John 8:31-59
If you are one of those people that ascribe to the notion that Jesus was weak, I must send you to this passage of Scripture. This was recorded during the ministry time in Galilee. His brothers has just left Him to go to Judea to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus was not ready to go there and stayed in Galilee a little longer. A little later, He did go up and went into the Temple and began to teach in His usual manner. The Bible states that there were many Jews that believed his message and believed on Him, but knowing their hearts, he accosted them and began to speak to their sins and called them slaves to sin. There became a loud discussion between Jesus and some of the Jews that they were free men, sons of Abraham, and were never slave to any man. This is where it gets interesting. Jesus basically calls them liars. He calls them slaves to Satan, who He states is their father, not Abraham. The reason Jesus said that is that they did not accept Him as the Messiah. There had been an allusion to this fact earlier in the 7th chapter of John, but he was not accepted for the Messiah. His own brothers did not even believe Him. Jesus didn't back down from his asertion that of who the Jews really belonged to. The truth of the Word was on His side and from that position of strength, He was able to debate with these Jewish men to prove their lack of knowledge of the Law and the Prophets. They were considered elders in their community and exacted their dominance on the people and were leading people astray, eventhough they may have been earnest in their assumptions.
A lesser man would have backed down and run away from what was certain to lead to nothing good for a man who was claiming to be the Messiah. I wonder how many of our so called strong men today would have been so bold to stand up to these men, knowing that the end of this confrontation could lead to being stoned. I tell you that takes a strong, powerful man that has no fear. Jesus challenged their authority. He challenged their right to be where they were. He exposed their lack of knowledge of the truth of the Word. And He opening showed the fraud that they perpetrated. This is not the act of a spineless human. Don't forget that Jesus was taught the trade of carpentry by his earthly father. He obviously practiced his trade prior to His start of His earthly ministry. The last time we hear about Him in Scripture was when He was approximately thirteen. The next time we see Him is at the age of thirty when he appeared in Galilee and was baptized by John the Baptist. That's seventeen years that are not accounted for in Jesus' life. It was during that time that He did the work of a carpenter with His father, Joseph and honed his relationship with His Heavenly Father and accepted the ministry He was born to complete. He also built the body that would be needed to carry out His trade. His hands no doubt were callosed and rough. His arms powerful and most likely ripped and cut. His legs were strong and muscular. This was no man to cross swords with. Its possible that he was around six feet tall, which would have made Him as much as one foot taller then most. That in itself would have made Him intimidating to stand against. No one man would have dared approach Him without the help of his buddies. (This is conjecture on my part, but I have my opinion and I'm sure you have yours)
Jesus was not weak. He was committed. He was armed with the knowledge of who He was and the authority that had been given Him by His Father. He knew the hearts of men and He knew how to deal with them. Here is where I turn this story toward my readers. Do you really know to whom you belong? Are you convinced that you have been given the power of the Holy Spirit to be more than conquerors in this life? First of all, if you have not taken the time to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are still of your father the Devil. Regardless of what the world will tell you today, there isn't any good thing in the unregenerate man. If you doubt that just watch a two year old and see how quickly he or she will lie when caught doing something that is wrong. Then move your thoughts to your so called good people co-workers who will lie, cheat, and steal to cover themselves when they are caught in some devious act. Man is inheritantly evil in nature and that nature must be changed before he will ever be ready for God to use. No man in his own strength can stand against the Satan of this world or the people who serve him. Just as Jesus could not answer the accusers in His own flesh, we are no better. Jesus moved under the power of Almighty God. He was thoroughly engulfed by the Holy Spirit and only did and said what the Spirit led Him to do and say. Jesus is our example and when we approach situations like He did, if we totally lean on the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be as bold as our Lord. Truth gives you power. Truth gives you leaverage. When you stand in truth you can stand against any foe, especially when they are only armed is a lie. The men that tried to stone Jesus could not get it done. The Bible says that He hid Himself from them and just went out of the Temple. If you look at the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem, you would see that there was no place for him to hide. The Holy Spirit just made Him invisible to the men and He was able to just walk away from them with without problem.
