I am somewhat nostalgic right now. I just got on Facebook for the first time in a while and saw all kinds of new events taking place in my old friends' lives. It seems that life is moving quicker and quicker and it's hard to keep up, I guess. I thank the Lord that it is moving though. Praise God for taking me from that which I was and turning me into that which I am becoming. I pray continually that the Lord would bring new revelations to me that may renew my mind in Him (rom 12:2).
I long and am burdened for others to know him, but my flesh is not strong enough change anything. It's only by God's spirit, the Holy Spirit, that others can be changed. I've been meditating on 1 Thessalonians 5:19. If I consider the power of the spirit to come by the word of God (Eph 6:17), then to quench the spirit in some instances may just be me trying to speak words of wisdom (not coming from the word, 1 cor 1:18-29) as opposed to encouraging others with the word of God, which is truth (john 17:17).
My encouragement to myself and you today is to NOT quench the spirit! It's the power of God (rom 1:16, 1 cor 2:5).
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Hebrews 6:1
Faith towards God: If I'm not to lay another foundation of Faith towards God, then I guess I should know what that means.
Romans 14:23: Whatever is not from Faith is sin. To me this means that there is a way to do things by faith and some other way of doing things.
Romans 10:17: If I know that I can acquire faith through hearing the words of Christ, then I should be reading!
Romans 9:31-32: Faith is not acquired by doing good works, but rather good works come as a result of faith.
John 15:3: I believe that (and you should check this for yourself [1 john 4:1]) the cleansing, Christ is referring to here is that which makes us righteous (Romans 4:5).
All this to say, that if I start doing something because it sounds good or it comes from a credible source, but I don't look to the God and his teaching; then I am not doing it by faith and I am in sin. I must be taught by God (1 Thessalonians 4:9 & John 14:26) and from his word in order to be subject to God (Romans 10:2-3).
One more encouragement: Hebrews 13:17 "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you." My concept of who my leaders are should come from the word. A study of the word subject, subjection, submit, submission, etc. would be a good start in figuring this out.
I pray these words are sweet to your ears, and that the Lord gives you understanding and perception!
Romans 14:23: Whatever is not from Faith is sin. To me this means that there is a way to do things by faith and some other way of doing things.
Romans 10:17: If I know that I can acquire faith through hearing the words of Christ, then I should be reading!
Romans 9:31-32: Faith is not acquired by doing good works, but rather good works come as a result of faith.
John 15:3: I believe that (and you should check this for yourself [1 john 4:1]) the cleansing, Christ is referring to here is that which makes us righteous (Romans 4:5).
All this to say, that if I start doing something because it sounds good or it comes from a credible source, but I don't look to the God and his teaching; then I am not doing it by faith and I am in sin. I must be taught by God (1 Thessalonians 4:9 & John 14:26) and from his word in order to be subject to God (Romans 10:2-3).
One more encouragement: Hebrews 13:17 "Obey
I pray these words are sweet to your ears, and that the Lord gives you understanding and perception!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Joy (that's from the Lord)
Paul said that the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but it is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit in Romans 14:17.
How do we have Joy in the Holy Spirit?
Well... here's how I have been seeing it, not holistically what should be seen about this issue, but just what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me:
Jesus says, "The holy spirit will guide you into all truth (John 16:13)."
Also, "Sanctify them in truth, your word is truth," he prays in the garden (John 17:17).
I say it has something to do with the word of God.
Well, looking to the word, I see many ways that God gives joy:
Shalom
How do we have Joy in the Holy Spirit?
Well... here's how I have been seeing it, not holistically what should be seen about this issue, but just what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me:
Jesus says, "The holy spirit will guide you into all truth (John 16:13)."
Also, "Sanctify them in truth, your word is truth," he prays in the garden (John 17:17).
I say it has something to do with the word of God.
Well, looking to the word, I see many ways that God gives joy:
- through others who are walking by faith and not by sight, by the spirit and not by the flesh (phil 2:2, phil 2:17-18, 1the 2:19-20, 2tim 1:3-5, Philemon 1:7, 1 joh 1:3-4, 3 joh 1:4, luk 15:7-10, 2 cor 2:3, 2cor 7:4)
- through testing our faith (jam 1:2-3, jer 17:--7-8, acts 5:41)
- through the knowledge of our salvation, and here, you must determine for yourself if you believe God's word or if you just know a lot about it (1 pet 1:8-9, Joh 16:-20-22, zeph 3:14-17, isa 35:4-10)
- through 'pleasing' God (1 joh 1:4, 1 joh 2:28, 1 the 4:1)
- through being in God's presence (psa 16:11, luk 24:52, joh 3:29)
Shalom
Monday, February 15, 2010
On the cutting edge of... 30 AD
Luke 16:1-17
1Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as (A)squandering his possessions. 2"And he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' 3"The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4'I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.' 5"And he summoned each one of his master's debtors, and he began saying to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 6"And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' 7"Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' 8"And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of (B)this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the (C)sons of light. 9"And I say to you, (D)make friends for yourselves by means of the [a](E)wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, (F)they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. 10"(G)He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. 11"Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous (H)wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12"And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13"(I)No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and (J)wealth." 14Now the Pharisees, who were (K)lovers of money, were listening to all these things and (L)were scoffing at Him. 15And He said to them, "You are those who (M)justify yourselves in the sight of men, but (N)God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. 16"(O)The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time (P)the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17"(Q)But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.
