X Gospel

Author: Troy

  • Revelation 1:1

    Chapter 1

    This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. (NLT)

    • Of note:
      • This is the revelation from/of Jesus Christ
      • Soon take place – suddenly take place.
        • Mt 24:34 This generation is not speaking of that literal generation, but of an age. The transfiguration is not the culmination of this prophecy. It is yet to come. The age I believe is referring to the age of the church. The new covenant that Christ put into effect with His own blood to purchase man back to Himself.
    • Mt 24 Jesus speaks of the things that must happen before the end of the world
      • Jesus warns us to be careful Many will come in His name.
        • What does it mean to come in the name of Jesus?
          • To declare thus sayeth or thus teacheth Jesus.
          • Doesn’t necessarily mean that someone would call themselves Jesus, though that can be so.
          • This means that these deceptions can and probably come from inside the Church. (We must test the spirits)
        • They will deceive many
      • Don’t panic, these things must take place
        • Famines
        • Earthquakes
        • Wars
        • In many parts of the world
        • This is the first of many birth pains to come There will be much more…
      • Some will claim that Jesus has come.
      • We can not be asleep. We each have to be students of the word of God, to know Him for our selves.
      • Mt 24:32 These signs will be recognizable to those who are paying attention. Signs that these things are about to happen. But not the exact time of Jesus return. The quest of so many to discern the time of Jesus return is a futile one.
        • Zch 12:10
        • Jn 19:37
        • Mt 24:36–42 anyone claiming to know when this will happen is one of those of whom we must be weary! They will come in the name of Jesus.
        • We must be watching for His return however, waiting in anticipation, Without knowing the exact time in advance
        • I suppose there will be some semblance of peace in the midst of all the end time upheaval when He returns. He says it will be like in the days of Noah, they will be partying as the rains began to fall.
      • 1 Cor 1:6–9 God will keep His people strong through all of this. We will know the peace of God that passes all understanding.
      • It will be a time of terror for the world, but not for God’s people, He will strengthen us.
    • Dan 9:27 7:13 11:31 12:11 Is 13:10 34:4 Joel 2:10

  • Delusion and Confusion

    Why is there so much confusion?

    Why are people confused about who they are?

    Why are people confused about what they are?

    Why are there so many who have come the point of thinking it is best to end their own lives? Why do so many think they are not loved? “No one understands me…” is something I hear so often. Our emergency rooms are filled with children who have tried to commit suicide, or have plans to do so. I can’t comprehend how as a culture we have come so far, that our children want to die! They should be concerned about what they will do after school. Who they will be playing with. Will they be riding their bicycles, or playing on the swing, or playing hop scotch with the neighborhood kids. Instead they are heavy with the worries of this life. They are pondering things like, am I a boy or a girl? Am I a cat or a person? Am I popular on tictok?

    Our kids are being taught to define themselves by their imaginations. They are being taught all kinds of evils on tv and the internet. These evils are deluding their young minds, they are confused because there are no hard fast definitions being given to them. They are left to themselves to define life. This is foolishness! Since they are the ones who have to define life, it is distorted, and grotesque.

    Romans 1:21 Teaches that if we don’t worship God as God, or be thankful to Him, we have the tendency to think up foolish ideas of what God is like. The result of this is the mind becomes dark and confused.

    Romans 1:22-32 Lists what comes out of this dark confused mind. It is a list that we see lived out in our world today. This is why our children are so confused, why they would prefer to end their own lives. My friend this is not all that difficult. The human mind separated from God is a dark confusing thing. If life seems to out of control, it seems like there is no hope. I want you to know that there is hope.

    God created us to worship Him. He gives us reason to live, gives us love for one another, defines who we are, and gives us clear purpose. This is all the opposite of confusion. It is hope!

  • Romans Study Outline

    The following is a rough outline meant to help with study of Romans. My challenge to you as you set out to study the book of Romans, is that you put aside all the study aids, get a good modern translation, and let the Holy Spirit (who is promised to all believers) to teach you what God wants to teach.

    We rely too much on the opinions of others, and as a result we get into useless debates and distractions that are not intended by our Lord.

    We also get lazy relying on someone else to teach us what God’s will is. In the end God holds each of us personally responsible for our understanding and actions.

