John
{15:17} These things I command you, that ye love one another.
{15:18} If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
{15:19} If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
{15:20} Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
We don't want to be hated.
If the world hates us then we're doing something wrong aren't we?
When the world is against you then you sure aren't conforming to the world and maybe thta's the whole point. We can't conform to the world. We can't expect to be able to conform to the world and walk as Jesus walked.
We want to walk with Jesus and we want to walk with the world. Having it both ways is always good right? To our modern way of thinking it is. Or who knows, maybe it's always been the way man has tended to think. If they can lead a good life with just enough mischief to balance it out it's called complete.
We see religious groups that adhere to strict ways of dressing, eating, convorting with the world and we shake our heads calling it extremism. We rouse up and cry out, Jesus died to do away with all that strict stuff. We want to believe that Jesus died so we would no longer have to act certain ways and such not because it draws us closer to Him but because it makes our lives less strict and well, conforming to the world is a whole lot easier when we tear down walls of separation.
I'm not saying those groups have it all right, but I am saying the world sure does tend towards hating them while the world looks at us and sees what? Good people with a few little quirks but for the most part a nice sort of people that aren't too different, aren't too strange. There's still enough world in us so that we can get along with just about any one without them hating us.
Everything inside us cries out not to be hated by the world. No? You could careless if the world hates you? What about if your friends hate you? What about if your loved one hate you? Do you use your loved ones as an excuse to keep one foot in the door of the world? We don't want to be hated. Can you stop right now and imagine all your loved ones hating you? Not all your loved ones being disappointed with you, but all your loved ones truly HATING you. If you're lucky then you are surrounded by those who love Jesus as much as you do, but that's not how it is for everyone.
Chosen out of the world.
It'd be nice if all the world stopped at a certain time and messages came from above so that all could see and know, messages saying, 'I have chosen you, Dorene; I have chosen you, Debbie; I have chosen you Diane; I have chosen you, Shirley; I have chosen you, Matthew; I have chosen you, Beth.' Wouldn't it be nice to hear that and have everyone around us hear it too so that we could just stop feeling compelled to conform to the world. We would then be expected to be different, right? We've had a personal communication from God that we are His and we are no longer to be 'of' the world. Also, it's okay for the world to hate us because we would be different from them, we were chosen.
Unfortunately things don't work that way. Unfortunately for us, not for God. He wants us of our own free will to choose Him over worldly conformity. He wants our love for Him to be greater than the love of the world. He wants us to step outside the norm and be different if only because growing closer to Him will naturally do that, naturally change us.
John
{15:17} These things I command you, that ye love one another.
{15:18} If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
{15:19} If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
{15:20} Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Jesus they will persecute us.
That sounds so cultish doesn't it?
Some wild-eyed preacher calling out to his congregation- If they persecute Jesus they will persecute you!
We can picture it as being okay back in Jesus' day and we comfort ourselves by saying, people just don't persecute like they used to. This is a modern, advanced society and well you can believe whatever you want to and you won't be persecuted. We'll tolerate your kind especially if you aren't so different from the way we are.
There is so much to think about, so much to contemplate and ultimately, choices to be made. We make choices daily. We make descisions and while the decision to turn on the tv or to read a book might not seem like big decisions in the end they just might be.
May the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior have mercy upon us. We are so weak and so full of sin. We know it's not meant to be easy here and now, we know we'd much rather be taken out of the situation we are in and put in another that would aid our walks with Christ and yet we have the lives we have and there seems to be nothing we can do to change them- nothing that seems rational and keeps us with our loved ones, nothing that seems rational and keeps us living the way we are used to living. Lord, we need your help desperately we are weak, we are sinners, we are the lowest of the low.
Lord, please help us!
By your mercy Lord!
Amen.
“In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”- Psalm 62:7
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
These things I command you, that ye love one another
John
{15:16} Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you.
We are chosen.
We are ordained.
Chosen and ordained for what? To go and bring forth fruit.
We've been talking about fruit for a bit now and it's true, we need to be productive. Our lives have to grow in Christ. We have to bring forth good fruit through Jesus. We've learned and are learning that our connection to Christ is crucial. Yes, crucial. We cannot live outside of Christ. We are to bring forth fruit and we are told how to do so. The Husbandman will tend to us, and we must stay attached to the Vine. The conditions outside of those two things are beyond our control. If we make sure we are connected with Christ in all we do we will produce the fruit that only a branch connected to the Vine can do.
Jesus commands us...
{15:17} These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Love one another.
If you don't know what sort of fruit you might be producing through Christ this is a wonderful indication. How much do you love others. And by love I mean--
1 Corinthians
{13:4} Charity suffereth long
and is kind
charity envieth not
charity vaunteth not itself
is not puffed up
{13:5} Doth not behave itself unseemly
seeketh not her own,
is not easily provoked,
thinketh no evil;
{13:6} Rejoiceth not in iniquity,
but rejoiceth in the truth
{13:7} Beareth all things,
believeth all things
hopeth all things
endureth all things.
{13:8} Charity never faileth
{5:22} But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, {5:23}
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Do you see how they both go together these lists, one of love and one of the fruit of the Spirit.
You really can't have one without the other.
If you do manage to be a good person and to produce these attributes they'd be nothing but counterfiets, because without Jesus they are hollow.
The source of our love is Jesus and it's only through Jesus that real fruit, real love can grow.
Again, if you wonder if your life is producing the fruit and if you have the love Jesus commands, reread those attributes of Spiritual fruit and of love. If you fall far short of being this sort of person then growing closer to Christ is the only answer.
We all need to grow closer to Christ, all of us and as we do... Jesus has this to say--
{15:18} If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
{15:19} If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
{15:20} Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
More on that tomorrow :)
May the Lord bless and keep us in His love, by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Amen.
{15:16} Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you.
We are chosen.
We are ordained.
Chosen and ordained for what? To go and bring forth fruit.
