Read the Bible

One of the sad as well as destructive failures of man/woman today is their failure to read the Bible and seek wisdom therein. Many people even in America today have never picked up a copy of the Bible and given it an examination. It is my opinion that these people do not understand how important to their and their family’s well being knowledge of the Bible can be. Just a casual reading of the Bible on a daily basis will give a person a better understanding of themselves, their origin, and why they were born into this world. It is surely a difficult lifestyle to live without knowing that God created all things and that God is a friend of mankind and not an enemy. Indeed, the Bible tells us about our arch enemy the Devil who would keep all people from reading the Bible because the Devil knows that when a person begins to read and understand the Bible their knowledge will condemn evil; of which the Devil is the father – cf. 1 Tim. 3:7 – Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. 1 Peter 5:8 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (KJV)

We came from somewhere, off in the past, and there is 6,000 years of history that indicates that man has been on this earth [i.e. the historical record contained in the Bible that indicates the age of mankind as app. 6,000]. As we examine the Bible we find out many things about ourselves that we did not know. For instance we find that our first ancestors were Adam and Eve the first people on earth and from these two people all the people of the earth has descended; thereby making us all of one blood {i.e. relatives} cf. Acts 17:23-28 – 23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. (KJV)

Yes, the Bible is truly a remarkable book; everyone should read and study it for valuable guidance through the pitfalls of life. Indeed; the Bible tells us about God, about the great flood, about the history of the Israelites, about the Promised Land that God promised to give to the Israelites and yes, about their inheritance and settlement in the Promised Land – cf. the united kingdom under Saul, David, and Solomon. There is a great and wonderful experience in store for those who have never read and searched the Bible. There are so many amazing and wonderful things, relationships, and concepts for the reader to digest that is contained in the Bible. The importance of the Bible in today’s modern world cannot be over emphasized; there are far too many people without meaningful life or direction today. The Bible can aid man in understanding his role in the scheme of life – Note carefully the following thought that is revealed to us by the Prophet; Jeremiah … Jeremiah 10:23 – O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. (KJV)

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Faith Renewed by Grace

Why Does Our Faith Need to Be Renewed?

In Genesis 12, God calls Abram from Ur of the  Chaldees in Mesopotamia and provides a covenant  of great promise to him, but just three chapters later  (Gen. 15), we see God renewing his covenant and his  promises to him. Thus, he serves as one of many, many  examples of one whose faith needed renewing, since we  find God saying at the very beginning of the chapter,  “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding  great reward” (Gen. 15:1). In other words, since fear is  the opposite of faith, evidently Abram needed his faith  renewed.

The apostle Paul points out the need for faith  being renewed in Galatians 6:1:  “Brethren, if a man  be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore  such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself,  lest thou also be tempted.” Since Christianity demands  giving God our heart, soul, mind and strength (Luke  10:27), then from time to time, our faith needs renewing.  We are prone to falter along the way. Thus, as we consider  the overall theme of “Renewing our Faith,” let us seek  to answer the question, “Why does our faith need to be  renewed?”

Our faith needs to be renewed because of the  continual need for the grace of God. Paul denotes the  conditional nature of grace when he declared, “ Not  by works of righteousness which we have done, but  according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of  regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which  He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our  Savior; That being justified by His grace, we should  be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life ”  (Titus 3:5-7). In such, he connects our salvation by  “ the washing of regeneration ” with our justification  by grace. Naturally, “ the washing of regeneration ” is  an allusion to our faithful response of obedience to  God by submitting to the act of baptism. While God  supplies grace void of any merit on our part (Eph. 2:8- 9), “ the washing of regeneration ” is a condition of our  redemption. Again, Paul clearly gave both the divine  offer for salvation (“ For by grace are ye saved …”), as  well as the human responsive condition for acceptance  (“… through faith …”), which he later links with the fact  that we were “ cleansed by the washing of water with the  word ” (Eph. 5:26). While scholars almost universally  acknowledge the washing to be an allusion to baptism,  we can clearly see the condition of our reception of His  grace includes baptism.

However, add to this the fact that certain conditions  exist for one to continue in His grace. Far too many  believe that once God demonstrated grace in their lives,  God would never allow them to fall away (perseverance  of the saints). Yet, the Bible is clear that a child of God  can fall from grace (Gal. 5:4). It is possible to deny our  Lord who bought us to the point of destruction (2 Pet.  2:1). If one cannot fall from grace, then why did Paul and  Barnabas urge their brethren to “ continue in the grace  of God ” (Acts 13:43). Therefore, God has established  parameters for his children to keep ourselves in the  love of God (Jude 1:21) and to give diligence to make  our calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1:10) so that our  reception of the amazing grace of God is not in vain (2  Cor. 6:1). If so, it surely would be our fault and not His!

