March 31, 2017

Galatians 5:16, 17

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Any Christian who is serious about living out their life as Jesus Christ would have them finds themselves in the struggle of the War Within.  It is the battle between the old and new natures which every believer possesses!  Paul, in Galatians 5:16 and 17, gives a summary description of the War Within:

      Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  For the
      flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these
      are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you
      wish.

I emphasized in the last blog, As born again Christians, we have two natures inhabiting our one person!

•      We all have the old sinful nature!  This is the nature with which everyone is born!  And this nature can only be in rebellion to God and commit sin! (See Romans 3:10, 23, Galatians 5:19-21).

•      We, as Christians, have a new Godly nature, implanted by the Holy Spirit when we accept Christ as our Savior (see II Corinthians 5:17).  This new Godly nature cannot sin! (See I John 3:9; 5:18).

As Paul tells us in Galatians 5:17 (Easy to Read Version):

      The sinful self wants what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what
      is against the sinful self.  They are always fighting against each other, so
      that you don’t do what you really want to do.

They are always fighting against each other!  And we must learn to subdue the desires of the sinful nature, and obey the leading of the Holy Spirit through the Godly nature!  This is perhaps the chief thing the new Christian must learn!  And this is the dilemma that Paul found himself in early on in his walk with Jesus.  He confesses in Romans 7:15, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do….”  After bemoaning this fact manifested too often in his life, he cries out in Romans 7:24, “O wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?”  The answer, the apostle learned – and so must we! – is in the next verse, Romans 7:25:  “I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  There are several Scriptural truths that apply:

•      Colossians 3:9 and 10 – “…put off the old man with his deeds, and…put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.”  It is an example of changing clothes – put off…put on!  But Paul also hints that it is a matter of feeding and starving when he talks about being renewed in knowledge.

      ✞      The new nature must be fed and made strong – renewed in knowledge!  But it must be the knowledge of Him who created that new nature – God!  And where do we find such knowledge?  Why in the Bible, of course!  As Paul admonishes us in the same chapter, verse 16:  “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly….”  Get in your Bible, and feed on the Word every day! (See Deuteronomy 11:18-20; Job 23:12; Psalm 1:2; Jeremiah 15:16; II Timothy 2:15).

      ✞      The old nature must be starved!  What feeds the old nature?  John tells us in I John 2:16, “…all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life…[which] is not of the Father but is of the world.”  This includes the list in Ephesians 5:3 and 4 of things to avoid:  “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor course jesting….”  Paul, in Philippians 4:8 gives us an idea of negative things to avoid by listing the positives:

      …whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things
      are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever
      things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything
      praiseworthy — meditate on these things.

If you shun what is presented before you by the godless world (which is under control of the devil – see Luke 4:5, 6), you will starve the old sinful nature and make it weak and ineffective!

•      Where and when did Jesus win the battle of the cross?  Consider John 10:18 when He said, “No one takes…[My life] from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”  Jesus did not have to endure the cross!  He told Peter in Matthew 26:53, “…do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?”  A full Roman legion consisted of six thousand soldiers!  Jesus could have had more than 72,000 angels come to His assistance!  If one angel, in one night, could kill 185,000 Assyrian soldiers (see II Kings 19:35), what could 72,000 angels do?!!  The Lord chose to stay on the cross until He could shout out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

So when was the battle won?  Jesus won the battle of the cross the night before in the Garden of Gethsemane!  He didn’t want to go to the cross, for it would mean for Him tremendous physical and spiritual suffering.  He even sweat blood (see Luke 22:44) as He agonized in prayer:  “Father, if it is Your will, remove this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42).

I have said before, “This is the most important prayer a Christian can pray!” (See the April 29, 2013 blog).  If you make this your sincere prayer in everything – “…not what I want, but what You want, Lord! ” – you will go a long way in winning the War Within!

On Monday, there will be one more installment on the War Within.

March 29, 2017

Galatians 5:16, 17

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Let’s take a more intimate look at the War Within.  By this I mean, not so much the ultimate outward result (as we saw in our last blog), but of the inward struggle that Paul experienced in Romans 7:14, 15, and 19:

      …I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. 
      For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do….
      For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil that I will not to do,
      that I practice.

That is a description of the War Within – the battle between the old and the new natures that every Christian possesses – as described in Galatians 5:16 and 17 (our featured Scripture):

      Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  For the
      flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these
      are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you
      wish.

Here is the problem:  We have two natures inhabiting our one person!

•      We all have the old sinful nature!  It is also called in…

      ✞      Jeremiah 17:9 – “…deceitful…and desperately wicked…heart….”

      ✞      Romans 1:21 – “…darkened…foolish heart….”

      ✞      Romans 1:28 – “…debased mind….”

      ✞      Romans 7:24 – “…this body of death….”

      ✞      Romans 8:3 – “…sinful flesh….”

