Titus 1:15-16
Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. (NLT)
Living in the United States is good. There is no better place in the world as far as I am concerned. Even those who are poor live better than many others around the world. There are government programs available that allow them to live at a standard far above many working class citizens in other countries.
Notice I said our government programs? This is good in that many are helped, but at the same time bad. It has removed us from the need to help. We just let Uncle Sam take care of them and at the same time complain about the taxes we pay and the bureaucracy necessary for those programs to succeed.
We can get so wrapped up in our self, our family, our friends, and the activities at our church that we miss it. The way we live does not extend out to others in the world in which we live. Sure we help out at the local soup kitchen or put a buck in the bucket when someone is asking for donations outside of that store we went into today.
Jesus tells us about the good Samaritan. Remember the story? Religious leaders and others avoided the hurting man by walking across the street. Isn't that denying Him by the way we live?
God sees where we are in our day to day life. The Holy Spirit might even give us a kick wanting us to step out and speak to that person near us, that neighbor Jesus spoke of. Now I am not talking about looking for people in need. I am talking about recognizing the people God puts in front of us. They are the neighbors whom we are to love as we love ourselves.
Does our life walk speak Jesus to the world, or do we look just like everyone else? Do we deny Him by the way we live?
Monday, January 24, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Stand firm
1 Corinthians 15:1-2
Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you-unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. (NLT)
When growing up I believed in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. These were untruths that I continued to believe until I was steered in the right direction by others when I started to attend school. I am not going to discuss wither or not having children believe these fairy tales is good or bad. You can judge that for yourself.
The fact is I believed something other than the truth. And often we find something we have believed in for a while to be less than the real deal. Perhaps it is a great investment deal that goes sour. Or maybe a secret stock pick that everyone is saying will make it to the top quickly and as soon as we put in our order to buy it, it crashes.
We tend to put our faith in others and their ability to know things. We trust the human judgments of others. We trust the commercials we see and the ads we read forgetting they are in the business of us buying what they have to sell.
The Bible is not a onetime read. Matter of fact the first few times I really picked it up to read I had trouble reading it. It was uninteresting and boring. I would read a section and then wonder what I had read. I was not getting it.
Then I asked Jesus into my heart and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. What a difference that made! Reading the Bible was now exciting and not only did I understand what I was reading, I received new revelation every time I re-read it.
Back to the subject. As we attended church and listened to well crafted sermons, we heard what was told as truth and believed it. We walked out in that truth. But then, as we grew and read our Bibles, we received new understanding and sometime what was once truth to us had changed.
Stand firm in the Good News, the truth. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message.
Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you-unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. (NLT)
When growing up I believed in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. These were untruths that I continued to believe until I was steered in the right direction by others when I started to attend school. I am not going to discuss wither or not having children believe these fairy tales is good or bad. You can judge that for yourself.
The fact is I believed something other than the truth. And often we find something we have believed in for a while to be less than the real deal. Perhaps it is a great investment deal that goes sour. Or maybe a secret stock pick that everyone is saying will make it to the top quickly and as soon as we put in our order to buy it, it crashes.
We tend to put our faith in others and their ability to know things. We trust the human judgments of others. We trust the commercials we see and the ads we read forgetting they are in the business of us buying what they have to sell.
The Bible is not a onetime read. Matter of fact the first few times I really picked it up to read I had trouble reading it. It was uninteresting and boring. I would read a section and then wonder what I had read. I was not getting it.
Then I asked Jesus into my heart and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. What a difference that made! Reading the Bible was now exciting and not only did I understand what I was reading, I received new revelation every time I re-read it.
Back to the subject. As we attended church and listened to well crafted sermons, we heard what was told as truth and believed it. We walked out in that truth. But then, as we grew and read our Bibles, we received new understanding and sometime what was once truth to us had changed.
Stand firm in the Good News, the truth. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Trust in Him
Hebrews 3:14
For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. (NLT)
How many times have we said we would be friends for life with someone? More than a few I imagine. Probably with those friends you had growing up and then with people you were close with where you work. I know in High School I had friends I thought would be with me for life. Just did not happen.
