Humiliation

Humiliation

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

In humiliation of heart may we bring ourselves to the throne of God.

In humiliation of heart may we bring ourselves to the throne of God.

James 1:9-11

Poor people generally wish to be rich, and rich people generally are thankful they aren’t poor…and yet God wishes a different mindset for both of them (cf. Prov. 30:7-9).  We tend to think that the rich have it easy, when in reality there are hardships for both them and the poor, including spiritual hardships.  God warned Israel not to forget him when they became rich (Deut. 8:10-17), but they did it anyway (cf. Judges, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Hosea).  On the other hand, Job’s wife tempted him to curse God when they lost their wealth and fell into poverty (Job 2:9).  Thus, it’s not easy to be poor OR rich.

On the other hand, consider this.  The poor have reason to rejoice because God exalts them (James 1:9).  How?  He chose the poor to be rich in faith (James 2:5; cf. Is. 66:1-2).  In my observation, I have found that the gospel message was more readily and eagerly accepted by the poor people in Ukraine to whom I preached than the rich Americans back home (cf. Matt. 19:23-24).  However, the rich also have reason to rejoice in that they have been humbled (James 1:10).  How?  Riches mean nothing in the kingdom of God (Gal. 3:28; Ps. 49:6-20).  In the long run, they are temporary (James 1:11; cf. Prov. 23:1-5; 1 Tim. 6:17) and you cannot take them with you after this life is over (Luke 12:13-21).  The rich in Christ can rejoice knowing that they found out about these facts of riches before it was too late for them.

May we all have Paul’s attitude (Phil. 4:11-13)…

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In the Image of Man

In the Image of Man

And Man Said,

‘Let Us Make God In Our Image, According To Our Likeness’ – (Genocide 1:26)

Yes I know… the above title may look somewhat like a meaningless misprint at first glance, but sadly, I can assure you that it’s not. Ever since the dawn of time, it seems as if earthly man, dissatisfied with the dictates and desires of the one, eternal, almighty God and Creator of the entire universe, has sought to dethrone, diminish, and “dumb-down” the God of heaven, by characterizing, compromising, and/or cramming Him into some more easily understood, man-made, more man-pleasing – or at least more familiar to man – earthly creature or caricature.

In the Image of Man, not God.

In the Image of Man, not God.

From the very earliest example of worship which God required, we see that man was not satisfied to simply submit, obey, and give God what He desired, but sought to “create God in his own image,” by giving God what man desired instead, while at the same time, apparently thinking that that would be acceptable. Man was, of course totally wrong (Genesis 4:3-5; Hebrews 11:4), repeatedly! And yet, he still remained totally committed and undeterred in his prideful, disobedient, and irreverent pursuit of error.

As time went by, man continually sought to restructure, recreate, and recast God and His divine desires, into some of a more self-satisfying and man-made mold. And so, instead of simply submitting to the straightforward instructions which the God of heaven had so carefully and lovingly laid down for His creation to follow, man continually sought thereafter to offer to God in worship, all sorts of substitutions which man had arbitrarily decided – and outrageously somehow justified in his own deluded mind – would be okay. From the Israelites’ golden calf (Exodus 32), to Nadab and Abihu’s burning desire for their unauthorized addition to worship (Leviticus 10); to King Jeroboam’s ‘more convenient,’ counterfeit worship practices somewhat “like” God had ordained, but which he had still “devised in his own heart” (1 Kings 12:25ff); to the man-made doctrines and commandments of men which Jesus said rendered “vain” the worship of any and all of those who would practice such substitutions (Matthew 15; Mark 7), man has never stopped seeking to diminish, dethrone, and re-create the God of heaven, into man’s own “much-less” mold, in man’s own mind; into something that the God of heaven never has been or ever will be: subject and in submission to human desires, dictates, and deviant derivations (2 Peter 2 and 3)!

