James 1:2-4
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (NLT)
Years ago I studied Karate and one of the first things we learned was to walk away from conflict. We were taught that the last thing to do was to use Karate to inflict pain. It was only to be used to defend oneself when all other methods were exhausted.
James speaks about troubles coming our way. In Mathew, Jesus speaks to persecution.
Matthew 5:10
God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. (NLT)
This does not sound like running away from conflict. This tells me we are expected to defend our faith. We are to step up to the plate whatever the cost.
Are we willing to be persecuted? Do we step out and face the enemy or run and hide the truth?
Hide the truth? Yes, by not stepping out and sharing the Gospel message with others we are hiding the truth from those children of God needing to hear it.
"Father God, give me the courage to stand and tell others about Jesus Christ and what He has done for my life. And the wisdom to speak the words they need to hear so they too may know the Truth that will set them free. Amen."
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Money
1 Timothy 6:9-10
But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Money is one of the driving forces in today's world. I guess that has not changed since the beginning of the civilized world. Here is Paul speaking right to our current issues from two thousand years ago.
When things start to get out of hand, like the price of gasoline, people start to blame big business and question why those businesses need to make so much money. We are close to $4.00 a gallon and it seems to be climbing daily. We blame the US oil businesses when it really comes down to those supplying the raw material who are busy supporting a war in their own country.
It does not matter how much money we are talking about. The spirit of greed can be working in the life of someone making minimum wage as well as the person earning a six figure income. They each want more and will do whatever it takes to make it. And they do it all so that they can have the latest cell phone, the hottest Wii or X-box game, the exotic vacation, or whatever.
I am reminded of the old cartoons of Uncle Scrooge and his huge cache of money that he would dive into. He loved his money and was more interested in just getting more of it than in using it to purchase anything.
To obtain things we need to have money. But it is not the love of new things that is the issue. It is the love of money. After all it is the availability of money that creates the ability to get those new things. Then the cycle starts. We need more and more money to get more and more things. Everything we do involves making more money and before you know it the love of money controls us.
How many go to college pursuing an education to enhance their ability to make large amounts of money instead of using college to further their knowledge in the area they love, the area they are called by God to enter into? Too many, I am sure.
So lets reassess our motive for making money. Is it to sustain us in our God given call or is it to allow us to stand out in the community with all the things we have and do? Do we love God or money?
But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Money is one of the driving forces in today's world. I guess that has not changed since the beginning of the civilized world. Here is Paul speaking right to our current issues from two thousand years ago.
When things start to get out of hand, like the price of gasoline, people start to blame big business and question why those businesses need to make so much money. We are close to $4.00 a gallon and it seems to be climbing daily. We blame the US oil businesses when it really comes down to those supplying the raw material who are busy supporting a war in their own country.
It does not matter how much money we are talking about. The spirit of greed can be working in the life of someone making minimum wage as well as the person earning a six figure income. They each want more and will do whatever it takes to make it. And they do it all so that they can have the latest cell phone, the hottest Wii or X-box game, the exotic vacation, or whatever.
I am reminded of the old cartoons of Uncle Scrooge and his huge cache of money that he would dive into. He loved his money and was more interested in just getting more of it than in using it to purchase anything.
To obtain things we need to have money. But it is not the love of new things that is the issue. It is the love of money. After all it is the availability of money that creates the ability to get those new things. Then the cycle starts. We need more and more money to get more and more things. Everything we do involves making more money and before you know it the love of money controls us.
How many go to college pursuing an education to enhance their ability to make large amounts of money instead of using college to further their knowledge in the area they love, the area they are called by God to enter into? Too many, I am sure.
So lets reassess our motive for making money. Is it to sustain us in our God given call or is it to allow us to stand out in the community with all the things we have and do? Do we love God or money?
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Vending Machine
John 14:12-13
"I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. (NLT)
When I was teaching at the college and had to stay for an evening class I would head down to the vending machines and get a soda or perhaps a bag of chips or something. All you had to do was feed a dollar into the slot, look over the items in the machine, and pick a number. Then the item you wanted would drop out. Success had to do with the condition of the dollar bill. Some went in fine and others were all wrinkled and unable to be read by the machine.