      ✞      Romans 8:7 – “…carnal mind….”

      ✞      I Corinthians 2:14 – “…the natural man….”

      ✞      Ephesians 4:18 – “…darkened…understanding….”

      ✞      Colossians 3:9 – “…old man….”

Not a very pretty description!  And what comes out of this old nature?  Sin!  As Paul describes it in Galatians 5:19 through 21:

      Now the works of the flesh are evident…:  adultery, fornication, unclean-
      ness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, out-
      bursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders,
      drunkenness, revelries, and the like….

Seventeen manifestations of sin – and the apostle doesn’t even exhaust the list!  He just concludes with “…and the like….” (See also Romans 1:28-31; 3:10-18; Ephesians 5:3, 4; Colossians 3:8, 9; II Timothy 3:2-5).  Now, not everyone will be guilty of all these sins.  But, humanity, taken together, will show forth them all – and then some!

Where does this old nature originate?  It comes from Satan, who tempted and made fall our first parents (see Genesis 3:1-6).  And if we compare our potential manifestations of sin to the devil’s characteristics, we can see why Jesus said in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.”

      ➘      From beginning to end, Satan wants to be God! (See Isaiah 14:12-14; II Thessalonians 2:4).

      ➘      John 8:44 – “…the devil…was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he stpaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

      ➘      John 10:10 – “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”

      ➘      I Peter 5:8 – “…the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

      ➘      Revelation 12:10 – “…the accuser of our brethren…accused them before God day and night….”

There is more that could be said about the evil one, but this enough to show from whom we received our sinful nature!

This original old human nature with which everyone is born can only be in rebellion to God and commit sin! (See I Kings 8:46; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10, 23).  And such rebellion and sin make us the Lord’s enemies!  As it tells us in Colossians 1:21:  “…you…were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works….” (See also Romans 5:10; 8:7; Ephesians 2:12, 13; Philippians 3:18).  This is why Jesus said in John 3:7, “You must be born again.” (See John 3:2-8; I Peter 1:23).

•      Being “…born again…born of the Spirit…” (John 3:3, 6) gives you a new nature – a Godly nature!

      ✞      Ezekiel 36:25, 26 – “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean.  I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh.”

      ✞      II Corinthians 5:17 – “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

This new Godly nature cannot sin!

      ✞      I John 3:9 – “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.”

      ✞      I John 5:18 – “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.”

The only way to be born again and so receive this new Godly nature is to by faith come before Jesus Christ, confessing that you are the sinner and He is the only Savior; opening your heart to Him, and inviting Him in your life. (See Romans 10:9-13; Revelation 3:20).

And once saved, then starts the War Within!  We will discuss that in the next blog.

March 27, 2017

James 4:1-4

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

I was doing a bit of online research concerning the following question: “Have there been any times of world peace throughout history? ” It begs quite a relative answer because it is not always easy to describe just what constitutes war or peace! For instance, some scholars point to the approximate 200 years of the Pax Romana (Roman Peace), the peace fostered by the Roman Empire from roughly 27 BC to 180 AD – according to Edward Gibbons in his monumental work published in the late 1700’s: The History of the Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire. But even then there was war when Rome invaded Britain. And boundary battles also occurred during that time with the Germanic tribes. As far as America is concerned, Wikipedia lists 100 armed conflicts in which this country has been engaged since its founding in 1776!

But war without is simply a result of War Within, and that war has been going on for thousands of years, ever since man fell into sin! You see, sin is disobedience to God’s revealed will – either by commission or omission. And the main result of sin in a human life is that one is separated from God! As it is written in Isaiah 59:2: “…your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” It is not just putting distance between us and the Lord. We are cut off from the only source of life, which is in Him! Yes, we survive physically for usually most of a century. And then we all die! But, as the apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:1: “…you…were dead in trespasses and sins….” Our human spirit is dead – cut off from its source of life which is only in God! That is why we need to…

•      …have our sins forgiven (see Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 2:13; I John 1:9; 2:12),

•      …be reconciled to Him (see Romans 5:10; II Corinthians 5:18; Colossians 1:21),

•      …be cleansed of all sin’s stain (see Psalm 51:2, 7; Isaiah 1:18; Acts 22:16; I John 1:7),

•      …be born again by the Holy Spirit (see John 1:12, 13; 3:3-8; I Peter 1:23; I John 5:1).

Now, since we are originally designed to be connected with deity, we have never lost that need. As someone once said, “We will worship something! ” The problem is that, being disconnected from our Creator, the best we can naturally do is laid out in Romans 1:22, 23 and 25 (Paul is speaking about the unsaved person):

      Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the
      incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man — and birds
      and four-footed beasts and creeping things….[people] exchanged the truth
      of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the
      Creator….

