If we had a swimming pool in our back yard, I'm convinced this is what our dog "Murph" would do!
posted by In His Grip at 4:06 PM
0 comments
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Sin separates us from God...but... (Part 3)
Hey all!
We left off last time with some descriptions of those who “conceive evil and bring forth iniquity”, those that “hatch vipers eggs and weave the spider’s web.” These don’t sound like any who are close to God or even want to be close to Him. I did mention that even we as God’s children, can do the same evil, that we are capable of any evil.
I found in Ephesians 4, Paul’s exhortation to us Gentiles, us who are believers and have received God’s grace and mercy, he tells us;
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20 But you have not so learned Christ,
21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Paul in chapter 4 goes on to give us instruction like; “Be angry but do not sin”, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger”. That we should not “grieve The Holy Spirit by whom we were sealed for the day of redemption”. And then the last verse, verse 32 says; “And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Wow!
These Jews in Isaiah needed to hear this! But the sad truth is, Isaiah being the great prophet that he was, speaking the words that came directly from God, could not get these people to listen. He goes on in verses 9-15 to talk about their condition, and their state of mind.
Sin Confessed
9 Therefore justice is far from us, Nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
10 We grope for the wall like the blind, And we grope as if we had no eyes; We stumble at noonday as at twilight; We are as dead men in desolate places.
11 We all growl like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We look for justice, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far from us.
Notice how verse 9 starts out with “Therefore”, well, as my pastor says and as I’m sure you’ve heard before, you have to ask, “What’s it there for?” It means, “in light of what I’ve just said, check this out!”
Isaiah is saying here (forgive the paraphrasing); “In the previous verses I have shown you and told you about your sin and behavior, and now I’m gonna tell you what the results of that sin and behavior are; for one thing, because of your iniquities, justice is far from us, as is righteousness. We look for light, not THE light. but any other light that isn’t God’s light, and we only find darkness. We look for brightness, but we walk in blackness, and it’s by our own choice, and by our own will!
We’re men and women acting blind, we have our eyes and they work fine, but we have them shut and are bumping into walls as if we had no eyes at all. Here we are in broad day light, the sun is shining, “The Son is shining”, and we have our eyes closed as if in twilight. You are acting now as you did and your ancestors those many years ago when you were in the desert, in the desolate place. You are still muttering and complaining as you did when you were sick of the manna, but you forget that God poured down meat for you and yours in those days. You growl like bears, but you moan like doves. You are as an individual standing in the middle of the desert, all alone, and as far as you can see there is nothing. How do you expect to gain justice, and even more, how are you in your own power ever going to gain salvation?”
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And as for our iniquities, we know them:
Think of the above verse and the fact that it was a pre-Jesus world, and compare it to our post-Jesus world, which is what we live in now. Isaiah is telling these Jews that their “transgressions are multiplied” before them. This is the idea that one sin is stacked on another, then stacked on another, then stacked on another. There was no salvation! Let’s look at it a different way, it was the picture of their sins being laid out before them, rather than stacks, they were end to end so they could see them, and each one of them testified against them, they screamed at them, they reminded them of how awful they really were. These they could not close their eyes to, these transgressions are with them. Compare that to our post-Jesus world, “As far as the heavens are from the earth, so far has He taken our sins from us!” “He who knew no sin, took on the sins of the world!” “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!” Amen? Amen!
The end of verse 12 says; “And as for our iniquities, we know them:” We know them!
Isaiah describes what some of those would be.
13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, And departing from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
So what are the consequences of such behavior? What are the results of acting un-holy in the face of a Holy God? What about our un-confessed sin? Verse 14 and 15 tell us;
14 Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter. 15 So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
“For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter. So truth fails...” I really like how the NASB says it; “For truth has stumbled in the street, and uprightness can not enter. Yes, truth is lacking...” I’m not sure exactly sure what this is saying, so I thought I would start off by looking up the word “equity”, here’s what I found; “Equity – Fairness, Ownership, Right in property.” We know that because of their behavior, strong will and choices, that justice has turned from the direction it was headed, toward them, and is now walking away from them. We know that righteousness is standing “afar off”, I get the picture of righteousness standing on hill with a prefect view of this whole scene, and both are waiting to return to their rightful spot.
“Truth” and “Equity”, what is it that those two have in common? We know that “equity” has to do with “ownership”, “fairness”, and “right of property”. Could it mean that we have the “right of property”, that being the truth? That either we had the truth and lost it, or we never had it, but we can take “ownership” of it? I’m getting a picture of truth stumbling and falling in the street, it’s kinda like a scene from the Omega Man, ya know!? He’s standing in the middle of a New York City street, no people, no birds, no sound, only the wind that blows that newspaper and pieces of miscellaneous paper around for effect. He’s alone in a “desolate place”, truth has “fallen”, and because of these people’s state (and even our own at times) they we’re not in right standing with The Lord and therefore could not go in and rescue it, truth, they couldn’t take “ownership” of it, they didn’t see it as “fairness”. But as Isaiah has already told us in verse 4; “No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.”
In our next part we will look at God responds, and that there is A Redeemer!
Father! Thank You for being The “Hound of Heaven”, for finding us when we were so lost. Father thank You for Your word which shows us what we were at one point in our lives, and for saving us from ourselves. We are so sorry Lord when we fall back into these old behaviors. We are so sorry because we know it grieves You Lord. I pray for those who are still walking around as “blind men”, I pray that they would hear Your voices as You draw them to yourself. I love you Father! Amen!
In HIS Grip
Tony
Hey all!
We left off last time with some descriptions of those who “conceive evil and bring forth iniquity”, those that “hatch vipers eggs and weave the spider’s web.” These don’t sound like any who are close to God or even want to be close to Him. I did mention that even we as God’s children, can do the same evil, that we are capable of any evil.
I found in Ephesians 4, Paul’s exhortation to us Gentiles, us who are believers and have received God’s grace and mercy, he tells us;
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20 But you have not so learned Christ,
21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Paul in chapter 4 goes on to give us instruction like; “Be angry but do not sin”, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger”. That we should not “grieve The Holy Spirit by whom we were sealed for the day of redemption”. And then the last verse, verse 32 says; “And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Wow!
These Jews in Isaiah needed to hear this! But the sad truth is, Isaiah being the great prophet that he was, speaking the words that came directly from God, could not get these people to listen. He goes on in verses 9-15 to talk about their condition, and their state of mind.
Sin Confessed
9 Therefore justice is far from us, Nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
10 We grope for the wall like the blind, And we grope as if we had no eyes; We stumble at noonday as at twilight; We are as dead men in desolate places.
11 We all growl like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We look for justice, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far from us.
Notice how verse 9 starts out with “Therefore”, well, as my pastor says and as I’m sure you’ve heard before, you have to ask, “What’s it there for?” It means, “in light of what I’ve just said, check this out!”
Isaiah is saying here (forgive the paraphrasing); “In the previous verses I have shown you and told you about your sin and behavior, and now I’m gonna tell you what the results of that sin and behavior are; for one thing, because of your iniquities, justice is far from us, as is righteousness. We look for light, not THE light. but any other light that isn’t God’s light, and we only find darkness. We look for brightness, but we walk in blackness, and it’s by our own choice, and by our own will!
We’re men and women acting blind, we have our eyes and they work fine, but we have them shut and are bumping into walls as if we had no eyes at all. Here we are in broad day light, the sun is shining, “The Son is shining”, and we have our eyes closed as if in twilight. You are acting now as you did and your ancestors those many years ago when you were in the desert, in the desolate place. You are still muttering and complaining as you did when you were sick of the manna, but you forget that God poured down meat for you and yours in those days. You growl like bears, but you moan like doves. You are as an individual standing in the middle of the desert, all alone, and as far as you can see there is nothing. How do you expect to gain justice, and even more, how are you in your own power ever going to gain salvation?”
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And as for our iniquities, we know them:
Think of the above verse and the fact that it was a pre-Jesus world, and compare it to our post-Jesus world, which is what we live in now. Isaiah is telling these Jews that their “transgressions are multiplied” before them. This is the idea that one sin is stacked on another, then stacked on another, then stacked on another. There was no salvation! Let’s look at it a different way, it was the picture of their sins being laid out before them, rather than stacks, they were end to end so they could see them, and each one of them testified against them, they screamed at them, they reminded them of how awful they really were. These they could not close their eyes to, these transgressions are with them. Compare that to our post-Jesus world, “As far as the heavens are from the earth, so far has He taken our sins from us!” “He who knew no sin, took on the sins of the world!” “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!” Amen? Amen!
The end of verse 12 says; “And as for our iniquities, we know them:” We know them!
Isaiah describes what some of those would be.
13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, And departing from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
So what are the consequences of such behavior? What are the results of acting un-holy in the face of a Holy God? What about our un-confessed sin? Verse 14 and 15 tell us;
14 Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter. 15 So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
“For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter. So truth fails...” I really like how the NASB says it; “For truth has stumbled in the street, and uprightness can not enter. Yes, truth is lacking...” I’m not sure exactly sure what this is saying, so I thought I would start off by looking up the word “equity”, here’s what I found; “Equity – Fairness, Ownership, Right in property.” We know that because of their behavior, strong will and choices, that justice has turned from the direction it was headed, toward them, and is now walking away from them. We know that righteousness is standing “afar off”, I get the picture of righteousness standing on hill with a prefect view of this whole scene, and both are waiting to return to their rightful spot.
“Truth” and “Equity”, what is it that those two have in common? We know that “equity” has to do with “ownership”, “fairness”, and “right of property”. Could it mean that we have the “right of property”, that being the truth? That either we had the truth and lost it, or we never had it, but we can take “ownership” of it? I’m getting a picture of truth stumbling and falling in the street, it’s kinda like a scene from the Omega Man, ya know!? He’s standing in the middle of a New York City street, no people, no birds, no sound, only the wind that blows that newspaper and pieces of miscellaneous paper around for effect. He’s alone in a “desolate place”, truth has “fallen”, and because of these people’s state (and even our own at times) they we’re not in right standing with The Lord and therefore could not go in and rescue it, truth, they couldn’t take “ownership” of it, they didn’t see it as “fairness”. But as Isaiah has already told us in verse 4; “No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.”
In our next part we will look at God responds, and that there is A Redeemer!
Father! Thank You for being The “Hound of Heaven”, for finding us when we were so lost. Father thank You for Your word which shows us what we were at one point in our lives, and for saving us from ourselves. We are so sorry Lord when we fall back into these old behaviors. We are so sorry because we know it grieves You Lord. I pray for those who are still walking around as “blind men”, I pray that they would hear Your voices as You draw them to yourself. I love you Father! Amen!
