A few days ago we talked about Christ saying- 'I know thy works...' Also in Revelation along those same lines it says- 'He that overcometh...'
When we talk about overcoming we immediately think of action. How many people overcome things by doing nothing? You might argue that by stopping certain actions people do overcome various obstacles, but to stop an action often takes a lot of effort asked any addict who is trying to overcome an addiction, trying to stop something, trying to NOT do something. Overcoming is an action. So why do people often believe and fight to believe that the Christian life is one of inaction and just belief? Live your life any way you choose as long as you believe you're okay. It's not what the Bible says at all.
1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
1Jn 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
1Jn 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
1Jn 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
1Jn 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
1Jn 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
1Jn 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
'He that is begotten of God KEEPETH himself'
'Keep yourselves from idols.'
Do you see the close connection between believing and a reflection of that belief in our lives? Why would the Bible spout faith and believing and in the same breath say- keep yourselves from idols? That's an action. We have to keep our lives in line with God's. We have to follow God's will in all we do. We have to put God before us as we live and hold our lives accountable to God. We accept Him, believe in Him and through faith we do so. It's no good at all to keep from idols if we don't believe in God. People say being good is enough, living a good life, honest and upright, friendly and helpful, but the nicest person in the world will not be saved unless they believe in God and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. God first in all things. Jesus put God's will first in all things. It was God's will not His when He allowed Himself to be crucified.
Luk 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
It was Christ's will to do His Father's will no matter what it meant. That didn't stop Christ from saying to His Father- 'if thou be willing remove this cup from me'.
He knew God's will and was willing to do God's will, but at the same time if He had His choice He would rather not have to endure what was being asked of Him.
This is an example for our lives too. God asks of us to do His will, we don't have to like it. Too many think we should like it, but it's not always something enjoyable we are being asked to do. Give up ourselves and submit to God, this is hard and yet through Christ it is possible.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord may we seek to serve Him to do His will now and forever.
Amen.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Things of the Spirit
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Minding things of the Spirit.
Do you mind things of the Spirit? Seriously. Think about it for a few moments. How much minding of the Spirit do you do? Tending to the flesh is rather easy isn't it? Think about it. It's easy to grab up a bite to eat, pop it in our mouths, chew it, swallow it and fulfill the need of hunger our flesh feels. When you're thirsty it's simple to get a glass of water and take care of that thirst, for the most part- in most parts of the world anyway. Do you think it's easier for someone who is finding it hard to find food and drink to tend to their spirit? It's something to think about.
Another thing to think about, do we have spiritual pangs to tell us we're in need of spiritual tending? Have we so warped ourselves that we can't recognize our spiritual need- passing it off as something else entirely.
We have so many mental and emotional illnesses we can scarcely count them. People today take so many pills geared to just help them get through the day it's unbelievable. Yet we refuse to recognize anything as a spiritual illness. The spiritual is a choice people say. We don't have to be spiritual. We can choose to not believe in the spiritual side of things. And people fully believe that in making that choice their spiritual side simply no longer exists. If they don't believe it, then it isn't there, it isn't a part of them. They don't need that bit- if it's even real- discard it like a diseased appendix, or a rotten tooth, toss it aside as the deadened flesh of the remainder of an umbilical cord that was once attached to everyone of us and needed to dry up and fall away. Why such a graphic example? Because how many of us think about that bit of our flesh that was knotted off and allowed to perish away as useless? Sure we might consider our belly button, our navels on occasion perhaps to decorate them with jewelry or tug a piece of fuzz out of but how often do we think about the tiny bit of flesh that had to die off to form it? Our spiritual side exists even if we don't admit to it. Our spiritual side can starve.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Minding things of the spirit. We can't mind things of the spirit unless we recognize the spirit has needs. We know what minding the flesh is- doing anything and everything to satisfy our desires and boy does the flesh have a lot of desires. Some of those desires we want to be satisfied once a day, others a few times a day, some once a week, or once a month it varies according to our individual desires and fleshy appetites and I'm not just talking sex here, there are many 'things of the flesh'. Given the choice of eating to satisfy a flesh hunger, or studying God's word to satisfy a spiritual hunger it's easy to believe the majority would choose to eat to satisfy a flesh hunger in part because they recognize the physical pangs of hunger much more readily than they do their spiritual hunger. As long as Satan has people disbelieving in their Spiritual need it's easy for Him to seduce them to His side without their even knowing.
How many Christmas stories do we see on television this time of year that play up the believing or disbelieving in Santa Claus? How many people secretly wish He REALLY did exist? Many of those shows satisfy that delusion just to play up that part inside of us, but we know the reality is that He doesn't exist. Those shows a lot of times give the impression if you only BELIEVE then it will be real and it's as simple as disbelieving to do away with Santa. Our spiritual lives demand belief in God who is Spirit.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
We have to believe.
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
And this is where a lot of people shrug spiritual things off as if they aren't important, as if they don't even exist. They choose not to believe. Anything that demands faith- believing without seeing is easy to simply not believe. It's much easier to believe something doesn't exist when it's unseen than to believe it does exist.
Our spirit that needs feeding goes on to starve and our lives become more and more selfish, more self-centered, more filled with whatever it is that will keep us from recognizing the spiritual side. It's not so far fetched to say that everyone has their own person demons that work in very personalized ways to keep each of us from tending to things spiritual.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Help us Lord to be after the Spirit and not after the flesh. Help us to recognize that the Spirit is the part of us that connects with God- who is a Spirit. Help us to understand that we need to truly mind the things of the Spirit. As we live day to day tending to our flesh, help us to recognize that we need to tend our Spirit, feed our Spirit from Your word, in prayer, in study, in knowing that in all things God should be first and foremost.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we live in Him now and forever.
Amen.
Minding things of the Spirit.
Do you mind things of the Spirit? Seriously. Think about it for a few moments. How much minding of the Spirit do you do? Tending to the flesh is rather easy isn't it? Think about it. It's easy to grab up a bite to eat, pop it in our mouths, chew it, swallow it and fulfill the need of hunger our flesh feels. When you're thirsty it's simple to get a glass of water and take care of that thirst, for the most part- in most parts of the world anyway. Do you think it's easier for someone who is finding it hard to find food and drink to tend to their spirit? It's something to think about.
