Luk 9:27 But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.
All of us can see the kingdom of God right now, do you believe this? Seriously. The kingdom of God is Jesus Christ and salvation through Him. If we accept Jesus as our Savior we are seeing the kingdom of God realized fully. Just as the thief on the cross was promised the kingdom, we too are promised it. The thief didn't go that very day to *heaven*, Jesus Himself didn't even go to *heaven* that day but lay in the grave. The promise of the kingdom is given now not upon death. There were some standing there when Jesus spoke those words who accepted Him as their Savior, they accepted Him as the kingdom of God come to them and they didn't see death. Maybe they lived their lives and didn't fully accept the Lord as their Savior for many years, but before they died they understood, they realized the the kingdom of God was found only in one place-- Jesus Christ. NONE shall see the kingdom of God who don't realize that Jesus is the kingdom of God and it's only through Him that any will ever experience life eternal.
Jesus said...
Mat 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
Jesus said...
Mar 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Jesus said....
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.
Mar 12:34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
Jesus said...
Luk 10:9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
Jesus said...
Luk 11:20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
Jesus said...
Luk 13:18 Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?
Luk 13:19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.
Luk 13:20 And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God?
Luk 13:21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
Jesus said...
Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
'...the kingdom of God is within you.'
The knowledge can lie within us all, the truth, the way, Jesus is that knowledge, Jesus is the truth, Jesus is the way, Jesus is the kingdom of God for us all. By His grace and mercy may we realize the kingdom of God within us through Him and only Him as our Lord and Savior now and forever.
Amen.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Abhor Evil, Cleave to Good
Rom 12:9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
Dict. Def-- Dissimulation-- To disguise (one's intentions, for example) under a feigned appearance. To conceal one's true feelings or intentions.
Dict. Def-- Abhor-- To regard with horror or loathing; abominate. To reject vehemently; shun
Dict. Def-- Cleave to-- Cohere: stick to, cleave to, come off on, rub off on
Let love be without disguise, without concealing, without feigning- love that is true and real isn't disguised, concealed, or feigned.
Reject vehemently, regard with horror, regard with loathing that which is evil. Stick to that which is good.
*******
Do we really abhor evil? First of all what do we consider evil? Let's look at the dictionary definition of evil--
vil (ê´vel) adjective
eviler, evilest
1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant. See synonyms at bad1.
2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet.
3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens.
4. Bad or blameworthy by report; infamous: an evil reputation.
5. Characterized by anger or spite; malicious: an evil temper.
noun
1. The quality of being morally bad or wrong; wickedness.
2. That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction: a leader's power to do both good and evil.
3. An evil force, power, or personification.
4. Something that is a cause or source of suffering, injury, or destruction: the social evils of poverty and injustice.
Morally bad or wrong- who decides what is morally bad? God has His own moral standards doesn't He? Look at the Ten Commandments these are the moral laws of God. That which is against God's moral laws is evil.
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. ((((Having other Gods before God is evil)))
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. ((((Making graven images to bow down to and serve is evil.)))
Exo 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. ((((Taking the name of the LORD thy God in vain is evil.)))
Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (((( Not keeping the Sabbath is evil.)))
Exo 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. ((((Not honoring your father and mother is evil.)))
Exo 20:13 Thou shalt not kill. ((((Killing is evil)))
Exo 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. ((((Committing adultery is evil)))
Exo 20:15 Thou shalt not steal. ((((Stealing is evil.)))
Exo 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. ((((Lying about someone is evil.)))
Exo 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. ((((Coveting other's things is evil.)))
And Jesus summed up these ten laws into two knowing that the two embraced them all--
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment. ((((Not loving the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind is evil.)))
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ((((Not loving our neighbors as ourselves is evil.)))
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Abhoring evil would mean hating anything that would keep us from loving God first and foremost.
Abhoring evil would mean hating anything that would keep us from loving our neighbors.
We are to cleave to that which is good, the good being the opposite of evil.
