Category: Belief or believing

What is the difference?


IamtheWayIt seems that there are so many different divisions of believers! Why? Aren’t we supposed to be worshipping the same Jesus and from the Bible which is God’s Word? Why do we have all of these denominations?

Mostly because of the work of Satan in the church. You didn’t think he could do that did you? If Satan can attend a meeting in Heaven and accuse Job, speaking to God about him, he can surely come into each of our churches! He may come in as a new convert to Christ or he may show up as a deacon or maybe someone who isn’t satisfied with the preacher.

I don’t mean that he has possessed them, but he plants thoughts into their minds which will take root in the congregation and even begin to fracture the family in the church. If you think about how problems arise in the church, regardless of the denomination, this will make sense. Many times after the church is either split or in some way diminished, the “new” person will leave or the person who planted the seed won’t have any recollection of the problem.

I am not writing this to accuse anyone but I am writing it to bring attention to this problem which does come up in churches all over the world, not just here in America. Paul wrote that we are at war with powers and principalities and these are just some of the forces that Satan has under his command. Thoughts of things which Christians shouldn’t think of, consideration of sinful things which we know we shouldn’t do, these are the “arrows” that our Spiritual armor should protect us from.

But, if you haven’t studied God’s Word and placed it in your mind to give you strength and power to resist these thoughts, then you may entertain them and it will become a stumbling block for you. The war for your spirit and your soul is in your mind and it is there that Satan attacks because he can see what each of us is attracted to the most and he uses it against us.

It is the same when we are having trouble in our churches, Satan and his demons and powers are attacking us, each one of us. Pulling up little things which irk us about a certain speaker or topic and making them seem far worse than they are. This is how he caused Adam and Eve to envy God in the garden and he has been doing it ever since all over the world.

Seek out the truth in God’s Word and study it. Learn from the Old and the New Testaments because they complement and interpret each other. With God’s Wisdom in your heart and in your head, Satan can’t twist it and make it say something when you know it well enough to thwart his plans. He knows scripture better than you do so you have to study it in order to know it at least as well. If you don’t, then he will make it sound like it came from the Bible even when he has changed a word or two to make it seem better or more appealing.

This is why we can’t stop learning scripture. Just because you may have read the entire Bible through last year doesn’t mean that you know it well enough to take him on. If you are like me in your reading, when you have finished reading the Bible, the next day feels empty without reading more of it. Every year I read it through but usually when I have finished it, I go back to Genesis and begin again. Each time over the last seven years I will find something or the Spirit will reveal something to me that I didn’t see or understand before!

I am about halfway through another reading of it and I feel that I should begin again. Why? I don’t know, maybe it is the Spirit prompting me to read again a part of it that I have read so that I can understand it a little better. I usually do find some insight in a passage every time that I read it which didn’t jump out at me before and it makes more sense this time.

I am not claiming to be perfect in my studies because I miss a day or two at times, when life gets in the way or maybe I’m not feeling well for a few days, but the more scripture that you put into your mind and heart the less you will be deceived by cults or by Satan.

Forgiveness


Sermons have been preached on this, people talk about this in the news and at home, but…is it given to those who don’t deserve it?

Many times in our lives we seek forgiveness from friends and spouses and would like to receive it from loan companies (being debt free for a change); my point is this: do we extend forgiveness to those around us who have wronged us in some way, even when they don’t deserve it?

Concerning the statement of deserving it part of that statement…how do you know that they don’t deserve it? Who are you to judge? Does holding a grudge against people who have never wronged you help your life in any way?

Image result for ForgivenessWe should be willing to forgive others regardless of the wrong committed because that is what Jesus did for us. If you are not forgiving others of something which was done to a family member in the past, particularly more than a century ago, what good is this doing you today?

My ancestors came from Ireland as indentured slaves. Should I hold a grudge against some person or family because of it? Should I be that ungrateful for the reason that my family came here? I don’t think so. It is true that many Irish slaves were very ill-treated at the time and many more were put in chains even in the sugar plantations in the Caribbean, but I can’t hold a grudge against people I don’t know anything about.

Forgiveness is one of those qualities which Christians are supposed to express in their lives, but it seems to be in short supply particularly today. While it is true that many slave owners in the South treated their slaves terribly, there were also some in the North who did the very same thing. We who are living in the 21st century shouldn’t be holding the black flag of slavery over our brothers and sisters in America because of something which happened over a century ago.

