Tag: Living for our Living Hope

Did The Holy Spirit Only Empower 12 Disciples on The Day of Pentecost? Acts 1:4-8

There is a teaching in the church that on the Day of Pentecost, only the 12 Disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, and not all of the 120 who were in the Upper Room, including Mary, the surrogate mother of Jesus.

There are those people use the term “ghost” from the King James Version of the Bible to refer to the third person of the Trinity.

However, the word is an improper translation of the Greek word ‘pneuma’ which refers to the Holy Spirit, wind, or the breath of God.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4151/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/

The English word “ghost” refers to the spirit of the dead or a phantasm.

The Greek word translated as ‘ghost’ is ‘phantasma’ and is never used in reference to God.

Creator God chose to send the Holy Spirit during the Jewish national holiday, known as Pentecost, the Feast of Harvest, which was 50 days following after the crucifixion of Jesus.

It was the celebration of the wheat harvest and was intended to remind all of the people of their harshest time spent in Egypt and it marked the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.

They were to bring offerings to God to celebrate with great rejoicing in music and dance because they had been delivered from their bondage. Everyone was invited to this harvest feast, including Levites, servants, sons and daughters, the fatherless, the widow, and even strangers (Deuteronomy 16:9-12).

Pentecost was so incredible that it affected the entire human race and their relationship to God.

The Holy Spirit was given as a gift from the Father on that day as the truest confirmation that the New Covenant of grace – paid for by the shed blood of Jesus, and now written on the heart of every Christian – is more effectual than the Law given at Mount Sinai that was written on stone (2 Corinthians 3:3-18).

It also confirms that those who place their trust in Jesus find true deliverance and healing from the penalty of sin. There is no better reason to all peoples to gather together, celebrate with great rejoicing in music and dance on that day!

Acts 1:4-8New American Standard Bible

4 [a]Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for [b]what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized [c]with water, but you will be baptized [d]with the Holy Spirit [e]not many days from now.”

6 So, when they had come together, they began asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7 But He said to them, “It is not for you to know periods of time or appointed times which the Father has set by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.”

The Word of God for the People of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

It was during the Last Supper that Jesus gave farewell instructions to the Apostles.

He declared to them

(John 14:12 NASB): 12 Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I am going to the Father.

The promise was the sending of the Holy Spirit, “the Counselor… from the Father” who would “testify” or prove, affirm, and demonstrate that Jesus is Lord so that all those who would put their trust in Him would “receive power” to be His “witnesses…both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (John 15:26; Acts 1:8 NIV).

This was not a new promise.

The gift of the Holy Spirit had been promised in the Old Testament:

“…for with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people. To whom He said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing…” (Isaiah 28:11-12 KJV)

The difference between the Old and New Testament ministries of the Holy Spirit is that, prior to the Day of Pentecost, His power came upon spiritual leaders at particular times but did not take up residence within them.

Before a person becomes Born-Again and transformed at the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit is WITH them to draw them to Jesus, but this is not the same as being IN them.

Jesus promised the Disciples before He was crucified and resurrected that He would “ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor” who would not just live with them but would take up permanent residence within them when they become a Christian (John 14:16-17).

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place at the moment a person becomes Born-Again.

It is this baptism which makes the Christian complete in Christ.

All that the Father is, Jesus is.

All the “fullness of the Godhead bodily” dwells in Jesus (Colossians 2:9 NIV).

This means that Jesus is the physical presentation of all that the Father is.

A person can’t be a Christian and belong to God if the Holy Spirit is not 100% fully living inside them because “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ” (Romans 8:9-11 NIV).

From within the text from His High Priestly Prayer, we read Jesus prayed,

“… that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me, and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:21-22 NIV)

The Gospel is essentially the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

It is obtained by faith and faith alone, plus absolutely nothing. Through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Christian is placed in Jesus because they “have been crucified with Christ… and…Christ lives in” them” (Galatians 2:20 NIV).

When Jesus died, the Christian died in their position with Him.

In the same way, when Jesus was buried, they were “buried with Him by baptism,” and just as Jesus was raised from the dead, they are “risen with Him” (Colossians 2:9-12 NIV).

After a person is converted and becomes Born-Again by repenting of their sins and receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they each receive all of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

There is no partial filling.

They are now “baptized into one body (the Church), whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been made to drink into one Spirit” and placed “in” Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13 NIV).

The Christian is made “complete in Him” and immediately they enter into the “the kingdom of God” because they received “Christ,” “the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27; 2:10; Luke 17:21 NIV)

They are now a child “of God” and are given the power to overcome the enemy “because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (Romans 8:15; 1 John 4:4 NIV)

The Bible says every Christian has “been baptized into Christ” and has been “clothed…with Him” (Galatians 3:27 NIV).

When a person comes to faith in Jesus, they receive all the blessings that are in Christ.

These blessings are not received one day in the future once they reach some self-assumed place of ‘real’ holiness.

God’s blessings are entirely the possession of the Christian because they have already received them through Jesus.

The blessings are received when they first called upon Jesus to forgive them of their sins and become the Lord of their life.

There is absolutely nothing that can be found outside of Christ that has any eternal value to it!

Like a Mighty Wind

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:1-4 NIV)

“All,” not just a few, of the people there were “filled with the Holy Spirit.”

In the Bible, the wind is often a picture of the “breath of the Almighty” that releases creative power and “gives me life” (Job 33:4 KJV).

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/job/33/4/t_conc_469004

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h7307/kjv/wlc/0-1/

In the Hebrew text, “wind,” “spirit,” and sometimes “breath” are the same word (ruwach).

The Bible declares that at the beginning of Creation, God first breathed His breath upon the waters of the Earth “…And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2 NIV).

God formed human beings “from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And man became a living person” (Genesis 2:7 TLB).

It took His breath to create the Universe; “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6 NIV).

At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, He read from the Book of Isaiah to declare that the “ruwach” of the Lord God was upon Him (See Luke 4:17-21).

God promised He would “pour out” His “Spirit on ALL people” (Joel 2:28 NIV – emphasis mine).

After His resurrection, and before the Day of Pentecost, Jesus re-generated ten of the Apostles when He “breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (John 20:22-23 NIV).

At that moment, they were Born-Again because they received the Holy Spirit.

A person cannot receive salvation by becoming Born-Again unless they are 100% filled with Him (John 3:3-4).

However, those 10 Apostles were not yet endued with power until the Day of Pentecost. For them, that was an entirely separate and distinct experience.

The other 110 Disciples who were with them in the Upper Room were still not yet regenerated/born from above through salvation.

They believed in Jesus, but they had yet to receive Him and become Born-Again.

Believing that Jesus is God is not the same as receiving Him. Even “the demons believe that and shudder” (James 2:19 NIV).

This is also the case with the people of Samaria, Ephesus, and those at Cornelius’s house who were not yet Born-Again because they had not yet received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14; 10:44; 18:24).

Tongues of Fire

The tongues of fire were a sign to the Jewish people God was exceedingly pleased with those who had received Jesus, the promised Messiah, as their personal Lord and Savior.

God showed the people their sins were forgiven through the death of Jesus, and He was stopping the plague of sin’s eternal consequence, showing those who become Born-Again are now His dwelling place – His temple, the new Holy of Holies.

On at least three previous occasions, I found that God sent fire from above to consume a sacrifice because He was pleased (1 Chronicles 21:26; 2 Chronicles 7:1; 1 Kings 18:36-39).

Each time this happened, He was making an important point.

In David’s case, God forgave his sin, halting a plague in Israel and choosing where the future temple would be built.

In Solomon’s case, God consecrated that location as the place where His name would dwell forever (2 Chronicles 7:16).

The people’s reaction was to worship the Lord and say, “He is good; his love endures forever” (2 Chronicles 7:3 NIV).

God was telling the crowd of people at Pentecost that those who become Born-Again by receiving Jesus as the promised Messiah become consecrated for His glory. He would dwell within them forever.

In Elijah’s case, God shamed the prophets of Baal, whose god sent no fire, and claimed His rightful title as Lord God of Israel.

The people on Mount Carmel “fell prostrate and cried, ‘The LORD – he is God! The LORD – he is God!'” (1 Kings 18:39 NIV)

God showed the people on the day of Pentecost that He alone is almighty and deserves to be worshiped, honored, and praised forevermore.

The Power of Pentecost

Acts 2:14-21New American Standard Bible

Peter’s Sermon

14 But Peter, taking his stand with the other eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, [a]know this, and pay attention to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you assume, since it is only the [b]third hour of the day; 16 but this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:

17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all [c]mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
And your young men will see visions,
And your old men will [d]have dreams;
18 And even on My male and female [e]servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days,
And they will prophesy.
19 And I will [f]display wonders in the sky above
And signs on the earth below,
Blood, fire, and [g]vapor of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
21 And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

After the Holy Spirit was poured out, the crowd was amazed at what was happening.

Peter stood up before them, along with the 11 Disciples, and spoke to the “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem,” including women and children.

The word “men” was a common term used in addressing a company of people, and could include women and children, not just men alone.

Peter then quoted the prophet Joel and told the crowd that the giving of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was for ALL people, both male and female, and not just the 12 Disciples.

Both men and women are baptized in the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation to receive the power to spread the Gospel (Acts 2:17-18; also 1 Corinthians 11:4-6; 14:3,31).

Pentecost was the birthday of the Church universal.

It began the ministry of the Holy Spirit who is now the agent and executive of God on earth to carry on the work of Jesus (Acts 1:2-8; 5:9; 8:29,39; 10:19; 11:12; 13:2-4; 15:28; 16:6; 20:28; 21:4-11; 1 Corinthians 2:1-14; 12:1-30; 2 Corinthians 3:8; Ephesians 2:22; 3:5).

The Sacred Secret of God Revealed

On the day of Pentecost, something else happened that was incredible and had never happened before – the Holy Spirit came to reveal the sacred secret held hidden for all of eternity past, the new covenant of grace.

He came as a love gift from the Father to dwell within those who receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

“Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.” (Ephesians 3:2-3 NIV)

There are two Greek words used in Scripture for the word “mystery” They are ‘kruptos’ and ‘musterion.’

The Greek word ‘kruptos’ is where the word “crypt” comes from.

It was used when something was secret or hidden away (Matthew 6:3-4, Luke 8:17, Romans 2:16, 1 Corinthians 14:25).

The English word “mystery” means something incomprehensible, unknowable, and beyond understanding.

The Greek word “musterion” was only used for secrets in the religious realm, including mystery religions.

In the Bible, they are sacred secrets.

A secret is something that can be known, but every person does not know it.

The things of God are not mysterious or impossible to understand. They are secret only to those who don’t take the time to study God’s Word, the Bible.

When Jesus taught a Parable, He spoke with a facet, or portion, of the sacred secret of the kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:10-11). However, now it is no longer a mystery (Romans 16:25,26, Colossians 1:26, also Ephesians 1:9).

The enemy and the hordes of Hell didn’t know this secret.

If they had, they would have never allowed Jesus to be crucified.

No human eye had ever seen, no ear had ever heard – no mind had conceived what God had prepared for those who love Him because they were hidden until the Cross (1 Corinthians 2:6-10).

When the Holy Spirit came upon a person in the Old Testament, they often gave a word of prophecy.

In the New Testament – the Church Age of the sacred secret – when a person gives their life to Jesus, they receive the Holy Spirit and the right and privilege to receive the manifold sacred secret of Heaven.

The Holy Spirit indwells and seals the Christian at the moment of salvation and gives them the daily anointing with power for the work of ministry.

Before Pentecost (excluding the 10 Disciples in John 20:22), a person could not be Born-Again and receive eternal life.

The Facets of the Father

God intended that through the church:

“… the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:10-12 NIV).

The word “manifold” means ‘many-faceted,’ and the wisdom of God’s sacred secret was revealed after the Cross.

Starting from the creation of Adam and Eve until the Day of Pentecost that was spoken of in the book of Acts, God had dealt with humanity as a master would to an indentured servant.

However, that changed because of the blood sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

The Church is one Body with Jesus as the Head because of the Cross.

The Father chose to lavish His great love on those who would receive Jesus and willfully choose to become a Christian (1 John 3:1; 1 Peter 1:23).

Every Christian is a child of God and a member of His body.

They are spiritually identified with Jesus.

Christians are partakers of the divine nature and are now a new creation (2 Peter 1:4; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Jesus has anointed and set His seal of ownership on them and placed the Holy Spirit in their hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Nothing can separate them from God’s love! (Romans 8:38-39, 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 10:17, 12:12-27, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22,5:22, Ephesians 1:14, 2:16, 4:4; Col 3:15)

When Jesus was crucified, the Christian was crucified.

When He died, they died.

When He was buried, they were buried.

When He was raised, they were raised.

When He ascended, they ascended.

When Jesus sat down at the Father’s right hand, they sat down as well! (Romans 6:4,6,8; Ephesians 2:6)

The sacred secret revealed that God is now working through His Church – each member of His Body – to do those things that He did directly before the Cross.

Every Christian has been given power and glory, unlike anything that has existed on the face of the Earth before.

It is their covenanted responsibility to make God’s wisdom known by living naturally in that glory and power, teaching the truth, and turning people from darkness to light through the love and goodness of God.

