What About The Hard Sayings Of Jesus? ...

And after some disciples heard these sayings, they no longer followed Him..... Jesus never made it easy to be a follower of His and stipulated strict guidelines and requisites like denial of self, and having first priority in our hearts so much that we "hate" our parents. He also said that we "cannot come to the Father unless it has been granted.." We cannot believe in Jesus apart from grace ("Apart from Me, you can do nothing...." "This is the work of God... that you believe in Him whom He has sent."). St. Augustine of Hippo said it well: “God command what you will, but grant what you command…” If we can turn over a new leaf, make a New Year’s resolution, Boy Scout pledge, or AA pledge to change our lives, what good is regeneration? God must change us from the inside out!

What good is regeneration if we can accomplish this of our own strength and without grace working in our hearts? God opens the door of faith and kindles it within us as He quickens our dead spirit. This is called "lordship salvation" as opposed to "easy-believism" or that commitment to Christ as Lord is not required for salvation. We must receive Him for who He is! Jesus never watered down His message, contextualized it, nor dumbed it down, but told it as it is in straight talk and calling a spade a spade. He never minced words or made it easy to follow Him but discouraged half-hearted disciples who may have admired Jesus but were not ready to lay down their lives for Him.

For instance, no fornicator, murderer, liar, drunkard, homosexual, thief, or swindler will get into the kingdom. But with all these requirements, we cannot change ourselves but we must be willing to let God change us: we come as we are, but do not remain that way due to the grace of God working in our hearts. What good is regeneration if we can believe apart from it or conversion if we had the power to transform our lives ourselves? The whole point of the gospel is that God changes us and we become new creatures in Christ: a changed life as a testimony!

Salvation must be grace from beginning to end: "Salvation is of the LORD," (Jonah 2:9) and that means we do not contribute anything to our regeneration and conversion. Therefore, it is not of us and God nor of us alone but of God alone! It is the work of God on our behalf who gets the glory. Soli Deo Gloria!

From Faith To Faith

 We do not stand still in the Christian life we are either going forward or backward we are not treading water walking; you can walk backward and you can walk forward but you cannot walk and place. That's why it says we go from faith to faith our faith grows that's why it's called a growing living faith because something in his life grows. We must be willing to walk with God by faith through thick and thin with our dynamic faith growing as we come to know God personally come what may as it were. We all have a spiritual journey where we grow and learn from our mistakes our errors our flaws our faults our misjudgments and our sins. We must learn to practice the presence of God in whatever happens whatever occurs to us in faith but always calling upon the Lord and being unseasonally in prayer and fellowship.

That means keeping short accounts of the God of our sins and confessing constantly what we do wrong. There is a vacuum in our soul only God can fill we must do so by filling it with God. The more the world that is in God and our soul the less the room there is for God our spiritual. Our spiritual journey or pilgrimage with God begins that salvation and doesn't cease until we reach glory in heaven; even there we learn and grow from glory to glory as we know the Lord better and better all the more. Because this is what eternal life is knowing God and knowing the Lord personally. So we go but we grow by faith to faith glory to glory strength to strength as it were. 

This involves being committed to our Lord in faithfulness to our calling. Our mission should be the primary focus of our life we must not be disobedient to our heavenly vision you know we are.  Some will must realize that he was faithful and little shall be faithful in much we must be faithful to whatever assignment God has given us his will for our lives for he that is given much much of him shall be required. This involves being faithful to our resources, our blessings, our talents, our gifts, our time, our relationships, our skills, our calling --whatever God gives us.  Soli Deo Gloria! 

Why Am I Here?

 

"Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless." Bertrand Russell, atheist philosopher ( Without God in the metric life makes no sense!)  

