We are closing out another year. This is the time when people make new years resolutions, which fall by the wayside most of the time.
What about you? Have you been living your life for yourself, with little or no regard for God? Is your life filled with sin and guilt, do you desire to be free from addictions and habits that you just can't break?
Don't make another resolution this year, like all the other years gone by. This is only an exercise in futility. Now is the time to be set free by Jesus Christ. Give up your sin! Turn from it and surrender your life to Jesus Christ. He shed His blood on the cross for you. He will forgive you, and set you free from the sin that binds you. In the power of the Holy Spirit, whom He will give you, you will find the victory to live a life pleasing to Him.
Do not put it off another day. Give Christ Your life, and find freedom. It is the only way.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Unbelief.
The Lord said to Moses, "How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?"
Numbers 14:11 NASB
The occasion was when Israel stood ready to enter the promised land, but refused to enter for fear of the inhabitants of the land.
Notice that God charged them with unbelief. God had indeed performed great deeds in their sight. The people saw the plagues in Egypt. They experienced the crossing of the Red Sea. They were led by God in the cloud, and pillar of fire. They stood in fear of His awesome presence at Sinai, and had experienced His discipline already for their grumbling. They had seen His wrath in the incident of the golden calf. He had faithfully provided manna for them, and miraculously provided water from the rock when they grumbled in His sight.
The people did not doubt the existence of God. They knew Him to be real, they had experienced His presence and power daily as they travelled from Egypt to the promised land.
Their unbelief entered in as they failed to obey Him. Their lack of faith was evidenced every time they grumbled, every time they cried out to return to Egypt.
It is not enough to merely assent to the fact that God does exist. The demons believe this, and tremble (James 2:19). They know all too well that God exists, and they also know that they will some day face His wrath.
God expects us to believe in Him with a unshakeable trust that follows Him in obedience no matter the cost to us. A grumbling disobedient faith is no faith in God's estimation.
The writer of Hebrews uses this example from Israel's history to show us the New Testament concept of faith tied to obedience. It has not changed from the Old testament to the new (Hebrews 3:7-19, 4:1-11). What God expected of the Israelites of old, He expects of us today as well. He desires us to commit ourselves to Him with an obedient faith . Any other faith is really unbelief.
Numbers 14:11 NASB
The occasion was when Israel stood ready to enter the promised land, but refused to enter for fear of the inhabitants of the land.
Notice that God charged them with unbelief. God had indeed performed great deeds in their sight. The people saw the plagues in Egypt. They experienced the crossing of the Red Sea. They were led by God in the cloud, and pillar of fire. They stood in fear of His awesome presence at Sinai, and had experienced His discipline already for their grumbling. They had seen His wrath in the incident of the golden calf. He had faithfully provided manna for them, and miraculously provided water from the rock when they grumbled in His sight.
The people did not doubt the existence of God. They knew Him to be real, they had experienced His presence and power daily as they travelled from Egypt to the promised land.
Their unbelief entered in as they failed to obey Him. Their lack of faith was evidenced every time they grumbled, every time they cried out to return to Egypt.
It is not enough to merely assent to the fact that God does exist. The demons believe this, and tremble (James 2:19). They know all too well that God exists, and they also know that they will some day face His wrath.
God expects us to believe in Him with a unshakeable trust that follows Him in obedience no matter the cost to us. A grumbling disobedient faith is no faith in God's estimation.
The writer of Hebrews uses this example from Israel's history to show us the New Testament concept of faith tied to obedience. It has not changed from the Old testament to the new (Hebrews 3:7-19, 4:1-11). What God expected of the Israelites of old, He expects of us today as well. He desires us to commit ourselves to Him with an obedient faith . Any other faith is really unbelief.
A Serious Question.
"Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"
Luke 6:46 NASB
Jesus asks a question of those who call Him Lord, but do not obey His words. In effect He is saying if we claim Him as Lord, if we claim to be Christians, but do not obey Him, we are frauds, there is not one ounce of salvation in us!
In another place He tells us that if we love Him we will obey His commands. The one who does not love Him will not keep His commandments (John 14:15, 21, 23-24). It is the one who loves God with an obedient love, who is loved by God, and lives in fellowship with Him (John 14:21, 23). Take heed to this, for these are the very words of God!
True faith will produce works of love in the believer, because faith works by love (Romans 13:8-10; Gal 5:6; James 2:22-26). Love, faith, and the works produced by them, cannot exist without each other. If any of these are absent, the spiritual life of the individual is in question.
Jesus gives a warning to those who call Him Lord, but disobey Him.
