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getting the big picture

4/29/2018

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     Getting the Big Picture

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.  To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.  (1Peter 5:10-11)
PETER DOES NOT TRAFFIC IN FICTION and light stuff. He goes for the big picture. Peter knows that what he’s doing may cost him his life, and knows that there is a fiery trial coming upon the Christians who are scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, where his letter is going. He is telling them that whatever comes their way, to stand fast. He uses big words like: “eternal glory” and “God of all grace.” These are massive words! Words do not get any bigger than these words.

HE WAS WRITING TO PEOPLE WHO WERE ALMOST CERTAIN TO BE IMPRISONED, crucified, or, if they made it as far as Rome─ fed to the lions. It’s difficult for us today to imagine their situation and the mindset of Peter who is writing the best that can be written to these people. Why would the God of love and mercy allow His children to go through these fiery trials? The first reason is to perfect the Christians. And then, to have a powerful impact on the Roman Empire. Word eventually spread throughout the Empire that Christians “die well.” I doubt if our approach to preaching today would have made the slightest dent in the Roman Empire. 

IT'S ALL ABOUT THIS JEWISH PREACHER WHO WAS CRUCIFIED and reported to have risen from the dead. That’s why these Christians were willing to die. This was a strange story for people outside of Jerusalem to believe. Inside of Jerusalem, the established religious and civic leaders were determined that their hierarchy was not going to be threatened by “idle tales” about one dead Jew. So, they struggled with it. But their struggle, at first, was like spitting into the wind.

A MILLION PEOPLE ON PASSOVER HAD SEEN THREE HOURS OF DARKNESS in the middle of the day. An earth quake broke rocks and opened graves. The beautiful 60’ veil that covered the Most Holy Place had been ripped from top to bottom in the presence of priests who were in the room with the veil.

And then on the third day many recently buried Jews came out of their graves and appeared unto many in that huge throng of people inside of Jerusalem for the Passover. When they went home, they carried these stories with them and so all of Judea was sown with the story of the one who was crucified and raised from the dead.

AND NOW, THE FURY OF REACTION TO THE RESURRECTION was beginning to take hold. Peter was the best one and in the best position of anyone to say the best things that could be said in strengthening these people who were going to go through vicious persecution.
Had not Jesus warned them: Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.  (Matthew 10:34-38)

Peter, what can you possibly tell these people who are in the path of persecution and destruction? The best summary I could find is by the people at Dallas Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, edited by Walvoord and Zuck.

BUT THE GOD OF ALL GRACE - The God who imparts all needful grace. It was proper in their anticipated trials to direct them to God, and to breathe forth in their behalf an earnest and affectionate prayer that they might be supported. A prayer of this kind by an apostle would also be to them a sort of pledge or assurance that the needed grace would be granted them.

WHO HATH CALLED US UNTO HIS ETERNAL GLORY - And who means, therefore, that we shall be saved. As he has called us to his glory, we need not apprehend that he will leave or forsake us….

AFTER THAT YE HAVE SUFFERED A WHILE - After you have suffered as long as he shall appoint. The Greek is, “having suffered a little,” and may refer either to time or degree. In both respects the declaration concerning afflictions is true. They are short, compared with eternity; they are light, compared with the exceeding and eternal weight of glory. See the notes at 2Co_4:16-18.

MAKE YOU PERFECT - By means of your trials. The tendency of affliction is to make us perfect.

STABLISH - The Greek word means “to set fast; to fix firmly; to render immovable,” Luk_16:26; Luk_9:51; Luk_22:32; Rom_1:11; Rom_16:25; 1Th_3:2, 1Th_3:13, et al.

STRENGTHEN - Give you strength to bear all this.

SETTLE YOU - Literally, found you, or establish you on a firm foundation - θεμελιώσες  themeliōses. The allusion is to a house which is so firmly fixed on a foundation that it will not be moved by winds or floods….(Bible Knowledge Commentary)
 
This is the message that sustained early Jewish Christians in bearing persecution and death and became such an overwhelming powerful witness during the Roman Empire.
 
Epilog: The Jewish leaders would continue their program of denial and persecution for forty years, until Rome would come with an army in A.D. 70 and destroy the Temple and the city of Jerusalem and leave them as a pile of rocks. That would effectively dismantle the Jewish priesthood and their ancient system of sacrifices instituted by Moses.
The times of the Gentiles would set in and continue until God regathered the Jews back into Jerusalem. In 1948, the Jews declared themselves to be a nation again and U.S. President, Harry Truman, against the wishes of his own State Department, recognized Israel as a nation. Ω
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 30, 2018 – MONDAY
A.M.  2Samuel 23-24     P.M. Luke 22:31-53
 (Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

APRIL 28, 2018 – SATURDAY
A.M. 2 Samuel 19-20    P.M. Luke 21:20:38
APRIL 29, 2018  - SUNDAY
A.M.  2 Samuel 21-22   P.M. Luke 22:1-30
 
A lady told me they go to Morning Minute and let the man read to them while they eat breakfast.

 Good Memory Verse:
Remember the former things of old: for I
am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:  (Isaiah 46:9-10)

Song for Today:
The Stranger by the Sea (1:39) – (Lester Roloff -a dear personal friend)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKk_7-XPi5I

 Note: You may need to turn off the song when finished to avoid something you do not want to hear, afterwards.
                                
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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what about the devil?

4/27/2018

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    What About the Devil?

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.  (1Peter 5:8-9)

PETER IS A STURDY, WELL-ROUNDED PREACHER AND PROPHET. He never got over being a rough fisherman. We are used to thinking of him in respectable apparel because artists picture him that way. He was also comfortable in no clothes at all as he plied his trade as a fisherman. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.  (John 21:7) It’s not that he was disrespectful; for he was not. Neither was he crude.

BLUE JEANS, TEE SHIRTS AND NIKE SHOES had not yet been invented. A robe of some kind that came to or below the knee was standard clothing. If you were walking fast, threshing grain, fighting as a soldier, or in a boat fishing, a loose, hanging garment was in the way. You either tied it up and held it in place with a sash/belt or, in Peter’s case, you pulled it off and cast it aside.

OUR TEXT ONLY MENTIONS PETER AS BEING NAKED and that could reflect his aggressive personality that focused on the job at hand and eliminated all hindrances. He had an abundance of energy in everything he did. That’s the way he worked, the way he thought, and the way he talked. As we might say today: “Peter was a piece of work.”

