1 Thess
{5:1} But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
{5:2} For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
{5:3} For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
{5:4} But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
{5:5} Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
{5:6} Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober.
{5:7} For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
{5:8} But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. {5:9} For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
{5:10} Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
{5:11} Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
The day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night- unannounced, unexpectedly, without warning, surprisingly.
Have you ever had anything stolen from you? Anything? I have. When I went to look for the thing that was stolen it was missing and a sense of violation filled me. My property had been taken. My personal belongings gone forever. The memories the belongings had, the usefulness was all stolen from me. I've had it happen more than once and it's not a very good feeling. Now had I known when the thieves were going to strike do you think I would have let my property be vulnerable to them? Would I have watched the thieves come and take that which is mine? No. The whole business of being a thief is getting away with stolen goods without anyone being aware. Even if a thief steals something right out from under your nose they are doing so without your knowing and that's the whole point. Being robbed in the night is being taken advantage of without your knowing. So it stands to reason that Jesus' second coming doing so with His arriving as a thief in the night will take many by surprise, it will be that unexpected by them. However...
We who are Christ's are not left in darkness, we won't see that day as Christ's coming as a thief in the night. We will be ready and waiting for him.
We will hear people saying PEACE and SAFETY. Those are wonderful words and words we are hearing daily in our news. Peace, safety, peace, safety. Peace...peace...peace...peace...everything is peace. World peace. Have we called for world peace before as we have now? So many countries having the technology to blow up each other there has to be peace or there will be destruction. On a small scale we see destruction; destruction without nuclear bombs and yet still destruction, just enough destruction that keeps us screaming for peace. If we have peace it will end the senseless killing, the senseless destruction. Religious world leaders are calling for peace as never before, political leaders are demanding peace, peace, peace. You say they've been demanding peace forever and you're right, but right now our world is in an upheaval of change; financially, politically, things are bad. The combination of bad is in a place it never could be before. The woman is having birth pangs and they are getting stronger and stronger. No woman can stop the birth pangs of labor once they begin in earnest, this isn't false labor, this is real birth and Christ is coming and there is NO stopping Him.
The only question we have to ask ourselves is if we are ready? Are we? Are we ready so that we won't be caught off guard as those who will be such as a thief in the night?
1 Thess
{5:1} But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
{5:2} For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
{5:3} For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
{5:4} But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
{5:5} Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
{5:6} Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober.
{5:7} For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
{5:8} But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. {5:9} For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
{5:10} Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
{5:11} Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
We know perfectly that the day of the Lord will come unexpectedly when people are saying peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes and it's going to come as a woman in labor - no stopping the birth and the pains getting closer and closer until that birth. We aren't in darkness, we won't be overtaken. We are children of light, children of the day- we aren't not filled with darkness, we are not shrouded in the darkness that reveals nothing. We can't sleep. We CAN'T sleep! We can't let our guard down, we can't stop being vigiliant. Others will sleep, others will tell you not to worry, not to think about it, not to dwell on the bad things, but be optimistic and just forget about all that stuff that is depressing and doom and gloom. Live for now and enjoy life, sleep, rest, relax...NO!
We can't sleep as others do. We have to WATCH and be SOBER. People everywhere sleep and are drunken lost to the night, to the darkness they desire because the light of truth is something they've shunned. We can see it all around us people sleeping, people drunken, people shutting out any light that might take their darkness from them. We can't sleep! We must be sober.
We have to put on Christ.
The breastplate of fiath and love, the helmet of hope of salvation.
We are not to fight against others, we are to obtain our salvation through Jesus Christ- through love.
Whether we are awake, alive or whether we sleep, dead- we will live together with Christ, He died for us.
We need to comfort one another, build each other up in Christ. We must be aware, alert to the goings on and alerting others around us that believe as we believe.
The birthing is near, the labor intense and growing more and more intense. We are witnesses to this now and we know what is to come we are not left in the dark.
Praise be to God for His glorious love towards us allowing us to be alert, to know what is to be and for keeping us awake. All glory to God!
May the Lord bless and keep us in His love, in His mercy, in His grace now and forever. Amen.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Honor found in God
John
{5:44} How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that [cometh] from God only?
Receiving honor from one another.
Here's a quick dictionary definition of the word honor-
honor
1. High respect, as that shown for special merit; esteem: the honor shown to a Nobel laureate.
2. a. Good name; reputation. b. A source or cause of credit: was an honor to the profession.
3. a. Glory or recognition; distinction. b. A mark, token, or gesture of respect or distinction: the place of honor at the table. c. A military decoration. d. A title conferred for achievement.
4. Nobility of mind; probity.
5. High rank.
6. The dignity accorded to position: awed by the honor of his office.
7. Great privilege: I have the honor to present the governor.
8. Honor. Used with His, Her, or Your as a title and form of address for certain officials, such as judges and mayors: Her Honor the Mayor.
9. a. A code of integrity, dignity, and pride, chiefly among men, that was maintained in some societies, as in feudal Europe, by force of arms. b. Principled uprightness of character; personal integrity. c. A woman's chastity or reputation for chastity.
10. honors. Social courtesies offered to guests: did the honors at tea.
11. honors. a. Special recognition for unusual academic achievement: graduated with honors. b. A program of individual advanced study for exceptional students: planned to take honors in history.
12. Sports. The right of being first at the tee in golf.
13. Games. a. Any of the four or five highest cards, especially the ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of the trump suit, in card games such as bridge or whist. b. The points allotted to these cards. Often used in the plural.
verb, transitive
honored, honoring, honors
1. a. To hold in respect; esteem. b. To show respect for. c. To bow to (another dancer) in square dancing: Honor your partner.
2. To confer distinction on: He has honored us with his presence.
3. To accept or pay as valid: honor a check; a store that honors all credit cards.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
*******
Receiving - respect, esteem, recognition, distinction.
