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2 Kings 16 Are You Pleasing Man or God?

2/9/2016

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For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10
2 Kings 16
Up to now the Kings of Judah and done what was right in the sight of the Lord. Although they had left the high places and let the people of Judah worship idols there, they themselves had not participated in that idol worship and had worshipped The Lord properly at the Temple and His altar. But this is not the case with Ahaz. Verses 1-4 read,
“In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, 3 but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.”
Ahaz was completely dedicated to his idols. He worshipped at the high places and even at the trees and hills of Judah, taking God’s creation and turning it into an altar to false gods. He even sacrificed his own son to bow down to counterfeit deities. How did it get that bad? His father, his grandfather and his fathers’ fathers before him had tolerated idolatry in Judah all the way back to Solomon. At some point what his father taught him with his mouth was superseded by his actions and inaction of allowing the high places to remain. Ahaz explored the religions that some of the Judahites practiced and chose to follow them instead of The Lord. Ahaz cared about pleasing people, not God.
Ahaz’s idolatrous sin was not the only legacy he got from his father’s lack of action. While his father Jotham was king “The Lord began to send Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah” (2 Kings 15:37). But scriptures don’t record that Jotham responded to the threats. With Ahaz as king, leading Judah to sin worse than any Israelite king had led Israel to sin, The Lord let Syria and Israel attack. Verses 5-9 describe it.
“Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. 6 At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered Elath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from Elath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. 7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8 Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. 9 And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin.”
Ahaz did not turn to the Lord, he turned to Assyria. He didn’t make sacrifices and offerings to The Lord, he offered Assyria the treasures of The Temple. He tried to save himself and submitted to an earthly king when he could have submitted to the King of kings and let The Lord save him. He gave what was precious and made for worship to the king of Assyria and made it cheap capital.
Then Ahaz traveled to Damascus. Verses 10-11 read,
“When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. 11 And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus.”
He saw Jeroboam’s imitation altar he had built for his fabricated and bogus religion meant to allow the people of Israel to worship The Lord without having to go to the true Temple in Jerusalem. The passage implies that the Assyrian king was impressed with this false altar. Ahaz wanted to impress and please the king of Assyria. He wanted Tiglath-pileser to come to Jerusalem and be further impressed. The bells and whistles and the finery of the imitation altar appealed to Ahaz and he wanted one just like it in Jerusalem. Jerusalem had the true Temple, but Ahaz didn’t want to worship The Lord, he wanted to lift himself up. His worship would not be about blessing God but enjoying the experience himself and looking good. While he stayed in Damascus and learned Jeroboam’s twisted religion, Uriah built Ahaz the altar he desired.
How many churches and denominations have taken the pure worship and relationship with The Lord and added to it to make it appealing to the masses? Today there are churches who meet in bars while people eat and get drunk, advertise their tolerance of sexual immorality, and otherwise change worship to make people want to come to church rather than testify about the love of Jesus Christ and eternal life. In order to avoid offending anyone many churches have removed the cross from their sanctuaries. Worse yet, they refrain from the name of Jesus Christ. They have twisted Christianity into something that looks like Christianity but is not. They bless the congregants and exalt the preachers instead of blessing and exalting The Lord. God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7). These churches mock Him and lead people to Hell. They will pay
Christianity is beautiful, but not in the way the world wants it to be. It is real, it involves difficulty and suffering. Matthew 10:32-39 says it this way,
“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Christ didn’t bring a pretty “feel good” message, He brought the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God which divides soul and of spirit, joints and of marrow, and discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). False worship is false worship. Without the whole Word of God, without Jesus Christ, there is no worshipping in spirit and in truth. 2 Peter 2:1-3 describes these churches and preachers.
“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
Ahaz went home after Uriah had built the false altar and he worshipped there. Verses 12-20 read,
“And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. Then the king drew near to the altar and went up on it 13 and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14 And the bronze altar that was before the Lord he removed from the front of the house, from the place between his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of his altar. 15 And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering and the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. And throw on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” 16 Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.
17 And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands and removed the basin from them, and he took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pedestal. 18 And the covered way for the Sabbath that had been built inside the house and the outer entrance for the king he caused to go around the house of the Lord, because of the king of Assyria. 19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.”
Not only did Ahaz built a false altar but he defaced The Temple. He removed the sea which was made for the cleansing of the priests. He derided The Sabbath so that the people would not be reminded to keep that day holy, as they were supposed to be holy, as God is holy. And he made the king’s passage to the Temple go around the Temple instead of to it. He did this to impress Tiglath-pileser. He did not care about pleasing The Lord. He cared about exalting himself in men’s eyes and especially in the eyes of the Assyrian king.
Ahaz’s fathers tolerated idolatry and led him to practice it. Israel’s mockery of worship enticed him to sin worse. And he then led Judah to sin with him. We have to safeguard our children and teach them the truth. We have to safeguard the truth. We have been entrusted with preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and keeping that message pure (1 Corinthians 9:17). Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, there is no other way to The Father than Him (John 14:6). We preach the Gospel. Jesus is the Christ, The perfect Son of God crucified and resurrected. We do not appeal to men’s sensuality, Jesus appeals to the spirit and the soul. Galatians 1:6-10 reads,
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Believer, be aware of who you are trying to please. Whose approval are you seeking? If you are trying to please men, you are a slave to the men you want to please (2 Peter 2:19).
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1 Kings 14:21-31 There is no Substitute for The LORD