We need to ask ourselves what keeps us from loving God first and foremost, as well as ask ourselves what keeps us from loving our fellow human beings as we should. Can you think of anything that keeps you from putting God first in your life? Can you think of anything that keeps you from loving your fellow man? Seriously, we need to take stock of things in our lives don't we? A lot of time there are outside forces that influence our behavior. We blame our behavior on the weather, on other people and their actions, we blame our responses on situations and make excuses for ourselves time and again for why we aren't as loving towards God and others as we should be. We turn our thoughts so completely inward on ourselves nothing else seems to matter except for how we feel at any given moment and our world revolves around our own feelings. There are web groups like Myspace and Facebook as well as others and they want us to express how we feel at any moment in time. Soandso is happy- insert smile face here. Soandso is angry- insert angry smilie here. They have numerous expressions to indicate how you might feel at any moment and this all turns our thoughts inward on ourselves. How we feel has become increasingly important, self has become increasingly important. Self-help, self-actualization, self-exploration, so much is about self. We are so busy self noting that we've forgotten what it means to be self-less in any way, shape, or form. Putting God and others first before ourselves is what it's all about. Jesus stripped Himself of His immortal Spirit and took on humanity's mortality. Jesus' stripped Himself of His Self and came to earth devoting His entire life to the saving of humanity. Every action He took was self-less. When we are called by Jesus to believe in Him to follow Him we are called to take up His cross.
Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
If you choose to follow Jesus you choose to DENY YOURSELF. If you choose to follow Jesus you choose to take up a cross. What cross are you taking up but the same one that Jesus took up- living His entire life for the salvation of others. While salvation isn't ours to give to anyone pointing the way to salvation is ours to give. Salvation is found solely in Christ and out of love for Christ we choose to deny ourselves and take up the cross.
We who have so much have that much more trouble denying ourselves. We who have been taught to indulge self by the society we live in won't find denying self easy at all. Setting self aside is something that seems impossible and it's something that we can do only through the grace of Jesus, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
May God help us all as we learn to abhor evil- hating anything that would keep us from loving God and our fellow man. May we learn to deny self and take up our cross so that it will be possible. With selfishness out of the way we are free to truly love. By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior now and forever.
Amen.
Dict. Def-- Dissimulation-- To disguise (one's intentions, for example) under a feigned appearance. To conceal one's true feelings or intentions.
Dict. Def-- Abhor-- To regard with horror or loathing; abominate. To reject vehemently; shun
Dict. Def-- Cleave to-- Cohere: stick to, cleave to, come off on, rub off on
Let love be without disguise, without concealing, without feigning- love that is true and real isn't disguised, concealed, or feigned.
Reject vehemently, regard with horror, regard with loathing that which is evil. Stick to that which is good.
*******
Do we really abhor evil? First of all what do we consider evil? Let's look at the dictionary definition of evil--
vil (ê´vel) adjective
eviler, evilest
1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant. See synonyms at bad1.
2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet.
3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens.
4. Bad or blameworthy by report; infamous: an evil reputation.
5. Characterized by anger or spite; malicious: an evil temper.
noun
1. The quality of being morally bad or wrong; wickedness.
2. That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction: a leader's power to do both good and evil.
3. An evil force, power, or personification.
4. Something that is a cause or source of suffering, injury, or destruction: the social evils of poverty and injustice.
Morally bad or wrong- who decides what is morally bad? God has His own moral standards doesn't He? Look at the Ten Commandments these are the moral laws of God. That which is against God's moral laws is evil.
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. ((((Having other Gods before God is evil)))
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. ((((Making graven images to bow down to and serve is evil.)))
Exo 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. ((((Taking the name of the LORD thy God in vain is evil.)))
Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (((( Not keeping the Sabbath is evil.)))
Exo 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. ((((Not honoring your father and mother is evil.)))
Exo 20:13 Thou shalt not kill. ((((Killing is evil)))
Exo 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. ((((Committing adultery is evil)))
Exo 20:15 Thou shalt not steal. ((((Stealing is evil.)))
Exo 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. ((((Lying about someone is evil.)))
Exo 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. ((((Coveting other's things is evil.)))
And Jesus summed up these ten laws into two knowing that the two embraced them all--
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment. ((((Not loving the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind is evil.)))
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ((((Not loving our neighbors as ourselves is evil.)))
