Psa 51:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Psa 51:2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Psa 51:3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Psa 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psa 51:6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Psa 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psa 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Psa 51:9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Psa 51:13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
Psa 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
Psa 51:15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Psa 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Psa 51:18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Psa 51:19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
*******
After David had sinned grievously his remorse, his repentance was great. When we sin it should be the same. David had the concept of right and wrong, he knew what he was doing was wrong and he did it any way. He was overcome by the flesh, serving his flesh.
We need the mercy of God. We need to have our sins blotted out by God's mercy. All our sinning is against God. We hurt God when we sin and yet sin is part of our existence from birth itself. God would have us filled with truth, He would have us know His wisdom- to understand the seriousness of our sinning and our need of Him as Creator and Redeemer.
Dictionary Definition for hyssop-
2. An unidentified plant mentioned in the Bible as the source of twigs used for sprinkling in certain Hebraic purificatory rites
Psa 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
David longed to be purified by God. He knew he was filthy inwardly, spiritually from sinning. He knew only God could clean Him. He wanted God to blot out ALL his sins. He needed God to create a clean heart and a right spirit in Him. His spirit was no longer right. Our spirit is no longer right when we sin, we need the forgiveness of God to make our spirit right with Him again. David cried out for God to cast him not from his presence, to not take the Holy Spirit from him. We need to cry out the same.
Psa 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
With our spirit broken we realize our need to have a right spirit renewed in us. With our hearts broken and contrite we realize the need of God's healing love. Jesus died so we could have this love fully and it's to Him we cling as we seek forgiveness and pleade for a right spirit within us.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior now and forever.
Amen.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Incorruptible Seed
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Being born of flesh we are caught up in the flesh- letting tribulations, letting distress, letting persecution, famines, nakedness, peril and swords separate us from God. This is our tendency. To let LIFE come before God. To let this life and all of it's horrible upsets and disappointments, all of it's heartache and pain keep us from the ultimate life in Christ is the goal of the flesh and all those who are living in the flesh and the flesh only. We have to live in the Spirit. To live in the Spirit we must be born again into the Spirit, through the love of Christ.
Honestly we are counted as sheep for the slaughter, we are. Being counted as sheep for the slaughter means what?
Psa 44:22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
We are God's to do with as He pleases. Seriously, it's as simple as that. If it is the will of God that we do suffer persecution even unto being martyred then that's what must be. This life here that we live is His and we have to allow it to be His to do His will. We have to know that as long as we are living in the Spirit and not just the flesh, that we are safe eternally. Not safe here temporarily, but in eternity. Our treasure is truly in heaven and this is living in the Spirit.
We need to be born of the water and of the Spirit, born not of corruptible seed but incorruptible seed, by the word of God, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
May God Bless us all as we seek to let the Spirit lead us in all we do. The flesh will try to corrupt us and we will cry out with Paul about how wretched we are, but Christ has overcome and we need to cling to Him and His righteousness to overcome in Him.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord.
Amen.
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Being born of flesh we are caught up in the flesh- letting tribulations, letting distress, letting persecution, famines, nakedness, peril and swords separate us from God. This is our tendency. To let LIFE come before God. To let this life and all of it's horrible upsets and disappointments, all of it's heartache and pain keep us from the ultimate life in Christ is the goal of the flesh and all those who are living in the flesh and the flesh only. We have to live in the Spirit. To live in the Spirit we must be born again into the Spirit, through the love of Christ.
Honestly we are counted as sheep for the slaughter, we are. Being counted as sheep for the slaughter means what?
Psa 44:22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
We are God's to do with as He pleases. Seriously, it's as simple as that. If it is the will of God that we do suffer persecution even unto being martyred then that's what must be. This life here that we live is His and we have to allow it to be His to do His will. We have to know that as long as we are living in the Spirit and not just the flesh, that we are safe eternally. Not safe here temporarily, but in eternity. Our treasure is truly in heaven and this is living in the Spirit.
We need to be born of the water and of the Spirit, born not of corruptible seed but incorruptible seed, by the word of God, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
May God Bless us all as we seek to let the Spirit lead us in all we do. The flesh will try to corrupt us and we will cry out with Paul about how wretched we are, but Christ has overcome and we need to cling to Him and His righteousness to overcome in Him.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord.
Amen.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Spiritually Minded
Rom 7:1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
Rom 7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Rom 7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Rom 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
Rom 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Rom 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
Rom 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
Rom 7:8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
Rom 7:9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
Rom 7:10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
Rom 7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
Rom 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Rom 7:13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Rom 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Rom 7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Rom 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
AMEN!
Rom 7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Rom 7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Rom 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
Rom 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Rom 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
Rom 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
Rom 7:8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
Rom 7:9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
Rom 7:10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
Rom 7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
Rom 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Rom 7:13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Rom 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Rom 7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Rom 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
AMEN!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Spiritual Hunger
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh: and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (DRB)
Joh 3:8 The Spirit breatheth where he will and thou hearest his voice: but thou knowest not whence he cometh and whither he goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. (DRB)
1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God who liveth and remaineth for ever
1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God committeth not sin: for his seed abideth in him. And he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 4:7 Dearly beloved, let us love one another: for charity is of God. And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.
1Jn 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. And every one that loveth him who begot, loveth him also who is born of him
1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory which overcameth the world: Our faith.
1Jn 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not: but the generation of God preserveth him and the wicked one toucheth him not.
*******
Born Again. Born of water and of the Spirit. Born of the spirit is spirit. Born of the Spirit. Born again. Born of God. Is born of God.
Birth. Most of us know what that means. New life. The birth of anything is new life coming into being, right? Some of us have experienced giving birth, others have watched a birthing, we all were at one time birthed from our own mothers. We all had our own beginnings, our new life. We were a new life created, a new life born into the world. It doesn't matter if we were wanted or not, I'm not going to say that you were a new life that was hoped for because often that's not the case. You could have been a new life abandoned to strangers, or a new life abused by unloving care givers. The only true fact for us all is that we were all once a new life, we were all at one time born and took our first breath of air, giving our first cry. Helpless at birth if left to our own devices we would die quickly. Dependent upon caregivers for many years, the first few being the most dependent- knowing that in some poor, third world countries and such that children at 3, 4, and 5 years are already out there on the streets begging food and such, if they weren't cared for in some manner for the first couple years of their lives they would have died. This is our human birth, our human new life, born of the flesh. We have no control over being born. We can't stop ourselves from being born in any way. There isn't a single thing we as the unborn can prevent being born consciously or unconciously, the only thing that could prevent us from being born is our mother, or outside forces beyond the control of our mother whether health or injury by another. We have no power over our own birthing, over becoming a new life.
How does all this relate to being born again, born of God, born of the Spirit, born of water and of the Spirit? It's a new life anything newly born is a new life. If all that was meant was a continuing of living there would be no need to be born again, to put it that way in so many instances.
Nicodemus asked the question we all would have asked- What do you mean, born again? We can't go into our mother a second time to be born.
So true. This being born again had to be an entirely different sort of birth. This new birth wouldn't be out of our control. This new birth would be an acknowledgement of a new parentage and that parentage wouldn't be from an earthly source such as we know parents. Our new parents would be God, would be the Spirit of God. When you are adopted and given new parents in the flesh, you enter into a new relationship with those new parents- it wouldn't be the same as the relationship you experienced with your old parents, foster parents, orphanage care givers as substitute parents, other guardians as parents- this would be a new relationship. When we are born again of the Spirit, born of God, we are given new parentage, a new relationship.
If left to our own without ever being born again to God through the Spirit, we never enter a new life, a new relationship with God. Is it any wonder that we MUST be born again to God in order to be counted as His? We have to as knowing adults or mature children understand that we are acknowledging the need of a new life with God as our Father. We have control over this new birth, it's not thrust upon us without our consent. No one will be able to say they were forced to be born again unto God. Sure, they could be forced to go through the motions of being born again, but unless they are of their own free will with an open mind and heart unto Jesus voluntarily accepting of the new birth it won't mean anything.
Our new birth through Christ is amazing and often times people who first enter this new life being born of the Spirit feel a certain amount of excitement. Then after the new birth and the new life continues on and we begin to grow we have to realize that this new life, with our new parentage isn't something we'll ever grow up and away from. You see we are trained in our modern world that when we grow up we move off and start our own lives- often to the neglect of our parents, and often by their encouragement. It's not a wrong thing to want our children to mature and become able to care for themselves, provide for themselves and their family they'll have as they continue with the unending way of life- procreating. However, the *ideal* family does not mean never having contact again, in fact it means a continued care of family, of children looking after older parents and so on- something that has been lost a lot to modernism. A life is a continued process of aging and maturing endlessly until death. A new life born in Christ, born of God, born of the Spirit must be a life that is nurtured endlessly until death. The newness might wear off, but the way of the new life in Christ is outlined for us.
Mat 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
A mature human beings of the flesh we have daily needs. A maturing spiritual beings in Christ we have daily needs. We tend to forget this because as fleshy beings the pangs in our belly tells us of our need for food, and the dry mouth tells us we thirst. Spiritually it is a lot easier to ignore the pangs of hunger for the Word of God. We haven't been taught to recognize that sort of hunger, but rather taught to explain it away.
A new life in Christ is necessary for us all, and a continuing maturing life in Christ is essential if we are to keep the spiritual life alive. A spiritual life can die just as a fleshly life can die. And just as we can become ill in the flesh, we can become ill in the Spirit.
May God grant us all recognition of our spiritual hunger and thrist that can only be sated in Him through the love and grace, the mercy of Jesus Christ. May we learn to feed our Spiritual self and nuture it in Christ through the Spirit so that we don't become Spiritually ill. Please Lord, bless and keep us now and forever in You, in a real, living-breathing relationship not by our worthiness, but by the worthiness of Your Son who died for us.
Amen.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh: and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (DRB)
Joh 3:8 The Spirit breatheth where he will and thou hearest his voice: but thou knowest not whence he cometh and whither he goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. (DRB)
1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God who liveth and remaineth for ever
1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God committeth not sin: for his seed abideth in him. And he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 4:7 Dearly beloved, let us love one another: for charity is of God. And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.
1Jn 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. And every one that loveth him who begot, loveth him also who is born of him
1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory which overcameth the world: Our faith.
1Jn 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not: but the generation of God preserveth him and the wicked one toucheth him not.
*******
Born Again. Born of water and of the Spirit. Born of the spirit is spirit. Born of the Spirit. Born again. Born of God. Is born of God.
Birth. Most of us know what that means. New life. The birth of anything is new life coming into being, right? Some of us have experienced giving birth, others have watched a birthing, we all were at one time birthed from our own mothers. We all had our own beginnings, our new life. We were a new life created, a new life born into the world. It doesn't matter if we were wanted or not, I'm not going to say that you were a new life that was hoped for because often that's not the case. You could have been a new life abandoned to strangers, or a new life abused by unloving care givers. The only true fact for us all is that we were all once a new life, we were all at one time born and took our first breath of air, giving our first cry. Helpless at birth if left to our own devices we would die quickly. Dependent upon caregivers for many years, the first few being the most dependent- knowing that in some poor, third world countries and such that children at 3, 4, and 5 years are already out there on the streets begging food and such, if they weren't cared for in some manner for the first couple years of their lives they would have died. This is our human birth, our human new life, born of the flesh. We have no control over being born. We can't stop ourselves from being born in any way. There isn't a single thing we as the unborn can prevent being born consciously or unconciously, the only thing that could prevent us from being born is our mother, or outside forces beyond the control of our mother whether health or injury by another. We have no power over our own birthing, over becoming a new life.
How does all this relate to being born again, born of God, born of the Spirit, born of water and of the Spirit? It's a new life anything newly born is a new life. If all that was meant was a continuing of living there would be no need to be born again, to put it that way in so many instances.
Nicodemus asked the question we all would have asked- What do you mean, born again? We can't go into our mother a second time to be born.
So true. This being born again had to be an entirely different sort of birth. This new birth wouldn't be out of our control. This new birth would be an acknowledgement of a new parentage and that parentage wouldn't be from an earthly source such as we know parents. Our new parents would be God, would be the Spirit of God. When you are adopted and given new parents in the flesh, you enter into a new relationship with those new parents- it wouldn't be the same as the relationship you experienced with your old parents, foster parents, orphanage care givers as substitute parents, other guardians as parents- this would be a new relationship. When we are born again of the Spirit, born of God, we are given new parentage, a new relationship.
