Free from possessions - Cost of Discipleship pt 64

Chapter 12 - Revenge

Mat 5:38  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mat 5:40  And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
Mat 5:41  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
Mat 5:42  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Bonhoeffer - 'At this point it becomes evident that when a Christian meets with injustice, he no longer clings to his rights and defends them at all costs. He is absolutely free from possessions and bound to Christ alone. Again, his witness to this exclusive adherence to Jesus creates the only workable basis for fellowship, and leaves the aggressor for him to deal with.

The only way to overcome evil is to let it run itself to a standstill because it does not find the resistance it is looking for. Resistance merely creates further evil and adds fuel to the flames. But when evil meets no opposition and encounters no obstacle but only patient endurance, its sting is drawn, and at last it meets an opponent which is more than its match. Of course this can only happen when the last ounce of resistance is abandoned, and the renunciation of revenge is complete. Then evil cannot find its mark, it can breed no further evil, and is left barren.'

My thoughts-

Reread the above, please.

'Absolutely free from possessions and bound to Christ alone.'

We've accumulated so many things, our hearts are wrapped around our possessions. Can you even imagine not having possessions? We mourn the loss of our things when we lose them. Some people would rather die than lose their possessions. Some people would rather kill others than lose their possessions.  Some endlessly dwell on their possessions- and the possessions they are looking forward to acquiring. It's true that some people live for their possessions, and some even try to control their possessions after they're dead.

When we belong to Christ we need to be FREE FROM POSSESSIONS.

No, I'm not saying you need to get rid of everything you own. I'm saying you have to get rid of the HOLD the things you possess have over you. You have to put CHRIST first in ALL THINGS.

Mat_6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The kingdom of God - Our Savior! Our Savior's righteousness- these are the things we should desire to possess more than anything else.

Free from possessions and bound to Christ alone, this is the ONLY way we can truly live in Christ and even have the hope that NO person will EVER provoke us to evil.

We almost instinctively want to fight back when we feel ourselves threatened. When someone hits us, we want to hit back. The ONLY thing that stands between us and that instinct is our SAVIOR. When we STOP living for ourselves and start living for CHRIST we are choosing to live as Christ would have us live. And Christ wants us to live this way-

Mat 5:38  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mat 5:40  And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
Mat 5:41  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
Mat 5:42  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Do we live this way?

Do we live for others?

We need to by the GRACE of GOD!

This is truth-

'Absolutely free from possessions and bound to Christ alone.'

Bound to Christ alone.

Are you bound to Christ alone?

This needs to be our prayer, our desire, to be bound to Christ alone. Christ first and last in our lives, Christ our all in all.

Live in Truth - Cost of Discipleship Pt 63

Chapter 11 - Truthfulness

Mat 5:33  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Bonhoeffer- ' "Let your speech be Yea, yea, and Nay, nay." This is not to say that the disciples are no longer answerable to the omniscient God for every word they utter, it means that every word they utter is spoken in his presence, and not only those words which are accompanied by oath. Hence they are forbidden to swear at all. Since they always speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth, there is no need for an oath, which would only throw doubt on the veracity of all their other statements. That is why the oath is "of the evil one." But a disciple must be a light even in his words. 

It is clear that the only reason why Jesus prohibits the swearing of oaths lies in this concern for truthfulness.  It also goes without saying that he admits no exceptions, however high the court of law may be.

The commandment of complete truthfulness is really only another name for the totality of discipleship. Only those who follow Jesus and cleave to him are living in complete truthfulness. Such men have nothing to hide from their Lord. Their life is revealed before him, Jesus has recognized them and led them into the way of truth. They cannot hide their sinfulness from Jesus, for they have not revealed themselves to Jesus, but he has revealed himself to them by calling them to follow him. At the moment of their call Jesus showed up their sin and made them aware of it. Complete truthfulness is only possible where sin has been uncovered and forgiven by Jesus. Only those who are in a state of truthfulness through the confession of their sin to Jesus are not ashamed to tell the truth wherever it must be told. The truthfulness which Jesus demands from his followers is the self-abnegation which does not hide sin. Nothing is then hidden, everything is brought forth to the light of day.