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Abhoring evil would mean hating anything that would keep us from loving God first and foremost.
Abhoring evil would mean hating anything that would keep us from loving our neighbors.
We are to cleave to that which is good, the good being the opposite of evil.
We need to ask ourselves what keeps us from loving God first and foremost, as well as ask ourselves what keeps us from loving our fellow human beings as we should. Can you think of anything that keeps you from putting God first in your life? Can you think of anything that keeps you from loving your fellow man? Seriously, we need to take stock of things in our lives don't we? A lot of time there are outside forces that influence our behavior. We blame our behavior on the weather, on other people and their actions, we blame our responses on situations and make excuses for ourselves time and again for why we aren't as loving towards God and others as we should be. We turn our thoughts so completely inward on ourselves nothing else seems to matter except for how we feel at any given moment and our world revolves around our own feelings. There are web groups like Myspace and Facebook as well as others and they want us to express how we feel at any moment in time. Soandso is happy- insert smile face here. Soandso is angry- insert angry smilie here. They have numerous expressions to indicate how you might feel at any moment and this all turns our thoughts inward on ourselves. How we feel has become increasingly important, self has become increasingly important. Self-help, self-actualization, self-exploration, so much is about self. We are so busy self noting that we've forgotten what it means to be self-less in any way, shape, or form. Putting God and others first before ourselves is what it's all about. Jesus stripped Himself of His immortal Spirit and took on humanity's mortality. Jesus' stripped Himself of His Self and came to earth devoting His entire life to the saving of humanity. Every action He took was self-less. When we are called by Jesus to believe in Him to follow Him we are called to take up His cross.
Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
If you choose to follow Jesus you choose to DENY YOURSELF. If you choose to follow Jesus you choose to take up a cross. What cross are you taking up but the same one that Jesus took up- living His entire life for the salvation of others. While salvation isn't ours to give to anyone pointing the way to salvation is ours to give. Salvation is found solely in Christ and out of love for Christ we choose to deny ourselves and take up the cross.
We who have so much have that much more trouble denying ourselves. We who have been taught to indulge self by the society we live in won't find denying self easy at all. Setting self aside is something that seems impossible and it's something that we can do only through the grace of Jesus, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
May God help us all as we learn to abhor evil- hating anything that would keep us from loving God and our fellow man. May we learn to deny self and take up our cross so that it will be possible. With selfishness out of the way we are free to truly love. By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior now and forever.
Amen.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Present your bodies a living sacrifice
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
By the mercies of God-- present your body a living sacrifice.
We know that a sacrifice offering is killed symbolizing the need for the shedding of blood for the remission of sins.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Without the shedding of blood there is no remission- no forgiveness, no pardon for sin. Christ shed His blood, His innocent blood so we could be fully forgiven by Him. Here we are told to present our bodies a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice isn't killed, a living sacrifice does not give it's life for the remission of sins. A living sacrifice- a sacrifice nonetheless. What is sacrificed? The self is sacrificed- the selfishness.
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Present ourselves a living sacrifice- holy, acceptable unto God. The only way we are acceptable to God is through Jesus Christ. When we give ourselves to God we change our lives, we are no longer living for ourselves and selfish purposes.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Be not conformed to the world. We are all about conforming aren't we?
conform (ken-fôrm´) verb
1. To correspond in form or character; be similar.
2. To act or be in accord or agreement; comply. See synonyms at agree.
3. To act in accordance with current customs or modes.
These are good things right? Acting in accord and agreeing with society around us which is our world, being similar to others around us, acting in accord with the current customs or modes of the world. We thrive in a society of conformity and non-conformist are usually considered radical and often times criminal. Jesus Himself was a non-conformist wasn't He? Think about it. The Pharisees were all about revealing His rabble rousing ways, showing where He didn't act in accord to the proper Jewish norms. That He was accused of calling Himself a king, that He was accused of blasphemy against God, all this was to show that He was a non-conformist and so much so that He deserved to be put to death.
We are called to be non-conformist. We are told NOT to be conformed to the world. Does that mean we are to be so called rabble rousers, troublemakers, bucking society? I think it does mean that if it interferes with us being holy acceptable to God. We need to be transformed from being conformist to the world by the renewing of our mind and the renewing of our minds will prove what is good, acceptable, perfect - the will of God.
