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Galatians 1 Chosen and Saved by Jesus, No one else.

4/13/2016

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Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20
​Galatians 1
I’m excited to begin reading Paul’s letter to the Galatians today. Paul’s writings are so multilayered and there is so much to glean regardless of how long you have been a Christian, how knowledgeable, or how mature you are.
You were chosen by The LORD to be His royal child and like Jesus a servant of the Gospel. God didn’t choose you, save you, and then leave you hanging, He chose you, saved you, and gave you His Word, The Truth, The Gospel. Verses 1-5 read,
Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
 Paul was made an apostle, not because men chose him, but because Jesus Christ chose him. Jesus chose every apostle personally, except for Matthias and His own brother James but even they was chosen providentially. Matthias was chosen through casting lots before the Holy Spirit had come (Acts 1:26). James was called an apostle and chosen through the Holy Spirit by agreement of the rest of the apostles. Though the story is not told, he is referred to as an apostle (Galatians 1:19) and was with the apostles and the other disciples from the beginning after Jesus ascended (Acts 1:14).
You were not chosen to be a follower of Christ by your Sunday school teacher, your parents, or the person who obeyed Him and told you how to be saved, you were chosen by Jesus. He called you to follow Him, He knocked at the door of your heart and said, “Follow me, let’s hand out and be friends.”
When He did that, Jesus not only saved you in the figurative sense, but in the literal sense. He raised you from the dead (like you once were) and gave you new life. He resurrected from the dead and He resurrected you too. No one but The Lord God did that for you. His blood delivered you, His grace saved you. It was and is His will for you to be saved, to be like Jesus and glorify Him forever.
The letter is to the church in Galatia, an area in what is now Turkey where Celts settled and lived but were not often united. They were a warrior people who intermarried with the surrounding Phyrgians and Greeks, adopted the Greek culture and eventually became part of the Roman Empire. Although it was Paul who planted the church in Galatia and Paul who preached the Gospel of Christ to them, it was Jesus who chose them and Jesus who saved them. But the diverse cultures surrounding them tried to pull the new believers back out of their new lives and into their old lives.
Isn’t that what happens today? The devil cannot stand to lose a soul to the Lord, he uses old lifestyles, sages, and even pious leaders to change the Gospel into a story, a cultural choice, or a perversion that cannot save or transform. How many people try and convince believers we are fools, we are hypocrites, and we are wrong? How many others try and persuade us we are on one of many paths to a heaven? It happens to us now and it happened to the Galatians then. Verses 6-9 read,
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.
Have you turned to some other gospel? Does the word being taught to you, the one you are choosing to believe involve anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ as your redeemer? Does it include earning salvation through any kind of work be it charity, flagellation, or other steps? Then you are deserting Christ! Salvation does not come from being good, forgoing pleasure, living in scarcity, or rituals of baptism and communion. Salvation comes from Jesus Christ and transforms you into His righteousness by grace.
People find it so difficult to believe that the Gospel could be so simple as, “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9) that they complicate it, they pervert it with additions of laws, rituals, and traditions. There is only one command and that command is the one that encompasses the entire Word, the whole Gospel, the prophecies, the Law, and the praise of God. Jesus said, “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. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
No one should tell you any differently! If someone adds conditions to salvation, if they say that there is a single other requirement than repentance, belief, and profession of Jesus as Christ then they are lying! Christianity is not just another culture, another path, or a different lifestyle. It is a relationship with Christ which gives us new life and changes us forever to live as new beings forever. We are not seen by the outside, we are known by the heart and Spirit. We do not make the changes in us, God makes them. We simply submit to His will and Lordship (That is what it means to confess Him as Lord). 1 Corinthians 5:16-21 reads,
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
When we give in to all these additions, when we even let these people try and teach us or our fellow believers these perverted messages we are suddenly trying to please them. We please the world by being “kind” to these messengers from Satan. It doesn’t please God for us to listen to their lies. It hurts the church, it injures the new believers, and it forever harms the ones who might have believed the Gospel when we entertain these liars, false teachers, and perverters of truth. Verse 10 reads,
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.
The world calls us haters for refusing to listen to lies. The world hurls accusations of prejudice, narrow-mindedness, and bigotry at us when we claim there is only one way to salvation. No, serving Christ means we do not serve the world. It pleases God when we love one another enough to keep the lies out of doctrine. We can’t lead the lost to Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life with lies and false gospels. We can only lead them to Him and let them answer His call by the truth.
Paul was taught the truth by The Truth Himself. Jesus spoke it to Him directly, The Holy Spirit spent time with Him before He let Paul go to any man to learn. When Paul did finally go further his spiritual education with Peter and James first. Paul was taught the unpolluted truth and years later he went on to teach the pure uncontaminated truth to much of the world. Paul described it in verses 11-24.
For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone ;17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.
Do you trust God to be God? Refuse to let Satan in through the false teachers he sends along. Let’s dedicate ourselves to ensuring only the truth gets taught and let God teach the new believers through His Word, His Spirit, and His true children. It is important to make sure that even in the church, the people teaching are mature enough in Christ to know the truth, to have a solid foundation in it and so teach the Gospel and sound doctrine rather than lies. Letting a person without that foundation teach and preach before it is time, is how lies like “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle” and “Everything has a purpose” thrive and pervert the truth.
Paul after three years learned only with Peter and James, perhaps the two greatest leaders of the early church at the time (along with John and eventually Paul himself). New believers of course can share the Gospel, share what they have been taught and edify the church by their gifts but to let them teach before they are mature enough would be like having a high school senior teach a doctorate class. The senior needs to be the one sitting at the feet of the doctoral professor, not the other way around.
You were chosen by The Father to be saved by Jesus Christ and transformed by The Holy Spirit. The Gospel is simple and pure. There is one Truth, no other “truth” should be preached or taught. Jesus saved you by His choice and His work, not yours. Love one another, guard the Truth.
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Colossians 1 Our Hope is the Image of Christ

