Rejoicing in the Lord

 I took this picture when we visited my dad in Arizona

Yesterday I posted about John MacArthur  and listened to Jacob Prasch's teachings about all the things that we see wrong in the world, and how it is going to get much, much worse....and I know it is true and certainly we need to be in prayer about all these terrible things we see happening all around us, AND I can still be joyful in all that God does, has done, and has promised to do for all who are His.

Isaiah 61:10-11 

  

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, 

my soul shall be joyful in my God;

 for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation,

 he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, 

as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, 

and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.  

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, 

and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; 

so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise 

to spring forth before all the nations. 

Very soon it will be spring. I've planted a few seeds, some of my seedlings are doing well, and others not so well (I have more seeds so I'm gonna keep trying!) I can hardly wait to put them outside and see it all blooming adorning our little home with God's gifts in nature They are reminders from Jesus that one day all of creation will rejoice in the wonderful things He does for us.

Without God it is Impossible

Matthew 19:25-26 
 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

 


Another sermon originally given by Charles Spurgeon, what a powerful message, please make time to listen, what a blessing!:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=51505111856

 

Choosing or Chosen?

1Thessalonians 1:4-6 
For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit ...


Romans 1:1-7 
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,   which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,   concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh   and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,   through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,  including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,  To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:1-8 
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,   even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,   so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God...

 Romans 8:27-39 
And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.   And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.   For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.   And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.   What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?   He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?   Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.   Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?   As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."   No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.




Colossians 3:10  
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.  Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.  Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,   bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.   And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Romans 9:17-28  
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?"

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? 

Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?  What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?   As indeed he says in Hosea, "Those who were not my people I will call 'my people,' and her who was not beloved I will call 'beloved.'"   "And in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"  And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved,   for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay."

This passage is especially important to study and seek the Lord to understand with His understanding regarding His chosing us:

John 6:37-71  
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.  For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."  So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."  They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"   Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves.  No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—  not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."  The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"   So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.  For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.  Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.  This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever."Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this?Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you  are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)   And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?"Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil." He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.

*********** 

As an aside, on the topic of the bread being the Lord's body (in answer to the false teaching of transubstantiation), it is my personal belief, and I could be wrong, that this has to do with the affliction that He had to endure, and that those who follow Him will also endure, and I only have this to base that belief on:

Isaiah 30:18-20

Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.   For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you.   And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 

1Peter 2:19-21  

For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.  For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.  For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 

All scriptural references in this posting are from the ESV (English Revised Version)

How Free Are We Really?

It's been an incredibly busy couple of months including yard work, vacation, more yard work, scanning family albums, more yard work, you get the idea...anyway, scanning photos from the family albums has afforded me the time to listen to many sermons. I've had the pleasure the past few days to feast on God's word with the able companionship of Pastor R.C. Sproul. I'm not in 100% agreement with him on all things, however this topic isn't one of those things.

The matter of free will often comes up in Christian social media conversations...how free are we? If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed...but prior to salvation, were you free to choose the Lord's way over the love you had for yourself and this world?

I love what Dr. Sproul asks about grace: Is it an absolute prerequisite to salvation OR is grace just simply an aid?

To Confess Christ the Son of God

I've been using the above as a springboard in examining the steps that need to be a part of the salvation process. I am not one to rigidly hold to formulas in regards to what needs to happen to be saved. However there are essential ingredients that need to be there in order for it to truly be true. Just as you need certain ingredients to make a meatloaf (for instance) you cannot use the ingredients to make a cake and then call it a meatloaf. The above outline is the skeleton, the basic framework of what needs to happen in order to be saved by grace through faith in Jesus.

In the previous installments I've looked at hearing the word, believing in Jesus, and repenting of sin. Now we will look at what is meant by confessing Christ.

I'll begin, as I did previously, with the verses mentioned in the outline:

Matthew 10:32-33 (KJV)
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.



Acts 8:37  (KJV)
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.


and to these I'll add:

Romans 10:9-10  (KJV)
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.


