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.
Blessed are they that do His commandments.
Are we supposed to automatically be able to *do* the commandments? If something is automatic do we really need to be told to do it? If it is part of our life, if it all comes natural to us we really wouldn't have to be told to do it, right? When we're raising our children we instruct them in the ways of life. Things don't come natural to them. Oh, we'd like to think a child would automatically potty train themselves but in reality they don't, they are taught where to go once their bowels muscles are under their control, or they watch and imitate what others are doing- the point being they have to learn to do it. The same for many, many things, children don't just naturally eat neatly. They are taught to wipe their mouths, taught to wash their hands, taught to brush their teeth. Life as a child is spent learning how to be a proper adult and with good instruction aren't ALL taught and learn? Not necessarily. You could be the best teacher and still have a naturally unruly child, a bad seed so to speak. Then there are all different in-betweens the good and the bad. We as human beings have been given an opportunity to learn from the greatest teacher ever- our Heavenly Father.
God is very loving and He's set up our very lives to reveal His own. Parents and children and even if you've never been a parent you can witness the parents around you and guess what, no one escapes being a child and having a parent- no one. Don't even go to the orphans and such, they all still have a parental figure who might not necessarily be a good parental figure. All children are exposed to adults and as such they have a figure to look to. Some have the best parents ever, loving and kind and others have a mere caregiver who only cares if the child stays out of their way and does what they are told. And yes, there are many abusive parents and no, they aren't good examples of a loving father but they sure teach the abused child the horrors of life and I'm not saying that's a good thing. The only point I'm trying to make is the type of Father/Child exists and there are several combinations that can exist. Good/Good, Good/Bad, Bad/Good, Bad/Bad and many inbetween, such as partially good etc. We have only one example in our Heavenly Father- He will always be Good. Will He be exacting? Yes. Will He punish? Yes. Will He get angry? Yes. But His ways are just and true.
Rev. 15:3 '...God Almighty; just and true [are] thy ways, thou King of saints.'
Our heavenly Father gives us instructions in life that will...yes, go against our naturally corrupt inclinations. We are given an opportunity to choose over and over and over again, daily we are given opportunities to make the choices. Our lives are made up of making choices and even if we're not faced with outright choices that we recognize as such- content to just live our lives as we want, that in itself is a choice. Any day we don't recognize God as our Heavenly Father, any day we don't cling to Christ asking for forgiveness, asking for salvation, asking for His righteousness in place of our own is a day we are choosing to walk our own path on our own steam thinking we exist in our good lives on our own steam. We don't. We exist because the Lord has given us life and then offered us through all our hardships and whatnot a way to the true path of life eternal. We are all offered this life eternal. We are all given an opportunity to do as God wills.
As stated above, if we all are automatically able to do something it isn't something we are told to do. If we automatically breathe we aren't told to breathe- it comes automatically, right?
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 have a choice to do God's commandments or not and if we think they come automatically- that we can keep them without making the choice to do so then we are setting ourselves up to fail. If we get caught up in the whole you're thinking by doing that you'll be saved, so you just don't do that thing or shouldn't be compelled to do it, then it's another trap altogether. We have to choose to do His commandments. We have a choice to make and we make it all the time. Just because you choose to do something won't save you, but certainly choosing not to will condemn you outright.
We are given commands. A command is something we are given and expected to follow or suffer the consequences of that action. There comes a point where we really do have to trust that God will take our actions and by the grace and mercy of Christ make them acceptable to Him. But we do have to commit to the action of doing.
When that verse from the Bible says- Blessed are they that do his commandments- does it mean blessed are they that don't choose but automatically do the commandments? No. There is no automatic about it all. Blessed are they that do his commandments. Meaning blessed are those that choose to do His commandments. Blessed are they that do his commandments why? That they might have right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. Obviously those that choose not to do his commandments won't have that right, and they won't enter through the gate.
Choose and trust in God to make the choice acceptable. Don't choose purposely NOT to do His commandments under the false pretense of not wanting to be bless by your own works. Choose to do His commandments and trust in God to work in and on our hearts to make our choice acceptable. The devil would have us think we are trying to *work* our way to heaven, but that's just another trap of His. He wants us to choose not to do God's commandments for whatever reason suits us personally. He'll use any means he can to keep us from doing God's commandments. He'll set up obstacles all along the way for us at every step.