But man wasn’t content to stop at simply recreating worship into something more man-designed and desired, but actually also foolishly sought to go so far as to create and then to serve and sacrifice to all of his humanly-devised “gods” themselves – which were nothing more than the perverted manifestations of men, women, beasts, and earthly things, then perhaps combined with some other-worldly and/or fantastic delusions from the mind of men. But all of these things God Himself had strictly forbidden since He led His people out of bondage (Deuteronomy 5, 13; Jeremiah 10; Acts 17 + 18; Romans 1; and etc.).

I was recently reminded of this as my wife and I returned home one evening and found our daughter doing her homework on the living room floor, with one of the latest, computer-generated “superhero” movies going on T.V. As I later considered the characters, it occurred to me just how similar these so-called “superheroes” all were, to the ancient idea of the many false gods man has made in his own image over the millennia! Just as those false gods were nothing more than merely the human, animal, imagination combinations of men’s minds, only supposedly possessing the grossly amplified, over exaggerated or magnified muscles, powers, or uniquely-modified attributes of the creatures they resembled, so too, are all of these so-called but imaginary “superheroes” of today. Fantasy manifestations of men and women combined with the exaggerated attributes of everything from ants, to spiders, to bats, to panthers, to wolverines and everything in between; as well as from the most basic of hulking muscle-bound monsters to the most technologically-advanced and flexibly iron enhanced and clad warriors and more, all clashing in world-cringing combat – very much as the false and imaginary “gods” of old were believed to do.

I am just incredibly grateful to know (1 John 5:11-13), that unlike either the false, man-made gods of old, or the imaginary man-made “superheroes” of today’s movies, my hero – Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God Himself – is very alive and real, and not some imaginary, techno-imagery which was created and lives on only in the minds and on the screens of mere mortal and misguided men. Neither does my Hero have to “suit up” to be powerful, but actually had to strip Himself of some of His power and put on human flesh just like me, in order to come and save me (John 1:14; Philippians 2:5-8). And my Hero is more powerful than all of man’s imaginary so-called “superheroes” put together could ever be, even if they did live – which they don’t – because His power extends beyond the grave. And one day He’s coming back to take me home to live with Him forever. Now, how’s that for power?

(Author’s note: On Sunday, November 13th, we here at the Lord’s church in Cleveland, Oklahoma, will be starting a several-part sermon mini-series on this very subject, Lord willing, with vital insights and applications into its ramifications for today and on into eternity. These sermons should all soon thereafter be available for your listening/learning pleasure, at: www.clevelandok.church, under the “Resources” tab, in the “Sermon Audio” section. God bless + good studying!)

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Ungodly to Christians

Ungodly Men will Never Understand Godly Men

Christians in that first-century world faced such great challenges. The pagan world had such a profound impact on mankind that even their religions were given over to sensuality. When men became Christians there was an immediate change which the former friends could not understand.

When men became Christians there was an immediate change which the former friends could not understand.

When men became Christians there was an immediate change which the former friends could not understand.

Peter described this when he said, “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you” (1 Pet. 4:3-4).

A document from early in the second century describes the church. It is rather lengthy but you will be blessed by reading it.

“They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all others; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death and restored to life.

They are poor yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things and yet abound in all; they are dishonored and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are evil spoken of and yet are justified; they are reviled and bless; they are insulted and repay the insult with honor; they do good yet are punished as evildoers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred. To sum it all up in one word—what the soul is to the body, that are Christians in the world” (The Epistle to Diognetus).

Brother and sister in Christ, remember that the world has never understood our lifestyle or worldview. While we live in the same world, our values make us stand in marked contrast to the rest of the world. Reread these words and see just how different we are from others. It is just as Peter said—they will think we are strange because we are not like them.

We would be wise if we take time to make sure that while we are in the world, we are not of the world. We are in the world, but the world is not in us.

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¡HAS BUENAS OBRAS Y SERAS SALVO!

¡HAS BUENAS OBRAS Y SERAS SALVO!