    Chapter 1

    Intro and Sin

    • Paul introduces himself
    • vs 17 All of God’s work in our lives is accomplished through faith.
    • From Start to finish….
    • Vs 18-32 The result of people who reject God (Vs 28)

    Chapter 2

    The law can’t save

    • Those who don’t reject God but try to keep the law.
    • Think they can judge others, but also fail to please God.
    • Vs. 29 Only those who’s heart is changed by the Spirit can be right before God

    Chapter 3

    God is faithful, He provides salvation

    • Vs. 9 All people are under sin
    • Vs. 19 The law is given so we can have no excuses.
    • Vs. 22-26 We are made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ
    • Vs. 29 God makes people right with Him only by faith.

    Chapter 4

    Abraham’s Faith

    • Vs .3 Abraham believed God and God counted Him as righteous
    • Vs 13-15 God’s promise was not based on obedience of the law.
    • Vs. 16 The promise is received by faith.
    • Vs. 25 Jesus died because of our sins
    • And he was raised to make us right with God.

    Chapter 5

    Friends with God

    • Vs. 1 We have peace with God.
    • Vs. 5 We have been given the Holy Spirit.
    • Vs. 9 We are made right with God by the blood of Christ.
    • Vs. 11 We are now friends with God, we were enemies before.
    • Vs. 20 The law exposes sin.
    • Vs. 21 Christ gives us right standing with God.

    Chapter 6

    Sin’s power is broken

    • Vs. 2 Sin’s power is broken
    • Vs. 6 Our old sinful self was crucified with Christ.
    • Vs. 18 We are now slaves of righteous living.

    Chapter 7

    We are dead to the law

    • Vs 1 We are dead to the law.
    • Vs. 6 We have been released from the law.
    • Vs. 12 The law is holy
    • Vs. 25 Christ is the answer to all our struggles with sin.

    Chapter 8

    Life in the Spirit

    • Vs. 1-2 The Spirit has freed us from the power of sin that leads to death.
    • Vs. 17 We are Heirs with Christ.
    • Vs. 19 We look forward to a glorious future.
    • Vs. 30 We have right standing with God and He gave us His glory.

    Chapter 9

    Is God done with Israel

    • Vs. 6 Has God failed Israel?
    • Vs. 16 We can neither choose or work for God’s mercy.
    • Vs. 20 We are not in a position to question God, or to speak for Him.
    • Vs. 33 Anyone who trusts in Christ will never be disgraced.

    Chapter 10

    Salvation is for Everyone

    • Vs. 4 Christ has accomplished the purpose of the law.
    • Vs 9-11 Salvation is believing that we are made right with God throughout Christ’s work
    • And declaring our faith that we are saved.
    • What about those who have not heard?

    Chapter 11

    Is God done with the nation of Israel?

    • Vs. 2 No!
    • Vs. 11 God wants Israel to come to Him like Abraham… In faith.
    • Vs. 25 How do we fit in as Gentiles?
    • Vs. 36 Everything comes from God  and exists by His power, and is intended for His Glory.

    Chapter 12

    Living Sacrifices

    • Vs. 1-2 We owe it all to God because of what He has done.
    • Vs. 21 Don’t let evil conquer you, conquer evil by doing good.

    Chapter 13

    Respect Authority

    • Vs. 1 Respect governing authorities
    • Vs. 8-11 Our obligation is to love one-another.
    • Vs. 14 Put on Christ, don’t let yourself think about ways to do evil.

    Chapter 14

    Relating to other believers

    • Vs. 1 Accept other believers.
    • They are growing in understanding, give grace.
    • Vs. 7 We don’t live for ourselves. ( It’s not about me…)
    • Vs. 17 Live a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

    Chapter 15

    Relating to other believers

    • Vs. 2 Help others, build them up in the Lord.
    • Vs. 7 Accept others as Christ has accepted you.
    • Vs 13 Let God fill us with all hope, completely with joy and peace.
    • Because we trust Him.
    • Last half of 15
    • Who Paul is and why He is writing.

    Chapter 16

    Greetings and good wishes.