If left to our own without ever being born again to God through the Spirit, we never enter a new life, a new relationship with God. Is it any wonder that we MUST be born again to God in order to be counted as His? We have to as knowing adults or mature children understand that we are acknowledging the need of a new life with God as our Father. We have control over this new birth, it's not thrust upon us without our consent. No one will be able to say they were forced to be born again unto God. Sure, they could be forced to go through the motions of being born again, but unless they are of their own free will with an open mind and heart unto Jesus voluntarily accepting of the new birth it won't mean anything.
Our new birth through Christ is amazing and often times people who first enter this new life being born of the Spirit feel a certain amount of excitement. Then after the new birth and the new life continues on and we begin to grow we have to realize that this new life, with our new parentage isn't something we'll ever grow up and away from. You see we are trained in our modern world that when we grow up we move off and start our own lives- often to the neglect of our parents, and often by their encouragement. It's not a wrong thing to want our children to mature and become able to care for themselves, provide for themselves and their family they'll have as they continue with the unending way of life- procreating. However, the *ideal* family does not mean never having contact again, in fact it means a continued care of family, of children looking after older parents and so on- something that has been lost a lot to modernism. A life is a continued process of aging and maturing endlessly until death. A new life born in Christ, born of God, born of the Spirit must be a life that is nurtured endlessly until death. The newness might wear off, but the way of the new life in Christ is outlined for us.
Mat 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
A mature human beings of the flesh we have daily needs. A maturing spiritual beings in Christ we have daily needs. We tend to forget this because as fleshy beings the pangs in our belly tells us of our need for food, and the dry mouth tells us we thirst. Spiritually it is a lot easier to ignore the pangs of hunger for the Word of God. We haven't been taught to recognize that sort of hunger, but rather taught to explain it away.
A new life in Christ is necessary for us all, and a continuing maturing life in Christ is essential if we are to keep the spiritual life alive. A spiritual life can die just as a fleshly life can die. And just as we can become ill in the flesh, we can become ill in the Spirit.
May God grant us all recognition of our spiritual hunger and thrist that can only be sated in Him through the love and grace, the mercy of Jesus Christ. May we learn to feed our Spiritual self and nuture it in Christ through the Spirit so that we don't become Spiritually ill. Please Lord, bless and keep us now and forever in You, in a real, living-breathing relationship not by our worthiness, but by the worthiness of Your Son who died for us.
Amen.
Friday, December 4, 2009
No Night There...
Rev 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
The Holy City Jerusalem- the heavenly Holy City descending down to earth, what a marvelous sight, what a marvelous city! And there we are, the redeemed after a thousand years in heaven returning to earth in such grandeur. There is no night there- no need of a candle, or even....get this...no need of the sun light! Now we can understand on some level that okay, we'll have permanent day perhaps and that means permanent sunlight to us in one respect yet we are told here that we won't need sunlight. No night, no candle, no sunlight- the Lord God will give us light.
No, we won't be wandering about with infrared vision such as we imagine it- we will have the light given to us by God and that's all the light we'll need in this new existence on earth in that Holy City that has no night.
Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
Lord God giveth them light.
The light is Christ! The Lamb of God! We are given this light even here on earth we don't have to dwell in darkness in a figurative sense. We can be filled with the Light of Christ's love and forgiveness and it doesn't matter what our circumstances are at all whatsoever.
Easy to say when things are going smooth, but who has a life like that? I don't know anyone that doesn't struggle in one way or another, or have worries that can consume them if they let them.
Christ told us this...
Luk 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
We have to be careful that we don't let our worries overcharge our hearts. Satan might not get us with drunkeness or surfeiting
(sur·feit·ed, sur·feit·ing, sur·feits verb, transitive to feed or supply to excess, satiety, or disgust.)
...but many times our hearts are overcharged with the cares of life aren't they? We get wrapped up in the life we have here and now to the exclusion of God and the life everlasting that awaits us.
Having the light of Jesus' love in us now is as essential as it will be to have the light of the Lamb illuminating us in the New Jerusalem, the Holy City come down from Heaven.
May God remind us often as the cares of this life overwhelm us that all these cares are temporary even if they have effects that result in death or destitution here on earth now. We must live for Christ and that living is focused on laying up treasures in heaven and trusting in God completely- not for an easy life, but for a life that will allow us to live for Him no matter what.
By the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever, all glory, praise, and honor to Him!
Amen.
The Holy City Jerusalem- the heavenly Holy City descending down to earth, what a marvelous sight, what a marvelous city! And there we are, the redeemed after a thousand years in heaven returning to earth in such grandeur. There is no night there- no need of a candle, or even....get this...no need of the sun light! Now we can understand on some level that okay, we'll have permanent day perhaps and that means permanent sunlight to us in one respect yet we are told here that we won't need sunlight. No night, no candle, no sunlight- the Lord God will give us light.
No, we won't be wandering about with infrared vision such as we imagine it- we will have the light given to us by God and that's all the light we'll need in this new existence on earth in that Holy City that has no night.
Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
Lord God giveth them light.
The light is Christ! The Lamb of God! We are given this light even here on earth we don't have to dwell in darkness in a figurative sense. We can be filled with the Light of Christ's love and forgiveness and it doesn't matter what our circumstances are at all whatsoever.
Easy to say when things are going smooth, but who has a life like that? I don't know anyone that doesn't struggle in one way or another, or have worries that can consume them if they let them.
Christ told us this...
Luk 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
We have to be careful that we don't let our worries overcharge our hearts. Satan might not get us with drunkeness or surfeiting
(sur·feit·ed, sur·feit·ing, sur·feits verb, transitive to feed or supply to excess, satiety, or disgust.)
...but many times our hearts are overcharged with the cares of life aren't they? We get wrapped up in the life we have here and now to the exclusion of God and the life everlasting that awaits us.
Having the light of Jesus' love in us now is as essential as it will be to have the light of the Lamb illuminating us in the New Jerusalem, the Holy City come down from Heaven.
May God remind us often as the cares of this life overwhelm us that all these cares are temporary even if they have effects that result in death or destitution here on earth now. We must live for Christ and that living is focused on laying up treasures in heaven and trusting in God completely- not for an easy life, but for a life that will allow us to live for Him no matter what.
By the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever, all glory, praise, and honor to Him!
Amen.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
No More Curse
Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse...
The curse-
Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse...
Pro 3:33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.
Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse...
Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Rom 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned
Life without being cursed, we don't know what that is like at all whatsoever. Only Adam and Eve would have that memory and they are long dead. We've lived under the curse brought on by sinning- disobeying God- and we can only imagine what life would be like without sin. Jesus lived without sinning surrounded and fully tempted to sin by all the depravity Satan could throw His way. Jesus overcame by the will of God and died to offer us His grace so that we too might one day know what it will be like to live without sin, without the curse hanging over us.
What hope there is to be found in that truth, the truth of God's pure love knowing that one day there will be no more curse.
May God bless and keep us always in Him by His unending all loving mercy in Christ our Savior and Lord forever.
Amen.
The curse-
Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse...
Pro 3:33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.
Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse...
Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Rom 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned
Life without being cursed, we don't know what that is like at all whatsoever. Only Adam and Eve would have that memory and they are long dead. We've lived under the curse brought on by sinning- disobeying God- and we can only imagine what life would be like without sin. Jesus lived without sinning surrounded and fully tempted to sin by all the depravity Satan could throw His way. Jesus overcame by the will of God and died to offer us His grace so that we too might one day know what it will be like to live without sin, without the curse hanging over us.
What hope there is to be found in that truth, the truth of God's pure love knowing that one day there will be no more curse.
May God bless and keep us always in Him by His unending all loving mercy in Christ our Savior and Lord forever.
Amen.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Written in the Lamb's Book of Life
Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
*
a·bom·i·na·tion (e-bòm´e-nâ¹shen) noun
1. Abhorrence; disgust.
2. A cause of abhorrence or disgust.
*
ab·hor·rence (à b-hôr¹ens, -hòr¹-) noun
1. One that is disgusting, loathsome, or repellent.
2. A feeling of repugnance or loathing.
Working something disgusting, something loathsome, repellent... repugnant. What's more loathsome than sin?
Sin...
Something regarded as being shameful, deplorable, or utterly wrong.
Working abomination, defiling -
1. To make filthy or dirty; pollute: defile a river with sewage.
2. To debase the pureness or excellence of; corrupt: a country landscape that was defiled by urban sprawl.
3. To profane or sully (a good name, for example).
4. To make unclean or unfit for ceremonial use; desecrate: defile a temple.
5. To violate the chastity of.
Lying-
1. A false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood.
2. Something meant to deceive or give a wrong impression.
ANYTHING that defiles, works abomination, or lies will not enter God's Holy City.
We tend to immediately shake our heads and say no way, we wouldn't defile anything, we wouldn't work any abominations, and we wouldn't lie. We're not among the evil. These are all good things, realizing that we're not those who will be kept out of God's glorious Holy City. There is one more prerequisite though, our name has to be written in the book of life.
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
We are told when we are born again we will see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
When we are born again it's logical to assume we are written into the Lamb's Book of Life. No, this isn't advocating 'once saved always saved' because you can have your name taken out of the Book of Life.
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Our names can be blotted out.
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ may we have our names written in the Book of Life and never blotted out. By His righteousness, by His love may we find life everlasting.
Amen.
*
a·bom·i·na·tion (e-bòm´e-nâ¹shen) noun
1. Abhorrence; disgust.
2. A cause of abhorrence or disgust.
*
ab·hor·rence (à b-hôr¹ens, -hòr¹-) noun
1. One that is disgusting, loathsome, or repellent.
2. A feeling of repugnance or loathing.
Working something disgusting, something loathsome, repellent... repugnant. What's more loathsome than sin?
Sin...
Something regarded as being shameful, deplorable, or utterly wrong.
Working abomination, defiling -
1. To make filthy or dirty; pollute: defile a river with sewage.
2. To debase the pureness or excellence of; corrupt: a country landscape that was defiled by urban sprawl.
3. To profane or sully (a good name, for example).
4. To make unclean or unfit for ceremonial use; desecrate: defile a temple.
5. To violate the chastity of.
Lying-
1. A false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood.
2. Something meant to deceive or give a wrong impression.
ANYTHING that defiles, works abomination, or lies will not enter God's Holy City.
We tend to immediately shake our heads and say no way, we wouldn't defile anything, we wouldn't work any abominations, and we wouldn't lie. We're not among the evil. These are all good things, realizing that we're not those who will be kept out of God's glorious Holy City. There is one more prerequisite though, our name has to be written in the book of life.
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
We are told when we are born again we will see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
When we are born again it's logical to assume we are written into the Lamb's Book of Life. No, this isn't advocating 'once saved always saved' because you can have your name taken out of the Book of Life.
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Our names can be blotted out.
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ may we have our names written in the Book of Life and never blotted out. By His righteousness, by His love may we find life everlasting.
Amen.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The Victory...Even Our Faith
Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
1Jn 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Believe.
God is love, this is true and we are told that the greatest thing is love. Without love having faith would mean nothing. It's because love exists in God that we can have faith in Him, believe in that love, the all consuming, all meaningful love that brings life everlasting.
Believing means nothing in and of itself, it's the belief in love- in God that matters.
If we ever hope to overcome life and all its agonies great and small, all its imperfections, all its sin induced pain it's not through anything of this world we overcome with- but through God. We have to be born of God and hope in the overcoming that is fully realized in the inheritance that awaits us in Christ. We need to be God's and we can be God's through belief in His love manifested in His Gift to the world, His Son Jesus Christ.
If we choose not to believe in the love of God and accept His Gift- we are condemned. You don't have to be a worldly evil person to be evil in God's eyes. You could be sweet and never harm a fly and still reject the Son of God, the love of God. You could be an amazing atheist someone who is outstanding and peaceful in all ways and yet without the belief in God, in His Son, it means nothing. If you have this wonderful life and attribute it to just being good in and of yourself you are claiming you have no Creator deserving of your love, you have no redeemer deserving of your love. Men love darkness because their deeds are evil. The light does away with the darkness and men who want darkness can't abide the light. Embracing the Light means illuminating the evil in us which reveals our need for a Savior. We need God and Satan would have us believe we have no need of God that we can live well enough in our temporary lives without God. Darkness and light war with each other and the Light will forever and ultimately expel the darkness.
