Saturday, May 25, 2013
Nothing But Christ
"It is better to end life with nothing but Christ,
than to end life with everything but Christ."
John Blanchard
***********
"But man, despite his riches, does not endure;
he is like the beasts that perish."
Psalm 49:12
"Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,
but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf."
Proverbs 11:28
" ... for riches do not endure forever.
and a crown is not secure for all generations."
Proverbs 27:24
"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us
with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
in order that in the coming ages he might show
the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus."
Ephesians 2:6-7
"To them (the saints) God has chosen to make known
among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
Colossians 1:27
" .. I have come that they (my sheep) may have life,
and have it more abundantly."
John 10:10b
"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever rejects the Son will not see life,
for God's wrath remains on him."
John 3:36
"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for me and for the
gospel will save it.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole
world, yet lose his soul?"
Mark 8:35-36
"For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 6:23
"God has given us new birth into a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, and into
... an inheritance that can never perish,
spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you,
who through faith are shielded by God's
power until the coming of the salvation
that is ready to be revealed in the last time."
1 Peter 1:4-5
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that though he was rich, yet for
your sakes he became poor, so that you
through his poverty might become rich."
2 Corinthians 8:9
Friday, May 24, 2013
God and the Tornado
24 killed, thousands of homes and businesses destroyed. People left with
nowhere to go - homeless, without anything but the clothes they wear.
The massive tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma this week left
unimaginable destruction behind.
Some questions may come to mind? Where was God? Did He have
anything to do with the tornado, or was he powerless to stop it?
Is God sovereign and in control of everything that happens in the world,
or is Satan running things here on earth?
Did God create, and then sit back and let "Mother Nature" be in charge of
tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, and other natural disasters?
Well, Satan doesn't have that kind of power or authority, and "Mother Nature"
is a fictitious character who sells margarine on TV.
If God is sovereign, then He is all powerful and in control of everything
that happens in the universe, even tornadoes in Moore, OK.
**********
God IS sovereign, and here's what He had to say about who He is.
" ... so that from the rising of the sun
to the place of its setting men may
know there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
I form the light and create darkness;
I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the LORD, do all these things.
You heavens above, rain down
righteousness; let the clouds shower
it down.
Let the earth open wide, let salvation
spring up, let righteousness grow with it;
I, the LORD, have created it."
Isaiah 45:6-8
God controls everything, even calamities.
"When disaster comes to a city,
has not the LORD caused it?"
Amos 3:6b
God's sovereignty does not negate His goodness, grace, and holiness.
He is just in everything He does.
"And I heard the altar respond:
"Yes, Lord God Almighty,
true and just are your judgments."
Revelation 16:7
**********
Even though we don't understand why God allows bad things to happen to us,
He is still holy and good and just, and we must trust Him to do the right thing.
God is our Creator, and we owe everything we have to Him.
Who are we to argue with God about the things He does?
"Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker,
to him who is but a potsherd among the
potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,
'What are you making?'
Does your work say,
'He has no hands?'
Woe to him who says to his father,
'What have you begotten?'
Or to his mother,
'What have you brought to birth?'
This is what the LORD says --
the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:
'Concerning things to come,
do you question me about my
children, or give me orders about
the work of my hands?
It is I who made the earth, and created
mankind upon it. My own hands stretched
out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.' "
Isaiah 45:9-12
Even Job, who lost almost everything he owned, kept his hope in God.
Are we to have faith only when things go our way, but not when disaster strikes?
"[Job said], 'Though He slay me,
yet will I hope in Him."
Job 13:15a
"Shall we accept good from God,
and not trouble?"
Job 2:10b
God's knowledge and understanding far surpass ours.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Isaiah 55:8-9
**********
God works everything according to His purpose and will; even things that
are painful and difficult to handle.
"In Him we were also chosen having
been predestined according to the plan
of Him who works out everything in
conformity with the purpose of His will."
Ephesians 1:11
God works all things for the good of His children; the good things and the bad.
"And we know that in all things God
works for the good of those who love
Him, who have been called according
to His purpose."
Romans 8:28
Sometimes, we may think that nothing good can come from a catastrophe, but
God can make good come from the bad.
In 2004, a tsunami struck Indonesia and 200,000 people were killed. How could
there be any good from something like that?
In a particular region of the country, there were no churches, but because of the
work of Christians helping the people recover from the devastation, there were 26
churches there a year later.
**********
The people of Moore, OK., may feel that all is lost because of what they've been
through, but God is still working out His will there.