But what does it mean to confess Jesus? Is it a one time event at baptism that you shout "I believe in Jesus for the remission of my sins!!!" and have that be the magic incantation that "gets you in"? No. Yet that is what I often see. If you continue the above Matthew passage, it gives us another clue about what this is talking about.

Matthew 10:34-40 (KJV)
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.   For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.   And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.   He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.   And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.   He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.   He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

The confession that is spoken about in the Bible is the kind that will cause people who hate Jesus to also hate you, and if you decide that your relationships with family and friends are more valuable to you than risking those relationships, knowing that you might lose that bond of love and friendship with those persons and if you would rather keep your earthly relationships and your earthly rewards rather than speak up the warnings given in God's word, you have decided against confessing Jesus.

True worship and true confession can come only through the One who makes all things true. Without Jesus transforming power none of us could tell the truth because the Bible says:

1 Corinthians 12:3 (KJV)
Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

We must be beggars at Jesus feet asking Him for those things that are needful for our salvation. He will turn no one away who asks things of Him that are in accordance with His will.

Matthew 7:7-8  (KJV)
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:   For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.


James 1:5 (KJV)
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.



1 John 5:14-15  (KJV)
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:   And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

The next and final installment of this series will be on the topic of the believer's baptism. I hope you  will be able to join me next time.

Believing Jesus

(all scriptural texts in this post are from the King James Version)

Last post explored the first step, hearing the word, in the above list of steps of salvation. The second step according to the above is to believe Jesus.

John 8:24  I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. 


Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

 A third passage is one that comes to mind in regards to this step:

Mark 9:23-24  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.   And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

We are dependent on the Lord for everything (even when we fail to realize it), for the air we breath, the sun bringing warmth to our planet, plants and animals for food, our very existence even depends on Jesus. When this world changed with the fall of Eve and Adam, a breach appeared in the relationship between God and man. Now God had to seek for Adam and Eve because they hid themselves from Him, something had changed. When God called out to him Adam answered God saying that he was afraid because of his nakedness. Fear is the opposite of faith and trust. God casts them out of the beautiful Garden of Eden into a life fraught with danger and pain and sorrow, but He also gives them hope, the hope of overcoming evil, the promise of crushing it's head, but evil will still bruise Eve's offspring's heel.

Jesus is that offspring.

We all have fears, fear of heights, fear of spiders, fear of the dark, fear of public speaking, fear of death....the things you fear might not be the same things that I fear however we all have fear of something. Fear stems from our broken relationship with our Creator. The Apostle John said "Perfect love casts out all fear"

 1 John 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Let's look at that passage:


1John 4:15-21  

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 
 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.
 God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.  
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment:
 because as he is, so are we in this world.  
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: 
because fear hath torment. 
He that feareth is not made perfect in love.   
We love him, because he first loved us.  
 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: 
for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, 
how can he love God whom he hath not seen?  
And this commandment have we from him, 
That he who loveth God love his brother also.



To believe Jesus, we need to seek Him continually until we find Him, even asking Him to help our unbelief because without His help we are helpless. Jesus loves us. He loves us so much He laid His life down for us. He took the worst the devil could dish out to Him, bruising His heel for us. Our unbelief comes from our broken relationship with God. Only He can repair it, and He has! By the cross. He poured out His life for us. He threw Himself on the grenade that was meant to kill us, and took the punishment for us. His perfect love removes and heals our fear, replacing it with trust, a loving trust in Him seeing what He has done for us, and that love and trust then goes out from us to others, as He has forgiven us we can now forgive others, as He has laid down His life for us we also can lay down our lives for others.

I pray that you will find that rest, that perfect peace, that removal of the fears that beset you, in that perfect love that Jesus has for all who truly come to Him.

Back to Basics

(Bible passages in this post taken from the King James Version)

Sometimes we need to revisit the basics, especially when many pastors are, for the most part, not teaching it anymore.

 Today I'll touch on #1, hearing the word.

The passage that Romans 10:17 comes from is talking about reaching out to Israel, and the fact that other nations are actually being blessed by the fact that Israel rejected the Messiah, and that the Lord will use it to provoke Israel to jealousy.

