This message was the message by the Pastor of my church this week. It fits right into what we have been talking about here in my blog, so I thought I would make it available to you. You can listen to the full audio here: I Have Decided to Follow Jesus - Pastor Bernie Powell 13OCT13
The main scripture referenced in this weeks sermon is Mark 1: 9-20. I thought it was very interesting how this came together with parts one and two of the blog, I haven't been talking with Bernie about the blog, and to me, this gives an example of the Holy Spirit working in the lives of two believers, or witnesses if you will, to confirm that a message is from God.
In Mark 1:9-20 we are looking at the Baptism and Temptation of Jesus. This is from the NLT:
One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, "You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy." The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him. Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God's Good News. "The time promised by God has come at last!" he announced. "The Kingdom of God is Near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!"
Let's stop there for a moment and break this down a little bit. So, the NLT is a paraphrase, which, I don't generally like to use in my teaching, however, in this instance it seems to be an acceptable tool to use in conjunction with an actual translation. I recommend either KJV or NKJV. The first point that we need to touch on here is:
1) We follow Jesus because, He faced the Same Problems We Have.
One of Jesus favorite names for himself was "Son of Man" The reason, I believe for this, is because He sacrificially became Fully Human to experience humanity, that was how he linked himself forever to us, to cleanse us. What good would a sacrifice have been if Humanity was sentanced to death, and something other than a human died to try to rectify and fulfill that penalty? Hebrews 4:15 (NLT) says it this way: This High Priest of ours (Christ, Jesus) understands our weaknesses, for he faced ALL of the same testing we do, yet HE DID NOT SIN. (emphasis mine)
In Phililppians 2: 6-8 we read about Christ's devotion, and how he really gave up His Godly power: Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine priviliges; He took a humble position of a slave and was born as a human beaing, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. We further read in Luke 2:52: He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. Who is Mary talking about in her song of praise? Who has brought down princes from their thrones? God the Father. Who exalted the humble? God the Father. Who did He exalt? The one who chose to become humbled, humbled anted born in a lowly manger, as a human being, humbled to the point of death, even the death of a Criminal on a Cross. This verse speaks, of course of Jesus the Christ! Hallelujah! One final example which I would offer to you comes from Hebrews 5:8: Even though Jesus was God's Son, He learned obedience from the things he suffered. So we can see that Jesus, just like us, learned from suffering and trials. This should serve as a strength to us. We ARE NOT ALONE in our sufferings....... We ARE NOT ALONE in our struggles. We ARE NOT ALONE in our temptations. See also Isaiah 53:5, John 6 and 1 Corintians 10:13 for further examples of how Christ faced the same temptations that we face every day. Jesus also faced persecution like we do, see 2 Timothy 3:12, Philippians 1:29 says: For you have been given not only the privlege of trusting in Christ, but also the privlige of suffering for Him. Imagine that calling suffering a privilege? What a totally different mindset we must have as followers of Christ. Also see James 1:2-4 for further examples.
2) We follow Jesus because, He used the Same Resources We Have.
Jesus relied on the Word of God as found in 2 Peter 1:19 and Luke 16:31 What does this mean for us? Well a practical application of this weould be Daily scripture readings, how can we rely on the Word of God if we do not know what the Word of God says? Group Bible studies are another practical application of this. Not a book club mind you, it is great to use other resources as long as they are properly vetted through the lens of truth, through the Word of God. Join a Bible Study, where the Bible is studied. As believers, our life's goal should be to be students of the Bible. Another application is to memorize scripture. We saw an example of this when Christ was lead into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, and was tempted, He quoted scripture to Satan to fight off his offers of a shortcut to the rewards that God had already promised him. He memorized scripture......
Jesus also had access to the Holy Spirit, we see examples of this in John 14:15-17 "If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all thruth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and will later be in you." So we see here, that Jesus had access to the third person in the trinity, the Holy Spirit, and He is promising us that we have that same access to the Holy Spirit as He had.
Finally, Jesus had access to Angels. As seen in Ephesians 3:10-11, Revelation 2-3 and Daniel 10, Angels are ministers, servants, who often minister to those who are experiencing trouble. They ministered to Christ in the wilderness. They minister to us, often when we are not even aware of their presence.
3) We follow Jesus because, He took the Same Responsibilites We Have.
