It has really been bothering me lately, how easy it is for so many to throw out scripture that contradicts their doctrine, based on personal opinions.
I have heard so many report of people who are teaching universalism, but under the "Grace" umbrella. Teaching that the whole world is already saved and everyone is already righteous, but some haven't fully realized it yet and so their fruits are the result of condemnation. Some are teaching that being "born again" is not a biblical term and is simply something fabricated to put people under the Law. Such teaching is so far out of the bounds of sound bible doctrine that it isn't even funny, it is sad to be honest. It is sad that many promoting this have been in church, been to bible school, and heard teachings from some excellent bible scholars from the Word and STILL believe in their doctrine so much that they want to seek out arguments and debates with those who don't see things the way they do.
I've really been thinking along these lines and I really been taking personal time to study things out, to see exactly what the Word says with my eyes. In regards to "everyone already being saved" that is simply inaccurate scripturally. The truth is that God has PROVIDED salvation to all mankind through His son Jesus, but they have to BELIEVE to receive that gift. It is like if someone gave you this beautifully wrapped box and inside was, oh a check for a million dollars. The gift is yours if you'll receive it, but the million dollars isn't in your possession for you to access and apply to your financial life until you actually unwrap the gift and access it. The same is true with salvation, it is provided freely, it is waiting for you to unwrap it and access it and apply it to your life... But you have to review an unwrap it first! Believing in our heart and confessing with our mouth that jesus Christ is Lord is our way of unwrapping the beautiful gift of salvation!
"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved." (Romans 10:9, 10 NLT)
In that scripture the greek word for "right" in verse 10 is dikaiosynē which is the same as righteous, so by believing in your heart that He was raised from the dead is when you access righteousness! Righteousness was provided to all when Christ rose from the dead, but not all mankind was made righteous in that moment, it provided and made righteousness available, but we have to reach out and accept it! In reality, if you take this universalist teaching to the extreme, you are teaching that there is no hell, there are no consequences for any sins committed pre- or post-salvation, and really there's no point or purpose for evangelizing or doing missions work around the world.... If you are going to teach that you've got to be willing to follow that argument to the end, and if that is so, then the Muslims and Buddhists are just as righteous and in as much right/standing with God as You and I are right now. Funny, but if that is so how do you explain some verses a little further down in that same chapter of Romans?
"For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord [invoking Him as Lord] will be saved. But how are people to call upon Him Whom they have not believed [in Whom they have no faith, on Whom they have no reliance]? And how are they to believe in Him [adhere to, trust in, and rely upon Him] of Whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men [be expected to] preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings! [How welcome is the coming of those who preach the good news of His good things!] But they have not all heeded the Gospel; for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed (had faith in) what he has heard from us? So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself)." (Romans 10:13-17 AMP)
Obviously, those in darkness have to BELIEVE and they have to have faith in what Jesus provided through His death, burial, and resurrection in order to access the gift of salvation and walk in right-standing with God.
"Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us." (Hebrews 10:26-29 NLT)
"For if we go on deliberately and willingly sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no further offering to which to look forward]. [There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God]. Any person who has violated and [thus] rejected and set at naught the Law of Moses is put to death without pity or mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned and [thus] trampled underfoot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common and unhallowed, thus profaning it and insulting and outraging the [Holy] Spirit [Who imparts] grace (the unmerited favor and blessing of God)?" (Hebrews 10:26-29 AMP)
Then those teaching that "born again" isn't a biblical principle are outside the bounds of true bible-based doctrine. In John Chapter 3, Jesus spoke prophetically to Nicodemus about the way to salvation. He wasn't speaking to Nicodemus "under the law", as Many love to proclaim when the words of Christ contradict their doctrine of "extreme grace", He was speaking to him prophetically that the Son of Man (Jesus, the Messiah) WOULD BE (future tense) lifted up like the bronze serpent was by Moses for salvation (an old testament type and shadow of the cross). In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that you must be BORN AGAIN, that is not and was not an Old Covenant belief, you couldn't be born again under the Old Covenant, but it was something tht was to come, an now in our time has come. The passage states it very plainly....
"Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
“What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
“How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” (John 3:3-21 NLT)
So, from the scriptures I have listed and studied, it is pretty clear that hole salvation has been PROVIDED to all mankind, it is not automatically on all mankind. It is something that is freely provided, but must be accessed by faith! And We an see that being "born again" is a biblical principle, taught in the new testament! I am so saddened by the absolute rejection of truth under the guise of "newer, better revelation" ... When the Holy Spirit reveals things to us from the Word and brings revelation and understanding, it will ALWAYS line up fully with the full counsel of the scriptures, if it doesn't it is not a heavenly revelation, but a mere doctrine of devils, full of falsities to knock into error. If you have people in your life who are blinded by such untruth, pray for them. Because in many cases that's all you can do if you are going to maintain your love walk. Pray for them (the Ephesians prayer is a great one to start with) and when given the opportunity to speak into their life, speak the truth in LOVE, don't be rude or argumentative about it, speak it in love.
"Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” (Galatians 2:16 NLT)
"Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law." (Romans 3:31 NLT)
Til Next Time,
JRT
Allow your FAITH in God and His Word to be the driving force of your life and you will lead a victorious and effective life!
Friday, May 18, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Romans Chapter 2 in the Amplified Bible
THEREFORE YOU have no excuse or defense or justification, O man, whoever you are who judges and condemns another. For in posing as judge and passing sentence on another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge are habitually practicing the very same things [that you censure and denounce]. [But] we know that the judgment (adverse verdict, sentence) of God falls justly and in accordance with truth upon those who practice such things. And do you think or imagine, O man, when you judge and condemn those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment and elude His sentence and adverse verdict? Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repent (to change your mind and inner man to accept God’s will)? But by your callous stubbornness and impenitence of heart you are storing up wrath and indignation for yourself on the day of wrath and indignation, when God’s righteous judgment (just doom) will be revealed. For He will render to every man according to his works [justly, as his deeds deserve]: To those who by patient persistence in well-doing [springing from piety] seek [unseen but sure] glory and honor and [the eternal blessedness of] immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and self-willed and disobedient to the Truth but responsive to wickedness, there will be indignation and wrath. [And] there will be tribulation and anguish and calamity and constraint for every soul of man who [habitually] does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek (Gentile). But glory and honor and [heart] peace shall be awarded to
everyone who [habitually] does good, the Jew first and also the Greek (Gentile). For God shows no partiality [undue favor or unfairness; with Him one man is not different from another]. All who have sinned without the Law will also perish without [regard to] the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged and condemned by the Law. For it is not merely hearing the Law [read] that makes one righteous before God, but it is the doers of the Law who will be held guiltless and acquitted and justified. When Gentiles who have not the [divine] Law do instinctively what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, since they do not have the Law. They show that the essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts and are operating there, with which their consciences (sense of right and wrong) also bear witness; and their [moral] decisions (their arguments of reason, their condemning or approving thoughts) will accuse or perhaps defend and excuse [them] On that day when, as my Gospel proclaims, God by Jesus Christ will judge men in regard to the things which they conceal (their hidden thoughts). But if you bear the name of Jew and rely upon the Law and pride yourselves in God and your relationship to Him, And know and understand His will and discerningly approve the better things and have a sense of what is vital, because you are instructed by the Law; And if you are confident that you [yourself] are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, and [that You are] a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the childish, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and truth-- Well then, you who teach others, do you not teach yourself?
While you teach against stealing, do you steal (take what does not really belong to you)? You who say not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery [are you unchaste in action or in thought]? You who abhor and loathe idols, do you rob temples [do you appropriate to your own use what is consecrated to God, thus robbing the sanctuary and doing sacrilege]? You who boast in the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law [by stealthily infringing upon or carelessly neglecting or openly breaking it]? For, as it is written, The name of God is maligned and blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you! [The words to this effect are from your own Scriptures.] Circumcision does indeed profit if you keep the Law; but if you habitually transgress the Law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision. So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be credited to him as [equivalent to] circumcision? Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the Law will condemn you who, although you have the code in writing and have circumcision, break the Law. For he is not a [real] Jew who is only one outwardly and publicly, nor is [true] circumcision something external and physical. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and [true] circumcision is of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal [matter]. His praise is not from men but from God.
