The devotional - 077 - Addendum

A Thought for the Day – 077 – Addendum

Mercy… God holding back from giving to us what we deserve. Grace… God giving to us what we do not deserve. To the unbelieving this may sound absurd, but to the believing it is Ephesians 2:4-5. This is where a personal relationship begins when His Mercy and Grace takes our outstretched hand of faith, as small as the mustard seed and leads us to His free gift of salvation. Ephesians 2:1-10

Comments and challenges

Feeling the need to clarify positional truth I would like to spend some time looking at the Ephesian passage above. A long time ago; in the summer months of growing up I used to caddy at a golf course in Louisville, Kentucky. I believe the name of that course at the time was called Seneca Golf Course. This would have been in the early nineteen fifties. This was more than a summer job for me, my parents had very little money and most of all the income I gained was given to them in order help the family during those years.

I had regular people who I caddied for and one foursome of professional men played every Thursday morning, I carried doubles (two bags) in those days and one of the men owned a shoe store in downtown Louisville. One day he said to me, “son I see you’ve been wearing those shoes all season, you are about ready to walk out of them and you need to buy another pair”. “We can’t afford that” was my response and I am sure there was more conversation about meeting that need.

The following week before we teed off, the man handed me a brand new pair of shoes, nice sneakers also a pair of dress shoes. (I had a need for new shoes, but this of itself was not justification to have new shoes) This was a gift, a free gift a gift that sits in mind as one of those events in my past that shines like a shining light, one of those unforgettable moments. I know that you have those moments too and these times should be looked at from time to time since these do more than help us see that humans do good things. These events in life also parallel the work of God when the free gift of justification is presented to the unjustified.

We do not deserve Justification, we are sinners (don’t make light of being a sinner) God is not a sinner! For Him to have a relationship with you or me, He must do for us things that we cannot do on our own. Earlier in Ephesians One; the apostle Paul lists fifteen or more Spiritual attributes that is given to each believer in Jesus Christ. So this is what I see from Ephesians 1:13. What did we do? We did as the apostles and believers before us did. We believed, we trusted the gospel message, in believing, God provides the final complement. He seals us with the Holy Spirit.

This for me is more than I can stand and causes tears of joy causing me to say; like I said to the man with the shoes. “Oh thank you sir” in place of “sir” my heart cries “Oh thank You Father” and here is why. Being sealed with God the Holy Spirit means that God has given me a part of eternity, like an installment of the fullness to come, even knowing that I am now adopted into the family of God. Romans 8:12-17.

So do not sit on your laurels in some religion thinking that all is well, Solomon has a lot to say about the slug who desires but has nothing; Proverbs 13:4. To be justified by God, the only one thing a person must do is believe and God will do the rest; Acts 16:28-31.

http://www.biblestudytools.com

The Devotional - 076 - Part Four

A Thought for the Day – 076 – Part Four

The thought for today is that I have no thoughts for the day! So here is a verse of scripture to hold on to. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage”. Galatians 5:1

Comments and challenges

I have yet to talk clearly about the Holy Spirit and His work of Regeneration. The subject: Jesus Christ who fulfills the Law, Matthew 5:17-20, completes the Will and Plan of God to reconcile all of the lost souls from the grip of Satan. Satan; a supernatural being holds the world in the bondage of “Sin and Death”. Now I have described what I believe to be a logical explanation of the fall of mankind and the restoration of mankind. I know my explanation is not complete and there are certainly better approaches to this subject.

What I have sought to explain in WORDS will not biblically save your soul or mine from SIN and DEATH. There are no WORDS or WORKS by man that is sufficient for this and because of that; I praise God the Creator of the heavens and the earth, who alone has a plan to redeem you and me. And just let me say that if His plan isn’t working then we should all just pack a small lunch and go to the beach and drown ourselves in the sorrows of the ocean. The Risen Christ Jesus, He is our only HOPE. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19.

