PSALMS: Christ’s Prayer Manual Pt. 2

Psalm 2:
Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying,“Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”
The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath, saying,“I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain. ”

I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become Your father. Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; You will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate His rule with trembling. Kiss His Son, or He will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for His wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

The Messiah’s Return

Dietrich Bonhoeffer speaking of the mystery involved in The Davidic Psalms:

“In the Psalms of David the promised Christ Himself already speaks, or as may be indicated, the Holy Spirit. These same words which David spoke, therefore, the future Messiah spoke through him. The prayers of David were prayed also by Christ, or better yet, Christ himself prayed them through his forerunner David.

Psalm 110

1 THE I AM says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies Your footstool.”

  • God calls himself the knowable self-existent ONE
  • David writes as though observing a convo between Yahweh & Jesus
  • Christ is David’s Lord and Christ is in David praying this prayer!

2 THE I AM will send your powerful scepter out from Zion, so that You will rule over Your enemies around You.

  • God will project His power through the Christ, at the Cross in Jerusalem
  • Christ’s death and resurrection win the battle, but the enemies are still here
  • This describes the situation of Christ’s Church : Christ rules but enemies exist

3 On the day Your forces mobilize, Your people willingly offer themselves in holy splendor from the womb of the dawn; the dew of your youth is yours.

  • This is the day of Christ’s return (could not be 1st coming)
  • On Christ’s return to finalize His rule, HIS church will shine forth in sacrifice
  • They will become a glory giving army fully devoted to their Lord

Your troops will be willing on Your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, Your young men will come to You like dew from the morning’s womb. NIV

4 THE I AM has sworn it, and He will never retract — “You are a Priest forever, to be compared with Melchizedek.”

  • The oath of God is Irrevocable!
  • Christ is declared as The One who can go between God & Man
  • Forever He has been that, His priesthood not like Aaron’s by like Melchizedek

5 ADONAI at Your right hand, You will shatter kings on the day of His anger.

  • This name of God speaks to His Omni-everythingness
  • His power is projected through His Messiah
  • Christ will ultimately will enact God’s wrath against Sin (2nd coming)

6 He will pass judgment among the earth, filling it with dead bodies. He will shatter heads of nations throughout an extensive territory.

  • The destiny of those who oppose the existentialist creator of the universe
  • They will be judged and destroyed
  • This will be planet wide

He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. NIV

7 He will drink from a stream as He goes on His way; therefore He will hold His head high.

  • The Messiah will effortlessly defeat His foes, without struggle
  • The Messiah will be perfectly righteous and justified in His judgement of sin

For Christ’s followers this is a prayer to and with Yahweh, by His Spirit in complete agreement as to who His Holy One, His Anointed One, His Messiah is: JESUS CHRIST!

He is the righteous extension of The Self Existent One’s Authority just as a Son is for his Father. This is describing what God will do when HE fulfills the promise He made to David thru Nathan the prophet In 1 Chronicles 17:11-14:

When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.’”

Prayer (Psalm 110)

Father, Son, Holy Spirit; YOU declare yourself ‘The Self-existent One’ and in Your triune expression of Your Godhead, You lovingly collaborate with Your Son Jesus Christ, who was David’s Lord and MY Lord.

Father in Your perfect union with your Son and Your Spirit, You place the Son into favor and empower the eternal victory of the Messiah. Glory to YOU!

Father, Son Holy Spirit you have spoken through Your Prophet declaring that You would launch the rule of Your Christ from Your Holy Place, Jerusalem. This is where You laid down Your life compelling me to lay down mine.

Lord I believe Your Kingdom won MY salvation on the Cross of Christ and He rules My life in the midst of His enemies, Lord I pray You rule my life more fully today.

Christ Jesus, I belong to You and await the day of your return. I will be part of Your personal Honor Guard in final battle. I will come naturally to You. I will reflect Your splendor.

Lord You have promised and will not change the reality that Your Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, will act as a perfect mediator between Creator and creation. I place my faith in that mediation.

Jesus, I believe Your kingdom will come, Your enemies will know Your wrath, Your judgement and Your authoritative domination of everything. Lord this is your eternal destiny, You are pleased and fulfilled in it.

/by

PSALMS: Christ’s Prayer Manual Pt. 1

Overview of The Book of Psalms

Biblical Assumptions:

#1: We cannot pray as God wants us to without following HIS instructions.

  • The Lord’s Prayer
  • How God had this book written and compiled

#2: We need and have been given a ‘Prayer Manual’: PSALMS

  • Learn how to use it
  • Constant practice

#3: God wants our hearts to align with HIS…that happens in prayer

  • He wants to have the realest of communication with you
  • He wants to love on you

#4: This inspired collection was meant to be read as instruction in correct prayer to Yahweh and used in the practice of God honoring prayer.

  • We will learn prayer principals to specifically apply to our life
  • We will practice prayer in these attitudes and postures to glorify Yahweh

David’s Role In Psalms

  • Anointed King, Messianic Forefather, Prophet and Fully Surrendered Child
  • David by the Spirit writes as: Yahweh, King of God’s People, Messiah, & Man
  • Yahweh promises HIS Messiah will come from David
  • David typifies The Christ to come

Poems/Songs/Prayers Collected into Five Books

1: Covenant Faithfulness to Torah

2: Messianic Hope (Promised David)

3: Lament of Separation (Exile)

4: Cry 4 Mercy / Omnipotence in Creation

5: God Hears via Messiah & Torah

Psalm 1

1 How blessed are those who; reject the advice of the wicked, don’t stand on the way of sinners or sit where scoffers sit!

