Tuesday, January 28, 2014

God’s revelation of Himself

Ultimately God reveals Himself in Creation. However, those paying attention will see that God reveals Himself personally to His people. In Exodus 6:2-3 God said to Moses “I am Yahweh---‘the LORD.’ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai---‘God Almighty’---but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.” God tells Moses this so that Moses and the people understand who God is once He delivers them from Egypt. They are about to see some crazy stuff. He wants Moses and all of Israel to know that the things that are about to happen are because God has heard the cries of His people, and that He fully intends on honoring the covenant He made with their forefathers. We, like Israel, can know who God is by what He does in our lives. He would redeem them from slavery in Egypt. He has redeemed us from sin via Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. He claims those that trust Him as Savior as sons and daughters of God. ---If you will pay attention, however, you can see God operate in your everyday life. The more you get in tune with God by meditating on His Word, the Bible; and the more real time you spend in prayer, the more you know God intimately. God wants to reveal Himself to you today. Are you paying attention?

Friday, January 24, 2014

Good with the Bad

The Bible deals with a lot of things people don’t want to hear about. However, the Bible also tells of things people need to know and need to hear about. The Bible explains why we are here, how we got here and our purpose in life. Many will miss these valuable teachings, because they avoid the Bible due to a couple of minute things they don’t want to hear about. The Bible does tell why bad things happen to “good” people. It most importantly tells the Good News of the great mercy and grace of the LORD God. ---One can object to the Bible and dismiss it, because the Bible may condemn their sin of choice. Truth be told, all sin is condemned in the Bible. All men are condemned due to sin. But don’t stop reading there. The same Bible that speaks to the wrath, judgment and justice of God; passes on the simple way all men can be saved from wrath by God’s love through the blood of Christ. The Good News about the Bad News is there is Good News. Don’t take anyone’s word for it. Read the Bible through. Be open-minded to the very Word of God. Here’s the danger many folks are in: they want to throw out the Bible because of it’s judgment on sin. However, men want the love and mercy of God. You can’t have the love without the wrath. Here’s a little something to think about: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. ---Rom.3:23-26 Jesus Christ’s work on the cross has made a way out for those that have faith in Jesus. Ask God to genuinely help you as you read the Scriptures to understand Him, and His purpose for you.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Read On

1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 6 "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. “Read On” “Do not judge or you too will be judged.” These words of Jesus are often taken out of this context and used by folks to live how they want without any accountability. Like any verse in the Bible they should not be plucked out of the context. The media today loves to take sound bites out of the context in which they were shared and spin them into a sensational story. To be fair one should listen to the rest of the story. Read on. Jesus tells us that however we judge people, we will be judged the same way. He is encouraging us to treat one another fair. He doesn’t say that we’ll never judge anyone, because there is a purpose in judging fairly. He’s like, “you’ve got your own issues, don’t be wagging your finger at them in some haughty way.” At least be honest that you’re not perfect when you are trying to help a brother or sister out. We all do crazy stuff and get off track from time to time. So we do need a friend to stand in the gap. We need a friend that is wise or has a discerning spirit to intervene; and this takes some judging the situation. Jesus wants to make sure that we do so with pure motives. It is best to get prayed up and cleaned up with your own stuff as you approach the one you are trying to help in humility (and help is the key word, we’re not slamming someone). These are sensitive situations and very hard to deal with in the first place. You come keenly aware that you are one forgiven and saved by the grace of God. Do your best in love.---However, you may find that the person is not open for godly counsel, and it could be like you are throwing “pearls to pigs.” You are not obligated to stay and be trampled or you might get “torn to pieces.” ---Do we give up on people? I don’t think so. We may move out of their way, because they still have some learning in the “school of hard-knocks.” Yet, I believe we keep praying in hope that they turn around. Jesus does not tell us to leave our brain at the door. Use common sense of discernment. Deal with such situations with utmost humility. Pray with all your heart, and be ready for a comeback.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Just a little something from Genesis 3:1-6

In verse one the serpent questions God which is the first red flag. In verse two the woman is talking to a walking-talking-serpent. This should have been the second red flag. In verse three the woman misquotes God “touch...and die” when God had actually said “eat and die” which is another flag that something is a miss. Then in verse four the serpent calls God a liar by saying “You will not surely die...” Satan calls God’s motivation into question. The temptation is to go our own way. Satan gets us to imagine that there is a greater good than what God has put before us. Every temptation fits into one of three categories: pride of life (“you will be like God”); lust of the flesh (good to eat); lust of the eyes (pleasing to the eyes). * This is why we are to resist the devil and run from him when he comes knocking (temptation). Temptation itself is not sin. We are in a compromising position when we stay and listen to the devil’s bidding, because he is going to lie to us for that is his language. That is what he does! He starts by getting us to question God’s word. He appeals to our pride, desire to see beauty and seek pleasure for the fleshly nature. *It was over when Eve didn’t quote God’s Word back to Satan. God’s Word is truth, and truth always trumps a lie!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Punked Out

Christ died for the ungodly. That little detail often gets over-shaded in the hurry of life. We, as believers, commit countless number of sins throughout the year. We “slip up”, we “cross the line”, and sometimes we flat-out “rebel against God.” We catch ourselves, sometimes quickly and sometimes days later. We say a little prayer of confession sometimes really heart-felt and other times perhaps obligatory appeal to Christ’s willingness to forgive us (1Jn.1:9). --- The truth (as you read God’s Word) is that His mercies are new every day (Ps.103:17). God does not want His children to be defined as sinful, nor does He want us to become enslaved which happens through the guilt of sin. So, God would rather us come to Him in confessional immediate upon sin and get things right before things really get out of hand. --- We, maybe it’s just me, often think of Christ dying for the ungodly particularly associated with our salvation. Indeed, this is true. But, oh how great is His great mercy and grace when the God who knows all things forgives and forgets the sin of His children on a regular basis. ---We could take a lesson from Him on how we treat and forgive others who have “slipped up”, “crossed the line”, and flat-out “punked us out.” You see God’s mercies are new every day, and I appreciate that. I really need that. How about the people around you and I on a regular basis that we might hold grudges against? We just want to be mad a little bit, even if it is a short while; because we feel like we deserve to be mad. What if God dealt with us like that? If we appreciate Christ dying for the ungodly(Rom.5:6); we need to adjust our attitudes to those around us. Yeah, those who bug us!