SAVING ME FROM ME…

“Wholly committed, fully dedicated…” I read in a devotional book, along with the translation from the Old Testament, telling us that commitment and living up to it gives us a heart of peace. I like that, Peace and/or contentment mean everything to me. I have learned over the years that I can do without a lot of “stuff” but not my sense of contentment. I dearly love the “feeling” (I dislike using that word) of contentment, kind of like the warm fuzzies. That feeling tells me all is well, I am in sync with my Father and I can enjoy the settledness. As I understand it, peace is a result, not a cause. It means the war has stopped, I am no longer trying to run my life but have let go of it after giving it to the Lord. He does such a superior job of running me, I cannot tell you why I even bother to try and run it myself. I think it is mainly a matter of breaking an old habit. We do so many things because it’s how we’ve always done it…we don’t think. If we grow up as unbelievers, we have taken a lot of garbage into our thinking processes. The current generation has it even rougher…they are actually being taught to stand up for themselves, be proud, do your own thing, think for yourself, etc., etc. All of these concepts go directly against Scripture and the character of God. I am not young, have lived a diverse life and had many, many experiences…good and bad. But nothing has compared to the sense of contentment I have had when I am totally in sync with my Father and following His leading. I guess a lot has to do with trust. Charles Stanley once said, you will not obey one you do not trust…my experience has taught me that trust takes time and probably experience. I have been a Christian for 36 years, in so-called full time ministry for 29. I could relate dozens of times when God has been actively teaching me about Himself. Out of those times, I have learned to trust Him and obedience has come easier and easier. Then, I realized that sense of contentment…and it was/is wonderful. I believe Jesus has total possession of me, and I am very glad about that. When you exhibit singleness of heart, you become part of the answer to the world’s problems, because the grace and mercy of the Lord flow through you. Colossians 1:9 tells us that we can “see things from God’s point of view…” that is an awesome thought…elsewhere we are told we can have the mind and attitude of Christ. Another verse tells us to let the attitude of Christ be in us. I don’t know about you but to me, those are awesome promises and what God promises, He delivers. He cannot deny Himself. We are His sons and daughters, He wants the best for us and He will allow things in our lives to get us to the place of full blessing and walking with Him. He is so very awesome, and yet so very personal, doing in our lives those “little things”…the things that tell us clearly that He loves us very much. He proves it. Not because He must but because He wants to! How can you not trust a Father such as this??????  We are told to “be still, and know that I am God…”  We could easily think to ourselves, “be still and know I am your Daddy…” Wonderful idea, try it!

BEING ALONE WITH GOD…

Thinking about the “old timers” of the faith,the Matthew Henry’s , Adam Clark, Dr Barnes of Barnes Notes fame…all record in their journals that they started their day in their study, alone with God at 4 or 5am??????  There are others from that time period that say the same thing, they began their day early, one-on-one with the Lord. I must confess, I am not in that circle…I spend quality and quantity time with the Lord, but not at 4 am. I think the object is the “alone” thing…it is very difficult today to be alone, even people like me that live alone, with TV, stereo, radio, computer, etc I am rarely alone and totally quiet in my home. I recognize I make the choice about the quiet, so I will make no judgment since I am guilty as much as the next guy.

The Holy Spirit is one of the most precious and special gifts god has given to us. He takes up residence within us the moment we come to Christ in repentance and are born again. This is what Jesus meant when He told the disciples, “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Comforter, that He may remain with you forever>” In the Amplified the adjectives used after comforter are, counselor, helper, intercessor, advocate, strengthener and standby. Quite a list, right? The Holy Spirit becomes our every thing, connecting us to god and urging us to do the things we should, and not do the things we shouldn’t. One of HIs biggest jobs is to urge us to spend time with the Lord…He is also very good at convicting us of “wrongs.” Sometimes too good, lol.

I have always had difficulty thinking of God in less than three persons. I don’t really understand the concept of three/one. But…it doesn’t matter that I don’t understand, it is still a fact. I trust God enough to wait to understand but still believe Him. An old Sunday School song said, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it for me…” understanding is not essential, believing and obeying are. In fact, it is impossible to obey without Him, it’s just not in us. God,the Creator shared with us everything we need to know in His Word. If we don’t understand, later on we might…but we need to accept the fact that we don’t NEED to know it all. Jesus said to His disciples, “I have still many things to say to you, but you are not able to understand them now,” John 16:12.

