Last night, there was a party going on....one of those last until 2:00 a.m., loud music, loud people, etc...type of parties that I absolutely detest with every fiber of my being....And as annoying as those parties are on normal weekends, this one touched my "Pharisee" side because it was this weekend, the weekend that we remember the resurrection of the Lord. And the reason I say it touched the "Pharisee" side of me because I was thinking..."Don't you know what this weekend is? Why are you celebrating with loud parties and drinking?"
But then something happened that can only come from the Lord, because it happened at 1:30 a.m. in the morning, right when I was getting ready to finally fall asleep with pillows covering my ears....the pillows may have been covering my ears and shutting out the noise from outside, but it didn't shut out the still small voice of God.
He spoke to me in two ways....First, He reminded me that they probably didn't know the Lord, even if it were a "holy weekend"; they still were in their "normal" unsaved state and don't know Him....and then 2nd and the shot to my "Phariseeism"...the question was: "Yes, you know what today is about, but what are YOU doing about it? Are you sharing it with those unsaved people? Are you being joyous in spite of the loudness by knowing that you have eternal life with God? Are you praying for them that they will come to know Jesus as Savior? Is your heart broken that they don't know me?".....
So while I am still annoyed at the parties that go on and "disturb my sleep", I think the Lord has shown me how to turn lemons into lemonade by turning that which annoys me into something that can be used for spiritual motivation......
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Earth day vs Good Friday
I had planned on writing a post on a little talked aspect of the Resurrection, but then something has caught my eye.....
Today on the calendar is "Earth Day"...where everyone "celebrates" the earth and tries to propagandize us into conserving and re-cycling and saving the planet for future generations. While I believe in conserving and being a proper steward of the resources that God has given to us, there is something that is worth saving more than the earth.....
And that is what is also being noted today....the day that is called "Good Friday"...what is so good about the crucifixion of one who was innocent and taught such wonderful things you may ask...? Very simple, it is the culmination of the plan God had to redeem mankind from the time Adam sinned in the Garden. Jesus even talked about it when He was talking with Nicodemus in John chapter 3....
When Jesus said in verse 16 (the verse many of us are familiar with): "For God so loved the world..."; he was not talking about the planet but rather the people on that planet that He created; that is why "He sent his only begotten son, that whosoever (you and me) believes in Him should not perish (die by being separated from God forever), but have everlasting life (life together with God forever)." That is what gave me hope in the hospital...that is what comforted me at the funeral of my friend Felix; that is what we should celebrate today....because while the earth eventually one day will perish...the life that we have together will never perish!
Today on the calendar is "Earth Day"...where everyone "celebrates" the earth and tries to propagandize us into conserving and re-cycling and saving the planet for future generations. While I believe in conserving and being a proper steward of the resources that God has given to us, there is something that is worth saving more than the earth.....
And that is what is also being noted today....the day that is called "Good Friday"...what is so good about the crucifixion of one who was innocent and taught such wonderful things you may ask...? Very simple, it is the culmination of the plan God had to redeem mankind from the time Adam sinned in the Garden. Jesus even talked about it when He was talking with Nicodemus in John chapter 3....
When Jesus said in verse 16 (the verse many of us are familiar with): "For God so loved the world..."; he was not talking about the planet but rather the people on that planet that He created; that is why "He sent his only begotten son, that whosoever (you and me) believes in Him should not perish (die by being separated from God forever), but have everlasting life (life together with God forever)." That is what gave me hope in the hospital...that is what comforted me at the funeral of my friend Felix; that is what we should celebrate today....because while the earth eventually one day will perish...the life that we have together will never perish!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
clean, clean, clean
In a few days Passover will begin...and one of the things that takes place is that the house is cleaned and all leaven(items with yeast)products are removed from the house...
When we take of the Lord's supper we are encouraged to " let a man examine himself, and then let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. (1 Cornithians 11:28)" and the word "examine" in the Greek means "to throughly examine"....in other words, to throughly examine himself before they took of the Lord's supper......
But the emphasis in both is the sense of being clean.....In the Bible, leaven was a symbol of sin and impurity, therefore it was to be removed so that the house would be cleaned and worthy of celebrating the Passover Seder.....And when we take of the Lord's supper, it is the same, the reason we need to throughly examine ourselves is to make sure that we are clean and that we are worthy of taking of the body and blood of the Lord...in the next verses of 1 Corninthans 11, Paul warns of the consequences of what happens when one doesn't examine himself and partakes of the Lord's supper.
I remember well the emphasis on cleanliness while I was in the hospital...people who had illnesses couldn't come in to visit me and I remember there were times where people had to come in with masks and robes because I had an illness that the doctors and others didn't want me to give to others....