The Age of Grace

“For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you” (Ephesians 3:1-2 NIV).

The Church has now entered into the age of grace.

The Law that dominated the Old Testament was a “ministry that brought death” (2 Corinthians 3:7 ESV).

The all-encompassing sacred secret is that the Church has entered into a new age which is much more glorious than the Law because it brings righteousness (2 Corinthians 3:3-10).

This truth was hidden, but now it has been made known.

The administration of the grace of God is the administration of the multi-faceted sacred secret.

It is now the covenanted responsibility of every Christian to live in the power and glory of what God’s wisdom has revealed.

“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV)

CONCLUSION – Empowered to Serve

“Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” (1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV)

Salvation makes the Christian “complete” in Christ. ALL that the Father is, Jesus is. “All the fullness of the Godhead bodily” dwells in Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit dwells within the Christian (Colossians 2:9-10 NKJV).

Because Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, all of His promises and spiritual gifts have never changed, nor will they ever change.

Every Christian was “given the one Spirit to drink” and is positioned “in” Jesus, and He is “in” every Christian (1 Corinthians 12:13 NIV).

Over 100 verses in the Bible describe the Christian as “in” Jesus.

Because the Christian has Jesus living in them, they possess and have access to all of His promises and the spiritual things of God because He is the giver of the gift of the Holy Spirit who helps them to do “greater works” than Jesus.

The “greater works” are far more than just evangelism.

The Father anointed Jesus with the power to do good works and to bring healing (Acts 10:38).

It goes hand in hand with His first public declaration to:

“…bring Good News to the poor.”… “…to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.” (Luke 4:18-19 NLT)

The Apostle Paul declared:

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV)

The word “power” is the Greek word ‘endunamoo’ which means to empower.

It is a compound word from the Greek word ‘en,’ meaning within, and ‘dunamis,’ meaning power.

Words such as dynamite, dynamo, and dynamic come from ‘dunamis.’

The understanding of this word in Greek is to receive power within.

Christians are to depend upon God’s power because they are weak without Him.

God desires that His children move naturally in power He has given to all Christians beginning on the Day of Pentecost.

Jesus offered the rebirth by the Holy Spirit on the day of His resurrection (John 20:21-22).

The apostle Paul prayed that the Church would come to know:

“… the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.” (Ephesians 1:19 NIV)

Paul also declared that this power was the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Romans 8:11 KJV)

The Holy Spirit has not stopped operating in the life of the Christian because the canon of Scripture is now complete – and neither have the spiritual gifts.

The active use of the supernatural gifts does not undermine the finality and sufficiency of God’s Word – instead, they serve to validate and complement the Scriptures.

The Church has been living in the end times since the day of Pentecost.

God has yet to pour out His Spirit on all flesh thoroughly.

There is no absence of miraculous gifts in church history since the first century.

Walking naturally in the supernatural should be the normal spiritual state of the Christian.

Sadly, far too many never experience it, and many never maintain it, primarily due to immaturity and pride, but mainly to a lack of knowledge.

“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:1-4 NIV)

The gift of the Holy Spirit, who was poured out on the 120 Disciples on the Day of Pentecost, was promised to each and every one, without exception, who truly repents of their sin and receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

There is “neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:28 ESV).

When we SEEK the Holy Spirit we will find the Holy Spirit, when we KNOCK on the doors of heaven with our prayers for the Holy Spirit that God will open up to us the wonders of knowing Him.

And when the Spirit comes, He’s coming with POWER! Yes!

  • Power to walk uprightly in a world given to sin.
  • Power to avoid the temptations of the flesh.
  • Power to resist the devil.
  • Power over drugs and alcohol.
  • Power over anger and sexual sin.
  • Power to understand the word of God.
  • Power to teach and preach God’s Word.

But not only that, when the disciples received the Holy Spirit they were given

  • power to speak the word of God with boldness even when their lives were on the line.
  • They were given POWER to speak in languages they had not spoken in before and to interpret those languages.
  • God confirmed their testimony with miracles, signs and wonders (Heb. 2:4).
  • The sick were healed.
  • The dead were raised to life.
  • The blind received their sight.
  • They prophesied.
  • They casted out demons.
  • They served one another with a love and concern they had never expressed before.
  • And those who sat in darkness saw the light of the glory of God and the veil which Satan had placed on the hearts and minds of unbelievers was ripped away as they trusted in Jesus for their salvation (2 Corinthians. 4:3-4).

I invite every single reader to join me at the altar – let’s get on our knees and ask God to give us that power to accomplish his purpose.

Ask for the Holy Spirit to be evident in our life…

Seek him in the area that He’s placed on your heart.

Knock on the doors of heaven for God to open up to you the gift of His Spirit.

In order for the Promise of the Holy Spirit to be fulfilled in our lives we have to believe the promise of salvation.

Because sin entered our world God the Father sent God the Son to save us from His wrath against sin.

Jesus lived a perfect life unlike anyone else and He died in your place.

He was crucified on a cross for YOU.

He was buried in a borrowed tomb for YOU.

And on the third day He rose from the grave by the power of the Holy Spirit of God for YOU.

Because He loves you, He is offering you forgiveness for your sins an eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

Our heavenly Father says that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13).

The Promise of the Father begins with Jesus.

He is the Author and Finisher of our faith.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You that You have not hidden the truth from us but have revealed it in the perfect truth of Your Living, Life Transforming Word.

Thank You that I am part of that great cloud of Church-age witnesses to the truth of the glorious gospel of grace – which was started at Pentecost, and which has spread to every nation and tribe, every people and language.

Thank You that I have been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit and baptized into the body of Christ, which had its beginning in that special room, on that first day of Pentecost, when Holy Spirit was sent to be the permanently, indwelling Helper for all Christians – Thank You in Jesus name AMEN.

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I have encountered the Resurrection. Receiving the free gift of God’s Grace: “Charisma” Romans 5:15-21

1. Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Refrain:
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
grace, grace, God’s grace,
grace that is greater than all our sin!

People love to receive presents, especially good ones that are useful, and that reveal how the giver put forth some thought and effort into the purchase.

In the Bible we are continuously told of the best and most beneficial gift of all.

Many will seek the favor of a [a]generous person,
And every person is a friend to him who gives gifts. (Proverbs 19:6 NASB)

12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; 13 moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it. And God has so worked, that people will [a]fear Him. (Ecclesiastes 3:12-14)

7 “[a]Ask, and it will be given to you; [b]seek, and you will find; [c]knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what person is there among you [d]who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, [e]will give him a stone? 10 Or [f]if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 So if you, despite being [g]evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:7-11 NASB)

The Apostle Paul proclaimed, “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23b)!

God offers to everyone, without exception, the free gift of eternal life, and the free gift of His grace to make the choice to walk in, experience spiritual victory.

Even so, there are those individuals who have refused eternal life in the Son; and there are even those within the body of Christ who are not abiding in their God-given freedom.

The reason why some people are not living in victory is because they have not yet understood or received God’s grace.

Those who have not fully received His grace are walking about in judgment and condemnation.

For the “unbeliever” who has not accepted the gift of God,

he or she is indeed condemned to eternal separation from the Lord.

But your wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His [a]face from you so that He does not hear. (Isaiah 59:2 NASB)

and a fiery judgment

11 “But when the king came in to look over the [a]dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’ (Matthew 22:11-13 NASB).

The Bible is abundantly clear in this matter.

For the “believer” who has not fully comprehended the gift of God, he or she is living in bondage from a self-imposed form of condemnation or self-reproach.

God offers the free gift of His grace and a complete pardon from sin; however, His gift does no good just sitting there all wrapped up and looking pretty.

God’s gift must be received and opened; and in this devotional message today,

Faithfully, hopefully, prayerfully, Gracefully, our goal is that we are going to come to a more informed understanding of what is entailed in receiving and benefiting from the greatest gift of all time.

Paul Shared God’s Gift of Grace.

Today, we are going to look at some words shared by the Apostle Paul. Paul is someone who felt compelled to emphasize “the free gift of God.”

In both Romans and Ephesians (2:8, 3:7, 4:7) he taught extensively about the gift of God’s grace, for he believed that receiving this gift was essential for redemption unto God and eternal life.

In Romans chapter five, Paul stressed in great detail the significance of what he called “the free gift of God.”

Right now, I want to invite us to brush off the dust on the covers of our bibles, to open them together with me in humble honor of the reading of God’s Word.

Romans 5:15-21 New American Standard Bible

15 But [a]the gracious gift is not like the offense. For if by the offense of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many. 16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one offense, [b]resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the gracious gift arose from many offenses, [c]resulting in justification. 17 For if by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

18 So then, as through one offense [d]the result was condemnation to all mankind, so also through one act of righteousness [e]the result was justification of life to all mankind. 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. 20 [f]The Law came in so that the offense would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

In this passage Paul emphasized the word “gift” six times.

If we view the original Greek, there are two words from which the English word gift has been translated.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/rom/5/15-21/t_conc_1051015

When Paul spoke of the singular word “gift” he used the words dorea or dorema, which are simply translated as gift or bounty.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1431/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/

When he utilized the phrase “free gift” he used the word charisma, which by definition means “a favor with which one receives without any merit of his own,” and “a pardon of sin and eternal salvation.”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5486/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/

Paul also directly mentioned “grace,” and he used the word charis, which means “good will, lovingkindness” and “favor.”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5485/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/

The words for “free gift” (charisma) and “grace” (charis) are interchangeable; therefore, when Paul spoke of the “free gift” (Rom 5:15, 16, 18) he was referring to the free gift of grace.

In Ephesians 3:7, Paul declared, “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace” (3:7a NIV).

https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/eph/3/7/t_conc_1100007

The Bible teaches that God’s grace is a free gift that He offers willingly to those who will freely receive it.

There Is One Who Receives the Gift

The One who offers the gift of grace is God.

The Bible says, “For God so loved the world that he gave . . .” (Jn 3:16).

The Lord “gave” to the world – to each and every person. Love is not so much shown in the words “I love you” as it is demonstrated by action.

John said, “Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18); he also said,

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

God revealed His love by “sending” or “giving” the gift of His Son “to be the propitiation,” or rather the atoning sacrifice, to pay the penalty for the sins of mankind.

Notice the word used to express the degree and measure of that Love – Agape.

USED THREE TIMES IN THAT SINGLE VERSE!

https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/1jo/4/10/t_conc_1163010

When Paul declared, “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” in Romans 6:23.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/rom/6/23/t_conc_1052023

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5486/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/

The word “gift” is translated from the Greek word charisma, meaning grace.

The “gift of God” is therefore the “grace of God.” God is the gift giver, and He offers the gift of His grace.

Paul identified the gift as “the grace of God” (Romans 5:15), the “abundance of grace” and “the gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17).

Grace is the Lord’s gift of righteousness to mankind.

The Bible says that through Jesus all who believe in Him are to become the “righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Therefore, God saw that mankind needed to receive the gift of righteousness.

The Gift Giver Considers the Need

When someone wants to give a gift, then he or she must first consider the need. So, why is an abundance of grace and righteousness necessary for mankind?

Paul spoke of the death, judgment, and condemnation that resulted from the one man’s offense, disobedience and sin.

The “one man” he referred to was Adam (Romans 5:14), the very first man created. If you will recall the biblical account, he and his wife Eve ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God had commanded the man and woman not to eat of this tree, and when they acted in disobedience and ignored God’s commands, sin entered the world.

At that moment they were evicted from paradise and separated from God (cf. Gemesis 2:16-17, 3:1-24).

Adam committed the very first sin in history, and sin has plagued mankind ever since (Romans 5:14).

Adam demonstrated how sin results in death, judgment and condemnation.

Paul said, “Through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation” (Romans 5:18).

When Adam sinned then all mankind became enslaved to sin.

Paul said elsewhere, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

There is not one single person on earth who is without sin (Romans 3:10), and sin results in death. Paul stated, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23);

and the death he referred to was a spiritual death of eternal separation from God in the flames of hell.

Mankind was condemned to death, and the Lord saw that the need was for life.

The Gift Comes with a Price Tag

Every gift comes with a price tag, meaning there is a purchase price to be paid.

Just as sin came through the “one man” Adam, the gift of grace came through the “one Man” Jesus Christ (Romans 5:15, 17-19, 21).

We read that this gift came by way of His “righteous act” (Romans 5:18), or His act of payment.

What was the price for God’s grace and forgiveness to be shown to the world?

In Acts, Paul said that Christ “purchased [us] with His own blood” (20:28).

He also mentioned how “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3),

and that “when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).

Jesus purchased the world’s freedom with His own life.

The story goes,

When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding.

Graham admitted his guilt but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.

The judge asked, “Guilty, or not guilty?”

When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, “That’ll be ten dollars – a dollar for every mile you went over the limit.”

Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister.

“You have violated the law,” he said. “The fine must be paid – but I am going to pay it for you.”

He took a ten-dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner!

“That,” said Billy Graham, “is exactly how God treats repentant sinners!”

The price of your redemption unto God was Jesus’ death. The Bible says that everyone is supposed to die for his or her sins (Romans 6:23);

however, Christ stepped in and took your place in death.