It took the supernatural act of a fallen angel of God to SUBVERT and DESTROY the SOULS of God into believing in SIN and DEATH. Now whether you believe in Satan or not, as I know some of you folks out there do not believe he exists, you need to think about this since I know that you are conscious of God as we have talked and being conscious of God is the first step in the right direction. Since, if you believe that God exists, then you believe in a Spirit controlled world. John 4:24 (a simple verse, but very convincing here).

Most New Testament churches preach and teach that God is triune (three in One), God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Speaking of Jesus Christ the apostle Paul explains that in Him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells, Colossians 2:9 and Romans chapter One explains that the world does not retain God in this truth, thus denying the power of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, therefore the world suppresses this truth and worships idolatry.

So in order for you and me to be saved biblically it is God’s responsibility to provide Power that overrides the power of Satan. God does this with the Resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 a long read, but well worth the time. As we read or hear the Good News message of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is God the Holy Spirit who challenges you and me to be equipped with faith, to believe in the Truth. This is not the same faith that we use to sit with in a chair, this faith is human faith and has no place in eternity with God.

The faith that the Holy Spirit provides, is supernatural faith, or God’s faith, I like calling it God’s faith simply because it is the same faith that Jesus has, the faith that sent Him to His sacrificial Death and His Supernatural Resurrection. Ephesians 2:1-10, also I like to add Galatians 2:20. This believing faith is the work of God, not of man. God’s desire for your soul in expressed in John 3:16, 2 Peter 3:9 and other passages throughout the Holy Bible. If you do not have a Holy Bible… shame on you, or better yet; let me know and I will get you one.

You should now be singing that song: “I’m goin to his city because they got some great little Bibles there and I’m gonna get me one”. No; I don’t think that this is the title of that song… it was about Kansas City! Stay away from there; I hear the women are crazy. Hmm!

http://www.biblestudytools.com

The Devotional - 075 - Part Three

A Thought for the Day – 075 – Part Three

I would imagine that Solomon is one of my favorite writers; I seem to spend a lot of time searching out things in his books. I do not have any specific reasons although you might dream up a few of your own which is okay by me. But as I read the last verse in Ecclesiastes 5, I am reminded once again of two issues on Solomon’s mind. One: He is conscious of God’s involvement in the personal life of people, and Two: God loves to keep us busy with… joy of heart. So what is in your heart today?

Comments and challenges

Yesterday I wrote that mankind (you and me) have a sentence of death on our created physical being and over the last two days I have used scripture to back that up. In other words there is no way to get off of planet earth without the experience of dying; it is the penalty of SIN and whether we like this or not, it is Satan who has placed this barrier between physical life and spiritual life. This flesh and blood body of ours cannot inherit the kingdom of God, the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:50 makes this clear.

Notice with me if you will 1 Corinthians 15:56 – The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. Now it is your turn to say; (Oh no, I keep the law; I do not steal, lie or commit adultery!) Good for you, but tell God that you love Him with your whole heart, mind and soul, do you not see that the selfish pride of saying that you do not steal, lie, or commit adultery omits the first five commandments which need to be in place before the other five can be fulfilled. Deuteronomy 5:5-22; note also Matthew 22:36-40. In the Matthew passage the Pharisee lawyer was seeking to trip Jesus up with words, only to find out that Jesus did not trip over this challenge, but the Pharisee did, as do we when we seek to keep a part of the law and ignore the rest. (You and I cannot fulfill this love of God this way; not without the Spirit of God living in us).

God, knowing the fallen condition of mankind, placed His own Son (Jesus Christ) as the ONE sacrifice that is ALL sufficient for ALL sin; THIS ACTION of God cannot be explained in natural terms, it is a supernatural event, a ONE time event in the history of the God’s created world. His one-time sacrifice is sufficient for the everyday occurrence for the sins of all of the yesterdays the world has ever experienced. His onetime sacrifice is all sufficient for all of the sin which will be committed today and His onetime sacrifice is sufficient for all of the sins that will be experienced in all of the future of life on earth.

