Mat 22:29 '...Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.'
How many of us can say we know the scriptures and the power of God? Seriously? I know very few scriptures compared to the many that make up the Bible, and even the Old Testament on it's own. We are to know the word of God but how many of us study to know the word? The power of God, do you know the power of God? These are good questions and questions we need to ask ourselves. Jesus told those He was speaking to that they erred because they didn't know the scriptures nor the power of God. We can err a lot when we rely on things other than the scripture and when we reduce God to the power of a human being. We do that all too often. We take God's power from Him imagining things that are impossible to Him. We speak of a miracle and equate it to God's power, but many slice and dice it until it was only accomplished through scientific means. Stripping away the power of God from the act of a miracle. With medical miracles we can see doctors scratching their heads not quite understanding things, but then chalking it up not to God but to just one of those quirks in life that happen. Quirks. Miracles are quirks. I'm not saying I know the power of God, but I do know the Bible tells me this...
Mar 10:27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
With man there are many impossibilities, things that defy logic and reason and men won't even pretend to be able to do because they know they are impossible. With God nothing is impossible but this doesn't mean God will do something senselessly just to prove He can do the impossible. So many in Jesus' time didn't comprehend that God could allow His Son to become a human being, to be born of a woman into a common mostly unremarkable early life. People were looking for a Messiah, a Promised One but they didn't want the Messiah to be someone like Jesus they wanted a kingly man full of self-importance ready and willing to wrest into submission all who would not follow God. Miracle after miracle was performed by Jesus and that was great but they wanted more, they wanted to be herald into a new age where the Jewish people were no longer oppressed in any way. They wanted self-importance for themselves and their race as the promised of God. They were blinded because self was in the way. They had their ideas of how things should be. A messiah should arrive and bring glory to them not help the poor and forgive sinners. They couldn't understand the workings of God, not His power nor the scriptures. We need to know the scriptures and the power of God if we're not to err.
I'm sure some in those days could quote the scriptures backwards and forewards knowing them word for word and yet still they lost the real knowledge the scriptures were to impart to them. We have that danger today as well. We need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to all the truth in the scriptures as we seek to know the scriptures- God's word to us.
2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness
1Th 1:5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God.
You do err, not knowing the scriptures.
For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power.
Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
Please Lord help us to know the scriptures as You would have us know them so that we do not err. Please Lord help us to know the power of God so that we don't err. We need You Lord, we need the Holy Spirit to open our hearts, our minds, to You and all you would have us know. We can't believe that we can ignore your Holy Word, Your Word given to us by Your inspiration, and hope to know You, and Your power. Please help us as we study- help us understand fully Your inspired word which is... profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
By the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, now and forever.
Amen.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Strangers- No Halos, No Wings
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
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.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Love thy neighbor as thyself.
If you hunger, you wish to be fed.
If you thirst, you wish to drink.
If you lack clothing, you wish to be clothed.
If you're sick, you wish to be nurtured.
If you lack a place to live, you wish to have a home.
If you are imprisoned, you wish to know outside someone cares.
If you are the stranger don't you wish to be helped?
What do we do to help others? What do we do? People are in need all around us. Who do we help?
A stranger came to my door yesterday and I feared him and just wanted him to leave, leery of him and his being around my house. My first thought was that maybe he was one of those thieves who case the house before they do anything. Later that day it hit me, he was a stranger and I didn't welcome Him. I told myself that it was the way things are, society is different now. How can I trust strangers that come to my door not to hurt me, or want to hurt me? Today another stranger came to the door and my son answered it, it was a man selling meat out of his truck. My son told him we weren't interested, and we're really not because who wants meat from an unknown source? But immediately I told him and my daughter about the stranger the day before and now today and how we are supposed to help strangers, they could be angels even. And my daughter said, but yesterday that guy looked like he was trouble, and I said how are strangers supposed to look? Are they supposed to have a halo, wings, look nice? This all has me really thinking about things and I believe God wants me to learn something here, I only hope and pray that I do learn. I need to get over my fear, I need to help strangers. I need to do as God would have me to do. I need Him to teach me, help me because I am so weak. I don't want to be among those who don't help strangers, who don't love my neighbors. I need to do more some how, some way. I want to be among the sheep on God's right hand. May God help me.
By the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.
In His love.
Amen.
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
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.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Love thy neighbor as thyself.
If you hunger, you wish to be fed.
If you thirst, you wish to drink.
If you lack clothing, you wish to be clothed.
If you're sick, you wish to be nurtured.
If you lack a place to live, you wish to have a home.
If you are imprisoned, you wish to know outside someone cares.
If you are the stranger don't you wish to be helped?
What do we do to help others? What do we do? People are in need all around us. Who do we help?