Jesus was not passive about living out His faith in God the Father, he followed the guidelines laid out in the Old Testament He was Baptised, He showed obedience to God the Father, and earthly authorities, See John 14:15, 21 and 1 John 2:3-4 for examples of this. He also took very seriously the responsibilites of Evangelizing and Discipiling as see in 2 Timothy 2:2: You have heard me teach the things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. Jesus gave this command in the "Great Commission" in Matthew 28 to Go forth into all nations, proclaiming the gospel. and baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Teaching and making disciples.
This is all summed up in Just ONE Subject: The Lord Jesus, who is our life. See Colossians 3. Jesus is our life. He needs to be our life, for in Him we live and move and have our being. If you do not know Christ as your Lord and Saviour, why not turn to Him right now and trust Him with your life? It is simple to do, and it is the first step that you need to take in your path to recovery. Jesus will help you tap into the Power of God to fight addictions. Simply pray: Father God, I know that I am a sinner. I believe that you sent your son Jesus to die for my sin. I ask you to forgive me my sins, and count me as your child, I put my faith and trust in Jesus and make Him Lord of my life. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Fighting Addictions with the Power of God: Part 2
He Said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am Strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
I have decided to make this theme, Fighting Addictions with the Power of God. The first installment which was last week's blog should be considered part 1. This is part two. I do not know how many parts there will be as I try to be open to the power of the Holy Spirit. Generally the Holy Spirit shows me a need, I pray and meditate on it, and then I begin to work on a message or blog. I have gotten away from doing this, which is, in part, why I haven't spent much time blogging. I certainly welcome any and all questions and comments here, provided that they are not attacks on my Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ. If you would like to debate with me the finer points of doctrine and theology, I gladly welcome those inquiries as well, I would just prefer that you email me personally about them so that we can lay ground-rules.
It should be noted here that ALL scripture in the remainder of this series SHALL be from the New International Version, taken in Context from the Celebrate Recovery Bible. I thought since this is a series about Fighting Addictions with the power of God that this would be appropriate. As time goes on you will notice that I change Versions of the scripture based on the ability for different versions to be more effective based on the vernacular used, the theme of the series, etc.
Last week we began a series on Fighting Addictions with the power of God. I close friend and brother in Christ asked me in the comments about scriptures that I would use in support of this series. Knowing that the Bible addresses addictions and overcoming them through God's power, but not having ever been through any kind of addiction recovery group, I was unsure of specific verses that would address this topic, so I turned to an Elder, Associate Pastor, and Counselor in our church, and he directed me to the Celebrate Recovery Bible. So that being said, We will Jump into the first study on fighting addiction with the Power of God.
The Celebrate Recovery Bible is based on 8 principles, which are found in the Beatitudes. They are as follows:
Principle One: Realize I'm not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable (Step One).
"Blessed are the poor in spirit." (Matthew 5:3)
Jesus had just finidhed is first stint of ministry. This takes place just after His Baptism in Matthew 4, His temptation for 40 days in the wilderness, the calling of His first disciples, and healing the sick. At this point in His early ministry, He had begun to attract large crowds that were following Him from city to city. Let's look at Chapter 5 in it's entirety.
5:1 Now when He saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sad down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them, saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who morn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are pursecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
5:11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you falsely and say all kinds of evil against you because of me. REJOICE and be GLAD, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
It is important here to note some words, for example Beatitudes. Beatitude meanes supreme blessedness. Persecute. Persecute means subject (someone) to hostility and ill-treatment, esp. because of their race or political or religious beliefs.
Principle Two: Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him and that He has the power to help me recover. (Step Two).
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew 5:4)
This is where many people have difficulty based on their own life experiences. We all have our own pre-concieved notions on how life should be. We have our own biased opinions on how things should work. It is easy to believe that we are alone in the universe when we are living in the dark. It makes it hard to see except immediately in front of us. What happens when you turn on a light? You can see further. So if we have this limited view, that we are all that there is, we are just schelpping our way through life, and one day we will die, and everything will have been in vain, it is easy to get depressed and down-trodden. Once you get into this mindset, it is very hard to get out. Human beings have an inherrant desire for companionship, We have a God-shaped hole in our Heart, our Soul, our Being. Remember the story from Genesis, in the Garden of Eden? Let's look at Genesis 2:18 "The Lord God said, "It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." And he caused the man to fall into a deep, coma-like sleep. Then He took a rib from the man, and out of that, and the dust, He formed a mate for man, Woman. Let's jump back into Chapter 2:23 The man said, " This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman' for she was taken out of man."
