James
{4:13} Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: {4:14} Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
{4:15} For that ye [ought] to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
{4:16} But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
{4:17} Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin.
Planning our lives. We all make plans or I should say, most of us make plans for our future whether it is just our immediate future or possibly our far future. We might make plans to go to the store in an hour, or go to work the next day, or take a vacation in six months, retire in thirty years. We make our plans with the belief that we will be alive to fulfil those plans and why shouldn't we? There's no sense in planning on not being about to do so. Living day to day without any planning could leave you in very dire straits. It's not impossible to live that way, but it's not very wise either. Yet life, as it says in the verse above, 'It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away.' We have very little control over when we die. You can be the healthiest person by all medical standards and you'll still die. Health is no preventor of the freak accident. Our lives are but vapours- wisps of air in the grand scheme that is called life. So, do we not plan because we might die? No. We do plan but we do so by the grace of God at His mercy, His will. 'If the Lord will we shall lie and do this or that.' If the Lord will may all our plans be realized. So, is it safe to say that if something doesn't go according to our planning that God doesn't will that it happen? I believe it's safe and comforting to know that if we live with God's will the most prominent thing in our lives that we can trust Him to see us through to the end no matter what happens. If our plans fall apart and we want to cry we need to take comfort that the Lord's will, will be done some how, some way even through the disappointments that we cannot comprehend.
If we boast that we are in control of our destinies, that we've attained this or that by our own will, by our own effort it is wrong and it is ungodly to do so. We cannot boast of our successes as if they were all our and due to our planning, and the realization of that planning. By the grace of God we can boast in HIM. Give glory to Him, give praise to Him that made it all possible. It's so wonderful to see a winning athelete down on their knees thanking God and not taking the credit for their victory even as people look on and want to say- but the athelete did all the hard work, why are they thanking God. Perhaps the athelete realizes that all the hard work in the world will not give a victory, a true victory. Perhaps they realize that their very strength to do all the work comes from God, their Creator. When people thank God it is an acknowledgement that God is in control, God reigns, and God wills. We can boast all we want and it will be evil because we don't hold the control over our life or our death. If we know to do good and we choose not to... we sin. If we know our lives are by the grace and mercy of our Lord and we lay claim to them ourselves as if God had nothing to do with them, we sin. If we know better and still do it...we sin. With the knowledge of right from wrong we have an obligation to choose the right over the wrong, or it is sin.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless and keep us by His grace and His everlasting mercy and love for us. May we have discernment by that grace through the Holy Spirit living in us to know right from wrong and to choose the right over the wrong so that we may not willfully sin. May we boast only in Christ and not in ourselves at all. God is the giver of all life and it is in Him that we live and breath to accomplish His good will, not our own, whatever that will maybe.
All praise, honor, and glory to God!
In Christ,
Amen
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Jesus Sacrificed His Life So We Could Live Forever With Him
Rev. {14:14} And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud [one] sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
14:15} And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
{14:16} And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
{14:17} And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
{14:18} And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
{14:19} And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
{14:20} And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space
of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.
*******
We've said it before and we have to say it again, there are two sides to life.
Good and Evil.
We will number among one or the other.
The Good side is God's side and when the end of the world is come- when the harvest is ripe those that are God's will be harvested by Him, brought into Him, taken to Him as something special.
When we sow gardens we watch them and wait for the harvest of whatever we've planted. God has sown this harvest and He watches, He waits for the time of the harvest. When the harvest of humanity is ripe- when man has become all they can become and the time for the harvest arrives there will be a reaping. For every crop sown there is a harvest. Will every seed sprout? No. Will every seed reach full growth? No. Will the plot of land the harvest was sown upon stay free of weeds? Will bad seeds producing a weak, unacceptable fruit be kept from this harvest? If one comes to finally harvest what they've sown they look for any weak, sickly fruit and they don't accept them into the harvest- they reject the weeds that have grown alongside the good plants. It is at harvest time the result is fully known. All the plants are brought up so the ground is cleared, the good plants are kept all the bad plants and the unacceptable plants are tossed into the garbage, the fire, the wine press- they're destroyed.
This analogy is correct and given to us for a reason.
We are the plants to be harvested.
We are either good or bad, in this harvest there is nothing that will be considered so-so, no place at all for anything but the acceptable and unacceptable.
Jesus will come again and take His people home with Him. The rest will be destroyed. Those not with God, those not receiving the love of God that they might be saved will be lost. We know He's coming for us.
Jesus came and died on that cross for us so He could return and take us home with Him. He died to save us. He died to give us hope of a future in Him, with Him, for Him.
If I were going to make a sacrifice in my life so someone could reap the benefits of that sacrifice, I am not making that sacrifice without a reason. I hope and expect there to be those who will take advantage of the opportunity my sacrifice affords them.
You've sacrificed before haven't you? Perhaps you sacrificed a night out so you could help another, is your sacrifice worth it if the other refuses your help? It's worth it to your own integrity, but you would not have made that sacrifice if you didn't think it would result in something, right?
Sacrifices are made for reasons and Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for a reason too. We cannot talk of Jesus' love without realizing that His love meant that He died to save us. Save us for what? For an eternity with Him. He promised when he walked the earth before He was sacrificed, that he would come again.
John {14:3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also
Jesus died so we could live. Jesus died so we could live forever with Him. In love with Him we seek to be ready for Him when He returns as countless people have done throughout the ages. Countless people looked for His return. It is prophesized that among those- the last of God's people- many will be lukewarm, that zeal for Christ will be gone. We've more than reached that age when God's people have come to a place where they no longer have a fire for the message Jesus brought with Him, the message He lived and died for. Christ is coming again! He is, and while many stay in a place where they are neither hot nor cold, we can't be among them! We must have a fire, a zeal for God. We must have a fiery heat that is alive for Christ and His returning.
May God help us to be among those harvested as Christ's. May we become on fire for Him, our zeal scorching hot as we await His return! Christ lived and died for us and He lives again forever for us. By His mercy, by His grace, may we live for Him and be acceptable to Him, through Him our Righteousness.
Amen.
