I'm Making My Way

Do you ever stop and wonder; where am I headed? What am I doing with my life that makes a difference? There are many questions we could ask ourselves, but they all have the same answer. Who are you making your way for in the life you are given? You may answer; I am doing everything for my family. I work hard for them and give them everything they need and want. You may say; my kids are my life and hope, everything is for them and their future. These are all noble statements and things that everyone should do for the greater good. Taking care of your family and children is a universal truth and a widely excepted one at that. Okay, so who should we be living our lives for everyday? What should be our motivating factor? The answer is simple, but the doing is very difficult. God. Nothing else even needs to be said. Jesus says “It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” We may need the bread of this world to survive this earthly life, but our life and soul depends on how much time with spend with the words that come from God’s mouth. These words that come from the mouth of God, are none other than the very Bible. God has given everything we need to deal with this life in this book. You may be saying to yourself that it does not cover every subject known to man. The truth in this is that everything falls under some subject in the Bible. This is why we need to spend time daily learning and reading God’s word. Not only does it strengthen our relationship with the creator, but it gives us the very substance to survive our daily lives. By gaining more understanding and investing in our relationship with God, we are investing in more than we could imagine. When you are making your way with God as your leader and instructor; the other things that are important to you like your family and children will automatically be blessed by your obedience. When those things of life get you down and you are broken as Hezekiah was when he learned of his soon to be death. When you weep against the wall as he did and ask God to pull you out of the depths of sorrow and pain. Or when it is the blessings of life as it was for Abraham when God provided a sacrifice for him. Making your way with God may be a great challenge at times and may bring sorrow and pain. The great thing about making your way with God is that you are making your way with the creator of it all. He knows the path because he laid the foundations of the earth. (Job 38:4)"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.” We do not understand, but he does. Live your day for God; fill your plate with His word and the rest will fall on the plate where it needs to be; but you can bet it will not fall on the floor as crumbs from a table.

What Do We Do With Sin

What do we do with sin? A simple enough question, right? You may be thinking, well duh, you repent, you do away with the sin or try to overcome the sin. Okay, this works great when the sin is your sin and you have the ability through Christ to deal with the sin. What if the sin belongs to another person; what do you do then? This becomes a completely different scenario when you start to talk about other peoples sins. Now, before we get started I am Not telling you that you should make a habit of seeking out others sin. Seeking out other people’s sin is not what we are called to do; by Christ. At the same time though we have a great responsibility as Christians to other people see sin for what it really is; that sin is part of a fallen world. I am going to take a guess here, but I am willing to say that most if not all people hate to be told they have done something wrong or committed a sin. Most of the time the response goes something like this; “ who are you to tell me what I am doing wrong, look at your own problems and stay out of mine.” We have gotten it into our heads that we have this right to be living in sin as long as we can justify the sin. I hate to tell you but no matter what the sin is, there is no justification for the sin; stop thinking there is no justification. As a Christian you have the responsibility to let another Christian know they are headed down a road of destruction. I believe the reason most people do not like others to tell them what they are doing wrong, is that most of the time it is done in such a harsh or hateful manner. How exactly are we to approach and deal with other people’s sin. By being Christlike of course. Never once did you see Christ be hateful in showing someone their sin. A great example is how Jesus deals with the adulterous woman in (John 8:1-11). Jesus met her where she was at, on the ground broken, accused and humiliated. What did he say to her? “Then neither do I condemn you, Go now and leave your life of sin.” There was no, how dare you, you evil sinful person or you are living in sin and going to hell. When the disciples began their ministry the followed this example. There are four easy steps to follow when talking to someone about their sin. 1. Patiently Listen - James 1:19 says “Let every person be quick to hear”. Get to know the person see why they are the way they are and the reason they do these things. Most of the time it is because they do not even know better or somewhere in their past someone important to the justified their actions. You cannot help anyone if you do not take the time to understand them. They will only look at you and say “who do you think you are.” 2. Personally Repent - The sins you commit are no less than anyone else's sin. (Luke 13:5) “I tell you no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” There is no way you can help someone with their sin if you are committing the same sin. Unless you understand that you are without a doubt a person in need of redemption you can help no one. Another question to ask yourself is’ what are my motivations? Do you really care about this person or persons; or do you just want them to disappear and be silenced. Luke 7:47 says “ he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 3. Gently Instruct - (2 Timothy 2:22-25) “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone..correcting his opponents with gentleness.” We are to be kind in approaching someone and telling them they are living a destructive lifestyle. We also have to be careful that what we are calling a sin is a sin. There are plenty of times that people will say something is a sin and there is no biblical background saying it is a sin. For example, someone would say having an alcoholic beverage would be a sin or that dancing is a sin. There is no biblical basis on these matters. Sure, we are told to be drunk is a sin, but having a drink of alcohol is not. Be gentle and understanding in how you approach people. 4. Mercifully Pursue and Then Engage the Heart - “Have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh” (Jude 22–23). We are told not to hide in the shadows or to be rude, but to move boldly into confusing, high-stakes situations with the gospel of God’s mercy. (1) Stay with people do not give up on them, continue to love them in mercy and show them where their mistake lies. Help them not to just see then understanding of the sin with their minds but with their hearts so that they may remember and cherish the gospel of God’s forgiving, redeeming, and merciful plan of salvation.


