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May 11 2008

Everyday Kindness

May 11, 2008 – 2:33 pm
By kris | Posted in Matthew, Short Thoughts | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”- Ephesians 4:32  (NKJV)

Wow!  We are to forgive as Jesus has forgiven us, and remember when Jesus forgives us he forgets the sin you have committed against him.  He took your sin and he nailed it to the cross with him, he died for it, and yet he still forgets that same sin, never to be used against you again.  Jesus wants us to forgive the sins of others against us in this same way.  Remember when Jesus taught hus to pray he included:

“And forgive us our debts,  As we forgive our debtors. ” - Matthew 6:12 (NKJV)

Forgiveness and compassion are such a big message in the ministry of Jesus, but yet in today’s church both are downplayed.  The Church fifty years ago was the center for compassion and outreach.  If you were down on your luck you went to the Church for help and the Church was there with a warm meal and a bed to sleep in.  Today our Churches have gotten lazy, we figure the government will take care of these people so we don’t need to waste our time.  But, this is not the teaching of Jesus.  Compassionate ministries are the biggest and easiest way to reach lost souls with the Gospel of Christ.  When we are down and at the bottom reaching out for what ever help we may need that is when the message of hope found in the Bible is the easiest to grasp.  This week as you go back to work, school, and other activities look for ways that you can show compassion.  And being that it is Mother’s Day when I post this don’t forget to  call your Mom.

By kris | Posted in Matthew, Short Thoughts | Tagged , , | Comments (0)
May 02 2008

Just Ask!

May 2, 2008 – 7:02 pm
By kris | Posted in 1 John, Short Thoughts | Comments (0)

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

1 John 5:14-15 (NKJV)

I am a firm believer in the power of prayer and believe whole heartily in this verse.  But, the Bible doesn’t just mention this once, Jesus himself told us the same thing in the Gospel of John.

“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.

John 16:23 (NKJV)

So what does this mean for us?  It means that if you come to the Lord in the name of Jesus and earnestly ask that he will provide, he will provide.  Now does this mean that if I ask for a million bucks he’ll provide that for me tomorrow?  No, of course not becuase the verse goes on to tell us that he will provide what ever is in His WIll.  Can you imagine all of the blessings that God has stored up for you only waiting for you to ask!  How much more fulfilling would our lives be if we stopped trying to be independent and just submitted fully to him and asked him to provide for all of our needs.  Just imagine how our evangelism would spread if only every single Christian simply asked to be used to spread the Word.  How much better would our lives me if we all submitted our lives to Him?

By kris | Posted in 1 John, Short Thoughts | Comments (0)
Apr 20 2008

God’s New Creations

April 20, 2008 – 11:13 am
By kris | Posted in Short Thoughts | Tagged | Comments (0)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

Isn’t it great to know that who we were is no longer who we are? The very second you accept Jesus as your Savior He washes all your sins away. He takes them from us and nails them to His cross. And the best part is Jesus will never use those sins against us again. We are truly “born-again” because we enter this world again sin-free. Does that mean we won’t sin anymore? Of course not, as long as we are in this world we will always have the carnal nature that causes us to sin. We are to strive to walk the Christian life and to follow the commandments that Jesus has given us. We will all stumble and fail no matter how long we walk with the Lord; we are still human. All we must do is acknowledge our sins and repent of them to Jesus and He will take care of the rest. Don’t be discouraged by your stumbling; the walk with Christ is not an easy path. But, the reward is worth the trials we must endure.

Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.

Romans 7:13-15

By kris | Posted in Short Thoughts | Tagged | Comments (0)
Apr 14 2008

Q&A Does the Old Testament Apply to Christians?