14:15} And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
{14:16} And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
{14:17} And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
{14:18} And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
{14:19} And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
{14:20} And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space
of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.
*******
We've said it before and we have to say it again, there are two sides to life.
Good and Evil.
We will number among one or the other.
The Good side is God's side and when the end of the world is come- when the harvest is ripe those that are God's will be harvested by Him, brought into Him, taken to Him as something special.
When we sow gardens we watch them and wait for the harvest of whatever we've planted. God has sown this harvest and He watches, He waits for the time of the harvest. When the harvest of humanity is ripe- when man has become all they can become and the time for the harvest arrives there will be a reaping. For every crop sown there is a harvest. Will every seed sprout? No. Will every seed reach full growth? No. Will the plot of land the harvest was sown upon stay free of weeds? Will bad seeds producing a weak, unacceptable fruit be kept from this harvest? If one comes to finally harvest what they've sown they look for any weak, sickly fruit and they don't accept them into the harvest- they reject the weeds that have grown alongside the good plants. It is at harvest time the result is fully known. All the plants are brought up so the ground is cleared, the good plants are kept all the bad plants and the unacceptable plants are tossed into the garbage, the fire, the wine press- they're destroyed.
This analogy is correct and given to us for a reason.
We are the plants to be harvested.
We are either good or bad, in this harvest there is nothing that will be considered so-so, no place at all for anything but the acceptable and unacceptable.
Jesus will come again and take His people home with Him. The rest will be destroyed. Those not with God, those not receiving the love of God that they might be saved will be lost. We know He's coming for us.
Jesus came and died on that cross for us so He could return and take us home with Him. He died to save us. He died to give us hope of a future in Him, with Him, for Him.
If I were going to make a sacrifice in my life so someone could reap the benefits of that sacrifice, I am not making that sacrifice without a reason. I hope and expect there to be those who will take advantage of the opportunity my sacrifice affords them.
You've sacrificed before haven't you? Perhaps you sacrificed a night out so you could help another, is your sacrifice worth it if the other refuses your help? It's worth it to your own integrity, but you would not have made that sacrifice if you didn't think it would result in something, right?
Sacrifices are made for reasons and Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for a reason too. We cannot talk of Jesus' love without realizing that His love meant that He died to save us. Save us for what? For an eternity with Him. He promised when he walked the earth before He was sacrificed, that he would come again.
John {14:3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also
Jesus died so we could live. Jesus died so we could live forever with Him. In love with Him we seek to be ready for Him when He returns as countless people have done throughout the ages. Countless people looked for His return. It is prophesized that among those- the last of God's people- many will be lukewarm, that zeal for Christ will be gone. We've more than reached that age when God's people have come to a place where they no longer have a fire for the message Jesus brought with Him, the message He lived and died for. Christ is coming again! He is, and while many stay in a place where they are neither hot nor cold, we can't be among them! We must have a fire, a zeal for God. We must have a fiery heat that is alive for Christ and His returning.
May God help us to be among those harvested as Christ's. May we become on fire for Him, our zeal scorching hot as we await His return! Christ lived and died for us and He lives again forever for us. By His mercy, by His grace, may we live for Him and be acceptable to Him, through Him our Righteousness.
Amen.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Kept from Evil
Today I've listened to a couple of Bible Studies taped by William Grotheer on Revelation 13 and 14. It's so much to try and comprehend and yet I think it's very important that we do try and understand. These prophecies concern US. We who are alive in the end times before Jesus' second coming! This is us! All the signs point to it and yet I can hear the moaning and groaning about every generation believing that way and how you don't want to be among the duped, silly fools who believe in such things. I have to ask you, what harm is there in believing? None. But...what harm is there in NOT believing? Plenty. Do you want to be numbered among Satan's or Christ's? There is only one or the other no other options, no other plans to look over and choose. There is A or B no C,D,E,F or G and there is NO way to create any more plans, none.
It is so important that we remember this, that we live this, that we understand, that people understand.
Back in the days of Jesus the Jewish people were expecting a Messiah to come and yet they rejected Jesus, the Messiah... they had Him crucified, why?
We've all probably watched movies or shows, or even read books with characters blindly writing to each other developing a relationship that seems strong and yet then they meet each other and BAM! they aren't what each other expected. What? You've experienced this yourself in a blind date? Don't the people setting others up on their blind dates tell the person they're setting up what their blind date is like? As a rule they do. Blind dates are stigmatized because they're notorious for setting up an undesirable person with another person who doesn't consider themselves to be unworthy enough to be with the undesirable one. The ugly cousin from out of town. The fat friend who needs a pity date. We know the stories and yet sometimes we are told what? We are told that the person isn't undesirable but very beautiful, very smart and everything you might want in a date. Expectations are formed.
We get caught up in expectations don't we? We perceive how we want something or someone to be and we hold our hopes high that the expectation will be met. We set up pictures in our minds eye of how things will turn out.
The longed for Messiah, the Jewish people had their expectations of the Messiah, and they still do because they rejected Christ as their Messiah. The visions they had weren't met in Jesus so it was easy to reject Him. Yet history proves He was the Messiah they rejected. Their own Torah (their own Testament) said that Christ would be rejected. Yet they were blinded to it all because they only believed what they WANTED to believe no more, no less.
We fall into dangerous territory when we are dealing with the future and the hopes we have. People all over have drawn up different scenarios for how the end times will all take place.
Let me ask you something-
Are you waiting for something special before you'll believe anything about the Lord's Second Coming is true? Are you waiting for a billboard to go up about town giving you the day and hour? Are you waiting for some horrible monster in human form to come about and start taking over things so that everything is obvious? Are you waiting for a mark to be forced upon you so you can deny it and then give your life fully to Christ? Are you waiting for signs of Jesus' return to become more prominent to you? If you're waiting you're in for a shocking, eternal death producing surprise.
'Romans 13:11 11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.'
2 Corinthians 7:10 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Titus 2:11 11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Hebrews 2:3 3How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Hebrews 9:28 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
1 Peter 1:5 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:9-10 9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
Salvation will be ours! It is promised to us. Jesus died to give us this promise through Him. We are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation. We can't escape if we neglect so great a salvation. The grace of God bringeth salvation. Our salvation is nearer than we believed. The end of our faith is salvation.
