Dealing With Believers and Un-believers

1 Corinthians 2

 ¹ And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. ² For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. ³ I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴ And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

  
⁶ However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷ But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, ⁸ which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ But as it is written:

      “ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
      Nor have entered into the heart of man
      The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

 ¹⁰ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. ¹¹ For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
¹³ These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¹⁴ But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. ¹⁶ For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

While this letter was written to believers, when dealing with people outside our faith or beliefs, we do well to remember this passage. Like Paul, we are to present the gospel, but do so knowing that it takes “Spiritual eyes” to see the truth. We do it also in love.

If someone says something that is offensive, we should pray for guidance and direction, and “Love,” that we might win them over, before we respond in anger.

I can’t speak for all, but I myself struggle with anger when someone blasphemes God. I just have to step back, remember that He loves them (Jesus on the cross said “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”), and do what He would do, proclaim His message in love and let them decide. 

Update on Johnny

He still can't move his arms much or his body at all. His fever is not as bad as it was but still lingering.
He seems to be more himself and he is eatting a little more and wants to sit up. His last seizure was Sat so hopefully he wont have any more. Please continue to pray for him and the family. This is so difficult for us.
Thank you so much for all the prayers.

Prayer Request

My oldest brother Johnny is 64 and has Down's Syndrome. We have almost lost him a coule of times over the past week. Please pray for him, and us. He is a huge part of our lives and we don't want to lose him, but know it is not what we want, but what God's perfect will is for him.

Thanks

John, Chapter Nine (revisited)

I have covered this passage before, but I feel led to revisit it. Every time I read it, I can’t help but be amazed at the nature of man.   

Who sinned?

 ¹ Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. ² And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
³ Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. ⁴ I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

How often do we pass judgment on others without knowing their story (or God’s purpose perhaps)? When we see a homeless person, do we automatically assume they are a wino, drug addict, a bum? For some, this may be true, but for others, it is a whole different story. I plan to come back to this later, so for the time being, let’s move on.

Jesus heals the blind man

⁶ When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. ⁷ And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.

I have read that the reason Jesus had the man go and wash was because Jesus required the man to step out in faith. I don’t argue this, but I would like to voice other possible motives (that could go along with this). First, Siloam means “sent.” Jesus “sent” the man to the pool, but He also “sent” him to testify of what the Lord had done for him. I believe Jesus wanted others to see the healing; obviously they did. I believe our Lord orchestrated the whole event to show 1) His deity, 2) His power, 3) the faith of this man, 4) the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders, 5) the failure of the parents, and 6) as a witness throughout time.

Doubt and a testimony

⁸ Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?”
⁹ Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.”
He said, “I am he.”
¹⁰ Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
¹¹ He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”

¹² Then they said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”

When God has blessed you, have you ever had family and friends that immediately tried to take away your joy? I think we all have. The people mentioned in verses 8 &9 saw what they saw but refused to believe. This was not the first miracle Jesus had done and no doubt they had heard; but yet they could not bring themselves to rejoice with the man and seek Christ. No, they take him to their spiritual leaders.

The Religious Leaders

¹³ They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴ Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. ¹⁵ Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
¹⁶ Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.”
Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

Great friends (sarcastically); they bring him to the Pharisee’s (they had to know this would be a problem). Have you ever had someone go to others in the church about you with the intent to hurt you? If you don’t believe this happens, start asking people you see who don’t go to church and ask why they stopped going. Many gave up on church because they have been hurt.

The Pharisee’s (vs. 16) never disappoint do they? The first thing they have to say is “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.”

They are so controlled by the devil, they can’t even rejoice with the man for receiving his sight. Unfortunately I have seen this play out time and time again within the church. The Pharisee’s are more worried about the Sabbath (actually, they are worried about the laws they created pertaining to the Sabbath) than they are about a brother who has been healed. I feel I ought to stop here before I say something I shouldn’t. I will stop with this, if you are trying to steal a brother or sister’s joy, STOP IT!

¹⁷ They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”
¹⁸ But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. ¹⁹ And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
²⁰ His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹ but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. ²³ Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

Looks like an old fashioned lynch mob to me. The Pharisee’s were out for blood.

Notice what they say in vs. 19,  “Is this your son, who you say was born blind?

