"Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.'"Reuters is reporting the Metropolitan Police in London, England, are finding it difficult to bring in sufficient recruits. So the agency has loosened its requirements – ignoring tattoos and criminal records.John 3:3
“This wouldn't apply to people who had shown criminal intent, like burglary,” a spokesman said. “If you hit the target on 19 of 20 criteria and miss it on one we’d consider your application.” That’s because you get an extra point for insight into the criminal mind.
Not so in heaven … only those with all the qualifications (the blood of Jesus) need apply!
We need to understand, in the same way a theater won’t admit with half a ticket the Lord will either! It's either 100% saved by grace through faith or it's not! Christ's all-sufficient sacrifice is not up for negotiation.
Showing posts with label Hebrews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hebrews. Show all posts
Friday, January 25, 2008
JUSTIFICATION: I'm ninety-five percent saved!
DISCIPLINE: If indeed I am your child!
"You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, 'MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.'Effective parents don’t chasten before they instruct, nor do they punish before an infraction. Expectations are communicated first, then behavior is monitored for compliance.
"It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
"Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness."Hebrews 12:4-11
If the results are unacceptable, they explain the transgression and attempt to correct the child’s understanding and behavior; reinforcing the desired results until comprehension is achieved. Periodic evaluation follows.
God is no different … all committed believers have learned from God in this way. “When much is given, much is expected.”
Thursday, January 24, 2008
REVENGE: The All-flesh sin!
"For we know Him who said, 'VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.' And again, 'THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.'"When Marie Lupe Cooley, 41, of Jacksonville, Fla., saw a help-wanted ad in the newspaper for a position that looked suspiciously like her current job — and with her boss's phone number listed — she assumed she was about to be fired. ... .Hebrews 10:30
So, police say, she went to the architectural office where she works late Sunday night and erased 7 years' worth of drawings and blueprints, estimated to be worth $2.5 million. ... .
As for the job, Cooley originally wasn't in danger of losing it. The ad was for Hutchins' wife's company. The firm told FOXNews.com that Cooley no longer is employed there.
Revenge offers up a plethora of temptations with related biblical admonitions: unforgiveness [Matthew 6:12], thought-life [2 Corinthians 10:5 (also obedience)], spiritual gifts [Galatians 5:22; specifically "self-control"], self-incrimination [Matthew 7:1-6; 12], God's example [Nehemiah 9:17b], and much much more."Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice."Ephesians 4:31
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
HUMILITY: A Very Present Help!
“that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need."Missouri has one of the greatest tourist attractions in America. It’s called Pro Bass Shop, which is located in Springfield. This place is a sportsman’s paradise.Hebrews 4:16
Any sportsman who goes there will think he has died and gone to heaven. The store must cover a hundred acres: it has live fish ponds, indoors; a full-service McDonald’s, indoors; an indoor firing range for your new deer rifle; small cabin cruisers, also indoors; and every fishing lure known to modern man.
On one of our two trips to this sportsmen’s smorgasbord, we sat by a live fish pond; one with decorative stumps and rocks for turtle sunbathing. Only they were indoors, so I guess they were “fluorescenting” themselves.
At any rate, we were all chuckling at this one turtle perched on top of a wooden pole. Now the turtle’s little legs hung over the edge of the pole and it was at least 18 inches out of the water.
Every time I think of that little critter I’m reminded of a turtle on a lamp-post in Alex Haley’s office. Haley, author of Roots, said it was there to remind him it needed help to get there, he didn’t do it on his own. So too, the turtle at the Pro Bass Shop.
We must all remember that we didn't get where we are by ourselves … we don’t live or exist in a vacuum. Priscilla and Aquila needed Paul’s help; Paul needed Barnabas and Silas; and so on! We all need God’s help.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
GOSPEL: Freedom Awards!
"Just as it is written, 'HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!'"The news report read: “The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) presented its 1999 International Press Freedom Awards last night to four journalists — from Columbia, Kosovo and Pakistan — at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.”Romans 10:15b
The report told of the heroic exploits of four journalists who kept on reporting the news in spite of beatings, imprisonments, and death threats. A fifth reporter would have been recognized expect he’s in a Cuban jail for proclaiming the truth.