In this question of truthfulness, what matters first and last is that a man's whole being should be exposed, his whole evil laid bare in the sight of God. But sinful men do not like this sort of truthfulness, and they resist it with all their might. That is why they persecute it crucify it. It is only because we follow Jesus that we can be genuinely truthful, for then he reveals to us our sin upon the cross. The cross is God's truth about us, and therefore it is the only power which can make us truthful. When we know the cross we are no longer afraid of the truth. We need no more oaths to confirm the truth of our utterances, for we live in the perfect truth of God.

There is no truth towards Jesus without truth towards man. Untruthfulness destroys fellowship, but truth cuts false fellowship to pieces and establishes genuine brotherhood. We cannot follow Christ unless we live in revealed truth before God and man.'

My thoughts--

Psa_145:18  The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

Psa 146:5  Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
Psa 146:6  Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever

Pro_3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart

Pro_12:19  The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

Pro_16:6  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

Pro_23:23  Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

Joh_3:21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Joh_4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Joh_16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Joh_17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Joh_17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

1Co_13:6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth

Eph_4:25  Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

1Jn_3:18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1Jn_3:19  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

3Jn_1:4  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth

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Truth.

Until we pay very close attention to the truth, I don't think we realize how much we lie.  How easy lying has become and yet every lie is a sin.  Christ's cross reveals our sin, it reveals every lie.

We are to LIVE IN TRUTH.
We are to LIVE IN CHRIST.

There is NO GRAY area here, not a single one and yet we love to tell ourselves there is. We make excuses to lie, when there are no excuses for lying. The truth is PAINFUL, often excruciatingly painful. 

Lord help us to be truthful in a world of lies. 

Only by Your love can this be possible, You who died having lived only in the Truth, You who are TRUTH.

Truth or Lies Cost of Discipleship Pt 62

Chapter 11 - Truthfulness

Mat 5:33  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Bonhoeffer- 'If lying were unknown, there would be no need for oaths. Oaths are intended as a barrier against untruthfulness. But it goes further than that: for there, where alone the oath claims final truth, is space in life given to the lie, and it is granted a certain right of life. The Old Testament had expressed its condemnation of the lie by the use of the oath. But Jesus destroys the lie by forbidding oaths altogether.'

My thoughts-

'Oaths are intended as a barrier against untruthfulness.'

We don't make many oaths these days do we? But we do make some.

From Wikipedia-

'An oath (from Anglo-Saxon āð, also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow. Those who conscientiously object to making an oath will often make an affirmation instead.
*
Various religious groups have objected to the taking of oaths, most notably the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and Mennonites. This is principally based on Matthew 5:34-37, the Antithesis of the Law. Here, Christ is written to say "I say to you: 'Swear not at all'". The Apostle James stated in James 5:12, "Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned." Beyond this scriptural authority, Quakers place importance on being truthful at all times, so the testimony opposing oaths springs from a view that "taking legal oaths implies a double standard of truthfulness" Faith and Practice of Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (1988) p. 19 suggesting that truthfulness in legal contexts is somehow more important than truthfulness in non-legal contexts and that truthfulness in those other contexts is therefore somehow less important.

