Gal 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you
Travail in birth - until Christ be formed in you.
Painful, life is painful and you won't find any one that will tell you different. No one escapes the pain, not a single person. Some deal with the pain a lot better than others, but it doesn't mean their pain is any less. We learn from a very young age that there is pain- emotional pain involved in life. Growing up isn't easy, ask most kids and they'll tell you right off that it's not easy. Learning to behave is a trial of successes and errors. We make a mistake and we learn from the mistakes, sometimes it takes making several of the exact same mistakes before we really realize that we need to learn something. Unfortunately sometimes people never learn and keep making mistakes over and over again, the same ones even. We often learn by the degree of punishment we receive. A stern no might deter a child from touching something they aren't supposed to touch, and a stern no plus a hand tap might further deter them. A stern no and a firm spanking on the behind will get the point across even more. We all hope as parents that our children will learn from our verbal reprimands first, and even our time outs and other non-touch punishments but that's not always the case. Misbehavior and punishments go hand in hand. Mistakes and punishments go hand in hand. We all understand this as part of our growing and learning process. It's no different for our spiritual rebirth. We will suffer much as we go through our spirit birthing, and that birthing will continue until we are fully Christ's. The rebirthing process starts but won't be complete until our Savior returns.
Too many people believe the rebirthing into our new lives is instantaneous. Too many are under the impression that when they are born again they are born into this new creature that automatically abhors the old creature and all that old creatures sin filled ways. And Satan is eager for people to believe it isn't a life long process so he'll hang back and things will be amazing. You'll feel this sense of newness in your life, things will change in many ways. Then inevitably one, two months, six months, a year, maybe even two to five years later suddenly things won't seem quite the same any longer and that sense of closeness to Christ will have worn off and problems will seem insurmountable. The old man inside will be struggling to rear its ugly head and the fight is on, and all the while that impression you had of how it was supposed to be will have been obliterated and you'll begin to question everything. You'll lose faith and crash all the while wondering what happened to that new man you'd become so long ago.
The truth of the matter is- after choosing to accept Christ as our Savior we do BEGIN a new life. That new life is a LIFE LONG process of choosing Christ as our Savior no matter what we go through. Daily choosing Christ, and yes, sometimes choosing Christ moment by moment. We cannot afford to believe being a Christian is taking the smooth easy road in life, it's a life of suffering we are called to and we can find joy in that suffering because we know we are living for eternal life not for the life we have now here on earth.
Gal 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you
Travail in birth. Such a metaphor. One we NEED to take to heart. All who are Christ's will experience this painful process… Paul did and Paul knew those he was guiding to Christ would go through it as well.
Remember this from yesterday--
1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin
Suffering.
We suffer. We think we shouldn't have to suffer when we are plainly told we will suffer. We need to think ahead of time how we should handle our suffering. And even as I say that I realize that everyone has different suffering to endure, not all suffering is on the same level. In all suffering though we HAVE to keep our Savior first and foremost, don't we? From the smallest amount of suffering to the greatest suffering our Savior must come first. We cannot lose our faith as it is tried to the uttermost. We have to hang on to our hope, hang on to the promises given to us. We might not have anything even remotely close to a good life here and now, in fact we might have one of the worst lives ever and still we need to keep our hope in Christ and the promise we are given through Him.
If we could just get it through our minds some how and into our hearts that this life is temporary to eternity how much better off would we be?
No, I'm not saying that we don't want to have a good life here and now, it would be strange not to want good things instead of hard things, instead of bad things for ourselves and for others. The reality is though that we are fighting a battle, a war with Satan and he will NOT let things go easy for us, or if he does choose to let them go easy for us it's with deceptive purposes knowing that easy life can just as well lead us down his path and not God's.
Please Lord, please help us to understand your truth, help us to be Yours fully. Please Lord this life is so incredibly hard in so many ways and even while it's hard we know others have it immensely harder. Save us Lord, we cannot save ourselves without Your love, Your sacrifice, Your amazing grace! Please Lord, give us understanding, give us compassion, help us as we grow and travail as we seek to be more and more like You.
In Your love!
Amen.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Spiritual Rebirth
Gal 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you
Travail in birth UNTIL Christ be formed in you.
This is an amazing verse. People love to believe that when they accept Christ as their Savior that life from there on in will be wonderful but the truth is Satan begins to attack us and He does so in ways that we don't even imagine. Some people believe that they can recognize all of Satan's ways, they look at the blatant outrageous acts and point the finger of identification at Satan. People forget to look at the small things and notice the evil one in them, yet it will be with the small things that he will gain most of his victims.
When a woman travails in birth it is a very PAINFUL process. Paul knew this, most people do know that giving birth is an extremely painful thing to do. Paul is telling those who look to him that He is going through the painful process of Spiritual birth with them until Christ is formed in them. The PAINFUL process of travailing in birth and that birth resulting in Christ being formed in them.
We NEED Christ formed in us, don't we? Seriously. We look to Christ and in looking to Him we long to be like Him, don't we? The more we are like Him the better, He is love!
Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin
Walk in love as Christ has loved us.
Forbear one another.
Forgive one another as Christ forgave us.
Christ suffered in the flesh- we need to suffer in the flesh-when we suffer in the flesh we are ceasing from sin.
But tell people to suffer in the flesh today and they jump all over you because if you think it's appropriate to suffer in the flesh then you must not believe grace is by faith and not of works- you're working to be saved. They are WRONG!
When Christ suffered was He saved by his suffering?
Christ was saved by the Father, not by His suffering and yet He did suffer.
Christ was sinless, Christ did not break a single law of God's, a law He created with the Father before He took on flesh and was begotten as the Son.
Christ suffered for not breaking the laws.
Remember Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness? Did Christ suffer when He chose to obey God rather than listen to Satan and fall to His tempting ways? Yes. People don't want to think about that though. They think because He was God on earth that He was kept from suffering in the small ways, or in all the ways we suffered but He suffered tremendously.
So should we suffer?
Do we suffer?
What should we suffer?
Some people believe in purposely, physically inflicting pain upon themselves as if this was what was meant. It's not.
We are being reborn and this is happening while we've been born physically already. This is a spiritual rebirth and unlike a physical birth this isn't something that happens after nine months of gestation and a long hard labor. This spiritual birth is a progressive birthing, a gestation time that is undetermined.
It's hard for us to comprehend that we can be spiritually gestating, but we are, we truly are and the completion of that birthing results in our having Christ formed in us. This gestation isn't us spiritually in a warm, wet womb protected from so much and allowed to form oblivious to our surroundings. We are aware, and certainly NOT in a protected state at least not physically protected but our Savior protects our eternity.
More on this tomorrow by the grace of our Lord and Savior, all through His love!
Amen.
Travail in birth UNTIL Christ be formed in you.
This is an amazing verse. People love to believe that when they accept Christ as their Savior that life from there on in will be wonderful but the truth is Satan begins to attack us and He does so in ways that we don't even imagine. Some people believe that they can recognize all of Satan's ways, they look at the blatant outrageous acts and point the finger of identification at Satan. People forget to look at the small things and notice the evil one in them, yet it will be with the small things that he will gain most of his victims.
When a woman travails in birth it is a very PAINFUL process. Paul knew this, most people do know that giving birth is an extremely painful thing to do. Paul is telling those who look to him that He is going through the painful process of Spiritual birth with them until Christ is formed in them. The PAINFUL process of travailing in birth and that birth resulting in Christ being formed in them.
We NEED Christ formed in us, don't we? Seriously. We look to Christ and in looking to Him we long to be like Him, don't we? The more we are like Him the better, He is love!
Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin
Walk in love as Christ has loved us.
Forbear one another.
Forgive one another as Christ forgave us.
Christ suffered in the flesh- we need to suffer in the flesh-when we suffer in the flesh we are ceasing from sin.
But tell people to suffer in the flesh today and they jump all over you because if you think it's appropriate to suffer in the flesh then you must not believe grace is by faith and not of works- you're working to be saved. They are WRONG!
When Christ suffered was He saved by his suffering?
Christ was saved by the Father, not by His suffering and yet He did suffer.
Christ was sinless, Christ did not break a single law of God's, a law He created with the Father before He took on flesh and was begotten as the Son.
Christ suffered for not breaking the laws.
Remember Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness? Did Christ suffer when He chose to obey God rather than listen to Satan and fall to His tempting ways? Yes. People don't want to think about that though. They think because He was God on earth that He was kept from suffering in the small ways, or in all the ways we suffered but He suffered tremendously.
So should we suffer?
Do we suffer?
What should we suffer?
Some people believe in purposely, physically inflicting pain upon themselves as if this was what was meant. It's not.
We are being reborn and this is happening while we've been born physically already. This is a spiritual rebirth and unlike a physical birth this isn't something that happens after nine months of gestation and a long hard labor. This spiritual birth is a progressive birthing, a gestation time that is undetermined.
It's hard for us to comprehend that we can be spiritually gestating, but we are, we truly are and the completion of that birthing results in our having Christ formed in us. This gestation isn't us spiritually in a warm, wet womb protected from so much and allowed to form oblivious to our surroundings. We are aware, and certainly NOT in a protected state at least not physically protected but our Savior protects our eternity.
More on this tomorrow by the grace of our Lord and Savior, all through His love!
Amen.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Order our steps in THY word!
Psa 119:113 I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.
Psa 119:124 Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.
Psa 119:125 I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.
sa 119:126 It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.
Psa 119:127 Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.
Psa 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
Psa 119:132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.
Psa 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
Psa 119:151 Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.
The entrance of God's words give light.
The entrance of God's words give understanding.
When we read of light in the Bible it often does refer to gaining understanding. We need to desire light over darkness. We need to comprehend the truth. We can be told the truth all day long and lack understanding. Without comprehension of what we read we might as well be reading drivel, truthfully. People can pat themselves on the backs all day long if they want to because they read their Bible, but if they do not comprehend the truth in God's words what does it matter? We can recite the Bible over and over and yet if we don't find the love of the truth in the word of God what good does it do us? Seriously, without comprehension we could read the whole Bible a million times and it will mean nothing. God's love is in the Bible, His pure love, His amazing love.