Some of us just wish to be remembered! Some to make a contribution to the world or the church's mission. We are here to make a difference not to be remembered! Even the wicked can be remembered or live on in infamy! We are marching to a beat of a different drum though and follow God's marching orders not to follow the crowd as to get lost in it, to be of the world but not of it. We may even feel taken for granted or forgotten in life but are here for God's pleasure and purpose, not ours. We owe society as well as God and should feel some obligation to pay back or make a positive influence. Even if we are forgotten, we have struck a chord that will vibrate for eternity in God's timing and purpose as David fulfilled all God's purposes and then slept with his fathers, We must relinquish our will to God and do and seek His will for our lives, Remember, God wants us to see the big picture and know we have a big God and not to see God in merely human terms.  As long as we see the big picture we are properly focused and oriented to God's will: "All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose." We must realize in our faith that it is not how big our faith is but how big our God in whom it is; the object of the faith is what counts-- you can be sincerely wrong and have zeal not according to knowledge! We all should be aware of our mission statement of the Great Commission! When our work is done we are called home and only what is done in Christ will last and be rewarded, above all remember that God is the Benefactor and it pays to serve the LORD! We will surely be rewarded if we faint not and continue on in the Spirit of the Lord and be faithful and obedient to our heavenly vision! Our work is not in vain! Note that our faith is not measured by our experiences or ecstasies but our obedience: "Only he who is obedient believes; only he who believes is obedient."  Yes, we were designed and hard-wired to serve, know, love, and worship God! We are part of some divine intricate plan! If not God, it will be for someone else! a false or pseudo-God. 

Discovering God

 Christianity is about the God who is there! Just believing in God will not save you, the demons believe and tremble! Faith is going beyond mere assent or agreement or intellectual head belief.  King David was anointed with the Holy Spirit by Samuel and the Spirit never left him from then on, He dwelt in the house of the Lord all the days of his life and fulfilled all God's will and purpose for him as a man after God's own heart. Some people say they believe in God but are He the right one? One cabbie in Ireland came across an atheist and asked him: Is it the God of the Protestants or the God of the Catholics you don't believe in? Many will acknowledge or give lip service to a Deity but the mention of the name of Jesus is an offense to some and a sound barrier to be broken. 

David wanted to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living; he didn't want a 'PIE IN THE SKY" religion but a practical one that proves it pays off to serve God and He blesses us in the here and now and we can enjoy God now, not just wait till glory.  He felt secure in his salvation despite heinous sins.  David longed to be in the house of the LORD,, where the glory of the LORD was, and he could meet with God, but we have the resident Holy Spirit inside us permanently who will never leave nor forsake us. We don't have to go out looking for God in that sense because God has found us and sealed us with the Spirit. David's psalms teach us to seek the face of God and to enjoy His presence and anointing in prayer and worship. 

All Christians are now anointed and we have a greater advantage than David because of the complete Word of God and Holy Spirit, We are better off than he was though he was a prophet. In those days some presumed that God would never let anything bad happen to Israel or Jerusalem because of the temple but they did;t realize that God does not dwell in temples made of stone or manmade. This was false confidence that they found out was wrong when Babylon invaded and put Israel into exile and deported them. 

The Jews actually had to search for God on their own and learn godliness not depending on externalism or religiosity for they had no temple to make sacrifices either. They ultimately leaned on God as their protector, provider, and fortress, and did not lean on their own understanding or wisdom, or resources.  Necessity is really the mother of invention and the Jews were finally cured of their sin of idolatry. 

They also must have learned to wrestle with God in prayer and to seek and find justice in this world even wondering if there is any in their complaints to God.  They had a lot to learn only in exile and learned to practice personal piety and seek God's face as is basic spirituality. They must have also wondered where God's justice is because a wicked nation was punishing them. They grew homesick and even despondent longing for the good old days. I'll bet they vowed to be faithful and truly worship God when they returned to the homeland.

Isaiah 5:13 says that the Jews went into exile due to their ignorance of God and lack of knowledge of God. It is through much tribulation we enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).  Ignorance was no excuse and God had some issues for them to work out corporately and personally (Hosea 4:1,4). It is evident they learned their lesson as idolatry was never an issue again and piety rose with the establishment of synagogue worship.

NOTE these points in closing: anyone can find God if they seek Him with all their heart in all sincerity. He is not far from any one of us, as close as the mention of His name. He is found even by those not looking for Him (Isaiah 65:1) and God seeks us and finds us more than we do Him: we are to seek Him while He may be found (Isaiah 55:6)! Seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened, ask and it shall be given (Matt. 7:1)! God's chief complaint is that man does not seek Him!    Soli Deo Gloria!