10/1/2015

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God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24 On photo of door by Donna Campbell
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24
​1 Kings 14:21-31
Worldly substitutions will never be equal to The Lord. Books about the Bible cannot replace the Bible. Listening to worship cannot replace worshipping. Idols cannot replace God. Men cannot replace the Holy Spirit. And pastors, popes, and apostles cannot replace Jesus Christ.
The last couple of days we’ve been reading about Jeroboam, the man to whom The Lord gave 10 tribes of Israel and who disregarded the Lord to create a false religion in order to keep Israel from returning to Jerusalem and joining Judah. But in the meantime Rehoboam was still king over Judah. Verse 21 reads,
“Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite.”
Rehoboam was the son of Solomon and Naamah the Ammonite. Interestingly enough he was not the son of Solomon’s favorite wife the daughter of Pharaoh, for whom Solomon built her own palace. But Naamah may have been Solomon’s first wife. She was the only queen mother to be a foreigner and this may have played a part in Rehoboam’s choices. Rehoboam was forty-one when he began ruling after Solomon’s death. Solomon had reigned as king for forty years, placing Rehoboam’s birth in the last year of King David’s reign. (1 Kings 11:42). That means that Rehoboam had every advantage. He was raised while Solomon was still following the Lord, while his father was using his vast wisdom to prosper Israel and he understood the importance of The Temple. But his mother must have had more influence on him than Solomon. We already read how foolish Rehoboam was, even at forty one when he should have had a measure of wisdom, he made a stupid choice that resulted in losing Israel to Jeroboam. (1 Kings 12). He replaced the joy of the Lord with the pleasures of the world.
Verses 22-24 read,
“And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 24 and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.”
Israel had a past filled with times of evil, rebellion, and idol worship, yet Rehoboam led Judah to be worse than at any time in her sordid past. They followed the false religions of the nations who had been driven out of Canaan. They went further than Israel had ever dared to go, including sexual worship of cult idols. So the Lord had to move against Rehoboam and He did it using Egypt. Verses 25-26 read,
“In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. 26 He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made,”
Shishak took away the treasures and riches that Solomon had collected. He stole Judah’s prosperity, the Temple’s opulence, and the protection of the king. Rehoboam made his own protection. He had shields made of bronze and gave them to the guards in place of the gold shields that had carried before. We can’t replace the perfection and holiness of God with brazen objects and efforts of our own making. Bronze will never be as good, pure, or valued as gold. But without the Lord, Rehoboam had no wealth. He could not prosper like Solomon because he was okay with substitutions, like bronze shields instead of gold ones and gods instead of God. Rehoboam gave those bronze shields to the guards and they were used to parade him back and forth to The Temple whenever he went there. He kept up appearances, he made a show of going to The Temple, but he didn’t worship the Lord in truth. He just made it look good. The pageantry of going to the Temple meant nothing to God. God doesn’t want ceremony and ritual, He wants us to know Him and love Him. (Hosea 6:6). He wants genuine worship with an understanding of who it is we worship. He wants us to worship Him in truth and in spirit, meaning we adore The One True Living God, not an icon we have imagined. We worship Him in the way He has prescribed. John 4:22-26 reads,
“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
True worship of God requires a union with Him. That peace and reconciliation can only happen through Jesus Christ. That authentic knowledge of Him can only happen through The Holy Spirit. Jesus is the way and the truth, and the life. He is the only way to The Father. (John 14:6). The Holy Spirit completes our worship and perfects us. (Acts 19:1-7, Ephesians 1:13-14).
If you have not made Jesus your Lord (Master) and Savior (The Christ who died and resurrected and forgave your sins), then you are not worshipping the One True God in spirit because Jesus is God and it is through Him you receive the Spirit. If you have not been indwelled with the Holy Spirit, you are not worshipping in truth because you cannot know God without His Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9-16 says it this way,
“But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”--

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”
To worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, requires the mind of Christ, The Holy Spirit who helps us to understand the Word, discern the truth, and receive instruction from God. Do you worship The LORD? Or do you worship a substitution? Have you replaced the parts of God you don’t understand with bronze surrogates? Have you accepted less than the fullness of blessings of Christ? 
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Titus 3 Saved by Faith for Good Works

4/21/2015

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Titus Chapter 3

Who were you before you were saved? What were you like before you were born again? What you’re your desires, your plans, and your hopes? They were likely different from your current desires. You were probably a very different person. But when you recognized Jesus as your savior, His Spirit entered you and made you new. He changed you and He continues to change you. Your will aligns more closely to God’s will.