Now in my little mind… this is POWER! The life of God’s SON who takes away the STING of DEATH also rose from the dead on the third day after dying this sacrificial death, HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD. 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 is a very good read on this. Are you not glad that your soul belongs to God and longs to be restored to the LIVING GOD, Psalm 42:1-11 and Ecclesiastes 3:11.

Now I know that many of you who read this are saved and this is sort of like preaching to the choir (whatever we have meant that to be), but there are many of folks out there who get this devotional who are religious, trapped in some religion that is doom to go into hell, some of these folks believe that this is okay because they will be prayed out of this darkness by the remaining parishioners.

Now; for that verse in 1 Corinthians 15, the one that these folks cling to (1 Corinthians 15:29) the apostle is not affirming or confirming that we can pray people out of the abyss, purgatory or any other “holding tank” that God is said to have set aside for people who partially keep His Commandments. The apostle is saying; that these people who do such a thing know that there is going to be a resurrection in the final day and that they are seeking to circumvent the power of God in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, seeking to override God’s standard of Righteousness by their own standard of righteousness. In other words these folks deny the power of God by rejecting the Risen Savior.

There will be a Part Four; I have yet to talk clearly about the Holy Spirit and His work of Regeneration. This is like teaching the epistle of Galatians… (a personal pun) it seems to never end, then again why should it? Since this is an everlasting or eternal subject. The subject: Jesus Christ who fulfills the Law, Matthew 5:17-20.

http://www.biblestudytools.com

The Devotional - 074 - Part Two

A Thought for the Day – 074 – Part Two

I just cannot help myself… I like the way Solomon writes. He says here in Ecclesiastes 5:18 “here is what I have seen” this is a first person singular statement, like “I saw this in my life’s journey and here is my understanding of what I saw.” Most of us today quiver in our boots to make such a dogmatic comment, so when I write I challenge myself to use what I know to bring light into the darkness of my little corner of the world. Tying what I know to the Living Word of God helps me feel that I am fulfilling 2 Timothy 4:1-4.

Comments and challenges

Now back to the epistle of James, James writes about works that are produced by faith in God; Solomon writes about works without faith (yet this is not to say that Solomon had no faith in God, he is simply excluding faith in God to show that what man does under the sun without God is pure “VANITY”). Thus there is an ongoing temptation for every human being to live life unconscious of God and produce works that are an expression of glorifying his or her self-image. God identifies these works as “good and evil” the works of man are not pleasing to God simply because these works are mixed with evil, the production of all good and evil works is SIN.

The result of sin is total separation from God eternally, God’s Will is to have the soul of man return to Him, there are many examples in the Bible of God’s desire for the souls He has created. In Ezekiel God makes a few statements regarding the soul, I like this one. Ezekiel 18:3 “As I live,” says the LORD God, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. “Behold, all souls are Mine, the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die”… you can go on and read the rest of this through the end of the chapter; it is an interesting read. (The Lord God is referring to the proverb used by Israel found in verse 2 of Ezekiel 18; an explanation of this proverb is found in an earlier devotional.

In order to produce works that are pleasing to God, mankind needs to hear “Good News” from God and as I am writing I see the need to have a “Part Three” to this devotional. So I will be concluding this soon since it is after 9a.m. The good news is that God in His love for you and me and all of the rest of the world too provides the way to do good works that glorify Him. The only way for Him to do this is to eliminate SIN, sin is the wall that separate all of mankind from Him.