Something that just occurred to me- there are a few of the Ten Commandments that we find all but impossible to keep- those that involve the thinking- the coveting (even in little things), the lying (little white lies) and that being so-- shouldn't we strive to do all the Commandments that we don't necessarily find emotionally, mentally trying? What I mean is-- most of us don't have a problem with killing so keeping/doing that commandment is fairly easy, the same for stealing, adultery, worshipping pagan gods. We generally don't fail at those commandments we do them. And then there is the Sabbath commandment, another that should be fairly easy to keep and yet for many it's extremely hard. Some purposely don't even try to keep the Sabbath because they get caught up in the whole bit about if my spirit isn't right doing it- if I'm reluctant then I'm not really keeping it so why bother. I say bother, because if you put yourself in the position you can give your heart to God and ask Him to make it right, but if you never put yourself in the position of doing His commandment then you will never give Him a chance to make your heart right.
Anyways, we have to choose to do His commandments. Don't think for one moment that they are automatically done. It's by the grace of our Lord that we can do His commandments. If we choose to do them, Christ will make our choices acceptable to the Father. By His amazing, unfathomable mercy and love, now and forever.
Amen.
Rev. {22:17} And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Come. I say Come!
I'm thirsty, Lord. So thirsty, please give to me the water of life freely, the water found in Christ, through Christ only and always.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Striving
Col.
{1:19} For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fulness dwell
{1:20} And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, [I say,] whether [they be] things in earth, or things in heaven.
{1:21} And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in [your] mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
{1:22} In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight
{1:23} If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, [and] which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister
{1:24} Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church
{1:25} Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
{1:26} [Even] the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints
{1:27} To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
{1:28} Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus
{1:29} Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
Paul labors...strives according to the work of Jesus Christ, a work that works even in him.
Striving is important. People tend to equate striving with trying to work their way to heaven and we all know that works mean nothing, we're saved by faith. The striving is to minister the word of Christ's salvation being offered to all.
Preaching- warning- teaching all wisdom and that wisdom is Christ, in Christ, and we must have Christ in our lives.
We need to continue in the faith grounded and settled- when you're grounded and settled in something it's part of your life. If hope becomes part of our lives we can't lose it can we? The hope is Christ and Him crucified for us. Christ suffered and died for us and it's something we can't forget. We can't forget that Christ lives for us. We live because He lives. Every breath we take we take for Him.
Our minds have us committing wicked works which cause alienation between us and Christ. We can be reconciled to Christ because Christ came for that purpose and that purpose only. Only through Christ do we live. Accepting what Christ had done for us is what we need to do, relying solely on Him and not upon ourselves at all. We need to spread this same hope to all, to let all others know that they too can have that hope, the hope that is found in Christ, the only hope that truly matters.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we find our hope only in Him, striving, labouring, ministering, preaching as He would have us do.
Amen.
{1:19} For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fulness dwell
{1:20} And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, [I say,] whether [they be] things in earth, or things in heaven.
{1:21} And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in [your] mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
{1:22} In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight
{1:23} If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, [and] which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister
{1:24} Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church
{1:25} Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
{1:26} [Even] the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints
{1:27} To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
{1:28} Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus
{1:29} Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
Paul labors...strives according to the work of Jesus Christ, a work that works even in him.
Striving is important. People tend to equate striving with trying to work their way to heaven and we all know that works mean nothing, we're saved by faith. The striving is to minister the word of Christ's salvation being offered to all.
Preaching- warning- teaching all wisdom and that wisdom is Christ, in Christ, and we must have Christ in our lives.
We need to continue in the faith grounded and settled- when you're grounded and settled in something it's part of your life. If hope becomes part of our lives we can't lose it can we? The hope is Christ and Him crucified for us. Christ suffered and died for us and it's something we can't forget. We can't forget that Christ lives for us. We live because He lives. Every breath we take we take for Him.
Our minds have us committing wicked works which cause alienation between us and Christ. We can be reconciled to Christ because Christ came for that purpose and that purpose only. Only through Christ do we live. Accepting what Christ had done for us is what we need to do, relying solely on Him and not upon ourselves at all. We need to spread this same hope to all, to let all others know that they too can have that hope, the hope that is found in Christ, the only hope that truly matters.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we find our hope only in Him, striving, labouring, ministering, preaching as He would have us do.
Amen.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Do you believe Jesus died?
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.
Matthew
{24:36} But of that day and hour knoweth no [man,] no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
{24:37} But as the days of Noe [were,] so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
{24:38} For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark
{24:39} And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
{24:40} Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
{24:41} Two [women shall be] grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
{24:42} Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
{24:43} But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
{24:44} Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Rev.
{1:5} And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
{1:6} And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
{1:7} Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they [also] which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Matthew
{24:22} And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be
shortened.
{24:23} Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here [is] Christ, or there; believe [it] not.
{24:24} For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were]
possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
{24:25} Behold, I have told you before.
{24:26} Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, [he is] in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe [it] not.