We must be diligent about standing out from the world and being the image of Christ to them. They are lost and we can be the light that leads them to the Truth, the Life, and the Way. Paul encourages us to be different and live out our salvation, and to always be ready to do good for people. Verses 1-2 read,

“Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.”

What if the other person is mean, rude, or a really bad sinner? Do we have to be kind to them? Do we have to do good for the person who is trying to con old ladies out of their pensions or the drug addict? Paul tells us to show perfect courtesy toward all people. Everyone needs Jesus, no one deserves His grace and mercy. You were once lost. What was it that brought you to Jesus? Did someone argue with you, judge you, and tell you to turn or burn? Is that what brought you to redemption? I doubt it. Or did someone lead you to Jesus with love, kindness, and truth? Verses 3-7 say,

“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life”

What He did for us, is not meant to be kept for us alone. He washed us and renewed us. He changed us. He poured Himself into us lavishly. We are saved by grace and now have the hope of eternal life for a purpose. We can’t continue living the way we used to live anymore because we are no longer the people we used to be. We are saved by grace but we are saved so that we can do good works. The good we do doesn’t justify us. It doesn’t make up for any sin. But it does give an expression to the Holy Spirit. It does testify to the greatness of The Spirit, the power of Christ, and the love of The Father.

The lost are lost because they’ve been led astray by the prince of this world. Jesus gave us the authority to show them the way to salvation. We show them the Way, the Truth, and the Life through good works, which is God’s love expressed and God’s word manifested. Faith saved us. Grace justified us. But it is good works, the exercising of our spiritual gifts and the fruit of the Spirit that builds the church and leads the lost to Jesus. Verse 8 reads,

“The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.”

Good works not only include working outside the church building but within it. Good works include using our gifts to edify one another, grow in knowledge and love, and become more like Jesus. Building up of the church and loving one another makes us more unified. Unity is a sign of maturity and shows the Holy Spirit in us. Union allows Him to work within us as a group and be manifested even more powerfully than He is as individuals. When Jesus was teaching about church unity and how to handle sin among the brethren He said,

“Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

How He wants to do great and good things with us and through us! Jesus’ promise is not a little thing. He promised that our unity would make anything we ask happen. He promised that even if only two of us come together to agree that He would grant us our request. He promised that even if only two or three of us come together in His name (that is as His representatives doing His will) that He is there with us.

So it is very important to maintain unity. It is extremely important to ensure no one among us is teaching lies, starting arguments, and causing dissention. The dissident causes us to look like the world. He makes us take our eyes off God’s work and puts our minds on foolishness. We are not able to do good works if we are busy arguing over the size of the church bell or whether eating pork is a sin. Verses 9-11 read,

“But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.”

We are not saved by good works. We are not saved by our behavior. We are saved by faith. It is His grace that redeems us. But following Christ means we will do as He wants. We want to obey Him. We want to love as He loves. We want to communicate our gratitude. We want to express the Holy Spirit within us. We are not saved by our good works. We are saved by Jesus’ good work. We were led to Christ because a brother or sister did good works and we saw Jesus in them.

Verse 14 says,

“And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.”

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2 Peter 3 Haven't We Been Saying "Soon" for about 2,000 years?

4/9/2015

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2 Peter Chapter 3

Judgement Day is coming. I’ve heard people make thoughtless jokes about it. About how perhaps the Prophets and the writers of the Epistles should look up the definition of the word ‘soon’. I’ve heard people ridicule the prophecies and those who believe them. They depict believers as insane homeless people preaching on street corners or crazy cult leaders ready to kill their entire congregation.

But the fact is The Day is coming, and it is coming soon. We don’t know exactly when, so we need to live like it might be tomorrow, today, or in ten minutes. It is something all believers need to keep in mind as we live our lives. Peter urged the church to remember The Day of the Lord. Verses 1-7 in The Message read,

“My dear friends, this is now the second time I’ve written to you, both letters reminders to hold your minds in a state of undistracted attention. Keep in mind what the holy prophets said, and the command of our Master and Savior that was passed on by your apostles.

3-4 First off, you need to know that in the last days, mockers are going to have a heyday. Reducing everything to the level of their puny feelings, they’ll mock, “So what’s happened to the promise of his Coming? Our ancestors are dead and buried, and everything’s going on just as it has from the first day of creation. Nothing’s changed.”

5-7 They conveniently forget that long ago all the galaxies and this very planet were brought into existence out of watery chaos by God’s word. Then God’s word brought the chaos back in a flood that destroyed the world. The current galaxies and earth are fuel for the final fire. God is poised, ready to speak his word again, ready to give the signal for the judgment and destruction of the desecrating skeptics.