We can't wait for signs of Christ's second coming before we give our lives, our love, our hearts to Christ, we can't! If we are waiting for anything at all we have to give up the expectation of things to come. We have to take hold of what we know, what we have here and now and by the Holy Spirit grasp hold of all that Jesus has to offer us, now. We have to live for Jesus NOW, not later, not when we see signs. The signs are to guide us and the signs should be watched for but not with concrete expectations of changing our lives when we see a supposed sign. Our lives have to be changed right NOW, and not changed by us, but by Christ. We have to give Christ our lives only then will we be changed by Him, for Him.
The Jewish people rejected Christ as they held fast to their preconceived ideas of what their Messiah should be like. Are we clinging to various things we think must come to pass before Christ comes? Do we have our notions all set up and are our eyes peeled looking for the signs to fit those notions? How rigid are we being?
Maybe we can't know for a fact that a sign has taken place. Maybe there isn't a website we can go to that tells us beyond a shadow of a doubt that the prophecies of these last days are starting to fall into place. Maybe we have to trust in God to perform that which He's told us He will perform and trust that if we can see what we believe to be a sign that the ONE thing it does more than anything else is draws us closer to Christ, not anything else. If we are using signs to take steps in our lives to prepare then we're going to be lost, irrevocably lost. The end is coming and how should you be prepared for it? What does it mean?
What would you think it meant if you were to get that factual sign? What would you do then? Would you have to alter a way of life? Would you run off to hide somewhere away from where you perceive conflict will be had? Would you stock up on food? Would you build a shelter? Would you suddenly start delving into the Bible? Would your life be one constant prayer? Would you find it easier to fall to your knees?
Guess what? God doesn't give us that sort of scenario. Even with ALL His prophecies He doesn't give us the scenario that so many want to have. He doesn't say I'm going to tap you on the shoulder so get ready. He doesn't hold up a cue card giving us our lines. He doesn't send warnings more than His word itself is our warning.
From the time of the exodus when He took His people out of bondage and brought them to a place to make a covenant with them, from that moment on He's expected His people to know what kind of God He is, and what He expects of us. He didn't hide Himself. He didn't neglect to inform us of who He is and what His ideas are. He's made it plain, very plain. We have a book that is thousands of years old and in that book there is the message of Him. He's giving us a conscience, we are born with that conscience. God has allowed us access to Him. No, we don't get front row seats, because we'd perish if we were given them simply because of how unworthy we are of them. We are given seats in the back row but we are ALL invited to this concert called life and knowing God. Some can choose not to take a seat and head out the door, but that is their choice. We should all be desirous of this concert and head right on in to the auditorium which we access through prayer and worship, through study of God's word. He wants us to know Him. He sent His only Son to die for us so that we could get to know Him and His unfathomable mercy and grace, His unimaginable, incomprehensible, amazing love that goes far beyond our sordid concept of the word. We fight to stay married to our husband or wife, and we call that love. We have children we put conditions upon and we call that love. We own pets and we call that love. We've no real understanding of love until we look to Jesus only then do we begin to glimpse that amazing love.
No. We aren't going to be given any special promotional email or postcard, or see a promotional sign in the supermarket or the local drugstore. We're not going to see poster boards up on lamp posts, or telephone poles. We're not going to see a person wearing a board, or holding a sign advertising the day of Jesus' return for those who have found and claimed salvation in Him.
In fact... many, many, many people... most people... the majority of people will be going about their day to day lives when He comes. What does that tell us?
You tout the seven last plagues as signs and ask how in the world can people go about their day to day lives when the plagues are falling down upon them?
It will be.
We don't know how it will all work, but we are told it will work- it will happen. Maybe the plagues will fall some here and some there. We don't know exactly, but we know it will happen. People will be living their lives just as they are now. I heard just the other day, '...but we have to live in this world.' Yes, we have to live in this world, but not OF this world. We can live, we can have our jobs, plan for our futures with the hope so mingled into all those plans and actions of Christ's soon return that we aren't living a life separate to what God would have us live. Yes, we have to live in this world, we do and Christ didn't pray that we would be taken out of it prior to His return for us, He prayed that we should be kept from EVIL. John {17:15} 'I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.' Christ KNEW we'd be surrounded by the evil of this world, but He prayed to the Father that we would be kept from the evil while living surrounded by it. Do you doubt you can live in the world and be kept from evil? If so then you doubt the Word of God! You doubt Jesus! Where is your faith?! Where is your hope?!
We have to have hope! We have to have faith in Jesus and all His promises to save us. We can't expect to save ourselves. As long as we look to save ourselves then we will only feel the weight of the world pressing down on us telling us that we will never be saved. Christ is our hope. Yes, we need to afflict our souls in these last days of probation before time is up and our fates are forever decided. We need to afflict our souls. Afflict them. We need to question our lives, our actions, our very intentions! We need to know beyond a doubt that NOTHING we do will ever amount to anything, that we cannot save ourselves! We have to afflict our souls with this knowledge. We have to ask for forgiveness in that affliction, BEG for forgiveness for our sins against our Savior! Cling to Jesus and the hope He gives us that He will forgive us, He will if we ask. Yes, afflict our souls as we seek forgiveness, as we seek to be perfected by Him, this is what we need to do and YES, I shout it again YES!!!! We can afflict our souls while living our everyday lives. We can. We have to! Jesus left us in this world and prayed we'd be kept from evil, He didn't transport us to a place where we'd be able to live sin free. That place is in Heaven with Him after He comes to take us Home with Him! We will be transported then but right now, today, this very hour, this very minute we have to live here and now and yes, do so with Jesus in our hearts, afflicting our souls and clinging to our One and ONLY hope, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior now and forever!
Amen.
It is so important that we remember this, that we live this, that we understand, that people understand.
Back in the days of Jesus the Jewish people were expecting a Messiah to come and yet they rejected Jesus, the Messiah... they had Him crucified, why?
