The Bible Observations Part 2

On March 31, Easter Sunday, the History channel aired episode 5 of the Bible that concluded their series.  If you do the math, 5 episodes that are only 2 hours long, technically shorter because of commercials, does not provide enough time to show all the details of the actual Bible.  The History channel provided the cliff notes for the Bible.  I have watched every episode of the Bible and took notes, however, I only made time to publish a blog on the very first episode and hope to get everything organized to write about the remaining four as soon as possible. 

In episode 2, The Israelites enter in to their promised land and are now surrounded by hostile neighbors.  They elect Judges to keep unity in their land and the story of Samson is shown.  Samson got his strength from God because his mother made a covenant that he will never cut his hair so that will symbolize that he is a Nazarite.  A Nazarite refers to one who voluntarily took a vow described in Numbers 6:1–21.  The proper noun “Nazarite” comes from the Hebrew word nazir meaning “consecrated” or “separated”.  This vow required the man or woman to:  Abstain from wine, wine vinegar, grapes, raisins, intoxicating liquors and vinegar distilled from such substances.  Refrain from eating or drinking any substance that contains any trace of grapes.  Refrain from cutting the hair on one’s head; but to allow the locks of the head’s hair to grow.  Not to become impure by corpses or graves, even those of family members.  Samson had two vulnerabilities: his attraction to untrustworthy women and his hair, without which he was powerless. These vulnerabilities ultimately proved fatal for him.  Because his strength came from God, he had a responsibility to carry out God’s will.  Unfortunately, Samson’s own desires led him to disobedience by marrying a Philistine who were the enemies of his people.  The marriage caused so much hostility between the people that the Philistines burned his wife and her family alive in their home.  Later on, he then met Delilah, another Philistine who deceived him in to revealing where his strength comes from and how he can lose it.  Delilah then cuts off Samson’s hair to allow the Philistines to capture him and take his eyes out.  Samson’s’ point of view of the situation was noteworthy.  He was thankful that he no longer had eyes because in the darkness, he is able to think more and see God more clearly than ever before. 

As Christians, we should believe that all of our strengths come from God and that we may unashamedly acknowledge our weaknesses to give God the glory.  The rules of the Nazarites are very strict; however, we should be able to relate to their dedication.  We should be able to live in this world and not be of this world.  We should give most of our attention and energy on God as we serve Him wholeheartedly in anything and everything that we do.  Intoxicating liquors and substances as well as hair are viewed as hindrances in service as those are focused on ourselves for our own pleasures and our own views of attractiveness.  With that being said, it would be best for us to lose our eyes figuratively speaking so that we may only focus on God, His plans, and look at people as God looks at them, not by outward appearances, but by their hearts, their personalities.  In this world full of sin, nobody is perfect; therefore, we should love everyone and always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us that should be seen as our facial glows through every season of life.

The prophet Samuel was pressured to anoint a king for Israel as he was getting older and his sons were too corrupt to take his place as a prophet to the people of Israel.  Samuel warned the people that kings are tyrants that make slaves out of their people.  Since the Israelites were determined to have a king of their own, Samuel anointed Saul to be the first king of Israel.  It did not take long for the title of king to get to Saul’s head.  Saul did not listen to Samuel when he was instructed to kill everyone and everything going in to a town.  Instead, Saul took prisoners and kept livestock from the town.  Samuels’ reaction was right when he threw his hands up in the air declaring that he gave Saul one simple command from God, yet no one listened. 

Saul had compromised the instructions of God to please his own people that resulted in displeasing God.  A king is not above God, kings must rule in God’s name, not their own.  We need to live lives that are worthy to God to please Him alone and not try to please people.  The truth of the matter is that it is impossible to please everybody so let us stop trying to do that and just please the One who is worthy to be pleased.  How do we live lives worthy of God?  How can we please Him?  The answer is simple yet difficult for us to keep in practice.  We need to study His words, meditate on them day and night, and most importantly follow them and just look towards Jesus Christ as a living example to be followed.