{24:27} For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
1 Thess.
{4:14} For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
{4:15} For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
{4:16} For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first
{4:17} Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
{4:18} Wherefore comfort one another with these words
1 Cor.
{15:51} Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
{15:52} In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
{15:53} For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality.
{15:54} So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
{15:55} O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory?
It's true. Christ is coming again. Christ is coming because He promised He would come and there would be a people waiting for Him. Not only would there be a people waiting for Him, but the dead in Christ would rise to meet Him.
Do you believe Jesus died?
Do you believe that Jesus rose again?
Are you one of millions who celebrate the resurrection of your Savior from the dead?
Then you have to believe that the breath of life that returns to God who gave it, when a person dies, will once more return to those who have died -fallen asleep in Christ. That breath of life will return to themand they will rise first before any of those still alive when Christ returns. Those dead in Christ will rise first and meet the Lord in the air, and then we who are alive will join them.
The dead will be raised incorruptible.
We will all be changed into these marvelous new beings of which Christ was the first.
Every eye shall see Him when He comes and how this is done only the Lord Himself knows. Every eye shall see Him. And when He comes it will be too late to prepare for the journey we are to take with Him. When you are going on a trip somewhere you prepare for it, you pack your suitcase, duffle bag, you make sure you have all the things you'll need for that journey. Rarely, and unless someone is running from the law, for their life, or are mentally/emotionally unstable do they just up and leave. For a trip of a lifetime you plan don't you? Well, we know we are to undertake a journey- our final one and that is to be with Christ. Those of us alive must be ready to meet Him. So many won't be. They'll be so many just too caught up in the here and now, too caught up in the cares of this life whether they be happy cares or sad ones, they'll be tied to this earth by their own lack of faith in a life everlasting. We have the promise of a life eternal and that life isn't here on earth. Right now here on earth we are travailing as a woman in labor travails and the birth of new life will be when Christ comes again. Yes, there will be one taken and one left, but everyone will see it happening and know why- it will not be a secret because every eye will see Christ when He returns, when the dead and those alive in Him are called to meet Him in the air. It'll be sudden, it'll be unexpected, it will be as a thief because no one knows when a thief will strike. Christ will come and only those who are looking for Him will be ready. By the time He's in the air calling His to Him it will be too late to suddenly decide to take the journey. We have so much given to us to prepare us, so much to help us and the only one to blame in that day if we aren't among those meeting Christ in the air, is ourselves.
By faith, by love, by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ; through His mercy and grace by His sacrifice and forgiveness may we all be found ready in Him.
May the Holy Spirit guide us to Him and through all the travailing of this world around us.
Amen.
{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.
Matthew
{24:36} But of that day and hour knoweth no [man,] no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
{24:37} But as the days of Noe [were,] so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
{24:38} For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark
{24:39} And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
{24:40} Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
{24:41} Two [women shall be] grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
{24:42} Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
{24:43} But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
{24:44} Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Rev.
{1:5} And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
{1:6} And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
{1:7} Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they [also] which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Matthew
{24:22} And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be
shortened.
{24:23} Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here [is] Christ, or there; believe [it] not.
{24:24} For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were]
possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
{24:25} Behold, I have told you before.
{24:26} Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, [he is] in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe [it] not.
{24:27} For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
1 Thess.
{4:14} For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
{4:15} For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
{4:16} For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first
{4:17} Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
{4:18} Wherefore comfort one another with these words
1 Cor.
{15:51} Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
{15:52} In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
{15:53} For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality.
{15:54} So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
{15:55} O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory?
It's true. Christ is coming again. Christ is coming because He promised He would come and there would be a people waiting for Him. Not only would there be a people waiting for Him, but the dead in Christ would rise to meet Him.
Do you believe Jesus died?
Do you believe that Jesus rose again?
Are you one of millions who celebrate the resurrection of your Savior from the dead?
Then you have to believe that the breath of life that returns to God who gave it, when a person dies, will once more return to those who have died -fallen asleep in Christ. That breath of life will return to themand they will rise first before any of those still alive when Christ returns. Those dead in Christ will rise first and meet the Lord in the air, and then we who are alive will join them.
The dead will be raised incorruptible.
We will all be changed into these marvelous new beings of which Christ was the first.
