1Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
Because we LOVE our fellowman- we have the hope of eternal life.
If we DO NOT love our fellowman we only have the hope of death.
This is TRUTH beyond what so many want to ever imagine.
People want to believe that to gain eternal life means so much more, but the truth is, eternal life is found in our SAVIOR, through HIS GRACE. And when we live under the grace of our SAVIOR He will enable us to LOVE Him and love others.
We have to make the CHOICE regardless of any circumstance we find ourselves in. The choice to have FAITH in GOD, FAITH in our SAVIOR'S GRACE, our SAVIOR'S RIGHTEOUSNESS!
It is a choice and again, people want to cloud it up with so much other stuff. Do this, do that, to the other thing and you'll be saved. The truth if we must BELIEVE in our SAVIOR fully, wholly and LIVE in HIM, ABIDE in HIM, then we are HIS and we MUST BE HIS!
We MUST be CHRIST'S! We must belong to our SAVIOR and not even ourselves. We must belong to HIM, NOT OURSELVES.
We can KNOW if we belong to HIM if we LOVE OTHERS more than we love ourselves! Because those who long to be HIS, to abide in HIM will LOVE OTHERS. If we find ourselves NOT loving others we must repent of that, we must ask forgiveness, and we MUST fall at the feet of GRACE so that HE lives through us! Only through HIM can we LOVE at all! If we try to love outside of that abiding in HIM then we are trying to produce a self-love that can't be allowed to exist. Our love for others must come from HIS LOVE and ONLY HIS LOVE in us.
1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
If we choose to HATE our fellowman then we are choosing death, eternal death. We are choosing to purposely hate, to purposely disobey our God!
Please LORD, please keep us from hating anyone! So many seem to live to encourage hate- hate of themselves or hate of others. Whole organizations are filled with hate and spewing that hate through others, encouraging that hate. ANY person who claims to love our Savior and to abide in Him and they encourage the hating of ANYONE, regardless of their actions, is not of Christ.
Our Savior forgave those who brutalized Him, those who murdered HIM, those who HATED HIM!
Our SAVIOR hated NO ONE!
And we THROUGH HIM can hate NO ONE.
Please Lord, help us to LOVE, to truly LOVE with YOUR LOVE.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
1Jn 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
Marvel not.
Don't be surprised.
We cannot be shocked by the hate we receive when we truly love God and out of that love- love our fellow man.
Have you felt the hate? I don't think I have, not like I know others around the world have been and are being hated by others.
Being a Christian in an Islamic dominated country like Iran and others in the Middle East, and even in Africa- is often something that takes amazing courage. When those Christians read these words- 'Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.' When they read these words they understand in a very real way. They live seeing the hatred in their fellow man's eyes. They live hearing the hate-filled words spewed at them in anger. They feel the sting of stones, bullets, fire, fists as they are beaten senselessly all because they love God, all because they love their SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!
And they are told not to be surprised, not to marvel when they are hated.
I sit here and I marvel at it, even after I'm told not to because I don't live in that existence, it's foreign to me.
Marvel not if the world hates me!
Oh, how much time we spend wanting NOT to be hated! Not that we all want everyone in the entire world to like us, we know better than that, but the majority of people aren't living a life where they actively want others to despise them. As we grow up, go to school - preschool, kindergarten, elementary levels, middle school, high school, college- we do NOT want to make enemies as a rule. We tend to try and find a few good people to become friends with and the rest we want to co-exist without any trouble. We do NOT want to be hated.
Yet we are to MARVEL NOT if the WORLD HATES US!
And the world will hate us why? Because we LOVE!
Because we LOVE we are hated.
And it's not a hidden love, it's a known love. A love others know we have in us, a REAL love, a POWERFUL love, CHRIST'S LOVE! How will then know of this love we have, they'll know because we love THEM, we truly LOVE them, with Christ's LOVE.
Marvel not.
Don't be surprised.
We cannot be shocked by the hate we receive when we truly love God and out of that love- love our fellow man.
Have you felt the hate? I don't think I have, not like I know others around the world have been and are being hated by others.