WHEN PETER IS MENTIONED IN SCRIPURE WITH OTHER DISCIPLES, invariably, his name is first. It’s “Peter, James and John.” His name is never 2nd or 3rd.  (If I’m wrong about this, please show me.) John is the deeper, more affectionate type. When Jesus was on the cross, He turned His mother over to John, not to Peter. Peter was the “mover and shaker” of the disciples. Jesus knew that when He chose Him as one of His disciples.

PETER'S WRITING STYLE REFLECTS HIS PERSONALITY. He is to the point, sparing with his words and drives ahead. When Peter writes, he’s going somewhere. He does not engage in meditation. He was writing to a wide audience, scattered all over the place. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,  (1Peter 1:1)

WHILE HE WAS ALWAYS IN MOTION, he also had a strong love for His Lord. It hurt Peter deeply when He denied the Lord and told that little skirt that He “didn’t know the man.” When the rooster got through crowing, Peter went outside and wept. And he probably wept like he did everything else. He poured out his heart before God and shed all the tears he needed to.

“Peter may not have the discernment of John, but have you noticed that at every opportunity he gets close to the Lord? The other men sit in the boat and wait until they get to shore. Not Simon Peter. He can't wait. He wants to be close to his Lord. This man is a wonderful man.” (McGee)

HAVING SAID ALL THESE THINGS ABOUT PETER, we’re coming to the main point of our text today. “Be careful about the devil”. We’ve got a real, live devil among us that we have to contend with. He has bad breath and he’ll eat you alive if you don’t watch out for him.” To Peter, the devil was real.

PETER BEGAN HIS LITTLE BOOK BY ADDRESSING THE ELDERS of the church and then he turned to the young people, about how they were to think and act and be in submission to older people. When that is out of the way, he warns them to be sober and vigilant about the devil and to resist him through their faith.

THE DEVIL IS NOT THAT POPULAR CARTOON CHARACTER in a red suit and carrying a make-believe pitchfork. He is not Flip Wilson’s cute: “the devil made me do it.” The devil can’t make you do anything. But he has great power to deceive and influence people into disobeying God and even losing their souls in hell. Paul says he blinds the minds of people so they cannot think right. In whom the god (the devil) of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.  (2Co 4:4) If people have been blinded by the devil, will they know it? Of course not! Not knowing they are blind is part of their blindness.

WE MUST REMEMBER THAT PETER IS WRITING PARTLY out of experience when he warns about the devil. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.  (Luke 22:31-32)

SATAN WILL NOT TEMPT YOU AT YOUR STRONG POINT. Satan will always tempt you at your weakest point. Do you know your weakest point? Then, beware, for that is where the the devil will attack you to discredit and destroy you. And you are not the only one Satan is attacking. The devil is going after all of your brethren who are yet in the world. Be careful about jumping on the bandwagon of criticism of a brother who has fallen into sin. You may be next on the devil’s list of temptation.

THE DEVIL WILL DESTROY YOU IF YOU WILL ALLOW HIM. 
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer (allow) you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.  (1Corinthians 10:13) I memorized this 60 years ago and it has helped me through many times of temptation by the devil.

HIS CHIEF WEAPON AGAINST THE SAINTS OF GOD IS DISCOURAGEMENT,  to doubt God.  Do not yield to the devil. Resist him. 
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7) Remember: Jesus said to Peter: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.  (Luke 22:32) Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 27, 2018 – FRIDAY
A.M.  2Samuel 17-18     P.M. Luke 21:1-19
 (Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
APRIL 28, 2018 – SATURDAY
A.M. 2 Samuel 19-20    P.M. Luke 21:20:38
APRIL 29, 2018  - SUNDAY
A.M.  2 Samuel 21-22   P.M. Luke 22:1-30
 
 Good Memory Verse:
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that,
if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. (1John 5:14-15)

Song for Today:
I’ll Meet You in the Morning (2:58) – (Gaither Group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEiVahHmVeE
Note: YouTube songs play one after another. Watch carefully to prevent a song that you would not chose.                                         
                 You may have to adjust the volume or delete an ad.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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what about the young people?

4/25/2018

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   What About the Young People?

Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.  
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. (1Peter 5:5-7)

THE ELDERS WERE TO FEED THE FLOCK OF GOD and to be diligent about it. They were to maintain an humble attitude as they did their work among the flock, not lording it over those they were feeding. With the same humble attitude as their elders, the younger people were to submit themselves unto the elder. Not “elders,” but unto the “elder,” an elder group, the older men. This is broader than the official elders.

AND THEN HE TELLS ALL OF THEM TO BE SUBJECT TO ONE ANOTHER. It may go against the grain. Nothing is more amusing than to listen to a four-year-old talking back to his/her brother or sister that’s 2-3 years older: “You’re not my boss!” The older one must decide to walk away or get a stick. It starts early, huh?

ATTITUDE IS THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING WE DO IN SERVING THE LORD. It always begins with our attitude. Always! Be subject one to another. On a church workday, an older and younger man are working together and there’s a discussion on whether to saw up to the line on the board or to saw the line out of the board. One will have to submit to the other. Nobody said it would be easy. Just do it.

IN THE KITCHEN, THE WOMEN ARE CLEANING AND REARRANGING THE KITCHEN and somebody’s ideas are… going to prevail. Good practice time in being subject to one another. Much of the Christian life centers around somebody being in charge and the other person not being in charge. It’s that way Monday-Friday on the job. Peter does not tell them which one is in charge except that the younger should submit to the older.

However, when we are giving out food on food day at the Community Center, I go in and bark it out: “OK, somebody tell me what to do!” It doesn’t bother me. I don’t know what needs to be done so I’m there to help. I’m not there to be the boss. I don’t want to be the boss. I don’t need to be the boss to be somebody. I don’t need to be the boss to have self-respect. I serve the Lord Christ, and somebody will know what I ought to be doing.

I FOUND McGEE'S TAKE ON TODAY'S TEXT AND FOUND IT QUITE GOOD. See what you think. "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder." This has been reversed in our day—today the elder is supposed to submit to the younger. Young people are the ones who are protesting, and they are the ones who want to discard the establishment. However, the Christian young person needs to realize that the Word of God says, "Ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder." After all, your father, if you have a good or a godly father, has a lot of sense and maybe more sense than you have.

A FRIEND OF MINE TOLD ME, "I was ashamed of my dad at the time when I went away to college. Although he had made good money, and he was an executive, I was ashamed of him. He had such old-fashioned ideas; he was a real square. When I finished college and got out in the business world, I didn't see him for a couple of years. When I did see him again, I was absolutely amazed to see how much he'd learned in just six years!" A lot of young people find out, after they themselves have been out in the school of hard knocks for a while, that their dads have learned a great deal.