(Romans 2:1-29 AMP)
everyone who [habitually] does good, the Jew first and also the Greek (Gentile). For God shows no partiality [undue favor or unfairness; with Him one man is not different from another]. All who have sinned without the Law will also perish without [regard to] the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged and condemned by the Law. For it is not merely hearing the Law [read] that makes one righteous before God, but it is the doers of the Law who will be held guiltless and acquitted and justified. When Gentiles who have not the [divine] Law do instinctively what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, since they do not have the Law. They show that the essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts and are operating there, with which their consciences (sense of right and wrong) also bear witness; and their [moral] decisions (their arguments of reason, their condemning or approving thoughts) will accuse or perhaps defend and excuse [them] On that day when, as my Gospel proclaims, God by Jesus Christ will judge men in regard to the things which they conceal (their hidden thoughts). But if you bear the name of Jew and rely upon the Law and pride yourselves in God and your relationship to Him, And know and understand His will and discerningly approve the better things and have a sense of what is vital, because you are instructed by the Law; And if you are confident that you [yourself] are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, and [that You are] a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the childish, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and truth-- Well then, you who teach others, do you not teach yourself?
While you teach against stealing, do you steal (take what does not really belong to you)? You who say not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery [are you unchaste in action or in thought]? You who abhor and loathe idols, do you rob temples [do you appropriate to your own use what is consecrated to God, thus robbing the sanctuary and doing sacrilege]? You who boast in the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law [by stealthily infringing upon or carelessly neglecting or openly breaking it]? For, as it is written, The name of God is maligned and blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you! [The words to this effect are from your own Scriptures.] Circumcision does indeed profit if you keep the Law; but if you habitually transgress the Law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision. So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be credited to him as [equivalent to] circumcision? Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the Law will condemn you who, although you have the code in writing and have circumcision, break the Law. For he is not a [real] Jew who is only one outwardly and publicly, nor is [true] circumcision something external and physical. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and [true] circumcision is of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal [matter]. His praise is not from men but from God.
(Romans 2:1-29 AMP)
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Dump Your Cargo & Move to a Higher Altitude!
"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let them drop." ~ Mark 11:25 AMP
When we truly learn to grasp hold of true biblical love, we will find a freedom in life and a weight lifted.
When you truly learn how to walk in love, it will free you from the burdens of hurt, bitterness, and unforgiveness. And with that, you'll find you can move up to higher altitudes, you've never before reached!
I'm reminded of the World Wars, particularily WWII, and how the planes would sometimes throw cargo out from the plane to reach a higher altitude in times of battle and such, I think there's a spiritual example to be applied from that image. When we are flying through life and carrying our cargo of bitterness, hurt, and unforgiveness, all the bundles of memories of past hurts and pain inflicted on us by others, we will not even realize how hindered we are truly are from reaching our full potential. In carrying that cargo, we are weighed down and can only reach a certain altitude. As we take hold of the message of love and forgiveness, and begin to put the Word of God into action in our lives, we will slowly start dumping that unnecessary cargo out. As that begins to happen, we will begin to find that we are able to climb to higher altitudes the more "cargo" we dump.
God never intended for our lives to be weighed down and burdened by bitterness, hurt, and unforgiveness. He told us in His Word that His yoke is easy and His burden is light! When we let go of the past and grasp hold of true Agape, there's no telling how high we can soar with God!
Don't let the trap of unforgiveness keep you from reaching your full potential! God's got a higher altitude for you to reach, but you can't reach it unless you let go of unnecessary cargo and burdens.
"For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good--not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne." ~ Matthew 11:30 AMP
"Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good." ~ Romans 12:9 NLT
"But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love." ~ 1 John 4:8 NLT
"Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." ~ Ephesians 4:32 NLT
Until Next Time,
JRT
When we truly learn to grasp hold of true biblical love, we will find a freedom in life and a weight lifted.
When you truly learn how to walk in love, it will free you from the burdens of hurt, bitterness, and unforgiveness. And with that, you'll find you can move up to higher altitudes, you've never before reached!
I'm reminded of the World Wars, particularily WWII, and how the planes would sometimes throw cargo out from the plane to reach a higher altitude in times of battle and such, I think there's a spiritual example to be applied from that image. When we are flying through life and carrying our cargo of bitterness, hurt, and unforgiveness, all the bundles of memories of past hurts and pain inflicted on us by others, we will not even realize how hindered we are truly are from reaching our full potential. In carrying that cargo, we are weighed down and can only reach a certain altitude. As we take hold of the message of love and forgiveness, and begin to put the Word of God into action in our lives, we will slowly start dumping that unnecessary cargo out. As that begins to happen, we will begin to find that we are able to climb to higher altitudes the more "cargo" we dump.
