Click Here to Listen to Blog Those people who are telling you to get circumcised are only trying to show how important they are. And they don't want to get into trouble for preaching about the cross of Christ. They are circumcised, but they don't obey the Law of Moses. All they want is to brag about having you circumcised. But I will never brag about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his cross, the world is dead as far as I am concerned, and I am dead as far as the world is concerned. It doesn't matter if you are circumcised or not. All that matters is that you are a new person. Galatians 6:12-15 - CEV Some people "come to Christ" without letting go of the stuff that ruled their lives before that time! There were Jews who wanted to follow Jesus, but they required circumcision on everyone who came to Him. They feared getting "into trouble" for preaching about the Cross of Christ! Have you ever had great trouble because you told other people about Jesus? Perhaps you are carefully crafting the message of Jesus so that no one is offended by the gospel. When a man is standing on the edge of a great chasm is it better to point out the beautiful view or warn him not to step off of he edge? Spiritually you must do both. If you only tell someone about the glory of Heaven but never warn him about the Eternal Danger of disobedience to Jesus, he may step off into Hell! Be ready for the trouble that will come to you because you preach the message of Jesus Christ to other men. It doesn't matter if men think you are a "wonderful person." What does matter is whether or not those who hear the message receive Jesus and because of that they become "new people" in Christ! There is a man who took a knife and a saw and cut a large hole in my chest! He was not a murderer, he was the surgeon, who by God's grace and mercy saved my life! Opening your heart and mind to Jesus can be just as painful, but with even better results! "Lord Jesus, make me today into the New Person You created me to be! May Your Holy and Righteous Name be praised now and forever. Amen."
Click here to listen to blog If we believe Jesus is truly Christ, we are God's children. Everyone who loves the Father will also love his children. If we love and obey God, we know we will love his children. We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow. Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory. No one can defeat the world without having faith in Jesus as the Son of God. 1 John 5:1-5 - CEV The world around you is a tremendous force pressing in on you all the time! The world wants you to live your life according to the standards of the world, not according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. The message of Jesus calls you away from the world, and the call of the world pulls you away from Jesus! That struggle will not cease until you are free from your earthly body and are securely in the presence of Jesus or permanently separated from Him! These are the words of 1 John 5:4, "Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory." You can win the struggle against the world! But there is only one way to win it. You can defeat the world by your faith in Jesus Christ. The world may tell you one thing and Jesus will tell you the opposite. If you trust Jesus and have faith in Him you will defeat the world and be able to stand against its temptations! From the time you first become aware of the need to choose between Good and Evil until the day you take your last breath the struggle will continue here on earth. Until you hear about Jesus and choose to be a Christ follower you will be pummeled by the world. But after you accept Jesus and walk in daily obedience to Him, He will give you the experience of defeating the world by having faith in Him! If you are a Christian but are being defeated at every turn in your life, turn back to Jesus and trust Him to give you directions for every step you take in life! Faith in Jesus will defeat the world! "Lord Jesus, I trust You today to lead me in being able, by Your power to defeat the world and its powerful influence on my life! Give me the faith to trust You more today, and every day. Praise Your Holy and Righteous Name now and forever. Amen."
Click here to listen to blog My dear friends, we are already God's children, though what we will be hasn't yet been seen. But we do know when Christ returns, we will be like him, because we will see him as he truly is. This hope makes us keep ourselves holy, just as Christ is holy. Everyone who sins breaks God's law, because sin is the same as breaking God's law. You know Christ came to take away our sins. He isn't sinful, and people who stay one in their hearts with him won't keep on sinning. If they do keep on sinning, they don't know Christ, and they have never seen him. 1 John 3:2-6 - CEV Small children look forward to being "bigger." In elementary school we imagine what it will be like to be in Junior High, and then High School. At some point in our teen years we begin thinking about what it will mean to be an adult. Men and women who know Jesus Christ and follow Him can let their minds and hearts focus on what it will be like when Christ returns! These verses from 1 John tell us that we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He truly is. When Jesus comes or when you die and leave this world you will be changed and become like Jesus! But that change begins the minute you turn your heart to Jesus and begin a life of obedience! The Words of Jesus become your marching orders for the day! The Love of Jesus fills your heart and you begin to see lost men and women as He does! Sin is crowded out by a life filled with good works and holy thoughts! You have no time for evil in word or deed! When Jesus comes He will finish the transformation needed in your life. If you are nearly perfect on that Day, He will complete the process of making you into the perfect likeness of Jesus. If you have just begun the walk of faith you will also be changed to be like Jesus! There is a commercial for a medical procedure in the United States which claims that they can reshape someone's body and remove all their excess fat in one day. When Jesus returns He will transform every one of His followers in the "Twinkling of an eye!" "Lord Jesus, I do look forward to the day that I will be completely like You and see You as You really are! May Your Holy and Righteous Name be praised now and forever. Amen."
While the Pharisees were still there, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose family will he come from?” They answered, “He will be a son of King David.” Jesus replied, “How then could the Spirit lead David to call the Messiah his Lord? David said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right side until I make your enemies into a footstool for you.’ If David called the Messiah his Lord, how can the Messiah be a son of King David?” No one was able to give Jesus an answer, and from that day on, no one dared ask him any more questions.
Matthew 22:41-46 - CEV
Human beings love to think about, talk about and try to understand and explain the mysteries of God! That is the very activity that got us all in trouble as Eve matched wits with the Devil and lost the debate!
To suppose that you can grasp and understand the Mind of God about any matter is indeed foolish! The Holy Spirit may reveal to you many things of God, but your mind is like a tea cup trying to hold an ocean of truth! You may stand on the beaches of Eternity, but the sand between your toes is all you personally experience!
Don't be proud that you know about the "theologies" of those who have a higher Intelligence Quotient that most of us. Those men will fall down before Jesus just like the rest of us when they see His face and are confronted with the Truth of His Eternal Majesty!
Spend your time being obedient to the Word of God instead of trying to dissect it! Remember, the frog on the dissecting table is already dead, or soon will be!
"Lord Jesus, may I be obedient to Your Word, even the things of Scripture that I do not, and maybe cannot understand! May Your Holy and Righteous Name be praised now and forever. Amen."
