January 7
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, (12) teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, (13) looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (14) who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (15) Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you,” Titus 2:11-15.
No matter what false doctrine of men an individual or a culture may espouse, it is rooted in essentially the same error; that being the belief that salvation is not by God’s grace alone but by a man’s works.
When a mere mortal thinks he can earn the approval of the Holy One, that individual is possessed of a grievous error that will prove a stumbling block to him throughout his sojourn in this Vale of Tears as well as a great wall of separation that will stand eternally between him and the God he is striving to please.
If a man were to adhere to the entirety of the premise of this scripture—deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age, keep his eyes fastened on the eastern sky in his search for the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, yet believe his redemption to be contingent upon his own work rather than upon the One who gave Himself for us, his compliance would be in vain.
Our redemption from every lawless deed, our purification, our transformation from godlessness to purity before God is achieved only because we have appropriated to ourselves the “unspeakable GIFT” of II Corinthians 9:15, because we have embraced to our heart the precious treasure of eternity that only the sacrifice of the Holy One upon the altar of grace can accomplish for us.
May we, His special people, indeed be zealous for good works. May we speak these things, exhorting and rebuking the lost souls around us with all authority, no matter how we may be despised for our effort. May we, according to Revelation 2:10, “be faithful unto death,” so He may certainly fulfill His promise to, “give us a crown of life.”
If we will be true to His calling, we will not only receive the blessing of eternal life but we will be privileged to share that amazing treasure with everyone who will receive it from our outstretched hand, with everyone who will receive the fruit of our lips, spoken to share the wonder of Christ’s unspeakable gift of eternal redemption, of our salvation through His shed blood at Calvary.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Watchmen
January 6
WATCHMEN by Bill Federer
"We...are...the watchmen on the walls of world freedom" -John F. Kennedy
The youngest President ever elected, being 43 years old, he was also the youngest to die, barely serving 1,000 days. Kennedy was on his way to the Dallas Trade Mart to deliver a speech, in which he prepared to say: "We in this country, in this generation, are - by destiny rather than choice - the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of peace on earth, goodwill toward men...That must always be our goal and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago, 'Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.'"
Rev. Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned in Communist Romania for 14 years. He stated of America in 1967: "America is the hope of every enslaved man, because it is the last bastion of freedom in the world. Only America has the power and spiritual resources to stand as a barrier between militant Communism and the people of the world. It is the last 'dike' holding back the rampaging flood waters of militant Communism. If it crumples, there is no other dike, no other dam; no other line of defense to fall back upon. America is the last hope of millions of enslaved peoples."
Alexander Solzhenitsyn was imprisoned in the Soviet Union from 1945-53. He stated in Washington, D.C., June 30, 1975: "At the height of Stalin's terror in 1937-38...more than 40,000 persons shot per month!...It is precisely because I am the friend of the United States...that I have come to tell you...Over there people are groaning and dying and in psychiatric hospitals. Doctors are making their evening rounds, for the third time injecting people with drugs which destroy their brain cells...I would like to call upon America to be more careful with its trust and prevent those...using the struggle...for social justice to lead you down a false road...They are trying to weaken you; the are trying to disarm your strong and magnificent country in the face of this fearful threat-one that has never been seen before in the history of the world. I call upon...ordinary working men of America...do not let yourselves become weak."
Dutch politician Geert Wilders was born the year John F. Kennedy was shot. He gave a speech titled "America the Last Man Standing" in New York, September 25, 2008: "The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe...Europe...is changing...by Muslim mass-migration...with mosques on many street corners...controlled by religious fanatics...Muslim neighborhoods...are mushrooming in every city across Europe. These are the building-blocks for territorial control of increasingly larger portions of Europe, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city...Many European cities are already one-quarter Muslim: just take Amsterdam, Marseille and Malmo in Sweden...In many cities the majority of the under-18 population is Muslim. Paris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighborhoods. Mohammed is the most popular name among boys in many cities...In once-tolerant Amsterdam gays are beaten up exclusively by Muslims...
Non-Muslim women routinely hear 'whore, whore'...In France school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims...The history of the Holocaust can no longer be taught because of Muslim sensitivity...In England sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. Many neighborhoods in France are no-go areas for women without head scarves...Jews are fleeing France in record numbers, on the run for the worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II...A total of fifty-four million Muslims now live in Europe... 25 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim just 12 years from now...The numbers would not be threatening if the Muslim-immigrants had a strong desire to assimilate...Half of French Muslims see their loyalty to Islam as greater than their loyalty to France.
