Archive for December, 2015
Christ, Our Fellowship, Part 14
So how do we do what we can to ensure that our relationship with God in Jesus remains open, viable, and in fellowship? I firmly believe that at least some of it can be boiled down to our health. Many studies have shown a severe spike in autism over the past few decades. Moreover, spikes in various cancers have been and continue to be on the rise. In general, people in America are very unhealthy. They are overweight, they hobble instead of walk, and people’s tempers flare at the drop of a hat. I fully and firmly believe that much of this is due to the toxins that come into our bodies through our food supply and air supply.
Christ, Our Fellowship, Part 13
A society like the one in Man in the High Castle does not normally happen overnight, though that one was largely created by the wrong sides winning the war. That society is dark, foreboding, something to be disdained and hated. But most of the time, societies change over time and with the incremental removal of rights and privileges. This has been happening in earnest for the past four to six decades and has picked up the pace to an alarming degree within the last few. We seem to have reached the point of no return, where movement in society has created change under its own power and continues to do so.
Christ, Our Fellowship, Part 12
Here was a man who – because of his faith in Jesus – was being harassed to the point where those persecuting and judging him dragged him outside the city and stoned him to death. So aligned with Satan’s purposes (not God’s even though they were the “religious” leaders of Israel), that they were blind to the heinous act they were committing. I’m sure they imagined they were doing God a favor, like what radicalized Muslims do today. Yet, in spite of their abject hatred of Stephen and the truth he preached, Stephen was so in line with God’s purposes that he stepped in for these men – on their behalf – and as his final request, asked God not to count this sin against them.
Continue Reading December 26, 2015 at 11:05 AM Leave a comment
Christ, Our Fellowship, Part 11
A sacrifice of praise occurs when we do not feel like praising Him, but we do so anyway. Do you think Job felt like praising God after learning that he had lost everything, including his 10 children? Think again. Job praised God because he knew it was the right thing to do, not because he felt like it. Job’s act of praise (worship) brought him into fellowship with God because Job was essentially admitting that God’s ways were best in spite of his own immediate loss and the way things looked from a human perspective. Job had no idea what had transpired between Satan and God. He could not understand that Satan wanted to destroy him but God knew that would never happen. In spite of his lack of understanding and how devastated he must have been, Job praised God. Can we do any less, especially considering the fact that we are told repeatedly in the Bible (something Job did not have) that we should offer praise to God continually?
Continue Reading December 26, 2015 at 8:28 AM Leave a comment
Christ, Our Fellowship, Part 10
Being in the moment requires us to resist the temptation to do our own thing, to do what gratifies self, and to accept as the only viable option, God’s will for our lives. It is there we find fellowship and once we successfully set aside our own desires (when they are at odds with God’s), we find fellowship, just as Jesus found fellowship. Again, this can feel different with each scenario, but the goal is always the same – to agree to God’s will for our lives in that moment. Certainly, not every decision we are faced with will be difficult and certainly, the level of difficulty will be different from situation to situation. The example of Jesus in Gethsemane is out of the norm, but nonetheless, showcases how difficult it can be at times to commit ourselves to the Father’s will. Overall, the truth of the matter appears to be that setting our own wants aside (when they conflict with God’s) in order to fulfill His will for our life is where we enter into fellowship with God.
Christ, Our Fellowship, Part 9
To fellowship with God – I believe – means to live in the present as He is in the eternal present. This does not mean we don’t consider what has happened in our lives. It also doesn’t mean we never think about future events. It means that we do not allow those things – either past or future events – to rob us of living in the present because God is at work in our present. He is working now and in order to “see” what He is doing, we also need to live in our present.
Continue Reading December 25, 2015 at 8:54 AM Leave a comment
Christ, Our Fellowship, Part 8
The Bible teaches that salvation comes from the new birth (John 3) and provides the penitent with a new legal standing before God that cannot change. He/she goes from unrighteous to righteous. But this is the beginning of our new life in Christ. Once we have salvation, we still have to choose fellowship and choosing that often means choosing to be conformed into His image through many sufferings. It is the unfortunate way the system was designed, but that is still humanity’s fault. Had it not been for our willful sin (in Adam and Eve), there would have been no need for salvation in the first place.
Continue Reading December 25, 2015 at 8:26 AM Leave a comment
All is Vanity Because All is Utter Futility
One day, all will stand before God. Only those who love God (and who have received the only salvation He offers) will be pass the judgment. Even then, loss will occur (though not loss of salvation; 1 Corinthians 3:12). Those who love self more than God will realize that they wasted their entire earthly lives struggling to gain what they were never able to reach. In the process, they will have lived their life totally dedicated not to loving or fearing God, but loving themselves and fearing never finding fulfillment in the things they chased after.
Christ, Our Fellowship, Part 7
There could be no debate. Jesus would actually raise someone from the dead! Jesus constantly saw the Father at work and partnered with Him in order to help complete the Father’s will. This is our calling as well. We’ll probably never be used by God to raise someone from the dead. We will probably be used for more of the seemingly mundane things, albeit extremely important things of God. We will do so by “looking” to see what the Father is doing. This is done by keeping our spiritual eyes open through prayer and also by simply keeping our physical eyes open to see what the Lord brings into our lives each day. Going through life in an attitude of prayer brings us and keeps us close to God. It also makes us sensitive to the Spirit’s movement in our lives so that we see needs and realize that we are in a position to meet them.
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