March 7
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. You say, ‘I am rich, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” Revelation 3:15-17.
The Lord makes it quite clear in this passage that He does not want half-hearted worshipers, that He is not interested in marginal believers, or followers with tepid faith. II Peter 1:4 tells us that we are given “great and precious promises,” so it behooves us to walk in the power that’s ours.
Here are just a few of the amazing promises that are ours immediately upon our embrace of Christ as our Savior. They only scratch the surface of what Jesus has assured us is ours.
2 Peter 1:4
And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Matthew 11:28-29
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Isaiah 40:29-31
He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
Philippians 4:19
And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His riches in glory, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:37-39.
I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Proverbs 1:33
But all who listen to Me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.
John 14:27
I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
Romans 10:9
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 6:23
The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Dear Children! Do these few great and precious promises not whet your appetite for the God who made them! Do these words of power and hope and truth which so profoundly reveal His love not make you hunger for His salvation! Lay your life at His feet today, for today is the day of salvation (see II Corinthians 6:2).
Make no tarrying, for He doesn’t promise us tomorrow.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Find Salvation in Jesus
March 6
The Essence of the Law is found in one passage of scripture which says, “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good. Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it,” Deuteronomy 10:12-14.
The Lord Himself reiterates this principle in numerous places including in Luke 10:27 where He says, “The first and greatest commandment is this, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
We must remember that the Pharisees were always trying to trap Jesus in His words, to catch Him in a fault. They were forever applying the letter of the law to Jesus and His actions and in so doing they continually revealed the total lack of the spirit of the law within their own hearts.
It is traditionally believed that Moses is the author of Deuteronomy so it is beyond question that the Lord would have had him (to whom the law was given) include the importance of obedience to the Commandments among His requirements for fulfillment of the divine ordinance. Jesus’ statement in Luke supposes that in loving God and loving our neighbor, we will be keeping the law.
How can He make that presumption? Because if we love God and man, we will not kill, we will not steal, we will not covet, we will not commit adultery, we will not bear false witness, nor will we abridge the rest of the law, for we understand that in so doing, we are failing to give the Lord His due and we are abrogating our responsibility to allow our lives to be living epistles, read of all men, (see II Corinthians 5:15.)
In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.” He is conveying the truth that “We are not our own,” I Corinthians 6:20, “but we are bought with a price; not at a cost of silver and gold but of the precious blood of Jesus.”
When we recognize that amazing truth, we grasp the magnitude of our responsibility to love the Lord and to keep His law. Our Christ-surrendered lives are the little love notes God uses to direct lost men to His Holy Word, the Bible, and to enable them to find salvation in Jesus Christ, our Savior and soon-coming King.
The Essence of the Law is found in one passage of scripture which says, “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good. Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it,” Deuteronomy 10:12-14.
The Lord Himself reiterates this principle in numerous places including in Luke 10:27 where He says, “The first and greatest commandment is this, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
We must remember that the Pharisees were always trying to trap Jesus in His words, to catch Him in a fault. They were forever applying the letter of the law to Jesus and His actions and in so doing they continually revealed the total lack of the spirit of the law within their own hearts.
It is traditionally believed that Moses is the author of Deuteronomy so it is beyond question that the Lord would have had him (to whom the law was given) include the importance of obedience to the Commandments among His requirements for fulfillment of the divine ordinance. Jesus’ statement in Luke supposes that in loving God and loving our neighbor, we will be keeping the law.
How can He make that presumption? Because if we love God and man, we will not kill, we will not steal, we will not covet, we will not commit adultery, we will not bear false witness, nor will we abridge the rest of the law, for we understand that in so doing, we are failing to give the Lord His due and we are abrogating our responsibility to allow our lives to be living epistles, read of all men, (see II Corinthians 5:15.)
In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.” He is conveying the truth that “We are not our own,” I Corinthians 6:20, “but we are bought with a price; not at a cost of silver and gold but of the precious blood of Jesus.”
When we recognize that amazing truth, we grasp the magnitude of our responsibility to love the Lord and to keep His law. Our Christ-surrendered lives are the little love notes God uses to direct lost men to His Holy Word, the Bible, and to enable them to find salvation in Jesus Christ, our Savior and soon-coming King.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Who Do YOU Say That I Am?
March 5
Is Jesus Really God?