  • God’s Special Creation

    Genesis chapter 2 God circles back to add some detail about the special part of His creation. The part of creation that is different from all the rest. The part of creation to which He gave very special attention!

    Man, God’s Special Creation

    Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

    For all the rest of creation God said and there was. God spoke all other parts of creation into existence, but not man. He formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. God was much more intimate with the creation of man. The creation of man was not simply a word. God took time to form man, and the biggest difference between man and the rest of creation, God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. This is not simply life, but the spirit of man was breathed into him. His soul was given to him at this point. This is the part of man that is not shared by the rest of creation, man’s spirit, man’s soul. Man’s spirit is what really sets him apart from all other created creatures. It is the spirit of man that is the image of God.

    It is because of this spirit that we are able to commune with God. It is this spirit that gives personality. The spirit that allows us to form abstract thought. To ponder the meaning of life. It is this spirit in fact that gives us meaning of life. It is why when we talk of the deep things of life, we speak of spiritual things. It is on the spiritual level that we meet with God, that we commune with God. The spirit of man is the eternal part of man. The spirit of man is what makes us know that there is more to existence than simply this short life. The spirit of man is eternal, our spirit will always exist!

    Man’s Task

    God planted a garden, a special place with all the things that Adam would need for life. The garden was planted with all the trees that were pleasant to look at, and all the trees that Adam would need for his life. God Mentions two trees in particular: 1. the tree of life, and 2. the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These were both in the center of the garden. Man was put in the garden according to vs.15 to “tend and keep it.”

    As a bit of a side note, God gives a bit of a geography lesson of the land around the garden, it’s rivers, and where they went. All of this geography is not the same now as it was then. We will look at an event later on that would reshape the face of the earth.

    For now we need to know that God had created His master piece of creation, man, and had given to him all that he would need for life.

    The Commandment

    Adam was given the task of keeping the garden in which he would live. God also gave him one single rule, or commandment.

    Vs. 16-17 “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

    Talk about a truly simple life! Adam has everything he needs, and every beautiful plant on earth surrounding him. All he needs to do is tend to the garden, and obey God’s one commandment to not eat that one fruit.

    Adams Companion

    vs. 18 God said “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

    God would make for Adam a companion like him, to complete him. It is worth noting here that God did not say that He would make a companion to serve him, or who was lesser than he. God said that He would make a companion “comparable to him.” God created them equal, but not the same.

    For the remainder of chapter 2 God goes through an exercise with Adam. He made from the ground all the creatures of the earth to have Adam name them, so Adam did. He named all the animals, but vs. 20 says “But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.”

    God then went on to take a rib from Adam, and from that rib He would make a companion for Adam. Adam called her woman because she was taken out of man.

    She was literally a part of him. Woman was created to be man’s companion, of all the other creatures of creation, there was no other animal that was comparable to man. Because of this when a man and woman are joined in marriage they are considered by God to be one. The bond of marriage cannot be broken in God’s eyes. He sees a husband and wife as one and the same.

    In these days of confusion it is also important to note that the God prescribed marriage is one man with one woman for life. To deviate from this plan is to deviate from God’s plan, that is called sin.

  • God’s Creation Narrative

    The nation of Israel had been held captive for hundreds of years by Egypt. They were slaves forced to do hard labor. All they knew was pain and oppression, and God had decided it was time for them to be brought out of this suffering. Many of them had a vague idea of who God was.

    God would introduce Himself to them through His servant Moses. He would also through Moses bring them out of the captivity of Egypt, with the goal of taking them to a land He, God, promised would be a good land, a land of fullness. He promised them He would go before them making the way.

    It is during this Exodus of Egypt that God would have Moses write 5 books. These books would introduce God to the people of Israel, and let them know what He expected of them. They would see and experience many great miracles in their journey, as God became very closely involved in their lives.

    One of the books Moses would pen is called Genesis, the beginning of all things. The book of Genesis is the history of the world in narrative form from the beginning of all things up to the time of Israel’s move to Egypt.

    The Beginning of All Things

    God starts Genesis with the words “In the Beginning.” Before this there was nothing. Only God existed and nothing else. No earth, no space, no light, no darkness, no sun, no stars. You get the picture. There was only God!