Another thing to think about, do we have spiritual pangs to tell us we're in need of spiritual tending? Have we so warped ourselves that we can't recognize our spiritual need- passing it off as something else entirely.
We have so many mental and emotional illnesses we can scarcely count them. People today take so many pills geared to just help them get through the day it's unbelievable. Yet we refuse to recognize anything as a spiritual illness. The spiritual is a choice people say. We don't have to be spiritual. We can choose to not believe in the spiritual side of things. And people fully believe that in making that choice their spiritual side simply no longer exists. If they don't believe it, then it isn't there, it isn't a part of them. They don't need that bit- if it's even real- discard it like a diseased appendix, or a rotten tooth, toss it aside as the deadened flesh of the remainder of an umbilical cord that was once attached to everyone of us and needed to dry up and fall away. Why such a graphic example? Because how many of us think about that bit of our flesh that was knotted off and allowed to perish away as useless? Sure we might consider our belly button, our navels on occasion perhaps to decorate them with jewelry or tug a piece of fuzz out of but how often do we think about the tiny bit of flesh that had to die off to form it? Our spiritual side exists even if we don't admit to it. Our spiritual side can starve.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Minding things of the spirit. We can't mind things of the spirit unless we recognize the spirit has needs. We know what minding the flesh is- doing anything and everything to satisfy our desires and boy does the flesh have a lot of desires. Some of those desires we want to be satisfied once a day, others a few times a day, some once a week, or once a month it varies according to our individual desires and fleshy appetites and I'm not just talking sex here, there are many 'things of the flesh'. Given the choice of eating to satisfy a flesh hunger, or studying God's word to satisfy a spiritual hunger it's easy to believe the majority would choose to eat to satisfy a flesh hunger in part because they recognize the physical pangs of hunger much more readily than they do their spiritual hunger. As long as Satan has people disbelieving in their Spiritual need it's easy for Him to seduce them to His side without their even knowing.
How many Christmas stories do we see on television this time of year that play up the believing or disbelieving in Santa Claus? How many people secretly wish He REALLY did exist? Many of those shows satisfy that delusion just to play up that part inside of us, but we know the reality is that He doesn't exist. Those shows a lot of times give the impression if you only BELIEVE then it will be real and it's as simple as disbelieving to do away with Santa. Our spiritual lives demand belief in God who is Spirit.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
We have to believe.
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
And this is where a lot of people shrug spiritual things off as if they aren't important, as if they don't even exist. They choose not to believe. Anything that demands faith- believing without seeing is easy to simply not believe. It's much easier to believe something doesn't exist when it's unseen than to believe it does exist.
Our spirit that needs feeding goes on to starve and our lives become more and more selfish, more self-centered, more filled with whatever it is that will keep us from recognizing the spiritual side. It's not so far fetched to say that everyone has their own person demons that work in very personalized ways to keep each of us from tending to things spiritual.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Help us Lord to be after the Spirit and not after the flesh. Help us to recognize that the Spirit is the part of us that connects with God- who is a Spirit. Help us to understand that we need to truly mind the things of the Spirit. As we live day to day tending to our flesh, help us to recognize that we need to tend our Spirit, feed our Spirit from Your word, in prayer, in study, in knowing that in all things God should be first and foremost.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we live in Him now and forever.
Amen.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Slipcover Christianity
We talk about works and a lot of people think they don't matter at all and in truth you don't get salvation by works, it is a gift, but that doesn't mean all works stop.
If you truly love someone you act certain ways towards them. I'm not saying all mushy and doe-eyed that equivalent of a new love not yet broken in. If you love someone fully you respect them and there are things you know they don't like and you don't do them, things you know they like and you do them out of that love. Many people say that loving someone is accepting them the way they are without trying to change them, learning to live with the faults that present themselves. However if someone loves someone and they see that loved one doing things that are harmful to themselves they want them to stop so they don't get hurt. Their love for them aches as they watch them hurt themselves. They might offer their loved one ways to stop harming themselves, out of love. There are degrees of this and if the loved one were involved in something extremely harmful, leaving them after you try to help them is one option. Watching a loved one hurt themselves over and over is hard. All this is on a HUMAN level. God is on a whole other level. God offers us salvation freely out of love and when we accept salvation we are accepting Him and all that entails. We join with Him and desire to live for Him. Our sinning nature will war against this, Satan will pull out all stops to get us to sin in one way or another. Temptations will become more frequent and stronger and when we slip and fall, sinning, we are led to despair that we'll ever be as God would have us be.
In Revelation the first few chapters we are told this over and over.
'I know thy works'
Jesus knows our works. If works are so unimportant why does it matter? Yet over and over Jesus speaks to the seven churches and to each church He tells them 'I know thy works.' He knows our hearts, He know our lives, He know how we work in all that we do and it does matter. We can't just say we love Him and that's all there is. We can't say we follow Him and in reality we follow our own lusts without any compunction. Jesus knows our works and to each church He reaffirms this. He knows their actions, He knows our actions. We can leave our first love, we can worship *others*, we can blasphemy, we can be seduced away by counterfeits, we can lose faith, we can become defiled, we can become immune, numb to truth, not caring to foster a true love of Christ but rather become content in the slipcover Christianity we profess. We can shout to the hilltops, shout in the streets, blog to the world that we believe in God but our actions speak louder than all the professing we do. To say our actions mean nothing is to be deceived. Accepting Christ, accepting forgiveness, showing true repentance and giving our lives to Christ result in our lives reflecting that love. If our lives do NOT reflect that love because we believe our *works* don't matter we are only allowing ourselves to be deceived.
God loves us and sees the dangers we are in. God loves us and knows the harm that will befall us when we let sin reign.
Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
WE HAVE NOT YET RESISTED UNTO BLOOD STRIVING AGAINST SIN!