Not saying that this applies or does not apply to money, but if you look at it with the idea that Jesus is speaking of money as "unrighteous wealth," (and I believe that this is what he speaks of when he says unrighteous wealth) then what is most apparent to me is that the 'wealth' is unrighteous. Fair enough? At the same time, Jesus says, "Make friends for yourselves by the wealth of unrighteousness." I do not believe that this at all means that we take part in the "unfruitful deeds of darkness" (eph 5:11) or sin against God to make friends, but I do see that there is a calling to use that which is worthless (ie money in this instance) for that which is precious (Jer 15:19).
It is also good to remember that within this context, Jesus directly addresses how we choose to justify our actions to others.
1Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as (A)squandering his possessions. 2"And he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' 3"The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4'I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.' 5"And he summoned each one of his master's debtors, and he began saying to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 6"And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' 7"Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' 8"And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of (B)this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the (C)sons of light. 9"And I say to you, (D)make friends for yourselves by means of the [a](E)wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, (F)they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. 10"(G)He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. 11"Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous (H)wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12"And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13"(I)No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and (J)wealth." 14Now the Pharisees, who were (K)lovers of money, were listening to all these things and (L)were scoffing at Him. 15And He said to them, "You are those who (M)justify yourselves in the sight of men, but (N)God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. 16"(O)The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time (P)the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17"(Q)But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.
Not saying that this applies or does not apply to money, but if you look at it with the idea that Jesus is speaking of money as "unrighteous wealth," (and I believe that this is what he speaks of when he says unrighteous wealth) then what is most apparent to me is that the 'wealth' is unrighteous. Fair enough? At the same time, Jesus says, "Make friends for yourselves by the wealth of unrighteousness." I do not believe that this at all means that we take part in the "unfruitful deeds of darkness" (eph 5:11) or sin against God to make friends, but I do see that there is a calling to use that which is worthless (ie money in this instance) for that which is precious (Jer 15:19).
It is also good to remember that within this context, Jesus directly addresses how we choose to justify our actions to others.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
What is Godliness?
Godliness - transliterated from Hebrew: eusebeia
1 Tim 6:3-6
If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited {and} understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness {actually} is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.
1 Tim 3:11
But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance {and} gentleness.
It is separate from righteousness.
1 Tim 3:16
By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.
It is the gospel, played out in our lives.
Acts 3:12
(same word: eusebeia)
But when Peter saw {this,} he replied to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?
It is piety, or the act of revering God.
Acts 10:12
(same word: eusebeia)
a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the {Jewish} people and prayed to God continually.
It is the act of being devout.
From 1 tim 6:3-6, we can be devout/pious/Godly, but without contentment, it is something to be despised! But with contentment, it is great gain! Question is... how do we get that contentment?
I say it's from the cross (1 tim 3:16). It is the gospel! Christ died for our sins. He has given us a gift that, number one, is undeserved, and, number two, could not be acquired without him. I can be content with only food and covering (later in 1 tim 6:7) because Christ was content with death! Praise the Lord for his mercy towards me, the sinner, transgressor of his law.
1 Tim 6:3-6
If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited {and} understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness {actually} is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.
1 Tim 3:11
But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance {and} gentleness.
It is separate from righteousness.
1 Tim 3:16
By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.
It is the gospel, played out in our lives.
Acts 3:12
(same word: eusebeia)
But when Peter saw {this,} he replied to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?
It is piety, or the act of revering God.
Acts 10:12
(same word: eusebeia)
a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the {Jewish} people and prayed to God continually.
It is the act of being devout.
From 1 tim 6:3-6, we can be devout/pious/Godly, but without contentment, it is something to be despised! But with contentment, it is great gain! Question is... how do we get that contentment?
I say it's from the cross (1 tim 3:16). It is the gospel! Christ died for our sins. He has given us a gift that, number one, is undeserved, and, number two, could not be acquired without him. I can be content with only food and covering (later in 1 tim 6:7) because Christ was content with death! Praise the Lord for his mercy towards me, the sinner, transgressor of his law.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Praise the Lord for he is good!