 Romans 10:13-21  

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?

 and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

 and how shall they hear without a preacher?  

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? 

as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!   

But they have not all obeyed the gospel. 

For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?   

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  

But I say, Have they not heard? 

Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.  But I say, Did not Israel know? 

First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.  

But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.  

But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. 

Although I agree with the above tidy little synopsis of what needs to happen in order to be saved, there is much, much more that is going on in the process that goes beyond human ability to perform. Not all who hear the truth receive it, and yet all who hear it receive it with gladness. It is  a paradox.

Act 28:26-28  Saying, Go unto this people, and say, 

Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; 

and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:   

For the heart of this people is waxed gross,

 and their ears are dull of hearing, 

and their eyes have they closed; 

lest they should see with their eyes,

 and hear with their ears, 

and understand with their heart, 

and should be converted, 

and I should heal them.   

Be it known therefore unto you, 

that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, 

and that they will hear it.

There it is again, the emphasis of the truth spreading to other nations as a result of Israel's neglecting to receive it, having hardened their hearts to the act of hearing from the Lord. Something else that is given in this passage is the fact that there are two types of hearing: 1. hearing that hears and 2. hearing that doesn't hear. 

There is a supernatural element (and let me be clear when I use the word "supernatural" it isn't in a new age magical sense of the word) that involves a proper searching, a heart that is humbled before God receives from Him, whereas a haughty, self-righteous, self-promoting, self-centered heart hardens itself against what God says, and even though persons with hard hearts hear the words, those words do nothing to enrich those prideful, selfish, hardened persons hearing them. We have all been there haven't we? I know that I have been there. There have been several occasions that people reached out to me with God's word to me, and those words fell on my deaf ears that couldn't hear Him, couldn't penetrate my hard heart. But when the Lord did it, I wasn't even looking for Him at the time, yet He softened my heart to hear a family that reached out to me in love. He opened my deaf ears to hear for the first time the words that I in my worldly wisdom had scoffed at. Yes, it was supernatural, it was a miracle, but it was such a quiet one, one that had no magical, dazzling, spectacular special effects to bring everyone around to gasping in excited exclamations of wonder. It was a very quiet and humble miracle, just like all other miracles that humbly meet us every day, the ones we for the most part take for granted. 

With eyes to see and ears to hear, the commonplace, the every day things, take on special significance of the many wonderful blessings, miracles, that Jesus performs for us on a continual basis, by which He sustains our lives...until it is time to go to be with Him, or, for those who have not received, have continued to harden their hearts, have continued to insist they know better than the God of the Bible, those will be eternally without Him, only having their own tormenting thoughts to keep them company throughout eternity.   

We can go back and forth, and round and round, whether it ends up being God's fault that many never hear in the saving sense of the word, or whether it is man's fault (false teachers not getting the true word out and rebellious hearts rejecting the truth when it is correctly presented) and I have settled it in my own mind that God knows perfectly what He is doing and He doesn't make mistakes. Man does make mistakes, every day, anyone who does not agree with that fact is very deluded indeed. So in my humble estimation of who is at fault, I would never be so presumptuous as to say it is God who is to be blamed for people going to hell. 

Another factor that needs bringing up in the matter of hearing the truth is prayer. We need to pray for our unsaved loved ones, friends, family, and even strangers who cross our paths. Many pray for frivolous things, or even things that are  not frivolous such as the health and temporal well-being of others, which may or may not receive an answer to the petitioner's liking. Much better to pray for something of eternal significance; the salvation of the lost. That is something of eternal value, all the rest will eventually fade and die anyway. When our prayers for the lost together with the true word going out to them reach the lost via the Holy Spirit of God, a revival of God's quiet and humble miracle of salvation can ignite in the lives of the hearers, having their ears opened by the true and powerful living God, to whom all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

Next time I'll tackle #2.

It's All About Jesus

Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.
Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility:
for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time:
Casting all your care upon him;
for he careth for you.

1 Peter 5:5-7 (KJV)

Humility is a funny thing,  the minute you think you have it you don't. My husband likes to quip "I'm humble, and I'm proud of it!".