Not all Christians interpret this reading as forbidding all types of oaths, however. Opposition to oath-taking among some groups of Christian caused many problems for these groups throughout their history. Quakers were frequently imprisoned because of their refusal to swear loyalty oaths. Testifying in court was also difficult; George Fox, Quakers' founder, famously challenged a judge who had asked him to swear, saying that he would do so once the judge could point to any Bible passage where Jesus or his apostles took oaths. (The judge could not, but this did not allow Fox to escape punishment.) Legal reforms from the 18th century onwards mean that everyone in the United Kingdom now has the right to make a solemn affirmation instead of an oath. The United States has permitted affirmations since it was founded; it is explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. Only President Franklin Pierce has chosen to affirm rather than swear at his inauguration.'
Pasted from

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We do make oaths. It's common place for us to say the words… "I swear…"  And when we say those words we are trying to convince another of the truth of our words, of the seriousness of our words. We don't necessarily think of it in a religious sense but it is very religious when the One we are swearing to is  God. To say the words, "I swear to God…"  means we are truly swearing before God our truth.  Jesus does tell us NOT to swear. It makes sense that the truth is something we should be LIVING and have NO NEED of having to swear, no need to make an oath when our lives should be truth.  If we do swear an oath we are saying that our lives are not truth always.

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Bonhoeffer- '"Let your speech be Yea, yea, and Nay, nay."  This is not to say that the disciples are no longer answerable to the omniscient God for every word they utter, it means that every word they utter is spoken in his presence, and not only those words which are accompanied by an oath. Hence they are forbidden to swear at all. Since they always speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth, there is no need for an oath, which would only throw doubt on the veracity of all their other statements. That is why the oath is "of the evil one." But a disciple must be a light even in his words.'

My thoughts-

Only through Christ Jesus can we live the truth- because HE is the truth!

Joh_14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

He is the truth and if we live in HIM, we must live the truth.

If we can't be truthful in our words we are liars, because the only way NOT to be truthful is to lie.

Rev 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

All UNREPENTANT liars will perish eternally.

Lying is evil.

Lying is of Satan.

Satan is the father of lies.

Joh_8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The next 'white' lie you tell, the next harmless 'lie' you utter, try to remember that SATAN is behind it! Satan's work is being wrought by you every time you lie.

We need to seek forgiveness for every single lie from the tiniest to the largest.

Our lives must be lives of TRUTH in CHRIST!

All by HIS mercy and grace!

Please LORD save us from ourselves and the evil that would overtake us.

Cost of Discipleship Pt 61 Crucify the flesh

Chapter 10 - Woman

Mat 5:27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Mat 5:29  And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Mat 5:30  And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Mat 5:31  It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
Mat 5:32  But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery

Bonhoeffer- 'Jesus does not impose intolerable restrictions on his disciples, he does not forbid them to look at anything, but bids them look on him.  If they do that he knows that their gaze will always be pure, even when they look upon a woman. So far from imposing on them an intolerable yoke of legalism, he succors them with the grace of the gospel.'

Mankind has perverted so much.  Satan has corrupted so much and he's done it to the point we call things NORMAL which are anything but normal. We've twisted our morals throughout our history even to the point of some trying to establish morals through strict civil laws of propriety. That fails too as people go into secret to enact their perversions. Today's morals are very corrupt, and yet we call them normal.  Our Savior understands temptations, and He understands morals very well. When Jesus said- 'whosever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.' , we say, IMPOSSIBLE!  "It's normal to lust," we cry out! We say that because we've been taught that it's normal. We have it set up for women to entice and men to be enticed by the woman, and vice versa. Men entice women as well, and we have made entire industries geared towards this enticing business. Makeup, clothes, jewelry, magazines, movies, books all filled with that which is meant to entice people to lust.  All these things have been and are being used to increase the deception that these things are NORMAL, acceptable, and cannot be any other way. If we say they're abnormal and people should not lust the way they do, then we are told we are foolish and stupid, because it's natural for people to be this way.

Maybe it is natural- to the flesh, but NOT to the spirit. 

If we choose to be the disciples of Christ we are choosing to WAR AGAINST the flesh, war against what people call natural. We war against it because we KNOW that our SAVIOR has told us that what others call normal is in fact- SIN.

If you even look at a woman and LUST for her- YOU'VE SINNED!

And sin needs repentance, and forgiveness, NOT ACCEPTANCE!