So we have an intrinsic need for companionship. A God-sized and shaped hole in our being, our soul. As humans we look to fill that up with anything that we can try to fill it with. It usually starts out being something good. Something that makes us feel good or limits our inhibitions. This can be anything. For some of us it is Sex, Pornography, Alcohol, Drugs, Food, Stealing, Online Gaming, any number of things. We initially do these things because they seem to help us to not feel alone. Not feel so helpless. But they quickly turn into habits, and then as time wears on, and our resistance to doing them is weakend. Time continues, and We are now numbed to the effects, the feelings that these used to satisfy us. So we do more, bigger, badder things. At this point, I think you must admit, it is easy to see that these things have become an addiction. Addiction An addiction is the fact, or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing or activity.
I have decided to make this theme, Fighting Addictions with the Power of God. The first installment which was last week's blog should be considered part 1. This is part two. I do not know how many parts there will be as I try to be open to the power of the Holy Spirit. Generally the Holy Spirit shows me a need, I pray and meditate on it, and then I begin to work on a message or blog. I have gotten away from doing this, which is, in part, why I haven't spent much time blogging. I certainly welcome any and all questions and comments here, provided that they are not attacks on my Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ. If you would like to debate with me the finer points of doctrine and theology, I gladly welcome those inquiries as well, I would just prefer that you email me personally about them so that we can lay ground-rules.
It should be noted here that ALL scripture in the remainder of this series SHALL be from the New International Version, taken in Context from the Celebrate Recovery Bible. I thought since this is a series about Fighting Addictions with the power of God that this would be appropriate. As time goes on you will notice that I change Versions of the scripture based on the ability for different versions to be more effective based on the vernacular used, the theme of the series, etc.
Last week we began a series on Fighting Addictions with the power of God. I close friend and brother in Christ asked me in the comments about scriptures that I would use in support of this series. Knowing that the Bible addresses addictions and overcoming them through God's power, but not having ever been through any kind of addiction recovery group, I was unsure of specific verses that would address this topic, so I turned to an Elder, Associate Pastor, and Counselor in our church, and he directed me to the Celebrate Recovery Bible. So that being said, We will Jump into the first study on fighting addiction with the Power of God.
The Celebrate Recovery Bible is based on 8 principles, which are found in the Beatitudes. They are as follows:
Principle One: Realize I'm not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable (Step One).
"Blessed are the poor in spirit." (Matthew 5:3)
Jesus had just finidhed is first stint of ministry. This takes place just after His Baptism in Matthew 4, His temptation for 40 days in the wilderness, the calling of His first disciples, and healing the sick. At this point in His early ministry, He had begun to attract large crowds that were following Him from city to city. Let's look at Chapter 5 in it's entirety.
5:1 Now when He saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sad down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them, saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who morn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are pursecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
5:11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you falsely and say all kinds of evil against you because of me. REJOICE and be GLAD, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
It is important here to note some words, for example Beatitudes. Beatitude meanes supreme blessedness. Persecute. Persecute means subject (someone) to hostility and ill-treatment, esp. because of their race or political or religious beliefs.
Principle Two: Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him and that He has the power to help me recover. (Step Two).
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew 5:4)
This is where many people have difficulty based on their own life experiences. We all have our own pre-concieved notions on how life should be. We have our own biased opinions on how things should work. It is easy to believe that we are alone in the universe when we are living in the dark. It makes it hard to see except immediately in front of us. What happens when you turn on a light? You can see further. So if we have this limited view, that we are all that there is, we are just schelpping our way through life, and one day we will die, and everything will have been in vain, it is easy to get depressed and down-trodden. Once you get into this mindset, it is very hard to get out. Human beings have an inherrant desire for companionship, We have a God-shaped hole in our Heart, our Soul, our Being. Remember the story from Genesis, in the Garden of Eden? Let's look at Genesis 2:18 "The Lord God said, "It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." And he caused the man to fall into a deep, coma-like sleep. Then He took a rib from the man, and out of that, and the dust, He formed a mate for man, Woman. Let's jump back into Chapter 2:23 The man said, " This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman' for she was taken out of man."