By the grace and mercy of God may we be found welcoming the Light into our lives revealing the darkness, the evils within us, and by that grace and mercy may we find salvation and inherit all that entails in Christ, the fulness of His love forever in us.
Amen.
1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
1Jn 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Believe.
God is love, this is true and we are told that the greatest thing is love. Without love having faith would mean nothing. It's because love exists in God that we can have faith in Him, believe in that love, the all consuming, all meaningful love that brings life everlasting.
Believing means nothing in and of itself, it's the belief in love- in God that matters.
If we ever hope to overcome life and all its agonies great and small, all its imperfections, all its sin induced pain it's not through anything of this world we overcome with- but through God. We have to be born of God and hope in the overcoming that is fully realized in the inheritance that awaits us in Christ. We need to be God's and we can be God's through belief in His love manifested in His Gift to the world, His Son Jesus Christ.
If we choose not to believe in the love of God and accept His Gift- we are condemned. You don't have to be a worldly evil person to be evil in God's eyes. You could be sweet and never harm a fly and still reject the Son of God, the love of God. You could be an amazing atheist someone who is outstanding and peaceful in all ways and yet without the belief in God, in His Son, it means nothing. If you have this wonderful life and attribute it to just being good in and of yourself you are claiming you have no Creator deserving of your love, you have no redeemer deserving of your love. Men love darkness because their deeds are evil. The light does away with the darkness and men who want darkness can't abide the light. Embracing the Light means illuminating the evil in us which reveals our need for a Savior. We need God and Satan would have us believe we have no need of God that we can live well enough in our temporary lives without God. Darkness and light war with each other and the Light will forever and ultimately expel the darkness.
By the grace and mercy of God may we be found welcoming the Light into our lives revealing the darkness, the evils within us, and by that grace and mercy may we find salvation and inherit all that entails in Christ, the fulness of His love forever in us.
Amen.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Blessed are they which are....
Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Granted to be arrayed in fine linen- a bride, what bride doesn't want to be arrayed in fine linen? A fine gown, a bridal gown the fancier the better right? In most cases a bride with a traditional wedding ceremony puts great store in finding the perfect wedding gown. All eyes feast upon the bride's gown, she's the crowning jewel in the wedding- prepared for the groom.
Read this excerpt from a web page -
'The bride and bridegroom would be elaborately clothed. They would act and be treated like a king and a queen, even being adorned with crowns.
Song of Solomon. 3:11--- "Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and gaze on King Solomon with the crown with which his mother has crowned him on the day of his wedding, and on the day of his gladness of heart."
Isaiah 61:10---For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Jeremiah 2:32--- "Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?"
The bride imagery in Ezekiel is also indicative of the preparation and adornment of the bride:
Ezekiel 16:8-14--- "Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine," declares the Lord GOD. "Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you, and anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with embroidered cloth, and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. And I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands, and a necklace around your neck. I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you," declares the Lord GOD.
(KJV- Eze 16:8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.
Eze 16:9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
Eze 16:10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
Eze 16:11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.
Eze 16:12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.
Eze 16:13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
Eze 16:14 And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD)
(From- http://ldolphin.org/risk/ult.shtml)
The clothing we need for our bridal attire is Christ's Righteousness.
'...for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.'
Rom 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
Rom 10:7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
1Co 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
Php 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
We can't rely on our own clothing. There isn't a single piece of clothing we can ever manufacture and wear that is pure.
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away
We can't rely on our own righteousness- we have NONE.
We have to have total dependence upon Christ's righteousness so we can be clothed in fine linen- His bride when He returns for us.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ may we claim the righteousness of Christ's as our clothing, stripping off our filthy rags and letting Him clothe us in His fine linen, a bride ready for Him.
Amen.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Granted to be arrayed in fine linen- a bride, what bride doesn't want to be arrayed in fine linen? A fine gown, a bridal gown the fancier the better right? In most cases a bride with a traditional wedding ceremony puts great store in finding the perfect wedding gown. All eyes feast upon the bride's gown, she's the crowning jewel in the wedding- prepared for the groom.
Read this excerpt from a web page -
'The bride and bridegroom would be elaborately clothed. They would act and be treated like a king and a queen, even being adorned with crowns.
Song of Solomon. 3:11--- "Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and gaze on King Solomon with the crown with which his mother has crowned him on the day of his wedding, and on the day of his gladness of heart."
Isaiah 61:10---For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Jeremiah 2:32--- "Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?"
The bride imagery in Ezekiel is also indicative of the preparation and adornment of the bride:
Ezekiel 16:8-14--- "Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine," declares the Lord GOD. "Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you, and anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with embroidered cloth, and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. And I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands, and a necklace around your neck. I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you," declares the Lord GOD.
(KJV- Eze 16:8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.
Eze 16:9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
Eze 16:10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
Eze 16:11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.
Eze 16:12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.
Eze 16:13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
Eze 16:14 And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD)
(From- http://ldolphin.org/risk/ult.shtml)
The clothing we need for our bridal attire is Christ's Righteousness.
'...for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.'
Rom 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
Rom 10:7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
1Co 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
Php 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
We can't rely on our own clothing. There isn't a single piece of clothing we can ever manufacture and wear that is pure.
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away
We can't rely on our own righteousness- we have NONE.
We have to have total dependence upon Christ's righteousness so we can be clothed in fine linen- His bride when He returns for us.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ may we claim the righteousness of Christ's as our clothing, stripping off our filthy rags and letting Him clothe us in His fine linen, a bride ready for Him.
Amen.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Come Out of Sinning
Rev 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
*******
Babylon (bà b´e-len, -lòn´) noun
1. A city or place of great luxury, sensuality, and often vice and corruption.
*
In John's day Babylon as a wild city was long gone. The memory of it's abhorrent behavior lived on as part of the history of the Jewish people. The Jewish people had at one point in their past, 500 or so BC been taken captive by the King of Babylon. In their history they knew this and that includes John.
The imagery provoked by Babylon is one of corruption, one of being the anti-God. Babylon even in our dictionary has this to say-
A city or place of great luxury, sensuality, and often vice and corruption.
When John was given his vision of hearing an angel saying- Babylon the great is fallen is fallen is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every four spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk the wine of the wrath of her fornication; John knew that Babylon history as did all Jews. John also knew this is a future vision- future to the end of days and Babylon is no longer in existence as a super powerful sin-city. There are a lot of various suppositions and just looking at this without pulling in all those theories isn't ANYTHING that takes us into sin figurative of living in Babylon? Living a life of sin and following any that promote that sinning way creates the need for us to come out of Babylon- come out of the sinning ways. I'm not trying to belittle the deeper meanings of the prophecy at all- but it needs to be said that if you are caught up in sin you need to come out of that sin and God wants us out of the sinning ways so we do find forgiveness with Christ Jesus and aren't overcome by the plagues.
We are ordered to come out of Babylon...come out, that's an action that needs to be taken and we are all called to do so. If we choose to keep on sinning and living in a life surrounded by purposeful sin we are guilty of not heeding the warning to come out and not partake of the sins. We can then expect the plagues, the punishment of God to fall upon us. Not something pleasant to look forward to and NO sin pleasure now, no matter what it is will ever be worth the end result. The price paid for choosing self-indulgence over choosing to love God will be something none will want to pay yet it's not a reality to people. Just as in history the prophecies weren't reality until they came to pass and today people have been lulled into a deep sleep unwilling to wake to see that Biblical prophecies have proven true throughtout our history. It's the past, it's ancient history and therefore nothing we should bother over. Wrong. The prophecies go all the way until the end of days when Jesus returns and ultimately when all the sinners are destroyed and sin completely wiped away. We've not come to that day- we are still living in the days of unfulfilled prophecies and we have to ask ourselves a question- if prophecies of old have come to pass, what will stop the prophecies of the future from coming to pass?
The answer... nothing. Nothing can stop it and it's up to us to decide where we wish to be found in when that prophecy comes to pass.
May God help us all to come out of Babylon, come out of our sinning ways and cling to Him asking for our Savior to save us by His merciful grace and overwhelming love.
Amen.
Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
*******
Babylon (bà b´e-len, -lòn´) noun
1. A city or place of great luxury, sensuality, and often vice and corruption.
*
In John's day Babylon as a wild city was long gone. The memory of it's abhorrent behavior lived on as part of the history of the Jewish people. The Jewish people had at one point in their past, 500 or so BC been taken captive by the King of Babylon. In their history they knew this and that includes John.
The imagery provoked by Babylon is one of corruption, one of being the anti-God. Babylon even in our dictionary has this to say-
A city or place of great luxury, sensuality, and often vice and corruption.
When John was given his vision of hearing an angel saying- Babylon the great is fallen is fallen is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every four spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk the wine of the wrath of her fornication; John knew that Babylon history as did all Jews. John also knew this is a future vision- future to the end of days and Babylon is no longer in existence as a super powerful sin-city. There are a lot of various suppositions and just looking at this without pulling in all those theories isn't ANYTHING that takes us into sin figurative of living in Babylon? Living a life of sin and following any that promote that sinning way creates the need for us to come out of Babylon- come out of the sinning ways. I'm not trying to belittle the deeper meanings of the prophecy at all- but it needs to be said that if you are caught up in sin you need to come out of that sin and God wants us out of the sinning ways so we do find forgiveness with Christ Jesus and aren't overcome by the plagues.
We are ordered to come out of Babylon...come out, that's an action that needs to be taken and we are all called to do so. If we choose to keep on sinning and living in a life surrounded by purposeful sin we are guilty of not heeding the warning to come out and not partake of the sins. We can then expect the plagues, the punishment of God to fall upon us. Not something pleasant to look forward to and NO sin pleasure now, no matter what it is will ever be worth the end result. The price paid for choosing self-indulgence over choosing to love God will be something none will want to pay yet it's not a reality to people. Just as in history the prophecies weren't reality until they came to pass and today people have been lulled into a deep sleep unwilling to wake to see that Biblical prophecies have proven true throughtout our history. It's the past, it's ancient history and therefore nothing we should bother over. Wrong. The prophecies go all the way until the end of days when Jesus returns and ultimately when all the sinners are destroyed and sin completely wiped away. We've not come to that day- we are still living in the days of unfulfilled prophecies and we have to ask ourselves a question- if prophecies of old have come to pass, what will stop the prophecies of the future from coming to pass?
The answer... nothing. Nothing can stop it and it's up to us to decide where we wish to be found in when that prophecy comes to pass.
May God help us all to come out of Babylon, come out of our sinning ways and cling to Him asking for our Savior to save us by His merciful grace and overwhelming love.
Amen.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Blessed in Watching and Keeping
Rev 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
He's coming but we don't know when. It's proper to give warning when you go visiting isn't it? In some cases to ask permission to visit. Having Ol' Aunt Agna show up on your doorstep without nary a phone call or even a post card, well that's not a very pleasant surprise is it? Imagine standing there in your bathrobe, hair all sticking out this way and that, the remainder of last night's wrinkle cream caked in a few wrinkle crevices, with coffee on your breath and a few dribbles of it on that bath robe and there she is, Ol' Aunt Agna smiling away with every white hair on her perfectly coiffed head in place, a delicate patting of powder on her face, red rosy cheeks and sparkling blue eyes. She's happy to be there, happy to surprise you and now expects you to be happy to see her when all you can think about is...OH NO! Why didn't she call first! I would have prepared, I would have been ready! I would have had the numbers to a few decent motels close at hand. Too late. You could shut the door in her face, you could tell her she's got the wrong address while using a fake accent, you could apologize and tell her to come back later that the kiddos are all sick and very contagious. But she's not old and senile, or rather she's not senile just old and she'd know that if you tried to do anything but invite her inside her little surprise would have been a very bad one and who wants to hurt sweet Ol' Agna's feelings? The old woman never hurt a flea. The thing is, you really do love Ol' Aunt Agna and would love to have her visit, you just wanted to be prepared for her, ready for her arrival. You wanted your untidy house tided, your unruly mop of hair tamed, you wanted the children in their best clothes, not flopped about in their raggedy but very comfortable jammies. Had you known she was coming you would have been happy to see her there on your doorstep.