Armed with this information, I don't understand why we have problems being a witness today. We are indwelt by the power of Jesus Christ through the Comforter that He sent to us when He ascended. What more could you ask for? Could it be that you are lacking the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues? I have known people who try to be a witness for the Lord and fail, because they are operating in their own limited power. They do have a small percentage of success, but if they had been empowered by God through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, their witness would have been so much more successful at reaching the sinners and transforming them into people of the Kingdom of God. Earthly wisdom cannot stand against the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Read the Gospels. Read the Epistles. You will find men and women who moved in the power of the Holy Spirit as they spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ over the then known world. Today we have the same Holy Spirit coursing in our spirit that they had, therefore we can expect the same results today that they had. So, what's holding you back?
What's holding you back is your lack of commitment. Does that sound hard to you. Well, its the truth. You will never be a success in anything that you are not committed to. Do you believe that Jesus was committed. I'll tell you He was committed. There was no turning back for Jesus. He had one plan and He expected that plan to succeed. If you want to succeed as a witness and a soul winner, then you better be committed. Committed to the Lord. Committed to the consistent study of the Word of God and hiding that Word in your heart. Committed to be bold and relying on God to produce what His Word says it will produce. When you are armed with the knowledge of the Bible, having it memorized in your spirit, there aren't any people who can prevent you from enlarging the Kingdom of God in your community, city, state, and nation. No matter where you go, God will be with you and before you to make sure that you win. Write your own life for others to follow. You can be an epitath read by others. You can stand no matter who comes against you. Oh, and by the way, you will be able to see just how insignificant Satan really is.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Do You Really Pray?
IT'S TIME TO PRAY. This has been a mantra call for Christians for a long, long time, but something that is seemingly seldom actually done. How many times have you had some good intentioned person say to you that they will pray for you and never does. How many time have you said the same thing to others. It's so easy to say those words, but it takes effort to follow through. Well, its time to pray. The state of our nation is critical. It has waffled further away from the biblical principles that it was founded upon, to the point that we can't even recognize a Godly horizon. We see violence increasing nation-wide. There are more and more teenagers being involved in pre-marital sex, even within what I call committed churches. We see an increased level of child rebellion and a courts system that wants to punish parents at the drop of a hat. The family unit has been de-valued and now the homo-sexual community wants to redefine what a marriage is. My government has gotten out of control trying to explode the spending limits and putting the tax burden on us. The truth be known, our representatives aren't even coming to our defense. I know this to be true. I have written my senators several times only to be told that what the government is doing is for my own good. To that statement I say, "bologna."
I say again, "It's time to pray." We don't need some influential Christian figure to call a national prayer assembly on the Capital steps. What we need is every Christian taking time every day to pray for our country and cry out in repentance. Repentance for our lack of biblical guidelines in our lives. Repentance for not being the godly responsible parents that we should be to teach our children the values of family and showing them what true love and respect is all about. Repentance for not teaching our children why pre-marital sex is wrong and above all a SIN. At the root of all the problems in this country today is the disappearance of the family and that family worshipping in a church that preaches the pure Word of God and live a Godly example before the community.
We have allowed the world to slip into our churches and it has eroded the teaching of Godly principles to a level of tolerance rather then separation from worldly compromise. Some may not like my next statement, but I have formulated my belief over the 30 plus years of my Christian life and years of ministry. "If you see children of Christian families that are rebellious and being involved in illicit sexual activity, running with other young people that have questionable morals and are involved in the use of alcohol or illegal drugs, the problem is with the father and mother. The family is disfunctional and has not truly taught their children what love and family is all about." The family unit is held together on four things. They are: a feeling of acceptance, a sense of self-worth, discipline, and a sense of protection. If these are lacking in the fiber of the home, the children will find it somewhere else. This is one of the reasons that gangs work so well. It is distorted, but they get that in the structure of the gang. Parents your children need to be loved and see that attitude of love in the parents in their relationship. I'm talking about open embracing and show of affection. They need to be disciplined when they are disobedient. None of the time out scenario. For goodness sake, take them to their room and span them. The buttocks have been created with plenty of padding and will not damage the child. They need to understand what behavior is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Also, in the administration of the discipline, always end the punishment with an outward sign of love. HUG YOUR CHILD AND TELL HIM THAT YOU STILL LOVE THEM YOU JUST DON'T CONDONE THE ACTIVITY.