Two thousand years later and I am still getting mad over this.

Why would they drag his parents in? As always, they are not going to stop until they get something on Jesus. Do we not see this hatred today? Not just from the religious leaders but from the world. Jesus warned that because the world hates Him, it will hate us. I guess we just don’t expect it from religious leaders. 

But what about the parents? They throw their very own son under the bus.

Verse 22 gives the reason. They were more afraid of being thrown out of the synagogue than they were to stand up for their son and seek the Christ.

If we could speak with them today, I wonder what they would have to say about this now.

²⁴ So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”
²⁵ He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
²⁶ Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”
²⁷ He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”
²⁸ Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.”
³⁰ The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! ³¹ Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. ³² Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. ³³ If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
³⁴ They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out.

I love the guts this man showed. While all others cowered in fear, he went toe to toe with the religious leaders. I believe this had to be the Holy Spirit talking through him. I know the Holy Spirit had not come to indwell man yet, but we know that at times He would fill a person (I Sam. 10:9-10, Exodus 35:30-32, 2 Kings 2:9-18, etc.). We don’t know how much this man had heard of Jesus, but what he did know was that this Jesus had given him sight. As he stated, no man had cured one blind from birth. He obviously had faith, and great faith at that. He showed boldness and didn’t care what the Pharisee’s did to him.

Famous last words

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
³⁶ He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
³⁷ And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”
³⁸ Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.
³⁹ And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
⁴⁰ Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”
⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

This poor blind man met the Savior. No doubt he is with the Lord today. The Pharisee’s on the other hand had a very bad day. First the blind man disrespects them, and then Jesus (yet again).

If we could go and interview each person in this story today, I wonder what they would say.

Today you and I have a chance to share what Christ has done for us. Are we willing to do that? Despite what others think or say, are we willing to defend Christ against those who attack His holy name?

Consider…

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Is there such a thing as Hot and/or Cold?
Is there such a thing as Light and/or Dark?

Several years ago, a friend of mine who worked in commercial air conditioning was explaining to me how air conditioners work. He told me there was no such thing as cold. What? He said the way an air conditioner works is by extracting the heat from the air and you are left with air- less heat (cold air). He said “cold” is the name we give something to measure the degree of less heat (I hope I haven’t gotten too confusing).
So, you have air (cold because it has no heat), and then you have heat (that comes from a source). Heat can overcome cold, cold cannot overcome heat.

The same is true of light. There is darkness, no presence of light, and there is light. Light can exist in and overcome darkness. Darkness cannot exist in and/or overcome light. You can’t increase darkness to any degree to overcome light.

God is light. Sin is darkness. God’s light overcomes sinful darkness. For people to say “if God created all things, than He created sin” is erroneous. Sin is the lack of the presense of God.

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. –Gen 1:1-5

4 “ Listen to Me, My people; and give ear to Me, O My nation: For law will proceed from Me, and I will make My justice rest as a light of the peoples. –Isaiah 51:4

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” -John 8:12

Creation vs Evolution Websites

http://www.answersingenesis.org/

http://creation.com/genetics-geographical-distribution

http://www.icr.org/

Don't Ask; Don't Tell

What are you passionate about? Do like football, basketball, or some other sport? What about shopping? Do you call everyone you know when you find a good sale? Is it easy to talk about these things with family, friends, or strangers?

Many times a complete stranger will start talking about the weather or a traffic jam, or just about anything. Most of us don’t have a problem talking about what we think is important. We will even fight over politics because that is what we are passionate about. But what about God?

¹¹ “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. ¹² Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

                                                                                             Matthew 5:11-12

³² “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. ³³ But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

                                                                                            Matthew 10:32

If someone asks if you are a Christian, do you tell them you are?  Are you ashamed to tell them? Are you afraid of what they might think or say? What if it could cost you your life? If others don’t ask if you are a Christian, can they tell by your actions that you are?  

This is not anything new. People denying Christ goes back to when Jesus dwelt among men in human flesh. Joseph of Arimathea was a closet disciple until Jesus death (John 19:38; Luke 23:50-53 ). Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, for fear of the Jews (John 3:1-21).