    There are several important ideas to take away from the first chapter of Genesis. The first being that God, the almighty created everything that we see and know. He created the soundness of the earth that we walk on. He created the depth and vastness of space. He created time and the ways that we track time and seasons.

    The Creation Timeline

    He is also very careful to announce through His narration of the events of creation a time period for each creation event. Each creation event is marked by the phrase, “So the evening and the morning was the first day.” “So the evening and the morning was the second day.” And so on. There is no room for believers in God to accept anything other than God created everything in 6 days. He made sure to explain this very clearly.

    God is Plural

    We learn another important piece of information about God during this narration. Genesis 1:26 God said “Let us make man in Our own image, according to Our likeness…” God somehow exists in multiple persons! But He, God is one, vs. 27 says “so God created man in His, own image; in the image of God He created them.” God refers to himself in the singular.

    Man

    It is also important to note that the creation of mankind is different to the creation of all the rest of creation. There is nothing else created according to God in the same way He created mankind. All the other living creatures are simply spoken into existance. For example vs. 20 says “Then God said “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.””

    In one statement God created all the creatures that live in all the waters of the earth, in multitudes. The waters teamed with life and the skies were filled with every species of bird. In the creative awesomeness of God His word is enough to bring all of the variety we see in the waters of the earth as well as all the varieties of bird we see covering all the earth.

    Man, however is different. Man we see is created in the very image of God. He is also created to have dominion over all of creation. Man is God’s special part of creation!

    The Goodness of Creation

    Genesis 1:30 says “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”

    God created a perfect work. A thing of beauty. He was very pleased with all that He had created. There was no flaw in it, no disease, no evil… So what happened? Why is our existence now difficult, full of disease and disappointment?

  • Who Is God? And Why Should I Care?

    Who is God? Is there a God? Why should I care? Three important questions.

    Who is God

    Here we are sitting and pondering the most important questions of life. Who is God? I suppose we really need to start from a question of, who are we?

    These days we find ourselves confused about who or what we are. We are being told that we can be whatever we think we want to be. Is that true? I believe to answer who God is will put into perspective the question of who we are, and what we are.

    We are being taught things like there are no genders, that the human species is going to cease to exist because of overpopulation of the earth, that there are no absolutes. We are observing a world where there seems to be no justice. People who are trying to play by the rules seem to be getting squashed. The wealthy seem to be getting more wealthy, and those who are not a part of the wealthy club seem to be struggling more and more to be able to make ends meet.

    We are taught that our existence has come about by a great accident and all life, kind of generated itself over billions of years, totally on its own, and by total accident. So because all of life is an accident, there is therefore no god.

    The more we accept these thoughts the further into chaos society gets. The more we accept these thoughts, the more confused we get. Each day there are more children who have decided that they should just end their lives, life is not worth living. Why? All of these thoughts are contrary to God and His purpose for our lives! The more we accept the things that are contrary to God the further we get away from normal, the more depressed we get, the more chaos surrounds us. Just what does God expect of us?

    According to NASA planet earth is rotating on its axis at a speed of more than 1000 miles per hour. Earth is also at the same time making its trip around the sun at a mind blowing 67,000 miles per hour, that is 87 times the speed of sound. Beyond that our solar system is hurling through space at a mind bending 448,000 miles per hour. They tell us “speed kills,” well our planet is doing some serious speed, and without incident. How is this possible?

    How is it possible that we can count on things like the length of our days? We can count on things like the seasonal calendar? We can count on knowing when the next eclipse will occur. The Mayans had predicted the position of constellations a thousand years into the future, and made record of those calculations. None of these things allow for chance, they are all predictable, Why? The answer is pretty simple. There are constants. There are rules that govern our solar system. The whole thing was designed by God, and is governed by Him.

    God set about to tell us who He is. He set about to tell us how we got here on planet earth, how the stars came to be, how earth was formed with everything on it. He even took the time to tell us the exact amount of time it took Him to make all this stuff.

    Simply look around you at all the wondrous bits and pieces of the world we live on called Earth. All the growing things, the mountains, the seas, the animals and bugs. Look at the way all these things work together. There is no way all of this is an accident. Order never comes from disorder, an accident never produces a new thing, just a mess.