We've all probably watched movies or shows, or even read books with characters blindly writing to each other developing a relationship that seems strong and yet then they meet each other and BAM! they aren't what each other expected. What? You've experienced this yourself in a blind date? Don't the people setting others up on their blind dates tell the person they're setting up what their blind date is like? As a rule they do. Blind dates are stigmatized because they're notorious for setting up an undesirable person with another person who doesn't consider themselves to be unworthy enough to be with the undesirable one. The ugly cousin from out of town. The fat friend who needs a pity date. We know the stories and yet sometimes we are told what? We are told that the person isn't undesirable but very beautiful, very smart and everything you might want in a date. Expectations are formed.
We get caught up in expectations don't we? We perceive how we want something or someone to be and we hold our hopes high that the expectation will be met. We set up pictures in our minds eye of how things will turn out.
The longed for Messiah, the Jewish people had their expectations of the Messiah, and they still do because they rejected Christ as their Messiah. The visions they had weren't met in Jesus so it was easy to reject Him. Yet history proves He was the Messiah they rejected. Their own Torah (their own Testament) said that Christ would be rejected. Yet they were blinded to it all because they only believed what they WANTED to believe no more, no less.
We fall into dangerous territory when we are dealing with the future and the hopes we have. People all over have drawn up different scenarios for how the end times will all take place.
Let me ask you something-
Are you waiting for something special before you'll believe anything about the Lord's Second Coming is true? Are you waiting for a billboard to go up about town giving you the day and hour? Are you waiting for some horrible monster in human form to come about and start taking over things so that everything is obvious? Are you waiting for a mark to be forced upon you so you can deny it and then give your life fully to Christ? Are you waiting for signs of Jesus' return to become more prominent to you? If you're waiting you're in for a shocking, eternal death producing surprise.
'Romans 13:11 11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.'
2 Corinthians 7:10 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Titus 2:11 11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Hebrews 2:3 3How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Hebrews 9:28 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
1 Peter 1:5 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:9-10 9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
Salvation will be ours! It is promised to us. Jesus died to give us this promise through Him. We are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation. We can't escape if we neglect so great a salvation. The grace of God bringeth salvation. Our salvation is nearer than we believed. The end of our faith is salvation.
We can't wait for signs of Christ's second coming before we give our lives, our love, our hearts to Christ, we can't! If we are waiting for anything at all we have to give up the expectation of things to come. We have to take hold of what we know, what we have here and now and by the Holy Spirit grasp hold of all that Jesus has to offer us, now. We have to live for Jesus NOW, not later, not when we see signs. The signs are to guide us and the signs should be watched for but not with concrete expectations of changing our lives when we see a supposed sign. Our lives have to be changed right NOW, and not changed by us, but by Christ. We have to give Christ our lives only then will we be changed by Him, for Him.
The Jewish people rejected Christ as they held fast to their preconceived ideas of what their Messiah should be like. Are we clinging to various things we think must come to pass before Christ comes? Do we have our notions all set up and are our eyes peeled looking for the signs to fit those notions? How rigid are we being?
Maybe we can't know for a fact that a sign has taken place. Maybe there isn't a website we can go to that tells us beyond a shadow of a doubt that the prophecies of these last days are starting to fall into place. Maybe we have to trust in God to perform that which He's told us He will perform and trust that if we can see what we believe to be a sign that the ONE thing it does more than anything else is draws us closer to Christ, not anything else. If we are using signs to take steps in our lives to prepare then we're going to be lost, irrevocably lost. The end is coming and how should you be prepared for it? What does it mean?
What would you think it meant if you were to get that factual sign? What would you do then? Would you have to alter a way of life? Would you run off to hide somewhere away from where you perceive conflict will be had? Would you stock up on food? Would you build a shelter? Would you suddenly start delving into the Bible? Would your life be one constant prayer? Would you find it easier to fall to your knees?
Guess what? God doesn't give us that sort of scenario. Even with ALL His prophecies He doesn't give us the scenario that so many want to have. He doesn't say I'm going to tap you on the shoulder so get ready. He doesn't hold up a cue card giving us our lines. He doesn't send warnings more than His word itself is our warning.
From the time of the exodus when He took His people out of bondage and brought them to a place to make a covenant with them, from that moment on He's expected His people to know what kind of God He is, and what He expects of us. He didn't hide Himself. He didn't neglect to inform us of who He is and what His ideas are. He's made it plain, very plain. We have a book that is thousands of years old and in that book there is the message of Him. He's giving us a conscience, we are born with that conscience. God has allowed us access to Him. No, we don't get front row seats, because we'd perish if we were given them simply because of how unworthy we are of them. We are given seats in the back row but we are ALL invited to this concert called life and knowing God. Some can choose not to take a seat and head out the door, but that is their choice. We should all be desirous of this concert and head right on in to the auditorium which we access through prayer and worship, through study of God's word. He wants us to know Him. He sent His only Son to die for us so that we could get to know Him and His unfathomable mercy and grace, His unimaginable, incomprehensible, amazing love that goes far beyond our sordid concept of the word. We fight to stay married to our husband or wife, and we call that love. We have children we put conditions upon and we call that love. We own pets and we call that love. We've no real understanding of love until we look to Jesus only then do we begin to glimpse that amazing love.
No. We aren't going to be given any special promotional email or postcard, or see a promotional sign in the supermarket or the local drugstore. We're not going to see poster boards up on lamp posts, or telephone poles. We're not going to see a person wearing a board, or holding a sign advertising the day of Jesus' return for those who have found and claimed salvation in Him.
In fact... many, many, many people... most people... the majority of people will be going about their day to day lives when He comes. What does that tell us?
You tout the seven last plagues as signs and ask how in the world can people go about their day to day lives when the plagues are falling down upon them?
It will be.
We don't know how it will all work, but we are told it will work- it will happen. Maybe the plagues will fall some here and some there. We don't know exactly, but we know it will happen. People will be living their lives just as they are now. I heard just the other day, '...but we have to live in this world.' Yes, we have to live in this world, but not OF this world. We can live, we can have our jobs, plan for our futures with the hope so mingled into all those plans and actions of Christ's soon return that we aren't living a life separate to what God would have us live. Yes, we have to live in this world, we do and Christ didn't pray that we would be taken out of it prior to His return for us, He prayed that we should be kept from EVIL. John {17:15} 'I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.' Christ KNEW we'd be surrounded by the evil of this world, but He prayed to the Father that we would be kept from the evil while living surrounded by it. Do you doubt you can live in the world and be kept from evil? If so then you doubt the Word of God! You doubt Jesus! Where is your faith?! Where is your hope?!