When we receive honor one of another, from one another, we are getting their respect, their esteem, their recognition and distinction from them. We care so much about what people think, at least some of us do, and some more than others. We want to be treated with respect we feel we deserve respect and to be recognized as deserving that respect. We might not say to one another that we want to be honored, that word has a connotation of superiority to it and yet the verb form of honor simply says- 'To hold in respect, esteem. To show respect for.' So no, we don't tell someone they should honor us but sometimes we tell others that they need to respect us, especially when we're dealing with disrespectful situations. We feel a right to be respected simply because we exist. Some of the worst people have no trouble telling others they should respect them- thinking they truly deserve it just because they live. Is feeling like you deserve respect wrong?Is feeling like you deserve to be honored wrong? Is honoring another wrong? We are told to honor our mother and father so that can't be, and yet something about honoring others is wrong.
John
{5:44} How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that [cometh] from God only?
Seeking honor of others and not the honor that God alone possesses is wrong. Seeking respect from mankind and not seeking respect that comes from God, is wrong. Seeking to be esteemed by man, seeking recognition and distinction from man is wrong. The ONLY one we need to seek honor from is God. God first, always.
God first. If God is kept first in our lives then we won't care what others think of us, whether or not they respect us or esteem us. If God comes first then nothing else matters. If you suffer disrespect, if you aren't given the recognition you think you deserve, if you're given no distinction at all and not esteemed in the slightest- then you should bear it with joy (not that it feels good- but that's not the point). People suffer for well doing (1 Pet. 3:17) and it is good, better than suffering for evil. When we suffer in any way for God, keeping God first in our lives, then all is good.
We can have faith in God when we seek God first before all else. When we seek our fellow man first we lose our faith. God first, always.
There is an honor that come from God only and that honor is something we should seek. How? Faith.
We're not going to receive a pat on the back from God. He's not going to wink at us and tell us, 'Well done.' God isn't going to shower us with tokens of His appreciation. We won't receive a new company car because we've managed to honor God and He wants to show us we've done well.
How many people seek such honor from man? How many long to hear that little word of gratitude- thanks? How many live hoping to please others and never once concern themselves with pleasing God?
Is it fear that keeps a person from seeking God first? Fear of what their fellow man will think of them? How they might be labeled by others. Jesus freak, God crazy, religious jerk, holy nut, you get the picture. Sometimes we think of the extreme man on the street in a toga dancing and trying to hand out pamphlets, or maybe a looney who wears a billboard shouting about the second coming of Christ. We think of those we call extremist and guess what... In Jesus' day His apostles, His disciples were considered extremists.
Am I saying go out and be an extremist for Christ- yes, I am.
We need to live for Christ, seeking the honor that comes from God. Our only concern should be what God thinks, not what others think.
What God thinks. Perhaps because He's not visible to us to give us physical reassurance that following Him is the only good and right way, we tend to look to that which we can get reactions from and live by their reactions. We seek approval of one another and that is a down fall. The only approval we need is from God and that approval is based on faith.
Faith- the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebs.11:1)
Our hope is Christ.
Faith.
1 John {5:4} For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith.
Faith. Live for God. Live seeking the honor that comes solely from God.
May God bless and keep us in Him, through the grace and mercy of Christ help us to seek the honor found in God and not in man.
Amen.
{5:44} How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that [cometh] from God only?
Receiving honor from one another.
Here's a quick dictionary definition of the word honor-
honor
1. High respect, as that shown for special merit; esteem: the honor shown to a Nobel laureate.
2. a. Good name; reputation. b. A source or cause of credit: was an honor to the profession.
3. a. Glory or recognition; distinction. b. A mark, token, or gesture of respect or distinction: the place of honor at the table. c. A military decoration. d. A title conferred for achievement.
4. Nobility of mind; probity.
5. High rank.
6. The dignity accorded to position: awed by the honor of his office.
7. Great privilege: I have the honor to present the governor.
8. Honor. Used with His, Her, or Your as a title and form of address for certain officials, such as judges and mayors: Her Honor the Mayor.
9. a. A code of integrity, dignity, and pride, chiefly among men, that was maintained in some societies, as in feudal Europe, by force of arms. b. Principled uprightness of character; personal integrity. c. A woman's chastity or reputation for chastity.
10. honors. Social courtesies offered to guests: did the honors at tea.
11. honors. a. Special recognition for unusual academic achievement: graduated with honors. b. A program of individual advanced study for exceptional students: planned to take honors in history.
12. Sports. The right of being first at the tee in golf.
13. Games. a. Any of the four or five highest cards, especially the ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of the trump suit, in card games such as bridge or whist. b. The points allotted to these cards. Often used in the plural.
verb, transitive
honored, honoring, honors
1. a. To hold in respect; esteem. b. To show respect for. c. To bow to (another dancer) in square dancing: Honor your partner.
2. To confer distinction on: He has honored us with his presence.
3. To accept or pay as valid: honor a check; a store that honors all credit cards.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
*******
Receiving - respect, esteem, recognition, distinction.
When we receive honor one of another, from one another, we are getting their respect, their esteem, their recognition and distinction from them. We care so much about what people think, at least some of us do, and some more than others. We want to be treated with respect we feel we deserve respect and to be recognized as deserving that respect. We might not say to one another that we want to be honored, that word has a connotation of superiority to it and yet the verb form of honor simply says- 'To hold in respect, esteem. To show respect for.' So no, we don't tell someone they should honor us but sometimes we tell others that they need to respect us, especially when we're dealing with disrespectful situations. We feel a right to be respected simply because we exist. Some of the worst people have no trouble telling others they should respect them- thinking they truly deserve it just because they live. Is feeling like you deserve respect wrong?Is feeling like you deserve to be honored wrong? Is honoring another wrong? We are told to honor our mother and father so that can't be, and yet something about honoring others is wrong.
John
{5:44} How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that [cometh] from God only?