He took the penalty upon Himself, so that those who believe in Him (Romans 10:9) would not have to perish.

In Galatians, Paul said,

“Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Galatians 1:3-4).

Jesus died for all mankind in order that those who choose to believe will have life.

Paul stated that the life he now possessed was “by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

The Receiver Appreciates Its Worth

God has given the free gift of His grace, which is His divine favor and pardon from sin.

Paul declared, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

In order to receive this gift, you must first appreciate its worth.

What did it cost? It cost God His one and only Son.

John said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17).

The forgiveness of sin is impossible to earn.

It could have only come by way of God’s perfect Son.

The Bible further says,

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

You and I must make the sincere effort to realize the cost of our salvation and recognize that the cost is far greater than anything you could pay by yourself.

If you and I believe that you and I can work our way into heaven, then you and I will forever be working and always owing.

Paul said, “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt” (Romans 4:4).

Jerome was a church father who translated the Greek manuscripts into Latin and put the Bible in the language of the people.

He purposefully lived in Bethlehem where Jesus was born.

One night, Jerome had a dream that Jesus visited him.

In the dream, he collected all of his money and offered it to Jesus as a gift.

The Lord said, “I don’t want your money.”

So, Jerome rounded up all of his possessions and tried to give them to Jesus.

The Lord said, “I don’t want your possessions.”

Jerome then recalled the moment in his dream when he turned to Christ and asked, “What can I give you? What do you want?” Jesus simply replied, “Give to me your sin. That’s what I came for; I came to take away your sin.”

The Receiver Recognizes the Sacrifice

In order for us to receive God’s free gift of grace, we must also recognize and acknowledge Jesus’ great sacrifice.

Do you and I truly understand what Jesus did for us, and do you and I know what it is He offers us?

Jesus told the woman at the well,

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10).

If you and I truly understand the gift of God’s grace, and we realize that Jesus is offering you the gift of Himself and the gift of living water and eternal life,

then we should be unhesitant in receiving this indescribable gift!

You and I should be impossibly eager to take hold of it immediately!

The Receiver Must Unwrap the Gift

Once you and I appreciate the worth and recognize the sacrifice involved in the gift of grace, then you and I must receive it and unwrap it.

Grace will not take effect in your life until it is embraced.

In verse 17, Paul spoke of the need to receive.

He said,

“Those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17b).

You and I obtain life in Christ by “receiving” the abundance of His grace; and once you and I have received the gift then you and I must unwrap it.

The Bible shares how to lift the corner of the wrapping paper and open the gift of eternal life. 

Romans 10:9-10 says,

“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

When you and I finally recognize the sacrifice of God’s one and only Son who paid the price for your sin, then our understanding must move from the head knowledge unto and into our heart knowledge before grace will take effect.

You and I must not only know in your mind what Jesus did, but you and I must believe and confess with all of your heart that He died for your sin and mine.

God offers you the free gift of His grace this very moment.

He has seen yours and my own futile attempts at becoming right with Him.

The Lord knows you and I are helpless sinners,

and that is why He gave His one and only Son.

Jesus wants to be our atoning sacrifice to step in and pay the price for your sin. He wants to give you the gift of eternal life.

Will you and I genuinely allow Him?

2. Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
threaten the soul with infinite loss;
grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
points to the refuge, the mighty cross.
(Refrain)

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
grace, grace, God’s grace,
grace that is greater than all our sin!

3. Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
brighter than snow you may be today.
(Refrain)

4. Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see his face,
will you this moment his grace receive?
(Refrain)

In Revelation we read,

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (22:17 NIV).

If you and I genuinely desire God’s gift of grace and salvation then you and I have to reach out and take it, tear into it with enthusiasm, and unwrap it!

I want to extend Jesus’ invitation to come, and invite you, the reader, to receive the gift of grace, the 100% free gift of salvation from your sins and eternal life.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, the more I recognise my sinfulness, the more I understand the incredible grace that is being poured out on me and on all humanity. Thank You that the more my sin is exposed, the much more I realize what amazing grace has been bestowed on me – and on all who have trusted Christ for salvation, for the forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting. Thank You in Jesus’ name, AMEN

https://translate.google.com/

I am Encountering the Resurrection. “My Lord and my God!” John 20:26-29

Believing what we are “seeing!” Doubting Thomas became Believing Thomas when he “saw” with his very own eyes, the risen Christ standing before him.

From our unbelief to belief. From our “seeing” to believing. The development of a disciple’s faith in Jesus as their God, their Savior, can be followed, traced from the time of John the Baptist to the final chapters of John’s Revelation.

Recall what has come before this. For the three years of Christ’s own ministry, we see in the disciples’, tiny bits of evidence of little seeds of faith taking root, growing, maturing and blossoming into a firm foundation of unshakable faith.

It was revealed to Peter, Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God… and the content of John’s Gospel was written so we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing on Him we might have life in His name.

Thomas was absent from that initial “appearance” of Resurrected Christ. As a consequence, Thomas did not “see” as the Disciples first “saw” 8 days prior.

We do not know where he was. Scripture is not clear in this matter. What is clear in this matter is none of the disciple’s present that first appearance, who “saw” the Resurrected Jesus, had made no such declaration of “My Lord and my God!”

We only read from John 20:19-20 NASB: “19 Now when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were [a]shut where the disciples were together due to fear of the [b]Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and *said to them, “Peace be to you.” 20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Verse 20 suggests they only had an “emotional response” – They rejoiced when they “saw” the Lord. Had they come to a true state of “belief” in that moment?

This suggests to me that there is something significantly deeper to explore here with “doubting” Thomas’ response of “My Lord, and my God!”

John 20:26-29 Amplified Bible

26 Eight days later His disciples were again inside the house, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, though the doors had been barred, and stood among them and said, “Peace to you.” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and put out your hand and place it in My side. Do not be unbelieving, but [stop doubting and] believe.” 28 Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, do you now believe? Blessed [happy, spiritually secure, and favored by God] are they who did not see [Me] and yet believed [in Me].”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Thomas, called Didymus – which means twin, was chosen by Christ to be one of His 12 apostles. He was a zealous disciple who demonstrated a fearless attitude.

When Jesus set His face as a flint to go to Jerusalem to face the unbelieving Jews who desired to kill Him, Thomas boldly cried, “Let us also go to Jerusalem, with Him – so that we may die with Jesus!” (John 11:16 NASB)

Thomas was also a deep thinker who paid heed to Christ’s words of wisdom, but he did not always understand the depth of meaning behind Christ’s discourses.

“Lord, we do not know where You are going,” (John 14:5 NASB) was his quick complaint when Jesus revealed that He was soon to leave them and return to His Father in heaven, “so how can we know the way?” was his earnest query.

But it was his reliance on the logic of man, his inability to see truth beyond his physical senses, caused him to become labelled with the uncomplimentary title, ‘doubting Thomas’, for he would not accept the multiple eyewitness accounts of Christ’s Resurrection because he himself, had not seen His Resurrected Lord with his own eyes, nor had he touched the risen Savior with his own hands –

and so, in his initial response he made the astonishingly determined claim, “unless I “see” in His hands the imprint of the nails and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, (ergo) I will not believe.”

When taken in isolation, this passage appears to declare Jesus IS God.  

Every serious Bible student will agree, however, that it’s never a good idea to evaluate a verse apart from its context.

What then is the immediate, as well as the broader, context in which Thomas’ confession appears? 

We’ll look at both, and in the process discover what Thomas meant when he said, “My Lord and my God.”

My Lord and My God:  The Immediate Context

As we read the immediate context surrounding Thomas’ confession, please do notice how many times the words “see” or “seen” are used in conjunction with the word “believe” in its various forms.

John 20:24-29New American Standard Bible

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, who was called [a]Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

26 [b]Eight days later His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been [c]shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be to you.” 27 Then He *said to Thomas, “Place your finger here, and see My hands; and take your hand and put it into My side; and do not continue in disbelief, but be a believer.” 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

The word “see” in Greek is horaô. 

https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/jhn/20/25/t_conc_1017025

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3708/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/

When used literally it means to see with one’s eye. 

For example, Thomas plainly stated that his belief in a resurrected Christ was predicated on seeing Jesus with his own eyes. 

When used figuratively horaô means to perceive or to discern, that is, to “see” with the mind or with one’s understanding.  

This figurative usage is common in English as well. 

We say, “I see what you mean,” that is, “I understand.” 

Jesus said those who believed (understood) that he was alive without literally seeing him were blessed.

Broader Context: What does Bible say about literally seeing God?

The Bible has much to say about seeing God.  When Moses asked God to show him His glory, God answered him without ambiguity:

Exodus 33:20 (NASB) But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” (Emphasis added)

Exodus 33:20 NASB

The apostle Paul also communicates this truth on more than one occasion when he writes that God is “invisible,” and that “no man has seen or can see” Him.  In addition, the apostle John echoes these same emphatic statements:

1 John 4:12a (NASB) No one has seen God at any time… (emphasis added)

1 John 4:12a (NASB)

It is important to realize that John penned these words after tens of thousands of people had seen Jesus during his earthly ministry. 

Moreover, at least 500 people saw him after his resurrection. 

And most important for our discussion, even after Thomas had seen Jesus and supposedly declared him to be God, John still wrote, “No one has seen God at any time” (emphasis added). 

The contradiction between the Trinitarian view that Thomas was declaring Jesus to be God, and the numerous passages that unequivocally state that God cannot be seen, is rather glaring.

To say that Thomas “saw God” contradicts Scripture. 

Therefore, there must be another way to understand his words.

What did Jesus teach his disciples about seeing God?

The solution to this obvious contradiction lies in what Jesus taught his disciples about “seeing God.”

John 12:44-45 (NASB) And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 “He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. (emphasis added)

John 12:44-45 (NASB)

https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/jhn/12/44-45/t_conc_1009044

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2334/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/

In this passage the word “sees” in Greek is theôreô, and it means to look closely at; to gaze with interest or careful observation. 

Figuratively it can mean to comprehend or recognize.  

It is a synonym of horaô.  

Thus, Jesus uses “seeing” as a metaphor for comprehending or knowing.  

In doing so, he conveys an important truth to his disciples: if you see me, it means that you also “see”–perceive, discern, comprehend and recognize–the One who sent Me, that is, the One who can’t be seen.

Jesus could say this because he perfectly represented the Father. 

The apostle Paul expresses this truth beautifully:

2 Corinthians 4:6 (NASB) For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (Emphasis added)

In this context, Paul is comparing Jesus to Moses who reflected the glory of God after having spent 40 days and nights on Mt. Sinai in God’s presence. 

Moses wasn’t God, but he reflected God’s glory.

Similarly, Jesus isn’t God, but he reflects the glory of God, thus enabling us to know Him.

Paul wrote something similar to the church in Colossae:

Colossians 1:15 (NASB)  He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (emphasis added)

Jesus is the image of the God who can’t be seen. 

An image is not the original, rather it is a picture or a reflection of the original. 

https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/col/1/15/t_conc_1108015

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1504/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/

The word “image” in this passage is the Greek eikôn, and it literally means a statue. 

Figuratively, it means a representation.  

Jesus used eikôn in this way when he responded to the Jews’ question about the legality of the poll-tax. 

Jesus told them to bring him a denarius, a coin imprinted with Caesar’s likeness:

Matthew 22:20-21 (NASB) And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21  They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” (emphasis added)

Matthew 22:20-21 (NASB)

The word “likeness” is eikôn, the same word used in Colossians 1:15 where it is translated as “image.” 

Obviously, the image or likeness of Caesar on the coin was not literally Caesar. 

Rather it was a representation of him. 

Similarly, Jesus is the image of God and not the original. 

How did Jesus reflect or image God to mankind?

By speaking only, the words God gave him to speak, by doing only the works God gave him to do, and by obeying God’s will and denying his own.  

This is how he could say in John 12:45: when you see me, you see God who sent me.  Not surprising, this idea is in perfect keeping with Hebraic thought. 

The night Jesus was arrested

On the night Jesus was arrested, he gathered his disciples in the upper room and taught them about knowing and seeing God. 

This discourse provides us with further critical insight into the meaning behind Thomas’ confession:

John 14:3-6 (NASB) “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4  “And you know the way where I am going.” 5  Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” 6  Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (emphasis added)

Notice that the Father is the objective, while Jesus is the means by which the objective is reached. 

Furthermore, Thomas is specifically mentioned as being an active part of the discussion that evening. 

What follows are some of the last words Jesus spoke to his disciples before being arrested and ultimately crucified.

John 14:7 (NASB) “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” (Emphasis added)

John 14:7 (NASB)

https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/jhn/14/7/t_conc_1011007

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1097/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/

The word “know” here, along with its various forms, is the Greek word ginôskô, and it means to come to know, recognize, perceive. 

The word “seen” is horaô. 

You will please recall that it can mean to see, perceive, to discern. 

Again, Jesus uses “seeing” as a metaphor for “knowing.”

He does not mean that when they look at him, they are literally looking at the Father. 

For one reason, God cannot be seen, and for another reason, Jesus is not the Father.

Rather, Jesus is saying that when they see or observe him, they also come to “see” and know God. 

