Never Noticed This Before

I think most of us remember this story but how many knew that it was foretold in the Old Testament?

Mark 4:35-41(NKJV)

35On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 

36Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 

37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 

38But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

39Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 

40But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How£ is it that you have no faith?” 

41And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

It's one of these stories I remember from way back in children's Sunday School.  I just had never noticed before that it was a fulfillment of prophecy.  Take a look.

Psalms 89:8-9(NKJV)

8    O Lord God of hosts,     Who is mighty like You, O Lord?     Your faithfulness also surrounds You.

9    You rule the raging of the sea;     When its waves rise, You still them.

Pretty cool!

I thought they might stone me! :)

I remember doing a Bible study on Revelation one time.  After reading the following passage I made the off hand comment that if that was really what Heaven is like it sounds pretty boring.  From the looks I got I thought they might stone me.  :)
 

Revelation 4:6-11(NKJV)

6Before the throne there  £was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 

7The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 

8The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:      “Holy,£ holy, holy,     Lord God Almighty,     Who was and is and is to come!”

9Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 

10the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:

11    “You are worthy, £O Lord,      To receive glory and honor and power;     For You created all things,     And by Your will they £exist and were created.”

So let me see if I have this right.  The creatures say their thing 24/7, they never take a break.  When the elders hear the creatures the elders then fall to the floor worshipping and saying their thing.  So it is basically stand up, sit down 24/7. 

So here is my question.  How the heck does anything ever get done in Heaven?  :)

Sounds Christian But…..

Not sure if I have written about this before or not.  This is one of those things that bugs me.  On Facebook we often see memes that sound "Christian" but when you examine them they aren't. 

On of those goes something like this.  "If you are using the Bible to hurt people you are using it wrong."  The person who posts it a lot of times it trying to deflect some criticism of theirs or others behavior.  Their belief being that if you are correcting someone then you are hurting their feelings and that isn't very loving and God is all about love don't you know?

Take a look at this Scripture.

Revelation 3:19-20(NKJV)

19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 

20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 

Here we have Jesus himself saying that all of those He loves he also rebukes and chastens.  Scripture tells us that God's Word is there to guide us and discipline us.  Few people like to be disciplined and it usually hurts their feelings, but to call that unChristian just isn't true. 

To Him Who Overcomes

Now this is interesting.  Never caught this nuance before.  I am reading Revelation, one of the most cryptic books of the Bible in my opinion.  You have Jesus revealing a vision or prophecy to the Apostle John. 

Here is what I never noticed before.  Look at what is highlighted. 

Revelation 2:7(NKJV)

7“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

Revelation 2:11(NKJV)

11“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”’

Revelation 2:17(NKJV)

17“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”’

Revelation 2:26(NKJV)

26And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—

What caught my eye about that was the word overcome.  Overcome is a verb.  It caught my eye for a couple of reasons.  First, here we have Scripture telling us in general that people who are overcomers are rewarded and I think we can safely conclude from this that people who give up aren't rewarded. 
 

More importantly though is here we have Jesus describing our salvation as something admirable that we do.  Our salvation would be impossible without Jesus but Jesus seems to be pointing out that our salvation would be equally impossible without us making a decision and asking Jesus to come into our lives.  He will never force it on us.  It's that whole free will thing.

But what exactly does overcome mean?

overcome

1. to get the better of in a struggle or conflict; conquer; defeat:

to overcome the enemy.

2.  to prevail over (opposition, a debility, temptations, etc.); surmount:

to overcome one's weaknesses.

3.  to overpower or overwhelm in body or mind, as does liquor, a drug, exertion, or emotion:

I was overcome with grief.

4.  Archaic. to overspread or overrun.

verb (used without object), overcame, overcome, overcoming.