We've been talking about fruit for a bit now and it's true, we need to be productive. Our lives have to grow in Christ. We have to bring forth good fruit through Jesus. We've learned and are learning that our connection to Christ is crucial. Yes, crucial. We cannot live outside of Christ. We are to bring forth fruit and we are told how to do so. The Husbandman will tend to us, and we must stay attached to the Vine. The conditions outside of those two things are beyond our control. If we make sure we are connected with Christ in all we do we will produce the fruit that only a branch connected to the Vine can do.
Jesus commands us...
{15:17} These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Love one another.
If you don't know what sort of fruit you might be producing through Christ this is a wonderful indication. How much do you love others. And by love I mean--
1 Corinthians
{13:4} Charity suffereth long
and is kind
charity envieth not
charity vaunteth not itself
is not puffed up
{13:5} Doth not behave itself unseemly
seeketh not her own,
is not easily provoked,
thinketh no evil;
{13:6} Rejoiceth not in iniquity,
but rejoiceth in the truth
{13:7} Beareth all things,
believeth all things
hopeth all things
endureth all things.
{13:8} Charity never faileth
{5:22} But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, {5:23}
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Do you see how they both go together these lists, one of love and one of the fruit of the Spirit.
You really can't have one without the other.
If you do manage to be a good person and to produce these attributes they'd be nothing but counterfiets, because without Jesus they are hollow.
The source of our love is Jesus and it's only through Jesus that real fruit, real love can grow.
Again, if you wonder if your life is producing the fruit and if you have the love Jesus commands, reread those attributes of Spiritual fruit and of love. If you fall far short of being this sort of person then growing closer to Christ is the only answer.
We all need to grow closer to Christ, all of us and as we do... Jesus has this to say--
{15:18} If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
{15:19} If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
{15:20} Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
More on that tomorrow :)
May the Lord bless and keep us in His love, by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Amen.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Cast them into the fire
John
{15:1} I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
{15:2} Every branch in me that beareth not
fruit he taketh away: and every [branch] that beareth fruit,
he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
*******
We know that God is the Husbandman, that Jesus is the vine, and that we are the branches.
We know that we need to bear fruit as a result of this connection.
We know that we will be purged so that we bring forth more fruit.
These things are important to remember lest we believe we can produce fruit on our own. Of ourselves we are nothing. NOTHING.
John
{15:3} Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
We are clean through the word Jesus speaks to us. We have to listen to the words of Jesus. It is through listening that we learn from the Vine, and all things coming from the Vine only do so through the will of the husbandman.
{15:4} Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Jesus says- abide in me and I in you.
We have to abide- to live in Jesus. Our lives are not our own. We can give our lives to Jesus and live in Him and He will live in us. It's a choice we make. Just as it's a choice you make where you abide physically, it's a choice you make as to where you will abide spiritually.
Jesus says- As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself.
You can cut off a branch from a vine and watch it and what will happen? It will wither and die. It will no longer bear any fruit at all. When we choose to separate ourselves from Jesus and go off on our own or attach ourselves to other evil vines, we will not bear the fruit of the Spirit. Any fruit we bear will be poison even if it's exterior has it looking like the perfect piece of fruit.
Jesus says- As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
He tell us how we produce fruit. We don't strive to produce fruit, we strive to be in Him and the fruit will come from that abiding.
{15:5} I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Jesus says- I am the vine, ye are the branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me ye can do nothing.
He says it so perfectly. There can be no mistaking what He's saying. Without Jesus we can do nothing. People will scoff at that and go about doing all sorts of things, mocking God and saying 'See! I can to do all sorts of things without you! I don't need you!' And yet what they don't realize is that all those things they are doing are not good things. Again they shout, 'See all the good things I can do without you!' And yet they don't understand that the very fact they lay claim to what they do negates any goodness it holds. The very breath they breath is from God. The very body they have is from God. They would not exist without Him and to live as if that doesn't matter, as if they manage somehow to breathe breath into their own bodies and keep their own hearts beating. We can lay no claim, no glory to anything we do without first acknowledging it is by the Grace and Mercy of God that we are able to do anything. When we abide in Jesus and realize this truth then yes, much fruit can come from us through Him, only through Him.
{15:6} If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned
Yes, any branch not abiding in the Vine, not attached to the Vine and living as a result of that bond will die and will be burned away to nothing. It's true and so few realize how true it is.
We need this connection!
We need this abiding!
We need this relationship with our Lord and Savior, a relationship that is as viable as that of a plant with a vine and branches. A living growing, producing relationship.
May God our heavenly Father, be realized as the source of all life.
May Jesus our Lord and Savior, be realized as the Vine that is given life by the Husbandman and in turn gives us life.
May we in Christ produce the fruit of the Spirit, good fruit, much fruit.
By His Grace, by His Mercy.
In Christ,
Amen.
{15:1} I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
{15:2} Every branch in me that beareth not
fruit he taketh away: and every [branch] that beareth fruit,
he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
*******
We know that God is the Husbandman, that Jesus is the vine, and that we are the branches.
We know that we need to bear fruit as a result of this connection.
We know that we will be purged so that we bring forth more fruit.
These things are important to remember lest we believe we can produce fruit on our own. Of ourselves we are nothing. NOTHING.
John
{15:3} Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
We are clean through the word Jesus speaks to us. We have to listen to the words of Jesus. It is through listening that we learn from the Vine, and all things coming from the Vine only do so through the will of the husbandman.
{15:4} Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Jesus says- abide in me and I in you.
We have to abide- to live in Jesus. Our lives are not our own. We can give our lives to Jesus and live in Him and He will live in us. It's a choice we make. Just as it's a choice you make where you abide physically, it's a choice you make as to where you will abide spiritually.
Jesus says- As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself.
