Heb 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.
Jesus said this…
Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Could we love as Jesus loved without Jesus having loved us? No.
No wonder He's *adding* to the commandments already given. Until God's Son divested Himself of His divinity and took on human flesh, living among us, loving us, we could not have that commandment. Seriously, we couldn't have this commandment until Jesus' love was revealed. We already had these commandments--
Exo 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Exo 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
Exo 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Exo 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.
Exo 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
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.
These commandments show the love we should have for God and the love we should have for our fellowman. But one thing that isn't a commandment in there if is to forgive. We aren't commanded to forgive until Jesus gives us this commandment-
Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Love one another as I have loved you.
Jesus' love forgives. Jesus loved us by forgiving us in our undeserving state. We are to love others as HE loves us. We are to forgive even when the one we forgive is undeserving, what good is forgiving the deserving, any one does that, but Jesus forgave when we didn't deserve that forgiveness.
Heb 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.
What is brotherly love?
1Th 4:9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
We are taught of God to love one another. Jesus was our example of love and if we follow His example we will love our brother, we will have brotherly love in our lives. We are commanded to love as Jesus loved. We need to learn more and more of Jesus, we need to get as close as we can to our Savior so we can know Him as completely as possible and know how to love as He loved.
By His grace we will learn to love as He loved, by His love!
Amen
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
We receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved
Heb 12:18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
Heb 12:19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
Heb 12:20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
Heb 12:21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
Lets read about this more fully…
Exo 19:1 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
Exo 19:2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.
Exo 19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
Exo 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
Exo 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine
Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Exo 19:7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
Exo 19:8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.
Exo 19:9 And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.
Exo 19:10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
Exo 19:11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
Exo 19:12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
Exo 19:13 There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
Exo 19:14 And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.
Exo 19:15 And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
Exo 19:16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
Exo 19:17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
Exo 19:18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
Exo 19:19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
Exo 19:20 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
Exo 19:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.
Exo 19:22 And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
Exo 19:23 And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.
Exo 19:24 And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them.
Exo 19:25 So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.
Exo 20:18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
Exo 20:19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
Exo 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
Exo 20:21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
Exo 20:22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
**
IMAGINE living that!
God desirous to speak with His people- people like you and I, flesh and blood! And how did the people react? They were frightened and they DIDN'T want God to speak to them. They told Moses to speak with them, but not God, because they thought if God spoke with them they'd die. Just imagine being there as this all unfolded.
Then many, many years later we are told this...
Heb 12:18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
WE ARE NOT COME to the Mount that might be touched.
Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
WE ARE COME to the mount that CAN'T be touched- Mount Sion, the Heavenly Jerusalem.
Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven
If we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven!
If those who heard God speak from earth could NOT escape, there is NO way we who hear God speak from heaven will escape.
Heb 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Heb 12:27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him
Mat 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
Mat 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
WE who receive the kingdom cannot be move.
We who receive the kingdom cannot be shaken.
God will shake the earth and the heavens make no mistake about it, but we cannot be moved who are steadfast in Him.
Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
We RECEIVING a kingdom.
We are receiving the kingdom of God. As soon as we accept Christ we are HEIRS to the kingdom.
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Joint-heirs. Does Jesus own the kingdom? Did Jesus bring the kingdom with Him? Yes and yes. When we accept Jesus we are part of that kingdom. We become joint-heirs with Christ.
So reading this…. We receiving the kingdom which cannot be moved- let us HAVE grace- whereby we MAY serve God ACCEPTABLY with reverence and godly fear. We have this now! We have the kingdom of God, we have grace, and it's because we HAVE these now we can serve God acceptably. If we don't believe we have the kingdom of God, if we don't believe have grace right now in our lives we can't serve God acceptably. These have to be a reality to us right now, not at some future point. We receive it now. It has to be part of our lives. Without believing these are ours now we aren't fully God's are we? We receive grace now! We receive the kingdom now! We receive all this when we receive our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Make no mistake this is stating the truth- our God is a consuming fire.
Deu 4:24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
God who is from everlasting to everlasting is the same yesterday, today, and forever. When people try to say that God has changed, that Jesus changed things they are so wrong! God in the beginning of the Bible was a consuming fire and God in the end of the Bible is a consuming fire. God hasn't changed, will not change, ever. His standards are the same always.
By His grace, by His love we live and will live forever in Him, in His love, serving Him!
Amen
Heb 12:19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
Heb 12:20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
Heb 12:21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
Lets read about this more fully…
Exo 19:1 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
Exo 19:2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.
Exo 19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
Exo 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
Exo 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine
Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Exo 19:7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
Exo 19:8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.
Exo 19:9 And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.
Exo 19:10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
Exo 19:11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
Exo 19:12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
Exo 19:13 There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
Exo 19:14 And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.
Exo 19:15 And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
Exo 19:16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
Exo 19:17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
Exo 19:18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
Exo 19:19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
Exo 19:20 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
Exo 19:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.
Exo 19:22 And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
Exo 19:23 And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.
Exo 19:24 And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them.
Exo 19:25 So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.
Exo 20:18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
Exo 20:19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
Exo 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
Exo 20:21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
Exo 20:22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
**
IMAGINE living that!
God desirous to speak with His people- people like you and I, flesh and blood! And how did the people react? They were frightened and they DIDN'T want God to speak to them. They told Moses to speak with them, but not God, because they thought if God spoke with them they'd die. Just imagine being there as this all unfolded.
Then many, many years later we are told this...
Heb 12:18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
WE ARE NOT COME to the Mount that might be touched.
Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
WE ARE COME to the mount that CAN'T be touched- Mount Sion, the Heavenly Jerusalem.
Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven
If we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven!
If those who heard God speak from earth could NOT escape, there is NO way we who hear God speak from heaven will escape.
Heb 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Heb 12:27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him
Mat 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
Mat 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
WE who receive the kingdom cannot be move.
We who receive the kingdom cannot be shaken.
God will shake the earth and the heavens make no mistake about it, but we cannot be moved who are steadfast in Him.
Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
We RECEIVING a kingdom.
We are receiving the kingdom of God. As soon as we accept Christ we are HEIRS to the kingdom.
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Joint-heirs. Does Jesus own the kingdom? Did Jesus bring the kingdom with Him? Yes and yes. When we accept Jesus we are part of that kingdom. We become joint-heirs with Christ.
So reading this…. We receiving the kingdom which cannot be moved- let us HAVE grace- whereby we MAY serve God ACCEPTABLY with reverence and godly fear. We have this now! We have the kingdom of God, we have grace, and it's because we HAVE these now we can serve God acceptably. If we don't believe we have the kingdom of God, if we don't believe have grace right now in our lives we can't serve God acceptably. These have to be a reality to us right now, not at some future point. We receive it now. It has to be part of our lives. Without believing these are ours now we aren't fully God's are we? We receive grace now! We receive the kingdom now! We receive all this when we receive our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Make no mistake this is stating the truth- our God is a consuming fire.
Deu 4:24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
God who is from everlasting to everlasting is the same yesterday, today, and forever. When people try to say that God has changed, that Jesus changed things they are so wrong! God in the beginning of the Bible was a consuming fire and God in the end of the Bible is a consuming fire. God hasn't changed, will not change, ever. His standards are the same always.
By His grace, by His love we live and will live forever in Him, in His love, serving Him!
Amen
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Fail of the grace of God
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled
Fail of the grace of God.
No one likes to talk about this, no one. Am I being dramatic? Yes, most likely I am. Maybe it's just me that doesn't like to talk about this, or think about this. Failing of the grace of God?! When there is so much in life we can fail at, this is the ONE thing we do not want to fail to receive.
Just the idea of it being possible to fail of the grace of God is frightening. How do we avoid this? By LOOKING DILIGENTLY. What are we looking diligently for or at? We have to look at ourselves, our lives and what are we looking for in ourselves? ANY root of bitterness springing up to trouble us.