Instead we've soothed ourselves, stroked our weaknesses and mollify ourselves by saying God understands. Yes, God does understand. He has always been about love and out of love our actions are made. Turning from God has consequences, shunning the love of God, betraying the love of God all matters but we live in a world that wants to just ease our minds not trouble ourselves with anything. People stress God is love, and all the good things, while forgetting God wrote the Ten Commandments that Jesus reaffirmed. Commandments that tell us how to live. When we don't live in harmony with God's commands all the soothing and mollifying in the world is pure deception. Whole churches exist to mollify people. Whole churches are lukewarm and will be spewed out by Christ. People are going to cry out when Christ returns and rejects them that they knew Him! That they did many wonderful things in His name and He's going to say get away, He doesn't know them at all. They'll be deceived into believing they are Christ's and living as Christ would have them live. ALL BUT THE VERY ELECT will be deceived.
Mat 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.
We cry out with Paul, wanting God to hear us- Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Jesus Christ has to be everything to us. Our lives have to be filled with striving against sin...we haven't resisted unto blood in our striving have we? Have you? Have I? What true striving against sin do we do? We can't count the number of times we've succumbed to sin, but can we count the number we've strived against it? Resisted unto blood? We tell ourselves we aren't suppose to strive, that we aren't supposed to *WORK* because it will void Salvation being a gift, but that's not true at all.
Someone gives us a gift we don't deserve and we instantly feel as if we have to repay them in kind with a gift for them, but maybe it's completely IMPOSSIBLE for us to repay them. We are left feeling as if we don't deserve the gift but obviously the person giving it feels as though we do in some way warrant it, even if it's just out of their love for us. Part of us instantly wants to be nicer to that person, doesn't it? No, this can't compare to the gift of salvation, but we have to realize that out of love we must strive against sin because sin will separate us from God and to be separated from God is to no longer live in Him- now and forever- and the tragedy of that is unfathomable.
May God help us by the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Help us Lord to live as you would have us live in You. Knowing You and being known by You. Create in us clean hearts, renew right spirits within us. May we serve Christ, the law of God, knowing we are wretched in and of ourselves, our righteousness as filthy rags. Help us Lord to resist unto blood as we strive against sin.
In Your Love!
Amen.
If you truly love someone you act certain ways towards them. I'm not saying all mushy and doe-eyed that equivalent of a new love not yet broken in. If you love someone fully you respect them and there are things you know they don't like and you don't do them, things you know they like and you do them out of that love. Many people say that loving someone is accepting them the way they are without trying to change them, learning to live with the faults that present themselves. However if someone loves someone and they see that loved one doing things that are harmful to themselves they want them to stop so they don't get hurt. Their love for them aches as they watch them hurt themselves. They might offer their loved one ways to stop harming themselves, out of love. There are degrees of this and if the loved one were involved in something extremely harmful, leaving them after you try to help them is one option. Watching a loved one hurt themselves over and over is hard. All this is on a HUMAN level. God is on a whole other level. God offers us salvation freely out of love and when we accept salvation we are accepting Him and all that entails. We join with Him and desire to live for Him. Our sinning nature will war against this, Satan will pull out all stops to get us to sin in one way or another. Temptations will become more frequent and stronger and when we slip and fall, sinning, we are led to despair that we'll ever be as God would have us be.
In Revelation the first few chapters we are told this over and over.
'I know thy works'
Jesus knows our works. If works are so unimportant why does it matter? Yet over and over Jesus speaks to the seven churches and to each church He tells them 'I know thy works.' He knows our hearts, He know our lives, He know how we work in all that we do and it does matter. We can't just say we love Him and that's all there is. We can't say we follow Him and in reality we follow our own lusts without any compunction. Jesus knows our works and to each church He reaffirms this. He knows their actions, He knows our actions. We can leave our first love, we can worship *others*, we can blasphemy, we can be seduced away by counterfeits, we can lose faith, we can become defiled, we can become immune, numb to truth, not caring to foster a true love of Christ but rather become content in the slipcover Christianity we profess. We can shout to the hilltops, shout in the streets, blog to the world that we believe in God but our actions speak louder than all the professing we do. To say our actions mean nothing is to be deceived. Accepting Christ, accepting forgiveness, showing true repentance and giving our lives to Christ result in our lives reflecting that love. If our lives do NOT reflect that love because we believe our *works* don't matter we are only allowing ourselves to be deceived.
God loves us and sees the dangers we are in. God loves us and knows the harm that will befall us when we let sin reign.
Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
WE HAVE NOT YET RESISTED UNTO BLOOD STRIVING AGAINST SIN!
Instead we've soothed ourselves, stroked our weaknesses and mollify ourselves by saying God understands. Yes, God does understand. He has always been about love and out of love our actions are made. Turning from God has consequences, shunning the love of God, betraying the love of God all matters but we live in a world that wants to just ease our minds not trouble ourselves with anything. People stress God is love, and all the good things, while forgetting God wrote the Ten Commandments that Jesus reaffirmed. Commandments that tell us how to live. When we don't live in harmony with God's commands all the soothing and mollifying in the world is pure deception. Whole churches exist to mollify people. Whole churches are lukewarm and will be spewed out by Christ. People are going to cry out when Christ returns and rejects them that they knew Him! That they did many wonderful things in His name and He's going to say get away, He doesn't know them at all. They'll be deceived into believing they are Christ's and living as Christ would have them live. ALL BUT THE VERY ELECT will be deceived.
Mat 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.
We cry out with Paul, wanting God to hear us- Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Jesus Christ has to be everything to us. Our lives have to be filled with striving against sin...we haven't resisted unto blood in our striving have we? Have you? Have I? What true striving against sin do we do? We can't count the number of times we've succumbed to sin, but can we count the number we've strived against it? Resisted unto blood? We tell ourselves we aren't suppose to strive, that we aren't supposed to *WORK* because it will void Salvation being a gift, but that's not true at all.
Someone gives us a gift we don't deserve and we instantly feel as if we have to repay them in kind with a gift for them, but maybe it's completely IMPOSSIBLE for us to repay them. We are left feeling as if we don't deserve the gift but obviously the person giving it feels as though we do in some way warrant it, even if it's just out of their love for us. Part of us instantly wants to be nicer to that person, doesn't it? No, this can't compare to the gift of salvation, but we have to realize that out of love we must strive against sin because sin will separate us from God and to be separated from God is to no longer live in Him- now and forever- and the tragedy of that is unfathomable.