You can cut off a branch from a vine and watch it and what will happen? It will wither and die. It will no longer bear any fruit at all. When we choose to separate ourselves from Jesus and go off on our own or attach ourselves to other evil vines, we will not bear the fruit of the Spirit. Any fruit we bear will be poison even if it's exterior has it looking like the perfect piece of fruit.
Jesus says- As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
He tell us how we produce fruit. We don't strive to produce fruit, we strive to be in Him and the fruit will come from that abiding.
{15:5} I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Jesus says- I am the vine, ye are the branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me ye can do nothing.
He says it so perfectly. There can be no mistaking what He's saying. Without Jesus we can do nothing. People will scoff at that and go about doing all sorts of things, mocking God and saying 'See! I can to do all sorts of things without you! I don't need you!' And yet what they don't realize is that all those things they are doing are not good things. Again they shout, 'See all the good things I can do without you!' And yet they don't understand that the very fact they lay claim to what they do negates any goodness it holds. The very breath they breath is from God. The very body they have is from God. They would not exist without Him and to live as if that doesn't matter, as if they manage somehow to breathe breath into their own bodies and keep their own hearts beating. We can lay no claim, no glory to anything we do without first acknowledging it is by the Grace and Mercy of God that we are able to do anything. When we abide in Jesus and realize this truth then yes, much fruit can come from us through Him, only through Him.
{15:6} If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned
Yes, any branch not abiding in the Vine, not attached to the Vine and living as a result of that bond will die and will be burned away to nothing. It's true and so few realize how true it is.
We need this connection!
We need this abiding!
We need this relationship with our Lord and Savior, a relationship that is as viable as that of a plant with a vine and branches. A living growing, producing relationship.
May God our heavenly Father, be realized as the source of all life.
May Jesus our Lord and Savior, be realized as the Vine that is given life by the Husbandman and in turn gives us life.
May we in Christ produce the fruit of the Spirit, good fruit, much fruit.
By His Grace, by His Mercy.
In Christ,
Amen.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Husbandman, Vine, & Branches
John
{15:1} I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Amazing. Jesus wasn't claiming to be the husbandman Himself, He was pointing to God, the Father as the Husbandman. God is the farmer- God is the one in control of the garden. God is the one planting, cultivating. God decide which plant is healthy, which isn't. God pulls the weeds out of the garden. God is in control and that's something we tend to forget because we are brought up to believe that we are in control of our own lives. For the longest time we know we are under the control of our parents- and even then we start to fight for our independence- we are OLD enough to do for ourselves. We are encouraged to take over control of ourselves because it's only proper, right? We learn to dress and feed ourselves, we learn to meet our basic needs, bathing, using the bathroom, we are being taught to take care of ourselves. Along with the being taught to tend for ourselves as is only proper we are encouraged to believe that we know what is best for ourselves-- what? We are encouraged to believe we know what is best for ourselves, but is that true? Don't some parents fight to keep that control over their kids? Don't some parents believe that even when their child is full grown that they still don't know what's best for themselves. Some clingy parents, some obsessive parents, some overbearing parents actually claim to know better than their children forever. When life knocks their child down over something the child dared to undertake on their own they claim that if only they'd listened then they wouldn't be in the situation they are in. The parent knew best. But most children don't like that do they? Most children even adult children don't like it when their parent is right and they're wrong, when their parent knew better than they did and can gloat about it. Not all parents are like this though and not all children are like this.
The bottom line is we are taught and compelled by something in our sinful nature to want to do for ourselves, to be our own 'man', to handle things our way.
To have to believe that we aren't in control, that we're not in full control of ourselves, that we need to depend upon any one is something we rebel against and it's the very thing we need to accept, to believe.
Jesus was the true vine-- His Father the husbandman.
And if Jesus was a vine, what does that make us?
{15:2} Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit
We are branches of the vine.
We are offshoots of our Lord and Savior and that makes God our husbandman as well.
Our life is dependent upon God and Jesus, the Father and the Son, the Husbandman and the Vine.
We can't forget that without the Husbandman the garden withers and becomes wild and often dies. Without the Vine, there is no life for the branches, none.
Every branch in Jesus that bears no fruit God takes away.
Every branch in Jesus that bears fruit God purges it, so it brings more fruit.
The fruit of the Spirit.
We are promised the fruit of the Spirit and we will have the fruit there is no getting away from it if we are truly in Jesus, truly in God.
Instead of setting out to do this on our own, working to produce our own fruit- you can just imagine how well that would work- we have to stay as close as we possibly can to the Vine, to the Husbandman. We have to relinquish control to the Vine and Husbandman. We have to believe truly that we are the creatures created and not the creatures who create. Try as we are in this world, we are not and never will be the Creator.
Masters of our own destiny?
Masters.
Total control over ourselves.
So why are we shown time and time again how little control we really have over ourselves?
We do not control our life and death do we?
We have no say so over that.
Sure we can consent to have an operation to save our lives, but we don't control the accident that takes the life of one who was just recently saved themselves by that operation. Ultimately we don't have control, but we fight for it constantly and we get defiant against the fates, against God, against life itself for being what it is that leaves us without full control.
We were never meant to be our own gods. We were always meant to know our Father, our Creator.
May God help us relinquish control over our lives to Him and help us to bear the fruit He would have us bear. May He help us as we are purged by Him to bear more fruit, trusting always in Him for all things. By His will, by the grace and mercy of our Lord and our Savior may we be found in Him always!
Amen.