People are hearing the gospel, and seeing God work through His people's actions.
Many thank God that He spared their lives even though they've lost almost everything
else.
God has a purpose for all things that happen; even tornadoes.
How terrible would it be if disasters happened with no purpose.
They would be senseless tragedies, but God can bring good from any situation.
Natural disasters are a result of God's providence and sovereign choice.
He has a plan for His people's good, even though we may not understand it until
we reach heaven.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Loving the Word of God
"Certain insects assume the color of the leaves they feed upon;
and they are but emblems of a great law of our being: our minds
take the hue of the subjects whereon they think.
'As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he' (Proverbs 23:7a).
Readers of trash become trashy; lovers of skeptical books become
skeptical; and students of the Bible, who are in real earnest, become
biblical, and display the qualities of the Bible.
If you read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the word of God, the
qualities of that word will be displayed in you. A man fed on Bibline
is a man indeed.
In the history of heroes, there are none who show so much moral
muscle and spiritual sinew as those who make the word of God their
necessary food."
C.H. Spurgeon
"If the Spirit of God is in you, He will make you love the Word of God,
and if any of you imagine that the Spirit of God will lead you to dispense
with the Bible, you are under the influence of another spirit which is not
the Spirit of God at all!
I trust that the Holy Spirit will endear to you every page of this Divine
Record so that you will feed upon it, and afterwards, speak it out to others.
I think it is well worthy of your constant remembrance that, even in
death, our blessed Master showed the ruling passion of His spirit so that
His last words were a quotation from Scripture (Psalm 22:1; Matt. 27:46)."
C.H. Spurgeon
**********
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, that the
man of God may be competent, equipped
for every good work."
2 Timothy 3:16-17
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light
to my path."
Psalm 119:105
"The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple."
Psalm 19:130
"This God -- his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take
refuge in him."
2 Samuel 22:31
"For the word of God is living and active,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and of
spirit, of joints and of marrow, and
discerning the thoughts and intentions
of the heart."
Hebrews 4:12
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
God WAS One of Us!
I read a column in the local newspaper recently, and I have a bone to pick with
some of the points the writer, Charita Goshay, made.
She referred to the men who helped the young women in Cleveland who were
held prisoner for almost 10 years. She wrote, "Their act of selflessness brings to
mind the Joan Osborne lyric, 'What if God was one of us?' "
Is that a serious question? Has she never read the Bible? Has she never heard
of a MAN named Jesus? God came as a MAN! Been there, done that!
Jesus was fully man and fully God. Born into a sinful world, He lived about 33
years, subject to every temptation all men face, but stayed completely sinless.
Being obedient, He temporarily gave up His place in heaven, and came to earth
to save sinners, by giving His life to pay for their sins.
"[Christ Jesus]. 'Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something
to be grasped, but made Himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant, being found
in appearance as a MAN, He humbled Himself
and became obedient to death -- even death on a
cross!
Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place
and gave Him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.' "
Philippians 2:5-11
**********
The second statement she made was, "If, as we say we believe, we are made
in God's image, thus enabling us to choose to do that which is good, wouldn't it
make sense that he might show up not as we've been taught but in the way we
need him most?"
Yes, we are made in God's image (Genesis 1:27), but since the fall of Adam,
we are born into sin, unable to please God without His grace helping us to do so.
The Bible says that sinful man cannot choose to do anything good in God's
eyes.
" ... there is no one who does good,
not even one.
"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
Romans 3:12,18
"All of us have become like one who is
unclean, and all our righteous acts are
like filthy rags ..."
Isaiah 64:6
**********
Goshay later quoted another lyric from the same song.
"If God had a name, what would it be?"
Believers KNOW what God's name is!
"Jesus Christ"
"Yahweh"
"King of Kings"
"Lord of Lords"
"The Alpha and Omega"
"Emmanuel"
"The Prince of Peace"
"Almighty God."
Monday, May 20, 2013
Draw Near to God
Drawing near to God is a command to believers to come close to Him
and live a sanctified and holy life.
In old testament times, God commanded the high priest to come to the
altar and offer sacrifices to atone for the sins of the faithful of Israel.
"Then Moses said to Aaron, 'Draw near
to the altar and offer your sin offering
and your burnt offering and make
atonement for yourself and for the
people, and bring the offering of the
people and make atonement for them,
as the LORD has commanded."
Leviticus 9:7
God told the people of Israel to come and pray to Him and He would bless them.