If you analyze what the apostle is saying here, it is that the best natural man can do is to make a god in his own image, or in the image of something less in the order of creation! This means that he is either raising himself to the level of God or even higher! And this is the very sin to which Lucifer (Satan) succombed! (See Isaiah 14:12-15). And this is what the devil then fostered upon our first parents! (See Genesis 3:5). Now Paul relates such idolatry to coveting in Colossians 3:5 where he plainly says, “…covetousness…is idolatry.”

What has all this got to do with war in this old world? James has the answer in James 4:1 through 4:

      Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from
      your desire for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not
      have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet
      you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, be-
      cause you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers
      and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity
      with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes him-
      self an enemy of God.

So war boils down to one simple cause – covetousness! And covetousness springs from (is equated with) idolatry – trying to fill that God-shaped hole within us, left there because of sin!

And so the solution: get God back within us! How?

•      John 14:6 – “Jesus said…‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ ”

•      Acts 4:12 – “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

•      I Timothy 2:5 – “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”

So stop the War Within! Then you will also stop war without!

March 24, 2017

Isaiah 43:1-3

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Our featured Scripture is Isaiah 43:1 through 3:

      But now, thus says the LORD, who created you…and He who formed
      you…“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your
      name; you are Mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with
      you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.  When you
      walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame
      scorch you.  For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel,
      your Savior….

As said in the last blog, God shows us two major situations in which we are Just Passing Through.  We looked at the first:  “When you pass through the waters…and through the rivers….”

•      Twice the Israelites experienced passing through the waters!  And both times, by the miraculous power of the ever-present God, the waters did not overflow them!

         ✡      When the LORD delivered His people out of slavery in Egypt, He led them into what seemed to be an impossible situation!  The mountains were surrounding them, the Red Sea was in front of them, and the Egyptian army was closing in behind!  But you know what happened, even if they, at the time, did not!  As described in Exodus 14:21, 22 and 15:19:

             …the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind…and
             made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.  So the
             children of Israel went into midst of the sea on the dry ground, and
             the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
             …Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea,
             and the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them.

         ✡      They camped east of the Jordan River just across from Jericho.  When it was time to march into Canaan, “…the priests bearing the ark of the covenant [went] before the people…” (Joshua 3:14).  This is what is recorded in the next two verses, Joshua 3:15 and 16:

              …as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the
              priests…dipped in the edge of the water…the waters…from upstream
              …rose in a heap…and…the waters that went down into…the Salt Sea,
              failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho.

Christian, remember this!  God will be with us when we seem to be drowning in life’s challenges!  We are Just Passing Through, and He will see us through, no matter what!

•      Now let’s consider the second scenario mentioned in our featured Scripture:  “When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.”  This was the experience of “…Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah…” (Daniel 1:6) – better known as “…Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.” (Daniel 3:14).  “…Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon…” (Daniel 1:1) had issued an order:

      …at the time you hear…all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship
      the gold image…which I have set up…and whoever does not…shall be cast
      immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:5, 6, and 14).

These three Hebrew young men were devoted to Jehovah, the God of Israel, and they refused to bow down to an idol!  They were consequently thrown into the furnace, heated “…seven times more than… usual…” (Daniel 3:19).  But God was with them!  And, according to Daniel 3:27, on their “…bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of the fire was not on them.”

I was seriously burned one time when I was fifteen.  We had just moved into a old and small house – the only heat being a fireplace.  It was a chilly March day, and I had trouble getting the damp wood to ignite.  I blew and blew on the small flame until it caught pretty well.  Then I stood up, turning around to watch the TV across the room.  But I became dizzy because of hyperventilating, and I passed out, falling backwards into the fireplace!  I remember having a peaceful dream – until I woke up screaming!  I had first, second, and third degree burns on my back and arm!  But that is mild compared with some of the trials believers have faced in the past, are facing today, and will face in the future!

God does not promise we won’t go through floods and fire! (See II Timothy 3:12).  As a matter of fact, it is recorded in Hebrews 11:35 through 37 concerning the faithful saints of Old Testament times:  “…others were tortured…still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned…sawn in two…tempted…slain with the sword….”  But the LORD was always there, giving courage, peace, even joy in the midst of these trials! (See Romans 8:18; Galatians 5:22, 23; James 1:2-4).  And these martyrs knew they were Just Passing Through!  The trials would not last, and even if they ended in physical death, they were going to a far better place! (See Matthew 10:28; Hebrews 11:8-10; 13-16; 38-40).

We are Just Passing Through!  The trials won’t last forever, nor will this life where such testings seem to often come.  Remember Christian – God is with us (see Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20), and He will see us through!  In God’s eyes, there will be no permanent damage from the floods and fire of trials!

March 22, 2017

Isaiah 43:1-3

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Just Passing Through might be said by a traveler who had just stopped for a quick visit, but not to stay.  But it can apply to so much more.  I think you might be able to see how in this Scripture, Isaiah 43:1 through 3:

      But now, thus says the LORD, who created you…and He who formed
      you…“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your
      name; you are Mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with
      you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.  When you
      walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame
      scorch you.  For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel,
      your Savior….

