Interpreting God's Word

Act 17:11- “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with allreadiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily to see whether those things were so.”- 

The Scripture is given to man to help them find their way to God and to guide them in the way they should live. His Word is truth and what He says is absolute. The problem we have is that people interpret His Word in different ways, or take His Word out of context to fit their own view point. The desire of God is that we live holy lives that are pleasing to Him. What that looks like is often left to individual or collective interpretation. As we search the Scriptures, we need the Holy Spirit to illuminate our minds and hearts to see what truth He has for us. God is faithful to open up His Word to us if we seek Him with all our hearts. He will not lead us astray. There are some foundation truth that are made clear in God’s Word that are essential to the Christian faith. God is one God, Jesus Christ is deity and came to the world to die for the sins of the world, and rose from the dead to give us new life. We are all sinners in need of Jesus to save us from our sins. This is the scriptures that were searched in Paul’s time. The Holy Spirit is real and dwells in the believer to led them into all truth. As we read God’s Word, let us be careful that we discern His Word with holy motives and with a desire to draw close to Him.

Life is a Race

Thurs. 27th, 082015

1 Corinth 9:36 “ I therefore so run, but not with uncertainty; I so fight, but not as one that beateth the air.”-

Life is a race, there is a start and there is a finish line. Everyone is running this race, but not everyone runs with purpose. Living life day by day, going through the motions and routines, it is easy to forget our purpose. Those who don’t know God, live their life for earthly gain and self satisfaction. They strive to be their best, so they can obtained a temporal award. Having such goals and aspirations are not wrong in themselves, but they should not be the motivating factory that drives a Christian to run the race. We all should set goals and plan for the future, but we do all things for the purpose to gain an eternal award. It would seems at times that we are just “beating the air” going through life without seeing any fruit of our labor. This is no time to give up and quit, we must continue to run the race, strive to be our best for Christ, bring our mind, body, and spirit into subjection to the law of Christ. Let us not forget, that we live that Christ may be lifted up and that we may be an example for Christ to gain the world for Him.

Words we Speak

Wed. 26th 082015

Prob 18:21, Psalm 19:14 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”-  Our right to free speech is filtered through the Word of God. The words we speak can be uplifting or they can hurt. Our words have a direct influence on how we represent Christ. The words we speak reflect on our Christian influence. One who is looking on may disregard the claims of Christ if our words are contrary to the life of Christ. Even if we see no harm in what we say, if it keeps someone from following God, it is wise to bridle your tongue. Guarding your tongue begins by guarding your heart. Words we say originate from what is in the heart. If our heart is in love with Christ, then the words we speak will show forth the love of Christ. If our heart is prideful and self centered, then the words we say we reflect that condition. When a person gives their heart to Christ, He changes our heart, old things have passed away and all things are new. Our desire is to speak those things that are acceptable to God. Let the words of our mouth bring hope to those around us and bring glory to the one we love and serve.

God Knows

Roman 8:29 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…”-

From the time of creation God in His omniscience knew that we would be born into this world. He knew that sin would also result in tragedy for the human race. Many of the bad things that happen in life are the result of sin. Because man has a free will, bad things will happen. But, not all bad things are the result of sin. The natural force of earth that cause natural disasters will often bring unfortunate events to take place. Lives are lost in earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanos, tornados, etc… These things are seen as “the acts of God” It is in these times that we wonder why God has allowed such tragedy to take place. For what purpose, did God allow a life to be taken from this world? Each life that is born into this world comes with a blueprint from the hand of God. The blueprint is design to fit all of us into His great plan. In our finite mind and understanding, we are not able to grasp the purpose of this plan. The purpose of God is that all men may come to the knowledge of His saving grace. He desires that we all be comforted to the image of Christ. The things that happen in life are ultimately for this reason. When we look around us and see the effects of sin and the suffering of those around us, we must believe that God is in control and will bring about His plan for this world and for our lives. I don’t claim to understand it all, but this one thing I know. God is good and His ways are beyond my ways. I choose to trust Him, even in the storm.