2/20/2016

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​Colossians 1
Today we begin reading Paul and Timothy’s letter to the church at Colossae. As with most of Paul’s letters, he begins by telling the church how much he loves them. Verses 1-8 read,
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 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, 6 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, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.”
Because Paul loved the church so much, he wanted them to grow into who they were meant to be. Who we are meant to be is the pinnacle of who we are created to be, that is the image of Christ. Man was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). But the fall brought sin and death into the world and keeps humanity from living that image. When we come to Christ, The Holy Spirit comes in and begins working on us, changing us back to who we are supposed to be, the image of Christ. The more mature we are, the more we look and behave like Jesus. Maturity or looking like Jesus is the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love and love shows in walking like Jesus.
Paul encouraged the Colossians that he saw the fruit of maturity in them, he saw the love they had for all the saints. They didn’t love because they were good people. They loved because of the hope laid up in heaven. What hope is the hope laid up in Heaven? It is our ultimate glorification when we will be perfected in the image of Christ. Every bit of sin and flesh we hold onto now will be gone and we will finally be exactly who we are meant to be seamlessly united with Jesus Christ in New Jerusalem for eternity. 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 says,
“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

And the author of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 12:22-25,
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”
When we read about hope in the Bible, it is not talking about wishing or yearning it is talking about confidence in God’s promise as already fulfilled, faith. Hope gives us the courage to keep going through all the muck and mire of life because we know what and who awaits us. Theses promises such as eternal life and perfection are so sure, that we can consider them already done. Hebrews 10:14 reads,
“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
Jesus perfected us, past tense! It is already done even though we are going through the process still. He perfected or completed us who are being sanctified or purified and made holy. Our love for Jesus causes us to love one another. Our love for one another causes us to want each other to become mature, to grow in the Spirit and be more like Jesus. Jesus’ image is the fruit we bear and Jesus’ image or His glory is what increases our faith and the church. Because of our love for one another we pray for each other to constantly and consistently grow. Verses 8-14 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. 11 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. 13 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.”
Paul’s prayer for the church in Colossae encourages us that we should be filled with knowing God’s will along with discernment and understanding. We do not just say, God’s will is that all people come to know Him (1 Timothy 2:4) or God’s will is all people glorify Him (Isaiah 43:7). We are filled with it, we act on it, we walk and we bear fruit in every good work. And doing so, increases our knowledge of God which is also God’s will (Hosea 6:6). It is not an easy walk. It takes strength, endurance and patience. But we have our hope and so we can walk that walk with persistence, fortitude, and joy! What is our hope? We are delivered, saved from the kingdom of darkness, ignorance and slavery to the prince of the world and now we are in the Kingdom of God. We belong to the King of kings, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Knowing God is His will for us. Knowing God results in obedience, faith, and maturity. Knowing God brings us into unity with Him and so conforms us to the Image of Jesus Christ. To know God we must know Jesus. Who is Jesus? Verses 15-20 tell us,
“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. 17 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.”
Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Hebrews 1:3-4 reads,
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”