  • The collection begins with this statement
  • The end of prayer instruction from Yahweh is transformation
  • God’s Word instructs, we connect in prayer and we act like God wants us to
  • Blessing results from true belief that expresses itself in consistent action
  • Active theology: Reject philosophy & thought, do not share space with evil

2 Their delight is in THE I AM’s instruction; on His teachings they meditate day and night.

  • This delight mean the highest possible value is place upon it
  • ‘The I Am’ is a transliteration of Yahweh, the intimate, personal name of God
  • In the Psalms where you find God named as Yahweh, you will see ‘THE I AM’
  • Often this is translated as God’s Law…but instruction is a better word ‘Torah’
  • Meditating on it is PRAYER!! Prayerfully considering Yahweh’s teachings

3 They are like trees planted by streams — they bear their fruit in season, their leaves never wither, everything they do succeeds. 4 Not so the wicked, who are like chaff driven by the wind.

  • Trees planted by streams; hardwired to what they were made to need: WATER!
  • They are permanently connected to their Life Source!
  • God is what we were made to need more than anything else
  • Praying / Delighting Scripture hardwires us to The God of The Bible.
    • Connection comes from Delight? OR Delight comes from Connection? Y!
  • When we delight in Yahweh’s teaching, we learn it and then we do it (delight)
  • Delighting in Yahweh’s teaching is our Goal in prayer! Intimate Connection!
  • What does it look like when we are doing it the way God wants us to:
    • We will bear fruit in season (Do what we were made by God to do)
    • We will thrive (Experience Joy and Peace doing what God wills)
    • Christian Success = Permanent connection to The Life Source, not Stuff
  • ‘The Wicked’ are understood to be those opposed to Yahweh’s teachings
  • They have no future… no one wants to be counted amongst the wicked….
  • But here is the problem: There is NO MIDDLE GROUND!
  • We are intimately connected to God’s teachings OR we are opposed to it:

There are but two choices of destiny laid out throughout the Scriptures:

5 For this reason the wicked won’t stand up to the judgment, nor will sinners at the gathering of the righteous.

  • There is one judge: THE I AM, when HE judges them wicked then they are
  • There’ll be none without delight in HIS teaching when HE gathers HIS righteous

6 For THE I AM watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked is doomed.

  • Because THE I AM made the righteous HE gives them eternity with HIM
  • And HE gives them a delight for HIS loving, graceful instructions
  • We are to make these teaching a constant focus of our prayer
  • The Wicked = All who do not ‘delight’ in the teaching of the Biblical God / Christ

Instead of Summary & Application points I will be composing Prayers based on the instruction contained in the particular poems / songs I am expositing.

God Lord father,

I desire the blessings that come from; rejecting the advice of the wicked, going the opposite way of sin, and being anywhere YOU are rejected. Lord transform me by Your spirit to walk in Your ways. Change my thinking, my goals and my habits.

I believe such blessings are possessed by those who delightfully live out Your instructions and prayerfully consider them day and night. Father by Your spirit grow my delight in your sacred teachings. Teach me how to pray Your ways, with Your words to Your glory! May my actions and words reflect Your sacred instructions.

YOU bless those who delight in learning and living Your Word; making them as trees planted by a river. They bear fruit in season, their leaves never wither, everything they do succeeds. Lord connect me in Your life; enable me to be what YOU created me to be. I desire Your goals for my life, I desire the supernatural vitality of living out your will; thriving in ways you have ordained!

YOU tell me the fate of those who reject Your Instruction is as chaff driven by the wind, eternally unconnected to YOU. They cannot stand up to your judgment, nor will those who embrace sin eternally gather with Your redeemed. Yahweh I repent of any way, shape or form that I reject YOU, Your Messiah or Your Scripture. I Pray for all who reject YOU to repent. I have no greater need than to be connected to YOU!

For YOU watch over the way of those YOU have made righteous but those who reject YOU will be forever without YOU. Father, Lord God YOU have made me righteous in Christ. I confess YOU possess of my life, my soul, and my eternity. I pray by Your Spirit that my way becomes fully Your way. Amen!

/by

James: Practical Biblical Living Pt. 9

LIVING IN LIGHT OF ETERNITY

This ending section of Jame’s letter to the scatted Christian churches, is framed by the reality of Christ’s eminent return. James calls his Brothers and Sisters to live in light of Eternity. What does that mean? It means the reality of the Gospel animates & guides your entire life! Decisions and relationships, marriage, career and everything flows from the Gospel.

Six way to live in light of eternity in today’s text(For Spirit Indwelled Believers Only)

Trust Fully in God’s Timing. Give Grace To Each Other. Suffering for God = Blessing.

Don’t Make Oaths, Pray instead. Faith Healing Happens In The Body. Relational Connection Enables Eternal Correction.

James 5:7-20

7 Be patient, my brothers and sisters, as you wait for the Lord to come. Look at the farmer quietly awaiting the precious harvest. See how one has to possess their soul in patience till the land has had the early and late rains. 8 So must you be patient, resting your hearts on the ultimate certainty. The Lord’s coming is near.

  • The only way to be patient is to ‘practice patience’… you lean by waiting
  • This is all about trust! Trust in the Lord’s ways and that He keeps every promise
  • Farmers, in that day, were dependent on rain (very limited irrigation)
  • ‘Possess their soul in patience’ is the act of waiting without anxiety or worry
  • There is only one ‘Ultimate Certainty’: God / Christ
  • There is more to life than ‘This Life’! Jesus Christ is coming back to our world!
  • That is what we are to live for. THAT is what our life should reflect
  • This could be described as living in light of what you believe about Your eternity

This is the ‘Overview’ of how all members of Christ’s Body should live, it is about attitude and identity and belief.

Next, some specifics things we are to practice that flow from surrender to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; specifically Christ’s return to usher in eternity.

9 Don’t make complaints against each other in the meantime my brothers and sisters (as you wait for Christ’s return)—you may be the one at fault yourself. The judge himself is already at the door.

