Message from Scripture: 5/4/2021

 

Our message from Scripture today is Eph. 4:32, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

 

It is interesting that the root word for being kind in Scripture means “useful, willing to help or assist.” It thus comes to mean to help and act beneficially, to stand beside others, to share with others and do good. While a kind word can do immeasurable good in a person’s life, kind deeds are also integral to being kind. 

 

Paul reminds us that kindness is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), and Peter tells us we should add kindness to godliness (2 Pet. 1: 7).  Before we say or do anything in relation to others, let us make sure kindness is at the heart of our motives, reflected in our response for every situation we encounter.  To show kindness to others separates us from a world governed by sin and selfishness, allowing others to see God through us.  It will make a difference in how others respond, and in the heart we cultivate in ourselves. 

 

“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity” (Col. 3:12-14).  Make a conscious effort to show a little kindness to others, and see what a difference it will make in your life. Today, let’s go out and serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, showing the kindness to others that He has shown to us. God bless.

 

Robert

 

Message from Scripture: 5/3/2021

 

Our message from Scripture today is Matt. 16:26, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

 

What is your worth spiritually?  How precious and important is your soul?  Biblically, the answer is, beyond measure. The possessions of this life are short-lived; we are eternal.  How can anything material compare to that?  This passing world, and everything it has to offer, falls far short of the value God places on our souls. The physical will cease, but we will not.  We have intrinsic value, as the price for our redemption epitomizes.  "Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold...but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:18-19).

 

Of course, we are important in the sight of God.  He has paid the greatest price for our salvation; of how much value are we to Him?  In Christ, God offers us everything essential for life and eternity.  Also, since everyone is so highly esteemed by God, there is no way to put a price tag on saving souls.  When someone obeys the gospel, rededicates a life to God, or determines to grow spiritually, it’s worth it, because every soul has eternal worth.

 

Never forget how important your life is to God. Never let go of the salvation God provides you in Christ for the passing pleasures of sin. Today is for a moment, but eternity is forever. Knowing how important you are to God, today let’s be renewed in our desire to go and serve Jesus as our Lord and Savior, knowing how much God values us. God bless.

 

Robert

 

What About Tomorrow?

 

“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (Jas. 4:14).

 

The truthfulness of this Scripture is affirmed to us everyday through the experiences of others.  How many people, in the prime of their life, find life too short to accomplish all their goals?  How many people postpone decisions for tomorrow, only for tomorrow never to come?  Whether rich or poor, young or old, life is uncertain; there are no guarantees.

 

In the above Scripture, James emphasizes the brevity and uncertainty of life.  He is not saying life has no value, but it is unsure from our point of view.  All we have is today, and we should use it wisely.  This is why James writes, “Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that'” (Jas. 4:15).  Only our heavenly Father knows what the future holds, and so He is immanently qualified to help us through the future.  Our lives must be committed to Him and His will, for us to have assurance about tomorrow.

 

It is alright to make plans, as long as God is an integral part of those plans.  He is our anchor for today, our hope for eternity.  With this view of life, Paul could say, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).  Paul didn't know what the future held, but he knew if he lived for Christ, whatever happened, God would provide.

 

Without God, we can make many different plans, but we have no real assurance of anything.  With Him, we know we can make it through life, no matter what the future holds.  With the psalmist, we can say, “From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint.  Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psa. 61:2). Whatever tomorrow brings, with the Lord guiding our paths, we will be blessed, we will see the way through to eternity.

 

μαράνα θᾶ

 

Robert

 

Message from Scripture: 5/1/2021

 

Our message from Scripture today is Matt. 19:14, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

 

There are qualities of children that we can imitate spiritually, that help us better reflect the image of the Father in our lives. One thing true of little children is they have a pure heart.  The corrupting influences of the world haven’t settled in on them, and there is an innocence they possess we should long to have back in our lives. 

 

Another quality of little children is their trust.  They are drawn to others, and will believe what they are told.  At a young age they want to imitate their parents because of the respect they have.

 

Little children also show love freely and without qualification.  There is nothing more precious than little arms around your neck, squeezing as tight as they can, and hearing the words in your ears, “I love you.” 

 

May we never become so old in spirit we shun knowing and interacting with those younger than ourselves.  While we can offer them advice and direction in life, we can learn much from them as well.  It takes the fellowship of all of us in the body of Christ to help us reach the goal of eternity.  Every one of us is precious in the sight of God.  We should consider each other as such to ourselves as well.  “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). Today, let us live and learn from youth to those older in life, so we may go out and acceptably serve our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Have a great day. God bless.

 

Robert

 

Admiration or Sanctification?

 

Søren Kierkegaard (AD 1813-1855) was a Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic, and religious author. He is widely considered to be the first existential philosopher. While such a philosophy of life has a worldview distinctly different than that of New Testament Christianity, he did make some observations about Christianity that accurately reflect on some who call themselves Christians. He wrote, “The difference between an admirer and a follower still remains, no matter where you are. The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in words, phrases, songs, he is inexhaustible about how highly he prizes Christ, he renounces nothing, gives up nothing, will not reconstruct his life, will not be what he admires, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires.”