Being a Christian in an Islamic dominated country like Iran and others in the Middle East, and even in Africa- is often something that takes amazing courage. When those Christians read these words- 'Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.' When they read these words they understand in a very real way. They live seeing the hatred in their fellow man's eyes. They live hearing the hate-filled words spewed at them in anger. They feel the sting of stones, bullets, fire, fists as they are beaten senselessly all because they love God, all because they love their SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!
And they are told not to be surprised, not to marvel when they are hated.
I sit here and I marvel at it, even after I'm told not to because I don't live in that existence, it's foreign to me.
Marvel not if the world hates me!
Oh, how much time we spend wanting NOT to be hated! Not that we all want everyone in the entire world to like us, we know better than that, but the majority of people aren't living a life where they actively want others to despise them. As we grow up, go to school - preschool, kindergarten, elementary levels, middle school, high school, college- we do NOT want to make enemies as a rule. We tend to try and find a few good people to become friends with and the rest we want to co-exist without any trouble. We do NOT want to be hated.
Yet we are to MARVEL NOT if the WORLD HATES US!
And the world will hate us why? Because we LOVE!
Because we LOVE we are hated.
And it's not a hidden love, it's a known love. A love others know we have in us, a REAL love, a POWERFUL love, CHRIST'S LOVE! How will then know of this love we have, they'll know because we love THEM, we truly LOVE them, with Christ's LOVE.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Be of God - NOT of that wicked one
1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1Jn 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
NOT as CAIN who was of that wicked one.
Cain belonged to Satan. He belonged to Satan and his works were evil.
Abel belonged to God and his works were righteous.
We have to choose a side too. We are either on Satan's or God's, Cain's or Abel's, Wicked or Righteous.
When we LOVE one another we are on God's side, on the side Abel was on, on the side of righteousness.
We have to LOVE not hate.
And we can't LOVE the love of self.
Cain loved HIMSELF. Cain was MORE concerned with HIMSELF.
We get so caught up in OURSELVES that we can scarcely think of another without first thinking about how our interaction with them will affect us. We put ourselves first and that is what Satan did- put HIMSELF first. Is it any wonder that sort of self love is so incredibly wrong? Is it any wonder that when we love self first we are NOT loving others?
If we LOVE our selves MORE than others we are not following the will of our God.
We CANNOT LOVE OURSELVES before we love God or others - that is NOT in the dictates of God.
The EXTREME importance of loving others cannot be overemphasized.
Realizing that LOVING others before SELF is a very real, true love, makes us pause for a moment because we so horribly have love confused with our selves- with receiving more so than giving.
Only by the grace of God will we learn to love truly- in HIS LOVE.
And this IS something we have to LEARN- because if we think it will come naturally to us then we are caught up in Satan's trap. If we expect it to be NATURAL to us then we are setting ourselves up to fail miserably!
Choose to love, make a choice to love, make a decision to love, actively love, decide to love and in all that LOVING others!
All through our Savior's GRACE and MERCY, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS - ALWAYS!
1Jn 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
NOT as CAIN who was of that wicked one.
Cain belonged to Satan. He belonged to Satan and his works were evil.
Abel belonged to God and his works were righteous.
We have to choose a side too. We are either on Satan's or God's, Cain's or Abel's, Wicked or Righteous.
When we LOVE one another we are on God's side, on the side Abel was on, on the side of righteousness.
We have to LOVE not hate.
And we can't LOVE the love of self.
Cain loved HIMSELF. Cain was MORE concerned with HIMSELF.
We get so caught up in OURSELVES that we can scarcely think of another without first thinking about how our interaction with them will affect us. We put ourselves first and that is what Satan did- put HIMSELF first. Is it any wonder that sort of self love is so incredibly wrong? Is it any wonder that when we love self first we are NOT loving others?
If we LOVE our selves MORE than others we are not following the will of our God.
We CANNOT LOVE OURSELVES before we love God or others - that is NOT in the dictates of God.
The EXTREME importance of loving others cannot be overemphasized.
Realizing that LOVING others before SELF is a very real, true love, makes us pause for a moment because we so horribly have love confused with our selves- with receiving more so than giving.
Only by the grace of God will we learn to love truly- in HIS LOVE.
And this IS something we have to LEARN- because if we think it will come naturally to us then we are caught up in Satan's trap. If we expect it to be NATURAL to us then we are setting ourselves up to fail miserably!