{15:1} I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Amazing. Jesus wasn't claiming to be the husbandman Himself, He was pointing to God, the Father as the Husbandman. God is the farmer- God is the one in control of the garden. God is the one planting, cultivating. God decide which plant is healthy, which isn't. God pulls the weeds out of the garden. God is in control and that's something we tend to forget because we are brought up to believe that we are in control of our own lives. For the longest time we know we are under the control of our parents- and even then we start to fight for our independence- we are OLD enough to do for ourselves. We are encouraged to take over control of ourselves because it's only proper, right? We learn to dress and feed ourselves, we learn to meet our basic needs, bathing, using the bathroom, we are being taught to take care of ourselves. Along with the being taught to tend for ourselves as is only proper we are encouraged to believe that we know what is best for ourselves-- what? We are encouraged to believe we know what is best for ourselves, but is that true? Don't some parents fight to keep that control over their kids? Don't some parents believe that even when their child is full grown that they still don't know what's best for themselves. Some clingy parents, some obsessive parents, some overbearing parents actually claim to know better than their children forever. When life knocks their child down over something the child dared to undertake on their own they claim that if only they'd listened then they wouldn't be in the situation they are in. The parent knew best. But most children don't like that do they? Most children even adult children don't like it when their parent is right and they're wrong, when their parent knew better than they did and can gloat about it. Not all parents are like this though and not all children are like this.
The bottom line is we are taught and compelled by something in our sinful nature to want to do for ourselves, to be our own 'man', to handle things our way.
To have to believe that we aren't in control, that we're not in full control of ourselves, that we need to depend upon any one is something we rebel against and it's the very thing we need to accept, to believe.
Jesus was the true vine-- His Father the husbandman.
And if Jesus was a vine, what does that make us?
{15:2} Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit
We are branches of the vine.
We are offshoots of our Lord and Savior and that makes God our husbandman as well.
Our life is dependent upon God and Jesus, the Father and the Son, the Husbandman and the Vine.
We can't forget that without the Husbandman the garden withers and becomes wild and often dies. Without the Vine, there is no life for the branches, none.
Every branch in Jesus that bears no fruit God takes away.
Every branch in Jesus that bears fruit God purges it, so it brings more fruit.
The fruit of the Spirit.
We are promised the fruit of the Spirit and we will have the fruit there is no getting away from it if we are truly in Jesus, truly in God.
Instead of setting out to do this on our own, working to produce our own fruit- you can just imagine how well that would work- we have to stay as close as we possibly can to the Vine, to the Husbandman. We have to relinquish control to the Vine and Husbandman. We have to believe truly that we are the creatures created and not the creatures who create. Try as we are in this world, we are not and never will be the Creator.
Masters of our own destiny?
Masters.
Total control over ourselves.
So why are we shown time and time again how little control we really have over ourselves?
We do not control our life and death do we?
We have no say so over that.
Sure we can consent to have an operation to save our lives, but we don't control the accident that takes the life of one who was just recently saved themselves by that operation. Ultimately we don't have control, but we fight for it constantly and we get defiant against the fates, against God, against life itself for being what it is that leaves us without full control.
We were never meant to be our own gods. We were always meant to know our Father, our Creator.
May God help us relinquish control over our lives to Him and help us to bear the fruit He would have us bear. May He help us as we are purged by Him to bear more fruit, trusting always in Him for all things. By His will, by the grace and mercy of our Lord and our Savior may we be found in Him always!
Amen.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Missing Peace
The Missing Peace
John {14:27}
Peace I leave with you
my peace I give unto you
not as the world giveth,
give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled
neither let it be afraid.
There's a restlessness inside every human being, inherited at birth. Maybe the restlessness in you takes the form of a tiny feeling that something isn't quite right. Something in life just isn't how it should be. There has to be something more. Even if all our needs are taken care of we want something more. People call us selfish for wanting more when we have our basic human needs met. Those without those needs fulfilled long to be like we are and believe that if only they had what we had they'd finally be happy- but how can they be happy when they don't have the basic needs? It's not surprising when a poor man suddenly becomes a rich man and he finds out after a short while of celebration that in fact that real happiness is still missing.
Missing peace is what it really is and it can be found in all of us. We can call it something else, call it our lot in life not to be content. We can say that if only we had this differently then peace an happiness would be ours. What we're caught up in is a lie. There are nothing but temporary glimpses of peace. Temporary glimpses of what a happy life should be and even a very poor person can have these glimpses.
Truly, irregardless of circumstances we are touched by peace at various moments in our lives.
Those tiny moments allow us to realize that there is really something more to be had.
Unfortunately, most of us look for the something in temporal ways. We seek more money to take more vacations, or better quality vacations. We seek a new person to bring us that spark. We seek the latest toy on the market. We strive to obtain something, putting all our efforts into that something and when it is ours we have to start over again striving for something else, something newer, better.
A person content with their life we say is a good thing, but that contentment could have been obtained by resignation- giving up on things, settling for what you have because it's too much effort to strive for more. The striving becomes tiresome and so a 'happy' resignation settles in. And yet there is still...
...the missing peace.
You see, I believe that when we were created in God's image, by God Himself, mankind was made with a necessary connection with the Creator. We were made by God, for God and not for any other reason.
You ever see a gorgeous wedding cake? Maybe in a picture, or in a movie, if not in real life? If you attempted to make that same wedding cake it's only when you get started and begin the process do you realize just what sort of effort and skill it takes to create such a thing.
The same principle holds to seeing a sculpture, a painting, a building, or a complex mathematical formula, inside a computer, a television set, a telephone... things are possible and have been made possible through effort, through talent and often we don't realize the extent of such effort and talent until we try to do create for ourselves what has been created for us.
Sometimes people who imitate the art of others can get it exactly the same- they can counterfeit the piece of art but that's rare. Often people will try and come close but fall short of the same glory of the piece.
In some things it's impossible to duplicate them and we call them one of a kind.
We say humans are one of a kind. Even identical twins have their differences.
We are each unique.
God made us to be this way, different from one another, each of us having within us something amazing and wonderful and yet every single one of us are missing peace.
We are.
This peace that Jesus leaves with us, this peace that Jesus gives to us is in fact that missing peace and we can't get it except through Him. It's a peace unlike anything we can manufacture on our own. It's a peace that in truth connects us back to God, a peace we forfieted in the garden when we separated ourselves from God.