Samuel discovers a young shepherd who God has chosen to become the next king after Saul and anoints David who becomes a servant in Saul’s court.  As David faces Goliath, he understands that because he himself is a shepherd who protects his sheep, God protects him.  All the people of Israel as well as the Philistines mock David for even thinking he has a chance to take down Goliath.  As he walks towards Goliath, he ignores the negative shouts from the people and prays the famous Psalm 23 and defeats his enemy giving God the glory of the battle won.  David becomes close friends with Saul and Saul’s son, Jonathan and they are seen fighting side by side.  After some years, Saul begins to get paranoid and have destructive thoughts about David as he wishes his own bloodline to take over the kings’ throne at the appointed time.  Saul got so enraged to the point that he begins to chase after David through the land to kill him.  Although David had a number of opportunities to kill Saul, he never took them because he respected the fact that Saul was God’s anointed king of the land and it is up to God to determine Saul’s fate.  It came to pass that during a heavy battle, Jonathan was killed by an arrow and as Saul witnessed this take place he looked around at all the dead soldiers, took his sword and dropped face down on it.  Saul’s crown went to David and he became the second king of Israel. 

Repentance and restitution leads to a life full of joy, bitterness and grudges lead to death.  Although we may not agree with people in government, we need to remember that all authority is in God’s hands and He has the power to give and take away positions.  We need to respect our officials and if they are not Christians or are not making Godly decisions, we need to continually pray for them and remember that the officials are just a select few who have been elected by the majority.  We need to continually be witnesses to others so that those who live a sinful lifestyle that may be legal in the land, will be shown that their lives are leading straight to eternal death.  I do not recommend preaching fire and brimstone at the street corners, but I do recommend meeting with them and sharing your own story of who you are and how you would be if you did not have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  Live your life that will be inviting others to Jesus rather than drawing them away. 

One day, David noticed a woman bathing on the rooftop, whose name was Bathsheba and was the wife of one of his finest soldiers.  David’s lust got so strong that he influenced Bathsheba to have an affair and as a result, she became pregnant with his child.  David attempted to trick her husband into having intercourse with his wife so that her husband would believe the child belongs to him.  Unfortunately, the husband was so devoted to his country that he did not believe in having intercourse with his wife before going in to battle.  David gave orders to have the man go straight in to the front lines where the battle is the roughest and have the other soldiers stand down for the man to be killed.  David took Bathsheba as his own wife and because of his sinful actions, God punished him by taking the life of his firstborn son, and because David was a man after God’s own heart, God promised to give him another son to rule after him and his name would be Solomon.  After Solomon was born, David had a replica of a temple that was to be built in Jerusalem and it would be Solomon’s job to have it built.  David first believed that the temple would be his, but was reminded that it belongs to God.

An idol mind is the devils’ workshop.  When you do not control your thoughts, your thoughts will control you.  God’s Grace gives us the desire and the power to do His will.  Today, we need to remember that Christ’s substitutionary death paid our penalty for sin and emancipated us from the power of sin.  Christ’s death paid our penalty; Christ’s resurrection freed us from sins’ power.  With that, these verses should be our first thoughts every day we get up: 

Proverbs 3:5-6:  “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” 

Psalm 139:23-24:  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

The Bible Observations Part 1

On March 3, 2013 the History channel introduced The Bible television series.  Although I had expressed interest in watching it at the time it was on the air, I did not get the opportunity to view it until just recently through On Demand.  I realize that this, of course, has not been the first time the entertainment industry has brought television shows or movies to reflect Biblical characters and accounts.  With that being said, why is it that it is being talked about so much?  Maybe it is because of the exact same reason why there was so much talk when Mel Gibson made The Passion movie.  I believe that the reason is because the History channel chose to make their series as closely accurate to the true accounts from the Bible as possible.  In doing so, the History channel is shining the light of truth into the darkness of a lost and deceived generation in America. 