How many people have that sort of relationship with Christ? You want Him to visit, you want Him to return to redeem you from earth and take you home with Him to heaven to live a life of eternity in love with Him. Yet perhaps you want to know when He's coming so you can be ready, rather than be ready at all times for Him. How many people consider it a waste of time to be watching when you don't know when to expect Him? Being in a constant state of readiness and watching is perhaps considered tedious? If so, if that's the way of it don't you realize that you won't be happy in heaven? You aren't prepared. Your heart isn't caught up with the Lord's love.
Think of it this way--
Your lover is called away overseas unexpectedly and tells you they don't have a clue when they'll return it could be tomorrow or next year, possible two or three years, it's a top secret mission. You watch your lover go and now begins the waiting. Every day could be the day of your lover's return. This is someone you've truly fallen deeply in love with and it's unthinkable that the love would disappear. You're prepared to wait for eternity for your lover to return. Every day you wake up and wonder, is this the day? Will my lover return today? On the chance that your lover just might come back you make sure you're ready. No, you don't go all out everyday with party streamers or dusting off the special occasion balloons, but you are prepared in your heart for the return of one so dear to you. You are ready, truly ready at any time of the day for your lover to come back, ready to welcome them with open arms. There isn't a moment that you'd ever think - 'I hope they don't come back just yet, I'm not ready.' You don't even care if you're in your old night clothes or in the middle of a meal. You don't care if you're in the middle of a work project that means the security of keeping your job, you'd still embrace your lover with all the joy and happiness you possess.
There's a big difference in how we watch and wait for Christ to return, isn't there? We can be ready at all times, eager for Him no matter the situation we are in- or we can have reservations about things. If we have reservations we have to ask ourselves if our love for Christ is first and foremost. Our love. We can't put things like our readiness in front of that love, if we do then we have our eyes on ourselves and you know something- we will NEVER be ready in and of ourselves it's only through that love of Christ we are made ready. He won't see the wrinkle cream or the tangled hair, He won't be looking for clothes from the best designers. He's not interested in the dust-free house. Christ wants to be welcomed with open, loving arms ready to embrace Him without a thought at all to self.
Rev 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Keeping our garments, guarding our garments, and what garments are we talking about here?
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Isa 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
The white raiment is Christ's righteousness not ours. We need to guard the gift of Christ's righteousness given to us to cloth us. If we aren't covered in Christ's righteousness then we will be naked and all our shame, all our sins, all our unrighteousness will be visible.
Mat 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
No wonder we are to guard, to keep our garments they are garments fashioned by Christ Himself to prepare us for the great day of the wedding between Christ and His bride- His church- His people.
We need to look forward to Christ's return, to be eager for Him to come at any moment in time and in our watching we need to forever keep upon us Christ's righteousness- not our own filthy rags. We will be blessed in Him by His mercy and grace now and forever let us be found ready.
Amen.
He's coming but we don't know when. It's proper to give warning when you go visiting isn't it? In some cases to ask permission to visit. Having Ol' Aunt Agna show up on your doorstep without nary a phone call or even a post card, well that's not a very pleasant surprise is it? Imagine standing there in your bathrobe, hair all sticking out this way and that, the remainder of last night's wrinkle cream caked in a few wrinkle crevices, with coffee on your breath and a few dribbles of it on that bath robe and there she is, Ol' Aunt Agna smiling away with every white hair on her perfectly coiffed head in place, a delicate patting of powder on her face, red rosy cheeks and sparkling blue eyes. She's happy to be there, happy to surprise you and now expects you to be happy to see her when all you can think about is...OH NO! Why didn't she call first! I would have prepared, I would have been ready! I would have had the numbers to a few decent motels close at hand. Too late. You could shut the door in her face, you could tell her she's got the wrong address while using a fake accent, you could apologize and tell her to come back later that the kiddos are all sick and very contagious. But she's not old and senile, or rather she's not senile just old and she'd know that if you tried to do anything but invite her inside her little surprise would have been a very bad one and who wants to hurt sweet Ol' Agna's feelings? The old woman never hurt a flea. The thing is, you really do love Ol' Aunt Agna and would love to have her visit, you just wanted to be prepared for her, ready for her arrival. You wanted your untidy house tided, your unruly mop of hair tamed, you wanted the children in their best clothes, not flopped about in their raggedy but very comfortable jammies. Had you known she was coming you would have been happy to see her there on your doorstep.
How many people have that sort of relationship with Christ? You want Him to visit, you want Him to return to redeem you from earth and take you home with Him to heaven to live a life of eternity in love with Him. Yet perhaps you want to know when He's coming so you can be ready, rather than be ready at all times for Him. How many people consider it a waste of time to be watching when you don't know when to expect Him? Being in a constant state of readiness and watching is perhaps considered tedious? If so, if that's the way of it don't you realize that you won't be happy in heaven? You aren't prepared. Your heart isn't caught up with the Lord's love.
Think of it this way--
Your lover is called away overseas unexpectedly and tells you they don't have a clue when they'll return it could be tomorrow or next year, possible two or three years, it's a top secret mission. You watch your lover go and now begins the waiting. Every day could be the day of your lover's return. This is someone you've truly fallen deeply in love with and it's unthinkable that the love would disappear. You're prepared to wait for eternity for your lover to return. Every day you wake up and wonder, is this the day? Will my lover return today? On the chance that your lover just might come back you make sure you're ready. No, you don't go all out everyday with party streamers or dusting off the special occasion balloons, but you are prepared in your heart for the return of one so dear to you. You are ready, truly ready at any time of the day for your lover to come back, ready to welcome them with open arms. There isn't a moment that you'd ever think - 'I hope they don't come back just yet, I'm not ready.' You don't even care if you're in your old night clothes or in the middle of a meal. You don't care if you're in the middle of a work project that means the security of keeping your job, you'd still embrace your lover with all the joy and happiness you possess.
There's a big difference in how we watch and wait for Christ to return, isn't there? We can be ready at all times, eager for Him no matter the situation we are in- or we can have reservations about things. If we have reservations we have to ask ourselves if our love for Christ is first and foremost. Our love. We can't put things like our readiness in front of that love, if we do then we have our eyes on ourselves and you know something- we will NEVER be ready in and of ourselves it's only through that love of Christ we are made ready. He won't see the wrinkle cream or the tangled hair, He won't be looking for clothes from the best designers. He's not interested in the dust-free house. Christ wants to be welcomed with open, loving arms ready to embrace Him without a thought at all to self.
Rev 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Keeping our garments, guarding our garments, and what garments are we talking about here?
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Isa 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
The white raiment is Christ's righteousness not ours. We need to guard the gift of Christ's righteousness given to us to cloth us. If we aren't covered in Christ's righteousness then we will be naked and all our shame, all our sins, all our unrighteousness will be visible.
Mat 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
No wonder we are to guard, to keep our garments they are garments fashioned by Christ Himself to prepare us for the great day of the wedding between Christ and His bride- His church- His people.
We need to look forward to Christ's return, to be eager for Him to come at any moment in time and in our watching we need to forever keep upon us Christ's righteousness- not our own filthy rags. We will be blessed in Him by His mercy and grace now and forever let us be found ready.
Amen.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Endurance
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus
Patience
hupomone?
hoop-om-on-ay'
From G5278; cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy: - enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).
Keep
te?reo?
tay-reh'-o
From teros (a watch; perhaps akin to G2334); to guard (from loss or injury, properly by keeping the eye upon...)
The endurance of the saints. It sounds like a movie title doesn't it? Perhaps a show on saints through time and their common link through endurance- a documentary of sorts. Or maybe it could be a touching story of a family with the last name Saints and it's a tale of courage and faith beyond all odds- enduring hardships and such to make the story appropriately exciting and something people would want to watch. The meaning here in Revelation 14:2 is prophetic and it's talking about those in the future who are on God's side as the world comes to an end. People with endurance, people with hopeful endurance. People who will watch, who will guard the commandments of God.
We've talked about this several times but it bears studying even more. It's too easy to lose hope, it's too easy to stop hanging in there- to stop enduring with patience. It would be so incredibly easy for us to just give up hope, to believe it's all too much and that things would never change.
People will argue that they've known others who have held fast to their faith for a long time, growing from being young to old, to very old without ever having their hope realized. They would say they were fools to believe and that it's foolish for them to believe when it's always hope without realization. The endurance means nothing, the patience means stupidity. The watching and guarding the commandments of God is silly to them because the love in those commandments isn't seen at all- only the restrictiveness.
It's what we call human nature to want to rebel against anything that might restrict our lives, but in truth it's not human nature at all, it's the sin nature. Most don't want to diffrientiate between the two arguing that they're one and the same because we're all sinfilled from our birth- caught up in the nature we inherit from our parents who ultimately inherited it from the first human to sin- Eve. But in truth and that's what we are interested in here, truth, we weren't originially created human with sin. We were created human without sin. There are a group of people who believe it's that nature Jesus took on but that's clearly not true. Jesus was tempted taking on our nature through his sinful mother... yes, some have claimed that Mary was sinless but that's not true. People want to believe that Jesus didn't have our sinning nature- yet remained without sin. People want to believe that Jesus was like Adam and Eve who were not in any way tainted by thousands of years of sinning. Jesus took on a nature that had for thousands of years been prone to sinning and with that nature HE did not sin. The temptations of Christ were real, He was touched by our infirmities not absolved and shielded from them.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
ALL points tempted like we are. Does that sound like He was absolved from the nature, the humanity we possess? No. He wasn't protected in some special way - He became human and endured all the temptations we endure- if he'd been given some special attributes that we don't possess then Satan would call His sacrifice superficial and non-acceptable. Satan can't call His sacrifice unacceptable though. Jesus didn't use His power as a Son of God to defeat sin. Jesus defeated sin in the same way it's possible for us, in humanity- through God and God alone He prevailed.
So to say that as humans we want to be in charge of our own fate- to choose not to believe in what we call fairy tales and fables, would be false. To say that we as humans tainted by sin want that - would in fact be the truth. God did not create us to defy Him, but to love Him. There will be a people- the saints - who will hold fast to the truth in Christ and believe in the commandments of God all the commands that He's given us out of His love. These people will have salvation through Christ's sacrifice, believing in God and all He is. These people and I pray I'm among them will hold fast to the faith of Jesus, clinging to Him who while tempted like we are endured without sinning, laying down His life to redeem ours.
By the grace and mercy of Christ now and forever...
Amen.
Patience
hupomone?
hoop-om-on-ay'
From G5278; cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy: - enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).
Keep
te?reo?
tay-reh'-o
From teros (a watch; perhaps akin to G2334); to guard (from loss or injury, properly by keeping the eye upon...)
The endurance of the saints. It sounds like a movie title doesn't it? Perhaps a show on saints through time and their common link through endurance- a documentary of sorts. Or maybe it could be a touching story of a family with the last name Saints and it's a tale of courage and faith beyond all odds- enduring hardships and such to make the story appropriately exciting and something people would want to watch. The meaning here in Revelation 14:2 is prophetic and it's talking about those in the future who are on God's side as the world comes to an end. People with endurance, people with hopeful endurance. People who will watch, who will guard the commandments of God.
We've talked about this several times but it bears studying even more. It's too easy to lose hope, it's too easy to stop hanging in there- to stop enduring with patience. It would be so incredibly easy for us to just give up hope, to believe it's all too much and that things would never change.
People will argue that they've known others who have held fast to their faith for a long time, growing from being young to old, to very old without ever having their hope realized. They would say they were fools to believe and that it's foolish for them to believe when it's always hope without realization. The endurance means nothing, the patience means stupidity. The watching and guarding the commandments of God is silly to them because the love in those commandments isn't seen at all- only the restrictiveness.
It's what we call human nature to want to rebel against anything that might restrict our lives, but in truth it's not human nature at all, it's the sin nature. Most don't want to diffrientiate between the two arguing that they're one and the same because we're all sinfilled from our birth- caught up in the nature we inherit from our parents who ultimately inherited it from the first human to sin- Eve. But in truth and that's what we are interested in here, truth, we weren't originially created human with sin. We were created human without sin. There are a group of people who believe it's that nature Jesus took on but that's clearly not true. Jesus was tempted taking on our nature through his sinful mother... yes, some have claimed that Mary was sinless but that's not true. People want to believe that Jesus didn't have our sinning nature- yet remained without sin. People want to believe that Jesus was like Adam and Eve who were not in any way tainted by thousands of years of sinning. Jesus took on a nature that had for thousands of years been prone to sinning and with that nature HE did not sin. The temptations of Christ were real, He was touched by our infirmities not absolved and shielded from them.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
ALL points tempted like we are. Does that sound like He was absolved from the nature, the humanity we possess? No. He wasn't protected in some special way - He became human and endured all the temptations we endure- if he'd been given some special attributes that we don't possess then Satan would call His sacrifice superficial and non-acceptable. Satan can't call His sacrifice unacceptable though. Jesus didn't use His power as a Son of God to defeat sin. Jesus defeated sin in the same way it's possible for us, in humanity- through God and God alone He prevailed.
