Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....July 20, 2020
This week we begin a 7 part series on the Mighty God that we serve.
As we have seen in the streets of America recently, the reality that not everyone believes in Christ and this presents quite a challenge to Christians as we seek to live out our identity with Christ our Lord in a hostile environment.
WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE! MAY HIS WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!
When James B. Sullivan was pastor of the First Baptist Church at Pascagoula, Mississippi, he told about three ladies who traveled to New Orleans to attend a concert featuring a world renowned pianist. Upon their return home, Dr. Sullivan described how each of them recalled their concert experience:
One lady adored the dresses and hats worn by all the other women - fashions she had never seen! Another could not get over the mechanics of the pianist as his fingers manipulated the keys from one end of the keyboard to the other. The third lady (an accomplished musician) could not find words to express the ecstatic thrill and the soul-stirring inspiration that had been imparted to her by the touch of a master artist.
"When we all get to heaven", proclaimed Dr. Sullivan, "we will be in the same heaven, but our ability to appreciate the wonders of it all, and to experience the full impact of all that God has prepared for those who love Him, will depend on how well His children have grown and developed spiritually in the here and now."
And church: When we get to heaven and meet with Jesus our Master, do not be surprised to learn that we are still enrolled in His School of Discipleship, but, that we have attained postgraduate status for continuing our spiritual growth and development!
What a Mighty God! He masterminded a marvelous, inclusive, everlasting way to be saved by grace through faith in three stages: redemption ... sanctification ... glorification!
What a Mighty God! He masterminded a way of salvation before His creation of the heavens and the earth and all that therein exists for the use and enjoyment of His crown of creation - mankind - out of which would emerge His Family - made possible by the redemptive work of His Son - Ephesians 1:3-6 --- "He chose us in him". Two points to bear in mind:
(1) "He chose us" - God's election of us prior to Creation: After the creation of paradise (the Garden of Eden) in which mankind was placed for fellowship with and worship of God - perfect scenario in keeping with God's perfect Will¬ sin separated mankind from God and rendered humanity spiritually dead.
(2) “In Him” - Paul's reason for writing this letter: To underscore the believer's new spiritual position in Christ as opposed to the believer's old sinful position in Adam. Paul emphasizes how Christ saved us from spiritual death and how He wants us to live out our identity with Him in the world in view of the reality that not everyone in the world believes in Christ nor accepts Christian doctrine.
To dramatize his point, Paul started with an exclamation: Praise God for spiritual blessings in Christ! "Praise be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ!" Believers are blessed with salvation + adoption into the family of God. To be in Christ is to be in God’ s Family! To show us how important we are to God our Maker, Paul said let me tell you:
God's plan for salvation and adoption was determined before Creation!
Because of His omniscience, God foreknew sin would enter into the heart of man ...
Because of His great love for us, God would provide a way to escape sin's penalty plus be restored to a right relationship with Him.
God's provision of the way to escape spiritual death plus inherit new life was predestined to be His Son who would be sent into the world - not to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. In order for God's perfect will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, a perfect sacrifice would be required. Thus, God's perfect Son was chosen (elected) to serve as God's perfect provision.
God in His sovereignty elected a way of salvation ... took the initiative ... exercised His divine will to make His Jove for His creation known so that whoever chooses to repent and be restored to perfect fellowship with Him, would have a way for that to happen.
God, by His sovereign will, not only elected (chose) the way of salvation but also elected (chose) to save all repentant sinners who: believe "in God's Son as God's provision". . ·. accept Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation ... grow in Christ - "in the grace that God has lavished on us in the Beloved One".
To have been elected to a new position is one thing ... To accept one's election to that new position - and thereby commit to the new way of life to which one has been elected - is quite another.
God took the initiative before sin ever occurred to provide the way of salvation for all who would accept the way provided by Him - but individually sinners either accept or reject that to which they have been elected.
Yes, it all boils down to the exercise of our free will in response to God's exercise of His sovereign will. Simply put, “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to Him in repentance”.
The issue is: “Am I willing to submit my self-will to His sovereign will . . . deny self (repent of my sin) and take up my cross (give of myself) to follow Christ as Lord of my life"" - making His will my will, praying "thy holy will be done in me, this is my earnest plea".
When we surrender our wills to God's will - "not my will but Thine be done" God reveals what we are expected to do next as simply put by Paul - Romans 12:1-2 ...
Why did God predestine the way to be saved? Paul: ,..the mercies of God! "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great Jove that He had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were spiritually dead in sin." (Ephesians 2:4-5)
God demonstrated His mercy by sending His Son to die on the cross for us! “Mercy there (at the Cross) was great, and grace was free. Pardon there was multiplied to me. There my burdened soul found liberty- at Calvary!”
