About Me
Sunday, August 29, 2010
When all else fails ...believe anyway
I must admit there have been times in my life when I have had doubts; doubts about whether or not God was really real....especially to me in my life. But then my mind goes back to the times in my life when I have been in an impossible situation and my only hope was in this God of Whom I speak. An impossible situation, no road map to guide me so to speak, and yet I do have a road map and it is called the Word of God For those times when all else fails, there is the written Word of God. Now I don't mean to imply that God has failed in any way...He never fails, but our feelings will fail us, and our logic will fail us and when that happens doubt comes in. Has that happened to you recently? Then get into the written word and stop trying to figure it out. Just like a will that you may have written on paper by a human lawyer and you have been given power of attorney, so is the written Word of God, the Bible.....trust it even though your logic may fail The old hymn writer said "put your trust in Jesus, He will take you through" Don't always trust your feelings and when the Bible doesn't seem to be logical to you.....trust it anyway. He will see you through. Been there and done that. RC
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Peace like a river
"There's a deep settled peace in my soul", these words from an old hymn speak volumes to me as I realize just where this peace comes from. Jesus said in the 14th. chapter of the Gospel of John, " M y peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives." When Jesus comes into a person's life He brings peace, and if we walk in His ways and live the way that He wants us to, then we will always have that peace. It's the peace that surpasses all understanding the apostle Paul said in his letter to the church at Phillippi. Let me show you where he said it and how he said it' " Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God . And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."These words of the great apostle found in Phillipians 4:4-6. What a promise! What a peace that God gives as we cast all our cares on Him 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you."It is like dwelling in the secret place of the most high God, where there is an abundance of peace. You can have that peace...just cast your care on Him.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Choice
The Choice…loving the world or loving the Father
One of the most disturbing and sad statements in holy writ is the one that comes from the dictation of the apostle Paul where he writes to Timothy in 2nd. Timothy 4:10 and said, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.” What a sad statement for the apostle to have to make.
Sad that he was left alone, you might wonder? No, for he wasn’t alone, for his old friend and personal physician, Dr. Luke was there with him and even greater than that he had Jesus through His Holy Spirit living within. It is sad that Demas, who had tasted of the good things of God and who, according to the letter to Philemon, verse 24 was a fellow laborer in the gospel. He was a help in the spreading of the gospel…that’s all we know about him, yet this verse speaks volumes in it’s implication. What would it be like to be a fellow laborer of Paul? It would not be easy, maybe you may have to experience a shipwreck, or maybe you might get run out of town.
Maybe you would have to spend a night or two in stocks. You would be ridiculed for sure…made fun of. We do not know what Demas personally went through. Perhaps ….not perhaps but for sure, you(if you were Demas) would have known what it meant to see souls set free from sin. You would have undoubtedly have seen miracles and/or heard first hand of how God had delivered Paul and Silas from prison as they prayed and sang praises to God at midnight. You would be there to see and hear the great heart of a man as he wept for the lost and there would have been a great bond of love between you and him.
But the lure of the world…there must have been a chink in the armor of Demas. Could it be that he was not putting on the whole armor of God every day as prescribed by Paul in Ephesians chapter 6? But the lure of the world…there is so much to lure us away. I am so susceptible to this myself, I HAVE TO EXAMINE MY OWN HEART EVEN AS I WRITE THESE WORDS TO YOU. You see Demas wasn’t too high on suffering; the Bible says that if we suffer with Him that we shall also reign with Him.
In Philippians 2:29”But to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him
, but also to suffer for His sake.” And Demas would have known this.
What about those you spend your time with? Are you an influence to them or is it the other way around?
Maybe Demas had some unsaved friends too besides his Christian friends and he saw how well they were doing and he envied them. The Bible says that evil associations corrupt good manners. Or maybe in Demas’ case, he just liked the bright lights. Whatever it was that lured him to forsake the apostle and eventually the Gospel, we need to be aware that if we are not careful, if we don’t read God’s Word on any consistent basis, or if we do not seek His face and if we are not careful in our relationships with others, there is danger. 1John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16/For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. (and this) verse 17, And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of My Father abides forever.” Demas……only three references to him in the Bible and the one I referred to earlier in Philemon vs 24 is the only place that spells out his relationship to Paul. Nowhere in scripture will we find his history as a staunch believer or any other outstanding ministry. However, the very fact that he is recorded to be a fellow laborer with Paul would seem to indicate that he loved God completely.
You can’t tell a book by it’s cover, an old saying but still relevant. we never hear of Demas again, did he like the prodigal son return to Father and home? Did he like John Mark whom Paul had to dismiss from travelling with him mature, and become useful to the ministry again? There is nothing to indicate that he did. Like the church at Ephesus….he left his first love, like Esau he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. I cannot imagine how God must feel when He sees one of His children forsaking the Gospel for the love of this world. Let us examine our own hearts. Let us determine to live for Jesus each and every day.
One of the most disturbing and sad statements in holy writ is the one that comes from the dictation of the apostle Paul where he writes to Timothy in 2nd. Timothy 4:10 and said, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.” What a sad statement for the apostle to have to make.