In the first episode of the Bible, the History channel shows what took place in the books of Genesis and Exodus.  There were a few phrases in the first episode that I had to take note of to include in this blog entry.  These are not in the same order as they were mentioned in the show as I am bringing my own insight to the entire episode in general.  “God has freed us from slavery and it has been a long journey, but this is just the beginning.  God saved me for a purpose.  To be chosen by God is a blessing and a test.  Those chosen must go through tests to prove their faith over and over again.”  Books can be written on each individual sentence, and I am pretty sure they have been.  For today, I will just write what came to me while watching the show.  Psalm 22 along with Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 were basically beating me down by the time the show had ended.  Not so much as it has been written, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” more so of me thinking and praying, “My God, my God, why have I forsaken thee?” 

Here we are living in the 21st century with so much technological advancements and easy living in the United States for the most part, we have forgotten where we have come from and sadly do not know where we are going if we continue to live such a care-free selfish life.  We read in Isaiah 30:15: “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:  “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”  Sound familiar?  This verse was written sometime between 701 and 681 B.C. and still applies today as does the message of the Bible itself.  As a Christian, from much time studying Scriptures and theology and a lot of life experiences, I have learned that God never forsakes, never leaves, rather He always loves and is always Just with more grace and mercy than we can possibly imagine.  It is us, who make choices that draw us closer or farther from Him.  In times of trouble, we become full of rage and ask why God has forsaken us instead of evaluating the circumstances and the past that has led up to where we are now.  Now is the time to repent of sinning and rest in Jesus Christ.  Now is the time to quiet our minds and our hearts and trust in God and allow His Holy Spirit to work on us and through us so that we may become the people that God has created us to be in the first place.

We should never minimize what God has done for us.  It was at the cross of Jesus Christ where God demonstrated His love for us.  While all of us were captivated in our sins, Jesus died for us so that we may live for Him.  It is by the cross of Christ where we may be saved through grace by faith and can now be free from every sinful action and addiction that has enslaved us up to this time in our life.  Yes, each one of us has had such a long difficult journey in this life.  You may have been a believer your whole life and grew up in a Bible believing family and went to church every week.  You may have grown up in an unbelieving home where your caretakers would argue, fight, and maybe even abuse each other and/or yourself.  You may be that person in between.  We all have a story to tell because we have all been born as human beings.  The truth is, no matter where you are in life or in your spiritual journey, God has created you and offers salvation to you for a purpose, and while we are still breathing, our salvation in Jesus Christ is just the beginning.  We are loved by God and have been chosen by Him to love Him and each other just as He has loved us.  How then, can we possibly show such love?  How can we possibly provide that much forgiveness?  How can we have so much patience?  The answer is simple but difficult to live through.  God gives us tests in life.  It does not matter if you are a long-time believer or a sincere atheist, tests will be given to all people.  These tests are not made and given to harm us, they are meant to build us up and shape our character so that we may have a deeper understanding and trust in God to be like Christ in everything that we think, in every word that we speak, in every action we take, may it be eternally worthy.     

(Captivate Us by Watermark):

http://youtu.be/ZT5sSzTG12M 

And Then It Snowed

Well, today seems like a good day to write about snow as a few inches have accumulated.  This entry will be dealing with the topic of snow more so in the allegorical sense with a little bit of literal sense so here is my two cents.  Although it is normal for anyone to have doubts and sadness with a longing for modification, I have personally been struggling with adjusting to become the man that I need to be and that I was made to be.  Basically, I have been going through a winter lifestyle (feeling cold, being inconvenienced, and most of all, completely uncertain of the future).      

Lately, more often than not, I would get lost in thoughts of regret for things that I should have done but did not do and for things that I did do that I should not have done.  We do something that we know we should not do either from something that we were told of before or just know inside our conscious is not right.  This is sin, doing something that is not right and not doing something that we know we should do.  This usually becomes a downward spiral resulting in the fact that we then become slaves to sin, in other words, we are held in bondage to an activity that is not good for us.  If you do not control your desires, your desires will control you. 

