lies in this concern for truthfulness.  It also goes without saying that he admits no exceptions, however high the court of law may be.

The commandment of complete truthfulness is really only another name for the totality of discipleship. Only those who follow Jesus and cleave to him are living in complete truthfulness. Such men have nothing to hide from their Lord. Their life is revealed before him, Jesus has recognized them and led them into the way of truth. They cannot hide their sinfulness from Jesus, for they have not revealed themselves to Jesus, but he has revealed himself to them by calling them to follow him. At the moment of their call Jesus showed up their sin and made them aware of it. Complete truthfulness is only possible where sin has been uncovered and forgiven by Jesus. Only those who are in a state of truthfulness through the confession of their sin to Jesus are not ashamed to tell the truth wherever it must be told. The truthfulness which Jesus demands from his followers is the self-abnegation which does not hide sin. Nothing is then hidden, everything is brought forth to the light of day.

In this question of truthfulness, what matters first and last is that a man's whole being should be exposed, his whole evil laid bare in the sight of God. But sinful men do not like this sort of truthfulness, and they resist it with all their might. That is why they persecute it crucify it. It is only because we follow Jesus that we can be genuinely truthful, for then he reveals to us our sin upon the cross. The cross is God's truth about us, and therefore it is the only power which can make us truthful. When we know the cross we are no longer afraid of the truth. We need no more oaths to confirm the truth of our utterances, for we live in the perfect truth of God.

There is no truth towards Jesus without truth towards man. Untruthfulness destroys fellowship, but truth cuts false fellowship to pieces and establishes genuine brotherhood. We cannot follow Christ unless we live in revealed truth before God and man.'

My thoughts--

Psa_145:18  The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

Psa 146:5  Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
Psa 146:6  Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever

Pro_3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart

Pro_12:19  The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

Pro_16:6  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

Pro_23:23  Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

Joh_3:21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Joh_4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Joh_16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Joh_17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Joh_17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

1Co_13:6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth

Eph_4:25  Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

1Jn_3:18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1Jn_3:19  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

3Jn_1:4  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth

*******

Truth.

Until we pay very close attention to the truth, I don't think we realize how much we lie.  How easy lying has become and yet every lie is a sin.  Christ's cross reveals our sin, it reveals every lie.

We are to LIVE IN TRUTH.
We are to LIVE IN CHRIST.

There is NO GRAY area here, not a single one and yet we love to tell ourselves there is. We make excuses to lie, when there are no excuses for lying. The truth is PAINFUL, often excruciatingly painful. 

Lord help us to be truthful in a world of lies. 

Only by Your love can this be possible, You who died having lived only in the Truth, You who are TRUTH.

Truth or Lies Cost of Discipleship Pt 62

Chapter 11 - Truthfulness

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.

Bonhoeffer- 'If lying were unknown, there would be no need for oaths. Oaths are intended as a barrier against untruthfulness. But it goes further than that: for there, where alone the oath claims final truth, is space in life given to the lie, and it is granted a certain right of life. The Old Testament had expressed its condemnation of the lie by the use of the oath. But Jesus destroys the lie by forbidding oaths altogether.'

My thoughts-

'Oaths are intended as a barrier against untruthfulness.'

We don't make many oaths these days do we? But we do make some.

From Wikipedia-

'An oath (from Anglo-Saxon āð, also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow. Those who conscientiously object to making an oath will often make an affirmation instead.
*
Various religious groups have objected to the taking of oaths, most notably the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and Mennonites. This is principally based on Matthew 5:34-37, the Antithesis of the Law. Here, Christ is written to say "I say to you: 'Swear not at all'". The Apostle James stated in James 5:12, "Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned." Beyond this scriptural authority, Quakers place importance on being truthful at all times, so the testimony opposing oaths springs from a view that "taking legal oaths implies a double standard of truthfulness" Faith and Practice of Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (1988) p. 19 suggesting that truthfulness in legal contexts is somehow more important than truthfulness in non-legal contexts and that truthfulness in those other contexts is therefore somehow less important.

Not all Christians interpret this reading as forbidding all types of oaths, however. Opposition to oath-taking among some groups of Christian caused many problems for these groups throughout their history. Quakers were frequently imprisoned because of their refusal to swear loyalty oaths. Testifying in court was also difficult; George Fox, Quakers' founder, famously challenged a judge who had asked him to swear, saying that he would do so once the judge could point to any Bible passage where Jesus or his apostles took oaths. (The judge could not, but this did not allow Fox to escape punishment.) Legal reforms from the 18th century onwards mean that everyone in the United Kingdom now has the right to make a solemn affirmation instead of an oath. The United States has permitted affirmations since it was founded; it is explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. Only President Franklin Pierce has chosen to affirm rather than swear at his inauguration.'
Pasted from

*******

We do make oaths. It's common place for us to say the words… "I swear…"  And when we say those words we are trying to convince another of the truth of our words, of the seriousness of our words. We don't necessarily think of it in a religious sense but it is very religious when the One we are swearing to is  God. To say the words, "I swear to God…"  means we are truly swearing before God our truth.  Jesus does tell us NOT to swear. It makes sense that the truth is something we should be LIVING and have NO NEED of having to swear, no need to make an oath when our lives should be truth.  If we do swear an oath we are saying that our lives are not truth always.

*******

Bonhoeffer- '"Let your speech be Yea, yea, and Nay, nay."  This is not to say that the disciples are no longer answerable to the omniscient God for every word they utter, it means that every word they utter is spoken in his presence, and not only those words which are accompanied by an oath. Hence they are forbidden to swear at all. Since they always speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth, there is no need for an oath, which would only throw doubt on the veracity of all their other statements. That is why the oath is "of the evil one." But a disciple must be a light even in his words.'