The fullness of God, everything God is dwelled in Jesus. If we want to know who God is, we need to know Jesus. Jesus made it possible to know or unite with The Father because He, the perfect image of God paid the price of death on the cross for us. He resurrected to give us eternal life (John 11:25). He ascended to give us The Holy Spirit and so fully unite us with God (John 16:7). The Holy Spirit is the nature of God and He chooses to indwell us. He chooses to transform us into Jesus’ image. We can know God because we have His own Spirit in us. Verses 21-23 describe it this way,
“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, 23 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.”
If we love God, if Jesus is our King, if The Holy Spirit indwells us we will know Him and we will mature and want to know Him more. We want this for ourselves, for one another, and for the sake of the lost. But the transformation does not happen automatically. We walk with endurance, patience and joy through the suffering. It is suffering that teaches us obedience and it is suffering that develops the character of Jesus in us. Romans 5:2-5 reads,
“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Remember what that hope is, it is us perfected to the image of Christ and living absolutely united with him eternally. That is how we go through the trials with endurance, patience and joy. Are we crazy to rejoice in suffering? No, we are wise to rejoice in suffering. We can take joy in suffering because we recognize God’s mercy through it. Verses 25-29 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.”
What Paul is saying when he says, “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” is that suffering is what is making him more like Jesus. As he became more mature and knew God more, he was responsible to teach others what he knew. As we grow to be more like Jesus, we have a responsibility to live it out and tell others who Jesus is and how wonderful He is. Unity with Jesus and His Body requires we all become the image of Christ. The more we know God, the more we become like Him, the more we want to know Him. It is a lovely cycle but not a circle an infinite spiral which brings us closer and closer to perfect Jesus. The more mature we are the more we love Jesus and one another. The more we love one another the more mature we want all of us to be. It is another infinite spiral which brings us closer to Jesus and more united with the body. Love and knowing God which leads to maturity form the double helix of the kingdom of God.
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Titus Chapter 2 People Are Watching You. Who Do They See?

4/20/2015

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Titus Chapter 2

In the second chapter of Paul’s letter to Titus he exhorts us to behave in a manner worthy of the name we’ve been given. We are Christians and our actions should reflect our state of grace, the great name of Jesus, and His Spirit who indwells us. Verse 1 reads,

“But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.”

This is a continuance from the previous chapter when Paul warned Titus to not allow false teachings to get mixed up in the truth. When we teach, it is our responsibility to ensure the doctrine, instructions, and principals are sound. Sound means healthy, whole, comprehensive, good, and intact. Whether receiving or giving instruction make sure it is supported by the Bible, does not contradict the Gospel, and that the voice of God is recognized in it. If you are not yet able to discern The Lord’s voice because you are a young Christian, then continue to seek Him and He will make Himself known to you.

The mature Christian walks in a manner that reflects Jesus to the world and to other believers. In faith we endeavor to live a life that is pleasing to God and brings Him an aroma of worship, praise, and knowledge.

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 reads,

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?”

We teach one another with lives lived well for God. We demonstrate to the world the goodness of God by our lives. We are not responsible for their response, we are responsible for our actions and words which will either present Jesus as Awesome Loving Savior or present us as no different than the world. Verse 2-6 read,

“Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.”

Verses 9-10 say,

“Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.”

We are being transformed day by day to the image of Christ. As we learn more about God, as we exercise our gifts, and express the character of Jesus, we become examples for one another. Glorifying God is reflecting His image, it is the exhibition of the Spirit in us.