David longs for understanding and knows that the ENTRANCE of God's words give us light, give us understanding. The entrance-
Let's look up the meaning of this word- entrance.
H6608
1. opening, unfolding, entrance, doorway
- Origin: from H6605
- TWOT entry: 1854b
- Part(s) of speech: Noun Masculine
- Strong's: From H6605; opening (figuratively) that is disclosure: - entrance.
Total KJV Occurrences: 1
• entrance, 1
Psa_119:130
Disclosure- Opening- Unfolding- Doorway.
The disclosure of God's words.
The opening of God's words.
The unfolding of God's words.
The doorway of God's words.
The entrance of God's words.
We need the disclosure of God's words.
We need the opening of God's words.
We need the unfolding of God's words.
We need the doorway of God's words.
We NEED to understand God's words.
With that understanding comes the knowledge of God's Love.
David LOVES God's law.
David LOVES God's words.
David VALUES God's words more than GOLD!
Do we value God's words more than money?
Do we value God's words more than our possessions?
How important is God's Word to us?! How important is the comprehension of God's words to us? Do we feel as if a day should NOT go by without delving in to the amazing word of God available to readily to us? Do we TREASURE the words of God we do read? Do the words of God give us a heart understanding, a deeper, deeper love of God?
These are questions we need to ask ourselves. These are important words.
By the grace of God may we find this amazing LOVE. We are so incredibly blessed to have access to the love of God found in His words.
Psa 119:132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.
Psa 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
Psa 119:151 Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.
We like David must pray- Look up on us, be merciful to us as you were to those that LOVE THY NAME!
ORDER our steps in THY WORD!
Order our steps! We need to have the blessing of God - having HIM ORDER our steps! Having HIM guide our way, our LIVES. We need GOD to help us, to NOT let ANY sin have dominion over us! This is through GOD, it must be through God and we need to realize it IS by God. ALL glory, praise and honor to GOD!
Please God, please be NEAR to us LORD.
ALL THY COMMANDMENTS ARE TRUTH!
Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
We have to HIDE these words in our hearts and when God is in our hearts, when God is ordering our steps, when sin is not having dominion over us we are in God's love, His pure, pure love, in His truth!
Please Lord please….
In Your love!
Amen.
Psa 119:124 Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.
Psa 119:125 I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.
sa 119:126 It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.
Psa 119:127 Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.
Psa 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
Psa 119:132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.
Psa 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
Psa 119:151 Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.
The entrance of God's words give light.
The entrance of God's words give understanding.
When we read of light in the Bible it often does refer to gaining understanding. We need to desire light over darkness. We need to comprehend the truth. We can be told the truth all day long and lack understanding. Without comprehension of what we read we might as well be reading drivel, truthfully. People can pat themselves on the backs all day long if they want to because they read their Bible, but if they do not comprehend the truth in God's words what does it matter? We can recite the Bible over and over and yet if we don't find the love of the truth in the word of God what good does it do us? Seriously, without comprehension we could read the whole Bible a million times and it will mean nothing. God's love is in the Bible, His pure love, His amazing love.
David longs for understanding and knows that the ENTRANCE of God's words give us light, give us understanding. The entrance-
Let's look up the meaning of this word- entrance.
H6608
1. opening, unfolding, entrance, doorway
- Origin: from H6605
- TWOT entry: 1854b
- Part(s) of speech: Noun Masculine
- Strong's: From H6605; opening (figuratively) that is disclosure: - entrance.
Total KJV Occurrences: 1
• entrance, 1
Psa_119:130
Disclosure- Opening- Unfolding- Doorway.
The disclosure of God's words.
The opening of God's words.
The unfolding of God's words.
The doorway of God's words.
The entrance of God's words.
We need the disclosure of God's words.
We need the opening of God's words.
We need the unfolding of God's words.
We need the doorway of God's words.
We NEED to understand God's words.
With that understanding comes the knowledge of God's Love.
David LOVES God's law.
David LOVES God's words.
David VALUES God's words more than GOLD!
Do we value God's words more than money?
Do we value God's words more than our possessions?
How important is God's Word to us?! How important is the comprehension of God's words to us? Do we feel as if a day should NOT go by without delving in to the amazing word of God available to readily to us? Do we TREASURE the words of God we do read? Do the words of God give us a heart understanding, a deeper, deeper love of God?
These are questions we need to ask ourselves. These are important words.
By the grace of God may we find this amazing LOVE. We are so incredibly blessed to have access to the love of God found in His words.
Psa 119:132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.
Psa 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
Psa 119:151 Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.
We like David must pray- Look up on us, be merciful to us as you were to those that LOVE THY NAME!
ORDER our steps in THY WORD!