Every eye shall see Him when He comes and how this is done only the Lord Himself knows. Every eye shall see Him. And when He comes it will be too late to prepare for the journey we are to take with Him. When you are going on a trip somewhere you prepare for it, you pack your suitcase, duffle bag, you make sure you have all the things you'll need for that journey. Rarely, and unless someone is running from the law, for their life, or are mentally/emotionally unstable do they just up and leave. For a trip of a lifetime you plan don't you? Well, we know we are to undertake a journey- our final one and that is to be with Christ. Those of us alive must be ready to meet Him. So many won't be. They'll be so many just too caught up in the here and now, too caught up in the cares of this life whether they be happy cares or sad ones, they'll be tied to this earth by their own lack of faith in a life everlasting. We have the promise of a life eternal and that life isn't here on earth. Right now here on earth we are travailing as a woman in labor travails and the birth of new life will be when Christ comes again. Yes, there will be one taken and one left, but everyone will see it happening and know why- it will not be a secret because every eye will see Christ when He returns, when the dead and those alive in Him are called to meet Him in the air. It'll be sudden, it'll be unexpected, it will be as a thief because no one knows when a thief will strike. Christ will come and only those who are looking for Him will be ready. By the time He's in the air calling His to Him it will be too late to suddenly decide to take the journey. We have so much given to us to prepare us, so much to help us and the only one to blame in that day if we aren't among those meeting Christ in the air, is ourselves.
By faith, by love, by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ; through His mercy and grace by His sacrifice and forgiveness may we all be found ready in Him.
May the Holy Spirit guide us to Him and through all the travailing of this world around us.
Amen.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Enemies of the Cross
Philippians {3:18} (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross
of Christ: {3:19} Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.) {3:20} For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: {3:21} Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Many walk...the enemies of the cross...whose end is destruction. Whose God is their belly. Whose glory is their shame. Who mind earthly things.
Is this you? Is this me?
We don't think of ourselves as enemies of the cross and yet if our *God* is our belly... if our glory is found in things shameful... if we only mind earthly things aren't we enemies of the cross?
Pro. {14:12} There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.
We think our ways are right, but are they?
What would we do to have food? Kill? We like to think not, but people have and people will. We commit shameful acts and in a world where the line is blurred and shameful acts are glorified we don't hardly even call them shameful. We glory in our audacity, our daringness to be different, to be coarse and bold, to act deplorably. We laugh at things we've no business laughing at because the world has now declared it acceptable to laugh. Think back to sixty years ago when the world was so much different. When children rarely dared to speak out against their parents without reprecussions in the name of respect. Slowly in some ways, quickly in others the perversions of the world have taken over and now they rule our lives. They rule our entertainment, they rule us in many jobs, they rule our vacations, we wake up to them, we go to sleep to them. We glorify self and perversions we call finding self and letting self reign regardless of any others. We applaud those who dare to stand up to propriety, and we make all forms of fornication acceptable, pleasure has become the god of so many lives. 'Whose glory is their shame' is so appropriate and when we glory in shame we are enemies of the cross how can we not be?
Minding earthly things- are we entrenched in 'living life to the fullest', in not letting life pass us by, in making the most of the life we have. There is a saying about when you go to the grave you want to go kicking and screaming and yelling what a ride... this is minding the things of the earth, of this life. We get so caught up in earthly things and to do otherwise we are called lunatics. To tell people you are living for another life than this one makes you crazy, people nod and smile but secretly they think you're very, very strange.
If our treasures are in heaven where they should be, then accumlating treasures here on earth is what? Senseless, right? People who have everything taken from them- through natural disasters, through accidents - they feel that devestation of loss of all things temporal. It is devestating and don't let anyone tell you different. There is no bright side unless people are grateful just to be alive and a lot are.
Philippians {3:18} (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross
of Christ: {3:19} Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.) {3:20} For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: {3:21} Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Enemies of the cross. We don't want to be enemies of the cross. We don't want to be deceived by the world. We need to cling to the cross and all it represents and all it represents is the heavenly, not the earthly. Jesus came to save us, to give us eternal life with Him in heaven, He didn't come to give us eternal life in this existence we now live. We have to remember the cross, we have to keep the cross before us. We have to love God with all our heart, love Jesus, love what He's done for us by the cross.
By His grace and mercy may we find forgiveness in Him now and forever, friends with the cross, not enemies. Friends with Him not the world.
Amen.
of Christ: {3:19} Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.) {3:20} For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: {3:21} Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Many walk...the enemies of the cross...whose end is destruction. Whose God is their belly. Whose glory is their shame. Who mind earthly things.
Is this you? Is this me?
We don't think of ourselves as enemies of the cross and yet if our *God* is our belly... if our glory is found in things shameful... if we only mind earthly things aren't we enemies of the cross?
Pro. {14:12} There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.
We think our ways are right, but are they?