God, throughout the Bible, throughout history has shown that following the crowd, following the ways of the world, agreeing with the world is the wrong path. God has a chosen people and the chosen people have always been in the minority in comparison to the world. Why do we think it will be different now, in our day and age? Why do we believe that suddenly the world as a whole will follow God? Why do we think that whole governments will conform to God's will? They won't and we have to understand this because it's important to understand that even living in the United States, a country with the freedom of religion that we the majority will not be God's or following God's perfect way.
We need to search for the pure truth in Jesus and only the pure truth in Him and when we find the truth and the way we need to follow that truth in Jesus. We can't say we need to conform to the world even when people spout Jesus' saying about rendering under Caesar what is Caesar's. Jesus never meant that we are to compromise the truth in doing so. If Caesar's way is against God's moral law then we follow God's moral law first and foremost. Jesus told us that we are to love God first and love our fellow man second. In that love of our fellow man we sacrifice self for them and that means when they ask for our coat we give them our cloak too which means we give of ourselves, we sacrifice self. Sacrificing self is one of the hardest things any of us will be asked to do. Giving up self and surrendering fully to God will be the most trying thing ever.
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior may we not be conformed to the world, may we not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to, by faith may we surrender our self to God fully out of love to Him, for Him, from Him.
Amen.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
By the mercies of God-- present your body a living sacrifice.
We know that a sacrifice offering is killed symbolizing the need for the shedding of blood for the remission of sins.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Without the shedding of blood there is no remission- no forgiveness, no pardon for sin. Christ shed His blood, His innocent blood so we could be fully forgiven by Him. Here we are told to present our bodies a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice isn't killed, a living sacrifice does not give it's life for the remission of sins. A living sacrifice- a sacrifice nonetheless. What is sacrificed? The self is sacrificed- the selfishness.
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Present ourselves a living sacrifice- holy, acceptable unto God. The only way we are acceptable to God is through Jesus Christ. When we give ourselves to God we change our lives, we are no longer living for ourselves and selfish purposes.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Be not conformed to the world. We are all about conforming aren't we?
conform (ken-fôrm´) verb
1. To correspond in form or character; be similar.
2. To act or be in accord or agreement; comply. See synonyms at agree.
3. To act in accordance with current customs or modes.
These are good things right? Acting in accord and agreeing with society around us which is our world, being similar to others around us, acting in accord with the current customs or modes of the world. We thrive in a society of conformity and non-conformist are usually considered radical and often times criminal. Jesus Himself was a non-conformist wasn't He? Think about it. The Pharisees were all about revealing His rabble rousing ways, showing where He didn't act in accord to the proper Jewish norms. That He was accused of calling Himself a king, that He was accused of blasphemy against God, all this was to show that He was a non-conformist and so much so that He deserved to be put to death.
We are called to be non-conformist. We are told NOT to be conformed to the world. Does that mean we are to be so called rabble rousers, troublemakers, bucking society? I think it does mean that if it interferes with us being holy acceptable to God. We need to be transformed from being conformist to the world by the renewing of our mind and the renewing of our minds will prove what is good, acceptable, perfect - the will of God.
God, throughout the Bible, throughout history has shown that following the crowd, following the ways of the world, agreeing with the world is the wrong path. God has a chosen people and the chosen people have always been in the minority in comparison to the world. Why do we think it will be different now, in our day and age? Why do we believe that suddenly the world as a whole will follow God? Why do we think that whole governments will conform to God's will? They won't and we have to understand this because it's important to understand that even living in the United States, a country with the freedom of religion that we the majority will not be God's or following God's perfect way.
We need to search for the pure truth in Jesus and only the pure truth in Him and when we find the truth and the way we need to follow that truth in Jesus. We can't say we need to conform to the world even when people spout Jesus' saying about rendering under Caesar what is Caesar's. Jesus never meant that we are to compromise the truth in doing so. If Caesar's way is against God's moral law then we follow God's moral law first and foremost. Jesus told us that we are to love God first and love our fellow man second. In that love of our fellow man we sacrifice self for them and that means when they ask for our coat we give them our cloak too which means we give of ourselves, we sacrifice self. Sacrificing self is one of the hardest things any of us will be asked to do. Giving up self and surrendering fully to God will be the most trying thing ever.