A Desert Place

Mark 6:31,46 “And He said unto them, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while.” ... And when He had sent them away, He departed onto a mountain to pray.”-

There are times in our lives that we just need to get away and find a quiet place to relax and reflect on God. We all need a desert place or a mountain to go to. A place where we can put aside all the cares of life and allow our minds to focus on things eternal, put our body on pause and allow God to rejuvenate us with new strength. We all get busy with things that are legitimate and pressing. We find it harder to take time everyday to get alone with God and spend time in His word and in prayer. God is calling us to lay it down and head to the desert to rest awhile. Our responsibilities our real and need to be done, but we are of no use if we are so tired and stressed out that we cannot do our job effectively. Jesus practice times of solitude and reflection, He often would pull Himself away from the crowd and the pressing things in life, and find a quiet place to pray and rest. In the desert place, God wants to meet with us, and fill us with new strength to face the days ahead of us with new life and determination. 

Religion From God

Luke 10:33,37b “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was. And when he saw him he had compassion on him...Then said Jesus unto him, “Go and do thou likewise.””-

Being religious is more that going to church and following rituals and rules. Those things are important to our faith as we worship and honor God. They show that we respect and reverence the ordinance that God has given us. But religion goes beyond the observance of the law. Religion that is from God will be filled with compassion having a servants heart. We are the hands and feet of Jesus, through us, Christ is able to touch and heal broken people. As we journey through life, God puts people in our lives that He wants us to help. We must be sensitive to the Spirit and listen to His voice as He reveals to us the needs that are all around us. We are not able to help everyone that is in need, but Jesus desires that we take time to show love and compassion to those He puts in our path. The high priest was too consume about his reputation and religious obligations that he completely over looked  God’s will to show compassion. Our faith is best seen when we love our neighbors as ourselves. If we love God, we will keep His commandments, but His commandments never negate us from showing compassion to a world that is hurting and need to see God in action through those that serve Him. 

The Call of God

Ex 31:2,3 “I have called by name Bezaleel...and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship”-

The calling of God to work in His kingdom is not limited to just preachers, teachers, and missionaries. The work of God requires laborers that will use their skills to help build the kingdom of God. We are laborer together in the body of Christ to build His church. He has called some to used their skills to swing a hammer, connect wires, install the plumbing, set up the sound system, shingle the roof, paint the walls, pour the concrete, lay the carpet, and use their creativity to decorate the house of God. God has given each one of us a talent or skills that He can use to bring Him glory. “In whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31) We all are part of the puzzle that will help make it happen, and each one is important to the unity in Christ and to the advancement of the kingdom of God. God calls each one us to serve Him, and He will empower us with His Spirit and knowledge to accomplish the task. It is our responsibility to answer the call and be willing to use our skills to bring glory to Him.

The Mind of Christ

Philippians 2:4,5 “Look not every man to his own things, but every man also to the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus”-

Living in the Vine is to have the mind of Jesus. He is our supreme example how we are to act and behave. In our humanity we come short of what God wants us to be, but Christ humbled Himself and became human. He walked the dusty roads of this earth and suffered the afflictions that you and I encounter in life. Even during times of hardship and in the face of death, Christ willingly gave Himself to us. We are so prone to pamper ourselves and look out for number one. The spirit is often willing, but the flesh is weak. Paul realized that in our humanity that there would be a tendency to cater to our own needs, and there are times that doing so is the right thing to do. But, often those needs can be put aside, so we can care for the needs of others. Having the mind of Christ living within us, will give us the strength and fortitude to act in kindness, preferring one another over our own wants. The mind of Christ is allowing the Holy Spirit to take full control of our life and let Him direct and guide our path. When we have the mind of Christ, our attitude changes toward life, life is no longer about “us” but, it is about serving others. Let us put aside those things we want and start to focus on the things of others. 

The Bread of God

John 6:33 “ For the bread of God is He that cometh down from Heaven, and giveth life unto the world”-

The desire for earthly bread is a natural human craving. When we get hungry, we start thinking what would be good to satisfy our stomachs. It is only a few hours before once again we are looking for more earthly bread. Life is so consumed with fulfilling the fleshly desires of life. In and of themselves, not all of these desires are wrong or sinful. But, many in this world only seek the things of the world. They desire to gather material wealth, popularity, or power. They crave for self satisfaction. They are seekers of pleasure rather than be seekers of God. Jesus recognized that many who were following Him were only wanting that which would satisfy their earthly desires of the flesh. “Verily, verily I say unto you, ye seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye ate of the loaves and were filled.” (Jn 6:26). God wants to give bread to the world that will bring every lasting fulfillment. Jesus, the bread of life that came down from heaven is the true source of satisfaction. If we will eat this bread, our cravings for the earthly bread will fade away. As we daily eat of the bread of life, we find in Him that He will satisfied all the longings of our heart. Our affections are now set on things above and not on things of this world. In Him is life, and we must believe that He is the giver of life. Let us now eat, and be satisfied.