Seeking honor of others and not the honor that God alone possesses is wrong. Seeking respect from mankind and not seeking respect that comes from God, is wrong. Seeking to be esteemed by man, seeking recognition and distinction from man is wrong. The ONLY one we need to seek honor from is God. God first, always.
God first. If God is kept first in our lives then we won't care what others think of us, whether or not they respect us or esteem us. If God comes first then nothing else matters. If you suffer disrespect, if you aren't given the recognition you think you deserve, if you're given no distinction at all and not esteemed in the slightest- then you should bear it with joy (not that it feels good- but that's not the point). People suffer for well doing (1 Pet. 3:17) and it is good, better than suffering for evil. When we suffer in any way for God, keeping God first in our lives, then all is good.
We can have faith in God when we seek God first before all else. When we seek our fellow man first we lose our faith. God first, always.
There is an honor that come from God only and that honor is something we should seek. How? Faith.
We're not going to receive a pat on the back from God. He's not going to wink at us and tell us, 'Well done.' God isn't going to shower us with tokens of His appreciation. We won't receive a new company car because we've managed to honor God and He wants to show us we've done well.
How many people seek such honor from man? How many long to hear that little word of gratitude- thanks? How many live hoping to please others and never once concern themselves with pleasing God?
Is it fear that keeps a person from seeking God first? Fear of what their fellow man will think of them? How they might be labeled by others. Jesus freak, God crazy, religious jerk, holy nut, you get the picture. Sometimes we think of the extreme man on the street in a toga dancing and trying to hand out pamphlets, or maybe a looney who wears a billboard shouting about the second coming of Christ. We think of those we call extremist and guess what... In Jesus' day His apostles, His disciples were considered extremists.
Am I saying go out and be an extremist for Christ- yes, I am.
We need to live for Christ, seeking the honor that comes from God. Our only concern should be what God thinks, not what others think.
What God thinks. Perhaps because He's not visible to us to give us physical reassurance that following Him is the only good and right way, we tend to look to that which we can get reactions from and live by their reactions. We seek approval of one another and that is a down fall. The only approval we need is from God and that approval is based on faith.
Faith- the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebs.11:1)
Our hope is Christ.
Faith.
1 John {5:4} For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith.
Faith. Live for God. Live seeking the honor that comes solely from God.
May God bless and keep us in Him, through the grace and mercy of Christ help us to seek the honor found in God and not in man.
Amen.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Seek salvation in Christ
John
{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. {3:17} For God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved.
*******
Matthew
{21:12} And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast
out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of
them that sold doves, {21:13} And said unto them, It is
written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye
have made it a den of thieves.
*******
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but thta the world through him might be saved...
Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers and seats of them that sold doves.
We want Jesus to condemn don't we? Seriously. When He overthrew tables and chairs and cast out the wrongdoers in the temple the imagery of it all is amazing. Jesus filled with a righteous wrath because overthrowing and casting out isn't done with smiles. We want evil to be condemned and we feel inside ourselves this righteous wrath when we are injured, when we are despitefully used, when we are treated with disrespect, we feel this anger inside of us and is it righteous? Is the anger we feel justified? Is the anger akin to Jesus' wrath as He over turned furniture and kicked people out of the temple? We want to believe it is, but truly can it be?
Jesus was sinless in His wrath. There was no personal injury on His behalf that He was trying to champion, no personal wrong that He was trying to avenge. He said unto those in the temple- It is written My house shall be called the house of prayer - but ye have made it a den of thieves.
It is written.
God's house shall be called a house of prayer.
Buying and selling, exchaning money even for animal sacrifices to be made in the temple wasn't in accord with God's will. It wasn't written you shall buy and sell in my house, that you should cheat people and sell for gain, that you shall barter a price on a sacrifice, that you should make my house a place of haggling and forget all about it being a place of prayer. There was a sacredness in the temple and people had lost sight of that. Jesus saw the totally disregard for His father's house and righteously revealed the evil going on right in the temple.
Our anger isn't sinless, it isn't righteous because more often than not our supposed righteous indignation comes from selfish origins. You want to protest not always and maybe you're right, I can't condemn you for anything it's not my place. Jesus came into the world to save the world, not to condemn the world. If we want condemnation we aren't looking to Jesus.
Jesus came to save. Yes, Jesus felt a righteous indignation as His father's house was descrated but it wasn't a selfish indignation. He didn't condemn the world in that act, He condemned actions. Jesus can condemn and has to condemn sin, but the sinner He longs to save.
May God help us to recognize the actions in our lives that are worthy of condemnation and may we beg for forgiveness for those actions and seek salvation in Christ, by His everlasting mercy and grace.
Amen.
{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. {3:17} For God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved.
*******
Matthew
{21:12} And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast
out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of
them that sold doves, {21:13} And said unto them, It is
written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye
have made it a den of thieves.
*******
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but thta the world through him might be saved...
Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers and seats of them that sold doves.
We want Jesus to condemn don't we? Seriously. When He overthrew tables and chairs and cast out the wrongdoers in the temple the imagery of it all is amazing. Jesus filled with a righteous wrath because overthrowing and casting out isn't done with smiles. We want evil to be condemned and we feel inside ourselves this righteous wrath when we are injured, when we are despitefully used, when we are treated with disrespect, we feel this anger inside of us and is it righteous? Is the anger we feel justified? Is the anger akin to Jesus' wrath as He over turned furniture and kicked people out of the temple? We want to believe it is, but truly can it be?
Jesus was sinless in His wrath. There was no personal injury on His behalf that He was trying to champion, no personal wrong that He was trying to avenge. He said unto those in the temple- It is written My house shall be called the house of prayer - but ye have made it a den of thieves.
It is written.
God's house shall be called a house of prayer.
Buying and selling, exchaning money even for animal sacrifices to be made in the temple wasn't in accord with God's will. It wasn't written you shall buy and sell in my house, that you should cheat people and sell for gain, that you shall barter a price on a sacrifice, that you should make my house a place of haggling and forget all about it being a place of prayer. There was a sacredness in the temple and people had lost sight of that. Jesus saw the totally disregard for His father's house and righteously revealed the evil going on right in the temple.