    God through His profit Moses introduces Himself to us. Genesis 1:1 says “In the beginning God created…” In the beginning of all things there was only God. Everything else was created, made by Him. He takes the time to lay out briefly how he created the world and universe, and how long it took Him to do it. We will look at God’s account of the beginning of all things to attempt to learn what He would like us to learn from the creation account. Obviously He had it written in order to introduce Himself to us, we, His creation.

    Is There A God

    I believe all of creation points to God as the maker of all things, as the origin of all things. I believe there has to be a God because it is impossible for anything to exist otherwise. Look at our world hurdling through space at nearly 500,000 thousand miles an hour, without impacting anything else around us. This in itself is impossible. The scientists know this. That is why they spend so much time tracking comets and the like. Just one stray rock impacting earth at these kinds of speeds would be the end of all things, with no way to escape. Those scientists, most of them, would not admit there is a God. Because they don’t believe that there is a God, they stress about the precarious nature of earth moving through space at such ludicrous speed.

    If our atmosphere would change in any way, we would probably be poisoned and die. This is why the scientists stress so much about any changes to our climate. They are worried that we will destroy ourselves by changing the climate. Life goes on today as it has for thousands of years, we are living in the very same atmosphere, regardless of the horrible things we have done on this earth. God is the sustain-er of our world, of our atmosphere. This is why life continues on. There is for sure a God! We are not an accident, our world is not an accident.

    Why Should I Care If God Exists

    Well, if God truly does exist. What does He want from us? Why did He make us? Why are we so different from all the other living things around us?

    Why should I care if God really does exist? If God does exist, wouldn’t we do well not to offend Him? If God does exist, would we do well to acknowledge Him, if that is what He wants? If God does exist, what is He going to do with us, with earth?

    The mainstream idea now is to erase the idea that God does exist. What if God is offended by that? What if the creator of the world, the universe, decides to deal harshly with those who try to do away with Him? If God is creator of all things doesn’t He have the right to do with all created things what He sees fit to do? If God does exist what kind of arrogance does it take to think we can erase the very thought of God?

    If God does exist, I think we had better care! We had better find out what He expects of us. We had better shed our arrogance, and humble ourselves before God, the almighty creator of all things.

  • Fear of God

    Should we fear God? Often we think of Him as a benign being, incapable of doing anything at all. Most of the time we think of God as some kind of concept and not consequential. In Bible School we were taught that we weren’t to fear God in the sense of dread type fear, but more like a fatherly figure.

    It is the thought that God will not harm us that I am convinced has caused the most damage to both the church, and as an extension society itself. We now believe that we can do what ever we like and God will not touch us. Is this true? Is that evidenced by what we see around us? War, Crime, Disease, Injustice, Hurricanes, Fire.

    Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge…” What does it mean to fear the LORD? Why is fear of God the beginning of knowledge?

    Jesus says in Matthew 10:28″And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” So Jesus is telling His disciples not to be afraid of men who are able to kill them, and want to kill them. Those men are only capable of killing the body, but can’t harm the soul. God on the other hand is able to destroy both the body and the soul in hell.

    Jesus is instructing us to not fear even a murderous person seeking to take our lives. No instead God is much more to be feared, He, God, can destroy us for all eternity. God can and does take lives, He does destroy countries and cities. The bible is full of his deeds laid bare for us to understand and to learn from. There are six things that the Lord hates and seven that are an abomination Proverbs 6:16-19: 1. A proud look, 2. A lying tongue, 3. Hands that shed innocent blood, 4. a heart that devises evil plans, 5. Feet that are swift in running to evil, 6. A false witness who speaks lies, 7. And one who sows discord among brethren.

    Hate is a strong word. Many times in the bible God is said to hate one thing or the other. This is where knowledge comes in. If we know what God hates, we don’t do those things. If we know what God likes us to do, we do those things.

    We have allowed studious men and women to make serving God seem difficult to understand and do. To walk with God, to serve God is not difficult. He has given us a written record of what He expects of us.

    The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. He will destroy those who do not fear him!

    The book of Proverbs tells us that if we follow wisdom, God will protect us, proverbs tells us that if we follow knowledge we will have peace, proverbs tells us that if we follow knowledge God will provide for us.

