Tag: Peace

Kingdom Servants

thLMD5PI9M

(Matthew 24:45-51) “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.  Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

                This is a parable we should live by. They all are of course but the ideas of God cannot be simply spoken and understood. They must be developed in a heart filled with the Holy Spirit to become fully alive and applicable. Any time Jesus provides us a parable it speaks to every aspect of our life. The beauty of that is how the Word is alive and evolves in meaning to guide us in all seasons of life.

                This parable speaks to God’s children, those who have accepted Jesus and are seeking to develop their lives with the indwelling of the Spirit. God is our master as we delight in the service of His kingdom. The religious structure man has created, in an attempt to reach God, clouds the true desire of God. God wants our hearts, our faith, our obedience, and true relationship with Him. Following the rules of fallible men leads away from His calling to us. The rules instituted by man create exclusivity which does not exist in the eyes of God. The rules man creates drive brothers and sisters in Christ away from the steadfast forgiveness and acceptance in Jesus. Not being open to relationship with all believers and helping them to grow is the same as ‘beating our fellow servants.’ If we are not ‘feeding’ them and helping their walk, we are in fact ‘beating’ the love of God back as He reaches out to all of His children. Look at this parable as a call of God to treat everyone with the love God shows you in your fallen condition. Don’t follow the rules of man. They are fallible, like the man who devised them. It is a mistake to take and try to grow the perfect word of God. If God didn’t choose to put in in scripture, who are we to add to the perfect plan of our Master?

Give What is Due

thILRC8DMY

 (Revelation 7:12) “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Blessing – First, a blessing was a public declaration of a favored status with God. Second, the blessing endowed power for prosperity and success. We are to honor God for giving us blessings we are unworthy of by blessing Him in return in the form of praise.

Glory– Glory speaks to recognition of God and His presence (omnipresence) in all things. God does all things and created all things for His glory. He desires our attention and recognition for all provision. God is the source of all existence and we should be thankful for everything we are allowed to experience.

Wisdom – He is the source of perfect wisdom as describes in James 3:17. An accurate definition of wisdom is: seeing things from God’s point of view. God knows the beginning from the end so He doesn’t get caught up in the small things that our human emotions drive us toward. When you are on the path of God you don’t stop for the pebbles in the way.

Thanksgiving – Thanking God for all that He bestows on His children. Without Him there would be nothing. All that we are and all that we have are because of what He gave and created. It’s human nature to believe that we can do anything without God. We prosper when we can be thankful to God or for any ability and provision He has given us for His purpose.

Honor – To honor someone, is to give weight or to grant a person a position of respect or give precedence in one’s life. God, as our sustainer and creator, not only deserves but desires the highest position in our life. Seeing God in such a light allows His judgment to guide our life as the world moves in many directions. God’s Word acts like a plumb line that never moves from perfect center. His guidance must be seen as a safe place of refuge when we can’t move forward with certainty. Giving God honor gives light to the path through this dark world.

Power – Ability/ Authority/ Dominion Over. God has ultimate power and control over all things. His authority is for all time. Just because the lost turn away doesn’t take away God’s authority, it just take away their ability to sense Him in their life. It becomes easier for the deceiver to do his work on those who deny the authority of God as well as those who drift from that realization.

Might – Strength/ Force/ Physical Power. As God, we have to realize the strength He possesses in His dominion over all the universe. What many fail to understand is God is strongest in our weakness. God does all things for His glory, so when you have nothing left, He has everything. God’s power is magnified through submissiveness. Hand your hardship to God, then let go. It is then that you can truly feel His power, and know that your efforts would have led to a lesser result.

Misunderstood Path

th5W83F0EU

                God has a plan for all who are obedient to His guidance. The plans and blessings God has prepared for those who are faithful to staying His course are far beyond our imagination. One of the most difficult aspects to walking in God’s light and taking Him by His right hand is that those who have hardened their hearts and choose to dwell outside of God’s light will never understand this walk. Being selfless, joyful, at peace, and confident make the lost question the sanity of a mind focused on the things that are eternal. God’s plan will not always be clear to those who stay in the shadow of earthly sin. Faith allows a believer to be steadfast in the provision of our God. We must accept the responsibility that comes with a knowledge of Jesus and the indwelling of the Spirit of God. God’s people must harness the power available in the Holy Spirit and become leaders of the lost, a guide toward the light of God and His path. We are only able to rightfully lead when we are rightfully lead by God. A real leader must see the goal before those who are meant to follow. Be a reflection of God’s light and a beacon in this dark world.