A stranger came to my door yesterday and I feared him and just wanted him to leave, leery of him and his being around my house. My first thought was that maybe he was one of those thieves who case the house before they do anything. Later that day it hit me, he was a stranger and I didn't welcome Him. I told myself that it was the way things are, society is different now. How can I trust strangers that come to my door not to hurt me, or want to hurt me? Today another stranger came to the door and my son answered it, it was a man selling meat out of his truck. My son told him we weren't interested, and we're really not because who wants meat from an unknown source? But immediately I told him and my daughter about the stranger the day before and now today and how we are supposed to help strangers, they could be angels even. And my daughter said, but yesterday that guy looked like he was trouble, and I said how are strangers supposed to look? Are they supposed to have a halo, wings, look nice? This all has me really thinking about things and I believe God wants me to learn something here, I only hope and pray that I do learn. I need to get over my fear, I need to help strangers. I need to do as God would have me to do. I need Him to teach me, help me because I am so weak. I don't want to be among those who don't help strangers, who don't love my neighbors. I need to do more some how, some way. I want to be among the sheep on God's right hand. May God help me.
By the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.
In His love.
Amen.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Who Shall Separate Us From the Love of Christ
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If we believe in God, truly believe we have to believe God will NEVER leave us, and that NOTHING can ever separate us from the love of Christ, NOTHING.
Tribulation- Great affliction, trial, or distress; suffering: the tribulations of the persecuted.
Distress- To cause strain, anxiety, or suffering to. To constrain or overcome by harassment.
Persecution- To oppress or harass with ill-treatment. To annoy persistently; bother.
Famine- Severe hunger; starvation
Nakedness- Having no clothing on the body; nude.
Peril- Imminent danger. b. Exposure to the risk of harm or loss. Something that endangers or involves risk.
Sword- An instrument of death or destruction
Reading through this list of things that could possibly come our way reveals how horrible it can be to live a life in Christ and STILL NOT be separated from Christ's love. Yet why do we get it in our heads that if we love God we won't suffer, or shouldn't suffer. That if God loves us then we won't have to go through any pain, horrific pain. Read that list again:
Tribulation- suffering. Distress- anxiety, suffering, harassment. Persecution- oppressed, annoyed, bothered. Famine- starvation. Nakedness- no clothes. Peril- danger, harm, loss, risk. Sword- death, destruction.
We don't believe any of that should happen to us if we love God, that we have the right to question God's love for us if we are called to go through severe suffering. We can let all that or any bit of it separate us from Christ, that's what Satan wants and any who try to convince you that Satan is just a made us boogy man, I say that you can't believe in God and not believe in Satan, the Bible is clear on the matter of His existence- the father of lies, the prince of this world, the dragon- he is very real and while you might think that the common person isn't of interest to Him that would be a mistake. Every human being is of interest to him. He would have each and every one of us on His side and separated from God and he will do everything he can to separate us, he will use EVERYTHING at his disposal. I've had some tell me that Satan is just an illusion and people use the idea of him to get away with their own evil. He's not an illusion. He is among the principalities, the powers, the creatures that will try to separate us from the love of Christ.
We have to cling to Christ through it all. We have to realize that life is like a rubber raft trip down a river. You're going to have calm traveling but you're also going to encounter amazing rapids such that threaten to toss you from the raft and separate you from it so that you drown. Christ is that raft and we have to cling to Him at all times. We have to hold on to Him in the calm and in the raging river. We are on that 'white water rafting trip' for life. We will only reach the shore when Christ returns or the sleep of death claims us and we sleep in Christ until He returns. It's a lifetime trip without any separation from that raft. If we think we can reach land and tie up the raft and go off exploring we are wrong. When we leave the raft we leave our protection, our source of eternal life. People think they can leave the raft, they believe they can go off without Christ in their lives and still have eternal life in Him. As long as we love God and have faith and hope in Him we can survive anything in Him without being separated from Him. When we lose hope and lose faith in Christ we are in danger of separating ourselves from Christ. Christ doesn't leave us when we go through trials and tribulations, we leave Him, we question Him, our faith crumbles.
I don't know when the next tribulation will hit me, but I know it will. It might be something outrageous or it could be something small and unassuming yet still a trial that will come trying to separate me from Christ, but I pray that my faith and hope remain by the grace of Christ, through the Holy Spirit.
Read this again...
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May this be our belief, our heart felt belief that nothing separates us Christ's love, nothing! By the grace of God, through His righteousness, His love now and forever, by His forgiveness.
Amen.
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If we believe in God, truly believe we have to believe God will NEVER leave us, and that NOTHING can ever separate us from the love of Christ, NOTHING.
Tribulation- Great affliction, trial, or distress; suffering: the tribulations of the persecuted.
Distress- To cause strain, anxiety, or suffering to. To constrain or overcome by harassment.
Persecution- To oppress or harass with ill-treatment. To annoy persistently; bother.
Famine- Severe hunger; starvation
Nakedness- Having no clothing on the body; nude.
Peril- Imminent danger. b. Exposure to the risk of harm or loss. Something that endangers or involves risk.
Sword- An instrument of death or destruction
Reading through this list of things that could possibly come our way reveals how horrible it can be to live a life in Christ and STILL NOT be separated from Christ's love. Yet why do we get it in our heads that if we love God we won't suffer, or shouldn't suffer. That if God loves us then we won't have to go through any pain, horrific pain. Read that list again:
Tribulation- suffering. Distress- anxiety, suffering, harassment. Persecution- oppressed, annoyed, bothered. Famine- starvation. Nakedness- no clothes. Peril- danger, harm, loss, risk. Sword- death, destruction.