I recently saw a post on Facebook by a gentleman who is a somewhat famous Christian performer, a singer/songwriter, who went on and on about how he isn't as wonderful as everyone keeps telling him that he is, about how terrible he is, how he's done things that caused him to lose friends, things he's embarrassed to talk about, loathsome even, and that he's wanted to commit suicide but hasn't because he's too much of a coward and doesn't want to face the Lord who would then chastise him for having cut short his life, a gift from God which only God has the right to begin and end. All the things he said were correct with what we ought to think about ourselves when our focus is on self.

These things, although true, ought to be (for the most part unless giving encouragement to someone who thinks they cannot be saved because of this or that sin in their life) a private condition that we have between ourselves and the Lord, and as we cast all of these cares on Him it is He who takes care of these things, and will exalt us in the proper way and the proper time. I read many of the comments this young man received in response to his posting. Predictably many  of them said "You are awesome" and "Amen" and some talked about the suicide of a loved one. The focus was still wrong, on self, not on Jesus.

Our walk with Jesus does cause us to reflect on our sinful nature, to realize the price He paid to save us, and thereby live a life that glows with the gratitude of receiving grace that is undeserved. When the focus is me, it pulls me down and back into thinking about the things the flesh wants, and all the trouble that it gets me, and when I get pulled down enough and feel more and more terrible (the "slough of despond" in the book  Pilgrim's Progress), the Lord reminds me that He saved me from all of that stuff.

I do appreciate the fact that this performer wants to confess his sin at a time when most want to pretend sin doesn't exist, or that it is all a state of mind and that we can choose whatever we want as long as we ourselves are happy, making that the only thing that matters. However let us instead keep the focus on Jesus and what He has done for us. He has forgiven our sin when we confessed it and are truly humbled by what we know to be true about ourselves.

It really doesn't matter what other people say and think about us and the social medias are full of people saying things that they may or may not mean. What matters is Jesus, and Him alone. As John the Baptist said: "He must increase and I must decrease".

Morning and Evening Readings...

My morning and evening bible readings (I've been reading the Bible in the mornings and at bedtime since beginning of the year) have been a blessing. I'm in the book of 1 Kings right now, and notice things I haven't noticed before. The Bible is such an amazing and miraculous book! I am so humbled by all of the wisdom and paradoxes that are laid out for us to ponder and pray about. Until this reading I thought that the widow who gave Elijah the bread (her last) got bread and oil for the rest of her life. On this reading I see that the reason she was out of bread was because of the severe drought, and Elijah told her that the flour and oil would replenish itself UNTIL it rained again:



1Ki 17:14  For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 

https://wonderingpreacher.wordpress.com/2013/06/09/elijah-and-the-widow-of-zarephath-a-prayer/

Spiritual Gifts

My morning reading was in the book of 1 Corinthians, and it is interesting to me that the things that caused contentions then still do so even today. I guess we do not change all that much, do we?

1Co 11:18 ... when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part,
1Co 11:19  for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.


The Lord even has a plan in this, He's got it under control even when it all looks out of whack to you and me. And we must take care when we think we have it so much better than everyone else, because all good gifts come from God, not from ourselves, and He has these things to further His kingdom, which in His kindness and generosity He has made available to us who do not deserve it, let's face it NONE OF US do.

1Co 12:22 ... the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
1Co 12:23  and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,
1Co 12:24  which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,
1Co 12:25  that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.


When we proudly wag our finger at others for their shame, shame, shame, we need to be careful (and I say this especially to myself!!!I am GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY  of this terrible offense),  because the Lord who sees all will correct the problems correctly in His time. In the meantime let us not know anything more than Jesus and that He was crucified for our sins that we might live and reign with Him forever.

1Co 2:1  And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
1Co 2:2  For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
1Co 2:3  And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,
1Co 2:4  and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
1Co 2:5  so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Saved? or Self Deceived?

In this 2 part sermon, John MacArthur pours out his heart to exposit on the passage:

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.   And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:   And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.   And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine
Matthew 7:22-28 (KJV)

Pastor MacArthur explains what he sees as marks of a true believer, and the evidences that expose those who may be false and self deceived "followers" of Christ.