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior may we not be conformed to the world, may we not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to, by faith may we surrender our self to God fully out of love to Him, for Him, from Him.
Amen.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
To Him Are All Things
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
His ways PAST finding out. God's ways PAST finding out. We are so demanding, so selfish, we feel that we have the right to know everything. We don't want anything hidden from us. If we don't have proof we don't fall for things, right? We want to search out God's judgments, we want to find out God's ways. When we speak of faith we automatically mean that we won't have tangible proof. Faith the evidence of things NOT seen, the substance of things HOPED for.
With God we have to have faith, we have to believe without knowing his way, his judgments. Faith.
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Of Him...
Through Him...
To Him...
...are ALL things!
All things are God's and we cannot begin to understand the way He works. He knows all the ins and out and everything in between. We see a tiny picture, He sees the entire picture. He knows how things fit together, He sees far beyond any consequences for actions that we can imagine. Something could happen twenty years ago that impacts the future and while we are in the dark He is not. We have to understand that it is only by His grace we live. Some may detest that fact when their lives are filled with horrific pain and anguish and that's understandable- look at Job. We can't understand fully we can only hope and pray that in our lives God's will will be done, not ours. We have to hope that we choose Him first and foremost not forsaking Him no matter what comes our way. Is it all easy? No. But the trials and tribulations work to refine us for Him and that's what we have to hope that His will always is done whether we understand it or like it.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior who said His Father's will be done, may we live with Him one day fully knowing and known by Him. God's will be done always.
Amen.
Rom 11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
His ways PAST finding out. God's ways PAST finding out. We are so demanding, so selfish, we feel that we have the right to know everything. We don't want anything hidden from us. If we don't have proof we don't fall for things, right? We want to search out God's judgments, we want to find out God's ways. When we speak of faith we automatically mean that we won't have tangible proof. Faith the evidence of things NOT seen, the substance of things HOPED for.
With God we have to have faith, we have to believe without knowing his way, his judgments. Faith.
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Of Him...
Through Him...
To Him...
...are ALL things!
All things are God's and we cannot begin to understand the way He works. He knows all the ins and out and everything in between. We see a tiny picture, He sees the entire picture. He knows how things fit together, He sees far beyond any consequences for actions that we can imagine. Something could happen twenty years ago that impacts the future and while we are in the dark He is not. We have to understand that it is only by His grace we live. Some may detest that fact when their lives are filled with horrific pain and anguish and that's understandable- look at Job. We can't understand fully we can only hope and pray that in our lives God's will will be done, not ours. We have to hope that we choose Him first and foremost not forsaking Him no matter what comes our way. Is it all easy? No. But the trials and tribulations work to refine us for Him and that's what we have to hope that His will always is done whether we understand it or like it.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior who said His Father's will be done, may we live with Him one day fully knowing and known by Him. God's will be done always.
Amen.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Take heed lest he also spare not thee
Rom 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
I can't help but think of step children when I think of this passage. You've all probably heard about people adopting a child and then a short while later having a child by natural means. Usually it happens accidentally. A couple try and try to no avail and then when they finally stop trying because they've adopted a child that's when they realize that long sought dream of having their own. What happens when this occurs? The ideal situation is the couple love the children equally, raise them equally and all is well. Unfortunately it's natural for parents to lean towards their own blood child, the fruit of their own loins. People will say blood is stronger always and in a lot of ways it's true. We feel more affection, more loyalty towards our blood relatives.
God chose Israel to be His people then because they turned on God- because they chose not to follow His ways God had to separate Himself from them- they were broken off. We have to live by faith. We cannot not be presumptuous as children of God by faith, grafted in, not natural children but adopted. The Bible tells us not to be highminded- we can't take on airs at all. We need to fear God in a way that no other feared Him knowing that God is an exacting God and won't spare us any more than He spared Israel. Truly we have to live by pure faith and live it to the fullest in Christ trusting in Christ for salvation through His grace, through His righteousness.