Titus {2:14} Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
A peculiar people.
We become a peculiar people when we accept the peace offered to us by Jesus. How could we not be peculiar when we have imperfectly (and yet we have) reached out to accept the hand offered to us, reached out to accept the hope Jesus offers us in Him. The hope of reconnecting with God, of bridging the gap created by sin, or becoming once again as God intended. We've been given the missing peace.
Satan doesn't want any of us having the missing peace. He doesn't want any of us believing we can ever connect with God again. If we do believe it He then wants to make our lives so miserable that we turn away. It's not the peace of the world Jesus offers us. If we accept Jesus and we are given the comforter, we all too often mistake the peace offered to us as worldly peace, when it's very far from that.
John {14:27}
Peace I leave with you
my peace I give unto you
not as the world giveth,
give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled
neither let it be afraid.
John {16:33}
These things I have spoken unto you
that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation
but be of good cheer
I have overcome the world.
How can you have good cheer when you are going through tribulation?
It's having hope.
Hope that no matter what we suffer- and we will suffer - that there is hope in Jesus.
We can't hope to have worldly peace, but a peace that transcends what the world offers, a peace that can ease our hearts, our worries so that we're not all caught up in them.
There is a God connection we all were supposed to have and yet sin separates us from God.
Man disobeyed God's command and as a result they were separated from God. Changes took place when that separation happened, changes we can only imagine as we know that man goes from being unashamed of his own nakedness to being ashamed. Changes, instant changes, instant separation from being the creature God intended man to be and...it is only our arrogance, our pride which cries out and says it was a good thing that we know good and evil- God shouldn't have kept that tree of knowledge from us in the first place. God did so for a reason and obviously a very good reason when we look at the result of disobeying Him. Our own sin, our own pride and as long as we believe that it was a good thing to disobey God, how can we ever be reunited with Him?
Our only hope is Jesus.
Missing peace.
We can fill our lives we all sorts of things and yet the missing peace is our connection to God and we are offered that connection, that reuniting with God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
No, it doesn't mean you'll be given worldly peace, that your life will be all sunshine and roses, happiness and sweetness, it won't be.
The Missing Peace - not Worldly Peace.
Peace that reunites in Spirit and holds within it the future promise of a peace that reunites in all ways, physical and spiritual in Jesus.
May God bless us all and help us to hold fast to the missing peace found in Jesus through the Holy Spirit so we may be reunited with God now and forever, our hope is in Him.
Amen.
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”- James 1:12
John {14:27}
Peace I leave with you
my peace I give unto you
not as the world giveth,
give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled
neither let it be afraid.
There's a restlessness inside every human being, inherited at birth. Maybe the restlessness in you takes the form of a tiny feeling that something isn't quite right. Something in life just isn't how it should be. There has to be something more. Even if all our needs are taken care of we want something more. People call us selfish for wanting more when we have our basic human needs met. Those without those needs fulfilled long to be like we are and believe that if only they had what we had they'd finally be happy- but how can they be happy when they don't have the basic needs? It's not surprising when a poor man suddenly becomes a rich man and he finds out after a short while of celebration that in fact that real happiness is still missing.
Missing peace is what it really is and it can be found in all of us. We can call it something else, call it our lot in life not to be content. We can say that if only we had this differently then peace an happiness would be ours. What we're caught up in is a lie. There are nothing but temporary glimpses of peace. Temporary glimpses of what a happy life should be and even a very poor person can have these glimpses.
Truly, irregardless of circumstances we are touched by peace at various moments in our lives.
Those tiny moments allow us to realize that there is really something more to be had.
Unfortunately, most of us look for the something in temporal ways. We seek more money to take more vacations, or better quality vacations. We seek a new person to bring us that spark. We seek the latest toy on the market. We strive to obtain something, putting all our efforts into that something and when it is ours we have to start over again striving for something else, something newer, better.
A person content with their life we say is a good thing, but that contentment could have been obtained by resignation- giving up on things, settling for what you have because it's too much effort to strive for more. The striving becomes tiresome and so a 'happy' resignation settles in. And yet there is still...
...the missing peace.
You see, I believe that when we were created in God's image, by God Himself, mankind was made with a necessary connection with the Creator. We were made by God, for God and not for any other reason.
You ever see a gorgeous wedding cake? Maybe in a picture, or in a movie, if not in real life? If you attempted to make that same wedding cake it's only when you get started and begin the process do you realize just what sort of effort and skill it takes to create such a thing.
The same principle holds to seeing a sculpture, a painting, a building, or a complex mathematical formula, inside a computer, a television set, a telephone... things are possible and have been made possible through effort, through talent and often we don't realize the extent of such effort and talent until we try to do create for ourselves what has been created for us.
Sometimes people who imitate the art of others can get it exactly the same- they can counterfeit the piece of art but that's rare. Often people will try and come close but fall short of the same glory of the piece.
In some things it's impossible to duplicate them and we call them one of a kind.
We say humans are one of a kind. Even identical twins have their differences.
We are each unique.
God made us to be this way, different from one another, each of us having within us something amazing and wonderful and yet every single one of us are missing peace.
We are.
This peace that Jesus leaves with us, this peace that Jesus gives to us is in fact that missing peace and we can't get it except through Him. It's a peace unlike anything we can manufacture on our own. It's a peace that in truth connects us back to God, a peace we forfieted in the garden when we separated ourselves from God.
Titus {2:14} Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
A peculiar people.
We become a peculiar people when we accept the peace offered to us by Jesus. How could we not be peculiar when we have imperfectly (and yet we have) reached out to accept the hand offered to us, reached out to accept the hope Jesus offers us in Him. The hope of reconnecting with God, of bridging the gap created by sin, or becoming once again as God intended. We've been given the missing peace.