Order our steps! We need to have the blessing of God - having HIM ORDER our steps! Having HIM guide our way, our LIVES. We need GOD to help us, to NOT let ANY sin have dominion over us! This is through GOD, it must be through God and we need to realize it IS by God. ALL glory, praise and honor to GOD!
Please God, please be NEAR to us LORD.
ALL THY COMMANDMENTS ARE TRUTH!
Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
We have to HIDE these words in our hearts and when God is in our hearts, when God is ordering our steps, when sin is not having dominion over us we are in God's love, His pure, pure love, in His truth!
Please Lord please….
In Your love!
Amen.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
His Hands Made Us
Psa 119:73 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
God made Adam-
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
And David makes this claim- 'Thy hands have made me and fashioned me'
God has formed us, yes, US, each one of us. We don't want to believe this, in fact most people refuse to believe this. People will bring up those deformed at birth and ask - did God form them too? If so, why did He form them wrong? We can't know the answer to that question, God knows though and that is enough, it has to be enough because --
Deu 29:29 'The secret things belong unto the LORD our God…'
We cannot know the wisdom behind His workings. God created each one of us and man would have us believe otherwise. Man, who has taken pieces out of the bodies God has formed and manipulated them to form children in wombs otherwise barren- believe that it is they who are the author of life, they are the creators of life, they are the ones who have formed that baby in the womb- not God. They couldn't be more wrong. They DID NOT create that egg, they DID NOT create that seed. God allowed them the knowledge of joining them together but it is GOD who forms the child from those manipulated elements. All too often there are MANY manipulated elements that are supposed to take and NEVER do. God forms man- God formed the first man and God will form the very last man.
Deu 32:6 Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?
Deu 32:18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
Job 33:6 Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead: I also am formed out of the clay.
Isa 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
Isa 43:7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Isa 44:2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.
Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself
Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Psa 119:73 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
The God who formed us, the God who created us, the God who willed us into being can give us understanding. We need understanding if we are to learn of God's commandments. God's wondrous commandments, His law of the purest love upon which we all are called to live. Our natural self will not want understanding, it will not want to learn of God's commandments. Satan doesn't want us to have understanding of God's commandments. Satan knows that when we truly understand God's commandments that we'll understand the amazing love He has for us and that is the last thing the evil one wants us to understand. God can give us understanding, we, like David, must desire that understanding, we must ask for that understanding. We MUST ask knowing that it is God who formed us, God who created us and only God who can open our hearts. We must choose God in spite of all the sensual fleshy ways our natural man would have us focus on ourselves and NOT God.
Psa 119:90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
Psa 119:91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.
No one alive today, no one who lived in the past has ever seen the earth destroyed, they've never seen the sun destroyed, they've never seen the sun not set, the sun not rise, the moon not show its many phases, the seasons never change, the ocean lose it's ebb and flow, the majestic mountains fall to nothing, the stars no longer guiding. All these things, all these undeniable and set forces were created to be that way and only arrogant man has decided they just came into existence by pure chance. God created all these things and they serve God! Yet man would have them be gods, foolish, foolish man.
Psa 119:97 O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
Can you even begin to imagine meditating upon God's law all day? We're lucky if we can even think of God's law for a moment in a day let alone meditate upon it ALL day. The love of God's law is amazing. When we realize that it is by the law of God that we live, that we breathe, that we love how can we help but recognize the law in all we do? We've stripped the law of God's love away from our lives and put it on a pedestal or in a trash heap- either place has it's dangers because when we take the law of God out of our lives and make it inaccessible we've lost all the true meaning of God's law. When we consign the law to a trash heap and believe it no longer matters we've taken God out of life and substituted a false god for the true. God's law is love, God is love.
We lose the love of God that Jesus came to reveal to us in the flesh when we set the law aside- either making it too high to reach or too low to bother with.
Please God, you who fashioned us in the womb, you who knew us before we were born, help us to understand and learn Your amazing commandments. Help us to find the love in them that guides us every single day of our lives. You are revealed in Your law, Jesus lived Your law perfectly, let us not set aside something so incredibly important to our Savior- He did not come to destroy the law.
Open our hearts and our minds to You Lord, let the Holy Spirit come down and comfort us, teach us, help us in all ways.
All through Your grace!
Amen.
God made Adam-
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
And David makes this claim- 'Thy hands have made me and fashioned me'
God has formed us, yes, US, each one of us. We don't want to believe this, in fact most people refuse to believe this. People will bring up those deformed at birth and ask - did God form them too? If so, why did He form them wrong? We can't know the answer to that question, God knows though and that is enough, it has to be enough because --
Deu 29:29 'The secret things belong unto the LORD our God…'
We cannot know the wisdom behind His workings. God created each one of us and man would have us believe otherwise. Man, who has taken pieces out of the bodies God has formed and manipulated them to form children in wombs otherwise barren- believe that it is they who are the author of life, they are the creators of life, they are the ones who have formed that baby in the womb- not God. They couldn't be more wrong. They DID NOT create that egg, they DID NOT create that seed. God allowed them the knowledge of joining them together but it is GOD who forms the child from those manipulated elements. All too often there are MANY manipulated elements that are supposed to take and NEVER do. God forms man- God formed the first man and God will form the very last man.