As I was sitting at work, watching the snow fall on the cameras through the closed circuit television monitors, I became inspired with the thought that for every snow flake that comes down is a reminder that I have been forgiven.  This reminiscence comes from Isaiah 1:18-20, “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD.  “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.  Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.  If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat.  But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.  I, the LORD, have spoken!”

http://youtu.be/MpWozyQ2QH4  (Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns)

There is a saying that, “Most of us are thermometers, merely reflecting our environment.  We need to be thermostats, controlling it.  We must learn to give more of ourselves than what others may reasonably expect.”  It is never what you are going through, it is always how you are going through it.  Learning to change requires us to think differently, unconventionally, and outside our comfort zone and always requires hard work and dedicated participation.  In the process of change, we need to remember that the greater the struggle we encounter, the greater the blessing we will receive.  As difficult as that is, we need to wait for the breakthrough.  I once heard a sermon that included this quote:  “To be forewarned is to be forearmed.  Where the battle rages, that is where the loyalty of the soldier is tested.”  Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”  At this realization, we should be able to embrace this season of life that God has given us as a gift.

There is a story about a young boy around the age of 7 who wanted to make a fort on top of a hill in his backyard.  He had a large wooden barrel and was trying to roll it up the hill.  He tried so many times in so many different ways with all of his strength but no matter what he did, he and the barrel would end up back at the bottom.  Finally he just started crying, and his father came out and asked him what was wrong.  When the boy told his dad that he had used all his strength but failed at the task, his dad told him that he did not use ALL of his strength and he needed to push.  The boy said that he had pushed with all his might and still ended up at the bottom.  The father then told him, “You did not use all of your strength because you did not ask me for help.  All you had to do was ask me and I would have helped you bring the barrel up.”

There are many “anonymous” groups (Alcohal Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, etc…) that have a 12 step program that ask their members to submit to a higher power.  These groups are wonderful for changing people who suffer from some type of addiction in their lives to become better functional people in the world.  Biblically speaking, there are only two “high powers” in this world:  God or Satan.  We must cry out to the right source immediately for help.  When we cry out to God, He will give us deliverance.  He will deliver our souls to salvation.  He will deliver us from bondage to freedom that can only be found in Jesus Christ.  After God has delivered us, we will find rest, peace, and silence with Him.  Finally, we need maintenance to keep us from going down the wrong path again.  We need determination because of salvation. 

In one of my devotional study commentaries, I read that, “Genesis is known as the book of beginnings.  We find the beginning of time, life, marriage, sin, worship, human government, and salvation.  The genesis of abundant life for each believer begins at the cross.  In order to be renewed by the Spirit, Sherwood Wirt says, “We must go to the cross-not only to kneel in reverence, not only to bow in commitment, not only to pick up our cross and carry it, but to be crucified.”  Self-crucifixion means that Christ will send His power into us as individual selves by the same Spirit.  But first, as Richard Bennet says, “The Christian has to attend his own funeral – willingly.”

Shane Idleman provides fantastic insights on life and a few things I got from him that applies to this entry is this:  “Without God, we are self-absorbed drifters with the false mindset that we are kings and queens of this world, looking inward believing that everything is about us.  We often tell Jesus that He should stay on that cross while we sit on our thrones.  Jesus tells us that if we want to live life to the fullest, then we should get off our thrones and carry our crosses.  In Christ, we know that it is not about us, we look outward toward others.  Freedom comes from Jesus Christ who gives life abundantly.  Devotion to Christ and the spreading of the Gospel is a life full of joy.  We cannot become new if we are not willing to break.  We have to break to become a new creation.  Why?  Just as muscles grow in the body, they are broken down while resting and eating nutrients, strained by an unfamiliar workload and responds by growing.”

