Guidance for my children (Essentials of Christian Faith)

I hope you find this helpful in your search for truth and as you share the gospel with others.  Dad

You mentioned how Israel came to God and then walked away from God and came back and so on as an example that we can lose our salvation.  Romans 9 explains this. “ It is not as though the word of God had failed.  For not all Israelites truly belong to Israel, and not all of Abraham’s children are his true descendants; but …..this means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants.”  The nation of Israel may have fallen away from God but not all it’s inhabitants fell away.    Being born again happens in a moment. Becoming like Christ takes a lifetime. And finally through resurrection at the second coming we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye-- immortal imperishable.  Once born again you can not be unborn – this applies to both physical life and spiritual life.  Sanctification is our daily walk with Christ maturing process and we go through ups and downs in life and have families and careers and makes friends and lose friends etc.  God molds us into what he wants us to be for his kingdom as we yield to him.  No one completes this process perfectly but Gods word says : he who started a good work in us is faithful to complete it

(Philippians 1:6). We must take God at his word for we have nothing else – as Peter said after all Jesus followers had forsaken him but the twelve & Christ asked if the twelve were going leave him also – Where shall we go? Only you have the words of eternal life.  No truer words were ever spoken.  How can the clay say to the potter what are you doing? We must trust and obey daily through the power of the the holy spirit living within us and stay attached to the vine which is Christ.  As Paul said: to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering. To know Christ and him crucified.  All else I consider loss.  And as Job said: though he slay me, yet will I serve him. 

            Outward appearances can be deceiving.  Consider Judas.  For three years, he was part of Christ’s inner circle.  From all outward appearances, he was a true follower of Christ.  Yet, Jesus characterized Judas as “a devil” (John 6:70).  The book of Hebrews warns us that there were Jews who, like Judas, tasted God’s goodness and yet turned from his grace.  They acknowledged Christ with their lips, but their apostasy proved that their faith was not real. Furthermore, we would do well to remember that everlasting life means just that—life everlasting.  This life does not begin when we die but when we embrace the Savior who died in our place.  As our physical birth can never be undone, so too our spiritual birth can never be undone, Christ said “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7), not “ye must be born again and again and again.”  In Philippians, Paul praises God for the confidence that, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Philippians 1:6)

            Finally, Scripture is replete with passages that testify to the security of the believer.  John 5:24 assures us that “he who believes..has eternal life”; 1Cor1:8 promises that Christ will “keep you strong to the end;” And Jude 24 guarantees that God “is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault.” Moreover, Ephesians provides the surety that “you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession” (1:13-14).

Back to being born again I wanted to stress a few things that happen at that moment:  There is no set emotional reaction to being born again except maybe the feeling of forgiveness and a weight lifting off our backs and a peace of sorts related to knowing you’re on your way to heaven.  Tears come for many but I personally did not cry.  I remember actually being aware that I had just given my life to Jesus and looked inward and reflected on my emotional and physical state and wondered why I didn’t feel anything if the spirit of God had just entered me.  I honestly felt nothing but the peace and comfort of knowing by God’s word that if I died I’d go to heaven because of what Jesus did for me on the Cross.  Obviously at that point in my walk I knew close to nothing about God except that he loved me enough to send his son to die for me.  I remember actually feeling like scales had fallen from my eyes and I couldn’t understand why others couldn’t seem to see it or want it.  Christ had taken my broken worthless sinful life and was now going to make something beautiful out of my ashes and dust.  How could anyone turn this down.  I always liked Joshua’s words --But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites (today we could replace that with Humanism, Darwinism, Scientology Muslim, etc), in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

ASSURANCE OF SALVATION:  A pastor once told me if we can lose our salvation then Jesus’ death on the cross was insufficient.  The Holy Bible says that nothing can snatch us out of the Fathers hands once we’re we’ve given our lives to Jesus - and since “we” are included in the word “nothing” that means not even our own personal choice to walk away from God can make us unsaved once we truly accept Jesus as savior.  Being born again begins a process that cannot be reversed.  Hebrews 12:7 says It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  This verse and many others like it have no meaning if you can just walk away from God and become unsaved by doing so.  Those who walk away from God and don’t have the spirit hounding them to get right again obviously were never saved to begin with or else the spirit would be disciplining them to get the back in line.  A true believer always wants to please God and do his will -- the spirit of God has been called the hound of heaven and will not let you rest until you repent and confess your sin and get back in fellowship with him again.  Notice I said fellowship not getting born again again.  Also the verses that talk about grieveing the holy spirit make no sense if when we walked away from God we were no longer saved and the spirit left us – its ridiculous we would have to worry every second of every day whether we had blown it enough to be unsaved again.  Where is the peace and joy in that. No – only eternal security and knowing we are saved no matter what we do makes sense.  Yes, some may take that as license to sin, but not those who are truly saved.  Shall we sin that grace may abound? God forbid.  Even that verse make no sense if you can lose your salvation.  I hope I’m making some sense to those finding themselves reading this.

TRINITY

While it has become increasingly popular to suggest that the doctrine of the Trinity is derived from pagan sources, in reality, this Christina essential is thoroughly biblical. The word “Trinity” ---like “incarnation”--- is not found in Scripture; however, it aptly codifies what God has condescended to reveal to us about his nature and being.  In Short, the Trinitarian platform contains three planks:  (1) there is but one God; (2) the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; (3) Father, Son and Holy Spirit are eternally distinct.