Why should we strive to be the way Paul describes? So that we are training the less mature and so the word of God will not be reviled. Our actions will make people say, “Where does love like that come from” or it will make them say, “Their god doesn’t exist and if he does he is powerless.” Much of the world hates Christians and that is okay, but much of that hate is because we acted in the flesh and gave them reason to hate us, and that is not okay. We are supposed to be a light in the darkness leading people to Jesus, not giving them reason to hate Him. Verses 7-8 say it this way,

“Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.”

Regardless of where we are, who we are dealing with, or playing or working, we are to walk in a manner worthy of the name of Jesus Christ. We are His ambassadors. People get to know who Jesus is by their interactions with us. So in every aspect of our lives we have to remember people are watching us to see who this Jesus is. Verses 11-14 read,

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

More so than our words it is our lives that lead people to Jesus. He wants everyone to come to Him. He wants salvation for the world. He saved us and He transforms us so that the world will know Him. He is our hope. We know He is coming back, and we will be resurrected and rise with Him to eternity. That same hope for us, is a terrible day for the lost. On that day they will know Jesus is The LORD. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could let them know before it is too late? When He comes and they see Him with their eyes and hear the trumpet sound, it will be too late for faith.

The way we live matters. We do not follow the law, but we do follow Jesus. Jesus acted in love and in submission to God. Jesus asked us to love one another as He loves us. His grace is revealed best when we who used to be of the world, walk like the new creations we are.

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Philippians 2:12-18 Intentionally Choose Goodness

4/14/2015

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Philippians Chapter 2 Verses 12-18

Do you behave differently in front of your pastor than you do when you’re with friends? Do you act another way when you are with Christians than when you are with outsiders? Who is it you are trying to impress with your character? Is it your church, your friends, your pastor, or the world? Or does it depend on who you are with? We shouldn’t be trying to impress anyone. Yet, it is natural to want to please people and to want people to like us. So maybe when we’re in church we use Christianese, speak in fortune cookie scripture or bite sized encouragements. Maybe when we’re with the lost we cuss and drink like a sailor. We should be glorifying and exalting Jesus with our genuine walk. Our everyday conduct should reflect our maturation in Christ and show the results of the Holy Spirit in us.

It doesn’t happen automatically. We do not naturally choose the Spirit over the flesh. We have to deliberately exercise the traits He is building in us. Verses 12-13 read,

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

We opt to obey, we opt to be patient, kind, and humble. We decide to speak goodness, blessings, and love. With maturity and regular exercise it becomes easier to be faithful rather than anxious, to think of others instead of focusing on ourselves, and to be thankful rather complain.  God is doing a great work in us, but He doesn’t do it against our will. Most of us are not suddenly mirror images of Jesus when we’re saved. We have to let the Holy Spirit do His work.

If we’re going to act the fool, it is better to do it in front of our fellow believers instead of the world. Let’s strive for sincere godliness in front of the lost. Our lives are a testimony to Jesus. We must purposefully choose the fruit of the spirit over the desires of the flesh. Verses 14-16 read,

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”

The Lord hates grumbling and complaining, not only does it reveal how very ungrateful we are, it shows our lack of faith in God’s sovereignty. He also dislikes disparity among the believers. How can we expect the world to believe the awesomeness of God if they watch us arguing over ridiculous points and see discord among us? How can we say we share the same wonderful Spirit and be in conflict with one another? We are supposed to strive for godliness, seek the Kingdom of God, and pursue righteousness. We are expected to be lights in the dark, beacons of hope leading people to Jesus. We are not supposed to be people who claim to be Christians but act like the world or worse.

Paul pursued righteousness with passion. When he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he didn’t go out the next day as the man we think of who wrote so much of the New Testament, spread the gospel to places far and wide, and eventually glorified Jesus in his death as much as he had in his life. Saul was changed immediately in many ways, but it took time for Paul to mature. He gave up being a Pharisee to become a tent maker, he studied under the apostles, and he studied under the Holy Spirit for fourteen years before beginning his missionary journeys.

Paul wanted the believers to know the spiritual maturity, he knew. He urged them to earnestly pursue godliness. He knew he might very well be killed for living for Jesus and he was willing. He encouraged the church to rejoice in that just as he did. He was in a dank dark underground prison and he could still rejoice, because he understood the great benefits of suffering for Christ. Verses 17-18 say,

“Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.”