What would we do to have food? Kill? We like to think not, but people have and people will. We commit shameful acts and in a world where the line is blurred and shameful acts are glorified we don't hardly even call them shameful. We glory in our audacity, our daringness to be different, to be coarse and bold, to act deplorably. We laugh at things we've no business laughing at because the world has now declared it acceptable to laugh. Think back to sixty years ago when the world was so much different. When children rarely dared to speak out against their parents without reprecussions in the name of respect. Slowly in some ways, quickly in others the perversions of the world have taken over and now they rule our lives. They rule our entertainment, they rule us in many jobs, they rule our vacations, we wake up to them, we go to sleep to them. We glorify self and perversions we call finding self and letting self reign regardless of any others. We applaud those who dare to stand up to propriety, and we make all forms of fornication acceptable, pleasure has become the god of so many lives. 'Whose glory is their shame' is so appropriate and when we glory in shame we are enemies of the cross how can we not be?
Minding earthly things- are we entrenched in 'living life to the fullest', in not letting life pass us by, in making the most of the life we have. There is a saying about when you go to the grave you want to go kicking and screaming and yelling what a ride... this is minding the things of the earth, of this life. We get so caught up in earthly things and to do otherwise we are called lunatics. To tell people you are living for another life than this one makes you crazy, people nod and smile but secretly they think you're very, very strange.
If our treasures are in heaven where they should be, then accumlating treasures here on earth is what? Senseless, right? People who have everything taken from them- through natural disasters, through accidents - they feel that devestation of loss of all things temporal. It is devestating and don't let anyone tell you different. There is no bright side unless people are grateful just to be alive and a lot are.
Philippians {3:18} (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross
of Christ: {3:19} Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.) {3:20} For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: {3:21} Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Enemies of the cross. We don't want to be enemies of the cross. We don't want to be deceived by the world. We need to cling to the cross and all it represents and all it represents is the heavenly, not the earthly. Jesus came to save us, to give us eternal life with Him in heaven, He didn't come to give us eternal life in this existence we now live. We have to remember the cross, we have to keep the cross before us. We have to love God with all our heart, love Jesus, love what He's done for us by the cross.
By His grace and mercy may we find forgiveness in Him now and forever, friends with the cross, not enemies. Friends with Him not the world.
Amen.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Bread of Life
John
{6:26} Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
{6:27} Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
{6:28} Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
{6:29} Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
{6:30} They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
{6:31} Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
{6:32} Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
{6:33} For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
{6:34} Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
{6:35} And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
{6:36} But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
{6:37} All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
{6:38} For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
{6:39} And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
{6:40} And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
{6:41} The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
{6:42} And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came
down from heaven?
{6:43} Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
{6:44} No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
{6:45} It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the
Father, cometh unto me.
{6:46} Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
{6:47} Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
{6:48} I am that bread of life.
{6:49} Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
{6:50} This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
{6:51} I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
{6:52} The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?
{6:53} Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
{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.
{6:59} These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
{6:60} Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard [this,] said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
{6:61} When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
{6:62} [What] and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
{6:63} It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.
{6:64} But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should
betray him.
{6:65} And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father
**
Luke {4:4} And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Deut. {8:1} All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
{8:2} And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, [and] to prove thee, to know what [was] in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
{8:3} And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
God fed His people with a source of food unlike any other that ever existed, unlike any they'd ever known. Food that rained down from heaven- who ever heard of such a thing? And yet it was true. God fed His people. God wanted His people to realize that HE was their source of life. He and He alone saved them from a life of bondage and once He'd set them free He continued to keep them alive. Isn't that the way... we are set free when we accept Jesus as our Savior and then we need to be kept alive in Christ as we continue on in our lives. So that the children of God didn't forget who their source of life was, God fed them food from heaven. Daily, day in and day out they ate of the bread from heaven. Day in and day out they knew that it was only by the grace of God they were kept alive. It was God who supplied what they needed to live and it is God that provides us with what we need to live eternally.
In the end it is eternal life we live for. Jesus came to make that point real to us. Jesus came and made the point so well that only the spiritually blind can't see it. Jesus came to give life eternal, not life here and now, but life everlasting. Our minds are to be taken off life here and now except to realize that it is in this life that we accept that life eternal. Once we accept life eternal as ours through Jesus Christ we truly begin to live.
When Jesus talks of being the bread of life, of having the blood we must drink to live He even goes on to say this-- John {6:63} It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.
The very flesh He said we must eat to live He goes on to explain- the flesh profiteth nothing... 'the WORDS THAT I SPEAK UNTO YOU THEY ARE SPIRIT AND THEY ARE LIFE'
God's lesson in the wilderness was given so that His people would realize that they were alive by His word. The manna was of God. They ate and they lived.