Our anger isn't sinless, it isn't righteous because more often than not our supposed righteous indignation comes from selfish origins. You want to protest not always and maybe you're right, I can't condemn you for anything it's not my place. Jesus came into the world to save the world, not to condemn the world. If we want condemnation we aren't looking to Jesus.
Jesus came to save. Yes, Jesus felt a righteous indignation as His father's house was descrated but it wasn't a selfish indignation. He didn't condemn the world in that act, He condemned actions. Jesus can condemn and has to condemn sin, but the sinner He longs to save.
May God help us to recognize the actions in our lives that are worthy of condemnation and may we beg for forgiveness for those actions and seek salvation in Christ, by His everlasting mercy and grace.
Amen.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Faith in the only one trustworthy.
1 Peter
{2:19} For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
Suffering wrongfully.
Innocents suffer wrongfully. Man is not innocent by nature. Children are innocent until they reach their own age of accountability, there is no set age but rather the maturity that brings accountability with it. Once someone knows right from wrong then they are accountable to do right rather than wrong. Once the choices begin and the child chooses the wrong over the right, again accountability is in effect. We all know that as children it starts young, our wrongs are innocent until we are taught they are wrong. Not touching a hot stovetop is something we are taught, but at first we are kept safe by keeping us away from the hot stovetop. Later we are told not to touch the hot stove it could hurt us. We choose whether or not to listen to that admonishment. If we choose not to listen and put our fingers on the hot stove we get burned- an instant punishment is given us for our wrong doing. Was it an innocent wrong when we we were told not to touch and we did? The choosing not to listen makes it a choice for wrong. As we grow up we are told our actions have consequences and not all of those consequences are immediately felt such as the touching of the hot stovetop resulting in burnt fingers. Sometimes it's best if we do get immediate consequences isn't it? Maybe if all wrong doing resulted in immediate punishment there'd be less wrong doing, but that's not how it all works.
Choices. We all make them and starting very young. Only the innocents suffer wrongfully, right? No, that's not right. Innocents do suffer, but so do the guilty.
Man by nature matures and guilt abounds. We find forgiveness in Christ, He died to take away our sins. Once we are made innocent in Christ, through Christ's righteousness we are like a child before accountability, innocent. Every day we make choices that can produce more guilt and more need of forgiveness, or we can make choices that result in remaining innocent- through the grace of Christ.
Suffering wrongfully.
Suffering undeservedly.
By the guilt of our nature anything that happens to us is deserved, but we still have that sense of being undeserving of guilt when we've not done wrong and when we've asked for forgiveness. This is why we must consider it thankworthy suffering wrongfully, because the only one who never deserved a single ounce of suffering, suffered the most for us who deserve all the suffering in the world.
It's not oh, God why me?! But oh, God... thank you, keep me strong in faith, in love, in you. Now, if only we can truly remember that when the suffering and grief come to us. May God remind us that the suffering now is only temporary however horrific when we are in the midst of the pain, the agony, the emotional turmoil, the physical horrors.
By His grace, help us remember, to trust, to believe, to have faith in the only one trustworthy.
Thank you Lord, thank you our heavenly Father.
Amen.
{2:19} For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
Suffering wrongfully.
Innocents suffer wrongfully. Man is not innocent by nature. Children are innocent until they reach their own age of accountability, there is no set age but rather the maturity that brings accountability with it. Once someone knows right from wrong then they are accountable to do right rather than wrong. Once the choices begin and the child chooses the wrong over the right, again accountability is in effect. We all know that as children it starts young, our wrongs are innocent until we are taught they are wrong. Not touching a hot stovetop is something we are taught, but at first we are kept safe by keeping us away from the hot stovetop. Later we are told not to touch the hot stove it could hurt us. We choose whether or not to listen to that admonishment. If we choose not to listen and put our fingers on the hot stove we get burned- an instant punishment is given us for our wrong doing. Was it an innocent wrong when we we were told not to touch and we did? The choosing not to listen makes it a choice for wrong. As we grow up we are told our actions have consequences and not all of those consequences are immediately felt such as the touching of the hot stovetop resulting in burnt fingers. Sometimes it's best if we do get immediate consequences isn't it? Maybe if all wrong doing resulted in immediate punishment there'd be less wrong doing, but that's not how it all works.
Choices. We all make them and starting very young. Only the innocents suffer wrongfully, right? No, that's not right. Innocents do suffer, but so do the guilty.
Man by nature matures and guilt abounds. We find forgiveness in Christ, He died to take away our sins. Once we are made innocent in Christ, through Christ's righteousness we are like a child before accountability, innocent. Every day we make choices that can produce more guilt and more need of forgiveness, or we can make choices that result in remaining innocent- through the grace of Christ.
Suffering wrongfully.
Suffering undeservedly.
By the guilt of our nature anything that happens to us is deserved, but we still have that sense of being undeserving of guilt when we've not done wrong and when we've asked for forgiveness. This is why we must consider it thankworthy suffering wrongfully, because the only one who never deserved a single ounce of suffering, suffered the most for us who deserve all the suffering in the world.
It's not oh, God why me?! But oh, God... thank you, keep me strong in faith, in love, in you. Now, if only we can truly remember that when the suffering and grief come to us. May God remind us that the suffering now is only temporary however horrific when we are in the midst of the pain, the agony, the emotional turmoil, the physical horrors.
By His grace, help us remember, to trust, to believe, to have faith in the only one trustworthy.
Thank you Lord, thank you our heavenly Father.
Amen.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Conscience toward God
1 Peter {2:19} For this [is] thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. {2:20} For what glory [is it,] if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer [for it,] ye take it patiently, this [is] acceptable with God. {2:21} For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: {2:22} Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: {2:23} Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed [himself] to him that judgeth righteously: {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. {2:25} For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
For conscience toward God...