In HIS Grip
Tony
posted by In His Grip at 4:01 PM
0 comments
Sin separates us from God...but... (Part 2)
Hey all!
Wow! Here we are at Part 2...Hey that was kinda easy!
Anyway, in Part 1 we brought together the correlation of who/whom Isaiah (God) was speaking to in the past, and how He speaks the same things to us today. What is sad is that we react, respond, and behave just as the Israelites did those thousands of years ago. We saw that God’s hand of salvation is not shortened and that His ear is not deaf, but because of our sin, and because He is Holy, it causes a separation between us. Does that mean that because we sin He will never hear us? No! He is always open to “I’m sorry Lord!” and “I love You!” He will forgive us 70x7.
We pick up in verse 6 where Isaiah is describing the sin of Israel, and the decline and degradation of sin. He’s just finished saying in verse 4 that they “conceive evil and bring forth iniquity”. He goes on to describe the deep darkness (my words) of sin. This is more to those who are not saved, who have not experienced God’s amazing and saving grace.
Isaiah 59:6-21
Separated from God
5 They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out. 6 Their webs will not become garments, Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
WAYS TO AVOID SNAKEBITE
(Taken from a website called: “Survival IQ” the italics and BOLD are mine)
Follow these simple rules to reduce the chance of accidental snakebite:
Don't sleep next to brush, tall grass, large boulders, or trees. They provide hiding places for snakes. Place your sleeping bag in a clearing. Use mosquito netting tucked well under the bag. This netting should provide a good barrier. (or keep God’s Word close)
Don't put your hands into dark places, such as rock crevices, heavy brush, or hollow logs, without first investigating. (When it comes to sin, how about at all).
Don't step over a fallen tree. Step on the log and look to see if there is a snake resting on the other side. (Step on God’s Word, ask for Wisdom)
Don't walk through heavy brush or tall grass without looking down. Look where you are walking. (Let HIM guide your every step, once in that gait with HIM you can then look up).
Don't pick up any snake unless you are absolutely positive it is not venomous. (Flee from temptation)
Don't pick up freshly killed snakes without first severing the head. The nervous system may still be active and a dead snake can deliver a bite. (Remember who The One is that crushes the head of the serpent!)
The evil things of this world believe that they can wear their evil as a garment, ya’ know, for recognition. They believe that their works of evil are who they are; they cover themselves with its identity. It’s like being labeled in a way. There have been those who are/were evil who have been given a label, or who from fear, the world has seen the works they wear as evil, but the bottom line is, from a Spiritual sense, they are lost and some for eternity. The Charles Manson’s, The Saddam Hussein’s, the Adolph Hitler’s, all of these, unless they had given their lives to Christ are in and will be in eternal torment for eternity.
Identity is a big deal from a worldly stand point. They ask the same question (until they find THE answer), “Who am I? How do I fit in? And what the heck am I doing here?” Not just evil people ask this, people who are lost ask this, and people who are weak in their faith in Christ ask the same questions. I have a son who will be 30 this year, I’ve seen him go up for alter call after alter call. I’ve seen him cry and rededicate his life to Jesus at Promise Keeper events, but for some reason (actually for a couple reasons) he just can’t seem to let go. He has always battled with who he is and where he fits. I’ve told him over and over that his identity is only found in Christ, but again because he hasn’t fully let go, he doesn’t hear it. I know that when my son T.J. finally grasps that, and lets go as many of us have, he will be free, and will realize that he doesn’t need to conform to this world, but that he has been transformed by allow God to finally renew his mind. I have not given up hope on my son “T”, or any of my kids, because my wife and I can see God working, even in their rebelliousness, He has got them right where He wants them and where they will listen to His message of peace and freedom.
Their works are works of iniquity, And the act of violence is in their hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths.
8 The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.
Again the word iniquity according to Webster’s dictionary is; “gross injustice, wickedness, sinful, outrageous.”
The word “sinful” struck me as I read the definition once again. But you see that’s the reason...the ONLY reason, it’s sinfulness. Think about back when you were one of those walking in darkness, I know for me, I look back and think of some of the things I did and said, and it amazes me. I remember being at family reunions and sitting with my older cousins as we would out do each other telling jokes, and me beating them all by telling jokes and using language that I think may have even shocked some of them.
I wish I could tell you that I’ve never said another bad word since I got saved, but that would be a lie. The times that I have though have been far and few between, and out of anger. When I have let a few those choice words fly, it’s grieved and embarrassed me, and what’s worse is that it grieves The Holy Spirit. But my point is, these people whose “works are works of iniquity, and acts of violence” and the rest, this is pretty much is all these kind of people know, they haven’t experienced God’s love, or at least not that they are aware of. Does God love these people? Yes! Does He want them to really be His own? Yes!
“Wasting and destruction are in their paths”, Wow, I have to think about that a minute. How much of life did I waste before I really began to walk with God, or at least began to see that there is no other path in life? I was saved at age 13, but I didn’t act saved until I was about 30. I think back to that gap, the things that took place in those 17 years, I ask myself; “Were they all bad years, were they all full of destruction as the text says above?” I have to say no, even in the hard times, there were glimpses of Jesus calling me back to His path. They may not all have been destructive, or full of destruction, but I guess the real question is; “Were they wasteful years?”
When I look back now in my weak moments, or in the moments when a fleeting thought comes to mind that says; “Man! If you knew then what you know now in regards to God’s gift of life and peace and joy! Why did you waste all those years Tony?” or the big one “If you had walked closer to God, your family would be walking closer with God now!”
I prefaced that last line of thought as “in my weak moments” in the “moments when a fleeting thought comes to mind”, the truth is that if I really think about all those years, all that time, it wasn’t wasted, it was growth. God’s plan is perfect for our lives; He takes the bad and makes it good. In my life, He has made up for more than those 17 years in last past 20 years of my life. Even in just the last 5 or 6 years, I have felt more complete in Him than I ever have. He will do the same for the lost, he will do the same for those who are living wasteful and destructive lives right now, if they will just let Him. Believe in The Lord Jesus Christ and you WILL be saved.
Father! Thank You for finding me. Thank You that You are the answer, Your path is perfect. I pray for those that are lost, those that haven’t got a clue of Your great love. I pray that we as Your children will be able to give them a glimpse of who You are as I know You put many in my path even during those 17 years, and even today. You are an awesome God! Amen!
In HIS Grip
Tony
Hey all!
Wow! Here we are at Part 2...Hey that was kinda easy!
Anyway, in Part 1 we brought together the correlation of who/whom Isaiah (God) was speaking to in the past, and how He speaks the same things to us today. What is sad is that we react, respond, and behave just as the Israelites did those thousands of years ago. We saw that God’s hand of salvation is not shortened and that His ear is not deaf, but because of our sin, and because He is Holy, it causes a separation between us. Does that mean that because we sin He will never hear us? No! He is always open to “I’m sorry Lord!” and “I love You!” He will forgive us 70x7.
We pick up in verse 6 where Isaiah is describing the sin of Israel, and the decline and degradation of sin. He’s just finished saying in verse 4 that they “conceive evil and bring forth iniquity”. He goes on to describe the deep darkness (my words) of sin. This is more to those who are not saved, who have not experienced God’s amazing and saving grace.
Isaiah 59:6-21
Separated from God
5 They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out. 6 Their webs will not become garments, Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
WAYS TO AVOID SNAKEBITE
(Taken from a website called: “Survival IQ” the italics and BOLD are mine)
Follow these simple rules to reduce the chance of accidental snakebite:
Don't sleep next to brush, tall grass, large boulders, or trees. They provide hiding places for snakes. Place your sleeping bag in a clearing. Use mosquito netting tucked well under the bag. This netting should provide a good barrier. (or keep God’s Word close)
Don't put your hands into dark places, such as rock crevices, heavy brush, or hollow logs, without first investigating. (When it comes to sin, how about at all).
Don't step over a fallen tree. Step on the log and look to see if there is a snake resting on the other side. (Step on God’s Word, ask for Wisdom)
Don't walk through heavy brush or tall grass without looking down. Look where you are walking. (Let HIM guide your every step, once in that gait with HIM you can then look up).
Don't pick up any snake unless you are absolutely positive it is not venomous. (Flee from temptation)
Don't pick up freshly killed snakes without first severing the head. The nervous system may still be active and a dead snake can deliver a bite. (Remember who The One is that crushes the head of the serpent!)
The evil things of this world believe that they can wear their evil as a garment, ya’ know, for recognition. They believe that their works of evil are who they are; they cover themselves with its identity. It’s like being labeled in a way. There have been those who are/were evil who have been given a label, or who from fear, the world has seen the works they wear as evil, but the bottom line is, from a Spiritual sense, they are lost and some for eternity. The Charles Manson’s, The Saddam Hussein’s, the Adolph Hitler’s, all of these, unless they had given their lives to Christ are in and will be in eternal torment for eternity.
Identity is a big deal from a worldly stand point. They ask the same question (until they find THE answer), “Who am I? How do I fit in? And what the heck am I doing here?” Not just evil people ask this, people who are lost ask this, and people who are weak in their faith in Christ ask the same questions. I have a son who will be 30 this year, I’ve seen him go up for alter call after alter call. I’ve seen him cry and rededicate his life to Jesus at Promise Keeper events, but for some reason (actually for a couple reasons) he just can’t seem to let go. He has always battled with who he is and where he fits. I’ve told him over and over that his identity is only found in Christ, but again because he hasn’t fully let go, he doesn’t hear it. I know that when my son T.J. finally grasps that, and lets go as many of us have, he will be free, and will realize that he doesn’t need to conform to this world, but that he has been transformed by allow God to finally renew his mind. I have not given up hope on my son “T”, or any of my kids, because my wife and I can see God working, even in their rebelliousness, He has got them right where He wants them and where they will listen to His message of peace and freedom.
Their works are works of iniquity, And the act of violence is in their hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths.
8 The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.
Again the word iniquity according to Webster’s dictionary is; “gross injustice, wickedness, sinful, outrageous.”
The word “sinful” struck me as I read the definition once again. But you see that’s the reason...the ONLY reason, it’s sinfulness. Think about back when you were one of those walking in darkness, I know for me, I look back and think of some of the things I did and said, and it amazes me. I remember being at family reunions and sitting with my older cousins as we would out do each other telling jokes, and me beating them all by telling jokes and using language that I think may have even shocked some of them.
I wish I could tell you that I’ve never said another bad word since I got saved, but that would be a lie. The times that I have though have been far and few between, and out of anger. When I have let a few those choice words fly, it’s grieved and embarrassed me, and what’s worse is that it grieves The Holy Spirit. But my point is, these people whose “works are works of iniquity, and acts of violence” and the rest, this is pretty much is all these kind of people know, they haven’t experienced God’s love, or at least not that they are aware of. Does God love these people? Yes! Does He want them to really be His own? Yes!