By David Hume, from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
My favorite Christmas card pictures Genghis Khan, Hitler, Napoleon, and other monarchs and tyrants beneath the words, "History is filled with men who would be gods." Inside the card, next to a depiction of Christ in his manger, it adds, "But only one God who would be man."
Is there evidence that Christ is really the divine Son of God?
The Bible says that he is, of course. According to the New Testament, Jesus walked on water and calmed stormy seas, healed the sick and raised the dead. But all religions have their holy books. Just because they believe something doesn't make it true.
Here's why I'm convinced that Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God. It all hinges on an event which Christians call the "resurrection."
We know from ancient historians Tacitus and Thallus the Samaritan that Jesus was crucified by Pontius Pilate. According to Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, the first Christians believed that he rose from the dead on Easter Sunday morning. How can we know if they were right?
David Hume was an 18th-century Scottish philosopher, known today as the "Father of Skepticism." He set out six criteria by which we should judge those who claim to have witnessed a miracle: they should be numerous, intelligent, educated, of unquestioned integrity, willing to undergo severe loss if proven wrong, and their claims should be easily provable
I think his standards are an excellent way to judge those who say they witnessed a miracle. How do the eyewitnesses of the risen Christ fare by these criteria?
They were numerous: over 500 saw the resurrected Lord (1 Corinthians 15:6).
They were intelligent—the literature they produced is the most-published book in history.
They were well-educated—Paul was trained by Gamaliel, the finest scholar in Judaism (Acts 22:3).
They were men and women of unquestioned integrity, clearly willing to undergo severe loss, as proven by their willingness to die for the Christ they proclaimed.
And their claims were easily validated, as Jesus' empty tomb was available to anyone who wanted to visit it (Acts 26:26, "...this thing was not done in a corner").
So the witnesses were credible. What about the resurrection they proclaimed?
As we have seen, it is a fact of history that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and buried, and that on the third day his tomb was found empty. Ever since, skeptics have struggled to explain that empty tomb and the changed lives of his followers.
One theory is that the disciples stole the body while the guards slept (Matthew 28:11-15). This was the earliest explanation for Easter. But how would sleeping guards know the identity of these thieves?
How could the disciples convince 500 people that the corpse was alive?
And why would the disciples then die for what they knew to be a lie?
A second theory claims that the women stole the body. How would they overpower the guards?
How would they make a corpse look alive?
Why would they suffer and die for such a lie?
A third explanation is that the authorities stole the body.
When the misguided disciples found an empty tomb, they announced a risen Lord.
But why would the authorities steal the body they had stationed guards to watch?
And when the Christians began preaching the resurrection, wouldn't they quickly produce the corpse?
A fourth approach is the wrong tomb theory—the grief-stricken women and apostles went to the wrong tomb, found it empty, and began announcing the resurrection. But the women saw where he was buried (Matthew 27:61); Joseph of Arimathea, the man who owned the tomb, would have corrected the error (Matthew 27:57-61); and the authorities would have gone to the correct tomb and produced the corpse.
A fifth strategy is the "swoon theory"—Jesus did not actually die on the cross. He or his followers bribed the medical examiner to pronounce him dead, then he revived in the tomb and appeared to be resurrected.
But how could he survive burial clothes which would have suffocated him?
How did he shove aside the stone in his emaciated condition and overpower the guards?
How could he appear through walls (John 20:19, 26) and ascend to heaven (Acts 1:9)?
There is only one reasonable explanation for the empty tomb, the changed lives of the disciples, and the explosion of Christianity around the world: Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
He is therefore the person he claimed to be: the divine Son of God.
Jesus came to forgive our sins and give us eternal life as the children of God. But all gifts must be opened. Open yours today: ask Jesus to forgive your sins and become your Lord and King.
Jesus really is the God who would be man.
He became one of us that we might be one with him.
Trusting him is not a leap into the dark, but into the light. When you jump, crucified hands will catch you and never let you go. (See John 10:28.)
Is Jesus Really God?
By David Hume, from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
My favorite Christmas card pictures Genghis Khan, Hitler, Napoleon, and other monarchs and tyrants beneath the words, "History is filled with men who would be gods." Inside the card, next to a depiction of Christ in his manger, it adds, "But only one God who would be man."
Is there evidence that Christ is really the divine Son of God?