Sad that he was left alone, you might wonder? No, for he wasn’t alone, for his old friend and personal physician, Dr. Luke was there with him and even greater than that he had Jesus through His Holy Spirit living within. It is sad that Demas, who had tasted of the good things of God and who, according to the letter to Philemon, verse 24 was a fellow laborer in the gospel. He was a help in the spreading of the gospel…that’s all we know about him, yet this verse speaks volumes in it’s implication. What would it be like to be a fellow laborer of Paul? It would not be easy, maybe you may have to experience a shipwreck, or maybe you might get run out of town.
Maybe you would have to spend a night or two in stocks. You would be ridiculed for sure…made fun of. We do not know what Demas personally went through. Perhaps ….not perhaps but for sure, you(if you were Demas) would have known what it meant to see souls set free from sin. You would have undoubtedly have seen miracles and/or heard first hand of how God had delivered Paul and Silas from prison as they prayed and sang praises to God at midnight. You would be there to see and hear the great heart of a man as he wept for the lost and there would have been a great bond of love between you and him.
But the lure of the world…there must have been a chink in the armor of Demas. Could it be that he was not putting on the whole armor of God every day as prescribed by Paul in Ephesians chapter 6? But the lure of the world…there is so much to lure us away. I am so susceptible to this myself, I HAVE TO EXAMINE MY OWN HEART EVEN AS I WRITE THESE WORDS TO YOU. You see Demas wasn’t too high on suffering; the Bible says that if we suffer with Him that we shall also reign with Him.
In Philippians 2:29”But to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him
, but also to suffer for His sake.” And Demas would have known this.
What about those you spend your time with? Are you an influence to them or is it the other way around?
Maybe Demas had some unsaved friends too besides his Christian friends and he saw how well they were doing and he envied them. The Bible says that evil associations corrupt good manners. Or maybe in Demas’ case, he just liked the bright lights. Whatever it was that lured him to forsake the apostle and eventually the Gospel, we need to be aware that if we are not careful, if we don’t read God’s Word on any consistent basis, or if we do not seek His face and if we are not careful in our relationships with others, there is danger. 1John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16/For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. (and this) verse 17, And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of My Father abides forever.” Demas……only three references to him in the Bible and the one I referred to earlier in Philemon vs 24 is the only place that spells out his relationship to Paul. Nowhere in scripture will we find his history as a staunch believer or any other outstanding ministry. However, the very fact that he is recorded to be a fellow laborer with Paul would seem to indicate that he loved God completely.
You can’t tell a book by it’s cover, an old saying but still relevant. we never hear of Demas again, did he like the prodigal son return to Father and home? Did he like John Mark whom Paul had to dismiss from travelling with him mature, and become useful to the ministry again? There is nothing to indicate that he did. Like the church at Ephesus….he left his first love, like Esau he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. I cannot imagine how God must feel when He sees one of His children forsaking the Gospel for the love of this world. Let us examine our own hearts. Let us determine to live for Jesus each and every day.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Ahiding place
A hiding place
Have you ever felt like running away and find a hiding place somewhere? The cares of life have piled up against you and you have just got too much on your plate….to use the modern vernacular. Well you are not alone and while we like to look back and remember a kinder, gentler time , to borrow a term from the first Pres. George Bush, it wasn’t always easy then either. In fact King David of Israel(now I’m really going back) found himself in such a disastrous condition
That he cried out to God “Oh, that I had wings of a dove
I would fly away and be at rest. Indeed, I would wander far off and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.” Psalm 55 verses 6-8. Elijah was another man who ran away to escape the wicked murderous queen Jezebel. This was after he had single-handedly defeated the prophets of Baal on top of Mt. Carmel and had actually called down fire from heaven and proved to Israel that day that Jehovah God was God alone. It’s a fascinating story that you will find in 1st. Kings chapters 17-19 to read the whole thing. When Jezebel heard what Elijah had done she vowed to kill him, so he ran for his life. But in the end it was Jezebel who died and Elijah was raptured to heaven…a fascinating story as I said. Maybe you are facing a battle in your life. Just as God vindicated David and Elijah, He will vindicate you too, if you are dwelling in the secret place of the most High God.In Psalm 27 David again says, “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle. He shall hide me: He shall set me high upon a rock…” And that Rock today is Christ.
Have you ever felt like running away and find a hiding place somewhere? The cares of life have piled up against you and you have just got too much on your plate….to use the modern vernacular. Well you are not alone and while we like to look back and remember a kinder, gentler time , to borrow a term from the first Pres. George Bush, it wasn’t always easy then either. In fact King David of Israel(now I’m really going back) found himself in such a disastrous condition
That he cried out to God “Oh, that I had wings of a dove
I would fly away and be at rest. Indeed, I would wander far off and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.” Psalm 55 verses 6-8. Elijah was another man who ran away to escape the wicked murderous queen Jezebel. This was after he had single-handedly defeated the prophets of Baal on top of Mt. Carmel and had actually called down fire from heaven and proved to Israel that day that Jehovah God was God alone. It’s a fascinating story that you will find in 1st. Kings chapters 17-19 to read the whole thing. When Jezebel heard what Elijah had done she vowed to kill him, so he ran for his life. But in the end it was Jezebel who died and Elijah was raptured to heaven…a fascinating story as I said. Maybe you are facing a battle in your life. Just as God vindicated David and Elijah, He will vindicate you too, if you are dwelling in the secret place of the most High God.In Psalm 27 David again says, “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle. He shall hide me: He shall set me high upon a rock…” And that Rock today is Christ.
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