Now if the doctors and others would take care to make sure that everything was clean and making sure that disease didn't spread...what about us? Are we making sure that we are clean, getting rid of all the things that are not of God in our lives? We have to remember that things that we have in our lives that are not of God can spread to other people and infect them as well; things like bad attitudes, gossiping, etc...
So if we are to be children of God and examples of Him to other people, we have to make sure that we have that we are the best ones possible. So each day, let us take a spiritual "bath" by examining ourselves against the Scriptures to make sure that we are clean, being a fresh aroma to others, not a garbage heap.....
When we take of the Lord's supper we are encouraged to " let a man examine himself, and then let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. (1 Cornithians 11:28)" and the word "examine" in the Greek means "to throughly examine"....in other words, to throughly examine himself before they took of the Lord's supper......
But the emphasis in both is the sense of being clean.....In the Bible, leaven was a symbol of sin and impurity, therefore it was to be removed so that the house would be cleaned and worthy of celebrating the Passover Seder.....And when we take of the Lord's supper, it is the same, the reason we need to throughly examine ourselves is to make sure that we are clean and that we are worthy of taking of the body and blood of the Lord...in the next verses of 1 Corninthans 11, Paul warns of the consequences of what happens when one doesn't examine himself and partakes of the Lord's supper.
I remember well the emphasis on cleanliness while I was in the hospital...people who had illnesses couldn't come in to visit me and I remember there were times where people had to come in with masks and robes because I had an illness that the doctors and others didn't want me to give to others....
Now if the doctors and others would take care to make sure that everything was clean and making sure that disease didn't spread...what about us? Are we making sure that we are clean, getting rid of all the things that are not of God in our lives? We have to remember that things that we have in our lives that are not of God can spread to other people and infect them as well; things like bad attitudes, gossiping, etc...
So if we are to be children of God and examples of Him to other people, we have to make sure that we have that we are the best ones possible. So each day, let us take a spiritual "bath" by examining ourselves against the Scriptures to make sure that we are clean, being a fresh aroma to others, not a garbage heap.....
Thursday, April 7, 2011
warning
You know, it's interesting what the Lord puts on my mind when I am at the DGD (for those who are new that is the Diabetes and Glandular Disease Clinic)...for my check-up...maybe it was because of the fact that I hadn't done as much for my health as I should, or for another reason, but the following verse came to mind:
James 4:17 (Complete Jewish Bible) "So then, anyone who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it is committing a sin".
So often, we hear about the things that we should not be doing that we forget that there are things that we ARE supposed to be doing. God plainly commands us through His word with commandment after commandment of how we are to be as believers...and yet for whatever reason we choose NOT to do them? How crazy is that?
And lest we think that it is "no big deal" comes this verse that comes directly from the mouth of God...that if we fail to do His commandments, it is SIN! Samuel, when he confronted Saul, said the same thing:
1 Samuel 15:22b-23a (Complete Jewish Bible): "Surely obeying is better than sacrifice, and heeding orders than the fat of rams. For rebellion (failing to obey) is like the sin of sorcery (some translations may have "witchcraft") and stubborness (wanting to do things our way) like the crime of idolatry." (Side note: I love the way in the CJB the word sin is rendered "crime" because when we do something against the Lord isn't it like committing a crime, and crime has to be punished...)
So before we start condeming others for their sins of commission, let's make sure that we aren't committing the crimes of omission.....that is why Paul tells us that before we take of the body and blood of the Lord, "let a person examine (in the Greek, the meaning was "thoroughly examine") himself first" (1 Corninthians 11:28).
James 4:17 (Complete Jewish Bible) "So then, anyone who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it is committing a sin".
So often, we hear about the things that we should not be doing that we forget that there are things that we ARE supposed to be doing. God plainly commands us through His word with commandment after commandment of how we are to be as believers...and yet for whatever reason we choose NOT to do them? How crazy is that?
And lest we think that it is "no big deal" comes this verse that comes directly from the mouth of God...that if we fail to do His commandments, it is SIN! Samuel, when he confronted Saul, said the same thing:
1 Samuel 15:22b-23a (Complete Jewish Bible): "Surely obeying is better than sacrifice, and heeding orders than the fat of rams. For rebellion (failing to obey) is like the sin of sorcery (some translations may have "witchcraft") and stubborness (wanting to do things our way) like the crime of idolatry." (Side note: I love the way in the CJB the word sin is rendered "crime" because when we do something against the Lord isn't it like committing a crime, and crime has to be punished...)
So before we start condeming others for their sins of commission, let's make sure that we aren't committing the crimes of omission.....that is why Paul tells us that before we take of the body and blood of the Lord, "let a person examine (in the Greek, the meaning was "thoroughly examine") himself first" (1 Corninthians 11:28).
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