Here, God shows us two major situations in which we are Just Passing Through.  But then He divides each in two to better teach us what we need to learn about them.  Here is the first of them:

•      Isaiah 43:2 – “When you pass through the waters…and through the rivers….” Yes, we all go through the waters and the rivers at times.  I have been there three times, literally!

      ✞      Once when I was two, the family was at a beach.  I waded out into the water just past waist deep.  Suddenly my top-heavy toddler self just flipped upside down!  My six-year-old brother came to my rescue and got my head above water until my mother sloshed out to retrieve me.  But I was under water long enough to be really scared, and to have it burned into my memory!

      ✞      I climbed into the bathtub when I was around 13 years old.  The light in the bathroom was not working, and my mother had temporarily put a bedside lamp there.  I somehow did not even notice that lamp was sitting on the edge of the tub!  As I settled into the water, I brought my elbow back and knocked in the plugged-in lamp!  I remember later saying, “It felt like I was taking a bath is very strong ginger ale!”  Again, the same brother rushed in and unplugged the lamp!  Later, when I was studying electronics in the Air Force, I learned about the resistence of wet skin and the force of 110 volt house current.  I had 60 times the amount of electricity going through my body that should have killed me!

      ✞      Over thirty years ago my buddy Bob and I decided to swim across the Lackawanna River near Scranton.  It was only a hundred fifty yards wide, and I am a pretty good swimmer.  His son Rob and Rob’s girlfriend Doreen decided to swim with us.  We had no problem for the first hundred yards.  But then we hit the deep part of the river with its very swift current!  Bob and Rob were swept downstream!  Doreen (a very strong swimmer) was ahead of me, and I was struggling!  I shouted to her, “Doreen, I am in trouble! ”  She shouted back, “So am I! ”  I was worn out, but started treading water, waving frantically to some fishermen in a ways away.  Our wives, standing on the river’s edge, thought I was waving to them, and they waved back!  I prayed, “Ok, Lord, it’s You and me!”  And I started relaxing and side-stroking my way toward the opposite shore, fifty yards away.  Doreen got there first, and we both had no energy left!  A bit later, the fishermen in the boat came by, having rescued Bob and Rob who were being carried downstream.  They picked us up and motored the way back to our wives.  That’s about the closest I came to drowning, and I was so glad I was Just Passing through the experience, and not overcome by it!  By the way, I have not been a great fan of me swimming ever since!

What do we need to learn from our experiences of Just Passing Through the water?  Two things – one from God’s point of view, and one from ours:

      ✞      Isaiah 43:2 – “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you….”  As Jesus said in Hebrews 13:5 and Matthew 28:20:  “I will never leave you nor forsake you….I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Yes, He was surely with me in each of my watery trials!  Otherwise I probably would not have survived!

      ✞      Isaiah 43:2 – “When you pass…through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.”  I was not overcome by the waters!  The river did not overflow me!  Since God was there (here) for me, I came through the trial, and now can look back and see how temporary it was, even if it was scary at the time!

But what if I had not made it through those watery trials?  I was – and am – still safe if my Lord Jesus’ arms!  Don’t forget verse 1 of our featured Scripture:  “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.”  When, at 19 years of age, I called out to Jesus Christ to be my Savior, He redeemed me! (See John 5:24; Romans 10:9-13).  And as the Lord told Moses in Exodus 33:17 (and it applies to all His children):  “…you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” How well does He know us?  The Lord even knows how many individual hairs are on your head! (See Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7 – see also Psalm 139:1-6).  So even if I should die, it is as it says in Psalm 23:4:  “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”  Why?  “For You are with me.”  Jim Reeves sings in “This World Is Not My Home”:

                      This world is not my home I’m just a passing through.
                              My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
                      The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,
                              And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore

Yes, life is a variety of experiences – some painful, some wonderful and full of joy!  But all come to an end – in one way or another!  In that sense, we are Just Passing Through!

March 20, 2017

John 15:14-17 (International Standard Version)

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

I have heard it said more than once by those who embrace the “Name it, Claim it, and Frame it” thinking – “God said it! Just believe it, and it’s yours!”  Such thinking is based upon accepting the promises of God unconditionally – without being aware of the fulfillment conditions surrounding such promises!  For instance, Jesus, in John 15:16 (ISV), “…whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you.”  But our featured Scripture encompasses three surrounding verses that set specific conditions to be met – if the promise (above) is to be fulfilled!  Let’s Look Around this one verse.  Here is I John 15:14 through 17 (International Standard Version):

      You are My friends if you do what I command you.  I do not call you
      servants anymore, because a servant does not know what his master
      is doing.  But I have called you friends, because I have made known
      to you everything that I have heard from My Father.  You have not
      chosen Me, but I have chosen you.  I have appointed you to go and
      produce fruit that will last, so that whatever you ask the Father in
      My name, He will give it to you.  I am giving you these command-
      ments so that you may love one another.