How many times do we treat God like a vending machine? We know what we want from Him, stick in our offering, and press the button of our choice. We don't get to see what we want as a display of products. We speak to Him and ask for it and the "condition" of our prayer does not count at all. Unlike that wrinkled dollar bill that would not work in the vending machine, our pray can be a short plea in our own words or long and filled with scripture and He still hears us. Then we judge God when He does not deliver what we want in the time frame we want it. Wow!
We tend to take verse 13 on its own instead of in context with verse 12. It looks to me like Jesus is saying that as we go about doing the works He did, we can ask in His name and see them finished. Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, told mountains to move, raised the dead, and more.
As we go about doing the works Jesus did, completing what the Father starts, we are to ask for those things in Jesus name. For we cannot do them on our own fleshly merit. But He can do them through us when we ask.
"I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. (NLT)
When I was teaching at the college and had to stay for an evening class I would head down to the vending machines and get a soda or perhaps a bag of chips or something. All you had to do was feed a dollar into the slot, look over the items in the machine, and pick a number. Then the item you wanted would drop out. Success had to do with the condition of the dollar bill. Some went in fine and others were all wrinkled and unable to be read by the machine.
How many times do we treat God like a vending machine? We know what we want from Him, stick in our offering, and press the button of our choice. We don't get to see what we want as a display of products. We speak to Him and ask for it and the "condition" of our prayer does not count at all. Unlike that wrinkled dollar bill that would not work in the vending machine, our pray can be a short plea in our own words or long and filled with scripture and He still hears us. Then we judge God when He does not deliver what we want in the time frame we want it. Wow!
We tend to take verse 13 on its own instead of in context with verse 12. It looks to me like Jesus is saying that as we go about doing the works He did, we can ask in His name and see them finished. Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, told mountains to move, raised the dead, and more.
As we go about doing the works Jesus did, completing what the Father starts, we are to ask for those things in Jesus name. For we cannot do them on our own fleshly merit. But He can do them through us when we ask.
Monday, March 07, 2011
The Same Spirit
Romans 8:11
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. (NLT)
As believers we know Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live in each of us. He is our comforter and our guide throughout this walk we are on. Paul refers to Him as Christ within. When we are about to do something in the flesh, the Holy Spirit gives us that nudge making us think again, hopefully before we acted. With His help and our yielding our character gradually changes to be more Christ like.
Do we really understand who the Holy Spirit is? It was He who was in Jesus when he walked the earth as man. It was He who raised Jesus from the dead! Yes, the same spirit!
Then why do we let our mortal man, our flesh, have so much power in our lives? We have within us the authority and power from Father God Himself. And all we have to do is listen. But we get so wrapped up in our little worldly things we do not pay attention to that voice within.
Oh, we do listen from time to time. But how often? How many times are we so motivated by our human desires that we put up barriers so we can avoid the Holy Spirit? And yet, when things do not go the way we wanted we are quick to yank down those barriers and ask for His help after the fact.
Shouldn't we ask, listen, and then act on what we heard? Instead we think, decide, and do on our own. Then we complain and ask the Holy Spirit for help to clean up the mess.
If we would only seek first His face. If we would only ask His advice before stepping out each day. I wonder what our lives would be like then?
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. (NLT)
As believers we know Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live in each of us. He is our comforter and our guide throughout this walk we are on. Paul refers to Him as Christ within. When we are about to do something in the flesh, the Holy Spirit gives us that nudge making us think again, hopefully before we acted. With His help and our yielding our character gradually changes to be more Christ like.
Do we really understand who the Holy Spirit is? It was He who was in Jesus when he walked the earth as man. It was He who raised Jesus from the dead! Yes, the same spirit!
Then why do we let our mortal man, our flesh, have so much power in our lives? We have within us the authority and power from Father God Himself. And all we have to do is listen. But we get so wrapped up in our little worldly things we do not pay attention to that voice within.
Oh, we do listen from time to time. But how often? How many times are we so motivated by our human desires that we put up barriers so we can avoid the Holy Spirit? And yet, when things do not go the way we wanted we are quick to yank down those barriers and ask for His help after the fact.
Shouldn't we ask, listen, and then act on what we heard? Instead we think, decide, and do on our own. Then we complain and ask the Holy Spirit for help to clean up the mess.
If we would only seek first His face. If we would only ask His advice before stepping out each day. I wonder what our lives would be like then?
Monday, February 28, 2011
Received the Holy Spirit
Galatians 3:2 Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. (NLT)
We have it much easier than the original disciples almost two thousand years ago. No we don't, you say! They got to walk with Jesus. He was right there to teach them.