One-third of French Muslims do not object to suicide attacks...One-third of British Muslim students are in favor of a worldwide caliphate...They do not come to integrate into our societies; they come to integrate our society into their Daral-Islam...Much of this street violence...is directed exclusively against non-Muslims forcing many native people to leave their neighborhoods, their cities, their countries...Muslims are now a swing vote not to be ignored.
Mohammed's...behavior is an example to all Muslims...If Mohammed had been a man of peace, let us say like Ghandi and Mother Theresa wrapped in one, there would be no problem...Islamic tradition tells us how he fought in battles, how he had his enemies murdered and even had prisoners of war executed. Mohammed himself slaughtered the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza...Islam means 'submission.' Islam is not compatible with freedom and democracy, because what it strives for is sharia. If you want to compare Islam to anything, compare it to communism or national-socialism, these are all totalitarian ideologies..."
Geert Wilders concluded: "There is a danger greater danger than terrorist attacks, the scenario of America as the last man standing...With an Islamic Europe, it would be UP TO AMERICA ALONE to preserve the heritage of ROME, ATHENS and JERUSALEM."
Franklin D. Roosevelt had stated on Labor Day, September 1,1941: "Preservation of these rights is vitally important now, not only to us who enjoy them-but to the whole future of Christian civilization."
Winston Churchill addressed Britain's House of Commons, June 18, 1940: "Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization...If we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science."
President John F. Kennedy stated February 9, 1961: "This country was dedicated to...two propositions: First, a STRONG RELIGIOUS CONVICTION, and secondly, a recognition that this conviction could flourish only under a SYSTEM OF FREEDOM...
The Puritans and the Pilgrims of my own section of New England,
the Quakers of Pennsylvania,
the Catholics of Maryland,
the Presbyterians of North Carolina,
the Methodists and Baptists who came later...
...all shared these two great traditions which, like silver threads, have run through the warp and the woof of American History."
John F. Kennedy stated in his Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 28, 1961: "The Pilgrims, after a year of hardship and peril, humbly and reverently set aside a special day upon which to give thanks to God...I ask the head of each family to recount to his children the story of the first New England Thanksgiving, thus to impress upon future generations the heritage of this nation born in toil, in danger, in purpose, and in the conviction that right and justice and freedom can through man's efforts persevere and come to fruition with the blessing of God."
On February 9, 1961, President Kennedy remarked at a Breakfast for International Christian Leadership: "Every President of the United States has placed special reliance upon his faith in God...The guiding principle and prayer of this Nation has been, is now, and shall ever be 'IN GOD WE TRUST.'"
Theodore Roosevelt addressed the American Sociological Congress (Fear God and Take Your Own Part, 1916, p. 70): "The civilization of Europe, America and Australia exists today at all only because of the victories of civilized man over the enemies of civilization...victories stretching through the centuries from Charles Martel in the eighth century and those of John Sobieski in the seventeenth century...There are such social values today in Europe, America and Australia only because during those thousand years the Christians of Europe possessed the warlike power to do what the Christians of Asia and Africa had failed to do - that is, to beat back the Moslem invader."
Theodore Roosevelt stated in his Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 24, 1903: "In NO OTHER PLACE and at NO OTHER TIME has the experiment of government OF the people, BY the people, FOR the people, been tried on so vast a scale as here in our own country...Failure would not only be a dreadful thing for us, but a dreadful thing for all mankind...It would mean loss of hope for all who believe in the power and the righteousness of liberty. Therefore, in thanking God for the mercies extended to us in the past, WE BESEECH HIM that He MAY NOT WITHHOLD THEM IN THE FUTURE."
WATCHMEN by Bill Federer
"We...are...the watchmen on the walls of world freedom" -John F. Kennedy
The youngest President ever elected, being 43 years old, he was also the youngest to die, barely serving 1,000 days. Kennedy was on his way to the Dallas Trade Mart to deliver a speech, in which he prepared to say: "We in this country, in this generation, are - by destiny rather than choice - the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of peace on earth, goodwill toward men...That must always be our goal and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago, 'Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.'"
Rev. Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned in Communist Romania for 14 years. He stated of America in 1967: "America is the hope of every enslaved man, because it is the last bastion of freedom in the world. Only America has the power and spiritual resources to stand as a barrier between militant Communism and the people of the world. It is the last 'dike' holding back the rampaging flood waters of militant Communism. If it crumples, there is no other dike, no other dam; no other line of defense to fall back upon. America is the last hope of millions of enslaved peoples."