The timing for this entry is uncanny as this is the season of Lent.  The purpose of Lent and the purpose of any fasting is to discover where our priorities are and to refocus on God.  For example, if we have the most desire and spending a lot of our time and energy watching television, we need to replace that desire, time, and energy by reading the Bible and be in prayer.  The same goes if we spend most of our time on the computer, eating, playing games, etc… The power of sin is dead; however, the influence is not.  What we fill our minds with will either build us up or tear us down.  We feed our bodies with food, so we need to feed our spirit with Scripture and there will be times where we need to remove what we feed our bodies and replace it with feeding our spirit in order to become stronger.  We find in 1 Peter 1:6-7, “So be truly glad.  There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.  These trials will show that your faith is genuine.  It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.  So, when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”  Later in 2 Peter 5-9, we read, “In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises.  Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.  The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.”

http://youtu.be/DXDGE_lRI0E  (10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman)

A few expressions to ponder:  “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.  If you must look back, then look back with thanks. If you must look forward, then do so with faith.  In the meantime, just rejoice in your walk living moment by moment.  The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved – loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.”  I would like to close this entry with Colossians 1:9-14:

“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.  He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

Indulgence

We have two choices, satisfy the flesh or satisfy the Spirit.  The flesh can be satisfied in many ways: eating, drinking, sleeping, fornication, exercising, etc. which in and of themselves are not bad as long as they are done within limits.  The problem is that the more we focus on fulfilling our desires of the flesh, we will make less restrictions and will end up constrained to do whatever we have to in order to meet our craving.  The more you satisfy the flesh, you will continue to expect more and better satisfactions out of habit.  The Spirit can only be satisfied one way and that is to be still with God.  When you begin to satisfy the Spirit, you will find contentment and joy with all that you have in the flesh and will want deeper satisfactions for the Spirit.  What will you plan to satisfy when you wake up?  What will you feed while you are awake?  How will you feel before going to sleep? 

Romans 5: ^“20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. ²¹ So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Romans 6: “¹² Do not let sin control the way you live;do not give in to sinful desires. ¹³ Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. ¹⁴ Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.”

Romans 8: “⁵ Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. ⁶ So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. ⁷ For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. ⁸ That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.  ⁹ But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)…¹² Therefore, dear brothers and sisters,you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. ¹³ For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature,you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Hebrews 2:14 states, “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.”  In The Art of War, Sun Tzu states that:  “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”  The truth is that life is filled with battles, the enemy is Satan and his greatest weapons are providing thoughts to human beings to satisfy their own desires.  Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”  When we depend on our own strengths and fight alone, we will lose and die.  When we put our entire trust in Jesus Christ, we find mercy and with mercy we receive grace.  For further clarification, mercy means not getting what we do deserve (withheld punishment) and grace is getting what we do not deserve (unmerited favor).  When we depend on His mercy rather than our own goodness, we gain better understanding of our identity in Christ and are able to live out our lives each day having no fear and no worries of what lies ahead. 

Viktor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor who has made the following statements:  “What is to give light must first endure burning.”  “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”  He reminds us that “true happiness in life depends not on conditions but on decisions.”  We read in Job 33:27-30, “I sinned and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved.  He redeemed my soul from going down to the grave, and I will live to enjoy the light of life.  God does all these things to a man several times to turn back his soul from the grave, that the light of life may shine on him.”  Hebrews 4:16 instructs, “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with fullest confidence, that we may receive mercy for our failures and grace to help in the hour of need.”  In the meantime, God is calling us out of mercy and into obedience.  Eventually it dawns on all of us that we cannot get away with unrepentant sin.  It’s as if God gradually withdraws his mercy after we have come to a knowledge of the truth.  God’s mercy has served its purpose, now it is time for obedience.  Romans 12:1 declares, “Think of God’s mercy, my brothers, and worship him, I beg you, in a way that is worthy of thinking beings, by offering your living bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God.”

Galatians 5:16-26 (Message): “My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?  It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.  This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.  But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.  Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.  Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.”

John Wesley would frequently ask his congregation, “Have you availed yourself to the means of grace this week?”  I would like to go further and ask: will grace be the first thought that comes to your mind when you wake up?  Will grace be remembered and reflected towards others as you go through your day?  Will you go to sleep with a thankful heart because of the means of grace? 

Colossians 3:1-17 (Message):  “So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.  Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.  And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.  Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.  So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.  Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.”

