Flipping Switches

Monday, April 30, 2012, 5:44 a.m. – I woke this morning out of a dream.

THE DREAM: My daughter was non-communicative with me. She did not trust me to take care of her child, so she took him (a baby/toddler) with her to work (a business), but she didn’t pay attention to (watch) what he was doing. He was flipping some switches that I knew could be disastrous. I tried to warn her, but to no avail. She ignored the warnings. Then, my daughter and her child were out in an open area, so I played with my grandson. My daughter continued to ignore me, so I finally turned my back to her, and I just focused my attention on my grandchild, i.e. on her offspring. END

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 3 (NIV 1984):

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

  In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

   “A voice of one calling in the desert,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

   make straight paths for him.’”

  John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

  “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

My Understanding: John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for Jesus Christ, for his earthly ministry, and for the salvation that would be ours through faith in Jesus. His message was simple, short and to the point: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” To repent means to turn and go the opposite direction, i.e. to leave our lives of sin behind us, and to turn to follow Jesus Christ in faithful obedience to his will for our lives. Included in this should be sorrow and grief over our sin, humility, and a heart desire for change. This is how we come to faith in Jesus Christ. This is the message of the gospel of Christ.

The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are synonymous with the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This kingdom began with Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry, and it culminates in Jesus’ second coming and his earthly reign and rule on the earth during the Millennium, as well as it encompasses our eternity with God in heaven. John the Baptist proclaimed that this awaited future kingdom, prophesied about by the prophets of the Old Testament, was “at hand” in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ preached the same message as did John the Baptist, only he said that the kingdom was already present in his ministry. Jesus Christ was and is the embodiment of the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God will be finally realized at the second coming of Jesus Christ when he comes to rule and reign on the earth. When it is finally realized, it will bring this present evil age to an end. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we enter into this eternal kingdom of God. In one sense, then, the kingdom has already come, but in another it is yet to come in its entirety when Jesus Christ is revealed. This kingdom of God thus parallels our salvation – we are saved, we are being saved (the process of sanctification) and we will be saved when Jesus Christ returns and our salvation is complete. So, in reality, we can still preach: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near,” because it is present but it is also future.

Prepare the Way

John’s commission was to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus’ earthly ministry and his provision of salvation for our sins. He was to make straight paths for him. My Bible commentary suggested that this making of straight paths was “a metaphor using road building to refer to repentance.” [Ref: Zondervan NIV Commentary] John’s primary preparatory message was “Repent!” The people must turn from their sins and turn to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior. This makes a straight path to Jesus Christ, i.e. it is not a path that is bending, curving, twisted, but is level, solid, accurate, truthful, consistent, and not diluted, etc. In other words, repentance is the straight way to Jesus Christ, i.e. it is the only way to salvation. The whole of the New Testament teaches that the way we come to faith in Jesus Christ is through turning from our sins, and through turning to walk in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ. There is no other way. There is no curved or twisted path that will get you to heaven. Jesus said if anyone wants to come after him, he must deny himself (his flesh), and he must daily take up his cross (dying to sin) and follow (obey) Christ.

Brood of Vipers

Many people came to be baptized of John. Confessing their sins, they were baptized in the Jordan River. Many of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day also came to be baptized of John. John, filled with the Holy Spirit of God, knew their hearts. He called them a brood of vipers. Ouch! That’s certainly touchy-feely, and a way to win friends and influence people! Yet, John was not here to make friends and to make people like him. He was here to lead people to their Savior and Lord Jesus Christ and to salvation from their sins. He cared more about people’s relationship with God than he cared about their relationship with himself.

He called the religious leaders a “brood of vipers.” A brood is “a group whose members share a common origin or background.” And, a viper is a poisonous snake or “somebody who is considered to be malicious, treacherous (a betrayer; unfaithful; shifty; dangerous; deceitful and/or false), or ungrateful.” [Ref: Encarta Dictionary] Wow! What an indictment!

He asked them who warned them to flee from the coming wrath. Evidently they thought they could escape the wrath of God coming upon men who did not put their faith in God/Jesus, and that they could do so merely by going through the ritual of baptism. Yet, John was given insight into their hearts. He told them they must produce fruit in keeping with repentance if they wanted to escape God’s wrath (God’s judgment against sinful man via eternity in hell). Fruit is the outgrowth; produce; harvest; yield or result of true repentance. In other words, if we have truly repented of our sins, then the heart change and change of attitudes and behavior should bear fruit in our lives.

They also could not count on their religious heritage or even their race (family ties) to save them. We don’t inherit salvation via physical birth, we don’t earn it through human effort, and we don’t achieve it via going through a set of religious rituals. Salvation involves a heart transformation and should result in a life committed to following Jesus Christ.

The Ax

John, speaking for God, told the religious leaders, too, that God could raise up children for himself outside of Judaism, or outside the confines of institutional religion. When he said that the ax was already at the root of the tree, he was letting the religious leaders know that Judaism was about ready to be cut off, for only the Jews who accepted Jesus Christ as Lord, Messiah and Savior and who produced fruit in keeping with true repentance would survive the cut. The ax was a symbol of judgment, and I believe it was symbolic of judgment against institutionalized religion that did not result in a spiritual harvest in keeping with true repentance (true heart, attitude and behavioral change). Though we are not saved by works (of the flesh), but salvation is a work of the Spirit of God in transforming human hearts, still salvation is not absent of works (fruit). James said that faith absent of works (produce) was dead (non-existent).

John said that he baptized with water for repentance, but that Jesus Christ would baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Baptism is a symbol of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for our sins, his burial and his resurrection in conquering death, hell, Satan and sin, triumphing over them by the cross. When we enter into the waters of baptism, we are symbolically and publicly declaring our identification with Christ, not only in what he went through for us so we could be saved, but in our own death to sin, the putting our sins behind us (they are buried), and our resurrection to new life in Christ Jesus. Yet, this baptism of the Spirit John spoke of is not water baptism, but it is our salvation. When we invite Jesus Christ into our hearts and lives to be our Lord and Savior, we die with Christ to our sins, we bury our sins with him, and we are resurrected with him to new life in Christ. This is the baptism of the Spirit. Our water baptism merely serves as an outward sign of the baptism that has already taken place in our hearts. [See: Ro. 6; 1 Co. 12:12-13; Gal. 3:26-27]

Jesus will also baptize us with fire. Fire has to do with judgment, and the New Testament teaches that God judges (disciplines; corrects; punishes; rebukes; chastises) his own for the purpose of purifying them and making them holy, and/or to get his wandering ones to return to their “first love.” He does this because he loves us, and because he wants us to be in a right relationship with him. One other purpose of judgment is to separate the wheat from the chaff, i.e. to sift out who is truly a follower of Jesus Christ and who is not, but is in form only. The chaff will be burned up with unquenchable fire, i.e. those who followed a form of religion but who did not produce fruit in keeping with repentance. The wheat, i.e. those who survived the cut and who did produce fruit in keeping with repentance will survive and will be gathered to Jesus Christ for the wedding supper of the Lamb.

