Cookie Jar Christianity!

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Jesus told us God is light and doesn't have any darkness in him. Now we are telling you.

If we say we share in life with God and keep on living in the dark, we are lying and are not living by the truth.  But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus washes all our sins away.  If we say we have not sinned, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth isn't in our hearts.

But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.

If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and his message isn't in our hearts.

1 John 1:5-10

Even when a little child gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar he can creatively deny that he was doing anything wrong. The "nature of man" or should I say the "fallen nature of man" is to deny your own sin while gleefully pointing out the sins of others. It is so easy for me to see your sin and at the same time so hard to admit my own sin, even to myself.

When I lived in Asia I was tall. Now I am average to short. No I didn't shrink, well maybe a little, but when almost everyone you meet is five feet five inches tall or less then five feet ten inches is tall.

Perhaps you think you are not sinning because you are comparing yourself to people who are not followers of Jesus. When you do that you can convince yourself that you are a pretty good person. Instead we must compare ourselves to Jesus, and only to Him. Jesus is the standard by which we must judge our own actions. If what you do is what Jesus would do, then it is not sin. If what you do is what Jesus would not do then it probably is sin!

Examine your life in the light of Jesus Christ. Then you will know what to confess to God. And here is the Good News, when you confess it, God will fix it and take it away!

Faith Does Things!

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God's people had faith, and when they had walked around the city of Jericho for seven days, its walls fell down.

Rahab had been a prostitute, but she had faith and welcomed the spies. So she wasn't killed with the people who disobeyed.

What else can I say? There isn't enough time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. Their faith helped them conquer kingdoms, and because they did right, God made promises to them. They closed the jaws of lions and put out raging fires and escaped from the swords of their enemies. Although they were weak, they were given the strength and power to chase foreign armies away.

Some women received their loved ones back from death. Many of these people were tortured, but they refused to be released. They were sure they would get a better reward when the dead are raised to life. Others were made fun of and beaten with whips, and some were chained in jail.  Still others were stoned to death or sawed in two or killed with swords. Some had nothing but sheep skins or goat skins to wear. They were poor, mistreated, and tortured.

The world did not deserve these good people, who had to wander in deserts and on mountains and had to live in caves and holes in the ground.

Hebrews 11:30-38

Faith that is real is surrounded by amazing deeds. It is foolish to try and separate faith from the works that evidence that faith. There is no man or woman of faith who "just believed" the Lord without that belief resulting in actions that were worth writing about.

Today, we love to identify the things you don't have to do to be Saved. We try to separate faith from the deeds that reveal the veracity of it.

In some ways we are like an Olympic swimmer who never gets back in the pool. To be "saved by faith" and then display no evidence of it is remarkably shallow and perhaps very deceptive.

Here is what you have to do to be Saved: Trust in the Blood of Jesus and His death on the Cross and relate to Him in such a way that every Word you hear from His lips becomes your obsession. Let obedience to the will of Christ become your overwhelming desire.

Never consider whether a specific command of Jesus is "essential" to your salvation. Are you really planning on standing before the Lord on the day of judgment and answer for the things He clearly told you to do, but you decided to ignore them because they weren't essential?

If your name was added to the list of people of faith in Hebrews 11 how would God describe the evidence of your faith?

"Lord, show me what to do today because of the faith that I have in You. Speak a Word to me today so that I may obey it. Amen!"

Voice of the Lord!

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All of you angels in heaven,
honor the glory and power
of the Lord!

Honor the wonderful name
of the Lord,
and worship the Lord
most holy and glorious.

The voice of the Lord
echoes over the oceans.
The glorious Lord God
thunders
above the roar
of the raging sea, and his voice is mighty
and marvelous.

The voice of the Lord
destroys the cedar trees;
the Lord shatters cedars
on Mount Lebanon.
God makes Mount Lebanon
skip like a calf
and Mount Hermon
jump like a wild ox.