Alexander Solzhenitsyn was imprisoned in the Soviet Union from 1945-53. He stated in Washington, D.C., June 30, 1975: "At the height of Stalin's terror in 1937-38...more than 40,000 persons shot per month!...It is precisely because I am the friend of the United States...that I have come to tell you...Over there people are groaning and dying and in psychiatric hospitals. Doctors are making their evening rounds, for the third time injecting people with drugs which destroy their brain cells...I would like to call upon America to be more careful with its trust and prevent those...using the struggle...for social justice to lead you down a false road...They are trying to weaken you; the are trying to disarm your strong and magnificent country in the face of this fearful threat-one that has never been seen before in the history of the world. I call upon...ordinary working men of America...do not let yourselves become weak."
Dutch politician Geert Wilders was born the year John F. Kennedy was shot. He gave a speech titled "America the Last Man Standing" in New York, September 25, 2008: "The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe...Europe...is changing...by Muslim mass-migration...with mosques on many street corners...controlled by religious fanatics...Muslim neighborhoods...are mushrooming in every city across Europe. These are the building-blocks for territorial control of increasingly larger portions of Europe, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city...Many European cities are already one-quarter Muslim: just take Amsterdam, Marseille and Malmo in Sweden...In many cities the majority of the under-18 population is Muslim. Paris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighborhoods. Mohammed is the most popular name among boys in many cities...In once-tolerant Amsterdam gays are beaten up exclusively by Muslims...
Non-Muslim women routinely hear 'whore, whore'...In France school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims...The history of the Holocaust can no longer be taught because of Muslim sensitivity...In England sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. Many neighborhoods in France are no-go areas for women without head scarves...Jews are fleeing France in record numbers, on the run for the worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II...A total of fifty-four million Muslims now live in Europe... 25 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim just 12 years from now...The numbers would not be threatening if the Muslim-immigrants had a strong desire to assimilate...Half of French Muslims see their loyalty to Islam as greater than their loyalty to France.
One-third of French Muslims do not object to suicide attacks...One-third of British Muslim students are in favor of a worldwide caliphate...They do not come to integrate into our societies; they come to integrate our society into their Daral-Islam...Much of this street violence...is directed exclusively against non-Muslims forcing many native people to leave their neighborhoods, their cities, their countries...Muslims are now a swing vote not to be ignored.
Mohammed's...behavior is an example to all Muslims...If Mohammed had been a man of peace, let us say like Ghandi and Mother Theresa wrapped in one, there would be no problem...Islamic tradition tells us how he fought in battles, how he had his enemies murdered and even had prisoners of war executed. Mohammed himself slaughtered the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza...Islam means 'submission.' Islam is not compatible with freedom and democracy, because what it strives for is sharia. If you want to compare Islam to anything, compare it to communism or national-socialism, these are all totalitarian ideologies..."
Geert Wilders concluded: "There is a danger greater danger than terrorist attacks, the scenario of America as the last man standing...With an Islamic Europe, it would be UP TO AMERICA ALONE to preserve the heritage of ROME, ATHENS and JERUSALEM."
Franklin D. Roosevelt had stated on Labor Day, September 1,1941: "Preservation of these rights is vitally important now, not only to us who enjoy them-but to the whole future of Christian civilization."
Winston Churchill addressed Britain's House of Commons, June 18, 1940: "Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization...If we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science."
President John F. Kennedy stated February 9, 1961: "This country was dedicated to...two propositions: First, a STRONG RELIGIOUS CONVICTION, and secondly, a recognition that this conviction could flourish only under a SYSTEM OF FREEDOM...
The Puritans and the Pilgrims of my own section of New England,
the Quakers of Pennsylvania,
the Catholics of Maryland,
the Presbyterians of North Carolina,
the Methodists and Baptists who came later...
...all shared these two great traditions which, like silver threads, have run through the warp and the woof of American History."
John F. Kennedy stated in his Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 28, 1961: "The Pilgrims, after a year of hardship and peril, humbly and reverently set aside a special day upon which to give thanks to God...I ask the head of each family to recount to his children the story of the first New England Thanksgiving, thus to impress upon future generations the heritage of this nation born in toil, in danger, in purpose, and in the conviction that right and justice and freedom can through man's efforts persevere and come to fruition with the blessing of God."
On February 9, 1961, President Kennedy remarked at a Breakfast for International Christian Leadership: "Every President of the United States has placed special reliance upon his faith in God...The guiding principle and prayer of this Nation has been, is now, and shall ever be 'IN GOD WE TRUST.'"
Theodore Roosevelt addressed the American Sociological Congress (Fear God and Take Your Own Part, 1916, p. 70): "The civilization of Europe, America and Australia exists today at all only because of the victories of civilized man over the enemies of civilization...victories stretching through the centuries from Charles Martel in the eighth century and those of John Sobieski in the seventeenth century...There are such social values today in Europe, America and Australia only because during those thousand years the Christians of Europe possessed the warlike power to do what the Christians of Asia and Africa had failed to do - that is, to beat back the Moslem invader."