Deu 32:6 Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?
Deu 32:18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
Job 33:6 Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead: I also am formed out of the clay.
Isa 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
Isa 43:7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Isa 44:2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.
Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself
Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Psa 119:73 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
The God who formed us, the God who created us, the God who willed us into being can give us understanding. We need understanding if we are to learn of God's commandments. God's wondrous commandments, His law of the purest love upon which we all are called to live. Our natural self will not want understanding, it will not want to learn of God's commandments. Satan doesn't want us to have understanding of God's commandments. Satan knows that when we truly understand God's commandments that we'll understand the amazing love He has for us and that is the last thing the evil one wants us to understand. God can give us understanding, we, like David, must desire that understanding, we must ask for that understanding. We MUST ask knowing that it is God who formed us, God who created us and only God who can open our hearts. We must choose God in spite of all the sensual fleshy ways our natural man would have us focus on ourselves and NOT God.
Psa 119:90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
Psa 119:91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.
No one alive today, no one who lived in the past has ever seen the earth destroyed, they've never seen the sun destroyed, they've never seen the sun not set, the sun not rise, the moon not show its many phases, the seasons never change, the ocean lose it's ebb and flow, the majestic mountains fall to nothing, the stars no longer guiding. All these things, all these undeniable and set forces were created to be that way and only arrogant man has decided they just came into existence by pure chance. God created all these things and they serve God! Yet man would have them be gods, foolish, foolish man.
Psa 119:97 O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
Can you even begin to imagine meditating upon God's law all day? We're lucky if we can even think of God's law for a moment in a day let alone meditate upon it ALL day. The love of God's law is amazing. When we realize that it is by the law of God that we live, that we breathe, that we love how can we help but recognize the law in all we do? We've stripped the law of God's love away from our lives and put it on a pedestal or in a trash heap- either place has it's dangers because when we take the law of God out of our lives and make it inaccessible we've lost all the true meaning of God's law. When we consign the law to a trash heap and believe it no longer matters we've taken God out of life and substituted a false god for the true. God's law is love, God is love.
We lose the love of God that Jesus came to reveal to us in the flesh when we set the law aside- either making it too high to reach or too low to bother with.
Please God, you who fashioned us in the womb, you who knew us before we were born, help us to understand and learn Your amazing commandments. Help us to find the love in them that guides us every single day of our lives. You are revealed in Your law, Jesus lived Your law perfectly, let us not set aside something so incredibly important to our Savior- He did not come to destroy the law.
Open our hearts and our minds to You Lord, let the Holy Spirit come down and comfort us, teach us, help us in all ways.
All through Your grace!
Amen.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Man brought death into the world, not God.
Exo 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
KJV-
Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Mat 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Mat 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Young's Literal Translation-
Mat 5:21 `Ye heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not kill, and whoever may kill shall be in danger of the judgment;
Mat 5:22 but I--I say to you, that every one who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the sanhedrim, and whoever may say, Rebel! shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire.
Mat 5:23 `If, therefore, thou mayest bring thy gift to the altar, and there mayest remember that thy brother hath anything against thee,
Mat 5:24 leave there thy gift before the altar, and go--first be reconciled to thy brother, and then having come bring thy gift.
International Standard Version-
Mat 5:21 "You have heard that it was said to those who lived long ago, 'You must not murder,' and 'Whoever murders will be subject to punishment.'
Mat 5:22 But I say to you, anyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be subject to punishment. And whoever says to his brother 'Raka!' will be subject to the Council. And whoever says 'You fool!' will be subject to hell fire.
Mat 5:23 "So if you are presenting your gift at the altar and remember there that your brother has something against you,
Mat 5:24 leave your gift there before the altar and first go and be reconciled to your brother. Then come and offer your gift.
Did Jesus negate this commandment- Thou shalt not kill - ? NO.
People everywhere generally agree this is an acceptable commandment. How do you dispute it, really? Everyone knows murder is inherently wrong- right?
Purposely taking away life.
Recently we had to put our beloved cat to sleep and I'd never had to do anything like that before, and it was so heartbreaking. Did we murder our cat? This is a question that has reared its ugly little head and not for me alone, but for other members of my family. We purposely ended our cat's life. One moment he was alive and the next he was dead all because of our actions. We console ourselves over and over again with the fact it was done purely out of mercy for the cat, he had no real quality of life left and was having numerous problems as he was wasting away to nothing. It was merciful, truly merciful and it would have been selfish of us to keep him alive in the condition he was in. Was it murder though? No. We did not senselessly take the life of our precious cat.