God never intended for our lives to be weighed down and burdened by bitterness, hurt, and unforgiveness. He told us in His Word that His yoke is easy and His burden is light! When we let go of the past and grasp hold of true Agape, there's no telling how high we can soar with God!
Don't let the trap of unforgiveness keep you from reaching your full potential! God's got a higher altitude for you to reach, but you can't reach it unless you let go of unnecessary cargo and burdens.
"For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good--not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne." ~ Matthew 11:30 AMP
"Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good." ~ Romans 12:9 NLT
"But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love." ~ 1 John 4:8 NLT
"Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." ~ Ephesians 4:32 NLT
Until Next Time,
JRT
Thursday, April 26, 2012
LOVE: Our Initial Response!
"Love bears up under anything and
everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]." (1 Corinthians 13:7 AMP)
Recent occurrences in my life over the past several months have caused me to really think along the lines of what real, pure love is. I'm not referring to fairytales or romance, I'm referring to the type of love that is far more important than that and that is our daily conduct as believers.
I'm by no means perfect in this area, as none of us are, but God has really been speaking to my heart by personal experiences through His Word. I've grown up in church all of my twenty-five (and a half) years on this earth and still am shocked and astonished at our lack of maturity in the area of love.
Oh, and I know we LOVE to excel on the topics of grace, faith, God's gonna give you the desires of your heart... And so forth. But, have any of us ever taken the time to realize that our success as Christians is not in how faith-filled we sound, not in how much we are sinking in the ocean of grace, and not in our BMW coming our way? Our success as Christians is measured by our capacity to love.
If it were the other things, wouldn't Jesus have told us, for example, that the greatest commandment of all is to have mountain-moving faith? But that's not what He told us is it? Nope, He told us in Matthew 22:37-39(AMP), "...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself."
The top two commandments that Jesus gave us were love centered. This shows me that God values love more than all the other aspects of Christian living. You say, "But you just don't understand! Maybe it is easy for you to love, you've been in this longer, you just don't have the same issues I have, you just don't know anything about the junk I've had to face!" Well, perhaps you have a point, maybe I don't know the things that you have had to face, but I do know the hardships, the hurt, the bitterness, cruelty, and so forth that I have faced in my life... Growing up a PK isn't exactly floating through life on flowery beds of ease, it is just as challenging as any other life. We all face hardships and hurts in life, perhaps ours seem bigger and more tragic than another person's, but they are all challenges and they all stretch us.
I was just thinking recently that if walking in love is just impossible for us to do, why would God make it the top two commandments that Jesus gave us? If it is as hard as we make it, don't you think God wouldn't give it such importance? As I think on these lines I see that it really isn't all that difficult, God wouldn't ask us to do something that was absolutely impossible to do, without equipping us. He told us in His Word that we will not be tested beyond what we can bear (1 Cor. 10:13), which tells me that no matter how impossible it may seem to walk in love in a situation, it IS possible to love extravagantly!
In life situations, people's false witness and slanderous speech can stir you up and your flesh wants to defend yourself, You want so badly to give them a piece of your mind, so strong is the urge to put all their dirty laundry out to hang.... But we have to ask ourselves, is that love? What would love do? Is love easily offended? Is love ready to fight and defend itself against injustice? Is love ready to shove ill-spoken words back down the speaker's throat? hmmm.... Sounds much like our initial responses doesn't it? But, none of these are love's initial response. Love is ready to stand there and let the offensive words hit and let them roll off. Love is ready to stand strong in the midst of injustice. Love is ready to take the punches and cuts from someone's hurtful words, look into their eyes, open arms and speak words full of love.
People, even Christians, will say things that hurt us. They will believe lies and stories that aren't true. But it is our response to such occurrences that will determine whether we soar or crash. If we respond out of the flesh, in an effort to clear "our good name" of the smearing and injustice done, you will merely place yourself in the middle of strife and open the door to anger and you will get out of love and out of God's best! BUT, if you respond with love, rest and stay at peace knowing that God knows the truth, your name or reputation hasn't been smeared as far as He is concerned, and no words of men can change His opinion of you, you'll pass the test!