Those scoffers also don’t know who God is. They don’t know Him the way we do. They imagine Him to be made-up, or ever angry, or a sweet but wise bumbling old man. However the world imagines God, we know that they’ve got Him wrong because they don’t know Him the way we know Him and they deny parts of Him to fit Him in their own definition.

We know time is different for God than for us. He has existed since the beginning and we, mere humans can’t conceive of how very long ago that was. God lives in time without end. We live on this earth such a short time compared to eternity. For us waiting a week can seem like forever, 40 weeks seems like eons, and four years may as well be four ages. But it isn’t that way for God. Time is not the same for Him. Verses 8-9 read,

“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

God loves us and He is patient. He doesn’t want anyone to die lost. God is Love. Ultimately, His love will manifest in Judgement Day. For now, He holds back judgement, waiting for as many as possible to hear the Gospel had have the opportunity to accept Jesus as their Savior.

He is a God of truth and light. That Day will reveal the truth, all of the truth. All our deeds, all our words, everything about us will be divulged. And every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. (Philippians 2:10-11). Verse 10 reads,

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed”

What does all this mean for us? It means that we ought to live like Jesus is coming back very soon. It means that we should live godly Christ glorifying lives. It means we must share the wonderful and beautiful truth of Christ with the world. It means we can hold onto the hope and promise of eternity with our Lord. Verses 11-16 puts it this way,

“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,”

Remember too that the prophecy surrounding this is fodder for false teachers and false prophets. They love to take it and twist it and put fear into people with it.  They take the parts they can use, throw out the parts that don’t go with their message and use it for their own benefit. It has even become a popular subject for horror films. But we know the truth, and if we don’t yet know it, we need to read the Scriptures for ourselves. Yes, sometimes there are parts that are very deep or otherwise difficult to comprehend, but we have the Holy Spirit to reveal the meaning to us. The lost don’t have Him. That enables us to discern their lies. If we are ignorant of what the Word says we need to change that. Repeatedly in the Bible we are told to pursue knowledge, unlock the mystery of Salvation, seek God, and seek truth. We are told to study the scriptures, meditate on them, and be hearers and doers of them. Verses 16-18 read,

“as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

Remain diligent in growing in Christ. Remember that includes studying the Bible for yourself, belonging to a group of Believers, and depending on God through the trials and suffering of your life. Follow Jesus. Pursue Love. Seek Truth.

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Colossians 1:15-29 Who is Jesus? What is the Truth?

3/23/2015

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Colossians Chapter 1 Verses 15-29

What is the Gospel? What is the truth? It is this; Jesus Christ is the only way to be forgiven, reconciled to the Father, and given a share in His inheritance. We can’t be redeemed by good works, positive thoughts, or happy words. Jesus is the only way to redemption. Who is Jesus? People want to know why they should believe the Gospel when there are so many philosophies they could follow, beliefs which tell them they are good, they are one with the universe, or free to do whatever they choose in this life. Believer we can tell them about Jesus. We tell them by the lives we lead, the changes Jesus makes in us, and by knowing Him well enough to tell people who He is. Verses 15-16 describe Him this way,

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

He is the image of the invisible God. That means He is God manifested or revealed so that we can see Him and know Him. What does it mean that He is the first born of all creation? Does it mean He was created first by God? No. He is God. Rather, the firstborn of all creation means He is the prototype, the template by which everything was created. We endeavor to become like Him, and as the Spirit perfects us, He makes us to the image of Christ. We become like Christ so that He is revealed to others so that they can know Him too. Everything in the heavens, on earth, including angels, spirits, lands, and governments were created by Jesus. He is not lower than God. He is not a creation of God. He is God and was with Him when all things were created and in fact all things were created through Him and by Him. John 1:1-3 puts it this way.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Colossians 1 Verses 17-20 read,

“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

It is through Jesus, for Jesus and by Jesus that everything spiritual and physical exists. So He is before all things. He is the highest authority. And while that is true of all creation it is especially true of the church, His body, who reveal Him to the world. It is because He died for our sins, and raised from death to life that we, when we accept the gift of His propitiation for our sins are raised to new and eternal life in Him. Because of that, we are reconciled, that is reunited and united with God. Jesus was and is fully God, even when He became a man, the completeness and perfection of God was in Him. When Jesus makes peace between the Father and us, His Spirit dwells in us and transforms us to His perfection.

How awesome is it that we can be at peace with God? We can speak to Him, fellowship with Him, and commune with Him. And not just occasionally at appointed times, but always and continually because He is with us always and continually. That is because of the blood He shed. The horrible death He died to pay for our sins makes it possible. Verses 21-22 read,

“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,”

Once we were estranged from God, separated from Him by our sin. We had naturally antagonistic, selfish minds which led us to sin to get what we wanted. But because the Father loves us so much, because Jesus died and rose again, and because The Spirit indwells us we are no longer sinful children of wrath but now at peace with God we are considered righteous. None of our sins are held against us and we have a new mind, the mind of Christ. We want to please God. We no longer seek to please ourselves. As we are transformed and we mature, there is no more animosity between God’s will and our own.