“Wasting and destruction are in their paths”, Wow, I have to think about that a minute. How much of life did I waste before I really began to walk with God, or at least began to see that there is no other path in life? I was saved at age 13, but I didn’t act saved until I was about 30. I think back to that gap, the things that took place in those 17 years, I ask myself; “Were they all bad years, were they all full of destruction as the text says above?” I have to say no, even in the hard times, there were glimpses of Jesus calling me back to His path. They may not all have been destructive, or full of destruction, but I guess the real question is; “Were they wasteful years?”
When I look back now in my weak moments, or in the moments when a fleeting thought comes to mind that says; “Man! If you knew then what you know now in regards to God’s gift of life and peace and joy! Why did you waste all those years Tony?” or the big one “If you had walked closer to God, your family would be walking closer with God now!”
I prefaced that last line of thought as “in my weak moments” in the “moments when a fleeting thought comes to mind”, the truth is that if I really think about all those years, all that time, it wasn’t wasted, it was growth. God’s plan is perfect for our lives; He takes the bad and makes it good. In my life, He has made up for more than those 17 years in last past 20 years of my life. Even in just the last 5 or 6 years, I have felt more complete in Him than I ever have. He will do the same for the lost, he will do the same for those who are living wasteful and destructive lives right now, if they will just let Him. Believe in The Lord Jesus Christ and you WILL be saved.
Father! Thank You for finding me. Thank You that You are the answer, Your path is perfect. I pray for those that are lost, those that haven’t got a clue of Your great love. I pray that we as Your children will be able to give them a glimpse of who You are as I know You put many in my path even during those 17 years, and even today. You are an awesome God! Amen!
In HIS Grip
Tony
posted by In His Grip at 3:57 PM
0 comments
Sin separates us from God...but... (Part 1)
Hey all!
As I read through Isaiah 59 this morning, I found so much in it that I decided to write it in a few emails. This is kinda new for me, this whole Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 thing, but we’ll see how it goes.
Again the reason I’m sending this to you is not so much to exhort you or to point out your sin, but to share with you how He has pointed out mine, to share with you His exhortation to me, and because I thought it gave a clear picture of what it looks like when we are in our sin and “separated from God.” If you read ahead in the chapter, you will see that “there is a redeemer”, and that we can’t do it on our own. You will see that God has a promise for us and for the descendants before us and the descendants before them.
I’m never quite sure how to break up the text, I’m sure as I continue doing these that it will become clearer to me, but for now, I’ll just interject where I believe the Spirit has led me to. Keep in mind, we are all still growing in the life of God and in the path of Jesus, no one has grasped it completely, or fully understands it.
Paul says in Philippians 3:12-14;
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Then he exhorts us in verses 15-16:
15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
So let’s get into it and see where The Lord leads!
Isaiah 59:1-21
Separated from God
1 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.
First we have to think about who Isaiah is writing to, he’s writing to the Israelites. He’s replying to their grumbling. The Israelites are once again complaining that God hasn’t given them enough, that He’s not hearing their prayers. They’re in essence saying that they are in the dark and that God is not rescuing them. The fact is, God has rescued them, He’s rescued them from the bondage of slavery, and not just from Egypt, but from the bondage they have brought on themselves. More importantly, He has rescued many of them for all eternity.
Their grumblings sound like; “Okay, so You brought us out of Egypt, we’re here in the desert, so now what Lord? Where are You? Have You taken Your hand off us, do You not hear our prayers anymore?” We also have to think about who/whom else Isaiah is talking to? When we read Isaiah’s words, which are actually God’s words spoken through His Word to us, we have to face the fact that He (God) is talking to us too. We grumble just like them, we overlook ALL that He has done for us, even Him giving us His only begotten Son, and ask “God where are you Lord? “How come You don’t hear us Lord? How come I don’t feel You anymore Lord?” which really can mean, “How come You’re not doing it my way? Why haven’t you answered my prayer sooner?”
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
Here’s the answer to the Jews (and us). Our sin, when we were unbelievers, had separated us from God, our sin had “hidden His face” from us. Think about what it was like in the garden before the fall, God walked with Adam and Eve. That blows my mind...God walked with Adam, THE God of the universe, the creator of life itself, walked with Adam in the garden, nothing was hidden, it was the purest form of fellowship. But because of sin, Adam and Eve hid themselves from God, because of our sin even as believers, we cause God to turn away because He is still Holy! Even our Savior experienced that emptiness, that darkness on the cross, the One who knew no sin became sin for us, God even had to turn His back on Jesus for a moment. The reality of that moment then and the reality of that moment now, is that it still breaks the heart God. God’s sees our beginning and our end, but He also grieves when we choose our will and not His.
Isaiah goes on to describe their sin;
3 For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity.
I would say that if we had a show of hands, most of us are not guilty of our hands being “defiled with blood”, but as for the rest of it, my hand, like yours is raised.
4 No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth.They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.
I have one question; “WHY!?” Why would they (we) not call out for justice, they knew who has it! Why would we not plead for the truth, they know who has it! But it says “they trust in empty words and speak lies”. It seems to me this is one of those pictures of the digression into sin; we don’t call on the Lord and plead for truth, so we begin to listen to empty words of man, which means we stop seeking His truth and begin listening to man’s truth. From that point on we begin to speak what we’re told, which if it’s not from God but from man more times than not we are speaking lies. Then from there we begin to buy into their lies and believe the lies we espouse as truth then spread that which conceives evil, and that brings forth iniquity. The word iniquity according to Webster’s is; gross injustice, wickedness, sinful, outrageous.
James tells us in 1:14-16;
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
I think I’ll stop there and continue on PART 2. Hey, that was easy!
Father Thank You for Your word. Thank You that it is living and breathing. I pray that You would continue to grow me into Your righteousness, that I would not be ashamed of The gospel, that I would receive Your strength and courage to continue to write out what You have shown me in my life, and given me the ability to share with others in my writings. Jesus, it’s all about you Lord! You are our redeemer; you are The One that is the meaning of life. Thanks You Lord for what You did on the cross so that we don’t have to walk in darkness any longer. We’re not like the blind who bump into walls. You have shown us favor! We love You! Amen.
In HIS Grip
Tony
Hey all!
As I read through Isaiah 59 this morning, I found so much in it that I decided to write it in a few emails. This is kinda new for me, this whole Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 thing, but we’ll see how it goes.
Again the reason I’m sending this to you is not so much to exhort you or to point out your sin, but to share with you how He has pointed out mine, to share with you His exhortation to me, and because I thought it gave a clear picture of what it looks like when we are in our sin and “separated from God.” If you read ahead in the chapter, you will see that “there is a redeemer”, and that we can’t do it on our own. You will see that God has a promise for us and for the descendants before us and the descendants before them.
I’m never quite sure how to break up the text, I’m sure as I continue doing these that it will become clearer to me, but for now, I’ll just interject where I believe the Spirit has led me to. Keep in mind, we are all still growing in the life of God and in the path of Jesus, no one has grasped it completely, or fully understands it.
Paul says in Philippians 3:12-14;
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Then he exhorts us in verses 15-16:
15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
So let’s get into it and see where The Lord leads!
Isaiah 59:1-21
Separated from God
1 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.
First we have to think about who Isaiah is writing to, he’s writing to the Israelites. He’s replying to their grumbling. The Israelites are once again complaining that God hasn’t given them enough, that He’s not hearing their prayers. They’re in essence saying that they are in the dark and that God is not rescuing them. The fact is, God has rescued them, He’s rescued them from the bondage of slavery, and not just from Egypt, but from the bondage they have brought on themselves. More importantly, He has rescued many of them for all eternity.
Their grumblings sound like; “Okay, so You brought us out of Egypt, we’re here in the desert, so now what Lord? Where are You? Have You taken Your hand off us, do You not hear our prayers anymore?” We also have to think about who/whom else Isaiah is talking to? When we read Isaiah’s words, which are actually God’s words spoken through His Word to us, we have to face the fact that He (God) is talking to us too. We grumble just like them, we overlook ALL that He has done for us, even Him giving us His only begotten Son, and ask “God where are you Lord? “How come You don’t hear us Lord? How come I don’t feel You anymore Lord?” which really can mean, “How come You’re not doing it my way? Why haven’t you answered my prayer sooner?”
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
Here’s the answer to the Jews (and us). Our sin, when we were unbelievers, had separated us from God, our sin had “hidden His face” from us. Think about what it was like in the garden before the fall, God walked with Adam and Eve. That blows my mind...God walked with Adam, THE God of the universe, the creator of life itself, walked with Adam in the garden, nothing was hidden, it was the purest form of fellowship. But because of sin, Adam and Eve hid themselves from God, because of our sin even as believers, we cause God to turn away because He is still Holy! Even our Savior experienced that emptiness, that darkness on the cross, the One who knew no sin became sin for us, God even had to turn His back on Jesus for a moment. The reality of that moment then and the reality of that moment now, is that it still breaks the heart God. God’s sees our beginning and our end, but He also grieves when we choose our will and not His.
Isaiah goes on to describe their sin;
3 For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity.
I would say that if we had a show of hands, most of us are not guilty of our hands being “defiled with blood”, but as for the rest of it, my hand, like yours is raised.
4 No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth.They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.
I have one question; “WHY!?” Why would they (we) not call out for justice, they knew who has it! Why would we not plead for the truth, they know who has it! But it says “they trust in empty words and speak lies”. It seems to me this is one of those pictures of the digression into sin; we don’t call on the Lord and plead for truth, so we begin to listen to empty words of man, which means we stop seeking His truth and begin listening to man’s truth. From that point on we begin to speak what we’re told, which if it’s not from God but from man more times than not we are speaking lies. Then from there we begin to buy into their lies and believe the lies we espouse as truth then spread that which conceives evil, and that brings forth iniquity. The word iniquity according to Webster’s is; gross injustice, wickedness, sinful, outrageous.
James tells us in 1:14-16;
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
I think I’ll stop there and continue on PART 2. Hey, that was easy!
Father Thank You for Your word. Thank You that it is living and breathing. I pray that You would continue to grow me into Your righteousness, that I would not be ashamed of The gospel, that I would receive Your strength and courage to continue to write out what You have shown me in my life, and given me the ability to share with others in my writings. Jesus, it’s all about you Lord! You are our redeemer; you are The One that is the meaning of life. Thanks You Lord for what You did on the cross so that we don’t have to walk in darkness any longer. We’re not like the blind who bump into walls. You have shown us favor! We love You! Amen.
In HIS Grip
Tony
posted by In His Grip at 3:50 PM
0 comments
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Do we pass "The Test of Loyalty?"
Hey All!
