Initiative

Posted on May 14, 2012 by

“I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart” (Psalms 40:8). David sought to please God, because he delighted in bringing God pleasure. Because Christ gave up so much, sacrificing His live, position, and reputation, out of His unmeasurable love for me, I respond in love to Him. This love is demonstrated through my actions of obedience to His word.

David hid God’s law in his heart so that he would be able to live it before everyone. “I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.” Because God’s word was in his heart, and his delight was to bring God pleasure, David applied the truth hidden in him to his actions in response to those around him. It was the hidden discipline to hide God’s word that resulted in powerful victories that everyone could recognize.

The fruit of David’s actions that everyone saw was not the result of random, unplanned, or purposeless actions are the actions of many people in our aimless culture today. Rather, his actions were based on the truth God had revealed to him as he studied God’s every word, meditating on it in his heart. This action springing out of a desire to please God,  based in the truth of His word is called initiative. To take initiative, we must have eyes to see a problem, an understanding of God’s ways to apply to it, and a willingness to take action. Initiative does not sit still and wait for others to take action on a problem. It purposefully searches for God’s solution, and then actively applies it bringing resolution to the situation.

As Christians, our primary goal in life, resulting for our love for God, should be to please the one who saved us, Jesus Christ. David is an excellent example of a man who sought to please the Lord. Like us, David made mistakes, but he did take action based on the truth God had already shown him. When we see a conflict, let us, as Christians, show the world His solution through our initiative to apply His methods to create a solution.

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Rejoice! It is a choice!

Posted on May 12, 2012 by

Of the first 10 times the word rejoice appears in the KJV Bible, all are commands to rejoice.

Many people say that choosing to be cheerful, joyful, or happy (they mean different things) contrary to their feelings is hypocrisy, and act to appear as something other than what they are. However, since rejoicing is commanded in the Bible, and we know God does not command us to be insincere, this must be a false presupposition.

Commands to rejoice indicate that we are capable of genuinely rejoicing, based on a decision to do so. Reinforcing this idea is the fact that Jesus commanded His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount to rejoice – when things are difficult and people are against you. Rejoicing is recognizing that because of what God has done for us, we have every reason to be happy, cheerful, and excited about living life. We have here on earth an opportunity to live without the burden of sin weighing us down, because Christ has paid. Beyond simply buying our ransom, God is continuing to mold us into the image of His perfect Jesus. To rejoice, we must recognize that no matter what life’s circumstances are, we have nothing to complain about, since Jesus has purchased our freedom!

If this is rejoicing, what does it mean to not choose to rejoice? Not making the choice to rejoice is indicating that Jesus, our Master, is not good enough to provide for our needs. This is an immense failure to be grateful for the innumerable blessings He has given us, blessings which are crowned with salvation from the worst place we could imagine, a world of torture in which time has no end! Rather than leaving us in this situation, our just deserts for breaking God’s law, He chose us, and paid our pardon. We must choose, like any pardoned criminal on death row, whether or not we will accept His pardon. He chose us to be His children, Christ’s bride, while we were on death row – the just wards of Satan.

When we realize that this is what Jesus has delivered us from, what reason do we have not to be grateful, rejoicing in what our Lord has done for us! Not deciding to be glad and cheerful about the pardon Christ has given us would be an exceedingly great crime! You must make the choice to rejoice!

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Ye Cannot Serve Two Masters

Posted on May 7, 2012 by

Have you ever seen a family where the children seem to rule? They manipulate their parents by asking one parent for the things they know the other will now allow them. In such a family the parents generally consider themselves equal. The child knows he has two equal masters who disagree, therefore all he needs to do is ask the correct master. In the end, no one wins, because the child fails to learn character, and the parents suffer the consequences resulting from having an untrained child.