No es a decir verdad para mi un tema que me guste abordar, pero si uno muy necesario. La frase anterior es una de las que se escucha con frecuencia y sin lugar a dudas una de las que más refutamos con vehemencia los ministros del evangelio. Quizás en Latinoamérica sea mucho más fuerte esta corriente de pensamiento ya que existe más influencia del catolisismo Romano. La hueca, falsa y descabellada idea de que la salvación depende de las obras a realizar es muy muy popular aún dentro de la clase “alta y educada” pero ignorante de lo que enseñan las escrituras. ¡Has buenas obras y serás salvo! consiste en pensar que la tarea de todo hombre y mujer que desea agradar a Dios es hacer buenas obras a todas aquellas personas que están en necesidad, que estas personas ocupan de nuestra ayuda y así… entre más personas ayudemos y nos compadezcamos de ellos, más puntos sumamos a nuestra propia salvación, de ahí la profunda adoración a “la madre Tereza de Calcuta”. Utilizando la lógica esto cae en lo absurdo ya que si así es el caso, hay diferentes niveles de salvación y si yo hice buenas obras y alguien más logró hacer mejores obras que yo, significa esto que aquel va a ser salvo más que yo. ¡Absurdo!
La salvación no consiste en las obras que yo haga o no, sino más bien en si yo obedezco al evangelio de Cristo o no. Efesios 2:8 Pablo explica y derriba la argumentación de aquellos que piensan que por hacer buenas cosas voy a ser salvo y dice que la salvación no es por obras, para que nadie se gloríe. en explicación a este texto el hermano Willie Alvaenga comenta:
 Ahora Pablo nos vuelve a decir como dijo en el v. 5 cómo es que somos salvos, por medio de qué es que somos salvos… Los seres humanos son salvos por medio de la gracia que Dios extiende a todo mundo, y también somos salvos por medio de nuestra respuesta a esa gracia, la cual se llama “Fe”, nuestra obediencia a esa gracia por la cual somos salvos. Pablo enfatiza lo que en otros pasajes de la Biblia enseña… La salvación no es por obras, o méritos que el hombre pueda hacer para obtenerla. Muchos trataban de obtener la salvación, justificación por medio de las obras, pero Pablo dice esa no es la manera de hacerlo…  Hch. 15:1ss; Ga. 2:16; Hch. 13:39; Ga. 3:11 Por lo tanto, la salvación se extiende al hombre por medio de la gracia de Dios y por medio de la obediencia del hombre a los mandamientos de Dios.  Si la salvación se pudiera obtener por medio de méritos, entonces hubiera espacio para gloriarse. La salvación del hombre es un regalo que Dios ofrece al pecador “Pues es don de Dios” (Ro. 3:24; 6:23)
La otra corriente de pensamiento es que el bautismo NO nos salva porque, es una obra. El pasaje de Efesios aclara que no somos salvos por obras. Bueno es cierto la ultima frase, lo que no es verdad es el hecho de que el bautismo es una obra para heredar la salvación, sí así lo fuera Cristo no lo hubiera mandado como requisito para ser salvo (Marcos 16:16).  El hacer Buenas obras no salva a nadie aunque en el proceso de la salvación las buenas obras están incluidas. Es triste ponerlo de esta forma pero de acuerdo a lo que dijo Jesus, si la “madre Tereza” no se arrepintió y no fue sumergida en agua para el perdón de sus pecados, no podrá bajo ninguna instancia ser salva, así haya hecho miles de buenas obras. 
Cuando hablamos del asunto de la salvación debe de existir un respeto a la autoridad de Jesus ya que El clamo tener toda la autoridad en el cielo y en la tierra (Mateo 28:18-20). Cristo los arreglos para la salvación ya que es él mismo quien la da y por tanto el pone las condiciones, no usted, no yo ni mucho menos la Iglesia, Solamente debemos someternos a su voluntad y yo espero que lo estemos haciendo.
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Meaningless Repetition

Meaningless Repetition

We’ve all seen it. Sometimes when a person is nearing their physical death, there are several fairly predictable things that will happen. Their speech often gets quieter and somewhat more difficult to understand; there is no life, excitement, or enthusiasm left in their voices; and they might even sometimes mumble the same phrases and/or semi-sentences over, and over, and over again – often without much conscious thought as to those phrases’ meaning or the impact they might have on those whom they love who might hear them – simply because these oft-used phrases are so familiar to them, and their repetitive but thoughtless familiarity brings some false sense or semblance of security. But sadly, similar can be said to be true in the spiritual world at times as well.