The Dream

I am representing God/Jesus in this dream. My daughter is a picture of the Jews of Jesus’ time, and of the lukewarm church and/or of institutionalized Christianity of our day. Since she has an offspring, she represents the leadership (parents) of the church, such as was the case with the Pharisees, Sadducees and Elders of Jesus’ day. She is representing church leadership that has turned the church into a business and into an institution of man instead of maintaining its true identity as the body of Christ (those bearing fruit in keeping with repentance). This leadership is not in true fellowship with Jesus Christ, because she fails to truly hear God’s voice speaking, but rather is a follower of man and man-made religion. God has been calling out to her to repent and to produce fruit in keeping with repentance, but she is turning a deaf ear to his commands for faithful obedience.

She does not trust God with her spiritual offspring, which is evidenced by all the manipulations of man in today’s church services, marketing schemes, church growth schemes, plots and plans. Today’s institutional church, for the most part, is very worldly, and follows after the pattern of the world in how to grow and build a big business. That is why the child, in the dream, was taken with her to work (business) and explains why she did not trust me (representing God) with her offspring. She waters down the gospel message, and entertains, tries to make church fun and exciting, comfortable, non-threatening, etc. Yet, the gospel is an offense to those who are perishing. If the unsaved feel comfortable, non-threatened and if they have fun in our churches, then we are not preaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ. If we began preaching: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” each Sunday, and our songs followed suit, and everything we planned and did revolved around getting across this message, would the people attending our churches still feel comfortable, non-threatened, and would they enjoy themselves?

My daughter (the church/leadership) didn’t watch (be watchful in the sense of shepherding the flock) what was happening to her offspring. He was flipping switches that were dangerous in this “business” called “church.” To flip means to be casual; joking; dismissive; carefree; unserious; bending; to go from one side to another; and/or to spin. Switch – sudden change; an exchange or a substitution; shift; replacement. [Encarta Dictionary]

In other words, the child (the spiritual offspring) was learning from the parent to not take God seriously or sin seriously, and he was casual, carefree and joking about his relationship with God; he was dismissive with regards to the truth of the gospel (repentance and obedience required); he was easily swayed by various winds of doctrine (see Eph. 4:14); and he was learning in this “business” called “church” to replace the true doctrine of salvation with a false teaching about salvation; to replace true repentance and obedience to Christ with an “all grace” theology; to replace devotion and loyalty to Jesus Christ alone with loyalty and devotion to the teachings of man, and this was and is dangerous. God has warned and warned his “daughter”, but she is not listening.

The open area, I believe, represents the area outside of institutionalized religion, i.e. such as in home Bible studies, Christian discussion sites on the internet, informal gatherings of believers in Christ, social networks, etc., that don’t fall under the scrutiny of the institutional church and its teachings of man, man-made rules, human philosophies, marketing schemes, etc. God is able to minister to his children outside the confines of institutionalized religion (Jesus did it throughout his earthly ministry) so much better since the institutional church is turning a deaf ear to his calls to repentance. So, God, I believe, is turning his back in judgment against the institutional church and man-made religion and he is focusing his attention now on the offspring, i.e. the remnant (the wheat), i.e. those willing to hear God’s voice, to follow the truth of scripture, to produce fruit in keeping with repentance, and who will follow the Lord Jesus Christ in full surrender and obedience to his commands, rejecting false religion, teachings of man, and the manipulations of man used to build big businesses.

Listen! Listen! / An Original Work / December 20, 2011

Weep and wail o’er your sins, children.

God is calling out to you:

Be ye honest; tell the truth,

And it will set you free.

Harken to Him calling you to

Bow on bended knee today.

Don’t delay to let Him in,

And He’ll cleanse your hearts;

Pure within.

Sinners, won’t you listen to Him

Calling out to you today?

He died so that you would be free

Of your sins always.

Turn from your sin. Turn to Jesus.

Obey Him in ev’ry way.

He wants to set you free of

All your guilt,

For which He did pay.

Listen! Listen!

Don’t close your hearts

To His voice speaking to you.

He will give you all of His peace,

If your hearts be true.

He longs for you to come to Him

Humbly now and repentant.

Obey all of His commandments.

Live with Him eternally.

http://youtu.be/OWdvnBm2U-k

The Prophets Fulfilled

Sunday, April 29, 2012, 7:30 a.m. – The Lord woke me this morning with the song, “The Lord’s Anointed,” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 1-2 (quoting selected passages NIV 1984):

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

“for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a ruler

   who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’”

And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,

   weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children

   and refusing to be comforted,

because they are no more.”

So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

My Understanding: Jesus Christ, God the Son, left heaven, came to the earth, and was born as a baby (in human flesh). He had a human mother but his birth Father was God. The child within Mary’s womb was conceived of the Holy Spirit of God. Joseph was not Jesus’ birth father, yet he became his human father. There was no union between Joseph and Mary until after Jesus was born. An angel visited Joseph in a dream and told him about this supernatural conception, and that he was not to fear taking Mary as his wife. The angel told him that Mary would give birth to a son, and that Joseph was to give him the name Jesus, because he would save his people from their sins. This fulfilled what the prophet had said about a virgin giving birth to a son, and that he was to be called Immanuel, which means, “God with us.” Jesus Christ, thus, was God in the flesh, and he was/is the Savior of mankind. He was declared to be God in the very first chapter of our New Testament. One of the reasons he was killed was because he claimed to be God.

Our God

The first chapter of the Gospel of John goes into this subject in greater detail. Jesus, the Word, was with God in the beginning and he was/is God. All things were made through him, i.e. Jesus Christ is the creator of the universe. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” Jesus, the Word, was in the world, but the world did not recognize him for who he was/is.