May God help us by the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Help us Lord to live as you would have us live in You. Knowing You and being known by You. Create in us clean hearts, renew right spirits within us. May we serve Christ, the law of God, knowing we are wretched in and of ourselves, our righteousness as filthy rags. Help us Lord to resist unto blood as we strive against sin.
In Your Love!
Amen.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Surrender All - Live By His Will
Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was
**
Jesus spoke those words- 'I can of mine own self do nothing.' He'd taken on humanity and left His divinity in the process. He made Him self human which is lower than that angels. He made Himself subject unto death- something an un-glorified divine being cannot do - die. Sounds awful doesn't it? Yet, Jesus was a man and purposely became a man. He was born of the Spirit yet born a human baby in human flesh. He was born a Jew and as the custom was He was circumcised. His divine flesh was cut, it bled. Outwardly He looked no different than any other human baby, human child, human man. He could live among humans and pass for a human because He gave up the divinity and became human to allow Himself to be tempted in all ways- JUST AS WE ARE. He lived connected to the Heavenly Father not through any divine power but through the same power we possess, through the spirit. He prayed to God, He studied the Word of God even though He knew it so well because He was and is the Word. He used the power of the scriptures and admonished us to do the same.
IF Jesus hadn't become human just like you and I, able to be tempted just like you and I in all our weakness, His death would be pointless because all it would reveal to us is that it takes being a God to overcome sin- something we are not. What it takes is being connected to God spiritually, not being a God ourselves. And Jesus was connected to God fully.
He said- I can of mine own self do nothing - and He wasn't just saying that, He meant it. He continued saying - as I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
More proof that He gave up His divinity to become human- He said- And now O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Jesus had given up His unique glory- a glory He had before the world was. Why before the world was and not just before He became human? Because before God made the world and made humans He had it all thought out a plan was put in place much like we make contingency plans. Not that the plans have to be put in place, but that they are there just in case they are needed. More often than not contingency plans become obsolete upon a successful endeavor, but they are there to be used in an emergency and the human emergency came about and the contingency plan was enacted, a plan set up before the world was made, before mankind was created. If angels could fall and separate themselves from God through sin it stands to reason that any creature given the power of choice could fall as well. There is no one to save the angels- non-procreating beings, perhaps God knowing that in making man in His image would need to provide a way for them to connect to Him once again if the connection was broken. The angels eventually all made a choice for good or evil and we too make that choice by either believing in Christ or not. Believing that it takes us being connected through Christ to God, that Christ was born and lived, then died to reveal that it was entirely possible for mankind to live sinless and through Him we can live sinless. Through Him we can have our sins washed away. Christ of His own self could do nothing. We of our own selves can do nothing, we must live through the will of the Father by the grace of Jesus Christ.
It's not easy trying to believe fully in Christ. It's easy to superficially say we do, but to LIVE our lives as we believe, that's not easy at all. Surrendering our will to God's- it's more that just words to say, it a way of life.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we surrender all to God and live by His will.
Amen.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was
**
Jesus spoke those words- 'I can of mine own self do nothing.' He'd taken on humanity and left His divinity in the process. He made Him self human which is lower than that angels. He made Himself subject unto death- something an un-glorified divine being cannot do - die. Sounds awful doesn't it? Yet, Jesus was a man and purposely became a man. He was born of the Spirit yet born a human baby in human flesh. He was born a Jew and as the custom was He was circumcised. His divine flesh was cut, it bled. Outwardly He looked no different than any other human baby, human child, human man. He could live among humans and pass for a human because He gave up the divinity and became human to allow Himself to be tempted in all ways- JUST AS WE ARE. He lived connected to the Heavenly Father not through any divine power but through the same power we possess, through the spirit. He prayed to God, He studied the Word of God even though He knew it so well because He was and is the Word. He used the power of the scriptures and admonished us to do the same.
IF Jesus hadn't become human just like you and I, able to be tempted just like you and I in all our weakness, His death would be pointless because all it would reveal to us is that it takes being a God to overcome sin- something we are not. What it takes is being connected to God spiritually, not being a God ourselves. And Jesus was connected to God fully.
He said- I can of mine own self do nothing - and He wasn't just saying that, He meant it. He continued saying - as I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
More proof that He gave up His divinity to become human- He said- And now O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Jesus had given up His unique glory- a glory He had before the world was. Why before the world was and not just before He became human? Because before God made the world and made humans He had it all thought out a plan was put in place much like we make contingency plans. Not that the plans have to be put in place, but that they are there just in case they are needed. More often than not contingency plans become obsolete upon a successful endeavor, but they are there to be used in an emergency and the human emergency came about and the contingency plan was enacted, a plan set up before the world was made, before mankind was created. If angels could fall and separate themselves from God through sin it stands to reason that any creature given the power of choice could fall as well. There is no one to save the angels- non-procreating beings, perhaps God knowing that in making man in His image would need to provide a way for them to connect to Him once again if the connection was broken. The angels eventually all made a choice for good or evil and we too make that choice by either believing in Christ or not. Believing that it takes us being connected through Christ to God, that Christ was born and lived, then died to reveal that it was entirely possible for mankind to live sinless and through Him we can live sinless. Through Him we can have our sins washed away. Christ of His own self could do nothing. We of our own selves can do nothing, we must live through the will of the Father by the grace of Jesus Christ.
It's not easy trying to believe fully in Christ. It's easy to superficially say we do, but to LIVE our lives as we believe, that's not easy at all. Surrendering our will to God's- it's more that just words to say, it a way of life.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we surrender all to God and live by His will.
Amen.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
True Security
Security. What does that word mean to you?
Let's see how the dictionary defines the word-
security (sî-ky¢r´î-tê) noun
plural securities
Abbr. sec.
1. Freedom from risk or danger; safety.
2. Freedom from doubt, anxiety, or fear; confidence.
3. Something that gives or assures safety, as:. a. A group or department of private guards: Call building security if a visitor acts suspicious. b. Measures adopted by a government to prevent espionage, sabotage, or attack. c. Measures adopted, as by a business or homeowner, to prevent a crime such as burglary or assault: Security was lax at the firm's smaller plant. d. Measures adopted to prevent escape: Security in the prison is very tight.