Choose to love, make a choice to love, make a decision to love, actively love, decide to love and in all that LOVING others!
All through our Savior's GRACE and MERCY, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS - ALWAYS!
Saturday, April 14, 2012
The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away
Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
Job 2:9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
Job 2:10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Job 40:1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Job 42:6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
The LORD gives.
The LORD takes.
Blessed be the name of the LORD.
We receive GOOD at the hand of God.
We receive EVIL at the hand of God- He allows evil to befall us.
We are VILE.
We ABHOR ourselves.
We MUST repent.
God's ways are past our finding them out. When we look at our world and all the horrors that are allowed to happen, Satan wants us to curse God for it all as we try to comprehend it all, thinking that we really do have a way of understanding- when in truth we don't. The horrors, and they are many and unimaginable in their vileness, exist and even the INNOCENT are made to endure them. People love to throw this up high in the air to top their list of reasons why they don't want to believe in a God who allows such agonizing horror. The worse the reprehensible act the more convinced they become that they do NOT want to believe in a God who sits back and watches as the terror unfolds. As tears falls, as gut wrenching sorrow doubles them over for the tragedies occurring around every corner people would rather believe there is no God than believe there is a God who has the power to stop the awfulness, yet does not.
The thing is- our God is MERCIFUL- the horrors, no matter how vile and no matter how long those horrors must be endure- they do eventually end. A God who would allow endless torture, would be a God I could not imagine. All this world's sorrows are TEMPORARY to ETERNITY.
If we spend an entire lifetime- from birth to old age-80, 90 years in pain- we have to take comfort knowing there is an end, a stopping point.
We cannot begin to comprehend why people are put through horrors unimaginable, we simply can't. For that matter we can't comprehend the reality we call life -much at all- no matter how long scientists and the great minds that exist over the ages try to define it all.
If God were a man who had MAGICAL powers upon earth and then he allowed evil to exist- then we could comprehend. But GOD is NOT a man and NEVER will be a man- He is the CREATOR of MAN, He can never be what HE'S CREATED any more than an architect could become a house, a gardener become a flower garden, a doctor a cure. It's IMPOSSIBLE. God did become man in JESUS CHRIST- God taking on flesh and feeling our infirmities completely- but God did NOT cease being GOD in order to become human. The FATHER GOD has forever been God without human flesh. GOD the SON took on the very flesh He'd had a hand in creating and while He laid aside HIS powers and relied upon God the FATHER'S there was never a moment when the power of GOD the Father was gone, NEVER.
From everlasting to everlasting God exists and will forever exist and THIS we cannot fully comprehend in our humanity, in our seemingly finite, our possibly finite, existence.
Job was a righteous man- even God said so.
Yet Job's righteousness became corrupted as He was tried, corrupted because He began to believe in His own righteousness and condemned God for what he perceived was an unjust punishment. Job was in severe pain, in agony, his very existence a nightmare and he was trying to make sense of it. It didn't help that others were telling him it had to be because He'd done something wrong. The others couldn't comprehend that God' s plans could include allowing someone to be tortured by the devil, someone who had done nothing to deserve it.
We cannot begin to comprehend God's ways, they are so incredibly far above us. We don't know that some horror now might not be for some good later, we haven't a clue. We can guess all we want, but we don't know. The horrors we encounter seem to be enough to drive us mad with grief, and yet when all is said and down we have to trust that our Lord has HIS reasons far beyond our understanding and those reasons are just.
I think a lot of what goes on in our lives we forget to contribute to our God. The sun shining, the moon, the stars, the very breath we breathe, the heart that beats in our chests, the flower unfolding, the rain that drops, the majestic mountains, the clouds that form- we stop realizing the power of God and take for granted those very things that He has a hand in.
People want to explain everything and when they can't they make us their own theories and call them factual and scientific just because it's something they perceive and others agree with. What was scientific a 100 years ago might be proven complete wrong today, yet people believe their ideas were factual and true.