April 14, 2008 – 10:41 pm
By kris | Posted in Q and A | Tagged | Comments (0)

The Old Testament holds a lot of important information for Christians, it shows us the prophesies that point to Jesus being the Messiah, it gives us the history of God’s people, and the creation of the earth.  The question is does the law of the old testament apply to us today?    To understand this we must first understand the covenant of God.  The Old Testament means the Old Covenant and that covenant was God’s promise to his people and their promise back.  Someday we will go over what a covenant is and what it means to us now.  When Jesus came and was crucified for our sins he formed a new covenant between God and us.  See for a covenant to take place a blood sacrifice must be made.  In the Old Testament, the sacrifice was that of an animal.  The New Testament’s sacrifice is the blood of Jesus that covers our sins.  So all though the Old Testament is important for us to know and study for today, we are not governed by its law.  Jesus gave us only two commandment.

Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:37-40

Jesus is telling us that these are the commandments we should follow not those given to Moses, but look closely at what he says.  All ten of the commands can be summed up with these two.  If you love the Lord with all you heart you won’t worship any of gods or use his name in vain.  You will keep his sabbath holy.  All the other commandments can be summed up with loving your neighbor.  If you love you neighbor you won’t steal, covet, murder, or commit adultry.

By kris | Posted in Q and A | Tagged | Comments (0)
Apr 13 2008

Faith by Works… or Works by Faith?

April 13, 2008 – 12:54 pm
By kris | Posted in James | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

We all know that our salvation comes from faith alone in our Lord Jesus Christ and not by the works we do on this earth, but does that mean that we are not to do good works? or that our works don’t matter?

(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls),
Romans 9:11 (NKJV)

not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit
Titus 3:5 (NKJV)

So, where does that leave works? As Christians it is not our works that give us salvation, but it is our faith that gives us salvation and that causes us to want to do good works.  James, Jesus’ brother, goes into this in depth in his epistle.  In a nutshell, James tells us that if we have faith and do no good works then what good is our faith?   There has been controversy over this throughout history, many Biblical scholars, including Martin Luther, have claimed that this book is inaccurate and should not be taught.  He claims this because it puts emphasis on the need for us to do good works that in contradicts other scripture such as the verses above.   But, that teaching itself contradicts scripture:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness  2 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV)

So again where does that leave us?  James in no way says that our salvation is based upon our good works he is simply saying that if we have the faith that gives us salvation it should be evident to those around us by the works that we perform.  If we say we are Christians and still steal, cheat, and swear what does that say about our faith?

But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? - James 2:20 (NKJV)

By kris | Posted in James | Tagged , , | Comments (0)
Apr 12 2008

Trials and Temptations

April 12, 2008 – 11:29 am
By kris | Posted in James | Tagged | Comments (0)

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

James 1:2-4 (NKJV)

No one ever said that life as a Christian was going to be easy.  Walking daily with Christ leads us though many trials and even more temptations.  I can remember growing up and an old saint of the Church was asked “do you still face temptation?”  without even missing a beat he replied, “If I didn’t face temptation then I would know that I’m NOT doing the will of Jesus.”  That has stuck with me for many years now and has helped me to understand why we face trails.  You see the devil will do anything to cause you to turn your back on our Lord.  But, he isn’t going to waste his time on someone he already has in his grasp.  Therefore, if you are walking close to God you will suffer from more temptations and trials as the devil tries to bring you to him and have you turn away from God.  But, don’t fear because the Bible tells us that we will never be tempted more than he can handle. 

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV)

We can not handle the temptation and trials thrown at us alone though we need the strength and the power of God to truly get us safely to the other side.

The good thing about trials and tempation is that they help you to mature and grow in your walk with Jesus.  God uses the tough and difficult times in our lives to make us more “well-rounded” Christians.  With this maturity and the knowledge we gain from our trials we are better able to help those who are experiencing the same trials. 

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles

Psalm 34:17

By kris | Posted in James | Tagged | Comments (0)
Apr 08 2008

The Bible’s Biggest Failure

April 8, 2008 – 9:28 pm
By kris | Posted in Short Thoughts | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

We have all failed from time to time and many of the Biblical figures are no different.  There is one failure in the Bible that sticks out in my mind more than any other and that is the Apostle Peter.  Peter failed miserably many times, but one time in particular as won him the award of the Bible’s biggest failure in my mind.  