The flesh and blood of Jesus is Jesus giving us His life, telling us that HIS WORDS are spirit and life. We have to accept Jesus' death and His life for us, we have to believe on His words. We have to trust in Him and Him alone if we are to live. If we don't accept all of Jesus we won't have life, we won't live. Just like a person cannot live without food, they cannot live eternally without Jesus. If we think we can have eternal life without Jesus we are wrong and we'll die. Do we have to eat Jesus' actual flesh and drink His actual blood? No. That wasn't what He was saying in truth, but only those that truly love Him can truly understand the meanings of His words. We are to always and forever remember that our lives are sustained by the life and death of our Lord and Savior. We are to never forget, never. And by equating our eating and drinking with accepting the life and death of Jesus is something we can never forget. Each time we eat and drink we are doing so and it is keeping us alive. We are to be kept alive eternally by eating and drinking of all Jesus offers to us, His life, His love, His forgiveness, His death for us. He is our sustainer in all things eternal and by no other are we to live now or forever, only Him.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we forever live in the perpetual acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as our Savior. In His love!
Amen.
{6:26} Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
{6:27} Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
{6:28} Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
{6:29} Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
{6:30} They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
{6:31} Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
{6:32} Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
{6:33} For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
{6:34} Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
{6:35} And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
{6:36} But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
{6:37} All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
{6:38} For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
{6:39} And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
{6:40} And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
{6:41} The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
{6:42} And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came
down from heaven?
{6:43} Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
{6:44} No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
{6:45} It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the
Father, cometh unto me.
{6:46} Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
{6:47} Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
{6:48} I am that bread of life.
{6:49} Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
{6:50} This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
{6:51} I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
{6:52} The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?
{6:53} Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
{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.
{6:59} These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
{6:60} Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard [this,] said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
{6:61} When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
{6:62} [What] and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
{6:63} It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.
{6:64} But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should
betray him.
{6:65} And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father
**
Luke {4:4} And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Deut. {8:1} All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
{8:2} And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, [and] to prove thee, to know what [was] in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
{8:3} And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
God fed His people with a source of food unlike any other that ever existed, unlike any they'd ever known. Food that rained down from heaven- who ever heard of such a thing? And yet it was true. God fed His people. God wanted His people to realize that HE was their source of life. He and He alone saved them from a life of bondage and once He'd set them free He continued to keep them alive. Isn't that the way... we are set free when we accept Jesus as our Savior and then we need to be kept alive in Christ as we continue on in our lives. So that the children of God didn't forget who their source of life was, God fed them food from heaven. Daily, day in and day out they ate of the bread from heaven. Day in and day out they knew that it was only by the grace of God they were kept alive. It was God who supplied what they needed to live and it is God that provides us with what we need to live eternally.
In the end it is eternal life we live for. Jesus came to make that point real to us. Jesus came and made the point so well that only the spiritually blind can't see it. Jesus came to give life eternal, not life here and now, but life everlasting. Our minds are to be taken off life here and now except to realize that it is in this life that we accept that life eternal. Once we accept life eternal as ours through Jesus Christ we truly begin to live.
When Jesus talks of being the bread of life, of having the blood we must drink to live He even goes on to say this-- John {6:63} It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.
The very flesh He said we must eat to live He goes on to explain- the flesh profiteth nothing... 'the WORDS THAT I SPEAK UNTO YOU THEY ARE SPIRIT AND THEY ARE LIFE'
God's lesson in the wilderness was given so that His people would realize that they were alive by His word. The manna was of God. They ate and they lived.
The flesh and blood of Jesus is Jesus giving us His life, telling us that HIS WORDS are spirit and life. We have to accept Jesus' death and His life for us, we have to believe on His words. We have to trust in Him and Him alone if we are to live. If we don't accept all of Jesus we won't have life, we won't live. Just like a person cannot live without food, they cannot live eternally without Jesus. If we think we can have eternal life without Jesus we are wrong and we'll die. Do we have to eat Jesus' actual flesh and drink His actual blood? No. That wasn't what He was saying in truth, but only those that truly love Him can truly understand the meanings of His words. We are to always and forever remember that our lives are sustained by the life and death of our Lord and Savior. We are to never forget, never. And by equating our eating and drinking with accepting the life and death of Jesus is something we can never forget. Each time we eat and drink we are doing so and it is keeping us alive. We are to be kept alive eternally by eating and drinking of all Jesus offers to us, His life, His love, His forgiveness, His death for us. He is our sustainer in all things eternal and by no other are we to live now or forever, only Him.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we forever live in the perpetual acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as our Savior. In His love!
Amen.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Travailing in Birth
Galations {4:19} My little
children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be
formed in you,
Interesing choice of words here. Paul speaking to the Galations saying... my little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.
Jesus told us we had to be born again. Born of water and Spirit.
We are told in Peter that we are born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible.
John {3:3}
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God. {3:4} Nicodemus saith unto him, How can
a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time
into his mother’s womb, and be born? {3:5} Jesus
answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God. {3:6} That which is born of the flesh is
flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. {3:7}
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
1 Pet. {1:23}
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
for ever. {1:24} For all flesh [is] as grass, and all the glory
of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the
flower thereof falleth away: {1:25} But the word of the
Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the
gospel is preached unto you.