Just because you figure out the dna sequence does not mean you've created dna itself. Just because you take a stem cell and create other things from that cell, does not mean you've created a stem cell or can. Just because you've created a mechanical device for a heart does not mean you've created a heart. I could go on and on, but you have to get the point at least somewhat. How many of you know how your television receives the information that is portrayed on the screen? How many of you fully comprehend how electricity is harnessed and sent through wires to your house? How many of you comprehend radio waves? The majority of people don't have the understanding of these things and yet some do, they learn it and go on to learn more. Understanding things did not make them the creator of things. Understanding how to record of voice onto a tiny electronic chip, does not mean you understand every single point of that to the minutest detail. You might know how to put pieces together so they create something, but that doesn't mean you know how to create the pieces themselves. A bricklayer can mix up mortar to lay between the bricks, but he's using things he didn't create to make that mix.
We've come a long, long way from knowing very little about how things work, and we've debunked many a superstition, but in doing so MANY have tried to take God out of everything. Before we lived in a world that held the belief that God created, now we live in a world that takes great pride in what man seems to create. Satan has worked very hard to get people to believe in themselves over God, to believe in things over God and he's done a very thorough job of it. We like to say that if you are SMART you don't believe in the fairy tale, the fable of God, and people love to believe they are smart. The reality, they are more foolish than they'll ever know.
Jas 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
1Pe 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
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:
By our God's mercy! By our God's love! May we endure to the end clinging to Christ's righteousness.
Job 2:9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
Job 2:10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Job 40:1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Job 42:6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
The LORD gives.
The LORD takes.
Blessed be the name of the LORD.
We receive GOOD at the hand of God.
We receive EVIL at the hand of God- He allows evil to befall us.
We are VILE.
We ABHOR ourselves.
We MUST repent.
God's ways are past our finding them out. When we look at our world and all the horrors that are allowed to happen, Satan wants us to curse God for it all as we try to comprehend it all, thinking that we really do have a way of understanding- when in truth we don't. The horrors, and they are many and unimaginable in their vileness, exist and even the INNOCENT are made to endure them. People love to throw this up high in the air to top their list of reasons why they don't want to believe in a God who allows such agonizing horror. The worse the reprehensible act the more convinced they become that they do NOT want to believe in a God who sits back and watches as the terror unfolds. As tears falls, as gut wrenching sorrow doubles them over for the tragedies occurring around every corner people would rather believe there is no God than believe there is a God who has the power to stop the awfulness, yet does not.
The thing is- our God is MERCIFUL- the horrors, no matter how vile and no matter how long those horrors must be endure- they do eventually end. A God who would allow endless torture, would be a God I could not imagine. All this world's sorrows are TEMPORARY to ETERNITY.
If we spend an entire lifetime- from birth to old age-80, 90 years in pain- we have to take comfort knowing there is an end, a stopping point.
We cannot begin to comprehend why people are put through horrors unimaginable, we simply can't. For that matter we can't comprehend the reality we call life -much at all- no matter how long scientists and the great minds that exist over the ages try to define it all.
If God were a man who had MAGICAL powers upon earth and then he allowed evil to exist- then we could comprehend. But GOD is NOT a man and NEVER will be a man- He is the CREATOR of MAN, He can never be what HE'S CREATED any more than an architect could become a house, a gardener become a flower garden, a doctor a cure. It's IMPOSSIBLE. God did become man in JESUS CHRIST- God taking on flesh and feeling our infirmities completely- but God did NOT cease being GOD in order to become human. The FATHER GOD has forever been God without human flesh. GOD the SON took on the very flesh He'd had a hand in creating and while He laid aside HIS powers and relied upon God the FATHER'S there was never a moment when the power of GOD the Father was gone, NEVER.
From everlasting to everlasting God exists and will forever exist and THIS we cannot fully comprehend in our humanity, in our seemingly finite, our possibly finite, existence.
Job was a righteous man- even God said so.
Yet Job's righteousness became corrupted as He was tried, corrupted because He began to believe in His own righteousness and condemned God for what he perceived was an unjust punishment. Job was in severe pain, in agony, his very existence a nightmare and he was trying to make sense of it. It didn't help that others were telling him it had to be because He'd done something wrong. The others couldn't comprehend that God' s plans could include allowing someone to be tortured by the devil, someone who had done nothing to deserve it.