We are to look to Jesus as our source of strength to resist temptation to sin. We are to look to Jesus always in all things, keeping ourselves from being enticed by other things.  Do we look to HIM, really look to HIM? Is He really a HUGE part of our LIVES? He needs to be the biggest part of our lives, not regulated to even second position.   All by HIS GRACE.

Bonhoeffer-  'Being concerned exclusively with the perfect purity, that is to say, the chastity of his disciples, Jesus also approves of absolute celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. But he lays down no definite program for his disciples, whether of celibacy or of marriage, only he delivers them from  the perils of (GREEK WORD) (eg. any sexual irregularity inside or outside of the married life.) Such irregularity is a sin, not only against our own bodies, but against the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 6:13-15)

(((1Co 6:13  Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
1Co 6:14  And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
1Co 6:15  Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. ))))


Even our bodies belong to Christ and have their part in the life of discipleship, for they are members of his Body, Jesus, the Son of God, bore a human body, and since we enjoy fellowship with that Body, fornication is a sin against Christ's own body.

The body of Jesus was crucified. Paul speaking of those who belong to Christ, says that they have crucified  their body with its affections and lusts (Gal 5:24). Here we have another instance of an Old Testament law finding its truest fulfillment in the crucified body of Jesus Christ. As they contemplate this body which was given for them , and as they share its life, the disciples receive strength for the chastity which Jesus requires.'

My thoughts-

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Go through that NOT all inclusive list- there are so many more works of the flesh that could be added-

Adultery
Fornication
Uncleaness
Lasciviousness
Idolatry
Witchcraft
Hatred
Variance
Emulations
Wrath
Strife
Seditions
Heresies
Envyings
Murders
Drunkeness
Revellings
And the such like.

Works of the flesh.

They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

CRUCIFIED the FLESH.

Think about that and what it means to crucify the flesh- with the affections and lusts.  We are crucifying, killing violently, painfully the affections, the lusts that would keep us from Christ! 

To read those words and believe that following Christ is painless, is ludicrous.  It's painful. All the chastising, all the refining, all the crucifying, it is PAINFUL! It HURTS!  It is NOT easy. 

No, nothing we do will save us! NOTHING BUT choosing to accept what JESUS CHRIST has done for us! We cannot work our way to salvation.  We accept what our Savior did for us and choose to LIVE for HIM! And when we choose to live for HIM we accept the life that He wants for us.  The life He lived, we are to live. He is our GOD, our SAVIOR, our KING! 

Truthfully our every action matters, and yet Satan would have us believe the exact opposite.

Living in Christ, for Christ, by Christ!   Knowing Him, knowing right from wrong, living for Him.

Living in -

Love
Joy
Peace
Longsuffering
Gentleness
Goodness
Faith
Meekness
Temperance

All by the GRACE of GOD!

Cost of Discipleship- Pt 60 - Heavenly Birthright

Chapter 10 - Woman

Mat 5:27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Mat 5:29  And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Mat 5:30  And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Mat 5:31  It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
Mat 5:32  But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery

Bonhoeffer- 'Even momentary desire is a barrier to the following of Jesus...making us sell our heavenly birthright for a mess of pottage…'

Gen 25:27  And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
Gen 25:28  And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Gen 25:29  And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
Gen 25:30  And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
Gen 25:31  And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
Gen 25:32  And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
Gen 25:33  And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
Gen 25:34  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

Gen_27:36  And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Heb 12:12  Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13  And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Heb 12:18  For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
Heb 12:19  And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
Heb 12:20  (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
Heb 12:21  And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

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Bonhoeffer- 'Even momentary desire is a barrier to the following of Jesus...making us sell our heavenly birthright for a mess of pottage…'

My thoughts-

Read the above verses several times, the truth is so vivid.