I've been busy with school, family, friends, and... the birth of my daughter. Sorry I haven't had time to blog, but I now have found some time. Let me set the scene: Piper's asleep next to me; Rachel's asleep in the bedroom; twenty or so kids are playing on the front deck of the house next door, which I now have a great view of because of the feng shui we performed on the living room; I have read through half of The Gospel According to Mark, a sunday tradition; I have been sick for the past few days, but I feel better today, though... (well Piper was asleep; now she's with Rachel) ... I missed pot luck dinner with the Body here @ North Hinds; I'm listening to some good hymn music (come thou fount, currently); the Lord has indeed blessed me life, breath, and everything else (i.e. Piper, Rachel, family, friends, his word).
So I've been studying faith (I know... I was studying that over a month ago) and I've found a lot of cool stuff that shows me how to live my life concerning faith, or pistis as the Greeks would say.
3 Practical Applications that I have seen:
1 Our love for man should not be held in partiality (James 2:1&8-9), meaning that I should not any man above another, save the Lord Christ. I am not to hold different levels of love for different people.
2 By faith I am to abide in Christ (1 John 2:28 & 1 Peter 1:7), meaning that I am to read his word daily (Deuteronomy 17:19-20 & John 14:23), Rejoice Always, pray continually, give thanks in ALL things (1 Thessalonians 5:16-19), and anything else that the Lord brings to my attention in his word.
3 I am to be sober and resist the devil's temptations by faith (1 Peter 5:8-9). Other verses that I am reminded of are 1 Peter 1:13 and Ephesians 6:16.
I was also reminded today, while reading Mark 4:26-29. Those in the kingdom are called to plant seeds. Food for thought: What is a seed? What is the kingdom?
I've been busy with school, family, friends, and... the birth of my daughter. Sorry I haven't had time to blog, but I now have found some time. Let me set the scene: Piper's asleep next to me; Rachel's asleep in the bedroom; twenty or so kids are playing on the front deck of the house next door, which I now have a great view of because of the feng shui we performed on the living room; I have read through half of The Gospel According to Mark, a sunday tradition; I have been sick for the past few days, but I feel better today, though... (well Piper was asleep; now she's with Rachel) ... I missed pot luck dinner with the Body here @ North Hinds; I'm listening to some good hymn music (come thou fount, currently); the Lord has indeed blessed me life, breath, and everything else (i.e. Piper, Rachel, family, friends, his word).
So I've been studying faith (I know... I was studying that over a month ago) and I've found a lot of cool stuff that shows me how to live my life concerning faith, or pistis as the Greeks would say.
3 Practical Applications that I have seen:
1 Our love for man should not be held in partiality (James 2:1&8-9), meaning that I should not any man above another, save the Lord Christ. I am not to hold different levels of love for different people.
2 By faith I am to abide in Christ (1 John 2:28 & 1 Peter 1:7), meaning that I am to read his word daily (Deuteronomy 17:19-20 & John 14:23), Rejoice Always, pray continually, give thanks in ALL things (1 Thessalonians 5:16-19), and anything else that the Lord brings to my attention in his word.
3 I am to be sober and resist the devil's temptations by faith (1 Peter 5:8-9). Other verses that I am reminded of are 1 Peter 1:13 and Ephesians 6:16.
I was also reminded today, while reading Mark 4:26-29. Those in the kingdom are called to plant seeds. Food for thought: What is a seed? What is the kingdom?
Monday, November 2, 2009
Faith (How do we know what it is?)
Knowing that our lives are short in comparison to eternity (Psa 39:5), I acknowledge that I can't know anything apart from the Lord. I'm not even sure what faith is, but I know that I can find out about it in the word of God!
Below are a few verses that I have found the Greek word, pistis, the word for faith, in the new testament (concordances are great!):
God requires faith:
Matt 23:23; Mark 11:22; Luke 7:50, 8:25, 18:8; Acts 20:21; Rom 1:17, 11:20, 14:22-23
God gives faith:
Luke 17:5, 22:32; Acts 14:27, 15:9; Rom 12:3-6; 1 Cor 12:9
These are very encouraging to me to know that all I have to do to find faith is to pray and look to what God has already given to establish faith. Faith come by hearing the words of Christ (Rom 10:17)!
Below are a few verses that I have found the Greek word, pistis, the word for faith, in the new testament (concordances are great!):
God requires faith:
Matt 23:23; Mark 11:22; Luke 7:50, 8:25, 18:8; Acts 20:21; Rom 1:17, 11:20, 14:22-23
God gives faith:
Luke 17:5, 22:32; Acts 14:27, 15:9; Rom 12:3-6; 1 Cor 12:9
These are very encouraging to me to know that all I have to do to find faith is to pray and look to what God has already given to establish faith. Faith come by hearing the words of Christ (Rom 10:17)!
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