In the above Jesus talks about how it is not only a sin to murder but it's a sin to be angry WITHOUT cause. It's a sin to be filled with rage, and to slander others, just as sinful as murder. Seriously. We've spent so much time labeling sins and degrees of sinning that we tend to overlook the very real fact that the wages of any sin- is death. Outrageous, you cry?! Unfair, you scream?! A tiny sin shouldn't warrant death, only the gravest of sins should to that. You know whose thinking that is? Man's, not God's. Man loves to excuse sin rather than confess and repent of it. Mankind loves to deem sin acceptable so they no longer have to feel the weight of their sin. That little white lie you told a few days ago, well it warrants death whether you want to face that fact or not. We can jail every single murderer we come across - we can condemn every single murderer- but we dare not choose to be deceived into thinking that our non-murderous sins are going to warrant us eternal life and the freedom that affords. While a murderer might be locked up in a cell and become labeled as being a sinner for life, we need to examine our own lives closely because we are ALL labeled sinners. We are all jailed in Satan's prison and condemned to eternal death, to be wiped out of existence forever. Only Jesus can pardon us and set us free, only Jesus can save us and remove the label 'sinner' from us.
Murder will forever be wrong and never be acceptable even is it's sanctioned by the highest court. Taking another person's life, ripping from them that which God gave to them is no one's right. Some people love to point out that God sanctioned a lot of murder, that He's a murderous hypocrite of a God. How often throughout the old testament was God fine with having His people take the lives of many? He ordered His people to destroy the godless-- those ONLY He could ever know would never be His, something WE have no way of knowing.
Never did a single person die under God's command out of murder. Never! People can try all they want to convince me otherwise, but I won't believe them. Murder goes against everything God stands for, everything. Yes, people were allowed to die but it was their own eternal decision that allowed for that result.
If we want to get technical - couldn't those people who claim God is a murderer say that every single death is a murder by God? I know my sister has had a really hard time dealing with the death of her husband and I know she's blamed God and become angry at Him on many occasion, even though she truly does understand that all death is a result of the sin brought into this world by Satan, not God. God created man to live forever- every single human being was to live forever and ever and ever- it was man who chose to sin- it was man who chose to accept the penalty of death for that sin. God NEVER wanted man to experience death. All death is a result of that sin, and NOT GOD. We are BLESSED to have God who has created a way for us NOT to have to experience the second death, the permanent death.
Man brought death into the world.
Jesus brought life into the world.
Studying our God's loving commandments, His amazing, wondrous laws we know that none of them will ever be done away with, not a single one, murder included.
By the grace of God may we keep ALL our God's commandments.
May we realize that commandments encompass much more than just our actions- but our thoughts as well. If we are guilty we must confess and we must repent, choosing by the grace of God to sin no more.
All through His amazing LOVE!
Amen.
KJV-
Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Mat 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Mat 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Young's Literal Translation-
Mat 5:21 `Ye heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not kill, and whoever may kill shall be in danger of the judgment;
Mat 5:22 but I--I say to you, that every one who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the sanhedrim, and whoever may say, Rebel! shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire.
Mat 5:23 `If, therefore, thou mayest bring thy gift to the altar, and there mayest remember that thy brother hath anything against thee,
Mat 5:24 leave there thy gift before the altar, and go--first be reconciled to thy brother, and then having come bring thy gift.
International Standard Version-
Mat 5:21 "You have heard that it was said to those who lived long ago, 'You must not murder,' and 'Whoever murders will be subject to punishment.'
Mat 5:22 But I say to you, anyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be subject to punishment. And whoever says to his brother 'Raka!' will be subject to the Council. And whoever says 'You fool!' will be subject to hell fire.
Mat 5:23 "So if you are presenting your gift at the altar and remember there that your brother has something against you,
Mat 5:24 leave your gift there before the altar and first go and be reconciled to your brother. Then come and offer your gift.
Did Jesus negate this commandment- Thou shalt not kill - ? NO.
People everywhere generally agree this is an acceptable commandment. How do you dispute it, really? Everyone knows murder is inherently wrong- right?
Purposely taking away life.
Recently we had to put our beloved cat to sleep and I'd never had to do anything like that before, and it was so heartbreaking. Did we murder our cat? This is a question that has reared its ugly little head and not for me alone, but for other members of my family. We purposely ended our cat's life. One moment he was alive and the next he was dead all because of our actions. We console ourselves over and over again with the fact it was done purely out of mercy for the cat, he had no real quality of life left and was having numerous problems as he was wasting away to nothing. It was merciful, truly merciful and it would have been selfish of us to keep him alive in the condition he was in. Was it murder though? No. We did not senselessly take the life of our precious cat.
In the above Jesus talks about how it is not only a sin to murder but it's a sin to be angry WITHOUT cause. It's a sin to be filled with rage, and to slander others, just as sinful as murder. Seriously. We've spent so much time labeling sins and degrees of sinning that we tend to overlook the very real fact that the wages of any sin- is death. Outrageous, you cry?! Unfair, you scream?! A tiny sin shouldn't warrant death, only the gravest of sins should to that. You know whose thinking that is? Man's, not God's. Man loves to excuse sin rather than confess and repent of it. Mankind loves to deem sin acceptable so they no longer have to feel the weight of their sin. That little white lie you told a few days ago, well it warrants death whether you want to face that fact or not. We can jail every single murderer we come across - we can condemn every single murderer- but we dare not choose to be deceived into thinking that our non-murderous sins are going to warrant us eternal life and the freedom that affords. While a murderer might be locked up in a cell and become labeled as being a sinner for life, we need to examine our own lives closely because we are ALL labeled sinners. We are all jailed in Satan's prison and condemned to eternal death, to be wiped out of existence forever. Only Jesus can pardon us and set us free, only Jesus can save us and remove the label 'sinner' from us.