Theodore Roosevelt stated in his Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 24, 1903: "In NO OTHER PLACE and at NO OTHER TIME has the experiment of government OF the people, BY the people, FOR the people, been tried on so vast a scale as here in our own country...Failure would not only be a dreadful thing for us, but a dreadful thing for all mankind...It would mean loss of hope for all who believe in the power and the righteousness of liberty. Therefore, in thanking God for the mercies extended to us in the past, WE BESEECH HIM that He MAY NOT WITHHOLD THEM IN THE FUTURE."
Monday, January 5, 2015
Open the Door
January 5
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:15-20.
We are, to a great measure, victims of an age that is certainly not apathetic to seeking its own pleasure but is apathetic about having a true relationship with God. Would anybody in all honesty not care to eat with or to have fellowship with Jesus Christ? Yet, verse 20 says He is standing at the door and knocking, and He will come in and dine with them if they just open the door!
Many would like to eat and fellowship with Christ just to say that they'd had that novel experience. But the irony here is that God is seeking His people, and they are too uncaring to even rouse themselves to answer the door! The message to this church shows that the problem is that they are so far from Him they are not even aware of their spiritual need and thus have no desire to be near Him. No desire, no prayer. No prayer, no relationship. No relationship, no awareness of spiritual need. It goes in a vicious cycle.
God is hoping that He can stir us up enough to repent and to break out of the cycle. He says, "Repent. Be zealous." Zeal indicates heat, passion, and feeling. He is hoping to break us out of this circle by rekindling an awareness of our spiritual need.
An awareness of need resides in us because we are close enough to Him to see how holy, gracious, kind, merciful, and good He is and desire to be like Him. In other words, we admire Him so much and respect His personality and character so much that we want to be near Him—right across the table from Him, as it were. We do not want to be near Him just to have a novel experience but to exalt Him and honor Him by being like Him. — John W. Ritenbaugh
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:15-20.
We are, to a great measure, victims of an age that is certainly not apathetic to seeking its own pleasure but is apathetic about having a true relationship with God. Would anybody in all honesty not care to eat with or to have fellowship with Jesus Christ? Yet, verse 20 says He is standing at the door and knocking, and He will come in and dine with them if they just open the door!
Many would like to eat and fellowship with Christ just to say that they'd had that novel experience. But the irony here is that God is seeking His people, and they are too uncaring to even rouse themselves to answer the door! The message to this church shows that the problem is that they are so far from Him they are not even aware of their spiritual need and thus have no desire to be near Him. No desire, no prayer. No prayer, no relationship. No relationship, no awareness of spiritual need. It goes in a vicious cycle.
God is hoping that He can stir us up enough to repent and to break out of the cycle. He says, "Repent. Be zealous." Zeal indicates heat, passion, and feeling. He is hoping to break us out of this circle by rekindling an awareness of our spiritual need.
An awareness of need resides in us because we are close enough to Him to see how holy, gracious, kind, merciful, and good He is and desire to be like Him. In other words, we admire Him so much and respect His personality and character so much that we want to be near Him—right across the table from Him, as it were. We do not want to be near Him just to have a novel experience but to exalt Him and honor Him by being like Him. — John W. Ritenbaugh
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Where Does God's Joy Come From?
January 4
Where Does God’s Joy Come From? by Mike Massé
Listen, friends, even mainstream psychology teaches that it's not what happens to us, it's our response that determines success. Jesus, in Matthew 5, comments that it rains on the righteous and the unrighteous all the same.
There's a dangerous false gospel that basically says once we receive salvation, it never rains again. All we have to look forward to are financial windfalls, favor (in the sense of, say, being supernaturally first in every line you ever would have had to wait in) and immunity from any of life's difficulties.
Other than the really "big dogs" who profit indefinitely from this message, I have not seen a disciple of this kind of teaching last more than a couple of years. By the 26th time they don't claim what they've named, it's off to disillusionment with Christianity or joining a new "spiritual-ish" belief system that carries promises to "fill their vats to overflowing."
However, there's another false gospel that may be even more dangerous because it's endorsed by more credible people and movements: If you truly follow Christ as Lord and Savior, get ready for the rain, baby! This one interprets the "narrow road" talked about in the Bible as one chock full of suffering, pain and self-denial in the sense of denying yourself any fun, pleasure or happiness. It teaches that things are bad and only getting worse now, but if we just hold on until Jesus gets back, it will all be worth it.