Was it a crime to own slaves at the time? No it wasn’t, but the treatment of people who were sold into slavery was horrible and that is the true crime. Many of those sold into slavery from Africa were sold by their own people, so the selling of slaves can’t be totally laid at America’s feet. Many nations in Africa and the Middle East today have slaves, but this isn’t publicized because it is illegal today.

Should we forgive those who put our ancestors in shackles to be sold? Yes, we should. It is a shame that many were treated so terribly and the conditions of slavery shouldn’t be ignored, especially in today’s world. Even today, children and women are sold into the slave trade as sex slaves, some even right here in America. But, it will never appear on a news program.

Can we forgive those who are doing these things, even today? In Christ we are supposed to do so, but our human morality and dignity cannot let it go unpunished if they can even be caught and brought to justice. Only through our faith in Jesus and the strength which He gives us can we possibly forgive these things.

Paul said it best in his writing to the Galatians, and we should follow that example to the best of our ability which Jesus gives us.

The Exodus, the Bread and the Wine


This idea just came to me while I was reading a story about Christianity. The only explanation that I can give you for the title is that the Spirit placed the idea in my mind. I am not Jewish, although I have read a Jewish Bible complete with the New Testament. The three ideas in the title: the Exodus, the Bread and the Wine are intimately tied to the nation and people of Israel.

Bread&WineThe Exodus is their liberation from bondage as slaves in Egypt for over four hundred years. It is not unlike our own lives in that we were slaves to our life of sin and rebellion toward God. Now, for some of us this rebellion wasn’t an active rebellion and we may not have known that what we were doing was sinful in the sight of God. Why do I say it that way? Because many of us asked Jesus to become our Savior at an early age, say 8 or 12 years. I barely knew what the word “sin” meant and honestly I didn’t think that my life could’ve been classified as sinful, at that time.

During the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites were glad to be out of bondage but they didn’t know this God Who had called them out of bondage. Which is why it took forty years for them to get to the point of going into the land which had been promised to them. Even after all of the miracles and provision that God provided for them during this time, they still rebelled against Him in their Promised Land.

Sounds a bit like us actually. When we learn about God and what He asks of us, don’t we rebel a bit? I mean, we like the idea of forgiveness and eternal life but “being in a state of prayerful thought” on a daily basis is a bit much don’t you think? Not really, if you consider what this really means. The analogy that I like goes something like this: When you go to the doctor and you tell him you have had a cold and a cough for about a week, you don’t mean that you have been coughing for a whole week. Just that you have had a persistent cough which has hung around for that length of time. It is the same with praying without ceasing. It doesn’t mean that you pray 24 hours a day, but you wake with a prayerful attitude of thankfulness that you are alive today. You thank God for your health and your breakfast. You thank Him for being able to go to work or school or whatever you are doing today.

That is an attitude of prayer without ceasing.

It gets you through your exodus in this life, every day and night, all through your life! This is your “daily cross”.

The Bread is reading and prayerfully studying the Bible. Learning more about God and what He requires of His people, Israelite and Gentile. If you don’t know what is required or asked of you, how will you know what to do with your life on a daily basis? The only way to know is to read and study His Word with prayer for understanding at least a few days during the week. I don’t mean that you should read the Bible for a whole day, but a chapter or two a day for a few days at a time will get your mind washed in His Word and keep it on His ideas and wisdom.

The Wine is what you partake of through giving your heart and your life to Jesus, asking Him to come in and change you into a child of God. This is part of your walk, your life with Him and it begins your exodus from your old life, your old ways, into a life that is lived in and through Jesus! It is a daily process. Salvation, if you truly are sincere about it, comes immediately when you ask for it. Your sanctification and becoming more like Jesus is the walk, prayerfully with Him every day. Your exodus or your walking away from your old life comes when you have asked Him to come in and change you into a new creation!

Just as the trek through the desert wasn’t easy for the children of Israel, the process of becoming a Christian and becoming more like Christ won’t be easy either. There will be days or times where you will stumble and fall, but Jesus is there to help you get up. If you have studied the Bible, then you can fall onto the wisdom that you have gained through it when the times get tough.

The life of a Christian isn’t always easy or sure. There will be bumps and bruises during your walk with Jesus, but He is still there with you through it all. The wisdom that you gain from His Word, His Bread and His Wine will last you through eternity and you won’t regret any of it when you see Him in His Glory one day!