The voice of the Lord
makes lightning flash
and the desert tremble.
And because of the Lord,
the desert near Kadesh
shivers and shakes.

The voice of the Lord
makes deer give birth
before their time.
Forests are stripped of leaves,
and the temple is filled
with shouts of praise.

The Lord rules on his throne,
king of the flood forever.
Pray that our Lord
will make us strong
and give us peace.

Psalm 29

Most of us cannot remember the days before the public address system was used whenever someone spoke to a large group.  The microphone has become an expected part of speaking to many people at once.  Before the days of the microphone men would speak with a booming delivery so that everyone could hear.  When Jesus went out on the boat and spoke to the crowd still on the shore He was using a natural public address system.  The sound traveled unhindered over the water and everyone on shore could hear very well.  When God speaks today you must cover your ears if you don’t want to hear His Voice!

God used His Voice to create the world.  He literally spoke the world into existence.  When God speaks, truth itself is established by His Words!  Listen for the Voice of the Lord when the sound is loud and when it is a “still small voice.” 

When God speaks, eternity vibrates with the Word and reality is defined by His utterances.  That’s why those who run away from God are especially threatened by His Word.  The Voice of the Lord will change you when it touches your heart.  So if you want to be what God wants you to be then listen to His Voice all the time.  Pray without ceasing and listen to His answer continually.  God’s Voice created everything that is and His Voice can create in you a clean heart! 

“Lord, let the sound of Your Voice rush into my ears and fill my heart and mind with Your thoughts.  And may Your Voice change me every day into the image of Jesus Christ.  Amen!”

Prepare for Your New Body!

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Some of you have asked, “How will the dead be raised to life? What kind of bodies will they have?”  Don't be foolish. A seed must die before it can sprout from the ground.  Wheat seeds and all other seeds look different from the sprouts that come up.  This is because God gives everything the kind of body he wants it to have.  People, animals, birds, and fish are each made of flesh, but none of them are alike.  Everything in the heavens has a body, and so does everything on earth. But each one is very different from all the others.

The sun isn't like the moon, the moon isn't like the stars, and each star is different.
That's how it will be when our bodies are raised to life. These bodies will die, but the bodies that are raised will live forever.  These ugly and weak bodies will become beautiful and strong.

As surely as there are physical bodies, there are spiritual bodies. And our physical bodies will be changed into spiritual bodies.

I Corinthians 15:35-44

If you live long enough your physical body will become weak and you will look like someone who is old.  There is no way around it.  All the tummy tucks and face lifts will eventually give way to the end of the road for plastic surgery.

When God assigned a time to die for every man and woman to ever live it included you and me.  The only exceptions will be Enoch, Elijah and those who are alive when the sky breaks open with the return of Jesus.  

So how much time do you spend grooming and exercising your physical body that will in a few short years stop breathing?  How much time do you spend preparing to receive your new spiritual body that will live forever? 

Of course it is a good thing to take care of the body that you have here.  Having a healthy body opens lots of doors of doing deeds that glorify the Lord, but when your purpose is to glorify yourself the gift becomes the disgrace!

Take your spiritual man to God's gym everyday and let Him show you how to prepare for the new body that will be given when Jesus returns!  

Enemies Need Love Too!

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You have heard people say, “Love your neighbors and hate your enemies.”  But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you.  Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong.  If you love only those people who love you, will God reward you for this? Even tax collectors love their friends.  If you greet only your friends, what's so great about this? Don't even unbelievers do that?  But you must always act like your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:43-48

Love is not just an emotion, but it does put lives "in motion" when love becomes the driving factor in your life!

The words Love and Lust both begin with the letter "L" and both have four letters, but they are at polar opposites in meaning. Love is focused on the good of someone else. Lust is focused on my own gratification. Love however puts me in motion for the good of the object of my love. Lust puts me in motion to do harm.

There is a simple old song that proclaims,
"To be like Jesus, to be like Jesus, all I ask, to be like Him." We sang it like little children proclaiming that they want to be like their father, not knowing what it took to really be like Jesus.