Here are some of the conditions to the fulfillment of verse 15:  “…whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you.”

•      I John 15:14 – “You are My friends if you do what I command you.”  To be a true friend, it is always a two-way street!

      ✞      Jesus is the friend of sinners!  He said this in John 15:13:  “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”  We were not His friends when He laid down His life for us – we were counted as enemies of God! (See Romans 5:6; Ephesians 2:12; Colossians 1:21).  But by His sacrifice on the cross, Jesus took away that condition that caused our alienation from God – sin – and gave us the new nature that responds to our Creator (see Romans 8:6-8; I Corinthians 5:17, 21; Ephesians 2:13).  I believe the proper interpretation of Hebrews 12:2 highlights this very idea:  “…Jesus…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame….”  What was that joy that held Him through the torture of the cross?  It was the joy of seeing all those enemy sinners being reconciled to God and becoming His friends!

      ✞      Our part in this friendship is to do what He commands us – to obey Jesus!  As He tells us in John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.”  His chief commandment is found in I John 3:23:  “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.”  If we are to expect God to do whatever we ask the Father in Jesus’ name, we need to be in obedience to Him!  Look Around and see the conditions attached to Jesus’ promise!

•      John 15:15 – “…I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father.”  A true friend is trusting, and shares his or her secrets with you.  Jesus has shared with us the secrets of God!  They are revealed in His Word, the Bible!  We are told in Romans 16:25 and 26:

      …the revelation…of Jesus Christ…was kept secret since the world began
      but now has been made manifest…by the prophetic scriptures…the com-
      mandment of the everlasting God, made known for the obedience of
      faith….

God has given us His revelation – His Word!  Our job is to do what Paul tells us in Colossians 3:16:  “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly...”! (See also Deuteronomy 11:18-21; Psalm 1:2).  So Look Around to this condition!  Be diligent in seeking to master the Bible!  If that is our pursuit, then we can expect the fulfillment of His promise in John 15:16:  “…whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you.”

•      John 15:16 – “I have appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last….”  The third condition to His promise involves producing fruit !  Jesus said in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3 through 8 and 18 through 23) that the seed sown on good soil represents, “…the person who hears the word, understands it, and produces a crop that yields 100, 60, or 30 times what was sown.” (verse 23 – International Standard Version).  What is the fruit of which the Lord is speaking?  Some say it is people won to Him.  But I believe it is the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 and 23 (English Standard Version):  “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control….”  If you have these nine manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit in your life, you will be very attractive, and you will win people to Christ!  And that fruit will last because anyone putting their saving faith in the Lord has eternal life! (See John 5:24; I John 5:11-13).  So Look Around for the conditions, and be determined to produce fruit that will last, and God will fulfill to you Jesus’ promise of John 15:16:  “…whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you.”

•      John 15:16 – “…whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you.”   Do you see the condition right in the middle of this promise?  “…in My name…” means according to My will, My person!  For Jesus purpose is plainly revealed in what He said in Luke 19:10:  “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”  His very name Jesus means Jehovah saves! (See Matthew 1:21).  Look Around at the conditions, and align yourself to His name!  As it is written in Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

•      This also fulfills what He tells us in the last part of our featured Scripture:  “I am giving you these commandments so that you may love one another.”  How much should we love one another?  This much – according to I John 3:16:  “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”  Jesus was willing – and did – lay down His life for us!  If we are willing to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters in Christ, that is the ultimate sacrifice!  Everything else we might be called to do for them is a lessor sacrifice.

So Look Around all the promises of God that are too often lightly claimed!  There are a lot of conditions involved!  But if we fulfill those conditions, we can then claim those promises!

March 17, 2017

Genesis 24:27 (KJV); Luke 1:76-79

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Living next to a river on which we have occasionally rafted, I have learned three things related to the river’s current:

•      You can progress your way upstream, but battling against the current will make it rather a slow process.  It is not too difficult in this section of the river that flows by our house.  But 30 miles upstream there are rapids which make it nearly impossible to Go against The Flow!

•      You can float downstream with the current.  We have done that on a lazy summer afternoon, floating on inner tubes, gently going With The Flow!  But the flow is rather subdued nearby, and it took nearly all afternoon to float just five miles downstream.

•      You can more directly Go With The Flow!  That is, you can paddle your way along with the current, reaching your destination quite a bit quicker than just floating.

Let’s apply all this to the Christian life.  I have chosen two featured Scriptures, one from the Old Testament, and the other from the New (but quoted from the Old).  We will consider the one from Genesis 24:27 first:  “I being in the way, the LORD led me….”  The very first blog I wrote back on March 6, 2013, called Getting In The Way, involves this Scripture.

