Stirred Again to Value Jesus

A post from one on my favorite blogs.




Stirred Again to Value Jesus

MY REPENTANCE

In the scriptures, we are commanded to examine ourselves  (2 Corinthians 13:5) As I continually examine myself, I find myself convicted of how awful a sinner that I am.  As most of you know and have seen, I often tend to share the passion the I have for the Lord. I can sit and speak for hours on the what the Lord is doing in my life. One would think that is a good thing, right?  However, many times, I start out with sharing my passion out of love for others, but then it often turns into an issue of pride. My initial intention is to follow the commands of the Word of God. (2 Corinthians 5:20) However, often without realizing it, my fleshly pride comes into play usually when what I am saying is resisted or scoffed at.    So what starts out as love often turns into the sinfulness of pride.  

  I am thankful that God is patient with me. As I continue to grow and mature in the faith, I am determined to let the Lord work  in me in a way that is pleasing to Him. I am not only going to stumble at times, but I am going to fall and fall hard. It is only by the blood of Christ, that I can continue to move forward in my walk.

I have been aware (and often reminded) of 1 Corinthians 13:2....If I have.....all knowledge; and if I have all faith , so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 

Until recently, I have truly believed that the conversations that I have with my Dad were out of love and a strong desire for him to know Christ. I am now aware that even though that these conversations started out with that intent, they deteriorated into me trying to make a point. (my pride)  This deterioration and the way I responded to others has caused some family members pain and sorrow and for that I am truly sorry.  I ask for your forgiveness here, and I will do so also in person when I see you. 

I am thankful to the Lord Jesus Christ who continues to mold me into the person that He wants me to be. I am also thankful for my wife, Kathy, who patiently allows me to struggle through these issues, while at the same time lovingly prods me in the right direction. I am also thankful to my brothers in Christ whose wise counsel has encouraged me to be more Christ-like. 

As I mentioned above, I have been aware of 1 Corinthians 13:2.  As we continue to read, v 13: 4-7, these verses explain what love looks like......That is where I have been lacking. The Lord convicted me of that truth recently. This is where I struggle. This is where the Lord is working on me at the moment. 

As I move forward in my walk,  I am reminded of Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be  served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Bible

I found this website that I thought could be useful. From what I understand, the ESV is a very good translation. I like the audio section especially for pronunciation of some of the tougher names and words.

esvonline.org

Judgment without Mercy

James 2:12-13 (New International Version)

¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

This verse was discussed at a recent lunch I had with a very dear friend who is an encouraging believer. We have many freedoms in Christ, such as the music we listen to, the books we read, the beverages we drink. Yet we are commanded in the bible to lead a life that is Christ-like. Jesus was more often than not a compassionate and merciful teacher. I certainly know that I can be judgmental, but shudder to think if I don't show mercy- then God will show me no mercy on my judgment day. It's good to know God's word tells us that mercy triumphs over judgment.

Question

A question to think about.........

In Exodus 34:6-7 it reads The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty go unpunished..........

 God, who FORGIVES wickedness, rebellion and sin.....yet promises that the guilty will not go unpunished.

So the question is, How are those apparent contradictory statements resolved?

Our Way

I saw a quote from a church blog the other day, that I really liked.

It read "We (society) tend to want a relationship with God our way, the problem is "our way" is sin -- which by definition is the lack of conformity to God's way. God and His holy standard are what they are. Wishing or wanting it to be the way We'd prefer it wont change the reality of God and His revealed standard."

We often try to justify our standards by comparing ourselves to other people or what is considered the moral values of our time. The problem with that is the standards set by man change with time and circumstances. God's standard does not change.

Take the time and get to know God's standard, then you will know how depraved we truly are and why we  need Jesus in our lives.    Do not be mislead into thinking that you are a good person based on  society's standard, read what God says.

True Faith?

One of the obstacles in the church today, is that people profess to be Christians with their mouths but not with the lives. Many would argue that all you have to do is "believe" in Jesus and you will be saved. They often even use scripture to back up that claim. John 6:47 says "he who believes has everlasting life. However, when people use verses like that (meaning like that is the end of the story) they tend leave VITAL parts of the story.

Example. A transcript of announcers at Chicago Bears vs Green Bay Packers game in overtime.
....field goal try to win the game. There's the snap, it up and it's GOOD!!! BEARS WIN!!! BEARS WIN!!
If someone (especially a bear fan) was browsing through that transcript and read BEARS WIN they would often conclude that the Bears won. However, if they kept reading, and in fact read the whole transcript, they would realize that the Bears right tackle jumped offsides, they were backed up 5 yards, and missed the next field goal attempt.   Green Bay took over, drove it down the field, and won the game.

Some may be saying, "Come on Mike we have heard for years, all you have to do is believe in Jesus. We go to church, we have been baptized, etc. etc. How can you say that is not enough?"

Well, as always, we have to go to God's word. Read Acts 8: 9-24 the story of Simon the Sorcerer. We see that Simon was man that was highly regarded because of his magic arts. in Samaria, he attracted big crowds from all different segments of society from the smallest to the greatest. They even claimed that he was the power of God. Then Phillip came to Samaria preaching the word, healing the sick, and casting out demons. And the people heard Phillip and were being baptized, men and women alike.

Then we see that even Simon the Sorcerer BELIEVED and was BAPTIZED. He started following Phillip and was amazed at what Phillip was doing.

We then see that the apostles came to pray for and were laying hands on the people and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw this, he wanted this power that the apostles had. He offered to pay for this power.  We see Peter's response to him in verse 20 "May your silver PERISH WITH YOU, because you thought that you could obtain the gift of God with money. Peter goes on to say that your heart is not right before God.

Peter tells him to repent, and says that Simon is still stuck in bondage to sin. Instead of doing what Peter instructs him, Simon tells Peter to pray for him.   Simon was unwilling to to do what is necessary to be approved by God.

So we see that Simon BELIEVED was BAPTIZED and even followed Phillip for a while.   However, he did not want give up his previous life and truly follow Christ as Christ said in 10:39 "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  Even though Simon believed, he did not want to give up his previous sinful life and because of this he will perish as Peter said.

Do not be deceived into thinking that you are saved only because you believe in Jesus. We not only have to accept Christ as our Savior but also accept Christ as Lord of our lives. He is what we live for.    Until next time.