When Paul says he travails with them in birth, he's talking about how a Christian lives as Christ is being formed within them.
Colossians {1:27} To whom God would make known what [is]
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
Christ being formed in us.
As a baby is formed in a mother's womb the mother of a normal, healthy pregnancy feels little pain. It's the birth that brings the travail. When Christ says we must be born again it is a travailing time.
Dictionary Def.
travail
travail (tre-vâl´, tràv´âl´) noun
1. Work, especially when arduous or involving painful effort; toil. See synonyms at work.
2. Tribulation or agony; anguish.
3. The labor of childbirth.
verb, intransitive
travailed, travailing, travails
1. To work strenuously; toil.
2. To be in the labor of childbirth.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Being a Christian, accepting Christ into our lives is asking to be born again- asking to travail and be birthed until Christ is formed in us. It's not instantaneous. Christ is being formed in our lives, we are being born of Spirit, born of the Word of God and this is a process that isn't easy, but very painful in many ways. Painful to our natural self. The self we have to let die to have Christ in us. The pain is real and we live it every day. We travail as the old creatures in us are done away with and the new creatures are being formed. Day to day we travail and recognizing that our lives are but one more process of growth that we must go through to be Christs is something important. As babes in a womb we are not fully formed. As young children we are not fully formed. We like to think as adults we are fully formed and yet we are not and the only way to keep growing is to accept Christ's love into our lives, accept His grace and His wondrous forgiveness, His mercy. As we keep growing once we accept Christ the growth process isn't something that is accomplished instantly, but each of us has our own growth process as Christians just as we do as people. I may have been a delayed walker while you may have first walked at 9 months. We grow constantly at different rates in body and in Spirit. We have to accept our lives as the Spiritual growing process, the travail as we seek to be born of the Spirit. When Christ comes again then we will complete our birthing in Him, becoming the new creatures He's always meant us to be.
So, while we suffer now and rightly so- in many and varied ways- it will result in the birth of wonder in God transforming us.
May God bless and keep us in Him as we seek to have Christ formed in us. May the suffering we experience now be realized when Jesus comes again and we are finally, fully, completely birthed into the new creatures of the Spirit, His creatures. By His glory! All praise unto Him now and ever!
Amen.
children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be
formed in you,
Interesing choice of words here. Paul speaking to the Galations saying... my little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.
Jesus told us we had to be born again. Born of water and Spirit.
We are told in Peter that we are born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible.
John {3:3}
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God. {3:4} Nicodemus saith unto him, How can
a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time
into his mother’s womb, and be born? {3:5} Jesus
answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God. {3:6} That which is born of the flesh is
flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. {3:7}
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
1 Pet. {1:23}
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
for ever. {1:24} For all flesh [is] as grass, and all the glory
of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the
flower thereof falleth away: {1:25} But the word of the
Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the
gospel is preached unto you.
When Paul says he travails with them in birth, he's talking about how a Christian lives as Christ is being formed within them.
Colossians {1:27} To whom God would make known what [is]
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
Christ being formed in us.
As a baby is formed in a mother's womb the mother of a normal, healthy pregnancy feels little pain. It's the birth that brings the travail. When Christ says we must be born again it is a travailing time.
Dictionary Def.
travail
travail (tre-vâl´, tràv´âl´) noun
1. Work, especially when arduous or involving painful effort; toil. See synonyms at work.
2. Tribulation or agony; anguish.
3. The labor of childbirth.
verb, intransitive
travailed, travailing, travails
1. To work strenuously; toil.
2. To be in the labor of childbirth.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Being a Christian, accepting Christ into our lives is asking to be born again- asking to travail and be birthed until Christ is formed in us. It's not instantaneous. Christ is being formed in our lives, we are being born of Spirit, born of the Word of God and this is a process that isn't easy, but very painful in many ways. Painful to our natural self. The self we have to let die to have Christ in us. The pain is real and we live it every day. We travail as the old creatures in us are done away with and the new creatures are being formed. Day to day we travail and recognizing that our lives are but one more process of growth that we must go through to be Christs is something important. As babes in a womb we are not fully formed. As young children we are not fully formed. We like to think as adults we are fully formed and yet we are not and the only way to keep growing is to accept Christ's love into our lives, accept His grace and His wondrous forgiveness, His mercy. As we keep growing once we accept Christ the growth process isn't something that is accomplished instantly, but each of us has our own growth process as Christians just as we do as people. I may have been a delayed walker while you may have first walked at 9 months. We grow constantly at different rates in body and in Spirit. We have to accept our lives as the Spiritual growing process, the travail as we seek to be born of the Spirit. When Christ comes again then we will complete our birthing in Him, becoming the new creatures He's always meant us to be.