Love is such a vital part of our Christian walk, however so few of us engage in true heavenly love. Oh, we demand it from everyone else, because if everyone else would walk in love I wouldn't have to struggle with my love walk! But, what a shallow view of love that is.... Love should be our initial, middle, and final response in EVERY situation in life! Yes, even the hard, difficult ones! It is easy to love people who love us, but those who despitefully use us, who speak words or conduct themselves in actions that cause us pain and hurt.... THOSE are the ones who deserve our love even more. Love is the only thing that will break the hardness of their heart! Love is the only thing that can change that situation with the person. The Word tells us that walking in love and kindness with our enemy is the same as "heaping coals of fire" on their head (Prov. 25:21-22). So, if we want to see that person change, it is time for some "Sloppy Agape" or extravagant love! You are only limited by your capacity to love. If you can face persecution and injustice with a smile on your face and a heart and eyes full of love, then there is no limit to the places God can take you! Bitterness and unforgiveness will keep you on the ground full of potential, but never fulfilling it. Love will propel you to soar in all that God has for you fulfilling your potential!
You can't change your past responses and actions in times of hardship, but you CAN change how you respond to future hardships! Make the choice today to respond out of love!
Here's some scriptures to meditate on:
"You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy; But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike]. For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that? And if you greet only your brethren, what more than others are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles (the heathen) do that? You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect."(Matthew 5:43-48 AMP)
"Because at [your] standing of the test of this ministry, they will glorify God for your loyalty and obedience to the Gospel of Christ which you confess, as well as for your generous-hearted liberality to them and to all [the other needy ones]." (2 Corinthians 9:13 AMP)
"If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For in doing so, you will heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord will reward you. The north wind brings forth rain; so does a backbiting tongue bring forth an angry countenance." (Proverbs 25:21-23 AMP)
"Let everything you do be done in love (true love to God and man as inspired by God’s love for us)." (1 Corinthians 16:14 AMP)
"Hatred stirs up contentions, but love covers all transgressions." (Proverbs 10:12 AMP)
"This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you." (John 15:12 AMP)
"If anyone says, I love God, and hates (detests, abominates) his brother [in Christ], he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen." (1 John 4:20 AMP)
"Beloved, if God loved us so [very much], we also ought to love one another." (1 John 4:11 AMP)
"Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others]." (1 Peter 4:8 AMP)
"Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. ...... And so faith, hope, love abide [faith--conviction and belief respecting man’s relation to God and divine things; hope--joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love--true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 AMP)
Endeavoring to Walk MORE in Love,
JRT
everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]." (1 Corinthians 13:7 AMP)
Recent occurrences in my life over the past several months have caused me to really think along the lines of what real, pure love is. I'm not referring to fairytales or romance, I'm referring to the type of love that is far more important than that and that is our daily conduct as believers.
I'm by no means perfect in this area, as none of us are, but God has really been speaking to my heart by personal experiences through His Word. I've grown up in church all of my twenty-five (and a half) years on this earth and still am shocked and astonished at our lack of maturity in the area of love.
Oh, and I know we LOVE to excel on the topics of grace, faith, God's gonna give you the desires of your heart... And so forth. But, have any of us ever taken the time to realize that our success as Christians is not in how faith-filled we sound, not in how much we are sinking in the ocean of grace, and not in our BMW coming our way? Our success as Christians is measured by our capacity to love.
If it were the other things, wouldn't Jesus have told us, for example, that the greatest commandment of all is to have mountain-moving faith? But that's not what He told us is it? Nope, He told us in Matthew 22:37-39(AMP), "...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself."
The top two commandments that Jesus gave us were love centered. This shows me that God values love more than all the other aspects of Christian living. You say, "But you just don't understand! Maybe it is easy for you to love, you've been in this longer, you just don't have the same issues I have, you just don't know anything about the junk I've had to face!" Well, perhaps you have a point, maybe I don't know the things that you have had to face, but I do know the hardships, the hurt, the bitterness, cruelty, and so forth that I have faced in my life... Growing up a PK isn't exactly floating through life on flowery beds of ease, it is just as challenging as any other life. We all face hardships and hurts in life, perhaps ours seem bigger and more tragic than another person's, but they are all challenges and they all stretch us.
I was just thinking recently that if walking in love is just impossible for us to do, why would God make it the top two commandments that Jesus gave us? If it is as hard as we make it, don't you think God wouldn't give it such importance? As I think on these lines I see that it really isn't all that difficult, God wouldn't ask us to do something that was absolutely impossible to do, without equipping us. He told us in His Word that we will not be tested beyond what we can bear (1 Cor. 10:13), which tells me that no matter how impossible it may seem to walk in love in a situation, it IS possible to love extravagantly!