We don't believe any of that should happen to us if we love God, that we have the right to question God's love for us if we are called to go through severe suffering. We can let all that or any bit of it separate us from Christ, that's what Satan wants and any who try to convince you that Satan is just a made us boogy man, I say that you can't believe in God and not believe in Satan, the Bible is clear on the matter of His existence- the father of lies, the prince of this world, the dragon- he is very real and while you might think that the common person isn't of interest to Him that would be a mistake. Every human being is of interest to him. He would have each and every one of us on His side and separated from God and he will do everything he can to separate us, he will use EVERYTHING at his disposal. I've had some tell me that Satan is just an illusion and people use the idea of him to get away with their own evil. He's not an illusion. He is among the principalities, the powers, the creatures that will try to separate us from the love of Christ.
We have to cling to Christ through it all. We have to realize that life is like a rubber raft trip down a river. You're going to have calm traveling but you're also going to encounter amazing rapids such that threaten to toss you from the raft and separate you from it so that you drown. Christ is that raft and we have to cling to Him at all times. We have to hold on to Him in the calm and in the raging river. We are on that 'white water rafting trip' for life. We will only reach the shore when Christ returns or the sleep of death claims us and we sleep in Christ until He returns. It's a lifetime trip without any separation from that raft. If we think we can reach land and tie up the raft and go off exploring we are wrong. When we leave the raft we leave our protection, our source of eternal life. People think they can leave the raft, they believe they can go off without Christ in their lives and still have eternal life in Him. As long as we love God and have faith and hope in Him we can survive anything in Him without being separated from Him. When we lose hope and lose faith in Christ we are in danger of separating ourselves from Christ. Christ doesn't leave us when we go through trials and tribulations, we leave Him, we question Him, our faith crumbles.
I don't know when the next tribulation will hit me, but I know it will. It might be something outrageous or it could be something small and unassuming yet still a trial that will come trying to separate me from Christ, but I pray that my faith and hope remain by the grace of Christ, through the Holy Spirit.
Read this again...
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May this be our belief, our heart felt belief that nothing separates us Christ's love, nothing! By the grace of God, through His righteousness, His love now and forever, by His forgiveness.
Amen.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Keep Us from Evil
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Do we believe this? Surely our unique suffering is worse than people imagine. Suffering is unique isn't it? Seriously. Not all pain is the same for everyone. A woman who gives birth and travails in that most horrible of pains doesn't do so the same as the next woman. Some tolerate pain more so than others. Pain is unique to us. we can sympathize with others in pain because we know what it is to have our own pain. Even the pain of a head ache gives us the experience of pain we need to understand. 'The suffering of this present time....are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.' I ask again, do we believe this? The pain some feel is so great, the suffering so intense and yet they can't compare with the glory to come. What does that mean exactly? When you compare something you are weighing them against each other aren't you? The suffering and the glory. Does this statement indicate that the glory will far outweigh the suffering? Perhaps like it is for a lot of women who give birth the pain is horrific and then it's over and there is a new life to account for all the pain. Many women forget the pain easily enough as they adore the child in their arms. Many would say that it was all worth it and they go through it again, and again, and again.
'The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.'
The glory revealed in us. There will be glory, the glory of Christ revealed in us. We will suffer though. We will suffer through the pains of this life here on earth living in a world that is no longer meant for God's children. We can't fool ourselves into believing things are right on this world. We can't be lulled into believing life is what you make it because here on this earth corrupted by Satan, ruled by Satan- the Prince of this World, we only have so much control. We have the control to choose to live in Christ yet doing that won't take us out of the world.
Jesus even prayed that specifically- remember this...
Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
We have to live in the world, this world that isn't right for us.
Joh 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
The world hates us. Does the world hate you? I don't feel like it hates me, is this because I'm too much like the world and not enough like Christ? Satan has many devices he uses to snare us. I don't live in a country where believing in Jesus Christ means I risk my very life. I don't live among people who hate me because I believe in Jesus. There are a lot of people who do, more people than we realize. We can read about it now just by going to an internet search engine and putting in there Christian persecution. We can read about it in newspapers, magazines, it's out there for us to know about yet even knowing it doesn't seem really, real. Does the world hate you? Perhaps the hate comes in other ways. Perhaps your being hated isn't outright hatred for Christ but rather life giving you one hardship after another to deal with, wearing you down as dripping water can wear away a stone. One drop is okay but sometimes a torrent of water hits us threatening to drown us. The world hates us, the world hates us because we are not of the world and we need to remember that when the hatred comes at us in ways we wouldn't suspect. Even the hatred within. Satan will use outside influence and he will also try to whisper into our thoughts to discourage us as only he knows how.
We have hope though, Jesus has prayed to the Father for us. 'Keep them from evil.'
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
We must pray and trust the Holy Spirit to help our infirmities. We must hope. We are living in this world that is not ours and yet we are Christ's and we will be kept by Him. Some how all that happens, all the suffering, all the hatred, will work together for our good if we love God. God's purpose is that we love Jesus Christ whom He sent. Love and believe on the Lord our Savior.