Celebrate with your fellow believers the work God is doing in them and in you. Salvation takes a moment, living out salvation takes effort, and maturity takes time.

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Spiritually Fat or Spiritually Strong

2/6/2015

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Recently a great friend and I were talking and she said that we as a society were spiritually fat. We have easy access to the Bible, to biblical resources and teaching. We can go to church as often as we please. We have Christian music, movies, cruises, retreats, and even dating sites. We really can be immersed completely in the Cristian culture as deeply as we desire.

But the thing about all that easy access is it has led to an indolent Christianity. All though there is a surplus of resources for studying the Word, many Christians rarely open their Bible. The Bible in conjunction with the Holy Spirit should be our primary source of study. Rather than take in the healthy pure meat of the Bible, too many of us get the processed food of second hand teaching. We follow this preacher or that author, when we are supposed to follow Christ. We are supposed to keep the Gospel of Christ pure not sully it with our personal views. 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 reads,

“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?”

Many believers only read or hear the word when they are at a church service, hearing the pastor’s sermon. Or rather than read the Bible for ourselves they choose to read a book about the Bible or a book about living well that resources the Bible. Even many of our Bible Studies are actually studies of other books.  The rest of the time, if they get any word at all, it is in bite-sized cookies covered in sugar and removed from the whole, sweet little encouraging Bible verses posted on social networks or given in a greeting card. Often time they are not even Bible verses but poplar phrases that many people come to believe as doctrine.

When God gave the law to the people of Israel He said in Deuteronomy 4:1-2

“And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.”

Proverbs 30:5-6 say,

“Every word of God proves true;
    he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 Do not add to his words,
    lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.”


We are not supposed to add or take away anything from the Word of God. Doing either has dire consequences for the person taking only the parts she likes, the person adding what she thinks should be there as well as the person who hears and believes the lies.

The processed food of books about the Bible, and books that resource the Bible are okay once in a while if one is regularly in the Bible herself. If she knows the word, she can discern the additives and remain spiritually healthy. But if she doesn’t know the word for herself then she takes in all the additives and poisons along with the truth. Those poisons can twist the truth.

A spiritual diet made up only sugary nuggets leads a person to worship a false god, a god who would never give you more than you can handle, a god who will let you into heaven if your intentions are good, and a god who has doesn’t care if people follow his laws.

Our spiritual intake has to be made up primarily of the 100% pure whole Word of God with the Holy Spirit there to help us digest it and turn it to energy.

James 1:22-25 reads,

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

Being people of action who actually execute and act on scripture is another thing we do not seem to see a great deal of in our spiritual fatness. In order to be doers of the word and not hearers only, we have to hear first. And to carry out what it says, we have to know what it says. There is someone else doing it, why should we? We’ll support this ministry or that by posting a picture to our Facebook page for an hour. We’ll proclaim Christ by clicking like on the latest Christian meme. But doing those things is not doing the word.

We live where most people, even the poorest eat and live better than the majority of the world, so we blind ourselves to the needs around us. We keep living in the bubble of Christian culture and think going to see all the Christian movies, listening to Christian music and spending time doing Christian activities with Christian friends is somehow being Christian. The Bible doesn’t tell us to be Christian, it says to live and walk like Jesus. It says to do what Jesus did. It says to keep the commandments, which means obeying them, which means acting. It says love one another as Jesus loved us. All those things take action.

1 John 2:3-6 reads,

“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

We cannot become the mature strong Christians we were born to be without exercising our gifts or active walking and living of the Word. Hebrews 5:11-14 says it like this,

“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

Maturity and Strength in Christ comes from Jesus giving His life for us allowing us to live for Him. That means we actually have to live for Him.

Romans 5:1-5 says,

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

We are truly blessed to have the rich offerings of so much spiritual nourishment around us. But we have to partake of the good stuff, the pure no sugar-added Word of God on a regular and frequent basis. We have to do what the Bible says, not just read about it, think about it and support the ones who do. In other words we have to eat right and exercise.

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    Donna Campbell

    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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