4. Computer Science. a. The level to which a program or device is safe from unauthorized use. b. Prevention of unauthorized use of a program or device.
5. Something deposited or given as assurance of the fulfillment of an obligation; a pledge.
6. One who undertakes to fulfill the obligation of another; a surety.
7. A document indicating ownership or creditorship; a stock certificate or bond.
***
Very few people deny they would like security in their lives. Most people believe there is security in accumlating great wealth and keeping that wealth. Wealth means security from poverty and all that entails. Wealth does not offer security from health issues. Wealth is no security against accidents and injury. Wealth can not secure for you life everlasting.
Some think it's enough to have security here and now because the future is unknown fully. Ask a lot of people what they fear the most and they'll tell you something that has to do with losing security in some way.
It's not easy to trust to the point of losing all fear, is it? So many believe God has let them down, that He's let the whole world down, but they look only to the small picture painted with temporal paints. The overall plan for mankind is not one of a mere human life span, but of eternity. If a thousand years is as a single day to God what does that tell us? How many human life times in our time right now would it take to span a thousand years? Let's be generous and give 100 years as the average life span (we haven't quite reached there yet but for the sake of rounding off generously...) that's ten lifetimes, ten! That's you, your mother, your grandmother, your great grandmother, your great great grandmother, all the way up to your great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother. Very few people know who their 7 'greats' grandmother was- that was a 1000 years ago! Now think about it... ONE single day. We all know what that is, how short a time one single day is and yet a 1000 years is as a single day to God, ten of our generations is as a single day to God. He lives in eternity and He asks us to trust Him, to believe in Him, to find hope and forgiveness in Jesus Christ, the Son of God slain for us to have that opportunity. He's asking us to live our mere 100 years (if that) and live it in Him with the promise of eternity. How can the God of eternity be considered as one who let His creatures down when He offers us so much. While our suffering here is tremendous, for some more than others, in the long run that suffering will be nothing. No, it doesn't seem that way in the throes of agony- physically, mentally, emotionally- the pain is all consuming the tragedies of life all encompassing; yet all that is temporal.
The problem is we don't tend to look beyond the temporal. You've heard people tell you when you're having a rough time to just tell yourself it'll pass. I've done it more than once. I've even offered that advice. It will pass, and the majority of time it does pass doesn't it. The agony subsides, life goes on and we are left scarred by the tragedies that make up our lives. Scars we can trace to count out our years in existence, scars intermingled with the smooth, clear, unblemish flesh of happy moments, or at the least moments less traumatic. The good or the bad it doesn't matter, time marches on slowing down for no one. Our lives are blips on the screen of eternity, and that's how most people live their lives- believing that once their life ends that's it, that's all she wrote. The thing is, are we going to be blips that remain on the last radar circuit never to leave the radar screen but become a permanant fixture in eternity or will we be blips that vanish as though we've never been because we don't choose to let Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior exist in our lives as a living, breathing, life-saving, life-changing, life-guiding enitity. Make no mistake, we do the choosing but Satan would have us believe that all is decided long before we were born and we have no choices to make, we just have to go with the flow and hope for the best.
We can be rational human beings, some of us (though I'm not included) can even have super high IQ's and still believe in God and the way of salvation, the way to take life from a meaningless 100 painful years and change it to a painless eternity. Knowing that the eternity will be ruled in pure love, an existence of pure love in all ways does away with the warped belief of someone saying that no, they don't want to live forever not in all this strife.
There are so many misconceptions out there but the Bible holds the truth. Some will say that everyone can interpret the Bible differently but the Bible really interprets itself. We need to pray that we come to all truth in Jesus, even if it's not a truth we want to believe. We need to prayer for the truth and the ability to follow the truth when it is presented to us, all through the power of the Holy Spirit who is willing to guide us, to teach us, to offer us comfort and a joy that is unique and special from Him to us. No, we're not going to suddenly be guaranteed painfree lives- in fact our lives might become more painful because Satan will try harder to get us. We are promised life being the pain even if we suffer unto death we know we will wake at Christ's second coming to life eternal in Him. Jesus suffered unto death, suffered tremendous pain, we can expect no less suffering but in suffering we can have real hope.
The Bible tells us this about security- safety, confidence, surety.
***
Psa 4:8 In peace will I both lay me down and sleep; For thou, Jehovah, alone makest me dwell in safety.
Psa 65:5 By terrible things thou wilt answer us in righteousness, Oh God of our salvation, Thou that art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of them that are afar off upon the sea:
Psa 118:8 It is better to take refuge in Jehovah Than to put confidence in man.
2Co 3:3 being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh.
2Co 3:4 And such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward:
2Co 3:5 not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God
Eph 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Eph 3:9 and to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages hath been hid in God who created all things;
Eph 3:10 to the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11 according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Eph 3:12 in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.
Eph 3:13 Wherefore I ask that ye may not faint at my tribulations for you, which are your glory.
Eph 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father,
Eph 3:15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
Eph 3:16 that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man;
Eph 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
Eph 3:19 and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God.
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Eph 3:21 unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen.
Heb 3:14 for we are become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end
Isa 38:14 Like a swallow or a crane, so did I chatter; I did moan as a dove; mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed, be thou my surety.
Heb 7:22 by so much also hath Jesus become the surety of a better covenant.
*******
Our security, real security, the ONLY security we have is found in God, not mankind or anything mankind can offer or possess. Heavenly treasures are the only treasures that mean a single thing. All our earthly treasures exist for only a short while for us- though they mostly live on after us in the hands of others very seldom do others hold our temporal treasures in their hands and cherish them the way we did. Leaving the gift of a life's memory pointing to heavenly treasures is more valuable by far than leaving a multitude of things to someone but in our day and age, in our sin-twisted way we find that hard to believe. May God help us all.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior, now and forever in Him.
Amen.
Let's see how the dictionary defines the word-
security (sî-ky¢r´î-tê) noun
plural securities
Abbr. sec.