By the grace and mercy of Jesus, through His righteousness and His righteousness alone, in His almighty love.
Amen.
Do we believe this? Surely our unique suffering is worse than people imagine. Suffering is unique isn't it? Seriously. Not all pain is the same for everyone. A woman who gives birth and travails in that most horrible of pains doesn't do so the same as the next woman. Some tolerate pain more so than others. Pain is unique to us. we can sympathize with others in pain because we know what it is to have our own pain. Even the pain of a head ache gives us the experience of pain we need to understand. 'The suffering of this present time....are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.' I ask again, do we believe this? The pain some feel is so great, the suffering so intense and yet they can't compare with the glory to come. What does that mean exactly? When you compare something you are weighing them against each other aren't you? The suffering and the glory. Does this statement indicate that the glory will far outweigh the suffering? Perhaps like it is for a lot of women who give birth the pain is horrific and then it's over and there is a new life to account for all the pain. Many women forget the pain easily enough as they adore the child in their arms. Many would say that it was all worth it and they go through it again, and again, and again.
'The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.'
The glory revealed in us. There will be glory, the glory of Christ revealed in us. We will suffer though. We will suffer through the pains of this life here on earth living in a world that is no longer meant for God's children. We can't fool ourselves into believing things are right on this world. We can't be lulled into believing life is what you make it because here on this earth corrupted by Satan, ruled by Satan- the Prince of this World, we only have so much control. We have the control to choose to live in Christ yet doing that won't take us out of the world.
Jesus even prayed that specifically- remember this...
Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
We have to live in the world, this world that isn't right for us.
Joh 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
The world hates us. Does the world hate you? I don't feel like it hates me, is this because I'm too much like the world and not enough like Christ? Satan has many devices he uses to snare us. I don't live in a country where believing in Jesus Christ means I risk my very life. I don't live among people who hate me because I believe in Jesus. There are a lot of people who do, more people than we realize. We can read about it now just by going to an internet search engine and putting in there Christian persecution. We can read about it in newspapers, magazines, it's out there for us to know about yet even knowing it doesn't seem really, real. Does the world hate you? Perhaps the hate comes in other ways. Perhaps your being hated isn't outright hatred for Christ but rather life giving you one hardship after another to deal with, wearing you down as dripping water can wear away a stone. One drop is okay but sometimes a torrent of water hits us threatening to drown us. The world hates us, the world hates us because we are not of the world and we need to remember that when the hatred comes at us in ways we wouldn't suspect. Even the hatred within. Satan will use outside influence and he will also try to whisper into our thoughts to discourage us as only he knows how.
We have hope though, Jesus has prayed to the Father for us. 'Keep them from evil.'
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
We must pray and trust the Holy Spirit to help our infirmities. We must hope. We are living in this world that is not ours and yet we are Christ's and we will be kept by Him. Some how all that happens, all the suffering, all the hatred, will work together for our good if we love God. God's purpose is that we love Jesus Christ whom He sent. Love and believe on the Lord our Savior.
By the grace and mercy of Jesus, through His righteousness and His righteousness alone, in His almighty love.
Amen.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Desperate for Love
Gen 29:17 Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.
Gen 29:30 And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years
Gen 29:31 And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren
Gen 29:32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.
Gen 29:33 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon.
Gen 29:34 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.
Gen 29:35 And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.
Gen 30:15 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.
Gen 30:16 And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
Gen 30:17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.
Gen 30:20 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.
Gen 33:1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.
Gen 33:2 And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.
Gen 49:29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
Gen 49:30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.
Gen 49:31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
*******
To live and not be loved enough by the one you want to be loved by is painful. Leah spent years trying to gain favor of Jacob and never did, not over that of Rachel. Rachel even sold the favors of Jacob for a night for mandrakes from one of Leah's sons. Can you even imagine? Seriously. In the end, Jacob was buried next to Leah, not Rachel. Does that mean he did love her? I've no doubt he had affection for her, but the great love he had for Rachel far surpassed that he had for Leah. What lessons do we learn from this? What lessons should we learn from this? Are we Rachel's or Leah's? No, we're not usually in marriages with two women and one man, but the point of it all. How many people are in relationships with someone and that someone ends up wanting another? We live in a society that doesn't allow for more than one wife or husband so what happens is divorce. Divorce is very prevalent. No, it's not usually the same situation as Jacob's, Rachel's and Leah's. Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah, he never loved her to begin with. It was probably a good thing that he favored her as much as he did. Still, life often puts us into situations we don't enjoy but have to endure. Leah was never given a chance to find a man who loved her and had to live a life unloved by a counterpart. Yes, a lot of people go through life without finding a counterpart but it's not easy when we were made to have counterparts. The Lord said it's not good for man to be alone.
Gen 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him
It's not good to be alone. Yet, Paul says this...
1Co 7:8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.
Which was alone, unmarried.
That wasn't a commandment, but a suggestion rather. It's easier to worship God with a whole heart if you're not worried by a loved one's walk with Christ.