John Freeman Christ and Sexual Sin http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/christ-sexual-sin/
This 4 step guide is John Freeman’s message in the above link. I only added to his ideas.

Misguided Devotion

Have you ever known anyone who did something in the Lord’s name, but you knew that what this person had done could not have been what God would have wanted? Often these types of acts are done with a complete lack of thought. There is a story of a man in the bible; his name is Jephthah and he was a judge of Israel. Jephthah was not an evil man, in fact he was a man that God moved upon when the Israelites fought the people of Ammon. I gather he was a man devoted to God and wanted to please God. The problem with Jephthah I believe is that he got a little excited and made vows to God that he did not think through. In Judges 11:30-31 Jephthah makes a vow to God; he tells God that he will sacrifice the first thing out his door to meet him, if God would deliver Israel from the people of Ammon. This vow does not sound to bad at first, but the problem arises after the battle when Jephthah gets home. I believe he truly thought an animal would be there to greet him, however this was not the case. A person greeted him at his door and it was his daughter, not just any daughter; his only child. What a foolish vow to make to God. Now there is much debate over what Jephthah actually did to his daughter. In God’s law human sacrifice was strictly forbidden, but I believe that Jephthah was not to knowledgeable on God’s law. If he was I think he would have offered silver in place of his daughter. Some say he sacrificed her others say that he sent her to the sanctuary to live out a life of virginity. Either way his vow cost him and his daughter greatly. I am not telling you to never make a vow to God to show your love or devotion to Him. What I am saying is when you do make a vow to God be sure it is one that He would have you do and that it does not go against what God has commanded. We often make silly promises to God that He knows and we know that we will never be able to keep. A vow to God should never been done in haste, it is always best to think it through and most of all pray to God about your offering. Sometimes or promises effect others in ways God would not want.

Breath

I am going to start off by saying that some of what I am about to write is not all from my thoughts, I found the information to be very cool and uplifting.
Over the past few days I have either read or heard people speaking about the Holy Spirit and/or the Spirit of God; I found some very profound statements. Before I get off into some of those statements I would like to ask you about the Holy Spirit. What is the Holy Spirit? Conventionally most would say the Holy Spirit is what resides in us after our conversion, others may say the Holy Spirit is our comforter, still others would say that the Holy Spirit is our conscience. While all these are true statements I believe there is so much more to the Holy Spirit and the work He does.
This week I learned the word “pneuma” the Greek word for the spirit. However I soon learned that there is so much more to this word then just this one meaning and that it was used in various forms in the Greek language. Then I looked up the word in the Hebrew for spirit and learned “ruach”. Now here is where it gets interesting. The word pneuma is used for Holy Spirit and the word ruach translates Spirit; referring to the Spirit of God. Both of these meaning “breath”. The sacred name for God in the Hebrew is YHVH. Unpronounceable if you try to speak the letters, but take a deep breath and exhale and you can hear these letters. Genesis 1:2 “ Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God (ruach) was hovering over the waters.” (I added emphasis) Genesis 2:7 “ And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed (ruach) into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (i added emphasis) Acts 2:2 “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind (pneuma) came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” (I added emphasis). Now here is the statement that got me to thinking about these verses. “What is the first thing a baby must do after it is born? Take a breath. What is the last thing you do before you die? Take your last breath.” I think you are beginning to see where I am going with this. What if the very first thing a baby does to live is speak the very name of God “YHVH” (remember just breath), and the very last thing you do is speak the very name of God “YHVH”. For you to receive the Holy Spirit you have to cry out to Jesus, the name of God. I do not care if you are a believer or not just as it says in Romans 14:11
“As I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”

Every breath you take you acknowledge God, before you even knew how to speak you spoke His name. Take a moment get on your knees and thank God for the breath He has given you. (Do not sit there and think this is a good idea, literally get on your knees and no matter where you are and thank Him.) What will you do with your breath today?

Have You Been Measured

Wow what a busy time of the year for me and my family. School is about to wrap up for all of us; Ruth Ann and I have finals over the next few weeks and Zach will be out for the summer. One of the reasons I have not posted in about a week or there about, no making excuses just stating the facts. However along with looking over why I have not made a post in the last few weeks I began to wonder. What do I measure myself against and is what I measure myself with the right things? Here is just a few pondering ideas I explored.