Nevertheless, we are urged to spend quality time alone with God. As I have aged in the Lord, I have found I honestly and truly cannot get along without that time…it has become so much a part of who I am and how I function that I cannot really “get myself together”…when I have not been with the Lord. And…living alone, I have found myself taking with Him, even laughing with Him and singing to Him…I guess He has become my Treasured Life Companion. And…I wouldn’t have it any other way!

ALONE WITH GOD…..

I read recently that the average pastor spends about 4 minutes a day with the Lord personally. Where would you think that leaves us??? I suggest, at less than that. If you were God, how pleased would you be with your people considering what it cost you to purchase back for them their salvation and eternal future with Him? Is it any wonder we have few spiritual giants among us??? In our everyday life, how many do you meet, how many in your neighborhood or at your place of employment? My son Pastor Bill reads a lot…and I mean a lot. He particularly likes to read about the Puritans and other long past believers. I have read many giants from the past and have the same opinion Bill does…we are the losers because we have allowed ourselves to get into a circle of “doing.” We are so busy, we never take the time we must have with the Lord alone, in order to maintain a quality spiritual life. I remember reading about Oswald Chambers and his relationship with Christ…he referred to it in a Biblical term, intimate. We generally think of that word as referring to a sexual relationship in marriage. Not so, God uses it as depicting such a close relationship with Him that even if we DO think of it in those terms, we won’t be far off. His idea of intimacy is being so close and in tune, we talk to Him continually, think through with Him our daily life and decisions, look to Him to think with us our choices and options. It becomes a matter of what or in this case, Who is in/on our minds. Every Biblical character we read about that did great things for God, was “with Him” continually. Our problem is we have allowed our lives to become too complicated, we constantly spin our wheels and frequently get no where. If we would spend more time with Him we would have spiritual giants among us once again. If we let Him, He will show us the “much more” of Scripture, more beyond what others see. He wants us to realize our true strength will come from our stopping the idea of controlling our own lives and turning the “control tower” (our minds) over to Him. Our entire human society teaches us the opposite. Consequently, when we spend little if any time with Him, we don’t take in enough to make the difference. We think like the world thinks because that is where our input is coming from.

Another contributing character quality that we have greatly neglected is humility. The world makes humility, meekness, gentleness, caring, seem to be signs of weakness not strength. Years ago an old friend of mine used this phrase, “meekness is strength grown tender.” I never forgot that quote, she was speaking of
Christ and it truly fit Him…He was the strongest man that ever lived…and died! We as believers need those qualities in our lives and in an active manner…those qualities show moral character, ethic, principle…qualities sadly lacking in our country today. There is a moral glut…if you pay any amount of attention to our congress and other leadership that is available to us on fox News and the few other conservative/fair and balanced outlets, you can plainly see the total lack of morality and ethics in many/most of our representatives. They have even forgotten they represent us…they say they do but don’t act like it. They do not listen to what their constituents are saying and voting and promoting those values and  issues that the people want. That is what our Constitution promotes, actually what our War of Independence was fought for…representative government. We elect individuals to “speak” for us by their vote. Today, our representatives think they know more and better than we do and will vote accordingly. Progressivism has taken us far away from what our Founders intended and wrote. I  understand we  living in the end time and much of this is being allowed by God to that end, so I try not to rail against what God is allowing. But it surely saddens my heart as I watch the Body of Believers that I am part of and care about, accept like the sheep we are, what the world wants us to accept. A humbled heart doesn’t accept such things, but looks to God for further instruction and for action. I trust you will consider and obey the Spirit of God as he leads us on to “higher ground,” which is being alone with God, drawing wisdom and strength from Him, for His glory.

MARANATHA!!!!