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
"Many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'"
Matthew 7:21-23 NASB
These were people who called Jesus Lord. They considered themselves Christians. They even claimed to have prophesied, cast out demons, and performed miracles in His name.
What a shocking surprise many will have when they stand before Jesus and hear these very words. All along they thought that they were saved, and called Jesus Lord. Like the examples in these verses, many will claim to have done great deeds in the name of Jesus, but something was missing the whole time.
Jesus emphasizes that His true disciples, those who really follow Him, will do the will of God. This is in contrast to those who are called workers of lawlessness.
Sadly too many professing Christians today have cast of restraint, and live with little or no law. They view it as obsolete, irrelevant to the culture today, or unnecessary under grace. A look at the scriptures will show us however, that faith, in reality, upholds the law (Romans 3:31). The law is written upon the heart of a believer, causing him to walk in the law of God (Hebrews 10:16), and the life of the Spirit within us will produce the works of the law in our daily lives (Romans 8:4; Galatians 5:22-25).
Do not be deceived, Jesus gives us a stern warning. We do well to listen, and to heed what He says. Examine yourself in light of the scriptures, and see if you are in the faith (2 Cor 13:5). Someday we will all stand before Christ, and then it will be too late.
Luke 6:46 NASB
Jesus asks a question of those who call Him Lord, but do not obey His words. In effect He is saying if we claim Him as Lord, if we claim to be Christians, but do not obey Him, we are frauds, there is not one ounce of salvation in us!
In another place He tells us that if we love Him we will obey His commands. The one who does not love Him will not keep His commandments (John 14:15, 21, 23-24). It is the one who loves God with an obedient love, who is loved by God, and lives in fellowship with Him (John 14:21, 23). Take heed to this, for these are the very words of God!
True faith will produce works of love in the believer, because faith works by love (Romans 13:8-10; Gal 5:6; James 2:22-26). Love, faith, and the works produced by them, cannot exist without each other. If any of these are absent, the spiritual life of the individual is in question.
Jesus gives a warning to those who call Him Lord, but disobey Him.
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
"Many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'"
Matthew 7:21-23 NASB
These were people who called Jesus Lord. They considered themselves Christians. They even claimed to have prophesied, cast out demons, and performed miracles in His name.
What a shocking surprise many will have when they stand before Jesus and hear these very words. All along they thought that they were saved, and called Jesus Lord. Like the examples in these verses, many will claim to have done great deeds in the name of Jesus, but something was missing the whole time.
Jesus emphasizes that His true disciples, those who really follow Him, will do the will of God. This is in contrast to those who are called workers of lawlessness.
Sadly too many professing Christians today have cast of restraint, and live with little or no law. They view it as obsolete, irrelevant to the culture today, or unnecessary under grace. A look at the scriptures will show us however, that faith, in reality, upholds the law (Romans 3:31). The law is written upon the heart of a believer, causing him to walk in the law of God (Hebrews 10:16), and the life of the Spirit within us will produce the works of the law in our daily lives (Romans 8:4; Galatians 5:22-25).
Do not be deceived, Jesus gives us a stern warning. We do well to listen, and to heed what He says. Examine yourself in light of the scriptures, and see if you are in the faith (2 Cor 13:5). Someday we will all stand before Christ, and then it will be too late.
Sunday, December 21, 2014
A New Heart.
Almost 300 years ago, Charles Wesley penned this verse in his hymn "O for A Heart To Praise"
A heart in every thought renewed, and full of love divine; perfect, and right, and pure, and good, a copy, Lord, of Thine. (1)
The need of mankind is a new heart. Look around at all of the wickedness that runs rampant throughout the world we live in. As Jesus points out, it all springs out of the heart, a heart that is desperately wicked, beyond cure (Mark 7:20-23; Jeremiah 17:9).
The promise of the new covenant is a divine heart transplant; the removal of the sin hardened old heart, exchanged for a new heart, soft and pliable, upon which the law of God has been written (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Jeremiah 24:7, 31:33; Hebrews 10:16-17).
Are you weary of a life of bondage to sin? Are you sick of wanting to do right, but always doing what you know to be wrong (Romans 7:15)?
Come to the cross of Christ, and lay down your burden of sin. Put your life into the Hands of Jesus, and follow Him. He will take out your sin sick heart, and give you a new heart renewed in His image (Col 3:10), but you must come to Him to put it on.