    All the opposite is true for those who do not follow knowledge. They are called simple ones, scoffers, foolish. These will be destroyed, both in this life and in eternity.

    Proverbs tells us: Wisdom is the principal thing: Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her(wisdom), and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.

    So yes, to fear God means to have dread for Him. It is a dangerous thing to make light of Him or His commandments. He could destroy fools and scoffers in this life and he will destroy fools and scoffers in life after death.

  • Zacharias Faithful Servant, with Doubts

    Luke 1:5 introduces Zacharias, an aging priest. He has served God as a priest all of his adult life. The passage goes on to explain that he and his wife are blameless before God. In other words they were both faithful servants of God, living life in obedience to God, keeping His law faithfully. We learn from the passage that Zacharias and his wife had never had children, and clearly they had passed the years in which they could have children. They were both old! We also learn in the passage that they had prayed for their whole life to be blessed with a child, but that had never happened, and now was not possible. Still Zacharias served God in the Temple. I can imagine that just like us Zacharias was going through the hum-drum daily grind of life, doing the daily routines, almost subconsciously, automatically going through the days. He was not ready for what God was going to bring loudly into his life.

    It would seem that the priests took turns to perform the various temple rituals. It was now Zacharias’ turn to burn incense before God in the Temple. From the passage we can see that typically the priest would go into the temple burn the incense at the altar of incense, then come out to deliver a message to the attendees of the temple service. He would not dwell in he temple, that part of the ritual is short, only long enough to set up and get the incense burning.

    Zacharias’ life would now be turned upside-down! In the process of doing his duties an angel of God suddenly stands to the right hand side of the altar of incense. Finding himself in fear, the angel announces to Zacharias that his prayers for a child would be answered. Not only would Zacharias be blessed with a son, but he will be a great servant of God. Wow, his lifelong prayer is going to be answered! but his reaction was not so. I and my wife are too old he said to the angel.

    This is where I find myself often, and I don’t think I’m alone. I know what God says He will do. I know what God expects of me. But I get in the daily grind. The hum-drum of life, and I think, God will not do those things that He says He’ll do. I doubt! Our lives as believers, followers of Christ are not that different from the life of Zacharias. We know what we are supposed to do as believers, we do our best to walk in integrity, in the will of God, but doubt creeps in, that is at least how it goes in my life, in my walk with God. Pay attention, God will bring things, circumstances, people into our lives to bring us back on track. For Zacharias it was a bit drastic. He was made to not be able to speak until the baby was born. It was a statement not only to Zacharias that God had done a thing in his life, but this sudden inability to speak was meant to alert the temple goers that day that God was about to do something. After all to fulfill his duties that day Zacharias needed to deliver a speech to those temple goers. The passage tells us that he tried to speak to the people, I suppose if you think about it, once again doubting what the angel had told him. He tried to speak! The passage tells us that all the people in attendance knew that God had communicated with Zacharias through a vision. God had communicated that something was about to happen through a man that could not speak.

    God’s will is not dependent on us, His believers, His followers. Even though Zacharias doubted what the angel had said to him, God did that miracle, Zacharais and his wife would have a son. Thank God that he is not dependent on us, or on our perfect execution of His will. If God’s will depended on our carrying it out, it would fail. We would fail. God cannot fail! His will is going to happen, and there is no way to stop it. God does His work in spite of us, and still involves us in that work. Oh how great He is, how gracious He is. To Him be all gory, honor, and power!

    Pay attention to God’s working in life. He is active in our lives, I think we need to make an effort to be aware of His working in us. Look for it. Trust Him, as He guides us. When doubt creeps in look for his working to strengthen us.

  • Signs of the Times

    I saw something advertised on TV the other day that shocked me profoundly! I suppose it shows that I am disconnected from the times.

    There was a commercial, the subject matter of the commercial was to be sure to get your annual STD checkup.

    Annual STD checkup! The thought that a commercial could be targeting a set of people needing to be checked annually for STDs is quite amazing to me, and is indicative of where society has come. As we remove God more and more from our society, His guidelines for living are dismissed more and more as old fashioned, and outdated.