We cannot begin to comprehend God's ways, they are so incredibly far above us. We don't know that some horror now might not be for some good later, we haven't a clue. We can guess all we want, but we don't know. The horrors we encounter seem to be enough to drive us mad with grief, and yet when all is said and down we have to trust that our Lord has HIS reasons far beyond our understanding and those reasons are just.
I think a lot of what goes on in our lives we forget to contribute to our God. The sun shining, the moon, the stars, the very breath we breathe, the heart that beats in our chests, the flower unfolding, the rain that drops, the majestic mountains, the clouds that form- we stop realizing the power of God and take for granted those very things that He has a hand in.
People want to explain everything and when they can't they make us their own theories and call them factual and scientific just because it's something they perceive and others agree with. What was scientific a 100 years ago might be proven complete wrong today, yet people believe their ideas were factual and true.
Just because you figure out the dna sequence does not mean you've created dna itself. Just because you take a stem cell and create other things from that cell, does not mean you've created a stem cell or can. Just because you've created a mechanical device for a heart does not mean you've created a heart. I could go on and on, but you have to get the point at least somewhat. How many of you know how your television receives the information that is portrayed on the screen? How many of you fully comprehend how electricity is harnessed and sent through wires to your house? How many of you comprehend radio waves? The majority of people don't have the understanding of these things and yet some do, they learn it and go on to learn more. Understanding things did not make them the creator of things. Understanding how to record of voice onto a tiny electronic chip, does not mean you understand every single point of that to the minutest detail. You might know how to put pieces together so they create something, but that doesn't mean you know how to create the pieces themselves. A bricklayer can mix up mortar to lay between the bricks, but he's using things he didn't create to make that mix.
We've come a long, long way from knowing very little about how things work, and we've debunked many a superstition, but in doing so MANY have tried to take God out of everything. Before we lived in a world that held the belief that God created, now we live in a world that takes great pride in what man seems to create. Satan has worked very hard to get people to believe in themselves over God, to believe in things over God and he's done a very thorough job of it. We like to say that if you are SMART you don't believe in the fairy tale, the fable of God, and people love to believe they are smart. The reality, they are more foolish than they'll ever know.
Jas 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
1Pe 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
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:
By our God's mercy! By our God's love! May we endure to the end clinging to Christ's righteousness.
We've sadly learned to base our ability to love upon conditions
1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
Heard from the beginning-
-we should LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
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.
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
A new commandment- an ADDITIONAL commandment- a commandment that is an addition to the moral ten. This addition to the commandments, this new command was necessary because our SAVIOR was manifested to us and an example to look to- an example that had NOT existed before.
LOVE as HE LOVED.
Jesus was manifested. Jesus' love was manifested to mankind. Jesus - God taking on human flesh and loving us as a Son of God in a way that He couldn't for thousands of years.
So while Jesus could say this in answer to the question--
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
The man asking the question of our Savior was speaking of the moral commandments and Jesus said- on THESE two commandments hang ALL the law and the prophets.
The first and the second.
And Jesus could also say this in answer to the question--
Mat 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Mat 19:18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Mat 19:19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The commandments of the MORAL law!
The moral law of the ten commandments were given to guide us into a full love of God and a full love of our fellowman.
Our Savior LIVED the law perfectly never straying from it for a single instance- how do I know? Our Savior was sinless. Being sinless means not transgressing the law of God, because sin is a transgression of the law. Jesus loved God perfectly, Jesus loved his fellowman perfectly, and He is our perfect example.
1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
This is our Savior's message.
LOVE.
When we sin we are guilty of NOT LOVING.
That sin of coveting exists because we are not loving selflessly, we are not loving our fellow man.
That sin of taking God's name is vain exists because we are not loving God.
It's the same for the entire moral law, all ten commandments.
It's the transgression of NOT LOVING.
We've sadly learned to base our ability to love upon conditions that we were NEVER supposed to have, never.
I'll love if…
I can't love because…
If he/she shows they love me…
I'll stop loving you if you do this or that…
I could never love someone that…
Conditions!
Sin is NOT LOVING, and the results that come from NOT LOVING, the actions caused by NOT LOVING.
If we put conditions on our ability to love God and love others, we are NOT loving as our Savior loved. He loved us while we were yet sinners.
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Please LORD teach us to LOVE as YOU LOVED!
Please!