Again Merry Christmas!
I just finished lunch and had a few minutes before I had to get back to it, so I thought I would check to see what Oswald Chambers had to say in his devotional today, and I’m glad I did. I’ve been going through a bit of a “Why Lord?” kinda funk the last couple of days, but am reminded in today’s devotional that “God engineers circumstances”, and once I re-looked at my current “Why Lord?” situation, I could see, understand and say to myself; “Yeah Lord! I can see where You could work this whole mess out!”
THE TEST OF LOYALTY
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God." Romans 8:28
It is only the loyal soul who believes that God engineers circumstances. We take such liberty with our circumstances, we do not believe God engineers them, although we say we do; we treat the things that happen as if they were engineered by men. To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, and that is to our Lord. Suddenly God breaks up a particular set of circumstances, and the realization comes that we have been disloyal to Him by not recognizing that He had ordered them; we never saw what He was after, and that particular thing will never be repeated all the days of our life. The test of loyalty always comes just there. If we learn to worship God in the trying circumstances, He will alter them in two seconds when He chooses.
Loyalty to Jesus Christ is the thing that we "stick at" to-day. We will be loyal to work, to service, to anything, but do not ask us to be loyal to Jesus Christ. Many Christians are intensely impatient of talking about loyalty to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more emphatically by Christian workers than by the world. God is made a machine for blessing men, and Jesus Christ is made a Worker among workers.
The idea is not that we do work for God, but that we are so loyal to Him that He can do His work through us - "I reckon on you for extreme service, with no complaining on your part and no explanation on Mine." God wants to use us as He used His own Son."
Lord, forgive me for being so self centered at times and not seeing that this circumstance or set of circumstance may not be about me at all, though I will grow from the out-come, help me to see that this may be Your hand working in someone else’s life to bring them closer to You. Help me to not take whatever backlash or thrashing of their disobedience in a personal way, even if it’s directed at me, help me to pray for them, and to patiently watch what You’re gonna do in their lives and in mine.
Father may it not distract me any more than I am already distracted from life in general at times, but that Jesus, You would be the thing that I “stick at” today and tomorrow. What a terrible thing to read; “Our Lord is dethroned more emphatically by Christian workers than by the world.” but Lord how true it is. May we never take you lightly, or see you Jesus, even though you were not only fully God but also fully man, in a way that measures you to a world standard like I’ve seen even in this season of Your earthly birth.
May we always hold you higher than even the thought of what You must have been like as a child, or young man growing up here on earth, that yes even though you experienced some of the things that a child would experience, You are still Creator, Savior, Master, and worthy to be praised!!! Amen
Again Merry Christmas!
I just finished lunch and had a few minutes before I had to get back to it, so I thought I would check to see what Oswald Chambers had to say in his devotional today, and I’m glad I did. I’ve been going through a bit of a “Why Lord?” kinda funk the last couple of days, but am reminded in today’s devotional that “God engineers circumstances”, and once I re-looked at my current “Why Lord?” situation, I could see, understand and say to myself; “Yeah Lord! I can see where You could work this whole mess out!”
THE TEST OF LOYALTY
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God." Romans 8:28
It is only the loyal soul who believes that God engineers circumstances. We take such liberty with our circumstances, we do not believe God engineers them, although we say we do; we treat the things that happen as if they were engineered by men. To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, and that is to our Lord. Suddenly God breaks up a particular set of circumstances, and the realization comes that we have been disloyal to Him by not recognizing that He had ordered them; we never saw what He was after, and that particular thing will never be repeated all the days of our life. The test of loyalty always comes just there. If we learn to worship God in the trying circumstances, He will alter them in two seconds when He chooses.
Loyalty to Jesus Christ is the thing that we "stick at" to-day. We will be loyal to work, to service, to anything, but do not ask us to be loyal to Jesus Christ. Many Christians are intensely impatient of talking about loyalty to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more emphatically by Christian workers than by the world. God is made a machine for blessing men, and Jesus Christ is made a Worker among workers.
The idea is not that we do work for God, but that we are so loyal to Him that He can do His work through us - "I reckon on you for extreme service, with no complaining on your part and no explanation on Mine." God wants to use us as He used His own Son."
Lord, forgive me for being so self centered at times and not seeing that this circumstance or set of circumstance may not be about me at all, though I will grow from the out-come, help me to see that this may be Your hand working in someone else’s life to bring them closer to You. Help me to not take whatever backlash or thrashing of their disobedience in a personal way, even if it’s directed at me, help me to pray for them, and to patiently watch what You’re gonna do in their lives and in mine.
Father may it not distract me any more than I am already distracted from life in general at times, but that Jesus, You would be the thing that I “stick at” today and tomorrow. What a terrible thing to read; “Our Lord is dethroned more emphatically by Christian workers than by the world.” but Lord how true it is. May we never take you lightly, or see you Jesus, even though you were not only fully God but also fully man, in a way that measures you to a world standard like I’ve seen even in this season of Your earthly birth.
May we always hold you higher than even the thought of what You must have been like as a child, or young man growing up here on earth, that yes even though you experienced some of the things that a child would experience, You are still Creator, Savior, Master, and worthy to be praised!!! Amen
In HIS Grip
Tony
Tony
posted by In His Grip at 4:24 PM
0 comments
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
"A Christmas Letter From Jesus"
Dear Children,
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just get along and love one another.
Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town. Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.
If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing George complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.
4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.
5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.
7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families
8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.
9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to a church or charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.
10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.
Don't forget; I AM Jesus and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court.
And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember.
I LOVE YOU, JESUS
posted by In His Grip at 11:44 AM
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"...who for the joy set before Him..."
Hey all!
On Sunday mornings we’re going through the book of Hebrews, what a rich book! We’re just getting into chapter twelve, and that is where my devotion time started this morning, specifically verses 1 & 2.
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Just an FYI, the “cloud of witnesses” that Paul is referring to are all those saints mentioned in chapter 11. He doesn’t mean that they are up on a cloud watching and praying for us, he means that we are basically in good company.
In verse 2 it says; “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” I never really understood what it meant when he says; “...who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross...” My bible study notes says; “His attention was not on the agonies of the Cross, but on the crown; not on the suffering, but the reward.”
I immediately flashed on two scenes from the movie “The Passion of The Christ” one is where Jesus begins to carry His (our) Cross, but before He takes it onto His shoulders, it’s almost seems as though He embraces it first. Then the other scene is where Jesus has made it up to Golgatha, the cross is laid down, and if you look closely, it appears that Jesus is eager to crawl unto the cross and get into position; He knows that the time has come AND He knows what awaits Him when this is all over.
I thought about the fact that Jesus was on this earth for some 33 years, I think we sometimes forget how hard that must have been for Him at times. We think of the Sermon on the Mount, we think of the miracles, we think of His relationship with His disciples, but what about the times when He was alone praying to His heavenly Father, when He would reflect on the fact that this was not His home, that He left His home, He left His throne, He left warmth and comfort of His Father to come here, to endure cold, to endure heat, to see the decline and depravity of what God, and Himself had created here on earth. He was spit on, cussed at, laughed at, attacked physically, tempted in every way yet without sin.
He came here for one single reason, but how many times in when He was alone did He ask The Father if it was time, and The Father said “Not yet my Son!”? The human side of Him might have cried out from time to time; “Abba! Abba! Look what they are doing to Your Son! Listen to what they are saying about Me! I have no place to lay My head tonight, I have no food for tomorrow Abba!” And again, how many times might The Father have said; “Be patient my Son, I AM with you! I AM your bread of life. You will be with Me soon, and will never have to go through this again. ‘You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier’” for just a little while longer.
Jesus was fully God and fully man while He was on this earth, may we never forget the humanness of Him and the suffering He endured for us. May we never forget, that when we go through hard times on this earth, Jesus tells us what The Father may have told Him during His time here;
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier.”
“I will never leave you nor forsake you!”
“Be still and know that I AM God!”
In HIS Grip
Tony
posted by In His Grip at 11:41 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
What does the word "awesome" really mean?
Hey All!
How often do we use the word “awesome”? And what do we really mean when we use it? Is it kinda like the word “Bodacious!” as in “Cool!” “Radical!” or “Right on!” or do we use it in a more spiritual way like, “That is so awesome what God has done for you?” or “You are an awesome follower of Jesus Christ brother!” or even in our prayers to the Father “You are so awesome Lord!” All of these are pretty much okay, but do we think about the word and what it really means before we say it?
As a righteous example...whoa, there another misused word, but we’ll save that one for another email. As I was saying, as a righteous example check out how Jacob used the word “awesome” in Genesis 28:10-18
10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” 18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.
Now that’s pretty awesome! He was awe struck I’d say. Have you every been struck with “awe”? I looked up the word “awesome” in the dictionary and got definitions like; “Reverential Fear” this is the kind of fear Paul talked about in Hebrews 12:28 when he said:
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may[a] serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
I also found definitions like “Dread mingled with veneration” ...hmmm, veneration, what does that mean? “Verneration is a feeling of profound respect and awe or reverence.” It says up above that Jacob was “afraid” but it was a “reverential fear”, he revered God, and was in reverence of the situation or in this case, the dream he had.
Hey All!
How often do we use the word “awesome”? And what do we really mean when we use it? Is it kinda like the word “Bodacious!” as in “Cool!” “Radical!” or “Right on!” or do we use it in a more spiritual way like, “That is so awesome what God has done for you?” or “You are an awesome follower of Jesus Christ brother!” or even in our prayers to the Father “You are so awesome Lord!” All of these are pretty much okay, but do we think about the word and what it really means before we say it?
As a righteous example...whoa, there another misused word, but we’ll save that one for another email. As I was saying, as a righteous example check out how Jacob used the word “awesome” in Genesis 28:10-18
10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” 18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.
Now that’s pretty awesome! He was awe struck I’d say. Have you every been struck with “awe”? I looked up the word “awesome” in the dictionary and got definitions like; “Reverential Fear” this is the kind of fear Paul talked about in Hebrews 12:28 when he said:
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may[a] serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
I also found definitions like “Dread mingled with veneration” ...hmmm, veneration, what does that mean? “Verneration is a feeling of profound respect and awe or reverence.” It says up above that Jacob was “afraid” but it was a “reverential fear”, he revered God, and was in reverence of the situation or in this case, the dream he had.
So if I can answer my own question “When was the last time I was ‘awe struck’?” I wanted to share an experience with you that happened to me a couple of weeks ago, now mind you it wasn’t a spiritual “awe struck” moment, but it did make me think about the word “awesome” and what it really should mean to me in my daily life. It was about 4:30 p.m. I was walking my dogs in lighthouse field just enjoying the beautiful California coast line. Now where I was in the field geographically was about 200 yards off the beach on a trail, and like I said I was just strolling along when all of the sudden I heard what sounded like a jet engine...a BIG jet engine.