False "believers":

1. Want signs and healings
2. Want gimmicks
3. Want to feel good
4. Want to receive blessings
5. Or they may be religionists. Many "Christians" that aren't are simply trying to work their way there by doing all the moral and religious works they believe will make them good enough...

True believers:

1. Want only Jesus
2. Are penitent and truly sorry for their sins

He says much more, take a listen...the good medicine convicts and brings you truly to the throne of forgiveness and God's grace:

Phil Johnson Interview

In this radio interview on Pirate Christian Radio, Phil Johnson dissects and explains what is missing in Rick Warren's message in his (Warren's) interview with John Piper. It is pointed out that John Piper often assists Warren with what Warren believes in Piper's attempts to reconcile Rick Warren's message with what the Bible actually teaches. Also understood from this interview critique is Warren's superficial treatment of the Bible compared to Piper's deeper understanding and conviction. It is a matter of quantity vs. quality (as also pointed out by Pastor Johnson). Warren says he wants to reach the many with the gospel, but then when talking with his audiences he neglects to present the gospel and often doesn't ever mention the name of Jesus (especially to his Jewish and Muslim audiences). He (Warren) jokes about his superficial understanding towards the end of this analysis. I personally believe pastors like Warren (and I use the term pastor very loosely in the case of Rick Warren) cause many to think and believe they are saved when actually they are not...some of his listeners might be saved but it isn't because they were convicted of the truth because of what Mr. Warren teaches. God will prick the hearts of His own through the power of His word, not the inconsistent and superficial ramblings of someone like Mr. Warren.

 I listened to this while doing housework, and got a lot done during this time (two and a half hours). It is time well spent.

Let me also say (maybe I should amend my commenting instructions) that if you comment without listening to this presentation I won't answer the comment. If the comment is completely irrelevant to what this post and conversation in the Youtube video is about I may choose to not post your comment. Thank you for your understanding in this matter and I hope and pray that many might be blessed by this interesting critique of how God's word is being presented.

A Proper Response

 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.  And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep.
For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. 
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry;
for the joy of the LORD is your strength.  
So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved.   And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them. 

Nehemiah 8:8-12 (KJV)

I've been thinking about the joy of the Lord being our strength in the light of people wanting to idolize a celebrity who takes his own life. Atheists want to claim him as a fellow atheist and Christians say he spoke openly of his Episcopalian association therefore that he was obviously a Christian. He made fun of his Episcopalian denomination calling it Catholic-lite. God only knows the real truth about this situation and we know that He is merciful and forgiving, however I don't think it is right to force God's hand in these situations by saying the things people do about it. Suicide is a very serious thing, and it is a sin. To make light of it and say people can definitely commit suicide and still go to heaven is saying something that God doesn't say in His word, the Bible. He also doesn't say that people who commit suicide definitely go to hell, but there are plenty of things said about perseverance and that the ability to persevere comes from God and not anything good in ourselves.

When the people of Nehemiah's day heard and understood the law they wept and grieved. Why? They were convicted by what it said. That is a proper response to reading and understanding the law, but it doesn't end there. Once they understood and were truly humbled and truly sorry, Nehemiah and Tirshatha and Ezra as well as the Levites taught the people not to focus this on themselves but to focus on the Lord and to find their joy in the Lord  which is their strength, not themselves.

I often see this portion of the passage taken out of it's proper context to condone behaving like lunatics as being "the joy of the Lord". No. They first recognized and mourned their sinfulness in light of the law, and then were taught by the Levites the proper way to have joy in the Lord and to rejoice and celebrate. There is nothing wrong in celebrating. There were many feasts mentioned in the O.T. (people often focus on the law and the battles being the only lessons found there). If we take these things in their proper context and their proper order we see that the proper response for truly understanding the law is sorrow for sin, and that we have a God who loves us enough to see our sins and forgive us of our sins and to strengthen us through the joy that comes from truly knowing and loving Him.