God is Good

Isaiah 25:1 “O Lord, Thou art my God. I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy name, for Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.”- 

When things go wrong, we so quickly are asking God “Why?” We sometimes go days without facing a severe trail or misfortune and fail to recognize the goodness of God for His blessings. I praise Him because He is God and His mercy and goodness is ever present. I will lift His name on high in the good times and in the difficult times because God is good. His miracles of goodness are with us everyday. On purpose this Sunday morning, I will praise Him! Things may not be going exactly the way I would like them to go, but I serve a good God who has been with me in my journey of life. His faithfulness is true and He has never failed. God is good, all the time. He knows the way that I take, and I praise Him because He cares about me and knows what I need. He will not let me down, and it is my desire that I praise Him even in the storm and rough times. I will praise Him because He is good!

Spiritual Weakness

Roman: 15:1“ We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”-

A strong Christian is one that has put their trust fully in the Lord. They have learned to walk by faith and not by sight. They realized the importance of doing good works, but know that it is not their good works that saves them, but it is grace given by God through Christ that they are made right with God. The weak Christian is still struggling with the flesh and understanding how to walk with God through the Spirit. They still have habits in the human that they need to break. The infirmities, or spiritual weaknesses they have are the results of years of putting their faith in following the law and observing days. Overcoming these things don’t come over night. Those that are strong in the Lord must be aware that their are those that will not understand the liberty they exhibit and be careful not to offend a weaker Christian. The scripture given to us hear specifically is dealing with Jews who still felt that God required the keeping of the law of Moses. We don’t have that specific issue among new converts today, but the principle here is to be patient with new Christian and do whatever we can to help them grow and be strong in faith even if it means putting our ownn personal desires aside. 

Life Happens

John 9:3 “Jesus answered, “Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”-

Life Happens! Things happen in our life that we don’t have any control over. We wake up in the morning to a new day and life is good, but life happens, and by the end of the day, the world has changed around us. Our human emotions cry out to God asking, why? We don’t have answers, and in the moment we don’t see how God will use our circumstances for good. When things go wrong, it is easy to blame others and even blame God. As Christian, we endeavor to do our best to do what is right and live according to the word, but then life happens and God begins to work something new in us. God has a purpose for all that happens, even if we don’t understand. “All things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose” Rom. 8:28. The purpose of this man being born blind was to demonstrate the power of Christ to heal the blind and show that Christ is the light of the world. He came to open the eyes of sinners that they may see the light of God. God used this blind man that the works of God would be manifested. God’s plan is to use the things that happen in our life to serve a greater cause. At the time of distress and discouragement, it is not easy to accept this. We call on God’s help and grace to help us see that through it all, we can trust the Lord to use it for His glory. When life happens, God is in control and His will is all we want.

Establish In The Lord

2 Thess 2:17 “ comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.”-

Becoming establish in the Lord is a life time journey for a Christian. When we give our life to God, our heart changes, but we still have a lot to learn about walking with God. Becoming establish is coming to a point in your Christian life where we have grown up spiritually. We no longer are new babes in Christ feeding on the milk of the word, and having to have our hands held by others. Our dependence on God is strengthen. We realizing how important God is in everything we do in life, we learn to trust Him. Our relationship with God is to a place where the things of this world are less likely to draw us away from Him. We still have temptations and we still can become weary in well doing. But the establish Christian knows that the Holy Spirit is a faithful witness, and He senses our weaknesses in time of need. It is the desire of God that every born again Christian become establish in their relationship with God. The longer we walk with Him the more He teaches us how to live to glorify Him. He reveals to us our selfish nature and want us to yield our heart in full surrender to His will in sanctification. It is through sanctification, that God is able to establish us unto every good work and make us what we ought to be for Him.  

