Rise and Build

Neh. 2:18 …Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

Sometime things just fall apart with no fault of anyone particular. Sometimes the damage is done because Satan has worked his way in and has destroyed by causing strife and division. All the reasons why things sometime fall apart is not reason to just sit and do nothing. We cannot do anything to change the past, but we can rise up with the help of God and change the future. Looking back on the “Way it use to be” does not get us anywhere. Remember the past can help us only to stir us for a better future. Seeing the church discouraged because many have left for various reasons just means we need to rise up and build again. For this a good work. Working to build the kingdom is what God has called us to do. This is no time to put the saw and hammer down. God has a plan for us. Let us stay in prayer and build for Jesus sake. 

Wretched Man That I Am

Roman 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

As a born again Christian, I was taught that Christ died for our sins and also died to save us from sinning. I was saved in a church that preached that the Holy Spirit comes to the believer to purify the heart of inbred sin. That He comes to live and dwell in the heart, keeping the believer eternally secure by His power through the blood of Christ. There are those that say that it is impossible to live without sinning, that Paul says that we continue to fight the carnal flesh and sometime it is inevitable that we will lose the fight. Because we live in these sinful fleshly human body it is our nature to do what is not right. “We can’t help ourselves, we are only human, the blood of Christ will cover these flaws that come out and manifest themselves at times” Such teaching has a thread of truth. For if we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” The question then is, can God deliver the Christian from the carnal freshly desire and keep them from living a life that causes them to sin. The answer is given in vs 25. “ I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” we can have victory over sin if we trust in the blood of Christ through the Holy Spirit to give us the victory!

The Voice of the Lord

Psalm 29:4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

God’s voice speaks to all men to come unto Him for His yoke is easy and the burden is light. No matter where we live or where we go the voice of God can speak to us. His voice speaks when we are in a crowd of people or alone in a solitude place. His voice can come like a bolt of lightning or like the settling mist of the morning dew. I long for the day when His voice say, “Well done my faithful servant…enter into the joy of the Lord” Many today do not hear the voice of God, they have allowed the things of this world to captivate their attention. But God is faithful, and He will give everyone an opportunity to open their hearts and listen to His voice. I love to hear Him speak, through the reading and preaching of His word, through the lives of others, and His Holy Spirit that quickens our mind and heart to hear what God has to say. 

Labor Not In Vain

1 Corinth 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

When things get tough and the everything in life seems to be against you, hold on! Don’t quit doing what is right. It may seem that our work is in vain. Time in prayer and trying to build the Kingdom with little results can be discouraging and dishearten. We are tempted to just give up and close the church doors. Our labor to build the kingdom seems to be all in vain. Like Paul, we live in a society that is corrupted and immoral. Sin abounds at every street corner, people are not willing to give up their sin to live for God. People would rather spend the day of worship with recreation or personal pleasure. There seems to be no time for God. This is not the time to run and give way to the devil. Let us be steadfast, unmovable in our convictions that Christ is the answer for the ills of this world. Our work for the Lord is not finished. Let us occupy till He comes.

The Religion of Christianity

Mark. 6:12 12 And they went out and preached that men should repent.

The commission of Christ to believers is to spread the news that men need to repent of their sins and turn to Christ to have their sins forgiven. Those that heed, and repent will find a personal relationship with Jesus that will bring everlasting life. Such relationship goes beyond a mere religion of following a set of rules and rituals. The religion of Christianity is without sin. To be in harmony with Christ, and to abide in the Vine, a person must repent of a life style that violates His commandments. Repent is to turn away from the way you were living and turn to Christ for a new life. To abstain and repent of sin without Christ is to follow a man made religion. Christianity is not a man made religion, it is a religion that God created in order to have fellowship with man. This fellowship in Christ results in man loving God with all their hearts and their neighbor as themselves. Therefore, pure religion is undefiled before God and the Father, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (Jame 1:27)