Do You Follow Your Heart?

Some people misuse or abuse the word "heart" and think it just stands for how they feel or their emotions. Like saying, "I feel in my heart that you are wrong!" Or "I cannot accept that in my heart." Sometimes things don't resonate or ring true but we are meant to be rational creatures who reason out things and listen to the voice of reason! We must be true to our hearts but realize they have an intellect and volition too. The will is like the driver that controls the two horses on the carriage of emotion and intellect giving feedback and needing direction. When we accept Christ into our hearts, it means to be willing to obey Him, love Him, and know Him! I want to know Jesus more clearly, love Him more dearly, and follow Him more nearly!

Too many people are told to follow their hearts in pursuing a career or even marriage and misconstrue that as going by one's feelings or emotions, which can vary like a weathervane in a storm. We are to seek godly counsel in major decisions and go to the LORD in prayer as a fist and not a last resort. If something is God's will, He will provide and give us the love for the endeavor and the means of doing it. God does have a plan for each of us and has even written out our lives before we were even born. God is always in control and our spiritual guide and counselor. If we don’t seek God’s will, He may say, “Okay, have it your way!” We should always bow in relinquishment and commitment to God’s will and favor.

We must realize that no one is purely emotional, intellectual or logical, or volitional; note our will are not born free but the slaves of sin, and when we get to know the Lord, we are set free! "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed." We are to love and seek the LORD with all our hearts, soul, and strength; all our being and essence. We must therefore guard our hearts, for out of them flow the issues of life (Prov. 4:23) and that as a man is in his heart, so is he (Prov. 23:7). We cannot fool God who even sees the motives of our hearts (Prov. 21:2): "The LORD weighs the heart."

Pascal was right: "The heart has reasons the mind knows not!" And Jeremiah was also on target: "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" Jer. 17:9 This is why Jesus wants to come into our hearts and we must believe in our hearts! He opens the eyes of our hearts to the truths of scripture and opens our hearts to make them receptive to the gospel message. God can also judiciously harden our hearts as He did to Pharaoh. But only after we have done so. Some people are just intellectually in love with the idea of the Bible as scholars or of Jesus as the model or guide of humanity but Jesus is not looking for admirers, but worshipers in spirit and in truth.

In sum, if we do not feel right about a decision, we should wait upon the LORD and pray and seek wise counsel because it may be our conscience speaking to us and God may be trying to prevent us from ruining our lives; remember this: the heart of the matter is that it’s a matter of the heart! Soli Deo Gloria! 

Knowing Truth...

 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge," according to Prov. 1:7.  In the Bible, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding are linked. They lead to each other. If you know things, you can be wise with that knowledge, understand it, and use it to the best means and ends. We are to increase in our knowledge of the Lord. 

Jesus claimed to come to bear witness of the truth and that those who belong to the truth will listen to Him (John 18:37) and even said He is the epitome of truth itself: "I am the way, the truth, and the life..." (John 14:6).   Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:7). Because of Christ, we have universal, objective, transcendent, absolute, and timeless truth to live by. 

One must ultimately ask: on what basis do you define or reckon knowledge? It cannot always be certain but must be true to the best possible proof and belief. Without reference to God, can there be any real knowledge? Can you make truth claims when the God of truth doesn’t exist and you deny absolute truth? Knowledge must be accepted and believed! Denying knowledge is denying reality in a way as is not knowing the truth and inventing your own truth.

All in all, one must be justified to believe in knowledge. But what we now have in a secular society is a way to be intellectually fulfilled and have the answers without God in the metric especially by appealing to evolution or saying that science is the answer; au contraire, God is the only Answerer!

The starting point as far as the world or secular society (Secular Humanism) is concerned is mankind as the "measure of all things" or reference point. They believe in commencing with man and contemplating, understanding, and explaining or explaining away God!  Athanasius said that the only system of thought God will fit into is the one where He is the starting point: we begin with God and explain reality or the world, not vice versa. 

Reality has to correspond with the truth and if Christianity is true, then its concept of reality is worth studying and living by. If not, then it is completely irrelevant.  Postmodern philosophy says that "God is dead" and this means God is no longer relevant, meaningful, necessary, or helpful in understanding reality and the world; they only want to believe what science can prove as absolute truths and not what God reveals. 