Satan doesn't want any of us having the missing peace. He doesn't want any of us believing we can ever connect with God again. If we do believe it He then wants to make our lives so miserable that we turn away. It's not the peace of the world Jesus offers us. If we accept Jesus and we are given the comforter, we all too often mistake the peace offered to us as worldly peace, when it's very far from that.
John {14:27}
Peace I leave with you
my peace I give unto you
not as the world giveth,
give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled
neither let it be afraid.
John {16:33}
These things I have spoken unto you
that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation
but be of good cheer
I have overcome the world.
How can you have good cheer when you are going through tribulation?
It's having hope.
Hope that no matter what we suffer- and we will suffer - that there is hope in Jesus.
We can't hope to have worldly peace, but a peace that transcends what the world offers, a peace that can ease our hearts, our worries so that we're not all caught up in them.
There is a God connection we all were supposed to have and yet sin separates us from God.
Man disobeyed God's command and as a result they were separated from God. Changes took place when that separation happened, changes we can only imagine as we know that man goes from being unashamed of his own nakedness to being ashamed. Changes, instant changes, instant separation from being the creature God intended man to be and...it is only our arrogance, our pride which cries out and says it was a good thing that we know good and evil- God shouldn't have kept that tree of knowledge from us in the first place. God did so for a reason and obviously a very good reason when we look at the result of disobeying Him. Our own sin, our own pride and as long as we believe that it was a good thing to disobey God, how can we ever be reunited with Him?
Our only hope is Jesus.
Missing peace.
We can fill our lives we all sorts of things and yet the missing peace is our connection to God and we are offered that connection, that reuniting with God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
No, it doesn't mean you'll be given worldly peace, that your life will be all sunshine and roses, happiness and sweetness, it won't be.
The Missing Peace - not Worldly Peace.
Peace that reunites in Spirit and holds within it the future promise of a peace that reunites in all ways, physical and spiritual in Jesus.
May God bless us all and help us to hold fast to the missing peace found in Jesus through the Holy Spirit so we may be reunited with God now and forever, our hope is in Him.
Amen.
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”- James 1:12
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Choked with Cares
Luke {8:14} And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. {8:15} But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Choked with cares.
Choked with riches.
Choked with pleasures of this life.
Choked.
Is there any good connotation connected with the word choked?
1. To interfere with the respiration of by compression or obstruction of the larynx or trachea.
2. a. To check or slow down the movement, growth, or action
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Choked by cares...choked by riches...choked by pleasures of this life- all these things slowing down the movement, the growth, the action of our Christian life. All these things interfereing with our ability to breath in Christ, to live for Christ. We are hardly living for Christ when we are caught up in our selves.
Honesty, good heart, hearing the word and keeping it...bring forth fruit with patience.
Do we want to bring forth fruit to perfection?
We can't bring forth fruit to perfection with the cares of this life taking over us, it's impossible.
We can bring forth fruit to perfection with honesty, with a good heart, with hearing God's word and keeping it- with patience.
May the Lord help us as we seek to bring forth good fruit to perfection.
Help us to recognize when the cares of this life are overtaking us so that we may quickly turn to You before they choke us completely killing whatever fruit we have.
By the Grace and the Mercy of our Lord and Savior, now and forever.
Amen.
Choked with cares.
Choked with riches.
Choked with pleasures of this life.
Choked.
Is there any good connotation connected with the word choked?
1. To interfere with the respiration of by compression or obstruction of the larynx or trachea.
2. a. To check or slow down the movement, growth, or action
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Choked by cares...choked by riches...choked by pleasures of this life- all these things slowing down the movement, the growth, the action of our Christian life. All these things interfereing with our ability to breath in Christ, to live for Christ. We are hardly living for Christ when we are caught up in our selves.
Honesty, good heart, hearing the word and keeping it...bring forth fruit with patience.
Do we want to bring forth fruit to perfection?
We can't bring forth fruit to perfection with the cares of this life taking over us, it's impossible.
We can bring forth fruit to perfection with honesty, with a good heart, with hearing God's word and keeping it- with patience.
May the Lord help us as we seek to bring forth good fruit to perfection.
Help us to recognize when the cares of this life are overtaking us so that we may quickly turn to You before they choke us completely killing whatever fruit we have.
By the Grace and the Mercy of our Lord and Savior, now and forever.
Amen.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
More Fruit - Repentance
Fruit of the wicked.
Proverbs {10:16} '...the fruit of the wicked to sin.'
Fruit of the righteous.
{11:30} 'The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life...'
Life and death.
Fruit of the Righteous, fruit of the wicked.
One leads to life, one to death.
Jer. {17:10} I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
The Lord God searches our hearts.
The Lord God tries the reins.
The Lord God gives every man according to his ways.
The Lord God gives every man according to the fruit of his doings.
We have choices to make.
God or no God.
The choice is straight forward.
The choice made is the difference between life and death.
Every human creature of God's will make the choice.
We will live according to that choice, our lives will be a reflection of the choice we make- daily, hourly, minutely.
Our lives are comprised by our fruits. Our fruits are wrought from our beliefs. Our beliefs will be revealed in our actions (fruits).
According to our ways we will be given of God what He deems proper.
Jer. {21:14} But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.
We may be punished.
Jer. {32:19} Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his
ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
The Lord sees, the Lord knows and we will reap what we sow, we will get according to our ways. Anything we receive of the Lord will be deserved whether it is punishment for wickedeness or the Tree of Life for our obedience to Him.
Hos. {10:13} Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.
Do we plow wickeness?
Do we reap sin?
Do we eat the fruit of lies?
Do we trust our own ways and in the ways of those around us and not God?
What is the reward of wickedness?
Death.
Amos {6:12} '... for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock.'
Judgment into gall-something bitter and unwelcome, something unwanted and despised.
The fruit of righteousness into hemlock- poison, deadly.
What happens when we despise judgment and consider the fruit of righteousness poison?
