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.

The Problem of Evil Points to the Reality of God

A couple of Bible excerpts and then a powerful message from R.C. Sproul

But Joseph said to them,
 "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?  As for you, 
you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good,
to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today..."
Genesis 50: 19-20 (ESV)

and

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53:10-11

It seems that inevitably those who question God, call Him a liar, etc, inevitably bring up the subject of how an omnipotent and good God cannot and would not create or allow for evil.

In the video which follows, R.C. Sproul talks about evil, what it is, what it is not, why God allowed for evil (he admits he doesn't know, and then gives the best explanation I have ever heard for why God would allow for evil), and why what is terrible and evil would be in accordance with His supremacy and His perfect will.

The Message that We Preach

Each of us that has a blog is preaching a message whether we realize it or not. Is the message that we send out glorifying God and bringing honor to His name, or is it defiling it and casting doubt on His word and His goodness?

Unintentionally we all from time to time send out an errant message that detracts from what God says, I am just as guilty as anyone because none of us are perfect after all. The Bible does make clear, however, that there will be deceivers among us,

The "god" of This World

The devil is deceitful, everyone knows that, right? Well, maybe with the exception of outright satanists, who in a sense have it the most correct of the worldly religions. The satanists worship Lucifer, satan, as "god". Everyone who worships any other god  than the "God of the Bible" worships satan. This world's false religions include The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, Buddhism, Mohammedism, Roman Catholicism, the Sikh religion, Shintoism, Seventh day Adventism, secularism, humanism, and even Judaism, just to name some of the more common ones, and ALL OF THESE worship satan, whether they know it, or believe it.....or not. The truth remains what it is no matter who wants to believe whatever they may want to believe. Their god that they worship (even if it is themselves that they worship---truthfully it usually is) well, this "god" is the god of this world, and he (satan) is powerless to save them. He (satan) can only keep them deceived and worshiping himself to their complete destruction and downfall. How do I know this? The Bible tells me this.

2Co 4:2  But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.
2Co 4:3  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.
2Co 4:4  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.(ESV)

The Saddest Words in the Bible

 John 6:66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. (KJV)

 To me those are the saddest words in the whole Bible. There are several methods to "walk no more with Him", they involve rejecting what He said, to follow some other teacher who has a "better message". They stopped following because they believed not.

 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.   And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.   Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?   He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. John 6:64-71 (KJV)

Truth

Do we, as Christians, believe Jesus words? Is God's word true? Or are the philosophies that say "There are distortions" or "There are contradictions" or "The Bible's message changed throughout the ages, hell was added later" are these the ones telling the truth?

What did Jesus say?

Jesus said "there WILL BE weeping and gnashing of teeth"  5 times recorded in the gospels.

Matthew 8:12

Matthew 22:13

Matthew 24:51

Matthew 25:30

Luke 13:28

Regarding the sheep and the goats, Jesus said:

Matthew 25:46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.(KJV)

He couldn't really have meant EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT could He? That's probably a mistranslation...or probably that was added later by a monk who was having a bad day...either we believe the Bible, or we will want to change it and believe those who say "it couldn't really have meant it the way it is being exegeted, it must have changed over time or mistranslated". Jesus is "too loving" to allow for this, isn't He?

What about this famous passage:

Matthew 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Matthew 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (KJV)


The way that leads to Jesus is narrow and few find it...what? How unfair! No that cannot be true. The Bible must be lying. It actually says "EVERYONE GOES TO HEAVEN, THERE IS NO HELL" doesn't it? I heard a college professor tell people so when she explained how the Bible's message added hell after the time of Daniel. That's probably where Jesus got the idea, right? Then do you also not believe that Jesus is God and was with the Father from the beginning? Do you also not believe that He raised Lazarus from the dead and that He Himself is raised from the dead?

Jesus said:

Luke 16:31  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (KJV)

So who shall we believe? Jesus? Or shall we change things around a bit so that we will "feel better" about ourselves and get around those sticky verses that make us uncomfortable. Let's just make it that EVERYONE goes to heaven. Forget about what Jesus said, that stuff about the straight and narrow that not many will find. Who needs it? Too depressing. Everyone can go, because all we have to do is change what we believe and then all is well. Who cares where such philosophies will lead to because everyone will go to heaven. Period. End of discussion. You can talk all you want to, but now that I have my mind made up, no one, not even Jesus, can change it.

REALLY?