I find that still true today, as he is in the world through us, his followers, and he is revealed in nature, and his word has gone throughout the world, and yet the world (worldly people) does not recognize him for who he truly is. Even his own did not receive him. We, the church, the body of Christ, are his own, and yet many in the church today truly do not know who Jesus is, and they do not recognize his work among them, even when it stares them boldly in the face, because the world has so infiltrated the church, and so the true Jesus is hardly recognizable. I truly believe Jesus Christ, today, would be rejected and ostracized in most of our churches. In fact, he already is.

Our Savior

Jesus Christ was the Lamb “who takes away the sin of the world!” John said about Jesus, “I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” John said that all who receive Christ; all who believe in his name, God gives them the right to become children of God, born of the Spirit of God.

Jesus Christ, God the Son, came into the world to die for our sins. He became human flesh so that he could experience what we, as humans, experience, and so he could feel our pain. Because he suffered as we suffer, and because he was tempted like we are tempted, yet without sin, he is able to be our compassionate, merciful and faithful High Priest, because he can literally sympathize with us in our weaknesses. We have a God who has gone through the things we have endured, with the exception of sinning, so when we go to him in prayer we know he truly understands, from personal experience, how we feel. He even knows the pain of our sin, because he took upon himself the sins of the entire world. I can’t imagine that. My own sin was bad enough. I just cannot possibly fathom the pain and suffering he must have endured in taking upon himself - the sinless one - all our sins.

Yet, he did all of that because he loves us, because he wanted to set us free from the control and power of sin over our daily lives, and because he wanted to set us free from the ultimate penalty of sin – eternity in hell and eternal separation from God Almighty.

Prophecy Fulfilled

The prophets of the Bible prophesied of the coming of the Messiah, the Son of God; Jesus Christ. In chapters 1-2 of Matthew we learn in which ways those prophecies were fulfilled. The first one mentioned concerned his birth (his coming in the flesh) and his deity, i.e. that he is God and he was God with us in the flesh of man. The second one had to do with him being the Savior of his people, and John expands that to him being the Savior of the world. He died on the cross so we could be set free from the penalty and control of sin.

The next prophecy that was fulfilled about Jesus was that he was to come out of Bethlehem, and he was to shepherd God’s people. Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and he lay his life down for the sheep. Another prophecy concerning Jesus was said as though it was God speaking: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Jesus Christ had to move with his family to Egypt early on in his life because the king wanted to take his life. King Herod, when he realized that the Magi did not return and give him the location of Jesus, went on a rampage and had all the boys two years old and under living in Bethlehem killed. That fulfilled the prophecy about Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they were no more.

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to take the child and Mary and move to Israel. So, Joseph did what he was told. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. So, having been warned in a dream, Joseph then moved his family to Galilee, to a town called Nazareth, which then fulfilled the prophecy about Jesus that he would be called a Nazarene.

The Good News

In giving me the song “The Lord’s Anointed” this morning, the Lord reminded me yet of another prophecy of scripture concerning Jesus Christ, taken from Isaiah 61. Jesus was anointed to preach the Good News of the gospel. He was sent to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and to preach release for prisoners who are walking in darkness. He was to proclaim both grace and judgment, to comfort those who mourn, and to provide for those who grieve in Zion – to give crowns of beauty, the oil of gladness, and a garment of praise to them in place of ashes, mourning and a spirit of despair.

Jesus Christ was anointed of the Holy Spirit of God to preach the Good News. We are, too. Jesus Christ was sent to bind up the wounds of (to bring healing to) the brokenhearted. We are, too. He was to proclaim freedom for those in captivity to sin, i.e. he was to preach to them how they could be set free from captivity to sin. We are given that commission, too.

~ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

  You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. ~ Eph. 4:17-24

This is the Good News! This is the truth that sets the captives free! Yet, many of today’s clergy and church leaders are not teaching this. They are watering down the gospel message. They are removing repentance (turning from sin) and obedience to Christ (putting on the new self), and are telling people they can be saved without repentance or obedience to Christ. Where is the “good news” in that? That only leaves people in their sins, without hope, and trusting in a false hope that will not lead them to either a personal and vital relationship with Jesus Christ or to eternity in heaven. That leaves the prisoners still captive and still in darkness. They are not set free at all.

So, there cannot be true healing for the brokenhearted, either, because true healing comes through understanding and applying the truths of God’s word to our lives, and through spiritual cleansing from sin. That is one reason I say Jesus Christ would be rejected and ostracized in many of our churches today, because the “Good News” he preaches is not the same as what is being taught in much of the church today. And, many of us will receive the same treatment when we try to teach the Good News as Jesus taught it, too.

Grace and Judgment

Jesus Christ was anointed to proclaim God’s favor (his grace) and his day of judgment. When Jesus Christ came to earth the first time, he came as Savior (God’s grace), yet one day he will return as judge and that day will be a day of vengeance of our God.

The mourning here could be the mourning over our own sin, and/or it could be grieving over the judgments of God on us, his people, because we did not repent of our sins, although he had called us to do so over and over again (see Rev. 2-3). Whether we mourn and grieve over our own sins or over our sins plus the punishment of God inflicted upon us because of continued sin and unrepentance, if we are contrite of heart, God/Jesus is there to comfort us, to renew us to a right relationship with him, to restore us to sweet fellowship with him, and to fill us (perhaps, once again) with his joy, peace and spiritual blessings from above. This is called salvation, or revival for the Christian returned to his “first love.” When our hearts are truly turned toward God, and we have left our sins behind us, there is such release, such freedom, such victory, peace and joy that replaces despair and mourning.

Jesus Christ was commissioned of God the Father to preach such release and freedom in Christ, and we, as his followers, are to be his representatives on this earth in doing what he did and to obey his commandments to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. First of all, we must be in a right relationship with God. I pray we will all make our hearts right with God today so that we may experience his blessings, and so that he may use us as his hands and feet in preaching the good news, in binding up the brokenhearted, and in preaching release to those still in darkness, and so we can help renew and restore people back to a right relationship with Jesus Christ who have fallen back into the pit of sin.

The Lord’s Anointed / An Original Work / December 16, 2011

Based off Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;

Anointed to preach the Good News;

Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;

Proclaim freedom for the captives.

He sent me to preach release for pris’ners

Who are walking in sin’s darkness;

Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;

And tell them about God’s judgments;

Comfort all who mourn;

Give crowns of beauty;

Oil of gladness and thanksgiving.

They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,

A planting of our Savior, God,

For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and

They will rebuild God’s holy church.

