While reading Romans 1:18-32 I see how I deserve the wrath God has against mankind. Everything I see, do or feel is always about me. I don't worry so much about offending God but when it come to my friends or other people I don't want them to dislike me. I know what scripture is saying about exchanging the glory of immortal Godfor images that look like mortal man. I walk through creation alot of times without a thought of the creator that is revealing his divine nature and eternal power to me through it. When I look at a painting I acknowledge the artist as having great talent or at least would say the artist exists and made the painting. Well God made all the things around me and I need to stop walking by it and start giving Him thanks and praise for it.
It is troublesome to me when I hear of people and mainstream churches accepting sin as something we do not need to repent of. When the church starts to approve of those who practice sin instead of pointing to God who is the way to help us out of our sin they are allowing the sinner to have false hope and giving them approval on earth and ignoring the eternal consequenses.
Homosexuality is just the start. Now will we tell people not to feel bad or feel any need for repentance when we exhibit every other kind of wickedness? We are all full of envy, deceit, murder, strife and malice. We are God haters, gossips, slanderers, insolent, arogant, faithless, heartless and ruthless.
Just because I am all thes things does not mean that I accept who I am and allow satan to have his way with me and give in to the lusts of my flesh. Daily I need to acknowledge that I am a sinner and tell God I am sorry (Repent) ask Him to forgive me and to kill the sin that is trying to pull me from Him and ask that he transform me into his ways.
If I say I am a polygomist and I have a huge sexual appetite and in order to fulfill it I need more than one wife and I was born this way should I be able to grow in who I am and disregard what the bible says? Absolutely not!! Do I take just a few verses and apply them to my situation and make it ok, even though other passages speak against it? Absolutely not!! I have to take Gods word as a whole and if it is contradicting who I think I am I need to ask God to show me who he designed me to be.
God did not put things in his word to make me miserable. He put them in so I would see the truth and I would be able to see when satan is trying to snatch me from Gods grasp. Jesus calls me to deny myself and take up my cross and follow Him because only in Him is there life eternal. We need to quit looking at things from an earthly perspective which will end and start looking from Gods perspective which is eternal. I will start with the Word and end with it, dont change the source of truth but allow it to change me. However humbling that may be!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Sugared Gospel!
Today I have been reading Romans the first 3 chapters. I will post on that later in the week when I wrap my heart around it. Here are two quotes I have been chewing on from Charles Spurgeon. I pray for a heart that understands the urgency of the gospel.
1. Sugared Gospel.
"Avoid a sugared gospel, as you would shun sugar of lead. Seek the gospel which rips up and tears and cuts and wounds and hacks and even kills, for that is the gospel that makes alive again. And when you have found it, give good heed to it. Let it enter into your inmost being. As the rains soak into the ground, so pray the Lord to let His gospel soak into your soul."
2. Concern for the Lost.
" I would freely give my eyes if you might but see Christ, and I would willingly give my hands if you but lay hold on Him."
1. Sugared Gospel.
"Avoid a sugared gospel, as you would shun sugar of lead. Seek the gospel which rips up and tears and cuts and wounds and hacks and even kills, for that is the gospel that makes alive again. And when you have found it, give good heed to it. Let it enter into your inmost being. As the rains soak into the ground, so pray the Lord to let His gospel soak into your soul."
2. Concern for the Lost.
" I would freely give my eyes if you might but see Christ, and I would willingly give my hands if you but lay hold on Him."
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Uttering Things of Old!!
I have heard the things God has done. I beleive they are true. I hope that when I am teaching them to my children they don't think of them as fiction. I pray they see a life growing in the likeness of Christ transformed from the Word I read. Do I tell them of the wonders God has done and the power God has shown throughout my life and since the beginning of time? Do I teach the Law that I have been told to teach my children or am I slacking and not thinking of how important it will be for my grandchildren to hear the goodnews from their parents? I need to take more time in "story" telling with my children so that they will find it important to tell my grandchildren. The verse mentions the children yet to be born that is why I am thinking of grandchildren. Studying Gods word as a family needs to become more of a priorty in my home it is not just the job of youth group leaders and Sunday school teachers. I need a mens study for personal growth but my home is where I am to lead a study.
Psalm 78:1-8
1 O my people, hear my teaching, listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old-
3 what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our fore fathers to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.
8 They would not be like their forefathers— a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
Psalm 78:1-8
1 O my people, hear my teaching, listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old-
3 what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our fore fathers to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.
8 They would not be like their forefathers— a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
Friday, September 4, 2009
God is Love I Am Not!!!!