Healing By His Strips

Isaiah 53:5 “ But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.”-

On the cross, Jesus suffered and died to save us from our transgressions. He took on Him the sin of humanity and paid the ultimate price. His strips were many and in pain He suffered them all for you and me. His flesh was ripped open, as blood flowed, healing was made possible for us all. He heals broken lives that have been shattered by poor choices. Choices that sought pleasure, but brought destruction. He heals broken marriages, and brings lives back together again. By His stripped we are healed from our addictions and habits that take us away from doing what is right. Sin brings spiritual sickness to everyone who yields to unrighteousness. Bitterness, hatred, malice, covetousness, and all manner of wickedness causes the heart to turn black and ugly. All born into this world, were born in sin. We like to think that our good humanitarian works will out weigh the wrongs in our life, but righteousness does not come from doing works of good deeds, but it is only through Christ, that we can find peace and salvation for our sinful heart. Healing is offered to all who will believe in Jesus and accept His strips and death to heal us from all our diseases and make us completely whole. 

The Work of the Holy Spirit

John 16:8 “And when He is come, He will reprove the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment:”-

Man left to its own self desires seeks that which will gratify the appetites of the flesh. Christ came that we may overcome the flesh, showing us how we should live in this present world. He came to earth and fulfilled His mission. He died for our sins and rose again to give us eternal life. He ascended to the Father and the promise of the Father was sent to the world. Through the Holy Spirit, conviction would grip the hearts of people. The work of the Holy Spirit to to reprimand and reveal the sinful condition of man. The Holy Spirit often works through believers to show the world that sin is wrong and God wants to save people from sin and led them in paths of righteousness. As we yield our hearts to God, the Holy Spirit begins to show us how to live a life of holiness. His work is to guide us into all truth. It is not our responsibility to condemn the world, God will have the last say and will be the ultimate judge of man’s heart. The purpose of revealing sin in the life of people is not to condemn, but to show that they need a Savior to save them from a life of sin. As vessel of God, the Holy Spirit works through us to show the world in compassion that we all have sinned and are not able to save ourselves. That God so loved the world that He gave His Son to save us from sin. As we pray for those in our sphere of influence, the Holy Spirit is faithful to reprove sin and show them what is right. Let us always pray and leave the work of the Holy Spirit to convict and direct others to Christ. Instead of judging, let us pray that Holy Spirit conviction will seize the hearts of unbelievers. 

Free From Sin

Romans 6:22 “But now, being made free from sin and having become servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end, everlasting life.”-

We were all born in sin and therefore sinners from birth. The nature of sin effect each person differently, but we all are slaves to it. If raised in a good Christian home, we learn what is right and what is wrong and are trained to do what is right. At some point in our lives we realized that our good works will not free us from being servants to sin, we need a Savior who is able to free us from the bondage of sin. Being free from sin does not immune us from the temptation of sin. Sin still has it’s allurement and Satan does all he can to trap us. That is why we always need to be on guard, for Satan is like a roaring lion out to destroy us. But grace gives us the ability to resist temptation and from willingly sinning. Sins that we are accountable for, are those that we know are wrong and make the choice to give in to those wrong choices. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, we are not able to yield our members unto God and holiness. With the Holy Spirit, the fruit, or behaviors that we now live reflect that of the fruit of the Spirit. Our hope and desire is to serve God and live to please Him. Paul goes on to talk about presenting ourselves a living sacrifice to God in complete consecration. (Roman 12). The infilling of the Holy Spirit will empower us to live free from sin and our inclinations are now influence by the Holy Spirit that lives within us. Christians do not have to live in sin, they can live above sin, and be holy unto the Lord. Praise God for full deliverance from sin and freedom to live a life of holiness.

Peace and Rest

Col 1:20 “and having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself ...” The world is filled with unrest. Acts of terror are happening everyday in the world. There seems to be no end and having world peace is no where in sight. Peace on earth eludes us as nations and the end of war will not happen until Christ comes to rule. There is also a war that takes place within each one of us. We struggle with sin and the appetites that bond us. We would do good, but evil is ever present wanting us to fulfill the lust of the flesh. Self and it’s wants and desires war against what is right and holy. It is enmity against God and not subject to the law of God. Paul elegantly write about this condition in the book of Romans. Thank God, Christ came and gave His life that we might be able to have peace. The war within our heart to serve Satan and self can be eliminated. Peace can fill the heart and there can be a rest that passes all understanding.