Year: 2015

Wolves feigning obedience, or repentant sheep?

1JN 2:5-6 ESV
but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

PERSONAL COMMENTARY
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Yes, Christ walks in truth.

No, I am not perfect. Anyone that says that they do not sin may not be examining themselves deeply enough, because we are not perfected works while we are still in the flesh.

Yes, I obey God’s commandments.

Yes, I know that it is critically important to obey His commandments.

No, I do not see this Grace of Jesus Christ as a get out of hell free card that we put in our back pocket as a freedom to continue in our old, sinful lives. This graces frees us FROM sin, it isn’t meant to free us so that we can continue our sin.

Yes, I see and understand what Jesus meant by explaining that all the commandments and the words of the prophets hangs on love. Because if someone makes the law an idol (like the Pharisees did) and does not have love, they do not have Christ abiding within them.

Yes, the law is meant for those in lawlessness. But if we are in Christ, if we have the love of Christ in us, and we walk in the Spirit of love, doesn’t scripture tell us that He will overcome, that He is our advocate, that He is our guide, that He is for us, not against us?

So the question is not just are we obedient, because even the wolves can feign obedience to get near the sheep. Isn’t it made so clear in the example of the Pharisees that exacting obedience to the law without the greater things of mercy and forgiveness falls short of the righteousness that God seeks in our lives.

We do not claim to know His grace and believe and be alive with Christ in us if we are still controlled by the flesh.

Neither do we obey the spirit and intent of the Word of God if we obey the letter of the law, but do not have love, mercy, and forgiveness.

There are many religious people standing in ditches on either side of this narrow path. On one side, they are crying out, “Use this Grace and continue in your sins”. On the other side, they are crying out, “Use this Law to condemn and judge and accuse others”.

But this narrow path –

The Holy Spirit convicts me of sin in my own life, it teaches and guides me, and I know a repentant heart, and I despise the sin and imperfections in my own life – and I see them taken prisoner as this temple is swept clean for His presence and dwelling. I see my fellow man of flesh and blood, and I have mercy and forgiveness towards him, because I know the battle and refinement that is taking place within him as well.

If I begin to think that I am a completed work, that “I have arrived”, Oh, the pride that comes before a fall!

So in knowing that we believers are each in various states of forgiveness and redemption within the hands of the Lord – isn’t it clearly evident why encouragement, why loving and gentle correction, why mercy and love and forgiveness is what lifts up – isn’t it clear that these fruits of the Holy Spirit are the tools (even the weapons) that we use in this spiritual battle if we are children of God, with Christ abiding in us?

Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

And isn’t it clear that the weapons of the enemy are those things that rise from a hardened heart, those things that tear down, those things that are rotten, stinking death from the mouths of empty tombs?

Galatians 5:19-21 NLT
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Yes, idolatry, quarreling, jealousy, selfish ambition, dissention, division and envy are in that list.

And so many “warnings” are spent these days picking and choosing messages that audiences want to hear – condemning and attacking those things that are safe to talk about by pointing the finger at others outside their own little group, instead of tackling those things that need to be cleaned up in the life of the messenger, and in the lives of their flock.

Yes, it pains me, seeing so many choosing which ditch to stand in with so many others, pointing the finger at those in the other ditch and mocking and laughing at them for being in a ditch – even judging and accusing and condemning each other – instead of working together in love to walk this narrow path, to get out of the ditch, and to lift others up onto the path, not tear them down and drag them into the ditch.

I love you, friends. Let’s climb out of the ditch today. Let’s know grace and mercy and forgiveness and repentance and truth and love.

Tearing down or building up?

There was a father who owned a large estate of farm land that divided his estate into separate fields to be managed by his sons while he was away. The father emphasized to his sons the value of the crops that grew good fruit that sustained their family’s future. He also pointed out the weeds that grow amongst the crops that do not contribute to their future. He gave his sons instructions to care for and make sure that all of the plants of the field received water and light, and the things that they needed to grow. He also taught them how to use fertilizer on the good plants to increase their output when applied carefully. But he warned them against trying to remove the weeds from the fields because they might damage some of the good crops in the process.

Once the Father was away, one of his sons was dedicated to the father’s instructions, and he focused on nurturing the fruitful crops and expanding the fruits that the would bear. His fields were expanding and bearing many fruit.

However, his brothers were lazy and thought that they knew better than their father’s instructions. So they started out by tearing down the plants that looked like weeds to them, thinking to themselves, “If the crops don’t have to compete with these weeds, they will grow better.” And then they saw that it was too difficult to always tell the difference, so they began tearing down any plants that weren’t obviously a fruit bearing plant – destroying both weeds and crops alike. Then, when they still saw how few fruit they had compared to their faithful brother, they began to say, “But he is including imperfect fruit. Our father is so wonderful that he should only receive fruit that is perfect and that meets our standards.” So they continued tearing down the crops from their own fields, only leaving the stalks that were obviously bearing fruit that looked beautiful on the outside. But even then, they weren’t applying fertilizer and nutrients that would make the inside of the fruit delicious and satisfying.