Root of bitterness.
Hannah-
1Sa 1:10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.
Hannah prayed in the bitterness of her soul and was redeemed. Hannah didn't live in that bitterness without action. She had the bitterness in her and she prayed, she wept. She believed that God heard her prayer. We can't expect not to be bitter about everything in life that happens, but when that bitterness comes we have to do all we can to pray and get rid of that bitterness. We have to…trust, we have to have faith in God as the bitterness threatens to overwhelm us. Bitterness can consume us. Bitterness can develop in us and when it does that we are no longer trusting in our Savior. We have to be DILIGENT about looking for any bitterness inside us. Maybe there is something in us, maybe some old hurt that we've buried and have yet to seek forgiveness for. Maybe our lives are wrapped up in a cloak of bitterness, and maybe, just maybe we've become immune to the realization of the bitterness disguising it under a different part of our personality. Is it possible?
Heb 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Fornicator, profane person- for ONE morsel sold his birthright.
After selling his birthright- he was REJECTED. He found NO place of repentance- though he SOUGHT it CAREFULLY with TEARS.
HE SOUGHT IT! With TEARS!
I want to believe that anyone who seeks repentance will find it, especially if they are seeking it carefully with tears. But sometimes when we commit acts we can't take them back, we can't get back what we've lost. Sometimes it is too late. Esau sold something he could NEVER get back. We all face this trial in our own way. Sometimes it is too late. I don't want to believe it, I want everyone to have endless opportunities to repent and find forgiveness. We have to realize that Esau sold his birthright to keep from suffering hunger and did he want it right back? Did he regret what he'd done as soon as he'd done it? Did he go on and live with the fact he'd sold his birthright happily, unconcerned, believing that he'd done no wrong? Was it ONLY when he realized just how important that birthright was - when it came time to claim it- that it meant anything to him and by then he was more sorry for losing the benefits of the birthright than he was for what he'd done. You know what I mean. Being sorry for our actions is different than being sorry for the outcome of our actions. Esau wasn't sorry he sold the birthright, he wasn't sorry for that action not until the action was attached to the realization he'd sold much more than just his birthright. We can go out and sin - taking pleasure in our sins, we can choose to sin rather than suffer, and at the moment it seems well and good. But then later on maybe we come down with a disease and then we regret the sinning and we might even cry because we feel so upset over having sinned, we might repent of that action with a lot of tears but we are repenting of the outcome, not the actual sin. We are WISHING we never did the sin that brought the consequence. Would we repent if the sin hadn't had that consequence? No. Esau would NEVER have repented if the consequence hadn't existed.
Our sins have consequences.
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled
Any root of bitterness comes up troubling you.
This is what we really need to understand, the roots of bitterness that trouble us.
Could it be allowing any bitterness to remain in ourselves over anything?
Esau was bitter- his repentance came from his bitterness, it wasn't true repentance. If we are bitter over something we are holding resentment and if we are clinging to resentment over something then we are not allowing God to fill us with Himself because He cannot dwell where there is bitterness and resentment. We all have what we call our pet peeves, our particular situations that cause angst to arise in us and we label them okay because we are so used to them and don't really consider them problems, just our pet peeves. See, we even label them pets which makes them sound like companions of sort. Could they be bitter roots? Do those pet peeves trouble us? They wouldn't be peeves if they didn't offer annoyance to us, would they? Many will be defiled by roots of bitterness troubling them. That's a frightening thought.
Bottom line? Maybe the bottom line is being troubled. When we are troubled by something we are stressing over it- a more modern term we can relate to. When we stress we are not trusting in God. When we don't trust in God then we are lost because He is our source of life and we must trust in Him for ALL things. We have to stop trying to handle everything ourselves. Easier said than done, I know. We see others suffering and it causes us stress. It'd be odd to see a loved one in pain and not be stressed by it, that would make us callous, right? Trusting in God makes us seem unfeeling to people. HOW COULD WE ACT SO UNFEELING!? YOU'RE HEARTLESS! Why? Because we choose to let God be in control? We choose to realize we can't rely on ourselves for anything, but have to rely on God for all things. When we rely on God we let go of everything that would trouble us and by let go I mean we face the facts and our limitations, we face that what is beyond our limitations must be left to God.
If we are having problems and a way out of them is presented to us but we choose not to take that way- thinking God will answer in another way, we are guilty of neglecting God's way of answering.
Everyone knows that old tale that has been told endless times about a man falling over a cliff hanging on just by one hand and crying out to God to save him. The only message he receives is let go. But the man doesn't want to let go. The man has envisioned help coming in a different way perhaps from being pulled up by someone, letting go isn't something he's prepared to do. So clinging to that cliff the man dies. If he'd let go like God was telling Him to do he would have landed on a jutting rock below, but the man didn't know the jutting rock shelf was just beneath him. He didn't trust, he wanted God to answer in another way.
What we can do ourselves we are to do, what we can't do we have to have faith that God will accomplish it however He chooses.
Also, we have to realize that suffering is part of our lives and being called to suffer doesn't mean God has forsaken us or wants us to leave Him.
Suffering and holding fast to God, having faith in God doesn't mean not crying, it doesn't mean not being upset- it means NOT giving up on God. Even as the tears fall we must believe that God is in control and no matter how it seems, things will work out for our eternity.
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled
Any bitterness in us that would defile us- that would trouble us and turn us from God must be done away with and we have to constantly watch out for the bitterness that would do that to us.
By the grace of our Lord may we be ever watchful not allowing any bitterness to rise up in ourselves to trouble us away from Him in any way. May we take stock of our lives and recognize any and all troubling within us and give that troubling to God. What we may think is minor could have roots deeper than we imagine. Any bitterness inside over anything must be given to our Lord, we cannot be troubled by life as if God doesn't exist and we are not promised eternity after this life of suffering.
Please Lord bless us, help us, guide us, and keep us in YOU now and forever!
By Your grace!
Amen.
Fail of the grace of God.
No one likes to talk about this, no one. Am I being dramatic? Yes, most likely I am. Maybe it's just me that doesn't like to talk about this, or think about this. Failing of the grace of God?! When there is so much in life we can fail at, this is the ONE thing we do not want to fail to receive.
Just the idea of it being possible to fail of the grace of God is frightening. How do we avoid this? By LOOKING DILIGENTLY. What are we looking diligently for or at? We have to look at ourselves, our lives and what are we looking for in ourselves? ANY root of bitterness springing up to trouble us.
Root of bitterness.
Hannah-
1Sa 1:10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.
Hannah prayed in the bitterness of her soul and was redeemed. Hannah didn't live in that bitterness without action. She had the bitterness in her and she prayed, she wept. She believed that God heard her prayer. We can't expect not to be bitter about everything in life that happens, but when that bitterness comes we have to do all we can to pray and get rid of that bitterness. We have to…trust, we have to have faith in God as the bitterness threatens to overwhelm us. Bitterness can consume us. Bitterness can develop in us and when it does that we are no longer trusting in our Savior. We have to be DILIGENT about looking for any bitterness inside us. Maybe there is something in us, maybe some old hurt that we've buried and have yet to seek forgiveness for. Maybe our lives are wrapped up in a cloak of bitterness, and maybe, just maybe we've become immune to the realization of the bitterness disguising it under a different part of our personality. Is it possible?
Heb 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Fornicator, profane person- for ONE morsel sold his birthright.
After selling his birthright- he was REJECTED. He found NO place of repentance- though he SOUGHT it CAREFULLY with TEARS.
HE SOUGHT IT! With TEARS!
