May 29, 2007 by Administrator.

In comparison to some people I run into, I think very little on what eternity will be like with Christ. This morning I was reading in Philippians and stopped for a while on Chapter 3, verse 21 which says:

“who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

This got my brain churning about how I view Heaven (commonly associated with New Jerusalem).

I imagine it as a never-ending day. Rather than say eternity, I just think of it as a day that has no end, sunset, nor sunrise because God will illuminate it with His glory continually. The shores of the river will be white and the water will be clear and cold. The streets and the city are made of the purest gold. So pure that they are clear as glass (Revelation 21:18; 21). I’ve always pictured the river being in the middle and golden streets on each side lined with houses. I never really think about mansions or crowns. To me the crowns and mansions are grossly insignificant in comparison to abiding with our King. I know a lot of people think about these things, but it never stays in my mind.

Maybe I should think more about these things, but I easily get caught up with the here and now. Revelation 21 thoroughly describes New Jerusalem and helped me with a mental picture. If you have any pictures in your mind about Heaven, feel free to describe them.

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May 21, 2007 by Administrator.

It’s easy as Christians to get relaxed in our Christian walk. It’s sort of like putting your relationship with God in cruise control and letting life take it’s toll. When hard times come, we focus on the Lord more. After the rough times have temporarily passed, our spiritual walk tends plateau. It’s easy to view everything as fine and dandy. Complacency seems to integrate very naturally into our lives. It did to the children of Israel too. They would worship the Lord for a season, but then would get out of line shortly afterwards. It’s so easy for me to just let the day roll on and take one thing at a time. When I get comfortable and complacent, I tend to be reactive and not proactive. Being reactive will cause hasty, unprepared decisions that could be unwise. Satan desires to get us off our toes and recline so that he can prowl around in freedom without being observed. He wants us to put our relationship with the Lord in cruise control and just enjoy life. We must be quick, wise, proactive, strong, and courageous against him. Don’t coast along through Christianity. Be actively involved. Keep your foot on the accelerator. Always be ready to hit the brakes. Focus your eyes on the road and everything around you as well. We never know when Satan make his chase. Pray and be watchful so that he won’t catch us by surprise. Don’t cruise along.

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May 14, 2007 by Administrator.

Discussions and long arguments have arisen for scores of years concerning God’s divine predestination or man’s independent will. This topic is far too huge and deep to wrap up in a single post. So I will simply ask you the questions and use Scripture for clarity. Since Scripture is our one and only foundation as followers of Christ, use these verses to help you think through “free will” and “predestination”. If some of you are unfamiliar with these terms, please realize they are in reference to a Christian’s salvation through Christ Jesus. It is debated whether God chose the Christian to be saved or whether man made the conscious choice to turn to God for salvation. By clicking on the numbers you will see verses related to the designated question. Here are my questions:        

01. Can the Lord give life and take life?
02. Does God act according to our standards of fair and unfair?
03. Is God over all things?
04. Who convicts the sinner of his or her sins?
05. Who saves the sinner from their sins?
06. Are we saved by our own grace?
07. Then by whose grace are we saved?
08. Can we save ourselves?
09. Can we choose Christ when Romans 3:10-12 says that no one chooses God?
10. If we can freely choose despite Scripture, should we thank ourselves every day for choosing God and His salvation?
11. Does that mean that we do our part of the saving and then He does His?
12. Does that mean that Christ’s blood is insufficient since man must first accept His blood in order for Jesus to save them?
13. Who convicts the sinner?
14. Who saves the sinner?
15. Does God need our help?
16. Does God need our permission to use us?
17. Did God need our permission to create us?
18. Does God need our permission to take us?
19. Does God need our permission to save us?
20. Since Romans 3:11 says that man cannot choose God, can God choose man?
21. Is God over all things except the will of man?
22. Is Christ’s atonement restrained and held back because of the will of man?
23. If so, does that make man’s will greater than God?
24. If not, does that make God greater than man’s will?
25. Since man’s will is not greater than God and man cannot choose Him, does that mean that God chooses the sinner?

You can ignore these passages and these questions if you like, but there has to be a Divine intervention in order for Romans 3:10-12 to be true and man be saved through the grace of Christ Jesus at the same time.

This short post has hardly done any justice to the discussion of choosing or being chosen. For some quick comments, please look at John MacArthur’s comments in The Beauty of Election post by Dead Theologians.

Posted in Doctrine, Biblical Study | 1 Comment »

May 12, 2007 by Administrator.

Spiritual Starvation part two contains the last three symptoms. If you have not already read part one, please do so now. Run this diagnosis of your spiritual walk and see how your health fairs. I will resume with examination 5:

5. An insufficiency of meditation upon the words of the Lord. Most often I fail in meditating on the Holy Scriptures. It requires time and effort, what Americans seem to have little of. Meditating enhances the reading and studying of the Bible, but without it, we won’t have an in-depth understanding of God’s Word. Without an understanding of what you claim to believe in, you won’t have a strong foundation to defend yourself. With no foundation, you have nothing to stand on.