  • During this meantime, until Christ returns, we are to practice grace in this Body
  • This is directed to His ‘Brothers & Sisters’: Christ’s Body / Spirit Indwelt Elect
  • We don’t know the whole story, we don’t even realize if we are right or wrong
  • This is a call to grace based on humility: we know we are flawed, so we shut up
  • In this context it is about projecting your suffering and blaming others
  • The real ‘Judge’ is about to enter the room (Figuratively)
  • YOU are not ‘The Judge’, don’t act like you are.
  • Instead of complaining about others, practice patient endurance in suffering

10 For our example of the patient endurance of suffering we can take the prophets who have spoken in the Lord’s name. Remember that it is usually those who have patiently endured to whom we accord the word “blessed!” 11 You have heard of Job’s patient endurance and how God dealt with him in the end, and therefore you have seen that the Lord is merciful and full of understanding.

  • This is suffering for God’s sake, because you are living for HIM (Prophets)
  • God knows our motives. He know if we are doing things for Him or for ourself
  • Are you suffering because you are living 4 God or because you are not?
  • In the end we see from Scripture how God will bless those who endure 4 HIM

12 It is of the highest importance, my brothers and sisters that your speech should be free from oaths (whether they are “by” heaven or earth or anything else). Your yes should be a plain yes, and your no a plain no, and then you cannot go wrong in the matter. 13 If any of you is in trouble let them pray. If anyone is flourishing let them sing praises to God.

  • Highest importance here is often translated: Above all else
  • I believe this heading so to speak, is for everything that follows until the end
  • James is laying down some cultural practices for Jesus Christ’s Church
  • Again we see ‘Brothers & Sisters’… ‘Brethren’ is old school… Christ’s Body
  • Say what you mean and mean what you say! The integrity of ‘Your Word’
  • Oaths are like ‘cursing’ someone: Unauthorized invoking of God’s power

14 If anyone is ill they should send for the Church elders, who should pray over them, anointing them with oil in the Lord’s name. 15 Believing prayer will heal the sick person; the Lord will restore health and sin will be forgiven.

  • Illness can be physical, emotional or mental
  • What James prescribes is that the afflicted one must initiate the ‘Call’ 4 Elders
  • Honoring of the authority structure God has put in place is crucial
  • The Lord does the restoring, and He does it in HIS way, through HIS leaders

16 You should get into the habit of admitting your sins to each other, and praying for each other, so that if sickness comes to you, you may be healed. Tremendous power is made available through a good person’s earnest prayer.

  • We are to make freely admitting our sin a habitual lifestyle
  • This is a standard for all members of Christ’s Body: Biblical Christian Culture
  • I admit I do not habitually practice confessing my sin to anyone but God
  • We need to all share the conviction that we are to do this for real & then DO IT!

17 Do you remember Elijah? He was a human like us but he prayed earnestly that it should not rain. In fact, not a drop fell on the land for three and a half years. 18 Then he prayed again, the heavens gave the rain and the earth sprouted with vegetation as usual.

  • Humans can be part of God’s supernatural work
  • His prayer connection to God was him connecting to God’s will
  • The point is that God wants to partner with us through prayer

19 My brothers and sisters, if one among you should wander away from the truth, if another should turn them back on to the right path, 20 then you may be sure that in turning someone back from their wandering course, a soul is rescued from death, and this loving action will “cover a multitude of sins”.

  • Within Christ’s Body, we are to keep an eye on each other
  • This world is working 24/7 to make us wander from the truth
  • We need each other. So we need to get to know each other
  • If we know our Brothers and Sisters well we can help them if they wander
  • This says there is a ‘Right Path’ there is such a thing as ‘the Truth’
  • This means that God has given us His Word to study, learn and understand
  • From this comes ‘Biblical Doctrine’
  • Caring about doctrine is a worth while endeavor; something that really matters
  • Believing based on tried & true interpretations of Scripture: SAVES SOULS!
  • Believing based on tried & true interpretations of Scripture: fosters forgiveness

Do you want to be part of this? This does not happen outside of ‘Committed Biblical Community’

Six Ways to Live In Light Of Eternity

PRACTICAL BIBLICAL LIVING

Trust in God’s Timing

Absolute surrender of everything to God’s control; when, how, where and whatever HE wills. Accepting what God walks us through with patience, joy & grace.

Grace For Each Other

Being real about how much grace we have been given and then treating others in our church body with as much grace as we can.

Suffering 4 God = Blessed

Honestly living as Biblically as possible is not easy and suffering is part of the Christian life. The Biblical definition of blessed is Eternal Life with GOD.

No Oaths, Prayer Instead

Instead of dependence on our resources and words we seek the power of Christ in our lives, together in prayer. Prayer is to be our natural response to bad and good.

Faith Healing In The Body

God provides for healing of various kinds within HIS body, it happens in a committed community of shared life. This is how God intended HIS people to live and thrive.

Relational Correction

In Christ’s Body different members prayerfully correct and guide each other from a place of knowing and being known. This is how Christ’s Body comes to salvation and experiences forgiveness.

APPLICATION EXORTATIONS:

SURRENDER EVERYTHING to God for a life of peace rather than one of anxiety!

Spend your time examining yourself rather than others, that is God’s job, not yours!

Choose the eternal blessing of living honestly for God rather than your own comfort!

Speaking humbly about what you can do and seeking God for all HE can do!

Trust God’s way of providing supernatural healing through the authority of HIS Body!

Know your brothers & sisters well enough so that you can prayerfully correct them!

/by

He Is Risen… Now What?

Kingdom Focus

Future Events The Lord Foretold In Matthew 24:

-Deceptions (v.4-5)

-War & Aggression (v.6-7a)

-Global Catastrophes (v.7b)

-Persecution Of Believers (v.9)

-People Abandon The Faith (v.10)

-The Abomination (v.11)

-Great Tribulation (v.21)

-False Christs/Prophets (v.23-24)

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14, ESV)

The good news of God’s family will be heralded wherever people live as a testimony to all people groups, and then new heavens and a new earth will come. (v.14, paraphrased)

And then at the end our Lord said

Therefore, stay awake (alert), for you do not know what day your Lord is coming. (v.42)

Summary Points

-More than informing and protecting us, prophecy contains promises that build our faith

-Be alert! Be ready to celebrate the glory of God!

