Tag: truth

The Danger of Bending God’s Holy Word to Make it More Pleasing

1 Corinthians 3:11
For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

When laying tile, one of the first things that is done is snapping a chalk line to establish a true 90 degree angle to the two walls. If the chalk line is one degree off, it is not true. There is no tolerance for this measure. The line is either a true 90 degrees or it is not true. A mistake in setting a true line will doom the project.

The world would like to teach us that there are many ways to heaven besides accepting Jesus Christ as Savior. It is sad to say that Satan has done a remarkable job selling this line of thinking, putting a large portion of mankind in danger of missing the way, the truth and the life that is only found in Jesus.

We Christians must be extremely careful not to bend the Word of God to fit today’s culture. The Word of God is the truth. God’s Word is the same today as it was yesterday and as it will be tomorrow. Jesus Christ alone is the firm, abiding and immovable Rock of Ages. In every way, He is able to bear all the weight of the sins of mankind that has been placed upon Him. He alone can bear this load. He alone is the trustworthy foundation. Anyone who aligns their lives with anyone or anything other than Jesus Christ will find eternal doom in their future.

Making God’s Word more pleasing to others is not being tolerant. It is abandoning what is true. More importantly, massaging God’s Word to make it more acceptable to the world endangers the eternal lives of those that we may be trying to appease.

Let us stand firm on the Word of God. Let us make the way, the truth and the life, Jesus Christ, our foundation. Let us boldly proclaim the promises that only He can deliver.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that Your Word is true and that Your promises are certain. May You open our hearts to receive the fullness and truth in the precepts that You reveal to us through Your Holy Word. May You embolden us to speak the truth about Your Son as the world around us rejects Him. May You strengthen us to stand firmly on the foundation that only He provides. We ask all these things in the name of the way, the truth and the life, Jesus Christ.

The Process of Understanding and Assimilating What God Has Prepared for Us

John 16:12
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

Almighty God has created each of us to fulfill a unique need in His kingdom. His plan for our lives is much, much bigger than anything that we have ever imagined. We are just not ready to take it all in. Our flesh simply gets in the way with what the Holy Spirit has to teach us. And of course, for many of us, we dig our own holes which makes the process even harder. Nonetheless, for those that have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, His spirit will provide our strength where we are weak.

Even the apostles were not ready to receive and understand all the teachings of Jesus. Without the filling of the Holy Spirit, their flesh simply could not handle what was going to be revealed to them in the spirit. It was only after Pentecost that the apostles were able to boldly proclaim the full gospel.

What a wonderful transformation when the Holy Spirit opens our minds to receive and understand the things that made no sense to us or had no value for us before. In the blink of an eye, our blinders are removed. Without even being cognizant of the process, we begin to assimilate truths that had been unavailable to us before. Then, just as suddenly we are able to share them with those who have been prepared to receive them.

Let us prepare our hearts to receive all that the Holy Spirit has for us. Let us fulfill the plans that Almighty God has created us to fulfill. Let us become all that God has created us to be.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the Wonderful Counselor that You have provided to guide and instruct us. We humbly ask that You prepare us to receive all that the Holy Spirit has to teach us. May we become willing vessels, ready to take on the fullness of Your living water. We pray that we will be eager to have the living water pass through us to bring life and enlightenment to those around us. We ask all these things in the name of the Living Water, Jesus Christ.

The Endless Flow of the Love of God

1 John 4:16
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

God is love. His love is unconditional and without end. His love for us is expressed explicitly through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. His love for us is reinforced daily by the counsel of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Through His love, Almighty God gives us an unfailing hope for our future. Let us not lose sight of the truth that our hope for our future is so much more than how we feel about our future or what the world tells us about our future. Our hope rests upon a very special love gift from God. Our hope is built upon the Good News of God for the world that He loves us so much that He gave us His Son so that we may have eternal life.

Through His love, Almighty God also gives us His Holy Spirit to stand by us, to give us the strength to bear all things that come against us and the spiritual maturity to endure all the tribulations that make up life on this earth. His grace is poured out on us in this manner so that we may overcome the world.

Most importantly, Almighty God created a spot in our hearts so that we could receive His love and return it to Him. He gave us the capacity to share His love with the world around us. He gave us the Holy Spirit so that our love could be an endless spring. When we are living in accordance with the Holy Spirit within us, we are capable of extraordinary service to those around us. By returning our love to the Father through our service to those around us, we become living testimonies of His perfect love.

