When the death angel came…
Category: Salvation
Profound wisdom
Don’t read the title and think that is how I feel about the words that God gives me because I really don’t feel that way. I just know that there is no way that I could come up with the words and the sermons that I preach at my little church without His input by the Holy Spirit. If that makes me a fanatic or a “crazy Christian” then I totally own that.
God created the Earth and the entire cosmos out of nothing and I do believe every word in His account of creation. Because God is the embodiment of Love which we can’t comprehend and everything which has breath praises Him in some way every day. My post today is not a very big one or even a very profound one but if you think about it…it makes sense.
God created man, Adam, from the ground and formed him with His hands. Then God blew the Breath of Life into Adam and he became a living soul. Look at two words, which I have found this by a friend of mine on Facebook: EARTH and HEART. Spelled with the same letters but only the H moves. Now here are two more words which God uses in the Bible to get us to “be still and know that I AM God”…LISTEN and SILENT, again same letters different arrangement.
God tells us to listen and be still (silent) to hear and know that He is God. The Earth is our home and it is the heart that God judges and looks at in order to know you. Simple but powerful wisdom contained in similar words with the same letters just arranged differently. How awesome is our God?
Where two or more are gathered…
Share each other’s burden
Me, you and Jesus
Paul wrote something very poignant in Galatians 2:20, it says 20. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
There is so much wisdom contained in this verse and it applies to every person who believes in Jesus as their Savior and lives it every day. Yet many of us don’t really think about how we are supposed to go about this. What does “crucified with Christ” mean exactly? How can I learn to live daily with Christ living inside my heart? Do I really have the faith that it takes to live like this? The process of living a crucified life is not just accepting Him as your Savior but living His life, His way by the faith that He has given us to believe in Him for our salvation. It truly isn’t as simple as it sounds.
In Luke 9:23, Jesus told His disciples this very principle. It says If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Still a bit confusing, right? Following Christ is what we as Christians are supposed to do but what does “deny himself/herself” mean, especially in today’s world?
Being “crucified with Christ” and “denying” yourself are mostly the same thing. So what exactly does Jesus mean by this? When we are saved, genuinely saved, the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts and changes us from the inside. But…our old nature is still present and there will be a struggle from day one over which side will “rule the day” in a manner of speaking. Starting your day with prayer and reading of God’s Word is the best way to start your day, every day. But, then there are days for each of us which has many interruptions in them such as work, school, errands, etc.
You get the idea. Denying your self is referring to the person that you were before your salvation and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which makes a permanent change in your spiritual and your daily life. Some people may find that denying their “old self” is a bit too hard to do but if you just read God’s Word and pray about His work on you, whether it is in the morning or evening, the habit of denial of self will become easier. But doing this has to become a habit and it strengthens your faith and whether you think so or not, it will make your Christian life better. I didn’t say it would make it easier because the devil will keep on bringing up your sins and he knows exactly how to do it.
He will be whispering in your ear (mind) about all of the things that you were doing and enjoying before you gave your heart to Jesus. This will likely happen almost every day, sometimes more than once a day. You will need to be grounded in God’s Word so you will have the faith and the Word to be able to send your temptations and the tempter packing.
I know that many of you don’t really want to take the time to read the Bible on a daily basis but it helps a lot when it comes to resisting temptations that will come. There is no guarantee of any sort which says that Satan will not tempt you unless you don’t belong to Jesus in the first place. Why would he bother if you don’t belong to God in the first place? Even if you have spent most of your life in the church but you have never asked Jesus to come into your heart and save you, Satan doesn’t need to try to make you fail at being a Christian because you aren’t one anyway.
Is it possible for someone to be in the church that long and never give their heart to Jesus? Unfortunately, it is possible. There are many who have grown up in the church from the time they could walk until adulthood but they have never felt the need or the conviction to seek Him as their Savior. Taking up your cross, as Jesus said, is part of being a Christian. Living your life with Him and denying your old self so you won’t be tempted or at least you won’t fall for the schemes of Satan to cause you to fall into temptation.