Matthew 7:22  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?
Matthew 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Matthew 7:24  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:
Matthew 7:25  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.
Matthew 7:26  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:
Matthew 7:27  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. (KJV)


What foundation do you have your ideas based on? Feelings? Theories? Someone's new religion? Or is it based on what Jesus said?

The only sin that can keep us from truly being born again is rejecting the truth and filling ourselves up with vain doctrines of men. Jesus said to enter into His kingdom we must be born again. It has to be all of Him in our lives, to be regenerated by His Spirit.

 Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Romans 8:10  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Romans 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (KJV)


and remember:

 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,  
 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.   
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.  
 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 
 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 
 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.  
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.   
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.   
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Matthew 5:2-13 (KJV)

Don't believe the lies. There are many of them "out there". Some do it to make a profit. Some do it to get around the truth of God's word because they think it is "too hard"...it's impossible without the Spirit...you must be born again. There's no way around it. Is that unfair? Is that mean and unloving? No. It just is the way it is. Those who reject it are the unloving ones, because they reject the way of Truth, the way of our merciful and loving God.

More on Flattery, From One of the Best Preachers Ever

  I tend to think that things were much much better in the 1800's. I love reading books that were written prior to 1930 because they seem to have real substance compared to what I see written today. It is hard for me to imagine it being "that bad" in Spurgeon's day. I wonder how he would view what he would see today if he were here today. When I read this (following excerpt) at Lyn's blog  I couldn't help but see this very thing still going on today, and of course it has always been there, we always have the problems of the flesh to deal with in our fallen state, and of course many in the church in each generation believes their generation is much worse than the one previous to the current one (my hubby keeps reminding me of the fact that I'm getting old this being one of the evidences for it). I cannot stand falseness, and it seems I used to have much more patience or rather I should say TOLERANCE for falseness and flattery and weakness being interpreted as being "loving". So what follows is for me a breath of fresh air break from the current atmosphere of caustic false fumes of false love:

False flattery

 From Psalm 78...

Verse 36 Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth. Bad were they at their best. False on their knees, liars in their prayers. Mouth worship must be very detestable to God when dissociated from the heart: other kings love flattery, but the King of kings abhors it. Since the sharpest afflictions only extort from carnal men a feigned submission to God, there is proof positive that the heart is desperately set on mischief, and that sin is ingrained in our very nature. If you beat a tiger with many stripes you cannot turn him into a sheep. The devil cannot be whipped out of human nature, though another devil, namely, hypocrisy may be whipped into it. Piety produced by the damps of sorrow and the heats of terror is of mushroom growth; it is rapid in its springing up—"they enquired early after God"—but it is a mere unsubstantial fungus of unabiding excitement. And they lied unto him with their tongues. Their godly speech was cant, their praise mere wind, their prayer a fraud. Their skin deep repentance was a film too thin to conceal the deadly wound of sin. This teaches us to place small reliance upon professions of repentance made by dying men, or upon such even when the basis is evidently slavish fear, and nothing more. Any thief will whine out repentance if he thinks the judge will thereby be moved to let him go scot free.