A similar situation, however from an alternate perspective, is illustrated in a store where I worked for several years. The company was operated by two owners in a partnership; the workers did not know who was their ultimate authority. Each owner had his own method of doing things, and each wanted things done his way while he was managing. Adding to the conflict, the company handbook, the self-proclaimed authority on how all processes should be preformed, provided a third method of accomplishing the basic procedures necessary to run the organization. The end result of this confusion between guidelines and rules was confusion and bitterness among the employees and confusion and lack of loyalty among customers who were upset by the inconsistent services.

Jesus taught that it is impossible to serve two masters. We cannot please two authorities of equal rank who hold sway over the same part of our lives. Striving to do so creates confusion, conflict, results in a lack of accomplishment for either master’s plans. When we work to serve two equal masters in any area of our lives, no one wins. Because of this, Jesus instructed us not to serve both God, and wealth. Serving wealth results in the accumulation of earthly pleasures, while serving God results in the accumulation of heavenly treasures. It is impossible to live with two primary purposes, therefore, we must, with Joshua (Josh 24:15), choose whether we serve God with all our hearts, or the gods of this world, such as money, men’s praise, and happiness. Choosing the gods of this world ultimately results in dissatisfaction on earth as the lives of all who have completely surrendered to its lies demonstrates. Living for Jesus results in a purpose that is worth dying for, and therefore, a fulfilled life on earth, and a blessed eternity in heaven. “For My burden is easy, and My yoke is light” (Matthew 11:30).

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Notes On The Golden Calf

Posted on April 30, 2012 by

Following are my notes from reading Exodus 32 this morning.

Verse 7, the Lord told Moses to go down to his (Moses’) people, who he brought out of Egypt because the corrupted themselves.

V. 8 They quickly turned aside from God’s ways, choosing to rather live their own ways and make a god that would give them freedom to follow their own desires – they would rather have “fun” than the power and holiness God desired of them, much like many modern Christians

V. 9-15 God would have destroyed the people if it were not for an intercessor, Moses, who pled for their life. How often does God intend to destroy people, but stops when He hears His children interceding, or going between?

V. 17-18 The sound of the people praising and worshiping their false god sounded like war, although it was singing! The sounds of war are clashes and screaming resulting from a great life or death conflict. Does my singing and music sound like war to the Lord and others?

V. 24 God’s chosen priest, Aaron, said that he threw the people’s gold into the fire, and a golden calf jumped out of it. If God’s chosen priest can make such a lie, I should certainly pray that God would keep my lips from speaking wickedness!

V. 25 One result of worshiping this false God was nakedness. Our culture worships many false gods, and much of our culture is naked by God’s standards (the Bible calls fishermen who would have at least been wearing a loin cloth naked Jn. 21:7).

V. 26  A separation of those who worship God from the worshipers of false gods is necessary

V. 27 Worship of false gods results in destruction

V. 30 Atonement is needed

V. 33 The Lord is forgiving, He blots out our sins if we ask Him, Jesus paid for them all at calvary

V. 35 Forgiveness did not result in a lack of consequences, but it did result in a re-establishment of the relationship with God

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My Master

Posted on April 30, 2012 by

I was sin’s slave.

He was a terrible master, compelling me to do awful things. He was an angry master who lorded his power over me, His power was in the lies he wielded. Besides the fact that I could not choose to do what I knew was good, a fact which caused me great pain, the worst consequences of being his servant, was that for wages, he paid death. I could not escape his lies, he was my master.

I could not buy my freedom, because the price was my back wages, more death.

 

Then Jesus came.

He paid the price of my redemption in full, with His blood. Jesus is my master now, His wages are life! Rather than force me to do anything, my new Master asks me to obey Him as a sign of love (Jn. 15:10). Like Israeli slaves in the Old Testament, after purchasing me, Jesus would have allowed me to go free (Ex. 21:2), but because I love my Master, I chose to stay. Because I love Him, I serve Him. He has put His mark on me (Ex 21:6), so all may know I am His servant. Because I belong to Him, He provides for all my needs, protecting me from all that would do me harm.

