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.