No matter which situation we are called to, the bottom line is to live for God no matter what walk we are called to undertake. Are you caught up in a marriage where you are like Leah in some respects, left feeling unloved? Are you the one loved more than another? Are you alone? Have you been left? We can get caught up in the cares of this life and that's what Satan wants to happen. Satan would have us so caught up in our lives here and now that we lose sight of God and the hope of a new life in Christ at His return. We have to determine to set our treasures in heaven. If we keep our treasures here on earth that's where our hearts are going to be. Treasures come in many shapes and sizes. Treasures can be people, animals, objects, situations. Anything that would take our minds off Christ is a danger and we have to recognize that. We can live trying to have lives that make us happy in a worldly way, but that will only always give us temporary happiness, short-lived and wanting something better, something more. We have to live for Christ and the happiness we can find in that amazing love knowing that life here and now is not what it should be for us. We are strangers here, this is not our world anymore than it was Jesus' world.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and our Saviour Jesus Christ now and forever, in His love and in His righteousness.
Amen.
Gen 29:30 And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years
Gen 29:31 And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren
Gen 29:32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.
Gen 29:33 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon.
Gen 29:34 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.
Gen 29:35 And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.
Gen 30:15 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.
Gen 30:16 And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
Gen 30:17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.
Gen 30:20 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.
Gen 33:1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.
Gen 33:2 And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.
Gen 49:29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
Gen 49:30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.
Gen 49:31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
*******
To live and not be loved enough by the one you want to be loved by is painful. Leah spent years trying to gain favor of Jacob and never did, not over that of Rachel. Rachel even sold the favors of Jacob for a night for mandrakes from one of Leah's sons. Can you even imagine? Seriously. In the end, Jacob was buried next to Leah, not Rachel. Does that mean he did love her? I've no doubt he had affection for her, but the great love he had for Rachel far surpassed that he had for Leah. What lessons do we learn from this? What lessons should we learn from this? Are we Rachel's or Leah's? No, we're not usually in marriages with two women and one man, but the point of it all. How many people are in relationships with someone and that someone ends up wanting another? We live in a society that doesn't allow for more than one wife or husband so what happens is divorce. Divorce is very prevalent. No, it's not usually the same situation as Jacob's, Rachel's and Leah's. Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah, he never loved her to begin with. It was probably a good thing that he favored her as much as he did. Still, life often puts us into situations we don't enjoy but have to endure. Leah was never given a chance to find a man who loved her and had to live a life unloved by a counterpart. Yes, a lot of people go through life without finding a counterpart but it's not easy when we were made to have counterparts. The Lord said it's not good for man to be alone.
Gen 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him
It's not good to be alone. Yet, Paul says this...
1Co 7:8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.
Which was alone, unmarried.
That wasn't a commandment, but a suggestion rather. It's easier to worship God with a whole heart if you're not worried by a loved one's walk with Christ.
No matter which situation we are called to, the bottom line is to live for God no matter what walk we are called to undertake. Are you caught up in a marriage where you are like Leah in some respects, left feeling unloved? Are you the one loved more than another? Are you alone? Have you been left? We can get caught up in the cares of this life and that's what Satan wants to happen. Satan would have us so caught up in our lives here and now that we lose sight of God and the hope of a new life in Christ at His return. We have to determine to set our treasures in heaven. If we keep our treasures here on earth that's where our hearts are going to be. Treasures come in many shapes and sizes. Treasures can be people, animals, objects, situations. Anything that would take our minds off Christ is a danger and we have to recognize that. We can live trying to have lives that make us happy in a worldly way, but that will only always give us temporary happiness, short-lived and wanting something better, something more. We have to live for Christ and the happiness we can find in that amazing love knowing that life here and now is not what it should be for us. We are strangers here, this is not our world anymore than it was Jesus' world.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and our Saviour Jesus Christ now and forever, in His love and in His righteousness.
Amen.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Throughout History
Mar 13:8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
Throughout history nations have risen against nations.
Throughout history kingdoms have risen against kingdoms.
Throughout history earthquakes have occurred in different places.
Throughout history there have been famines.
Throughout history there have been troubles.
So how do we know?
Mar 13:9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
Again history is filled with such delivering. Even today people are delivered before courts for their faith and sentenced to death. Perhaps not in the United States and other so call free countries, but in many countries around the world people are even now being delivered to their fates before the leadership.
Mar 13:10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.
This has been done hasn't it? There isn't a remote area in our world that has been left untouched by missionaries bringing the gospel to people. No, not all will accept the gospel, the majority won't, but the gospel will be made known. Just because something is published doesn't mean it will be accepted.
We see signs as they have seen signs throughout history.
Luk 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Undisputed fact- Jerusalem the Holy City didn't become the capital of Israel until 1980.
Israel enshrined the status of the "complete and united" Jerusalem—west and east—as its capital, in the 1980 Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel.
Source- "Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1980-07-30. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1980_1989/Basic%20Law-%20Jerusalem-%20Capital%20of%20Israel. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
Jerusalem was trodden down of the Gentiles, controlled by Gentiles for years and returned to Israel's control 'complete and united' in 1980.