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, give of yourselves in service to God as if you placed yourself in the offering plate as a gift to Him who gave Himself.
“Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee ... Take my will and make it Thine for it shall be no longer mine ... Take myself and I will be - ever, only, all for Thee."
When Christ becomes the center of life, real worship becomes an offering of every moment and action of our lives to Him. "Only to be what He wants me to be every moment of every day!"
Folks: It should go without saying, but Paul says it anyway: To devote every aspect of our lives to God as an act of worship, we cannot be conformed to (go along with) the world, but we must be transformed (radically changed) by the Lord!
Which means that we may need to rethink our concerns ... reassess our priorities . . . readjust our attitude ... renew our determination (refresh our goal) . . . To Be God's and to Do God's Will.
Renewing our minds (searching the Scriptures, searching our hearts, asking God to have His way i our lives) is the key to discerning God's will. Once our will is aligned with God's will, we just naturally do what's right in God's sight. It's a matter of spiritual growth on our part ... shaping us spiritually on His part!
Think of the oldest invention known to man in the first century- pottery making: As a potter molded clay into a useful vessel, he spun it and shaped it until he could look at it and say, "good". . . shaped it some more until he could say, "acceptable" . . . shaped it a little bit more, refined it, until he could say, "perfect" ... God is not through with us yet!
To pray "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" is to place ourselves in God's hands to be shaped according to His Will . . . agree that He knew us before we were born into this world and is still at work shaping us into that good, acceptable and perfect vessel for use in our new residence and subservience in His kingdom . . . practice His will as revealed to us day by day.
“Our Father in Heaven: Hallowed by Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Amen.
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
A few weeks ago, in my welcome email to you, I talked about hearing God's voice and how to know if it is really Him. I gave you four ways of knowing if God is really talking to you. Lets go deeper into the four statements this week..
1. Check Your Receiver“And you will seek for Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” –Jeremiah 29:13 (NKJV)
Have you ever tried to watch television or listen to the radio without turning it on? Of course not! You already know that if you don’t turn on the receiver, you’re not going to hear a thing. When you do turn them on, you fully expect to hear something!
So, how do you check your spiritual receiver? The one way to know if your spiritual receiver is turned on is to answer this question:
Do you expect to hear from God?
Some people say, Well, God just doesn’t talk to me. But, here is an important truth: even if you don’t feel like God speaks to you—He does. In fact, He’s speaking to you right now. But, if you aren’t expecting to hear from Him, you haven’t even turned on the receiver!
Now, let’s be clear—He isn’t going to scream, yell and demand that you pay attention. He is always speaking to you, but He speaks in “a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12, NKJV). So to hear Him, you have to tune in and listen carefully. Another way to describe the way we hear God’s voice is through an inward witness.
What is an inward witness?
God doesn’t communicate with us the way we communicate with one another. He communicates from His Spirit to your spirit, and then your spirit communicates what you hear to your mind. That is what we call an inward witness. It is very similar to a thought or a prompting. It’s very subtle and requires a closeness with God and regular practice to hear it more quickly and clearly.
That’s why the more time you spend with the Lord and the more you practice tuning in to His voice, the more it will become a voice that “thunders in marvelous ways” (Job 37:5, NIV).
How do you come to a place where you know whether it’s you or the Lord?
Certainty in knowing that you are hearing God’s voice comes to the person who is united with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17, NIV). United means “joined,” or “in union.” It doesn’t apply to someone who is not living for God. It applies to whomever seeks Him diligently, spends time fellowshiping with Him through prayer, and obeys the commands in His Word.
A receiver who is intact and ready to tune in to the voice of God is one who is expecting to hear from Him, and is willing to learn to know His voice.
2. Find His Frequency “They know his voice” –John 10:4 (NKJV)
There was once a time when you had to work to tune in to a program on the radio or television set. You had to find the right frequency. You never questioned if it was broadcasting—you knew it was—but you had to do your part to find the frequency and tune in.
How do you locate the frequency God uses to speak to you?
Most often, we miss His frequency because we’re tuned in to hear some huge revelation; when, in fact, He is giving simple instructions. That’s what He will do when you first begin to hear from Him—and He will continue to do this for the rest of your life here on earth. Obedience in the simple things is very important to God—it reveals the willingness of you heart.
So, if you’re waiting for God to send you out to part the Red Sea, you may be missing what He’s saying to you right now—which might be to clean out your closet or stop watching certain television shows or spend more time with your children. He will talk to you about the small things in your life that you need to change—adjustments you need to make. He will begin to deal with you where you are, which most often involves helping you walk in God’s best by getting rid of things that are holding you back.