Let's ever keep before us the fear of God in reverence and in awe, in the knowledge of His all consuming love and all that entails fully.
By His mercy, His grace.
Amen.
Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
I can't help but think of step children when I think of this passage. You've all probably heard about people adopting a child and then a short while later having a child by natural means. Usually it happens accidentally. A couple try and try to no avail and then when they finally stop trying because they've adopted a child that's when they realize that long sought dream of having their own. What happens when this occurs? The ideal situation is the couple love the children equally, raise them equally and all is well. Unfortunately it's natural for parents to lean towards their own blood child, the fruit of their own loins. People will say blood is stronger always and in a lot of ways it's true. We feel more affection, more loyalty towards our blood relatives.
God chose Israel to be His people then because they turned on God- because they chose not to follow His ways God had to separate Himself from them- they were broken off. We have to live by faith. We cannot not be presumptuous as children of God by faith, grafted in, not natural children but adopted. The Bible tells us not to be highminded- we can't take on airs at all. We need to fear God in a way that no other feared Him knowing that God is an exacting God and won't spare us any more than He spared Israel. Truly we have to live by pure faith and live it to the fullest in Christ trusting in Christ for salvation through His grace, through His righteousness.
Let's ever keep before us the fear of God in reverence and in awe, in the knowledge of His all consuming love and all that entails fully.
By His mercy, His grace.
Amen.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
A zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Rom 10:2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Do you know someone that is 'godly', someone who is 'religious', someone who you might label a 'Jesus freak'? I'm not going to super extremes here, or maybe I am. Do you know anyone you can point to and say they're a 'God-fearing' person? No matter their passion whether it's great or small? There are plenty of people the media presents we can point to and say they're 'God-fearing', in fact there are famous 'God-fearing' people and not all of them are evangelists, or preachers, or leaders of some religious television show.
Do you believe that where there is something real there can be something unreal? Where there is a genuine there can be a counterfiet?
This Bible verse above states- 'For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.' People can have a ZEAL of God but it won't necessarily mean they have that zeal according to knowledge. That zeal could be based on one or two feel-good verses in the Bible while the exacting verses revealing God's true nature are ignored. It's not atypical for people to pick out the supposed good bits - bits they approve of and like - and then leave the undesireable bits alone forming their own religion and not God's but using God's name just the same. Unless the zeal we have for God is based on knowledge, based on ALL the truth of the Bible then our zeal means very little to God.
The verses above go on to say this --
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Being ignorant of God's righteousness. Our righteousness means nothing and when we point to ourselves and the things we've done *FOR* God we are pointing in the wrong direction. It's so easy to tell others to look at us and see this is how it's all supposed to be done. We like to point people to our righteousness when in truth the only way we should be pointing is towards Christ and Christ alone. Yes, we have our part in the grand scheme of things and that part is to surrender to Christ, repent and accept His forgiveness, accept His righteousness for us. There is such a real danger of getting caught up in self-righteousness that we can't be too careful. We have to fully submit ourselves to the righteousness of God admitting that Jesus Christ is ultimately the One the law of God was made upon. Jesus broke none of God's law when He walked as a human among us, none. It's because of this we can cling to Him and His righteousness. He embraced all of the laws God intended to be eternal and not simply sacrificial or ceremonial but kept every law as God commanded. The whole law was summed up in two- love God and love your neighbor. And while we can keep the laws until we die they won't save us, it's claiming Christ's righteousness- not ours, claiming His ability to perfectly keep the law- not our ability to keep it perfectly, that will save us.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and all marvelous, wondrous Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Do you know someone that is 'godly', someone who is 'religious', someone who you might label a 'Jesus freak'? I'm not going to super extremes here, or maybe I am. Do you know anyone you can point to and say they're a 'God-fearing' person? No matter their passion whether it's great or small? There are plenty of people the media presents we can point to and say they're 'God-fearing', in fact there are famous 'God-fearing' people and not all of them are evangelists, or preachers, or leaders of some religious television show.
Do you believe that where there is something real there can be something unreal? Where there is a genuine there can be a counterfiet?