The Bible says that he is, of course. According to the New Testament, Jesus walked on water and calmed stormy seas, healed the sick and raised the dead. But all religions have their holy books. Just because they believe something doesn't make it true.
Here's why I'm convinced that Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God. It all hinges on an event which Christians call the "resurrection."
We know from ancient historians Tacitus and Thallus the Samaritan that Jesus was crucified by Pontius Pilate. According to Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, the first Christians believed that he rose from the dead on Easter Sunday morning. How can we know if they were right?
David Hume was an 18th-century Scottish philosopher, known today as the "Father of Skepticism." He set out six criteria by which we should judge those who claim to have witnessed a miracle: they should be numerous, intelligent, educated, of unquestioned integrity, willing to undergo severe loss if proven wrong, and their claims should be easily provable
I think his standards are an excellent way to judge those who say they witnessed a miracle. How do the eyewitnesses of the risen Christ fare by these criteria?
They were numerous: over 500 saw the resurrected Lord (1 Corinthians 15:6).
They were intelligent—the literature they produced is the most-published book in history.
They were well-educated—Paul was trained by Gamaliel, the finest scholar in Judaism (Acts 22:3).
They were men and women of unquestioned integrity, clearly willing to undergo severe loss, as proven by their willingness to die for the Christ they proclaimed.
And their claims were easily validated, as Jesus' empty tomb was available to anyone who wanted to visit it (Acts 26:26, "...this thing was not done in a corner").
So the witnesses were credible. What about the resurrection they proclaimed?
As we have seen, it is a fact of history that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and buried, and that on the third day his tomb was found empty. Ever since, skeptics have struggled to explain that empty tomb and the changed lives of his followers.
One theory is that the disciples stole the body while the guards slept (Matthew 28:11-15). This was the earliest explanation for Easter. But how would sleeping guards know the identity of these thieves?
How could the disciples convince 500 people that the corpse was alive?
And why would the disciples then die for what they knew to be a lie?
A second theory claims that the women stole the body. How would they overpower the guards?
How would they make a corpse look alive?
Why would they suffer and die for such a lie?
A third explanation is that the authorities stole the body.
When the misguided disciples found an empty tomb, they announced a risen Lord.
But why would the authorities steal the body they had stationed guards to watch?
And when the Christians began preaching the resurrection, wouldn't they quickly produce the corpse?
A fourth approach is the wrong tomb theory—the grief-stricken women and apostles went to the wrong tomb, found it empty, and began announcing the resurrection. But the women saw where he was buried (Matthew 27:61); Joseph of Arimathea, the man who owned the tomb, would have corrected the error (Matthew 27:57-61); and the authorities would have gone to the correct tomb and produced the corpse.
A fifth strategy is the "swoon theory"—Jesus did not actually die on the cross. He or his followers bribed the medical examiner to pronounce him dead, then he revived in the tomb and appeared to be resurrected.
But how could he survive burial clothes which would have suffocated him?
How did he shove aside the stone in his emaciated condition and overpower the guards?
How could he appear through walls (John 20:19, 26) and ascend to heaven (Acts 1:9)?
There is only one reasonable explanation for the empty tomb, the changed lives of the disciples, and the explosion of Christianity around the world: Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
He is therefore the person he claimed to be: the divine Son of God.
Jesus came to forgive our sins and give us eternal life as the children of God. But all gifts must be opened. Open yours today: ask Jesus to forgive your sins and become your Lord and King.
Jesus really is the God who would be man.
He became one of us that we might be one with him.
Trusting him is not a leap into the dark, but into the light. When you jump, crucified hands will catch you and never let you go. (See John 10:28.)
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
God Resists...God Gives Grace
March 4
“God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble,” James 4:6.
Why? He is concerned with the right attitude of our hearts because it is the means by which we appropriate God's grace. In I Peter 5:5 the point is further clarified. Here the impetuous Apostle tells us to, “Clothe yourself with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
In another place the Word tells us that “pride goes before a fall,” Proverbs 16:18. In Psalm 56:13, David says, “You will protect my soul from hell and my feet from falling.” It is clear that our God wants to keep us firm in faith; He does not want us to stumble over the deception of the enemy or over the worldly desires of our own hearts. He wants us to be anchored in His eternal truth.
Proverbs 11:2 tells us, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” We see here that our loving Lord resists us when we entertain pride because it will lead to our ultimate disgrace. Conversely, humility is our bridge from the mundane prospects of worldly strivings to the achievement of heavenly goals.