So we have an intrinsic need for companionship. A God-sized and shaped hole in our being, our soul. As humans we look to fill that up with anything that we can try to fill it with. It usually starts out being something good. Something that makes us feel good or limits our inhibitions. This can be anything. For some of us it is Sex, Pornography, Alcohol, Drugs, Food, Stealing, Online Gaming, any number of things. We initially do these things because they seem to help us to not feel alone. Not feel so helpless. But they quickly turn into habits, and then as time wears on, and our resistance to doing them is weakend. Time continues, and We are now numbed to the effects, the feelings that these used to satisfy us. So we do more, bigger, badder things. At this point, I think you must admit, it is easy to see that these things have become an addiction. Addiction An addiction is the fact, or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing or activity.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Fighting Addictions with the Power of God: Part 1
I have been thinking a lot lately about addictions that we face in this life. I am thankful that through the power of God, and a desire that has been placed in me by the conviction of the Hole Spirit I have recently begun to kick and fight off an addiction that I have been dealing with for the last 4-5 years. I speak, of course to myself mainly, to myself, and then to those who know me of my addiction to World of Warcraft. This game started out harmlessly enough, but I quickly noticed that it was becoming something that I would turn to instead of my God, instead of my family, instead of my friends and loved ones. I put this game above all else in my life, even my own health.
I know that as humans we all have things that we struggle with, things that if we are not careful, can become addictions, and then idols. As followers of Christ we must guard ourselves against these things as Satan uses them to exploit us, and make us less effective in our relationships with God and each other. The scriptures warn us in the book of James of how to deal with these temptations.
As followers of Christ, we will be tempted in these areas of weakness, whether they be sex, alcohol, drugs, business, money, etc. Whatever thing that Satan knows you are struggling with. Jesus was tempted just after his Baptism, before he began his earthly ministry. We should also expect to be tested. Jesus was lead into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Who led Jesus into the wilderness? it was God.
In Matthew 3 :16 after Jesus was baptized and a dove fell on him. God said this is my son in who I am very well pleased.
Then in chapter 4 , Jesus is being tempted by the devil.
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
5Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
7Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
8Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Why the temptation? you must know without a shadow of a doubt that God is pleased with you. You must know that you have been chosen. You must know that you are a royal priesthood a holy nation. You must know that you are the light that shines in darkness.
Why the assurance? the Lord will send you places. You will be lied on. You will be rejected. you will be talked about. In some of these places you will past and you will fail the test. God does not want you to give up in the tempting period. He want you to know that you belong to him.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Hope continued and the three categories of sin.
Today I will continue on the series on hope, as it seems to be a very strong theme in our world today.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
This verse ties in both of my prior posts actually. As we look at the state of our fallen world, we must remember that it is the natural consequences of sin that are the cause of what we see around us. The Bible classifies sin in three categories, these categories are found in 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father (God), but is of the world.
Let's take a look at each of these "Sins" and see if we can give examples of them, then we will look at some of the teachings of Christ to see what His perspective is and what ours should be.
1) The Lust of the Flesh - When people think of this area of sin, they immediately think of what? Sexual Sin. However, if you look closely at the wording, this is not strictly talking about Sexual sin. This is talking about anything that is fleshly in nature, anything that gives pleasure and used to excess. Allowing yourself to be totally given over to anything that is not Fully and Wholly of God is Hedonistic, and therefore Sin.
Next, we will move on to the second area of sin.
2) The Lust of the Eyes - If we look in Genesis 3:5-6 we see examples of the Lust of the Eyes and The Pride of Life. We will focus first on the Lust of the Eyes. We read in Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Here we see that things that are beautiful, can trigger in us the Lust of the Eyes, does this mean that we shouldn't look at beautiful things? Definitely not, but it does mean that we must look at things through the Lens that God used when He was creating, He saw things that He created and saw that they were Good. In other words, he saw the purity of those things. We must refrain from allowing the Lust of the eyes from controlling us. We do this by meditating on the word of God, by praying without ceasing..... Having an attitude of prayer. Renew your mind every morning with the word of God and quiet time. I have found that my rides to work fit in great here. My android has a Bible application called YOUVERSION, I pick my scripture selection or devotion and it reads it to me...... I have found that praying without ceasing is actually much easier than I ever thought it would be....... Again, the ride in is a great time to practice this.