Life Analogy

Life is to death as death is to Life.  Billy Graham once said, “From the moment we are born, we begin to die.”  Life is a reflection and it is important to understand what, who, and how we are reflecting.  This comes by what we read, listen to, and watch, who we hang out with, and how we handle our priorities and situations.  What do our lives revolve around?  It is natural for us to seek with our minds and hearts for temporary pleasures that last for a brief amount of time.  It is supernatural for us to seek with our minds and hearts for spiritual matters that will last for eternity.  We cannot make it through life on our own.  Robert W. Youngs pointed out that “Sir Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Prize-winning poet, once said, “I have on my table a violin string.  It is free.  But it is not free to do what a violin string is supposed to do—to produce music.  So I take it, fix it in my violin and tighten it until it is taut.  Only then is it free to be a violin string.”  By the same token we are free when our lives are committed, but not to be what we were intended to be.  Real freedom is not freedom from, but freedom for.”  In this life, we have freedom to grow.  Carl Jung has stated that “Growth at all levels must include spiritual development as its most subtle and valuable aspect.  The life of the spirit, manifest in the consciousness, must evolve in accordance with certain principles and forms, which, in turn, must be related to all the other levels of human existence.  If they were unequal or detached, life could not continue.” 

I highly encourage the reader to click the following link and watch this 11 minute skit:

http://skitguys.com/videos/item/gods-chisel

I love this video.  When we accept Jesus Christ in our lives and have complete trust in Him, God takes all of the junk in our lives and begins making us the way we were intended to be, just like Jesus.  Unfortunately for us, it does not happen overnight.  While we are living on this earth, we will continue to be a work in progress.  God gave us mountains so that we can learn how to climb.  Every mountain has a valley to go through.  We are never alone when we go through valleys or when we are at the lowest point of the mountain because God is there through it all.  He is with us and for us through our entire lives and the question is will we trust Him enough to let Him work THROUGH us in addition to working ON us?

It is all too easy to live in the lie that we have to earn love.  Maybe we do this because that is the impression we got growing up at home or maybe from past experiences with relationships.  It is time to examine our minds, our hearts, and our ways and return to the LORD.  Grace is needed to save, it is needed to grow, and it is needed for love.  Grace realized is glory defined.  Grace realized is glory shown.  Now is the time to repent to connect. Repent from “stinking thinking.”  Connect to God’s love.  Let us stop trying to earn and start to receive.  Let us immerse ourselves in the love God has for us and so desperately wants to show us. 

1 John 4:7-16 declares, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed his love among us:  He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.  This is how we know that we live in him and he in us:  He has given us of his Spirit.  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.”

Galatians 2:19-21 declares, “For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me.  So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God.  My old self has been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.  So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless.  For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.”

2 Corinthians 4:14-18 says, “We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you.  All of this is for your benefit.  And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.  That is why we never give up.  Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.   For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long.  Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!   So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

Matthew 6:25-34 says, “This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the sky:  They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Aren’t you worth more than they?  Can any of you add a single cubit to his heightby worrying?  And why do you worry about clothes?  Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these!  If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of little faith?  So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’  For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first the kingdom of Godand His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.  Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” 

A.W. Tozer once said that “things do not just happen in the kingdom of God, they come to pass.”  The Message version of Matthew 6:25-34 says:  “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?  What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.  People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works.  Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions.  Don’t worry about missing out.  You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.  Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

This 11 minute video of Jars of Clay singing “Worlds Apart” seems to be an appropriate ending for this entry.  I encourage the reader to play the video with your eyes closed and listen to and meditate to the words of the song:

Passionate Living

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine posted a youtube video of Keith Urban singing “But For The Grace of God” please watch and more importantly listen to the video here:

I have been contemplating over the lyrics of that song and it has been difficult not to go down to my knees in awe and gratitude for me being here on this earth right here and right now. The lives we live can either be a step towards heaven or a step towards hell, the choice is ours to make based on what we are passionate about. Unfortunately it is all too easy to get caught up in going through the motions day in and day out that we do not even realize how we are living and who it is affecting.