God will renew them, and will restore them,

And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.

You will be ministers of our God, and

You will rejoice in salvation.

The Lord loves justice;

He is faithful to

Reward those who are seeking Him.

I delight greatly in the Lord;

My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.

He has clothed me with His salvation,

And in a robe of His righteousness.

He has given me priestly garments to

Wear, as the bride of Jesus Christ.

As the garden of our Lord and Savior,

He causes us to grow in Him.

He makes righteousness,

Praise, and thanksgiving

Spring up before all the nations.

http://youtu.be/PSH4DBpc__U

http://www.godcares.tv/video/1337/The-Lords-Anointed

Do We Rob God?

Friday, April 27, 2012, 8:45 a.m. – The Lord woke me this morning with the song, “The Heart of Man,” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Malachi 3:6-18 (NIV 1984):

  “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.

   “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

  “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.

   “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’

   “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.

  “You have said harsh things against me,” says the LORD.

   “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’

  “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.’”

  Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.

  “They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

My Understanding: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). God does not change, i.e. his divine character does not change. The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. The covenant relationship with his people has changed somewhat, i.e. from the old to the new, but he has not changed. We can always count on him, we can trust in his promises, and we can believe that he will always act according to his true character. Men will lie to us, betray us, not keep promises, commit slander, be greedy, etc., but God can never do evil, though he may use evil men to accomplish his purposes in our lives sometimes. Though God came near to his people in judgment, God, in his faithfulness, preserved a remnant and did not entirely destroy them.

Generational Disobedience

God told his people that their disobedience was generational. They had followed in their father’s footsteps in not honoring and not obeying God’s commands. Some people, including church leaders in the church today are teaching that we no longer have to obey God’s commands since we are under grace, so let’s look at this subject in the New Testament.

Jesus’ commission he gave to his disciples before he left the earth to go back to the Father was: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20). If we, as the Lord’s disciples, are supposed to teach others to obey everything Jesus Christ has commanded us (in his word), then we are also required to obey his commandments. Jesus Christ summed up the Ten Commandments into two: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matt. 22:37-40).

Everything Jesus commanded us derives from either one of these commandments. And, we are continually taught throughout the New Testament that Christ requires obedience.

“Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him…” (Heb. 5:8-9). “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 Jn. 2:3-4). “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him… Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us” (1 Jn. 3:21-22, 24). “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome…” (1 Jn. 5:3).

“Return to Me”

God told his disobedient people to return to him, and he would return to them. We know that God will never leave us or forsake us if we are truly his, and as followers of Christ, we have the promised Holy Spirit within us as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. So God, in His Spirit, is always with us, and dwells within those who are his true disciples. Yet, it is possible for us, as followers of Christ, to become complacent about our relationship with Jesus Christ, to stray away from our pure devotion to him, to let the cares of this world crowd out our time with him, and/or for us to fall back into old sin patterns. When we do this, our pure fellowship with our Lord is broken or is at least strained so that we no longer share in the joy of a daily walk with Christ, nor do we experience fully the blessings that could be ours for walking with him in obedience and surrender to his will for our lives.

This is evidenced by Jesus Christ’s letters to the seven churches in Revelation. God is calling out to his disobedient church today to return to him in pure devotion and obedience via repentance (turning from sin). If they will, they will be renewed and restored in their relationship with Jesus Christ and God the Father, and they will experience the outpouring of his spiritual blessings upon them.

“How are we to return?”

The people of God asked how they were to return. It seems obvious that they should have known the answer to this question, so perhaps they were pleading ignorance or this is another display of their cynicism. No matter their motivation for the question, though, God decided to answer them by first of all showing them what was in their hearts.

God asked them, “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me,” to which the people responded, “How do we rob you?” God answered that they robbed him in tithes and offerings.

I always want to make sure that I am true to the New Covenant relationship with Jesus Christ when teaching the Old Testament, so I will endeavor to always make sure of what is taught in the New Testament under the New Covenant relationship with God, so that I am not teaching Old Covenant doctrine to New Covenant people. So, with that said, I did a word search on the word “tithe” from Acts to Revelation (New Covenant), and the word “tithe” did not appear, with the exception of in Hebrews 7 in reference to the Old Covenant and the Law. From what I understand of New Covenant teaching, we are no longer under this old law which requires a 10% tithe, but rather we are to give freely from our hearts:

“But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us —see that you also excel in this grace of giving” (2 Co. 8:7). “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Co. 9:7).

Yet, I see a greater understanding of “tithes and offerings” under the New Covenant. When we truly understand and apply this teaching, whether or not to pay a tithe will become an irrelevant point, I believe. Jesus wants every part of us fully committed to him. He wants us 100%! Then, he will tell us how much he wants us to give financially to his work (and we need to make sure it is his work we are giving to, and not the work of men).

People are now what are given as an offering to God: “so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (Ro. 15:16b). “But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you” (Php. 2:17). “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:4-5). “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Ro. 12:1-2).

So, the way in which we now rob God is by robbing him of the awe, reverence and honor due his name; of obedience to his commands; of lives fully devoted and committed to him and to his service; of faithfulness (spiritual fidelity); of spiritual offerings and sacrifices; of living holy lives pleasing to God; and of leaving our lives of sin behind us and walking in daily fellowship with our Lord in surrender to his will for our lives. God wants us, not what we can give to him. When he has us, he will have what he wants of us, because we will be inclined to give whatever he asks us to give of our resources, time, heart, mind, and soul.

Fear the Lord

Those who fear the Lord, i.e. who love, honor, respect, revere and obey him will be heard by the Lord. He will listen to them, they will be the Lord’s, they will be his treasured possession, and he will show compassion to them. There will be a distinction between those who serve God and those who do not, i.e. between the righteous and the wicked, and the New Testament bears this out, as well. Coming to faith in Christ Jesus involves turning from our sin, being transformed in heart and mind by the power and working of the Holy Spirit within us, and turning to walk in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ, taking on his righteous character (see Eph. 4:17-24). If you have not turned to walk in faithful obedience to Christ, and/or if you are guilty of robbing God/Jesus of what is due him, I pray you will come before the Lord today in humility and that you will surrender your lives to him.

The Heart of Man / An Original Work / April 4, 2012

Based off Matt. 15:1-20; Mk. 7:1-23

Listen to me ev’ryone and

Understand this teaching of Christ:

Why do you break the commands

Of God for the sake of tradition?