(1) O For a Heart to Praise
Charles Wesley 1742
The Mennonite Hymnal
copyright 1969
Herald Press, Scottdale, Pa 15683
Faith and Life Press, Newton, Kansas 67114
A heart in every thought renewed, and full of love divine; perfect, and right, and pure, and good, a copy, Lord, of Thine. (1)
The need of mankind is a new heart. Look around at all of the wickedness that runs rampant throughout the world we live in. As Jesus points out, it all springs out of the heart, a heart that is desperately wicked, beyond cure (Mark 7:20-23; Jeremiah 17:9).
The promise of the new covenant is a divine heart transplant; the removal of the sin hardened old heart, exchanged for a new heart, soft and pliable, upon which the law of God has been written (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Jeremiah 24:7, 31:33; Hebrews 10:16-17).
Are you weary of a life of bondage to sin? Are you sick of wanting to do right, but always doing what you know to be wrong (Romans 7:15)?
Come to the cross of Christ, and lay down your burden of sin. Put your life into the Hands of Jesus, and follow Him. He will take out your sin sick heart, and give you a new heart renewed in His image (Col 3:10), but you must come to Him to put it on.
(1) O For a Heart to Praise
Charles Wesley 1742
The Mennonite Hymnal
copyright 1969
Herald Press, Scottdale, Pa 15683
Faith and Life Press, Newton, Kansas 67114
True Grace.
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Romans 6:14 NASB
There is this idea that somehow the grace of God allows us to sin. Many individuals believe that it's ok to sin because God understands, and after all, grace covers it.
It is true that it is by grace, and not by works that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is equally true however, that as His workmanship, we are created for good works (Ephesians 2:10)!
Paul makes the point in Romans 6:1-23, that in salvation, we are delivered from the bondage and power that sin holds over us. Through our identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, we are set free from sin to serve Christ in righteousness.
He anticipates that some may claim that grace gives them liberty to sin, and he emphatically says NO, grace does not give you freedom to sin, but freedom from sin (Romans 6:1-2, 14-18).
We get a true picture of what God's grace really means for us in Paul's letter to Titus.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
Titus 2:11-14 NASB
This passage shows us that true grace instructs us to deny sinful and worldly desires and behavior. It teaches us to live sensible, righteous lives that please God who has redeemed us from every lawless deed through Jesus Christ.
God's purpose in saving us was to have a people for His own possession who were zealous for good works. He desires to have a holy people who have turned from sin, and now live for Him (Ephesians 1:4, 1 Peter 1:2), people who have been transformed from what they were, into something new and glorious in the eyes of God (1 Cor 6:11, 2 Cor 5:17).
Grace does not wink at sin. It never gives us permission to sin. The true grace of God will turn us from sin, and set us free. Anything less than this is not grace at all.
Romans 6:14 NASB
There is this idea that somehow the grace of God allows us to sin. Many individuals believe that it's ok to sin because God understands, and after all, grace covers it.
It is true that it is by grace, and not by works that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is equally true however, that as His workmanship, we are created for good works (Ephesians 2:10)!
Paul makes the point in Romans 6:1-23, that in salvation, we are delivered from the bondage and power that sin holds over us. Through our identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, we are set free from sin to serve Christ in righteousness.
He anticipates that some may claim that grace gives them liberty to sin, and he emphatically says NO, grace does not give you freedom to sin, but freedom from sin (Romans 6:1-2, 14-18).
We get a true picture of what God's grace really means for us in Paul's letter to Titus.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
Titus 2:11-14 NASB
This passage shows us that true grace instructs us to deny sinful and worldly desires and behavior. It teaches us to live sensible, righteous lives that please God who has redeemed us from every lawless deed through Jesus Christ.
God's purpose in saving us was to have a people for His own possession who were zealous for good works. He desires to have a holy people who have turned from sin, and now live for Him (Ephesians 1:4, 1 Peter 1:2), people who have been transformed from what they were, into something new and glorious in the eyes of God (1 Cor 6:11, 2 Cor 5:17).
Grace does not wink at sin. It never gives us permission to sin. The true grace of God will turn us from sin, and set us free. Anything less than this is not grace at all.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Sin Separates You From God.
Behold the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor His ear so dull that it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
Isaiah 59:1-2 NASB
It is sin that comes between man and God. Sin destroys the fellowship that God desires to share with us. As a holy God with eyes to pure to look upon sin with approval (Habakkuk 1:13), He will not fellowship with, or even listen to the prayers of one who is living in known sin (Psalm 66:18).
God stands ready to forgive sin, and restore the sinner, through the sacrifice Jesus made for each one of us. His arm is not too short to save. He is ready and willing to save the sinner. Jesus Christ accomplished everything necessary for the salvation of our souls.