Our heavenly birthright, we all have one through our Savior Jesus Christ, and yet so many sell this birthright just as Esau sold his.  We sell our heavenly birthright for temporary selfish desires and we do it all the time.  Every single time we put ourselves before God, and before others, we are treading on very dangerous ground. Yet Satan has us so deceived we hardly recognize the fact we are trading our heavenly birthright- trading it to Satan himself- just so we please ourselves.

Yesterday we talked about self-renunciation and today we are truly talking about the same thing and the fact there are REAL consequences to OUR actions!  It's no light matter!  We have choices to make and we need to comprehend the reality of these choices.  It's not a mere miniscule matter at all! It's our heavenly birthright!  Our choices matter! If we don't think they do, if we don't believe that our choices matter then we are fooling only ourselves!

We have to WAKE UP!
We have to SEE!

Reread that chapter in Hebrews and tell me we don't have to RESIST the sin in our lives! And to resist it, we need to recognize that we are sinning!

Satan's pride was his downfall, so why do we imagine our pride isn't going to be our downfall?

Our selfishness, our desire to put ourselves first in so many ways is all pride.

We need our God to chastise us, to reveal to us our sins to we can resist them, not cling to them!

Only through our Savior's love, only through HIM do we have hope.

Please, forgive us Lord, forgive us for not considering the importance of our heavenly birthright. Forgive us for ever imagining it isn't important. Forgive us for allowing ourselves to be deceived into believing we can't sell our heavenly birthright just as Esau sold his birthright for food. Please Lord, open our hearts and our eyes to Your truths! We need to comprehend the true COST of DISCIPLESHIP! We don't want cheap grace, we want Your true grace, costly grace.

Please Lord, help us! Save us! Keep us in YOU! Mold us to Your will, Lord, all through Your love! Though it's painful help us Lord to endure all the pain and count it worth everything to keep our heavenly birthright- to keep being YOURS, always!  All by YOUR GRACE! YOUR MERCY! YOUR LOVE!

Cost of Discipleship Pt 59 - Self-renunciation

Chapter 10 - Woman

Mat 5:27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Mat 5:29  And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Mat 5:30  And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Mat 5:31  It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
Mat 5:32  But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery

Bonhoeffer- 'Adherence to Jesus allows no free rein to desire unless it be accompanied by love.  To follow Jesus means self-renunciation and absolute adherence to Him, therefore a will dominated by lust can never be allowed to do what it likes. Even momentary desire is a barrier to the following of Jesus...making us sell our heavenly birthright for a mess of pottage, and showing us that we lack faith in Him who will reward mortification with joy a hundredfold. Instead of trusting to the unseen, we prefer the tangible fruits of desire and so we fall from the path of discipleship and lose touch with Jesus. Lust is impure because it is unbelief, and therefore it is to be shunned. No sacrifice is too great if it enables us to conquer  a lust which cuts us off from Jesus.

The gains of lust are trivial compared with the loss it brings-- you forfeit your body eternally for the momentary pleasure of eye or hand. '

My thoughts--

Self-renunciation.

We've become so incredibly indoctrinated to believe that to deny ourselves means we are trying to earn salvation that we've given up on self-renunciation altogether.  We leave self-renunciation to the weirdos, the freaks, to those who are fanatical to a fault. We call them cultish, crazy, lunatics and we surely do not want to classify ourselves among them. 

Self-renunciation.   Isn't that for the monks, the nuns, the cults?  Or hey, isn't it just a temporary thing in the grand scheme of the year, maybe a few weeks of self-denial, that's enough, right? And even that, shouldn't we just limit our self-denial to a few things, surely not a total self-renunciation.

Self-renunciation.

self-re·nun·ci·a·tion
[self-ri-nuhn-see-ey-shuh
n, self-] noun
renunciation of one's own will, interests, etc.

Pasted from

Giving up our own will.
Giving up  our own interests.
Giving up our own desires.
Giving up our own thoughts.

Giving up our selves  all so we can live for another-  Jesus Christ.