Are the -ism’s the real problem?


genetic-variationWe have so many of these today. Consider this, we have communism, Islamism, racism, nationalism and many other -ism’s which are part of the names of religions besides Islam. The minority’s which are on television and all of the media outlets today are the loudest and the most virulent and violent which is why they have everyone’s attention.

I am not speaking of a “racial minority”, just the few percent who are loudly proclaiming their rights and that their voice be heard. Their voice is on all of the social media “channels” so to speak which makes their demands and their voice louder than it would’ve been if they were only on news programs.

But…truly, are these the real problem or is this just a symptom of a larger problem which has been building over the decades?

Racism has been swept under the collective rug of our consciousness and if not forgotten then they haven’t been out in the air for a while. At least not until the past decade or so.

I suppose it has been simmering a bit here and there because there have been flare-ups of violence from time to time, but these days those flare-ups are threatening to go widespread. We, as a nation of Christians, need to do something even if it is “only prayer”!! God knows what is happening and it was foretold in scripture that near the time of tribulation this would be happening. The real problem is that it is going to get worse before it gets better. Much worse.

We need desperately to draw near to our Lord…NOW! Stop posting about it and talking about it and DO IT! Because if we don’t and if we don’t tell others that it is needed, our towns and cities will become powder kegs which will explode and become wild fires! God loves each of us and even if we can’t come together to worship Him without looking at the name of the church or the color of our skin, then we desperately need to examine our faith in the One Who died for us.

Make sure of your salvation in Jesus before He comes back. Before the times truly do get bad in the world, because when He comes and those who are taken up are gone, the violence of today will look tame in comparison to what will come afterward. If you truly believe the Bible is the Word of God…then believe that He cannot lie.

How much?


Life itself is full of contradictions. How much or how little? Where and when did evolution begin? When did the first ape/human make the leap in knowledge in order to become more than she/he was before? All of the contradictions in life can be looked at as a different view of the chicken and the egg. A chicken comes from an egg so where did the egg come from?

Genesis1In a scientific view humanity and animals are not so different because at one point far back in the past we were the same. But, the logical viewpoint actually falls to having a Creator or as some circles call it, Intelligent Designer. Whatever label you place on God, He is the determining Factor in all of Creation. Call Him what you will but He is and always will be God!

How much proof do you need? Some people can see the Designer in a blade of grass or in a newborn baby. Some try to argue that evolution is the right way to go and that we all came from a single cell far back when the planet was young. Thermodynamics and chaos theory would disagree with you.

I am not a mathematician, so I am not and will not be drawn into a theoretical discussion in this matter. Generally, when you toss a bunch of sticks or 2 x 4’s into the air, they don’t spontaneously form into a deck or a puzzle. You will only have a pile of wood before and after unless there is a builder or Designer to act upon the pieces to form them into an orderly combination of pieces such as a deck or any other combination.

It is also the same way that natural processes work. No natural system goes from simple to complex. Systems in nature usually go from a complex state to a more simple one. A rusty old car will break down into a pile of iron oxide if given enough time, it will not change into a Bentley if it started out as a Pinto!

God’s design of our universe and the stars and planets which populate it, is impeccable. The cells in your body and in all animals in the world, cold-blooded or warm-blooded, work perfectly in sync in those who are healthy. Cells which do all of the things which they do in our bodies, didn’t evolve to do this, God designed them for each part of your body! Your nerve cells, your brain cells, the cells in your bone marrow which make all of your blood cells, these did not come into being because of mutations and selection!

God is our Creator and Designer and He is the One which placed the stars in their courses and the planets too. Each comet and asteroid in our solar system is where He intended for it to be. Not one grain of sand is out-of-place in God’s sight, no matter where it may be. He knows each of us more intimately than we could ever know ourselves because He knew you and your personality and your intellect long before you or I were born!

How much proof do you need? We and all other life on Earth were created by God and in the beginning life was perfect enough to live a life of thousands of years. Until we thought that we could do better than God. When the decision was made to defy God and go our way, that is when disease and shorter lifespans came into the world. Don’t throw your eternity away by thinking that some man-made religion can save you because it can’t.

Even the religion of “evolution” can’t hold up to entropy: The law of increasing entropy — also known as the second law of thermodynamics — stipulates that all systems in the real world tend to go “downhill,” as it were, toward disorganization and decreased complexity.