This Bible verse above states- 'For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.' People can have a ZEAL of God but it won't necessarily mean they have that zeal according to knowledge. That zeal could be based on one or two feel-good verses in the Bible while the exacting verses revealing God's true nature are ignored. It's not atypical for people to pick out the supposed good bits - bits they approve of and like - and then leave the undesireable bits alone forming their own religion and not God's but using God's name just the same. Unless the zeal we have for God is based on knowledge, based on ALL the truth of the Bible then our zeal means very little to God.
The verses above go on to say this --
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Being ignorant of God's righteousness. Our righteousness means nothing and when we point to ourselves and the things we've done *FOR* God we are pointing in the wrong direction. It's so easy to tell others to look at us and see this is how it's all supposed to be done. We like to point people to our righteousness when in truth the only way we should be pointing is towards Christ and Christ alone. Yes, we have our part in the grand scheme of things and that part is to surrender to Christ, repent and accept His forgiveness, accept His righteousness for us. There is such a real danger of getting caught up in self-righteousness that we can't be too careful. We have to fully submit ourselves to the righteousness of God admitting that Jesus Christ is ultimately the One the law of God was made upon. Jesus broke none of God's law when He walked as a human among us, none. It's because of this we can cling to Him and His righteousness. He embraced all of the laws God intended to be eternal and not simply sacrificial or ceremonial but kept every law as God commanded. The whole law was summed up in two- love God and love your neighbor. And while we can keep the laws until we die they won't save us, it's claiming Christ's righteousness- not ours, claiming His ability to perfectly keep the law- not our ability to keep it perfectly, that will save us.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and all marvelous, wondrous Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Other Things Which Jesus Did
Joh 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
The world itself could not contain the books that should be written about Jesus and the things He did. Think about it, take a moment and really think. We can't imagine anything so numerous can we? Something in such great amount the world cannot contain it. Think about how huge the oceans are, how numerous the grains of sand, there isn't anything we can fully realize that the world cannot contain, perhaps our imagines can stretch to realize planets that are bigger than earth so the earth could not contain such a thing, but can we really imagine something so numerous the earth could not contain it? Books in such a number that the WHOLE earth could not hold them?
We've many autobiographies, in fact we all could write one couldn't we? We could tell our tales and in that autobiographer we would highlight the special events that made up our life. We wouldn't put down every detail most likely because we couldn't remember them. Some people right in journals daily giving such details of their lives and yet those details wouldn't even begin to fill up enough books so the earth couldn't contain them.
Jesus was a man of many actions, a man of many deeds. We read of only a snippet of the things He did, the miracles He performed, the life He led, the people He affected.
The precious insights we are given are to be cherished, they are to be studied, they are to be committed to our hearts and memories. May God bless us as we read His Holy Word, as we learn of Jesus, of the plan of salvation for one and all. May we keep His love and mercy ever before us as we seek forgiveness, repenting of our sins and grasping hold of Jesus' grace and righteousness.
Amen.
The world itself could not contain the books that should be written about Jesus and the things He did. Think about it, take a moment and really think. We can't imagine anything so numerous can we? Something in such great amount the world cannot contain it. Think about how huge the oceans are, how numerous the grains of sand, there isn't anything we can fully realize that the world cannot contain, perhaps our imagines can stretch to realize planets that are bigger than earth so the earth could not contain such a thing, but can we really imagine something so numerous the earth could not contain it? Books in such a number that the WHOLE earth could not hold them?
We've many autobiographies, in fact we all could write one couldn't we? We could tell our tales and in that autobiographer we would highlight the special events that made up our life. We wouldn't put down every detail most likely because we couldn't remember them. Some people right in journals daily giving such details of their lives and yet those details wouldn't even begin to fill up enough books so the earth couldn't contain them.
Jesus was a man of many actions, a man of many deeds. We read of only a snippet of the things He did, the miracles He performed, the life He led, the people He affected.
The precious insights we are given are to be cherished, they are to be studied, they are to be committed to our hearts and memories. May God bless us as we read His Holy Word, as we learn of Jesus, of the plan of salvation for one and all. May we keep His love and mercy ever before us as we seek forgiveness, repenting of our sins and grasping hold of Jesus' grace and righteousness.
Amen.
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