5.  to gain the victory; win; conquer:

a plan to overcome by any means possible.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/overcome>

Why would accepting Jesus be described as overcoming?  Isn't that a bit of a stretch?  I mean all you have to do is ask.  While that is true I would suggest that many people encounter a lot of opposition before they accept Christ.  Look at definition number one.  Overcoming the enemy.  Doesn't that say it all?  When you ask Jesus into your life you are defeating or overcoming Satan.  That's pretty awesome. 

Have you asked Jesus into your life yet?  If not why not?  What is holding you back?  Isn't it time to become an overcomer?  Just have a conversation with Jesus.  "Dear Jesus…."

One last thing.  I think that asking Jesus into your life is just the beginning of being an overcomer.  I believe that is an attitude we are supposed to live out for Jesus the rest of our lives!

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!

Not where you want to be in life?  Maybe it is time for a new song.

Psalms 96:1-3(NKJV)

1    Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!      Sing to the Lord, all the earth.

2    Sing to the Lord, bless His name;     Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

3    Declare His glory among the nations,     His wonders among all peoples.

As I've written before, attitude seems to be very, very important to God.  And again, my belief is that a great attitude is an outward demonstration of our faith which we know is another really big deal to God. 

So here is something to just take note of now and then.  What is your communication with God like?  Is it continually "oh woe is me!"?  If so, that is not a demonstration of much faith.  Maybe it's time for a new song. 

"Oh come on!"  I can hear you saying.  "It can't be that simple!" 

Actually it can!  How do I know?  Because Scripture tells me so.  Romans 5:3-5 is one of my favorites (and one of my foundational verses).  Let's take a look. 

Romans 5:3-5(NKJV)

3And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 

4and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 

5Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Scripture tells us that we will go through struggles and Romans 5:3-5 tells us the purpose for the struggles and the progression the struggles are designed to produce.  What is the very first step?  Take joy in your tribulations!

Do you think "Oh woe is me" sounds like taking joy to God?

But how do you do that?  If you are in a spot in life that kind of sucks, how do you take joy in that?  I hate to sound simplistic but it is a decision.  God told you to do it so you decide to do it and you ask Gods to help you make that transition.

And then once you have asked His help in making that transition it's time for a new song.  What should that new song sound like?  Psalm 96:1-3 gives us some great guidance.

Bless His name, share the good news with others, constantly thank Him for all of the progress you have made so far and for all the progress you will continue to make.  Thank Him for all the blessings He has given you AND thank Him for whatever lesson He wants you to learn from the crap you are going through right now.  Doesn't that sound more like taking glory in your tribulations?

Now how do I know that will change your situation for the better?  From Scripture again.  Ever hear of the Parable of the Talents?  (Matthew 25:14-30 or Luke 19:12-28) Of course you have!  Those who do more with their talents and make forward progress so to speak, are rewarded with more opportunities and responsibilities. 

When God sees you make that change from Woe is Me to Thank You God!, I believe the principals of the Parable of the Talents comes into play and He will reward you with a step or to forward.  Will it get better right away and all at once?  Not necessarily.  God has to see that it is a heartfelt, true change and that takes time.  In fact things might even get a little worse before they get better just to see if you are really serious.

But it will get better.  Don't trust me on this, trust God!  He's the one who said it and I believe him.  Do you?  Then sing that new song! 

Rise Up!

 

Psalms 94:16(NKJV)

16    Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?      Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

Here is an interesting verse.  Well what if the evildoer is an authority figure who is over me such as an elected official?  Here is a verse from the New Testament. 
 

1 Peter 2:13-14(NKJV)

13Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 

14or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 

I've always found this NT verse to be strange.  Let's take it to the extreme.  It's telling us we should have supported Hitler, Stalin, Ghengas Khan, or any other number of evil rulers.  Knowing that we serve a just God, that just never made sense to me. 

Could it be that the OT verse above is a qualifier to the NT verse?  Or is that just a justification?  The OT verse clearly tells us that we should rise up against evildoers.  But wait, that would require a judgment wouldn't it?  Interesting questions aren't they?