Philip, however, misses Jesus’ point:

John 14:8-9 (NASB) Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9  Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (emphasis added)

Jesus questions their failure to understand that to see him is to “see” the Father especially since he had been revealing the Father to them for so long.

After Jesus’ Resurrection

After God raised Jesus from the dead, he appeared to the disciples.  Thomas, however, was not present:

John 20:24-25 (NASB) But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25  So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”  (emphasis added)

The point here is that Thomas refused to believe Jesus was alive, even though there were eyewitness.

Several days later, Jesus appeared to the group a second time.

Thomas is now among them.   

John 20:26-29 (NASB) After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then He *said to Thomas,  “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28  Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29  Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

John 20:26-29 (NASB)

The Meaning of Thomas’ Confession

In view of the context we have examined, Thomas finally understands what Jesus has been trying to teach him all along: 

“Not only do I see my risen Lord, but I also now “see” or perceive that you are indeed the image of the invisible God.  You have been revealing the Father to us all along!”

Thomas finally sees his Lord and perceives his God.

Understanding Thomas’ confession in this way resolves the conflict created by the Trinitarian interpretation which claims that Thomas sees Jesus as God when Scripture repeatedly says God cannot be seen. 

Furthermore, it is in keeping with Hebraic thought which views the one sent, in this case Jesus, as being the personal presence of the sender, that is God. 

In addition, Jesus’ statement in John 17– that God the Father is the only true God, while he is the Christ–remains intact, and no complicated formula is required for dealing with a multi-personal God.

It also helps explain why Thomas’ confession is not included within the other gospels; something we would expect to see if he were truly confessing Jesus to be deity. 

It’s important to note that no other disciple declares Jesus is God. 

Not one. 

Perhaps most telling is the reason John gave for writing his gospel. 

A mere two verses after Thomas’ so-called confession of Jesus’ deity,

John says his purpose for penning his gospel is that we might believe Jesus is the Christ.  John does not say one word about the supposed recent revelation about Jesus’ deity, which, if it were true, would eclipse Jesus being the Christ.

John 20:30-31 (NASB) Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31  but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

If Thomas’ confession was actually a declaration that Jesus was God, you can be sure John would have featured it as a reason for writing his gospel. 

God made it possible for Jesus to be seen. 

There is one last point that is worthy of inclusion in this examination of John 20:28.

Peter provides us with an important detail regarding Jesus’ post resurrection appearances. 

He says that Jesus was made visible because God made it possible for him to be seen:

Acts 10:40-41 (NASB) “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, 41  not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

Acts 10:40-41 (NASB)

If Jesus is God, why would someone else named God have to grant him the ability to be physically seen, and only by certain witnesses of God’s choosing?

Would not Jesus have the right, the authority and the ability as God to do this himself? 

It makes no sense unless Jesus is the human Messiah and not the God-man the 4th century Church Fathers interpreted him to be.

By examining both the immediate and broader contexts surrounding Thomas’ confession, we see a continuity between Jesus’ teaching that to see him is to “see God” and Thomas’ realization his Lord (literally), his God (figuratively) were before his eyes. 

Jesus’ teaching is relevant for us today. 

We, too, are blessed if we believe in Jesus even though we have not seen him with our eyes.  It’s no wonder Peter writes:

 1 Peter 1:8-9 (NASB) and though you have not seen Him [Jesus], you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9   obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:8-9 (NASB)

We can only barely imagine the depth of sweet joy, bitter shame, and utter astonishment, when Christ came and stood before Thomas.

The doors were locked, the disciples were assembled, and this time Thomas was with them.

Jesus came and stood in the midst of them and said, “Thomas – reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving but believing.”

Then Thomas answered and proclaimed to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

What a confession from Thomas!

What an incredible declaration.

What a wonderful truth – for Jesus is alive and has broken the power of death in the lives of all who believe.

When Thomas saw his Lord, his cocky comments and disdainful disbelief must have frozen on his lips – his only response could be, “My Lord and my God!”

Indeed, how grateful we are these words of Thomas are here recorded in the inspired, God-breathed Scriptures… for Jesus is indeed our God and our Savior.

We were nowhere near the Upper Room. You and I do not have the opportunity to see the risen Lord Jesus in the same way that Thomas saw Him

– but Jesus also added these words of comfort… especially for you and for me,

“Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.”

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You that Jesus is our risen, ascended, and glorified God and Lord, Who died to redeem us and Who rose to give us His resurrected life.

Thank You that even when we doubt You and are faithless, You remain faithful to Your promise that whosoever believes in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins will not perish but have everlasting life. Thank You! In Jesus’ holy name, AMEN.

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Memorial Day: Remembering God is Remembering You. Deuteronomy 8:11

Well, today Memorial Day. Itis the close of the Memorial Day weekend.

And it’s an important holiday.

Not just because people get off work. And not because we get to see so many families, and friends, inaugurate summer Barbecue season in our own back yards or at beaches or in some other traditional way and place.

Even though those things are nice. It is important because of what it’s all about.

Memorial Day in America began after the Civil War, as a day to recognize the fallen soldiers who died fighting for what they believed in.

It was originally called Decoration Day as families would decorate the graves of the fallen soldiers with flowers, flags, and ribbons.

It didn’t become an official holiday until 1967. And it’s vitally important that we do never forget those who have given their lives in the service to their country.

Americans will break out the flags, hot dogs and red, white and blue apparel to celebrate Memorial Day on the last Monday of the month of May.

But while they aren’t all on the same date, countries around the world have their own celebration days and traditions to commemorate fallen soldiers.

Australia and New Zealand—Anzac Day

Anzac Day, April 25, is the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the World War I.

The day begins with commemorative services at dawn, followed by marches of former military men and women.

People also play two-up on Anzac Day, a gambling game that involves betting on which way pennies will land on the table that was often played by Australian soldiers in World War I.

The Netherlands—Dodenherdenking

Dodenherdenking, which means “remembrance of the dead” in Dutch, is held every year on May 4, and celebrates and remembers all civilians and military members from the Netherlands who have died in conflicts since World War II.

The main ceremony of the day is observed in Amsterdam at the National Monument on Dam Square, attended by the royal family.

At 8 p.m., two minutes of silence are observed throughout the country; even public transportation is halted.

England—Remembrance Day

Celebrated on Nov. 11, Remembrance Day marks the end of fighting in World War I.

It is celebrated throughout the British Commonwealth, but in England, the British Royal Family assembles outside for two minutes of silence beginning at 11 a.m. Poppies have become the symbol of the day in England; wreaths of them are laid at war memorials and small artificial ones are worn on clothing.

On November 11 at 11 a.m.—the time of the signing of the armistice—the UK holds a two-minute silence.

“Remembrance poppies” are worn and displayed as per a tradition inspired by the Canadian poet John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields:”

In Flanders’ fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

Canadian Poet John McCrae

Belgium—Armistice Day

Belgium also celebrates the end of World War I on Nov. 11.

The nation holds a Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres.

The Last Post was a bugle call played by armies to mark the end of the day, and it is now used by the country to celebrate, remember fallen soldiers.

At the end of the ceremony, people lay wreaths of poppies and the flowers are released from the top of the gate.

South Korea

South Koreans observe Memorial Day on June 6, the same month that the Korean War began, to honor servicemen and civilians who have died for their country. The nation holds a one-minute silence at 10 a.m.

France

Armistice Day in France is solemnly observed on Nov. 11 with ceremonies, special church services and poppy adornments. In recent years, the holiday has come to recognize all of the country’s war dead in addition to the 1.4 million people killed in the First World War.

The point of this is this, country’s all over the globe remember their people as they remember, seek to celebrate their service men and women and population following the close of some great conflict their countries fought and died in.

Memorial Day, in whatever form or under whatever title a country chooses to call it, is celebrated quite literally in all corners of our Globe – as it should be!

We celebrate sacrifice. We celebrate struggle. We celebrate hard fought victory!

To help us to always remember the high cost of freedom.

The unquantifiable high cost to our own humanity of fighting for that freedom. 

But unfortunately; a lot of folks don’t remember… even though we have this national holiday.

To many, it’s not about the lost lives, it’s about getting a day off of work and back yard bar-b-ques, going out for that great celebration – summer vacation.

The purpose of the holiday seems to be forgotten.

But I guess that shouldn’t be all that surprising… because I believe a whole lot of people just as easily forget about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as well.

I want you to take your Bibles, open them up to Deuteronomy 8:11-19 (AMP)

I ask you to read the passage that talks about what happens when we forget. 

11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by failing to keep His commandments and His judgments (precepts) and His statutes which I am commanding you today; 12 otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have Increases, 14 then your heart will become lifted up [by self-conceit and arrogance] and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 15 He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; it was He who brought water for you out of the flinty rock. 16 He fed you manna in the wilderness, [a substance] which your fathers did not know, so that He might humble you [by dependence on Him] and that He might test you, to do good [things] for you at the end. 17 Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ 18 But you shall remember [with profound respect] the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore (solemnly promised) to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And it shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will most certainly perish.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

This is one of those devotions I have prayed about writing for quite some time.

What is on my heart and deep within my soul is a reality I pray is not too real.

What I believe I need to say is going to be reasonably controversial and too some degree represents some misinterpretation of belief verses unbelief.

Where you might believe, based on your own experience and remembrances, to be different from what I do say and have held to be “true”, please enlighten me, please educate me, please correct my perceptions and my misrepresentations.

With those caveats in mind, here we go ….

There are days when I really truly believe that one of the biggest problems the modern-day Church faces is not what or who we remember but that we forget.

We forget that God is God – and we are not.

We forget that He is sovereign, Almighty, and in control – and we are not.

We forget that Jesus is Lord, and that He alone is the way, the truth, and the life.

We forget that God’s Word is authoritative and that it’s through His Word that God saves us, changes us, sanctifies us, matures us, and transforms us.

I want to share a quote with you from the late pastor, theologian R.C. Sproul.

“The majority of American’s claim to be Christian, and only a small percentage claim to be actual atheists. But the truth is – many within the Church are functional atheists. In other words, they would never say that they do not believe in God, but they live their lives like there is no God. Truly, they profess Christ with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him.”

Now, I have to think about this for a second: Atheists do not pray, and neither do functional atheists… even though they say there’s a God, they don’t pray.

Their behavior doesn’t line up with their profession.

Atheists don’t believe in the authority of God’s Word, and neither do functional atheists…

They might say they believe it’s God’s Word, but it doesn’t rule their lives.

Atheists do not believe in laying up treasures in heaven, and neither really do functional atheists – they’re too busy seeking all their treasures here on earth.

Atheists only live for themselves and live for today.

Functional atheists are no different.

Now here’s the difference: Atheists believe that there is no God… functional atheists say they believe in God, but their lives show that they really don’t.

Basically, the functional atheist is trying to hedge his bets, just in case.

He’s become aware of the possibility that there is a God, and he’s aware of the possibility that God is real, and so he’s trying to play the odds and cover all his bases.

But the problem is – it doesn’t work that way. Jesus doesn’t give us the option of riding or straddling the fence.

He says, “Those who are not with Me, are against Me.”

He says, “If you’re lukewarm, I’ll spit you out of My mouth.”

He says, “You can’t love two masters.”

All through the New Testament He makes this distinction.

He separates the sheep and the goats.

He separates the wheat and the chaff.

He says, “This is My Church, My Body… and this over here isn’t.”

So basically; the functional atheist is someone who has forgotten God.

Now what does it mean to forget something, or someone?

Well basically it means that thing, or that person; are not in your thoughts, or in your mind.

And that happens when other things are in your thoughts or in your mind.

Those other things or people have taken the forefront.

You’ve set your minds, and your thoughts, and your desires on them. And you dismiss or disregard the thoughts of that other thing… or another person.

And that’s what the functional atheist does.

Monday through Saturday, the thoughts of God don’t cross their mind.

The thoughts of living for Christ, learning about Christ, loving Christ, worshiping Christ… it’s there only one day a week.

But the rest of the week, their hearts are far from Him.

And church – here’s the thing… this is something WE ALL have to be watchful of. You, me, and every other Christian out there.

Let’s go back to our text in Deuteronomy and look at verse 11 again.

God says this to His people…

“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God…”

In other words, “Be careful that this doesn’t happen to you.”

“Take precautions that you’re not forgetting God.”

That’s what this says.

But look at the last part of that verse…

God says, “Take care so you don’t forget… and here’s how you do that – keep His commandments and His rules, and His statutes.”

How do you forget God?

By not keeping His commandments, and His rules, and His statutes.

He goes on and says, “Take care that you don’t forget God… because when life is good, and things are going well, and you’re comfortable and content with your place in life… you’ll be tempted to forget about God.”

You’ll not be going to Him every morning asking for your daily bread.

You’ll believe the lie that pastor down at such and such church tells that this is your best life now.

Well, it’s not!

What happens is that a person becomes content with the poor substitutes this world offers, and their focus shifts.

What does it mean to genuinely remember God?

Remembering God’s goodness moves us to respond to our world in hope rather than fear.

Remembering God’s love for us fuels our love for others.

The discipline of remembering inspires us to act.

Throughout the Bible, God’s people are exhorted to place their trust in him and join him as he restores and redeems our world.