Murder will forever be wrong and never be acceptable even is it's sanctioned by the highest court. Taking another person's life, ripping from them that which God gave to them is no one's right. Some people love to point out that God sanctioned a lot of murder, that He's a murderous hypocrite of a God. How often throughout the old testament was God fine with having His people take the lives of many? He ordered His people to destroy the godless-- those ONLY He could ever know would never be His, something WE have no way of knowing.
Never did a single person die under God's command out of murder. Never! People can try all they want to convince me otherwise, but I won't believe them. Murder goes against everything God stands for, everything. Yes, people were allowed to die but it was their own eternal decision that allowed for that result.
If we want to get technical - couldn't those people who claim God is a murderer say that every single death is a murder by God? I know my sister has had a really hard time dealing with the death of her husband and I know she's blamed God and become angry at Him on many occasion, even though she truly does understand that all death is a result of the sin brought into this world by Satan, not God. God created man to live forever- every single human being was to live forever and ever and ever- it was man who chose to sin- it was man who chose to accept the penalty of death for that sin. God NEVER wanted man to experience death. All death is a result of that sin, and NOT GOD. We are BLESSED to have God who has created a way for us NOT to have to experience the second death, the permanent death.
Man brought death into the world.
Jesus brought life into the world.
Studying our God's loving commandments, His amazing, wondrous laws we know that none of them will ever be done away with, not a single one, murder included.
By the grace of God may we keep ALL our God's commandments.
May we realize that commandments encompass much more than just our actions- but our thoughts as well. If we are guilty we must confess and we must repent, choosing by the grace of God to sin no more.
All through His amazing LOVE!
Amen.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Grace that would come
1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you
*
Prophets inquired.
Prophets searched diligently.
Prophets knew of the grace that would come.
*
Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Dan 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Zec 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
Zec 6:13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Act 3:22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
Act 3:23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
Act 3:24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
2Pe 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
*
Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Heb 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
*
We've talked about this before- how in reality from Genesis to Revelation the Bible is a book of prophecy. Too many people believe that there are only small sections of prophecy in the Bible, they don't realize the entire book is filled with prophecy. Yes, there is wonderful history in the Bible, and a lot of that history involves prophetic messages.
Grace is promised to us. A reward is promised to us. Through faith we will receive this promise and we have to realize that almost ALL of the prophets, almost all of the holy men of God, those beloved of God have NOT received the promised reward. We want to believe they have, but in truth almost all of the beloved of God are dust, they went to their sleep and their breath of life returned to God. All of them will receive their reward when Christ returns- just as we will- THIS is TRUTH.
*
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
PREACHED the GOSPEL unto you with the Holy Ghost- SENT down from heaven- Which things angels desire to look into.
Angels desire to look into these things! We are so incredibly blessed. We've been given the gospel of the kingdom and the promise of the Holy Spirit. We are so blessed.
*
1Pe 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ
We need to gird up the loins of our minds.
When a loin is girded it is protected.
We have to protect our minds.
We have to be sober.
We have to HOPE to the end for GRACE that is given to us when Jesus Christ is revealed to us.
Oh, please Lord, please help us to gird up the loins of our minds as we live in such a time that minds everywhere are kept unprotected.
Please Lord bless us, help us! We need You so desperately, we need the HOPE we can only find in You. We need the FAITH You provide! Please Lord, help us, bless us as we look forward towards YOU -revealed at YOUR second coming.
Thank you for Your amazing love, love that is everlasting.
In You Lord always.
Amen.
*
Prophets inquired.
Prophets searched diligently.
Prophets knew of the grace that would come.
*
Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Dan 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Zec 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
Zec 6:13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Act 3:22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
Act 3:23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
Act 3:24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
2Pe 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
*
Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Heb 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
*
We've talked about this before- how in reality from Genesis to Revelation the Bible is a book of prophecy. Too many people believe that there are only small sections of prophecy in the Bible, they don't realize the entire book is filled with prophecy. Yes, there is wonderful history in the Bible, and a lot of that history involves prophetic messages.
Grace is promised to us. A reward is promised to us. Through faith we will receive this promise and we have to realize that almost ALL of the prophets, almost all of the holy men of God, those beloved of God have NOT received the promised reward. We want to believe they have, but in truth almost all of the beloved of God are dust, they went to their sleep and their breath of life returned to God. All of them will receive their reward when Christ returns- just as we will- THIS is TRUTH.
*
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
PREACHED the GOSPEL unto you with the Holy Ghost- SENT down from heaven- Which things angels desire to look into.
Angels desire to look into these things! We are so incredibly blessed. We've been given the gospel of the kingdom and the promise of the Holy Spirit. We are so blessed.