This is why I continually say that the Bible is a book of balance.  It has to be taken in it's entirety.  And even then it isn't a slam dunk to understand.  God had a very specific reason for giving us the Holy Spirit.  To help provide discernment as we study and grow in God's word. 

How do you get the Holy Spirit?  By asking Jesus, God's son, to come into your life and lead you.  If you feel that little tug deep inside you than respond and have a conversation with Jesus.  "Dear Jesus…."

The questions that I asked above have answers.  The answers are in the Bible.  You just have to really want to find them.  Ever notice that people have different depths of understanding of the Bible?  I believe that is because those same people have different depths of study of God's word. 

God tells us in Scripture that we have to really dig to get to the truth.  A casual read will give you just that, a casual understanding.  So if you want to really have some fun, roll up your sleeves and dig.  I'm sure you will find that it was well worth it!

Just As Your Soul Prospers!

This is one of my very favorite verses of all time.  You want to know the secret to life?  Here it is.

3 John 1:2(NKJV)

2Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 

First of all notice that we have one of the apostles, John, praying for prosperity  for the followers of Jesus.  What is another word that describes prosperity?  Wealth.  What areas of their lives did John want them to prosper in?  ALL areas.  Notice it doesn't say in all areas except material things.  It doesn't say all things except monetary things.  It says ALL things.

But what is the catch?  And this is my favorite part.  It is predicated on how well your soul is prospering.  Soul prospering?  How exactly does that work? 

Here is my understanding of it.  I believe that your soul prospers as your relationship with God and Jesus grows and deepens.  The more you dig into Scripture to learn what God has in store for your life the more your soul prospers.  The more you are in prayer, in communication with God, the more your soul prospers.  And the more you take what you have learned from your relationship with God and Jesus, AND apply it to your everyday life, the more your soul prospers. 

A logical question might be why are there so many Christians that believe but aren't prospering.  In my opinion it is a disconnect between their spirituality and their everyday life.  They simply fail to implement what they have learned into their lives.       

Let me give just one example.  The Parable of the Talents.  How many of us have read it, nodded our heads and said "neat story"?  Now how many of us have actually sat down and plumbed the depths of the meaning of that parable and actually implemented the lesson into our lives.

I'll make you a guarantee.  If you study that one Parable and put the principles into practice in your own life, a year from now you will be more prosperous than you are today.  How can I make that guarantee?  Because it is based on a Biblical principle.

Would you not agree that if you are taking the lessons that you learn from God and actually applying them to your life, you are prospering spiritually more than a person who simply hears but doesn't implement?  Of course you would.    So by logical extension, you will be prospering more spiritually a year from now and that leads to you prospering in all areas, even as your soul prospers!

Now where does it all start?  It starts by accepting Jesus.  Have you done that yet?  If not, why not?  Do you feel that tug deep inside you?  That tug that you have fought for a long time?  Why not give in and surrender to the tug this time.  Have a talk with Jesus.  Let Him know where you want and need His help.  "Dear Jesus…."

Need The Full Context!

This caught my eye and caused me a bit of confusion.  This is why the full context is important. 

2 John 1:10-11(NKJV)

10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 

11for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

When I read this part I thought wait a minute, doesn't this contradict what Jesus said and did?  Remember Jesus was criticized for eating and associating with sinners and Jesus simply said hey I go where those who really need me are at.  (The Reames Paraphrase :)

Verse 10  from 2 John tells us not to even greet them, let alone associate with them.  As a side note I'll also point out that this contradicts "thou shall not judge" because to decide if someone is "in the doctrine" requires a judgment does it not?

Here is the problem.  I don't know about you but not all of my daily Bible reading is productive.  Sometimes my eyes are scanning the words but my mind is a million miles away.  Let's look at what I missed.

2 John 1:7-11(NKJV)

7For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 

8Look to yourselves, that £we do not lose those things we worked for, but that £we may receive a full reward.