I was reading 1 John 4 this morning and it says that God is love. When I hear people say that I am not very loving to me it says I am not reflecting God. I take these comments and evaluate why I am the way I am. Taking the human definition of love I can look at love as a feeling or act of kindness, an ability to accept people as they are and let them live their life how they please without ever telling them they are heading in a way that is not good. By the worlds standard I should'nt even have the thought that anything could be wrong as this would be judging them.
Well it says God is love and that is where I need to gain a deeper understanding of who God is and what are his attributes. If God is love in order to really love people I need to reflect God in all things so I don't come across as un loving.
Here is what the Bible says love is:
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
WOW!!!! I cannot even come close to doing that. I cannot love from a human perspective or Gods. How then can I say I am a christian when the greatest of the commandments is to love and in no way can I live up to this?
Well lets go back to 1John and it tells me that anyone who lives in love lives in God and God in him. I cannot do it so I can rest in the fact the only way I can love is because he loved me first and only he can love. That is why it is such an honor that he gave me his word (the Bible) that reveals to me who he is and it transforms me into his likeness. It is a living word that God has promised will not come back void. I can hit a dry spell now and then but it does not stop the word from working. I hate conviction but it produces repentance in me that draws me away from my self seeking ways and back to the source of my existince.The next time you hear me say I have been too busy to read the Bible kick me in the pants because that would be truly loving me.
It is not enough to follow “god.” That word has come to mean so many different things today that it actually means very little. If we just make up our own minds concerning what He is like, then we are just creating an idol in our heads. What does it mean to follow Jesus? The bible is where we come to know who God is. It is how God speaks to us. If I am going to follow God I need to be reading what he is saying and doing what it says. I will fall but he will pick me up I can rest in his promises and his grace for without it I would have no hope.
Well it says God is love and that is where I need to gain a deeper understanding of who God is and what are his attributes. If God is love in order to really love people I need to reflect God in all things so I don't come across as un loving.
Here is what the Bible says love is:
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
WOW!!!! I cannot even come close to doing that. I cannot love from a human perspective or Gods. How then can I say I am a christian when the greatest of the commandments is to love and in no way can I live up to this?
Well lets go back to 1John and it tells me that anyone who lives in love lives in God and God in him. I cannot do it so I can rest in the fact the only way I can love is because he loved me first and only he can love. That is why it is such an honor that he gave me his word (the Bible) that reveals to me who he is and it transforms me into his likeness. It is a living word that God has promised will not come back void. I can hit a dry spell now and then but it does not stop the word from working. I hate conviction but it produces repentance in me that draws me away from my self seeking ways and back to the source of my existince.The next time you hear me say I have been too busy to read the Bible kick me in the pants because that would be truly loving me.
It is not enough to follow “god.” That word has come to mean so many different things today that it actually means very little. If we just make up our own minds concerning what He is like, then we are just creating an idol in our heads. What does it mean to follow Jesus? The bible is where we come to know who God is. It is how God speaks to us. If I am going to follow God I need to be reading what he is saying and doing what it says. I will fall but he will pick me up I can rest in his promises and his grace for without it I would have no hope.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Abraham!
After some research I realized that Abraham was not circumcised as a child but his descendants were. I am continuing to ponder this.
Abraham Justified by Faith!!
Abraham was circumcised when he was 8 days old and his faith saved him before he was circumcised. The circumcision was received as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was less than 8 days old. Someone did the circumcision for him or else that would have been a work yet he was saved anyway. This is my thought process and I will be mulling this over. I am not trying to make any point with this. I am just trying to get out of it what God intended. Sorry for my rambling on but it gives me insight to how messed up my thinking can be:)
Romans 4:4-15
4Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7"Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."[a]
9Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, 15because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Romans 4:4-15
4Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7"Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."[a]
9Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, 15because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Armor of God!
So many times I am frusterated by the circumstances around me and I do not even think of the cosmic battle around me. I try to be strong on my own and by my own wit I try to argue issues. This verse says to be strong in the Lord by putting on Gods armor because the battle is not with man (Flesh and Blood) but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. The Word is my sword and it is the only way I can fight off the the spiritual forces of evil that are trying to overtake my thoughts and soul. When it says to put on the belt of truth I think of conversations I have had with people that say truth is different for everyone. It can't be! In John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. He is the Truth!
Ephesians 6:10-20
The Armor of God
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Ephesians 6:10-20
The Armor of God
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Giving of Self!!!
2 Corinthians 8 was my morning reading. It says to see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I never have a problem with giving financially but this verse is not only talking about finances. The people of Corinth had given of their homes and lives. I am very selfish with my time and I need to invest more of my time in reaching out to get to know more people. This will be what I start to pray for. I pray for the desire to invest my life in others and to serve my creator with all that he has so richly blessed me with. I also pray that I would come across more humble but still speak in truth and love.
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