Minister of God

thUO41WFT6

2 Corinthians 6:2-10

Working together with him (Christ), then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,

“In a favorable time I listened to you,
    and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3 We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

God gives us a description of what the ministry of His kingdom will entail.

He uses the word “in” to show the potential conditions that must be endured in the name of Jesus for reconciliation of God’s people to Him.

IN: Afflictions-Hardships-Calamities-Beatings-Imprisonment-Riots-Labors-Sleepless Nights-Hunger

We are to endure these conditions with the power found only in the Holy Spirit and in a way fitting a child of God. He uses the word “by” to show us the way and how we are to minister for His kingdom as we serve as facilitators to show the light of Christ to the world.

BY: Great Endurance-Purity-Knowledge-Patience-Kindness-The Holy Spirit-Genuine Love-Truthful      Speech-The Power of God

Knowing the conditions and the way we are to react to those conditions we see how the world will react. He uses “through” to show opposite ends of the landscape (reactions) that exists during the journey of ministry.

THROUGH: Honor-Dishonor-Slander-Praise

Being a child and minister for God causes a sanctification for you as you grow in the Spirit and bear fruit in your spiritual maturity. As you move toward holiness (become set apart) the world should take notice. As with most things that are different the reactions can be difficult and most likely will be seeing as you represent an opposition to the world, a light in the darkness. This group of verses concludes with a description of the sinful view of this world and the contrasting reality found in God. Although their hardened and sinful hearts will not allow them to see God’s truth. Praise God that He has chosen you to be set apart in service for Him. Become resolute in your position as a minister in God’s kingdom, a source of light to this dark and lost world.

Position in World’s View Position In God’s Light
Imposter True
Unknown Well Known
Dying Alive
Punished Not Killed
Sorrowful Rejoicing
Poor Making Many Rich
Having Nothing Possessing Everything

Bible of Legalism

thSFKE4X5L

                Something occurred to me as I thought about the people I meet in my Christian walk who see God as a rule enforcer. They ridicule people don’t follow a written code or set of rules. Most of those rules were never of God. To be perfectly blunt, after Jesus, none of them are. Jesus came as a fulfillment of the law to bring a new covenant of love through His blood. The love developed through a walk with Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit make the law obsolete and unnecessary. The absence of The Spirit requires people to seek laws that they have not allowed God to write on their hearts.

                After seeing the rejection of all those who do not meet their legalistic standard, I had thought. If they reject those who are unworthy of God’s favor, do due lack of adherence to His impossible standard of holiness, or their man-made version of pleasing God; how could they accept God’s chosen of the past either? Wouldn’t they, based on their un-Godly behavior, have to reject the teachings and wisdom of those who fail according to the law? They would certainly reject a man who committed adultery and then had the husband killed to cover up the resulting pregnancy (1). They would certainly reject a polygamist who worshiped other gods (2). They would reject a murderer (3), a persecutor of Christians (4), a person who denied Jesus (5), people who would sell a family member into slavery out of jealousy (6). They would certainly reject these people and absolutely reject any advice/ wisdom from those same people. Agreed? Now let’s see what this looks like.

  • (1) King David (A man after God’s own heart)à His Wisdom/Influence: Psalms, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles [ 989 times mentioned in 28 books of the bible]
  • (2) Solomon (God made wisest to ever live) à His Wisdom/ Influence: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes [283 times mentioned in 15 books of the bible]
  • (3) Moses (Chosen to lead God’s people to the Promised Land) à His Wisdom/ Influence: Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Numbers [796 times mentioned in 31 books of the bible]
  • (4) Paul (Spread the Gospel to the gentiles) à His Wisdom/ Influence: Gospel of Luke, Acts, All (11) of the letters to the churches, (3) pastoral epistles [195 times mentioned in 15 books of the bible]
  • (5) Peter (Cornerstone of Christ’s Church) à His Wisdom/ Influence: Gospel of Mark, Acts, 1&2 Peter [162 times mentioned in 8 books of the bible]
  • (6) The Sons of Jacob (The heads of the 12 tribes of Israel) à Honored and protected as God’s chosen through-out all time

Add to this that the Gospel of Matthew was written by a tax collector, the fallibility of the Judges like Samson, and the sin of Adam/Eve/Noah/Abraham; we are left with a list of minor prophets and some writings by John (none of whom were sinless either). I only make this point to show the absurdity of legalism and that true redemption is found in God’s grace and the blood of Christ. Don’t let rules cloud the significance of Christ’s sacrifice for you. Don’t let the legalism of others draw you away from the truth, and your identity as a forgiven child of God in Jesus Christ.