Our faith needs to be renewed because we often  falter along the way as those who are prone to the  temptations of the world. Consider the case study of  Simon the sorcerer from Samaria in Acts 8. He heard  the same gospel preached by Philip and submitted to  its conditions as did others. In fact, Luke describes his  conversion in precisely the same language as he did  the other believers (Acts 8:12-13). However, shortly  thereafter, Simon succumbed to the temptation before  him when he was fascinated at the ability of the apostles  to convey miraculous gifts through the process of laying  of hands. Thus, he attempted to bribe Peter and John  with money to purchase this unique ability. As a result,  his faith needed be renewed:  “But Peter said unto him,  Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought  that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou  hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is  not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy  wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine  heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in  the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity” (Acts  8:20-23). In other words, he needed his faith renewed  because he was in danger of “perishing” with his money.  One author defined the term and declared that Simon was  on the road to destruction unless he repented!

James declares frankly when he wrote,  “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one  convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth  the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul  from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins”  (James  5:19-20). Thus, speaking of brethren, one can “err” in  such a way that he needs “converting,” which would  indeed save his soul and avert his destiny. May we all  caution ourselves from those things that would destroy  our faith, avail ourselves of the resources to renew our  faith when we falter, and appreciate the love and grace  of God every day of our lives!

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Reward

Gimme Da Cookies!

It has become standard operating procedure in our society today to give out awards for everything. We don’t want to bruise the fragile little ego of Johnny because someone went above and beyond and was awarded for it while Johnny just did the bare minimum in order to get by. Everyone gets a “participation” award and some teachers have been told they can’t use a red pen to mark and correct mistakes on assignments (apparently my spell checker has not yet been given the notice: I think I’m suppose to feel bad about myself).

But here is what I think. It is this mindset that is creating the fragile egos and “dumbing-down” our society. I also believe it is a contributing factor to the lack of humility and over-abundant entitlement attitude we see all around us today.

The saddest thing is this societal mindset has made its way into the religious realm and even into the church. We expect to “get something” out of our worship and service, we want things to go our way, we expect God’s unconditional forgiveness, we want to be entertained. We have forgotten that God created us to be servants, not the served! In Ecclesiastes 12:13 we read, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.”

But what’s in it for me? Jesus would answer this question, as he often did, with another question. Does the master thank the servant because he did the things he was commanded to do? The answer, “I think not” (Luke 17:9). Then in the next verse he says, “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, “We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.”

Now, we are not serving for nothing. In fact the reward for faithful service is the greatest reward mankind will ever know. The problem is it simply does not gel with our mortal, selfish motives. The apostle Paul tells us that athletes compete in order to receive a “perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (1 Corinthians 9:25).

In an interview I saw a few days ago the statement was made, “You don’t get a cookie for doing what you are supposed to do.” I wish that were still the outlook of our society and many of my brethren. The cookie only satisfies for a moment and then it’s gone (while the negative effects may linger). If we get back to the idea of servitude we will make this world and the church a better place and heaven our home.

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We Walk By Faith

In 2 Corinthians 5:7, the apostle Paul wrote,  “For we  walk by faith, not by sight.” Many have taken this  verse out of context to mean that we walk by faith not  by knowledge. Of course, this is not what the apostle Paul  was saying. Rather, he was saying, as written in Hebrews  11:1,  “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the  evidence of things not seen.” It is not necessary to see  in order to believe. To the contrary, believing is seeing  when one puts one’s faith and trust in God (Prov. 3:5-6).

Relying upon seeing to believe, however, eventually  kills faith altogether. Science says that physical sight is  nothing more than a collection of neurons and chemicals  in precisely the right balance so as to produce sensations  in the brain. Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the DNA  molecule said, “‘You,’ your joys and your sorrows,  your memories and your ambitions, your sense of  personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than  the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their  associated molecules. Who you are is nothing but a pack  of neurons.” How can chemicals and grouped atoms be  trusted to provide adequate information for knowledge?  Charles Darwin said, “With me, the horrid doubt always  arises whether the convictions of man’s mind, which has  been developed from the mind of the lower animals,  are of any value or at all trustworthy.” Without God,  knowledge is impossible.