The background of these nine words from Genesis is Abraham’s directive to his servant Eleazar to go procure a wife for the patriarch’s son Isaac from Ur of the Chaldees, the homeland of Abraham.  Further instructions to the servant were “…you shall go…to my kindred, and take a wife for my son….” (Genesis 24:4).  Since there was no ‘calling ahead’ to arrange things in those days (about 4,000 years ago!) Eleazar set off on a this thousand mile trip totally depending upon God to bring all things together!  When he reached his destination, he laid out a test of two parts, described in Genesis 24:13 and 14:

      Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men
      of the city are coming out to draw water.  Now let it be that the young
      woman to whom I say, “Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,”
      and she says, “Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink” — let her
      be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac….

It happened exactly that way when “…Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder.” (Genesis 24:15).  She turned out to be God’s choice, the perfect choice, for a wife for Isaac!  Now Eleazar could have battled against Abraham’s order to his servant.  Or he could have just gone With The Flow and let things happen.  But, no, he put himself ‘in the way’ of God!  You might say, He was “paddling with the current,” and he arrived at the fulfillment of his quest in an amazing way!

Are we putting ourselves In The Way of God to Go With The Flow?

The next featured Scripture is from Luke 1:76 through 79, when Zecharias, John the Baptist’s father, was prophesying over his newborn son:

      And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will
      go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge
      of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the
      tender mercies of our God; with which the Dayspring from on high
      has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the sha-
      dow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

John the Baptist did not have an easy life!  We don’t know much about his growing up years – through childhood into adulthood – because it only says in Luke 1:80, “So the child grew and became strong in spirit….”

•      Luke 1:80 – He “…was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.”  It further says in Matthew 3:4 that “John…was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey…” – not the description of a genteel existence!

•      Although the Scriptures say he was ‘popular’ with the common people, he certainly rubbed others the wrong way!  In Luke 3:7 it is written:  “…he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him; ‘Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ” – not exactly the recommended way to win friends and influence people!

•      Matthew 14:3, 4 – When John reproved Herod Antipas –– for marrying his brother Philip’s wife Herodias, the tetrarch threw the Baptist in prison, and eventually had him beheaded – not the most comfortable way to end your days!

John could have complained and resisted the tough life laid out for him, but he was determined to Go With The Flow!  And his father’s prophecy at his son’s birth foretold that:  “…you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways…”  John was the prophesied forerunner of Jesus Christ! (See Isaiah 40:3-5; Malachi 3:1; 4:5, 6).  And because he went With The Flow of his fulfillment of prophesy, he was a blessing in several ways:

•      He was called the prophet of the Highest !

•      He prepared the ways of the Lord !

•      He gave knowledge of salvation to the people of Israel by the remission of their sins!

•      He gave light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death!

•      He introduced the way of peace through Jesus to his own people and to us!

So don’t fight against the current!  Or don’t just drift along!  Paddle strongly in the direction God is leading, and you will truly Go with The Flow – the Lord’s Flow!

March 15, 2017

Philippians 2:12, 13

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

We have featured this Scripture, Philippians 2:12 and 13, before (see March 13, 2013 blog – A Little Help Here, Please!).  But this is such an important Scripture – and it has made such a difference in my own Christian life – that I will feature it again:

      Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed…work out your own
      salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to
      will and to do for His good pleasure.

I learned in Bible seminary that “…whenever you see ‘Therefore’ in Scripture, you always ask, ‘What is that Therefore there for?’ ”  That Therefore is there for a very good reason!  In the first section of Philippians 2, Paul has challenged his readers in verse 2 to “…be…like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”  But the Philippian Christians needed – and we need it also – a good example of what that mind should be!  And the apostle found no greater example than the Lord Jesus Christ!  So in Philippians 2:5 through 8 he wrote:

      Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the
      form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made
      Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the
      likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
      Himself and became obedient to the point to death, even the death of the
      cross.

There is no greater example of a servant for us to follow!  This Servant, Jesus Christ, gave Himself fully to serve us – delivering us from eternal death (see John 5:24; Romans 6:9) and sin’s dominion (see Romans 6:14) to eternal and abundant life! (See John 10:10).  We are called then to serve one another (see Galatians 5:13; 6:2), even laying down our lives for one another! (See I John 3:16).  If we would give another brother or sister in Christ our very life, anything else we could do to serve them would be a lesser sacrifice!

That’s a big order!  So big, we need help to complete it!  So Paul wrote verses 12 and 13, starting with “Therefore….”  Because Jesus sacrificed so much for us, therefore we should do the same for one another!