The whole of Scripture on this particular subject seems to be summed up in what Jesus said to His followers: "In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Here's the Mike Massé commentary: "There are going to be times of rain no matter what. But Jesus is so much bigger than even the biggest storm. Sometimes He will supernaturally command them to be still (remember Peter), and other times there's a shipwreck coming but you will not be harmed (as happened to Paul)."
All of that pales in comparison to His love for us. If we make Him our focus, we can immensely enjoy the sunny days. While we acknowledge the reality of the rainstorms, they do not cause us to lose our joy or get off course in His plan for our lives.
In fact, we will come out of them with stronger faith, character and spiritual sensitivity because we chose to pass these tests by following faith over feelings. How else does it make sense to "…count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations" (James 1:2)?
Learn to respond to tough circumstances Jesus-style! Jesus had just been baptized by the Holy Spirit, passed His tests in the desert and been released to start ministering in power. Then, He gets a piece of terrible news. John had been put in prison. This is huge! His cousin and likely childhood friend—the "greatest man born of woman," who had overseen His very baptism—had just received, in essence, a death sentence.
How did Jesus respond? "After John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel'" (Mark 1:14).
That was His response! It's unfathomable in our own strength. The "wisdom" of the world might even call Jesus "uncaring." "Your cousin just got sentence to death, and you're going to go preach a sermon?" We know from the story of Lazarus and other accounts that He experienced grief and anguish. It's pretty safe to surmise He didn't take John’s imprisonment without sorrow, but even the worst of circumstances couldn't take the joy of the Lord from His heart. Nothing could send Him into self-pity or distract Him from declaring the good news.
How was that kind of surrender and dependency on God possible? Most would say a combination of constant communion with the Spirit and withdrawing to lonely places to pray and "see what His Father was doing." But there was also something else. Before any recorded signs and wonders, before any mention of making disciples, there was His baptism. The incident where God the Father spoke and said: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
When God speaks over you and calls you His beloved son or daughter, in whom He is well pleased ... That's it, my friend. Nothing can steal that joy. Temporary unpleasant circumstances no longer dictate my happiness level. He alone does. I'm not talking about a head knowledge or mental assent that God loves me, or that I'm His child, or any "church-ism" along those lines.
I'm referring to the heart-shaking encounter with the Father's heart. Though emotions fade and feelings change, every time I am reminded of my heavenly Father's heart toward me, my joy increases. That's the place where the joy of the Lord is my strength. Whether it rains or the sun shines, whether the circumstances are pleasant or unpleasant, what our lives will manifest depends on our response!
Never having a bad day doesn't depend on pleasant circumstances or even whether I feel joyful. It's in the immovable knowledge that He remains joyful, and His heart is for me. That's where I draw my strength. Period. So God continually pours into us the love, grace and joy to live sincerely happy. Where does it all come from? His love, poured into a heart that is devoted and passionate toward Him.
Where Does God’s Joy Come From? by Mike Massé
Listen, friends, even mainstream psychology teaches that it's not what happens to us, it's our response that determines success. Jesus, in Matthew 5, comments that it rains on the righteous and the unrighteous all the same.
There's a dangerous false gospel that basically says once we receive salvation, it never rains again. All we have to look forward to are financial windfalls, favor (in the sense of, say, being supernaturally first in every line you ever would have had to wait in) and immunity from any of life's difficulties.
Other than the really "big dogs" who profit indefinitely from this message, I have not seen a disciple of this kind of teaching last more than a couple of years. By the 26th time they don't claim what they've named, it's off to disillusionment with Christianity or joining a new "spiritual-ish" belief system that carries promises to "fill their vats to overflowing."
However, there's another false gospel that may be even more dangerous because it's endorsed by more credible people and movements: If you truly follow Christ as Lord and Savior, get ready for the rain, baby! This one interprets the "narrow road" talked about in the Bible as one chock full of suffering, pain and self-denial in the sense of denying yourself any fun, pleasure or happiness. It teaches that things are bad and only getting worse now, but if we just hold on until Jesus gets back, it will all be worth it.
The whole of Scripture on this particular subject seems to be summed up in what Jesus said to His followers: "In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Here's the Mike Massé commentary: "There are going to be times of rain no matter what. But Jesus is so much bigger than even the biggest storm. Sometimes He will supernaturally command them to be still (remember Peter), and other times there's a shipwreck coming but you will not be harmed (as happened to Paul)."
All of that pales in comparison to His love for us. If we make Him our focus, we can immensely enjoy the sunny days. While we acknowledge the reality of the rainstorms, they do not cause us to lose our joy or get off course in His plan for our lives.
In fact, we will come out of them with stronger faith, character and spiritual sensitivity because we chose to pass these tests by following faith over feelings. How else does it make sense to "…count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations" (James 1:2)?