Founded in 1981, CPJ focuses attention on free press abuses all over the world. The awards are to honor newsmen and women who’ve put themselves in harm’s way to deliver the news and to preserve freedom of the press worldwide.
[“CPJ Holds Its Ninth Annual Awards in NYC,” by Tracey Middlekauff; November 24, 1999; © 1999, News America Digital Publishing, Inc., d/b/a Fox News Online.]
Two thousand years ago, and again and again since, men and women have put themselves on the line to bring the Good News of a great joy to mankind. They too have been beaten, imprisoned, and threatened; in fact for many it has cost them their lives.
I think of Paul in his report to the Corinthians [2 Corinthians 6:4-5]. I recall the accounts preserved for believers in the “Hall of Faith” [Hebrews 11:32-38]. My mind reflects on the lives of the Apostles; men who where reportedly skinned alive, torn asunder, crucified upside down, and decapitated … all after torture and great hardship. Fox’s Book of Martyrs annoys my mind for those who’ve served and suffered and been slain.
But most of all I think on the Son of God who, for the love of God, came bearing Good News … only to be trodden upon, beaten, and crucified for telling the truth: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God [Romans 3:23]; you must be born again [John 3:3]; and no one comes to the Father but through Me [John 14:6b]. It is a gift of God [Ephesians 2:8].
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
SECRETS: Rolling Stones and Other Hidden Things!
"… nothing is hidden from the king"The trustees of a small country church determined the stone forming the front step was unsafe; it would have to be replaced. Years of hard use had worn it down too much. Unfortunately, there were no funds available for replacement. Then someone suggested turning the block over, thus its replacement could be postponed for many years.2 Samuel 18:13"… God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil"Ecclesiastes 12:14"… do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known …"Matthew 10:25-33"there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."Hebrews 4:13
A workday was set and volunteers recruited. On the great day, the men came with their gloves and back supports, the women came with lemonade and sandwiches, and the kids came to see the rolling of the stone. Knuckles were bloodied and sweat poured but at last the great stone was rolled away from its footing … only to discover their great-grandparents had beaten them to it.
[jokeseveryday - November 9th, 1999; © 1999 Jokes EveryDay Mailing List, message ID: 2302571, edited for publication]
Though we toil in the heart of the night, though we strain in secret, though we concoct our carnal strivings with care … nothing is hidden from the eyes of the One who made us.
Though the four winds move the sands of a desert upon a thing, burying it so none can see, God will (should He choose to do so) appoint a day and a man to brush aside the wrappings of a millennia to reveal what must be seen.
PERSEVERANCE: Toward the Goal!
"I press on toward the goal …"When we were kids, on rainy days at school, when we were forced to stay inside during recess, we played a game.Philippians 3:14
"… let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."Hebrews 12:1-2
One student would be blindfolded, then told to find something in the room [e.g., a chair, a table, the teacher].
Before being blindfolded he was given an opportunity to memorize the way the room looked. The teacher would then spin him round and round; whereupon everyone, including the teacher, would get in his way, or move desks and furniture.
Eventually, someone would feel sorry for him and endeavor to help him, casually bumping him to turn him toward his goal.
We've allowed Satan to become our wicked teacher; he's spun us around and around till we don’t know up from down, right from wrong. He moves things around, things we thought we knew very well. His is an evil game of trickery and treachery.
But God heard our cries and sent His Son to turn us toward our goal.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
COMPROMISE: A fruit of wisdom in difficult circumstances!
THE WAY AROUND! [Hebrews 13:17a]
During a recent and tightly contested mayoral election in Long Beach, California, the incumbent, Beverly O'Neill, was prevented from running for reelection due to "term limits." In the end, however, the June 4, 2002, election results revealed she had retained her office. In the words of a spokesperson for her honor, "The mayor found a way around the law."SINKING THE SHIP! [Galatians 2:5]
What, pray tell, is the mayor of California's 5th largest and the nation's 33rd largest city telling our young people? As a leader, she should be sending a message which encourages observance of the law, not how to circumvent it!