When you follow the ways of man,

And don’t obey the words of Christ,

You nullify the words of God,

And you hold to the ways of man.

What comes out of a man’s mouth is

What makes him unclean and dirty.

The things that come out of the mouth

Come from the heart, from within him.

The heart of man is so sinful;

From his nature, out comes evil:

Lying, cursing, greed and malice,

Lust and lewdness, deceit, slander.

Jesus calls us to obey him;

Turn from our sins; follow His ways.

Yet, his people honor him with their lips,

but their hearts not with Him.

Their worship of God is in vain.

Their teachings are rules taught by man.

Jesus calls us; gently leads us

To return and follow His truth.

http://youtu.be/ahWXMdAgMDE

God is Pleased?

Thursday, April 26, 2012, 7:01 a.m. – The Lord woke me this morning with the song, “Full Release,” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Malachi 2:17-3:5:

The Day of Judgment

 You have wearied the LORD with your words.

   “How have we wearied him?” you ask.

   By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

“See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.

  But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.

  “So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty.

My Understanding: The people of God had wearied the Lord with their words. They said that all who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them. Isaiah said something similar to this when he said: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Is. 5:20).

God is Pleased?

God’s people, the church, say the same things today, maybe not so directly, but it is implied by their words and actions. The first thing that comes to mind is a modern-day teaching in the evangelical church that states that repentance and obedience to Christ are not necessary for salvation, and that God is pleased with you no matter what you do. If God is pleased with us no matter what we do, and we don’t have to turn from our sins or obey Christ, then that means he is pleased with us when we do evil. May that never be!

“Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God” (Ro. 8:8). “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8). “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord” (Eph. 5:8-10). “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10).

Confusing Good and Evil

The other thing that comes to mind is how people will honor those who do evil, and dishonor those who do right. They (many believers in Christ) will admire those who say all the right things (by man’s standards), who make people feel good all the time, and who don’t ever confront sin or call for repentance, but say the things that make people feel happy (in the flesh). They will honor those who make them feel good about themselves even in their sinful patterns of behavior, but will dishonor those who speak the truth in love, and who care enough to tell people the truth about sin, so that the people can come to repentance, and so that they can be in a right relationship with Jesus Christ (God).

They confuse love with tolerance, on one end, and yet they confuse love with bitterness of spirit on the other end. In other words, they think love equals tolerance and saying things people like to hear, whereas they regard true acts of unselfish love in caring enough about people to see them set free of bondage to sin as intolerance, bitterness of spirit, and someone who just likes to complain; a troublemaker, etc.

“Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?” (Gal. 4:16). “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (1 Co. 13:6). “For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth” (2 Co. 13:8). “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ” (Eph. 4:15). “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place…” (Eph. 6:14). “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. “They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

“My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins” (Jms. 5:19-20). “Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute” (2 Pe. 2:2). “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth” (1 John 1:16). “The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).

The God of Justice

The second thing the people said that wearied the Lord was “Where is the God of justice?” The people of God did not believe in the justice of Almighty God. The people evidently had rejected God’s control and sovereignty over their lives. They didn’t believe God would really judge them, which was evidenced by their sinful lifestyles. They seemed to have a “Don’t worry, be happy” mental stance that allowed them to continue in sin. So, God was tired of their hypocrisy, their immorality, their spiritual blindness, their stubbornness and their hard-heartedness.

This type of attitude is still true in the church today. Many have rejected the belief that God is still a God of justice and that he will judge even those who are his by faith in Jesus Christ when they refuse to repent of their sins and they choose not to obey Christ. Yet, in Malachi 3:6, God said, “I the LORD do not change.” And, the beginning part of Malachi 3 is a prophecy concerning that judgment, which will come at the hand of Jesus Christ in the last days.

The messenger that was sent before Jesus Christ was John the Baptist, yet there will also be witnesses in these last days who will prepare the way and the hearts of the people for Christ’s coming in judgment and purification, and for his return to receive his bride to himself. These witnesses will confront the people of God with their sins, and they will call for repentance, just as John the Baptist did in preparation for Jesus Christ’s first coming.

When Jesus Christ comes in judgment in the time of tribulation on the earth, no one will be able to stand on his own accord, but only on true faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus will come not just to judge, but to purify lives for himself, including the “Levites,” which I believe are us, because we are the priests of the Lord who serve him in his temple (our hearts) today. Those who are supposed to be his servants and messengers, but are not, will be purified of their sins of spiritual adultery, unfaithfulness and idolatry. The people will repent of their sins through this refining process, and then they will offer spiritual sacrifices to the Lord of broken and contrite hearts, and of lives given over to Jesus Christ, fully surrendered.

“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:4-5, 9).

Jesus spoke these things to the church. These letters to the churches precede the prophecies concerning the time of judgment to come:

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Rev. 2:4-5). “Nevertheless, I have a few things against you… Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth” (Rev. 2:14-16). “Nevertheless, I have this against you… I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways” (Rev. 2:20-22).

“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you” (Rev. 3:2-3). “… because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth… I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see” (Rev. 3:16-18).

The Messenger of the Covenant

Jesus Christ is the messenger of the New Covenant relationship between God and his people. Jesus Christ, God the Son, came to earth, was born as a baby, took on human flesh, suffered as we suffer, was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin; was rejected, despised, forsaken, abandoned, denied, betrayed, beaten and hung on a cross to die. He willingly went to the cross, though, because he loved us so much that he was willing to die for our sins, taking upon himself the sins of the entire world. He crucified our sins with him. He buried them with him. Yet, when he arose from the dead, he conquered death, hell, Satan and sin so that we could be free from both the penalty (eternity in hell) of sin, and the power and control of sin over our daily lives. We receive his forgiveness when we come to him in faith by his grace via repentance (turning from sin) and obedience to Christ.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking… Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

  You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:17-24).

If you have never made this decision to receive Jesus Christ by turning from your sin, being transformed in heart and mind of the Holy Spirit of God, and being made new in Christ in his true righteousness and holiness, then I pray you will make that decision today to make him Savior and Lord of your life. If you have bought into a false gospel that told you that you did not have to repent and that God is pleased with you no matter what you do, then I pray you will read through these scriptures carefully and prayerfully, and that you will allow Jesus Christ to reveal his truth to you, and that you will repent of your sins today and make Jesus your Lord and Savior. And, if you truly received Christ as Savior and Lord but have since wandered away from your pure devotion to him and have fallen back into sin, then my prayer is that you will turn from your sins today, and that you will be renewed in your fellowship with God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Believe God! Obey him today!