Learn to respond to tough circumstances Jesus-style! Jesus had just been baptized by the Holy Spirit, passed His tests in the desert and been released to start ministering in power. Then, He gets a piece of terrible news. John had been put in prison. This is huge! His cousin and likely childhood friend—the "greatest man born of woman," who had overseen His very baptism—had just received, in essence, a death sentence.
How did Jesus respond? "After John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel'" (Mark 1:14).
That was His response! It's unfathomable in our own strength. The "wisdom" of the world might even call Jesus "uncaring." "Your cousin just got sentence to death, and you're going to go preach a sermon?" We know from the story of Lazarus and other accounts that He experienced grief and anguish. It's pretty safe to surmise He didn't take John’s imprisonment without sorrow, but even the worst of circumstances couldn't take the joy of the Lord from His heart. Nothing could send Him into self-pity or distract Him from declaring the good news.
How was that kind of surrender and dependency on God possible? Most would say a combination of constant communion with the Spirit and withdrawing to lonely places to pray and "see what His Father was doing." But there was also something else. Before any recorded signs and wonders, before any mention of making disciples, there was His baptism. The incident where God the Father spoke and said: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
When God speaks over you and calls you His beloved son or daughter, in whom He is well pleased ... That's it, my friend. Nothing can steal that joy. Temporary unpleasant circumstances no longer dictate my happiness level. He alone does. I'm not talking about a head knowledge or mental assent that God loves me, or that I'm His child, or any "church-ism" along those lines.
I'm referring to the heart-shaking encounter with the Father's heart. Though emotions fade and feelings change, every time I am reminded of my heavenly Father's heart toward me, my joy increases. That's the place where the joy of the Lord is my strength. Whether it rains or the sun shines, whether the circumstances are pleasant or unpleasant, what our lives will manifest depends on our response!
Never having a bad day doesn't depend on pleasant circumstances or even whether I feel joyful. It's in the immovable knowledge that He remains joyful, and His heart is for me. That's where I draw my strength. Period. So God continually pours into us the love, grace and joy to live sincerely happy. Where does it all come from? His love, poured into a heart that is devoted and passionate toward Him.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Because We Pray
January 3
Romans 13:1-14
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
As we see ever-increasing evidence of corruption and abrogation of the law on which the United States was established, we are more and more inclined to dismiss the existing government as itself being unworthy of our allegiance. We are disinclined to pay our taxes, to honor our leaders, to pray for those in authority over us as the Word admonishes us to do (see I Timothy 2:2).
Believers in the One True and Living God may even convince themselves that the Holy One would support them in their disdain of the leadership under which they find themselves at this juncture in time, but the above chapter in Romans dispels that notion.
The Apostle Paul in writing to the Roman Christians made it very clear that to the contrary, they were to willingly subject themselves to the authority the Father of Lights had allowed to rule over them. Believers today might say something to the effect that this was because today’s level of corruption did not exist at that time.
A cursory knowledge of ancient history dispels that erroneous notion. The Roman Empire was built upon the power of its army and the ruthlessness of its execution of punishment against anyone who defied its authority.
The very act of worshiping Jesus instead of the pantheon of Roman gods was punishable by death, and Paul himself was imprisoned in a Roman dungeon until his execution because he had placed his life at the feet of Jesus. When he admonished believers to submit themselves to their leaders, he was not without experience in knowing the yoke of oppression.
So we today, though we anguish at the plummet of our nation from the height of spiritual power as a Christian nation into the abyss of moral degradation, must continue to “pray for those in authority over us,” as Paul so clearly stated to Timothy.
We must anticipate that because we do so, along with repenting of our own sins, our Lord will indeed, “…hear from Heaven and forgive our sin and heal our land,” as He promises in II Chronicles 7:14. But we must not wait for the fulfillment of that promise; we must pray for our nation and our leaders even before the fruit of the promise is given to us.
Indeed, if we are truly people of faith, we will anticipate the fruit of the promise to come because we pray.
Romans 13:1-14
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
As we see ever-increasing evidence of corruption and abrogation of the law on which the United States was established, we are more and more inclined to dismiss the existing government as itself being unworthy of our allegiance. We are disinclined to pay our taxes, to honor our leaders, to pray for those in authority over us as the Word admonishes us to do (see I Timothy 2:2).
Believers in the One True and Living God may even convince themselves that the Holy One would support them in their disdain of the leadership under which they find themselves at this juncture in time, but the above chapter in Romans dispels that notion.
The Apostle Paul in writing to the Roman Christians made it very clear that to the contrary, they were to willingly subject themselves to the authority the Father of Lights had allowed to rule over them. Believers today might say something to the effect that this was because today’s level of corruption did not exist at that time.