The fact, however, that we can perceive this  paradox—to know the physical processes that are  involved in knowledge that allegedly makes knowledge  impossible—proves that we are more than just physical  beings. It shows that we can step outside of our  physical selves with our spiritual person and have real  understanding of truth. We are not like rats in a maze that  have no clue that they are, in fact, rats in a maze. Rather,  we are spiritual beings with a physical apparatus that  enables us to know the physical world. Even knowing  the physical world means walking by faith.

There is no other way around our state of affairs  than to have faith. So why do we need to renew our faith?  We are, unfortunately, creatures of doubt. Doubt can  serve us well when applied in the appropriate contexts.  In the chemistry lab, I had better doubt whether the  beaker in front of me is water or not lest I drink it and  die. In the desert, however, such doubt would kill me. It  is the misapplication of doubt that gets us into trouble,  and over which we may have our biggest controversies.

So, renewing faith is that personal and communal  activity that provides for us the same platform on which  to operate. I renew my faith when I put my trust in God  and His word, the Bible. I pledge before everyone that  this book is the standard upon which I operate my life.  When others make the same pledge, we operate upon  the same standard, and vow to uphold that standard  regardless what may come our way. When we live  faithfully based upon that standard, we find others who  will commune with us in a state of peace, harmony, and  love. No force can overcome such renewal.

However, problems will arise that challenge that  fellowship. How will we manage such problems? Will we  do so based upon the standard of God’s word? Or will we  turn to cultural and societal solutions? Often, we do the  latter instead of the former. The result is devastating for  a people who claim to follow God’s standard of right and  wrong. Confusion and doubt set in, and faith is destroyed.  Few have the integrity that is needed to withstand such  an onslaught and breech of communal standards. As a  result, some may turn to other religions or philosophies.  Some become agnostics and atheists because the stench  of hypocrisy is so strong.

We must renew our faith in God and His word by  going to His word and letting it rule in our lives.  “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). Walking by faith means walking by the  word of God, and that must be done in every situation.  If we truly believe the standard of God’s word, then by  following it, we can resolve all issues that stand between  us.

Neither science nor the philosophies of men hold  the basis to resolve human conflict. Darwinian naturalism  doesn’t fight destructive conflict at all. In fact, it claims  that destructive conflict is natural and “good.” It weeds  out the less fit so that the stronger may survive. The  philosophies of men talk a good game, but when it  comes to making critical decisions based upon them,  they always fail and never provide true direction for the  resolution of conflict. God’s word, however, will succeed  when it is applied. We may truly renew our faith both  in God and one another through His will. May we ever  learn to depend upon it and trust in its truths, for vain is  the help of man (Ps. 108:12).

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Sickness

Sickness:  The Doctor is in… Where are you?

She’s dying. Every ragged breath and excruciating symptom she possesses seems to scream that very painful and obvious truth. And the saddest part of all is that it was completely preventable. There is a doctor in town whose track record at healing her disease includes a 100% cure rate for those who seek his help and follow his instructions – 100%! His services and the prescription are both free. She just inexplicably chose not to seek his help and take the prescription he prescribed. And so, here she lies, dying an extremely slow, excruciatingly painful death at the hands of her disease, as a result of only her own foolish choices.

We all suffer from the sickness of sin (Isa. 58:1-14; Ro. 3:10-18, 6:23). The symptoms of our sin-sickness abound all about us. Every day we see the decay: marriages in complete chaos and utter meltdown; selfishness and self-centeredness running amuck amongst those we love while ultimately tearing them in two at every turn; sexual immorality, infidelity, dishonesty, deceit, drug addiction, abortion, rebellion, violence, abuse of all kinds, and a vast myriad of other sins running epidemic in our immediate social circles; people hurting and being hurt, seeking peace and finding none; stopping at nothing in their pursuit of pleasure and finding nothing long-term but more heartbreak and pain in the process; “living it up” they think, yet dying a very slow and painful death at the hands of their own sin-sick choices (Ro. 1:18-32; Gal. 5:19-26).

But the saddest part of all of this is that their lives need not be such, because Jesus, the great physician, has the total cure for all who will come to Him (Matt. 9:10-13, 11:28-30). His word has a free, 100% cure rate of sin for those who will carefully read and follow it. Haven’t you had enough yet? Haven’t you hurt enough yet? How long will you stubbornly refuse the total treatment that can save you from so much misery both here and now and for all eternity? Well, here’s the answer… Where will you choose to be this coming Sunday? At the Lord’s church/clinic, where those sin-sick and sin-ravaged and savaged souls who’ve had enough will be accepting the cure by ingesting His death-defying, soul-saving, sin-neutralizing and destroying Word, or elsewhere? Because the answer in action to that question will quite simply say it all. “… Do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17)!

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