But the Gospel doesn’t gel with the worldly beliefs, the spiritualisms, mysticisms, universalisms, and many other isms the world prefers. Her truth and his truth, my truth and your truth do not exist, they are lies. There is one truth, one Gospel. There are not many paths to enlightenment. There are many paths to delusion. There is no other way to the Father except Christ Jesus. He is God. He is the Son of God, the Image of God, the Word of God. Anything else is a lie. Paul encourages the believer to stay steadfast in that knowledge. Verse 23 reads,

“if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

We don’t have to doubt the simple truth. We don’t have to complicate it. We don’t have to shift from philosophy to philosophy. Jesus is the way, and the truth and the life. There is no other way to the Father except Him. (John 14:6). Suffering and trials may shake us. We may want to find an easier way, a way that makes it okay to be selfish, a way that blames others. But The Way gives suffering a purpose as we are matured and conformed to Christ. The Way makes us blameless in Christ when we take responsibility and repent from sin. The Way may not always be easy but we are never alone as we walk it and it leads to the awesome and beautiful promise of our inheritance in Christ. Verses 24-29 read,

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”

Our Christian walk is not alone. Not only do we have God with us. We have our brothers and sisters. Our walk affects theirs, and theirs ours. And our walk affects those watching from the outside too as we reveal Christ to them. The mystery they don’t understand is made known in our lives, how we walk, and how we handle life. We mature. We change. We grow. We live publicly for Christ together with the Brethren and in doing so we proclaim the Gospel to everyone.

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Colossians 1:1-14 A Relationship with God is not a Private Matter.

3/22/2015

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Colossians Chapter 1 Verses 1-14

Today we begin reading the letter to the church at Colossae from Paul and Timothy. Many in the church were making their faith very private and esoteric, which in turn made it easy to adopt mysticism and asceticism into their spiritual practice and belief. A private faith, and a faith that relies on the self is a faith that can be easily warped by humanitarianism, various philosophies, and other worldly beliefs.

Paul begins his letter to the church with a prayer of thanksgiving and encouragement for them. Verses 4-5 read,

“since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,”

Sincere faith in Christ always manifests in love. Love is the fruit of the Spirit. God is Love. Love is not an empty feeling but is seen, heard, and experienced by those who receive it. The love and community we form with the brethren now is a shadow of the fullness we will experience one day in New Jerusalem. God is keeping it safe for us now as we practice it here on this earth.

That faith based on the truth of the Gospel is not a private or stagnant thing. It changes us. It changes others. It affects the world. Verse 6 says it this way.

“which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,”

The truth comes to us. The Holy Spirit allows us to hear it, understand it, and believe it. But we do not hold it covertly to ourselves. We live it overtly. Our lives testify to it. We display it by changing to the image of Christ. We reveal God by bearing the fruit, the traits of Christ, who is Love. And that is ever increasing. It increases day by day within us as we become more of Christ and less of us. He increases as our lives bare out the truth by our change and affect others to hear, understand, and believe the Gospel of Christ.

In order to mature, to become more like Christ through the transformation of the Holy Spirit, He continues to teach us. We get to know God more and more. Verses 9-10 read,

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

The knowledge, wisdom, and understanding we gain doesn’t stay hidden and private. It bears itself out in our walk. The more we know God and the more we know about Him, the more we want to know God and the more we want to please Him by loving others with good works.

We change when receive Christ. We are transformed when the Spirit enters us. We are revolutionized when the Father restores us to a relationship with Him. That change is not a private inner change but a public obvious total conversion. It reshapes us. It affects everyone around us. The transformation is not always easy but we are not alone. Often the revolution of our heart involves hardship and pain. But we are not alone through that suffering. And even the way we handle the tribulations we face have influence on the world. Even our travails are not meant to be kept secret. Verses 11-12 encourage us.

“May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light”

We can no longer live in the dark of the lies, idolatry, and worldly philosophies. We know there is no “your truth” or “my truth” but THE Truth. The Gospel is one gospel not many. Verses 13-14 read,

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Be careful that your relationship with God is not a private one. Intimacy with the Lord is important, but it is not meant to be experienced solely in the closet. Your relationship with God is meant to be lived out loud, all the time, be it in your closet, on the street, in the sanctuary, or in the workplace. Jesus Christ permeates your entire life. The Holy Spirit saturates every part of your being. The Father should be glorified by every aspect of who you are. God is enigmatic to many of the world but He is not a secret to be kept. He is a mystery to be unlocked. You are the key. Your witness reveals God to the world.

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Ezekiel 20 God Will Not Allow His Holiness to be Defiled.