9Whoever £transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 

10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 

11for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

Ah, that makes more sense.  John is talking about people who have already made a decision against Christ.  John is talking about those who have openly declared themselves enemies of God.  John is talking about those who are actively trying to destroy others faith in Jesus.

But what about the whole love your enemies thing.  I don't have a problem with that at all.  I don't believe for a second that love your enemies means invite them into your home so that can kill you and take everything you have (or in this case steal the faith of you and others).  I think love your enemies means being will to take mercy on them and forgiving them if they change their ways. 

Flourish-Now There's a Word You Don't Hear Often

Psalms 92:12-14(NKJV)

12    The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,      He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

13    Those who are planted in the house of the Lord     Shall flourish in the courts of our God.

14    They shall still bear fruit in old age;     They shall be fresh and flourishing,

There sure seems to be a lot of flourishing going on out there.  What the heck does it mean?

flourish

verb (used without object)

1. to be in a vigorous state; thrive: a period in which art flourished.

2. to be in its or in one's prime; be at the height of fame, excellence, influence, etc.

3. to be successful; prosper.

4. to grow luxuriantly, or thrive in growth, as a plant.

5. to make dramatic, sweeping gestures: Flourish more when you act out the king's great death scene.

6. to add embellishments and ornamental lines to writing, letters, etc.

7. to sound a trumpet call or fanfare.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/flourish>

Looks to me like flourish is a good thing and God has promised us lots of flourishing if we follow Him.  Now that I am in my 50's I especially like the first part of verse 14.  "They shall still bear fruit in old age".  What a great promise!

Love when God gives us a layup! Friday, August 08, 2014

So much of the Bible takes study which is why God gives us the Holy Spirit to help us discern Scripture when we accept Christ.  But every now and then God gives us a layup.  He makes it easy for us.  Here is an example.

1 John 4:1-3(NKJV)

1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 

2By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 

3and every spirit that does not confess £that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

We run across people all the time who try to convince us of different things, especially spiritually.  The spirits and the false prophets that the Scripture speaks of, I believe, are the people that we encounter in our daily lives.  You will encounter this a lot on Facebook in religious discussions as an example.

So how do you know who to listen to?  They seem sincere.  They seem to know what they are talking about.  It seems to make sense but at the same time there are questions and doubts in your mind as to whether you should listen to them or not.  How do you know?

The highlighted part of Scripture above tells you where to start.  Do they believe and confess that Jesus Christ has come to earth in the flesh?  If so, according to this verse you can proceed with the belief that they are of God. 

So does that mean that once you do that analysis you can believe everything they say?  I wouldn't.  People can try to lie and deceive you.  They can say they believe when they don't so I would continue to compare what they say to Scripture.  But at least God gives us a clear cut place to start!  

So according to John, Paul never knew Christ?

I really dislike when I find stuff like this but at the same time I can't in good conscience and intellectual honesty ignore it either. 

1 John 3:4-6(NKJV)

4Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 

5And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 

6Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

If this isn't a contradiction I don't know what is.  We are told elsewhere in the Bible that even though we accept Christ we are still sinners and need to continually confess our sins.  Paul says that while the mind is willing the flesh is weak indicating that he still sinned.  Is John really saying that Paul never knew Christ because of that? 

What do you do when you run across something like this?  I try to look at the totality of what was written regarding an issue and then weigh the evidence.  In this case, based on the totality of the evidence I reject John's statement here. 

How can I do that?  Pretty easy.  I figure that there is a reason that the Holy Spirit was given to us for discernment.  This is a perfect example.  As I've said before, while I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, I don't believe every little word and sentence is to be accepted.  If that were the case then why would we need discernment?

Righteousness and Justice

One of the things that we are required to do as Christians is know the Scriptures so that we are not led astray by false doctrine.  The Bible tells us that we will be held accountable if we allow ourselves to be led astray. 

So how do we stop that from happening.  The first step is accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  Ask Jesus to come into your life and lead you.  Have you done that yet?  If not why not do it right now.