Give your heart to Jesus. Seek Him out as your Savior and follow Him. That is the only way into eternity and Heaven, by believing in Him…our Creator!

The end and the beginning


When you consider that, for a Christian, or anyone who is looking forward to eternal life in Heaven, death in this life is the beginning of eternity. Immortality is something that many people would like to have, but nobody wants to die to get there. But…that is the way this works. We don’t get to sample the “Tree of Life” until we are in Heaven. You can blame Adam for that little mix up if you wish. People for years have tried to blame Eve for it, but truly Adam was the one that God told about the trees in the Garden first so it is actually his fault.

The end of a life lived here on Earth is sometimes very sad for those of us left behind. Mainly because we won’t get to see the person who has gone before us into eternity, at least for a while. Remember that when we are reunited with them, the reunion will be glorious! Not only will we see them, but we will see them in their glorified body. Not the one with disease and aches and glasses and a cane, but a body which will last for an eternity!

There will not be anymore good bye’s, no more missing you, because we will be in God’s Kingdom. We will be together with all of our family and friends and even people we didn’t know in this life but we will know them in Heaven…isn’t that GREAT!! God will give us all of the perfection that He had given to Adam and Eve in the Garden. No more pains, or wheezing or dizziness and we will all enjoy this life forever!

Faith


FAITH

focused – focused on a goal

attainable – possible, practical goals

individual – personal goals

trackable – trackable goal

heartfelt – heartfelt goal

Faith…it is a gift of God, indeed, but one which must be realized and cultivated as any other gift if it is to realize the purpose for which it is given. (A.W. Tozer)

Consider that faith is something which is given to each of us by God through the action of the Holy Spirit to bring our hearts into alignment with His goals and purposes. It is not a magic formula nor is it something unique to Christians. Many people have faith in their jobs or their religion or even in their government..at least to an extent.

Faith is the belief in something which is hoped for yet is unseen at this point. Just as Abraham had heard God tell him to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering. He knew that God has also promised him that through Isaac a people, a nation would arise. So, he followed God’s command to go to the mountain and build an altar to sacrifice his son upon it. He likely felt that if he did take Isaac’s life, God would raise him from the dead in order to fulfill His promise. God provided another sacrifice in the place of Isaac, but it was by the faith of Abraham that God did that too.

Faith is powerful in our lives today because it is by faith that we believe in Jesus and in the atonement granted to us by His death on the cross and His resurrection as our Savior. We couldn’t believe in this or any of the promises from God’s Word without faith. Also, faith in and of itself is not a “magic” word nor is praying in the name of Jesus. Even though you hear it and learn it in church, these words only have meaning in your walk with your Savior. 

If there is no relationship between you and Jesus then your faith and your prayers don’t accomplish much. Walking with Him, reading His Word and using the strength that you find in your relationship with Him to be more like Him is the best relationship that you can have! A marriage with Jesus holding the two of you together is also the best and most rewarding marriage that you can have as well.

God designed each of us to want a relationship with Him but many people try to fill that feeling of emptiness with other people or things and just like a puzzle piece in a jigsaw puzzle, only one fits in that spot. That is where Jesus goes. Don’t let “feel good” preaching tell you otherwise and don’t think of any book, other than God’s Word, as being your guide in this life or as a guide to eternity!

We have God’s Word for a reason. The acronym that best describes it is this: Basic Instructions for Believing and Living Everyday!

Read it, study it, pray about it and through it and live by its wisdom and your life will have a purpose which is given to you and ordained by God our Creator Himself. Living by His Word can only be accomplished by FAITH so make sure that yours is grounded in Jesus and His Word.

Summer….


The season of heat and humidity, at least in the deep South, is coming to an end. It hasn’t yet, but hopefully before November the temperature outside will get to a point of being tolerable. Summer is also the warmest or hottest part of the year no matter what hemisphere you live in or the time of year in which it falls. I never really liked summer because of the humidity and the heat but then I tried a little of it in Arizona a few years back. It wasn’t so unbearable as summer in the South, but hot is hot when you get in a car, with or without the humidity!

13419221_838712436261893_9132633303197040096_nYou may be wondering why I am beginning this post about the hottest part of the year? Well….there are many reasons. Life itself being one of them. We go through periods of learning and growth in the spring of our lives, then we get to the summer season where we are busy and doing things so much until we don’t know which direction we are going sometimes. The fall season is sometimes the best, although it is then that many of life’s problems show up in our health and relationships. Winter is when all of the accomplishments of life come together and we remember, hopefully, the best of those before we reach the end.