Help us to love one another, and to love You!
By Your GRACE and MERCY! By Your LOVE!
Heard from the beginning-
-we should LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
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.
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
A new commandment- an ADDITIONAL commandment- a commandment that is an addition to the moral ten. This addition to the commandments, this new command was necessary because our SAVIOR was manifested to us and an example to look to- an example that had NOT existed before.
LOVE as HE LOVED.
Jesus was manifested. Jesus' love was manifested to mankind. Jesus - God taking on human flesh and loving us as a Son of God in a way that He couldn't for thousands of years.
So while Jesus could say this in answer to the question--
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
The man asking the question of our Savior was speaking of the moral commandments and Jesus said- on THESE two commandments hang ALL the law and the prophets.
The first and the second.
And Jesus could also say this in answer to the question--
Mat 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Mat 19:18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Mat 19:19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The commandments of the MORAL law!
The moral law of the ten commandments were given to guide us into a full love of God and a full love of our fellowman.
Our Savior LIVED the law perfectly never straying from it for a single instance- how do I know? Our Savior was sinless. Being sinless means not transgressing the law of God, because sin is a transgression of the law. Jesus loved God perfectly, Jesus loved his fellowman perfectly, and He is our perfect example.
1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
This is our Savior's message.
LOVE.
When we sin we are guilty of NOT LOVING.
That sin of coveting exists because we are not loving selflessly, we are not loving our fellow man.
That sin of taking God's name is vain exists because we are not loving God.
It's the same for the entire moral law, all ten commandments.
It's the transgression of NOT LOVING.
We've sadly learned to base our ability to love upon conditions that we were NEVER supposed to have, never.
I'll love if…
I can't love because…
If he/she shows they love me…
I'll stop loving you if you do this or that…
I could never love someone that…
Conditions!
Sin is NOT LOVING, and the results that come from NOT LOVING, the actions caused by NOT LOVING.
If we put conditions on our ability to love God and love others, we are NOT loving as our Savior loved. He loved us while we were yet sinners.
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Please LORD teach us to LOVE as YOU LOVED!
Please!
Help us to love one another, and to love You!
By Your GRACE and MERCY! By Your LOVE!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Manifest in God
1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
The children of God are manifest-
The children of God are - made visible, made known, made actual, realized, recognized.
The children of the devil are also manifest.
We are manifested by the choices we make.
We choose to remain sinners, and we also choose to be born again- born of God.
Jesus said these words--
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
MUST be BORN AGAIN.
We must be born again and born again of God.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Born of the SPIRIT.
Those who are born of the Spirit claim their Savior as their righteousness, seeking to give themselves wholly to Him, begging forgiveness, knowing their unworthiness, recognizing their full dependence upon Jesus Christ. We are born of flesh, and given an opportunity to be born of the Spirit.
If we are born of the Spirit we will not seek to willfully sin. We will recognize our sins and seek to repent of them and ask for forgiveness -- NOT seek to keep living in sin. Those who are embroiled in sin wanting to remain in it will do so and they are of their father the devil.
Sin is forever tempting us, forever until our Savior returns for us. We have to surrender ourselves to HIM, to our GOD. We have to keep ourselves IN HIM, having FAITH in HIS ability to save us, to forgive us, to love us.
When we are IN our Savior we cannot sin.
When we are HIS, covered by HIM we cannot sin.
Outside of Him we are lost sinners.
It is ONLY when our SAVIOR is ours that we are sinless, we are NEVER sinless on our own, never!
We must abide in Christ.
We must live in Christ.
We must love our fellow man, we must love as our Savior loves, love through Him, love because He loves, loves because His Spirit in us lives.
All in HIM! Always!
1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
The children of God are manifest-
The children of God are - made visible, made known, made actual, realized, recognized.
The children of the devil are also manifest.
We are manifested by the choices we make.
We choose to remain sinners, and we also choose to be born again- born of God.
Jesus said these words--
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
MUST be BORN AGAIN.
We must be born again and born again of God.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Born of the SPIRIT.
Those who are born of the Spirit claim their Savior as their righteousness, seeking to give themselves wholly to Him, begging forgiveness, knowing their unworthiness, recognizing their full dependence upon Jesus Christ. We are born of flesh, and given an opportunity to be born of the Spirit.