Probably the best known denial of Jesus was that of Simon Peter. When Jesus was arrested, Peter denied Jesus three times (Matthew 26:69-75; Mark 14:66-72).

When I was a boy, I proudly professed my faith in Christ. I took a tongue lashing on numerous occasions for this. By the time I was in high school, I was selective of who I professed my faith to. At eighteen, when I joined the Marine Corps, I was embarrassed to reveal that I was a Christian. I had actually thought when I became a Marine I wouldn’t care what others thought of me. The problem was, this was a sickness in my spiritual life. I had to get my life right with Him before I would have the boldness to proclaim my Savior and not care what the world thought. Needless to say, satan was always there to plant seeds of doubt wherever possible. I would have thoughts about how little I knew of the Bible.

If someone asked me a question, I might not know the answer. Pride was my disease. It wasn’t until later, when I began to grow in my faith that I began to profess my faith no matter what anyone thought. Today I am proud to proclaim my faith, but it is not based on what others think, or if I know all the answers. It is based on my love for Him, because He loved, and saved a wretched sinner like me. He lives in my heart, and because of that, I seek to tell all others about Him. It is He that gives me the courage and the strength to share Him with others. Praise God He has done such a work in a hopeless sinner such as I. Like Paul, I am honored to suffer for His sake. Compared to the cross He bore for me, anything I suffer is nothing.  

 The hatred of the world:        John 15:18-27

Jesus warns of persecution:  John 16:1-3

“I have overcome the world:  John 16:25-33

If we deny Christ, can we be restored? The answer is a resounding “Yes!”

After Jesus rose from the grave and talked with the disciples, he asked Peter three times if he loved Him (John 21:15-19). I believe Jesus asked Peter for affirmation for each time Peter had denied Him on the night He was arrested. With Peter (as with all the disciples except John), this came with a cost. Peter would be killed, but he would never again deny his Lord.

Some of those who gladly proclaimed Jesus are:

John the Baptist; lived in the desert  (Luke 3:1-20)

Mary Magdalene; was there to see where Jesus was buried and came to    anoint Him on the third day (all four Gospels)

The Samaritan Woman; an adultress  (John 4:25-30)

The Demoniac; was possessed  (Luke 8:26-39)

A Prostitute  (Luke 7:36-39)

A Centurion; Roman military commander  (Luke 7:1-10)

A Blind Man  (John 9:1-38)

Lazarus, Mary, and Martha; Lazarus was raised from the dead  (John 11;1-46)

The Desciples; after Pentecost

The question today is, are you willing to suffer persecution, even death for the sake of Christ? What a little thing it is to suffer what others say about you, even if it costs you your life, for the reward that awaits you in heaven. 

How much do you want to hear “Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter in to the presence of thy Lord.”

I apologize for the break in the study of Romans. For reasons unknown to me, I can not retrieve those files. I will continue to work on this.

Romans Lesson II

The Proof of Universal Guilt

The Universal Provision of Righteousness

     Manifested to sinners

     Attainable for sinners

     Effective in sinners

There is none righteous

Romans 3:10-20 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

¹⁰ as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; ¹¹ there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. ¹² All have turned away, together they have become useless; there is no one who does good, there is not even one. ¹³ Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers' venom is under their lips.¹⁴ Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.¹⁵ Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, ¹⁷ and the path of peace they have not known.¹⁸ There is no fear of God before their eyes. ¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God's judgment. ²⁰ For no flesh will be justified in His sight by the works of the law, for through the law [comes] the knowledge of sin.

Paul quotes scripture to prove universal guilt. Scripture, not Paul, is the judge. (See Psalm 5:9; 10:7; 14:1-3; 140:3; Isaiah 59:7-8)
“By the Law” (vs 20): The purpose of the law was to bring conviction and prove guilt, not for justification. The law never justified anyone; its purpose was to reveal sin.
If a person says he is good, than he lies. He/she, may not be aware that they are not good. God’s law (see the Ten Commandments) shows us what to do, and what not to do.  But keeping of the commandments is still not good enough. If we have broken one, we have broken all.  The breaking of one commandment causes us to sin, and sin, unless paid for, leads to death (hell).

Have you ever told a lie? Then you are a liar.