We have to have hope! We have to have faith in Jesus and all His promises to save us. We can't expect to save ourselves. As long as we look to save ourselves then we will only feel the weight of the world pressing down on us telling us that we will never be saved. Christ is our hope. Yes, we need to afflict our souls in these last days of probation before time is up and our fates are forever decided. We need to afflict our souls. Afflict them. We need to question our lives, our actions, our very intentions! We need to know beyond a doubt that NOTHING we do will ever amount to anything, that we cannot save ourselves! We have to afflict our souls with this knowledge. We have to ask for forgiveness in that affliction, BEG for forgiveness for our sins against our Savior! Cling to Jesus and the hope He gives us that He will forgive us, He will if we ask. Yes, afflict our souls as we seek forgiveness, as we seek to be perfected by Him, this is what we need to do and YES, I shout it again YES!!!! We can afflict our souls while living our everyday lives. We can. We have to! Jesus left us in this world and prayed we'd be kept from evil, He didn't transport us to a place where we'd be able to live sin free. That place is in Heaven with Him after He comes to take us Home with Him! We will be transported then but right now, today, this very hour, this very minute we have to live here and now and yes, do so with Jesus in our hearts, afflicting our souls and clinging to our One and ONLY hope, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior now and forever!
Amen.
Friday, July 10, 2009
God has chosen the poor of this world
James
{2:1} My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons.
{2:2} For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; {2:3} And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool
{2:4} Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
{2:5} Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
{2:6} But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
*
How often do we graviate towards those that are clean, and upright, far from anything that reminds of those we call vagabonds, vagrants, bums, homeless street people, scary people. That's what they are to a lot of us- scary people. We fear them more than pity them. Though sometimes even fear turns to digust. Digust, fear, are some even angry at them? We imagine that at least if we aren't like the worst of the worst somehow we are *better* than they are. Being better than someone gives people a thrill of sorts, makes them feel better than they would if they didn't have someone to feel they're better than.
Reading this verse above it tells it like it is doesn't it?
We have respect to those who are dressed nice and have wealth and poise, and we want to please them while we shove those who don't meet those criterea out of the way, we are condescending to them for whatever reason we might come up with- fear, anger, or disgust, comtempt, you name it. Sure there are reasons why- we might assume these people are disease carriers- lice and whatnot, or unhealthy with contagious disease; surely one who looks like they should be sick has more of a chance of being sick. Logically the most well dressed, best looking person in all the world could still be a disease carrier but we don't assume that at all.
This part here- 'Are ye not then partial in yourselves and are become judges of evil thoughts?' That can be taken two ways- someone trying to judge evil thoughts or...having evil thoughts yourself because you judge others unjustly. We have become judges - having evil thoughts about others, putting on airs, being ungodly for sure because Jesus Christ would not act that way and we as his followers shouldn't act that way either. The poor, those who are considered the lowest of the low in our societies are the fartherst from the lowest. It is the world's chosen that underneath all their glitter and false beauty who possess the evil we like to associate solely with the lower society. This isn't to say that those who appear to be vile aren't, but there is a vileness of heart that God knows and we can only imagine.
'Hearken my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world - rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?'
God has CHOSEN the poor of this world-- RICH in FAITH!
Heirs of the kingdom which he hath PROMISED to them that LOVE HIM!
God help us all to realize just how poor we are without Him. It is only with Him that we are rich in faith. Heirs to the kingdom are given the promise, and the heirs are those that truly love him through that faith.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ now and forver, may we be heirs to the kingdom and not those who take on airs looking at the worldly things as those concerned only with worldly things do.
Amen
{2:1} My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons.
{2:2} For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; {2:3} And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool
{2:4} Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
{2:5} Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
{2:6} But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
*
How often do we graviate towards those that are clean, and upright, far from anything that reminds of those we call vagabonds, vagrants, bums, homeless street people, scary people. That's what they are to a lot of us- scary people. We fear them more than pity them. Though sometimes even fear turns to digust. Digust, fear, are some even angry at them? We imagine that at least if we aren't like the worst of the worst somehow we are *better* than they are. Being better than someone gives people a thrill of sorts, makes them feel better than they would if they didn't have someone to feel they're better than.
Reading this verse above it tells it like it is doesn't it?
We have respect to those who are dressed nice and have wealth and poise, and we want to please them while we shove those who don't meet those criterea out of the way, we are condescending to them for whatever reason we might come up with- fear, anger, or disgust, comtempt, you name it. Sure there are reasons why- we might assume these people are disease carriers- lice and whatnot, or unhealthy with contagious disease; surely one who looks like they should be sick has more of a chance of being sick. Logically the most well dressed, best looking person in all the world could still be a disease carrier but we don't assume that at all.
This part here- 'Are ye not then partial in yourselves and are become judges of evil thoughts?' That can be taken two ways- someone trying to judge evil thoughts or...having evil thoughts yourself because you judge others unjustly. We have become judges - having evil thoughts about others, putting on airs, being ungodly for sure because Jesus Christ would not act that way and we as his followers shouldn't act that way either. The poor, those who are considered the lowest of the low in our societies are the fartherst from the lowest. It is the world's chosen that underneath all their glitter and false beauty who possess the evil we like to associate solely with the lower society. This isn't to say that those who appear to be vile aren't, but there is a vileness of heart that God knows and we can only imagine.
'Hearken my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world - rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?'
God has CHOSEN the poor of this world-- RICH in FAITH!
Heirs of the kingdom which he hath PROMISED to them that LOVE HIM!
God help us all to realize just how poor we are without Him. It is only with Him that we are rich in faith. Heirs to the kingdom are given the promise, and the heirs are those that truly love him through that faith.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ now and forver, may we be heirs to the kingdom and not those who take on airs looking at the worldly things as those concerned only with worldly things do.