"Yea, all of you be subject one to another." In other words, believers should not insist on having their way over others. "And be clothed with humility." Actually, we are to be armed with it; that is the picture that is given here.

"For God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble." Peter has talked a great deal about humility and about grace. A proud person will not be able to experience the grace of God. It is only when you and I come in humility that we will be able to grow the grace of God.

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." In view of the coming of Christ, humility should be the attitude of the child of God. Christ is the one who will establish justice and make things right when He comes. You cannot straighten out this world, although you may think you can. Suffering produces humility and patience.” (McGee)

WE ARE PROBABLY GOING TO GET TIRED OF BEING RUBBED THE WRONG WAY. We may develop a great deal of care and anxiety as we bump heads with people. What’s the solution for the Christian?  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. (1Peter 5:5-7)

TELL THE LORD ABOUT IT. A few times in my life I have told a cantankerous person: “I’m going to tell the Lord on you! I’m going to tell God what you are saying to me. Do you believe in God? Do you believe He hears the prayers of His children? Well, I’m a child of God and I’m going to tell the Lord on you and you’ll just have to take it up with Him.” Don’t do this to be smarty pants. You only do this if you are dead serious about it.

 A BIG PHRAE IN THE BIBLE IS: “due time.” In God’s time. Christ died in “due time” and God answers prayer in “due time.” So, just keep on praying and keep on waiting. Someone has pointed out that God grows a mushroom or mold in 3-4 days. I takes Him 20-30 years to grow a sturdy Oak tree.

Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 26, 2018 – THURSDAY
A.M.  2Samuel 15-16     P.M. Luke 20:27-47
 (Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

 Good Memory Verse:
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that,
if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.  (1John 5:14-15)

Song for Today:
The Lord of Sea and Sky (3:47) – (National Youth Choir of Scotland)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcL9S5a3weU
Note: YouTube packages songs to play one after another. You may need to watch carefully lest a song follows that you would not choose.
                           
 You may have to adjust the volume or delete an ad.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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Feeding the flock

4/25/2018

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             Feeding the Flock of God
 
The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:  
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind.
Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.  (1Peter 5:1-4)
 
THERE IS SUCH A THING AS "THE FLOCK OF GOD." Peter is telling the elders of the church that they are to feed the flock of God. Notice, he does not say to beat the flock or fleece the flock or boss the flock or make life hard for the flock of God, but to feed them. The flock of God belongs to Him and the elders are to feed them on the Lord’s behalf.

WHAT IS THE FLOCK OF GOD? They are the people of God, people who belong to Him. God knows it and they know it. Though I have often strayed away from the Lord, yet I remained His from moment I was one of His lambs. Are you in The Flock of God? If not, would you like to be? Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  (John 3:16)

 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.  (Psalm 100:3) We were taught as children: “The Lord is my shepherd….” (Psalm 23). It is one of the most loved and the most-memorized passage of Scripture. In October, 1943 I became a part of the flock of God and Jesus became my Shepherd. I was nine years old.

I DIDN'T KNOW IT AT THE TIME, but my body became a temple of the Holy Spirit and He came inside me to stay. Paul says: What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.  (1Corinthians 6:19-20) Notice the last word: God’s. We belong to Him. We are His property. My body and my spirit belong to God. Is this the way it is in your life?

THE ELDERS OF THE CHURCH are the appointed or elected leaders of the local church. The word: Elder, occurs 179 times in the Bible; in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. The use of Elders in the New Testament church clearly come from the function of Elders in the Jewish system of the Old Testament. Elders are not to be bossy or to throw their weight around but are to be the humble servants of the Lord. Our text for today indicates that the elders at that time were to feed the flock of God. There is no mention of a pastor. Paul said he was an elder.
 
THE ELDERS LED AND ASSISTED THE CHURCH IN SEVERAL WAYS. Much like today, they did all kinds of things. But the most important thing they did was to feed the flock of God. The Elders, as the name suggests, were the older, more mature people in the flock. They’ve seen more. They’ve heard more. They know more. Therefore, Elders are the natural choice to function in the flock in an authoritative role to give stability and direction to the flock of God. A Pastor is blessed if he has good Elders and/or Deacons to work with him.
 
THE ELDERS ARE ENTRUSTED WITH AUTHORITY to act on behalf of the rest of the flock. Many churches today elect deacons to function as elders. Deacons served under the Elders and assisted them. Essentially, they were extra arms and legs for the Elders.  Qualifications for Elders are listed in 1Timothy 3, along with Bishops and Deacons. Peter reminds the Elders that they are to be ensamples (examples) of Christianity to the rest of the flock. Their example, their modeling the Christian life was one of the most important ways they fed the flock of God.
 
THE APOSTLE PETER TELLS THE ELDERS OF THE CHURCH to feed the “Flock of God.” Not with bread and soup, but with the Word of God. The establishment of church leadership came early in the development of the Church, the body of Christ. Keep in mind that when the church was first established, there were no New Testament books for about 30 years.

Therefore, the
Elders fed earliest flock out of the Old Testament. We must remember that Christ is in every book of the Old Testament. He is the promised one from the time of Moses and He is in types and figures from the book of Genesis forward. So, the Elders had plenty of material with which to feed the flock of God.

JESUS BEGAN THE PROCESS OF FEEDING just before He ascended back to the Father: Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:  Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?  And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.  (Luke 24:25-27)

THEN JESUS REPEATED HIMSELF, to reinforce what He was saying to them.
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.  Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,  (Luke 24:44-45)

THERE IS MUCH BIBLE ILLITERACY IN OUR CHURCHES TODAY about Christ being in the Old Testament and about church history. There is a tendency to focus on a few character lessons in the New Testament and be satisfied that Bible study has taken place. With that kind of approach, Bible study has not taken place and will never take place as long as that is the approach. Being satisfied with a wee bit of knowledge of the New Testament is a big mistake! We have no substantial root without studying all the way from Genesis (including Genesis as the foundational book).
 
THE CHURCHES TODAY NEED A STURDY, COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. Otherwise, our Christianity is going to be weak and anemic and without Christian character. Our young people today have no blueprint for morality with a firm grasp of the whole Bible. Not only the what of the Bible, but also the when, why, and how of the Bible. Therefore, the Morning Minute includes Read Through the Bible in a Year. It’s a tough program to read the entire Bible in a year.
 