And now I hear your wheels turning in thought, eliminate sin? If you are not a believer under the Biblical definition of believing in God, then you have no problem with this since you can say that you do not sin, you just do good while you live out the evils in your heart which you cannot control because you do not want to. And if you are a believer in accordance with the Biblical definition you will be saying; I still sin so how is sin eliminated? These are not all of the examples of questions that stir up the thoughts in us of how God deals with sin and if you practice a religion you will have other views of error too. More tomorrow.

http://www.biblestudytools.com

 

The Devotional - 074 - Part One

A Thought for the Day – 074 – Part One

I just cannot help myself… I like the way Solomon writes. He says here in Ecclesiastes 5:18 “here is what I have seen” this is a first person singular statement, like “I saw this in my life’s journey and here is my understanding of what I saw.” Most of us today quiver in our boots to make such a dogmatic comment, so when I write I challenge myself to use what I know to bring light into the darkness of my little corner of the world. Tying what I know to the Living Word of God helps me feel that I am fulfilling 2 Timothy 4:1-4.

Comments and challenges

“God has given to every one of us a portion in life”, or as translated in Ecclesiastes 5:18 “God has given us a heritage”. Now let me ask us a simple question. But first let me answer it for us from James 1:17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Now the question: Solomon says that God has given you and me a portion of human life to live; does this life He gives come with an unhealthy dose of SIN? My answer is no, I am not sure what yours is?

Solomon says; “it is good and fitting to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his (mankind’s) labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God has given him” so I see here that the problem is not with the gift of God which is good, the problem is what we do with that gift once we determine that we can PESONALLY and selfishly destroy it. Now there is much too much scripture to prove this out and yes we are much too much a private hearted people to admit that we have TRASHED the gift of God with personal SIN! So God readily reminds us that we are full of lies and do not do the truth 1 John 1:5-10.

Ecclesiastes 5:20 provides ample information that mankind does not dwell on his or her sin with respect to the consequence since God keeps his or her life busy with the joy of the heart. This helps me understand that after a few days a person can forget how his or her root of bitterness has affected those around them, including themself and return to living and rejoicing in their daily labors. Too much of this activity though will produce hardness heart. Ecclesiastes 6:1 says this is an evil and common among men. (In this thought, there should not be a chapter break as I believe that Solomon’s thought continues here).

So here in Part One; of these thoughts today I see that there are many days of the past where I have selfishly lived my life (God’s physical gift to me) without recognizing that the gift is not mind to control or selfishly manipulate, the gift is given to my SOUL which belongs to God to whom my soul is accountable, but if I have used the gift of God to selfishly abuse me and those around me, then my soul has NOTHING to show to God of the labors of life. God’s gift then is expended in the selfishness of sin and is USELESS for eternity.

Now there is a problem or two: One is the problem of sin and for YOU AND ME (there are no exceptions), if you do not know it already, notice Romans 3:23 or Galatians 3:22 which conclude that every person has been imprisoned in SIN. This is a physical life sentence without parole under the SUN and what is meant by the statement of Solomon “under the sun” simply… whatever happens on earth is confined to earth. Satan caused mankind to reject the testimony of God on the one condition of physical living; “in the day you shall eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil, you shall surely die” Genesis 2:17. Man’s disobedience resulted in God’s curse on that which He created; the curse is death to our physical gift of life. Genesis 3:1-24. More tomorrow, scripture references: http://www.biblestudytools.com

The Devotional - 073 - A splinter of Hope

A Thought for the Day – 073 – A sliver of Hope!

Have you noticed the DOW lately, in the midst of the erratic rise and fall of this economic yardstick people are watching their retirement kindle and dwindle on the same day; also their mortgages slide low one minute and fly high the next. Then if you listen to those in the know they say; but listen to the final bell; all is well! Solomon says: “he who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity. Ecclesiastes 5:9

Comments and challenges

I was recently talking with my oldest son about life, raising a family and the issues we run into along the way. One of his comments went like this, “well no one gave us a rule book to raise a family”. There is right and wrong in this statement, it is the same statement that I made around his age years ago. But first let me say that raising a family is the hardest task given to man by man.

Did you get that; first what man passes on to man from one generation to another is ALL VANITY and chasing after the wind. From the man’s heart (that would be his central intelligence center) as his children are growing up he knows that he is failing them. From this same center, he realizes that he has failed as a husband too. The only area of success, which also comes out of his heart is the ability to agree with the other men that they are doing the best they can with no rule book.