Isn't this just another sign for our time? Hasn't the word of God warned us there would be days like this? Isn't the pedophilia problem devastating the Roman Catholic body just a symptom of this day? Haven't the pervert-priests and the bypass-bishops just been finding a way around the Law?
In 1974 the Lutheran Church International agreed it could allow for papal supremacy in the interest of reconciling with the Roman Catholic Church. Their leadership reasoned that the Pope was in a better place "politically" to represent their faith to the world for the remainder of the 20th Century, as well as in whole of the 21st Century.
This is quite typical of many well-meaning, ecumenical efforts on behalf of reconciliation, world peace, and unity. While the ideals pursued are commendable (as far as man is concerned) a conservative and biblical worldview should reject them out of hand as a desertion of the true Gospel.
Kingdom progress may not be achieved by temporal compromise or political expediency.
As someone said years ago, "The boat may very well be in the water, but the water may not very well be in the boat. So too, the church may very well be in the world, but the world may not very well be in the church."
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
DISCIPLINE - What the student is supposed to learn!
GENTLE PERSUASION! [Hebrews 12:7, 8 (9-13); other topics - body (Church), chastisement, surrender]
It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
In order to blend eggs by hand, the eggs are broken into a bowl designed for that purpose. The cook then takes a wire whip and aggressively whips the eggs. More often than not one egg yolk will refuse to cooperate; the cook must stop the whipping and deliberately break the obstinate yolk.
God desires the body of Christ be a blended whole; He desires each of His children have “a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart.” [Psalm 51:17]
Chastisement (discipline) is never a pleasant thing. But God desires each child work, properly and supplying the essence of who he or she is according to his or her gifts. This causes “the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” [Ephesians 4:16]
Predictably, one member won’t break under the gentle persuasion of the Lord; in such a case, breaking is called for.
How wonderful it would be if we could all fear God, yet not fear the strengthening process of His discipline.
IN FULL UNIFORM! [Ephesians 6:13; Armor (of God), Discipleship, Preparation, Sanctification]
Somehow, the young man found himself standing directly in the path of an oncoming car, the driver hit her brakes; but before either of them could do anything it seemed the ten-year-old was shoulder deep in the windshield of the automobile. “Are you alright,” asked the driver. From inside the football helmet a squeaky voice responded, “I think so!”
The boy, a participant in Pop Warner Football, was on his way home from practice, in full uniform. The driver saw the boy too late to stop; the boy saw the car too late to get out of the way.
It is unnecessary to explain why we are admonished to ...“take up the full armor of God, that [we] may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”Much like the ubiquitous seat belt, the armor of God is, for the most part, unused by believers today. And yet the devil, that self-centered maniac who drives blind, loves to plow through unprotected children on the King’s highway.
God has provided the armor; but He has left it to us to put it on, one piece at a time. Why we don’t is a mystery. Perhaps it’s “won’t” rather than “don’t.” Perhaps the devil is not the only creature that’s self-centered.
JESSE WHO? [Matthew 10:26; Body life, Commitment, Consecration, Holiness, Righteousness]
Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
Thomas Firbank, in I Bought A Star, tells of a conversation he had with a formula race driver; he asked the professional why he took time to paint and polish the undercarriage as well as all of the other unseen parts of his race car. The driver responded, “If the metal is spotlessly clean, I can see at once if there is a flaw.”
The church needs to adopt this attitude; sanding, grinding, buffing, prepping, painting, and polishing every unseen part. Not so God can “see at once if there is a flaw,” nothing is hidden from His sight [Hebrews 4:13] ... so that we can see our own flaws.
Holiness is from God but the holiness of the saints is not; that responsibility rests wholly on our shoulders!
Soldiers are taught field discipline during peacetime, in the barracks. Polished boots and buckles, along with carefully folded underwear, are not needed during peacetime, nor are they essential for barracks’ life. This discipline is for the field during wartime. In the field, attention to detail IS essential … it cannot be learned under stress, nor is there time to do so! Every boot camp Drill Instructor knows this!
Every army knows (or quickly learns) it is a malicious policy which says during training, “We need not bother the men with the details; they’ll pick them up as they need them in the field.”