Bonhoeffer says this--

'To follow Jesus means self-renunciation and absolute adherence to Him, therefore a will dominated by lust can never be allowed to do what it likes.'

Absolute adherence to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

If we are truly putting Jesus FIRST in our lives, it would be impossible for us to put ourselves first, right?

Where is Jesus in your life? 
What position does Jesus hold in your life?

This isn't a trivial question. Where does He rank in your life?  What does He come before, or after?  Is He just an after thought?  Is He simply there as a shadowy part but never fully realized? How many times a day do you even think about Jesus?

We are caught up in Satan's deceptions that tells us Jesus must be a SILENT partner in our lives and not much more, because if we truly put Him first and foremost we'd be classified a one of those fanatical freaks, and we don't want that, do we? 

The truth of the matter is… we are NOT setting our affections on things in heaven, our treasures are NOT laid up in heaven, heaven is something reserved for the dead not the living which is a LIE! If our Savior tells us to put our treasures in heaven, it has to be for the LIVING, for US! And it has to be a REALITY! The fact this WORLD as it is truly is NOT our home, must be REAL TO US! Yet we cling to this world and all its evil in so many ways because we are afraid to live for our Savior! We are terrified to live for heaven!

God help us!

Satan has done his work well. Yesterday we did a study on the dead, and how so many believe the lie that we transform upon death into spirit beings and go on in all our full knowledge of the life we've lived, to heaven.  Because of that lie, people have regulated heaven to  a place they don't have to concern themselves about, because they'll be there soon enough.  Lies. They believe heaven is their due. They believe deep down when all is said and done, they'll be forgiven even if they don't ask. They believe this white light people see, the tunnel they enter, the beings they meet are all waiting for them and they're all lies.  They are things that have been distorted to perpetuate Satan's biggest deception and it's worked.

Live our lives for Jesus.
Truly believe in self-renunciation utilizing it in our own lives so that we may live for Christ and only Christ,

These are the things we need to do and yet the world will fight us and try to hold onto us, hold us back, keep us caught up in ourselves and all our self serving pursuits.

Please LORD, help us to learn self-renunciation, please!

More on all this tomorrow.

All by the grace of GOD!

The Dead.

Ecc_9:5  For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

We think the memory of our dead loved ones will go on forever, but the truth is, they will be forgotten and we too will be forgotten- just wait a few generations and they're gone. 

Can you tell me you honestly have vivid memories passed down of more than your great grandparents, maybe, just maybe, your great, great grandparents?  Yet there have been many generations prior to those great grandparents, now… forgotten.   The memory of them is truly forgotten.  The dead, truly do know not any thing,  and truly have no more rewards.  

So why have we succumbed to the lies that the dead are alive?

Satan came up with that lie when he enticed Eve to sin. Remember--

Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die

And did she die?

Wait, before you answer, 'No. She kept living.'  is she still alive today?

Absolutely not.

Unless you are caught up in Satan's deception and believe that when her body ceased to function she kept on living in another manner.

If you believe the living do not truly die, but transform you cannot ever say that anyone dies, really dies- knowing nothing as our Bible teaches.

If we merely lose the ability to live inside flesh and bones, but live on with a knowledge of all we've ever known while in our body, that's not death, that's transformation.

And transformation is what the majority of the world have come to believe. Their loved ones are merely transformed from body-living to spirit-living on another plane of existence so that we cannot really communicate with them easily, though many try and some believe they've succeeded.  Because people believe in this transformation- and not Biblical death- they talk to their spiritually transformed loved ones. Not only do they talk to them, they do so truly believing that spiritually transformed loved ones can hear them and know all they are saying. In fact the spiritually transformed love one has access to everything in their new form and know even the thoughts of those they've left behind untransformed as yet. Those spiritually transformed loved ones have joined all the other spiritually transformed from the first person to lose their flesh and bones, to the most current to do so.