If we are born of the Spirit we will not seek to willfully sin. We will recognize our sins and seek to repent of them and ask for forgiveness -- NOT seek to keep living in sin. Those who are embroiled in sin wanting to remain in it will do so and they are of their father the devil.
Sin is forever tempting us, forever until our Savior returns for us. We have to surrender ourselves to HIM, to our GOD. We have to keep ourselves IN HIM, having FAITH in HIS ability to save us, to forgive us, to love us.
When we are IN our Savior we cannot sin.
When we are HIS, covered by HIM we cannot sin.
Outside of Him we are lost sinners.
It is ONLY when our SAVIOR is ours that we are sinless, we are NEVER sinless on our own, never!
We must abide in Christ.
We must live in Christ.
We must love our fellow man, we must love as our Savior loves, love through Him, love because He loves, loves because His Spirit in us lives.
All in HIM! Always!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Jesus came to destroy sin- NOT excuse it
1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Do NOT be deceived.
If you DO righteousness- you are righteous- as our Savior is righteous.
If you SIN- you are OF the devil- the devil sinned from the beginning.
The Son of God was MANIFESTED- created- brought into being- God taking on flesh- all to DESTROY the works of the devil- SIN.
Our Savior is righteous and if we ABIDE in Him- we will be righteous because of Him. Any righteousness we do, we do it because HE enables us to do that righteousness.
If we sin we are doing the works of the devil.
Sin exists because of the devil. When we sin we are working FOR the devil.
Sinning isn't trivial.
Sinning isn't something we can simply overlook and ignore.
Every sin needs to be confessed and repented of.
If we sin and are not concerned about the sin we've committed then we've been blinded by the devil. The devil will use every opportunity possible to get us numbed to the sins we commit, to make us call EVIL - GOOD. When Satan gets us to believe that evil is good he's blinded us to the TRUTH. And when we are blind to the truth we are lost to our Savior.
Our SAVIOR came into existence as the Son of God so He could eradicate sin once and for all. The kingdom of heaven, the promise of eternal life with our Savior, with God the Father - is all promised to those who abhor sin because SIN is of the devil!
We need to despise sin because is SEPARATES us from God!
Righteousness is GOD.
Sin is of SATAN.
Jesus will destroy ALL SIN.
All sinners will be destroyed.
Not a single sinner will live.
Those who have sinned and repented, finding forgiveness in our Savior are COVERED by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Those who have sinned and have NOT repented will NOT be forgiven and they will be destroyed.
We must be found in CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS!
He came to destroy sin, not excuse it.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Do NOT be deceived.
If you DO righteousness- you are righteous- as our Savior is righteous.
If you SIN- you are OF the devil- the devil sinned from the beginning.
The Son of God was MANIFESTED- created- brought into being- God taking on flesh- all to DESTROY the works of the devil- SIN.
Our Savior is righteous and if we ABIDE in Him- we will be righteous because of Him. Any righteousness we do, we do it because HE enables us to do that righteousness.
If we sin we are doing the works of the devil.
Sin exists because of the devil. When we sin we are working FOR the devil.
Sinning isn't trivial.
Sinning isn't something we can simply overlook and ignore.
Every sin needs to be confessed and repented of.
If we sin and are not concerned about the sin we've committed then we've been blinded by the devil. The devil will use every opportunity possible to get us numbed to the sins we commit, to make us call EVIL - GOOD. When Satan gets us to believe that evil is good he's blinded us to the TRUTH. And when we are blind to the truth we are lost to our Savior.
Our SAVIOR came into existence as the Son of God so He could eradicate sin once and for all. The kingdom of heaven, the promise of eternal life with our Savior, with God the Father - is all promised to those who abhor sin because SIN is of the devil!
We need to despise sin because is SEPARATES us from God!
Righteousness is GOD.
Sin is of SATAN.
Jesus will destroy ALL SIN.
All sinners will be destroyed.
Not a single sinner will live.
Those who have sinned and repented, finding forgiveness in our Savior are COVERED by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Those who have sinned and have NOT repented will NOT be forgiven and they will be destroyed.
We must be found in CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS!
He came to destroy sin, not excuse it.
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