Fruits of the Spirit (Peace)

th0P7OBZUM

Peace

As we walk hand in hand with the Holy Spirit we can find an inner peace that is independent of the turmoil of our fallen environment. We can find peace as we seek to see the world from the eyes of God. This is the definition of wisdom. God holds this world in His hands and His sovereignty puts all things in motion for His greater purpose. We may not always recognize His purpose but we must also realize that the Lord reveals to His children what He wants us to know. We are not meant to comprehend all things, our fragile minds could not bear the burden. He created us to live in peace always available in His light. (John 14:27) Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (Isaiah 26:3) You keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because He trusts in you.

thEZGRIFTA

The Faith to Follow God

thCY2CMF4A 

I see many instances where true faith in God’s greater purpose surprises and bewilders even the most learned Christians. People come out of amazingly difficult situations with a ‘bright light’ from a spirit made whole by our Heavenly Father, and those learned people feel that couldn’t really be the case. Cam people really do that? They want those guided lights to submit to man’s standard of dealing with hardship.

Shouldn’t we weather storms with child-like faith, holding the right hand of God and accepting His work/ redirection in our life? It’s made worse when that Godly trajectory is abrasive to the ‘learned’ person’s desires/ standards for God. One of the hardest parts of faith is discovering how the members of the church want to guide with personal preference while ignoring the Holy Spirit as it moves through the faithful. Acts 5 speaks of following God and not man. Faith is allowing God to lead us as people we thought were supposed to be wise counsel guide us in a way that contradicts what God has placed on our hearts. Much like the Pharisee who adamantly denied the guidance of the Christ prophesied for them to the point of murder. People have trouble believing that God can act in someone’s life in a way they might not understand. It doesn’t make them bad people. It’s their own version of a struggle in faith.

 thMR0ZA91W

Culture that strays from God

One_Nation_Under_God

        Think about the many culture that exist around the world. The Hawaiian culture is laid back and trusts in everything being ok, where the Chinese culture is at the other end of the spectrum with its structure and control. Every other culture within the spectrum has customs and ways of doing things that make the most sense to those people. Each is also developed by man who is fallen. Thus each culture will inevitably leads its people away from God’s perfect way. A laid back culture will fail to act and miss the path of God, where the controlling culture will fail to rely on God’s guidance and miss God’s path as well. As the world falls deeper into the darkness and toward Armageddon, we see God being ignored. This is very true in America. The country was founded by Christians and grew based on His principles. Now we see a movement toward removing God and His founding structure from this country. Everyone is becoming fearful of terrorists, financial collapse, or excess crime rates. They fail to see that those fears grow as we drift from the design of God and subsequently the fathers of this country. I only use the U.S. as an example because its origins were found in God, thus they’ve strayed from its good start. Other cultures were founded in darkness and show more variance due to their human conception. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to develop within us a heavenly culture where reliance on, faith in, and love for God are its main focus.

th9J1K2VZ3

Conclusion to The Beatitudes

th006S2DX4

In the Sermon on the Plain Jesus again speaks of the contrast between the life of this world and the life that awaits those you live a life in His light. People who find this life to be one of absolute pleasure and happiness are receiving the rewards of this world as opposed to the infinitely better reward that is promised to those who are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.

(Luke 6:20-26)

20b “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

 

21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

 

21b “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

25b “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

 

22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

thOL3AMGJU

There is a great deal of danger in losing sight of the ultimate prize found only in God through Jesus. The pleasure of this world is nothing in comparison to the place God has made for His people. Stepping back from the reward of heaven I like to sit and think about how a life lead by Jesus Christ is a better life in general. Even without the reward of paradise the blessing we have the opportunity to be to this fallen world is right in front of us. How much more satisfying is it to give happiness to someone that needs your help? How wonderful is it to give a part of yourself to people knowing that will make an impact that stands the test of time? Imagine the legacy that all of us are capable of leaving if we use our time on this earth to shine as much light on this darkness as we possibly can. What joy is there in blending in? I feel that when people can’t understand why I’m not angry when people persecute me, or I give away gifts the Lord has blessed me with in excess of what I need; they are seeing me reflect the light of my savior to this world. The harder it is to shine the harder we must persevere. Darkness is the absence of light. If we allow our light s to dim in adversity the darkness will take over. In the end Jesus has already claimed victory at the cross. I’m here as a Christian soldier to represent my God who saved me from this darkness and adopted me as His child of light. In the end, representing God and my salvation is being a living version of the Beatitudes, a living version of my savior Jesus Christ.

thKVJMW5VA