Have you ever wanted something that belonged to your friend? Then you are a coveter.

Have you ever used a cuss word, or hated someone? Then you have taken the Lord's name in vain and are guilty of murder. Yes, Jesus said if you hate someone you have committed murder.

Things are not looking good for you my friend. You are obviously guilty as charged. On the day of judgment, when you stand before God’s throne of judgment, what do you think He will say? God, because He is good, and just, and must punish wickedness, has to demand the debt of sin be paid. But you cannot pay the sin debt; what do you do?

God's Righteousness through Faith

Romans 3:21-26 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

 ²¹ But now, apart from the law, God's righteousness has been revealed —attested by the Law and the Prophets ²² —that is, God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction. ²³ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. ²⁴ They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.²⁶ He presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.

Vs 21. The Righteousness: The emphasis here is on the gift of personal relationship to God imparted to those who trust Christ. But now: Paul’s emphasis shifts to the new age or dispensation (see definition). He is not contrasting Jew and Gentile but the time when the law held sway and the present time when grace prevails.  

Dispensation

1 a : a general state or ordering of things; specifically : a system of revealed commands and promises regulating human affairs b : a particular arrangement or provision especially of providence or nature
2 a : an exemption from a law or from an impediment, vow, or oath b : a formal authorization
3 a : the act of dispensing b : something dispensed or distributed

Vs 22. Faith of [or “in”] Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ is the only valid object in which man must place his faith.

Vs 23. For “all” have sinned: The human need and the divine provision are alike applied universally. Come short of the glory of God: Man can exceed his own standards but never, left to himself, can he attain to God’s standard of righteousness.   

Vs 24. Being justified: indicates being declared righteous. It signifies the believer’s judicial standing before God.  Freely: There is no just cause in man to warrant justification. By His grace: Unmerited favor is bestowed through the redemption. Christ’s death is the ransom The sinner is released on the basis of the ransom ‘s having been paid.

Vs 25-26. Through Faith: Christ’s death satisfies the Father’s righteous demands. Its benefits are appropriated only through faith in His finished work. In His blood: The emphasis is not on the blood as it coursed through Christ’s veins, but as it was shed for our sins. This is how the propitiation was accomplished. Just and the Justifier: God can remain just (true to His nature) and still declare sinners to be righteous only because Christ has paid for sin and satisfied His holy law. The sinner is not rendered guiltless but pardoned. Christ has taken the sin on Himself and has imputed His righteousness to the sinner.

Propitiation means sacrifice of atonement. Jesus paid our sin debt on the cross. God poured out His fierce wrath and judgment on His perfect and Holy Son. Only Jesus could pay our debt because He alone is perfect. God’s judgment requires a perfect sacrifice.

Go back to the question asked earlier; You cannot pay the sin debt; what do you do? 

You must believe on the Lord Jesus, and make Him the lord of your life. He paid the debt for your sins, let Him come into your life and rescue you.

Romans Chapter I

Romans 1:18-22 (New International Version)

God's Wrath Against Mankind

 ¹⁸The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

 ²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²²Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,

God’s impending judgment will come whether you believe it or not. None of us knows when we will breathe our last breath here on earth and stand in judgment before a Holy God. If we have heard His message, we will not have any excuse for not receiving Him as our personal Lord and Savior.

The Holy Spirit gives testimony to us. We have the burden of receiving our Lord or rejecting Him. The more we reject Him, the easier it becomes to sin, and the harder it becomes to be obedient. We must make the conscious decision to follow Him.

How do we grow in the Lord? The only way we can grow in Him is through prayer and studying scripture. If we think we can do it without one or either, we deceive ourselves. We get to know Him intimately by practicing these disciplines. How can we get to know someone unless we spend time with them?

Romans 1:26-28 (New International Version)

 ²⁶Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
 ²⁸Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

Many today claim that there is no mention of homosexuality in the New Testament. Here, Paul clearly states that God’s wrath will fall upon homosexuals, just like Sodom and Gomorrah. If anyone says that God made them homosexual, or there is nothing wrong with it, they are deceived. It is a sin, and they will be lost. This is not to say that a homosexual cannot repent and turn from his sin and be saved. God’s grace is able to cover “ALL” sin.