Proverbs 29:23 explains the concept further: “A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.” Of course, the world in which we live and function does not concur with this perception of success and failure. The world’s method is to be filled with self-confidence, which verges on pride, and to ascend to the height of our desire on the wings of our own abilities.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 tells us that patience supersedes pride; that diligent application of effort toward godly goals will result in achievement that is beneficial to the believer as well as being pleasing to the Lord. Will our eternal goals be those of time? Hardly.
James 4:2 makes it very clear regarding the temporal desires of which He approves, “You want what you don't have, so you scheme to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't attain it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it.”
He tells us that our prideful yearning for power and possessions will drive us to sinful acts in order to attain them, but if we will submit our supplications to Him in faith, He will guide us into the righteous way of achieving all He wants for us.
What alternative does He offer to those of us who have gone our own way and discovered that the attaining of ungodly desires has brought us no satisfaction? What recourse do we have when we have spent ourselves on the acquisition of power and possessions that leave us still searching for the peace and satisfaction we thought they’d afford to us?
As with all things, JESUS is the answer to every need of man, and HE is the full supply. His coffers contain the wealth of the world; the cattle on a thousand hills belongs to Him (see Psalm 50:10). Though He does not need us, He desires us to serve Him with full hearts so we may receive the blessing of being in the center of His will.
Will He discard us if we pursue our own path, if we stumble and fall under the weight of our pride? No! The moment we return to Him in faith He will pick us up and set us on the path of righteousness. As we are told by the prophet in Micah 7:8, “…when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.”
There is always a second chance, there is always a fresh start, there is always hope, for the Lord our God and Savior loves us and desires His best for us. He will always restore us to Himself if we will but forsake the pride of our own way and walk in the grace humility claims for us.
“God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble,” James 4:6.
Why? He is concerned with the right attitude of our hearts because it is the means by which we appropriate God's grace. In I Peter 5:5 the point is further clarified. Here the impetuous Apostle tells us to, “Clothe yourself with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
In another place the Word tells us that “pride goes before a fall,” Proverbs 16:18. In Psalm 56:13, David says, “You will protect my soul from hell and my feet from falling.” It is clear that our God wants to keep us firm in faith; He does not want us to stumble over the deception of the enemy or over the worldly desires of our own hearts. He wants us to be anchored in His eternal truth.
Proverbs 11:2 tells us, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” We see here that our loving Lord resists us when we entertain pride because it will lead to our ultimate disgrace. Conversely, humility is our bridge from the mundane prospects of worldly strivings to the achievement of heavenly goals.
Proverbs 29:23 explains the concept further: “A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.” Of course, the world in which we live and function does not concur with this perception of success and failure. The world’s method is to be filled with self-confidence, which verges on pride, and to ascend to the height of our desire on the wings of our own abilities.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 tells us that patience supersedes pride; that diligent application of effort toward godly goals will result in achievement that is beneficial to the believer as well as being pleasing to the Lord. Will our eternal goals be those of time? Hardly.
James 4:2 makes it very clear regarding the temporal desires of which He approves, “You want what you don't have, so you scheme to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't attain it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it.”
He tells us that our prideful yearning for power and possessions will drive us to sinful acts in order to attain them, but if we will submit our supplications to Him in faith, He will guide us into the righteous way of achieving all He wants for us.
What alternative does He offer to those of us who have gone our own way and discovered that the attaining of ungodly desires has brought us no satisfaction? What recourse do we have when we have spent ourselves on the acquisition of power and possessions that leave us still searching for the peace and satisfaction we thought they’d afford to us?
As with all things, JESUS is the answer to every need of man, and HE is the full supply. His coffers contain the wealth of the world; the cattle on a thousand hills belongs to Him (see Psalm 50:10). Though He does not need us, He desires us to serve Him with full hearts so we may receive the blessing of being in the center of His will.
Will He discard us if we pursue our own path, if we stumble and fall under the weight of our pride? No! The moment we return to Him in faith He will pick us up and set us on the path of righteousness. As we are told by the prophet in Micah 7:8, “…when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.”
There is always a second chance, there is always a fresh start, there is always hope, for the Lord our God and Savior loves us and desires His best for us. He will always restore us to Himself if we will but forsake the pride of our own way and walk in the grace humility claims for us.