Full Release / An Original Work / April 15, 2012

Walking daily with my Savior brings me joy.

Loving Father; precious Jesus;

He’s my Savior and my Lord.

Gently leads me; follow Him.

I’ve invited Him within.

Now abiding in His presence, oh, what peace.

From my self-life He has brought me,

By His mercy, full release.

Hope and comfort, peace and safety Jesus brings

When I daily bow before Him;

Obey freely; do His will.

Follow Him where’er He leads.

Listen to Him; His words heed.

Now obeying his words fully, oh, what love

That He gives me through salvation,

By His Spirit, from above.

Loving Father; precious Jesus, He’s my friend.

With my Savior, by His Spirit,

I will endure to the end.

Share the gospel, tell what’s true.

Witness daily; His will do.

Tell the world of how their Savior bled and died.

On a cruel cross He suffered

So that we might be alive.

http://youtu.be/q1i0FCm46gw

Firm in the Faith

Wednesday, April 25, 2012, 9:10 a.m. – The Lord woke me this morning with the song, “Our Eyes on Jesus,” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Malachi 2:1-9 (NIV 1984):

Admonition for the Priests

  “And now this admonition is for you, O priests. If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me.

  “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will spread on your faces the offal from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. And you will know that I have sent you this admonition so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the LORD Almighty. “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.

  “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction—because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the LORD Almighty. “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”

My Understanding: When we study or teach the Old Testament writings, we must do so in light of the teachings of the New Testament under the New Covenant, because we are now under the New Covenant of grace through Jesus’ shed blood on the cross for our sins. So, I will attempt to always parallel any teachings from the Old Testament to the New Testament, where applicable, so that I am not teaching something that no longer applies to us, and so that I remain accurate to what the New Testament teaches us, the church, today.

The New Testament teaches us that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). This “All Scripture” includes the Old Testament. So, we can still learn godly principles for Christian living from the Old Testament, and that is what we will be looking at today.

To the Priests

The priests of the Old and New Testaments, prior to Jesus Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, ascension into heaven, and the sending of his Holy Spirit to indwell the lives of believers in Christ, were the mediators between God and man. They presented offerings to God for the sins of the people. Then, Jesus Christ, God the Son, died on the cross for our sins, thus becoming our perfect sacrifice once for all, for all sin (see the book of Hebrews). Thus, these priestly sacrifices are no longer needed for sin, nor is there any need for us to have human mediators between us and God the Father. Jesus Christ’s death tore that veil in half that stood between us and the Holy of Holies so that now, through faith in Jesus Christ, we can enter into God’s holy presence without the need for human mediators. Jesus Christ became, not only our sacrifice for sins so that we could go free from the penalty and control of sin, but through his life of suffering and his death and resurrection he also became our compassionate, merciful and faithful high priest. So, there is no longer a need for human priests, in the sense that they had in the times of the Old and New Testaments prior to Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death for our sins.

Not only is Jesus Christ now our only high priest and mediator between us and God the Father, but we are also priests, in that we now have direct access to God, through faith in Christ, without human intervention. 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9 says: “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” And, Rev. 1:5b-6; 5:10 says: “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.” (Speaking about Jesus Christ and his followers) “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

Jesus Christ did away with the need of continuous blood sacrifice for sins, but he did not do away with sacrifice entirely. As priests of God Almighty; his servants and messengers; his chosen people; a holy nation (spiritual) belonging to God; and those who have been freed from our sins by his blood, we are to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Ps. 51:17). “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (Rom. 12:1-2a). The sacrifices God now desires are those of hearts and lives given over to him in full surrender and obedience to his will, and to his purposes and desires for our lives.

We, as kingdom priests, are also to declare the praises of him (Jesus Christ) who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. The praises of Christ are the totality of who he was and is, and what he did for us in dying on the cross for our sins, i.e. we are to declare the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ by our lives and by our words (see Matt. 28:18-20). And, we are to share our testimony of how he freed us from sin and how he gave us new lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord (see Acts 1:8). We have been given the greatest gift of all – the gift of eternal life, and we should want nothing more than for others to know Christ Jesus, too, so they can have life, and so they can be freed from the control and penalty of sin, too!

Priestly Duties

In applying this passage of scripture to today, we must now look at it in light of the New Testament teaching concerning priests and the priesthood of the believer in Christ. So, although this was speaking to those who served as mediators between God and man, and thus they had a grave responsibility before God to live exemplary lives and to lead the people to follow after God, these responsibilities are truly the same for all believers in Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament, with the exception of serving as mediator between man and God, and with the exception of offering animal sacrifices for people’s sins.

In other words, we are all responsible to listen to God and to his words and to obey what he says, for true listening is followed by obedience. “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (Jms. 1:22). We are all to honor (respect; reverence; give devotion to; and stand in awe of) God/Jesus and his name. “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Tim. 1:17). “These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Pet. 1:7).

Every follower of Christ should have true instruction on his tongue and nothing false should come from his lips. “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body” (Eph. 4:25). “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col. 3:8-10). And, we should all walk in uprightness and have peace with God. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ…” (Titus 2:11-13).

We should all turn many from sin. “‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you… I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me’” (Acts 26:16-18). This is the responsibility of all servants and witnesses for Jesus Christ. “My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins” (Jms. 5:19-20).

Admonishment

“But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble…” (Malachi 2:8a). Many have turned from “the way.” Jesus is “the way”: “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The gospel of Jesus Christ is “the Way”: “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2). So, to turn from “the way” means to turn from Jesus Christ and from the truth of the gospel of Christ and his word. We can turn from “the way” while still holding on to a primary faith in Christ, or hold on to religious practice, giving lip service, but our hearts being far from him. In other words, we can still be Christians but fall away from our pure devotion to Christ, our “first love,” and we can fall back into sin.

The worst part of this, though, is that when we do this, not only are we betraying our covenant relationship with Jesus Christ and are hurting ourselves and that relationship, but we also influence others to follow suit. As ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which we all have been commissioned to be, and as the Lord’s servants, we also have a grave responsibility before God, not only to live the life we profess ourselves, but also to set an example for others in life and in purity. Yet, this is speaking beyond even just setting the right example, but this is speaking about consciously and willfully causing others to fall into sin by our teaching. Many false teachers are doing that today when they preach a false gospel absent of true repentance and obedience to Christ and to his commands. Many today are teaching that repentance and obedience are not required for salvation, yet the New Testament clearly teaches just the opposite. True faith is equivalent with true repentance and a turning of one’s life to follow after Christ in full obedience. This is a working of the Holy Spirit, though, and is not something we can do in our own flesh, yet we must fully cooperate with that work. To teach otherwise is to leave people in their sin.