Its time to pray. We need to pray for our elected officials. They are bombarded daily with decisions that must be made within our government process. We need to lift them up in prayer asking for God to lead them in what they decide. Pray that godly men and women will come around them to give them true godly information and not be wolves in sheep's clothing. Pray for the President of the United States. We may not like his policies, but we must keep him in prayer. The Word of God commands us to pray for those who are in authority over us. Pray that he will be open to the leading of the Lord in his decisions. Pray that God will shut the mouths of those who are only looking for self gain and would destroy the framework of the work of our founding fathers. Pray that the President would appoint godly men and women to our courts that will judge according to our Constitition and not try to change or water down our Constitution. We do not need someone who will attempt to legislate from the bench. Pray for our troops that are in harm's way overseas protecting our freedom everyday. Those men and women are there of their own free will willing to put their lives on the line to keep the evil of groups like the Taliban and other radical groups from trying to take away the freedoms that we enjoy in the U. S. Pray for your family each day. Thank God that they are serving the Lord and will be the next godly generation. Pray for our policemen that they will be covered and protected. I'm sure that you can come up with other areas that need to be covered in prayer. The important thing is that we actually pray. Don't allow yourself to flippantly say, "I'll be praying" if you don't mean it. And if you say that you will pray, by golly PRAY.
Finally pray for the restoration of the family in our society. The biblical standard of family, one man and one woman. Pray for our country to return to the biblical principles that we established at the birth of the great nation. We need them now more than ever.
I say again, "It's time to pray." We don't need some influential Christian figure to call a national prayer assembly on the Capital steps. What we need is every Christian taking time every day to pray for our country and cry out in repentance. Repentance for our lack of biblical guidelines in our lives. Repentance for not being the godly responsible parents that we should be to teach our children the values of family and showing them what true love and respect is all about. Repentance for not teaching our children why pre-marital sex is wrong and above all a SIN. At the root of all the problems in this country today is the disappearance of the family and that family worshipping in a church that preaches the pure Word of God and live a Godly example before the community.
We have allowed the world to slip into our churches and it has eroded the teaching of Godly principles to a level of tolerance rather then separation from worldly compromise. Some may not like my next statement, but I have formulated my belief over the 30 plus years of my Christian life and years of ministry. "If you see children of Christian families that are rebellious and being involved in illicit sexual activity, running with other young people that have questionable morals and are involved in the use of alcohol or illegal drugs, the problem is with the father and mother. The family is disfunctional and has not truly taught their children what love and family is all about." The family unit is held together on four things. They are: a feeling of acceptance, a sense of self-worth, discipline, and a sense of protection. If these are lacking in the fiber of the home, the children will find it somewhere else. This is one of the reasons that gangs work so well. It is distorted, but they get that in the structure of the gang. Parents your children need to be loved and see that attitude of love in the parents in their relationship. I'm talking about open embracing and show of affection. They need to be disciplined when they are disobedient. None of the time out scenario. For goodness sake, take them to their room and span them. The buttocks have been created with plenty of padding and will not damage the child. They need to understand what behavior is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Also, in the administration of the discipline, always end the punishment with an outward sign of love. HUG YOUR CHILD AND TELL HIM THAT YOU STILL LOVE THEM YOU JUST DON'T CONDONE THE ACTIVITY.
Its time to pray. We need to pray for our elected officials. They are bombarded daily with decisions that must be made within our government process. We need to lift them up in prayer asking for God to lead them in what they decide. Pray that godly men and women will come around them to give them true godly information and not be wolves in sheep's clothing. Pray for the President of the United States. We may not like his policies, but we must keep him in prayer. The Word of God commands us to pray for those who are in authority over us. Pray that he will be open to the leading of the Lord in his decisions. Pray that God will shut the mouths of those who are only looking for self gain and would destroy the framework of the work of our founding fathers. Pray that the President would appoint godly men and women to our courts that will judge according to our Constitition and not try to change or water down our Constitution. We do not need someone who will attempt to legislate from the bench. Pray for our troops that are in harm's way overseas protecting our freedom everyday. Those men and women are there of their own free will willing to put their lives on the line to keep the evil of groups like the Taliban and other radical groups from trying to take away the freedoms that we enjoy in the U. S. Pray for your family each day. Thank God that they are serving the Lord and will be the next godly generation. Pray for our policemen that they will be covered and protected. I'm sure that you can come up with other areas that need to be covered in prayer. The important thing is that we actually pray. Don't allow yourself to flippantly say, "I'll be praying" if you don't mean it. And if you say that you will pray, by golly PRAY.
Finally pray for the restoration of the family in our society. The biblical standard of family, one man and one woman. Pray for our country to return to the biblical principles that we established at the birth of the great nation. We need them now more than ever.
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