    God calls sex outside of marriage sin. God’s plan for us sexually is for one man to marry one woman, and for that marriage to be honored until death. In fact the bible teaches that to have sexual relations makes the couple one flesh. Through sex a couple is bonded. God regards sex outside of these parameters as sin.

    Sin has consequences! Eternal consequences and consequences that are evident in our daily lives. The consequences that come from sexual sin, show up in the form of STDs. The eternal consequences are much more severe! To be on the wrong side of God when He judges will lead to eternal separation from Him. He will send all people who have not followed His way to the place we call hell.

    There are many who have lived a life of great sexual sin. Having had many sexual partners. Some of you have contracted some STD, or multiple STDs. You now also stand on the wrong side of God, as a sinner, an enemy even. An Enemy that He will judge guilty.

    Hope

    There is always hope. Jesus Christ, God’s own son died a terrible death. He was sacrificed for all of us. He was sacrificed for all our sins. We have to accept that Jesus died in our place, taking all the sin we have committed against God, and paying for that sin for us, in our place. Believe that that sacrifice is sufficient, that Jesus’ death is sufficient to erase that sin. God will accept the death of Jesus as sufficient payment for the sins we have done. Then after that forgiveness of the great debt of sin, God will accept us as His own children. That is called Grace!

    After accepting Jesus’ payment of our debts, abstain from sexual immorality. Thank God everyday for His great grace toward us.

  • Three Lessons From The Temptation of Jesus

    Jesus had just been introduced by John the Baptizer as the Christ, God on earth, and the savior of mankind. The one that John had been telling everyone was to come. People had been flocking to John to hear his message, that all must repent because the kingdom of God was near at hand. John was considered a profit of God, or to put it another way, a messenger of God.

    After John had declared Jesus to be the coming Christ, the book of Mathew states in chapter 4 verse 1: Then Jesus was let by the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The temptation of Christ was then intentional, for our benefit. This temptation is not merely written of so that we can not only see the reactions that Jesus had to these temptations, but where our minds should be when we experience the same temptations.

    We are told that Jesus after fasting for 40 days and nights experienced these temptations. We can assume then that He was in a state of great need, and great weakness, desperate even.

    Our Immediate Need

    Our physical needs are the needs that we are most aware of. The pain of hunger is true and present. When we have not eaten for a while, we know without doubt that we have a need. In fact that need becomes actual physical pain. A gnawing pain, a constant reminder of our immediate need. This need becomes desperate, and people will be driven to do all sorts of things to satisfy this need. Finally this need if not satisfied will lead to death, it’s quite final.

    Jesus says that this need is real, but there is another real need that we face, but more important than the need for food. He said people will not, future, live only by filling his belly. Jesus looks beyond the immediate, beyond the importance of this life, to the eternal life. What good is it to fill your belly for the moment without the word of God? Food will fill the momentary need, but only God can fill the eternal need.

    The lesson is that we need to look to God in order to truly live.

    Faith in God

    We are continually testing. Testing our relationships. Testing ourselves. Testing God. We all do it. Oh Lord if you get me out of this situation, I’ll do thus and such. There are those who test God by handling of poisonous snakes. Some test God by doing quests. Some of us test God by comparing ourselves with others. At times we say to God, if you’re real why is this happening?

    The devil quoted scripture to Jesus, saying didn’t God say that He would always protect you? If God said He would protect you, jump off this high point and let’s watch Him do what He said He’d do.

    Jesus’ response, quoting scripture, it is written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God.

    Don’t test God. Believe what He has said. This very emphatic statement is really strong. We are not to try to force God to prove himself to us. We are the created, we need to simply believe what He says to be true.

    The lesson: we need to have faith in God to truly live.

    Worship God

    The devil is looking to Jesus to worship him. He is trying to buy the worship of the Christ. Is this not what he does to us? Worship the devil and you will be rich, he will give you the world! We have all heard the phrase “to sell ones soul to the devil.” That is exactly what he is always doing, bribing us to forget God and to worship him instead.

    Jesus makes two statements in one here. He said “you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” The use of the two words worship, and serve are no mistake. You see, to worship is to serve. In other words the work you do is your worship. If your work is to achieve riches, then the worship is of the riches. If your work is to please God, then it is worship of God.

    The lesson: Worship God by what you do.