So, while we suffer now and rightly so- in many and varied ways- it will result in the birth of wonder in God transforming us.
May God bless and keep us in Him as we seek to have Christ formed in us. May the suffering we experience now be realized when Jesus comes again and we are finally, fully, completely birthed into the new creatures of the Spirit, His creatures. By His glory! All praise unto Him now and ever!
Amen.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found
Isaiah
{55:6} Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near
***
We need to seek the Lord.
We need to call upon the Lord.
We need to put ourselves out there so to speak. Many people don't put themselves out there. They don't seek, but rather expect to be sought.
We need God to live, God doesn't need us to live. Long before we were, He was. We are His creation and sometimes, often we forget that. And we are a wicked people if we can forget something so amazing. Our very breath comes from God. Our very heart beat comes from God. Maybe we're not always thrilled with our lives. Some people are born with defects that make them curse God and yet they have a chance to praise Him for His giving them life and knowing that one day, should they choose to worship and love Him, He will take away all their imperfections and give them glory they can't even realize. Easy to say, I know, I know-- very hard to do. We are so turned inward to ourselves that nothing else seems to matter but us and how we feel, what we think, what we want, what we know, we could careless about other things except as they affect our lives. Sure we can help others but how many people do so because they want the recognition, the glory for their helping? Selflessness is so important and until we realize that and make it a reality in our lives we'll forever be chained down to ourselves and not looking to God. God will help us become the selfless creatures that we need to become, but only if we seek Him- only if we call upon Him.
Isa. {55:7} Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
We need to forsake our wicked ways, we need to forsake our unrighteous thoughts- we need to return to the Lord and find mercy and pardon in Him.
{55:8} For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
God's thoughts and His ways are not our thoughts and ways. He is past our understanding and by faith we have to believe that He knows what is best for us beyond anything we could ever imagine.
{55:9} For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
{55:10} For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater
{55:11} So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
{55:12} For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
{55:13} Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the
LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
{56:1} Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. {56:2} Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
We are giving blessings from God for following His ways. We have to do the following, that is our part. We have to do the seeking, the calling, it is our part to seek and follow, to call to God. We can't do nothing and hope it happens. We have a part to play. Is it a works? No. It's by the Grace and Mercy of our Lord and Savior, now and forever, only by Him that we will ever become one with Him, fully with Him and through Him with the Father. May the Holy Spirit guide us and as we seek may He take over and make our miniscule effort into something amazingly wonderful, something beyond our comprehension.
In Christ forever!
Amen.
{55:6} Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near
***
We need to seek the Lord.
We need to call upon the Lord.
We need to put ourselves out there so to speak. Many people don't put themselves out there. They don't seek, but rather expect to be sought.
We need God to live, God doesn't need us to live. Long before we were, He was. We are His creation and sometimes, often we forget that. And we are a wicked people if we can forget something so amazing. Our very breath comes from God. Our very heart beat comes from God. Maybe we're not always thrilled with our lives. Some people are born with defects that make them curse God and yet they have a chance to praise Him for His giving them life and knowing that one day, should they choose to worship and love Him, He will take away all their imperfections and give them glory they can't even realize. Easy to say, I know, I know-- very hard to do. We are so turned inward to ourselves that nothing else seems to matter but us and how we feel, what we think, what we want, what we know, we could careless about other things except as they affect our lives. Sure we can help others but how many people do so because they want the recognition, the glory for their helping? Selflessness is so important and until we realize that and make it a reality in our lives we'll forever be chained down to ourselves and not looking to God. God will help us become the selfless creatures that we need to become, but only if we seek Him- only if we call upon Him.
Isa. {55:7} Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
We need to forsake our wicked ways, we need to forsake our unrighteous thoughts- we need to return to the Lord and find mercy and pardon in Him.
{55:8} For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
God's thoughts and His ways are not our thoughts and ways. He is past our understanding and by faith we have to believe that He knows what is best for us beyond anything we could ever imagine.
{55:9} For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
{55:10} For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater
{55:11} So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
{55:12} For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
{55:13} Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the
LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
{56:1} Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. {56:2} Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
We are giving blessings from God for following His ways. We have to do the following, that is our part. We have to do the seeking, the calling, it is our part to seek and follow, to call to God. We can't do nothing and hope it happens. We have a part to play. Is it a works? No. It's by the Grace and Mercy of our Lord and Savior, now and forever, only by Him that we will ever become one with Him, fully with Him and through Him with the Father. May the Holy Spirit guide us and as we seek may He take over and make our miniscule effort into something amazingly wonderful, something beyond our comprehension.
In Christ forever!
Amen.
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