I want to believe that anyone who seeks repentance will find it, especially if they are seeking it carefully with tears. But sometimes when we commit acts we can't take them back, we can't get back what we've lost. Sometimes it is too late. Esau sold something he could NEVER get back. We all face this trial in our own way. Sometimes it is too late. I don't want to believe it, I want everyone to have endless opportunities to repent and find forgiveness. We have to realize that Esau sold his birthright to keep from suffering hunger and did he want it right back? Did he regret what he'd done as soon as he'd done it? Did he go on and live with the fact he'd sold his birthright happily, unconcerned, believing that he'd done no wrong? Was it ONLY when he realized just how important that birthright was - when it came time to claim it- that it meant anything to him and by then he was more sorry for losing the benefits of the birthright than he was for what he'd done. You know what I mean. Being sorry for our actions is different than being sorry for the outcome of our actions. Esau wasn't sorry he sold the birthright, he wasn't sorry for that action not until the action was attached to the realization he'd sold much more than just his birthright. We can go out and sin - taking pleasure in our sins, we can choose to sin rather than suffer, and at the moment it seems well and good. But then later on maybe we come down with a disease and then we regret the sinning and we might even cry because we feel so upset over having sinned, we might repent of that action with a lot of tears but we are repenting of the outcome, not the actual sin. We are WISHING we never did the sin that brought the consequence. Would we repent if the sin hadn't had that consequence? No. Esau would NEVER have repented if the consequence hadn't existed.
Our sins have consequences.
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled
Any root of bitterness comes up troubling you.
This is what we really need to understand, the roots of bitterness that trouble us.
Could it be allowing any bitterness to remain in ourselves over anything?
Esau was bitter- his repentance came from his bitterness, it wasn't true repentance. If we are bitter over something we are holding resentment and if we are clinging to resentment over something then we are not allowing God to fill us with Himself because He cannot dwell where there is bitterness and resentment. We all have what we call our pet peeves, our particular situations that cause angst to arise in us and we label them okay because we are so used to them and don't really consider them problems, just our pet peeves. See, we even label them pets which makes them sound like companions of sort. Could they be bitter roots? Do those pet peeves trouble us? They wouldn't be peeves if they didn't offer annoyance to us, would they? Many will be defiled by roots of bitterness troubling them. That's a frightening thought.
Bottom line? Maybe the bottom line is being troubled. When we are troubled by something we are stressing over it- a more modern term we can relate to. When we stress we are not trusting in God. When we don't trust in God then we are lost because He is our source of life and we must trust in Him for ALL things. We have to stop trying to handle everything ourselves. Easier said than done, I know. We see others suffering and it causes us stress. It'd be odd to see a loved one in pain and not be stressed by it, that would make us callous, right? Trusting in God makes us seem unfeeling to people. HOW COULD WE ACT SO UNFEELING!? YOU'RE HEARTLESS! Why? Because we choose to let God be in control? We choose to realize we can't rely on ourselves for anything, but have to rely on God for all things. When we rely on God we let go of everything that would trouble us and by let go I mean we face the facts and our limitations, we face that what is beyond our limitations must be left to God.
If we are having problems and a way out of them is presented to us but we choose not to take that way- thinking God will answer in another way, we are guilty of neglecting God's way of answering.
Everyone knows that old tale that has been told endless times about a man falling over a cliff hanging on just by one hand and crying out to God to save him. The only message he receives is let go. But the man doesn't want to let go. The man has envisioned help coming in a different way perhaps from being pulled up by someone, letting go isn't something he's prepared to do. So clinging to that cliff the man dies. If he'd let go like God was telling Him to do he would have landed on a jutting rock below, but the man didn't know the jutting rock shelf was just beneath him. He didn't trust, he wanted God to answer in another way.
What we can do ourselves we are to do, what we can't do we have to have faith that God will accomplish it however He chooses.
Also, we have to realize that suffering is part of our lives and being called to suffer doesn't mean God has forsaken us or wants us to leave Him.
Suffering and holding fast to God, having faith in God doesn't mean not crying, it doesn't mean not being upset- it means NOT giving up on God. Even as the tears fall we must believe that God is in control and no matter how it seems, things will work out for our eternity.
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled
Any bitterness in us that would defile us- that would trouble us and turn us from God must be done away with and we have to constantly watch out for the bitterness that would do that to us.
By the grace of our Lord may we be ever watchful not allowing any bitterness to rise up in ourselves to trouble us away from Him in any way. May we take stock of our lives and recognize any and all troubling within us and give that troubling to God. What we may think is minor could have roots deeper than we imagine. Any bitterness inside over anything must be given to our Lord, we cannot be troubled by life as if God doesn't exist and we are not promised eternity after this life of suffering.
Please Lord bless us, help us, guide us, and keep us in YOU now and forever!
By Your grace!
Amen.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Evil tidings
Psa 112:7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.
We are afraid aren't we?
We live in fear.
Are you shaking your head saying , no, you don't live in fear? That's great then, really great. Generally speaking we live with at least a bit of fear in our lives. We fear the future. We fear the present, and sometimes we even fear our pasts. What makes us so fearful? Life in general doesn't it? Seriously. So we pump ourselves full of drugs that are supposed to make us less anxious, and we smile because that drug has masked our fears, our worries, our anxieties. Isn't anxiety a fear? Think about it. If you're anxious over something you're worried about it and worry is what? It's fearing something or other. The root of ALL these pretty words we like to use - anxiousness, worry, anxiety, upset, stress- is FEAR. We pretty up the FEAR word because we don't like to be called cowards and people that are fearful are thought of as weak, as cowards and heaven forbid we appear weak to ourselves or others. We're strong! We're fine! We're just wonderful aside from a little stress, aside from a bit of worry, aside from a touch of anxiety. Do you see it? Brush away the fancy words and expose the bottom layer, the source, the root of all that masking and you are left with fear.
Fear. We need to admit we are fear, that we are afraid, that life and all it's complexities has us frightened.
This verse in Psalms- 'He shall NOT be afraid of evil tidings' - is telling us what?
What's an evil tiding? It sound foreboding doesn't it. An evil tiding coming out of the west… sounds mystic and creepy and scary. It sounds like ancient mumbo jumbo doesn't it?? But think about it, an evil tiding is nothing more than a sense of fear over the future. An evil tiding- a report, a rumor of something bad to come. And being AFRAID of a thought of something bad to come is worrying and we worry so much. Most of what we worry about is future tense. We rarely worry over the past, unless it's in connection with our future. We might worry over something that happened in the past, but we do so thinking about how it affects us now, or may affect us later. We can feel sadness over a past event without worrying about it, but to actually worry about it we bring it into our future.
He shall NOT be afraid of evil tidings. Why? Seriously. If we suspect evil in our future why shouldn't we be afraid? We are taught to worry. Those who don't worry are considered strange. We say it is NORMAL to worry, normal to be fearful. We tell ourselves this because otherwise we will be revealed to be very, very fearful people and who likes the idea of being surrounded by a bunch of people living in fear. We'd much rather walk about nodding and smiling, understanding that our fears are shared and normal, because we call them anxiety and hey, who DOESN'T have anxiety? I'm guilty myself of doing this. I've told my children it's normal to feel anxious, it's normal to worry, it's normal to feel out of sorts. Why have I told them this? Because when we think of something as being normal it makes it OKAY to feel that way. It makes us feel less odd, less out of sorts. To say it's normal to be scared, to be fearful, somehow just makes it seem less scary. If it's normal then hey, we can't help but feel this way and well, if it's all normal then why the heck not go on those normal medicines people are taking in vast quantities to sedate those normal feelings. They're NOT NORMAL! They are prevalent, so prevalent we've called them the norm, but sin is prevalent too and that is called the norm also! Does calling something normal make it good? Does it make it normal? We mask things in words that make them acceptable. Years ago someone had the vapors, or were prone to having the vapors. Years ago people were under the weather and years ago people either learned to cope or were shipped off to atrocious facilities that would commit atrocious treatments upon them to try and cure them of their abnormalities. We are much better off today because we call things normal they would have called strange and unacceptable years ago. We are civilized now and if we can take a pill or four to calm our strangeness then hey, we are normal again.