Instead of their goal being going out and making disciples their goal is maintaining mankind’s standards of comfort, safety and sustainability.

Instead of their goal being to see more disciples made, their goal is maintaining and sustaining what they have already got.

Instead of their goal being to strive towards living for Christ, they live for themselves.

You see; I believe here’s the thing: All of us, as fallen human beings are born with atheistic hearts.

We are born with a tendency to forget God.

But if you go back to our text and look at what the Lord has Moses write in verses 14 – 16 we’ll notice He reminds them of what He has done for them.

This is the second way God helps us TO NOT forget…

first – He told us to keep His commands…

Second, we need to remind ourselves of what He’s done in our lives.

You know, one of the best ways you can talk to someone about God, and even share the Gospel with them is by sharing your testimony and by telling them what God has done in your life.

It doesn’t have to have a whole lot of theological jargon…

it’s as simple as saying,

“This is what God has done for me!” “I was blind, but now I see.” “I was an alcoholic, but now I’m free.” “I was an angry, violent person, but now I have love and peace in my heart.” “I was promiscuous, but now I’m faithful.” “I was an idolater, but now I love Jesus.” “I once was lost, but now I’m found.”

WHAT HAS GOD DONE FOR YOU?

Has He forgiven you?

Has He delivered you?

Has He changed you?

Has He set you free from sin?

We need to remind ourselves of those things.

And we need to share those things with others.

So, The Lord is telling us… the way we don’t forget about God is –

We keep His commands, and we continually remind ourselves of what He’s done in our lives, and what He’s done in history.

But then you go on to verse 17 and He gives us another warning.

He says, “Beware, lest you say in your heart…”

So, it doesn’t even have to be with words… you can say this in your heart…

“Beware, lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’”

Now that’s the sin of pride…

that’s the sin of saying, “I don’t need God. I can and will do it on my own. I can and will make it on my own because that is what I have always done.”

And again; most people would probably never verbalize that.

But they can say it in their heart… and our lives display what’s in our heart.

Did you know; that in the New Testament, when it talks about Jesus, it refers to Him 24 times as Savior. But it refers to Him over 600 times as Lord. Functional atheism comes from putting yourself on the throne. You are not lord… JESUS IS LORD!

That means He’s our master. He’s the one who is to have control of us. He is our ruler. He’s our boss. He owns us. He bought us with a price. And here’s what Jesus says to us… Matthew 16:24

“If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”

The Cross serves one purpose – death. Jesus is saying that we have to die to sin, and die to self, take ourselves off the throne and acknowledge that He is Lord.

Church – the purpose of Memorial Day is so that we don’t forget what it costs to be free.

It’s different than the 4th of July… on Independence Day we celebrate our freedom, but on Memorial Day we remember what our freedom cost.

But please do not think that taking just one day out of the year is enough to adequately remember.

It’s not enough… one day out of the year is not enough for anything.

If you eat one day out of the year – you’ll die.

If you work at a job, one day out of the year, you’ll be homeless and have nothing.

If you mow your yard one day out of the year, it’s going to be an overgrown mess.

If you bathe one day out of the year – you’ll be one nasty, stinky dude.

We know, one day is not enough.

We have to continually remember; we have to remind ourselves.

We have to diligently maintain what we have.

This nation is the greatest nation on earth, but it’s not what it used to be.

And what’s really interesting is that if our nation is going to get back to what it once was…

it’s not about taking up arms, and it’s not about voting the right kind of people in, and it’s not about legislation or politics… it’s about what our text says…

it’s about remembering God.

It’s about remembering Jesus Christ.

It’s about remembering Holy Spirit.

It’s about following Him, and obeying Him, and living for Him.

God tells us – in the very last verse of our text,

“If you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them… YOU WILL SURELY PERISH.”

So, today, let’s ask ourselves –

do we live our lives as if there is no God?

Are we serving the Lord Jesus Christ, or ourselves?

Who is seated on the throne of our hearts?

Are we functional atheists or are we following Jesus Christ the Lord?

When we sing that hymn – “I Surrender All” Do you really mean it?

Maybe you are here reading this morning

and you’re saying to yourself,

“if I’m being honest, I’d have to say that there are things in my life that I haven’t surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, and if I’m being honest, I’m scared to do that… what if Jesus calls me to do something that’s hard? What if He tells me to give up something that I really like? What if He calls me to something that takes me out of my comfort zone?”

Those are all legitimate and honest questions, and if you’re asking them you might want to look again at verses 12 – 13 of our text there in Deuteronomy.

And then I would encourage you that our God is good. He is a loving Father.

And it’s so much better to know Him, and walk with Him, and be in fellowship with Him, than it is to be comfortable in this world.

It’s so much better to be in His presence, and in His will than to have anything this world offers.

Because this world is temporary and it’s passing away, but eternity is forever.

What is the perfect way to remember God?

5 Creative ways to remember God’s goodness in 2022 and beyond:

  1. Start a Gratitude Journal. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” …
  2. Make a Miracle Jar. …
  3. Keep a Prayer journal. …
  4. Keep God’s Word as your best reference – as a visual reminder. …
  5. Be a Living Breathing Reminder, source of remembrance for Others.

Here are some things to do throughout the day to spend your time more intentionally with God.

  1. Remember this is the day that the Lord hath made for you.
  2. Remember to rejoice, be glad in the day which the Lord hath given you.
  3. Grab a devotional,
  4. Open your bible,
  5. Start Your Day … “I Love You God because You …”
  6. Pray Intentionally. …
  7. Write Down Things You Are Thankful For. …
  8. Write down … “This is where I saw the Goodness of God today …”
  9. Notice Your Complaints and Turn Them into Praise. …
  10. Celebrate God exactly as much as God Celebrates You!
  11. Go outside and Enjoy God’s Creation. …
  12. Love Others. …
  13. Love Yourself.
  14. Remember God as God remembers you! (John 3:16-17)
  15. Remember Jesus as Jesus remembers you! (Matthew 28:18-20)
  16. Remember Holy Spirit as Holy Spirit remembers you. (Romans 8:26-28)

Let’s open our eyes to look for evidence of God with us in our daily life and in our trials. What has He already done for us? What blessings have we already received? Let’s thank Him and ask Him to open our eyes to His presence.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord, help me to recognize you are with me today. Forgive me for so easily forgetting your presence when I get busy or feel stressed by the worries of this life. Lord, remind me I am walking on holy ground, right where I am in the middle of my challenges, because you are, now and forever, exactly there. 

I choose to remember. I choose to recall. I choose to believe that you see me, you hear me, and you care for me. Give me grace to draw near to you. I want to know you better; Lord, reveal yourself to me. I long to see you more fully and know your great love, power, and faithfulness. Gloria! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Is Your Glass Half Empty or Half Full? Think Again! Attitude of your Hearts.

“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.” ― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

So, here again is the perennial question: 

Is your glass half empty or is your glass half full?

You know the standard answers that supposedly determine whether you’re a pessimist or an optimist. 

But pessimism and optimism are both over-rated and unrealistic because they don’t see the whole picture. 

In fact, they ignore the part where if I say, “I am god” versus when God says “I AM GOD!” part of the picture, one of us is a liar and it is not GOD, but it is me.

To the wise and perceptive, the glass is actually FULL.

There is some water (which is obvious).  The rest of the glass is filled with air. 

Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.

We need the air just as much as we need the water. Both are vital.

How many times in your life have you judged yourself, another person or a situation based only on what you see?

It happens every day, moment by moment, when we only use the five physical senses.

How often do you “see” or understand the whole picture?  This happens only when we use our spiritual senses, our spiritual eyes, ears, etc.

What a different view when we look at things from a spiritual perspective – GOD’S HEART ALONE!

Proverbs 15:13-17Amplified Bible

13 
A heart full of joy and goodness makes a cheerful face,
But when a heart is full of sadness the spirit is crushed.
14 
The mind of the intelligent and discerning seeks knowledge and eagerly inquires after it,
But the mouth of the [stubborn] fool feeds on foolishness.
15 
All the days of the afflicted are bad,
But a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of the circumstances].
16 
Better is a little with the [reverent, worshipful] fear of the Lord
Than great treasure and trouble with it.
17 
Better is a dinner of vegetables and herbs where love is present
Than a fattened ox served with hatred.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

“It’s Not ever enough…”

Have you ever had an experience where it seemed like your glass was half full/half empty? 

There wasn’t enough time, money, energy, love, cooperation, etc., to do what needed to be done?  Sure, you’re grateful for whatever you do have, but it really doesn’t seem to be enough to meet the demands of the situation.

Well, today is as good a time as any to open your spiritual eyes, to spiritualize your view, to see the unseen because: 

“There’s more FULLNESS in the half empty glass than you thought.”

God’s Heart!

God’s love and care!

God’s guidance and protection!

God’s glory and grace are always there filling the glass (our lives) to the fullest. 

It’s easy to see this when things are going well. 

But do we see it when our glass seems not only empty but as dry as the driest Sahara Desert? 

The good news is that our glass is full whether we see it or not.

The Book of Proverbs is packed full of wisdom about the heart.

There are nearly fifty occurrences of the word “heart” in the Book of Proverbs.

I want to call your attention to some of them today.

1st in Proverbs 15:13 where we learn that joyful hope in the heart puts a smile on the face.

“A joyful heart makes a cheerful [good] face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken” (NASB).

[“A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken (NIV).]

Inner feelings whether from joy or sadness will come to exterior expression.

To be joyful is to be glad, merry or cheerful.

Inner joy shows on a person’s face. When we’re happy on the inside, our faces can’t help but show it on the outside.

Happiness and Sadness are issues of the heart.

What a person is inwardly has more lasting impact on his emotional state than do his circumstances.

Some people hold up under difficult circumstances better than others because of inner strength. Christians though can have inner joy.

Body language communicates without words.

The shrug of a shoulder, a raised eyebrow, a false smile, a down-turned mouth, a knowing nod-all of these can speak volumes even when no sound is heard.

Sit on a shopping mall bench and study the faces of those who pass by.

Listen to snatches of conversations, and catch the emotions expressed. Soon the evidence of a broken spirit will become obvious in someone by both words and body language. A pretended cheerfulness is difficult to maintain for long.

So, we wonder are only a few fortunate people born with a bright outlook on life or is optimism an attitude we can learn?

Dr. Susan C. Vaughan, author of Half Empty, Half Full, Understanding the Psychological Roots of Optimism, (May 2001) https://smile.amazon.com/Half-Empty-Full-Understanding-Psychological/dp/015601100X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3D4IBR41G6H5N&keywords=Susan+Vaughan+%22Half+Full%22&qid=1653819092&sprefix=susan+vaughan+half+full+%2Caps%2C60&sr=8-1

says that

seeing life’s potentials and possibilities instead of its pitfalls is the result of an internal process anyone can follow.

One of her stated conclusions is that “there is a powerful link between facial expression and emotions.

She believes that people who begin to act happier actually feel happier.”

There is merit in thinking and acting positively, but the Bible declares that true spiritual joy begins deep inside us, then spreads to our faces.

But, what about us, how do we develop a merry or joyful heart?

Practice the Presence of God every day!

We can begin by thanking the Lord for being with us and working for our good in every situation (Romans 8:28).

A daily walk with God can produce a merry heart if we focus on His blessings.

It’s not a matter of pretending but of practicing an outlook on life that reflects our faith in Christ.

“Rejoice in the Lord always,” Paul wrote from prison. “Again, I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4).

Turn Your eyes upon Jesus ….

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Helen H. Lemmel

O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There’s light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

His word shall not fail you he promised
Believe him and all will be well
Then go to a world that is dying
His perfect salvation to tell

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There’s light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace.

Paul writes, “For in him [Jesus] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:9)

Jesus was the embodiment of God’s full glory.

Paul saw that we too have access to this fulness of God. 

He prays for the Ephesians (and us) that we also may be able

“to know the love of Christ, which passeth all knowledge [knowledge gained from the five material senses.  There’s that outward appearance of things again.], that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”  (Ephesians 3:19 KJV)

Think of that, to be filled with ALL the FULNESS of GOD.

But it’s crucial here to see the context of these verses from Ephesians 3:14-21:

Ephesians 3:14-21Amplified Bible

14 For this reason [grasping the greatness of this plan by which Jews and Gentiles are joined together in Christ] I bow my knees [in reverence] before the Father [of our Lord Jesus Christ], 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth [a]derives its name [God—the first and ultimate Father]. 16 May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, 18 be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; 19 and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].

20 Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.

We must bow our knees to the Father.  We must worship God. 

God gives us the riches of His glory which strengthen us inwardly, thereby allowing Christ to dwell in our hearts. 

When Christ lives in our hearts, then we are filled with the fulness of God.

So open your eyes, your spiritual eyes.

See the unseen.

Give Christ full access to all the broad avenues of your heart as well as all the nooks and crannies.  (Don’t try to hide anything. It never works.)

No matter what the outward material picture is,

your glass, your heart, your life in God the Father, Son, Holy Spirit is 100% full.

Completely FULL.

“The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears of being hurt or caught out or humiliated. And the only thing people regret is that they didn’t live boldly enough, that they didn’t invest enough heart, didn’t love enough. Nothing else really counts at all.”
― Ted Hughes, Letters of Ted Hughes

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1892251.Letters_of_Ted_Hughes

That kind of optimism begins with a merry heart and spreads to the face.