Let your prayers not be empty, but meaningful thought at the Lord's feet.

Let your prayers not be empty, but meaningful thought at the Lord’s feet.

We are all probably pretty familiar with the fact that in the “sermon on the mount” Jesus said, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matthew 6:7). The Greek word translated for the “vain repetitions” which the Son of God said we are not to use in prayer if we want our prayers to possess the power to truly reach our heavenly Father’s ears, only occurs once in the entire New Testament, and means “to repeat the same things over and over,” or “to use many idle words.” Our Lord and Savior’s instruction is translated in other versions as, “do not heap up empty phrases” (ESV); “do not use meaningless repetition” (NASV); and “use not vain repetitions” (KJV).

Jesus then went on to give a very precise, word-efficient but effective example of what humble, sincere, and heart-felt prayer should be like. Incredibly, and in complete contradiction to the very instruction of Jesus in uttering it, some religious groups today will still thoughtlessly, ignorantly, and automatically repeat the same, surface, automatic and meaningless words and phrases in prayer, over and over… and over again. For most of us, probably the “Hail Mary’s” of corrupt Catholicism come to mind as the inevitable crescendo of this complete contradiction of divinely-inspired and delivered instruction.

But let us consider our Lord and Savior’s teaching from a slightly different angle and application when it comes to praying with “meaningless repetition,” or, with repeating the same things over and over and over. Who says it all has to be at the same time? When one seeks to lead the Lord’s saints into the very awesome presence and throne room of the grace of almighty God (Revelation 5), and utters pretty much the same, exact, word for word, mechanical and memorized, automated and uninspiring words and prayer phrases that they have every time they’ve led prayer for the past weeks, months, years and/or decades in order to just simply “do their duty” by leading a prayer someone assigned them to, doesn’t that, too, fall under the “don’t use meaningless repetition” instruction of our Lord and Savior? Shouldn’t we, instead, be leading grateful, thoughtful, meaningful and insightful, significant and heart-felt, specific and humble, reverent and exuberant, ‘new every morning like the Lord’s tender mercies’ (Lam. 3:22-24) prayer?

I mean, how does it make us feel when we receive some automated, mechanical, repetitiously and mass-produced message from someone? Like the company or contingent contacting us loves us deeply and has some great personal love, respect, gratitude or loyalty for our benevolent efforts on their behalf? Hardly! What about when the bored to tears cashier at the local grocery store counter voices the obligatory “Did you find everything okay?” or, “How are you tonight?” when you know down deep inside that they’re only mouthing those words and saying those sentences because they have to, and that they really couldn’t care less whether you did or did not “find everything,” and/or what you may or may not be struggling with. They’re just “putting in their time.”

And after all God has done for us, He certainly deserves far better that that in all of our communication with Him! We are to pray constantly and continually (1 Thess. 5:17; Lk. 6:12; Acts 2:42), in order that we might lose heart (Lk. 18:1). We are to pray for our enemies and so that we do not fall into temptation (Lk. 6:28; 22:40-46). We are to pray with the proper spirit and understanding (1 Cor. 14:15). We are to pray for others personally and specifically, bringing them up before the throne of God for individual strengthening (Ro. 15:30; Phm. 1:22). Prayer is serious! And it should be taken thus!

Let us always be a grateful people who challenge ourselves to give God our absolute best in all things, just as He gave Heaven’s best to secure our eternal salvation. Brothers, let us never settle for taking the lead in leading God’s people in prayer into His very and most awesome and awe-inspiring presence, with anything less than our absolutely most heartfelt, humble, sincere, and well-thought out and prepared prayers and petitions. While it’s true that long, lengthy, hypocritical and pride-filled prayers just to impress people are not honored by God whatsoever (Matt. 23:14), neither are those prayers which feature the same, automated, mechanical and mumbled “meaningless repetition.” Let us remember that those often indicate dying bodies – whether physical or spiritual!

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