Monday, March 3, 2014
The Gift of Life
March 3
The Gift of Life
Three times a month, Jermaine Washington and Michelle Stevens got together for what they called a “gratitude lunch.” With good reason. At 25, Washington donated a kidney to Stevens, 22, whom he described as “just a friend.” In fact, theirs was Washington Hospital Center's first "friend-to-friend" transplant.
They met at work where they used to have lunch together. One day Michelle wept as she spoke about waiting on a kidney donor list for 11 months. Family members couldn't or wouldn't be donors. She was being sustained by kidney dialysis, but suffered chronic fatigue and blackouts and was plagued by joint pain.
Then Washington made his extraordinary offer.
"I saw my friend dying before my eyes," Washington recalled. "What was I supposed to do? Sit back and watch her die?
One customer at Jake's Barber Shop asked Washington where he had found the courage to give away a kidney.
"I prayed for it," Washington replied. "I asked God for guidance and that's what I got."-- Anonymous
There are stories told of wealthy people in some parts of the world who kidnap victims solely to obtain a needed body part and then return them to their families--with financial remuneration--after the part is secured.
Perhaps ‘friend-to-friend’ transplants have also occurred in those parts of the world but the stories of them have not been told, possibly because of the belief in some cultures that dire experiences befall those who have incurred God’s wrath. Donating a body part might be construed as usurping God's will.
Believers in Christ cannot subscribe to that theory because His immutable Word tells us, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23, and, “God is no respecter of persons,” Acts 10:34. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:45, “The rain falls on the just and on the unjust; the sun shines on the just and on the unjust.”
This life isn’t our place of judgment. This life isn’t where everyone gets what he’s ‘due.’ In fact, the exact opposite may be understood from the passage where Paul writes, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus,” Romans 6:23.
Lest we become prideful because of our seeming humanity toward our brothers in their plight; lest we become secure in our righteousness in our own eyes, let us be mindful of the pervasiveness of sin among men in general and within ourselves in particular.
In John 19:11, Jesus suggests that some sin is greater in God’s eyes than are other transgressions. Here He says, “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you; the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
The question might be posed of the two men of whom Jesus was speaking—Pontius Pilate who condemned Jesus to be crucified and Judas who betrayed Him—as to which man had the greater sin.
Yet, we, as they, will stand before God to be judged. We, like those who could not see the Shining Character before them, will be judged on what we have done with Him.
The Gift of Life
Three times a month, Jermaine Washington and Michelle Stevens got together for what they called a “gratitude lunch.” With good reason. At 25, Washington donated a kidney to Stevens, 22, whom he described as “just a friend.” In fact, theirs was Washington Hospital Center's first "friend-to-friend" transplant.
They met at work where they used to have lunch together. One day Michelle wept as she spoke about waiting on a kidney donor list for 11 months. Family members couldn't or wouldn't be donors. She was being sustained by kidney dialysis, but suffered chronic fatigue and blackouts and was plagued by joint pain.
Then Washington made his extraordinary offer.
"I saw my friend dying before my eyes," Washington recalled. "What was I supposed to do? Sit back and watch her die?
One customer at Jake's Barber Shop asked Washington where he had found the courage to give away a kidney.
"I prayed for it," Washington replied. "I asked God for guidance and that's what I got."-- Anonymous
There are stories told of wealthy people in some parts of the world who kidnap victims solely to obtain a needed body part and then return them to their families--with financial remuneration--after the part is secured.
Perhaps ‘friend-to-friend’ transplants have also occurred in those parts of the world but the stories of them have not been told, possibly because of the belief in some cultures that dire experiences befall those who have incurred God’s wrath. Donating a body part might be construed as usurping God's will.
Believers in Christ cannot subscribe to that theory because His immutable Word tells us, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23, and, “God is no respecter of persons,” Acts 10:34. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:45, “The rain falls on the just and on the unjust; the sun shines on the just and on the unjust.”
This life isn’t our place of judgment. This life isn’t where everyone gets what he’s ‘due.’ In fact, the exact opposite may be understood from the passage where Paul writes, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus,” Romans 6:23.
Lest we become prideful because of our seeming humanity toward our brothers in their plight; lest we become secure in our righteousness in our own eyes, let us be mindful of the pervasiveness of sin among men in general and within ourselves in particular.