6. An undernourishment of fellowship with other followers of Christ Jesus. Of course not attending church services that proclaim the gospel of Christ is damaging to your spiritual walk. When you have not attended for awhile, Satan will beat you up about your sins and make you feel all alone and like a real failure. The encouragement and edification at church is vital in our walk. Or you might attend church regularly but your heart is not there. You hear, but you don’t listen. You might daydream and tune out God.

7. A deficiency of true love for Jesus. “True love for the Lord is whole-hearted obedience,” (I believe R.C. Sproul said this). Thinking about love as whole-hearted obedience and not feelings in your walk is really hard to swallow, but so true. Do we exert our love for Jesus in constant obedience to Him and His will and Word? Obedience is a daily application of His desires in our life. How often do I make a hard, daily effort to do what He what He would want me to do? By not trying, it shows that I’m not trying to show my professed love.

I have been spiritually starved more than once in my life. Even reviewing this makes me see how I just diagnosed myself. When He gave His everything, how can we guiltlessly give so little? He offers so much to us, but we want so little. He demands so much of us, but we make so little effort to even try to be like Him. God may we, may I, not fail You or die of starvation.

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May 10, 2007 by Administrator.

“The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who watches his way preserves his life.”

Proverbs 16:17 NASB

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May 9, 2007 by Administrator.

As followers of Christ Jesus the Lord, we all face starving ourselves from the things of God when we should be feasting. Spiritual starvation is intentionally rejecting the things of the Lord from your life. I have experienced all of these unhealthy manners at some time or another in my life. I have arranged seven symptoms of starvation, four of which will be posted today:

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May 7, 2007 by Administrator.

I have always jokingly referred to myself as the Prince of Procrastination. Honestly, it is an issue in my life. Procrastination is interchangeable with laziness. I would sarcastically say that the best time to start a job is tomorrow. It seems appealing to make a clean, fresh start on a new day (sort of like New Year’s Day). This principle can be applied in all areas of life. It can be used in your regular duties and spiritual walk. The temptation will meet me saying, “You missed your quiet time today and it’s 10:45pm; go ahead and do it first thing in the morning.” If my tired eyes heed this counsel, then I might find myself oversleeping or running late the next morning. Within an instant I could miss two days of essential time with God. If you do struggle with procrastination like I do, consider these verses in Proverbs 6:4-11 (NASB):

“Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids; deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand and like a bird from the hand of the fowler. Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest. How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. Your poverty will come in like a vagabond and your need like an armed man.”

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May 4, 2007 by Administrator.

A few days ago, one of my co-workers came to me and told me that she was pregnant. She said that her boyfriend wanted her to get rid of the baby. I saw pain, hurt, and rejection in her face. I didn’t know what to say. She called off the relationship since her boyfriend wasn’t going to be a man and accept fatherhood. She turned her face away to hold back the tears. Her hope had been aborted. Yet, out of sinful acts God still makes good things. When Satan thinks he has ruined your life, God sees through the mess to the end result. Children may grow up in unhappy homes, but God understands their pain. Children may grow up fatherless, but God has not forgotten them. Children may grow up orphans, but Christ has a beautifully woven them in the womb to be His creation at this specific time. If He looks after the sparrows, how much more does He look after His creation (Matthew 10:29-31)? During the darkest and most painful of circumstances, Christ shines through. Evil may prevail for a while, but the light of His glory will always scatter His foes. We all make mistakes, yet the Lord’s plans have not been hindered. His will still carries on for His glory. All may seem like pain, confusion, distress, rejection, and despair; but followers of Christ can know that He will always be there for them. Amidst all evil, Christ shines through.

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May 2, 2007 by Administrator.

The world seems to be entirely contaminated with sin. There never seems to be a place of morality or rest from the common evil against Christianity. Sometimes these thoughts wear me down. I may not see an easy way out of my current everyday troubles. The Lord reminds occasionally that He is my isle of hope and refuge from this pandemonium. I visited one of the most spiritually dark nations of the world this year: China. Amazingly, it was a time of growth for me despite the godlessness everywhere. I felt that it was time to rejuvenate and armor up. Sometimes we all need an escape to spend some more time with God. I do believe that we should give Him more than just a quiet time. Maybe a day of fasting, or taking a Saturday to just focus on Him is what we need. For some, this may be more idealistic than practical. Yet, the world can beat us all down, but we must find our rest and strength in Christ, not in ourselves. Give Him some extra time in your day. He is your only haven of rest from this place. As followers of Christ, we are aliens to this land. Our hearts belong to Him. Our haven of rest is in Him.

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