God wants liberty and freedom for our lives, and that begins with training. He teaches us how to be led by the Spirit. But, if we disobey these promptings in the little things, we won’t graduate to the bigger assignments. Sometimes, the small things He asks of us may seem unimportant, or involve giving up things we think we enjoy. But to reach a level of intimacy with God where we hear His voice and are launched us into new places in the spirit, obedience must become a non-negotiable in our lives.
That’s why Matthew 18 tells us to become like little children—which means not to be high-minded and think we’re all-knowing. To find God’s frequency, you must be willing to hear His voice in the small things.
3. Learn to Discern His Voice“My sheep hear my voice.” –John 10:27 (KJV)
If your spouse or closest friend calls you on the telephone, do you know it’s them before they tell you? Most likely you do! But how? Because you’ve spent so much time with them, the sound of their voice and their way of saying things has become well-known to you—easy to recognize.
The same is true when it comes to our relationship with God.
If you want to get to a place where you don’t have to wonder whose voice you’re hearing—yours, the devil’s or God’s—you need to spend time with the Lord. A lot of time. But, if you keep your mind and your heart full of the things of this world, it will be difficult for you to differentiate between the Spirit of God and your own thoughts. That is the definition of a carnal mind—one that has not been renewed by the Word of God.
The more time you spend with Him, the more certain you’ll become about hearing God’s voice. It isn’t just time talking to Him, though. We learn His voice when we listen to His voice. That’s why in Matthew 17:5 (NASB) He said, “This is My beloved Son…listen to Him!”
4. Line It Up With His Word—the Bible“All Scripture is inspired by God.” –2 Timothy 3:16 (NASB)
One sure way to know if you’re hearing God’s voice is to line up what you hear against the Word of God. God will never tell you to do, think or say anything contrary to His Word. If you have a thought and you don’t know if it’s God or not—you can look it up in the Bible and settle it right away.
The Spirit of God will only tell you to do things that will give you a more abundant life. Every change He tells you to make is designed to bring blessing into your life and minister grace to you. So, He isn’t going to tell you to refuse to forgive someone or spend money frivolously, or anything else that doesn’t match His Word.
God always agrees with His written Word, and His Word always agrees with Him. In fact, Psalm 138:2 (NKJV) says He has magnified His Word even above His Name. That means God has put His Name on His written Word the way we would put our name at the bottom of a contract. He has given us His Word as a covenant and signed it in the Name of Jesus, by the blood of Jesus. Since God cannot lie, there is no way He will ever do or say anything contrary to that Word. He has absolutely joined Himself to it forever.
God trains us to recognize His voice through His written Word. He uses it to tune our spiritual ears to what is real so that we can easily recognize a counterfeit.
When you’re trained to hear God’s voice in His Word, the devil won’t be able to sneak deceptions in on you. When he tries to razzle-dazzle you with some religious-sounding voice that says, “I love you, my son. But it’s just not my will to heal you at this time,” you won’t buy it. You’ll rise up and say, “That’s not the voice of God. That’s a lie from hell because it doesn’t agree with the Word that says, ‘By His stripes we are healed’” (Isaiah 53:5, NKJV).
To live in confidence that you are hearing from Him, you need to have a knowledge of His Word continually in your heart. And you do this by drawing near to God (James 4:8). That’s your part—to seek Him. God’s not going to run you down. Your part is to diligently seek Him. That involves spending time in the Word and in prayer. And whatever place you give Him in your life, the Spirit of God will fill it up for you.
The best part about hearing God’s voice?
You won’t just avoid counterfeit voices—you’ll be given access to secrets and revelation knowledge that will make you the head and not the tail (Deuteronomy 28:13). In Jeremiah 33:3, He says, “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (NASB). All you have to do is pursue a life in which you hear the voice of God, heed it and walk into a victory you never thought possible.
When you check your receiver, find His frequency, learn to discern His voice, and line up what you hear with His Word—hearing God’s voice won’t be an occasional event, but a lifestyle. And when someone asks you, “What is the Spirit of God telling you today?” you won’t hesitate for a moment. You’ll know exactly what to say.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
We continue this week with our look at various religions of the world and the different theologies of each....
Christianity... What Sets It Apart?
For those of you who have attended my classes, you should know the answer to this immediately!!
Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship!” We often hear this when someone’s trying to set Christianity apart from “religion.” Is it accurate? Is this the characteristic that makes Christianity unique? And if not, what does?
Based on our description of religion, Christianity clearly fits the definition. It is an organized system of belief and practice that answers ultimate questions and guides daily life. But why have we come to think of religion as a negative term in the first place?