-Develop an action plan to fulfill prophecy

-Don’t waste time or resources on ministries that don’t reproduce

/by

Belief In The Resurrection

CHRIST IS THE RISEN LORD!

We are here today to declare the absolute reality of Jesus The Christ’s Resurrection. I know my redeemer lives! Christ’s resurrection is crucial, if you do not believe it,why would you surrender your life to Christ? If you are here today with any doubts about Jesus of Nazareth’s permanent, bodily resurrection, I want to encourage you to pray for God’s Holy Spirit to enable to to fully believe.The Resurrection of Jesus Christ takes a minute to absorb, it was meant to be a process…but most importantly it takes God’s Spirit.

Jesus Died! Why?

God choose to demonstrate without a doubt His massive love for you and me. God did this as one of us! Virgin birth, sinless life then the most brutal of deaths. He payed a price only the all powerful God of the universe could pay… But then on top of all that HE demonstrated His control over ALL things! He rose from the dead to point us to the hope of OUR resurrection! This is a day to place all of our hope, all of our faith and all of our joy into.

I want to encourage you, if you have surrendered your life to Christ you have surrendered to a living savior who rose from the dead. If you are not all the way there, there is no better day than TODAY to place all of you trust and faith and hope in the living Christ.

In this text we see how Christ gives His followers what they need to believe. He will do the same for you!

John 20:1-10

1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

  • Peter & John were someplace by themselves
  • They assume someone has robbed the grave

3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.

  • It’s a race to the tomb, John is faster, but when he gets there he hesitates…

6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.

  • Peter does not hesitate
  • It looked like if someone had undressed a dead man
  • If Jesus was taken up to heaven, the ‘grave-clothes’ would look different
  • It says John saw and believed… but what did he believe?
  • He didn’t understand what the scriptures meant by ‘rise from the dead’

Perhaps they thought Jesus was treated by God like Moses or Elijah…He was taken up to heaven…

He had told them:

From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.~ Matthew 16:21

There was something missing from their understanding… they didn’t have the ‘Illumination’ of the Holy Spirit yet.

John 20:11-18

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

  • She had returned with Peter & John, after they looked, they left.
  • But not Mary… we should all be like her, determined to find Jesus
  • She talks to Angles, yet she think ‘people’ have taken Jesus

14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

  • She doesn’t understand what is going on
  • She can’t comprehend Jesus is not dead… but she know what Jesus said too
  • She only wants to care for Christ, do what is humanly possible
  • But God wants us to see beyond what is humanly possible to what HE can do!

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

  • Jesus needs only to say Her name and it reveals Him to her (In Person God)
  • But she calls Him ‘Teacher’, not God, not Lord…
  • Jesus tells her He is ascending to His God and Her God
  • By the time Mary gets to the group of the Disciples she calls him: ‘The Lord’

John 20:19-22

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

  • The 1st thing HE brings is Peace! This is the peace to experience HIM
  • They embrace the reality of HIM; fully understanding Christ’s Resurrection
  • They now recognize Him as Lord!

21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

  • This time the gift of peace flows from understanding to purpose
  • As believers in Christ’ resurrection they were commissioned to join His mission
  • And because of their faith they are given the Holy Spirit
  • Not the permanent indwelling of God’s Spirit
  • This was a spiritual enlightenment particular to this situation, like with Prophets

John was given the info by the HS that this book was dictated by HIM / God / Jesus

and so He knows that the Spirit Has been given to Christ’s disciples (US) so they will understand Christ’s resurrection by God’s Spirit !! (illumination)

After this a week later Jesus appears so ‘Doubting Thomas’ can see Him as well. Why did Thomas still doubt? He didn’t get the Spiritual illumination until God gave it.

The last verse gives the purpose of John’s Gospel: So we can believe in Christ’s birth, life death & resurrection

John 20:30-31

But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

  • God’s Word, Scripture, is given to us for the express purpose of creating belief
  • Belief in Christ’s Resurrection, as well as His virgin birth and sinless life
  • For us to believe all of this we need God’s Spirit to connect the dots for us
  • Ask God to put it all together for you

To fully believe in Jesus’ Resurrection takes a little time, the Word of God and His Spirit’s illumination.

SUMMARY:

Mary finds the opened tomb, she gets Peter and John and they examine the empty tomb. They can understand that Jesus is gone, but not that He has been bodily resurrected. Part of salvation is full belief in Christ’s resurrection!

Mary in her confusion cannot fully comprehend Christ’s resurrection until He personally illuminates it all for her. God wants to personally illuminate it for you!

The Disciples are brought to full belief in Christ’s resurrection through His Word and the Holy Spirit. Their belief in Christ’s resurrection commissions them to be witnesses’ to it, just as you and I are!

The Resurrected Christ given pure Shalom to HIS disciples, then and now. He shows them what the truth is and through an outpouring of HIS Spirit brings them to full belief in exactly who HE is, and in that they have eternal life!

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:

Why is it crucial that we understand exactly how God’s word describes Christ’s resurrection and fully believe it?

What are specific decisions you have made that reflect your belief in the resurrected Christ?

God’s Word and God’s Spirit give Christ’s followers the gift of Shalom. If you don’t have it how can you get it? If you have it, how might you live more fully from it?

/by

JESUS DIES!

Why He died. How He Died. How Do we respond?

Jesus Dies.

Why it had to happen,how it happened, and what we are to do in response.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. ~ Jer 23:5

The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!”

Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said: “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.” His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. ~ John 12:12-15

But how quickly things changed, just days later…

So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up. ~ John 18:12

Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face. ~ John 19:1-3

When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” ~ John 19:6

Why did this need to happen?