Am I against pills?! NO! I took pills that I believe helped save my life back when I was dealing with horrible post partum depression. I'm not against pills at all. I'm against pretending that we aren't FEARFUL people, I'm against pretending that under the guise of stress we claim we are NOT fearful. I'm against calling things NORMAL- things that clearly aren't normal. Do you remember a few years ago the actor Tom Cruise went on a talk show and talked down about Brooke Shields because she took medication for her post partum, he said she should have been able to handle it without drugs. There are a BUNCH of people that like to talk like that- saying what other people should be able to handle and whatnot and I'm NOT going to be one of those people. All of you who are taking any drugs to help you cope with life don't just stop because you think it's not Godly. God has provided the technology to produce drugs and our 6000 year old sin bodies are so degraded from the original bodies mankind was giving that we can't just arbitrarily say stop all drugs and let God provide or die. Yes, use nature's medicines, use diet, use foods, herbs and such as medicines all you can which is best, but DO NOT presume to believe that all medicine is bad and that EVERYONE should just stop all their medicines and deal with it. Even our food is contaminated, our soil is contaminated every time it rains and the water that has been absorbed from contaminated lakes pours down upon that soil. We can't ESCAPE the results of sin poisoning our world in many, many ways. We can do the best we can in the ways we can and we can pray, we can TRUST that in our endeavors to survive, God guides us and we follow His guidance.
Psa 112:7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.
We are fearful. We have to admit to this and understand that as the every day fears fill our lives we need to FIX our hearts upon the LORD, trusting in the LORD. We have to make trusting the LORD a priority. We have to make having faith and believing in the LORD paramount in our lives. We have to allow the spiritual man in us to prevail because the carnal man in us will have us cowering and beaten down by our fears until we believe we can't live without everything surrounding us. The carnal man in us would have us give up GOD rather than give up our lives and things in our lives. The carnal man that has Satan for his god will stop at nothing to destroy all trust in God.
Have you ever had your heart fixed on something? Your mind set on something? Have you ever been headstrong towards something? You know what it means to set your sights on something and NOT stop until you get that something. We need to FIX our hearts on the LORD. This is something we need to DO. This is an action we need to accomplish. Fixing our hearts on the Lord, trusting in the Lord isn't something that come automatic to us. We have to CHOOSE the Lord.
We have to agree that the world we live in has many fears, many worries, many stressors and if the devil has his way we will be taken over by those fears, those worries, those stressors, we will be consumed by them. The evil tidings in our lives will scare us to eternal death if we don't fix our hearts on the Lord, if we don't trust in the LORD.
Wouldn't it be great to say- I am NOT afraid of any evil that is coming my way because my heart is fixed, I am trusting in the LORD?
Trusting in the LORD means when all around us life is falling apart into so many heart breaking pieces we will believe in God and the promises He's given to us for a better world, a perfect world in eternity. Evil tidings will continue to come to each and every one of us, we need to choose NOT to be afraid- NOT to be consumed by the fear so that we stop believing in the LORD. The devil will stop at nothing to bring us to that place of unbelief, that place where trust is the LORD is gone. The devil will tell us that we can handle life on our own, or should be able to do so. The devil will also tell us we can't handle life on our own and we should end it. The devil will use EVERY contrivance he can, he will be contradictory, he will do anything and everything to claim us- yes, you are than important to Him. God sent His Son to die for us! To save us! We are that important to God!
Psa 112:7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.
Dear Lord! Please help us as we live in this fearful world, as we live in an age where fear is masked into being something acceptable. Help us sweet LORD to fix our hearts upon you, help us to TRUST in YOU and nothing else- not even ourselves, especially not ourselves, but wholly in YOU and Your love, Your righteousness, Your forgiveness! You did for us what we could NEVER do for ourselves and we must never forget that, Lord, never! As evil tiding prevail and multiply in our lives let us not be fearful of them but rather trusting in YOU no matter what. In our darkest days, in our darkest hours please Lord help our unbelief, protect us!
In our Savior's love and ALL that entails!
Amen!
We are afraid aren't we?
We live in fear.
Are you shaking your head saying , no, you don't live in fear? That's great then, really great. Generally speaking we live with at least a bit of fear in our lives. We fear the future. We fear the present, and sometimes we even fear our pasts. What makes us so fearful? Life in general doesn't it? Seriously. So we pump ourselves full of drugs that are supposed to make us less anxious, and we smile because that drug has masked our fears, our worries, our anxieties. Isn't anxiety a fear? Think about it. If you're anxious over something you're worried about it and worry is what? It's fearing something or other. The root of ALL these pretty words we like to use - anxiousness, worry, anxiety, upset, stress- is FEAR. We pretty up the FEAR word because we don't like to be called cowards and people that are fearful are thought of as weak, as cowards and heaven forbid we appear weak to ourselves or others. We're strong! We're fine! We're just wonderful aside from a little stress, aside from a bit of worry, aside from a touch of anxiety. Do you see it? Brush away the fancy words and expose the bottom layer, the source, the root of all that masking and you are left with fear.
Fear. We need to admit we are fear, that we are afraid, that life and all it's complexities has us frightened.
This verse in Psalms- 'He shall NOT be afraid of evil tidings' - is telling us what?
What's an evil tiding? It sound foreboding doesn't it. An evil tiding coming out of the west… sounds mystic and creepy and scary. It sounds like ancient mumbo jumbo doesn't it?? But think about it, an evil tiding is nothing more than a sense of fear over the future. An evil tiding- a report, a rumor of something bad to come. And being AFRAID of a thought of something bad to come is worrying and we worry so much. Most of what we worry about is future tense. We rarely worry over the past, unless it's in connection with our future. We might worry over something that happened in the past, but we do so thinking about how it affects us now, or may affect us later. We can feel sadness over a past event without worrying about it, but to actually worry about it we bring it into our future.
He shall NOT be afraid of evil tidings. Why? Seriously. If we suspect evil in our future why shouldn't we be afraid? We are taught to worry. Those who don't worry are considered strange. We say it is NORMAL to worry, normal to be fearful. We tell ourselves this because otherwise we will be revealed to be very, very fearful people and who likes the idea of being surrounded by a bunch of people living in fear. We'd much rather walk about nodding and smiling, understanding that our fears are shared and normal, because we call them anxiety and hey, who DOESN'T have anxiety? I'm guilty myself of doing this. I've told my children it's normal to feel anxious, it's normal to worry, it's normal to feel out of sorts. Why have I told them this? Because when we think of something as being normal it makes it OKAY to feel that way. It makes us feel less odd, less out of sorts. To say it's normal to be scared, to be fearful, somehow just makes it seem less scary. If it's normal then hey, we can't help but feel this way and well, if it's all normal then why the heck not go on those normal medicines people are taking in vast quantities to sedate those normal feelings. They're NOT NORMAL! They are prevalent, so prevalent we've called them the norm, but sin is prevalent too and that is called the norm also! Does calling something normal make it good? Does it make it normal? We mask things in words that make them acceptable. Years ago someone had the vapors, or were prone to having the vapors. Years ago people were under the weather and years ago people either learned to cope or were shipped off to atrocious facilities that would commit atrocious treatments upon them to try and cure them of their abnormalities. We are much better off today because we call things normal they would have called strange and unacceptable years ago. We are civilized now and if we can take a pill or four to calm our strangeness then hey, we are normal again.