This brings us to our third and final area of sin.
3) The Pride of Life - Here is the essence of the pride of life, anything that exalts us above our station and offers the illusion of God-like qualities, wherein we boast in arrogance and worldly wisdom. If we look at the story of Eve in the Garden again we see if we look at Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods. knowing good and evil. Eve wanted to be like God in her knowledge, she was not content to merely live in a perfect world under His perfect grace and care for her.
Our Example of how to respond and react to these three areas of sin:
Matthew 4:1-11 The Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
It is important to notice here, that Satan was tempting Jesus in areas where he was currently weak. The Lust of the Flesh is the tempting point here. Jesus was tempted in this area not because Jesus was a glutton, but because he had been denying himself in order to obtain closeness with God the Father. So we see the Lust of the Flesh can just be simple food. What was Christ's response? He quoted scripture to Satan...... I am sure that Jesus spent plenty of time meditating on His Father's word and praying. The Bible tells us of many of these times.
Continuing on in Verse 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
This temptation fits pretty well into both the first and the last area, but it is difficult to see where it fits into the second area. It is important to remember that these three areas all intermingle and intertwine with each other.
I speculate that here he was trying to appeal to Jesus' in the Lust of the eyes area by quoting the word of God which Jesus had read.
Finally, the last area that is clearly The Pride of Life is found in verses 8-11
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then Jesus saith unto him, Get thee hence Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Here we can see that Jesus was offered a short-cut to what God offered him, Satan said he would bestow the gifts that God had promised, if Jesus would just worship him. Jesus knew that the Cross was the way that God had chosen for him to take. Here Jesus again used the scripture to reject satan's offer. We should use the word of God the same way.
It is very easy to put your hope in something that you can see, but this isn't really hope is it? The above verses and commentary are meant to help us see that we can place our Hope in God because we have an example of that in Jesus. This will keep us from getting discouraged, as in the opening verse, we must remember that God knows the plans that he has for us. In conclusion consider Romans 8:28 For we know that ALL things work to the good of those that love God and are called according to his purpose.
Father God,
2) The Lust of the Eyes - If we look in Genesis 3:5-6 we see examples of the Lust of the Eyes and The Pride of Life. We will focus first on the Lust of the Eyes. We read in Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Here we see that things that are beautiful, can trigger in us the Lust of the Eyes, does this mean that we shouldn't look at beautiful things? Definitely not, but it does mean that we must look at things through the Lens that God used when He was creating, He saw things that He created and saw that they were Good. In other words, he saw the purity of those things. We must refrain from allowing the Lust of the eyes from controlling us. We do this by meditating on the word of God, by praying without ceasing..... Having an attitude of prayer. Renew your mind every morning with the word of God and quiet time. I have found that my rides to work fit in great here. My android has a Bible application called YOUVERSION, I pick my scripture selection or devotion and it reads it to me...... I have found that praying without ceasing is actually much easier than I ever thought it would be....... Again, the ride in is a great time to practice this.
This brings us to our third and final area of sin.
3) The Pride of Life - Here is the essence of the pride of life, anything that exalts us above our station and offers the illusion of God-like qualities, wherein we boast in arrogance and worldly wisdom. If we look at the story of Eve in the Garden again we see if we look at Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods. knowing good and evil. Eve wanted to be like God in her knowledge, she was not content to merely live in a perfect world under His perfect grace and care for her.
Our Example of how to respond and react to these three areas of sin:
Matthew 4:1-11 The Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
It is important to notice here, that Satan was tempting Jesus in areas where he was currently weak. The Lust of the Flesh is the tempting point here. Jesus was tempted in this area not because Jesus was a glutton, but because he had been denying himself in order to obtain closeness with God the Father. So we see the Lust of the Flesh can just be simple food. What was Christ's response? He quoted scripture to Satan...... I am sure that Jesus spent plenty of time meditating on His Father's word and praying. The Bible tells us of many of these times.
Continuing on in Verse 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
This temptation fits pretty well into both the first and the last area, but it is difficult to see where it fits into the second area. It is important to remember that these three areas all intermingle and intertwine with each other.
I speculate that here he was trying to appeal to Jesus' in the Lust of the eyes area by quoting the word of God which Jesus had read.