As turned and looked toward the water, out of nowhere was the thing that was making this BIG noise, it was a jet engine, in fact it was two jet engines, attached to a plane flying less than 500 ft off the beach. This plane was so big that I felt like I could almost reach out and touch it. At first I was confused, and then I realized it wasn’t just an ordinary jet plane, it was a 747 Airliner...that’s right, a 747! Ya’ know with the funny domed top and huge wing span. I swear as I watched it, it was like a close encounter moment...not that I’ve ever had one. My mouth just stayed open as I followed it with my eyes, watching it go out of behind some trees, I just stood there knowing for certain I was either gonna hear a crash or a splash, but fortunately I didn’t hear either, it just banked right and headed toward Monterey and out of sight. I must have asked at least 3 people on the trail that night “Did you see that?” One person said; “Yeah! Pretty scary!” well that really made me think in a post 9/11 kinda way.
I would say from a worldly sense, that sight and that experience was an “awesome” sight, but from a godly perspective that’s nothing, in fact the bible talks of events in the end times, even in pre-tribulation days that are gonna definitely make us “awe struck”. When I think of God’s word and what He says about the “awesome” events in it, and the examples of people being “awe struck”, I know my experience is nothing compared to those. Look at the men who came to arrest Jesus, at the sound of His voice, those men were “awe struck”. What about Paul as he was on the road, the sight was so awesome, that he went temporarily blind. How about the Israelites when right in front of their eyes the waters parted, or even the Egyptians chasing close behind as they went down in to follow, imagine them looking to their left then to their right as they chased and seeing these waters actually parted, and then to have those same waters come crashing down on them. How about the virgin Mary when she was visited by the angel and was told she would bare a Son (The Son).
There are so many examples of God’s awesomeness in His word, too many to count, but what about in your own life, what are some of the awesome things He has done, I mean things that are truly awesome. Do you see His hand in your life on a daily basis? Can you point to situations and say; “Yup! That’s God!” Can you hear His voice, do you hear it like it says in Isaiah 30; “Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.”
Please understand, I don’t always hear His voice, and I don’t always look for His hand in things, but you know what? It’s not because He’s stopped talking to me, or He’s stopped working in my life, it’s that I’ve stopped listening and acknowledging that He is in control of ALL things. I think that if we are more “doer’s of the Word” and more “heavenly minded” as my pastor says, we can live a life in awe of Him every day!
May He Bless your day, and may you be Blessed as you seek His face and are awe struck by the Majesty and Glory and Grace of who He is!
In HIS Grip
Tony
posted by In His Grip at 3:30 PM
0 comments
Why I've switched from the NIV to the New King James Version (NKJV)
Hey All,
As we continue to go through the Book of John on Monday nights, our class studied chapter 18 last night and the events that took place in the garden and ultimately to Jesus’ arrest and death on the cross (I can’t wait till next week when we come to His resurrection and all things that take place after).
As we studied and as I read word for word, it donned on me another clear example of why I’ve switched from the NIV to the NKJV.Please understand, I’m not saying that the NIV is wrong or bad, or that you should use one bible over another, in fact I’ve used the NIV most of my Christian life, until I was explained to the differences a couple of years ago. The way it was explained to me was that while the NIV is more like the feel of the words, or an expression of what took place, the NKJV is more word for word, closer to original Hebrew and Aramaic text. Again this is just what works for me, the main thing, is that you are being blessed by God’s living Word.
Take a look for yourself from example below taken out of chapter 18 of the book of John:
The bold type is mine, but notice that all the references to Jesus are in lower case.
John 18:1-6 (New International Version)
1When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it.
2Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.
4Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want?"
5"Jesus of Nazareth," they replied.
"I am he," Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6When Jesus said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.
So for example if I was a baby Christian, or even a non – believer, when I read;
“2Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.”
Would I ask myself; “Does that mean Jesus’ disciples or Judas disciples? Those of us who have been believers in Christ for awhile know that Judas did not have disciples, but what about a brand new believer, could that be confusing to him?
But look at NKJV below, keep in mind that bold type is still mine
John 18 (New King James Version)
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. 2 And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples.
3 Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”5 They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. 6 Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
See the difference? But that’s not all, one thing I learned last night in class which I would put in the category of “awesome” is, notice in verse 5 and 6 where Jesus says; “I am He” did you notice that in the word “He” the first letter is not only capitalized but it is also in italics,
I didn’t add the italics to the word “He”, in fact according to publishers NKJV (actually according The Writers of The bible) the word “He” was added for clarity.
Here’s what the explanation is from the NKJV: “Words in italic type have been added for clarity. they are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic”
Okay, so why is that so “awesome”?
Re-read verse 5 and 6 as it was originally written by leaving out the word “He” when He says “I am He”
I pray that the great “I Am” would bless your day today!
In HIS Grip
Tony
posted by In His Grip at 3:12 PM
0 comments
Monday, June 18, 2007
The Ultimate "Father's Day!"
Hey All!
Hope all you dads out there had a nice Father’s day yesterday, and all you moms and children had fun making your husbands/dads feel special too. I know I was blessed, and am blessed! Not only was I blessed by my wife and the phone calls from my kids, but I was totally blessed at church too. As we go verse by verse through the bible, we found ourselves yesterday in Hebrews 1:1-14. Because God is perfect and all knowing, He deemed it appropriate in His perfect timing, to place us there for Father’s day. Please take the time to check out these verses in your bible and you will be blessed too!
Pay close attention as you read to what the writer has to say about the importance of angels, and that Jesus is “so much better”. Notice how The Father talks about The Son, and then as a bonus, the clear picture of Jesus as the Word (found in John 1) creator of the “Heavens” and the “Earth” in verse 10, and the even clearer picture of The Trinity in verses 8-9.
Enjoy and be blessed!
What God says about His Son on Father's Day!
(Note: Comments are mine)
Hebrews 1:1-14
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Hope all you dads out there had a nice Father’s day yesterday, and all you moms and children had fun making your husbands/dads feel special too. I know I was blessed, and am blessed! Not only was I blessed by my wife and the phone calls from my kids, but I was totally blessed at church too. As we go verse by verse through the bible, we found ourselves yesterday in Hebrews 1:1-14. Because God is perfect and all knowing, He deemed it appropriate in His perfect timing, to place us there for Father’s day. Please take the time to check out these verses in your bible and you will be blessed too!
Pay close attention as you read to what the writer has to say about the importance of angels, and that Jesus is “so much better”. Notice how The Father talks about The Son, and then as a bonus, the clear picture of Jesus as the Word (found in John 1) creator of the “Heavens” and the “Earth” in verse 10, and the even clearer picture of The Trinity in verses 8-9.
Enjoy and be blessed!
What God says about His Son on Father's Day!
(Note: Comments are mine)
Hebrews 1:1-14
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For to which of the angels did He (GOD) ever say:
“ You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”?
“ You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”?
And again: “ I will be to Him (JESUS) a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son”?6 But when He again (referring to Jesus 2nd coming) brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “ Let all the angels of God worship Him.”
7 And of the angels He (GOD) says: “ Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But to the Son He says: “ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” (The “Oil” is symbolic in scripture as the Holy Spirt)
10 And (GOD also says to JESUS): “ You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. (“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John1:1-3) 11 They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.” 13 But to which of the angels has He ever said: “ Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?
As my pastor says; “The bible rocks!”
7 And of the angels He (GOD) says: “ Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But to the Son He says: “ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” (The “Oil” is symbolic in scripture as the Holy Spirt)
10 And (GOD also says to JESUS): “ You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. (“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John1:1-3) 11 They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.” 13 But to which of the angels has He ever said: “ Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?
As my pastor says; “The bible rocks!”
posted by In His Grip at 10:34 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
"Both God and Satan use the strategy of elevation"
As I read today’s Oswald Chambers, a couple of pictures came to mind which I’ll share a little later. Oswald makes the point that God is calling us to “come up even higher”, he calls it a “strategy of elevation”, but he also says that satan has a strategy that he uses too, but rather than use it as way of “spiritual growth”, he uses it in temptation, and he concludes that the “effects are quite different”.
Let’s take a look! Keep in mind the underlines, and added text is my own two cents, my observation on what I think he is saying. Please if you disagree, or have anything to add, email me back!
Oswald Chamber’s “My Utmost For His Highest” March 27, 2007
Spiritual Vision Through Personal Purity (2)
“Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place . . .” —Revelation 4:1
The verse Oswald is referring to here is found in “Revelation 4:1” God is talking to the author John in a vision. In John’s vision God tells him to “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this!” Imagine hearing God’s voice telling you, “Child! Come up here and I will show you things!” Man! Talk about a “strategy of elevation!”
A higher state of mind and spiritual vision can only be achieved through the higher practice of personal character. If you live up to the highest and best that you know in the outer level of your life, God will continually say to you, "Friend, come up even higher."
Sorry! I need to interrupt here! Be careful not to confuse the “practice of personal character” with the “practice of works”. Personal character is what you become by decisions you make with no real goal in mind than to just be.
The practice of “works” is something you purposefully DO, with a specific goal in mind, namely to win Gods favor to benefit yourself. God ALWAYS looks on the heart, He knows the motivation of it.
There is also a continuing rule in temptation which calls you to go higher; but when you do, you only encounter other temptations and character traits. Both God and Satan use the strategy of elevation, but Satan uses it in temptation, and the effect is quite different. When the devil elevates you to a certain place, he causes you to fasten your idea of what holiness is far beyond what flesh and blood could ever bear or achieve. Your life becomes a spiritual acrobatic performance high atop a steeple. You cling to it, trying to maintain your balance and daring not to move.
Now there are a couple of word pictures for ya! Satan has you duped into thinking that “there MUST be more to IT than this! Maintaining my spiritual growth MUST be harder than this!” And with that thinking, you’ll notice he has you no longer in the church, in the place of learning and worshipping, but outside, teetering “high atop a steeple.” You’ve managed to climb up the downspout, onto the roof, and slowly “work” your way up the steeple, only to stand there forever balancing yourself “daring not move”, for fear you might lose this little bit of spiritual growth that you’ve obtained for yourself.
The longer you stand there, the further from the truth you get, and one day you do a swan dive right to the ground below, right where satan wanted you in the first place.
Now you have three choices from ground zero,
A. Stay right where you are, defeated, wallowing in that whole “it’s too hard, I give up!” state.
B. Try to regain that false character you had, dust yourself off and start climbing that same steeple, only this time satan has you convinced or so “elevated” in your own pride that you take some people with you, you teach them what you know, because after all you’ve been to the top, and they climb with you!