1. Freedom from risk or danger; safety.
2. Freedom from doubt, anxiety, or fear; confidence.
3. Something that gives or assures safety, as:. a. A group or department of private guards: Call building security if a visitor acts suspicious. b. Measures adopted by a government to prevent espionage, sabotage, or attack. c. Measures adopted, as by a business or homeowner, to prevent a crime such as burglary or assault: Security was lax at the firm's smaller plant. d. Measures adopted to prevent escape: Security in the prison is very tight.
4. Computer Science. a. The level to which a program or device is safe from unauthorized use. b. Prevention of unauthorized use of a program or device.
5. Something deposited or given as assurance of the fulfillment of an obligation; a pledge.
6. One who undertakes to fulfill the obligation of another; a surety.
7. A document indicating ownership or creditorship; a stock certificate or bond.
***
Very few people deny they would like security in their lives. Most people believe there is security in accumlating great wealth and keeping that wealth. Wealth means security from poverty and all that entails. Wealth does not offer security from health issues. Wealth is no security against accidents and injury. Wealth can not secure for you life everlasting.
Some think it's enough to have security here and now because the future is unknown fully. Ask a lot of people what they fear the most and they'll tell you something that has to do with losing security in some way.
It's not easy to trust to the point of losing all fear, is it? So many believe God has let them down, that He's let the whole world down, but they look only to the small picture painted with temporal paints. The overall plan for mankind is not one of a mere human life span, but of eternity. If a thousand years is as a single day to God what does that tell us? How many human life times in our time right now would it take to span a thousand years? Let's be generous and give 100 years as the average life span (we haven't quite reached there yet but for the sake of rounding off generously...) that's ten lifetimes, ten! That's you, your mother, your grandmother, your great grandmother, your great great grandmother, all the way up to your great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother. Very few people know who their 7 'greats' grandmother was- that was a 1000 years ago! Now think about it... ONE single day. We all know what that is, how short a time one single day is and yet a 1000 years is as a single day to God, ten of our generations is as a single day to God. He lives in eternity and He asks us to trust Him, to believe in Him, to find hope and forgiveness in Jesus Christ, the Son of God slain for us to have that opportunity. He's asking us to live our mere 100 years (if that) and live it in Him with the promise of eternity. How can the God of eternity be considered as one who let His creatures down when He offers us so much. While our suffering here is tremendous, for some more than others, in the long run that suffering will be nothing. No, it doesn't seem that way in the throes of agony- physically, mentally, emotionally- the pain is all consuming the tragedies of life all encompassing; yet all that is temporal.
The problem is we don't tend to look beyond the temporal. You've heard people tell you when you're having a rough time to just tell yourself it'll pass. I've done it more than once. I've even offered that advice. It will pass, and the majority of time it does pass doesn't it. The agony subsides, life goes on and we are left scarred by the tragedies that make up our lives. Scars we can trace to count out our years in existence, scars intermingled with the smooth, clear, unblemish flesh of happy moments, or at the least moments less traumatic. The good or the bad it doesn't matter, time marches on slowing down for no one. Our lives are blips on the screen of eternity, and that's how most people live their lives- believing that once their life ends that's it, that's all she wrote. The thing is, are we going to be blips that remain on the last radar circuit never to leave the radar screen but become a permanant fixture in eternity or will we be blips that vanish as though we've never been because we don't choose to let Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior exist in our lives as a living, breathing, life-saving, life-changing, life-guiding enitity. Make no mistake, we do the choosing but Satan would have us believe that all is decided long before we were born and we have no choices to make, we just have to go with the flow and hope for the best.
We can be rational human beings, some of us (though I'm not included) can even have super high IQ's and still believe in God and the way of salvation, the way to take life from a meaningless 100 painful years and change it to a painless eternity. Knowing that the eternity will be ruled in pure love, an existence of pure love in all ways does away with the warped belief of someone saying that no, they don't want to live forever not in all this strife.
There are so many misconceptions out there but the Bible holds the truth. Some will say that everyone can interpret the Bible differently but the Bible really interprets itself. We need to pray that we come to all truth in Jesus, even if it's not a truth we want to believe. We need to prayer for the truth and the ability to follow the truth when it is presented to us, all through the power of the Holy Spirit who is willing to guide us, to teach us, to offer us comfort and a joy that is unique and special from Him to us. No, we're not going to suddenly be guaranteed painfree lives- in fact our lives might become more painful because Satan will try harder to get us. We are promised life being the pain even if we suffer unto death we know we will wake at Christ's second coming to life eternal in Him. Jesus suffered unto death, suffered tremendous pain, we can expect no less suffering but in suffering we can have real hope.
The Bible tells us this about security- safety, confidence, surety.
***
Psa 4:8 In peace will I both lay me down and sleep; For thou, Jehovah, alone makest me dwell in safety.
Psa 65:5 By terrible things thou wilt answer us in righteousness, Oh God of our salvation, Thou that art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of them that are afar off upon the sea:
Psa 118:8 It is better to take refuge in Jehovah Than to put confidence in man.
2Co 3:3 being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh.
2Co 3:4 And such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward:
2Co 3:5 not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God
Eph 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Eph 3:9 and to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages hath been hid in God who created all things;
Eph 3:10 to the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11 according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Eph 3:12 in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.
Eph 3:13 Wherefore I ask that ye may not faint at my tribulations for you, which are your glory.
Eph 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father,
Eph 3:15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
Eph 3:16 that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man;
Eph 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
Eph 3:19 and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God.
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Eph 3:21 unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen.
Heb 3:14 for we are become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end
Isa 38:14 Like a swallow or a crane, so did I chatter; I did moan as a dove; mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed, be thou my surety.
Heb 7:22 by so much also hath Jesus become the surety of a better covenant.
*******
Our security, real security, the ONLY security we have is found in God, not mankind or anything mankind can offer or possess. Heavenly treasures are the only treasures that mean a single thing. All our earthly treasures exist for only a short while for us- though they mostly live on after us in the hands of others very seldom do others hold our temporal treasures in their hands and cherish them the way we did. Leaving the gift of a life's memory pointing to heavenly treasures is more valuable by far than leaving a multitude of things to someone but in our day and age, in our sin-twisted way we find that hard to believe. May God help us all.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior, now and forever in Him.