So to say that as humans we want to be in charge of our own fate- to choose not to believe in what we call fairy tales and fables, would be false. To say that we as humans tainted by sin want that - would in fact be the truth. God did not create us to defy Him, but to love Him. There will be a people- the saints - who will hold fast to the truth in Christ and believe in the commandments of God all the commands that He's given us out of His love. These people will have salvation through Christ's sacrifice, believing in God and all He is. These people and I pray I'm among them will hold fast to the faith of Jesus, clinging to Him who while tempted like we are endured without sinning, laying down His life to redeem ours.
By the grace and mercy of Christ now and forever...
Amen.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
All Thanksgiving to God
Rev 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
God is worthy of our awe, our praise. God the maker of heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water is worthy to judge His creations. We are His creations. Yet God will look to His Son and the sacrifice He made for the creatures He created and He will honor the sacrifice by deeming worthy the unworthy. He's paid for our worthiness. He's paid for our redemption. He only is worthy and we need to cling to Him. We need to give Him glory, give Him praise, give Him honor, give Him all He asks. Living our lives as a living tribute to our Lord reveals our awe of Him. He is all.
Thank you Lord. Thank you for making life worth living knowing that through You we live not only now but with the hope of forever in You. Thank you for giving us our lives, for enlightening our minds and spirit with You. Open our hearts that You've created clean by the blood of the Lamb. Thank you for all Your blessings. All honor and glory, all praise and thanksgiving unto You!
By Your will, by Your grace, now and forever.
Amen.
God is worthy of our awe, our praise. God the maker of heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water is worthy to judge His creations. We are His creations. Yet God will look to His Son and the sacrifice He made for the creatures He created and He will honor the sacrifice by deeming worthy the unworthy. He's paid for our worthiness. He's paid for our redemption. He only is worthy and we need to cling to Him. We need to give Him glory, give Him praise, give Him honor, give Him all He asks. Living our lives as a living tribute to our Lord reveals our awe of Him. He is all.
Thank you Lord. Thank you for making life worth living knowing that through You we live not only now but with the hope of forever in You. Thank you for giving us our lives, for enlightening our minds and spirit with You. Open our hearts that You've created clean by the blood of the Lamb. Thank you for all Your blessings. All honor and glory, all praise and thanksgiving unto You!
By Your will, by Your grace, now and forever.
Amen.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
No Guile
Rev 14:5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
Let's get a dictionary look at what guile is. Obviously it's something we shouldn't be found with so we can be without fault before the throne of God so it's really something we should be aware of in ourselves.
*******
Greek- Guile
dolos
dol'-os
dello (an obsolete primary probably meaning to decoy; compare G1185); a trick (bait), that is, (figuratively) wile: - craft, deceit, guile, subtilty.
*******
guile (gìl) noun
1.Treacherous cunning; skillful deceit.
2.Obsolete. A trick or stratagem.
verb, transitive
guiled, guiling, guiles
Archaic.
To beguile; deceive.
*******
God would not have us deceitful, He would not have us using trickery, or treacherous cunning - these are not God's ways. To have no guile would mean that we don't resort to being wily, crafty, deceitful that we're upstanding, forthright, and honest in our ways. It's no wonder that those who stand before God will have no guile in their mouths- no deceit before the throne of God.
There is no misleading, no tricking, no lying in all they do. We need this in our lives and before any one jumps up and says they have no guile we need to really look at our lives in all we do and see if there isn't something in them that we judge acceptable because we deem it harmless deception. I read the other day in Reader's Digest one of those little sections of information where it was stated that most people lie 6 times a day at least. Can you imagine!? Can you? And they say the lie most often told is this... When asked how they are they say, fine. We do it don't we? We tell others we're fine, we're okay. Have a great day. When in truth things might not be so fine at all, and having a great day is the last thing you're concerned about another doing. We call it politeness and you know I've raised my kids to be liars that way-- haven't we all? If not by outright telling them to lie we tell them to act certain ways in public, to do what is proper and keep private things private and so on and so forth. Sure people say it's harmless to say you're fine to a stranger because you're not going to tell them your life story which might be full of woe, but in truth and that's what this is all about-- in truth -- isn't it better to say something along the lines of - Oh, I'm hanging in there, and that would be the truth. You're not offering a tale of woe but at the same time you're not lying either. We really don't like to think about the little ways we tell untruths (lies) because they are so ingrained in us. Let's take time to notice though, shall we? Just out of curiosity to gauge the guile within. We are to have NO guile at all before God.
Psa 34:13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
Psa 32:2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Joh 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
1Pe 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings
1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
1Pe 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
1Pe 2:23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
1Pe 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1Pe 3:10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile
***
Lying, cheating, deceiving, we know all these things are contrary to good things- pure things, righteous things. By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Saviour may we be found without guile before God now and forever.
Amen.
Let's get a dictionary look at what guile is. Obviously it's something we shouldn't be found with so we can be without fault before the throne of God so it's really something we should be aware of in ourselves.
*******
Greek- Guile
dolos
dol'-os
dello (an obsolete primary probably meaning to decoy; compare G1185); a trick (bait), that is, (figuratively) wile: - craft, deceit, guile, subtilty.
*******
guile (gìl) noun
1.Treacherous cunning; skillful deceit.
2.Obsolete. A trick or stratagem.
verb, transitive
guiled, guiling, guiles
Archaic.
To beguile; deceive.
*******
God would not have us deceitful, He would not have us using trickery, or treacherous cunning - these are not God's ways. To have no guile would mean that we don't resort to being wily, crafty, deceitful that we're upstanding, forthright, and honest in our ways. It's no wonder that those who stand before God will have no guile in their mouths- no deceit before the throne of God.
There is no misleading, no tricking, no lying in all they do. We need this in our lives and before any one jumps up and says they have no guile we need to really look at our lives in all we do and see if there isn't something in them that we judge acceptable because we deem it harmless deception. I read the other day in Reader's Digest one of those little sections of information where it was stated that most people lie 6 times a day at least. Can you imagine!? Can you? And they say the lie most often told is this... When asked how they are they say, fine. We do it don't we? We tell others we're fine, we're okay. Have a great day. When in truth things might not be so fine at all, and having a great day is the last thing you're concerned about another doing. We call it politeness and you know I've raised my kids to be liars that way-- haven't we all? If not by outright telling them to lie we tell them to act certain ways in public, to do what is proper and keep private things private and so on and so forth. Sure people say it's harmless to say you're fine to a stranger because you're not going to tell them your life story which might be full of woe, but in truth and that's what this is all about-- in truth -- isn't it better to say something along the lines of - Oh, I'm hanging in there, and that would be the truth. You're not offering a tale of woe but at the same time you're not lying either. We really don't like to think about the little ways we tell untruths (lies) because they are so ingrained in us. Let's take time to notice though, shall we? Just out of curiosity to gauge the guile within. We are to have NO guile at all before God.
Psa 34:13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
Psa 32:2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Joh 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
1Pe 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings
1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
1Pe 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
1Pe 2:23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
1Pe 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1Pe 3:10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile
***
Lying, cheating, deceiving, we know all these things are contrary to good things- pure things, righteous things. By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Saviour may we be found without guile before God now and forever.
Amen.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Book of Life
Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 13:9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
All that dwell on the earth will worship the beast/dragon - one who is blaspheming God! It sounds shocking doesn't it? That ALL that dwell on the earth will be caught up in this horror. All but... those who have their names written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
What?! Wait... the Lamb slain from when? The foundation of the world. That's before sin entered isn't it? The world had to be created, the creatures placed up on it and the choice to be made to follow God out of love or look to self and sin. The foundation of the world, the founding of the world. In making this world the provision was made. In making human beings- creatures a little lower than the angels, creatures made in God's own image- a provision was needed. The what if this happens provision. Christ was the provision. God made of Spirit willing to be made into flesh forever. Christ willing to die for us. God's Son willing to be slain, knowing the price that would have to be paid should man sin before the foundation of the world was even created. This Lamb of God has a book of life for all those who He claims as His. If our names are not in that book we will be among all the others on the earth worshipping the devil through his various devices and deceptions.
By the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior may we have our names in His book of life. This world is not our final home. This life is not how life for us was intended to be. We are here but a short while suffering through many trials and tribulations and then by the grace of God will will go to Him when Christ returns, or sleep and be woken when the glorious day arrives.
Amen.
Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 13:9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
All that dwell on the earth will worship the beast/dragon - one who is blaspheming God! It sounds shocking doesn't it? That ALL that dwell on the earth will be caught up in this horror. All but... those who have their names written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
What?! Wait... the Lamb slain from when? The foundation of the world. That's before sin entered isn't it? The world had to be created, the creatures placed up on it and the choice to be made to follow God out of love or look to self and sin. The foundation of the world, the founding of the world. In making this world the provision was made. In making human beings- creatures a little lower than the angels, creatures made in God's own image- a provision was needed. The what if this happens provision. Christ was the provision. God made of Spirit willing to be made into flesh forever. Christ willing to die for us. God's Son willing to be slain, knowing the price that would have to be paid should man sin before the foundation of the world was even created. This Lamb of God has a book of life for all those who He claims as His. If our names are not in that book we will be among all the others on the earth worshipping the devil through his various devices and deceptions.
By the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior may we have our names in His book of life. This world is not our final home. This life is not how life for us was intended to be. We are here but a short while suffering through many trials and tribulations and then by the grace of God will will go to Him when Christ returns, or sleep and be woken when the glorious day arrives.
Amen.
Monday, November 23, 2009
For Thy Pleasure
Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
For God's pleasure we were created. Some might start up instantly saying, see God's just toying with us as if we were nothing but play toys. God gets His amusement from our pain. Untrue. God is forever, for eternity and God lives in eternity while we live in finite time. Our days are numbered in this life of agony and yes, for many it is agony. In fact for all of us it is agony in some degree, on some level emotionally, mentally, or physically, possibly all three. We have heartache, we have pain, we have tears, we live in a world where things are imperfect from our beginnings. We live in a world where all our far ancestors no longer exist and all we have is the knowledge that they had to exist so we could be where we are now. We live in a world where we produce more of us to live on after us and this is what we call eternity- living through our future generations. God lives in eternity always and He knows that our finite lives are temporary because of things gone wrong. The future we are told by God, won't have any agony to be endured. We are and were created for God's pleasure and it is His pleasure that we exist at all as His creations. It is His pleasure just as it is a parent's pleasure to behold their own children and hope for the brightest of futures for their children. God knows that we have the potential to be the creatures He wants us to be and the day will come that the creatures He has created for His pleasure will be as He intended them to be and then for all eternity.
How foolish is it for the creature to question the Creator? Without the Creator there would be no creation to question. Our very existence we owe to God and it's an existence with the possibility for a future of perfection in Him.
We are redeemed to God by the Blood of the Lamb. God paid a price for us and it was no small price when the Word became Flesh- when Spirit took on Flesh, when eternity became finite with the possibility of remaining so forever, but by the grace and mercy of our Lord eternity was restored to God made flesh as Jesus lived and died for us, only to live again to redeem us to Him.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
They loved not their lives unto death.
We can't love our lives not in the sense that this life is all there is and we get so caught up in it that nothing else matters. We truly need to live as if Heaven is a reality, that Jesus' second coming is a reality, that life eternal is found in Jesus and the life we have here is temporary and not something we should love in and of itself but love God and trust in Him for everlasting life in Jesus.
May God bless and keep us in Him by His mercy and grace now and forever!
Amen.
Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
For God's pleasure we were created. Some might start up instantly saying, see God's just toying with us as if we were nothing but play toys. God gets His amusement from our pain. Untrue. God is forever, for eternity and God lives in eternity while we live in finite time. Our days are numbered in this life of agony and yes, for many it is agony. In fact for all of us it is agony in some degree, on some level emotionally, mentally, or physically, possibly all three. We have heartache, we have pain, we have tears, we live in a world where things are imperfect from our beginnings. We live in a world where all our far ancestors no longer exist and all we have is the knowledge that they had to exist so we could be where we are now. We live in a world where we produce more of us to live on after us and this is what we call eternity- living through our future generations. God lives in eternity always and He knows that our finite lives are temporary because of things gone wrong. The future we are told by God, won't have any agony to be endured. We are and were created for God's pleasure and it is His pleasure that we exist at all as His creations. It is His pleasure just as it is a parent's pleasure to behold their own children and hope for the brightest of futures for their children. God knows that we have the potential to be the creatures He wants us to be and the day will come that the creatures He has created for His pleasure will be as He intended them to be and then for all eternity.
How foolish is it for the creature to question the Creator? Without the Creator there would be no creation to question. Our very existence we owe to God and it's an existence with the possibility for a future of perfection in Him.
We are redeemed to God by the Blood of the Lamb. God paid a price for us and it was no small price when the Word became Flesh- when Spirit took on Flesh, when eternity became finite with the possibility of remaining so forever, but by the grace and mercy of our Lord eternity was restored to God made flesh as Jesus lived and died for us, only to live again to redeem us to Him.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
They loved not their lives unto death.
We can't love our lives not in the sense that this life is all there is and we get so caught up in it that nothing else matters. We truly need to live as if Heaven is a reality, that Jesus' second coming is a reality, that life eternal is found in Jesus and the life we have here is temporary and not something we should love in and of itself but love God and trust in Him for everlasting life in Jesus.
May God bless and keep us in Him by His mercy and grace now and forever!
Amen.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Kept from the hour of temptation...
Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth
Patience--
hupomone
hoop-om-on-ay'
From G5278; cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy: - enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).
patience (pâ´shens) noun
1. The capacity, quality, or fact of being patient.
patient (pâ´shent) adjective
1. Bearing or enduring pain, difficulty, provocation, or annoyance with calmness.
2. Marked by or exhibiting calm endurance of pain, difficulty, provocation, or annoyance.
3. Tolerant; understanding: an unfailingly patient leader and guide.
4. Persevering; constant: With patient industry, she revived the failing business and made it thrive.
5. Capable of calmly awaiting an outcome or a result; not hasty or impulsive.
6. Capable of bearing or enduring pain, difficulty, provocation, or annoyance: "My uncle Toby was a man patient of injuries" (Laurence Sterne).
Keeping the word of someone's patience means what? If someone keeps your word what is your word about? It's your beliefs right? When you speak and give someone your words you are telling them things that you believe, in Jesus' case He is giving the truth to us through His words. The words of Jesus give life.
Luk 11:28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
1Jn 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life
The Word of life, the word of Jesus' patience. The word, Jesus' words are life to us and the word of His patience is what? What does Jesus have to say about patience?
Luk 8:15 ... having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.
And here's what the Word of God has to say further --
Rom 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience
Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Rom 15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
2Co 6:4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
2Co 12:12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.
Col 1:11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness
1Th 1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
2Th 1:4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure
1Ti 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
2Ti 3:10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,
Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Heb 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us
Jas 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
Jas 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy
2Pe 1:6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
Rev 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ
Apparantly there is a lot to say about patience, a lot! No wonder this is said--
Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth
We need to endure and keep the word of Christ's patience, we need to be kept from the hour of temptation but we can't keep ourselves from temptation Christ will have to keep us from that hour of temptation, an hour that will come upon ALL the world. We need to be patience through Christ, in Christ, for Christ. By the grace of God may we keep the word of Christ's patience.
Amen.
Patience--
hupomone
hoop-om-on-ay'
From G5278; cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy: - enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).
patience (pâ´shens) noun
1. The capacity, quality, or fact of being patient.
patient (pâ´shent) adjective
1. Bearing or enduring pain, difficulty, provocation, or annoyance with calmness.
2. Marked by or exhibiting calm endurance of pain, difficulty, provocation, or annoyance.
3. Tolerant; understanding: an unfailingly patient leader and guide.
4. Persevering; constant: With patient industry, she revived the failing business and made it thrive.
5. Capable of calmly awaiting an outcome or a result; not hasty or impulsive.
6. Capable of bearing or enduring pain, difficulty, provocation, or annoyance: "My uncle Toby was a man patient of injuries" (Laurence Sterne).
Keeping the word of someone's patience means what? If someone keeps your word what is your word about? It's your beliefs right? When you speak and give someone your words you are telling them things that you believe, in Jesus' case He is giving the truth to us through His words. The words of Jesus give life.
Luk 11:28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
1Jn 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life
The Word of life, the word of Jesus' patience. The word, Jesus' words are life to us and the word of His patience is what? What does Jesus have to say about patience?
Luk 8:15 ... having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.
And here's what the Word of God has to say further --
Rom 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience
Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Rom 15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
2Co 6:4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
2Co 12:12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.
Col 1:11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness
1Th 1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
2Th 1:4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure
1Ti 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
2Ti 3:10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,
Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Heb 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us
Jas 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
Jas 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy
2Pe 1:6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
Rev 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ
Apparantly there is a lot to say about patience, a lot! No wonder this is said--
Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth
We need to endure and keep the word of Christ's patience, we need to be kept from the hour of temptation but we can't keep ourselves from temptation Christ will have to keep us from that hour of temptation, an hour that will come upon ALL the world. We need to be patience through Christ, in Christ, for Christ. By the grace of God may we keep the word of Christ's patience.
Amen.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Jesus, Please Save Me from Myself!
You saved me from myself- lyrics from a song I heard that stood out to me. We need Jesus to save us from ourselves don't we?
Self gets in the way of so much.
What's this mean-- Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
We understand what following someone means- to us it's not truly literal we don't have Jesus walking about to follow physically in that respect, we have to follow His teachings, His ways. But what about that denying self. These are Jesus' words. If ANY man will come after Him they must deny themselves. What are we to deny ourselves?
Strong's Lexicon: Deny - ap-ar-neh'-om-ahee - To deny utterly, that is, disown, abstain: - deny.
Disown, abstain self. We can insert lots and lots of *things*, we can say oh that means to deny ourselves alcohol, food, sex, friendship with the world, deny ourselves worldly pleasures but is that what it's saying? Did Jesus say that if any man will come after him they had to deny themselves things? Do you think it's implied? In the context of the reading Peter was rebuking Jesus after Jesus began to tell the disciples about what He was going to suffer soon. Peter couldn't fathom the things Jesus was saying would come to pass. He didn't want to believe that Jesus, the Messiah, would suffer. The Messiah was to come and save His people, to be exalted, full of power and greatness, not be hurt, ridiculed, and killed. Jesus told Peter this-- and it's a very STRONG counter rebuke.
Mat 16:23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Peter was savoring the things that weren't of God, worldly things like glory, power, exaltation of the world; Peter wanted Jesus to come into His own to be famous and recognized by the world as the Son of God, the King of Kings. What was the response of Jesus? He called Him Satan! Could there be any stronger rebuke? He called one of His disciples Satan because he wasn't focused on God, and God's plan for men here and now on earth. He was focused on the world then and there and what it had to offer. Aren't we the same? Don't we pray to God to make our lives here and now simpler, easier, richer. We look at the lowest of the low on our earth today and how they live in deep poverty we can't imagine and we don't want to live anything like that and we think Jesus should keep us from being the lowest of the low and even Jesus said the poor would be with you always. That's fine isn't it? As long as we're not among the poor. Seriously. He told the rich young ruler what?
Mat 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Mat 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Sell that thou hast and give to the poor- thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. The very idea of selling all that he had and giving the money to the poor was appalling to the man, why? Because he had GREAT POSSESSIONS. He wasn't being asked to give up something meager, but he was being asked to give up GREAT POSSESSIONS. He wanted to know what he needed to do to have eternal life and he was already following the commandments but he was doing so in the comfort of great possessions- those possession meant more to him than eternal life. Do you think it'd be the same if eternal life was a reality to Him? Seriously? It's possible isn't it? We believe in eternal life but we tell ourselves that we have to live for here and now. We gather our great possessions and they ARE great when we compare them to the poor and their possessions. We gather our great possessions and we comfort ourselves by saying God understands. When hardships come and our possessions become endangered we feel as if we've gained God's disfavor some how and we're being punished, he's allowing Satan to hurt us. Do we stop and think for a moment that maybe God is trying to strip away things in our lives that are meaningless in comparison to eternal life in Christ? To be poor, to be without a home, without the ability to pay the bills for our cars, our entertainment, our abiity to communicate through phone and internet, to have things taken away makes us want to cry in fear for our losses and we agonize over what we're going to do without the ability to have these things because we just can't imagine our lives destitute of them- we'd be failures, we'd have failed to live as we believe we need to live not to be filthy rich or successful but in our minds to just get by with a few comforts. It's a terrifying thought to be without our great possessions, we've found security in them. It's even more terrifying to imagine losing out on eternal life because we are so wrapped up in ourselves we can't even contemplate giving up anything, denying ourselves anything. We pat ourselves on the back and think of all the things we want and deny ourselves already and we say that's enough denying. We tell ourselves God doesn't REALLY want us to deny ourselves things, that's foolish cultish talk.
Christ tells us this--
Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Deny himself- take up his cross- follow me.
What does it mean 'take up his cross'? Strong's has this to say--
A stake or post (as set upright), that is, (specifically) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital punishment); figuratively exposure to death, that is, self denial; by implication the atonement of Christ: - cross.
Figuratively exposure to death- that is SELF DENIAL.
Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mat 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
As long as SELF rules us and our lives we are in danger. Those words from the song are so true....
You saved me from myself.
We need to be saved from ourselves. Self has to die and Christ has to live. Today if Christ asked you to sell all that you had and give it to the poor and follow Him, what would you tell Him? God help us, please help us, because we might just find ourselves with the young man in sorrow who couldn't fathom selling His great possessions not even for eternal life.
We need to take up our cross and even if we can't imagine giving up our possessions meager or otherwise, we need to take up the cross, denying ourselves- our selfish wants and desires, our selfish need to put our supposedly deserved needs before those of others because we work so hard, we do so much already. It's not easy to do away with self and only by the grace and mercy of Christ will we be able to do it at all. While Satan has our minds wrapped up in some sins of ours we are finding hard to give up he's keeping us caught up tight in the bindings of selfishness, of self-first, of self so much we think it's normal to consider our selfish needs first and foremost.
Please LORD, please! Save me from myself!
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, please save us from ourselves.
Amen.
Self gets in the way of so much.
What's this mean-- Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
We understand what following someone means- to us it's not truly literal we don't have Jesus walking about to follow physically in that respect, we have to follow His teachings, His ways. But what about that denying self. These are Jesus' words. If ANY man will come after Him they must deny themselves. What are we to deny ourselves?
Strong's Lexicon: Deny - ap-ar-neh'-om-ahee - To deny utterly, that is, disown, abstain: - deny.
Disown, abstain self. We can insert lots and lots of *things*, we can say oh that means to deny ourselves alcohol, food, sex, friendship with the world, deny ourselves worldly pleasures but is that what it's saying? Did Jesus say that if any man will come after him they had to deny themselves things? Do you think it's implied? In the context of the reading Peter was rebuking Jesus after Jesus began to tell the disciples about what He was going to suffer soon. Peter couldn't fathom the things Jesus was saying would come to pass. He didn't want to believe that Jesus, the Messiah, would suffer. The Messiah was to come and save His people, to be exalted, full of power and greatness, not be hurt, ridiculed, and killed. Jesus told Peter this-- and it's a very STRONG counter rebuke.
Mat 16:23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Peter was savoring the things that weren't of God, worldly things like glory, power, exaltation of the world; Peter wanted Jesus to come into His own to be famous and recognized by the world as the Son of God, the King of Kings. What was the response of Jesus? He called Him Satan! Could there be any stronger rebuke? He called one of His disciples Satan because he wasn't focused on God, and God's plan for men here and now on earth. He was focused on the world then and there and what it had to offer. Aren't we the same? Don't we pray to God to make our lives here and now simpler, easier, richer. We look at the lowest of the low on our earth today and how they live in deep poverty we can't imagine and we don't want to live anything like that and we think Jesus should keep us from being the lowest of the low and even Jesus said the poor would be with you always. That's fine isn't it? As long as we're not among the poor. Seriously. He told the rich young ruler what?