Jesus Christ is our perfect (ideal) example for how we should live our lives. He is the only one (priest) who ever perfectly revered God the Father, who stood in awe of his name, who perfectly had true instruction in his mouth, and nothing false was found on his lips. He is the only one who walked with God the Father in perfect righteousness and uprightness, and who truly and absolutely turned many from sin. He is the true messenger of the Lord God Almighty, and our only faithful, compassionate and merciful high priest. In 1 John we learn that we must walk as Jesus walked, so he is the example we are to follow. None of us will ever be perfect in this life, as he was and is perfect, but in his strength and power within us we can live godly and upright lives, in true holiness that comes from God/Christ alone.

Our Eyes on Jesus / An Original Work / April 23, 2012

Based off Hebrews 12:2-13

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.

Our faith starts and grows in Him,

Who for the joy set before Him

Endured all our sin.

Scorning the shame of the cross,

He sat down beside God above.

He was willing to die for us,

To save us, in love.

Think about the opposition

He endured from sinful men,

So when you go through life’s trials,

You stay strong within.

Knowing all He went through for us

Helps us not grow weak of heart;

Not grow weary; don’t give up;

And not from Him depart.

In your struggle against sin’s ways,

Resist not to shed your blood.

Have you forgotten the words

God spoke to us in love?

“My child, don’t ignore it when

The Lord corrects you; do faint not,

Because the Lord disciplines those

That He loves, of God.”

God rebukes us all for our good;

Share with Him in holiness.

It produces a harvest of

God’s own righteousness.

Therefore, strengthen all within you

That is weak and might give way.

Stand firm in the faith God gives you;

Trust Him and obey.

http://youtu.be/42vBVB1ERjI

Our Eyes on Jesus

The other day I was praying through some present situations in my life. I was feeling weary and I was losing heart over the situation, so I prayed for renewed strength. Then, I pulled out the Bible study we are doing in our ladies’ Tuesday morning Bible study, and I read Hebrews 12:2-3: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Wow! That immediately spoke to my heart, and the situation I was going through, and God began to fill me with his peace and joy. Then, today, as I prayed for words to a tune the Lord had given me, he led me back to this passage of scripture, and once again he encouraged my heart to rely on his strength.

“In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:

   ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,

   and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

because the Lord disciplines those he loves,

   and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.’

  Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons…”

Our Eyes on Jesus / An Original Work / April 23, 2012

Based off Hebrews 12:2-13

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.

Our faith starts and grows in Him,

Who for the joy set before Him

Endured all our sin.

Scorning the shame of the cross,

He sat down beside God above.

He was willing to die for us,

To save us, in love.

Think about the opposition

He endured from sinful men,

So when you go through life’s trials,

You stay strong within.

Knowing all He went through for us

Helps us not grow weak of heart;

Not grow weary; don’t give up;

And not from Him depart.

In your struggle against sin’s ways,

Resist not to shed your blood.

Have you forgotten the words

God spoke to us in love?

“My child, don’t ignore it when

The Lord corrects you; do faint not,

Because the Lord disciplines those

That He loves, of God.”

God rebukes us all for our good;

Share with Him in holiness.

It produces a harvest of

God’s own righteousness.

Therefore, strengthen all within you

That is weak and might give way.

Stand firm in the faith God gives you;

Trust Him and obey.

Song lyrics @ Public Domain

Audio, song lyrics and sheet music (free):

https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/our-eyes-on-jesus

Song on video:

http://youtu.be/42vBVB1ERjI

The Open Fountain

Sunday, April 22, 2012, 8:35 a.m. – When I awoke this morning, the song, “The Windows of Heaven,” was playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Zechariah 13 (NIV 1984):

Cleansing From Sin

  “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

  “On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,” declares the LORD Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land. And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother, to whom he was born, will say to him, ‘You must die, because you have told lies in the LORD’s name.’ When he prophesies, his own parents will stab him.

  “On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his prophetic vision. He will not put on a prophet’s garment of hair in order to deceive. He will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.’ If someone asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your body?’ he will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’

The Shepherd Struck, the Sheep Scattered

  “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,

   against the man who is close to me!”

   declares the LORD Almighty.

“Strike the shepherd,

   and the sheep will be scattered,

   and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

In the whole land,” declares the LORD,

   “two-thirds will be struck down and perish;

   yet one-third will be left in it.

This third I will bring into the fire;

   I will refine them like silver

   and test them like gold.

They will call on my name

   and I will answer them;

I will say, ‘They are my people,’

   and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”

My Understanding: The day is the day of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it encompasses his first coming to earth to be born as a baby, his life and ministry on the earth, his death and resurrection, his ascension into heaven, his sending of the Holy Spirit to indwell the lives of believers in Jesus Christ, and his coming again in judgment - first of all the judgment of the tribulation period, and then the judgment at the end of the tribulation period at which time he will send the beast and the false prophet to the lake of fire, and he will bind Satan (the dragon) for a thousand years. Then we will experience his millennial kingdom reign on the earth with him, and then will come the final judgment, I believe.

So, when we read Zechariah, we must read it in that context, and understand that it blends together all the events, beginning with Jesus Christ’s coming to earth the first time all the way to the final judgments on the earth and on the earth’s inhabitants. Thus, this is not written in chronological order, but it jumps back and forth in time frequently.

A Fountain Opened

Jesus told the Samaritan woman, with whom he spoke at the well, about the living water that he gives. He said: “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn. 4:14). And, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (Jn. 7:37b-38). This is the fountain that was opened to the house of David (the Jews) and the inhabitants of Jerusalem at the time when Jesus Christ lived and walked on the earth, and in particular since his death, resurrection, ascension into heaven and his sending of the Holy Spirit (living water) to indwell the hearts and lives of his followers has the gospel spread to all men.