In life situations, people's false witness and slanderous speech can stir you up and your flesh wants to defend yourself, You want so badly to give them a piece of your mind, so strong is the urge to put all their dirty laundry out to hang.... But we have to ask ourselves, is that love? What would love do? Is love easily offended? Is love ready to fight and defend itself against injustice? Is love ready to shove ill-spoken words back down the speaker's throat? hmmm.... Sounds much like our initial responses doesn't it? But, none of these are love's initial response. Love is ready to stand there and let the offensive words hit and let them roll off. Love is ready to stand strong in the midst of injustice. Love is ready to take the punches and cuts from someone's hurtful words, look into their eyes, open arms and speak words full of love.
People, even Christians, will say things that hurt us. They will believe lies and stories that aren't true. But it is our response to such occurrences that will determine whether we soar or crash. If we respond out of the flesh, in an effort to clear "our good name" of the smearing and injustice done, you will merely place yourself in the middle of strife and open the door to anger and you will get out of love and out of God's best! BUT, if you respond with love, rest and stay at peace knowing that God knows the truth, your name or reputation hasn't been smeared as far as He is concerned, and no words of men can change His opinion of you, you'll pass the test!
Love is such a vital part of our Christian walk, however so few of us engage in true heavenly love. Oh, we demand it from everyone else, because if everyone else would walk in love I wouldn't have to struggle with my love walk! But, what a shallow view of love that is.... Love should be our initial, middle, and final response in EVERY situation in life! Yes, even the hard, difficult ones! It is easy to love people who love us, but those who despitefully use us, who speak words or conduct themselves in actions that cause us pain and hurt.... THOSE are the ones who deserve our love even more. Love is the only thing that will break the hardness of their heart! Love is the only thing that can change that situation with the person. The Word tells us that walking in love and kindness with our enemy is the same as "heaping coals of fire" on their head (Prov. 25:21-22). So, if we want to see that person change, it is time for some "Sloppy Agape" or extravagant love! You are only limited by your capacity to love. If you can face persecution and injustice with a smile on your face and a heart and eyes full of love, then there is no limit to the places God can take you! Bitterness and unforgiveness will keep you on the ground full of potential, but never fulfilling it. Love will propel you to soar in all that God has for you fulfilling your potential!
You can't change your past responses and actions in times of hardship, but you CAN change how you respond to future hardships! Make the choice today to respond out of love!
Here's some scriptures to meditate on:
"You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy; But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike]. For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that? And if you greet only your brethren, what more than others are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles (the heathen) do that? You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect."(Matthew 5:43-48 AMP)
"Because at [your] standing of the test of this ministry, they will glorify God for your loyalty and obedience to the Gospel of Christ which you confess, as well as for your generous-hearted liberality to them and to all [the other needy ones]." (2 Corinthians 9:13 AMP)
"If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For in doing so, you will heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord will reward you. The north wind brings forth rain; so does a backbiting tongue bring forth an angry countenance." (Proverbs 25:21-23 AMP)
"Let everything you do be done in love (true love to God and man as inspired by God’s love for us)." (1 Corinthians 16:14 AMP)
"Hatred stirs up contentions, but love covers all transgressions." (Proverbs 10:12 AMP)
"This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you." (John 15:12 AMP)
"If anyone says, I love God, and hates (detests, abominates) his brother [in Christ], he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen." (1 John 4:20 AMP)
"Beloved, if God loved us so [very much], we also ought to love one another." (1 John 4:11 AMP)
"Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others]." (1 Peter 4:8 AMP)
"Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. ...... And so faith, hope, love abide [faith--conviction and belief respecting man’s relation to God and divine things; hope--joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love--true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 AMP)
Endeavoring to Walk MORE in Love,
JRT
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
1 John 1:9 - just a small discussion of this verse.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." ~ 1 John 1:9
sins--> ἁμαρτία (hamartia):
1) equivalent to 264
a) to be without a share in
b) to miss the mark
c) to err, be mistaken
d) to miss or WANDER from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong
e) to wander from the law of God, violate God's law, sin
2) that which is done wrong, sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act
3) collectively, the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many