Why do I bring this up today? Because, a friend of mine has passed on to the next phase of life…eternity. I am not sure about their salvation, although I hope that he did give his life to Jesus before the end. Life is full of changes. Some of them are good, some are not, but we have to live through them regardless. It is in living through them that we learn and grow into the person that we are to be. For some of us it takes a bit longer, and for some the learning begins with an early realization that God is in control of all things.

God is in control and He does His will through us and without us, but His will is done in all things good or bad. and the good and bad are from our viewpoint. Not necessarily from God’s viewpoint because His purposes will be done regardless of our actions or inaction. Spring, summer, fall and winter are only seasons in the year even though we use them to represent our lives as well. Seek Jesus out during your spring so that the rest of your “year” of life will be productive and in accordance with His will.

Don’t brag….


I saw a picture a while back and it brought this to mind for me to write:

Animals don’t have to tell you what they are or what they are capable of, you just know by looking at them.

Lion

People usually have to tell you what their job or vocation is because when you look at someone, usually you can’t tell what they do for a living. Especially if they are not wearing a uniform. When you see someone with jeans and a nice shirt, you can’t tell if they might be a policeman or woman or maybe a doctor or lawyer…maybe even a nurse.

Our society looks at outward appearances such as the kind of house they live in or the car that they drive in order to figure out their worth and importance. God doesn’t look at any of that! He sees their heart and knows exactly what He gave them as far as their talents and abilities. Whether they are using them for Him or not is a totally different matter.

Sometimes it takes a very long time for us to find out what our talents are or even to realize that God gave them to us. We are born with some talents and some develop over time but God is the Creator and He gave each of us at least one talent to use for His Kingdom and purpose. Seek Him and find out what your real talent is today. You won’t be disappointed.

What life do you want?


Sometimes you see on social media sites where people seem to be wondering about their lives. Of course, most of us are not philosophically minded so the topic doesn’t go very deep. We feel that following this line of thought is just a waste of time and energy, so we drop it and mostly forget about it. But..if you look at it from a spiritual point of view it really does take on a different tone altogether.

Religion and being religious are good, but you can be religious about playing golf or fishing or any number of things which have very little to do with religion. Having a life of contentment and being content with your life regardless of your wealth is another way of looking at and living your life too. Neither one of those actually has anything to do with your salvation though.

Yes, I am steering the conversation back to the saving grace of God through Jesus His Son. Why do I do this? Because it is my job to do so. I am a pastor and a follower of Jesus the Christ and He did give His followers the command to “go into all of the world teaching the gospel“. That includes all of His disciples and those of us who have recently come to know Him as Savior and Lord as well.

God loves you and me and anyone who may be reading this and the life that you live is important to Him. Living it as a disciple of Jesus is sometimes hard and it can be dangerous depending upon where you live. But it is a very rewarding life. I am not speaking of getting rich from “love offerings” or from being paid a salary at a mega church. I am speaking of the rewards which come from being His servant in all that you do!

God has given each of us gifts to use in our lives. Some of them are for our vocation in life and some are for spreading the message of His Love for us. Some of these gifts are for taking care of others, like the gift of mercy. Some of these gifts are for encouraging others when life beats them up or grief wears them down. Some people have more than one gift and some only have one, but all are useful in living daily with Jesus and walking according to His ways!

Why are they useful in our world when people don’t want to hear about Him? Because even if you don’t speak about Him to others, many will see Him in the way you live or carry your burden through this life. Regardless of what that burden may be, give your life to Jesus and live as He would as much as possible for us, being human. Yes we will fail on some points and we will fall on others, but read His Word and live like it says in all ways. Pray that you will have the strength given by His Spirit to be able to walk in His ways daily because it is only by His Spirit that we can do this.

VineandBranchesOur own strength and power is just not up to the task of walking in the steps of Jesus. Regardless of what your coach tells you or your family tells you, we just don’t have it in us to be like Jesus without the Holy Spirit giving us that strength and ability to do so. I am not putting anyone down by saying this but Jesus says that “you can do nothing apart from me“. Seek Him in the Word of God, learn about Him from its pages and make sure you are in a Bible teaching church so that you can grow in your faith.