Tag Archives: Christian

If, Then

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* If we have received the love of God in Christ Jesus. 

* If there is the slightest hope that we will live eternally in the presence of God. 

* If there is a transformation within us after we have accepted the promise of the gospel. 

* If there is a fear of the holiness of God within us.

* If the love of God provokes us to give thanks.

* If we have enjoyed the fellowship of the body of Christ. 

* If we have read any portion of the Bible and understand it fluently.

Then is it proper to let fear keep us from sharing with those who do not have these things?

Another Religion?

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Why do Christians preach to man?  What right do we have to firmly believe that we have the answers? Men will say to us, “You are just like us.  We see your sins.  We perceive your faults.  There are plenty of religions among us.  What need do we have for yours?  By some reason, you think what you believe belongs in the belly of everyone.  You are no different from any other cultish behavior of any other obnoxious religion.”

We are just like you.  Therefore we know the extent of man’s rebellion against God.  We too are sinners with plenty of faults among us.  And what we preach presents itself faultlessly as the final answer to all man’s troubles.  From without, you cannot understand what we say.  But if you would enter Christianity the Lord would prove His words to you.

However, your problem is that once you enter you will find yourself compelled to stay.  By your questions you prove you are not ready or willing.  But neither were we.  We do not preach fables.  We do not believe as we do because a man has told us.  We believe because the Heavenly Father has drawn us to His Holy Son.

Because of the rebellion of man against the Holy One, there are plenty of religions, indeed!  But we have found that man’s need is not satisfied by opinion.  We have found that Christ Jesus fulfills every need of every religion.  He leaves no stone unturned.  He is Holy Truth embodied.  For this reason (That the Lord Jesus is the embodiment of truth) we are obnoxious to you even as the Lord Jesus was once obnoxious to us.

The pride of man will refuse to believe that he is nothing.  The pride of man builds his own answers, as if a man can say he has seen the Holy Living God.  But as we believe, the Lord strips that rebellious spirit from us.  Humility comes to understand.  Humility fears the Living God.  Humility is the necessary first step in understanding what is Holy and Good.

Jesus proves to His people that He has every right to claim the singular title of “Son of God”.  We are not tossed about, as are other religions, by every desire and fabrication of man’s mind.  Yes there are many who claim to be Christians yet offer a seriously blemished testimony of God’s perfect commands.  And the best of us will falter from time to time.  But Christ Jesus remains the same in His Holy command to, “Be holy, even as your Father in Heaven is holy”.   And He teaches His people to understand these things.

You may find fault with us.  But you will also find absolute truth within us.  Ask.  Provoke the testimony within us.  Keep asking questions.  The Lord will testify from within His people.  We willingly confess our lack before all who ask.  But you will not find fault with the Son of God.

You will say, “How can you be sure that what you believe connects with Heaven?”  We know it by the living words of the Bible.  And it is confirmed within us by the Holy Spirit He gives; the Spirit which is sent from the Living Lord Jesus Himself.  Though it is by faith, this faith is not like that faith a man holds in things unseen.   The faith we have is given to us from the Heavenly Father. He confirms His Lovely Son’s position before Him.   There is a leading from the Lord.  There is a “proof”, which over time, confirms without doubt those things we preach to the world.

To never leave

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Many Christians struggle desperately against sin.  One day, perhaps one week, they are fine.  They cling to righteous behavior and find their prayer life normal.  Then a small miss step occurs and the tumble begins.

With their consciences blackened, they bow before the Lord in prayer only once or twice a week.  And when on their knees before the Most High God they can only mutter a few words and then must run.  Perhaps some canned prayer is all they can lay their hearts to.

But the problem is not the first missed step.  It’s all the steps that lead to it.  Jesus tells us, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled.” 

The opposite of that is also true.  “Cursed to continue in sin are those who do not desire righteousness with a burning heart.”  You won’t find that in the scripture.  But you will certainly find that on the lives of those who constantly tumble.

What would your life look like if you never left the Lord again?  What confidence and joy would you have if your prayer life spiraled up to heaven itself?  How would your understanding and witness be transformed? 

All this trouble can be so easily avoided. And all you have to do is fan your desire for God into flame. The Lord Jesus is watching and waiting. A continual crying out for mercy and righteousness will certainly bring a powerful response.

By His Grace

Reinventing God

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payitforward

 

“Pay it forward.”  It’s a great idea isn’t it.  The Lord thinks selfless giving is a great thing too.  Let’s get sneaky, wise and stealthy.   It does only a temporary good to announce our good deeds.  But deeds done in secret last forever.

If you’re worried that others won’t pick up the lesson of “pay it forward”, teach them privately and without the use of personal examples.  Every good deed you do that has an announcement after it becomes owned by you.  Every good deed you do without being detected is owned by The Father in Heaven who is undetectable.

“Loose lips sink ships.”

2  “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3  “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4  so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”  (Matthew 6)

I take note that “Pay it forward” is used by secularists now.   It seems to have become popular lately as people try to “reinvent the wheel” of righteousness.  Trying to escape Christianity, people are busy building a man based “religion” without Jesus.  The problem is, all the really good ideas belong to Jesus.  They have to get a bit crafty when they present their own rendition.

This “Pay it Forward” seems to have come from a play in Athens Greece around 317 BC.  Here’s the script that has been passed to us as having come from that play.

“I do not pretend to give such a deed; I only lend it to you. When you […] meet with another honest Man in similar Distress, you must pay me by lending this Sum to him; enjoining him to discharge the Debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with another opportunity. I hope it may thus go thro’ many hands, before it meets with a Knave that will stop its Progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little money.”

Jesus said it better by doing it with His body.  And look how many have been granted access to heaven.  It is this granting that spawns all Christian giving.

Think about it.

Give? Give What?

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Christian Cross

Christian Cross (Photo credit: freefotouk)

Could I give my all I would still feel inept.  All I have is what has been given.  What should I give that belongs to me?

Ah, I will give my desire.  But I will get hungry soon.  Thirst will come to me.  And what good is it if I die in my desire to give Him what is mine?

I will give Him my words.  Evidently, I have plenty of those.  But He already has The Word.  And one was enough to satisfy the Living God.

How about I just give Him thanks.  And put down any thought that I can offer Him something He doesn’t already own.

How about I give Him my ear.  Let me strive to hear what the Lord has already said.  Then, perhaps, I will be allowed to hear what He is ready to say to me now.

How about I give Him time in prayer.  Yeah.  That’s a good idea.  I’ll make it my desire to sit before Him and lift up my soul to His Holy Throne.  And while I’m there, how about giving Him the troubles of others.

What can I give Him?   I can give Him my very life.  From now to the end of my days in this place of testing.  Isn’t that what He has already told us He desires?

To the opposition

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If you were to go so far as to mimic the ways of the past, in which Christians were killed for what they believe, you would be no closer to success.  For you would only have murdered the Lord’s people.  You would not yet have touched the living God nor rendered him any harm.

And let us suppose that you confront the best scholar of Christ.  We will allow that, by the standards of logic and science, a man might obliterate the testimony of Christ.  But your victory is only among men.  You have yet to appear before the living God and give the arguments you think are true.

I tell you a truth.  We are all a product of the father of life.  This father has provided his beautiful son that we may own hope to live.  And those who hope do not hope only, but we have the testimony within us from he who cannot lie.

What I have told you here is true.  And the point of this article is that your denial of the truth means nothing.

By His Grace