THREE THINGS SHOULD BE ANSWERED WHEN STUDYING THE BIBLE. 1. What is being said? 2. What does it mean? 3. How does it apply to me?  

Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 25, 2018 – WEDNESDAY
A.M.  2Samuel 13-14     P.M. Luke 20:1-26
 (Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

 Good Memory Verse:
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that,
if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.  (1John 5:14-15)

Song for Today:
Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah (2:48) – (British Cong. – Ronald Ellis)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT4n1hGjDDg&list=RDwT4n1hGjDDg

Note: YouTube packages songs to play one after another. You may need to watch carefully lest a song follows that you would not choose.

You may have to adjust the volume or delete an ad.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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turning it over to the lord - part 2

4/23/2018

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Turning It Over to the Lord – Part 2
Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.  (1Peter 4:19)
 
IT DOESN'T SOUND FITTING THAT WE MIGHT SUFFER “according to the will of God.” We are in the habit of praying for the Lord to protect us from evil people and to heal our sick bodies. Many people pray as though God can be talked into anything if we just have enough faith. We gather up all the faith of our souls toward an answer to prayer. Does it not work against faith if we think that “God might not answer our prayer?”  Maybe. But, we might do ourselves a favor if we really study what the Bible has to say about prayer.

THIS IS THE MASTER VERSE IN THE BIBLE ON PRAYER: And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.  (1John 5:14-15)  Again, we run into the idea that God may answer our prayer and, God may not answer our prayer.

THIS IS THE UPPERMOST VERSE TO MEMORIZE AND USE In thinking about prayer. Praying in the will of God. We can discern the will of God by studying the Scriptures and by tarrying before God in prayer. Praying “in the spirit” is a Bible concept (idea). Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;  (Ephesians 6:18)

WE WANT TO REMOVE ALL THE HINDRANCES TO PRAYER. There may be some hindrances to prayer that need to be pulled out of the shadows and dealt with. Jesus taught us the model prayer that concluded with: For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  (Matthew 6:15)

It is ideal for our forgiveness to result in reconciliation but it doesn’t always. It takes two to reconcile. It only takes one to forgive. I’m not going to stay at odds with the Lord because somebody doesn’t want to forgive me and doesn’t want to reconcile. I will forgive and be on my way, knowing that I have obeyed the Lord. Holding a grudge is expensive. You won’t be forgiven of God until you let it go.

I WAS STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY PAUL FERGUSON WHO WAS MIGHTY IN PRAYER and had unusual power with God in meetings he held. Several people died in his meetings who chose to get in a contest with God. Early on, he read the Bible through and pulled out all the verses on prayer and memorized them. I’ve never gone that far, but I do believe there are at least a hundred verses on prayer that every serious Christian ought to memorize and use constantly in our prayer life.  Paul Ferguson’s main verse was: “Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you.” (James 4:8)

THERE IS NO BETTER PRAYING THAN PRAYING BACK THE WORD OF GOD to the Father. Who are the people of prayer in the Bible and what kind of praying did they do? What kind of results did they have? How did Jesus pray?

What did James know about prayer? If you type “Camel knees James” into Google, you may get what I did just now: Over 3 million results in 46 seconds. When James died a martyr’s death in A.D. 62, the attendants who buried him found his knees to be as hard as the knees of a camel. He was the lone figure that kneeled in the Temple for years to pray for the sins of the people.

AFTER ALL THAT PRAYING, THE NATION DID NOT REPENT. Forty years after Jesus was crucified, the Lord sent Titus, the Roman general, to destroy the Temple and the city in A.D.70. Over a million people who had gathered for the Passover Feast were slaughtered. Jerusalem had been thoroughly prayed for by one lone figure.

I have said many times that I don’t want to talk to James when I get to Heaven. What if he says: “Show me your knees?”

WHEN JESUS WAS GOING TO HEAL A WOMAN, He put the laughing people and scorning people and unbelieving people out of the room. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.  (Mark 5:40) And, you know the rest of the story. Jesus took into the room, the father and mother and the people that were with Him.  He took the dead damsel (young woman) by the hand and raised her from the dead. Sometimes less is more.

IF YOU HAVE AN URGENT ISSUE THAT NEEDS PRAYER, don’t run out into the street and grab up a lot of warm bodies to help you pray. To the contrary, try to get rid of everybody in the room who is not serious about prayer to God.

Here’s another verse on prayer by James. Confess
your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  (James 5:16)

IF YOU ARE SUFFERING ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD, your suffering may be required for you to be made in the image of His Son. Making us to be in the image of His Son is a high priority in the mind of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:28-29)

THINGS ARE GOING TO COME INTO YOUR LIFE that have no identification tag on them. They do not appear to have any meaning or purpose. I had an almost new car that I ran under the rear end of a long, log truck. Half of the truck was parked in my lane. As I was meeting the headlights of an oncoming car, suddenly I saw the truck and slammed on the brakes. The bed of the truck leveled everything off just above the spark plugs, went up the corner post, knocked out the windshield which hit my mother in the face. I saw the underside of the truck as it went over us.

WHEN I LIFTED MY MOTHER'S HEAD, her face was covered in blood. She was unconscious in the hospital for a month. The student who was leading the singing had his jaw broken and had to be wired shut. A front tooth was knocked out, so he ate through a straw until his jaw healed. He continued in school.

When my mother came home, my dad was furious as to what he could do to the man who had parked the truck in the highway to go up to a house to buy moonshine whiskey. I knew my dad carried a gun. My mother countered him with: “All things work together for good to them that love God.” Over and over she told him.

WHILE I WAS GONE ON A SUMMER MISSION TRIP, the man who was driving the truck came to the little church I pastored and heard the preacher who was filling in for me. My mother was there. During the invitation she came to the man and put her arm around him and asked him to be saved. He and his wife went to the altar and he gave his heart to the Lord. My dad never mentioned the man again. Mom healed up, and life went on. There’s a great need to turn things over to the Lord and trust Him to be in charge for an end that suits His plan and purpose. Ω
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 24, 2018 – TUESDAY
A.M.  2 Samuel 10-12   P.M. Luke 19:29-48
 (Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

If you are behind in your reading, you may want to link in today and go back to where you have been reading. This will help you to eventually catch up. If you are beginning, start with today.
 
Good Memory Verse:  
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we
ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.  (1John 5:14-15)

Song for Today:
The Rocks Will Cry Out (2:48) – (Calv.Mem.Church – Sou.Pines,NC)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RB339rbvNU
 You may have to adjust the volume or delete an ad.
 