In turn, a truly cheerful countenance spreads a contagion of hope and joy to others.

We don’t know who will cross our paths today or what burdens those persons may carry.

You might want to check, then double and dare to triple check your mirror.

When the storms of life are raging – am I All full of me or all full of God?

How’s that self portrait of “My smile versus GOD’s Smile?”

Hmm … YEP! that’s much more like it.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord God, my Way-maker, I know you have a destiny for me to achieve in this life. I want to follow the plan that you have laid out. Help me to understand and follow your call. Show me your will for my life and what I need to do right now to get started. Enable me to know who I am in Christ, and the special gifts and abilities you have given me. Give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation as I seek to know you more intimately. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

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Examining My Perception of Myself. What about Changing my Thinking, Revolutionizing my Life? Job 9:20-21

“Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.”

“I am unsure. I think I am who I say I am, or I believe I am who I say I am.”

“My thoughts of myself are exactly that: MY own thoughts of MY own self!”

“Debate me, PLEASE! We are who we think we are.”

“I am the best judge of my own thoughts. Ergo, LEAVE ME ALONE!”

“I am the best judge of exactly who I am!”

“Judge me not! No one can ever know me better than I know myself!”

Does anyone out there reading this see a definite pattern developing?

One of the most important steps we can take toward achieving our greatest potential in life is to learn to monitor our thoughts and its impact on our attitudes towards ourselves and all those who just happen to be around us.

Everything we perceive in the physical world has its origin in the invisible, inner world of our thoughts and beliefs.

To become the master of our earthly destiny, we must learn to control the nature of our dominant, habitual thoughts. The conscious human mind is capable of great good and equally extraordinary evil.

“Our mind is the master builder and that which we think upon may become misery or miracles.”

Our thoughts determine our destiny. Minds are really an amazing creation. 

Our minds, thoughts and words are horrible things to waste upon ourselves.

Imagine yourself just for a few breaths and heartbeats thinking like Job.

Imagine yourself having this “mindset of Job” right in this very moment.

How long could you stand yourself living day to day with this mindset?

Job 9:13-35 Amplified Bible

13 
“God will not turn back His anger;
The [proud] helpers of Rahab [the arrogant monster of the sea] bow under Him.
14 
“How can I answer Him [and plead my case],
Choosing my words [to reason] with Him?
15 
For though I were righteous, I could not answer.
I must appeal for mercy to my Opponent and Judge.
16 
“If I called and He answered me,
I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.
17 
“For He bruises me with a tempest
And multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 
“He will not allow me to catch my breath,
But fills and saturates me with bitterness.
19 
“If it is a matter of strength and power, behold, He is mighty!
And if of justice, who can summon and challenge Him?
20 
“Though I am innocent and in the right, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty;
Though I am blameless, He would denounce me as guilty.
21 
“[Though] I am blameless,
I do not care about myself;
I despise my life.
22 
“It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys [both] the blameless and the wicked.’
23 
“When [His] scourge kills suddenly,
He mocks at the despair of the innocent.
24 
“The earth is given into the hands of the wicked;
He covers the faces of its judges [so that they are blind to justice].
If it is not He, then who is it [that is responsible for all this injustice]?

25 
“Now my days are swifter than a runner;
They vanish, they see no good.
26 
“They pass by like the [swift] boats made of reeds,
Like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.
27 
“If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will leave off my sad appearance, and be cheerful and brighten up,’
28 
I am afraid of all my pains and worries [yet to come];
I know that You will not acquit me and leave me unpunished.
29 
“I am accounted wicked and held guilty;
Why then should I labor in vain [to appear innocent]?
30 
“If I were to wash myself with snow
And cleanse my hands with lye,
31 
You would still plunge me into the pit,
And my own clothes would hate me [and refuse to cover my foul body].
32 
“For God is not a [mere] man, as I am, that I may answer Him,
That we may go to court and judgment together.
33 
“There is no arbitrator between us,
Who could lay his hand upon us both [would that there were].
34 
“Let Him take His rod away from me,
And let not the dread and fear of Him terrify me.
35 
“Then I would speak [my defense] and not fear Him;
But I am not like that in myself.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

It is estimated that our brain contains over 100 billion nerve cells. Each individual nerve cell is then connected with 10 thousand other neurons.

Ask yourself – Think about – Exactly how complex is this brain of mine?

Research indicates that most people will speak at a rate of 150 to 200 words per minute, but the internal dialogue that you carry on with yourself (self-talk) you do at a rate over six times that of approximately 1300 words per minute.

Think about that for a moment.

We may not be that person. We may not be like “most of those people” but our innate ability to become like “most of those people” is actually quite stunning

The problem is, in all that self-talk, a lot of people are Negative.

Take the time one day to write down your words and your thoughts.

Repeat the process on another day and for as many days as you think about it –

Count the positive words and thoughts.

Count the negative words and thoughts.

What is the ratio of “positive thoughts” to “negative thoughts?”

What do you think about the results of your own self-examination?

What do you think about yourself based upon your own self-examination?

Whatever your circumstance today – rich or poor, success or a failure, happy or sad – is nothing but the product of your thoughts.

In a very simple manner, you are a product of your thoughts.

You become what you think about, 

Where is your mindset right now?

What is your perception of your life right in this exact moment?

Is your glass of water always half full or always half empty?

Like Job says in verses 20 and 21,

Job 9:20-21 Amplified Bible

20 
“Though I am innocent, and, in the right, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty;
Though I am blameless, He would denounce me as guilty.
21 
“[Though] I am blameless,
I do not care about myself;
I despise my life.

If someone feeds his mind with negative thoughts of worries, fear, anxiety and confusion, his life becomes one of frustration, fear anxiety and worry.

On the other hand, if another person feeds his mind with positive thoughts of a better tomorrow, good and worthwhile goals and work towards them, it will become a reality, because that is what he thinks about.

If you keep feeding your mind with negative thoughts, you achieve negative results. If you keep feeding your mind with positive thoughts, you’ll achieve positive results. This effort is basically referred to as; “self-affirmation.”

Self-Affirmation is not a skill. It is an attitude. It is a mindset we must learn.

Neither mindset of self-affirmation nor self-deprecation is ever final.

The way your mind is programmed determines your mindset. Your mindset determines your character which has overwhelming impact on your attitudes.

American Educator, Philosopher, Historian, Psychologist William James (1842-1910) said, “the greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitude of mind.”

To get what you want,

change who you are by simply changing the way you think. 

Proverbs 23:7, says “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

People do not attract that which they want, but that which they are.

To attract good people, you must be good.

To attract godly people, you must be godly.

Instead of going to work on them, you go to work on yourself.

Your circumstances may be out of your control, but recall God is in control of everything.

Your thoughts shape who you are, but you can change the way you think.

Therefore, if you are not satisfied with your present circumstance in life and you want to change it, you need to change your thoughts.

Think and act like the person you want to become.

Before you can do something, you first must be something.

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.

Think about this: You become valuable when you value what God values.

Proverbs 3:5-8 Amplified Bible

5 
Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
6 
[a]In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
7 
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil.
8 
It will be health to your body [your marrow, your nerves, your sinews, your muscles—all your inner parts]
And refreshment (physical well-being) to your bones.

Transformation comes when we allow God’s Word to change our thinking.

How do you eliminate negative thoughts so you can become a refine person?

It’s the principle of replacement:

Colossians 3:1-4 Amplified Bible

Put On the New Self

3 Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]. 3 For you died [to this world], and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, [a]appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Philippians 4:6-8Amplified Bible

6 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. 7 And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].

8 Finally, [a]believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].

As your thinking changes, your feelings, decisions, actions and attitude will change and conform to the mind of Christ.

We have the power to transform our lives. 

Romans 12:1-5New Living Translation

A Living Sacrifice to God

12 And so, dear brothers and sisters, [a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. [b] 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

3 Because of the privilege and authority[c] God has given me; I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. [d] 4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

There is an intensity and urgency in Scripture’s earnest pleading to guard your heart and your thoughts about all else, and in scripture the heart is understood to be the seat of our thoughts, our self- will, the conscience and the emotions.

Our heart is the storehouse for wisdom and all that influences the life and character of an individual.

Jesus reminds us that from our whole heart, we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, with every part of our inner being.

We have been endowed by our Creator with reason and choices, with emotions and a will, which is bound up in the “wholeness,” “hole-ness and holiness” of our hearts – and we have been given them all by God to glorify not one blessed inch or neuron or brain cell of ourselves, but only Him and to enrich our lives.

But they should never be given free rein to rule our lives, dictate our decisions for unguarded feeling can fluctuate; unguarded emotions can twist and turn on a whim; unguarded thoughts can toss to and for like the wave of the sea and an unguarded will can lead you away from the path of peace.

The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and unless checked, double-checked and guarded above all things, it will surely and certainly influence our lives for evil and not for good.

– yes, we are to guard our hearts as the highest priority –guarded above all else.

We are never forsaken by God nor never left alone. We are never left to guess at the reason for the intensity and urgency in this earnest plea to guard our hearts above all else – for the heart is the source and well-spring of life, our hearts are the repositories for God’s life, treasury for His truth, warehouse of His wisdom.

Christ is our whole life and our whole truth, and our whole wisdom and the Lord searches the heart and tests the mind, and we are to guard the gospel truth that has been shed into our hearts – the knowledge of Him Who has brought us out of darkness into His glorious light, who has taken us from the doorways of our death and breathed into us the breath of the new-life in our Savior Jesus Christ.

Psalm 16:5 Amplified Bible

5 
The Lord is the portion of my inheritance, my cup [He is all I need];
You support my lot.

So, is your cup half full or half empty?

HMMMM …..

I wonder ….

I think it is ….

I believe it is ….

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us pray,

Lord, my teacher, I’m often confused when I need to make important decisions about my family, my work, my relationships, my health, or finances. Show me the way I should go when I don’t know which way to turn. Help me remember to leave me, come to you, rather than trying to figure everything out on my own.

Guide me along the best pathway for my life. Let Your Holy Spirit advise me and watch over me. Help me to listen to your guidance and not resist it. I thank you that your unfailing love surrounds those who trust you. Gloria! Alleluia! Amen.

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Encouraged and Highly Motivated to Believe in God. The Necessity of The Creation in The Gospel. Psalm 19:1-6

Today, we are talking about beginnings.

I felt it was important for us to examine the idea of creation as it relates to the gospel. Literally, how we understand creation will ultimately bring clarity or confusion, wisdom and order from chaos to our understanding of the gospel.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

There are only two options when it comes to creation.

The two options are: there is a God who personally created everything, including you, or there is not.

Those are the only two options. If there is not, then everything is an impossible, implausible, irrational result of incessant random chance and risk assessment.

The equation I give you now is: “nothing + nothing cannot equal something.”

If scripture is false, if the gospel is not, If God is not the creator, then He is not the sovereign. If creation did not take place according to how Genesis records it, then we are each without hope because evolution deposes God from His throne.

Why do we as Christian still to take our interpretation of Genesis from secular scientists who wants nothing more than to get rid of the God of the Bible?

These same people want to alleviate themselves from accountability, morality, and God’s final judgment.

As I feel more and more encouraged to quiet by disbelief, As I become more and more motivated to believe, I fight against the thought that if God is not our creator, then He is not our Redeemer, will not have the authority to create new heavens, new earth, life and hope as the New Testament tells us.

Psalm 19:1-6New King James Version

The Perfect Revelation of the Lord

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

19 The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament[a] shows [b]His handiwork.
2 Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
4 Their [c]line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.

In them He has set a [d]tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
6 Its rising is from one end of heaven,
And its circuit to the other end;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

As we consider and study the creation account, we see how theistic evolution is impossible if we genuinely hold this creative account as the final authority.

If we genuinely believe this universe is the sole product of a Creator God with an infinite amount of intelligence and power, is it possible for us to know Him?

Well, there’s only one answer, if He created us and if He chose to tell us He created us; that’s the only way we can ever know. Not only did he create us. Not only did he choose to reveal Himself and provide for us His revelation.

But He Himself crossed through all time to enter His creation as the person of Jesus so that we can know the way

I cannot overemphasize the point that creation is the basis of everything else.

It is not merely an issue of biology or genetics, but it affects our morality, our ethics, our “world vs. God” view of redemption, salvation, sin, the family, our marriage, our community relationships, the sanctity of life, the dignity of men.

Psalm 19:4–6 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

One of the things that science has discovered in modern times is that the sun is in orbit. We talk about the sun as the center of our solar system and everything orbiting around it.

However, did you know the sun itself has an orbit, and this orbit goes from one end of the infinite space to the other.

The sun is moving and dragging our entire solar system with it. It is not fixed any more than the things that revolve around it are fixed.

So, the psalmist says here in verses 4 – 6 that you can look up and you can look at the whole of the universe and look at the breadth of creation and it gives you the loudest possible testimony to the glory of God, to the utter majesty of His intelligence, to the indescribable character of His power to create all of this.

Hebrews 1 also tells us God made the world and it is a testimony to His infinite power, the wisdom of knowledge. Everything about this requires of you and me only one thing: faith.