In Monday’s blog, we learned the Love Language of us to our Lord Jesus is obedience! (See John 14:15).  No matter how difficult it is to obey, we are to simply do it!  That’s why Paul tells these faithful Philippians, “…as you have always obeyed….”  But the next part is tough – especially in my earlier Christian experience:  “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling….”  As I said back in March of 2013, “I had the fear and trembling part down pretty well.”  But how to work out my salvation, consistently pleasing my God, too often escaped me!  If felt more like Paul did as described in Romans 7:15, 18, 19, 21 through 24:

      …what I am doing, I do not understand.  For what I will to do, that I do
      not practice; but what I hate, that I do….For I know that in me (that is,
      in my flesh,) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me; but how
      to perform what is good I do not find.  For the good that I will to do I do
      not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice….I find then a law, that
      evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.  For I delight in the
      law of God according to the inward man.  But I see another law in my
      members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into cap-
      tivity to the law of sin which is in my members.  O wretched man that I
      am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?

But then I found the ‘secret’ of Philippians 2:13:  “…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”  Two things stand out here (and we will look at them in reverse order):

•      “…for it is God who works in you…to do for His good pleasure.”  Yes, He will give us the energy, the capacity to “…work out…our own salvation….”  This is the Out part of our title, Out And In!

•      “…for it is God who works in you…to will…for His good pleasure.”  He gives us the ‘want to’ as well as the ‘do it’!  And when we ‘want to’ do something – when we really want to do something – it is quite easy to accomplish it!  This is the In part of our title, Out And In!

There is another Scripture that bolsters this idea – II Peter 1:3 (see also the blog from May 30, 2014 – What Am I Yet Lacking?):  “…His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.”  We have all we need – already given to us! And that includes God working in us “…both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

Out And In!  Think about it, believe it, depend upon it, take it in and live it out!

March 13, 2017

John 3:16; 14:15

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Here is our featured Scripture, John 3:16 and 14:15:

      For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
      whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life….
      If you love Me, keep My commandments.

How do I know my wife loves me?  I know because she shows it in many everyday ways!  We are more of an old-fashioned couple going on 49 years of marriage.  Her domain is more the inside of the house, and mine is the outside.  I help her with her tasks, and she with mine.  But I know she loves me because she cooks me wonderful meals, keeps the house relatively clean (floors vacuumed and mopped), surfaces dusted, laundry done, grandchildren entertained, etc.  I try to show my love to her by tending the yard, keeping the house in repair (including fixing what is broken inside, as my wife points things out to me), making sure our vehicles are in running order, etc.  Also we try to be kind to each other and do special things for one another above and beyond the expected.  We show each other love, not just by words, but by the everyday things we do!

Our featured Scripture is in two parts (both from the gospel of John):

•      John 3:16 – This verse is called “The gospel in a nutshell! ” and it is perhaps the best known verse in the New Testament:  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  You see, God could have stayed in heaven forever and left mankind to go on it’s sinful way – all the way to hell! – and He still would have been the holy God!  But He loves us!  And He showed us that love by giving His Son as a sacrifice on our behalf!

Even from the beginning we were special to Him!  Man and woman are the only part of all creation which – before coming into existence by His command – God paused and called a Trinitarian conference (recorded in Genesis 1:26):

      Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our like-
      ness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the
      air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing
      that creeps on the earth.”

And when our first parents chose to disobey, God did not write them off!  Just nine verses after the record of their deliberate sin (recorded in Genesis 3:1-6), the LORD told this to the serpent:  “And there will be war between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed:  by Him will your head be crushed and by you His foot will be wounded.” (Genesis 3:15 – Bible in Basic English).  It’s called the Proto Evangelium, the first announcement of the gospel.  And it refers to Jesus’ victory over Satan on the cross.  The Lord crushed the power of the devil (his head) while the evil one bruised His heel!  By the way, crucifixion is the only known form of capital punishment by which the victim’s heel is bruised – by the heel being bounced against the rough wood of the cross as the nail is driven through the foot!

So eons after that first act of sin (which caused the sin nature within, and was passed down to us all – see Romans 3:23; 5:12), “…God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  We know God loves us because of what He did for us!  He expressed His Love Language toward us by sending Jesus Christ to die in our place, paying the price for our sin and rebellion against Him!

Have you responded to His Love Language by accepting His Son Jesus into your heart and life to be your Savior?

•      John 14:15 – “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”  This is our Love Language expressed to God!  As said to another person, “I love you” is easy to say.  But if it is to be genuine, these three words must be backed up by action!  In this case, if we say we love the Lord Jesus Christ, we must show it by keeping His commandments!  What are His commandments?  They may be reduced to just one!  It is found in John 13:34:  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”  Paul expressed it this way in Romans 13:8 through 10:

      Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another
      has fulfilled the law.  For the commandment, “You shall not commit adul-
      tery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear
      false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other command-
      ment, all are summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your
      neighbor as yourself.”  Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is
      the fulfillment of the law. (See also Luke 10:27; I John 4:20, 21).