Am I against pills?! NO! I took pills that I believe helped save my life back when I was dealing with horrible post partum depression. I'm not against pills at all. I'm against pretending that we aren't FEARFUL people, I'm against pretending that under the guise of stress we claim we are NOT fearful. I'm against calling things NORMAL- things that clearly aren't normal. Do you remember a few years ago the actor Tom Cruise went on a talk show and talked down about Brooke Shields because she took medication for her post partum, he said she should have been able to handle it without drugs. There are a BUNCH of people that like to talk like that- saying what other people should be able to handle and whatnot and I'm NOT going to be one of those people. All of you who are taking any drugs to help you cope with life don't just stop because you think it's not Godly. God has provided the technology to produce drugs and our 6000 year old sin bodies are so degraded from the original bodies mankind was giving that we can't just arbitrarily say stop all drugs and let God provide or die. Yes, use nature's medicines, use diet, use foods, herbs and such as medicines all you can which is best, but DO NOT presume to believe that all medicine is bad and that EVERYONE should just stop all their medicines and deal with it. Even our food is contaminated, our soil is contaminated every time it rains and the water that has been absorbed from contaminated lakes pours down upon that soil. We can't ESCAPE the results of sin poisoning our world in many, many ways. We can do the best we can in the ways we can and we can pray, we can TRUST that in our endeavors to survive, God guides us and we follow His guidance.
Psa 112:7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.
We are fearful. We have to admit to this and understand that as the every day fears fill our lives we need to FIX our hearts upon the LORD, trusting in the LORD. We have to make trusting the LORD a priority. We have to make having faith and believing in the LORD paramount in our lives. We have to allow the spiritual man in us to prevail because the carnal man in us will have us cowering and beaten down by our fears until we believe we can't live without everything surrounding us. The carnal man in us would have us give up GOD rather than give up our lives and things in our lives. The carnal man that has Satan for his god will stop at nothing to destroy all trust in God.
Have you ever had your heart fixed on something? Your mind set on something? Have you ever been headstrong towards something? You know what it means to set your sights on something and NOT stop until you get that something. We need to FIX our hearts on the LORD. This is something we need to DO. This is an action we need to accomplish. Fixing our hearts on the Lord, trusting in the Lord isn't something that come automatic to us. We have to CHOOSE the Lord.
We have to agree that the world we live in has many fears, many worries, many stressors and if the devil has his way we will be taken over by those fears, those worries, those stressors, we will be consumed by them. The evil tidings in our lives will scare us to eternal death if we don't fix our hearts on the Lord, if we don't trust in the LORD.
Wouldn't it be great to say- I am NOT afraid of any evil that is coming my way because my heart is fixed, I am trusting in the LORD?
Trusting in the LORD means when all around us life is falling apart into so many heart breaking pieces we will believe in God and the promises He's given to us for a better world, a perfect world in eternity. Evil tidings will continue to come to each and every one of us, we need to choose NOT to be afraid- NOT to be consumed by the fear so that we stop believing in the LORD. The devil will stop at nothing to bring us to that place of unbelief, that place where trust is the LORD is gone. The devil will tell us that we can handle life on our own, or should be able to do so. The devil will also tell us we can't handle life on our own and we should end it. The devil will use EVERY contrivance he can, he will be contradictory, he will do anything and everything to claim us- yes, you are than important to Him. God sent His Son to die for us! To save us! We are that important to God!
Psa 112:7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.
Dear Lord! Please help us as we live in this fearful world, as we live in an age where fear is masked into being something acceptable. Help us sweet LORD to fix our hearts upon you, help us to TRUST in YOU and nothing else- not even ourselves, especially not ourselves, but wholly in YOU and Your love, Your righteousness, Your forgiveness! You did for us what we could NEVER do for ourselves and we must never forget that, Lord, never! As evil tiding prevail and multiply in our lives let us not be fearful of them but rather trusting in YOU no matter what. In our darkest days, in our darkest hours please Lord help our unbelief, protect us!
In our Savior's love and ALL that entails!
Amen!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
All you can eat buffet- carnal or spiritual feasting
Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord
Pursue peace, rest, quietness with all.
Pursue holiness, sanctification, purification with all.
Do we do this? Do we seek to have peace with all? Do we seek to have holiness with all?
Generally we do seek a peaceful existence with others. Not many look for angst. Angst just seems to come about though doesn't it. A simple tone of voice can change a peaceful discussion into angst. A touch of condescension, or even perceived condescension can ignite anger, can create upset. Isn't it true that the people who know us best know exactly how to upset us? And isn't it true that even if the people we know best aren't looking to upset us we feel free to take out our irritations on them? How likely are you to have an upset with someone you work with as opposed to having an upset with someone you live with? It'd be great if there wasn't this freedom of familiarity that allowed us to abuse each other and get away with it, because that's what it is, right?
We are to follow peace with all, not just with some. It is just as important to follow peace with our loved ones, our families, our friends, as it is with strangers. Some might say a true measure of a person can be found behind the closed front doors, the shut windows, in the private lives a person leads. How many private lives have been exposed where supposedly upright people turn out to be vile? How much shame lies behind closed doors? You know what? There are NO closed doors before God, not a single one. People imagine they're alone, or that they're in the privacy of their choosing that keeps out the public, but in truth we are never alone, never in private. Our most indecent secret acts are known to God.
We are to follow peace with ALL. And we are to follow peace always with all, not just at our choosing. Even through the irritating, even through the ridicule cloaked in harmless teasing, even during the laughter made at our expense, even when we are exposed to blatant injustices and nothing seems fair at all- we are to pursue peace! Peace. Quietness. Rest.
We read all about the dangers of stress these days. Stress causes heart attacks. Stress causes anxiety. Stress causes this illness and that illness. Stress leads to suicide. Stress causes abuse. Stress lead to a nervous breakdown. STRESS! Stress is the opposite of peace.
If we truly embrace peace with all - allowing the irritations, allowing their mental abuse, allowing the ridicule, the teasing, the outright injustices directed at us by others to have none affect other than our promoting peace we won't have stress will we? Ahh but we'd have some saying that bottling up our stress is just as bad and if we don't get it all out with these angst encounters then we'll still get sick from internalizing it all. But we aren't told to bottle up the anger, we are told to forgive.
Choosing to forgive rather than break the peace that could be had by not forgiving is God's way. We can't have peace by bottling up our anger and hurt, choosing to remain silent and sullen, that's NOT peace, that's not quietness, that's not rest. We all know the difference between peace and upset and unspoken upset is still upset- not keeping the peace. Forgiveness bring true peace. Hearing the same old provocations taunting us to upset in the past needs to initiate the call for forgiveness from us rather than the call to angst. The provocations will NOT stop. If they seem to lessen in one point they'll increase in another, we can't forget we live in Satan's world and He will use every opportunity he can to upset us. Satan will change tactics easily so if we wonder why life seems to become harder and harder as we try to grow closer to Christ, well, that's why.
Follow peace with all.
Follow holiness with all.
If we do NOT follow peace with all, if we do NOT follow holiness with all, we will NOT see the Lord.
Harsh words? Harsh truths? We need to grow in Christ constantly, ever growing in grace.
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
As rational human beings we really need to use our rational sides so much more. We need to use our spiritual side so much more than we do. Make no mistake it'll be a warfare, an internal warfare. We will react in our flesh nature instinctively but the closer we grow to Christ, the more we study Christ, the more we immerse ourselves in the Word of God, the more we make Christ our all in all the less likely we'll be to react on instinct to the flesh. Imagine how marvelous it would be to act on instinct to the spirit!
Have you ever notice how after you've read something that has inspired you, you react to it for a few hours, a few days even and sometimes a week or two after, but inevitably it seems to wears off and you are back to being what you'd classify as your "normal" self, your "old familiar" self? Sometimes people have a religious experience like that- where they are high on the inspiration of new birth yet when that high wears off- as inevitably it seems to do- and it comes down to applying your new Christian birth, your new Christian life to your every day existence- you realize that while YOU might have been changed the world around you has remained the same. The light that has filled you can't seem to penetrate your everyday life and those around you. Oh, you might see flickers of it in various things, but the joy of new birth in you isn't celebrated by the old unregenerate world around you and often that effect wears you down until your new birth grows old and sometimes the old self you've put off starts to reemerge.