How are we to treat homosexuals? Just like we treat any other lost soul; with love, compassion, and with God’s truth. We do them no favors by accepting their lifestyle, or not telling them God’s truth. But keep in mind, they are not lost because they are homosexual, they are lost because of sin. Their perversion is the result of their un-repentant heart.

   Romans 1:29-32 (New International Version)

²⁹They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³²Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Here, we plainly see that a believer should not, and cannot, be party to these kinds of behaviors. How many people do we see today who claim to be believers, but show these characteristics or condone others who do?  If we have Christ in us, we will not be like the world! This is a serious warning.

These verses clearly state the signs of a lost person. We should examine ourselves to see if this describes who we are. If you died tonight and God were to read an account of your life, would these verses describe you? If you answer yes to any of these, you need to get on your knees and repent. Then I would encourage you to talk to your Sunday School teacher, or pastor. Please do not put it off. The Bible says we are appointed a time to die, and after that, “Judgment.” (Hebrews 9;11) Please do not get caught unprepared.     



Cause To Praise

For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. –Romans 5:10

Have we ever really thought about this? While we were separated from God by our sin, He was in the process of reconciling us to Himself through the torture and death of His perfect, Holy Son. He poured out His wrath on Christ Jesus for us. Does that not chill us to the bone? I still stand in amazement at His love. It never grows old.

I sing daily with David a song of praise. How can my lips not sing His praises everyday of my life spent here on earth, and ever more so in eternity.

¹ Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! ² Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. ³ Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. ⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. ⁵ For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation. -Psalm 100

Galatans 2:20

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

House Rules

Let’s suppose that you have various friends and family members coming in and out of your house. Let’s say that some of them may be doing things that you don’t like. What if you caught someone stealing your stuff? What if you caught a friend, your son/daughter, or someone else, using drugs in your bathroom? Suppose you caught a couple in your bed? What if a family member murdered someone in your house?

This may seem a little extreme so, what if some teenagers constantly speed up and down your street endangering children? What if some drug dealers decide to sell drugs in your front yard? What if prostitutes hung out around your house and wanted to use your phone to call clients? Okay, maybe I’m still being extreme, but just suppose these things really happened.

How do you expect people to act in and around your house? Don’t you want people to respect you and your property? If others were acting the way I described above, wouldn’t you do something about it?

I think most of us would (if we haven’t already) establish some rules. Many people don’t allow smoking in their house or car.

In fact, let’s list some rules that I think a lot of people might impose for their house and/or car.

No smoking in the house/car

No drinking/excessive drinking in the house

No driving my car if you have been drinking

No illegal drugs in my house/car

Do not touch my spouse (if I had one) in an inappropriate way

Do not touch my kids in an inappropriate way

Do not touch me in an inappropriate way

Do not steal my stuff

Do not enter my house/car, unless invited

Okay, I think we are all on the same page now. What I am driving at is we have certain rules we think should be honored involving our person, our families, and our property.

Does God have the right to set the rules for His house, His family, and His Person?  

He does. In fact, if you don’t honor His rules, why should He allow you into His home? I am so tired of hearing people describe God as a tyrant who has impossible rules. They describe Him as not wanting anyone to have fun. The last time I checked, I didn’t see God sending lightening bolts at someone who rejected Him or His Son, or who broke His commandments. The fact is He allows people to choose for themselves what path they want to follow. They’re good with this part, but when it comes to death, that’s where the problem starts. They think if they live up to their own rules and standards He should allow them to enter Heaven - His home.

The bottom line is He created this world and everything in/on it. He created you and me and every one of us. He has the right to make whatever rules He chooses. If we really look at His rules, we will see that they really benefit us as well as Him. The way I see it, they benefit us more than Him. We want to live in His home not the other way around.

If you want to see His rules go to EXODUS 20:3-17. Following these rules will not get you to heaven; that comes from accepting His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. After we do this, then we obey His rules.  

If you agree, disagree, or have comments or questions, please reply.

God bless~

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

¹⁴ For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; ¹⁵ and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

Prayer Request

My brother Johnny who has downs syndrome had a seizure this morning. It is the first one in over twenty years.

Please pray for him and my family as we deal with this.