3/6/2015

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Ezekiel Chapter 20

This chapter begins with the elders coming to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord. This simple act infuriated God. Why? Doesn’t God want His children to come to Him, to seek out His will, and find answers in Him? Yes, He does. But He wants us to come only to Him. Israel, including her leaders and priests were practicing various religions and mixing beliefs together to create a spirituality that suited them. They were treating the LORD God as if He were another wooden idol, His statutes as if they were disputable, and His law as if it could be rewritten. Whatever question they came asking, God did not answer. Instead He told them He would not put up with their idolatry.

The Lord told them what He had done for their forefathers. Verses 5-7 read,

“and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. 6 On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands. 7 And I said to them, Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.”

Then He described Israel’s reaction to His covenant and His choice of reaction. Verses 8-12 read,

“But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10 So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11 I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live. 12 Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”

But Israel still rebelled, still worshipped idols, and still refused to keep God’s laws. Israel profaned the Holy things God have given her by keeping their idols and practicing a convoluted version of the commandments God required. God could have destroyed them at any time. But He didn’t. He steadfastly loved them. He guided them. He disciplined them. Time and again He said, “I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, 20 and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.” (Verses 19-20). Time and again they rebelled and worshipped idols, profaned the sacred, and ignored the Lord. Yet God remained patient. He remembered His awesome power, perfect love, and great name. He remained I Am so the entire world would know that He is The LORD.

When Israel entered the Promised Land they prayed to the Lord, but they did it on the altars of false gods. God said to destroy the high places, asherah poles, and the other adulterous idolatrous places, but instead Israel re-purposed them to suit them. They sullied the Holy Name of the LORD. The Lord cannot be desecrated and He will not allow His name to be defiled. His perfect reputation calls the lost to Him. But when His perfection is degraded with false beliefs the lost remain lost, and those who think they have found God are worshipping a god of their own creation.

Verses 30-32 read,

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go whoring after their detestable things? 31 When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.

32 “What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.”

Don’t we too often think that we should be more attractive to the world? Or maybe some of the world philosophies sound appealing and we mix them with the word of God. What’s the detriment of some tantric mediation along with our prayer? Where is the harm of adding a touch of Taoism or nature worship to our walk? It is idolatry. It brings the Lord down from God to god.

The covenant God makes with us is that we realize we can never obtain life by being good enough. Israel couldn’t do it, even when they were face to face with God in the wilderness. We can only reach righteousness through the blood and grace of Christ Jesus. He is the way and the truth and the life. There is no other way. Jesus is the only way to the Father, full stop. (John 14:6). But we have choices. God says it is Him or gods. Pray to idols, ancestors, and a myriad of gods or pray to Him. Worship yourself or Him. You can’t have it both ways. 39 reads,

“As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.”

Israel never kept her side of the covenant with the LORD. From its inception they continually broke it. But God never did. Instead He promised restoration. That restoration happens through Jesus. Verses 40-44 read,

“For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. There I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. 41 As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. 42 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers.43 And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. 44 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”

Not everyone will see the astounding and tremendous promise of reestablishment of New Jerusalem. No one who practices idolatry will enter into it. No one who corrupts the name of the Lord by bringing worldly philosophies into the pure relationship with Him will enter. No one who rejects the Word of God, Jesus Christ will come in. But everyone, every single person will know that Awesome God is The LORD. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess He is Lord. (Isaiah 45:23). Every person will realize the devastating truth of their iniquity. But for some, for most, it will be too late.

Do not contribute to dishonoring the name of the Lord by sullying the way. He gave you sacred things and holy knowledge. He gave you His name, His reputation, and His holiness. Don’t muck it up with fake spirituality, lies, and idolatry. Your life is a testimony. God will deal with you so that you will come to know Him and be transformed to Christ’s image and so that others can come to know Him. Do not lead people to a false god. Make sure it is the One True Holy God you worship and not a god of your own creation.

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James 1:9-18 How Do You Stay Faithful Through the Hard Times?

1/28/2015

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James Chapter 1 Verses 9-18

Life on this earth is difficult but it is also temporary. All the pursuits to gratify our cravings and create a pleasing life are temporary. Only God, His Love, His Word, and the life He gives are forever. The lost look at this current life as being all there is and so they seek fulfillment in earthly things. But those of us whom God calls His children, seek Him first and live with the knowledge of eternal life. Verses 9-11 reads,

“Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.”

Life is hard. Believers pursue the will of God and rejoice in Him. But the world seek money and other amusements to make them happy. They go through hard times and do what they can to get out of them. The poor suffer through them with complaints and anger. The rich buy their way out. Many turn to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain and fool themselves.

But believers submit to God’s sovereignty and go through trials with joy because they know that God is good. And God recognizes that faith, He rewards it. Verse 12 says it this way,

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

Love for God is expressed in action. We love God by serving the people around us, by loving our fellow believers and living out God’s will. As children of God, He has given us His Spirit. The Spirit is the nature and life of God. He gives us the faith to remain steadfast, steady and constant just as He is steady and constant. God is never-changing. He is steadfast and because He has given us His Spirit, we too can be. We have the hope of the promises of eternity.