The reemergence of the old self can be shocking to many because many that have gone through the exhilaration of being newly born into Christ believe that it's impossible for it to happen. Some are frightened when bits of the old self start to reemerge and they instantly begin to doubt their spiritual regeneration. What has to be realized is being born again in the spirit awakens a spiritual side in you but it does NOT take you out of your flesh. Your flesh nature does not disappear as your spiritual nature appears. Once your spiritual self is awakened it has to be constantly fed but too many starve their spiritual nature because the world doesn't offer a spiritual all you can eat buffet. The world offers an all you can eat carnal buffet. We have to seek the spiritual that isn't surrounding us. We have to hunt for our spiritual food and make an effort to seek it and then consume it, unlike the carnal feast that awaits us at every turn practically shoving itself down our throats. We have to feast on the spiritual if we want to become spiritual make no mistake about it. If we want to follow peace and holiness with all we have to go to the source of peace and holiness first and feast spiritually on the source only then will we be able to obey and see the Lord.
If you notice in yourself a behavior that is contrary to peace and holiness as soon as you recognize it - ask for forgiveness, don't wait and ask later, do it immediately and seek the source of spiritual food you need to fill you- even if you're not close to a Bible you can feed on the spiritual food of your memory and the word of God you've feasted on in the past. Jesus truly is the bread of life, a bread of which we feed on and gives us life everlasting. The bread of our Lord will never decay, never grow moldy, never harden but remain ever fresh for us unlike bread for our flesh. The bread we are to consume and make a part of our spiritual feast is our Lord's word. We can have this bread with us ALWAYS to feed off of. When we forget we have access to that spiritual food and we stop feeding on it, we leave ourselves open to only the flesh food surrounding us and we are poisoned by it.
Yes, we have to live surrounded by the flesh, the carnal, but we have ever access to our spiritual fount, our spiritual bread of life, we just need to partake of that food as often as we can and most certainly as soon as we notice ourselves acting and reacting to our carnal natures.
The way to follow peace and holiness with all is to be immersed in the peace and holiness of our Savior.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord, in His love now and always.
Amen.
Pursue peace, rest, quietness with all.
Pursue holiness, sanctification, purification with all.
Do we do this? Do we seek to have peace with all? Do we seek to have holiness with all?
Generally we do seek a peaceful existence with others. Not many look for angst. Angst just seems to come about though doesn't it. A simple tone of voice can change a peaceful discussion into angst. A touch of condescension, or even perceived condescension can ignite anger, can create upset. Isn't it true that the people who know us best know exactly how to upset us? And isn't it true that even if the people we know best aren't looking to upset us we feel free to take out our irritations on them? How likely are you to have an upset with someone you work with as opposed to having an upset with someone you live with? It'd be great if there wasn't this freedom of familiarity that allowed us to abuse each other and get away with it, because that's what it is, right?
We are to follow peace with all, not just with some. It is just as important to follow peace with our loved ones, our families, our friends, as it is with strangers. Some might say a true measure of a person can be found behind the closed front doors, the shut windows, in the private lives a person leads. How many private lives have been exposed where supposedly upright people turn out to be vile? How much shame lies behind closed doors? You know what? There are NO closed doors before God, not a single one. People imagine they're alone, or that they're in the privacy of their choosing that keeps out the public, but in truth we are never alone, never in private. Our most indecent secret acts are known to God.
We are to follow peace with ALL. And we are to follow peace always with all, not just at our choosing. Even through the irritating, even through the ridicule cloaked in harmless teasing, even during the laughter made at our expense, even when we are exposed to blatant injustices and nothing seems fair at all- we are to pursue peace! Peace. Quietness. Rest.
We read all about the dangers of stress these days. Stress causes heart attacks. Stress causes anxiety. Stress causes this illness and that illness. Stress leads to suicide. Stress causes abuse. Stress lead to a nervous breakdown. STRESS! Stress is the opposite of peace.
If we truly embrace peace with all - allowing the irritations, allowing their mental abuse, allowing the ridicule, the teasing, the outright injustices directed at us by others to have none affect other than our promoting peace we won't have stress will we? Ahh but we'd have some saying that bottling up our stress is just as bad and if we don't get it all out with these angst encounters then we'll still get sick from internalizing it all. But we aren't told to bottle up the anger, we are told to forgive.
Choosing to forgive rather than break the peace that could be had by not forgiving is God's way. We can't have peace by bottling up our anger and hurt, choosing to remain silent and sullen, that's NOT peace, that's not quietness, that's not rest. We all know the difference between peace and upset and unspoken upset is still upset- not keeping the peace. Forgiveness bring true peace. Hearing the same old provocations taunting us to upset in the past needs to initiate the call for forgiveness from us rather than the call to angst. The provocations will NOT stop. If they seem to lessen in one point they'll increase in another, we can't forget we live in Satan's world and He will use every opportunity he can to upset us. Satan will change tactics easily so if we wonder why life seems to become harder and harder as we try to grow closer to Christ, well, that's why.
Follow peace with all.
Follow holiness with all.
If we do NOT follow peace with all, if we do NOT follow holiness with all, we will NOT see the Lord.
Harsh words? Harsh truths? We need to grow in Christ constantly, ever growing in grace.
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
As rational human beings we really need to use our rational sides so much more. We need to use our spiritual side so much more than we do. Make no mistake it'll be a warfare, an internal warfare. We will react in our flesh nature instinctively but the closer we grow to Christ, the more we study Christ, the more we immerse ourselves in the Word of God, the more we make Christ our all in all the less likely we'll be to react on instinct to the flesh. Imagine how marvelous it would be to act on instinct to the spirit!
Have you ever notice how after you've read something that has inspired you, you react to it for a few hours, a few days even and sometimes a week or two after, but inevitably it seems to wears off and you are back to being what you'd classify as your "normal" self, your "old familiar" self? Sometimes people have a religious experience like that- where they are high on the inspiration of new birth yet when that high wears off- as inevitably it seems to do- and it comes down to applying your new Christian birth, your new Christian life to your every day existence- you realize that while YOU might have been changed the world around you has remained the same. The light that has filled you can't seem to penetrate your everyday life and those around you. Oh, you might see flickers of it in various things, but the joy of new birth in you isn't celebrated by the old unregenerate world around you and often that effect wears you down until your new birth grows old and sometimes the old self you've put off starts to reemerge.
The reemergence of the old self can be shocking to many because many that have gone through the exhilaration of being newly born into Christ believe that it's impossible for it to happen. Some are frightened when bits of the old self start to reemerge and they instantly begin to doubt their spiritual regeneration. What has to be realized is being born again in the spirit awakens a spiritual side in you but it does NOT take you out of your flesh. Your flesh nature does not disappear as your spiritual nature appears. Once your spiritual self is awakened it has to be constantly fed but too many starve their spiritual nature because the world doesn't offer a spiritual all you can eat buffet. The world offers an all you can eat carnal buffet. We have to seek the spiritual that isn't surrounding us. We have to hunt for our spiritual food and make an effort to seek it and then consume it, unlike the carnal feast that awaits us at every turn practically shoving itself down our throats. We have to feast on the spiritual if we want to become spiritual make no mistake about it. If we want to follow peace and holiness with all we have to go to the source of peace and holiness first and feast spiritually on the source only then will we be able to obey and see the Lord.
If you notice in yourself a behavior that is contrary to peace and holiness as soon as you recognize it - ask for forgiveness, don't wait and ask later, do it immediately and seek the source of spiritual food you need to fill you- even if you're not close to a Bible you can feed on the spiritual food of your memory and the word of God you've feasted on in the past. Jesus truly is the bread of life, a bread of which we feed on and gives us life everlasting. The bread of our Lord will never decay, never grow moldy, never harden but remain ever fresh for us unlike bread for our flesh. The bread we are to consume and make a part of our spiritual feast is our Lord's word. We can have this bread with us ALWAYS to feed off of. When we forget we have access to that spiritual food and we stop feeding on it, we leave ourselves open to only the flesh food surrounding us and we are poisoned by it.