In John 19:11, Jesus suggests that some sin is greater in God’s eyes than are other transgressions. Here He says, “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you; the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
The question might be posed of the two men of whom Jesus was speaking—Pontius Pilate who condemned Jesus to be crucified and Judas who betrayed Him—as to which man had the greater sin.
Yet, we, as they, will stand before God to be judged. We, like those who could not see the Shining Character before them, will be judged on what we have done with Him.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
...That Man Might Live
March 2
“Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; to our God, for He will abundantly pardon,” Isaiah 55:6, 7.
Man is fallible. All men make mistakes. All men fail. All men fall short of the mark. All men sin. Can anything about our species be clearer than that one outstanding truth?
Yet, over and over again in the scriptures, the holy Word of God invites us to seek the Lord, to call upon Him in the throes of our errancy, to forsake our sinful thoughts and deeds—God makes it abundantly clear that He wants to have mercy on us, to forgive us and to receive us to Himself.
Jesus makes this possible. Because of His propitiatory life, death, and resurrection, all mankind, no matter how profound our failures or grievous our sins, may reach out to the hand of the Holy One who is ever reaching out to him, and receive the grace to be pardoned and the love to be received into the family of God.
Isaiah does not state the simple fact of the desire of our Heavenly Father to forgive and redeem us, he tells us that it is the desire of the One who inhabits eternity to “abundantly pardon” His wayward children. It is His desire to clean our slate, to make us completely new in Christ!
Our fallen species tends to hold grudges, to plot and scheme for opportunities to ‘get even,’ to exact harsh payment against any who may undermine us, but our loving Lord has devised an infallible plan to redeem the ones who turned from fellowship with Him to pursue our self-destructive path of rebellion.
The concept of forgiving the offender is alien to us. But because Jesus has walked where we walk, because He has lived in human flesh, because He has been “tempted in all points like as we are,” Hebrews 4:15, He can be our true Redeemer! He can abundantly pardon!
Let us not delay to receive such full, free deliverance from the weight that pulls us from the Lord and His eternal salvation! Let us not delay to receive the loving embrace of the God who died that man might live.
“Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; to our God, for He will abundantly pardon,” Isaiah 55:6, 7.
Man is fallible. All men make mistakes. All men fail. All men fall short of the mark. All men sin. Can anything about our species be clearer than that one outstanding truth?
Yet, over and over again in the scriptures, the holy Word of God invites us to seek the Lord, to call upon Him in the throes of our errancy, to forsake our sinful thoughts and deeds—God makes it abundantly clear that He wants to have mercy on us, to forgive us and to receive us to Himself.
Jesus makes this possible. Because of His propitiatory life, death, and resurrection, all mankind, no matter how profound our failures or grievous our sins, may reach out to the hand of the Holy One who is ever reaching out to him, and receive the grace to be pardoned and the love to be received into the family of God.
Isaiah does not state the simple fact of the desire of our Heavenly Father to forgive and redeem us, he tells us that it is the desire of the One who inhabits eternity to “abundantly pardon” His wayward children. It is His desire to clean our slate, to make us completely new in Christ!
Our fallen species tends to hold grudges, to plot and scheme for opportunities to ‘get even,’ to exact harsh payment against any who may undermine us, but our loving Lord has devised an infallible plan to redeem the ones who turned from fellowship with Him to pursue our self-destructive path of rebellion.
The concept of forgiving the offender is alien to us. But because Jesus has walked where we walk, because He has lived in human flesh, because He has been “tempted in all points like as we are,” Hebrews 4:15, He can be our true Redeemer! He can abundantly pardon!
Let us not delay to receive such full, free deliverance from the weight that pulls us from the Lord and His eternal salvation! Let us not delay to receive the loving embrace of the God who died that man might live.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Mystery of Godlessness
March 1
“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now holds it back will continue to restrain it, until He (the Holy Spirit) be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie,” II Thessalonians 2:7-11.
“I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear: but they did evil before Mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not,” Isaiah 66:4.
How, we might wonder, will the antichrist be able to come upon the world stage without being recognized as the demonic entity that he is? How can it possibly be at that juncture in time that so many people will hail him as a savior rather than seeing him as the foul demon from the pit that he will ultimately reveal himself to be?