Amen
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Perfection
Gen. {6:9} These [are] the generations of Noah: Noah was a
just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah
walked with God.
Gen. {17:1} And when Abram was ninety years old and nine,
the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I [am] the
Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
Walk before me and be thou perfect.
If Abram didn't walk before God could he have been perfect?
Was it the walk to stand before God, was it the action of walking, the action Abram took by walking to stand before God, that made him perfect?
Was he perfect in and of himself?
That sort of perfection is impossible isn't it?
God makes us perfect we *can't* make ourselves perfect.
Can something that isn't complete be perfect?
If you have 3 quarters of a circle is it perfect? It is a perfect 3/4 of a circle, but can it be considered a perfect circle? No. Because to be a perfect circle it would need to be completely round not just 3/4's round. If you say something is perfect you are indicating that there is nothing missing from it, right?
If someone does something for you and you tell them they've done a perfect job, you mean they've done all you expected of them, their work is completely satisfactory. You would not say that if in fact their work was not perfect, if it didn't satisfy and meet your requirements.
Stand before God and be perfect- standing anywhere else are you perfect? No.
It was because Abram walked, that he moved himself from one place to another that he became perfect. Had Abram not moved, had Abram not walked to stand before God he could not have found the perfection God desired of Him.
Lev. {22:21} And
whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the
LORD to accomplish [his] vow, or a freewill offering in
beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there
shall be no blemish therein.
Could you bring a sickly sin offering to God? No. You could not bring anything less than what would be considered perfect. What does this say? This tells us that God wants what is best and only what is best. God wants a sacrifice befitting Him. If God wants the sin offering to be perfect it stands to reason for us to be acceptable to Him we too would need to be perfect in Him. It's because we are not perfect that we needed to bring a sin offering in the first place. Is it no wonder our sin offering needed to be perfect without any obvious blemish. God cannot accept anything less than perfection.
Jesus is perfection for us.
But we need Jesus for His perfection to be considered ours.
If we don't have Jesus standing before God as our perfect sacrifice we cannot walk with God.
We can beat ourselves totally senseless striving for perfection in and of ourselves. But what we really need to be doing is striving to be closer and closer to Christ so He can work in us.
James {1:4} But let patience have [her]
perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting
nothing.
The word perfect here in the margin is defined as completeness.
Deut. {18:13} Thou shalt be perfect with the
LORD thy God.
The word perfect in the margin here is defined as entirely obedient.
Remember talking about the completeness of perfection? The circle?
Well now we have the obedience of perfection. If someone is less than entirely obedient are they perfect?
If we reward a child for behaving we are rewarding the time frame for which they were expected to behave within, not for just being a little bit perfect. There is NO such thing as a little perfection is there? Perfect indicates a whole, a completeness, and being entirely obedient.
For us to be perfect before God we have to be entirely obedient to Him, we have to possess the willingness to be entriely obedient to God. Seriously do we want to be entirely obedient to God? Do we?
If we don't have at least the willingness to be entirely obedient to God can we walk before Him in His perfection?
No, we don't have to be perfect to come to God, we have to have the willingness to be made perfect by Him.
2 Sam. {22:33} God [is] my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.
He- God- makes our ways perfect. We don't make our own ways perfect.
John {17:23} I in them, and thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou
hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Jesus in us.
God in Jesus.
We are made perfect in Jesus.
We are loved by Jesus as God loves Jesus.
God loves His son with a perfect love. Jesus loves us with a perfect love.
C.S. Lewis- From Mere Christianity Chapter- Counting the Cost
'I find a good many people have been bothered by what I said in the last
chapter about Our Lord's words, "Be ye perfect." Some people seem to think
this means "Unless you are perfect, I will not help you"; and as we cannot
be perfect, then, if He meant that, our position is hopeless. But I do not
think He did mean that. I think He meant "The only help I will give is help
to become perfect. You may want something less: but I will give you nothing
less." '
It is not- Until you are perfect I will not help you.
But rather- The only help I will give you is help to become perfect.
If we were perfect in and of ourselves we would need no one to made us perfect and the truth is, we need Jesus and His perfection. We stand before God in the shadow of Jesus' perfection, He pleads our case for us. We have to be willing to be obedient to Him and even when we fall far short of that, we have to be will to cling to Him and constantly come to Him begging for forgiveness and seeking to be changed by Him, perfected by Him. He will perfect us in Him and only in Him, and that perfection will never have us able to boast of our perfection.
This makes sense doesn't it? Why would Jesus give us help for anything else?
If there will be trials and tribulations we are to go through it will be for our perfection in ways that are truly beyond our understanding, we just need to have FAITH IN GOD that all our upsets, all our anguish, all our pain and misunderstanding will work together for our good because we love Him and trust Him to get us through this perfecting process, because we yield ourselves to Him knowing that we can never be perfect on our own, never.
Only by faith will anything at all be accomplished in us. 'Without faith it is impossible to please Him.' Heb. 11:6
And no wonder, we have to believe that God WILL perfect us through our faith in Him to do so, not that we will perfect ourselves by faith in ourselves and our ability to obey, even that ability to obey comes from God and if we think it comes from anywhere else we are sadly mistaken.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, now and forever! It is my prayer- 'Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief.'
Amen
just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah
walked with God.
Gen. {17:1} And when Abram was ninety years old and nine,
the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I [am] the
Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
Walk before me and be thou perfect.
If Abram didn't walk before God could he have been perfect?
Was it the walk to stand before God, was it the action of walking, the action Abram took by walking to stand before God, that made him perfect?
Was he perfect in and of himself?
That sort of perfection is impossible isn't it?
God makes us perfect we *can't* make ourselves perfect.
Can something that isn't complete be perfect?
If you have 3 quarters of a circle is it perfect? It is a perfect 3/4 of a circle, but can it be considered a perfect circle? No. Because to be a perfect circle it would need to be completely round not just 3/4's round. If you say something is perfect you are indicating that there is nothing missing from it, right?