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. ~ Gen 1:27

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! ~ Gen 1:31

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned… Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. Rom 5:12,18-19

And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” ~ Gen 3:15

I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey. “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. ~ Ezk 34:10b-12

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep… I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. ~ John 10:11,14-15

The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.” ~ John 19:7

How did it happen?

At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!” Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!” ~ Mark 15:33-39

God did not die for man because of some value He perceived in him. The value of each human soul considered simply in itself, out of relation to God, is zero. As St. Paul writes, to have died for valuable men would not have been divine but merely heroic; but God died for sinners. He loved us not because we were lovable, but because He is love. It may be that He loves all equally – He certainly loved us all to death…. If there is equality, it is in His love, not us. ~ C.S. Lewis

What do we do now?

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ~ Isa 53:4-6

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ~ Rom 12:1

Application:

-When we sacrifice our lives, we don’t do what we want, but what HE wants

-We are to live distinct from, not separate from, the world

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. ~ 1 Cor 6:19

/by

James: Practical Biblical Living Pt. 8

JUDGY, BRAGGY & GREEDY

Last week’s passage was a great overview of the posture we are to have towards God as His Body. The two elements of singular devotion and true humility combine to create the standard operating mode for a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Once we have been given our standards of how we interact with God, we then are instructed on some very specific ways our lives are not to be led. A exclusive and lowly response to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the opposite of the examples we have in todays passage. God is giving us these examples of relational interactions so each of us can evaluate ourselves against a Biblical standard and see how we are not to be. (Almost all Biblical teaching is done through examples of how not to do it)

Remember our biggest problem as Christ followers is how do we deny our ‘self’ and let God’s Spirit run our lives (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self control) God Word is our instruction manual for how we are to believe and act as HIS children. Together with the Spirit He indwells the members of HIS body with we are being transformed int o the image of Christ!

We have three characters who are not to be tolerated in the Body of Christ. This scripture introduces us to Judgy, Braggy and Greedy. Judgy sees everyone’s faults. Braggy is running the show. Greedy is going to have it all. Basically all of them are trying to ‘Play god’ in there own way, Greedy goes all the way making himself his god.

These three examples are attitudes and actions that are narcissistic (self-centered) We will see some self-righteousness, then some self-elevation and ultimately self-worship. This Scripture clearly describes and condemns these actions and attitudes.

James Pt. 8 Ch 4 11-17 & 5:1-6

11 Never pull each other to pieces with words, my brothers and sisters. If you are judging each other and setting yourself up in the place of God’s Law you have become in fact a critic of the Law. If you start to criticize the Law instead of obeying it you are setting yourself up as judge.

  • These are relational & cultural standards for how Jesus Christ’s Body is to act
  • It starts with the right attitude about ‘God’s Law’ … #1 It’s HIS Law…not your’s!
  • Judgy = selective, out of context use of scripture to find fault with someone else
  • Each of our attitudes to God law is to be focused on our own obedience to it

12 There is only one judge, the one who gave the Law, to whom belongs absolute power of life and death. How can you then be so silly as to imagine that you are your neighbor’s judge?

  • Satan wanted to ‘Play God’…
  • Yahweh is Singular, Sovereign & Self Existent
  • We have zero business judging how a fellow believer obeys God’s Law
  • Who is your neighbor? This is the exact same word as in Matt, Mk, Lk & Paul

13 Just a moment now, you who say “We are going to such-and-such a city today or tomorrow. We shall stay there a year doing business and make a profit”! 14 How do you know what will happen even tomorrow? What, after all, is your life? It is like a puff of smoke visible for a little while and then dissolving into thin air.

  • This is another example of ‘Playing God’
  • We desire control of how our worth is viewed. We want to be valued
  • Christ wants to provide our value, HE runs our PR campaign and we chill
  • ‘Cuz we are but a breath out the mouth on a cold day; disappearing mist!
  • ‘puff of smoke’ often translated, mist or vapor
  • Word has a connotation of exhaled breath (like when you can see your breath)

15 Your remarks should be prefaced with, “If it is the Lord’s will, we shall be alive and will do so-and-so.” 16 As it is, you get a certain pride in yourself in planning your future with such confidence. That sort of pride is all wrong. 17 So remember, if a person knows what is right and fails to do it, their failure is real sin.

  • Our speech should express our strongly held conviction about god’s control
  • We are to acknowledge HIS sovereignty when every we talk about the future
  • So we know we are not supposed to act like we are still in charge of our lives
  • It’s not a grey area, it is clearly called sin…it come from pride (illusion of control)
  • We are not able to be Sin-free; but we are able to be Sin-adverse
  • The deep conviction against this sin and every other sin drives our daily action!
  • Intention that yields God honoring choices (Practical Biblical Living)
  • Intentions alone are not enough, we need the intentions right
  • The only intentionality that is worth ANYTHING is the RIGHT intentionality
  • How do we land on the right intentions? God’s Word: knowing the heart & soul

1 And now, you plutocrats, is the time for you to weep and moan because of the miseries in store for you! 2 Your richest goods are ruined, your hoard of clothes is moth-eaten, your gold and silver are tarnished.

  • Plutocrat: Those who rule and exercise power solely by means of wealth.
  • Pluto is the Greek god who rules the underworld.
  • Plutos is ‘Wealth’ in greek
  • Plutus is the Greek god of wealth and agricultural bounty
  • The term literally groups Hell & Wealth…
  • God will make their ‘Stuff’ go bad, ruined. It’s former value gone (Matthew 6:19)

3 Yes, their very tarnish will be the evidence of your wicked hoarding and you will shrink from them as if they were red-hot. You have made a fine pile in these last days, haven’t you?