Scripture teaches us that one day, which one unknown by us, our risen Savior will come from heaven to take His own to heaven…wow! This promise I originally learned as a child in Sunday School, and God re-emphasized to me and returned me to Himself at the age of 36 by reading Hal Lindsey’s book, Late Great Planet Earth. I recognized that what Hal wrote concerning the Lord’s return was possibly even probably going to happen in my lifetime. The primary reason I believe this to be true is his point that for the first time in over 2,000 years, Israel is in it’s own land. Because of the book by Hal, and reading additional  books on the same subject, I have become convinced this is the timeframe. Matthew 24 gives us a good itinerary of events prior to His return and tells us this…”therefore, keep watch.” You could well ask, what does He mean to “keep watch.” As I see it, it means to go about your life, being a faithful testimony by living out Biblical principles. By allowing the Holy Spirit to make the changes in our character that are necessary to conform us to the image of Christ, being an active member of the Body of Christ. We are to contribute as the Holy Spirit directs. Additionally, we are to remember we are pilgrims here, heaven is our home, we are not to become “like” the world around us but be separate and a testimony. But, we are to “WATCH!” Be aware of what is going on around us in our town and state, the governing of our great country and the world. And we are to look at this governing from the Bible’s point of view. I am sadly disappointed at the illiteracy of the church in general concerning prophecy. WE MUST KNOW THE TIME IN WHICH WE LIVE FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE! If we don’t we will fit into the parable of the Ten Virgin’s in Matthew 25, half kept themselves ready, half did not and were left behind. Where are you? I would urge anyone that reads this blog to carefully read or re-read the books of Revelation and Daniel. Hal Lindsey has a great web page with loads of information, all backed up, on exactly this point. Hal is also a great student of the Israeli people and their homeland. If you don’t understand about Israel’s history, you will be totally uninformed concerning prophecy. ISRAEL IS HISTORY AND THE OBJECT OF PROPHECY! We are privileged to be living in the time frame when the return of Christ for His church will probably happen…we may never face death, but rather be taken up to the clouds and be changed, and meet our Lord. Hallelujah!!! Read or re-read the portions in I Corinthians 15:51-57 and I Thessalonians 4:13-18, which will tell you about what we call “the rapture” of the church or the “catching away.” I cannot think of a greater privilege than to among that company, I and my immediate family. These are exciting times, and Israel is the centerpiece. If you are not following current events you are missing an exciting (and at times, discouraging) series of events. Please don’t be fooled…Israel  is not the bad guy here. They have problem areas, but they are not the heavy’s. If you want to have a discussion on this issue you can email me at eagleone4@comcast.net and I will be happy to share. I love prophecy, mainly because I can see the detail in God’s plan. I love to do timelines and research on Biblical events…recently I spent a lot of time going back over the history of the Jews and the Arabs. Most Christians know the bad blood began with Abraham’s sons, Ishmael and Isaac. The Bible tells us that Abraham and Sara “helped God out” by Abraham fathering Ishmael by Sara’s Egyptian maid, Hagar. He was the child of the flesh. When the time was right, God opened Sara’s womb and she gave birth to Isaac in their old age, the child of promise, Genesis 15:4.  A major problem today is that so few people, Christians as well as non-Christians do NOT believe the Bible is God’s inerrant word and therefore do not believe what it says. However, there are many historical records that back up the teaching of Scripture as factual. And, remember please, just because you don’t believe what the Bible teaches doesn’t make it untrue. It is still the Word of God, true and faithful, every jot and tittle. In addition to loving Scripture and prophecy, I have become a follower of current events, probably because of my love and knowledge of prophecy and being able to see the alignment of those current events with the bible teaching about future events. It is exciting! God is never wrong, always is right on the mark, total truth! We are about to see the fulfillment of God’s plan for mankind and the Jews in particular. Praise Him, He is about to come.

HAVE YOU THOT ABOUT THE FUNDAMENTALS LATELY!!!

Have you ever wondered why there are so many denominations and divisions in the Body of Christ? I have…in fact I have spent considerable time thinking about it over the years and I still don’t have a definitive answer. I’m very much a people person, and over the years have come to a pretty good understanding of how and why our minds function the way they do, at least the Biblical view and alot of wisdom from the Lord. Because I have been involved with inmates and their families for so many years, it is a priority for me to have the wisdom and mind of the Lord, as He promised I could have in His Word. I don’t want to operate on my own understanding, I need His. And, He has graciously shared His understanding with me, at least as much as I can handle. We often wonder why one group pulls away from another, and decide to fellowship separately. At first look it seems like some minor thing, some seemingly silly, fleshy thing, power seeking, control, . Many times it is over the Scripture…which version, how it is taught, interpreted, viewed…This raises another question, what Biblical principles are so firm and presented in such a definitive way that we really need to be in agreement to truly worship together. But, they are few and I have indeed researched and read to come to the conclusion of these few points that believers need to consider with no compromise:

1. God is a tri-unity. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. All are equal in position and power, but each has a different function in regard to humanity and salvation. All three are eternal beings. The best illustration of this is at Jesus baptism in Matthew 3.