Finally, the last area that is clearly The Pride of Life is found in verses 8-11
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then Jesus saith unto him, Get thee hence Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Here we can see that Jesus was offered a short-cut to what God offered him, Satan said he would bestow the gifts that God had promised, if Jesus would just worship him. Jesus knew that the Cross was the way that God had chosen for him to take. Here Jesus again used the scripture to reject satan's offer. We should use the word of God the same way.
It is very easy to put your hope in something that you can see, but this isn't really hope is it? The above verses and commentary are meant to help us see that we can place our Hope in God because we have an example of that in Jesus. This will keep us from getting discouraged, as in the opening verse, we must remember that God knows the plans that he has for us. In conclusion consider Romans 8:28 For we know that ALL things work to the good of those that love God and are called according to his purpose.
Father God,
Help us to continue to put our hope in you in these times that look so desperate to us. Help us to learn from Christs' example, to read your word and mediate on it. Help us to carve out time to read and do devotions and pray to you. Thank you for the awesome gifts that you have given us. In Jesus Name, Amen
Thursday, November 8, 2012
A study on hope
Today I thought I would do a little study on hope. It seems to me that in today's society people just bandy that word about, but I don't think that people really know what hope is. We will start with Webster's Definition of hope.
Hope -intransitive verb
1
: to cherish a desire with anticipation <hopes for a promotion>
2
archaic : trust
transitive verb
1
: to desire with expectation of obtainment
2
: to expect with confidence : trust
— hop·er noun
— hope against hope
: to hope without any basis for expecting fulfilled
Notice here that hope is listed in both cases as a verb, and can be both transitive and intransitive.
Now let's look at some Verses in the Holy Scriptures about hope.
Psalm 71:14 But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.
Here the Psalmist is performing an action. He is hoping continually, Notice he does not say that he is hoping some of the time, or when he feels like hoping, or when things are going great. He says that he will hope Continually. We could all take a lesson from this. Then notice that there is a second action that he does, He says that he will yet praise thee more and more. The two go hand in hand. Hope produces praise. I would urge you, if you are putting your hope in something of this world, think about it, and place your hope in the only one who can be our source of hope.
Now let's look at another scripture that speaks of hope.
Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
What does this verse say that hope deferred does? Makes the heart sick! This is very dangerous territory to be in. Hope deferred causes us to travel the long dark path which leads to depression, and if not looked at through the Lens of God, and left untreated and to itself, can lead to death. This is an area that I feel 100% comfortable talking to you and teaching you about, some of you know, some do not, that I struggle with depression in my life. This is a great verse to combat that. Take it, memorize it, and repeat it to yourself in times when you are starting to feel yourself tread down that path.
Our Final passage that we will look at today comes from Isaiah Chapter 40, verses 28-29
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Here we read that God, does not tire. He does not get weary, we are to Put our Hope In GOD, He will give us power when we feel weak, He will give us strength when our strength fails.
Heavenly Father, help us to remember that we are to continually put our hope in you, remind us that hope deferred makes the heart sick. Help us to trust in you and get our strength from you and our power from you when we feel weak and can feel the signs of depression and discouragement beginning to bear down on us. In Jesus Name we pray this. Amen
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Election Update
Brothers and Sisters, regardless of the outcome that we wanted, we must remember: God is in Charge!
Rom 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.
Rom 13:2 So the person who resists such authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment
Rom 1
3:3 (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority? Do good and you will receive its commendation,
Rom 13:4 for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be in fear, for it does not bear the sword in vain. It is God’s servant to administer retribution on the wrongdoer.
Rom 13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath of the authorities but also because of your conscience.
Rom 13:6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants devoted to governing.
Rom 13:7 Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
Rom 13:4 for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be in fear, for it does not bear the sword in vain. It is God’s servant to administer retribution on the wrongdoer.
Rom 13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath of the authorities but also because of your conscience.
Rom 13:6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants devoted to governing.
Rom 13:7 Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
As Followers of Christ we Must pray for our elected officials, regardless of our party affiliation or personal and moral beliefs. This is not an option, this is a directive that God has given us, as seen in the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans above and also here in the Old Testament book of Daniel 4:14
This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.Also another Reference from the book of Daniel 2:21-22 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
So brothers and sisters, now is the time when we must pray more than ever that God's hand will be seen in our great nation. Do not be discouraged, let the Joy of the Lord fill your heart every morning.
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