A cursory knowledge of ancient history dispels that erroneous notion. The Roman Empire was built upon the power of its army and the ruthlessness of its execution of punishment against anyone who defied its authority.
The very act of worshiping Jesus instead of the pantheon of Roman gods was punishable by death, and Paul himself was imprisoned in a Roman dungeon until his execution because he had placed his life at the feet of Jesus. When he admonished believers to submit themselves to their leaders, he was not without experience in knowing the yoke of oppression.
So we today, though we anguish at the plummet of our nation from the height of spiritual power as a Christian nation into the abyss of moral degradation, must continue to “pray for those in authority over us,” as Paul so clearly stated to Timothy.
We must anticipate that because we do so, along with repenting of our own sins, our Lord will indeed, “…hear from Heaven and forgive our sin and heal our land,” as He promises in II Chronicles 7:14. But we must not wait for the fulfillment of that promise; we must pray for our nation and our leaders even before the fruit of the promise is given to us.
Indeed, if we are truly people of faith, we will anticipate the fruit of the promise to come because we pray.
Friday, January 2, 2015
Trinity
January 2
“Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Genesis 1:26.
This passage reveals at the onset of the Lord’s discourse to mankind through His holy and inerrant Word, the Bible, two glorious truths. First, He introduces the concept that HE who is One, Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is ONE GOD,” has multiplicity to His personhood. Here we see the first indication that the One glorious and almighty God that we serve is a triune being.
The second is that man, frail grasshopper that he is, Isaiah 40:22, “God sits upon the circle of the earth and the people are as grasshoppers in His sight,” is created in the image of God.
Lest anyone misunderstand, let me hasten to assure you that Christians do NOT worship three gods! No! Emphatically and unequivocally, Christians absolutely do not bow before three gods. We bow before and worship only the God who declares Himself to be “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” Exodus 3:6.
Christians worship only the God of whom His holy Word says, “the LORD of hosts is His name; and He is your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called,” Isaiah 54:5.
Christians bow only before the One of whom it is declared, “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,” Acts 4:12, and that One is Jesus Christ.
Of Him, John 1:1-3 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”
The God who spoke the worlds and all that exists into being (see Genesis, Chapters 1 and 2) is the ONLY God and it is He before whom Christians bow in humble thanksgiving—for the life He gave all men at their creation and for the eternal life He has purchased for everyone who believes in the propitiatory life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
The God who is Creator, Savior and Comforter (see John 14:26, John 16:7) is the ONE before whom Christians lay their lives in service and the ONE for whom Christians will lay down their lives rather than deny His name. It is this ONE in whose likeness man is made. He is the One who has said, "You shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart," Jeremiah 29:13.
Man, his flesh, his mind, his spirit, is patterned after the triune unity of our Holy God. Just as HE has three aspects of His personhood in One undivided being, so man has three aspects to himself. As God is complete in every aspect of Himself and seamless in His oneness, so man cannot separate himself from the triune aspects of himself.
Man certainly nurtures his physical body and takes great strides toward advancing his mental acuity, but he sometimes neglects his spirit to the detriment of his eternal well-being. In order, however to approximate toward the oneness after which we are designed, we must allow the one part of our selfhood that will abide eternally to attain the holiness of Christ, the righteousness which He purchased for us at Calvary.
When that has been done, we will be the complete triune being that our Triune God designed us to be at creation, sacrificed Himself for us to be at Golgotha’s hill, and woos us to be through the tender Spirit who calls us to Himself.
“Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Genesis 1:26.
This passage reveals at the onset of the Lord’s discourse to mankind through His holy and inerrant Word, the Bible, two glorious truths. First, He introduces the concept that HE who is One, Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is ONE GOD,” has multiplicity to His personhood. Here we see the first indication that the One glorious and almighty God that we serve is a triune being.
The second is that man, frail grasshopper that he is, Isaiah 40:22, “God sits upon the circle of the earth and the people are as grasshoppers in His sight,” is created in the image of God.
Lest anyone misunderstand, let me hasten to assure you that Christians do NOT worship three gods! No! Emphatically and unequivocally, Christians absolutely do not bow before three gods. We bow before and worship only the God who declares Himself to be “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” Exodus 3:6.
Christians worship only the God of whom His holy Word says, “the LORD of hosts is His name; and He is your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called,” Isaiah 54:5.
Christians bow only before the One of whom it is declared, “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,” Acts 4:12, and that One is Jesus Christ.