Then to add fuel to this way of existing, there are those who write books on the subject of family and the responsibilities within; some of these people do not have a wife or husband and some do not have children too, yet by ungodly reasoning we believe their nonsense and family raising is substituted for the village and community based efforts.

There is a rule book, or better said; there is a Book to love and raise children, a Book to love your wife, a Book to love your country and a Book to love God. It is called the Holy Bible; just listen to Psalm 127.

Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city; the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He (God) gives to His beloved sleep.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is His reward. Like arrows in the hand of the warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

Now there is a deeper study to be done in this Psalm but everything pertaining to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness (which is; every man’s goal in life) is written out clearly in this Psalm. We as fathers of children and husband to our wives have failed because as a nation we are not the watchman of God, we are the watchman of vanity. We do not have a quiver full of children, thus our national heritage is being given to another nation right under our nose.

Some may think this is a sad commentary; but not so. Gideon’s Army was reduced from 32,000 people to 300, Judges 7:1-25 God does not need an army to defeat Satan’s destructive forces of men and women who are bent to do evil, (Romans 1:18-32 and Ecclesiastes 5:11-20). Those of us who will acknowledge God’s gift to mankind, (a small remnant) can charge our national free fall and return to God as He directs. Ecclesiastes 5:6-20. http://www.biblos.com

The Devotional - 072 - Respect for Authority

A Thought for the Day – 072 – Respect for Authority!

What is the definition of “blameless” in Psalm 119:1? We have all been defiled by the output of our sinful natures. So do not seek to say that you are, apart from the LORD Jesus Christ the rest of mankind are sinful. Also verse one answers the question… those who walk in the law of the LORD are blameless. For those of us who live and understand the grace of God, the lawful command that God provides is a blameless character through abiding in Christ. Romans 13:14

Comments and challenges

Do you get as many “political surveys” as I do? Every political party, every Politian and every para-political watch dog sends me a survey, all of whom seek for me to answer the SAME questions. It is not my intention to answer any of these questions since all of the questions insult the average person with a nickels worth of common sense (everything has go up in cost these days, I remember when common sense was the price of an empty soda bottle).

The questions lead me to believe that if these folks do not have the answers or if they are not sure that Americans are worthy enough to know the answers; we the people are in deep trouble. For example here is the latest one, it came in today. It is called the Nationwide Policy Survey. What is the American policy? First let me say a little about the directions.

1.      Please complete your survey using a BLACK or BLUE pen. What? Maybe I could do my neighbors in red as long as I do MINE in black or blue!

2.      Read and sign the Survey Certification of the following page. This page is the donation page; if you cannot give the amounts suggest, at least give us $11.00 the cost of doing the survey. It the wording says “my survey” good, I am not doing it so I will be saving me $11.00.

The questions are exactly like all of the other surveys…jobs and economy, government spending, taxes, health care, social security, immigration and border security, energy, the constitution, national security and other issues. Then if that were not enough the last questions are related to President Obama and the Congress.

Finally the political party asks for your credit card information, your occupation, your employer, your telephone number and your email address. I am sure that most of this info they already have, if not they are poor record keepers.

What does all of this have to do with the daily devotional? We should not be giving a dime to any political program or para-political organization; we should be bathing our nation in prayer by confession of our national sins to God.

He alone is capable of mending and repairing the problems presented in this survey as questions. Romans 13:1-14 applies. We need to have respect for authority, you see Romans 13:6 says to owe no one anything except to love one another. If I pray I am expressing love, if I pay I am expecting fulfillment of the law that no one can fulfill except through the grace provided by God who loves.

Respect for authority pays our lawful taxes, while completing a survey and paying for that simply increases the vanity in the land. Ecclesiastes 5:8-15. For scripture references please CTRL+ click on the following website: http://www.biblos.com