Amen.
Friday, December 18, 2009
In Need of a Shepherd
Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Joh 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
Joh 10:13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
Joh 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Joh 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
Jesus is the good shepherd. We don't have many shepherds around us do we? Not as a rule any way. It's a good guess some people probably don't even know what a shepherd is.
shepherd (shèp´erd) noun
1. One who herds, guards, and tends sheep.
2. One who cares for and guides a group of people, as a minister or teacher.
Guards and tends to. I don't have a shepherd, a physical one. Could we consider parents shepherds? The tend and guard their children. What about teachers, are they symbolic of shepherds? The tend and guard our children. Caregivers watch over adult people in need of supervision. Prison guards are responsible for their prisoners and in a way they do tend and guard them to a certain extent. Do you have a shepherd? Do you have anyone who tends to you and guards you? There are those that do have body guards but the average person walks about daily unguarded, untended by anyone, they are on their own even if they have family members and such it doesn't necessarily mean the other members of the family are guarding or tending to them. We are raised to be independent. In fact I've often said that if I could raise my kids to be independent, able to take care of themselves then I would consider my parenting a success. We strive for independence, to not need anyone for anything, able to do for ourselves. Get a job, provide a service for someone and get paid for it and use that income to buy any and all necessities we might have to live. When someone can't provide for themselves we believe they've become a burden to someone- family, friends, society. In years past women were provided for and men happily provided for them- considering it a source of pride to be able to support his family. Nowadays women or men it doesn't matter each should be able to provide for themselves - no exceptions. Our world today wants us to rely on ourselves- stressing that the weak and the losers are those who don't. Being guarded, being tended to, having a caregiver, a shepherd isn't something that is promoted at all- we should be able to do everything on our own, needing no one.
It's easy to understand that the sheep a shepherd guards do what they're supposed to do. The sheep who are injured or sick are given extra care, but overall the sheep do what they were created to do. Left on their own they would still do what they were created to do, but a shepherd protects them and makes it easier for them to do what they were created to do. A shepherd keeps the sheep safe something the sheep aren't if they are left all alone.
In a world of stressing self-reliance it's not easy for people to get to a place where they understand their need of a shepherd, they're too busy believing they have to do everything on their own.
Just today I was watching tv and a person on a comedy show said to a group of children he was reading a story to- 'Hope is something people believe in when they can't deal with reality.' Or something to that effect. It's a fact that many people claim that people who believe in God are deluded and can't deal with the reality that this is all life is take it or leave it. For people to believe they have a need of a shepherd somehow detracts from them, it makes them vulnerable and weak, unable to live on their own.
Satan wants us to believe that hope is a delusion, that God is a fantasy, that needing a Savior is silly. He wants us to believe that we are weak and losers if we admit we can't live on our own.
How many people truly rely on Christ for life? How many people truly acknowledge the very breath they take is a gift from God?
Christ said He is the Good Shepherd and a Good Shepherd will lay His life down for His sheep. Christ laid His life down for all of us who will acknowledge that we are His to tend to, to guide, to protect. We have to believe in Him and in believing admit that we can't live our lives on our own. We need a Spiritual caregiver, a Spiritual tender, a Spiritual guard and we need to follow our Spiritual Shepherd every single day. Our Spiritual Shepherd protected our Spiritual lives with by giving up His own life. He protected our right to eternal life by defeating all the spiritual forces that would take that right from us. He laid down His life and took it up again- for us.
May we follow our Good Shepherd knowing that our lives no matter how successful or unsuccessful by worldly standards, belong to Him. By the grace of God we live, by the mercy and sacrifice of our Lord and Savior we can claim a future life, an eternal life in Him. Our Good Shepherd will forever protect our eternal lives, our Spiritual lives if we let Him by following Him, listening to Him, admitting we have need of Him now and forever.
Amen.
Joh 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
Joh 10:13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
Joh 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Joh 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
Jesus is the good shepherd. We don't have many shepherds around us do we? Not as a rule any way. It's a good guess some people probably don't even know what a shepherd is.
shepherd (shèp´erd) noun
1. One who herds, guards, and tends sheep.
2. One who cares for and guides a group of people, as a minister or teacher.
Guards and tends to. I don't have a shepherd, a physical one. Could we consider parents shepherds? The tend and guard their children. What about teachers, are they symbolic of shepherds? The tend and guard our children. Caregivers watch over adult people in need of supervision. Prison guards are responsible for their prisoners and in a way they do tend and guard them to a certain extent. Do you have a shepherd? Do you have anyone who tends to you and guards you? There are those that do have body guards but the average person walks about daily unguarded, untended by anyone, they are on their own even if they have family members and such it doesn't necessarily mean the other members of the family are guarding or tending to them. We are raised to be independent. In fact I've often said that if I could raise my kids to be independent, able to take care of themselves then I would consider my parenting a success. We strive for independence, to not need anyone for anything, able to do for ourselves. Get a job, provide a service for someone and get paid for it and use that income to buy any and all necessities we might have to live. When someone can't provide for themselves we believe they've become a burden to someone- family, friends, society. In years past women were provided for and men happily provided for them- considering it a source of pride to be able to support his family. Nowadays women or men it doesn't matter each should be able to provide for themselves - no exceptions. Our world today wants us to rely on ourselves- stressing that the weak and the losers are those who don't. Being guarded, being tended to, having a caregiver, a shepherd isn't something that is promoted at all- we should be able to do everything on our own, needing no one.
It's easy to understand that the sheep a shepherd guards do what they're supposed to do. The sheep who are injured or sick are given extra care, but overall the sheep do what they were created to do. Left on their own they would still do what they were created to do, but a shepherd protects them and makes it easier for them to do what they were created to do. A shepherd keeps the sheep safe something the sheep aren't if they are left all alone.
In a world of stressing self-reliance it's not easy for people to get to a place where they understand their need of a shepherd, they're too busy believing they have to do everything on their own.