There is an old saying, you have been weighed, you have been measured and been found wanting. I think that this is a great statement to make about the Christian life. Let me ask, when was the last time you spent time reading God’s law? When was the last time you spent time in Church? When was the last time you spent time with those friends you use to hang out with all the time? Think on these question considerably before reading more.
I have found not only in my Christian walk, but in others walk also; we tend to run away from the very thing that is going to make us question our life style. We will make excuses for the things we do, not only do we make these excuses, but we try to justify them by measuring them against the rules of the world. Sometimes we even use the Bible to justify our misconstrued ideas. All the while straying from God and the people that will tell us that we are wrong. This is our human nature; we do not like to be told we are doing something wrong. Now I am not saying that every time someone tells you that you are doing something wrong, that you are doing something wrong. Remember people are human too and will make the same mistakes about life as you yourself will. Take a look in Job and see what advice his friends were giving him; they were totally off base on why God was allowing these things to happen to Job.
What we need to do is stop running and face the Law of God. Weigh yourself, measure yourself against His Law. You know what you will find? You will be found wanting. What do I mean by wanting? You will be found lacking. You may say well that is not a very good message to put out and you may even stop reading. I encourage you to read more. Romans tell use in 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”; if you read more you will find there are many passages telling us that when we measure ourselves against God’s Law that we will always be found wanting. What is the joy in that you may ask? The joy is that if you read and if you measure yourself against God’s Law you find yourself wanting... wanting Jesus, because you will see that even though we find ourselves short and so does God; that there is a hope and joy that can be found in the Law. It will lead you to Jesus and the salvation that comes in accepting Him. For the believer you will find a renewal in the promises of your salvation. So, do not be afraid to weigh, measure yourself and find yourself wanting. Take great joy in God’s Law just as the Psalmist. Psalm 119:97.

Holy holy holy

Just how holy is God? Do we really understand or comprehend this very statement out of Isaiah? Sure we sing the old hymn; Holy holy holy, merciful and mighty. When we say this or sing this are we giving it the reverence that is deserved? Just how important is this statement? To look at the text we have to understand a little about how the Jews show importance to a word. In the English language we have many different types of punctuations that allow the reader to understand the importance of something. For those writing in Hebrew, although they have many of the same punctuations, they used a repeating of a word to show just how important the message or word was. You often see Jesus saying; Amen Amen, or Truly Truly. Show what He is about to say is of some extra importance. In all these cases though the word is only repeated two times, here we see the word repeated three times. Not only is the word holy repeated three times but the words come from a Seraphim angel. This is no ordinary Angel, these are angels that are in the very presence of God. You may be asking yourself; OK so how does this show how holy God is? Let us take a closer look at these angels to get a better understanding. In (Isaiah 6:2) 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. These angels say it all in this description; what gives it away that God is Holy holy holy? Here it says that the Seraphim has two wings that are for nothing but to cover their faces while in the presence of the most high God. These are beings that God created to stand in His presence and they are equipped with the very thing to keep them from seeing all of Gods glory. We know from Moses that no one can look upon the face of the Lord and live. Here we see that this includes any being in the presence of God. We have the repetition of Holy three times and the very make-up of Seraphim angels to give us a small understanding of just how holy of a God we serve. We are not able to understand all the things of God, we are not meant to be able to comprehend all things of God. God does give us great insight into His nature and who He is and how Holy Holy Holy he is. The next time you kneel to pray or lift your voice up in praise, humble yourself low and shout to the heavens for it is being sent to a holy holy holy God.

The Days After

Easter has passed for another year, you went to Church, had lunch with family and friends and watched the children hunt eggs. At the end of the day you were probably think; wow, I am glad that is over and done for another year. That is what you think anyway. For us as Christians I believe that the work is really just beginning. Easter should be a time of renewal for us, a time to reflect on what Jesus really did for us on the Cross. To make sure we do not get too caught up in the worldly things of the season. A renewal of rejoicing in our Salvation in Jesus, that out of all the religions in the world that we serve the only living God. After Jesus arose from the grave His work was complete. Sin had been defeated and even though it has not come to pass for us the battle has been won. The days after Jesus arose He knew that His followers would need a little bit of a confirmation that He is alive. Jesus spent the next 40 days visiting people and still performing miracles. Then at the end of those 40 days He gave His disciples and us a commission to continue the work He had started.
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Jesus gave us a job to do and during Easter I believe we should take hold and remember not only what He has done for us, but also what He has commanded us to do in obedience to Him. However as with all things with God He gave us yet another promise. That we do not have to go it alone. He tells us that He will be with us always. Not only this but that He sent us the Holy Spirit to help us along.
So rejoice not only in the spring of the year, the resurrection of Jesus, but also in the promise that He is with you and always will. Begin the work He has commanded you and be renewed.