Living this way is not something that just happens when you accept Jesus as your Savior. You have to learn His wisdom from the Bible and practice it each time a temptation comes along. Most of us aren’t told this bit of information before we accept Jesus or afterward. We are expected to learn it but if you don’t know what you need to learn how can you go about it? Read John’s gospel and the book of Romans because they are the foundation of your Christian life. Both of these books have good information on how to walk with Him and learn from His Word.
Love your neighbor
The times in which we live…
If the church around the world, regardless of the denomination, would collectively kneel and pray in this manner I believe there would be a revival everywhere. There are so many who are passionate about other religions, why aren’t Christians passionate enough to at least pray? I realize that we should not be zealous in our Christianity to the point of being obnoxious, in-your-face and dangerous but we could at least tell others that God loves them!
God’s love came to Earth in the body of Jesus Christ to conquer death, hell and the grave for each person who will believe. He is coming back one day, I believe sooner than anyone thinks, and He is coming back as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! Jesus is coming back as the Lion of Judah, not as the carpenter from Nazareth!
There is another disturbing trend that I found out about recently. It has to do with the second coming of Jesus as well, but it seems that many pastors and Christians think that we can have an impact on the timing of His return. While spreading the gospel is important to God and the church as well, I don’t believe that our part in doing so will speed up His return. In today’s world the gospel can reach nearly the whole world just because of the Internet and its influence around the world. Granted, access to it is not universal or in every country everywhere but there are also countries where evangelism is not allowed for Christians to come and tell others about Jesus.
Pray for the world to come to know Jesus. Repent of your own sinful thoughts and actions and try your best to live a life pleasing to the Lord by your faith in Jesus. Read God’s Word each day, not just weekly or when you feel the need for God’s help. He loves you and He sent Jesus to pay for your sins and mine so you should get to know Him better while there is still time.
Two are better than one
Jesus said that we should love one another!
Darkness closing in…
Many people, it seems, have problems with depression and fear. You hear about suicides among Veterans and police and other service people like EMT’s and firefighters. Why does this happen? Is it because of the jobs that they have and the things which they see on a daily basis? In part, that is it. I worked as an EMT/Firefighter for a total of ten years. Not very long I know, but the things that I saw and the people that you come into contact with will bring you down. You can’t let it get to you while you are on the job so you learn to compartmentalize it and just push it away until the job is done. But…when the shift is over and you go home, that is when the enormity of your feelings about what you saw and had to deal with comes crashing down.
I’ve never really talked about this to anyone and it has been almost thirty years since I got out of being an EMT/Firefighter. But from what I understand the trauma and the stress that I experienced during those years never really goes away. For years I would still have dreams about my old job and wake up sweating in the night for no apparent reason. I could hear, in my mind, the siren from the ambulance or the fire truck even when there wasn’t one around. The different types of death from suicide and murder and car accidents and fire…you never forget them entirely. Some days it comes back so hard until I just feel like screaming at the top of my lungs. But even if I do, these images never go away.
The worst part of this is that you can’t sit and talk to someone about this. Nobody would understand unless you could sit and talk with another person who worked with you in the same type of service. Even then, they really don’t want to relive it either so usually you both just stop talking and change the subject or get a beer or something. Since I am a pastor now I have to shove these things away from my life and my work because nobody in the congregation would understand either. I have never talked about this with my family either just because it is something that they wouldn’t understand.
This is the reason that I am writing it here. As a bit of therapy for myself and to let others know that we feel deeply about what we have experienced. So deeply that even after thirty years it still comes back to haunt our minds and our feelings. Even now my heart is picking up speed just writing this.
I know that God can and will get me through this because He has done so in the past. I am asking all of you who read this to please sit with someone who works in a service job like I’ve mentioned. Just talk to them about anything or nothing. If they like to fish, take them fishing. But be there for them if you can. Because we have days which most people cannot understand and feelings which are hard to express. Please pray for me today and if you know anyone who was in the military or police or fire service, pray for them too. The suicide rate for them is much higher than for the rest of the population.
Psalm 51 is a good read for days like this.
Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
1{To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.} Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
16For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.King James Bible