Let us prepare our hearts to become vessels of God’s perfect love and forgiveness. Let us show the world His love through our compassionate sharing of the love He has given us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for loving us unconditionally. We thank You that Your love flows to us endlessly. Prepare our hearts, Lord, so that we may become vessels of Your perfect love. Cleanse us, Lord, of anything in our hearts that would restrict the flow of Your love in our lives. May we bear much fruit for Your kingdom through the spontaneous release of Your love to the world around us. We pray, Father, that the world will be drawn to Your Son when they see Your love at work in us. We ask all these things in the name of the One who delights in our steadfast love, Jesus Christ.

Putting Our Faith in Christ and Not in Fallible Men

Psalm 119:19
I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me.

God’s commandments have been given to us. They are not new and there is no revised edition. The Lord’s commandments have been the same for thousands of years and will be the same as long as time exists. They are pure enlightenment, so needful for our journey in time on this earth.

Along with His commandments, Our Heavenly Father also has given us His inerrant Holy Word to confirm His guidelines for our lives. There is nothing hidden from us except what we manage to hide from ourselves. We have allowed our fellow man to take the laws of Almighty God and hide them from us by replacing them with the laws of fallible men.

The laws of fallible men invariably turn toward tolerance of things that are not pleasing to God and these same laws are used to pressure one another into accepting wrongful behavior as truth. We must guard against becoming citizens of this earth and foreigners in God’s kingdom. In this day and time, we must dare to be strangers in our own land.

Let us follow the commandments and the inerrant Word provided to us by Almighty God. Let us guard against being drawn into the thinking of those who wish to deviate from God’s plan. Let us live in Christ and not in this world.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the way, the truth and the life that is revealed to us in Your Holy Word. We bless the name of Jesus who is the Word made flesh. Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit may direct us to repent of the things in our lives that are not pleasing to You. We ask for the strength to turn away from these displeasing things and the grace to turn toward all that is pleasing to You. We beseech You that all of our faith will be in Jesus Christ and not in the world. As we surrender to Your will, equip us, Lord, to reveal Your kingdom to those around us. We ask all these things in the name of the One who is with us until the end of the age, Jesus Christ.

Becoming a Beacon of Light in a Dark World

John 12:46
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

Each and every one of us was born into darkness. We were born with an unregenerate spirit and a spirit of unbelief. We were born with a darkness in our nature that makes us totally unacceptable to Almighty God.

This did not catch God by surprise. Through His loving kindness, His mercy and His grace, He provided a plan by which each of us could remove the darkness from our lives so that we would be able to stand in His presence one day and serve Him according to His eternal will for our lives. As part of His gracious plan, the Holy Spirit was instructed to reveal to each of us that upon believing in Jesus Christ as Our Savior, Our Heavenly Father provides us with the way in which we can become acceptable to Him.

Unfortunately, because our sin nature remains with us as long we are in our earthly bodies, we will continue to make choices that are according the world’s standards and not Our Lord’s. Thus we will bring darkness back into our lives. Our compassionate Creator had a plan for this weakness as well. In our new lives in Christ, we are able to see and understand the darkness that the world is offering us. We are able to overcome our natural ignorance about sin and take our victory over sin. Through Jesus Christ who strengthens us, we are able to walk in the light of truth, faith and holiness. We are able to walk this path of enlightenment on this earth until the day we die and until our day of living in Christ’s eternal light is upon us.

Let us repent of the darkness in our lives. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us all of the areas in our lives that reflect anything but the perfect Light of Jesus Christ. Let us show the world how living in the fullness of Our Savior overcomes the pervading darkness.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the way, the truth and the life that is Your Son, Jesus, so that we can have victory over the darkness in our lives. We bless the name of Jesus and pray for the wisdom, understanding and counsel that we need to rely daily on Your Son, who came as the Light of the World. May we be set free from the darkness of sin, whether it be by ignorance or error. May Your grace allow us to live in the light rather than in the misery of the darkness. May we become broken vessels that allow Your light to shine through to those around us who are still living in darkness. We ask all these things in the name of the Eternal Light, Jesus Christ.

Stand Boldly When the World Screams Out Against the Gospel

1 Corinthians 4:13
We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash–right up to the present moment.

Paul and those who joined with him in spreading the gospel message were attacked viciously by the social media of their day. How remarkable it is that Paul’s words of 2000 years ago are so accurate today. The voice of our corrupt world screams out against the gospel message wherever it is presented. The media persecution of celebrities and public figures that speak out for Christ is a perfect example of this growing trend. All who are public proclaimers of the Gospel can expect to suffer vicious attacks in all forms of media simply because they are willing to express the truth about their Savior.

Unfortunately, the attacks of the enemy have quieted the voices of many Christians. We have sat back and watched as prayer has been taken out of our schools and community events. We have allowed the Ten Commandments to be removed from display in public places. We have sat idly as the mention of Jesus has basically been banned in any form, unless of course, it is used to ridicule Him. Now more than ever, as the world spins faster and faster toward total destruction, we must become the lamps on the hill that provide the light to those that are in darkness. If we don’t, who will?

Let us take up our positions as beacons on the hill. Let us stand up against those that decry Our Lord. Let us boldly proclaim our faith in Our Redeemer King.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for all the blessings that You have bestowed on our nation. We come before You, Lord, and ask for forgiveness for allowing Your Truths to be taken out of our society, to be spit upon and ridiculed just as Your Son was at Calvary. We ask, Father God, that You shine Your Light upon our land so that the darkness that we have allowed to creep in will be overshadowed. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may the laws of our land and the actions of our people come into alignment with Your laws, Your commandments and Your Holy Word. Once again may we call upon You as the God in whom we trust. We pray these things in the name of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.

Sharing the Power of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:17
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Paul served the emerging church in a number of ways, but he understood that God had called him and equipped him specifically to preach the Good News through the power of the Cross. Paul teaches us that, as we serve our churches and communities, it is important that we rely on the Holy Spirit to help us to find out what God is specifically calling us to do in service to His Kingdom. We need to discover how we can share the power of the Cross in the world around us.

As we discover our role in God’s kingdom on earth, we should be aware of several important aspects of our calling.

  • No role is too big, nor is any role too small, when we are doing what Our Creator called us to do.
  • When we find our calling, we will recognize it because we will have the same passion for our calling that Paul had for his calling.
  • The fruit that we bear in our calling will be the result of the supernatural work of God released through the Cross. The fruit will not be attributable to us.

Paul made it clear to his audience that the redemptive power of the Cross did not rely on anything that he did, nor would it rely on anything that they did or said. We learn from Paul that it is not our enticing words or the strength of our presentation that wins hearts. We are simply vessels of the divine truth of God’s mercy on all of us. We should never consider ourselves to be the reason that a soul came to Christ. The redemptive process is totally reliant on the supernatural work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

Let us serve from the foot of the Cross. Let us guard against taking any credit for the salvation of another. Let us rejoice in the power of the supernatural, redemptive work of the Cross. Let us give all the glory to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You equip us to do Your work. We praise You for allowing us to participate in the work of redemption made possible by the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus. We pray, Lord, that You will open our eyes so that we can see the unique ways that You have endowed us to serve You. We pray that Your Holy Spirit will prepare our hearts so that we may serve You as humble vessels of Your divine, redemptive power. We pray all these things in the name of Our Lord of the Cross, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Responds to All Seeking the Truth

John 20:28
Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

The unbelief of Thomas is well documented in the Bible. He was a skeptic, a true doubter, looking for proof that the Lord was who He said He was.

Thomas’ story is the perfect illustration of the struggle of every believer who is wavering in deciding his or her relationship with Jesus Christ. What sets Thomas apart from those that never fully surrender their lives to Jesus was his sincerity in seeking the Lord. While Thomas was weak in his convictions, he was sincere in seeking the truth. Jesus was gracious in His response to Thomas just as He will be for all that are sincere in seeking Him.

Like Thomas, we are all called to come to the the place where we finally see and believe the total redemptive work of Jesus and fully submit to Him as Our Lord and Savior. Thomas, once seeing the wounds of Jesus, proclaimed both his complete belief and complete submission to his Master when he spoke the words, “My Lord and My God.” All in one burst, Thomas asserts his interest in Jesus as his Lord, espouses his affection for Him and denotes his submission to Him. This is exactly what Jesus Christ is looking for from each of us.

Even though we may have been slow and weak in our commitment to Christ, Our Lord waits on our sincere entreaty. He will respond to each of us just as He responded to Thomas. He will overpower us with His presence so that we may with the same exuberance as Thomas proclaim, “My Lord and my God.”