If someone does something for you and you tell them they've done a perfect job, you mean they've done all you expected of them, their work is completely satisfactory. You would not say that if in fact their work was not perfect, if it didn't satisfy and meet your requirements.
Stand before God and be perfect- standing anywhere else are you perfect? No.
It was because Abram walked, that he moved himself from one place to another that he became perfect. Had Abram not moved, had Abram not walked to stand before God he could not have found the perfection God desired of Him.
Lev. {22:21} And
whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the
LORD to accomplish [his] vow, or a freewill offering in
beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there
shall be no blemish therein.
Could you bring a sickly sin offering to God? No. You could not bring anything less than what would be considered perfect. What does this say? This tells us that God wants what is best and only what is best. God wants a sacrifice befitting Him. If God wants the sin offering to be perfect it stands to reason for us to be acceptable to Him we too would need to be perfect in Him. It's because we are not perfect that we needed to bring a sin offering in the first place. Is it no wonder our sin offering needed to be perfect without any obvious blemish. God cannot accept anything less than perfection.
Jesus is perfection for us.
But we need Jesus for His perfection to be considered ours.
If we don't have Jesus standing before God as our perfect sacrifice we cannot walk with God.
We can beat ourselves totally senseless striving for perfection in and of ourselves. But what we really need to be doing is striving to be closer and closer to Christ so He can work in us.
James {1:4} But let patience have [her]
perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting
nothing.
The word perfect here in the margin is defined as completeness.
Deut. {18:13} Thou shalt be perfect with the
LORD thy God.
The word perfect in the margin here is defined as entirely obedient.
Remember talking about the completeness of perfection? The circle?
Well now we have the obedience of perfection. If someone is less than entirely obedient are they perfect?
If we reward a child for behaving we are rewarding the time frame for which they were expected to behave within, not for just being a little bit perfect. There is NO such thing as a little perfection is there? Perfect indicates a whole, a completeness, and being entirely obedient.
For us to be perfect before God we have to be entirely obedient to Him, we have to possess the willingness to be entriely obedient to God. Seriously do we want to be entirely obedient to God? Do we?
If we don't have at least the willingness to be entirely obedient to God can we walk before Him in His perfection?
No, we don't have to be perfect to come to God, we have to have the willingness to be made perfect by Him.
2 Sam. {22:33} God [is] my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.
He- God- makes our ways perfect. We don't make our own ways perfect.
John {17:23} I in them, and thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou
hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Jesus in us.
God in Jesus.
We are made perfect in Jesus.
We are loved by Jesus as God loves Jesus.
God loves His son with a perfect love. Jesus loves us with a perfect love.
C.S. Lewis- From Mere Christianity Chapter- Counting the Cost
'I find a good many people have been bothered by what I said in the last
chapter about Our Lord's words, "Be ye perfect." Some people seem to think
this means "Unless you are perfect, I will not help you"; and as we cannot
be perfect, then, if He meant that, our position is hopeless. But I do not
think He did mean that. I think He meant "The only help I will give is help
to become perfect. You may want something less: but I will give you nothing
less." '
It is not- Until you are perfect I will not help you.
But rather- The only help I will give you is help to become perfect.
If we were perfect in and of ourselves we would need no one to made us perfect and the truth is, we need Jesus and His perfection. We stand before God in the shadow of Jesus' perfection, He pleads our case for us. We have to be willing to be obedient to Him and even when we fall far short of that, we have to be will to cling to Him and constantly come to Him begging for forgiveness and seeking to be changed by Him, perfected by Him. He will perfect us in Him and only in Him, and that perfection will never have us able to boast of our perfection.
This makes sense doesn't it? Why would Jesus give us help for anything else?
If there will be trials and tribulations we are to go through it will be for our perfection in ways that are truly beyond our understanding, we just need to have FAITH IN GOD that all our upsets, all our anguish, all our pain and misunderstanding will work together for our good because we love Him and trust Him to get us through this perfecting process, because we yield ourselves to Him knowing that we can never be perfect on our own, never.
Only by faith will anything at all be accomplished in us. 'Without faith it is impossible to please Him.' Heb. 11:6
And no wonder, we have to believe that God WILL perfect us through our faith in Him to do so, not that we will perfect ourselves by faith in ourselves and our ability to obey, even that ability to obey comes from God and if we think it comes from anywhere else we are sadly mistaken.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, now and forever! It is my prayer- 'Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief.'
Amen
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
If we aren't happy being Christ's now, we can't be happy for eternity
Rev. {22:14} Blessed [are] they that do his
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates into the city.
We talk of being born with rights and yet are we? Seriously. You might shout yes we are, but how many have been born with no rights, right here, right now. You think we don't have slavery but we do in my ways. There are societies and plenty of them that have ranking systems. It'd almost be safe to say all societies have them. You have your elite those that are given better service than others and believe- truly believe that they deserve special treatment. Then we have the lower class who are told they deserve less and for the most part they believe it because they serve the elite in many ways, they stand in awe of the elite and as they stand in awe they contribute to the grand illusion that they are less in some ways than those they worship, those they set on the pedestals. Sure, in America at least- we have our icons- our movie stars, singers, famous politicians and yes they might have talents but do talents take what makes a human being and set them above other human beings integrily? Do they?
Do we have rights? Yes, and each of us individual have the right to choose to follow God or not.
This verse says, blessed are they that do his commandments.... (Why?) That they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. (The Holy City Heavenly Jeruslem, the tree of life gives us eternal life.)
We have this amazing right but it's conditioned upon following God's will, because His commandments are His will.
We all want the right to eternal life and it can be ours.
I read a passage from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and it struck me so that I want to include it here-
'If individuals live only seventy years, then a state, or a nation, or a civilisation, which may last for a thousand years, is more important than an individual. But if Christianity is true, then the individual is not only more important but incomparably more important, for he is everlasting and the life of a state or civilisation, compared with his, is only a moment.' C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity
How amazing a thought is that? And true. We live our lives now as if they do have an ending, how many of us live our lives as if they are going to be lived forever. You might argue that our eternal life will be MUCH different than this life but think about it. WE the part that makes us who we are will live forever. If we are promised life eternal and are stripped of all we are what good is that? None. If we are unrecognizable to ourselves there is little point, right? So we need to remember that it is best to follow God's will because eternal life in Christ is the only way. If we aren't happy being Christ's now, we can't be happy for eternity in Christ later.