1980
We were given a sign that people can't twist and in some cases rightly so by saying it's been this way throughout history. Throughout history Jerusalem wasn't in Israel's control, but rather in the Gentiles. What does this say to us all?
For the last 30 years we've been living closer to the time of Jesus' second coming than ever before.
So while the various natural disasters occur all around us and people continue to murmur about the signs of the times and others scoff, we have to remember one thing- no matter what happens that cause people to wake up to their mortality - whether it's a disaster, or just every day life- it will forever be just if we take from the tragedies of life a warning to open our eyes and hearts to the only truth in life which is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior who became man and defeated sin and death, dying Himself to save us from our sins so that we might have life eternal in Him when He returns. We can find solace in Christ alone. No one welcomes tragedies, large or small, but life is filled with them. May our hearts and eyes be opened to the love of Christ, the love of God, the love of the Holy Spirit now and forever.
Amen.
Throughout history nations have risen against nations.
Throughout history kingdoms have risen against kingdoms.
Throughout history earthquakes have occurred in different places.
Throughout history there have been famines.
Throughout history there have been troubles.
So how do we know?
Mar 13:9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
Again history is filled with such delivering. Even today people are delivered before courts for their faith and sentenced to death. Perhaps not in the United States and other so call free countries, but in many countries around the world people are even now being delivered to their fates before the leadership.
Mar 13:10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.
This has been done hasn't it? There isn't a remote area in our world that has been left untouched by missionaries bringing the gospel to people. No, not all will accept the gospel, the majority won't, but the gospel will be made known. Just because something is published doesn't mean it will be accepted.
We see signs as they have seen signs throughout history.
Luk 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Undisputed fact- Jerusalem the Holy City didn't become the capital of Israel until 1980.
Israel enshrined the status of the "complete and united" Jerusalem—west and east—as its capital, in the 1980 Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel.
Source- "Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1980-07-30. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1980_1989/Basic%20Law-%20Jerusalem-%20Capital%20of%20Israel. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
Jerusalem was trodden down of the Gentiles, controlled by Gentiles for years and returned to Israel's control 'complete and united' in 1980.
1980
We were given a sign that people can't twist and in some cases rightly so by saying it's been this way throughout history. Throughout history Jerusalem wasn't in Israel's control, but rather in the Gentiles. What does this say to us all?
For the last 30 years we've been living closer to the time of Jesus' second coming than ever before.
So while the various natural disasters occur all around us and people continue to murmur about the signs of the times and others scoff, we have to remember one thing- no matter what happens that cause people to wake up to their mortality - whether it's a disaster, or just every day life- it will forever be just if we take from the tragedies of life a warning to open our eyes and hearts to the only truth in life which is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior who became man and defeated sin and death, dying Himself to save us from our sins so that we might have life eternal in Him when He returns. We can find solace in Christ alone. No one welcomes tragedies, large or small, but life is filled with them. May our hearts and eyes be opened to the love of Christ, the love of God, the love of the Holy Spirit now and forever.
Amen.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
'He makes, we are made.'
'He makes, we are made.' The Problem of Pain - C.S. Lewis
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ('He makes')
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ('we are made.')
'He is original, we are derivative.' The Problem of Pain- C.S. Lewis
derivative (Copied or adapted from others)
Gen 1:27 '...in the image of God created he him...' Adapted from another- adapted from God's image.
'But at the same time, and for the same reason, the intimacy between God and even the meanest creature is closer than any that creatures can attain with one another.' The Problem of Pain- C.S. Lewis
Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Means to me:
The intimacy of Creator and creature will forever be more intimate than any intimacy between a creature and creature. No creature knows of themselves as the creator of the creature knows them. All creators know their creations so much more intimately than any other could. The process of the creation alone brings something no one can imitate. Another could take apart an original creation and know how to put it back together but it's not the same at all as the creator in making the creation, it can't be. So while we as creatures believe we know one another because we are a creature, we even say who better to understand than one of our own kind, but I say God better understands, the Creator better understands us than we can possibly imagine. As strange as it might seem, as often as we question God's judgment and ability to understand, as often as we rail against Him accusing Him of not being able to understand us, we are fools because the Creator understands us better than we can ever understand ourselves.
God is Spirit and He made us spirit bound by flesh. The flesh part of us we understand- the baser nature we mostly understand I should say. We can empathize with each others pleasures and pains if we've felt them ourselves even minutely. The spirit within us is God's connection to us. Our Creator created within us a part He alone can fully commune with. When we turn away from God we reject the spirit. When we turn to another creature hoping they can fill that spirit need in us, they fall far short...far, far short.