Hebrews 1:10 And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;

If you reject God as creator, then you reject God as all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-encompassing.

The only way you are going to know Him is through faith.

We are natural; God is supernatural. The natural cannot comprehend the supernatural; so, on our own, we can’t find God.

We’re locked in a time-space world unable to crawl out of it and into eternity to comprehend what is incomprehensible.

No scientist, no matter how smart they claim they may be cannot even begin to comprehend the majesty of God or His creative power.

The only things we know about God are those things that He has revealed to us, told us, and that’s why He gave us the Bible.

Do WE believe that?

The word Genesis means “origins” or “beginnings.” And I want you to note 16 different origins or beginnings found in genesis.

1. You find the origin of the universe. Genesis 1:1 is unique in all literature, all science, and all philosophy. Every other explanation of the universe starts with eternal matter or energy in some form. Only the book of Genesis starts with eternal God.

2. Origin of order and complexity. Man’s universal observation of his world is an orderly world. It functions on fixed rules, and it is profoundly complex. Order and complexity will not come from chaos.

3. The origin of the solar system. In the midst of this vast, limitless universe, God created the earth, the sun, and moon, the planets, all the stars of heaven

4. The origin of the atmosphere and the hydrosphere. The earth is uniquely equipped with a great body of liquid water and an extensive blanket of oxygen-nitrogen gaseous mixture, both of which are necessary for life, and are accounted for only by special creation by God

5. The origin of life, the marvels of the reproductive process.

6. The origin of man. Man is the most highly organized and complex entity in the universe.

Beyond his biology, there is a nature that can contemplate abstract emotions of beauty and love, and worship. Man is capable of understanding and thinking about his own meaning. We find that we are made in the image of our creator.

7. In Genesis you also find the origin of marriage, the remarkable universal and stable institution of marriage, and the home. Monogamous marriage is here now established and given to man by the Creator.

The home and the family unit are established by God, not man’s choice, and polygamy, infanticide, promiscuity, divorce, abortion, and homosexuality, and all the corruptions developed after the fall are the corruption of God’s order.

8. The origin of evil and sin. The origin of physical and moral evil in the universe is explained in Genesis as a kind of temporary intrusion into God’s perfect world and allowed for the continuation of human freedom and for God to reveal Himself to man as Man’s Redeemer

9. The origin of judgment on evil. All the forms of God’s wrath are set in motion and illustrated in Genesis.

10. The origin of salvation by grace through God’s mercy. God was merciful to Adam and Eve and doesn’t destroy them. The plan of redemption leading to Christ is even referred to in Genesis 3:15.

11. The origin of language. You know, one of the things evolutionists struggle with is how we go from apes grunting and making unintelligible noises to the miracle of human speech of all diverse kinds of languages and dialects.

The chasm between the instinctive chattering of animals to abstract, symbolic communication of man is impossible by any evolutionary process. But Genesis also tells us the origin of all the different languages

12. The origin of government; organized systems of human government for the maintenance of orderly social, economic, cultural structures through systems of accountability, responsibility, law, justice and diverse forms of punishment.

13. The origin of culture. We find in Genesis urbanization, the development of technology, music, agriculture, farming, writing, education, navigation,

14. The origin of nations; and that is related, of course, again to the Tower of Babel, the table of nations as the only source you’ll ever find of how we have so many different peoples scattered all over the earth with different languages and cultures.

15. The origin of religion; both the true religion and false religions appear.

16. The origin of the people of Israel who were the conduit for God’s revelation to all of the world. It was Israel through whom God’s continual revelation came and whom the saving covenant came in Genesis 12 to Abraham, and it would be the Jewish people whom God the Messiah enters the world. 

1 Timothy 3:16 we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

So, either we are going to believe Genesis as Scripture, or we don’t.

How can anyone who claims Christ as their Savior uphold Genesis as Scripture, but reject Genesis 1 and 2 or dismiss it as allegory or lore?

Or may you dismiss Adam and Eve, the Tower of Babel, or the Flood?

Where are you going to draw the line and who gave the right to stand in that kind of judgment on Scripture. Even more, why would any believer in Jesus Christ bow a knee to secular scientists as the authority over Scripture?

What kind of precedent does that establish over the rest of Scripture?

When we capitulate over this, then we abdicate the authority of Scripture over other sacred issues like life, liberty, government, and marriage and family.

‘Responding to God’s Revelation.’ The word “revelation” implies the fact that God wants to be known, must make Himself known to us. In other words, we cannot know God on our own. So, revelation must come from God’s initiative.

Theologian Wayne Grudem says this about revelation: “If we are to know God at all, it is necessary that he reveal himself to us.”

Looking at the skies, whether by day or by a star filled clear night we can learn so much about God’s greatness, His power and His control. The sun, moon, stars and the whole universe are a permanent reminder of God’s glory.

So, general revelation is without words, and it is universal in its scope. It transcends human communication without the use of speech, words, and sounds. Yet, the message is constantly communicated to the whole world.

General revelation continues to point all people unto God, and it is available to everyone. So, no one in the world is ignorant of God.

Simply by opening our eyes and ears, we can witness the divinely created and sustained media which brings the message that God is powerful and glorious.

Indeed, all of God’s creation reaches all of God’s people, at all times.

So, general revelation should lead people to seek God.

Brothers and sisters, God has revealed Himself generally to all people through His creation.

In other words, we can know so many things about God as we witness His amazing creation. 

We know that He is Creator because we see His handiwork. Creation declares His existence and glory, the truth of His Gospel.

So, let us train ourselves to appropriately respond to God’s creation. When we see some aspect of His creation that impresses us, let us learn to worship God.

One day, perhaps today and then every day, may we with highest motivations and the most profound measures of inspiration and encouragement shout out;

“GOD, you are great. Thank you for allowing me to catch even the briefest of glimpses of Your glory, to gain the tiniest measures of thy Gospels wisdom!”

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Your glory, O God
is declared in the holy silence of the heavens,
and told in the silent succession of day and night.
No speech, or word or voice is heard;
yet they speak to all the world,
and their words reach to the ends of the earth. 
The sun joyfully leaps across the sky,
from one end of the heavens to the farthest reaches,
and nothing is hidden from its heat or light.
So nothing that we do or say or whisper in our hearts 
is hidden from you, Lord God.
Release us from darkness we hide deep within our lives.
Let our lives be radiant with holy fear;
delighting in your teaching, 
receiving insight from your commandments
and wisdom from your encouraging. 
Enliven our desire for your everlasting judgements
over wealth or fame:
to enjoy the sweet drippings of the honeycomb,
that are to be found 
in right relationship with those around us,
and with you. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Genuinely, Do We 100%, Each Honestly Believe Everyone Who Calls Upon the Name of the Lord Will Truly Be Saved? Romans 10:8-13

Take any empty cola 2L bottle sometime and fill it half full of water. Then, take some vegetable oil and fill it the rest of the way. Then try to shake it with all of your might and strength so it will become all mixed up. What happens? The moment you stop shaking, it begins to separate from one another, doesn’t it? What is the moral? The moral is, by their very nature, oil and water do not mix.

The same is true with Godliness and worldliness. For many ages many people have remarked that there was too much world in the church. I agree. But if that is even minimally true, it’s true because there is too much world in each of us.

You might say “well, we live here, and we need to be in the world.” We might need to be in the world, but does so much of the world have to be within us?

In Ephesians 2:19, we are told that we are each citizen and members of God’s household. We are no longer citizens of this world, and as the song says, “This World is Not My Home, I’m Just a Passing Through.”

Since we belong to God; since we are citizens of heaven working as ambassadors here on earth; we need to focus more on God and less on the world, but to do so, we need to make sure that we really believe in God, and not just “think we do.”

Well, perhaps now is as good a time as any other to ask ourselves;

JUST WHAT DO WE BELIEVE OF GOD’S PROMISE OF SALVATION FOR ALL?

Romans 10:8-13 Disciples’ Literal New Testament

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”, that is, the word of [a] faith which we are proclaiming, 9 that[b] if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is believed with the heart resulting-in righteousness, and it is confessed with the mouth resulting in salvation.

The Scripture Says Faith Leads To Salvation For Both Jew And Greek

11 For the Scripture says [in Isaiah 28:16] “everyone putting-faith upon Him will not be put-to-shame”. 12 For there is no distinction between both Jew and Greek— for the same Lord is Lord of all, being rich toward all of the ones calling – upon Him. 13 For “everyone who calls-upon the name of the Lord will be saved” [Joel 2:32].

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

When I was going to school, I had a physics professor who was teaching us about the law of the pendulum. We all know what a pendulum is, right? It swings from side to side, and it always decreases in the length of its ark with every swing.

I remember vividly the professor had nailed a rope to the wall just above the blackboard. To this rope, he had attached a baseball. He asked how many of us really believed in the law of the pendulum and we all raised our hands.

With that, he pulled the rope to one side and marked where it was on the board.

Then he let go of it and every time it swung back to his side, he put another mark where it stopped. The end result was that he had many marks, all closer to the center than the one before, proving the law was true. He asked again how many of us really believed in the law, and we all raised our hands once again.

Then he took us to the auditorium, where he had hung a thick nylon cord from the rafters just above the stage. Attached to this chord was a 50-pound weight.

He asked for a volunteer. He had a chair sitting on the side of the stage and he had the man who volunteered sit in it. He then took the gym weight, which was hanging in the middle of the stage and carried it over to about an inch from the boy’s face. He asked him again and again and again if he believed in the law of the pendulum, and the boy, starting to get a little worried by now, said he did.

With that, the professor let go of the weight and it swung clear to the other side of the stage, and then began to come back. I do not believe I have never seen anyone move so fast in my life as that young man trying to get out of the way.

Did he believe in the Law of the Pendulum, or did he just think he believed?

This is not a particularly long devotional, rather it is particularly short, but I felt I should talk about the true belief Christians have, at least, should have.

The first thing we need is…

1. A BELIEVING HEART

In JOHN 1:7, we are told that Jesus came so that all men might believe. That is how we come to believe, through Jesus Christ. Without Jesus there is no belief.

That is confirmed in JOHN 20:31, when it says that by believing in Jesus Christ, one may have life in His name.

In order to be a real Christian, and in order to receive eternal life, we must be real believers. We must have a burning in our hearts to be with Jesus; to know more about Him; and to know Him more.

Remember the story about the young man who sat on the chair wondering and waiting for the 50-pound gym weight about to swing back towards his face?

There are many Christians who have the same type of faith in their belief in Jesus. They think they believe, say they believe, but when push comes to shove, and Jesus “swings back their way” they get out of the way as fast as they can.

Remember when Peter told Jesus he would follow him into death if necessary?

A few verses later, we see where Peter denied Jesus three times.

Peter was just like that young man on stage, too. He thought he believed, but when he was pushed, he moved his chair away from the table just as fast as he could physically move it. And we cannot have faith unless we really believe.

Everybody believes in something. Everybody has to believe in at one thing.

What is it that you believe in? And how much do you really believe in it?

It is very easy to think you believe when there is no risk involved. It is more difficult to truly believe when you risk losing something very important.

Just like the student, we need to know the basics of what is offered to us. He needed to know what the law of the pendulum was, and we need to know what the law of salvation is. It is eternal life in heaven, with God who is our Creator.

Once we understand what is offered, we are ready to find out …

2. WHAT IT IS WE REALLY BELIEVE IN

In ISAIAH 55:8, we are told,

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord.’

Why are we so fully and completely intent on taking God’s Word and trying to change and shape it and transform it to fit our desires instead of just accepting His word as the law we should live by? But by our works is how we live, isn’t it?

We must earn the respect of others and earn promotions at work. We can sing about the best things in life being free, but when it comes to the things of this world, it all has to be earned. And that is how most people come to think about going to heaven; it must be earned by what titanic efforts we put into our life.

The Israelites had a believing heart, but what they believed in wasn’t helping them. They believed they had to follow all the laws of the Old Testament to get into heaven. They were just like the people today; good and earnest people who have an incomplete picture when thinking about their relationship to heaven.

Those who believe in works or some other way of getting to heaven besides believing in Jesus are not bad people. They are wonderful people who have the right heart, but their heart is misdirected. The trouble with works getting you to heaven is that you have to be in 100% compliance – in everything, all the time.

That, in itself, is impossible for us to do. That is the same thing as saying you can never make any mistakes. Not one of us could live up to that expectation.

Mark Twain once said that if doing good was what got us to heaven, you could not get in, but your dog could. Like Paul says, you cannot be good enough to get into heaven any more than you can stand on top of earth and touch the stars.

The Bible is very clear in what we should believe in. It does not mince words and it uses no metaphors to explain it. Pure and simply this, we each need to 100% believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, sent to be our ONLY way to heaven. He is our Redeemer and our Savior. He is THE path, not ONE OF THE paths.

So, we need a believing heart, we need to realize just what we really believe in.

Once we have these down pat, (at least believe we do) we are then ready to …

3. STOP RUNNING AWAY

The student restless sat in the chair, and when the weight started swinging back his way, he quickly jumped out of his chair and ran away. He believed, but he believed only until he believed he had to risk losing something, like his head.