It's a lot to think about, a lot to contemplate and we need to do that thinking right now, not later, later may be too late.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, may we be His with all our hearts and minds now and forever...
Amen.
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates into the city.
We talk of being born with rights and yet are we? Seriously. You might shout yes we are, but how many have been born with no rights, right here, right now. You think we don't have slavery but we do in my ways. There are societies and plenty of them that have ranking systems. It'd almost be safe to say all societies have them. You have your elite those that are given better service than others and believe- truly believe that they deserve special treatment. Then we have the lower class who are told they deserve less and for the most part they believe it because they serve the elite in many ways, they stand in awe of the elite and as they stand in awe they contribute to the grand illusion that they are less in some ways than those they worship, those they set on the pedestals. Sure, in America at least- we have our icons- our movie stars, singers, famous politicians and yes they might have talents but do talents take what makes a human being and set them above other human beings integrily? Do they?
Do we have rights? Yes, and each of us individual have the right to choose to follow God or not.
This verse says, blessed are they that do his commandments.... (Why?) That they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. (The Holy City Heavenly Jeruslem, the tree of life gives us eternal life.)
We have this amazing right but it's conditioned upon following God's will, because His commandments are His will.
We all want the right to eternal life and it can be ours.
I read a passage from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and it struck me so that I want to include it here-
'If individuals live only seventy years, then a state, or a nation, or a civilisation, which may last for a thousand years, is more important than an individual. But if Christianity is true, then the individual is not only more important but incomparably more important, for he is everlasting and the life of a state or civilisation, compared with his, is only a moment.' C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity
How amazing a thought is that? And true. We live our lives now as if they do have an ending, how many of us live our lives as if they are going to be lived forever. You might argue that our eternal life will be MUCH different than this life but think about it. WE the part that makes us who we are will live forever. If we are promised life eternal and are stripped of all we are what good is that? None. If we are unrecognizable to ourselves there is little point, right? So we need to remember that it is best to follow God's will because eternal life in Christ is the only way. If we aren't happy being Christ's now, we can't be happy for eternity in Christ later.
It's a lot to think about, a lot to contemplate and we need to do that thinking right now, not later, later may be too late.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, may we be His with all our hearts and minds now and forever...
Amen.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
A prophecy- 'I will come again.'
John
{14:1} Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
{14:2} In my Father’s house are many mansions: if [it were] not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
{14:3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also.
A prophecy- 'I will come again.'
John
{3:14} And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up
{3:15} That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
{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.
A prophecy- 'Everlasting life.'
A prophecy- 'Eternal life.'
Mark
{10:28} Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
{10:29} And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s
{10:30} But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
{10:31} But many [that are] first shall be last; and the last first.
A prophecy- 'Many that are first shall be last, and last first.'
A prophecy- 'And in the world to come eternal life.'
Predictions!
John
{6:54} Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
{6:55} For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
{6:56} He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
{6:57} As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
{6:58} This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
A prophecy- 'I will raise him up at the last day.'
A prophecy- 'He that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.'
*******
A prophecy predicts the future and eternal life is a life being lived forever. Do any of us have that reality? We are taught we only live for so long and that's that and everything else is supposition. The truth is we can have eternal life, our lives will be lived forever - we have an endless future.
It is predicted that once Jesus comes again that our eternal lives will begin without sin. We that are living will be raised up and changed, the dead in Christ- those who have died and are sleeping in the earth will be raised up and changed.
The prediction of the future is important. Some people spend a lot of money trying to get their future predicted. Some people are only concerned with this life here and now.
Prophecies in the Bible are renowned. History has verified that Biblical prophecy is undeniable. If we believe in one small bit of the proven prophecies it only holds to reason, it is only logical, that the rest will be true.
Eternal life is in our futures if we believe in Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made to save us, if we are born again spiritually. If we remember Jesus died and lives for us, if we holdfast to that fact we will have a future, an eternal life with Him.
The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. We must have the testimony of Jesus, and keep God's commandments, the two of them mingled together into perfection offered to us who are far from perfect. Through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our Savior, may our lives be lived in Him now and forever.
Amen.
{14:1} Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
{14:2} In my Father’s house are many mansions: if [it were] not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
{14:3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also.
A prophecy- 'I will come again.'
John
{3:14} And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up
{3:15} That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
{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.
A prophecy- 'Everlasting life.'
A prophecy- 'Eternal life.'
Mark
{10:28} Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
{10:29} And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s
{10:30} But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
{10:31} But many [that are] first shall be last; and the last first.
A prophecy- 'Many that are first shall be last, and last first.'
A prophecy- 'And in the world to come eternal life.'
Predictions!
John
{6:54} Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
{6:55} For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
{6:56} He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
{6:57} As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
{6:58} This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
A prophecy- 'I will raise him up at the last day.'
A prophecy- 'He that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.'
*******
A prophecy predicts the future and eternal life is a life being lived forever. Do any of us have that reality? We are taught we only live for so long and that's that and everything else is supposition. The truth is we can have eternal life, our lives will be lived forever - we have an endless future.
It is predicted that once Jesus comes again that our eternal lives will begin without sin. We that are living will be raised up and changed, the dead in Christ- those who have died and are sleeping in the earth will be raised up and changed.
The prediction of the future is important. Some people spend a lot of money trying to get their future predicted. Some people are only concerned with this life here and now.
Prophecies in the Bible are renowned. History has verified that Biblical prophecy is undeniable. If we believe in one small bit of the proven prophecies it only holds to reason, it is only logical, that the rest will be true.
Eternal life is in our futures if we believe in Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made to save us, if we are born again spiritually. If we remember Jesus died and lives for us, if we holdfast to that fact we will have a future, an eternal life with Him.
The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. We must have the testimony of Jesus, and keep God's commandments, the two of them mingled together into perfection offered to us who are far from perfect. Through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our Savior, may our lives be lived in Him now and forever.
Amen.
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