Verse 37. For their heart was not right with him. There was no depth in their repentance, it was not heart work. They were fickle as a weathercock, every wind turned them, their mind was not settled upon God. Neither were they stedfast in his covenant. Their promises were no sooner made than broken, as if only made in mockery. Good resolutions called at their hearts as men do at inns; they tarried awhile, and then took their leave. They were hot today for holiness, but cold towards it tomorrow. Variable as the hues of the dolphin, they changed from reverence to rebellion, from thankfulness to murmuring. One day they gave their gold to build a tabernacle for Jehovah, and the next they plucked off their earrings to make a golden calf. Surely the heart is a chameleon. Proteus had not so many changes. As in the ague we both burn and freeze, so do inconstant natures in their religion.
Verse 38. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not. Though they were full of flattery, he was full of mercy, and for this cause he had pity on them. Not because of their pitiful and hypocritical pretensions to penitence, but because of his own real compassion for them he overlooked their provocations. Yea, many a time turned he his anger away. When he had grown angry with them he withdrew his displeasure. Even unto seventy times seven did he forgive their offences. He was slow, very slow, to anger. The sword was uplifted and flashed in midair, but it was sheathed again, and the nation yet lived. Though not mentioned in the text, we know from the history that a mediator interposed, the man Moses stood in the gap; even so at this hour the Lord Jesus pleads for sinners, and averts the divine wrath. Many a barren tree is left standing because the dresser of the vineyard cries, "let it alone this year also." And did not stir up all his wrath. Had he done so they must have perished in a moment. When his wrath is kindled but a little men are burned up as chaff; but were he to let loose his indignation, the solid earth itself would melt, and hell would engulf every rebel. Who knoweth the power of thine anger, O Lord? We see the fulness of God's compassion, but we never see all his wrath.
Verse 39. For he remembered that they were but flesh. They were forgetful of God, but he was mindful of them. He knew that they were made of earthy, frail, corruptible material, and therefore he dealt leniently with them. Though in this he saw no excuse for their sin, yet he constrained it into a reason for mercy; the Lord is ever ready to discover some plea or other upon which he may have compassion. A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. Man is but a breath, gone never to return. Spirit and wind are in this alike, so far as our humanity is concerned; they pass and cannot be recalled. What a nothing is our life. How gracious on the Lord's part to make man's insignificance an argument for staying his wrath.
Verse 40. How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness. Times enough did they rebel: they were as constant in provocation as he was in his patience. In our own case, who can count his errors? In what book could all our perverse rebellions be recorded? The wilderness was a place of manifest dependence, where the tribes were helpless without divine supplies, yet they wounded the hand which fed them while it was in the act of feeding them. Is there no likeness between us and them? Does it bring no tears into our eyes, while as in a glass, we see our own selves? And grieve him in the desert. Their provocations had an effect; God was not insensible to them, he is said to have been grieved. His holiness could not find pleasure in their sin, his justice in their unjust treatment, or his truth in their falsehood. What must it be to grieve the Lord of love! Yet we also have vexed the Holy Spirit, and he would long ago have withdrawn himself from us, were it not that he is God and not man. We are in the desert where we need our God, let us not make it a wilderness of sin by grieving him.

C.H. Spurgeon, from the Treasury of David

I edited to highlight all the good parts...I might as well have highlighted every word. Oh how I pray the Lord will pour out His spirit so people will stop all their bogus philosophizing and actually learn from the Lord Himself...and I'm not talking about people crediting their own vanity to the Holy Spirit, but actually begin speaking the truth of what the Bible actually says, and supporting what the Lord says to us with expounding on the truth, not all the silly "new" information we now have to suffer through. 

Flattery? Or Truth? Which Shall it Be?

This has been on my mind for several months now. I notice within myself this tendency to want to flatter others because it gets me (((((((((hugs))))))))) and KUDOS back. Who doesn't "love" that? Our flesh loves flattery, both to give it and to receive it. Empty, fluffy, sweet nothings, like empty calories, that give you a momentary "buzz".

There's a difference between "encouraging" and "flattering". How can we tell the difference? When someone wears a really terrible looking dress, too low cut revealing a bit too much cleavage, too short revealing the undergarments, and you say "You look lovely! I love that dress on you!"....what's the harm right? A little "white lie" never hurt anyone, did it?

What about the "white lies" regarding the truth of God's word? It's so much easier to agree with error, and to encourage people in their delusions than to have to break it to them that the Gospel includes repentance, which means acknowledgment of the fact that even our righteousness appears to God like used menstrual pads (according to Isaiah)...so imagine what the rest looks like, if that is our "righteousness". Much easier to say "God loves you just as you are"....actually that is not quite what the Bible reveals. We come just as we are, He died for sinners so that He can redeem them (us) from sin.

The worst of all sins is pride, because that was the sin that caused satan to fall from God's grace. Pride keeps us from acknowledging our sin, keeps us from coming to Christ for true cleansing. It keeps us thinking that we aren't as bad as some people, so God must think we are alright. Judas was prideful, and he thought Jesus was getting it all wrong. Judas looked down on the woman who broke costly ointment on Jesus' feet because that money could have gone to feed the poor. That sounds righteous, doesn't it? I could just see the other disciples agreeing with Judas and telling Jesus "What a waste!".

When confronted with whether to stand for or against perversion, such as homosexuality, it is so much easier, and seems so much more loving too, to say "It's just a preference, there's nothing wrong with it, it's between consenting adults so live and let live".... except the Bible tells us that those who do not repent of it go to hell, so "encouraging" (flattering) people in this is encouraging them straight to hell.

