A Little Less Mortal Intervention, and a Little more Divine Direction

One thing always happens to me when I am tired.  I let my guard down.  This can be a good or bad thing.  Good, because I have the opportunity to rely more on God and less on myself and others.  But bad, because I become more susceptible to temptation.  The more tired we get the less we rely on ourselves…always.  The stresses of life, whether  they be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual, force us to rely on something besides ourselves.  That something may be another person, alien substances, or stimulation.  How often do we turn to something that does not last or completely satisfy our torn down, tired selves?  More often than not we rely on the mortal, dead things of earth, rather than the divine superpower who created and loves us.  As a common hymn phrases it, “And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace”.  God is much bigger than the world and every single thing in it, no mater how big it seems to you.  We see men like Joseph, Daniel, and Paul who rely less on the pleasures of the world and a great deal more on God’s love, strength, and grace.  Joseph persevered through unfair slavery, imprisonment, and accusations by knowing God’s love and responding to it. Joseph asked, “How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).  Daniel trusted in God’s strength to provide him physical well being and protection while being an exile (Daniel 1:8ff.; 6:8ff.).  Paul states, “…not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world…” (2 Corinthians 1:12).  These men relied on God’s power to direct their lives.  They did not trust in themselves or lean on the brief satisfactions of liquor, or sex, or cocaine, or marijuana, or stealing, or lying, or porn, or embezzlement, or self-mutilation, or whatever it is that one can use for selfish and impure satisfaction.  These men relied purely on the love, strength, and grace that God had, not only for them, but has for you as well.  In order to take advantage of it you must tap into the superpower of Jesus Christ, and calmly let your guard down.  You must hand over every little choice to God and say, “Lord I lay it in Your hands.  Show me, in your Word and in my quiet time with You, where You want to direct my life and I will gladly give it to You.”

Persevering

Life is not an easy task.  Living for the Lord is not always easy and enjoyable.  But why is that?  Lately I have had a difficult time in focusing on the hope in Christ and joy in the Resurrection.  I go to a private, Christian University and live in the dorms.  I am constantly surrounded by liked my minded people.  I have a somewhat regular schedule, and tend to be so consumed with my biblical major course work that I rarely have time to think about anything other than God, the bible, or at least something spiritual.  But since Friday night, I have been at my home, 3 1/2 hours away from school, surrounded by my non-christian friends, and not participating in my routine with constant submersion within the Word.  And I’ll tell you what…it’s hard!  It is hard to find the passion, the will, the desire to continue with this blog and to live with the joy I was living with in observance of the Resurrection.  I reread my two blogs concerning hope, and was somewhat re-inspired.  We need to be steadfast.  We need to do what is necessary to constantly recommit our lives everyday to God, saying, “thanks God, this day’s for You!”  Hopefully this may help you as it has helped, by finding another type of motivation within my salvation and the works of the Resurrection.  I will leave you with these words from Paul:

I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.  – 1 Corinthians 15:31-34

Basis of Faith

“And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:14).  Paul makes a dramatic statement here: the Resurrection is the basis of faith.  Jesus came to the earth proclaiming salvation, and calling people to live better lives.  Jesus had many followers who loved Him, He pissed a lot of people off too.  Jesus spoke in truth and love, deeply piercing matters concerning the heart.  Jesus required that His followers give up EVERYTHING to follow Him.  After three years of ministry, He died.  His followers must have been greatly disturbed.  This man who they thought would be their redeemer died!  The One who was suppose to bring His to kingdom to earth, be the Jews’ Messiah, and bring them a new life, was unable to keep His own life.  But three days later, He rose!  His follower’s religion, their lifestyle, was redeemed and validated.  If Jesus did not rise from the dead, all He did and said was in vain.  Without the Resurrection we have no faith.  With the Resurrection we have reason to believe and follow what Jesus did and said.

View It

All i want you to do is follow this link.  Great video.  This is what the Resurrection is all about.  Be blessed, and praise be to God!

True Love

Continue in Hope

“Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” What does this actually mean?  What does steadfast, immovable, and the work of the Lord entail?  Steadfast means to stand firm, to be immovable.  Ephesians 6:13 says, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”  We are to use the righteous armour of God that is attained through our relationship with Him to do live stay living in in His righteous will.  Notice that we have to have God’s help in this task, much like we depend on Him for our salvation.  Secondly, “abounding in the work of the Lord” I believe, means doing God’s will.  The greatest commandments that Jesus shared are these: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  So with the hope that is brought to you through the Resurrection may you be steadfast in God’s will, loving Him and your neighbor, because God loved you  first.  Praise be to God!