Being like Jesus is something you do or do not do every time you speak a word, think a thought or do a deed. But the bottom line of being like Jesus is loving your enemies! That's what Jesus did and that’s what we do not do by nature.

To love your enemies is a supernatural empowerment that cannot be imitated by human flesh.

To be like Jesus today, you can begin by identifying someone who hates you and set your heart and mind to love them. And by the way that includes your emotions. Let the Love of Christ flow through you to those who are lost without Jesus.

Then you will be taking an important step in becoming like God and your enemies will become your "Loved Ones."

Staying Alive!

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On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink!  Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.”

Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone that had faith in him. The Spirit had not yet been given to anyone, since Jesus had not yet been given his full glory.

When the crowd heard Jesus say this, some of them said, “He must be the Prophet!”  Others said, “He is the Messiah!” Others even said, “Can the Messiah come from Galilee? The Scriptures say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David. Doesn't this mean that he will be born in David's hometown of Bethlehem?” The people started taking sides against each other because of Jesus.

John 7:37-43

When you are thirsty, quenching that thirst becomes the most important thing on your list. If you are hungry and thirsty you will always drink before you will eat if both food and water become available.

You can't grow without putting food into your body, but you can't live without water. The body can stay alive for many days without food, but not so long without water.

Where do we get this life-giving water that Jesus offered to those who would come to Him. The answer is simple and profound. The life-giving water comes from within us. But the source of the water is not you, it is rather from the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of you if you are a follower of Jesus.

It is important that you set aside time everyday to consume the Bread of Life that comes from God's Word.  But it is also critical that you drink many times a day the Water that comes from the Holy Spirit.

Let that Water satisfy your thirst and then sit down to a meal from God's Word. When you do that everyday you will "stay alive and grow" as a Christian!

"Lord, quench my thirst that can only be satisfied by the Holy Spirit in me! And then Lord, nourish me with the strength that comes from eating the Bread of Life. Amen!"

Out of Wine!

 

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Three days later Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at a wedding feast in the village of Cana in Galilee.

Jesus and his disciples had also been invited and were there.

When the wine was all gone, Mary said to Jesus, “They don't have any more wine.”

Jesus replied, “Mother, my time hasn't yet come! You must not tell me what to do.”

Mary then said to the servants, “Do whatever Jesus tells you to do.”

At the feast there were six stone water jars that were used by the people for washing themselves in the way that their religion said they must. Each jar held about 100 liters . Jesus told the servants to fill them to the top with water. Then after the jars had been filled, he said, “Now take some water and give it to the man in charge of the feast.”
The servants did as Jesus told them, and the man in charge drank some of the water that had now turned into wine. He did not know where the wine had come from, but the servants did. He called the bridegroom over and said, “The best wine is always served first. Then after the guests have had plenty, the other wine is served. But you have kept the best until last!”

John 2:1-10

Why did Mary think that Jesus could do something about the problem of running out of wine at a wedding? This is a question not answered in scripture, but Mary obviously had reason to believe that Jesus had the power to do that which was miraculous.

Jesus told Mary it was not time yet for Him to do this kind of thing, but He did it anyway!

It is certainly important that we try to determine God's will in any situation, but it is alright to tell Jesus what your will is. My will is for the Holy Spirit to bring back the one who has wandered away, sooner rather than later. It is an marvelous combination of the Shepard seeking the lamb that wandered off and the Father waiting for the prodigal to come home. God waits for and seeks the lost!

The first miracle Jesus did was at the request of His mother Mary even though He told her not to ask Him.

"Lord, we are not out of wine but there are so many concerns in life that are to us like the wedding running out of wine. We planned and prepared, but now it is not enough. I know that my life and problems may not be significant in the "grand scheme of things," but I know that the wedding running out of wine was not important either until You stepped in and turned the water into wine! Please Lord, turn my water into wine and let my every moment be part of a miracle You are doing today! Amen!"