I serve Jesus my master because I love Him!

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Thriftiness, the art of investing

Posted on April 30, 2012 by

The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 demonstrates God’s desire for Christians to make wise investments, investments which multiply the assets invested. Notice several things about this parable. First, the resources invested did not belong to the servants. Second, the people who invested the resources were servants, not owners. Third, the assets and their proceeds still belonged to the owner after multiplication. Finally, the stewards were personally rewarded based on their success in investing the master’s resources.
We, God’s servants, are stewards of His resources. All the things we have are from God, belong to Him, and are in our possession to be invested. As stewards, we do not spend the resources for our own desires, but rather, we must use them in the way that brings the greatest increase to our master. The master entrusts prudent stewards with greater resources, while taking resources from those who invest them foolishly. Because the treasure we are entrusted with does not belong to us, we must be careful how we use it. Rather than spending resources on frivolous pleasures, it must be wisely spent on items which the master would purchase, and at the best prices available. Furthermore, notice that the steward who was reprimanded in the parable is the one who hid his treasure in the ground. He chose to nullify risk of loss at the expense of having any possibility of gain. Rather than being praised as a careful investor, the master called him an unprofitable servant.
It is imperative for wise stewards to take inventory of the assets untrusted to them. Some of these assets we may be entrusted with include time, health, mental abilities, monetary resources, relationships, and other items down to the pencils in our pockets. All of these resources belong to the master, and should be set aside for His use, rather than ours.
In order to put God’s assets to the best use, they should be actively developed and continually invested to reap great dividends. Dividends are the fruit of wise investments, shown in the form of increased assets. Ways to wisely invest God’s assets include the purchase of materials such as tracts, which we can use along with time and His power to increase His flock, and supporting others who are wisely investing resources for God’s glory. Thriftiness is the art of making wise investments due to a recognition that everything I have is from God, and is entrusted to me for wise investment.

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Myself, an Offering

Posted on April 19, 2012 by

“Speak unto the children of Israel that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.” – Exodus 25:2

“I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God. – Romans 12:1-2

 

God desires a relationship with man, His creation. It was for this reason that He created man. However, since God is holy, He cannot stand the presence of sin, so when Adam and Eve broke His law, He banished them, and their posterity, from His presence. Jesus came, paying for our sins, so that by faith in His work on the cross, we can be holy in God’s sight.

What stood our to me in these verses this morning is that God desires us to give an offering. This is not something He demands, although none doubt that the all powerful God that created us, and gave us all that we have could demand an offering from us, but rather, He desires us to demonstrate our greater love for Him than our things through this offering. Romans 12:1-2 speaks of a slightly different sort of offering, than does Exodus 25:2. God asks us in Romans 12:1-2 to dedicate our bodies to God, to be used in His service for our whole lives. Dedicating our lives means, as verse 2 explains, choosing not to be like the world, but to rather take the hard path of sacrificing our will to do what God desires. Once again, as the first passage mentions, this dedication is a voluntary act, but it is an act in harmony with God’s desires for us.

I beseech you therefore Christian, by God’s mercy and power, to live according to His truth and uprightness in your daily lives, seeking to please Him first and only in everything you do.

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Faith, the only way to salvation