  • What the ‘Plutocrats’ have amassed will expose their greed and gluttony
  • Their own ‘Stuff’ will consume them like fire
  • They have made a point of putting their wealth on display (Braggy)
  • They justify what they do to amass their wealth, no shame (Judgy)

4 But look, here is the pay of the reaper you hired and whom you cheated, and it is shouting against you! And the cries of the other laborers you swindled are heard by the Lord of Hosts Himself.

  • Plutocrats exploit people without property to build their wealth!
  • Such people go beyond Judgy & Braggy to full out oppression of others!
  • Almighty God knows who is responsible for the oppression & takes it personally

5 Yes, you have had a magnificent time on this earth, and have indulged yourselves to the full. You have picked out just what you wanted like soldiers looting after battle. 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent and they have been powerless to stop you.

  • Self Indulgence to the max! Greed is the attitude, Gluttony is the action…ugly
  • Typical translation of 5:5b: ‘You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter’
  • This person nourishes evil in their heart, piling up stuff at the cost of lives.
  • Fostering a heart of evil like someone who loots dead bodies after a slaughter
  • This is about being so into yourself and your pleasure you wantonly oppress
  • You are an exploiter of those God says He champions, those without means
  • Christ’s Body cannot tolerate the exploitation of anyone made in God’s image

SUMMARY:

Self-Righteousness: Judgy

In Christ’s Body we are not to speak judgement upon each other in the Body, usurping God’s exclusive role as Judge. Our role as members of this body is to obey God’s law, not to criticize it. We know better than to imagine we are our neighbor’s judge! (Some Narcissism)

As Christ’s Body we live as though God is in charge of everything, and we are dependent on Him for every fleeting moment of this life. We believe we have no business judging anyone!

Self-Important: Braggy

In our flesh and sin we strive for importance, validation, and control, from that we ‘self promote’! (Pretty Narcissistic)

Christ’s Body recognizes God as ‘All-Everything’ so we have an attitude of humility regarding what is going to happen in the future, knowing and acting like HE wills EVERYTHING! Because of what we know, anything else is sin.

Self-Worship / Greedy

People who abuse power and hoard resources will one day have the tables turned on them, what they have amassed will consume them like fire. What they have accumulated and those they have oppressed will be the proof of their guilt. (Full Blown Narcissist)

The ‘Lord of Host’ knows everything and HE will judge those who have piled up wealth by oppressing and murdering others.

APPLICATION:

Why is it important to have a ‘Biblical Orientation’ to God’s Law?

If being judgmental is a continued problem for you, what are you doing about it?

Why do you desire to promote yourself? Is it a matter of control or trust or both?

What are some biblical practices that will keep you off the road to self-worship?

3 suggestions

#1 Raise your sensitivity to sin!

Confession your specific sins to God and people you trust.

#2 Expose yourself to God’s evaluation of you instead of your own.

Search me God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

~ Ps. 139: 23-24

#3 Serve Christ’s Body in unappreciated, and unpleasant ways!

Serve at Christ’s convenience, not your own

/by

James: Practical Biblical Living Pt. 7

SINGULAR HUMILITY

This passage is a treasure trove of Biblical Theology and Practical Application!

Jesus Christ calls HIS body into a singular, undivided relationship, the only way we enter is with humility. In this relationship He places His Spirit into us so that we can overcome ourselves and live a life of ‘Singular Humility!

But too often we allow our fleshly self-serving desires set our schedules and shape our priorities. When we live like this we have less peace, more drama. Our prayer life, our dependence on God, becomes a mere formality, lip-service and we flirt with the danger of betraying our #1 Love!

God’s Word is crystal clear on how Yahweh requires our singular devotion, our undivided loyalty. He places His Spirit in us so that we may willfully submit to His ways, not strive for our control. NO, The Holy Spirit distributes grace that is enough to meet the challenge of any evil when we are undivided and truly humble.

How do we live this way? The prescription is simple but not easy…

Practice humility before God. Stand up to Satan; he’s a cowardly bully. Engage God to experience Him. Repent like David did, take ownership of your sin and beg forgiveness. The closer you get to God the more your sin will bother you but press into that; it will drive you lower before God and in THAT… HE will lift you up!

James Ch. 4:1-10

1 But about the feuds and struggles that exist among you—where do you suppose they come from? Can’t you see that they arise from conflicting passions within yourselves?

  • There will be relational conflict in the Body, it has a source.
  • The root cause of conflict is selfishness
  • The cause is within each of us (pride or lack of humility leading to sin)
  • We start out totally self absorbed, as we mature we care about others more
  • (Compliment of Barbie’s Aunt Linda)

2 You crave for something and don’t get it, you are jealous and envious of what others have got and you don’t possess it yourselves. Consequently in your exasperated frustration you struggle and fight with one another.

  • What activates the sin of selfishness is coveting and comparing.
  • The comparison game is ‘Unwinnable’; incredibly frustrating
  • Coveting never ends because there is never enough…

3 You don’t get what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And when you do ask He doesn’t give it to you, for you ask in quite the wrong spirit—you only want to satisfy your own desires.

  • The focus on self takes your focus off God
  • You don’t ask HIM because you don’t trust HIM (…you did’t get this or that)
  • You approach Him with an improper attitude (Sin of SELF causes separation)
  • This is repetition of James 1:6-8

4 You are like unfaithful wives, flirting with the glamour of this world, and never realizing that to be the world’s lover means becoming the enemy of God! Anyone who deliberately chooses to love the world is thereby making himself God’s enemy.

  • Commitment to a spouse is a singular kind of loyalty, the same as with GOD!
  • You can’t be faithful to God and be captivated, and enamored with this life!
  • A LOVER makes the object of their love priority #1
  • You can’t make God your #1 priority while you focus on the things of this life
  • We all can make the mistake of being seduced by the world and what it offers
  • Have you made a mistakes & flirted, not knowing what you were doing?
  • Or are you deliberately choosing to be a ‘Lover’ of this life? (how to stop?)
  • SURRENDER YOUR LIFE TO THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST

5 Do you think what the scriptures have to say about this is a mere formality? Or do you imagine that this spirit of passionate jealousy is The Spirit He has caused to live in us? (translation notes- ‘the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy’ or ‘the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, opposes our envy.’)

  • The ‘THIS’ is selfishly living, coveting & comparing that leads to drama / conflict
  • Living like this is not how a biblical relationship with God works
  • Jealousy, drama, scarcity & discontent are not what God produces in HIS Body
  • His Body, Christ’s Body lives by the Spirit God has indwelt them with
  • God wants us to be Singularly led by HIS spirit, not our spirit of selfish pride
  • The result of life surrendered to and dictated by God’s Spirit is:
  • Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Fidelity and Self-control.
  • So the answer to the question is NO! Self-serving jealousy is not of God’ Spirit

6 No, He gives us grace potent enough to meet this and every other evil spirit, if we are humble enough to receive it. That is why He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ (Proverbs 3:34)

  • God has an answer to our ‘spirit’ of self …GRACE!
  • HIS Grace is enough to overcome our selfish desires that gives us no shalom
  • HIS grace is enough to overcome any other spirit because we have HIS Spirit!
  • How does this ‘Overcoming’ happen?
  • We can have the power to overcome ourselves if we are humble enough
  • Being humble enough is truly giving your life fully over to the priorities of Christ
  • Christ calls the members of HIS Body to ‘Singular Humility’

7 Be humble before God. Resist the devil and you’ll find he’ll run away from you. Come close to God and He will come close to you.

  • Here is what God wants: Humility / Resistance of Evil / Intentional Relationship
  • The devil disengages when faced with a saint who is ‘Singularity Humble’
  • We can only come closer to God on HIS terms: undivided loyalty & humility

8 Realize that you have sinned and get your hands clean again. Realize that you have been disloyal and get your hearts made true once more.

  • Be aware of your selfishness and repent of it
  • Take ownership of your sin
  • Live with a ‘Spirit of Repentance’ (a very humble state)

9 As you come close to God you should be deeply sorry, you should be grieved, you should even be in tears. Your laughter will have to become mourning, your high spirits will have to become heartfelt dejection.

  • Closeness to God makes you recognize & own your rebellion & disobedience
  • Sensitivity to our own sin is the result of a biblical relationship with Jesus Christ
  • Isaiah 6 is how we will respond to the presence of God’s holiness in our lives

10 You will have to feel very small in the sight of God before he will set you on your feet once more.

  • Singular humility before God is not elimination of self… you bear God’s image
  • Singular Humility is putting yourself in the proper place relationally to HIM
  • God sets us on our feet, establishes us today and for eternity BY HIS GRACE!

SUMMARY:

Our sinful desires to gratify ourselves lead to comparison, covetousness, drama and conflict. This is not how members of Christ’s Body are to live.

We are being unfaithful to what Christ has called His Body to if we let our desires for the things of this world captivate us and set the priorities of our lives.

Members of Christ Body are aware that you cannot love the things of this world AND God. They are diametrically opposed to each other. God’s Word and God’s Spirit clearly oppose our being self-focused.

God gives the grace we need to overcome sin as we live humbly before Him

Our undivided spiritual poverty opens the door to God’s grace that enables us to: resist evil, become more intimate with God, and to recognize, repent of and be deeply hurt by our own sin. And in that process we experience true forgiveness!

A Biblical response to the Gospel is one of ‘Singular Humility’: an exclusive, intimate relationship with our creator and savior based on loyalty, dependance, trust and love!

APPLICATION:

What makes you more humble? What makes you singularly devoted to Christ? How can you grow these in your life?

What are the standards you use to know whether or not you are ‘Flirting’ with the love of the things of this world?

Can you identify areas of your life that need some of God’s grace but are instead making you frustrated and discontented? How might you change that situation?

How sensitive are you to YOUR sin? Does your repentance look like what James is telling us it should look like?

/by

James: Practical Biblical Living Pt. 6

THE ONLY WISDOM THAT MATTERS

The Book of James is a combination of Biblical Theology and practical application. James’ view of God is formed by the Hebrew scriptures and fulfilled in The Christ. As an introduction to today’s text, I’m going to briefly recap what has proceeded it:

Our growth ‘In Christ’ happens in challenges, trials, temptations and failures that Christ calls us to endure and even embrace because of what HE will develop in our character. We do this in intimate conversation with HIM through HIS Spirit, seeking HIM in prayer and humbly receiving His generous gift of wisdom. How we conduct our prayer life is of critical importance; wholehearted loyalty to Christ is the only way it works. God requires this relationship with HIM be based on our absolute spiritual poverty.

As Christ followers we are to place HIM in growing priority and our actions are to be an expression of our trust that HE has given us eternal life. Our common condition is sin, it taints the image of God we bear. God is not to blame for our condition and only HE can change it. When God changes our condition and brings us into HIS kingdom, we can now more fully reflect HIS image, so we are to conduct our relationships as HE commands.

Our submission to God’s will in Christ also amounts to a rejection of everything God is opposed to. Such a lifestyle is normative for members of Christ’s body because we are bound to Christ by His Spirit. Scripture commands us in Christ’s Body to welcome everyone into our community equally. It is a stewardship to be taken very seriously. How we live as Christ’s Body is important. Each command is of equal importance to God because He cares about our heart condition.

Jesus Christ’s Church exists based on God’s Mercy. We make God’s grace real in our lives by expressing God-given grace to others. For those in Christ, God’s mercy takes priority over God’s Judgement.

As Christ’s Body we define faith as God does in Scripture: Belief and action working in partnership. Saving Faith, that which leads to eternal life in Christ, is exclusively like this. When a person responds to the Biblical Gospel by surrendering their life, they then begin to and continue to ACT (not just think or talk) like they have given their life over to Christ! Every example of ‘Saving Faith’ in God found in the Bible, (Hebrews 11) is described as a partnership of belief and action.

