September 23, 2018
" ... for he is a prophet and he will pray for you and you shall live..." (Genesis 20:7) Here we see it is plain that man does NOT heal ! But that God heals and works through man for His glory. That means that there are not "healers" in this world, but there are people that God chooses to work through in order to show His glory and mercy. If anyone claims to be a healer ... he is a liar ! Only God can heal and only God does miracles through people for HIS glory !
Daniel 9:21 " yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in a vision at the beginning, being caused to to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering." Now we know that God can answer prayer the second that we utter the words ! Gabriel says that he was sent to answer this prayer while he was still praying. This should give us a very good feeling that if our prayer is in Gods will He can answer our prayer quickly ! Does that mean He will ? No ... it means He can. Only God knows the perfect time to answer any prayer.
"And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." Another version says " The fervent prayer of a righteous man avalith much". Which ever one you see, the meaning is plain. If a man is righteous (in Jesus not on his own) and prays with faith within Gods will...then God will hear and answer that prayer. Does this mean God answers all prayer ? Of course not ! Only those that are from Him and fit His plan for those involved.
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Saturday, September 15, 2018
Gratitude
September 15, 2018
" Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ " (Ephesians 5:20
) . We start with this verse because it lays out the importance of gratitude AND the degree of gratitude we should have ! What does it say ? Always and for all things ! This includes all things physical and spiritual. This verse refers mostly to all that God has done for us through the work of His Son ! But not limited to that because earlier in that paragraph Paul is talking about things of the body and of the Spirit.
In Romans 7 : 24-25 " O wretched man that I am ! Who will deliver me from this body of death ? I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord. " This whole paragraph Paul is talking about the battle of sin verses good in this physical body. This is the conclusion of the paragraph and the question and answer he is seeking. He concludes that the physical body is a body of death and sin and longs to be delivered from it ! The question is WHO will deliver him from this sinful body . He answers it with verse 25. God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefor, we should always acknowledge that we live in a fallen world and need God just to survive . And be eternally grateful to God through His Son who did the work necessary on the cross to deliver us from our sinful bodies to God !
" Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; " Here we see that we should be thankful FOR prayer but also to be thankful IN prayer. How do you show thanks in prayer ? Many ways but one would be to give praise to God. In your praise will come the thanks ! How great is it that we have the ability to actually talk with the God of the universe ? He has given us this tool to make our request known to Him, to build a relationship with Him, and to praise and worship Him among many other reasons. The gift of prayer is given only to the believer. This we should be grateful for. That is why we should be grateful in all things all the time.
" Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ " (Ephesians 5:20
) . We start with this verse because it lays out the importance of gratitude AND the degree of gratitude we should have ! What does it say ? Always and for all things ! This includes all things physical and spiritual. This verse refers mostly to all that God has done for us through the work of His Son ! But not limited to that because earlier in that paragraph Paul is talking about things of the body and of the Spirit.
In Romans 7 : 24-25 " O wretched man that I am ! Who will deliver me from this body of death ? I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord. " This whole paragraph Paul is talking about the battle of sin verses good in this physical body. This is the conclusion of the paragraph and the question and answer he is seeking. He concludes that the physical body is a body of death and sin and longs to be delivered from it ! The question is WHO will deliver him from this sinful body . He answers it with verse 25. God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefor, we should always acknowledge that we live in a fallen world and need God just to survive . And be eternally grateful to God through His Son who did the work necessary on the cross to deliver us from our sinful bodies to God !
" Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; " Here we see that we should be thankful FOR prayer but also to be thankful IN prayer. How do you show thanks in prayer ? Many ways but one would be to give praise to God. In your praise will come the thanks ! How great is it that we have the ability to actually talk with the God of the universe ? He has given us this tool to make our request known to Him, to build a relationship with Him, and to praise and worship Him among many other reasons. The gift of prayer is given only to the believer. This we should be grateful for. That is why we should be grateful in all things all the time.
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Humbleness
September 9, 2018
" Therefor whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:4) I had an individual in my class years ago who said he had never heard a good definition of humility. The more I thought about it I had to agree. Here when Jesus uses the word He leaves it to our knowledge to know how a child is humble. We can make some assumptions. A child is completely dependent on others for his life. He is a reflection of those he is around. A child loves without condition and a child will defend those he loves without exception. If we make these assumptions we can see the definition of humility come into focus. We should possess these traits and many others if we are in a true relationship with Jesus !
In the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy 8:2 we see, " And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not." You mean God did not know what was in their hearts ??? Of course not ... God wanted the Jews to know what was in their hearts ! Here again as we try to put together the state of being humble, we see TOTAL reliance on God while they were in the desert. It took 40 years for God to be convinced of their humility. How much longer for us ? Perhaps if we surrender to the Holy Spirit (Which was not available to them) that is a seed that He plants in our spirit and grows as we nurture it !