How can we have our conscience toward God?
conscience
conscience (kòn´shens) noun
1. a. The awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong: Let your conscience be your guide. b. A source of moral or ethical judgment or pronouncement: a document that serves as the nation's conscience. c. Conformity to one's own sense of right conduct: a person of unflagging conscience.
2. The part of the superego in psychoanalysis that judges the ethical nature of one's actions and thoughts and then transmits such determinations to the ego for consideration.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
We need an awareness of our moral responsibility to God. When we have our conscience towards God then we prefer what God prefers and not what we naturally prefer selfishly. To have our conscience towards God is thankworthy, meaning we have reason to give thanks if our conscience, if our awareness of our responsibility to God, is pronounced in our lives. Too often people have NO conscience towards God. They've taken God out of their lives entirely believing in themselves, believing in humanity, believing in tangible things that just are because those people are without any thought of God at all.
For conscience toward God it is thankworthy...worth thanks if a man--
-- endures grief and suffers wrongfully.
Being thankful for enduring grief??
Being thankful for suffering wrongfully??
Our senses tells us that's wrong! How can we be thankful for grief, for suffering, how? We should be thankful when we don't have to grieve or suffer, right? Yet here we are being told it's thankworthy to suffer and grieve when we don't deserve to do either. Sure, if we're hateful, spiteful, lying, cheating, and deserving of our grief and suffering we have no one to blame but ourselves for it and being thankful for such suffering is ridiculous. For such suffering we deserve we have no reason to be glad. And you want to say for suffering we don't deserve we should be even less happy about and that's true for the natural man, for the man whose conscience isn't towards God.
If we suffer undeservedly, if we endure grief patiently, thankfully, when we are focused on God guess what? It's is acceptable to God that we do grieve and suffer so. Why? Because Christ suffered for us as an example. He suffered worse than we can ever suffer and He did so without seeking revenge, without ranting and raving, without swearing, He suffered and committed himself to him that judges righteously- He committed Himself to God! He suffered an innocent man as our example. If we are to endure suffering, if we are to endure grief our natural man says to lash out at those causing it all, to give as we are given, to hurt those who are hurting us and yet we can't do that not if our conscience is towards God. With our conscience towards God we suffer as Christ suffered and let God judge. God's judgment isn't clouded by all infallible opinion. God's judgment is true and just and infinitely better than any ability we may think we have to judge. If we let God judge then we are willing to submit ourselves to Him, letting go of our own selfish need to exact revenge and to pay back others for their hurtful, hatefully, horrendous, insidious, reprehensible behavior.
Through Christ we live. Through Christ's righteousness we live. By the suffering of Christ we are healed. No, we aren't promised a live of no suffering and no grief, but we are promised Christ and life eternal through Christ. We are promised that all we endure is nothing compared to what our Savior endured and we should be thankful that we do suffer for Christ, for our conscience towards God because there is life promised in that suffering and grief, a promise through Christ.
1 Peter {2:19} For this [is] thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. {2:20} For what glory [is it,] if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer [for it,] ye take it patiently, this [is] acceptable with God. {2:21} For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: {2:22} Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: {2:23} Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed [himself] to him that judgeth righteously: {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. {2:25} For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
It is so hard for our natural selves to be hurt and to be thankful for that hurt. It is so hard for our natural selves to grieve and be thankful for the grief. Only through Christ is it at all possible to be so, knowing that God is in control. God is in control of our lives and we must trust Him. That doesn't mean we won't grieve- that we are to smile through tears- no, it doesn't mean that at all. It doesn't mean we are to laugh through pain. God understands we must cry, and we must feel the agony that grief brings, and to suffer means to feel the pain and yes, to even cry out upon feeling the pain. We aren't called to be smiling as our hearts are torn to shreds or our bodies filled with agony. We are called to be thankful to God, we are called to trust in God, we are called to put all our faith in God that all that horror is for some reason we can't begin to understand and yet God does understand and He alone can judge everything. We are not to judge God. Yes, we cry out WHY GOD?! WHY?! And that's natural as well, but ultimately we have to trust that we can't know the why's of God yet we must still trust in Him.
Is it easy? No. It's suffering, it's grief, it's pain, and that is never easy.
Through it all we know Christ placed all His faith and trust in the Father, Satan tempted Him and YES He could have fallen to the temptation. He didn't have a shield around Himself, He didn't have a special protection from sinning, He was tempted LIKE WE ARE IN ALL POINTS and remained without sin. People like to think Christ couldn't have sinned, but that's wrong. He could have and He didn't. He had faith in the Father. He was constantly praying to the Father, constantly seeking the Father and to live for the Father, Christ's conscience was towards God, His Father. His life was lived for the Father, saving us through His suffering.
Ease isn't something we're promised when we have our conscience towards God. Life eternal is the promise we are given through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, by His amazing grace and mercy now and forever.
Amen.
For conscience toward God...
How can we have our conscience toward God?
conscience
conscience (kòn´shens) noun
1. a. The awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong: Let your conscience be your guide. b. A source of moral or ethical judgment or pronouncement: a document that serves as the nation's conscience. c. Conformity to one's own sense of right conduct: a person of unflagging conscience.
2. The part of the superego in psychoanalysis that judges the ethical nature of one's actions and thoughts and then transmits such determinations to the ego for consideration.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
We need an awareness of our moral responsibility to God. When we have our conscience towards God then we prefer what God prefers and not what we naturally prefer selfishly. To have our conscience towards God is thankworthy, meaning we have reason to give thanks if our conscience, if our awareness of our responsibility to God, is pronounced in our lives. Too often people have NO conscience towards God. They've taken God out of their lives entirely believing in themselves, believing in humanity, believing in tangible things that just are because those people are without any thought of God at all.
For conscience toward God it is thankworthy...worth thanks if a man--
-- endures grief and suffers wrongfully.
Being thankful for enduring grief??
