Monday, April 29, 2013

Hope

Romans 8:24 NIV  
For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Hoping the traffic light will turn green while sitting there at the red light is pretty silly. You know it is going to turn, you just have to wait for it. Hoping it will be sunny tomorrow when the forecast says it will, is also pretty silly. It is like saying I hope an hour from now it will be 9:00 AM when it is 8:00 AM right now.

Of course the hope here, if you read a little before this verse, is in our ultimate salvation and the new bodies we will receive for eternity. This hope is grounded in faith. And faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1).

And our assurance of this faith rests on the belief in God, His promises, and the Truth of His Word that Jesus Christ came, died, and was resurrected for all. Thank you, Jesus!

Monday, April 22, 2013

Chosen

Acts 13:47 NLT
For the Lord gave us this command when he said, "I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth." When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.

You have probably heard the idiom about beating a dead horse. It has to do with continuing to pursue a situation where nothing is happening. One can spend all their energy to try to change someones mind about something. There is no moving them from their position on the matter. They just will not see your point of view. Going at it again with them is truly like "beating a dead horse".

In Matthew 10:14, Jesus tells the disciples "Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet." In other words, if they do not open up to receiving the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ do not keep beating a dead horse. Get up and leave them. Move on to a new place where you might find others chosen for eternal life.

God loves all His children, but those He chooses become believers.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Who We Are

John 13:35 NLT
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

We all must have some type of identifying information with us. When we drive it must be a valid operators license for the state we come from. If we want to cross the border into another country, we have to have an up to date passport. Want to open a bank account, apply for a credit card, go to a doctor or hospital? Need identification relevant to what you are applying to.

It is hard to imagine in this culture that you do not have to have a card or a mark on you to prove you are a disciple of Christ. "The proof is in the pudding". That is to say, our actions tell others who we are. When we have Christ in us and we are in Christ it shows.

When we are with another believer, our love one to another is evident. And even when we are with non-believers our nonjudgmental actions and the love of Christ we display lets them know we are different. We are disciples of Jesus Christ.

Monday, April 08, 2013

No In Between in 2013

2 Timothy 4:3 ESV  
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,

We look to what sounds good; what tickles our ears. Many go from church to church looking for what pleases them instead of allowing Holy Spirit to direct them. We say we are Christians and yet we do find ourselves caught in between the lure of worldly things and the hope of forever.

We spend time on both sides of the isle. And I not speaking about politics in Washington. One side of the isle I am referring to is our flesh and the other our spirit. We are about fun and that can lead us into many fleshly things.

We need the latest computer, cell phone, big TV, and vehicle. Our needs seem to be easily centered around things of this world. We spend our earnings and even go into debt to have them. Then we ask God in Jesus name to miraculously pay off our debt.

2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

The more time we spend hanging with other committed Christians, the less the worldly things matter to us. Our conversation is God centered instead of world centered. The only game in town is the race we are in to finish our quest to be more and more like Christ finishing the race He has set before us.

Monday, April 01, 2013

Do Unto Others

Matthew 7:12 
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (NIV)

This is often turned around both in a good way and in a bad way. Someone treats us poorly and we turn around and retaliate with similar treatment to them. It becomes a "Do unto them what they did to me" attitude.

We see it on the highway all the time. Someone is cut off or is riding too close and the other driver gets around them and does the same thing to them and usually at a higher speed; an accident waiting to happen.

Some folks in church are friendly and others tend to walk right by. They may be the ones who are shaking your hand and looking away and perhaps even talking to someone else. Are we to turn away from the ones who ignore us and only be with the friendly ones? I don't think so.

Then there is the "They gave us a gift or they had us over for dinner, we must do the same back to them" situation. It is that same attitude, but in the positive. Who made up that rule anyway?

My mother always said "Love is reflected in love" and she was right on. We are to do unto others as we would hope they would do to us. That does not mean we are expecting them to do it to us or expect to give to get something in return. It means we are to Love everyone and not to treat them in any way we would not want to be treated.

dick