Yes, we have to live surrounded by the flesh, the carnal, but we have ever access to our spiritual fount, our spiritual bread of life, we just need to partake of that food as often as we can and most certainly as soon as we notice ourselves acting and reacting to our carnal natures.
The way to follow peace and holiness with all is to be immersed in the peace and holiness of our Savior.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord, in His love now and always.
Amen.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Shoeless walking on broken glass
Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
We are to be healed. Does this mean that a paralyzed person who has no healing has no hope? No. We are talking our spiritual selves here. It is the spiritual man we are concerned with. We know the flesh is carnal, we know our physical lives are subject to be abused by others as well as being affect by sin's many years of degradation.
If we believe for one moment that every child is born in a pure state, undefiled by sins ravages, just go to a children's hospital and look into those many incubators at the struggling babes within, born sickly. Sin has damaged us in many ways and we are far from being born physically perfect. Our youth are festered with diseases and syndromes, our young adults are not without their own imperfections and our adults have their problems as well. Some people fight illness and disease all their lives- through no fault of their own.
There is no cure- medical or natural for a child born with half a brain- literally. There is no cure for a child born with Down's Syndrome, there's no way to fix them. There are many health problems that have NO cure that we know of and while a person could do all they can to be healthy in their state of permanent imperfection, there is NOTHING- no vitamin, no pill, no diet in the world that will change what they are.
Physically sometimes we have some control, and for some illnesses a lot of control, but these verses here in Heb. 12:12 and 13 aren't talking to the physically paralyzed they are talking to all of us in our spiritual nature.
Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Spiritually we have to be strong, we have to have hope, the way we choose to live has to be the straight way not the crooked. We have to have strong spiritual lives or else we will be considered spiritually lame, spiritually diseased and we run the high risk of being turned away- told that we aren't spiritually fit for the kingdom. We only become spiritually fit by being spiritually healed in Christ and we have to LET ourselves be healed.
Remember this-
Heb 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
And this-
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him
Faint in your minds. That didn't read and faint in your bodies. We can faint in our minds and no I'm not talking having amnesia or periods of black outs you don't remember and are told later things you did. I'm talking about spiritual fainting. Our spiritual natures are separate from our physical. The most sick, the most disease ridden person can have a healthy spiritual self. In fact people admire those who are physically sick and yet seemingly rise above all their physical detriments and are happy, well adjusted people. Sometimes those who seem to have a free ticket to being depressed and unhappy because they've been dealt a raw deal and are far from physically fit through no fault of their own, are those who are the happiest. Can people understand it? Not always. Those people are admired because we know how we are when we are temporarily sidelined by a head cold, or a broken leg- miserable- even though our physical ailment will pass.
Is there a mental/emotional side to us that isn't spiritual? No, not really. Our spiritual self lies within our ability to reason, our ability to comprehend. You can choose to be spiritually stunted, you can choose to be spiritually lame and still have the ability to reason with man's logic. Your spiritual self can be alive to Christ or dead to Christ. We are spirit/flesh beings. You CAN be spiritually lame, spiritually paralyzed but it's a choice you are making rather than a physical affliction beyond your control. You control your ability to believe, to have faith. Lack of faith isn't something out of our control.
2Th 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth
Faith can grow!
Lack of faith can be helped.
Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Luk 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith
*
Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Let it rather be healed.
Let it!
Allow it to be healed.
Allow what to be healed?
Allow the lameness in us, the crooked paths our feet would go down, allow that all to be healed. Allow the spiritual sickness in us to be healed so that we can stay in the way and not be turned out. We can't LET this world's pain, this world's sickness, this world's injustices, this world's agonies, this world's prince have control over us, we must choose rather to spiritually cling to the hope we have in Christ for a better existence in Him, through Him. We will suffer here and now, there is NO escaping that suffering, none. The choice to let our hands hang down, to allow our knees to be feeble and non-supporting making it difficult to walk, to walk down paths we know are not of God, is just that… A CHOICE. We need to CHOOSE to allow ourselves to be healed in Christ by choosing to lift up our hands, choosing to rejoice through our afflictions, choosing to walk down the straight roads even though the enemy has covered them in broken glass and stolen our shoes, choosing to be healed even though the path to healing is the most painful one there can ever be. We choose how we respond to the chastening of the Lord. We choose to either learn or to rebel from that chastening. We choose to give in to self pity, we choose to be self- centered or God- centered. When we are God- centered we are placing ourselves in God's hand and trusting Him to heal us spiritually so that we will not be turned out of the way. The straight paths we MAKE for our feet are the paths that lead us to God, to Christ, to life, to healing.
Let us choose healing in Christ no matter what, through Christ's love.
Amen.
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
We are to be healed. Does this mean that a paralyzed person who has no healing has no hope? No. We are talking our spiritual selves here. It is the spiritual man we are concerned with. We know the flesh is carnal, we know our physical lives are subject to be abused by others as well as being affect by sin's many years of degradation.
If we believe for one moment that every child is born in a pure state, undefiled by sins ravages, just go to a children's hospital and look into those many incubators at the struggling babes within, born sickly. Sin has damaged us in many ways and we are far from being born physically perfect. Our youth are festered with diseases and syndromes, our young adults are not without their own imperfections and our adults have their problems as well. Some people fight illness and disease all their lives- through no fault of their own.
There is no cure- medical or natural for a child born with half a brain- literally. There is no cure for a child born with Down's Syndrome, there's no way to fix them. There are many health problems that have NO cure that we know of and while a person could do all they can to be healthy in their state of permanent imperfection, there is NOTHING- no vitamin, no pill, no diet in the world that will change what they are.
Physically sometimes we have some control, and for some illnesses a lot of control, but these verses here in Heb. 12:12 and 13 aren't talking to the physically paralyzed they are talking to all of us in our spiritual nature.
Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Spiritually we have to be strong, we have to have hope, the way we choose to live has to be the straight way not the crooked. We have to have strong spiritual lives or else we will be considered spiritually lame, spiritually diseased and we run the high risk of being turned away- told that we aren't spiritually fit for the kingdom. We only become spiritually fit by being spiritually healed in Christ and we have to LET ourselves be healed.
Remember this-
Heb 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
And this-
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him
Faint in your minds. That didn't read and faint in your bodies. We can faint in our minds and no I'm not talking having amnesia or periods of black outs you don't remember and are told later things you did. I'm talking about spiritual fainting. Our spiritual natures are separate from our physical. The most sick, the most disease ridden person can have a healthy spiritual self. In fact people admire those who are physically sick and yet seemingly rise above all their physical detriments and are happy, well adjusted people. Sometimes those who seem to have a free ticket to being depressed and unhappy because they've been dealt a raw deal and are far from physically fit through no fault of their own, are those who are the happiest. Can people understand it? Not always. Those people are admired because we know how we are when we are temporarily sidelined by a head cold, or a broken leg- miserable- even though our physical ailment will pass.
Is there a mental/emotional side to us that isn't spiritual? No, not really. Our spiritual self lies within our ability to reason, our ability to comprehend. You can choose to be spiritually stunted, you can choose to be spiritually lame and still have the ability to reason with man's logic. Your spiritual self can be alive to Christ or dead to Christ. We are spirit/flesh beings. You CAN be spiritually lame, spiritually paralyzed but it's a choice you are making rather than a physical affliction beyond your control. You control your ability to believe, to have faith. Lack of faith isn't something out of our control.
2Th 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth
Faith can grow!
Lack of faith can be helped.
Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Luk 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith
*
Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Let it rather be healed.
Let it!
Allow it to be healed.
Allow what to be healed?