 

What Kierkegaard identified as an inherent weakness of Christianity in his day and age, is still a troubling problem for those who would follow Jesus today. Are we truly His disciples, or simply admirers? Consider the rich young ruler, who had the right question to ask Jesus; “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (Matt. 19:16). As the conversation went along, he showed Jesus keeping commandments was not his problem, as much as it was keeping his heart. He went on his way sorrowfully, as his possessions possessed him (19:22). He was an admirer of truth and desired eternal life, but was not willing to commit himself as a genuine follower from the heart, to gain what he so desired.

 

James raised the question, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (Jas. 2:14). The understood answer is no, as he goes on to say, “So also faith, by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (2:17). It is one thing to sing the praises of Christ, but quite another to get involved and commit oneself to being like Christ, living like Christ, and serving like Christ. “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:16-18).

 

There are many ways one can be an admirer of Christ. One can wear images of Christianity as jewelry, such as a necklace with a cross. One can sit in an assembly and sing with enthusiasm hymns about Christ. One can carry around a Bible with an expensive binding. In and of themselves, there is nothing wrong with these things, but without the spirit of Christ, without the life of Christ, they simply become tokens of admiration. Is one willing to give up the works of the flesh to grow in the fruit of the Spirit? Will one reconstruct his/her life around the image of Christ, or simply here and there through the week admire Jesus and His sacrificial life for us? “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). We have to let go of life as the world knows it, and live like Christ, if we will truly find life.

 

We are created in such a way to give ourselves to something, to devote how we live to something or someone. It never profits being an admirer of Christ, yet still be a devotee of the world. Admiration may make us feel good, but it will not accomplish God’s goal of forming Christ in us (Col.1:28). While we should have a reverential awe of God, it should be more than that. We must surrender life to Christ, that He, through the course of our lives, can shape us in His image. Do you just admire Christ, or are you willing to sacrifice for eternity? “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:1-2).

 

μαράνα θᾶ

Robert

 

Message from Scripture: 4/30/2021

 

Our message from Scripture today is Prov. 23:23. “Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.”

 

Vladimir Lenin said, “A lie told often enough becomes truth.”  In our age of revisionism and spin, this proves true all too often.  We are in an age, as Jeremiah said of his own, where people know not how to blush (Jer. 6:15). Like Isaiah, our age is one where good has been substituted for evil and evil for good (Isa. 5:20).  As Paul said, “Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Rom. 1:32). 

 

“What is the problem with lying?” society asks?  For one thing, it destroys trust, which is the foundation that societies and relationships are built on.  When lying is the rule, and not the exception, how can you depend on others, or they on you?  When you make up the rules as you go, what right do you have to get upset when others deal dishonestly with you?  It's just the fruit such a practice bears.  Character is lost, and in the process, so is one's self-respect. Besides this, for the Christian, to reflect the image of Christ, we should live by the truth and speak the truth.

 

Paul wrote, “Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another” (Eph. 4:25). Our challenge in such an age as this is to continue to promote and live by the truth of inspired Scripture, not reflect the deceptions of the age in which we live.  We should pray for many who seem bent on self-destruction.  And let us never compromise what God really says is true, what is right and wrong, what leads to eternal life, and what condemns to eternal judgment (Rev. 22:14-15). Today, may our lives reflect the truth in what we say and do as we go out to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God bless.

 

Robert

 

Message from Scripture: 4/29/2021

 

Our message from Scripture today is 1 Cor. 14:33. “God is not a God of disorder but of peace.”

 

Disorder and confusion are the opposite of peace. They are traits that fill many people’s lives, but their origin is not of God.  “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice” (Jas. 3:16).  Sin creates confusion and destroys peace, in our own lives, in our relationship with others, and especially in our relationship with God.

 

What is the way to find peace?  The answer is Jesus.  “For he himself is our peace” (Eph. 2:14). When we obey the gospel, and are cleansed of our sins by the blood of Christ, we can have peace.  We have peace with God, as our sins are forgiven.  We have peace in ourselves, knowing the guilt of sin is removed.  We can have peace with others, as we respond to them in love, not from sinful motives and attitudes.

 

Do others see the peace of God in you? What kind of example do they see?  Do you live in godliness, or do they see sin fill your heart and actions?  What kind of language do you use?  Do you speak kind words, or words that create strife? “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). To a large extent, how we respond to others determines whether we can find peace with others.

 

If we have peace through Christ, we should try to be at peace with those around us.  There will be some who, by allowing sin to influence them, will refuse to know peace.  However, Christ living in us should make a difference in how we respond to others, in whether or not we have, and share, peace. Today, let your peace with God be seen in going out and serving your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God bless.

 

Robert