Forever, as C.S. Lewis writes- 'The intimacy between God and even the meanest creature is closer than any that creatures can attain with one another.' While we foolishly keep believing we will find a completeness in a relationship with another human being it will never attain the closeness we can attain in a relationship with God. We might think for a short period in time we have that perhaps in a marriage, but we don't, not really. No other person can fully understand us as God can, none no matter how hard they try and they have tried and keep on trying. We've thousands of books on the subject, we have a whole professional field all about trying to understand each other- psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists, these fields delve into the human being in various ways and ultimately it is all about trying to understand what makes us tick emotionally, mentally, socially. The quest to understand each other is something that will never end and while there isn't anything wrong with trying, it's knowing that we can never understand the way God does that matters most. It's giving our Creator His due as our Creator. He wasn't a child playing with a lump of clay who holds up the squished ball of goo and says, 'Look what I made!', and that child has no more concept of what they've really made than the person looking at it. Oh they might say it's Daddy, and believe it is in their niavity but that child doesn't even know what makes up the clay they've used to squish into a vaguely human shape. God not only knows the composition of the clay, He created the clay to use to make man. That child playing with clay didn't create the clay, he didn't even create the dirt or the water used to make the clay. God is the Creator fully, in all ways.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
We are mere children toying with clay as we try to understand all there is to understand especially in the spiritual realm of our being. We can't create spirit, even if we can take clay and form an image and as some are trying to do- give it life artificial or not. We cannot create a spirit even if we can regrow animal parts in experiments and hope to regrow human parts from stem cells and such. We cannot create a spirit even if we put a sperm cell and an egg cell together and create a growing human baby. God alone, our Creator alone has the knowledge to create us as He does and to understand us as He alone can.
What God does is tells us to love one another as we love ourselves, meaning how we would be loved by others, only then do we really love someone- loving them as we would be loved, not as we are loved by others.
God is trying to teach us an important lesson here, very important. While we will never have the closeness with each other that He can have with us if we allow, we can love-- something that is unique from God-love. We can love each other and treat each other with love even when we don't understand or even like each other. Loving someone is a unique gift we have to offer. God allows us to love under the most horrific of circumstances. If you love someone who hates you they can't stop your love. They can never stop you from loving them. They can try even through torture, but they can't force you to ever stop loving them. Some might say they can't stop you from hating them either and that is true, but hating isn't of God. Hating hurts the hater even more than the one they hate. Love never hurts the one doing the loving- and I'm not saying love doesn't hurt, but if it's a love stemming from the love of God in us, it won't hurt us even if the one we love hurts us. The song, 'Love Hurts', is true to a point. Selfish love hurts. When we lose those we love we feel the pain of their loss, but most times people would never have traded the love they had with that person even knowing the pain it will ultimately bring. Yes, we hear people say as relationships end, 'I wish I never knew you!' And yet that sort of love isn't God's love. That love is wrapped up in a self-serving way. Yes, easy for me to say all this, but it's true. We are soooooo self-centered that all that matters to us is our own pain the heck with trying to understand anything beyond our own feelings. I hurt and that's that, nothing can change that so there. Pure selfishness. I know of where I speak, I've been caught up in that same hurt hundreds of times in my life. I know the pain in myself, I've seen it in others. It's a real pain, loving someone you open yourself up to being rejected by that person whether its a friendship relationship or more. Rejection hurts a lot and why, because who ever wants to be rejected? Even Christ felt the pain of rejection, though His was beyond ours so far that it's incomprehensible. He felt the rejection of the love He had to bring to people, He sorrowed over their loss because He didn't want to lose them eternally. He sorrowed with a Creator's sorrow. Our creature sorrow is just a tiny fraction of such love. We don't want to lose those we love by rejection or any other way, it pains us, the loss, the emptiness that loss results in, in our lives. Through it all we can continue to love, or we can choose to hate. Which would God have us do? Love. Loving someone and always wishing the best for them as you would wish for yourself is truly a gift from God. May God grant us the ability to truly love as He would have us love.
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Love God
Love Man
Love.
To love you must believe. You must have someone or something to believe in to love that someone or something. Does anyone love nothing? Isn't that impossible? Loving means having something to love. If you have something to love you believe that something exists. No wonder we are told this--
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Once we believe, we can love.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior, all glory and honor, all praise to our Creator the maker of heaven and earth and all that is in them. Thank you Lord for Your love. Help us to love as You would have us love. Help our unbelief, increase our faith all through the Comforter You've sent to dwell with us, in us. Through Your righteousness and none of our own, now and forever in Christ Jesus.
Amen
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ('He makes')
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ('we are made.')
'He is original, we are derivative.' The Problem of Pain- C.S. Lewis
derivative (Copied or adapted from others)
Gen 1:27 '...in the image of God created he him...' Adapted from another- adapted from God's image.
'But at the same time, and for the same reason, the intimacy between God and even the meanest creature is closer than any that creatures can attain with one another.' The Problem of Pain- C.S. Lewis
Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Means to me:
The intimacy of Creator and creature will forever be more intimate than any intimacy between a creature and creature. No creature knows of themselves as the creator of the creature knows them. All creators know their creations so much more intimately than any other could. The process of the creation alone brings something no one can imitate. Another could take apart an original creation and know how to put it back together but it's not the same at all as the creator in making the creation, it can't be. So while we as creatures believe we know one another because we are a creature, we even say who better to understand than one of our own kind, but I say God better understands, the Creator better understands us than we can possibly imagine. As strange as it might seem, as often as we question God's judgment and ability to understand, as often as we rail against Him accusing Him of not being able to understand us, we are fools because the Creator understands us better than we can ever understand ourselves.