Mat 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Mat 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Sell that thou hast and give to the poor- thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. The very idea of selling all that he had and giving the money to the poor was appalling to the man, why? Because he had GREAT POSSESSIONS. He wasn't being asked to give up something meager, but he was being asked to give up GREAT POSSESSIONS. He wanted to know what he needed to do to have eternal life and he was already following the commandments but he was doing so in the comfort of great possessions- those possession meant more to him than eternal life. Do you think it'd be the same if eternal life was a reality to Him? Seriously? It's possible isn't it? We believe in eternal life but we tell ourselves that we have to live for here and now. We gather our great possessions and they ARE great when we compare them to the poor and their possessions. We gather our great possessions and we comfort ourselves by saying God understands. When hardships come and our possessions become endangered we feel as if we've gained God's disfavor some how and we're being punished, he's allowing Satan to hurt us. Do we stop and think for a moment that maybe God is trying to strip away things in our lives that are meaningless in comparison to eternal life in Christ? To be poor, to be without a home, without the ability to pay the bills for our cars, our entertainment, our abiity to communicate through phone and internet, to have things taken away makes us want to cry in fear for our losses and we agonize over what we're going to do without the ability to have these things because we just can't imagine our lives destitute of them- we'd be failures, we'd have failed to live as we believe we need to live not to be filthy rich or successful but in our minds to just get by with a few comforts. It's a terrifying thought to be without our great possessions, we've found security in them. It's even more terrifying to imagine losing out on eternal life because we are so wrapped up in ourselves we can't even contemplate giving up anything, denying ourselves anything. We pat ourselves on the back and think of all the things we want and deny ourselves already and we say that's enough denying. We tell ourselves God doesn't REALLY want us to deny ourselves things, that's foolish cultish talk.
Christ tells us this--
Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Deny himself- take up his cross- follow me.
What does it mean 'take up his cross'? Strong's has this to say--
A stake or post (as set upright), that is, (specifically) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital punishment); figuratively exposure to death, that is, self denial; by implication the atonement of Christ: - cross.
Figuratively exposure to death- that is SELF DENIAL.
Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mat 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
As long as SELF rules us and our lives we are in danger. Those words from the song are so true....
You saved me from myself.
We need to be saved from ourselves. Self has to die and Christ has to live. Today if Christ asked you to sell all that you had and give it to the poor and follow Him, what would you tell Him? God help us, please help us, because we might just find ourselves with the young man in sorrow who couldn't fathom selling His great possessions not even for eternal life.
We need to take up our cross and even if we can't imagine giving up our possessions meager or otherwise, we need to take up the cross, denying ourselves- our selfish wants and desires, our selfish need to put our supposedly deserved needs before those of others because we work so hard, we do so much already. It's not easy to do away with self and only by the grace and mercy of Christ will we be able to do it at all. While Satan has our minds wrapped up in some sins of ours we are finding hard to give up he's keeping us caught up tight in the bindings of selfishness, of self-first, of self so much we think it's normal to consider our selfish needs first and foremost.
Please LORD, please! Save me from myself!
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, please save us from ourselves.
Amen.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Be Watchful
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Be watchful. What's it mean to be watchful?
watchful (wòch´fel) adjective
1. Closely observant or alert; vigilant: kept a watchful eye on the clock. See synonyms at aware, careful.
2. Archaic. Not sleeping; awake.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Be awake, be aware, alert, vigilent, observant, careful. Christ tells us to follow Him and His way to eternal life. Remember--
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
We are blessed by reading, by hearing, by keeping what we are told to and Christ would have us be watchful. It's so easy to become complacent in our walks with Christ. So easy to fall into a routine of praying, studying, praising God. Routines aren't so bad but if we're not careful they lose their honestly and what was once done out of a heartfelt love and joy can be done by habit. We need to be careful that we don't focus on our selves which is all too easy to do. We don't feel like doing this or that, or we feel like doing that but not this. We have to realize what we have in our relationship to Christ is special and like any relationship it needs to be nurtured. There are all sorts of relationships even those which grow stale, you hear tell of couples drifting apart after the years and often they drift so far apart they find other relationships. This is the sort of thing that needs to be guarded against. We have to be watchful- awake to our personal, spiritual walk with Christ. Am I advocating that there must be a giddy sense of happy, happy all the time or something is wrong? No. It's not the emotional high that is sought. What is needed is the deep abiding realness of the relationship we have as Christ's followers and a daily life that reflects that relationship.
We need to often remember how we first came to Christ- the real knowledge of Him as our personal Savior. We need to repent when we lose sight of our Lord as a real, living part of us. Regulating God to a corner of our lives that does not impact our daily existence yet we call ourselves Christians means that we've lost that newness, that first real knowledge and acceptance of Christ's grace, the forgiveness He offers to each of us, cleansing us from sin and bringing us up to new life in Him. We can never forget that we are sinners in need of the grace of God, never. We can never forget that without Christ we are nothing.
Life is going to be hard, and there will be many tears and much tribulation but Christ will see us through it all if we hold fast to Him.
May the grace and mercy of Christ be a reality to us as we live each day in His amazing love.
Amen.
Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Be watchful. What's it mean to be watchful?
watchful (wòch´fel) adjective
1. Closely observant or alert; vigilant: kept a watchful eye on the clock. See synonyms at aware, careful.
2. Archaic. Not sleeping; awake.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Be awake, be aware, alert, vigilent, observant, careful. Christ tells us to follow Him and His way to eternal life. Remember--
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
We are blessed by reading, by hearing, by keeping what we are told to and Christ would have us be watchful. It's so easy to become complacent in our walks with Christ. So easy to fall into a routine of praying, studying, praising God. Routines aren't so bad but if we're not careful they lose their honestly and what was once done out of a heartfelt love and joy can be done by habit. We need to be careful that we don't focus on our selves which is all too easy to do. We don't feel like doing this or that, or we feel like doing that but not this. We have to realize what we have in our relationship to Christ is special and like any relationship it needs to be nurtured. There are all sorts of relationships even those which grow stale, you hear tell of couples drifting apart after the years and often they drift so far apart they find other relationships. This is the sort of thing that needs to be guarded against. We have to be watchful- awake to our personal, spiritual walk with Christ. Am I advocating that there must be a giddy sense of happy, happy all the time or something is wrong? No. It's not the emotional high that is sought. What is needed is the deep abiding realness of the relationship we have as Christ's followers and a daily life that reflects that relationship.
We need to often remember how we first came to Christ- the real knowledge of Him as our personal Savior. We need to repent when we lose sight of our Lord as a real, living part of us. Regulating God to a corner of our lives that does not impact our daily existence yet we call ourselves Christians means that we've lost that newness, that first real knowledge and acceptance of Christ's grace, the forgiveness He offers to each of us, cleansing us from sin and bringing us up to new life in Him. We can never forget that we are sinners in need of the grace of God, never. We can never forget that without Christ we are nothing.
Life is going to be hard, and there will be many tears and much tribulation but Christ will see us through it all if we hold fast to Him.
May the grace and mercy of Christ be a reality to us as we live each day in His amazing love.
Amen.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
He That Overcomes
Rev 2:19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
Rev 2:25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations
Charity, service, faith, patience and works.
Jesus says these are all good things- these works. Doing good. We all know what it means to do good and to do evil, and the many areas in between. People believe all sorts of things. Some believe doing good will earn them grace. Others believe doing good means living a life as Jesus would want them to live it, yet grace comes from God alone. And still others believe that good or bad, anything they do matters not because words won't earn you grace.
Jesus says these are good things- the works. Jesus says those who keep HIS works till the end will have power over the nations, meaning they will be in the minority among the few that are saved compared to the many who aren't.
When we live in Christ our good works are His works they're not our own, He works through us and all glory goes to Him. We have to hold fast, we have to overcome through Christ. We need to being loving, giving, believing all with patience.
May God bless us with these gifts and forgive us our selfishness which results in so much wrong doing in the little and big things. By the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior may we find life in Him and overcome as He would have us to overcome through Him, keeping His works until the end.
Amen.
Rev 2:25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations
Charity, service, faith, patience and works.
Jesus says these are all good things- these works. Doing good. We all know what it means to do good and to do evil, and the many areas in between. People believe all sorts of things. Some believe doing good will earn them grace. Others believe doing good means living a life as Jesus would want them to live it, yet grace comes from God alone. And still others believe that good or bad, anything they do matters not because words won't earn you grace.
Jesus says these are good things- the works. Jesus says those who keep HIS works till the end will have power over the nations, meaning they will be in the minority among the few that are saved compared to the many who aren't.
When we live in Christ our good works are His works they're not our own, He works through us and all glory goes to Him. We have to hold fast, we have to overcome through Christ. We need to being loving, giving, believing all with patience.
May God bless us with these gifts and forgive us our selfishness which results in so much wrong doing in the little and big things. By the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior may we find life in Him and overcome as He would have us to overcome through Him, keeping His works until the end.
Amen.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Repent
Rev 2:16 Repent
metanoeo
met-an-o-eh'-o
From G3326 and G3539; to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction): - repent.
compunction (kem-pùngk´shen) noun
1. A strong uneasiness caused by a sense of guilt. See synonyms at penitence.
2. A sting of conscience or a pang of doubt aroused by wrongdoing or the prospect of wrongdoing. See synonyms at qualm.
repent (rî-pènt´) verb
repented, repenting, repents verb, intransitive
1. To feel remorse, contrition, or self-reproach for what one has done or failed to do; be contrite.
2. To feel such regret for past conduct as to change one's mind regarding it: repented of intemperate behavior.
3. To make a change for the better as a result of remorse or contrition for one's sins.
We are told to repent- and repentence is to think differently- to feel a sense of guilt, to understand our wrong doing and our need of Christ's forgiveness for the wrongs we commit against Him.
God is love, out of love God gave us life and a chance to keep the life He's given us but only through His Son. God claimed a people as His and offered them life through Christ, revealing to them what life in Him and in His Son is all about. The love that He is, is revealed in His laws which only have what is just and good in them. The basis of that law is to love Him and love each other. When we sin we are transgressing the law- we are ceasing in some way to love Him or each other. We are told to repent... to think differently. To understand our need of God fully in that repenting. Admitting that to think only of ourselves, to live selfishly, is wrong.
Repent. Feel remorse for the wrongs we've committed. Repent. Asking God to forgive us for our wrongs and seeking Him fully through His mercy and grace, now and forever.
Repent.
Repenting allows us to recognize our need of God, the unrepentent feel no need of God. Repenting admits to our unworthiness, not repenting admits to no need of understanding our unworthiness. We need to recognize that Christ is all, that without Him we are nothing. Without the connection of God and man together we are left to flounder helplessly on our own filled with a false sense of self-sufficiency. Yet of our own selves we cannot rid the world of sin. We try to contain those who commit sins we find detrimental to our society in our prisons, yet even that does nothing to rid the world of sin, we've just taken the society sinful and caged them without ridding the world of anything. To think that a world filled with sin is acceptable and all there is, is to deny God and what He intends for the world. Only through God will a world without sin ever be realized, a world with true love for God and each other.
May God help us all to feel the intense need to repent, to admit to our need, to think differently setting aside our self and seeking God.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, now and forever!
Amen.
metanoeo
met-an-o-eh'-o
From G3326 and G3539; to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction): - repent.
compunction (kem-pùngk´shen) noun
1. A strong uneasiness caused by a sense of guilt. See synonyms at penitence.
2. A sting of conscience or a pang of doubt aroused by wrongdoing or the prospect of wrongdoing. See synonyms at qualm.
repent (rî-pènt´) verb
repented, repenting, repents verb, intransitive
1. To feel remorse, contrition, or self-reproach for what one has done or failed to do; be contrite.
2. To feel such regret for past conduct as to change one's mind regarding it: repented of intemperate behavior.
3. To make a change for the better as a result of remorse or contrition for one's sins.
We are told to repent- and repentence is to think differently- to feel a sense of guilt, to understand our wrong doing and our need of Christ's forgiveness for the wrongs we commit against Him.
God is love, out of love God gave us life and a chance to keep the life He's given us but only through His Son. God claimed a people as His and offered them life through Christ, revealing to them what life in Him and in His Son is all about. The love that He is, is revealed in His laws which only have what is just and good in them. The basis of that law is to love Him and love each other. When we sin we are transgressing the law- we are ceasing in some way to love Him or each other. We are told to repent... to think differently. To understand our need of God fully in that repenting. Admitting that to think only of ourselves, to live selfishly, is wrong.