Posted on April 15, 2012 by

Bloukrans Bridge, the highest bungee jump in the world, is a popular destination for many visitors to South Africa. A variety of famous people such as Prince Harry have visited this bridge, setting a variety of world records over its 22 year history. Many people would consider jumping from such a hight out of the question for them to do, regardless of the fact that it has maintained a 100% safety record. Consider the risks of taking such a jump. If the cord is too long, or a person is heaver than calculated, or the cord breaks, he could hit the ground and be killed or seriously injured. Jumping off the top of an incredibly high bridge with a thick rubber band attached to your ankles seems to have many potential safety issues. In order to make the jump, one must be able to trust in the jump operators and their equipment. Choosing to make the jump is a leap of faith. It is an action which you are inexperienced with, and it requires incredible trust due to the potential hazards.
In the Bible, this type of trust is called faith. Through this type of trust in God, we can be saved from the punishment for our sins. According to the Bible, there are two ways to get to heaven. The first is to obey the law. To trust my eternal destiny on my ability to obey the law requires incredible faith in myself, faith that I have never broken the law without knowing it, faith that I will never break the law, even with my thoughts and attitudes, a tenth of a second before dying.
The other option to get to heaven is to put this faith in Jesus, God’s son who never sinned, instead of myself. According to the Bible, this is the only possible option, because we have all already broken God’s law (Rom 8:28). Through this faith in Jesus, Abraham and many people in the Old Testament were saved. Although Jesus had not come to earth by Abraham’s time, he trusted in God’s promise of a savior (Rom 4:3). He realized that the blood of lambs and goats were only a glimpse of the sacrifice to come. The Bible records that Abraham was saved through his faith in God whom he had never seen.
Like bungee jumping, faith in God requires some trust before experiencing the results. Before you can be sure the bungee cord will hold you, you must jump. You can see God’s power in the lives of people around you, but not until you make the jump, trusting in the God who made you, the God with an impeccable safety record, will you be able to experience His power. Like the cord on Bloukrans bridge, you must follow the directions in order to experience results. Beyond faith, you must act in accordance with the manual, in this case, the Bible. Jumping from the bridge without heeding the directions would likely result in death. In the spiritual realm, the manual is the Bible. This is the reason that Christians must read the Bible in order to act in accordance with Jesus’ direction for their lives. Although Bloukrans bridge has a 100% safety record, the materials and instruction are created by humans like yourself. God’s “leap of faith” is insured by the Creator of the Universe and of all the natural laws such as that of physics. Failure to take the leap of faith in Christ has great consequences. Only through the leap of faith in God, rather than self, can you be saved from eternal death and separation from our loving God, death in the lake of fire.

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Why Good Friday is Good

Posted on April 7, 2012 by

This short video explains the paradox of Good Friday, the day Jesus used “bad” events to save humanity through His sacrifice.

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Tempting God – Exodus 16-17

Posted on April 7, 2012 by

During their first few months of travel after leaving Egypt, the Children of Israel used up all their food stores. Rather than ask God, or their earthly authorities to solve this problem, they complained against Moses and Aaron, God’s servants. Instead of properly appealing to the person who has the solution, we find it easier to complain against this person. Similarly, in the next chapter, Exodus 17, when Israel was lacking water, they began to doubt God’s presence. Rather than looking at the cloud and pillar of fire which they saw every day, the great miracles He used to bring them out of Egypt, and the daily manna as a clear demonstration of His presence, Exodus 17:7 says the people “tempted” the Lord. This word means to try, test, or prove. Why to we test things? Because we are unsure of the outcome. The people doubted that the Lord could or would provide for the people He just delivered from bondage in Egypt. 

According to Romans 6:17, we were slaves to sin, but when we chose to trust Christ as our Master and Redeemer, He purchased our freedom from the bondage of sin with His blood, giving us the freedom to walk in righteousness. The next verse, Romans 6:18, says that now that we are freed from sin, we are servants to righteousness, which is living in a condition acceptable to God. Since Jesus freed us from the bondage of sin, we love Him, and therefore strive to live in a manner acceptable to God (John 14:15). Through Christ’s payment, we are freed from the shackles which bound us to obey the law of sin, and have the power to live righteously before God. Choosing not to live in the liberty Christ has given us would be like doubting God’s power to provide food and water to His people, and returning to slavery in Egypt. If you have put your trust in Christ as savior, He has purchased your freedom from sin. Do you love Him enough to live in a way that is honoring to Him, or do you, like Israel, doubt God’s power and test Him when He has already proven His power in countless ways? You have the freedom, now you must choose to live in it.

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