Satan has honed his deception that death means transformation, to perfection, and the whole world is all but caught up in that deception.

They say goodbye to their loved one bodies all the while living under the belief that loved one is in a better place, better than this world in a newly transformed life.  They want to believe this because it's what they want to believe will happen to them too when their body no longer functions, they want to transform.

So all those who believe in transformation explain this-

Ecc_9:5  For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

And this-

Psa_6:5  For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

Psa_88:11  Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave?

Ecc_9:10  Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Joh_11:17  Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. 

Lazarus hadn't transformed- if he had, why in the world would Jesus take that transformation away from him and make him return to his body? Talk about cruel!

Are all those verses, lies? Is there knowledge for those who have been put in the grave? Why aren't there great books of the Bible, entire chapters, plentiful verses speaking about our transformation upon body death? Why doesn't it say - that body will never do a thing again, but you will continue to think and praise, and worship, and work in a new form?  Why?  If this is something to be desired, if DEATH if merely a transformation why would it be something unwanted?!?!?!?!?!

Remember this--

Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

So, what? If man merely transforms upon their dying, why would it matter? Why wouldn't God want us to eat of that tree and die so we could live in a better existence? 

These are questions that NEED answering because SATAN is going to deceive all but the very elect, and if we are among the deceived we die eternally, we become non-existent, no transformation at all whatsoever in any way, shape, or form except to ash and then nothingness.

'Thou shalt surely die.'  Was NOT an encouragement.

Even those who believe in this instant transformation don't seem to be clamoring for its happening to them any time soon. We go to great lengths to keep ourselves alive.  Why because most people have a smidgen of doubt as to whether they really transform upon their body's end. Oh, they might go on and on about their happy loved ones in heaven, but somewhere deep down they're not all that sure about what exactly goes on after that last breath is taken, and that last heartbeat is beat.

Satan told Eve she would not surely die. 

God told Adam that he would surely die.

Who do you want to believe?

Death isn't something to be encouraged about. Dying is an ending of all chance to choose Salvation. The choice you've made while living is the choice you are left with.  Dying means no more praising God. Dying means no more thinking. Dying means no more knowledge at all whatsoever, all knowledge gone.  Dying is just what Jesus said it was--

Joh 11:11  These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

Joh 11:12  Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.

Joh 11:13  Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.

Joh 11:14  Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

Death is a sleep.  All thoughts gone. You don't praise anyone in your sleep. You don't have knowledge while you are sleeping, there is a nothingness you experience during those hours. Even if you say you dream, there is still a lot more time spent in the nothingness than in the dreaming. Death is a sleep, not a transformation into an awake, aware, knowledge filled being- at least not until Christ returns. 

1Th_4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

Those dead are rising, yes?  They aren't being pulled from their spirit transformed existence, but being called to rise from the graves. So, if they aren't still in that sleep state- a spiritual sleep state from bodies long decayed- what exactly is rising from the grave?

And what about this--

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

When does this transformation take place?

At the last trump.

We just read the verse above-- The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God- and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

This is what the Bible teaches, this is what God teaches.

What a blessing it is for us to know that our dead loved ones are SLEEPING peacefully. They aren't alive in some spirit changed form knowing all that goes on with our lives, and they aren't being tortured unmercifully, unendingly in a lake of fire and brimstone. They are SLEEPING in PEACE, they really are RESTING in PEACE, not awake anywhere at all whatsoever. They have no more thoughts, all thinking is done.  When Christ comes if they are His as determined by whether or not they've chosen to be God's, truly chosen in all God's truth, they will then rise from that sleep and be transformed in the twinkling of an eye. They will once more have knowledge, and the first thought upon their waking will be of their SAVIOR!

PRAISE GOD FOR HIS LOVE!

Praise God for His amazing TRUTH!

Bless us with understanding, Your understanding!  Bless us with truth, Your truth!

All in Your amazing LOVE, Your mercy, Your forgiveness!