God is Spirit and He made us spirit bound by flesh. The flesh part of us we understand- the baser nature we mostly understand I should say. We can empathize with each others pleasures and pains if we've felt them ourselves even minutely. The spirit within us is God's connection to us. Our Creator created within us a part He alone can fully commune with. When we turn away from God we reject the spirit. When we turn to another creature hoping they can fill that spirit need in us, they fall far short...far, far short.
Forever, as C.S. Lewis writes- 'The intimacy between God and even the meanest creature is closer than any that creatures can attain with one another.' While we foolishly keep believing we will find a completeness in a relationship with another human being it will never attain the closeness we can attain in a relationship with God. We might think for a short period in time we have that perhaps in a marriage, but we don't, not really. No other person can fully understand us as God can, none no matter how hard they try and they have tried and keep on trying. We've thousands of books on the subject, we have a whole professional field all about trying to understand each other- psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists, these fields delve into the human being in various ways and ultimately it is all about trying to understand what makes us tick emotionally, mentally, socially. The quest to understand each other is something that will never end and while there isn't anything wrong with trying, it's knowing that we can never understand the way God does that matters most. It's giving our Creator His due as our Creator. He wasn't a child playing with a lump of clay who holds up the squished ball of goo and says, 'Look what I made!', and that child has no more concept of what they've really made than the person looking at it. Oh they might say it's Daddy, and believe it is in their niavity but that child doesn't even know what makes up the clay they've used to squish into a vaguely human shape. God not only knows the composition of the clay, He created the clay to use to make man. That child playing with clay didn't create the clay, he didn't even create the dirt or the water used to make the clay. God is the Creator fully, in all ways.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
We are mere children toying with clay as we try to understand all there is to understand especially in the spiritual realm of our being. We can't create spirit, even if we can take clay and form an image and as some are trying to do- give it life artificial or not. We cannot create a spirit even if we can regrow animal parts in experiments and hope to regrow human parts from stem cells and such. We cannot create a spirit even if we put a sperm cell and an egg cell together and create a growing human baby. God alone, our Creator alone has the knowledge to create us as He does and to understand us as He alone can.
What God does is tells us to love one another as we love ourselves, meaning how we would be loved by others, only then do we really love someone- loving them as we would be loved, not as we are loved by others.
God is trying to teach us an important lesson here, very important. While we will never have the closeness with each other that He can have with us if we allow, we can love-- something that is unique from God-love. We can love each other and treat each other with love even when we don't understand or even like each other. Loving someone is a unique gift we have to offer. God allows us to love under the most horrific of circumstances. If you love someone who hates you they can't stop your love. They can never stop you from loving them. They can try even through torture, but they can't force you to ever stop loving them. Some might say they can't stop you from hating them either and that is true, but hating isn't of God. Hating hurts the hater even more than the one they hate. Love never hurts the one doing the loving- and I'm not saying love doesn't hurt, but if it's a love stemming from the love of God in us, it won't hurt us even if the one we love hurts us. The song, 'Love Hurts', is true to a point. Selfish love hurts. When we lose those we love we feel the pain of their loss, but most times people would never have traded the love they had with that person even knowing the pain it will ultimately bring. Yes, we hear people say as relationships end, 'I wish I never knew you!' And yet that sort of love isn't God's love. That love is wrapped up in a self-serving way. Yes, easy for me to say all this, but it's true. We are soooooo self-centered that all that matters to us is our own pain the heck with trying to understand anything beyond our own feelings. I hurt and that's that, nothing can change that so there. Pure selfishness. I know of where I speak, I've been caught up in that same hurt hundreds of times in my life. I know the pain in myself, I've seen it in others. It's a real pain, loving someone you open yourself up to being rejected by that person whether its a friendship relationship or more. Rejection hurts a lot and why, because who ever wants to be rejected? Even Christ felt the pain of rejection, though His was beyond ours so far that it's incomprehensible. He felt the rejection of the love He had to bring to people, He sorrowed over their loss because He didn't want to lose them eternally. He sorrowed with a Creator's sorrow. Our creature sorrow is just a tiny fraction of such love. We don't want to lose those we love by rejection or any other way, it pains us, the loss, the emptiness that loss results in, in our lives. Through it all we can continue to love, or we can choose to hate. Which would God have us do? Love. Loving someone and always wishing the best for them as you would wish for yourself is truly a gift from God. May God grant us the ability to truly love as He would have us love.
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Love God
Love Man
Love.
To love you must believe. You must have someone or something to believe in to love that someone or something. Does anyone love nothing? Isn't that impossible? Loving means having something to love. If you have something to love you believe that something exists. No wonder we are told this--
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Once we believe, we can love.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior, all glory and honor, all praise to our Creator the maker of heaven and earth and all that is in them. Thank you Lord for Your love. Help us to love as You would have us love. Help our unbelief, increase our faith all through the Comforter You've sent to dwell with us, in us. Through Your righteousness and none of our own, now and forever in Christ Jesus.
Amen
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