The Breath of Life

Gen 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Made from the dust of the earth, man’s form was created. Creation is a Biblical truth that modern science refuses to accept. Christians who believe God’s Word is inerrant and inspired by the Holy Spirit accept by faith that God is the Creator of life. Life did not evolve from some protein amino acid molecules and over billions of years is now manifested in the likeness of mankind. Jesus, the Son of God, validated the truths given to us in the OT on many occasions as He opened the Scripture to teach and show others the way to find God and live for Him. The evidence given to us in science how the life began is suspect and comes from those who refuse to believe that God chose to give life to man by breathing on man. The breath of life comes from Him, He is the source of all that is good and all that lives. In Him and through Him the world is held together. As we take in air to breath. let us not forget who gave us the air to breath. God and God alone is the giving of life. praise Him for all that He provides.

Treasures in Earthen Vessels

2 Corinth 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

We all are earthen vessels formed by the hand of God from the dust of the earth. The breath of life is given to us by our Maker. He sent His son to take on the form of this vessel, to walk and live among us. The true treasures of life is to know the Son, and to know that His blood covers every sin that besets us. Though we breath the air of this earth, we are all dead in our sins. The excellency of the power of God has made it possible for us to have this earthen vessel filled with the Holy Spirit. Pauls says, I’m crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live” Not by any power that we possess, but by the power of God we are made alive in Christ. This treasure is available to anyone who allows Christ to come into their heart and is made Lord of their life. “There was a day, that this earthen vessel was empty and lifeless, but a day came when He filled my vessel with His presence, and now I possess a treasure that comes from God alone".

God is Good

Psalm 100:5 For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.

God is good, God is good all the time for His mercy reaches all who seek after Him. The skeptic will say, “How can God be good when so many bad things happen” To the person who has not experience God’s grace this truly is a quandary. To see God from spiritual eyes, is to see God for who He is. The works of bad things happening is because Satan controls the hearts and minds of humanity. All are born in sin, and all live under rule of Satan. Blinded by sin and following the lust of the flesh. The consequence of sin is the root of all that is bad. When bad things happen it is because sin is the root cause. This is the foundation, but so many other variables play into life’s experiences. Love, faith, and hope is the foundation to understanding who God is and what  He desires of those who serve him. God is good, for God is love, they that believe (faith) in the Son of God are given this love, and through the goodness of God, hope is given for a better tomorrow.  When times become hard and difficult to understand, hope thou in God and know that God is good.

Watered by Tears

Ps. 126:6 “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”-

Seed that are watered by tears and weeping are never sowed in vain. The promise given to us in God’s Word will doubtless come to pass. With every action there is a reaction. Sow good deeds, reap joy, sow wickedness, reap sorrow. sowing and reaping is a cause and effect behavior. We get out of it what we put into it as a general rule. There are always exceptions, but God honors those who make the effort to do what is right and to take time to sow by praying for others and doing acts of kindness. 

The Throne of Grace

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”-

God not only sees our situation, but He also understands what we face day to day. There is nothing that is hidden from God. We may think that God’s care has left us to defend for ourselves, but Christ, our great empathizer identifies with our need. His Word discerns the motive of our heart and see the cry of our soul. Because we are now a part of the family of God, made heirs to His riches in heaven, we can come without hesitation into the presences of God. In God's precence, we humble ourselves to Him, we will find that He is loving and gracious. Desiring to show us mercy and provide for us what we need. The throne of grace is not a place of judgment, but a place where we can have our needs met. To those who need forgiveness, comfort, or a physical touch, He is there to pour out His grace. We need not fear the presence of God, if we come Him in humility and submit to His tender mercies, He will be there to meet our every need.

In The Spirit

Romans: 8:8,9a So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit…”

A person who has turned their life over to Christ will no longer live a life of sin. The scripture is clear that if Christ be in you, then the Spirit will provide the means for the Christians to overcome the temptation to sin. We were born in sin and were dead in our sin, but accepting and believing in Jesus has allowed the Spirit to quicken us to life. Once dead in sin, now alive in Christ. Through the Spirit we are able to subdue lustful desires that originate from the carnal body. If we desire to please God, we cannot allow the flesh to rule how we act and behave. We must deny (mortify)  any fleshly desire by the help of the Spirit in order to please God.