But we are also human and imperfect. God’s Spirit, His nature is within us but so is our flesh nature. And so we will fall short sometimes. We do sin. The world likes to blame everything and everyone else for their sin. They especially blame God. If God had not made them poor, or rich, or orphans, or the middle child of many, or whatever they wouldn’t have sinned. People blame circumstances for their sin. They blame the broken world and call it god. But God is there to restore what is broken. Jesus is the way the truth and the life and He brings peace and healing.[1]

Even Christians like to blame God for their suffering and sin, saying God sent them this temptation to test them, or God sent them this trial to teach them. We have free will. We have the liberty to make choices and sometimes we choose wrong. Sometimes we let the desires of our flesh quench the faith and love of the Spirit. God doesn’t tempt people. He wants good things for us. He wants us to be conformed to Christ’s image. He wants to have a close and pure relationship with each and every child on this earth. God is light. He is good. In Him there is no darkness, no sin, and no evil.[2] God would never lead us to do wrong, ever. Verses 13-15 read,

“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

The bad stuff comes from the brokenness of this world. It comes from sin. When we are tempted it is because we have put our efforts into our fleshly desires instead of into loving God first with our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. God isn’t the source of evil. He is not the source of pain. People have been deceived and that lie keeps them from knowing God. God is the source of good. He is Love, Light, and Peace. [3] Verses 16-18 say,

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

He is never-changing. God is steadfast in everything including His love for us. He has always been the same and will always be the same. He doesn’t want us to trip up and fail. He is with is through good times and bad. It is attempting to fix our problems without God that we stumble and fall. Hebrews 13:5-6 read,

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper;
    I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”


How do we stay steadfast through trials? We remember who God is. We remember He wants good for us not bad. He wants us everyone to be saved. We exercise faith because we know God is light, love, and peace.

The greatest of all the blessings and good things God gives us is peace with Him through Jesus. He brought us to it by His the word of truth, His will manifested in actuality, Jesus Christ. And we are saved not so we can be the only ones but so we can share the truth and love of God with everyone, so that others will come after us and know God too.



[1] Isaiah 61:1-4


[2] 1 John 1:5


[3] 1 John 4:8, Judges 6:24 


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2 John 1:4-13 Truth Can Be Salty. Adding Sugar Makes it a Lie.

1/25/2015

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2 John Chapter 1 Verses 4-13

Verse 4 reads,

“I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.”

John was delighted to have seen some of the people walking in truth and therefore glorifying God. When they were living their lives they not only represented the elect lady this letter is addressed to whether she is their physical mother or the host of the church, but they also represented their local church, the city, and the entire church, and Jesus Christ. They were representing well.

They were walking in the truth that Jesus is the Son of God who came in the flesh, lived perfectly, died and rose again. They were not swaying from the truth. Their lives were a practice of that fact. John goes on in to encourage the entire church to do the same by obeying God’s central command. The command that Jesus gave us, but that has been the fulcrum of the entire law from the start. We are to love one another. Verses 5-6 read,

“And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. 6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.”

It is by loving one another that we glorify Christ, represent Him and the entire church, and let people know the truth. Jesus said it this way in John 13:3-35,

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Remember love is not inactive, it is not mere words, or feelings. Love is concrete. So how do we love one another? How do we best exemplify Christ? We do what Jesus did. We put God first. We put others ahead of ourselves. We remember we are united. We are not separate from one another. 1 Corinthians 11:11-12 say,

“Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.”

We are not supposed to be concerned with our individual needs first but the edification of the church, the teaching of Christ, and the glory of God. It isn’t that we are supposed to forget our own needs, but we need to take care of them ahead of time so that when we gather we can embody the love of Christ and build and encourage one another. Paul used the example of Spiritual gifts to get the point across. He said that Speaking in tongues is a good and it builds the individual, but prophecy is better because it builds the church through revelation of truth and knowledge. (1 Corinthians 14:1-19).

In the book of Ephesians Paul encouraged the church to walk in love, by imitating God and walking as Jesus walked. (Ephesians 5:1-2).  In Ephesians 5:15-20 Paul spells out how to love one another.

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Our actions and behavior matters, not in respect to our salvation but in respect to one another and in demonstrating the truth and love of Christ to the world. It is by our behavior, the way we live our lives that we testify to Jesus identity. The world needs to hear and see the truth. They are getting plenty of lies from everywhere. 2 John verses 7-8 read,

“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.”

With all the deceivers out there, we have to be careful to stay in the truth. We can’t let any lies in. Even the seemingly innocuous myths of scripture that get shared take people away from the Gospel. Jesus is the only way to salvation. The devil hates people and will do whatever it takes to keep as many as possible from the truth. The lies that look like sweet little nuggets of happiness are great at leading people away from Jesus and to death.