Since the one faithful brother was producing fruit both in great quantity, and whose taste and nourishment was undeniable because of the care and fertilizing and nourishment that he provided for his crops, and since any blemishes on the outside of the fruit were quickly ignored and dismissed when the delicious and satisfying nourishment of the inside was uncovered – this only served to make the other brothers hate him even more. So in their envy and hardened hearts, they watched closely, waiting for an opportunity to complain against the one brother.

They began to spread the word that the proper way to harvest and care for the crops was to tear down and destroy those crops that weren’t up to their father’s standards, and they tried to turn the opinions of the people against the faithful brother who provided for all of the plants and was following his father’s instructions. But even with all of their lobbying to try to convince others to be against their faithful brother, it was hard to argue against the quantity and quality of fruit that was being produced.

The faithful son was dedicated to improving the output of his fields, so he received a container from a trusted friend that was labeled in a foreign language. Misunderstanding the translation, he used it on some of his good crops, thinking that it was fertilizer. But he was shocked at the reaction of the plants, and he began to realize that he had mistaken a poison for fertilizer. He moved quickly to acknowledge his oversight, take responsibility, and make corrections to insure that it would not happen again.

But his envious brothers who did not care about his genuine love and care and dedication to the crops, and who did not care that he was following his father’s instructions, saw an opportunity to attack him openly in front of the people. They argued that this was proof that their way of tearing down did not put crops at risk of being accidentally poisoned. All the time, they were ignoring the lack of good fruit being produced from their own fields. But these envious brothers were more intent on the people believing and following their ways of harvesting as the right way, than they were interested in the quality or quantity of the fruit being harvested.

And when the Father returns, expecting to harvest the fields, gathering the fruit together, and casting the weed on the fire to be burned – who will he find favor with?

The faithful son that followed his instructions, caring for all of the plants, fertilizing and tending the garden, not destroying or tearing down the weeds because he was mindful that it might harm the good, fruit bearing crops?

Or the sons that have laid waste to his fields, destroying both good and bad, so they could have a few fruit that look beautiful on the outside, but are dead and rotten on the inside?

Love my Brother

There is no darkness in Him

We are living examples

Most of us have someone in our lives that looks up to us. Whether it is a child, a friend, or even someone that just watches our life from a distance.

These people cannot see our hearts. They can only see our actions.

What are we teaching them with our actions?

Even if we tell them with our words to do one thing, but we show them with our actions by doing the opposite, aren’t we just teaching them to lie and deceive and deny the things in our lives that we know are bad – not teaching them to actually do good?

For each one of us, OUR LIVES ARE AN EXAMPLE TO SOMEONE.

So what kind of example is my life today?

I can’t change the example that I’ve been in the past. Yes, there is a lot in my past that was a shameful and horrible example to those around me. I led so many people down the wrong path with my choices, with my example.

I can’t change the past.

The past is done.

But what I can do, is live a life today.

I can make a choice for change in my life today.

And I don’t have to do this change alone.

For some that don’t believe me yet, and think that I’m silly and confused and naive – with my “Jesus this, Jesus that” talk – I understand.

Really, I understand.

I was there.

I made the same jokes.

I lived a life of example for all of the wrong things.

The excess and selfishness that was a part of my everyday life wasn’t good for me or anyone around me. In fact, I would never want my daughter to be a part of many of those same things – those guilty pleasures that I tried to hide and keep secret, but that were so obvious to anyone really watching my life. Doesn’t the fact that I wouldn’t want others to follow in my footsteps a sure sign that something is wrong?

I would never want my neice and nephew to be a part of those same things.

I would never want my friends and family to be a part of those same things.

But you know what? I led them into those traps with my example.

I even thought that I was showing them how to have fun – and YES, WE ALL NEED FUN IN OUR LIVES.

But, I led them straight to the slaughter of excess, we were laughing together all the way – until we started to see the evidence in one way or another that it wasn’t all fun and games. We started to find out that these bad decisions actually did have consequences – in the effect they have on others, in the effect they have on our lives, even in the effect they have on our health.

If you don’t see the cost yet, please just know that there is a cost.

But this is not a sad story.

This is a story of victory.

This is about change.

My eyes are now open.

Isn’t it clear that I was blind before? Don’t you see how I can now see the consequences that before, I wasn’t even aware of and didn’t even care about?

Yes, this is the type of healing that I’ve found.

The reason that I couldn’t see these consequences is because I was also deaf.

I couldn’t hear the truth in this message of a man named Jesus. A man who is not just a man, but who is God. Yes, God came in the flesh to this earth in the body of Jesus. I know, if you don’t believe yet – if you are deaf like I was – it sounds silly. It sounds like something along the lines of the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus – it sounds suspiciously like religion, that thing that has been a terror and an attrocity throughout history.

But I now know that Jesus isn’t a religion. It isn’t about practicing church on Sundays. It isn’t about pretending to be better than other people because you call yourself a Christian. It isn’t even about following a set of rules.

It’s about getting to know this God-man who is 100% man as Jesus, and is 100% God as Christ.