And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, “This man was also with Him.”  But he denied Him, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.”  And after a little while another saw him and said, “You also are of them.”
But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”    Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean.”   But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying!”  Immediately, while he was still speaking, the roostercrowed.  And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”  So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Luke 22:56-62

It was just a few short verses before that Peter tells Jesus that he will never fail him, he will never deny him.

But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”   Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”

Luke 22:33-34

The great thing about our Lord Jesus is that even though we all fail our failure is never final.  Jesus chooses to restore us from our failure, just as he did with Peter.  Don’t forget that Jesus told Peter that he will be the foundation of the Church.

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Matthew 16:18

Peter goes on to be the greatest missionary of all time.  He spread the Gospel of Christ to all corners of the known world and it was all because he didn’t let his past failure define who he was.  So even though he is the Bible’s biggest failure, he is also the Bible’s biggest success!

 

 

By kris | Posted in Short Thoughts | Tagged , , | Comments (0)
Apr 07 2008

Q&A: Praying before Meals?

April 7, 2008 – 6:12 pm
By kris | Posted in 1 Timothy, Q and A | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Q: Where in the Bible does it say we should pray before we eat?

A:

For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 1 Timothy 4:4-5 (NKJV)

The Message Bible  translates this verse as:

 Everything God created is good, and to be received with thanks. Nothing is to be sneered at and thrown out. God’s Word and our prayers make every item in creation holy.  (The Message)

Jesus’ death and resurrection have changed our covenant with God (we’ll get into that some other time).  The Old Testament, or old covenant, tells us that we must eat foods that are considered clean or “kosher” but, with the coming of Jesus the old is gone and the new covenant is formed.  Jesus himself asked grace before meals, we can see this in the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.

Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. Luke 9:16 (NKJV).

If we are reverent to God and ask his blessings on everything we eat, he will en-turn bless us.  

 

By kris | Posted in 1 Timothy, Q and A | Tagged , , | Comments (0)
Apr 06 2008

The Love of Christ

April 6, 2008 – 1:25 pm
By kris | Posted in 1 John, Short Thoughts | Tagged | Comments (0)

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
1 John 3:16

Have you ever stopped to think about the love of Jesus?  The sacrifice he made?  The pain he endured?  I don’t think that we as Christians stop to think about these things enough.  We are called to take up our crosses daily.

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 
Luke 9:23-24

Jesus didn’t mean that we literally have to give up our lives and be crucified as he did, simply that we need to give up our old lives and instead live a new life that is in tune with the Spirit of God and strives to walk within His will. 

By kris | Posted in 1 John, Short Thoughts | Tagged | Comments (0)
Apr 06 2008

Work out your own Salvation?

April 6, 2008 – 11:31 am
By kris | Posted in Philippians | Tagged | Comments (0)

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; Philippians 2:12-13 NKJV

What does it mean to “Work out your own salvation?”  Does it mean we can do as we wish as long as we find someway to justifiy our actions to our self?  Of course not!  Paul is telling us that we each have different lives we have different personalities what may cause me to stumble in my walk with the Lord may not even make you flinch.  For example, some Christians believe it is a sin to go see a movie.  For some watching a movie may cause them to fall in to temptation and make it difficult for them to live in the Will of God, but for me its just entertainment I see nothing wrong with going to the movies with my wife for a date.  Christianity is a very practical belief system it is just as pratical to our lives today as it was in those days following the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  By this I mean that our faith is not based on some written law as was the case in the Old Testatment it is based on a personal relationship with our Lord and it is always current.  Paul doesn’t just end with working out your salvation he says to do so with ” Fear and Trembling.”  In his commentary, John Wesley says that the line “Fear and Trembling” should be translated to mean “with the utmost care and diligence.”   In other words we must be extremely reverent and knowing of the Will of God in the decisions we make Paul in this passage is simply telling us that we must be obedient to the Will of God he is not telling us that we must work FOR our salvation, but only to work it out with prayer and reverence to God.

By kris | Posted in Philippians | Tagged | Comments (0)
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