Let us move at once to surrender everything to Our Savior, Jesus Christ. Let us submit to His lordship over our lives. Let us proclaim that He is who He says He is. Let us rejoice in knowing that His promises will be fulfilled exactly as He said they would be.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the loving kindness, the mercy and the grace that You extend to us in our slowness and our weakness in surrendering everything to Your Son, Jesus. We pray, Lord, that You will open our eyes so that we can see, fully believe in and seek the precious gift that is available to us in a relationship with Your Son. Father, we ask that You take us to a place where we are overpowered by the presence of Jesus just like Thomas was. May Your Holy Spirit guide us and strengthen us so that there will be nothing left in us that doubts the fullness of the new life in Christ that awaits us. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord and Our God, Jesus Christ.

Uncovering a Greater Understanding of the Mysteries of Heaven

Mark 4:34
He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Jesus used examples of everyday life events to explain kingdom principles to the crowds. Often the crowds did not understand. His disciples did not understand either. So Jesus would take His disciples aside and reveal the truth to them.

Jesus does the same with us. He reveals His truths to us through the everyday events in our lives. Much of which we do not understand because we do not truly understand ourselves. At least, not until we are willing to go to Jesus and spend time with Him alone. At these times, His Holy Spirit will reveal to us all that has been hidden from us because of our own spiritual immaturity or sinfulness.

While the treasures of the kingdom are present in the world, we often over look them or simply take them for granted. It is important that we set aside a private time with Jesus. Through the Holy Spirit, we will be led to a larger knowledge of Jesus and a greater understanding of the mysteries of heaven. Thus we will be furnished with all that we need to fulfill the work that we have been created to accomplish on this earth. If we are negligent in setting aside time alone with Jesus, we may miss His treasures all together.

Let us plan private time to sit with Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. Let us call on the Holy Spirit to help us develop this intimacy with Our King. Let us rejoice in knowing that He is waiting to hear from us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing Yourself and Your treasures in this world. We praise the name of Jesus who represents the highest order of Your benevolence to all humanity. We pray, Father, that you will draw us unto Yourself so that we will seek Your Holy Spirit to guide us into precious, private time with Jesus Christ, Our Savior. We ask, Lord, that You reveal all of Your truths and mysteries to us as we learn to build an intimate relationship with You. May we fulfill everything that You have set aside for us. We ask all these things in the name of Our Master and Teacher, Jesus Christ.

Living Under the Divine Authority of the Word of God

Mark 1:22
The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority–quite unlike the teachers of religious law.

The Jews were astonished at the great truths that Jesus was teaching. The nature and importance of what He was teaching was unlike anything that they had ever heard. The teaching of Jesus was distinctly different from the teaching of the Scribes, who relied so heavily on traditions. The manner in which He taught was also different. He taught with such grace, such gravity and such majesty. His teaching was rich in evidence and power. He taught as if He had the authority to do so and needed to rely on no one else for the basis of His teaching. He taught independent of all men, all tradition and the religiosity that preceded Him. He taught fully dependent on His Father in heaven.

What made Jesus’ teaching distinctly different from the teachers of the law was that He taught and lived under the absolute authority of Almighty God. Everything that Jesus did was based on the truth in God’s Word. No wonder he stood out from teachers of the law who based their teaching on every other form of authority. Some sought their authority based on the things that they had reasoned through their own logic. Some sought their authority based on the traditions that history had revealed to them. Some sought their authority based on the trending ethics and morals of their culture. Some even sought their authority based on their emotion. It is no wonder that the people were able to recognize the brilliance of Jesus’ teaching.

Although we may never be teachers, we must decide under what authority that we will make our daily life decisions. Shall we make our life decisions based on our own reasoning? Shall we make our decisions based on what traditions teach us? Shall we make our life decisions based on what is trending in our culture? Shall we make our life decisions based on how we feel? If we follow any of these false forms of authority, we will open ourselves up to short-term regrets and eternal risks.

Let us make all of our life decisions under the only real authority. Let us build and sustain our lives based on the absolute authority of God’s Holy Word.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending us the Truth, Your Son, Jesus. We thank You for the amazing and life-changing doctrine that He delivered to us with divine authority. We praise You for inspiring the authors of the Books of the Bible so that we might have the Good News of the Gospel for presentation throughout the ages. We pray, Lord, that our lives will be living testimonies to the way, the truth and the life that Your Son secured for us on the Cross. May the world around us be drawn to Your Son, Jesus, as they see us living under the divine authority of Your Holy Word. We ask all these things in the name of the Witness to the People, Jesus Christ.