Just today I was watching tv and a person on a comedy show said to a group of children he was reading a story to- 'Hope is something people believe in when they can't deal with reality.' Or something to that effect. It's a fact that many people claim that people who believe in God are deluded and can't deal with the reality that this is all life is take it or leave it. For people to believe they have a need of a shepherd somehow detracts from them, it makes them vulnerable and weak, unable to live on their own.
Satan wants us to believe that hope is a delusion, that God is a fantasy, that needing a Savior is silly. He wants us to believe that we are weak and losers if we admit we can't live on our own.
How many people truly rely on Christ for life? How many people truly acknowledge the very breath they take is a gift from God?
Christ said He is the Good Shepherd and a Good Shepherd will lay His life down for His sheep. Christ laid His life down for all of us who will acknowledge that we are His to tend to, to guide, to protect. We have to believe in Him and in believing admit that we can't live our lives on our own. We need a Spiritual caregiver, a Spiritual tender, a Spiritual guard and we need to follow our Spiritual Shepherd every single day. Our Spiritual Shepherd protected our Spiritual lives with by giving up His own life. He protected our right to eternal life by defeating all the spiritual forces that would take that right from us. He laid down His life and took it up again- for us.
May we follow our Good Shepherd knowing that our lives no matter how successful or unsuccessful by worldly standards, belong to Him. By the grace of God we live, by the mercy and sacrifice of our Lord and Savior we can claim a future life, an eternal life in Him. Our Good Shepherd will forever protect our eternal lives, our Spiritual lives if we let Him by following Him, listening to Him, admitting we have need of Him now and forever.
Amen.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Repentance and Love
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
A broken and contrite heart- Repentance?
What is repentance- the Greek definition is...
metanoeo
met-an-o-eh'-o
From G3326 and G3539; to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction): - repent.
Which leads us to ask, what is compunction- (sure we might know but it bears getting an official answer right?)
compunction
compunction (kem-pùngk´shen) noun
1. A strong uneasiness caused by a sense of guilt.
2. A sting of conscience or a pang of doubt aroused by wrongdoing or the prospect of wrongdoing.
When David wrote 'The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.' he knew that ultimately God didn't desire burnt offerings and such as a sacrifice. The burnt offerings were symbolic and meant to get His people to realize that God is worthy and the only God to worship, as well as realizing without God we have no hope. God alone can forgive our sins, and it's to Him we must go. To go to God with a broken spirit and a contrite heart is to recognize that He alone reigns and we need to place ourselves completely in His hands. We need to realize that only IN Him do we truly live. We only flounder when we are not in God's hands. Does that mean we'll have no problems once we place ourselves in God's hands? NOoooooooooooo, those who believe that are setting themselves up to fall. It means we have a surety, a hope beyond our lives here and now. God is our Creator, and our Redeemer. The redemption will be fully experienced when Christ comes again and not before. It is the HOPE of life with Christ that we put before us, it is the prize at the end of the race we are running. We have to expect that the race will be a treacherous one filled with many, many obstacles. We also have to know that God wants true repentance. God wants us to realize our guilt and to turn from it. God wants us to repent and recognize our need.
Here's what Jesus had to say-
Mar 12:28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
Mar 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Mar 12:32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
Mar 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
More than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifice God would have us love, know love, know Him, to understand our need of Him in all we do. To love God and to love others this is truly what God wills. Maybe people think it silly - the old 60's peace movement, the Beatles song - 'All You Need Is Love', but honestly there was a bit of truth buried beneath the free and easy sex and drugs. Peace and love, we are more used to arguing and proving ourselves right and someone else wrong, standing up for ourselves which we call number one and so on. True love, God's love, the love we are to have for God and others is what it's truly all about.
God is love.
1Jn 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love.
With our broken and contrite spirits, realizing how far we are from being what God would have us to be, let us seek forgiveness and repent. Let us turn from our sins and turn to God, finding in Him all we need in life. May the love of God fill us and by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior may we love.
In Christ, now and forever.
Amen
A broken and contrite heart- Repentance?
What is repentance- the Greek definition is...
metanoeo
met-an-o-eh'-o
From G3326 and G3539; to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction): - repent.
Which leads us to ask, what is compunction- (sure we might know but it bears getting an official answer right?)
compunction
compunction (kem-pùngk´shen) noun
1. A strong uneasiness caused by a sense of guilt.
2. A sting of conscience or a pang of doubt aroused by wrongdoing or the prospect of wrongdoing.
When David wrote 'The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.' he knew that ultimately God didn't desire burnt offerings and such as a sacrifice. The burnt offerings were symbolic and meant to get His people to realize that God is worthy and the only God to worship, as well as realizing without God we have no hope. God alone can forgive our sins, and it's to Him we must go. To go to God with a broken spirit and a contrite heart is to recognize that He alone reigns and we need to place ourselves completely in His hands. We need to realize that only IN Him do we truly live. We only flounder when we are not in God's hands. Does that mean we'll have no problems once we place ourselves in God's hands? NOoooooooooooo, those who believe that are setting themselves up to fall. It means we have a surety, a hope beyond our lives here and now. God is our Creator, and our Redeemer. The redemption will be fully experienced when Christ comes again and not before. It is the HOPE of life with Christ that we put before us, it is the prize at the end of the race we are running. We have to expect that the race will be a treacherous one filled with many, many obstacles. We also have to know that God wants true repentance. God wants us to realize our guilt and to turn from it. God wants us to repent and recognize our need.
Here's what Jesus had to say-
Mar 12:28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
Mar 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Mar 12:32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
Mar 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
More than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifice God would have us love, know love, know Him, to understand our need of Him in all we do. To love God and to love others this is truly what God wills. Maybe people think it silly - the old 60's peace movement, the Beatles song - 'All You Need Is Love', but honestly there was a bit of truth buried beneath the free and easy sex and drugs. Peace and love, we are more used to arguing and proving ourselves right and someone else wrong, standing up for ourselves which we call number one and so on. True love, God's love, the love we are to have for God and others is what it's truly all about.
God is love.
1Jn 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love.
With our broken and contrite spirits, realizing how far we are from being what God would have us to be, let us seek forgiveness and repent. Let us turn from our sins and turn to God, finding in Him all we need in life. May the love of God fill us and by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior may we love.
In Christ, now and forever.
Amen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)