" 'For I know the plans I have for you,
declares the LORD, plans to prosper
you and not to harm you, plans to give
you hope and a future.
Then you will call upon me and come
to pray to me, and I will listen to you.
You will seek me and find me when you
seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
However, God declared that only the faithful of Israel, who had a "circumcised
heart" could enter His presence.
"Thus says the LORD GOD, ' No foreigner
uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the
foreigners who are among the people of
Israel, shall enter my sanctuary."
Ezekiel 44:9
A "circumcised heart" is described in Ezekiel 36. God removes their "heart
of stone," which is hardened toward Him, and gives them a "heart of flesh,"
and a "new spirit," so they could follow Him.
"And I will give you a new heart,
and a new spirit I will put within
you. And I will remove the heart
of stone from your flesh and give
you a heart of flesh."
Ezekiel 36:26
" ... you shall my people, and I will
be your God."
Ezekiel 36:28
When God circumcises a person's heart, he is made willing to love God and
live for Him. He is no longer hardened toward God, but open to Him.
"And the LORD your God will
circumcise your heart and the
heart of your offspring, so that
you will love the LORD your
God with all your heart and with
all your soul, that you may live."
Deuteronomy 30:6
God hates false worship; faith without actions behind it.
" ... This people draw near with
their mouth and honor me
with their lips, while their
hearts are far from me ...."
Isaiah 29:13
"So also faith by itself, if it
does not have works, is dead."
James 2:17
God dispenses mercy and grace from His throne. Believers can approach
Him when they need help.
"Let us then with confidence
draw near to the throne of grace,
that we may receive mercy and
find grace to help in time of need."
Hebrews 4:16
Those who are truly redeemed long for an intimate relationship with God.
God desires that His people be close to Him in fellowship.
"Draw near to God, and He will
draw near to you."
James 4:8a
Jesus opened a better way to God, than following the law, which made no one
perfect. When Jesus died the curtain opened, allowing us to enter the Most Holy
Place.
" (... for the law made nothing perfect);
on the other hand, a better hope is
introduced, through which we draw
near to God."
Hebrews 7:19
It is impossible to draw near to God without the gift of sincere faith.
"And without faith it is impossible
to please Him, for whoever would
draw near to God must believe that
He exists and that He rewards those
who seek Him."
Hebrews11:6
Jesus is the only way to salvation, but only those the Father draws to Him
can come to Him and be saved.
"No one can come to me unless the
Father who sent me draws him.
And I will raise him up on the last day."
It is written in the Prophets,
'And they will all be taught by God.
Everyone who has heard and learned
from the Father comes to me ..."
John 6:44-45
The word "draw" here means "brings" or "leads." God "brings" or "leads a
person to salvation in Christ.
"Jesus paraphrased Isaiah 54:13 to support the point that if someone
comes to faith and repentance to God, it is because he has been "taught," and hence
drawn, by God. The "drawing" and "learning" are just different aspects of God's
sovereign direction in the person's life. Those taught by God to grasp the truth are also
drawn by God the Father to embrace the Son."
John MacArthur
Jesus knows the hearts of men, and who are true believers.
"This is why I told you that no
one can come to me unless it
is granted him by the Father."
John 6:65
**********
We no longer need human high priests because we have Jesus.
God the Father appointed Jesus to be our High Priest, "the source of
eternal salvation to all who obey Him."
"So also Christ did not exalt
Himself to be made a high
priest, but was appointed by
Him who said to Him,
'You are my Son,
today I have begotten you';
as He says also in another place,
"You are a priest forever,
after the order of
Melchizedek."
"And being made perfect, He became
the source of eternal salvation to all
who obey Him ..."
Hebrews 5:5-6,9
The law was just a shadow of the things to come, but those drawn by the Father are
perfectly saved by the Son.
"For since the law has but a
shadow of the good things to
come instead of the true form
of these realities, it can never,
by the same sacrifices that are
continually offered every year,
make perfect those who draw near."
Hebrews 10:1
Since Jesus holds His priesthood permanently, He continues forever, and saves
completely those who draw near to God through Him.
"Consequently, He is able to
save to the uttermost those
who draw near to God through
Him since He always lives to
make intercession for them."
Hebrews 7:25
**********
The blood of bulls and goats was used to atone for sin in the Old Testament,
but through Christ, everyone who believes, may enter into the presence of God,
receiving salvation.
The former sacrifice was temporary and had to be made over and over, but
Christ made a sacrifice once for all time, and saves those who draw near to God
through Him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)