Or finally 3. Surrender to the One who REALLY knows your heart! The One who will “elevate” you when you’re ready and not before! Remember, He wants the best for you, satan want to destroy you!
But when God elevates you by His grace into heavenly places, you find a vast plateau where you can move about with ease.
See the difference? Rather than clinging to a crag on the side of a cliff “daring not move”, God takes you to a mesa, “a vast plateau where you can move about with ease!” I can picture these two scenarios side by side, almost like two cartoon cells you would find in the funny pages of the newspaper. One is me hanging by one hand, fingers gripping that crag in the rock, knuckles white, finger tips bleeding, dangling. And in the other cell, I’m dancing, I’m spinning, I’m truly rejoicing! The awesome truth is; this isn’t the tallest plateau there is, in my heart I know there are higher ones, but I don’t see them, or am I searching for them because I’m not ready for them, only He knows when and if. My character is not about looking to the higher plateaus, but to enjoy and be thankful right where I am for now, until He moves me.
Compare this week in your spiritual life with the same week last year to see how God has called you to a higher level.
Reminds me of that Steven Curtis Chapman song titled; “What about the change?” Can you, can I look back at where we were in our walk with the Lord last year and see that there has been some growth? Can we see a change? Even better, has anyone who knows you are a believer, and knows your struggles, have they come to you and commented on “the change” they see?
Is this change something that should be so profound that you are now ready to stand up and preach a sermon? Or so awesome that you never cuss, or think bad thoughts? I don’t think so because then you would be back in that cartoon cell that says; “I must achieve this, or I must be at this place in my walk AND I must maintain it!” No! It doesn’t have to be a change like that, BUT there should be some change, some fruit!
We have all been brought to see from a higher viewpoint. Never allow God to show you a truth which you do not instantly begin to live up to, applying it to your life. Always work through it, staying in its light.
Your growth in grace is not measured by the fact that you haven’t turned back, but that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually.
“…that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually.”
Have you heard God say, "Come up higher," not audibly on the outer level, but to the innermost part of your character?
"Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing . . . ?" (Genesis 18:17 ). God has to hide from us what He does, until, due to the growth of our personal character, we get to the level where He is then able to reveal it.
Wow! Just think about some of the things God had to hide from Abraham until he was ready to accept them, can you hear him? “What! I’m gonna be a father of a nation?” “You want me to literally take a knife and cut a piece of skin from where?” “Let me get this straight, you want me to take my son up on the mountain and you want me to do what?” But in each of these situations, and because “faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness”, he was ready, by faith, he was ready for what God had for him.
We need to ask God to help us and lead us right where we’re at and to know He won’t give us more than we can handle. He doesn’t give us more “bad stuff” than we can handle, and he won’t give more “good stuff” than we can handle either!
As I read today’s Oswald Chambers, a couple of pictures came to mind which I’ll share a little later. Oswald makes the point that God is calling us to “come up even higher”, he calls it a “strategy of elevation”, but he also says that satan has a strategy that he uses too, but rather than use it as way of “spiritual growth”, he uses it in temptation, and he concludes that the “effects are quite different”.
Let’s take a look! Keep in mind the underlines, and added text is my own two cents, my observation on what I think he is saying. Please if you disagree, or have anything to add, email me back!
Oswald Chamber’s “My Utmost For His Highest” March 27, 2007
Spiritual Vision Through Personal Purity (2)
“Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place . . .” —Revelation 4:1
The verse Oswald is referring to here is found in “Revelation 4:1” God is talking to the author John in a vision. In John’s vision God tells him to “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this!” Imagine hearing God’s voice telling you, “Child! Come up here and I will show you things!” Man! Talk about a “strategy of elevation!”
A higher state of mind and spiritual vision can only be achieved through the higher practice of personal character. If you live up to the highest and best that you know in the outer level of your life, God will continually say to you, "Friend, come up even higher."
Sorry! I need to interrupt here! Be careful not to confuse the “practice of personal character” with the “practice of works”. Personal character is what you become by decisions you make with no real goal in mind than to just be.
The practice of “works” is something you purposefully DO, with a specific goal in mind, namely to win Gods favor to benefit yourself. God ALWAYS looks on the heart, He knows the motivation of it.
There is also a continuing rule in temptation which calls you to go higher; but when you do, you only encounter other temptations and character traits. Both God and Satan use the strategy of elevation, but Satan uses it in temptation, and the effect is quite different. When the devil elevates you to a certain place, he causes you to fasten your idea of what holiness is far beyond what flesh and blood could ever bear or achieve. Your life becomes a spiritual acrobatic performance high atop a steeple. You cling to it, trying to maintain your balance and daring not to move.
Now there are a couple of word pictures for ya! Satan has you duped into thinking that “there MUST be more to IT than this! Maintaining my spiritual growth MUST be harder than this!” And with that thinking, you’ll notice he has you no longer in the church, in the place of learning and worshipping, but outside, teetering “high atop a steeple.” You’ve managed to climb up the downspout, onto the roof, and slowly “work” your way up the steeple, only to stand there forever balancing yourself “daring not move”, for fear you might lose this little bit of spiritual growth that you’ve obtained for yourself.
The longer you stand there, the further from the truth you get, and one day you do a swan dive right to the ground below, right where satan wanted you in the first place.
Now you have three choices from ground zero,
A. Stay right where you are, defeated, wallowing in that whole “it’s too hard, I give up!” state.
B. Try to regain that false character you had, dust yourself off and start climbing that same steeple, only this time satan has you convinced or so “elevated” in your own pride that you take some people with you, you teach them what you know, because after all you’ve been to the top, and they climb with you!
Or finally 3. Surrender to the One who REALLY knows your heart! The One who will “elevate” you when you’re ready and not before! Remember, He wants the best for you, satan want to destroy you!
But when God elevates you by His grace into heavenly places, you find a vast plateau where you can move about with ease.
See the difference? Rather than clinging to a crag on the side of a cliff “daring not move”, God takes you to a mesa, “a vast plateau where you can move about with ease!” I can picture these two scenarios side by side, almost like two cartoon cells you would find in the funny pages of the newspaper. One is me hanging by one hand, fingers gripping that crag in the rock, knuckles white, finger tips bleeding, dangling. And in the other cell, I’m dancing, I’m spinning, I’m truly rejoicing! The awesome truth is; this isn’t the tallest plateau there is, in my heart I know there are higher ones, but I don’t see them, or am I searching for them because I’m not ready for them, only He knows when and if. My character is not about looking to the higher plateaus, but to enjoy and be thankful right where I am for now, until He moves me.
Compare this week in your spiritual life with the same week last year to see how God has called you to a higher level.
Reminds me of that Steven Curtis Chapman song titled; “What about the change?” Can you, can I look back at where we were in our walk with the Lord last year and see that there has been some growth? Can we see a change? Even better, has anyone who knows you are a believer, and knows your struggles, have they come to you and commented on “the change” they see?
Is this change something that should be so profound that you are now ready to stand up and preach a sermon? Or so awesome that you never cuss, or think bad thoughts? I don’t think so because then you would be back in that cartoon cell that says; “I must achieve this, or I must be at this place in my walk AND I must maintain it!” No! It doesn’t have to be a change like that, BUT there should be some change, some fruit!
We have all been brought to see from a higher viewpoint. Never allow God to show you a truth which you do not instantly begin to live up to, applying it to your life. Always work through it, staying in its light.
Your growth in grace is not measured by the fact that you haven’t turned back, but that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually.
“…that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually.”
Have you heard God say, "Come up higher," not audibly on the outer level, but to the innermost part of your character?
"Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing . . . ?" (Genesis 18:17 ). God has to hide from us what He does, until, due to the growth of our personal character, we get to the level where He is then able to reveal it.
Wow! Just think about some of the things God had to hide from Abraham until he was ready to accept them, can you hear him? “What! I’m gonna be a father of a nation?” “You want me to literally take a knife and cut a piece of skin from where?” “Let me get this straight, you want me to take my son up on the mountain and you want me to do what?” But in each of these situations, and because “faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness”, he was ready, by faith, he was ready for what God had for him.
We need to ask God to help us and lead us right where we’re at and to know He won’t give us more than we can handle. He doesn’t give us more “bad stuff” than we can handle, and he won’t give more “good stuff” than we can handle either!
posted by In His Grip at 9:55 AM
0 comments
"What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's all about?"
As a Christian, have you ever asked yourself that question...well not necessarily that question, but have you ever thought, "What if this really is all there is to life?" Or “What really comes after I close my eyes for the last time?”
When I saw this bumper sticker this morning; "What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's all about?" I chuckled at first, and then I began to think about what it was really saying to, or at least what I perceived it to say.
I must confess to you that there have been times, times when my mind wanders to "the dark side", the side where my flesh lives and thinks, that that thought has come to me, but praise God, it's a thought that is short lived. When it comes and my mind wants to entertain it, I ask God to take it away, The Spirit kicks in, and I pull back, things get clear again and I begin to look around me, I think about my life and where I am, where I was, and one day where I will be. I think of the miracles that I've seen in my family, miracles that happen every day, and I begin to believe again without a doubt, that there is more to this life than just the hokey pokey.
As I thought further about those ‘dark” times in my thinking, it dawned on me again, as it always does when my mind begins to slip, "Where does this thinking come from?" and the answer comes swiftly, this thinking is coming from the one who said in the beginning, “Did God really say...?” the one who hounded our Lord in the wilderness and said things like; "If You are the Son of God...!" and even after all that, the bible says that “he departed from Him until a more opportune time”.
This thinking is the “more opportune time” the bible speaks of! In those “opportune times” we allow our minds to wonder and wander into places they shouldn’t. The enemy waits for us there, in the dark, on the fringe, behind the proverbial trash can in the proverbial dark alley wanting to sell us, among other things, the Brooklyn Bridge. He’s in those dark places where we’re not as strong, tempting us with lies all in the name of curiosity. “I wonder!” your mind says, when in fact you don’t need wonder, ‘cause you know the truth!
So don't be surprised when these thoughts come from way out in left field, and when they do, remind yourself before your mind is “dragged away and enticed” that they are whispers of deceit and temptation, whispers of lies to get you off the path and out of God's Word where The Truth is! They lead you away from fellowship with your eternal family till you find yourself in a corner, by yourself, a place where you will no longer grow in Him, but grow weak and defenseless against the wiles of the enemy.
These are the thoughts that cause you question your faith and cause you to begin looking for answers in books, books on spiritual issues, humanism vs. Christianity, evolution vs. creation, all written by men who want to give you the answers, when the truth is, that by faith, you know the answers, the answers to life and where to find them.