And Jesus Christ offered us each a promise. “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:14

And yes, you will say – “But that makes no sense. That makes no sense at all.”

And you might even ask questions like “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” – Romans 10:14

And I encourage you – don’t worry about trying to run before you learn how to crawl. If you don’t yet know Him, just hear this Good news. Just take Him at His word and seek Him. Be healed from your deaf ears, be healed from your blind eyes, and see that there is a need for change in our lives.

Go to a quiet place, determined to block out all distractions. Get still, quiet, and serious with God. Tell God that you are serious about what you are about to pray. He will hear you. Even if you have done this before, there is nothing wrong with asking again.

Please read this prayer and tell God either in these or in your own words –

“Jesus Christ, I want to know you. Please save me. Please come into my life and heal me and change me.”

Think about the things that are a part of your life that need to be changed. These things are called sin. Sin is what we want help removing from our lives. Jesus Christ told us that if we call on His name and believe, that He will send us a guide and a teacher – a Holy Spirit that comes into our lives to help us. This Holy Spirit will show us the sin in our lives that needs to be removed – this is called “conviction”. It is like a conscience on steriods to help us clean up those things inside us that need to be corrected.

When we choose to listen to this voice of correction and guidance and choose to turn away from sin and instead seek a new and changed life – this is called “repentance”.

The Gospel – the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John teach us about the life of Jesus Christ. I cannot include the whole gospel in this post, so I encourage you to read the Bible and get to know this Truth for youself. Here are some of the essentials of the gospel –

Jesus Christ is the Son of God the Father. God the Father is 100% spirit. Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh to earth, who was born to his virgin mother Mary, who lived a blameless life of teaching hope, faith, truth and love, who was persecuted by the religious leaders of the day, who was innocent, but was tortured and crucified on a cross at Calvary for me and the sins of all others. After 3 days, He was raised from the dead to be seen by many witnesses, He ascended into Heaven, and He is alive today. His promise is that if we believe in Him, we will receive salvation, and He will come and live in us, and through us – changing us from the inside out.

Once you are comfortable with praying the above prayer and you mean it, and you are aware of those sins in your life that need to be changed, and you want to repent, try reading this prayer and telling God either in these words or in your own:

“Heavenly Father, I lift this prayer to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I confess that I am a sinner and that I have sinned against You. I ask You to forgive me for all of my sins and I repent for my sins and I choose to follow and obey and accept Your Son Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I receive You now as my Lord and Savior with all of my heart. I believe that Jesus Christ is my King and my God and the Lord of my life. I believe that Jesus Christ is alive in me, and I declare that Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life.”

Now that our salvation is firmly in His hand, we want to grow and learn in this renewed life in Christ that we have received. Time spent in prayer, time spent reading His Word in the Bible, time spent praising Him in songs and prayers and words and actions, time spent with other believers sharing and encouraging and learning with each other – all of these things will make us more aware of His presence and His change in our lives. This is what many will call being “drawn near to the presence of God”. The more that we seek Him and make Him a part of our daily lives, the more that we will be aware of His presence and His touch on our lives.

Unfortunately, not everyone that acts religious is actually alive with Jesus Christ in their lives. So, please, it is important to actively seek God for yourself in your daily life, and not to just fall into a practice of listening to religious teachers one day a week.

By actively seeking God for yourself, you are making Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in you your teacher. You will then become more aware and able to discern the truth of the Word of God for yourself instead of relying blindly on a religous leader. Our trust is in God and in the Truth of His Word, not blindly in someone that could either be leading us along the right path or along a path to destruction.

Find a place where others are gathering to seek God, and where you can see that they are teaching truth from the scriptures provided to us in the Word of God, the Holy Bible –

And be the life that is an example to those around you.

Don’t be a religious person, be a loving and renewed student of Christ.

Let your light shine with the change that you are seeking.

And step away from the old life of darkness that leads to consequences, guilt, shame, and regret.

Have a blessed day, friend. And I hope that you find a renewed and healed life, full of the things that matter, both for your life, and for those that see your life as an example for their own.

Be Last

Jesus is my Savior

Found on Yahoo questions – not my words (credit where credit is due):

What does, “Jesus is my savior not my religion”, mean?

It means Jesus is a living person, God come in the flesh, who was raised from the dead, and who personally guarantees eternal life to all who put their trust in Him; becoming true believers, born again by the Holy Spirit of God.

He said this:

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” – John 5:24

and He left everyone this invitation:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30

You can come to Him by a simple humble prayer of faith…….

REF: http://www.campuscrusade.com/fourlawsflash.htm

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“Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not a religion to be followed or a social order to be lived. It’s not about tenets and practices. It’s not a set of laws to be obeyed, or a creed to be accepted.

Being a Christian means completely identifying yourself with the person of Jesus Christ; not following an organized religion or observing certain holidays or rituals. It means that Jesus means more to your heart than any person or institution on earth.

It’s a love story written in blood on a cross of wood. All you have to do is believe it. The New Testament contains lots of guidance on how to return this love with words and actions but none of it is required for salvation and in fact it’s only desired as an expression of gratitude.”

REF: http://www.gracethrufaith.com