20 In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?”21 tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. 24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.” -- Deut. 6:20-25
Fear
It is no coincidence that as the fear of God has decreased in our society, all the other fears have increased. We need to return to a right relationship with God.
Matthew 10:26-31 NIV
“So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Proverbs 1:20-33
Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square; on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech:
“How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings. But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you— when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
“Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord . Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
Matthew 10:26-31 NIV
“So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Proverbs 1:20-33
Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square; on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech:
“How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings. But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you— when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
“Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord . Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
Broken down only to build back up...
Galatians 2:18 (NIV) says "If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker."
In the "Believer's Bible Commentary" it explains this by stating:
"Peter had abandoned the whole legal system for faith in Christ. He had repudiated any difference between Jew and Gentile when it came to finding favor with God. Now, by refusing to eat with Gentiles, he is building up again what he once destroyed. In so doing, he proves himself to be a transgressor. Either he was wrong in leaving the law for Christ, or he is wrong now in leaving Christ for the law!"
When I was saved God tore down so many walls, removed so many barriers between Him and I and through the years I have built them back up - I am speaking to a struggle with porn, cursing, selfishness and many others that aren't quite so evident. Peter was delivered from the law through Christ. Gods law is this "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law" (Gal.5:22-23).
In your walk, what has God tore down that you are now building back up or have already built back up?
I pray in the name of Jesus it will be tore down again, whether brick by brick or all at once thrown into the dust.
In the "Believer's Bible Commentary" it explains this by stating:
"Peter had abandoned the whole legal system for faith in Christ. He had repudiated any difference between Jew and Gentile when it came to finding favor with God. Now, by refusing to eat with Gentiles, he is building up again what he once destroyed. In so doing, he proves himself to be a transgressor. Either he was wrong in leaving the law for Christ, or he is wrong now in leaving Christ for the law!"
When I was saved God tore down so many walls, removed so many barriers between Him and I and through the years I have built them back up - I am speaking to a struggle with porn, cursing, selfishness and many others that aren't quite so evident. Peter was delivered from the law through Christ. Gods law is this "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law" (Gal.5:22-23).
In your walk, what has God tore down that you are now building back up or have already built back up?
I pray in the name of Jesus it will be tore down again, whether brick by brick or all at once thrown into the dust.
So that I might.....?
I thought I would pass along one thing I read this morning that got me thinking. Galatians 1:12 Paul says "But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in my so that I might ..............".
Making this statement personal, how do you fill in the blank?
John 3:16
After reading John 3:16 this morning I read the commentary below it:
"The entire gospel comes to a focus in this verse. God's love is not static or self-centered; it reaches out and draws others in."
Does yours?
"The entire gospel comes to a focus in this verse. God's love is not static or self-centered; it reaches out and draws others in."
Does yours?
Meek...Like a friggin War Horse!!!
Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5).
"The meek are those who submit themselves to God. Praus, the Greek word translated "meek" is a very interesting word. The ancient Greeks used this word to describe their war horses, among other things. The horse was perfectly trained, ready for battle, and would go into battle and trample enemies underfoot. It would participate in the war with the rider; this was called a meek horse. The words meek and praus are not identical; the translators did the best they could, but the Greek word carries a different range of meaning from ours.
"I'll tell you why the Greeks called their horses praus, or meek. When the horse got to the level of training where it would obey the master (the rider) no matter what was going on, it could be trusted in the heat of battle not to do something stupid or foolish. Once the rider knew that he could trust the animal, and it would obey him no matter what, he called it a meek horse even though it might be a powerful, thoroughbred stallion, capable of killing enemies in the battle.
"This horse has tremendous power, capacity, and ability, but it has given up its own way and is allowing itself to be guided and ordered by the master. That is what the word praus means; it means submission to the master. It doesn't mean submission to just anybody. A meek person in the biblical sense of the word is not someone who allows just anybody to tell them what to do. It is not someone who allows everyone to trample over the top of them and just goes with the flow. It is all of our gifts and abilities, everything that God has put into us, under His control and submitted to Him so that even in the worst crisis imaginable, we're not going to take the bit in our teeth and bolt on our own way. We will continue to go His way under intense pressure, persecution, danger, or need. This is what it means to be meek."
It goes on to say:
"Meekness has to do with faith in Jesus Christ, with submitting to Jesus Christ, with obedience to Jesus Christ. Faith and obedience cannot really be separated. When James says that faith without works is dead, he's not talking about self-works, but of God-ordained works. In other words, if we say that we have faith in God, but we are not doing God's works, the work that God has called us and empowered us to do, then we are just playing games (James 2:14-26). We won't be able to stand in a real battle; we'll be dominated by our fears; our fears will get the better of us. Satan will be able to hem us in, and we will live our lives in a cage of fear that we, ourselves, helped him build."
Taken from God's Plan for Spiritual Battle: Victory over Sin, the World, and the Devil by Russel M. Stendal
Love For All...Hate
Jude 22 says "Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear - hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh."
What does this mean? It sounds like a contradiction...it is not. It sounds like we should separate ourselves from those who don't walk the path or have fallen off...we shouldn't. So what does this mean? How can we be merciful to those who doubt? Isn't doubt a form of corruption? How can we snatch others from the fire if we aren't involved with those who might be headed that way? How do you show mercy if you are only around those "perfect", "holy" individuals? Hate the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. Hate it! Homosexuality is a sin. Adultery is a sin. Sex before marriage, lust, gluttony, these are all sins. Greed, idoltary! These all corrupt the flesh. Gossip...yep. Where do you fall?
Ephesians 6:12 states "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." This reminds of the saying "hate the sin and not the sinner".
Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While were were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Please add comments for discussion...
TO BE CONTINUED...
What does this mean? It sounds like a contradiction...it is not. It sounds like we should separate ourselves from those who don't walk the path or have fallen off...we shouldn't. So what does this mean? How can we be merciful to those who doubt? Isn't doubt a form of corruption? How can we snatch others from the fire if we aren't involved with those who might be headed that way? How do you show mercy if you are only around those "perfect", "holy" individuals? Hate the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. Hate it! Homosexuality is a sin. Adultery is a sin. Sex before marriage, lust, gluttony, these are all sins. Greed, idoltary! These all corrupt the flesh. Gossip...yep. Where do you fall?
Ephesians 6:12 states "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." This reminds of the saying "hate the sin and not the sinner".
Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While were were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Please add comments for discussion...
TO BE CONTINUED...
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