And finally, by faith and with the Spirit of the living God in you, you can fight against these thoughts, these thoughts that throw up walls that ask “Is this as far as life goes?” “Is this really all there is?” and “Is the Hokey Pokey what it’s all about?” We can fight against those thoughts with the truth, the truth that begins with “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth!” found in the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis, and the truth that ends with “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” Which is found in the last two verses of the last chapter of Revelation. The truth is this and everything in between!
There are those who rather than get these thoughts once in awhile, live by them, and they accept them as a true belief. They believe this IS all there is to life! There is no God in their life, they can’t see Him, so He’s not there, so they believe. Have you ever listened to a humanist talk? Not only is there no mention of God, but they believe that the ONLY thing we have in this life is each other. They see life as a number, the age at which you will die and from that point? You are no more. They believe it is up to us as a human race to care for and to feed, to nurture and to heal each other, when we know as believers in God and followers of Christ, that it is God who does these things for us and through us.
Pray for them! Pray that they would see this earth and this life as a gift from a creator, for them. Pray that the hidden hope they may have, would have God’s light shine on it, and that they see that hope is Jesus Christ. Pray that they would come to know Him, and from that point on, they would truly be able to enjoy this life, this earth, and that they would look forward to what is beyond it.
As a Christian, have you ever asked yourself that question...well not necessarily that question, but have you ever thought, "What if this really is all there is to life?" Or “What really comes after I close my eyes for the last time?”
When I saw this bumper sticker this morning; "What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's all about?" I chuckled at first, and then I began to think about what it was really saying to, or at least what I perceived it to say.
I must confess to you that there have been times, times when my mind wanders to "the dark side", the side where my flesh lives and thinks, that that thought has come to me, but praise God, it's a thought that is short lived. When it comes and my mind wants to entertain it, I ask God to take it away, The Spirit kicks in, and I pull back, things get clear again and I begin to look around me, I think about my life and where I am, where I was, and one day where I will be. I think of the miracles that I've seen in my family, miracles that happen every day, and I begin to believe again without a doubt, that there is more to this life than just the hokey pokey.
As I thought further about those ‘dark” times in my thinking, it dawned on me again, as it always does when my mind begins to slip, "Where does this thinking come from?" and the answer comes swiftly, this thinking is coming from the one who said in the beginning, “Did God really say...?” the one who hounded our Lord in the wilderness and said things like; "If You are the Son of God...!" and even after all that, the bible says that “he departed from Him until a more opportune time”.
This thinking is the “more opportune time” the bible speaks of! In those “opportune times” we allow our minds to wonder and wander into places they shouldn’t. The enemy waits for us there, in the dark, on the fringe, behind the proverbial trash can in the proverbial dark alley wanting to sell us, among other things, the Brooklyn Bridge. He’s in those dark places where we’re not as strong, tempting us with lies all in the name of curiosity. “I wonder!” your mind says, when in fact you don’t need wonder, ‘cause you know the truth!
So don't be surprised when these thoughts come from way out in left field, and when they do, remind yourself before your mind is “dragged away and enticed” that they are whispers of deceit and temptation, whispers of lies to get you off the path and out of God's Word where The Truth is! They lead you away from fellowship with your eternal family till you find yourself in a corner, by yourself, a place where you will no longer grow in Him, but grow weak and defenseless against the wiles of the enemy.
These are the thoughts that cause you question your faith and cause you to begin looking for answers in books, books on spiritual issues, humanism vs. Christianity, evolution vs. creation, all written by men who want to give you the answers, when the truth is, that by faith, you know the answers, the answers to life and where to find them.
And finally, by faith and with the Spirit of the living God in you, you can fight against these thoughts, these thoughts that throw up walls that ask “Is this as far as life goes?” “Is this really all there is?” and “Is the Hokey Pokey what it’s all about?” We can fight against those thoughts with the truth, the truth that begins with “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth!” found in the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis, and the truth that ends with “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” Which is found in the last two verses of the last chapter of Revelation. The truth is this and everything in between!
There are those who rather than get these thoughts once in awhile, live by them, and they accept them as a true belief. They believe this IS all there is to life! There is no God in their life, they can’t see Him, so He’s not there, so they believe. Have you ever listened to a humanist talk? Not only is there no mention of God, but they believe that the ONLY thing we have in this life is each other. They see life as a number, the age at which you will die and from that point? You are no more. They believe it is up to us as a human race to care for and to feed, to nurture and to heal each other, when we know as believers in God and followers of Christ, that it is God who does these things for us and through us.
Pray for them! Pray that they would see this earth and this life as a gift from a creator, for them. Pray that the hidden hope they may have, would have God’s light shine on it, and that they see that hope is Jesus Christ. Pray that they would come to know Him, and from that point on, they would truly be able to enjoy this life, this earth, and that they would look forward to what is beyond it.
posted by In His Grip at 9:53 AM
0 comments
Satan tempts Jesus...he tempts us too!
Hey All!
I know I’ve written on this before, but as I have begun to re-read through the gospels it came up again this morning. In Matthew 4:1-11 we see where Jesus has just been baptized by John, the Holy Spirit had come in the form a dove and had lighted on His shoulder, and God’s voice is heard with Fatherly pride, “This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
The bible says that Jesus was then led by The Holy Spirit into the wilderness where He fasted for “forty days and forty nights”, and then He was tempted by the devil.
Matthew 4:1-11
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
“the tempter” will come to us in the “opportune times”, times like when we’re hungry, tired, sad or mad, and even when we’re happy! The Word says Jesus fasted, and after 40 days and 40 nights He was hungry, but He was also God but this didn’t stop the devil from tempting Him anyway. As I think about it, the devil has kind of told on himself to me here, what I mean is, we know that The Word is “living and active” and relevant for us even all these thousands of years later, and with that being said, in these verses the devil shows us HOW he tempts, what techniques he uses, and what he has up his sleeve, let’s look further;
3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
Pride is one of his weapons, or one of his “flaming” arrows if you will. He wants to convince us that WE have the power to do anything, it’s within us. He wants us to build OURSELVES up, and then he wants us to prove ourselves, prove that we are something…something without God.
Think of the powerful men of the past, men like Adolph Hitler for example. Adolph fell for the lie after the tempter came to him, after he convinced him that he could have, and in fact that he did have ultimate power within himself. That he could do anything, and sadly Adolph believed him. What’s worse than that is that he acted on the prodding of the enemy, and as he became more powerful he became more confused and deadly.
So what was satan’s benefit in all of this? Let me ask you a rhetorical question; Wwas it a coincidence that he had Adolph kill 6 million Jews? God’s chosen people? The people that God would one day send His only begotten Son to die for (first the Jew then the Gentile)?
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
Jesus could have said at that point with a smirk; “I know you know who I AM! And you know that all I have to do is speak My own Name and you would be dust!” But He didn’t say that because again He knew that one day you and I would be reading His Word and that it would speak to us in this way; “God’s Word, His spoken and written Word is more important than anything else in this life!” IF Adolph had been listening to the true and living God I don’t think that tragedy would have happened, but I also believe with all my heart that God saw it coming and had it all figured out before it happened. He is all knowing!
So the devil doesn’t give up there, he goes a step further and uses the word that he loves to use “IF”, actually it’s more of a tactical move. He used this tactic on Eve in the garden, it’s a tactic that causes one to doubt, “Did God really say…?” and “If you’re not sure whether it’s really right or wrong, than just do it anyway!” He more or less tells Jesus “If You are the Son of God, then show me!” I think he must have lived in Missouri at some point, ya’ know the “show me state”.
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘ He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and, ‘ In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
How many times has he told you and me; “Just go ahead and do it! Throw yourself down! Jump off the cliff of reason and oneness with the Lord, to the rocky bottom of sin, it’s not that bad, and besides doesn’t His Word say that you’re already forgiven!?” Or “You can make this decision on your own, you don’t need to get counsel from The Holy Spirit, you don’t need to seek guidance on this one, just go for it!” What are we doing when we do this? Read below!7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”
No matter how much you rationalize something, no matter how many scriptures you may dig up and contort to defend your desires, God always has one more that will point you to the truth. When we decide to do something of our own free will, number one, we are out of God’s will, and number two, we are tempting God. We are telling God; “I know the right thing to do, but I want to do it this way, what are you gonna do about it God?”
Satan was trying to convince Jesus that God loved Him (Jesus) so much that even if He jumped of the cliff He would be saved. But Jesus was saying that He knew this to be true anyway, He knew that if He had jumped from that spot, that “angels” would take care of Him, but He wasn’t gonna give satan the satisfaction of even appearing to show doubt by having to prove Himself or God
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
Wow! I wonder if this is what he told Hitler? We’ve heard rumor about rock stars who have “sold their souls for rock and roll”, I wonder if this is what he told Mick Jagger or Snoop Dog? I would think he would almost have to convince them that either God is a wimp, God is only about love no matter what, or that there is no God at all. Then he shows them what they could have with a promise of more. It’s like the cocaine dealer who will give you the first “taste” for free, he’ll let you experience the euphoria, let you go into yourself with the drug, and then before you know it, it’s what you want and at any cost. The good and bad of it is, whether you’re an addict or you think you’ve “sold you soul”, you can always be transformed from that, you can live again, that’s the good, the bad is, you die…for eternity.
Jesus at this point has had enough with him, especially with this last temptation. It seems to be the most destructive, and it’s what hurts God the most. God says in Deuteronomy, “I offer life and death, (please!) choose life!” He says that all He wants us to do is trust Him, love Him, worship Him, accept Him.
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” 11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
How many of us are worshipping other gods? How many other things are we “serving” before God?
Father help me to hear You! Help me to discern the what Your will is for my life. May I not become complacent in my life with You. Once again forgive me for the things that cause not to hear as clearly as I need to. Keep me hungry for “every word” that proceeds out of Your mouth through Your Word. Amen
posted by In His Grip at 9:45 AM
0 comments
Friday, March 16, 2007
“Jack Bauer drops the F bomb!”
(PART I)
Interesting title huh?
Hopefully as you read it’ll make sense to you!
We’re studying the 3rd chapter of 2 Timothy at church; Paul begins the chapter by saying;
1 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,” 2 Tim 3:1-4
Our pastor pointed out that there are 18 different behaviors (or character traits) listed in verses 1-4, and I’m sure that you will all agree that everyone of them is prevalent in these last days. Pastor Dave also pointed out that all of these behaviors flow out of, or flow from the first one listed in verse 2; “For men will be lovers of themselves…” (Think about it!)
Although each one is definitely not a good thing, and each points to the self-centeredness and depravity of mankind, the one that stood out for me the other day and prompted me to write today was in verse 2 where it says “in the last days” men (and women) will be “blasphemers”. I could write about each one of the others (and I might), but this one reminded me of how we open our mouths at times and nothing but garbage comes out.