Unrighteousness --> ἀδικία (adikia):
1) injustice, of a judge
2) unrighteousness of heart and life
3) a deed violating law and justice, act of unrighteousness
I think there's some interesting things to consider when studying this verse, some say it contradicts other verses and cannot be written to NT believer bc someone who is righteous can't be unrighteous.... Which there's truth to the fact that we can't be righteous one minute and completely unrighteousness the next because we made a small mistake, but I think it is interesting that the word used for "unrighteousness" can also mean "unrighteous acts or deeds violating God's divine law" .... Which, makes that verse make more sense and I can see that it DOES apply to us... While we are righteous, we do possess a body, we are not just Spirit.... We are a spirit, we possess a soul and we live in a body... Paul even said that he buffets his body daily to make it his slave, which makes me think if you don't buffet your body daily it will want to wander away from God's moral standards for our lives.... Which makes me think, you can commit acts of unrighteousness if you don't feed on the Word and bring your body into subjection ... And thus, when you do "miss the mark" or "wander from the path of uprightness and honor" you have a signed, sealed, and delivered guarantee that you can run to your father God and ask his forgiveness. You do this not out of a state of doubting your position or His forgiveness but you do it so your heart doesn't try to make you feel UNrighteous, because you are righteous and you were bought with a price! Praise God we have confidence in the fact that all we have to do is ask and He's already forgiven us!!!!! :)
Til Next Time,
JRT
sins--> ἁμαρτία (hamartia):
1) equivalent to 264
a) to be without a share in
b) to miss the mark
c) to err, be mistaken
d) to miss or WANDER from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong
e) to wander from the law of God, violate God's law, sin
2) that which is done wrong, sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act
3) collectively, the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many
Unrighteousness --> ἀδικία (adikia):
1) injustice, of a judge
2) unrighteousness of heart and life
3) a deed violating law and justice, act of unrighteousness
I think there's some interesting things to consider when studying this verse, some say it contradicts other verses and cannot be written to NT believer bc someone who is righteous can't be unrighteous.... Which there's truth to the fact that we can't be righteous one minute and completely unrighteousness the next because we made a small mistake, but I think it is interesting that the word used for "unrighteousness" can also mean "unrighteous acts or deeds violating God's divine law" .... Which, makes that verse make more sense and I can see that it DOES apply to us... While we are righteous, we do possess a body, we are not just Spirit.... We are a spirit, we possess a soul and we live in a body... Paul even said that he buffets his body daily to make it his slave, which makes me think if you don't buffet your body daily it will want to wander away from God's moral standards for our lives.... Which makes me think, you can commit acts of unrighteousness if you don't feed on the Word and bring your body into subjection ... And thus, when you do "miss the mark" or "wander from the path of uprightness and honor" you have a signed, sealed, and delivered guarantee that you can run to your father God and ask his forgiveness. You do this not out of a state of doubting your position or His forgiveness but you do it so your heart doesn't try to make you feel UNrighteous, because you are righteous and you were bought with a price! Praise God we have confidence in the fact that all we have to do is ask and He's already forgiven us!!!!! :)
Til Next Time,
JRT
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The Qualities of a True Prince Charming!
I’ve really been inspired on the topic of “Waiting for Prince Charming” and the qualities of a virtuous, godly woman in today’s society, so I may write a series on these topics, but we’ll see…
So many times we girls grow up on fairytales and only focus on the main points, girl meets an attractive guy who turns out to be Prince Charming and they live happily ever after. What so many seem to miss are the important hidden lessons in these stories. It seems as girls we get in our head that all to it is just finding someone that we are in love with because of his dreamy eyes, adorable nose, heartthrob smile, etc. and nothing else matters. While that seems to be the pervasive theme of most fairytales, I feel the classic fairytales and the final authority, the Bible, yield the perfect example of what a True Prince Charming looks like.
Some important things to consider when looking for Prince Charming ... While he may be cute to look at, does he exhibit the qualities of a good husband?
1. Does he have a strong relationship with God? Not simply does he go to church and sound spiritual, but does he have a true, established passion for God and His Word even behind closed doors when the spotlight is off?
2. Does he have a home? While it doesn't have to be Buckingham Palace, Prince Charming always has a Castle to bring his Princess home to! A godly, upright man preparing to be a good husband shows an admirable quality in making sure he has his own place to bring a wife home to. Love may make you feel good, but that feeling can turn to sadness if your castle turns out to be a cardboard box!
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