Recently I became very involved with organizing the 50th class reunion for High School. There were seven hundred plus in the graduation class and it is a chore trying to gather them all together. I did have a few close friends way back then, but none that I even spoke to on a regular basis.
I have gotten reacquainted with a few friends and it has been great finding out what has been happening in each other's live in fifty years. And I have made new friends with those classmates I had not gotten to know back then. We did not know each other then, but we share a history together and now a landmark event.
When we found Jesus and asked Him into our heart, we became friends with the maker of all there is. It was an exciting time in our lives. But, we cannot turn away from Him like we did our classmates from High School while we take on the world.
The whole point is to take on less of the world and allow Him to change us. For that to happen we need to stay focused on God. Anything less keeps us from the path He is revealing to us each day as we stay in communications with Him. As we talk to Him, He will show Himself in many ways and we will know what to do.
As we continue to trust in Him, we will continue to share in all that belongs to Christ.
For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. (NLT)
How many times have we said we would be friends for life with someone? More than a few I imagine. Probably with those friends you had growing up and then with people you were close with where you work. I know in High School I had friends I thought would be with me for life. Just did not happen.
Recently I became very involved with organizing the 50th class reunion for High School. There were seven hundred plus in the graduation class and it is a chore trying to gather them all together. I did have a few close friends way back then, but none that I even spoke to on a regular basis.
I have gotten reacquainted with a few friends and it has been great finding out what has been happening in each other's live in fifty years. And I have made new friends with those classmates I had not gotten to know back then. We did not know each other then, but we share a history together and now a landmark event.
When we found Jesus and asked Him into our heart, we became friends with the maker of all there is. It was an exciting time in our lives. But, we cannot turn away from Him like we did our classmates from High School while we take on the world.
The whole point is to take on less of the world and allow Him to change us. For that to happen we need to stay focused on God. Anything less keeps us from the path He is revealing to us each day as we stay in communications with Him. As we talk to Him, He will show Himself in many ways and we will know what to do.
As we continue to trust in Him, we will continue to share in all that belongs to Christ.
Monday, January 03, 2011
Just Believe
Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (NLT)
Daily I have been entering a contest to win free gasoline for a year. I have to make sure I sign in each day and submit my entry. If I do not do this simple step I cannot possibly get the prize.
At some time or other, we all have joked about wining the lottery. What is really funny is that with all the talk about winning, very few of us actually purchase a ticket. Without taking that step, there is no way to win.
If we go way back into our childhood, most of us believed that if we were good Santa Claus would come on Christmas and lease presents under the tree. The key was that we had to be good for we were told that he would only leave coal in the stockings of bad boys and girls.
Growing up we work hard at getting good grades and graduating so we can get a decent job. Today, without at least a High School diploma it is difficult to find any employment and if you want a good paying position you had better show a college degree.
You better be good. You cannot get ahead in life without a college degree. No presents under the tree for you. If you do not get the ticket how can you win the prize? Everything we want to have depends on work by us at some level.
Then along comes Jesus Christ. Salvation is a free gift from God. We cannot say we worked hard to obtain it. All we have to do is decide to accept it! The only requirement is to just believe.
Daily I have been entering a contest to win free gasoline for a year. I have to make sure I sign in each day and submit my entry. If I do not do this simple step I cannot possibly get the prize.
At some time or other, we all have joked about wining the lottery. What is really funny is that with all the talk about winning, very few of us actually purchase a ticket. Without taking that step, there is no way to win.
If we go way back into our childhood, most of us believed that if we were good Santa Claus would come on Christmas and lease presents under the tree. The key was that we had to be good for we were told that he would only leave coal in the stockings of bad boys and girls.
Growing up we work hard at getting good grades and graduating so we can get a decent job. Today, without at least a High School diploma it is difficult to find any employment and if you want a good paying position you had better show a college degree.
You better be good. You cannot get ahead in life without a college degree. No presents under the tree for you. If you do not get the ticket how can you win the prize? Everything we want to have depends on work by us at some level.
Then along comes Jesus Christ. Salvation is a free gift from God. We cannot say we worked hard to obtain it. All we have to do is decide to accept it! The only requirement is to just believe.
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