See the Funeral of Former First Lady: Barbara Bush: (1:36.00) (Without comment: Posted by Washington Post) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bozw22vgog0  - Scripture Reading Begins at 1:39.00. (The actual funeral was about an hour and a half.  The entire filming was 5 hours and 40 minutes.)
 
 

 
 
 


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turning it over to the lord

4/23/2018

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          Turning It Over to the Lord

Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.  (1Peter 4:19)
Picture: Callan Trent Cofield – Son of Justin and Kristina Cofield. (Gt. Grandson)
 

It’s strange to think that we might “suffer according to the will of God” and that our highest expectation is to trust God for the outcome. It’s easy to trust God when your flower beds are the envy of the community, your paycheck is good, and you can’t remember the last time you had a flat tire.
 
DO YOU MEAN TO SAY THAT IT MIGHT BE THE WILL OF GOD FOR ME TO SUFFER? That it might be the will of God for me to be persecuted? That it might be the will of God for my family to be disrupted with a new grave? Yes. No one loves you with an “everlasting love” but God. You don’t know anyone as smart as God. There’s no one you can trust like you can trust the Lord. The Jewish nation of Israel had strayed far away from God until there was no remedy but an all-out invasion from Babylon (Iraq), where they would stay for seventy years. But God still loved them. Jeremiah told it this way:
 
FOR THUS SAITH THE LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.  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.  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.  (Jeremiah 29:10-12)

VERSE 11 IS VERY POPULAR THESE DAYS. I have read it many times in the past few years in devotionals and newsletters. It is a good verse, an encouraging verse, a verse of promise. But, rarely is the verse sandwiched into its true context. God was telling the Jews: “You have been very bad and rebellious and as a last resort I must take you to the woodshed and you are going to be there for seventy years until you learn that I am God.”

That’s the true context of the verse. It’s not instant relief. God sent them Jeremiah and other preachers and they were all despised. Jeremiah ended up in a bottomless cistern where he sank up to his armpits in muck.

JEREMIAH HAD WARNED THEM THAT MANY OF THEM would die and not live long enough to make it back home. But, the rest of the message was that God had plans for them, plans of peace. When they had had time out to think things over, those who had survived could go back home and God would help them rebuild everything that had been destroyed. “Then” shall ye call upon me…  “Then” shall you pray unto me.”  After they had learned their lesson and they had turned to the Lord, He would listen to them. That’s the rest of the story.

THE JEREMIAH STORY IS NOT THE WHOLE STORY OF 1PETER 4:19. Many people are sick, and many people die younger than normal who are not extra-ordinary sinners. Sinners, yes. We are all sinners. Some are saved sinners, and some are lost sinners, but we are all sinners. You don’t have to be an extra-ordinary sinner for it to be the will of God for you to suffer or die without knowing all the answers.

In Peter’s day, the suffering was in the context of persecution for their faith in Christ. Sometimes God does not stop the people with the upper hand who are beating you up.

It’s like the song of the south: Farther along, we’ll know all about it; Farther along, we’ll understand why. Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine. We’ll understand it, all by and by.”

 PETER ADVISED HIS READERS ON HOW TO HANDLE THEIR SUFFERING. Commit the keeping of their souls to God, believing Him to be a faithful creator. He knows where you live. He knows your phone number. He’ll meet you at your point of need in His own time.

I must tell you that I have encountered people whose condition or circumstance was beyond me and it broke me and reduced me to weeping. I try not to do that in the room where they are. They don’t need me  to do that. But, weeping there must be. I think I can understand Jeremiah, at least a little bit.

SOMETIMES THERE IS NEEDED THE MINISTRY OF MOSES: And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. (Exodus 20:21) Sometimes the greatest need is for somebody to draw near into the thick darkness where God is.

When Elijah came out into the open to encounter King Ahab who was married to Jezebel, he mentioned to Ahab:
As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand,…  (1Kings 17:1) That’s what we need today. We need more people who can say: “Before Whom I stand.” It helps us all if we can say: “Before Whom I stand.”

THERE IS A GREAT NEED FOR US, when troubled for any reason, to have a strong belief in “a faithful creator.” Many believe in a creator out there somewhere but that’s not good enough. We need to be able to say: “I personally know this Creator and whatever comes my way is not coming my way unless it first passes the mind and heart of my Creator and Redeemer.”

LIFE CAN SHATTER YOUR SOUL WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT. If you have a telephone it can destroy you in three minutes. If you have a front door, a knock from the other side of that door can tell you the thing that will destroy you! At that time, you gather everything you can and join the man in Jesus’ day: And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.  (Mark 9:24)

Sometimes I wonder if we can go through many doors with God until we have been truly broken. However, be careful about praying for God to break you. Don’t do that. Spend your time praying for God to draw you to Himself, for God to open your eyes. I like the song by Fanny Crosby: “I am Thine O Lord…draw me nearer,” the song says. If God needs to break you, He will. But, that’s not the first route we need to go. Seek God and surrender to Him. That’s the route to go. Adopt that as a way of life.
 
We must learn to turn over to God those things we can’t handle and the things we can’t understand. I think that is harder to do than to get healed (and I have been healed and have seen a number of people healed). Commit: the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.  
 

Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 23, 2018 – MONDAY
A.M.  2Samuel 7-9 P.M. Luke 19:1-28
 (Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

APRIL 21, 2018 – SATURDAY
A.M.2Samuel 1-3     P.M. Luke 18:1-17

APRIL 22, 2018  - SUNDAY
A.M.  2Samuel 4-6  P.M. Luke 18:18-43

If you are behind in your reading, you may want to link in today and go back to where you have been reading. This will help you to eventually catch up.
 
 Good Memory Verse:
Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that
God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.  (Acts 2:36)
 
Song for Today:
The Rocks Will Cry Out (2:48) – (Calv.Mem.Church – Sou.Pines,NC)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RB339rbvNU
 You may have to adjust the volume or delete an ad.
 
See the Funeral of Former First Lady: Barbara Bush: (1:36.00) (Without comment: Posted by Washington Post) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bozw22vgog0  - Scripture Reading Begins at 1:39.00. (The actual funeral was about an hour and a half.  The entire filming was 5 hours and 40 minutes.)
 
 
 
 
 

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if the righteous scarcely be saved

4/20/2018

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     If the Righteous Scarcely Be Saved          And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.  (1Peter 4:18-19)
Picture: Micah Daniel Carr – Son of Daniel and Jette Carr.
 