Hope

We are half way through the season of Lent.  I began this project twenty days ago.  Thus far I have missed four posts.  I am thankful this is not held against me and I am not punished for my shortcomings.  Much like my real life, I am no longer subject to the punishment of death because of my shortcomings in living a perfect life.  God has extended His merciful, grace-filled, free gift of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus to me.  And for that, “Praise be to God”!  Furthermore, by accepting this gift I immediately begin a transformation.  This transformation begins with the soul and will continue with the resurrection of our physical bodies into new, eternal, spiritual bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).  As you can see the process is set in motion but not yet finished (See Transformation post).  The Resurrection give us a wonderful new hope in knowing that we have something to look forward to.  Likewise, there will be a new heaven and earth in the coming age (Revelation 21:1).  After describing the resurrection of Jesus, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”  First, I would like to point out our “labor is not in vain”.  What we do on earth right now is not in vain, meaning the effects we have in this age will carry over into the new and perfect age that is to come.  This should give us a wonderful hope, and this hope should motivate us to do certain things.  In fact, it should motivate us to be “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord”.  Live your life with a hope for the future knowing that what you do now affects the future.  Live life to the fullest in God.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is the main reason why we should be so thankful to God.  It has been said many times now, that through the death and resurrection of Jesus we are forgiven of our sins and given a new life, a life that is in the process of being completed.  I would like to help you understand how you are forgiven of your sins.  So here is a crash course in hamartiology (the study of sin) and soteriology (the study of salvation).  First, we know that “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23).  Next, we find “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).  So there is a problem here.  If everyone sins, and sin causes death, we are all going to die!  Before you get freaked out, let’s keep going.  In the world’s most famous verse we read, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  Here is the solution God is going to send His Son to give us eternal life because He loves us!  But how is it going to work?  The next verse reads, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).  Interesting.  So Jesus didn’t come down to earth to tell us how bad we are?  Nope!  He came so that through Him we could be saved from the death that is required by our sins.  Now you might ask, why did He have to come down here to save us?  It is because sin requires death, a blood offering.  Much like in the Old Testament the Israelites had to sacrifce the pure lamb for the forgiveness of their sins, Jesus became that lamb for us.  John the Baptist spoke this concerning Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).  Then we discover in Ephesians 1:7, “In him [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”.  So you see, it was the death of Jesus that forgave our sins, and then with the resurrection we are imparted the new life.  But then again, when we are forgiven of our sins it gives us a new life free from the chains of death that are engaged by our sin.  This is why you cannot seperate the death from the resurrection, they go hand in hand.  I will leave you with one passage that is essential to understanding and accepting the forgiveness of your sins, especially take note of the last verse:

⁶If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  -1 John 1:6-9

Come See What God has Done!

I do not have a revealing story tonight, I do not have a revealing concept of the resurrection.  I do have one thing though, and that is to challenge you.  I challenge you to praise God as it is seen in the bible.  Praise God for the great things He has offered you, and any of the great things He has done for you.  Specifically, He died for you.  Jesus, God incarnate, gave His life so you would not have to, and He blesses you.  Look around.  Look at the stars, your friendships, family, prosperity.  Praise Him for your life, for the new life He has so graciously offered to you, by Him conquering death.  And if you are saved and hold this eternal that has been offered understand this, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” (1 John 5:14).  We also find, “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Luke 11:10).  That is said by Jesus Himself!  So praise God as we see Him be praised in the bible.

Psalm 66:8-12,16-20

⁸Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
⁹who has kept our soul among the living
and^(K) has not let our feet slip.
¹⁰For you, O God, have^(L) tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
¹¹You brought us into^(M) the net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
¹²you let men^(N) ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through^(O) water;
yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

^16(R) Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
¹⁷I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on^[a] my tongue.^[b]
18If I had^(S) cherished iniquity in my heart,
^(T) the Lord would not have listened.
¹⁹But truly^(U) God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

²⁰Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!

Redifined

First century Jews believed in a restoration in a coming age.  This can be primarily seen in the book of Isaiah.  The Jews looked forward in waiting anticipation for the day of the Lord.  In this day the whole earth would be restored, there would be a resurrection of all the dead, and death and sorrow would be ended (Isaiah 11:6 f.f.;26:19; 25:8).  Keep this in mind as you read this passage:

“Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her,  “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”"  John 11:21-27

Jesus redifined the Jewish expectation of the ressurection.  While the Jews thought everything would happen in one day, Jesus claims the resurrection begins with Him and is Him.  In turn, the rest of the resurrection is still coming, it is not fully here.  Thus far, we have the saving grace if we accept it.  This is where the transformation starts.  If you want to know more read my transformation post =D

Reconciled

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Romans 5:8-11

If we were reconciled by the blood of Christ, which His death, how much more are we saved through His life?!  Rejoice and glorify God through Jesus – who on His behalf we are able to come to the Father – for the reestablishment of our relationship with God.  Praise be to the Christ!