So, while all that Christ commands His followers to do can be summarized in loving one another, our love to Him is expressed by obedience to all He tells us to do!  “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”  Another way to say this is to follow Him faithfully, obeying Him as your Lord!  As He said at the close of the Sermon on the Mount in Luke 6:46:  “…why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not the things that I say? ”

So, yes, speak the Love Language to God!  For He has spoken it plainly to us!  And what you express to Him with your lips, follow through with a life in obedience to Him!

March 10, 2017

Romans 7:14, 15, 24

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Paul had a problem!  But it was a problem common to us all!  It is known as the sin nature – and by several other names in Scripture (see Matthew 8:22; Romans 6:6; 8:5; 8:7; I Corinthians 2:14; Colossians 3:9).  Paul’s problem was that he carried within himself this rebellion against God and His will.  Here is the apostle’s testimony from Romans 7:14, 15, and 24:

      …I am carnal, sold under sin.  For what I am doing, I do not understand. 
      For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do….O
      wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Such rebellion started with our first parents bowing to the will of the devil! (See Genesis 3:1-6).  They openly disobeyed God’s command of Genesis 2:16 and 17:  “…of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”  Physical death eventually came, even though they were designed for eternal living.  But spiritual death was immediate!  When the LORD arrived in the Garden of Eden for regular fellowship with His highest creation, Adam and Eve ran and hid! (See Genesis 3:8).  But the penalty for disobedience went much further than just these two hiding from God!

•      All creation, over which man was given dominion (see Genesis 1:26), was wrested from human control, usurped to Satan’s dominion (see Luke 4:5, 6), and cursed! (See 3:14-19; Romans 8:20-23).

•      Man, being “…created…in the image of God…” (Genesis 1:27), carried that image in his very being!  But once he bowed to Satan, mankind was implanted with the image of the evil one!  As Jesus said in John 8:44 (to the Pharisees specifically, but to us all generally):  “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.”  This is why Jesus tells us in John 3:7, “You must be born again.”  We must have reimplanted in us by the Holy Spirit the image (the nature) of God! (See II Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20).  It is only in this way that we can be reconciled with our Creator!  It is only in this way that we can again become good by God’s standard! (See Matthew 5:48; I John 3:9; 5:18).

•      That Satanic nature was passed down from father to child over the millennia!  Paul wrote in Romans 5:12:  “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned….”  So we are all in the same sinful boat!

When I attended Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania (I was their token Baptist at this conservative seminary!), my theology professor, Dr. John Rodgers, had a favorite saying by which he explained our sinful actions in whatever situation we found ourselves.  He would tell the class, “Here’s the problem:  Wherever I go, I go, too! ”

Wherever I go, I Go, Too!  People often think, “If only I could change my circumstances – my mate, my family, my job, where I live, etc. – I would change my life and be a much better person!”  It does not work that way!  We carry that old sin nature within ourselves everywhere we go!  And Paul tells us in Galatians 5:19 through 21 (Easy to Read Version) what we are to expect to be manifested from that sin nature:

      The wrong things the sinful self does are clear:  committing sexual sin,
      being morally bad, doing all kinds of shameful things, worshiping false
      gods, taking part in witchcraft, hating people, causing trouble, being
      jealous, angry or selfish, causing people to argue and divide into separ-
      ate groups, being filled with envy, getting drunk, having wild parties,
      and doing other things like this.

What we need is not a change of outward enviroment, but a change of inward nature – called the heart in Ezekiel 36:26:  “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh.”  Only God can do that!  In Jeremiah 13:23 we are reminded, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?  Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.”  But since the Ethiopian can’t change the color of his skin, or the leopard can’t remove his spots, we who are accustomed to do evil cannot do good by our own volition!

But God can do it in and through us!  He created us in the first place, and He can recreate within us a nature both good and godly!  What will that nature be like?  A succinct description of what issues from such a nature – called the fruit of the Spirit – is found in Galatians 5:22 and 23 (International Standard Version):  “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Read again the wrong things the sinful self does (above) compared to the fruit of the Spirit.  Now, which would you rather have in you to be manifest by your life wherever you go?  The latter in your life is possible only by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ living in and through you.  Such a life starts by…

•      …admitting your sinfulness before God, and your need of His help! (See Romans 3:10, 23).

•      …realizing that only Jesus Christ – the Son of God, God the Son – paid for your sins by dying on the cross! (See II Corinthians 5:21).

•      …recognizing that He rose from the dead, conquering sin, death, hell, and the devil, and He lives forever to give that salvation to all who come to Him by faith believing! (See Romans 10:9; Hebrews 7:25).

•      …inviting Him into your heart and life to be your Savior and your Lord! (See Revelation 3:20).

If you sincerely receive God’s offer of His Son, the ‘I’ that goes with you wherever you go will manifest a much different and much more pleasing life – both to God and to you!