This is a philosophy and not science and should be called "scientism." That is very apparent when people harness science for unscientific reasons such as making philosophical proclamations as Carl Sagan said, "The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be." Science cannot know this and this statement cannot be subject to the scientific method. Science is not the only means of gaining absolute or perfect knowledge.  

The point is that without God, we can know nothing at all, we need an infinite reference to understand a finite reference point!  For instance, if there is no God, life has no ultimate meaning and unless there is a God, all things are up for grabs and all things are permissible because we have no reason to believe in morals at all except for selfish preservation like a survival instinct.  To have firm branches, we need firm roots and our worldview is like our roots!  It is the foundation that our knowledge depends upon!  

Because of God, we can say that we can know things for certain (we have a firm foundation) and that morals are absolute and not relevant to the person or situation. When you say that truth itself is relative, is that statement relative? When you say that you must not believe anything someone tells you about God, should we believe that person? When you say that you can know nothing for certain, can we trust that person is certain, and can he be certain?  Soli Deo Gloria!

Dissension In The Church...

There are certain doctrines that Christians, even sincere, will always disagree about and it should be that way for we are not to be contentious about every minor doctrine and learn to distinguish what the main thing is: the gospel. Augustine said, "In necessary things, unity; in unnecessary things, liberty; in all things charity." We should never abandon the essential and nonnegotiable truths of the faith but "earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto us." Keep the main thing the main thing!

We are not to stay away from all controversies but godless ones, not godly ones. Some matters are not worth the adrenaline they stimulate or generate more heat than light! It is not always the right thing to do to remain congenial when truth is at stake. Remember, the church fathers did debate doctrines till they could concur on the truth and resolve them with creeds. Note: sectarian spirit is wrong and we should not say "I am of Paul, I am of Peter, I am of Jesus" and so forth. But remember, the spirit of the Reformation was: “I dissent, I disagree, I protest,” meaning we are not slaves to a church dogma but should search the Scriptures like Bereans to see whether those things are so. (Acts 17:11).

Don't major on minors and get sidetracked in gray areas that are a matter of personal conscience in which each should be convinced in his own mind while respecting matters of opinion. Heresy arises to prove whom God approves and who is in error and should be judged. We are to judge those within the church who are false teachers or wolves in sheep's clothing. Just because there may be disagreement among sincere believers is no reason to become neutral or refuse to take a stand as a bystander. “If you are not firm in your faith, you will not stand firm at all.” (Isaiah 7:9). “They refuse to stand for the truth.” (Jer. 9:3).

We have a right to our own opinion, just not our own facts! Also, we are to get convicted of the truth knowing that we hold opinions, but convictions hold us! Do you have any convictions you will die for? It was only certain orthodox doctrines that the church fathers fought for and defended and put into their creeds such as the deity of Christ, the resurrection, the inspiration of scripture, and the sinfulness of mankind. The whole point is that we should never become argumentative, divisive, judgmental, contentious, or prejudiced in our discussions.

No one has a monopoly on the truth and knows all the answers. Thankfully, we know the Answerer and have the Answer book, and if we can agree on that we have a basis of fellowship. Remember, our fellowship is based on a relationship with Jesus, not an agreement on a doctrine we cherish as a fetish as having a Bible-club mentality.

What is important is that we all agree that Jesus is Lord and have He is the Judge, not us. If we can balance and reference our teachings to the Word of God, that is important. Can you cite scripture to support it? Now, I do not mean we should be adept at proof-texting or even taking verses out of context but know that our doctrines need biblical support. Inexperienced students of the Word take verses out of context literally concerning their immediate context in the paragraph, book, and rest of scripture; also out of context socially and culturally, and even out of context theologically meaning they ignore the basic teaching of scripture as a whole to prove one far-fetched ideas or teaching.

Remember, "no scripture is of any private interpretation" meaning God is not going to give some gifted teacher the ability to see things that others don't. "The sum [entirety] of God's word is truth" meaning not in isolation or out of context. We must compare scripture with scripture and verse with parallel verses and let scripture be its own interpreter! We must strive for truth in interpretation and know what we believe; not knowing is a kind of unbelief!