The truth, on the other hand, is considered "harsh" and "unloving". To encourage someone truly, we should tell them about the cleansing fountain that is available to those who repent of their sins...even that "little sin" called pride. Pride says we know more than God, and that a little sin shouldn't  send anyone to hell...and that God is very wrong to set things up this way. Pride says the God of the Bible is an angry and vindictive being who loves to send people to hell.

Jesus showed the truth about who God really is. He is humble. He is loving. He healed all who asked Him for healing. He raised the dead. He raised Himself. He loved us enough to even lay down His humble earthen vessel on our behalf...but those who say He is hateful, vindictive, angry, etc, are those very things that they accuse God of. God is holding a mirror to their face because truly they are worshiping themselves, so their "god" truly is all that they say. But beware, if you tell them the truth, they won't love you for it. Their claws and fangs will come out all the more. Jesus had the same thing happen with the chief priests and Pharisees. The people who thought they were the most (self)righteous were also the most hateful when it was pointed out to them.

But we who are of the truth, must speak the truth, in love, because if we do not tell them they will go to hell unwarned. If you warn them and they say all manner of hateful stuff to you, REJOICE, because the same thing happened to the OT prophets and to Jesus Himself.

Let us not be flatterers. Let's tell the truth, God has given us the authority to do so, and thereby we also risk losing brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, and friends, because some of them might realize the truth, and then escape the destiny that we all deserve.

A Thorn in the Flesh

   Phil Johnson   talks here about how God's power and strength is perfected in our weakness. I love this site because you can listen to the sermon (by clicking link at the top of the page) and follow along in the written transcript.

The mention of the thorn in the flesh is from 2 Corinthians 12:7. This sermon covers 2 Corinthians 12: 1-12.

Excerpt:

"Now: If you're paying attention and following my outline, you might want to stop me right there. Because we're on point 2 of a three-point outline, and we're supposed to be talking about the second of three gracious gifts God gave to Paul. First was paradise. That makes sense. The second, we said, was pain. And this thorn, whatever it was, is the source of Paul's pain. So was Paul's pain a provocation from Satan, or was it a gracious gift from God?
     What's the correct answer to that question?
     Both.
     Satan meant it for evil; God meant it for good. And here is a little secret: that is true of every vexing problem the powers of darkness ever cause for you."

...

Pastor Johnson goes into the exact meaning of the word "thorn", as well as the hints in that passage that seem to say that the thorn in his flesh involved persons, false teachers (whom he calls "super apostles" ESV or eminent apostles in NASB, which he says Paul here uses in a sarcastic way to underline their abuse to the people with false teachings) which Paul brings up in chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians, and then directs it back to them in verse 11 of chapter 12.

Pastor Johnson does say that whatever the thorn is, whether it is persons, or a physical affliction, or whatever it is, because Paul describes it as a "messenger of Satan" he is saying this is some kind of spiritual attack.... and that the Lord won't remove it because...well, I'll let him tell you as it is given in the text. It is a blessing that Jesus shares with us a little of the suffering that He had to suffer. We only get a small taste of it. He bore the full effect of the suffering, the onslaught of Satan, on our behalf. How often I gripe about the little bit of suffering I have compared with what He suffered completely and unjustly on my behalf. "Oh what a foretaste of heaven divine."

Lucifer/Satan

In Flutterbys I mention an important video about the Emergent Movement which is 2 hours in length. I try to post things that have more to do with our cultural aspects of life and things that I enjoy or have questions about in regards to this world on the Flutterbys blog. I hope many will take the time and effort to watch that admittedly LONG video, because it does have important information about things that are relevant to our times, and what is happening to the Church.

This Bible Treasures blog I created for thoughts and meditations on things more directly related to the scriptures themselves, mostly things that are uplifting...although at times I've posted things on Flutterbys that could just as well have been posted here...

I've been watching a series of videos (a few episodes I have already previously posted on Flutterbys, because they were about such things as paganism and Freemasonry). This series is called "Know Your Enemy". It is incredibly good (at least, every episode I've seen so far has been outstanding, although I haven't yet seen them all) that helped me to tie up alot of loose ends about things that I couldn't quite piece together.

The following video clip gives alot of insight into who Satan (or Lucifer) is, and how he operates. He gives some Bible verses and then shows us what they reveal about the first rebel, and how he was able to entice one third of the angels, and mankind, to join him in rebellion to God. I hope that I can help in the spread of these incredible sources of information that will assist us in being equipped for the battle that is yet before us.