Repent. Feel remorse for the wrongs we've committed. Repent. Asking God to forgive us for our wrongs and seeking Him fully through His mercy and grace, now and forever.
Repent.
Repenting allows us to recognize our need of God, the unrepentent feel no need of God. Repenting admits to our unworthiness, not repenting admits to no need of understanding our unworthiness. We need to recognize that Christ is all, that without Him we are nothing. Without the connection of God and man together we are left to flounder helplessly on our own filled with a false sense of self-sufficiency. Yet of our own selves we cannot rid the world of sin. We try to contain those who commit sins we find detrimental to our society in our prisons, yet even that does nothing to rid the world of sin, we've just taken the society sinful and caged them without ridding the world of anything. To think that a world filled with sin is acceptable and all there is, is to deny God and what He intends for the world. Only through God will a world without sin ever be realized, a world with true love for God and each other.
May God help us all to feel the intense need to repent, to admit to our need, to think differently setting aside our self and seeking God.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, now and forever!
Amen.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Perfect Love
Rev 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer
Tribulation-poverty-hardships of any sort
We can't let fear rule us.
Perfect love casts out fear.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Fear hath torment- so true. No fear is good fear. People say fear has it's place and it does in the sense of being caution more than fear. Anyone that has been afraid - truly afraid understands the way it makes a person feel. That feeling is unpleasant to say the least. To hold onto fear is to deny that God is more powerful than what is causing that fear.
Perfect love, God's love does cast out fear. God casts out fear.
Faith in God, belief in His love.
May God grant me the faith I need in Him so that the fear that threatens to overwhelm me is cast away under His almighty, eternal love.
By His Grace and Mercy, in Christ now and always.
Amen.
Tribulation-poverty-hardships of any sort
We can't let fear rule us.
Perfect love casts out fear.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Fear hath torment- so true. No fear is good fear. People say fear has it's place and it does in the sense of being caution more than fear. Anyone that has been afraid - truly afraid understands the way it makes a person feel. That feeling is unpleasant to say the least. To hold onto fear is to deny that God is more powerful than what is causing that fear.
Perfect love, God's love does cast out fear. God casts out fear.
Faith in God, belief in His love.
May God grant me the faith I need in Him so that the fear that threatens to overwhelm me is cast away under His almighty, eternal love.
By His Grace and Mercy, in Christ now and always.
Amen.
Monday, November 16, 2009
First Love
Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Keepeth the sayings-- readeth, hear, keep.
Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
We must remember the newness of our walk with Christ. We all have it, or most do. The moment in time when the revelation of Christ's love and forgiveness became a very personal connection. When we forget the realness of that moment and allow it to be overcome by time and various tribulations great and small, then we forget the power of the cross in a personal way. We can't let ourselves forget the truth as it was discovered by us. When we do find ourselves forgetting we need to repent, to remember and recapture the zeal, the truth in our hearts and lives. When we forget the love of Christ and the results of that love on a personal level then we forget Jesus and when we forget our Savior, we are lost. We must ever look to the One who saves us.
By His Grace and Mercy now and FOREVER!
In Christ's Amazing Love.
Amen.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Keepeth the sayings-- readeth, hear, keep.
Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
We must remember the newness of our walk with Christ. We all have it, or most do. The moment in time when the revelation of Christ's love and forgiveness became a very personal connection. When we forget the realness of that moment and allow it to be overcome by time and various tribulations great and small, then we forget the power of the cross in a personal way. We can't let ourselves forget the truth as it was discovered by us. When we do find ourselves forgetting we need to repent, to remember and recapture the zeal, the truth in our hearts and lives. When we forget the love of Christ and the results of that love on a personal level then we forget Jesus and when we forget our Savior, we are lost. We must ever look to the One who saves us.
By His Grace and Mercy now and FOREVER!
In Christ's Amazing Love.
Amen.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Servant of God
Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
The angel said to John that the things that had been said to him were to be believed and trustworthy. The Lord God of the holy prophets- all the prophets throughout all time, the Lord God of those holy prophets sent his angel to John to reveal to God's servants, those who claim God as their Master, the events that would happen in due time, their appointed time.
Are you a servant of God?
Mat 20:26 ...but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
Mat 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Mat 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Joh 13:12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
Joh 13:13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
Joh 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
Joh 13:15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
Joh 13:16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
Joh 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
God is love and in that love He is all that we can imagine love to be, the perfect love in pure unselfishness. Jesus, sent of God, His Father, came and ministered unto us. Jesus, Lord of Lords; King of Kings, our perfect Savior took on the role of a servant and ministered to His disciples.
So often we see in life the *boss* being catered to. We don't have servants like they did a 100 years ago, where one in every 12 or so households had at least one domestic servant. Only the very rich have servants and they're called hired help, maids and such, rarely servants. Servant has is a term that is used to reveal a lower status to a master, you can't have a servant unless you have a master- right? And in our very imperfect, sin-filled world throughout time servants have been the lower class, used and abused, though not always abused. Servants by virtue of their servitude were beneath their masters, meant to cater to their needs. Slaves were the same yet without the liberty to leave their master at the end of a period of servitude. Slaves were property kept indefinitely as such. Throughout time it has been this way and the very idea of a master serving the servant is ludicrous. It totally twists the whole grand design of what's what. It's like the boss telling a worker to sit in their chair while they go do the worker's work. It's something that is hard to comprehend.
God is our Master, we are his servants and yet Jesus, Himself, God's Son made Himself a servant and told us to do likewise. Meaning what? What message was Jesus trying to give to us? That we are here to serve one another, not better one another. That we are to give rather than receive. That we are to not esteem ourselves greater than any other. Serving one another reveals the life of Christ who came to serve, to reveal the true self-lessness of LOVE. He lay down His life for us.
We are the servants of God, He is our Master. To serve Him we must emmulate Him as He has asked us to do.
By His grace and mercy, may we truly be the servants of God, allowing Him to reveal Himself to others through us. May we take on the role of a servant of God, allowing our Master to guide our lives in all things.
Amen.
The angel said to John that the things that had been said to him were to be believed and trustworthy. The Lord God of the holy prophets- all the prophets throughout all time, the Lord God of those holy prophets sent his angel to John to reveal to God's servants, those who claim God as their Master, the events that would happen in due time, their appointed time.
Are you a servant of God?
Mat 20:26 ...but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
Mat 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Mat 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Joh 13:12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
Joh 13:13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
Joh 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
Joh 13:15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
Joh 13:16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
Joh 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
God is love and in that love He is all that we can imagine love to be, the perfect love in pure unselfishness. Jesus, sent of God, His Father, came and ministered unto us. Jesus, Lord of Lords; King of Kings, our perfect Savior took on the role of a servant and ministered to His disciples.
So often we see in life the *boss* being catered to. We don't have servants like they did a 100 years ago, where one in every 12 or so households had at least one domestic servant. Only the very rich have servants and they're called hired help, maids and such, rarely servants. Servant has is a term that is used to reveal a lower status to a master, you can't have a servant unless you have a master- right? And in our very imperfect, sin-filled world throughout time servants have been the lower class, used and abused, though not always abused. Servants by virtue of their servitude were beneath their masters, meant to cater to their needs. Slaves were the same yet without the liberty to leave their master at the end of a period of servitude. Slaves were property kept indefinitely as such. Throughout time it has been this way and the very idea of a master serving the servant is ludicrous. It totally twists the whole grand design of what's what. It's like the boss telling a worker to sit in their chair while they go do the worker's work. It's something that is hard to comprehend.
God is our Master, we are his servants and yet Jesus, Himself, God's Son made Himself a servant and told us to do likewise. Meaning what? What message was Jesus trying to give to us? That we are here to serve one another, not better one another. That we are to give rather than receive. That we are to not esteem ourselves greater than any other. Serving one another reveals the life of Christ who came to serve, to reveal the true self-lessness of LOVE. He lay down His life for us.
We are the servants of God, He is our Master. To serve Him we must emmulate Him as He has asked us to do.
By His grace and mercy, may we truly be the servants of God, allowing Him to reveal Himself to others through us. May we take on the role of a servant of God, allowing our Master to guide our lives in all things.
Amen.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Judge not, that ye be not judged
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
*
Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
When we judge people we tend to judge them pessimistically don't we? Our judging leads more to condemnation than compassion. Why do you suppose that is? Why do people like scandals? Why do people inwardly cheer at the misfortune of others? You don't? They don't? On national television- on a very popular show millions of people watch a man once looked at someone who seemed to be genuinely nice and wish well for the competitors they were up against and this man seemed amused and slightly disbelieving of the nice person. Asking with that amused incrediblity if that person really, really were being sincere the man went on to say that it's just not done that way- people don't just wish for the best for others but rather are more cutthroat wanting their competitors to falter and fail so they win.
It's sad isn't it? That a lot of us are taught from a young age to be competitive about life and most aspects of it. As soon as we realize that those who excel at things- sports, academics, appearance, etc- are commended and rewarded we strive towards those things and if we fail through our own faults or no fault of our own, we feel substandard and this feeling creates a long to succeed and if another falters or fails then all the better because that means that maybe, just maybe we might have a chance to succeed or in the least it means they might get a taste of a loser's life by experiencing some of the pain failing brings.
Judge not that ye be not judged. When we stop judging others- searching for the faults, pointing out failures, when we stop exalting ourselves at the expense of others, when we just cease to look at others with a judgemental attitude we have to realize that we will be judged the same. Do we really want to be judged as we are judging?
Mat 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
When we can claim perfection (which will not happen as long as we are living in this sin-filled world) we can judge others but until then we can't worry about others- judging them. Our plates are filled to the brim with the many beams in our own eyes needing to be cast out.
May God help us to recognize our judgmental moments and help us to turn that judgment on to ourselves realizing that another's failing will never in anyway somehow make us and better and vice versa, another's success does not mean we are failures.
We are all sinners needing the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and that is the bottom line. No matter what kind of life we lead- successful or not in the world's eyes-- we don't stand before the world to be judge we stand before God and by the grace of Jesus Christ may He stand in our place as we cling to Him and trust in His redemption for us.
Amen.
*
Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
When we judge people we tend to judge them pessimistically don't we? Our judging leads more to condemnation than compassion. Why do you suppose that is? Why do people like scandals? Why do people inwardly cheer at the misfortune of others? You don't? They don't? On national television- on a very popular show millions of people watch a man once looked at someone who seemed to be genuinely nice and wish well for the competitors they were up against and this man seemed amused and slightly disbelieving of the nice person. Asking with that amused incrediblity if that person really, really were being sincere the man went on to say that it's just not done that way- people don't just wish for the best for others but rather are more cutthroat wanting their competitors to falter and fail so they win.
It's sad isn't it? That a lot of us are taught from a young age to be competitive about life and most aspects of it. As soon as we realize that those who excel at things- sports, academics, appearance, etc- are commended and rewarded we strive towards those things and if we fail through our own faults or no fault of our own, we feel substandard and this feeling creates a long to succeed and if another falters or fails then all the better because that means that maybe, just maybe we might have a chance to succeed or in the least it means they might get a taste of a loser's life by experiencing some of the pain failing brings.
Judge not that ye be not judged. When we stop judging others- searching for the faults, pointing out failures, when we stop exalting ourselves at the expense of others, when we just cease to look at others with a judgemental attitude we have to realize that we will be judged the same. Do we really want to be judged as we are judging?
Mat 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
When we can claim perfection (which will not happen as long as we are living in this sin-filled world) we can judge others but until then we can't worry about others- judging them. Our plates are filled to the brim with the many beams in our own eyes needing to be cast out.
May God help us to recognize our judgmental moments and help us to turn that judgment on to ourselves realizing that another's failing will never in anyway somehow make us and better and vice versa, another's success does not mean we are failures.
We are all sinners needing the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and that is the bottom line. No matter what kind of life we lead- successful or not in the world's eyes-- we don't stand before the world to be judge we stand before God and by the grace of Jesus Christ may He stand in our place as we cling to Him and trust in His redemption for us.
Amen.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Don't borrow trouble.
Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Don't borrow trouble.
By the grace of God may we heed this command.
Don't borrow trouble.
By the grace of God may we heed this command.
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