Adam Lanza made headlines recently and has been talked about as being a “Psychopath” and a “Monster” Everyone is passing judgment anywhere and everywhere, some are putting blame on him, others on his family, others on the government, and others on guns and the manufacturers of weapons. I agree that his actions were horrible, however, we should not be too quick to judge him as an individual. He was still a human being, therefore, any one of us could do the same thing he did and even worse because we are human beings as well. This is called living in free will. Jesus Christ knew this and yet He still loved us so much that he came down to live in this world and be among us and set an example of how life should be lived. His love continued while his innocent tortured body was on the Cross because of all the sins, we as human beings have done and will do and he prayed this simple prayer: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The fate of Adam Lanza in this world was death, as for the fate of his eternal soul; that is solely up to God to decide and not us.

What is happening is that our intellect has achieved the most tremendous things, but in the meantime our spiritual dwelling has fallen into turmoil. Proverbs 1:24 and 28-31 says: “Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded…Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.”

I am not suggesting that we simply forget everything we have learned, on the contrary, I am recommending that we follow the instruction manual of life, which is the Holy Bible, and to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is not only the great and first commandment, it is also the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” Every day we walk within the very hands of God because it is only by His grace that we continue to move forward in our lives just by breathing. All too often we keep on looking for more blessings in our finances, relationships, careers, etc…We need to stop looking around for His hands and start looking for His face. If you do not hear God speaking, you need to trust in His teaching and the teaching is simple: I am worth dying for so He is worth living for. Because of who He is, it makes me want to give Him more and more so I surrender all that I have and all that I am so that I may live for the glory of God alone! It is only in this matter where I may obtain further understanding to have and give a life worth living and be at peace. The worldly peace offers momentary ease, but constant peace as defined by a pastor at the Edge Church is: “wholly and securely resting on the person, power, and promises of God in everything.” In Colossians 3:15, we are instructed to “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

Finding Unity In Division Part 2

We recently honored Veterans Day in the United States, which is also known to be Armistice Day and Remembrance Day in other nations.  As a brief history, the purpose is to commemorate the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany for the ending of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918.  On November 11, 1919 Woodrow Wilson declared:  ”To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.”  A Congressional Act approved on May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday:  ”a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day’.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdYxXbA4Prc   (Battle Hymn of the Republic by Lee Greenwood)

Unfortunately, within that same time frame dedicated to peace, citizens from several States were signing a petition to secede from America because of the re-election of President Barack Obama.  What is even more insulting to this Country and a major blow to the President is that the majority of the States wishing to secede are those original confederate States who fought to keep slavery.  In my previous blog entry, I suggested to get involved in community and change the way you want this world to be, however, after reading about the secession request, I probably should have been more specific.  In 1799, Patrick Henry declared, “Let us trust God, and our better judgment to set us right hereafter. United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.”  In 1768, John Dickinson had a revolutionary war song called, “The Liberty Song,” that contained these lyrics: “Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall!”  In Mark 3:25 Jesus Christ proclaims that: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”  Mark Driscoll had an interesting message with this 4 minute clip:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctQOmzsvisQ

The problem is that too many people have been brought up by, live by, and raise their kids by the post-modern thought process of if you do not like something, have something else.  Do whatever makes you happy, always have high self-esteem.  Well, just look at what is happening around you as a result.  Oh, sorry, I forgot, another factor of post-modernism is to only focus on yourself and make sure you succeed in this world no matter what.  I am one of the fortunate few that was raised in the late 80’s and early 90’s and if I did not like what was on my plate, then I would not have anything at all, end of story.  God forbid parents do that in this day and age, Child Services would be knocking on the door within the hour demanding the child gets a happy meal.  Yes, there are a lot of problems in this Country.  The answer is not separation, the answer is not found in government, the answer is not found in politics, the answer is you.  What do you believe in?  Who do you believe in?  We read in John 14:1-6, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.”  Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4uZn5gLIY8&list=PL08C83C49FDC16EAE&index=85&feature=plpp_video   (Remember Me by Mark Shultz)

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.  Watch your words, for they become actions.  Watch your actions, for they become habits.  Watch your habits, for they become character.  Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”  For further clarification, your destiny plays a part in your family, your family plays a part in your community, your community plays a part in your government, and your government has control of the policies and laws of this Country, the policies and laws of this Country have effects on the entire world!