No good can happen, none. Yet it will be done. Many would rather turn that which is good into something seemingly bad so they no longer are accountable to the good. If you make something good bad, if you pervert something good you can placate your conscience falsely holding yourself unaccountable.
Micah {7:13} Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
Desolate land why? Because the fruit of those in the land is evil, is wicked. Desolation is not desired by any. Desolation as a result of evil ways.
Matt. {3:8} Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: {3:9} And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. {3:10} And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Fruits for repentence.
Trees with rotten fruit are cut down and burned.
We need to repent of our ways and go- and sin no more. We need to grow closer to Christ, our Lord and Savior. We have to realize that anything less will mean we can't possibly have fruit meet for repentance, that any fruit we have will be rotten. Only the fruit we bring forth as a result of our lives in Christ will be acceptable.
The cutting down, the burning is all real, these aren't lies being spread to cause you to lose hope, to lose faith. These are truths being told so that you may find hope and have faith in the only one who can save you.
Matt. {7:15} Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. {7:16} Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? {7:17} Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. {7:18} A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. {7:19} Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. {7:20} Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Known by our fruits.
What fruit do you produce? It's a valid question. It's a question we need to ask ourselves.
Is it possible for a person to seemingly produce one sort of fruit but secretly bear another? Wolves in sheep's clothing. Ultimately the fruit they bear will reveal where they stand by the grace of God, what they believe in and what they are speaking of. We are given a standard to judge all men by and that standard is God's word, God's law. 'Isaiah {8:20} To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.' When we refuse to hold up that standard of judgment we fail to even begin to recognize the fruits their works should reveal.
We liked to think that those who appear loving, kind, good-hearted, sweet and wonderful will of course have to be God's, how could such wonderful fruit come from someone if they were in fact wicked? Impossible? I don't think so. Christ even says --
Matt. {7:21} Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will
of my Father which is in heaven. {7:22} Many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy
name done many wonderful works? {7:23} And then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye
that work iniquity.
Many will say... MANY...willl say didn't I do this and that in your Name...didn't I do many wonderful works (actions-fruits). What's Jesus going to say to these many?
'I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'
Depart.
Workers of iniquity.
But here they are saying that they did many wonderful things in Jesus' name! They are truly believing they are doing wonderful things. So it's not the sweet, kind, loving, gentle person we couldn't imagine not being in Christ who is going to be known by Christ. We are told who have light in them, who have truth in them- 'Isaiah {8:20} To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.'
Why would God who saved His people from the Egyptians and brought them out into the wilderness to offer them a covenant, why would He do that if it was a covenant that meant nothing? Jesus never broke the covenant. Jesus proved by His life that it was possible to keep the covenant. Yes, the sacrificial, ritualistic laws were abolished because they all pointed to Christ, but God's law, the testimony didn't change. The commandments the Ark of the Covenant held were not done away with.
Yes, we have a standard to judge by, and it's a standard we have to use because if we trust our senses, our feel good, looks good, nature than we will be deceived and while we might think we are following truth we won't be and we will be among those crying out to the Lord only to hear those awful words- 'I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'
Matt. {12:33} Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
So true.
Mark {4:26} And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; {4:27} And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. {4:28} For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. {4:29} But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
We have very little control over the hows and whys of things, but we know that God is in control and He does things in His order. Step by step His ways are past our comprehension. He has a reason for all that is allowed and He is watching the inhabitants of Earth very closely. Seed to the ground, earth bringing forth fruit-- the blade, the ear, the full corn, the harvest. The Lord will reap the bounty of those that love Him truly they will be the fruit He harvests.
Luke {3:9} And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
The wicked bearing will be cut down and burned- there is no escaping it for those who refuse to love the Lord their God, their Creator, their Redeemer.
Luke {6:43} For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. {6:44} For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. {6:45} A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his
mouth speaketh.
Every tree is known by his own fruit. We can't use anyone else's fruit, we all have our own whether we want to admit it or not. Each person is either a good man with good treasure or an evil man with evil treasure. God knows which is which and we can only hope and pray that our treasure is good by His grace.
People generally would rather not think about good and bad, they'd rather hold up the standard that it's by grace we are saved, that not of ourselves it is a gift of God --Eph. {2:8} For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: {2:9} Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Truly if anyone boasts that their goodness will save them they've got it all wrong!
On the same token if anyone boasts of their evilness and claims they are saved by grace they've got it all wrong too. If they glory in their evil ways and show no signs of repentance they will not be saved.
Ps. {51:17} The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a
contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Rev. {3:19} As many as I love, I
rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent
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
Acts {26:19} Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient
unto the heavenly vision: {26:20} But shewed first unto
them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the
coasts of Judaea, and [then] to the Gentiles, that they should
repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Acts {3:19} Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your
sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall
come from the presence of the Lord;
Matt. {4:17} From
that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mark {6:12} And they went out, and
preached that men should repent.
Repent.
May the Lord our God and Savior Jesus Christ bless and keep us! May we repent of our sins, may we be known of God, may we cling to our salvation in Jesus our One and Only hope! By His mercy, by His grace!
Amen.
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”- Jeremiah 17:7-8
Proverbs {10:16} '...the fruit of the wicked to sin.'
Fruit of the righteous.
{11:30} 'The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life...'
Life and death.
Fruit of the Righteous, fruit of the wicked.
One leads to life, one to death.
Jer. {17:10} I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
The Lord God searches our hearts.
The Lord God tries the reins.
The Lord God gives every man according to his ways.
The Lord God gives every man according to the fruit of his doings.
We have choices to make.
God or no God.
The choice is straight forward.
The choice made is the difference between life and death.
Every human creature of God's will make the choice.
We will live according to that choice, our lives will be a reflection of the choice we make- daily, hourly, minutely.
Our lives are comprised by our fruits. Our fruits are wrought from our beliefs. Our beliefs will be revealed in our actions (fruits).
According to our ways we will be given of God what He deems proper.