Due to historical abuses, we tend to view it as something artificial or without true meaning. However, the New Testament uses the term in James 1:27 with the adjectives pure and undefiled. Religion can become tradition without meaning, yet that isn’t the fault of religion itself—responsibility would belong with those who wrongly practice a given faith.
So believers could say that Christianity is the religious expression of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our faith uses the Bible to answer ultimate questions about God and life. Because the Christian’s relationship with God through Christ is lived out with other followers of Jesus (what the New Testament calls “the body of Christ”), we worship and engage in other activities as a unified group, and this also is what characterizes religion.
Also, regarding the “religion vs. relationship” debate, we should keep in mind that other religious systems claim a relationship with the god or gods they revere and worship. The Qur’an says, “God is nearer [to a man] than [his] jugular vein” (50:16). The Bhagavad Gita describes an incarnation of the god Krishna who helps a warrior king make significant life decisions. Many animists maintain relationships with ancestral spirits.
If relationship itself is not what makes Christianity unique, what does? Starting with stating the obvious, Jesus of Nazareth is the most compelling religious figure of all time. Historians, scholars, and even leaders of other religions widely acknowledge and admire (although sometimes distort) the unique quality of his life and teachings.
For the Christian, however, it is not Jesus’ teachings or even his earthly life that are most important. We look to Jesus not just as a gifted teacher and moral example but as our Savior. His death and resurrection are the watershed events that stand at the center of our faith. By them, Jesus established the truth of his claim to be God’s unique Son—fully human and fully divine—and provided the means of salvation for humankind, separated from God by sin.
Another way to describe the faith’s uniqueness is with the word grace. Grace means giving someone something they don’t deserve. Because the God of the Bible is a God of grace, he takes the first step to repair our relationship with him after disobedience (sin). Because of grace, God provides the way of salvation in Jesus, who takes our punishment for wrongdoing. Because of grace, God can be both just (punishing sin) and forgiving (removing sin).
All other religious systems believe the main responsibility for solving life’s problems rests upon people. Christianity reveals and demonstrates that we cannot set things right by our own efforts, which makes grace all the more astounding and precious.
Historically, the Christian church is widely regarded to have begun on the day of Pentecost (described in Acts 2). It spread widely and grew quickly over the next several centuries. Early on, even as seen within the pages of the New Testament, it began developing religious forms. Initially, these were heavily influenced by Judaism. The first Christians worshiped in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem and used the Hebrew Scriptures we now call the Old Testament.
But as non-Jews accepted the Christian message (the gospel) and became followers of Jesus, the church began adopting Hellenistic (Greek) forms, especially in how the message of Jesus was explained to others. John’s gospel, for example, describes Jesus as the Logos (Word), a term with significant meaning to those influenced by Greek philosophy.
Indeed, Christianity can flourish in any culture. The New Testament focuses more on principles for living and the type of people we’re supposed to be (i.e., character qualities) than on specific behaviors, so its practices and forms tend to take on the local flavor of surrounding cultures. For example, the apostle Paul commands husbands to love their wives (Ephesians 5:25); the specific ways Christians obey this order look different from culture to culture.
This flexibility, coupled with extensive geographic expansion, political issues (especially after Christianity received favored status from the Roman Empire in the late fourth century), and theological differences of opinion, eventually led to divisions. The Western church, centered in Rome, became what is now the Roman Catholic Church. The Eastern church, based in Constantinople, became the (Eastern) Orthodox Church with its regional fellowships (Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, etc.).
Later, near the end of the fifteenth century, various reformers protested against abuses within the Catholic Church. Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others, largely after being excommunicated, organized new expressions of the Christian faith that came to be known as Protestant churches. While there are smaller branches on the Christian church tree, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant form the largest or primary three.
From 500 AD, and for more than a millennium, the Christian message was largely spread by groups of Catholic monks, reaching eastward as far as Japan and west to the New World. By the eighteenth century, Protestants began what came to be called the modern missionary movement, taking the gospel to every part of the world. Today, Christianity truly is a global faith. While there are still areas and people groups that have not heard the name of Jesus Christ, he has followers in virtually every country.
Christians of all walks comprise about a third of the world’s population (about 2.1 billion in 2010). Approximately 1.1 billion belong to the Roman Catholic Church, about 600 million to Protestant churches, and about 270 million are Eastern Orthodox, with the balance in independent groups. In 1900, about 68 percent of the world’s Christians lived on the European continent, with about 14 percent in North America. By 2050, Africa is likely to have about 29 percent of the world’s Christians, followed by Asia with 20 percent. Church historians refer to this trend as Christianity’s “global center” shifting from north to south.
So after all this, do you know the answer to the question, "What places Christianity apart??"
Jesus beat the grave...He is the only (G)god to come back from the dead.
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou