Together We Have in ALL

The Bible study we are using at church called Believe, is continuing.  We recently passed the half-way point in the 30 week study, and I must say this series of Bible topics just seem to get more and more exciting. Randy Frazee designed the in-depth look into 30 of the Bible's most important topics. Each week, our study groups meet to read and share the things we have learned with the primary focus being on how we can become more like Jesus. 

These study groups meet in various places and each group is learning the same lessons, then we hear a sermon on the weekly topic when we meet each Sunday.  This week, we are learning what the Bible teaches about the subject of spiritual gifts. 

It's always exciting for me to dig deep into this particular subject. Today I saw the excitement spread to others in my group when I received a "reply-all" email between some members in the group.  It was exciting to me, just to see the excitement of those in the group as eyes and hearts were opened which allowed us to see ourselves fitting into God's plans. 

I want to share with you some observations made from the sermon on spiritual gifts, and let you be thinking and praying about your spiritual gift(s).  The exciting times of our lives in Jesus are brought to light when we recognize that God has personally equipped each of us with a gift.  The purpose of these gifts is to help the entire body of Christ, all exercising their gifts, for the benefit of the whole body.  Here are some points from Randy's sermon:

1.  Collectively our identity and mission is to extend the presence of Jesus on earth.
2.  To achieve the mission of Christ, we must work together.
3.  God has given you a gift.

Paul wrote to Timothy, "fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands."  This is the excitement we experience when we realize our gift or gifts, and see each member of the Lord's Body utilizing those gifts, and that builds up the church. 

In some other reading I did today, another statement spoke to me which seemed to fit right into the application of our studies this week.  "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all."  That describes a church whose members each recognize their gift, using it for the benefit of the entire body.  (Read Romans 12:3-8)

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Meeting God

 

 

Enjoy your weekend and join us for additional messages starting Monday.  Spend some time this weekend in prayer and know you will be welcome in the worship assembly on Sunday. --RonB

 

These Two Commandments

I've recently been taking several looks into the "law" under which the people lived in Old Testament times.  Close examination will cause any student of the Scriptures to wonder how the people kept up with all those rules?  Add to that the things that found their way into the same level of importance as the law, which were merely traditions.  What started out as the Ten Commandments, mushroomed into countless other rules and standards by which the people were expected to live. 

Good news came along when Jesus rolled everything into two basic commandments which were given as the answer to a question he was asked.  Here is the account from Matthew 22:

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’    ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’   ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Catch the importance of that.  Jesus was asked the question about which is the greatest commandment in the Law.  It had to be a surprise to everyone that heard, when he gave, not one commandment, but two.  The greatest is to love God, and the second greatest is to love your neighbor.

Now hang on to your hat, but Jesus goes on to say it is on these two commandments that ALL the law and the prophets are based.  Some have difficulty accepting that.  The legalist would rather have  a long list of "do and do not do" so we could go down the list and check off the things we should be doing and making sure we don't step over the line and do something we aren't supposed to do. 

Then the legalist might even quote some Scripture like the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:48, "You must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect."   I am sure I would have no trouble convincing you I am not perfect.  Another bit of news you might have difficulty in accepting is that you are not perfect either. The truth of our imperfection is one of the things that leads us in the direction of Jesus.

Now follow closely, and maybe you should read and reread all of this several times.   When Jesus came and lived among men, his life and his teaching all had a central point of focus.  That central point was his ultimate death, burial and resurrection.  Allow the picture to continue to unfold for you as you realize that Jesus, the perfect and sinless one, died for us, paying the debt for our sins.  So when my sin-stained life is washed clean by Jesus' blood, my imperfection is covered by his perfection. 

As much as I try to always be the person that honors God and the person whose life demonstrates a totally committed love for God, I sometimes fail.  And I really have problems loving my neighbor as I love myself.  So here I am, a sinner, failing on occasion, stumbling because of my weakness.  But I am covered by the blood of Jesus and that covering doesn't magnify my imperfection, it magnifies his perfection.

Lord, help me to daily be aware of your love.  Live in me to help my entire being show my love for you, and my love for my neighbor.  Amen.

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God's Lovingkindness

"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;

Lovingkindness and truth go before you."     Psalm 89:14

"I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for you are good.

Your lovingkindness endures forever.

I will give thanks to you, Lord, for your unfailing love and your

wonderful acts to your people, for you satisfy the hungry soul

and fill the hungry soul with good things."     Psalm 107: 1, 8-9

There is a word used in those verses that I see rarely these days, and it is a very descriptive word about an attribute of God.  The word is, "lovingkindness."  What does it mean to you?

For a simple mind like mine, it means God is loving and kind, all at the same time.  While there are possibly better ways to describe it, I am clinging to what it means to me.  My God is a loving God, as is evidenced in his continual willingness to apply the blood of his only son to the lives of those who believe in him.  His love for us is not seen only in the event of the cross, but also in the relationship of being our father.  Scriptures remind us that our earthly fathers know how to give good things to us, but God better knows how to give good things to those who ask him.   And 1 John 4:8 points out "God is love."

In the second part of the word, God's kindness is a display of what we will call a "bonus attribute" of the heavenly father.  We like being around people who are kind.  Too often in our earthly relationships there are those who seem to thrive on saying unkind things.  The result sadly leads to division, separation, and bitterness between people, often between people who both profess to be Christians.  That's why we are warned by the writer James about the misuse of the tongue.  Our speech often reflects our feelings and motivation are less than kind.  So while we have a God who is a picture of kindness, there remains the need for his followers to learn this attribute.

Now let's put the two parts of the word back together, where they belong.  Can you imagine anything greater than God's love?  Is there a better way for us to learn to be kind, than through imitating God?  Two strong attributes, but now joined together to form lovingkindness, showing us the very nature of God, whose lovingkindness endures forever.

We praise him for being our father, and loving us and being kind toward us.  This one strong attribute of God continues to be demonstrated toward his children, reminding us to be more like him. 

To see this work in your life, think of someone who has been unlovable toward you.  Bring that person to the forefront of your thoughts, your prayers, and your attention for just one day.  Your life can demonstrate the lovingkindness of God when you show the kindness of your love toward them.

When I think of my sin, I become extremely thankful for the God who treats me with lovingkindness, and also thankful his lovingkindness endures forever.  Our God is an awesome God.

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I have learned the secret

Philippians 4:10-13

¹⁰ I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

We should remember when Paul wrote these words to the Philippian Christians, he was imprisoned in Rome. No doubt his circumstances were less than luxurious, yet he explained a great lesson he had learned. 

Paul wanted these people to know he had been in good times and bad times, and through it all he had learned the lesson of contentment.  Human nature is proof that we all find contentment when times are good and our lives are running smoothly. The bumps in the road, the distress of an illness, the loss of a job, and countless other bad things, cause us to struggle to even act like we are content. 

The word contentment carries the meaning that we can be satisfied with what we have in life. Further, it means we possess an adequate amount and do not require aid or support from another source.  Paul said he had lived with plenty and he had lived while in need, but still he had learned the secret of being content no matter what the circumstances.

Are we ever that content?  Paul says it's a secret and we need to learn it.  Let's look at some people who seemed to never learn that secret.....the children of Israel. 

The Bible tells us in their wandering years in the wilderness, God delivered provisions to them daily in the form of what was called "manna."  They had plenty because God was providing.  The story continues to show us another side of them, in that they became complainers, not being content with what God provided.  They wanted real food. 

Their complaints were consistent enough that God told them he would see them eating meat until it ran out of their nostrils.  God did just that through providing quail for them to eat in abundance. In his wrath, God filled them to literally overflowing with quail, and then hit them with a plague causing the death of many.  The lesson to us is simple. When we crave more than what God supplies, it is sin. 

Do we really believe God supplies our every need?  Paul believed that, but he also knew the secret.  He even tells us the secret of contentment. Earlier in Philippians 4 he said, "⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  That's not a promise of "name it and claim it." It's the secret to finding contentment. 

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Knowing Jesus

The letter of Paul to the Philippian church has been accurately called the epistle of joy. While Paul was in a Roman prison cell, the delivered messages from his friends at Philippi were sources of great joy as he remembered their faith and dedication to God. He wrote this letter of Philippians to those same folks, to let them know the happiness and joy he experienced when he learned of their work and the testimony of their lives. 

In the third chapter of Philippians, Paul gives a discourse on what it means to really belong to Jesus, even citing some of his own personal history, which he thought at the time to be truthful and an accurate assessment of the things God was expecting of him. He called himself a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, Paul was always zealous for persecuting Christians and the church; and as for knowing and living the absolute truth, he claimed to be faultless. 

Now Paul is saying that all of those accomplishments are nothing but rubbish, because the real substance of attaining righteousness is not of himself, but only through Jesus. Many changes had been made in Paul's life since his encounter with the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus. He now knows that the sense of righteousness based on his own accomplishments isn't righteousness at all. Only that which comes from God through faith in Christ is the righteousness that saves.  That is what led Paul to proclaim in Philippians 3: 10-11, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."

Paul readily admitted that he had not yet achieved those things, nor did he consider himself perfect. He confesses that he is striving to press on and take hold of that for which Christ Jesus had taken hold of him. Then notice verses 13 and 14, "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

There is some good advice for the Philippians in Paul's statement following those words, "But one thing I do:"  Read them yourself because it's pretty good advice for you and me, too. 

Forgetting what is behind..... That means if you have accomplished great things, forget them. Your accomplishments cannot save you. If you have been successful in business, or education, or parenting, or generosity, or even ministry, those things are in the past! Forget what is behind you. Remember, we are pressing on. 

Straining toward what is ahead.... What is ahead for us?  It's really a dedication to making the right decision to press on toward the goal; to win the prize in which God calls us toward heaven. Paul was saying this, not only for his benefit, but also for all Christians of all generations. Our main objective is to love and honor and praise God, because he is calling us heavenward. All else is futile, all else is rubbish. 

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I need a makeover!

Here we go again....it's a new year and our thoughts turn toward becoming an improved model of the person we have been. It is relatively simple to see from our own observations we have plenty of room for improvement. So we make our resolutions.  Since we spot the areas which need improving so readily, and make some sort of pledge to ourselves we will do more of the right things and become interested in being better than last year, you would think we would be masters of improvement by now.

Deciding we need to be changed and making those changes based on our own strength to turn ourselves into the person we should be, we set ourselves up for failure.  Year after year we make the resolutions which change our weight, our habits, our personalities, and any other thing that will make us better. How long we keep those resolutions varies from one person to another, but the results are usually the same......we fail again and again.

Our God is in the business of making things new and he doesn't seem to be interested in making just an improved model of the old "us."  His love is so complete it doesn't just change us for the better, he completely makes us a different person.  The old life we lived, with its failures and blunders, he takes away.  That old life is gone. It has to go....it must go in order for our new life to begin. 

New life?  If we give ourselves to God, inviting him to make us better, opening the door of surrendering control to him.  Sometimes that is a hard thing to do.  We have tried and failed on numerous occasions as we have watched our good intentions disappear in such a short time.

Paul wants us to know of the complete makeover which happens when we make that surrender of control to our Lord. It's not going to be like and new coat of paint which looks good on the outside, simply hiding the deeper issues.  He says, "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation."  He's a new person!  Not only that, "the old life is gone."  That means we don't have to deal with the mess of our old existence.  It's gone.   The new life has begun.

It's better than a makeover of the old.  We have the open invitation to become new.

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