*
1Pe 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ
We need to gird up the loins of our minds.
When a loin is girded it is protected.
We have to protect our minds.
We have to be sober.
We have to HOPE to the end for GRACE that is given to us when Jesus Christ is revealed to us.
Oh, please Lord, please help us to gird up the loins of our minds as we live in such a time that minds everywhere are kept unprotected.
Please Lord bless us, help us! We need You so desperately, we need the HOPE we can only find in You. We need the FAITH You provide! Please Lord, help us, bless us as we look forward towards YOU -revealed at YOUR second coming.
Thank you for Your amazing love, love that is everlasting.
In You Lord always.
Amen.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Believing in the unseen is our Salvation.
1Pe 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
We are KEPT by the POWER of GOD- through FAITH-unto salvation that will be revealed at Christ's second coming.
Whose power keeps us? GOD's!
How are we kept by God's power? Through FAITH!
What does being kept by God's power through faith bring- SALVATION.
We are NOT kept by our own power!
We have to BELIEVE and yet so many find it incredibly hard to believe, to have faith. They find it hard to believe in something they can't see. They find it hard to hope.
People call other people fools for believing in the unseen. They want to have that tangible proof so they aren't considered to be among the foolish. Yet we are called to have FAITH. We are called to believe in the unseen.
By faith we are to believe in God.
We are not to consider the things we see, the things we touch, the things we hear, the things we taste, the things we smell…gods. People worship the sun- something they see. People worship the moon- something they see. People worship other people- something they can see, touch, hear, and yes, taste and smell. People will worship just about anything as long as it is something they adore. People will worship- the act of worship more than God. Seriously, they will! They'll get all caught up in the motions of worship and lose sight of God's love.
God alone- our UNSEEN God- He alone is to be worshipped, He alone is the ONE we need to have FAITH in. That great leap of believing in the unseen, of having hope in the unseen is FAITH.
*******
1Pe 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations
In HEAVINESS through MANIFOLD TEMPTATIONS! This is the story of our lives is it not-- TEMPTATION!
And it is extreme heaviness of our spirit when we face temptation after temptation, seemingly endless temptations. We all know what it is like don't we? We who understand what sin is by seeing our sin in the light of God's law of love, can see clearly the sin in our world, in our lives and in the temptation to sin- it is so alive, so real, and so awful.
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
The TRIAL of our FAITH! Yes, there is a TRIAL of our FAITH! Faith isn't something simple, our faith is tried as we are tempted and it's tried often and always. And yes, our FAITH is more precious than gold.
We who are found faithful will be ready for our Savior when He returns!
1Pe 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory
We LOVE Him even though we can't see Him.
We have FAITH and we rejoice with JOY UNSPEAKABLE!
1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
The end of our believing in the unseen is our SALVATION!
*******
All by the grace of God!
In His love!
Amen.
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
We are KEPT by the POWER of GOD- through FAITH-unto salvation that will be revealed at Christ's second coming.
Whose power keeps us? GOD's!
How are we kept by God's power? Through FAITH!
What does being kept by God's power through faith bring- SALVATION.
We are NOT kept by our own power!
We have to BELIEVE and yet so many find it incredibly hard to believe, to have faith. They find it hard to believe in something they can't see. They find it hard to hope.
People call other people fools for believing in the unseen. They want to have that tangible proof so they aren't considered to be among the foolish. Yet we are called to have FAITH. We are called to believe in the unseen.
By faith we are to believe in God.
We are not to consider the things we see, the things we touch, the things we hear, the things we taste, the things we smell…gods. People worship the sun- something they see. People worship the moon- something they see. People worship other people- something they can see, touch, hear, and yes, taste and smell. People will worship just about anything as long as it is something they adore. People will worship- the act of worship more than God. Seriously, they will! They'll get all caught up in the motions of worship and lose sight of God's love.
God alone- our UNSEEN God- He alone is to be worshipped, He alone is the ONE we need to have FAITH in. That great leap of believing in the unseen, of having hope in the unseen is FAITH.
*******
1Pe 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations
In HEAVINESS through MANIFOLD TEMPTATIONS! This is the story of our lives is it not-- TEMPTATION!
And it is extreme heaviness of our spirit when we face temptation after temptation, seemingly endless temptations. We all know what it is like don't we? We who understand what sin is by seeing our sin in the light of God's law of love, can see clearly the sin in our world, in our lives and in the temptation to sin- it is so alive, so real, and so awful.
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
The TRIAL of our FAITH! Yes, there is a TRIAL of our FAITH! Faith isn't something simple, our faith is tried as we are tempted and it's tried often and always. And yes, our FAITH is more precious than gold.
We who are found faithful will be ready for our Savior when He returns!
1Pe 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory
We LOVE Him even though we can't see Him.
We have FAITH and we rejoice with JOY UNSPEAKABLE!
1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
The end of our believing in the unseen is our SALVATION!
*******
All by the grace of God!
In His love!
Amen.
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