" When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom "( Proverbs 11:2) Here we see that the opposite of humility is pride. Does that mean it is wrong to take "pride " in a job well done ? God forbid ! As Christians we do our work as if for God. The pride here is not the same as is talked about here in Proverbs. Here, the writer is saying that pride is an over riding part of a person who believes in his own self righteousness and therefor does not compare himself to God ... but only unto himself ! A total NON - reliance on God ! The opposite of humility.
" Therefor whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:4) I had an individual in my class years ago who said he had never heard a good definition of humility. The more I thought about it I had to agree. Here when Jesus uses the word He leaves it to our knowledge to know how a child is humble. We can make some assumptions. A child is completely dependent on others for his life. He is a reflection of those he is around. A child loves without condition and a child will defend those he loves without exception. If we make these assumptions we can see the definition of humility come into focus. We should possess these traits and many others if we are in a true relationship with Jesus !
In the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy 8:2 we see, " And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not." You mean God did not know what was in their hearts ??? Of course not ... God wanted the Jews to know what was in their hearts ! Here again as we try to put together the state of being humble, we see TOTAL reliance on God while they were in the desert. It took 40 years for God to be convinced of their humility. How much longer for us ? Perhaps if we surrender to the Holy Spirit (Which was not available to them) that is a seed that He plants in our spirit and grows as we nurture it !
" When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom "( Proverbs 11:2) Here we see that the opposite of humility is pride. Does that mean it is wrong to take "pride " in a job well done ? God forbid ! As Christians we do our work as if for God. The pride here is not the same as is talked about here in Proverbs. Here, the writer is saying that pride is an over riding part of a person who believes in his own self righteousness and therefor does not compare himself to God ... but only unto himself ! A total NON - reliance on God ! The opposite of humility.
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Hospitality
September 2, 2018
"Hospitality was specifically commanded by God (Lev. 19:33-34, Luke 14:13-14, Rom. 12:13) It was to be characteristic of all believers (1 Peter 4:9). Jesus emphasized the importance of hospitality by answering the question of who should inherit the kingdom:"I was a stranger and you took me in." (Matt. 25:35)....Guests were welcomed and provided for. A host would go to great lengths to protect his guests (Judges 19:16-24). This was considered a sign of faithfulness to God (Job 31:32)" (Taken from Nelsons dictionary of the bible pgs. 492-493)
" ... if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work."( 1 Timothy 5:10) In this verse Paul is advising Timothy on the guide lines for allowing a widow to become part of the church and for receiving benefits from the church. These seem rather harsh conditions for a church to require in order to receive help ! Look closely at the list. Paul wanted to make sure she was a Christian with a servants heart ! One of those was to "lodge strangers" or hospitality ! We can now see that hospitality is a product of a changed heart AND a requirement from God.
In 1 Peter 4:8-9 " And above all things have fervent love for one another for "love will cover a multitude of sins." Be hospitable to one another without grumbling .." The Greek word for hospitable means "love of strangers". In Paul's day hospitality meant opening ones home for strangers like traveling preachers and also opening ones home for church services ! Once again we see that hospitality is mentioned right after love. Not only love but fervent love ! With a reminder that love will cover a multitude of sins. Therefor love is not only practical when applied but also reworded by God.
"Hospitality was specifically commanded by God (Lev. 19:33-34, Luke 14:13-14, Rom. 12:13) It was to be characteristic of all believers (1 Peter 4:9). Jesus emphasized the importance of hospitality by answering the question of who should inherit the kingdom:"I was a stranger and you took me in." (Matt. 25:35)....Guests were welcomed and provided for. A host would go to great lengths to protect his guests (Judges 19:16-24). This was considered a sign of faithfulness to God (Job 31:32)" (Taken from Nelsons dictionary of the bible pgs. 492-493)
" ... if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work."( 1 Timothy 5:10) In this verse Paul is advising Timothy on the guide lines for allowing a widow to become part of the church and for receiving benefits from the church. These seem rather harsh conditions for a church to require in order to receive help ! Look closely at the list. Paul wanted to make sure she was a Christian with a servants heart ! One of those was to "lodge strangers" or hospitality ! We can now see that hospitality is a product of a changed heart AND a requirement from God.
In 1 Peter 4:8-9 " And above all things have fervent love for one another for "love will cover a multitude of sins." Be hospitable to one another without grumbling .." The Greek word for hospitable means "love of strangers". In Paul's day hospitality meant opening ones home for strangers like traveling preachers and also opening ones home for church services ! Once again we see that hospitality is mentioned right after love. Not only love but fervent love ! With a reminder that love will cover a multitude of sins. Therefor love is not only practical when applied but also reworded by God.
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