Just have a conversation with Jesus.  Let Him know where you are at in life and what you are looking for.  Get honest with Jesus.  "Dear Jesus…."

Once you have accepted Jesus you get the Holy Spirit to help guide you.  One of the ways the Holy Spirit guides us is through the study of Scripture.  Those of you who have already accepted Jesus know what I mean.  Those times when you are reading Scripture and all of a sudden something that had been confusing in the past all of a sudden makes perfect sense.  You have an "Aha!" moment.

Here is an "aha!" moment for me today.  A way of evaluating whether something is really in line with Jesus or not.  It comes from Psalm 89 and is speaking of Jesus.  Look at what it tells us. 

Psalms 89:14(NKJV)

14    Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;     Mercy and truth go before Your face.

I've written in the past about foundational verses.  Here is one that actually uses the word foundation.  Let's look at the definition of foundation. 

foun·da·tion

1. the basis or groundwork of anything: the moral foundation of both society and religion.

2. the natural or prepared ground or base on which some structure rests.

3. the lowest division of a building, wall, or the like, usually of masonry and partly or wholly below the surface of the ground.

4. the act of founding, setting up, establishing, etc.: a policy in effect since the foundation.

5. the state of being founded.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/foundation>

Pay attention especially to definitions 1 and 2. 

The basis on which something rests.  The basis of Christianity rest on Jesus Christ and His kingdom.  Psalm 89:1 tells us that righteousness and justice are the foundation of Jesus' kingdom here on earth.

So where am I going with this?  As we go about our lives we are constantly bombarded with competing messages.  Some times those messages contain appeals in one form or another to religion and/or Jesus.  One of the more popular ways this is done is with the questions "What would Jesus do?".  Fair enough question, but how do you determine that?

Well Psalm 89 gives us a standard to start with.  Would the answer, solution, or whatever be righteous and just in Jesus' eyes?  I'm sure we can find even more Biblical standards to apply after that, but it just seems to me that if Psalm 89 tells us that the foundation of Jesus' kingdom is righteousness and justice; that is where we should start in our analysis.

Make sense?

Another Foundational Verse, For Me At Least

Love these two verses.  Verse 7 gives us a good piece of advice and verse 8 is just pure bedrock to me.  It is one of THE verses that help me understand some of the apparent contradictions between Jesus and God.  Let's take a look and then I'll explain.

Hebrews 13:7-8(NKJV)

7Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. 

8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

First the advice.  "Remember those who rule over you" is a bit of an old fashioned way to put it.  Here is my paraphrase.  Observe your spiritual leaders and see if their actions and outcomes match their words.

Now to the bedrock.

8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

 

As you read and compare the Old Testament and the New Testament, there are some who like to portray it as God is a mean old right winger and Jesus is a Kumbaya singing left winger.  That seems to be quite a contradiction. 

Here is why verse 8 is such bedrock to me.  When you combine this verse that tells us that Jesus is ALWAYS the same with the Scripture that tells us that God and Jesus are always in agreement; it tells me that any contradiction that I sense must have a different explanation.

As John Galt says, "there are no contradictions, if you think you have found one, check you premise."
 

As an example, there are some who paint Jesus as a total pacifist and yet God told Saul in one of his battles to kill every man, women, child, and beast.  How could Jesus ever have been in agreement with that? 
 

For me, using these bedrock concepts, I think the explanation runs along these lines.  Jesus is admonishing us to be more forgiving and slow to anger.  However, there are times when even He took physical, violent action.  Driving the money changers out of the Temple is what I am thinking of here. 

In the book of Luke, Jesus also told his disciples to arm themselves so He apparently believed in the concept of defending yourself.  The way I see it Jesus is saying be slow to anger but He is in agreement with God that if it comes to a fight, then take care of business.   Throughout the NT there are references to those who reject Christ as being the enemies of God. 

I believe that God and Jesus are in full agreement that it is morally right to fight God's enemies.