Jer. {21:14} But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.
We may be punished.
Jer. {32:19} Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his
ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
The Lord sees, the Lord knows and we will reap what we sow, we will get according to our ways. Anything we receive of the Lord will be deserved whether it is punishment for wickedeness or the Tree of Life for our obedience to Him.
Hos. {10:13} Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.
Do we plow wickeness?
Do we reap sin?
Do we eat the fruit of lies?
Do we trust our own ways and in the ways of those around us and not God?
What is the reward of wickedness?
Death.
Amos {6:12} '... for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock.'
Judgment into gall-something bitter and unwelcome, something unwanted and despised.
The fruit of righteousness into hemlock- poison, deadly.
What happens when we despise judgment and consider the fruit of righteousness poison?
No good can happen, none. Yet it will be done. Many would rather turn that which is good into something seemingly bad so they no longer are accountable to the good. If you make something good bad, if you pervert something good you can placate your conscience falsely holding yourself unaccountable.
Micah {7:13} Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
Desolate land why? Because the fruit of those in the land is evil, is wicked. Desolation is not desired by any. Desolation as a result of evil ways.
Matt. {3:8} Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: {3:9} And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. {3:10} And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Fruits for repentence.
Trees with rotten fruit are cut down and burned.
We need to repent of our ways and go- and sin no more. We need to grow closer to Christ, our Lord and Savior. We have to realize that anything less will mean we can't possibly have fruit meet for repentance, that any fruit we have will be rotten. Only the fruit we bring forth as a result of our lives in Christ will be acceptable.
The cutting down, the burning is all real, these aren't lies being spread to cause you to lose hope, to lose faith. These are truths being told so that you may find hope and have faith in the only one who can save you.
Matt. {7:15} Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. {7:16} Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? {7:17} Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. {7:18} A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. {7:19} Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. {7:20} Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Known by our fruits.
What fruit do you produce? It's a valid question. It's a question we need to ask ourselves.
Is it possible for a person to seemingly produce one sort of fruit but secretly bear another? Wolves in sheep's clothing. Ultimately the fruit they bear will reveal where they stand by the grace of God, what they believe in and what they are speaking of. We are given a standard to judge all men by and that standard is God's word, God's law. 'Isaiah {8:20} To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.' When we refuse to hold up that standard of judgment we fail to even begin to recognize the fruits their works should reveal.
We liked to think that those who appear loving, kind, good-hearted, sweet and wonderful will of course have to be God's, how could such wonderful fruit come from someone if they were in fact wicked? Impossible? I don't think so. Christ even says --
Matt. {7:21} Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will
of my Father which is in heaven. {7:22} Many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy
name done many wonderful works? {7:23} And then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye
that work iniquity.
Many will say... MANY...willl say didn't I do this and that in your Name...didn't I do many wonderful works (actions-fruits). What's Jesus going to say to these many?
'I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'
Depart.
Workers of iniquity.
But here they are saying that they did many wonderful things in Jesus' name! They are truly believing they are doing wonderful things. So it's not the sweet, kind, loving, gentle person we couldn't imagine not being in Christ who is going to be known by Christ. We are told who have light in them, who have truth in them- 'Isaiah {8:20} To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.'
Why would God who saved His people from the Egyptians and brought them out into the wilderness to offer them a covenant, why would He do that if it was a covenant that meant nothing? Jesus never broke the covenant. Jesus proved by His life that it was possible to keep the covenant. Yes, the sacrificial, ritualistic laws were abolished because they all pointed to Christ, but God's law, the testimony didn't change. The commandments the Ark of the Covenant held were not done away with.
Yes, we have a standard to judge by, and it's a standard we have to use because if we trust our senses, our feel good, looks good, nature than we will be deceived and while we might think we are following truth we won't be and we will be among those crying out to the Lord only to hear those awful words- 'I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'
Matt. {12:33} Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
So true.
Mark {4:26} And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; {4:27} And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. {4:28} For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. {4:29} But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
We have very little control over the hows and whys of things, but we know that God is in control and He does things in His order. Step by step His ways are past our comprehension. He has a reason for all that is allowed and He is watching the inhabitants of Earth very closely. Seed to the ground, earth bringing forth fruit-- the blade, the ear, the full corn, the harvest. The Lord will reap the bounty of those that love Him truly they will be the fruit He harvests.
Luke {3:9} And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
The wicked bearing will be cut down and burned- there is no escaping it for those who refuse to love the Lord their God, their Creator, their Redeemer.
Luke {6:43} For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. {6:44} For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. {6:45} A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his
mouth speaketh.
Every tree is known by his own fruit. We can't use anyone else's fruit, we all have our own whether we want to admit it or not. Each person is either a good man with good treasure or an evil man with evil treasure. God knows which is which and we can only hope and pray that our treasure is good by His grace.
People generally would rather not think about good and bad, they'd rather hold up the standard that it's by grace we are saved, that not of ourselves it is a gift of God --Eph. {2:8} For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: {2:9} Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Truly if anyone boasts that their goodness will save them they've got it all wrong!
On the same token if anyone boasts of their evilness and claims they are saved by grace they've got it all wrong too. If they glory in their evil ways and show no signs of repentance they will not be saved.
Ps. {51:17} The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a
contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Rev. {3:19} As many as I love, I
rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent
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
Acts {26:19} Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient
unto the heavenly vision: {26:20} But shewed first unto
them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the
coasts of Judaea, and [then] to the Gentiles, that they should
repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Acts {3:19} Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your
sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall
come from the presence of the Lord;
Matt. {4:17} From
that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mark {6:12} And they went out, and
preached that men should repent.
Repent.
May the Lord our God and Savior Jesus Christ bless and keep us! May we repent of our sins, may we be known of God, may we cling to our salvation in Jesus our One and Only hope! By His mercy, by His grace!
Amen.
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”- Jeremiah 17:7-8
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