That is all correct, but... They did not have the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the only man who did and this is where His divine authority and power came from. Before He went off to be crucified and die for the sins of all mankind, He promised His first action when He got to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father was to have the Father send the Holy Spirit, the comforter to live in each believer.
Here in Galatians we see Paul teaching on receiving the Holy Spirit. He does not come to abide in us because of the works we do. There is no waiting period to have Him with us. We received Him the moment we believed the message of Christ; the moment we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior; the moment we became born again.
That moment in time is our Upper Room experience. Our spirit man is reborn and the spirit of Christ comes to reside. We are a new person in the spirit beginning a journey under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Mark 16:15-18 And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved...These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will... speak in [tongues]... They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed."
What we do not necessarily have at this point in time is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The evidence of which is our prayer language. How do we receive this baptism? Let's look at what the Bible says about that.
Acts 19:1-7 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul... found several believers."Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" he asked them. "No," they replied, "we haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." "Then what baptism did you experience?" he asked. And they replied, "The baptism of John." Paul said, "John's baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus." As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied...
Believers have the Holy Spirit and see fruit in their lives. Their character begins to change and what pleased them before is replaced with other interests. Their friends notice the changes and see Jesus in their behavior. Once baptized in the Holy Spirit, as Paul gives evidence to in Acts, they begin a new level of communication with God the Father through their prayer language.
We have it much easier than the original disciples almost two thousand years ago. No we don't, you say! They got to walk with Jesus. He was right there to teach them.
That is all correct, but... They did not have the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the only man who did and this is where His divine authority and power came from. Before He went off to be crucified and die for the sins of all mankind, He promised His first action when He got to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father was to have the Father send the Holy Spirit, the comforter to live in each believer.
Here in Galatians we see Paul teaching on receiving the Holy Spirit. He does not come to abide in us because of the works we do. There is no waiting period to have Him with us. We received Him the moment we believed the message of Christ; the moment we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior; the moment we became born again.
That moment in time is our Upper Room experience. Our spirit man is reborn and the spirit of Christ comes to reside. We are a new person in the spirit beginning a journey under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Mark 16:15-18 And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved...These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will... speak in [tongues]... They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed."
What we do not necessarily have at this point in time is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The evidence of which is our prayer language. How do we receive this baptism? Let's look at what the Bible says about that.
Acts 19:1-7 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul... found several believers."Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" he asked them. "No," they replied, "we haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." "Then what baptism did you experience?" he asked. And they replied, "The baptism of John." Paul said, "John's baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus." As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied...
Believers have the Holy Spirit and see fruit in their lives. Their character begins to change and what pleased them before is replaced with other interests. Their friends notice the changes and see Jesus in their behavior. Once baptized in the Holy Spirit, as Paul gives evidence to in Acts, they begin a new level of communication with God the Father through their prayer language.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Right Timing
John 15:16
You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. (NLT)
There are times in my life when I am at just the right place at the right time. Years ago I thought it was just dumb luck. Now I know better. God was in the mix and those things happened when they happened because of His plan, not mine and certainly not dumb luck.
In this passage, Jesus is speaking to His disciples, but I believe His words apply to us as well. His twelve were saved and on their way to eternity with Jesus. But they did not make a logical choice to follow Him. Each was chosen.
Those who know me understand that I am not a sports fan. However, it is impossible to not know about the big games. There is information about them everywhere. I have no desire to sit around and watch a game or even go to one. For me to go to a game takes a decision that involves looking at how far I have to travel, if I have anything else to do instead, and perhaps how much will it cost.
In our country it is easy to know about Jesus. There are books, movies, billboards, as well as people holding up hand made "Jesus Saves" signs on street corners. Someone has to be out of it to not know something about Jesus.
If a friend called me up and told me they had tickets to the big game and wanted to give them to me there would be no choice. I would say "Yes!" The timing was right on and the price was right, even though I really was not a fan.
So when asked if they believe in Jesus, a person can easily think about all they have read or seen or heard and come to a logical decision on their own that they do know Him. But even if they repeat a "sinners prayer" at this point, were they chosen by God or just picked out of a crowd and convinced based on foreknowledge about Jesus? After all they were being given a free ticket. so why not take it just in case?