“THE PHRASE SCARCELY BE SAVED means “saved with difficulty,” but it does not suggest that God is too weak to save us. The reference is probably to Genesis 19:15-26, when God sought to rescue Lot from Sodom before the city was destroyed. God was able — but Lot was unwilling! He lingered, argued with the angels, and finally had to be taken by the hand and dragged out of the city! Lot was “saved as by fire” and everything he lived for went up in smoke”(see 1Corinthians 3:9-15). (Warren Wiersbe)

GOD ALLOWS MUCH TROUBLE AND TRIBULATION to dog the steps of those who have been saved. It has always been that way in varying degrees. Troubles and trials purify our lives and strengthen our faith and our prayer life. Saved people are not given a pass from poison ivy and sweat. So, if God’s people who are on their way to heaven are seen struggling with life like everyone else, there is no incentive for lost people to “get on the gravy train.”
 
WHEN J. HUDSON TAYOR WAS A MISSIONARY TO CHINA, the people were hungry. The missionary was able to get some rice from an incoming ship. They distributed the rice among those who were attending the church. Pretty soon, the church was filling up with “new converts.” Mr. Taylor saw the problem and realized that he was creating “rice Christians.” As much as he wanted to feed his church people, he had to refrain from it lest he fill up his church with insincere people who only wanted the rice.
 
JESUS HAD THAT PROBLEM WHEN HE FED PEOPLE WITH LOAVES AND FISHES.
 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.  (John 6:26-29)
He wasn’t worried about it. But, for a while, some came to hear Him preach who were more interested in His free bread and fishes. 

THE BREAD AND FISH MAY HAVE CONFUSED some about what Jesus’ gospel was about. But, the big hindrance to people being saved was the price they had to pay to be known as “one of them.” It made it harder for people to make a living; to sell their products they made. Boycotting is an old tactic. When Paul began arresting people for receiving Christ and Stephen was stoned to death in the streets of Jerusalem, it made people think twice about joining the Christians.
 
WHEN ELIJAH WAS PREACHING, and the Baal religion was so strong, there were 7,000 people who had not bowed their knee to Baal. But, Elijah did know about it. He thought he was the only one standing for God. The seven thousand had not bowed their knee to Baal but they were not out on the street corner handing out Gospel tracts. It was hard to be on God’s side in the days of Elijah.
 
IT WAS HARD FOR SOME TO BE ON CHRIST'S SIDE during His short ministry. He had not yet risen from the dead. They had not yet handled his resurrected body and had not seen the scars in His hands and His side. If the righteous were having a hard time getting along with their neighbors and their families over this man, Jesus, it would be much harder for those standing on the outside of that circle to decide they would join them.

There was suffering and death ahead for those who joined this new band of religious people. Jesus was up-front with everyone about the price they might pay to follow Him.
And he said
to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.  (Luke 9:23)

DO YOU WANT TO BE SAVED? Salvation is free, but it is not cheap. It cost Jesus everything and it is going to cost you something to live for Christ. Everyone will not be glad you are saved. If you want to be saved, you need to think it through. It will cost you. But it will cost you much more NOT  to be saved. Eternity is a long time to be in the wrong place.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  (John 3:16) Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13). Ω
 
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 20, 2018 – FRIDAY
A.M.  1Samuel 30-31   P.M. Luke 17:20-37
 (Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
APRIL 19, 2018 – THURSDAY
A.M 1Samuel 27-29     PM Luke 17:1-19

Please note: If you are behind in your reading, you may want to link in today and go back to where you have been reading. This will help you to eventually catch up. I read here on Bible Gateway and read YouVersion on my iPhone. 

 Good Memory Verse:
As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.  (1Peter 4:10)

Song for Today:
Supper Time (2:09) – (Haven of Rest Quartet) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEnXxGrWx2k
 You may have to adjust the volume or delete an ad.
 
 
 
 
 
 



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judgment must begin at the house of god

4/17/2018

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 Judgment Must Begin at the House of God
         

… if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.  (1Peter 4:16b-19)

THE BIBLE SPEAKS OF JUDGMENT FROM GOD, judging one another, and judging ourselves. We don’t like for someone to tell us we are pitching too high or too low or not swinging the bat just right. Truth is, there is something vital in us that feeds off the approval of others and if we don’t have it, we languish on the vine. If someone burns the beans, puts a scratch on the new car, forgets a birthday, or we get to school/work wearing a shoe of a kind, we’ll need some “closure.”  
 
TRUTH IS, WE REQUIRE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF HUMAN APPROVAL because our sense of significance rests upon it. That’s why the Bible speaks of “one another.”  That’s why “political correctness” has been so successful as a tool in the hands of the self-appointed elites. Most people don’t worry much about how it’s going between us and God. He ought to be proud of us for showing up in church one Sunday last month. Ok, the month before?
 
WHEN CHRISTIANITY WAS JUST BEGINNING, Ananias and Sapphira conspired to commit a sin that resulted in their instant death, only minutes apart. The Lord saw fit to put the brakes on such a disrespect for the Spirit of God. (Acts 5:1) It made its point and great fear fell upon a lot of people who knew about it. That event was a public spectacle.
 
DURING THAT TIME, A MORE PRIVATE KIND OF JUDGMENT from God was also taking place. Individuals were getting sick and some of them died because they partook of the Lord’s Supper/Communion without judging themselves and repenting of their sins.
Today, when it’s time for the local church to observe the “Lord’s Supper,” or “Communion,” it is common practice to include reading a passage of Scripture that reminds us of the origin of that ordinance.

Usually, the reading is done by the pastor and he presides over the ceremony. As a pastor, I did that for many years. I settled on reading: I Corinthians 11:23-34.  Verses 23 & 24 conveniently describe the bread and verses 25 & 26 describe the wine (which is unfermented grape juice).

ATER A FEW TIMES, I BEGAN TO READ THE OTHER VERSES in this passage and noticed that a very important part of the ceremony was self-examination of the soul and a warning about failure to carry out self-examination before the Lord. It had exacted a toll of sickness and death upon those who were careless.

THE FIRST TIME I SAW THIS, I WAS STUNNED! I had never realized that the Bible was warning people who take Communion that we had better pay attention to what we are doing. This is no place to be casual and let the mind wander off on next Saturday’s fishing trip. There could not even be a next Saturday’s fishing trip. Better not to participate in this special service than to disrespect it.