Too frequently today we are witnessing an undisciplined demeanor among “the saints”; worse, we are seeing it promoted by many of their instructors.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Jesus (the Christ)
Bad News – Good News [John 3:16, 17; other topics - Judgment, Redemption, Second Coming]
The Grabouw Journal, a South African news journal, reports the story of Roger Russell, an activist crime-fighter. In August, 1999, Russell began a 2,800-mile walk around South Africa to focus attention on the nation’s infamous crime rate; his second day out he was mugged. He wasn’t out to judge the guilty, just bring an end to crime.
The Journal said, “It was either an awful start or the best one he could have hoped for.” You see Russell is down but not out; he’s coming back to finish what he started.
God announced in various ways, over hundreds of years, He wanted to relieve man of his sin-burden; He told us in advance He would send a Savior, a Deliverer, a Redeemer, a Shepherd, and a Messiah. When He did, He sent His Son, who came in the flesh and dwelt among us [John 1:14], to focus attention on the world’s infamous sin rate. He didn’t come to judge the world but to save the world.
At the Lord’s first attempt to reach sinful man, man attacked Him rather than receive Him … oh, He was down but not out; He’s coming again to finish what he started, only this time it’ll be to judge the world [John 5:29; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 14:6,7].
[Adapted from “Reality Check for Anti-crime Trekker” by Ian Fisher, NY Times on the Web, (September 11, 1999)]
Fire Power [Acts 4:12; Lordship, Sovereignty]
In a world where numbers and possessions mean power, is it any wonder the subject of Jesus receives a cool reception?
Many are uninterested in the Good News because Jesus does not command divisions or carry a gun or have his stock listed on the NYSE or hold a Ph.D. or have a corporate title. The world doesn’t want to know who Jesus is; they want to know how much fire power He possesses.THIS LIGHT CANNOT BE STOPPED … THANK GOD! [John 1:9; other topics - Christ; Sovereignty]The New York Times reports researchers have slowed light to a dead stop, stored it, and then released it, as if it were an ordinary material particle. These reports are fascinating for anyone who knows a little about light but … there is another Light, a True Light, and no scientist will every exist who can stop Him … let alone treat Him as if He were “ordinary material particle”!The is nothing ordinary about the True Light!
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Loneliness
Lonely Heart’s Club [Hebrews 6:19-20; other topics - Burdens; Hope]
A lonely heart placed a personal ad in an unnamed Yorkshire, England, paper; he sought to meet a lady for outings and friendship. This poor soul received one reply - from his mother.
Jesus tells us to come unto Him if we are weary and heavy laden. For those of us who’ve “been there, done that,” the hope we have in our Lord is powerful beyond belief. Though times and circumstances assault us, the Lord’s solid foundation withstands the mightiest of storms.
How sad it is that generation after generation, in some families, passes on this hopelessness as their legacy. Truly the sins of the parents are visited to the kids to the third and fourth generations.
[Adapted from CHESTERFIELD & DRONFIELD GAZETTE (UK); 20th MAY 1988]
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Resurrection
Dead or Alive? [Hebrews 9:27; other topics - Eternity; Life (after death)]
Television commercials showing famous actors such as Fred Astaire, dancing with a vacuum cleaner; Humphrey Bogart, hustling jewelry; and John Wayne; hawking Coors beer, can be powerful sales tools. Although these particular ads were authorized by relatives, every so often advertisers will simply pirate a celebrity’s likeness to move a product.
In California, where Hollywood has clout, a bill is working its way through the state legislature which would provide protection for dead icons. Among the key proponents are actress Janet Leigh and Astaire’s widow, Robyn. “Celebrities have control over their images when they’re alive and we ought to give them that same control when they are dead,” said state Sen. John Burton, D-San Francisco, author of the California bill. As Leigh put it, “My image is my product, my franchise, my commodity.”
Perhaps someone should go to the Actors Guild and tell those folks what is really important after death.
[Adapted from Jeff Wilson, “Digital technology raises questions as it raises the dead,” AP/MSNBC, 7/8/99]
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