Of course, we know he will purport himself to be a good man with the best intentions for our troubled world, but we are forewarned of his scheming. How can it be that when it unfolds before our eyes we will not see it?
The answer to that may be as complicated as there are people interpreting it, but the essence of it is found in two aspects of that time: 1. The Holy Spirit will no longer be present among us, and 2. the departure of the Holy Spirit will have come about because of our rejection of TRUTH.
The one primary thing the Holy Spirit is doing today is that He is about the business of revealing Christ to the hearts of men. He is touching them with a revelation of the Living Word of the One True God and He is visiting them in dreams and visions. He is compelling them to houses of worship where the name of Jesus is being lifted up.
Simultaneously, the evil one is doing his work of sowing seeds of doubt and disorder. Lawlessness is abounding—even in high places—and many are turning away from TRUTH, away from FAITH IN THE ONE WHO IS THE TRUTH.
Jesus said, “You shall know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall set you free,” John 8:32. We live at a time in the Western world when we disdain TRUTH! We live in a time when TRUTH is not only ignored, but it is turned on its head! We live in an age when the word spoken by the prophet in Isaiah 5:20 is coming to pass, we, “…call evil good and good evil.” As Isaiah said, the Lord has pronounced WOE upon us for calling His immutable Word a lie!
A wise man once said, “If you don’t stand for truth, you’ll fall for anything,” Anonymous. We are indeed falling for the twisted, godlessness of the age that is being spewed upon us from every quarter—from the entertainment industry, to the media, to the government, and even from some who purport themselves to be leaders of the church!
If we do not open our minds and hearts and spirits to the BIBLE, to the unfailing, immutable WORD of God; if we do not allow ourselves to be washed clean of sin by the LIVING SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, if we do not open ourselves to the baptism of the Holy Spirit who has been sent to “teach us all TRUTH,” John 14:26, John 16:13, we will indeed be blinded to everything that is holy in this vacuous age that is rapidly filling with corruption and godlessness!
“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now holds it back will continue to restrain it, until He (the Holy Spirit) be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie,” II Thessalonians 2:7-11.
“I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear: but they did evil before Mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not,” Isaiah 66:4.
How, we might wonder, will the antichrist be able to come upon the world stage without being recognized as the demonic entity that he is? How can it possibly be at that juncture in time that so many people will hail him as a savior rather than seeing him as the foul demon from the pit that he will ultimately reveal himself to be?
Of course, we know he will purport himself to be a good man with the best intentions for our troubled world, but we are forewarned of his scheming. How can it be that when it unfolds before our eyes we will not see it?
The answer to that may be as complicated as there are people interpreting it, but the essence of it is found in two aspects of that time: 1. The Holy Spirit will no longer be present among us, and 2. the departure of the Holy Spirit will have come about because of our rejection of TRUTH.
The one primary thing the Holy Spirit is doing today is that He is about the business of revealing Christ to the hearts of men. He is touching them with a revelation of the Living Word of the One True God and He is visiting them in dreams and visions. He is compelling them to houses of worship where the name of Jesus is being lifted up.
Simultaneously, the evil one is doing his work of sowing seeds of doubt and disorder. Lawlessness is abounding—even in high places—and many are turning away from TRUTH, away from FAITH IN THE ONE WHO IS THE TRUTH.
Jesus said, “You shall know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall set you free,” John 8:32. We live at a time in the Western world when we disdain TRUTH! We live in a time when TRUTH is not only ignored, but it is turned on its head! We live in an age when the word spoken by the prophet in Isaiah 5:20 is coming to pass, we, “…call evil good and good evil.” As Isaiah said, the Lord has pronounced WOE upon us for calling His immutable Word a lie!
A wise man once said, “If you don’t stand for truth, you’ll fall for anything,” Anonymous. We are indeed falling for the twisted, godlessness of the age that is being spewed upon us from every quarter—from the entertainment industry, to the media, to the government, and even from some who purport themselves to be leaders of the church!
If we do not open our minds and hearts and spirits to the BIBLE, to the unfailing, immutable WORD of God; if we do not allow ourselves to be washed clean of sin by the LIVING SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, if we do not open ourselves to the baptism of the Holy Spirit who has been sent to “teach us all TRUTH,” John 14:26, John 16:13, we will indeed be blinded to everything that is holy in this vacuous age that is rapidly filling with corruption and godlessness!
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