2. All Scripture is God-breathed. It is the infallible, inerrant Word of the Living God. The Scripture we have today in the KJV, the NKJV, the NIV and a very few others, are accurate translations, reliable for us to use for reading and study. There are some versions that are called “paraphrases,” are clearly noted in the preface by the authors as such. A good illustration of this is The Living Bible. OK for just casual reading but not for study. Many paraphrases are very scholarly works, the Phillips NT is beautiful for reading but it is a paraphrase, a work interpreted and  put in everyday language by the author. It is also clearly stated that this is truly a paraphrase.

3. Jesus Christ was virgin born. It is considered culturally correct these days to believe otherwise. We do so at our peril, since Scripture clearly states He was virgin born. Why is this important? Leviticus 17 says, “the life is in the blood.” I don’t know why God said that, but He did and that makes it so. Medically we know most diseases are transmitted through the blood, we can rightly believe that based on what God said and did concerning the blood makes it the conduit for sin. All through Scripture it is stated blood must be shed to remit sin. Look at all the OT sacrifices and the elaborate instruction God gave concerning the offering of those sacrifices. Another interesting fact is this, the flesh is not inherently sinful but it is fed by the blood. Ponder this: a baby “in-utero” has it’s blood supplied and recirculated by the mother, being enclosed in a sac and separate. This is the plan made by God in eternity past, and carried out in the birth of His Son. Beautiful isn’t it!!!

4. Jesus lived a sinless life, gave Himself willingly as the payment to the Father for the sin of mankind, fully and completely. The debt is paid. After His death and burial, He was resurrected bodily on the third day, by the power of God. He was taken bodily into Heaven, in view of His disciples and He promised to return for His church.

5. Heaven, Hell, Satan, and judgment are all very real, whether one believes it or not.  

6. Possibly the most important point is this…salvation is by faith in Christ’s atoning work, and by faith in Him alone, nothing added and nothing subtracted. We are secure in our salvation when it is transacted according to the Word in John 3, are to live a separated life, one that is according to the Scripture and pleases God.

These are not difficult  concepts to understand, why we cannot agree on them I do not know, or at the very least, agree to disagree and worship together the Father, Son and Holy Spirit with our whole hearts as children of God.

AFFLICTION

This time of year many of us are prone to depression…not necessarily the heavy-duty, debilitating type, just a “flat,” not quite with it feeling. This winter seems especially bad, probably because of all the snow, keeping us “house-bound” more than usual. Frankly, after quite a few bouts over many years, I don’t have all the answers but I am convinced God knows every whip stitch that goes on in my life and I assume yours, and He allows it for a reason and a season. Paul had a “thorn” in the flesh…could depression be a thorn? If so, I am obligated to “bear it well” and allow God to use it. Paul said his thorn kept him from being proud…maybe the same applies to me…or you! This I also know, I work diligently on staying very close to Him during these times, pray a little more, read a little more, and I make a project out of memorization. I keep a little notebook handy, even when I go to bed, write down verses that seem to “hit the mark” for where I am, and go through them when I sense the heaviness coming. Perhaps I would not have as close a relationship with Him if it weren’t for these bouts ? It’s important to keep as busy as possible even though you are house-bound and probably don’t feel like it. There is a name for the condition,SAD, but I don’t  remember what the initials stand for. At least it has been identified and recognized as an existing condition, apparently quite common. I have to say the memorization works pretty well, not totally but running through a number of verses does ease the sense of gloom.

I’ve known the Lord for 36 years, as I have thought back over my life I remember quite a few bouts, a couple pretty long-lasting. I also remember reading that many of God’s men and women from the past have endured bouts of depression, causing me to assume that your spiritual condition probably has little or nothing to do with it. When men like Martin Luther, Judson Adonijah, C.I. Scofield, the man who founded the Salvation Army, named Brengel to name a few, come down with the “blahs” from time to time, (some had very serious bouts according to what I read) why not an ordinary person like me, no matter how much I love the Lord and how close I live to Him. It may not be any different than the high blood pressure I take medication for!!!!  But I have to admit I work harder at “lifting” it than I do on lowering my blood pressure…because I am convinced He is allowing it for some reason and I need to be open to hearing what that reason is. I also know from Scripture that any affliction is for a season, it has a beginning and it will have an end, and God knows the timeframe. Will I trust Him and hang in there, continuing my memorization and “singing and making melody in my heart to the Lord?” Yes, I will. I found many a verse that spoke about praise, singing, and glorifying the Lord with speech, witnessing and bearing testimony to His goodness. And,…I remember that no matter how I “feel” God does not change, not one wit, He is ever the same and I can take that to the bank!