God is the one who raises up teachers of His Word, not us. Such people will be closely but gracefully scrutinized by the other members of the body. We all are guilty of saying wrong things because of our sin condition. Recognizing and controlling the effects our speech has on others is a partnership of our obedience and God’s sanctifying work by His Spirit. Members of Christ’s Body protect the health of HIS Body by growing in how God would have them use their speech. Those who have biblically converted to following Christ do not invoke His power against other people.

There is a lot to understand and act upon. What we need to do this is GOD’S WISDOM

James 3: 13-17

13 Are there some wise and understanding men among you? Then your lives will be an example of the humility that is born of true wisdom. 14 But if your heart is full of rivalry and bitter jealousy, then do not boast of your wisdom—don’t deny the truth that you must recognize in your innermost heart.

  • Here is how you evaluate who is wise: not by words but by the life lived
  • The opposite of the life that shows humble wisdom is one of comparison
  • Comparison is what causes rivalry & jealousy
  • Satisfaction in the life God has given you is the doorway to wisdom
  • We have to come to grips with thew reality of our inherent selfishness
  • A recognition of ‘spiritual poverty’ is where it all starts (before & after salvation)

15 You may acquire a certain superficial wisdom, but it does not come from God—it comes from this world, from your own lower nature, even from the devil. 16 For wherever you find jealousy and rivalry you also find disharmony and all other kinds of evil.

  • What are things that are totally unbiblical that our society considerers wise?
  • The value system of our world revolves around SELF
  • The amassing of resources, called saving for ‘retirement’ (Luke 12)

Jesus responding to a question about brothers fighting over their parents estate: (Lk 12:15-21)

And then, turning to the disciples, he said to them, “Notice that, and be on your guard against covetousness in any shape or form. For a man’s real life in no way depends upon the number of his possessions.” Then he gave them a parable, “Once upon a time a rich man’s farmland produced heavy crops. So he said to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have no room to store this harvest of mine?’ Then he said, ‘I know what I’ll do. I’ll pull down my barns and build bigger ones where I can store all my grain and my goods and I can say to my soul, Soul, you have plenty of good things stored up there for years to come. Relax! Eat, drink and have a good time!’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this very night you will be asked for your soul! Then, who is going to possess all that you have prepared?’ That is what happens to the person who hoards things for himself and is not rich where God is concerned.”

  • A relationship with God comes from trusting HIM, not self preservation
  • Self focus is what takes us aways from God, it is what the Devil is all about
  • Competition & comparison causes jealousy & rivalry
  • THIS is the wisdom of the world, it is opposed to the wisdom of God

Personal Conviction: I have surrendered my life, my attention isn’t on ‘preparing for retirement’! All Christ followers are called to focus on growing our relationship with God, not our finances.

17 The wisdom that comes from God is first utterly pure, then peace-loving, gentle, approachable, full of tolerant thoughts and kindly actions, with no breath of favoritism or hint of hypocrisy. 18 And the wise are peace-makers who go on quietly sowing for a harvest of righteousness—in other people and in themselves.

  • We have to differentiate between God’s wisdom and the world’s wisdom
  • Study the real thing so much that you will recognize any deviation
  • ‘True Peace’ is found in Christ, loving peace means a life that exalts the Gospel
  • Being gentle is being considerate of others
  • Being approachable comes from not thinking you are better than anyone else
  • Once agin we see thoughts (beliefs) and actions working in partnership
  • No favoritism because God’s wisdom tells us we are all equally HIS kids
  • No hypocrisy because God’s wisdom tells us HE does it all so we are humbled
  • God’s definition of wisdom: A life devoted to being used by God to bring peace
  • Not needing attention we are to grow ‘God Crops’ in our lives and in others

SUMMARY:

God’s wisdom is revealed in a person’s life by what they do every day. It is not a matter of intentions and ideas, it is found in the lifestyle decisions we make and the things we do because Christ died for us!

Our shared sin condition leads us to comparison and THAT activates and justifies selfish desires. God’s wisdom is not displayed in self-focused priorities, a life that prioritizes self-preservation is not a life that has been entrusted to Jesus Christ!

God’s wisdom implanted and growing in our lives yields a tangible harvest: peace with God, considerate and humble relationships, belief and action in partnership, and zero elitism or narcissism.

God’s wisdom, not the world’s, is displayed in the lives of the members of HIS Body as we grow in Christ and help others grow in Christ, without drawing attention to ourselves.

APPLICATION:

How much do you compare your life to other people’s lives? What makes you do that? How might you do it less? If you have eternal life why does it matter?

Which has done more to shape your lifestyle: The Gospel of Jesus Christ or ‘The American Dream’? How might you change that?

What are the spiritual disciplines you practice (or can practice) to help you grow in God’s wisdom?

/by

Elisha & Gehazi

Come Clean With God

II Kings 5:20-27

Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, ‘See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.’ So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, ‘Is all well?’ (v.20-21)

And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.'” And Naaman said, ‘Be pleased to accept two talents.’ And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. (v.22-23)

And we he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, ‘Where have you been, Gehazi?’ And he said, ‘Your servant went nowhere.’ But he said to him, ‘Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards, and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants?’ (v.24-26)

‘Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.’ So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow. (v.27)

Summary Points

-God is always at work, and His enemy too. He cannot prevail, but he will not relent. And there are times when those close to us can unwittingly serve his purposes.

-Compromise never occurs in isolation. It always lead to another.

-Lies prevent us from experiencing the greatness of God. (Gehazi, Rahab, Ananias & Sapphira). Truth allows us to experience the presence and power of God, deliverance from trouble and/or grace all the way through it.

-Don’t be complacent about sin or powerless Christianity. Don’t just live with it. Be ruthless with your sin. Do some self-examination if your Christianity has no power, and no impact on those around you.

/by