My thoughts-

Only through Christ Jesus can we live the truth- because HE is the truth!

Joh_14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

He is the truth and if we live in HIM, we must live the truth.

If we can't be truthful in our words we are liars, because the only way NOT to be truthful is to lie.

Rev 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

All UNREPENTANT liars will perish eternally.

Lying is evil.

Lying is of Satan.

Satan is the father of lies.

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 next 'white' lie you tell, the next harmless 'lie' you utter, try to remember that SATAN is behind it! Satan's work is being wrought by you every time you lie.

We need to seek forgiveness for every single lie from the tiniest to the largest.

Our lives must be lives of TRUTH in CHRIST!

All by HIS mercy and grace!

Please LORD save us from ourselves and the evil that would overtake us.

Cost of Discipleship Pt 61 Crucify the flesh

Chapter 10 - Woman

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.
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.
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

Bonhoeffer- 'Jesus does not impose intolerable restrictions on his disciples, he does not forbid them to look at anything, but bids them look on him.  If they do that he knows that their gaze will always be pure, even when they look upon a woman. So far from imposing on them an intolerable yoke of legalism, he succors them with the grace of the gospel.'

Mankind has perverted so much.  Satan has corrupted so much and he's done it to the point we call things NORMAL which are anything but normal. We've twisted our morals throughout our history even to the point of some trying to establish morals through strict civil laws of propriety. That fails too as people go into secret to enact their perversions. Today's morals are very corrupt, and yet we call them normal.  Our Savior understands temptations, and He understands morals very well. When Jesus said- 'whosever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.' , we say, IMPOSSIBLE!  "It's normal to lust," we cry out! We say that because we've been taught that it's normal. We have it set up for women to entice and men to be enticed by the woman, and vice versa. Men entice women as well, and we have made entire industries geared towards this enticing business. Makeup, clothes, jewelry, magazines, movies, books all filled with that which is meant to entice people to lust.  All these things have been and are being used to increase the deception that these things are NORMAL, acceptable, and cannot be any other way. If we say they're abnormal and people should not lust the way they do, then we are told we are foolish and stupid, because it's natural for people to be this way.

Maybe it is natural- to the flesh, but NOT to the spirit. 

If we choose to be the disciples of Christ we are choosing to WAR AGAINST the flesh, war against what people call natural. We war against it because we KNOW that our SAVIOR has told us that what others call normal is in fact- SIN.

If you even look at a woman and LUST for her- YOU'VE SINNED!

And sin needs repentance, and forgiveness, NOT ACCEPTANCE!

We are to look to Jesus as our source of strength to resist temptation to sin. We are to look to Jesus always in all things, keeping ourselves from being enticed by other things.  Do we look to HIM, really look to HIM? Is He really a HUGE part of our LIVES? He needs to be the biggest part of our lives, not regulated to even second position.   All by HIS GRACE.

Bonhoeffer-  'Being concerned exclusively with the perfect purity, that is to say, the chastity of his disciples, Jesus also approves of absolute celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. But he lays down no definite program for his disciples, whether of celibacy or of marriage, only he delivers them from  the perils of (GREEK WORD) (eg. any sexual irregularity inside or outside of the married life.) Such irregularity is a sin, not only against our own bodies, but against the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 6:13-15)

(((1Co 6:13  Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
1Co 6:14  And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
1Co 6:15  Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. ))))


Even our bodies belong to Christ and have their part in the life of discipleship, for they are members of his Body, Jesus, the Son of God, bore a human body, and since we enjoy fellowship with that Body, fornication is a sin against Christ's own body.

The body of Jesus was crucified. Paul speaking of those who belong to Christ, says that they have crucified  their body with its affections and lusts (Gal 5:24). Here we have another instance of an Old Testament law finding its truest fulfillment in the crucified body of Jesus Christ. As they contemplate this body which was given for them , and as they share its life, the disciples receive strength for the chastity which Jesus requires.'

My thoughts-

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Go through that NOT all inclusive list- there are so many more works of the flesh that could be added-

Adultery
Fornication
Uncleaness
Lasciviousness
Idolatry
Witchcraft
Hatred
Variance
Emulations
Wrath
Strife
Seditions
Heresies
Envyings
Murders
Drunkeness
Revellings
And the such like.

Works of the flesh.

They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

CRUCIFIED the FLESH.

Think about that and what it means to crucify the flesh- with the affections and lusts.  We are crucifying, killing violently, painfully the affections, the lusts that would keep us from Christ! 

To read those words and believe that following Christ is painless, is ludicrous.  It's painful. All the chastising, all the refining, all the crucifying, it is PAINFUL! It HURTS!  It is NOT easy. 

No, nothing we do will save us! NOTHING BUT choosing to accept what JESUS CHRIST has done for us! We cannot work our way to salvation.  We accept what our Savior did for us and choose to LIVE for HIM! And when we choose to live for HIM we accept the life that He wants for us.  The life He lived, we are to live. He is our GOD, our SAVIOR, our KING! 

Truthfully our every action matters, and yet Satan would have us believe the exact opposite.

Living in Christ, for Christ, by Christ!   Knowing Him, knowing right from wrong, living for Him.

Living in -

Love
Joy
Peace
Longsuffering
Gentleness
Goodness
Faith
Meekness
Temperance

All by the GRACE of GOD!