THE INSTRUCTIONS FROM GOD ARE: But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation (condemnation, judgment) to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.  (1Corinthians 11:28-29)

The verses that caught my attention are: For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. (Are dead.) For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged (1 Corinthians 11:30-31)

Then, He explains what happens when we are judged of the Lord: But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.  (1Corinthians 11:32) God is going to judge the world, as a group, at a later time and the result will be their eternal doom.

BUT THE LORD DEALS WITH HIS OWN IN A SEPARATE SETTING. He wants us to judge ourselves here and now. If we do not judge ourselves, God will lay His chastening hand on us. This may result in sickness or it may result in death. There is a sin unto death for the Christian. Another situation involving a sinning Christian came up at Corinth and Paul instructed them: To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.  (1Corinthians 5:5)
 
THERE IS A SPECIAL JUDGMENT FOR CHRISTIANS AT THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST; For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.  (2Corinthians 5:10)

This judgment will be attended only by saved people who are sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30). This judgment is not to see if people are going to be saved. This judgment is for evaluating the works and service of Christians and will result in the receiving or loss of rewards given for faithful service. We are saved by grace and do not earn salvation so that is not part of this judgment of rewards. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.  (Revelation 3:11) 

THIS DID NOT MEAN THAT HE WAS COMING SOON FOR THEM, but when He does come, it will be sudden. This is the bema seat, much like the rewarding stands in the Roman games. They understood what it meant. Don’t let someone influence you to not be the Christian God wants you to be. Hold on to what you have. It’s not talking about your eternal salvation. It’s talking about your faithful service to Christ after you are saved.

WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT THE SEPARATE JUDGMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN. It is not part of the Great White Throne that lost people will be brought to and sentenced to eternal doom. At the Great White Throne Judgment, the lost dead people are raised from the dead to be judged and sentenced. No saved people will be in this judgment.  

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. (They tried to run away but there was place for them to run.) And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.  (Revelation 20:11-12)

IN CLOSING, LET'S SWITCH BACK TO OUR ORIGINAL THEME: Judgment beginning at the House of God. The Apostle John explained it this way: If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.  All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.  (1John 5:16-17)

CONCLUSION: Judgment at the House of God has been going on from the beginning of the church in the Book of Acts. Peter talked about it in the present tense: “is come.” Then he said that if we “suffer according to the will of God” to commit the keeping of our souls unto Him who is a faithful creator.

Suffering may be at the hands of persecutors, at the hands of our Heavenly Father who is chastening us to obtain a better behavior in this life.

We also may be allowed to suffer from accidents or sickness that may come upon us unexplained and not understood. These things are not from judgment and the explanation is known only to the Lord.  Trust God as a faithful creator who loves us. We are only here for a short time. Determine that you are going to walk with God all the way to the gate of Heaven! Got it? Ω
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 18, 2018 – WEDNESDAY
A.M.  1Samuel 25-26   P.M. Luke 16:19-31
 (Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Please note: If you are behind in your reading, you may want to link in today and go back to where you have been reading. This will help you to eventually catch up. I read here on Bible Gateway and read YouVersion on my iPhone. 

 Good Memory Verse:
As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.  (1Peter 4:10)

Song for Today:
Now I Belong to Jesus (2:25) – (Haven of Rest Quartet)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3G2mRfikoA                                                                                                                                              
 You may have to adjust the volume or delete an ad.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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the reproached christian

4/16/2018

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                                     The Reproached Christian…

If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.  
But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.  (1Peter 4:14-16)

PETER IS TALKING TO EVERYBODY. In that day, when the Christians were persecuted in Jerusalem and left town, they went everywhere preaching the Word (Acts 8:4). There weren’t any apostles or pastors among them. The promised Messiah had come, had been crucified and resurrected from the dead. They believed it and were willing to leave their homes and businesses to be true to Him and to keep out of jail. So, preaching was no big deal to them. They were NOT pastors. (Preaching and pastoring are two different things.) Preaching is done in the pulpit AND “out there” where there is no pulpit.

I HEARD A PREACHER SAY: “We should live and preach so that if people get mad, it will be because of our position and not because of our disposition.” Pastors shouldn’t use the pulpit to vent their personal frustrations. Picking on people in the pew is not nice or smart. Preach the Word of God. That’s why you’re there.

IN OUR TEXT, PETER IS TALKING BROADER THAN TO "PREACHERS" as we think of them today. The New Testament tells us several ways people are called of God. Called to be saints (Romans 1:7). Called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Called unto the fellowship (1Corinthians 1:9). Called unto His kingdom and glory (1Thessalonians 2:12). And there’s more.

WHEN GOD CALLS A PREACHER IN A SPECIAL WAY TO DELIVER HIS MESSAGE, the people may not get a warm, fuzzy feeling from it. Getting right with God can be…unpleasant. Jesus commented: The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.  (John 7:7) Jesus was generally liked by the common people but He was not always a good mixer.

CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED TO BE LIGHTS in a dark world and sometimes there’s no nice way to do it. If you plow close to the corn (I heard this when I was a boy) it may make some mad. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?  (Matthew 15:12)

NOT ONLY WAS JESUS A PERSON OF LIGHT, He said: Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.  (Matthew 5:14-16) Is carrying God’s lantern too heavy for you?

DO YOU SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING? If we are going to walk with God, if we are going to be Jesus’ disciple, we are going to make some people uncomfortable. Even if you don’t write “holy” on your sleeves, you are not going to fit in. People may gang up on you and accuse you of things that are not true. They may reproach you and try to shrink you down to their size.

Before our text for today, Peter had already said: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: (1Peter 4:4)

IF YOU RUB SOMEBODY THE WRONG WAY AND THEY TARGET YOU to be smeared with lies, just make sure it’s not true. Go on your way and don’t try to defend yourself against every lie that’s told on you. When my first wife died, and they did an autopsy, they cut a place on the calf of her leg and forgot to sew it up. When a nurse came along and saw it, she gossiped a tale that we may have had a fight.

She mentioned that I was gone a lot and people didn’t know much about me. One of my daughters-in-law happened to be in a clinic where the story was being discussed and she confronted the lady, a senior. Another nurse pointed out that the lady being reprimanded was elderly, to which my daughter-in-law replied: “Then, she’s old enough to have learned to keep her mouth shut.” (Nothing like having someone on your side if you are reproached.) I hadn’t thought of that in years until just now. It illustrates what I’m talking about. People tend to be down on what they’re not up on. And, if you’ve made them uncomfortable, you may draw some fire.