WHERE ARE WE IN OUR GROWTH PROCESS?????

2 PETER 3:14 is a wonderful verse to use as a guide for our growth…we can check ourselves by these few words: “be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless, and blameless.” The word diligent is perfect here, Peter means we are to be always on the alert, with our minds focused on how we are developing in Christ. Following are some markers I found in a DVD by Dr Charles Stanley. They have helped me immensely in my years as a Christian. They are good, common sense “rules.” We have no problem getting a physical checkup,”surface  but seem to have trouble with spiritual checkups. We should not, as the spiritual is frequently more important than the physical. I would suggest writing them down and keeping them in your Bible or journal for future reference.

1. We should have a growing hunger for “more” of God. I have met far more superficial Christians than mature, committed ones. Sorry to say, “surface Christianity” is all too common and much is by choice. maturing is hard work.

2. We need a deep desire to know God’s truth, His deeper truths. It is God’s desire that we know Him “intimately.” That takes some doing, time and desire…Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life…” This says to me that one that does NOT know the Savior, cannot know truth. I know that is a strong statement but I believe it to be true…apart from a relationship with Him, we are unable to discern the truth, our thinking processes are crooked. Most people don’t realize that when we are born again, our minds are NOT born again, we are instructed to “renew” them. There are a number of verses that tell us that we have work to do on our minds. A good word study is looking up in a concordance the word mind, and write out the verses you find in your journal so you can meditate on them from time to time.

3. We become aware of our sinful state…not that mature Christians should see themselves as worthless or devalued in any way, rather it should make us sense in new ways, our desperate need for Him. The older I have grown in Christ, this very attitude has taken over in me. I KNOW I need Him more now. I am a single, live alone, and fully recognize my need to depend on Him for decisions, leading, and companionship. I understand how when I was a young believer I thought and acted on my own. But as I grew I realized what I was doing, and then what I should do, and proceeded to change my thinking. Now I take great comfort in “leaning” on Him and needless to say, my life is much more settled and comfortable.

4. We develop a quicker response to sinful thoughts, which becomes sinful deeds. At times early in our Christian life, we may even presume on God’s Grace and stay in a sinful behavior longer than we should. We know we’re growing when we can quickly take that offense to the feet of Christ and leave it there.

5. As we grow, the battle frequently becomes more intense, problems seem bigger, temptations more inviting. We can however, rest in the knowledge that the Lord is developing us into mature believers as He shows us His power to overcome ANY situation.

6. We have come to recognize that we do more growing in hard times than in peaceful times. God reveals Himself to us in the most exciting ways when our backs are against the wall and we have no choice but to His power to see us through the trial victoriously. Additionally, we discover character qualities in Him (and sometimes ourselves) that we didn’t see before.

7. There is a saying, LOVE is spelled TIME…as we grow, a sincere desire to serve develops and we want to give Him the time necessary to serve fully and well. That time for His work is given out of love for Him, not out of duty and it becomes very pleasurable. We also need to remember that God is not a hard task master, He wants us to pace ourselves and not overdue it. Proper rest keeps us at our best for Him.

8. We have come to understand that God is a sovereign God, and that good and bad both come from God’s hand and is under His control. We may not understand it all, but we have learned to trust. Romans 8:28 proves true…”all things” work together. “all things.”

9. We should see our faith growing, our confidence in His willingness to answer. He  wants us to “pray big.” Nothing we can ask is too big for Him to handle and personally, I believe He enjoys surprising us with answers just to grow our faith. We can tell we are learning to let the Holy Spirit guide our asking also.

10. A big example of growth is wanting to share our Lord and our experiences with Him, with others. We understand that others need to know Him and w3e are willing to tell them.

11. We become willing, even eager to give to God’s work. He teaches us that His plan is that His people are to support His work. It helps us get out of the “me” point of view. We also will find the more we give, the more He gives back to us.

12. A true believer cannot divide up his life into little sections…God is active in every part of it. We find ourselves talking to Him all the time, it just becomes second nature.

13. He, and spending time with Him become our #1 priority…we give Him the first and best part of our day, willingly.

We have moved into an intimate relationship with the Savior…the best place to live from moment to moment!