The Problem of Sin

One thing I have noticed over the past few months : the main problem that atheists have with Christianity (and that all people in general have a problem with, myself included) is the problem of sin, and it stems from the problem of pride, or more specifically: our vanity. We would all rather say that we aren't "that bad" especially if compared to someone like Jeffrey Dahmer or Hitler.

In this sermon Pastor Johnson takes a deeper look into the sin problem and why there had to be a solution which involved a substitutionary payment by Jesus on the cross. Pastor Johnson explains how the "liberal church" is editing Jesus sacrifice for sin out of our salvation equation, making it a "moral gospel", one of works instead of faith:

About Being Humble

Humility is a strange thing. My hubby once said to me: "The moment you say 'I am humble... and I'm proud of that fact' (lol), you prove that you are not." Of course most who think of themselves as humble wouldn't include the last part of that statement in their self-assessment, however they would if they were being completely honest about it...and that was my dear hubby's attempt at the humorous aspect of truly being humble.

One thing I have noticed is the atheists and "former Christians" I have listened to invariably come out with (and do so with the utmost feigned humility)"THE FACT" (I say that tongue firmly in cheek) that they are much smarter than those stupid, ignorant, uneducated, misinformed, dogmatic and obviously indoctrinated into a mass hallucination: Christians. I've seen it over and over again. Even a former blogger "friend" Alice G, who sadly is very good at her feigning of such humility, has said something regarding her superior understanding over the masses of less informed Christians.

Humility is not feigned, either you have it or you don't, and no amount of pretending to impress on others that you are indeed humble is the same as actually being humble. And then of course there are those who see pride as something to be proud of. So these will puff themselves up to show how proud they are of their pride, preening themselves and strutting about like silly peacocks.

Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith,
God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:5-7 (ESV)
        also see 1 Peter chapter 5

On Finding Contentment With God Part 2

In a recent post on this blog I mused about finding contentment with God. Paul said he had found the secret to finding that contentment:

Not that I am speaking of being in need, 
for 
I have learned 
in whatever situation I am to be content.  

I know how to 
be brought low,
and
I know how to 
abound. 
In any and every circumstance, 

I have learned 
the secret 

of facing 
plenty and hunger, 
abundance and need.   
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
(Philippians 4:11-13 KJV)

In that blogposting one of the questions I ask is:

"One day we will die and stand before Jesus.What will matter in that day?"

Will what I had for breakfast, lunch or dinner on any given day matter? Will what I wear today matter on that day? Will what I think of myself...

The Gospel: Why is it Good News?

Voddie explains the difficult concept of total depravity, and why it is vital to understand this in order to know fully well why it was necessary for Jesus to have to go through what He did for us. When we soft-pedal this we do not fully realize the awesomeness and the miraculousness of what Jesus did on our behalf. It is a difficult concept because we do not want to believe we are "that bad". Voddie goes into ways we try to wiggle out of the truth of the fact that we were totally depraved prior to Jesus redeeming us. He explains the difference between being restrained from completely falling into our totally depraved ways by the restraining power of God, but that this is not the same as being saved and released from the power of sin. He explains the difference. Very powerful and thought provoking and prayer provoking sermon. He also explains why it is vital that we tell the truth to others who are lost in false doctrines and sin, and why it is vital to pray for the the truth to be preached and the lost to be reached. Hope you  enjoy this message as much as I did.

Questions and Answers

Continuing with my Voddie Baucham binge I came upon this sermon and I am in awe of how much the Lord has blessed me through this sermon...even though the message is the same one (God never changes) Voddie is so gifted in breaking open the Truth of God's word to the understanding afresh.

In this sermon he asks life's 4 basic questions, and then answers these questions with "the world view" and then answers them with what the Bible says. Amazing grace, ever more and more amazing.

Voddie Baucham

I've heard others say "You have got to hear Voddie Baucham...he's an excellent preacher", and filed that away with "things and people I need to check out"...and then one day, a few days ago, I listened to Voddie, and I'm going to find me a whole lot of his sermons and go on a Voddie binge. I hope you will take about an hour to have your socks blessed right off:

The Pathology of False Disciples

John MacArthur nails it. Wow.