Fortune cookie scriptures taken out of context, the salt taken out and sugar added are being fed to the masses. The masses find it easier to believe that God will lift them out of their suffering rather than carry them through it. The multitudes want to hear that God will make them rich, or that good people go to heaven, or any other number of “kitten hang in there” phrases rather than the truth. The truth is no one is good enough to go to heaven. The truth is Jesus is the only way. The truth is the Father loves us enough to discipline us and allow the Spirit to transform us through suffering.

If someone is able to tell the world those feel good slogans instead of the truth then they are not abiding in the truth, and that means that Jesus is not in them. That may seem harsh, but sometimes the truth is not so sweet. Verse 9 says,

“Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.”

Associating with the liars who are spoon feeding morsels of tasty accepted sayings is synonymous with joining them. If the world thinks we agree with the frauds then we are saying “yes, chase death down this easy wide path.”  Verses 10-11 put it like this,

“If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.”

When you see people who claim to be followers of Christ sharing fortune cookie encouragement, go ahead and straighten them out. Put the verse back in context, untwist it, put the salt back in. If they acknowledge it, they will repent and stop spreading dangerous lies. If they don’t, then you know they do not have Christ, the Spirit is not in them and they are not the Christian they claim to be but an antichrist. Don’t even let them in for a conversation, debate, or a drink of water. It may not seem like love, but love is in truth. Spreading their propaganda is harmful and therefore not loving at all. When you refuse to take part in the lie, you reveal the truth to them and to all the witnesses. That is love.

John ends this letter with verses 12-13 reiterating and personifying the love the church has for one another.

“Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

13 The children of your elect sister greet you.”

Love each other in truth. Love each other genuinely and concretely. Love each other through your behavior submitting to Christ by submitting to one another. Love one another by protecting the truth from the distortions of false teachers, false prophets, smiling spreaders of positive vibes, and other antichrists.

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2 John 1:1-3 To Love One Another in Truth, One Must Be Part of a Church.

1/24/2015

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2 John Verses 1-3

I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to be a part of a wonderful living church. My brothers and sisters in Christ are there for me through everything I go through, just as I strive to be there for them through their struggles. Because God is in us, when we come together the Spirit is able to minister to each of us in multilayered ways. He does His work from within us as well as through our fellow believers. Iron sharpens Iron.[1] He uses our brothers and sisters to encourage, exhort, teach, comfort, speak, and otherwise love in all the ways that Jesus loves.

Believer, if you are not part of a local church, you are missing out on a great deal of what it means to follow Jesus. You are missing out on chances to mature, glorify, serve, comfort, and love and be loved.

In John’s second epistle John addressed his letter to the elect lady and her children. Many people believe he was writing to a church. I believe this is probably the case, perhaps a woman who hosted a church in her home and the many spiritual children born from God’s love exercised through it, or perhaps some of her physical children who also were believers.

He begins the letter with the address and an encouragement.

“The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, 2 because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.”

John loved this lady and her children in truth. That is He loves her genuinely through the truth of Christ. Not just as a spoken token of affection, but concretely. And John added, not only he loved her that way, but also all of those who know the truth, the actuality of Jesus Christ, God, our Father, and His awesome Holy Spirit.

Why and how could he claim that not only he loved her in just a deep way but also speak for the rest of the believers? Because He knew the same Spirit that abided in him, also resided in the other believers. Because the truth, that same truth I just described, abides in us and will be with us forever. That is God! God abides in us because His truth abides in us.[2] We believe what He says about Himself, because He made us able to understand and believe. Because He is in us, we can and do love all the brothers and sisters in Christ. We recognize each other through the Spirit and we love one another. We love one another not through spoken tokens of affection but in truth, in reality.

Solid love is demonstrated through grace, mercy and peace. God gave them to us in love and we share them with one another through Him.

Grace is receiving something good we do not deserve. Grace is forgiveness and acceptance regardless of doing a single thing to warrant it. If we have received grace, we ought to be graceful toward each other. What right do we have to expect someone to merit our love when we did nothing and could do nothing to earn God’s love?

Not receiving something bad that we do deserve is mercy. God doesn’t condemn us, even though we deserve it. How can we blame and punish one another when God doesn’t condemn us?

Peace is a relationship of unity and harmony, joined together as one. We are at peace with God, through Christ. We are one with Him and we are supposed to be that united with one another. We are one body, one Spirit with one God.

I urge you today, if you do not have brothers and sisters in Christ to share your life with to find a local church and join it. Live fully the life God means for you to live. I exhort you, if you are a member of a local body to love your brothers and sisters in truth, fully, actually and actively. You can’t walk as Jesus walked if you walk alone. Jesus didn’t. God Himself exemplifies this is His Trinity. He is Father, Son, and Spirit.



[1] Proverbs 27:17


[2] Isaiah 65:16, John 14:16, John 16:13


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    As I read the Bible every day, I take what God teaches me, what He says, and write it out. I then share that with you. It gives me a deeper understanding of the Word and I hope that it will encourage you as it does me, to put your love and faith into action.

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