Jesus Christ became our perfect (sinless) sacrifice for the sins of the entire world, to cleanse us from sin and impurity. Jesus Christ, God the Son, left his throne in heaven, humbled himself, took on human flesh and the role of a servant. He lived on this earth, he suffered as we suffer, and was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin. He was rejected by his own people, and was hounded and harassed at every turn by the religious leaders. They mocked, ridiculed, accused falsely, abused, rejected, despised, spat upon, scourged, and hung him on a cross to die as though he was a criminal, when he had done no wrong. Yet, he willingly went through all of that for you and for me, because he was to die in our place for our sins so that we could be free – free from the punishment of sin (eternity in hell) and free from the daily control and power of sin over our lives.

Not only did he die for our sins so we could be free, but he went through all that suffering and temptations of the flesh so that he could become our compassionate, merciful and faithful high priest to whom we can go with our problems, hurts, pain, suffering, temptations, etc., and find a mediator (Jesus Christ) between us and God the Father who understands and who sympathizes with us in our weaknesses, but who never placates sin.

Just because Jesus Christ died for the sins of all men, and just because he has provided a way for all men to be saved for eternity, does not mean all people are saved. We must believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Christ, die to our old way of living in sin, be transformed in our hearts and minds by the working of the Holy Spirit within us, and we must put on Christ in all his holiness and righteousness. Simply put, we must stop- make a U-turn – and then go forward. We must repent of our sins (turn from them), and we must turn to follow Christ in obedience. This is how we come to know Christ and are found in him as one of his disciples (followers). We don’t do this in our own flesh, though. This is the working of the Holy Spirit of God within us as we cooperate and agree with that work, i.e. as we appropriate it to our own lives.

“You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:20-24).

The Shepherd Struck

Jesus Christ quoted part of this passage of scripture on the night he was betrayed, arrested and handed over to be crucified. He is the shepherd being spoken of here, and although the Jews did the actual physical killing of Jesus Christ, it was God the Father who struck him, for this is the very reason Jesus came to the earth, to die for our sins. Yet, it was not just the Jews who hung Jesus Christ on the cross, for he died for the sins of the entire world. So, in essence, it was all of our sins that sent him to die a cruel death so that we could go free.

When Jesus Christ was arrested, his disciples were scattered (dispersed), as they fled out of fear. They abandoned Jesus Christ in his hour of need. One betrayed him. Another denied him three times, yet they were all guilty of forsaking him. At least one stood with him, though, when he was hung on the cross for our sins. When Jesus rose from the dead and he appeared to his disciples, they were reunited for a time until Jesus ascended into heaven. Yet, he promised to send his Holy Spirit to be with them forever, and he fulfilled that promise. When the Holy Spirit came upon them, they began to preach the gospel, and that is when severe persecution broke out, and they were scattered due to persecution.

Jesus did refine his followers and he did test them, as the early church went through much severe persecution, and many were killed for their testimony for Jesus Christ. He had promised them (and all of us) that they would be hated as he was hated, rejected, beaten, imprisoned, accused falsely, and many would be put to death for the sake of the name of Jesus and the sake of the gospel. Many believers of Jesus Christ throughout the world since then have had to endure this kind of severe persecution for their faith and testimony for Jesus Christ. We, in the USA, have known little of this kind of severe persecution, but that time will come for us, too, and for the purpose of refining us, as well, and for getting the adulterous church to return to her “first love,” as well as to bring many people to faith in Jesus Christ, including a remnant of Jews, I believe.

The Tribulation

I believe this prophecy of Jesus Christ includes not only his crucifixion on the cross for our sins and our subsequent salvation, but it also incorporates the time of tribulation to come upon the earth. This prophecy in Zechariah speaks of the cleansing of sin produced by Jesus’ blood sacrifice for our sins, yet it also speaks of another cleansing of sin to take place in judgment, for the purpose of judgment is always to get people to return to their God so that he can restore them to a right relationship with him.

When Jesus Christ judges the earth and its inhabitants during the time of tribulation, his (or its) purpose will be not only to punish, but to cleanse the people and the earth of sin and impurity. It is only in judgment that truly all idols will be banished from the land and remembered no more, though this does happen to some extent when we repent of our sins and we turn to walk in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior. It is only in judgment that false prophets will be completely removed from the land, though this can also take place to some extent as those who have taught the word of God falsely repent of their sins and turn to walk in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ.

During the time of tribulation the shepherd will be struck in the sense that the true church will undergo severe persecution and many will be martyred for their faith in Christ. We, the church, are the body of Christ. What is done to us is done to him. Revelation 12-13 speaks much to this issue of the persecution of the saints of God during the tribulation. Many believers throughout the world have already had to undergo this kind of severe persecution, as Satan (the dragon) has been pursuing the Shepherd and those who hold to the testimony of Jesus Christ for a long time (see Rev. 12). Revelation also predicts two-thirds of the earth and its inhabitants being wiped out, and it speaks of a remnant that will come out of the time of tribulation. As well the Bible, in Revelation 19, teaches us that through this time of tribulation the bride has made herself ready for the wedding of the Lamb.

Living Water

Jesus Christ is offering this living water to everyone. We receive his salvation through repentance (turning from our sin) and through turning to walk in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ. The ability to repent and to obey are gifts from God and are the working of the Holy Spirit within us as we agree and cooperate with that work. Yet, many have believed a false gospel that teaches that repentance and obedience to Christ are not necessary for salvation, and many others, who once followed Christ in pure devotion, have fallen away from their pure devotion to Jesus Christ and have forsaken their “first love.” Jesus Christ wants all men to come to salvation and to receive eternal life with God in heaven. If you have not yet turned your life to Jesus Christ, I pray you do so today. If you have believed a false gospel and you have never repented of your sins and turned to walk in obedience to Christ, I pray you will do so today. And, if you are a true believer in Christ, but you have fallen back into sin, have become complacent about your relationship with Jesus Christ, and/or you have forsaken your “first love,” I pray that you will return to Jesus Christ today and allow his healing mercies to cleanse you, revive you and renew you to a right relationship with him.

The Windows of Heaven are Open / Unknown / Artist: Gaithers

Why are you lying face down in the dust

Your accusers have all run away

And I don't condemn you, you're free to be clean

Get up and start a new day

Son, the path you have chosen has taken you far

Now you're homeless and sick and afraid

But there's a party and music to welcome you home

And all the expense has been paid

The windows of heaven are open,

The blessings are falling tonight

There's joy, joy, joy in my heart

Since Jesus made everything right

I gave Him my old tattered garments

He gave me a robe of pure white

I'm feasting on manna from heaven

And that's why I'm happy tonight.