Many Christians are the same way, too. They will all go to church and do all the things, and they will continue to do that until a serious challenge comes along.

With our finite minds, we must have certain logical steps to take us into Christian maturity. God knew this, so we find His instructions in the Bible.

In MARK 9, we read Jesus healed a demon-possessed boy and then the boy’s father came up and said, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.”

We are much like that boy’s father.

We all believe, but we also sometimes … don’t fully believe. In other words, we believe with our intellect, but we do not believe with our whole heart. We need to do like the boy’s father did and ask Jesus to help us have a bit more belief.

We need to do the same thing Jesus told Thomas about the scars in His side. In the last part of JOHN 20:27, Jesus said, “Stop doubting and believe!”

We have a natural tendency to run away before we commit. We see that all the time with people who say they are Christians but will not go to anybody and tell them about Jesus. I believe that being non-committal towards Jesus is a sin. If we do not know Him here, I truly believe He has promised to not know us there.

Let me ask you a question. Picture yourself at your wedding. You are standing there, and the minister asks you if you will take your fiancé for better or worse, etc. What do you think would happen if you just looked around, and walked out?

What do you believe now? Do you believe you might have hurt your fiancé?

If the minister asked you if you took that person to be your spouse, what do you think the response would be if you were to simply remain absolutely silent?

Again, do you think or believe you would hurt your fiancé? Do you think or do you believe you would be helping yourself? No, you would be doing far more damage to that person and to yourself than you could ever possibly calculate.

That is the same with your relationship to Jesus. Many people freeze up when asked to state their relationship to Jesus. Many people would actually rather deny Him than take the risk of having somebody mock them by confessing Jesus. Isn’t that what Peter did on the exact night that they arrested Jesus?

ROMANS 10:9 promises us,

‘… if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised Him, you will be saved.

Now, before we go any further, let me say we must believe in Him, and we must confess Him. And, if we confess Jesus as Savior Lord, we have Him in our hearts, doesn’t it make sense we would also be striving to do what He wants us to do?

In ACTS 2:38, we are told to repent and be baptized. It means just that.

Stop running! Get on B.A.S.E. with God.

BELIEVE – ADMIT – SURRENDOR – EXPRESS

Believe that Jesus is Lord.

Admit to yourself that He is your Savior.

Surrender your heart to Him today.

Express Him to others around you.

The young man who sat in the chair on the stage had a decision to make.

He could trust the truth, or he could run when it got uncomfortable.

We have that same choice to make today.

We can choose to actually have a genuinely believing heart; then ponder and study what it is we actually believe; then stop running long enough to cement our relationship with Christ or contemplate Jesus in our path then run away.

The problem with running, is that one day you will have no other place to run to, and you will find yourself in that long line, waiting to be judged one-on-one with the Lord. When you find yourself standing there, what are you going to feel like when He looks directly at you, into your eyes and soul and says, “NEXT”?

I personally believe the only ETERNAL option we have today is to be absolutely sure we are ETERNALLY protected against everyone of tomorrow’s onslaughts.

Do we really believe in the revealed truth contained within the Word of God?

Do we believe we are protected by the Blood of the Lamb of God?

Do we believe we would you like to be protected by the Blood of the Lamb?

Do we think we should better prepare ourselves for the reality of Salvation?

Is it a good a time as any to ask yourself –

“What exactly do I believe – Is there is no other name under heaven …?”

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Father, my Guide, illuminate my mind so I can understand how you want me to live. Your Word tells me people of integrity who follow your instructions are joyful. You have said those who obey your laws and search for you with all their hearts are blessed and happy. I want joy! Holy Spirit, please guard me against allowing evil to influence what I believe and do. Help to me walk only in your paths. May my actions consistently reflect what you have said is right and good. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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The Cry of a Christian Heart. God’s Righteousness Versus Our Own Self Righteousness—Romans 10:3

The most prolific writer of the New Testament was the Apostle Paul as he wrote many letters to the church of his day.

How much he thought of the church that would be around in 2022 I don’t know, but the words he was inspired to write are eternal and they reach out to us right now just as powerfully as they did when he wrote them.

Paul had come a long way, from being one who persecuted the church, to being converted on the road to Damascus and being filled with the Holy Ghost prior to stepping out onto the pages of church history as the Apostle to the Gentiles.

But Paul was a Jew who had been trained in the greatest schools of Israel on the Law of Moses.

At one place he refers to himself as a Pharisee among the Pharisees, meaning that no one could best him at the knowledge of the Law and how to force men to comply to it.

He was a great debater, even at one point taking on the seekers of mysteries among the great thinkers of the Greeks on Mars Hill, where he declared unto them the Lord Jesus Christ as the one, they knew only as “The unknown God”.

One thing Paul had was a heart after God.

When he was converted, he “got the real thing”.

This gospel was no plaything to him.

When he gave his heart and soul to Jesus, he did so without reservation, committing his life to the preaching of the gospel at all costs, and counted everything as loss in this world, so that he might comprehend all that he could about Jesus and have a greater revelation of the power of the Holy Spirit.

One man, fully committed and sold out to God, under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, laid the foundation of the church upon the same foundation that Jesus had laid for there is no other foundation that will stand the test of time and eternity. The words that he spoke revealed the very heart and nature of Jesus to a world that was lost and dying in the sin of darkness.

As I look around today, I still see that same world! It’s a lost and dying world, steeped in idolatry and wandering around without eyes to see, ears to hear, and unable to come to the Truth of the gospel which has the power to see men free.

Romans 10:3-4 J.B. Phillips New Testament

How Israel has missed the way

10 1-4 My brothers, from the bottom of my heart I long and pray to God that Israel may be saved! I know from experience what a passion for God they have, but alas, it is not a passion based on knowledge. They do not know God’s righteousness, and all the time they are going about trying to prove their own righteousness they have the wrong attitude to receive his. For Christ means the end of the struggle for righteousness-by-the-Law for everyone who believes in him.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

God’s righteousness and our righteousness are polar opposites.

Apart from Christ our right standing with God is impossible.

It was Isaiah who said that our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

He was talking about self-righteousness (the things we do to try to make us right with God). Self-righteousness looks great on the outside and people do genuinely take the time and the season to notice it and then comment upon it.

Like the Israelites our churches are filled with people who look holy but solely trust in themselves to be good enough for God. They are seeking him based on their righteousness and what they can accomplish for God. However, God does not grade on a curve, our righteousness in no way possible compares to his.

Paul said in today’s passage that the Israelites didn’t know God’s righteousness and so they tried to establish their own.

What is God’s righteousness? His righteousness is the uprightness that He ascribes to. It is who HE is – in thought, word and deed.

I pray you and I can see; this is a polar opposite of who we are as humans. God is so holy, completely just and true, in every sense of the word. It is impossible for us to approach God on the basis of what we’ve done, even though all of it seems good in the natural realm. In our own self sufficiency and sinful state, we would not even be able to stand in His presence because of the ugliest effects of sin.

Paul said in Romans 5, “before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law” (Romans 5:13). So, sin existed, but God was not crediting it to the accounts of mankind before the law was given.

So, they mistook his forbearance with sin to be his acceptance of it. Sin became more and more ugly and prevalent in the world, so in contrast, a life lived holy looked pretty good in contrast and comparison to the corruption that existed.

Therefore, the law was given to the Jews, and it outlined hundreds of rules and guidelines on how to live. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness to them. Compared to the nations around them, they assumed they were good enough but in comparison to God’s righteousness, the law showed them it was impossible to fulfill on their own.

The law came with both blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 28), and they were subjected to those by how they lived. The law was never intended to be a plan of salvation. The law was intended to show us our inability to earn our way to heaven and to reveal our need for a savior.

This is a major truth in the Bible; we cannot earn our way into heaven by our good deeds. If we are relying on what we do for God and our own self-righteousness, then Paul says that we remain under the curse of the law.

“All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because “The righteous will live by faith” (Galatians 3:10-11). 

God knew it was impossible for us to fulfill the law, so he provided another way to be justified before him through Jesus. This comes about by faith and those who are righteous before God live by faith.

He went on to answer the question on everyone’s mind, 

“What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come” (Galatians 3:19). 

Romans says it this way,

“no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. (Romans 3:20). 

And again, Paul said in Galatians, 

“the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24). 

In other words, the law shows us our need for a Savior so we will fall upon the grace and mercy of God and trust in his plan for salvation instead of our own.

The law was intended to get us ready for Christ and was never proposed to be the way to God.

The amazing thing about falling upon the mercy of God and accepting this grace message is that by doing so, we know and submit to God’s righteousness.

Romans says, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:21, Romans 3:22). 

Which means that we obtain God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus and since we are righteous by God’s standards, we can stand before him, completely justified, where before it would have been impossible to be in His presence.

Romans goes on to say, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law” (Romans 3:28). 

This is good news for us today. We do not have to rely on what we do to please God; he is already pleased with us on the basis of our abiding faith in Jesus.

There is nothing else we can do to add to it, he looks deeply at us and sees us completely whole, righteous and justified before him as if we had never sinned.

What an incredible blessing it is to 100% submit to the righteousness of God.

Today it is my prayer that we recognize how righteous we are in Christ Jesus.

We have God’s righteousness covering us and we can stand in His presence fully justified, forgiven and loved. Sin is not an issue with him because he has paid your debt to it. Through faith in Jesus, we are the righteousness of God, Amen!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord, my teacher, I’m often confused when I need to make important decisions about my work, my relationships, my health, or finances. Show me the way I should go when I don’t know which way to turn. Help me remember to come to you, rather than trying to figure everything out on my own. Guide me along the best pathway for my life. Advise me and watch over me. Help me to listen to your guidance and not resist it. I thank you that your unfailing love surrounds those who trust you. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Zeal Must be Based Upon Knowledge. Zealous Adherence to God’s Truth!!—Search and Survey of Romans 10 (1-2)

Today, we begin a survey of the centrality of Christ from Romans Chapter 10.

The Word of Faith

Romans chapter 10 teaches the word of faith. By confessing with our mouth and the wholeness of our whole heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and by believing this in our hearts, we are saved—nothing more, nothing less. Christ is the end of the law so we can be justified and made righteous by faith in Jesus alone. Faith comes by hearing this gospel message and responding to it. Paul encourages us that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:1-2 New American Standard Bible

The Word of Faith Brings Salvation

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Like the Israelites many people are passionate for and about God but have no real regard for the truth of Jesus Christ. We use our religions and doctrines to umbrella God into what we want him to be or what we think he is.

But Paul said that there is laid in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and fall and that stone is Jesus Christ (Romans 9:33).

If we remove Jesus from His deity and worship God without regard to him then our worship is in vain, and it is not based upon any truth or any knowledge.

This is an incredible reality to understand.

Worship is misguided and meaningless unless it is based upon the truth of God’s word.

Jesus said the same thing in John chapter 4 when he was speaking with the women at the well.

She had been questioning him about an age-old argument between the Jews and the Samaritans and Jesus revealed to her an amazing thing. He said, 

“You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:22-24). 

He tells her plainly that they do not know the truth. The truth is that true worshippers have to worship God in spirit and truth. This can only happen through Jesus. God is a spirit and to communicate with him on a spiritual level we must be born again. Born not naturally but supernaturally from above.

The world is okay with religion and okay with talking about God, and the world wants you to think that many roads lead to heaven. It is acceptable to talk about Buddha and teach about Allah but at the mention of the name of Jesus the world gets hostile, because there is power in that name.

Peter said, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). 

So as long as we can be deceived looking outside of Jesus for salvation and meaning in life then we are no threat to the world. Just like Paul said in today’s passage, “I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge” (Romans 10:2).

Jesus is the vital piece of information that we must have in worshipping God as he desires.

Even as Christians we can be well meaning in what we do, but what good is that?

Hosea said, “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). 

Unless we take the necessary time to understand the truth of God and his Living Word, we will destroy ourselves in our well-meaning ignorance. God’s word is full of the person of Jesus Christ, what he has done, what he has provided in his redemption package and what he will do for everyone once we come unto him.

He is the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to God the Father except through him (John 14:6). This is the knowledge that Paul desired the Israelites to have. He knew Jesus was the missing link in their devotion to God.

Jesus said in John, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). 

The truth is the truth, but to be free, you have to know it.

Socio-Cultural Religion does not want you to be free, that is why it keep you bound up under the power of the law. But it was John who said, “the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). 

Today, it is my ever-fervent prayer that we understand the grace and truth found in Christ Jesus alone and completely trust in him as our personal Savior.

This is the knowledge that Paul desired for the entire world to grasp.

Salvation in the Living Christ ALONE!

Jesus is the rock laid in Zion that many stumble over, however to those who fall upon Him they will never be put to shame (Romans 9:33).

Today, be blessed by this truth in Jesus’ name, amen!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Father, faithful One, teach me your divine wisdom. Empower me to understand wise teaching. Give thy insight to my simple mind. Help me to live a life that is disciplined and successful, based on the wise teachings of your Living Word.

Give me the knowledge I need to make smart decisions. I know that reverence for you is the beginning of wisdom. Help me listen when you correct me, and not neglect your instruction. I know when I follow your wisdom, I will receive grace and honor. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.