What is lacking is the broken and contrite heart, of the repentant sinner (Psalm 55:17). What God requires of us is that we give up our sin, and turn to Him in humble submission.
It does no good to pray, to seek forgiveness, as long as we are unwilling to turn from sin. God is opposed to the proud, to those who will not submit to Him, to those who refuse to obey Him. There can be no grace for unrepentant sinners, but He gives grace to the humble, to those who in godly sorrow, confess and forsake their sin, and yield their lives to Christ (James 4:6-10; 2 Cor 7:9-10; 1 John 1:9).
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
Isaiah 59:1-2 NASB
It is sin that comes between man and God. Sin destroys the fellowship that God desires to share with us. As a holy God with eyes to pure to look upon sin with approval (Habakkuk 1:13), He will not fellowship with, or even listen to the prayers of one who is living in known sin (Psalm 66:18).
God stands ready to forgive sin, and restore the sinner, through the sacrifice Jesus made for each one of us. His arm is not too short to save. He is ready and willing to save the sinner. Jesus Christ accomplished everything necessary for the salvation of our souls.
What is lacking is the broken and contrite heart, of the repentant sinner (Psalm 55:17). What God requires of us is that we give up our sin, and turn to Him in humble submission.
It does no good to pray, to seek forgiveness, as long as we are unwilling to turn from sin. God is opposed to the proud, to those who will not submit to Him, to those who refuse to obey Him. There can be no grace for unrepentant sinners, but He gives grace to the humble, to those who in godly sorrow, confess and forsake their sin, and yield their lives to Christ (James 4:6-10; 2 Cor 7:9-10; 1 John 1:9).
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Unless You Repent.
It is easy to look at the misfortunes of others and make quick judgments about them.
When a tragedy strikes, it is a common thing for some people to assume that the people involved must have been great sinners.
So often, we find temporary comfort in making these judgments, because it gets our focus off of our own lives, and onto the lives of others. We tend to feel better about ourselves when we find someone who in our estimation, is worse than we are.
Jesus was confronted with this, when some people reported a tragedy to Him concerning some Galileans whom Pilate had killed, and mixed their blood with their sacrifices (Luke 13:1).
Indeed, this looked very bad for these people, and no doubt many people believed that these things occurred because they were great sinners (Luke 13:2).
Jesus pointed out that these individuals were not greater sinners than any others. He then gets very personal when He states to the crowd that unless they repent they too would likewise perish (Luke 13:3).
Using another example, of some people who had died in another tragic way, He makes the same point again to emphasize the fact that we are all responsible to God (Luke 13:4-5). It is not a matter of who is the greater sinner, we are all accountable to God, and unless WE, AS INDIVIDUALS, repent of our own sin against God, we too will perish.
God deals with each and every individual on the basis of their own sin. What one individual does determines their eternal fate. To believe that somehow God will overlook my sin because He is more concerned with somebody else is to be deceived.
As Jesus said "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." We are accountable to God, we have all sinned, and we will all stand before God someday.
What will you do about it? Will you look around you, hoping to find somebody worse than you, to ease your guilty conscience, or will you take the responsibility for your own sin against God, and give it up for His sake?
When a tragedy strikes, it is a common thing for some people to assume that the people involved must have been great sinners.
So often, we find temporary comfort in making these judgments, because it gets our focus off of our own lives, and onto the lives of others. We tend to feel better about ourselves when we find someone who in our estimation, is worse than we are.
Jesus was confronted with this, when some people reported a tragedy to Him concerning some Galileans whom Pilate had killed, and mixed their blood with their sacrifices (Luke 13:1).
Indeed, this looked very bad for these people, and no doubt many people believed that these things occurred because they were great sinners (Luke 13:2).
Jesus pointed out that these individuals were not greater sinners than any others. He then gets very personal when He states to the crowd that unless they repent they too would likewise perish (Luke 13:3).
Using another example, of some people who had died in another tragic way, He makes the same point again to emphasize the fact that we are all responsible to God (Luke 13:4-5). It is not a matter of who is the greater sinner, we are all accountable to God, and unless WE, AS INDIVIDUALS, repent of our own sin against God, we too will perish.
God deals with each and every individual on the basis of their own sin. What one individual does determines their eternal fate. To believe that somehow God will overlook my sin because He is more concerned with somebody else is to be deceived.
As Jesus said "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." We are accountable to God, we have all sinned, and we will all stand before God someday.
What will you do about it? Will you look around you, hoping to find somebody worse than you, to ease your guilty conscience, or will you take the responsibility for your own sin against God, and give it up for His sake?
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