Being thankful for suffering wrongfully??
Our senses tells us that's wrong! How can we be thankful for grief, for suffering, how? We should be thankful when we don't have to grieve or suffer, right? Yet here we are being told it's thankworthy to suffer and grieve when we don't deserve to do either. Sure, if we're hateful, spiteful, lying, cheating, and deserving of our grief and suffering we have no one to blame but ourselves for it and being thankful for such suffering is ridiculous. For such suffering we deserve we have no reason to be glad. And you want to say for suffering we don't deserve we should be even less happy about and that's true for the natural man, for the man whose conscience isn't towards God.
If we suffer undeservedly, if we endure grief patiently, thankfully, when we are focused on God guess what? It's is acceptable to God that we do grieve and suffer so. Why? Because Christ suffered for us as an example. He suffered worse than we can ever suffer and He did so without seeking revenge, without ranting and raving, without swearing, He suffered and committed himself to him that judges righteously- He committed Himself to God! He suffered an innocent man as our example. If we are to endure suffering, if we are to endure grief our natural man says to lash out at those causing it all, to give as we are given, to hurt those who are hurting us and yet we can't do that not if our conscience is towards God. With our conscience towards God we suffer as Christ suffered and let God judge. God's judgment isn't clouded by all infallible opinion. God's judgment is true and just and infinitely better than any ability we may think we have to judge. If we let God judge then we are willing to submit ourselves to Him, letting go of our own selfish need to exact revenge and to pay back others for their hurtful, hatefully, horrendous, insidious, reprehensible behavior.
Through Christ we live. Through Christ's righteousness we live. By the suffering of Christ we are healed. No, we aren't promised a live of no suffering and no grief, but we are promised Christ and life eternal through Christ. We are promised that all we endure is nothing compared to what our Savior endured and we should be thankful that we do suffer for Christ, for our conscience towards God because there is life promised in that suffering and grief, a promise through Christ.
1 Peter {2:19} For this [is] thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. {2:20} For what glory [is it,] if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer [for it,] ye take it patiently, this [is] acceptable with God. {2:21} For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: {2:22} Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: {2:23} Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed [himself] to him that judgeth righteously: {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. {2:25} For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
It is so hard for our natural selves to be hurt and to be thankful for that hurt. It is so hard for our natural selves to grieve and be thankful for the grief. Only through Christ is it at all possible to be so, knowing that God is in control. God is in control of our lives and we must trust Him. That doesn't mean we won't grieve- that we are to smile through tears- no, it doesn't mean that at all. It doesn't mean we are to laugh through pain. God understands we must cry, and we must feel the agony that grief brings, and to suffer means to feel the pain and yes, to even cry out upon feeling the pain. We aren't called to be smiling as our hearts are torn to shreds or our bodies filled with agony. We are called to be thankful to God, we are called to trust in God, we are called to put all our faith in God that all that horror is for some reason we can't begin to understand and yet God does understand and He alone can judge everything. We are not to judge God. Yes, we cry out WHY GOD?! WHY?! And that's natural as well, but ultimately we have to trust that we can't know the why's of God yet we must still trust in Him.
Is it easy? No. It's suffering, it's grief, it's pain, and that is never easy.
Through it all we know Christ placed all His faith and trust in the Father, Satan tempted Him and YES He could have fallen to the temptation. He didn't have a shield around Himself, He didn't have a special protection from sinning, He was tempted LIKE WE ARE IN ALL POINTS and remained without sin. People like to think Christ couldn't have sinned, but that's wrong. He could have and He didn't. He had faith in the Father. He was constantly praying to the Father, constantly seeking the Father and to live for the Father, Christ's conscience was towards God, His Father. His life was lived for the Father, saving us through His suffering.
Ease isn't something we're promised when we have our conscience towards God. Life eternal is the promise we are given through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, by His amazing grace and mercy now and forever.
Amen.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Pray now like never before
James {1:13} Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of
God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth
he any man: {1:14} But every man is tempted, when he is
drawn away of his own lust, and enticed
Heb. {11:32} And what shall I
more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and
[of] Barak, and [of] Samson, and [of] Jephthae; [of] David
also, and Samuel, and [of] the prophets: {11:33} Who
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness,
obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, {11:34}
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the
sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in
fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. {11:35}
Women received their dead raised to life again: and others
were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might
obtain a better resurrection: {11:36} And others had trial of
[cruel] mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds
and imprisonment: {11:37} They were stoned, they were
sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword:
they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented; {11:38} (Of whom the world
was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and [in]
mountains, and [in] dens and caves of the earth. {11:39}
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith,
received not the promise: {11:40} God having provided
some better thing for us, that they without us should not be
made perfect.
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.
***
Jesus was tempted like we are- yet without sin. Some argue of course He was without sin, He was God's Son so He had extra power to keep from sinning. I beg to differ. To be tempted like we are He had to feel the temptation, He had to resist the temptation. True, He didn't have the sinful nature- He wasn't born into sin like we are, He didn't inherit sin, but He was tempted like we are and the same amazing miracle that created Jesus inside Mary, a miracle we cannot fathom and in no way could create ourselves also enabled Jesus to live a unique life as One who was tempted like we are. The Bible says so. The Bible doesn't say Jesus was tempted as Adam and Eve were. It could say that, it really could, but it doesn't. Jesus was in all points tempted like we are yet without sin; that's what the Bible says. Not just tempted like we are, but tempted in ALL points like we are. We know what it is like to be tempted don't we? We know what it means to deny ourselves something because we know it's wrong, and we also know what it means to fall to temptation, to give into it and not resist it, not fight it. Often we've embraced sin in our lives to fulfill the lusts of our flesh, you know, to have fun and do as we please.
Jesus was tempted like we are- yet without sin. He resisted temptation, He didn't have to. He felt the pull, the want, the desire and yet he resisted. Satan went after Him full out, He didn't leave Him alone, didn't stop trying to get Jesus to fall into His web of sin.