Allow the lameness in us, the crooked paths our feet would go down, allow that all to be healed. Allow the spiritual sickness in us to be healed so that we can stay in the way and not be turned out. We can't LET this world's pain, this world's sickness, this world's injustices, this world's agonies, this world's prince have control over us, we must choose rather to spiritually cling to the hope we have in Christ for a better existence in Him, through Him. We will suffer here and now, there is NO escaping that suffering, none. The choice to let our hands hang down, to allow our knees to be feeble and non-supporting making it difficult to walk, to walk down paths we know are not of God, is just that… A CHOICE. We need to CHOOSE to allow ourselves to be healed in Christ by choosing to lift up our hands, choosing to rejoice through our afflictions, choosing to walk down the straight roads even though the enemy has covered them in broken glass and stolen our shoes, choosing to be healed even though the path to healing is the most painful one there can ever be. We choose how we respond to the chastening of the Lord. We choose to either learn or to rebel from that chastening. We choose to give in to self pity, we choose to be self- centered or God- centered. When we are God- centered we are placing ourselves in God's hand and trusting Him to heal us spiritually so that we will not be turned out of the way. The straight paths we MAKE for our feet are the paths that lead us to God, to Christ, to life, to healing.
Let us choose healing in Christ no matter what, through Christ's love.
Amen.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Grievous Chastening
Heb 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
For a few days we are chastened by our father's of flesh, the caregivers of our youth, and they chastise us according to their own pleasure. And it is according to their own pleasure in the sense that it's according to their own desire, for what they think is good. When you chastise someone it's usually for BOTH parties benefit - theirs and yours. Yours for what you think is for THEIR good, according to your own idea of good- their behavior improving would benefit you not having to deal with their bad behavior. It's for their good because they are being taught to behave and hopefully taught lessons through that chastising that will last them a lifetime.
God's chastising us is purely for OUR profit. It BENEFITS US to become partakers with Him in His holiness. To have our spiritual nature awakened, our spiritual nature born and raised, chastised to learn the spiritual lessons we need to learn- all so we can unite with our Savior in HIS holiness. The chastising we are called to undergo is for our good, our SPIRITUAL good, not necessarily our fleshy/carnal good in fact it will be GRIEVOUS to our flesh selves. Our flesh selves will rebel from our spiritual chastising. Our flesh selves will tell us it is too hard, too much, too painful, too horrible and will seek to get away from any and all spiritual chastisement. There truly is a war between the flesh and the spirit natures we have.
1Pe 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul
1Pe 2:19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
1Pe 2:20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
Endure grief, suffering wrongfully -- taking it patiently.
We suffer, oh how we are called to suffer, and we rail against having to suffer don't we? Rather than taking it patiently we fight it, we lament our sufferings, we want pity for our suffering, we complain and we wait for others to give us their sympathy which only has us reaffirming to ourselves that we do good feeling sorry for ourselves and our pain. We aren't enduring patiently when we act out because acting out reveals our lack of faith in God that somehow, some way our suffering, our grief will work out for our good.
We CAN'T reveal our faith in God if we are constantly questioning our faith by questioning the pain and suffering, the grief we are called to endure. Faith calls for patience.
Good people suffer! Good people who are undeserving of pain and suffering will feel tremendous pain and endure tremendous suffering. Faith calls for those good people to endure patiently, not to understand all the whys and wherefores, not to lament their horrible afflictions as if God is being horrible to them. Faith calls for us to trust even when there is NO reason we can understand to trust. Even when our lives are turned completely upside-down- we are called to trust.
Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Being chastised isn't joyous….but grievous.
Grievous - Heavy; oppressive; burdensome. Afflictive; painful; hard to be borne. Causing grief or sorrow. Distressing. Great, atrocious.
Being chastised is GREIVOUS.
Being chastised is oppressive, burdensom.
Being chastised is pain, hard to bear.
Being chastised brings grief, sorrow.
Being chastised is distressing, atrocious.
Being chastised is not JOYOUS. Our spiritual chastisement in whatever form it takes will NOT be easy. Whatever we are called to endure to spiritually keep us growing in Christ, to teach us the spiritual lessons we need to learn, will NOT be fun. When we are facing hardship after hardship we need to trust in God to see us through. We need to trust in Him, trust that our spiritual chastisement will result in us being the sons and daughters of God that we need to be.
When the spiritual chastisement is over it will result in our having the righteousness of our Savior in us- the peaceable fruit of righteousness- Christ's righteousness. This will happen, we will all live in Christ through HIS righteousness if we are exercised by the chastising lessons we are called to endure. If we learn from the lessons, learning faith in God, true faith, unwavering.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
We need to learn this faith… this unwavering faith and hold fast to that faith through ALL things good and bad.
Gal 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
By His grace!
By His mercy!
In His amazing love!
By His forgiveness!
Through His righteousness!
Amen.
Heb 12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
For a few days we are chastened by our father's of flesh, the caregivers of our youth, and they chastise us according to their own pleasure. And it is according to their own pleasure in the sense that it's according to their own desire, for what they think is good. When you chastise someone it's usually for BOTH parties benefit - theirs and yours. Yours for what you think is for THEIR good, according to your own idea of good- their behavior improving would benefit you not having to deal with their bad behavior. It's for their good because they are being taught to behave and hopefully taught lessons through that chastising that will last them a lifetime.
God's chastising us is purely for OUR profit. It BENEFITS US to become partakers with Him in His holiness. To have our spiritual nature awakened, our spiritual nature born and raised, chastised to learn the spiritual lessons we need to learn- all so we can unite with our Savior in HIS holiness. The chastising we are called to undergo is for our good, our SPIRITUAL good, not necessarily our fleshy/carnal good in fact it will be GRIEVOUS to our flesh selves. Our flesh selves will rebel from our spiritual chastising. Our flesh selves will tell us it is too hard, too much, too painful, too horrible and will seek to get away from any and all spiritual chastisement. There truly is a war between the flesh and the spirit natures we have.
1Pe 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul
1Pe 2:19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
1Pe 2:20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
Endure grief, suffering wrongfully -- taking it patiently.
We suffer, oh how we are called to suffer, and we rail against having to suffer don't we? Rather than taking it patiently we fight it, we lament our sufferings, we want pity for our suffering, we complain and we wait for others to give us their sympathy which only has us reaffirming to ourselves that we do good feeling sorry for ourselves and our pain. We aren't enduring patiently when we act out because acting out reveals our lack of faith in God that somehow, some way our suffering, our grief will work out for our good.
We CAN'T reveal our faith in God if we are constantly questioning our faith by questioning the pain and suffering, the grief we are called to endure. Faith calls for patience.
Good people suffer! Good people who are undeserving of pain and suffering will feel tremendous pain and endure tremendous suffering. Faith calls for those good people to endure patiently, not to understand all the whys and wherefores, not to lament their horrible afflictions as if God is being horrible to them. Faith calls for us to trust even when there is NO reason we can understand to trust. Even when our lives are turned completely upside-down- we are called to trust.
Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Being chastised isn't joyous….but grievous.
Grievous - Heavy; oppressive; burdensome. Afflictive; painful; hard to be borne. Causing grief or sorrow. Distressing. Great, atrocious.
Being chastised is GREIVOUS.
Being chastised is oppressive, burdensom.
Being chastised is pain, hard to bear.
Being chastised brings grief, sorrow.
Being chastised is distressing, atrocious.
Being chastised is not JOYOUS. Our spiritual chastisement in whatever form it takes will NOT be easy. Whatever we are called to endure to spiritually keep us growing in Christ, to teach us the spiritual lessons we need to learn, will NOT be fun. When we are facing hardship after hardship we need to trust in God to see us through. We need to trust in Him, trust that our spiritual chastisement will result in us being the sons and daughters of God that we need to be.
When the spiritual chastisement is over it will result in our having the righteousness of our Savior in us- the peaceable fruit of righteousness- Christ's righteousness. This will happen, we will all live in Christ through HIS righteousness if we are exercised by the chastising lessons we are called to endure. If we learn from the lessons, learning faith in God, true faith, unwavering.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
We need to learn this faith… this unwavering faith and hold fast to that faith through ALL things good and bad.
Gal 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
By His grace!
By His mercy!
In His amazing love!
By His forgiveness!
Through His righteousness!
Amen.
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