In James 3 he says;
2 “For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.” James 3:2-12
These verses should be especially convicting to those of us who have received God’s free gift (The Holy Spirit), and live by His grace through faith. Do we stumble as followers of Christ? Yes! Are we a perfect man as referred in verse 2? Um! No! But we do need to live our life dependent on Him, striving to be His “spring” of fresh water to those who are thirsty.
Let’s look at this word blaspheme for a minute! Of course we all know what it means to blaspheme, or to use The Lord’s name in vain, but sadly there are some who do it every single day, many times a day, and what’s worse is they don’t even think about what they’re saying or what they are actually doing when they say it.
My Webster’s says; “Blaspheme – show contempt for (God or sacred things, especially in speech)”.
How do you react (even if only in your mind) when you hear someone “innocently” say; “Oh God!” or maybe just “God!” I’ve even seen it misspelled in books…on purpose! “O’ Gawd!” or “Gad!” Here’s another, what do you think about when you hear that infamous phrase used very often, which can only be said in a slow monotone way; “Oh - My - God!” How do you react? Are you offended? Do you shrugg it off as no big deal? Ya’know, I’ve heard young children, 4 and 5 years old say “Oh! My God!” do they know what they’re saying? I’d be willing to bet I know where they heard it first or at least by whom they are not being corrected.
Do these people realize what has just come out of their mouths when they say it? And if they do, why would they say it? What is the reason? Is it so the hearer would get the full effect of what the sayer is trying to convey? Is it to get a laugh or just a chuckle? Or is it ultimately to draw attention to them selves? Are the ones that use phrases like these believers in God? And if they are, are they followers? Are they at all convicted by what they say?
Convict – prove or declare guilty. (Webster’s Dictionary)
So let me ask you another question; What is so wrong with using phrases like these? Using cute little words like “Geez?” or “Gee whiz?” or even “Cheese and Crackers?” In my personal opinion, all three of these are replacement words for the name of our Lord “Jesus”, would you agree? I’ve heard some people go so far as to include the whole holy family into their conversation with a verbal dismay of, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!” Again, do they know what they’re saying, or that they even just said it? And what is the argument that a person would have to justify using any of the examples from above? Please let me know your thoughts!
Right about now I can hear some of you saying; “Oh! Geez! Lighten up Tony! I mean really! Jiminy Christmas! It’s the way the world talks these days! And besides, God knows why I’m using this language, it’s just a form of expression, He understands!”
Does He really?
1 “And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain" Exodus 20:1-7
(PART I)
Interesting title huh?
Hopefully as you read it’ll make sense to you!
We’re studying the 3rd chapter of 2 Timothy at church; Paul begins the chapter by saying;
1 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,” 2 Tim 3:1-4
Our pastor pointed out that there are 18 different behaviors (or character traits) listed in verses 1-4, and I’m sure that you will all agree that everyone of them is prevalent in these last days. Pastor Dave also pointed out that all of these behaviors flow out of, or flow from the first one listed in verse 2; “For men will be lovers of themselves…” (Think about it!)
Although each one is definitely not a good thing, and each points to the self-centeredness and depravity of mankind, the one that stood out for me the other day and prompted me to write today was in verse 2 where it says “in the last days” men (and women) will be “blasphemers”. I could write about each one of the others (and I might), but this one reminded me of how we open our mouths at times and nothing but garbage comes out.
In James 3 he says;
2 “For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.” James 3:2-12
These verses should be especially convicting to those of us who have received God’s free gift (The Holy Spirit), and live by His grace through faith. Do we stumble as followers of Christ? Yes! Are we a perfect man as referred in verse 2? Um! No! But we do need to live our life dependent on Him, striving to be His “spring” of fresh water to those who are thirsty.
Let’s look at this word blaspheme for a minute! Of course we all know what it means to blaspheme, or to use The Lord’s name in vain, but sadly there are some who do it every single day, many times a day, and what’s worse is they don’t even think about what they’re saying or what they are actually doing when they say it.
My Webster’s says; “Blaspheme – show contempt for (God or sacred things, especially in speech)”.
How do you react (even if only in your mind) when you hear someone “innocently” say; “Oh God!” or maybe just “God!” I’ve even seen it misspelled in books…on purpose! “O’ Gawd!” or “Gad!” Here’s another, what do you think about when you hear that infamous phrase used very often, which can only be said in a slow monotone way; “Oh - My - God!” How do you react? Are you offended? Do you shrugg it off as no big deal? Ya’know, I’ve heard young children, 4 and 5 years old say “Oh! My God!” do they know what they’re saying? I’d be willing to bet I know where they heard it first or at least by whom they are not being corrected.
Do these people realize what has just come out of their mouths when they say it? And if they do, why would they say it? What is the reason? Is it so the hearer would get the full effect of what the sayer is trying to convey? Is it to get a laugh or just a chuckle? Or is it ultimately to draw attention to them selves? Are the ones that use phrases like these believers in God? And if they are, are they followers? Are they at all convicted by what they say?
Convict – prove or declare guilty. (Webster’s Dictionary)
So let me ask you another question; What is so wrong with using phrases like these? Using cute little words like “Geez?” or “Gee whiz?” or even “Cheese and Crackers?” In my personal opinion, all three of these are replacement words for the name of our Lord “Jesus”, would you agree? I’ve heard some people go so far as to include the whole holy family into their conversation with a verbal dismay of, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!” Again, do they know what they’re saying, or that they even just said it? And what is the argument that a person would have to justify using any of the examples from above? Please let me know your thoughts!
Right about now I can hear some of you saying; “Oh! Geez! Lighten up Tony! I mean really! Jiminy Christmas! It’s the way the world talks these days! And besides, God knows why I’m using this language, it’s just a form of expression, He understands!”
Does He really?
1 “And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain" Exodus 20:1-7
Others of you might even be asking, (becaue I know I would be) “What about you Tony? Are you gonna tell me you never cuss? You’ve never used the Lord’s Name in vain? Are you gonna tell me that since you started following The Lord, that you’ve never dropped the dreaded “F – bomb”?” My answer to you admittedly and sadly is “Yes! I have used some pretty bad language, and very recently too!” In fact just the other day I was soooo frustrated putting this patio table together that some pretty bad words flew out of this mouth, the same mouth which I use for “blessing” I used for “cursing”. Fortunately, I was just out of ear shot of my wife, she knew I was angry and I was swearing, but probably (hopefully) couldn’t make out many of the words, but I wasn’t out of ear shot of God!
The weird thing was, I surprised myself after my tirade! Where was this coming from? I couldn’t understand it as I later sat on the couch contemplating what had happened earlier. I back tracked to the night before and thought about how I was in the God’s Word, and had good time with The Lord, that morning was great, I woke with the Lord on my mind, Cece and I were fine with each other, and then it dawned on me that God was telling me something, no, more like He was teaching me something. He was teaching me that I should have prayed before I began that project, that I need to remember to include Him in everything that I do.
In teaching me, was it God that made me swear? No! But He allowed me to go it alone, which by not asking for His help in the first place, is what I wanted anyway. He allowed me to go beyond the point of frustration to a point of “I CAN DO THIS AND I WILL DO THIS!!!” And after all was done and said, He brought me back to the realization of Himself, and how much I need Him every minute of my life.
Oh! And by the way, here’s a little heads up for you guys out there;
WARNING: Keep in mind that as summer approaches, you too may find yourself putting patio furniture together, but beware, when it says on the box “No tools required!” what this really means is that in the box you’re gonna find a little bag of screws, they won’t be just any kind of screws, they will be “Hex” screws. They couldn’t just put “Standard” screws in the little bag, or even “Phillip” screws in it, No, they have to be Hex screws, and what rhymes with the word Hex, that’s right, Vex, and that’s what it had me that day… “annoyed”. But Hey! No need to worry because also inside the little bag you will find that evil little tool from the devil himself, “the Allen Wrench”, and there is where my frustration began. I’m tell’n ya, whoever invented that tool should be taken out and..….Oops! there I go, see how easy it can happen?!
Anyway! I remember before I really began to follow Christ over 20 years ago, I would get the attention of family members and friends at Bar-b-Que’s and family reunions, by quoting Richard Pryor routines…word for word. Man! Talk about dropping “F-Bombs”, my mouth was foul, but I thought it was funny. You see, in my wordly thinking, Richard Pryor was the funniest guy out there, and he was, but every other word was the F word or the S word. I remember my cousins laughing when I would do a routine, or when I gave ‘em a good joke I just heard, very rarely did they not laugh. But on occasion I would cross that invisible line with what I was saying or a joke I was telling, and they didn’t laugh, in fact it seemed more of a scowl that would come over them. Man! As I think about it now, some of the stuff that came out of my mouth to get a laugh, well quite frankly, I’m pretty ashamed of. But! I remember after I got my life right with God, one of my cousins could actually see the change in me, and even made mention of the way I used to be, and the way I used to talk, and how I talked now, it was pretty cool to hear, I thanked her, and then thanked God and gave Him the Glory and credit.
So where am I going with all this? I know of least one brother in my men’s group I probably lost a few paragraphs back, but that’s okay, love ya anyway bro!
I guess I’m trying to bring home the fact that things have changed! That’s kinda of a “duh” statement I know, but think about it. Remember when ‘Gone with the Wind” came out? Um, yeah, I don’t either, but it was 1939 and the big brouhaha of the day was that Rhett Butler told Scarlett O’Hara that frankly, he didn’t give a “D----“ my dear! Look at where we’ve come to, in the movies, on T.V. and even in news stories that come out these days, the crimes are getting more and more heinous. Forget “global warming”! This world is dying due to deprivation, it becomes sicker and sicker every day.
It’s funny how people will be so conscious of the ecology of the earth and not look at what’s really killing it. How much do you think God is gonna put up with people? How different are we from Sodom and Gomorrah? What was it that made God so angry back in Noah’s day that He would destroy the earth?
5 “Then the LORD[b] saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Genesis 6:5-8
13 “And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Genesis 6:13
Something to think about! I’ll continue with PART II in a day or so. I welcome any comments or questions!
Lord! I pray that Your Name would be gloified again in this world! I pray that when people say Your name that it would be out of reverence to You Father and not in vuglarity. I pray that people would see that You are the creator, that You love them with an unfathomable love. Your name is wonderful! Amen!
5 “Then the LORD[b] saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Genesis 6:5-8
13 “And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Genesis 6:13
Something to think about! I’ll continue with PART II in a day or so. I welcome any comments or questions!
Lord! I pray that Your Name would be gloified again in this world! I pray that when people say Your name that it would be out of reverence to You Father and not in vuglarity. I pray that people would see that You are the creator, that You love them with an unfathomable love. Your name is wonderful! Amen!
posted by In His Grip at 9:58 AM
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