In sum, just because believers don’t agree on some doctrines, doesn’t mean we should avoid those doctrines, or take stands on them, but understand that others may disagree and not always intend to dissuade them but “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” and find commonality or common ground on which to fellowship. Soli Deo Gloria!

The Spirit Of The Law...

The Pharisees were guilty of obeying the letter of the Law at the exclusion of the spirit of the Law. They majored on minors and paid heed to minor points such as tithing in small matters and ignored the weightier matters of the Law: faithfulness, mercy, and love. (Matt. 23:23). For instance, one may say that he frowns upon dancing but overlooks covetousness as a minor affair or offense. Being a legalist leads to judging and even condemning one's brother or sister. We are not to compare ourselves to other persons or our Christian brethren (2 Cor. 10:12). Legalism is one way to end up doing that!

Sometimes necessity knows no law like when in the parable of the Good Samaritan and the priest didn't want to become ceremonially unclean by defiling himself or even missing his Sabbath. This is an example of "going beyond that which is written!" (1 Cor. 4:4). Besides going against the spirit of the law, it is fulfilled in loving our neighbor, making up your own rules, and adding sins is also legalism. Tradition is often added to the Word of God and counted as a way to gauge sin. The priest was a slave to his tradition and could not see a need to be fulfilled. Legalism elevates tradition to the level of Law and binds people where the Bible has left them free! Jesus was concerned about the heavier matters of the Law such as "justice mercy and faithfulness."  (Matt. 23:23). 

In my day, good Christians watched the hemlines, movie lines, and hairlines! Spirituality was something to be seen by men and an external thing noticed by others. Basically, believing that faith plus works equal salvation is legalism; actually, faith equals salvation plus works--viva la difference! One must distinguish that legalism sees sins, not sin! Remember, the letter kills but the Spirit gives life! Legalism is a form of spiritual tyranny as one believes he is spiritual but actually still a whitewashed tomb or refined sinner; salvation is not about reform but renewal! 

We are forgiven for our sins and what we did, but delivered from what we are, sinners. The problem of mankind is slavery to sin and that can be any sin, even pet ones or presumptuous ones. When one says, for instance, to give up this or that to become a Christian, one fails to realize we are slaves to sin in toto and are sinners by nature.

The opposite and equally evil distortion of the Law of God is antinomianism! (AGAINST THE LAW!).  The theme song: "Freed from the Law, O blessed condition, now I can sin all I want and still have remission." Some believers may think salvation is a license to sin or that God overlooks our sins. But Martin Luther wrote a book condemning these heretics: Against the Antinomians. The only way to maintain a balance between these two extremes of Bible application is to know the Bible and to understand the definition of sin and what it is not as well. Soli Deo Gloria! 

Do You Pray With Purpose?

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise." Psalm 100:4

 Do you lose track of yourself and God when you pray? Some even fall asleep probably because they are experiencing peace with God! Even wondering in thought, undisciplined, aimless, and undirected or unfocused? You are admonished to stay alert in prayer which means be watchful for prayer opportunities and needs of others first and then yourself. Prayer does have a purpose and it's not to get God to see things your way or to change His mind or to get Him to do you a favor or grant your every wish or whim. Successful prayer changes you, not God!

It is an honor just to be able to go directly to the Father in Jesus' name and to boldly approach the throne of grace to ask God what He is already predisposed to do! Contrary to some, prayer is not just asking God to do things for you and He is no genie! The purpose of prayer is prayer! That's right! We learn to experience God and have an intimate encounter with the Almighty; bare your soul!

It's a privilege to pray as a child of God to the Father and have His attention and audience! When we gain access to the throne room and get into fellowship with God, it's its own reward! We come as we are in prayer but will not stay that way! We should enjoy prayer and our ongoing dialogue with God! We must beware of what breaks this beautiful relationship: unconfessed sin in our lives. First order of business and Job One is to come clean with God and confess known and unknown sins in general. God will then cleanse us of all unrighteousness, even the sins we are not aware of.