Those who have faith aren't promised a good life. We are promised the opposite. We are promise deprivation, tormenting, affliction, those are the things we are promised, not happiness, a life of ease, a worry free existence, a pain free life. We are going to be attacked by Satan full out and in many ways, in lots of disguises. If Satan can't get us one way he'll try another, and another, and yes-- another. He won't give up and the only way we can defeat Him is through faith. Not faith in our own ability to do anything at all, but faith in Jesus Christ our Righteousness, our Savior. Faith in Jesus will defeat Satan and Jesus prays for us, prays that our faith won't fail, that it will be strong. In turn when we are strengthened by the love of our Savior we need to help our fellow followers of Christ because all around us and them Satan works without ceasing.
Few of us have trouble believing that Jesus is real, but many of us have trouble making Satan real. It's easier to believe in a good Shepherd watching over us, taking care of us, but harder to name Satan as the one who causes the misery in our lives. You have a bad day where everything seems to go wrong and you tell someone that Satan was really working overtime with you that day and they'll get that squinting look in their eyes that says they think you're a little off your rocker. Sure say you're having a bad day, but don't mention who might be behind it because well...we all have bad days and surely Satan isn't behind all things bad. He's not behind the waking up late and missing the bus, he's not behind the ruined dress that some how became torn in the dryer, he has nothing to do with your spilling that coffee on your trousers... those are just things that happen end of story. To say that Satan caused those things means he's a living enitity that actually controls various things, manipulating them and that just won't do- it's like having poltergiests about and that's just creepy. So, lets say it's true that Satan doesn't do those things, that they just happen. Satan influences our reactions to things that happen will you agree to that? No? So Satan doesn't nothing at all, he's not real? But Jesus was in the wilderness and Satan was surely influencing Him- tempting Him to change a rock into bread and such. Isn't that real? Jesus was tempted in all points like we are; Satan was there tempting Jesus to change a rock into bread so it stands to reason that Satan really tempts us and really puts obstacles in our way that make our lives miserable and then some.
Naming Satan as our enemy is a good thing because we recognize Christ's ability to defeat Satan. Christ DID defeat Him and we through Christ can too. But as long as we refuse to acknowledge the reality we live in we allow Satan to work without being seen, we allow Him to control so much of our lives. If you live knowing that Satan is in control of you and what you do by your choice and it doesn't bother you- pray. Pray that your heart will be pricked by the Holy Spirit, that you'll gain understanding and feel the desire to repent. Do you love this world you live in? Has it given you all you've ever wanted? Is this life pain free? Worry free? No, it's not and it's not for all of us. Even the richest, most beautiful, the luckiest person alive has heartache and pain. Is this life here and now truly the way you want it to be for you and in the end do you want to be as if you've never been? Do you want to never have existed? We only know existing because we are, and we can imagine not being because of those we've lost to death's sleep and are no longer with us. Their existence in our lives is over, but we live with the hope that it's not a permanent loss. There is a permanent loss for us, for them, and yet there doesn't have to be. This world is not our end, or rather it doesn't have to be our end as long as we cling to Jesus and accept His sacrifice for us.
Life now might be horrific in many ways, or maybe it's not so bad, but regardless of our existence now Satan is fighting for us and Jesus died for us. We choose.
Pray now like never before because Satan is working harder than ever before to tear down any faith you may have.
May God bless us and keep us, may our faith grow shielding us from the fiery darts of Satan as the evil one seeks to destroy that faith.
By the grace and mercy our our Righteous Lord and Savior now and forever, in Jesus.
Amen.
God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth
he any man: {1:14} But every man is tempted, when he is
drawn away of his own lust, and enticed
Heb. {11:32} And what shall I
more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and
[of] Barak, and [of] Samson, and [of] Jephthae; [of] David
also, and Samuel, and [of] the prophets: {11:33} Who
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness,
obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, {11:34}
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the
sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in
fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. {11:35}
Women received their dead raised to life again: and others
were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might
obtain a better resurrection: {11:36} And others had trial of
[cruel] mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds
and imprisonment: {11:37} They were stoned, they were
sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword:
they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented; {11:38} (Of whom the world
was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and [in]
mountains, and [in] dens and caves of the earth. {11:39}
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith,
received not the promise: {11:40} God having provided
some better thing for us, that they without us should not be
made perfect.
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.
***
Jesus was tempted like we are- yet without sin. Some argue of course He was without sin, He was God's Son so He had extra power to keep from sinning. I beg to differ. To be tempted like we are He had to feel the temptation, He had to resist the temptation. True, He didn't have the sinful nature- He wasn't born into sin like we are, He didn't inherit sin, but He was tempted like we are and the same amazing miracle that created Jesus inside Mary, a miracle we cannot fathom and in no way could create ourselves also enabled Jesus to live a unique life as One who was tempted like we are. The Bible says so. The Bible doesn't say Jesus was tempted as Adam and Eve were. It could say that, it really could, but it doesn't. Jesus was in all points tempted like we are yet without sin; that's what the Bible says. Not just tempted like we are, but tempted in ALL points like we are. We know what it is like to be tempted don't we? We know what it means to deny ourselves something because we know it's wrong, and we also know what it means to fall to temptation, to give into it and not resist it, not fight it. Often we've embraced sin in our lives to fulfill the lusts of our flesh, you know, to have fun and do as we please.
Jesus was tempted like we are- yet without sin. He resisted temptation, He didn't have to. He felt the pull, the want, the desire and yet he resisted. Satan went after Him full out, He didn't leave Him alone, didn't stop trying to get Jesus to fall into His web of sin.