I believe that first we are chosen by God. He softens our heart making us ready to reach out to Him. Then when we are picked out of a crowd it is not as if we have to be convinced of anything. We are ready and just say "Yes!".
Then we are saved. Then we are in the position Jesus speaks to of when He said "Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name."
You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. (NLT)
There are times in my life when I am at just the right place at the right time. Years ago I thought it was just dumb luck. Now I know better. God was in the mix and those things happened when they happened because of His plan, not mine and certainly not dumb luck.
In this passage, Jesus is speaking to His disciples, but I believe His words apply to us as well. His twelve were saved and on their way to eternity with Jesus. But they did not make a logical choice to follow Him. Each was chosen.
Those who know me understand that I am not a sports fan. However, it is impossible to not know about the big games. There is information about them everywhere. I have no desire to sit around and watch a game or even go to one. For me to go to a game takes a decision that involves looking at how far I have to travel, if I have anything else to do instead, and perhaps how much will it cost.
In our country it is easy to know about Jesus. There are books, movies, billboards, as well as people holding up hand made "Jesus Saves" signs on street corners. Someone has to be out of it to not know something about Jesus.
If a friend called me up and told me they had tickets to the big game and wanted to give them to me there would be no choice. I would say "Yes!" The timing was right on and the price was right, even though I really was not a fan.
So when asked if they believe in Jesus, a person can easily think about all they have read or seen or heard and come to a logical decision on their own that they do know Him. But even if they repeat a "sinners prayer" at this point, were they chosen by God or just picked out of a crowd and convinced based on foreknowledge about Jesus? After all they were being given a free ticket. so why not take it just in case?
I believe that first we are chosen by God. He softens our heart making us ready to reach out to Him. Then when we are picked out of a crowd it is not as if we have to be convinced of anything. We are ready and just say "Yes!".
Then we are saved. Then we are in the position Jesus speaks to of when He said "Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name."
Monday, February 14, 2011
Decision Time
We make decisions all the time and then move forward. We weigh the benefits of going in one direction or another. Does choice #1 get us closer to our intended destination than choice #2? Is there a downside of choosing one over the other?
For those of us that are logical thinkers decisions boil down to choices. To those that use the other side of their human brain the decisions are more in favor of what feels best. This can be a problem when two people are trying to come to agreement and one is right brained and the other left.
John 3:3
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God."
What about the decision to follow Jesus; the decision to become a born again Christian?
This is not a human decision made with thought, logic, or emotions although many try to convince someone in these ways. Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior is not a choice. It is an opportunity that arrives when your heart has been opened. There is no decision to be made. God has already made you ready. You just have not been told and when someone opens up the gospel to you, you simply accept.
Sure, many are convinced that they need to say the "sinners prayer" and do. Some come forward out of pure emotion at a church service. Was this their opportunity? Only they and God really know that answer.
What if they said it to get you off their back? They said it because everyone else was saying it in a church service? They went forward because of peer pressure and not because their heart was open to it? Are they really saved?
Matthew 7:16
You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act.
Jesus said we should know his followers by their fruit. As the weeks go on and they walk with the Holy Spirit (Christ within) changes begin to occur in their very character. They begin to do things and even speak differently than they had before accepting Jesus. It is then that you know the words they said really did come from their heart and they are born again.
For those of us that are logical thinkers decisions boil down to choices. To those that use the other side of their human brain the decisions are more in favor of what feels best. This can be a problem when two people are trying to come to agreement and one is right brained and the other left.
John 3:3
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God."
What about the decision to follow Jesus; the decision to become a born again Christian?
This is not a human decision made with thought, logic, or emotions although many try to convince someone in these ways. Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior is not a choice. It is an opportunity that arrives when your heart has been opened. There is no decision to be made. God has already made you ready. You just have not been told and when someone opens up the gospel to you, you simply accept.
Sure, many are convinced that they need to say the "sinners prayer" and do. Some come forward out of pure emotion at a church service. Was this their opportunity? Only they and God really know that answer.
What if they said it to get you off their back? They said it because everyone else was saying it in a church service? They went forward because of peer pressure and not because their heart was open to it? Are they really saved?
Matthew 7:16
You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act.
Jesus said we should know his followers by their fruit. As the weeks go on and they walk with the Holy Spirit (Christ within) changes begin to occur in their very character. They begin to do things and even speak differently than they had before accepting Jesus. It is then that you know the words they said really did come from their heart and they are born again.
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