We ought to have a divine and spiritual purpose for our prayer like a petition or request, intercession for others in need, praise offering, thanksgiving, or confession. That would be the primary reason for going to God and all the rest is incidental but we must stay focused on our purpose and not get sidetracked or lose our focus. Prayer without purpose (like reading without one) is like going by feelings and they are as variable as a weathervane. We must not worry about anything, pray about anything, and thank about everything! As the spiritual say: "Take it to the Lord in prayer!" Just like when you read the Bible to get a word from the Lord, you must ask yourself: "What is occasioning the prayer; why and for what?

Do you ever wonder why your prayer life seems anemic and you are out of your league compared to the prayers of preachers who get plenty of public practice? Don't give up and figure out and ponder what interferes with your prayers: apathy, lack of prep, lack of Bible interest or reading, sin in your life, negligence, easygoing life with not concerns, no emergencies God forbid! Don't let prayer be your last resort but your fist call for help! You must learn to go directly to God and not first to your friends or family! God is your Provider and has promised to see to it all our needs are taken care of; we just need to learn to lean on Him and trust and obey!

A problem some have is that they give up too easily and accept a "No!" for an answer when God is just asking you to wait or telling you He has something better. You must realize that problems come to drive us to our needs and this is good when we have no place else to go. We ought always to pray and not to give up; praying as if it all depends on God, but living as if it all depends on us! Don’t forget to seek the prayer support of others for urgent causes and needs and be willing admit your own.

Remember, prayer is dialogue with God and God speaks to us primarily through His Word and reading it is meant to put us into the mood to pray and to know what our needs are and what to pray for in a godly manner. The formula or format is to the Father, in the name of the Son, in the power of the Spirit (Eph. 2:18; 3:12). In sum, it is paramount to pray “in the Spirit” being attentive to God’s will to be heard and to look for needs to fulfill by your intercession and petition. Soli Deo Gloria! 

What Are You Looking For?

What are you looking for?


Many people admit to be "looking" but don't know or realize for what or for whom. Those who seek God have different motives and reasons: a sense of meaning and purpose in life; peace of mind; filling the void in life; moral fiber to face decisions; strength in crisis; healing; friendship; the absolute truth; forgiveness; freedom from guilt; and the answer to the it all. Many have sought a higher standard of living, human rights, education, freedom, and the supernatural for answers but it eludes them.

We can have all these things and never find God. There is a vacuum only God can fill and we are spiritually empty and restless till we find our meaning and rest in God. He fulfills all our expectations and more. Considering how much God can do for us; how can we neglect such great salvation?

To accomplish the aforementioned, many seek gurus, swamis, wise-guys, cult leaders, mediums, fortune tellers, experts, philosophers, the intelligentsia, the academia, the pundits, the politicians, the religious leaders, the celebrities, the heroes of society, and religion or even drugs and pop psychology. But there is only one true answer to the ultimate and big questions of life: Jesus is the Answer and the Bible is the Answer Book.

All we need to know is in Him and His Word. Without God, life makes no sense! For instance, there can be no objective, transcendent, absolute, universal, and timeless truths but all so-called truths would be relevant because there would be ultimate standard to appeal to and final Arbiter of truth.

But before we can find the answer, we must admit to the questions: are you a sinner and lost without God? Can you find meaning without Him? Do your realize your need? Do you realize that Jesus claimed to be the only way to truth and God?

God is no Cosmic Killjoy, Celestial Policeman, Mother Earth; Clark Kent or Superman (secret identity and super-human under disguise with super powers); Popeye (who is a human with super power); or Man Upstairs who is impersonal and cannot be known; doting Grandpa; or the Force that is to be utilized in our favor. We must see that God is personal and we can know Him. That is why He came to earth as Jesus to reveal Himself. We use things and forces, but we know and relate to persons. None of the assumed deities loves us as Jesus does who proved God's love by dying for us.

To find God, we must first see our need then! To be saved we must realized we are lost. To be made righteous, we must admit we are unrighteous, to be justified we must admit our injustice, to be reconciled, we must admit our estrangement, and to be forgiven, we must admit our sin and guilt! We must seek God with all our heart to find Him (Jer. 29:13; Deut. 4:29; Isaiah 55:6). 

Soli Deo Gloria!