IF WE DRAW REPROACH BECAUSE OF A TRUE TESTIMONY for Jesus Christ, so be it. Don’t sweat it. Let it go. Don’t spend much time trying to defend yourself. Move on. Anyway, the gossipers in town will not stay on your case very long because gossipers feed on a constant supply of idle tales. They have to do this to keep their ego up. You’ll be out of date in a few days.

OUR TEXT FOR TODAY SAYS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT IT. That may require some practice. But, it IS the way to handle it. Make it a practice not to answer your critics. Just go about doing good. Try to do at least one thing everyday to help somebody (and don’t write it in your diary about what a nice person you are). Jesus went about doing good. That was part of His ministry.

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.  (Acts 10:38) If you can’t heal all that are oppressed of the devil, you can still go about doing good. Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 17, 2018 – TUESDAY
A.M. 1Samuel 22-24  P.M. Luke 16:1-18
 (Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Please note: If you are behind in your reading, you may want to link in today and go back to where you have been reading. This will help you to eventually catch up. I read here on Bible Gateway and read YouVersion on my iPhone.

 Good Memory Verse:
As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.  (1Peter 4:10)

Song for Today:
Let Me Walk Close to Thee (2:27) – (Haven of Rest Quartet)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qWDJzLNNfE
 You may have to adjust the volume or delete an ad.
 
 
 

 


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The suffering christian...

4/15/2018

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Picture

      The Suffering Christian…
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.  (1Peter 4:12-13)

WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE? Throughout history, millions of people have been tortured and killed because they got in somebody’s way or were the brunt of somebody’s rage. Today, America has become a culture of death as, every day, over a thousand mothers hire doctors to kill their unborn children. Does God not see? Oh yes, He sees! Does God not care? Oh yes, He cares! Several governments have murdered millions of their own people in my lifetime. Why does God let this go on?

SOME CHRISTIANS OF TODAY ARE BEING SINGLED OUT for persecution and murder. Only months ago, ISIS made it a point to publicize the cutting off of heads of Christians as they overran their towns and took them captive. Some studies indicate that more Christians may have been martyred in the last 100 years than in all the other centuries combined.

PETER WROTE THAT CHRISTIANS SHOULD NOT THINK IT STRANGE that they should endure a fiery trial of suffering. Jesus warned, not only His disciples, but all people: …If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.  (Luke 9:23) This is not a figure of speech. Being crucified as Jesus was crucified is the ultimate price one can pay for being a Christian. Jesus did not spare any of His followers that possibility.

THEY ALL LIVED UNDER THE BRUTAL REIGN OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE that crucified political prisoners by the thousands. It was a slow, agonizing death. Jesus knew that He was going to be crucified and He warned His followers to steel themselves with a mindset of loyalty to the death by crucifixion. Peter, who wrote our text for today, was crucified. He asked to be crucified upside-down because he was not worthy to be crucified like his Lord. The Great Tribulation of Revelation is on its way. During that time the guillotine will be at work.

MUCH OF THE 10TH CHAPTER OF MATTHEW is taken up with Jesus’ description of how His followers would be persecuted and killed by religious and governmental authority over them. This setting is not talking about thieves and robbers but by the governmental authority that should be protecting their lives. He painted their expected earthly persecution and death on the canvass of their gains in eternity.

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  (Matthew 10:28) He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  (Mathew 10:37) And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.  (Matthew 10:38)

JESUS WENT FURTHER IN DESCRIBING THEIR SUFFERING AND DEATH for His sake. He revealed that their being faithful unto death was characteristic of one who has genuine faith in Him and those who do not endure to the end are displaying their characteristics of being unbelievers. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.  (Matthew 10:22)

THIS IS NOT SAYING THAT ENDURING TO THE END WILL CAUSE THEM TO BE SAVED and not enduring to end will cause them to be lost. This is one of the hardest sayings in the Bible. It is implying that genuinely saved people will be willing to die for His name. We have only to look at our borrowed photo for today of men dressed in orange suits. They are Christians. Members of ISIS are about to cut their heads off with knives. They submitted to their death without crying out and without struggling.

Please keep in mind that Matthew 10:22 is a setting where government has the absolute power of life and death over them. There is no escape. There is no way to run. There is no way to resist them. We watched on television as ISIS lined up these Christian men on their knees and prepared to execute them. These men were a small token of the great numbers of people killed by these satanic animals. Why didn’t God stop them? Sometimes we can know why God does or does not do things because He tells us. And sometimes, we cannot know why.

WHY DID GOD ALLOW HIS PROPHET, ISAIAH, TO BE SAWED IN HALF IN A BOX? All of Jesus’ disciples but John died a violent death. None of them needed a retirement program. Why has God allowed millions of His people to suffer death at the hands of evil men? “Why did God let my baby die?” “Why did God let my mama and daddy die in that wreck when I was ten years old?” “Why did my little sister die of leukemia?”

THE BEST EXPLANATION I KNOW IS THIS: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.  (Isaiah 55:8-9) As the song says: “Some day He’ll make it plain to me. Someday, I’ll understand.”

Sometimes we want God to do things the way we want them done. He’s not going to let us be God. We cannot have His place. We have this comforting thought: we can trust God to do what’s best and right for us in every situation.

JESUS WARNED THEM OF ANOTHER SITUATION IN WHICH THERE IS A WAY OUT. But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:  (Mark 13:14) (This is a real situation and there is not room here to develop the details.) In this case, there is going to be opportunity for a group of people to run for their lives. This gets over into the Great Tribulation and involves Jewish people in conflict with the anti-Christ.

In the end, we shall understand. Someday, He’ll make it plain to us.Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
April 14, 2018 – SATURDAY
A.M.  1Samuel 15-16     P.M. Luke 14:25-35
 
April 15, 2018 – SUNDAY
A.M. 1Samuel 17-18      P.M. Luke 15:1-10
 
APRIL 16, 2018 – MONDAY
A.M. 1 Samuel 19-21  P.M. Luke 15:11-32
 (Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Please note: If you are behind in your reading, you may want to link in today and go back to where you have been reading. This will help you to eventually catch up. I read here on Bible Gateway and read YouVersion on my iPhone.

Good Memory Verse:
As every man hath received the gift,
even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.  (1Peter 4:10)

Song for Today:
Someday He’ll Make it Plain To Me (2:25) – (Haven of Rest Quartet)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znGMDLC2KfQ
 You may have to adjust the volume or delete an ad.
 
 
 
 


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    Dan Carr is a "retired" pastor, writer, teacher and continues to write at this website. This blog and other articles are e-mailed free to anyone who wants them. Go to: 
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    Dan and Barbara live 
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