Those who have faith aren't promised a good life. We are promised the opposite. We are promise deprivation, tormenting, affliction, those are the things we are promised, not happiness, a life of ease, a worry free existence, a pain free life. We are going to be attacked by Satan full out and in many ways, in lots of disguises. If Satan can't get us one way he'll try another, and another, and yes-- another. He won't give up and the only way we can defeat Him is through faith. Not faith in our own ability to do anything at all, but faith in Jesus Christ our Righteousness, our Savior. Faith in Jesus will defeat Satan and Jesus prays for us, prays that our faith won't fail, that it will be strong. In turn when we are strengthened by the love of our Savior we need to help our fellow followers of Christ because all around us and them Satan works without ceasing.
Few of us have trouble believing that Jesus is real, but many of us have trouble making Satan real. It's easier to believe in a good Shepherd watching over us, taking care of us, but harder to name Satan as the one who causes the misery in our lives. You have a bad day where everything seems to go wrong and you tell someone that Satan was really working overtime with you that day and they'll get that squinting look in their eyes that says they think you're a little off your rocker. Sure say you're having a bad day, but don't mention who might be behind it because well...we all have bad days and surely Satan isn't behind all things bad. He's not behind the waking up late and missing the bus, he's not behind the ruined dress that some how became torn in the dryer, he has nothing to do with your spilling that coffee on your trousers... those are just things that happen end of story. To say that Satan caused those things means he's a living enitity that actually controls various things, manipulating them and that just won't do- it's like having poltergiests about and that's just creepy. So, lets say it's true that Satan doesn't do those things, that they just happen. Satan influences our reactions to things that happen will you agree to that? No? So Satan doesn't nothing at all, he's not real? But Jesus was in the wilderness and Satan was surely influencing Him- tempting Him to change a rock into bread and such. Isn't that real? Jesus was tempted in all points like we are; Satan was there tempting Jesus to change a rock into bread so it stands to reason that Satan really tempts us and really puts obstacles in our way that make our lives miserable and then some.
Naming Satan as our enemy is a good thing because we recognize Christ's ability to defeat Satan. Christ DID defeat Him and we through Christ can too. But as long as we refuse to acknowledge the reality we live in we allow Satan to work without being seen, we allow Him to control so much of our lives. If you live knowing that Satan is in control of you and what you do by your choice and it doesn't bother you- pray. Pray that your heart will be pricked by the Holy Spirit, that you'll gain understanding and feel the desire to repent. Do you love this world you live in? Has it given you all you've ever wanted? Is this life pain free? Worry free? No, it's not and it's not for all of us. Even the richest, most beautiful, the luckiest person alive has heartache and pain. Is this life here and now truly the way you want it to be for you and in the end do you want to be as if you've never been? Do you want to never have existed? We only know existing because we are, and we can imagine not being because of those we've lost to death's sleep and are no longer with us. Their existence in our lives is over, but we live with the hope that it's not a permanent loss. There is a permanent loss for us, for them, and yet there doesn't have to be. This world is not our end, or rather it doesn't have to be our end as long as we cling to Jesus and accept His sacrifice for us.
Life now might be horrific in many ways, or maybe it's not so bad, but regardless of our existence now Satan is fighting for us and Jesus died for us. We choose.
Pray now like never before because Satan is working harder than ever before to tear down any faith you may have.
May God bless us and keep us, may our faith grow shielding us from the fiery darts of Satan as the evil one seeks to destroy that faith.
By the grace and mercy our our Righteous Lord and Savior now and forever, in Jesus.
Amen.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Our sufficency is of God.
2 John {1:4} I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children
walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from
the Father. {1:5} And now I beseech thee, lady, not as
though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that
which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
{1:6} And this is love, that we walk after his
commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have
heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
From the beginning the commandment was to love one another. How could it be otherwise? God is love. When man fell into sin it was into a world that knew only love and now it would know the opposite of love, it would know hatred. The commandment to love is a command to live. People try to make it so God is harsh and restrictive, but He's love and all He asks is out of love. Loving one another is so important. Loving one another is what it's all about. Love. Putting others before ourselves. Putting God before ourselves. We walk in love.
1 John {4:11} Beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another. {4:12} No man
hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God
dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. {4:13}
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit.
No man has seen God at any time.
No man has seen God.
God dwells in us... if we love one another. God's love is perfected in us.
We know we dwell in God and God in us because God's given us his Spirit.
With the Holy Spirit in us, living in us, we know that God's love is in us and we can love with God's love. We need the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit will help us to love with God's love. Nothing is of ourselves.
2 Cor. {3:4} And such trust have we through Christ to Godward:
{3:5} Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency [is] of God
Our sufficency is of God.
We are NOT sufficient of ourselves.
May the Lord bless us and keep us, may the Holy Spirit dwell in us so that we may love one another with the only true and powerful love that is God's, all through the love of Christ, by His grace and His mercy now and forever.
Amen.
walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from
the Father. {1:5} And now I beseech thee, lady, not as
though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that
which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
{1:6} And this is love, that we walk after his
commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have
heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
From the beginning the commandment was to love one another. How could it be otherwise? God is love. When man fell into sin it was into a world that knew only love and now it would know the opposite of love, it would know hatred. The commandment to love is a command to live. People try to make it so God is harsh and restrictive, but He's love and all He asks is out of love. Loving one another is so important. Loving one another is what it's all about. Love. Putting others before ourselves. Putting God before ourselves. We walk in love.
1 John {4:11} Beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another. {4:12} No man
hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God
dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. {4:13}
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit.
No man has seen God at any time.
No man has seen God.
God dwells in us... if we love one another. God's love is perfected in us.
We know we dwell in God and God in us because God's given us his Spirit.
With the Holy Spirit in us, living in us, we know that God's love is in us and we can love with God's love. We need the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit will help us to love with God's love. Nothing is of ourselves.
2 Cor. {3:4} And such trust have we through Christ to Godward:
{3:5} Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency [is] of God
Our sufficency is of God.
We are NOT sufficient of ourselves.
May the Lord bless us and keep us, may the Holy Spirit dwell in us so that we may love one another with the only true and powerful love that is God's, all through the love of Christ, by His grace and His mercy now and forever.
Amen.
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