Of Him, John 1:1-3 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”
The God who spoke the worlds and all that exists into being (see Genesis, Chapters 1 and 2) is the ONLY God and it is He before whom Christians bow in humble thanksgiving—for the life He gave all men at their creation and for the eternal life He has purchased for everyone who believes in the propitiatory life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
The God who is Creator, Savior and Comforter (see John 14:26, John 16:7) is the ONE before whom Christians lay their lives in service and the ONE for whom Christians will lay down their lives rather than deny His name. It is this ONE in whose likeness man is made. He is the One who has said, "You shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart," Jeremiah 29:13.
Man, his flesh, his mind, his spirit, is patterned after the triune unity of our Holy God. Just as HE has three aspects of His personhood in One undivided being, so man has three aspects to himself. As God is complete in every aspect of Himself and seamless in His oneness, so man cannot separate himself from the triune aspects of himself.
Man certainly nurtures his physical body and takes great strides toward advancing his mental acuity, but he sometimes neglects his spirit to the detriment of his eternal well-being. In order, however to approximate toward the oneness after which we are designed, we must allow the one part of our selfhood that will abide eternally to attain the holiness of Christ, the righteousness which He purchased for us at Calvary.
When that has been done, we will be the complete triune being that our Triune God designed us to be at creation, sacrificed Himself for us to be at Golgotha’s hill, and woos us to be through the tender Spirit who calls us to Himself.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Happy New Year!
January 1
Leviticus 23:9-14
(9) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (10) "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. (11) He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. (12) And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD. (13) Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. (14) You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The wavesheaf offering represents a thankful acknowledgment to God as the Giver of the harvest, and dedicating or consecrating the harvest to Him. The work of harvesting the remainder of the grain could not begin until the wavesheaf offering had been made before the Lord.
Today we stand at the threshold of a new beginning. We have celebrated the conclusion of the old and rung in the New Year. It is fitting that we who believe in the One True and Living Christ and submit to His authority over us view the onset of a new year before us in terms that go beyond the world’s concept of celebrating.
It is important that we lay the year at the feet of Jesus and ask Him to be our Lord in a real and profound way as we embark on this new beginning. It is essential that we, as the Israelites of old, recognize that this year belongs to Christ and it is our privilege and our responsibility to lay it at His feet; to ask Him to accept our full responsibility and privilege of yielding the events of the future into His hands.
May we as believers in the One Savior by whose mighty name men may be restored to righteousness before the Eternal Majesty resolve that in thought and in word and in deed, we shall be submitted to Him and to His holy purposes; that the focus of our being will be to allow His light to shine through our surrendered lives that He may be glorified in us.
May we recognize that whether we live lives of blessing and prosperity in the eyes of those who behold us or whether we live lives of persecution and devastation at the hand of God's ancient foe and his human minions, we must "count it all joy," James 1:2, and recognize that "whether we live or whether we die we are Christ's," Romans 14:8.
With complete understanding that without Him we are nothing but through His “unspeakable Gift” to us (see II Corinthians 9:15) we are groomed to rule and reign with Him eternally, may we embark on the New Year with resolute commitment that we shall be fully surrendered to Jesus through all our tomorrows.
Leviticus 23:9-14
(9) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (10) "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. (11) He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. (12) And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD. (13) Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. (14) You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The wavesheaf offering represents a thankful acknowledgment to God as the Giver of the harvest, and dedicating or consecrating the harvest to Him. The work of harvesting the remainder of the grain could not begin until the wavesheaf offering had been made before the Lord.
Today we stand at the threshold of a new beginning. We have celebrated the conclusion of the old and rung in the New Year. It is fitting that we who believe in the One True and Living Christ and submit to His authority over us view the onset of a new year before us in terms that go beyond the world’s concept of celebrating.
It is important that we lay the year at the feet of Jesus and ask Him to be our Lord in a real and profound way as we embark on this new beginning. It is essential that we, as the Israelites of old, recognize that this year belongs to Christ and it is our privilege and our responsibility to lay it at His feet; to ask Him to accept our full responsibility and privilege of yielding the events of the future into His hands.
May we as believers in the One Savior by whose mighty name men may be restored to righteousness before the Eternal Majesty resolve that in thought and in word and in deed, we shall be submitted to Him and to His holy purposes; that the focus of our being will be to allow His light to shine through our surrendered lives that He may be glorified in us.
May we recognize that whether we live lives of blessing and prosperity in the eyes of those who behold us or whether we live lives of persecution and devastation at the hand of God's ancient foe and his human minions, we must "count it all joy," James 1:2, and recognize that "whether we live or whether we die we are Christ's," Romans 14:8.
With complete understanding that without Him we are nothing but through His “unspeakable Gift” to us (see II Corinthians 9:15) we are groomed to rule and reign with Him eternally, may we embark on the New Year with resolute commitment that we shall be fully surrendered to Jesus through all our tomorrows.
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