            The first plank underscores that there is only one God.  Christianity is not polytheistic but fiercely monotheistic.  “You are my wtnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me” (Isaiah 43:10).

            The second plank emphasizes that in hundreds of Scripture passages the Faterh, Son, and Holy Spirit are declared to be fully and completely God.  As a case in point, the Apostle Paul says that, “there is but one God, the Fatehr” (1 Corinthians 8:6). The father, speaking of the Son, says, “Your throne, O God, will last forever and forever” (Hebrews 1:8), And when Ananias “lied to the Holy Spirit,” Peter points out that he had “not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:3-4).

            The third plank of the Trinitarian platform asserts that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are eternally distinct.  Scripture clearly portrays subject/object relationships between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  For example, the Father and Son love one another, speak to each other (John 17:1-26), and together send the Holy Spirit (John 15:26).  Additionally, Jesus proclaims that he and the Father are two distinct witnesses and two distrinct judges (John 8:14-18).  If Jesus were himself the Father, his argument would not only have been irrelevant but it would have been fatally flawed; and if such were the case, he could not have been fully God.

            It is important to note that when Trinitarians speak of one God they are referring to the nature or essence of God.  Moreover, when they speak of persons they are referring to personal self-distinctions within the Godhead.  Put another way, we believe in one What and three Who’s.  We can apprehend this concept but not fully comprehend it.  I would not worship a God I could fully figure out.  God has given us enough to work with in this life – the next life is our hope  and where we should be laying up treasure by doing good works for Jesus and winning souls for the kingdom.

            For further study see James R. White “The Forgotten Trinity”, 2001

Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

ESSENTIAL CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE

The importance of essential Christian doctrine can hardly be overstated.  First these are the very doctrines that form the line of demarcation between the Kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the cults.  While we may debate nonessentials without dividing over them, when it comes to essential Christian doctrine there must be unity.  Hence the maxim: In essentials unity, nonessentials liberty, and in all things charity.

            Furthermore, essential Christian doctrine is the North Star by which the course of Christianity is set, Just as the North Star is an unchanging reference point by which sailors safely guided their ships, so essential Christian doctrine has safely guided the Church through the doctrinal storms that have sought to sink it.  Shooting stars light the sky for a moment; following them, however, leads to shipwreck.

            Finally, essential Christian doctrine is the foundation on which the gospel of Jesus Christ rests.  From his deity to the eschatological certainty that he will appear a second time to judge the living and the dead, essential Christian doctrine is foundational to the gospel.  All other religions compromise, confuse, or contradict these essentials.  Muslims, for example dogmatically denounce the doctrine of Christ’s unique deity as the unforgiveable sin of Shirk. They readily affirm the sinlessness of Christ, but they adamantly deny his sacrifice upon the cross and his subsequent resurrection as the only hope of salvation.

Essential tenets of the Christian faith are:

We should all inscribe the essentials on the tablet of our heart around the acronym

D-O-C-T-R-I-N-E. It is my prayer that you will become so familiar with essential Christian doctrine that when a counterfeit looms on the horizon you will know it instantaneously.

Diety of Christ

Original Sin

Canon

Trinity

Resurrection

Incarnation

New Creation

Eschatology

Diety of Christ – Jesus in the eternal Creator God (John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1, Revelation 1)

Original Sin – Romans 3:23 all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  While the notion of generational curses and spirits is foreign to Scripture, there is a  sense in which all people are cursed as a result of Adam’s rebellion.  The 2^nd Adam (Christ) took care of this problem. (Rom 5:12-21)

Canon -  The Bible records predictions of events that could not be known nor predicted by chance or common sense.  For example, the book of Daniel (written before 530 B.C.) accurately predicts the progression of kingdoms from Babylon through the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, and then the Roman Empire, culminating in the persecution and suffering of the Jews under Antiochus IV Epiphanes with his desecration of the temple, his untimely death, and freedom for the Jews under Judas Maccabeus (165 B.C.).  It is statistically preposterous that any or all of the Bible’s specific detailed prophecies could have been fulfilled through chance, good guessing, or deliberate deceit.  “A case for Christ”  and “Has God Spoken” are two good sources for further study.

Trinity – Though this word in not in the Bible it aptly codifies the essential Biblical truths that there is one God and has three distinct persons within the Godhead --the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit which are eternally distinct—meaning one never becomes the other as some groups profess.

Resurrection – All four canonical gospels record the bodily resurrection of Jesus fromm the dead.  The immutable fact of Jesus’ resurrection is the cornerstone of Christian faith, because it not only vindicates Jesus’ claims to diety, it ensures the future bodily resurrection unto eternal life of all who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and proclaim him as Lord(1Cor 15, 1 Thess 4:13-18).  The historical reality of the resurrection can be demonstrated through the fatal torment of Jesus on the Cross; the empty tomb—(early Christianity could not have survived an identifiable tomb containing the corpse of Christ); the post—resurrection appearances of Jesus; and the transformation of believers throughout the ages whose lives have been radically altered upon experiencing the resurrected Lord.

Incarnation – The doctrine of the Incarnation is aptly summed up in the words of the apostle John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1,14).  The clear testimony of Scripture is that, in the Incarnation, Jesus Christ was fuly God and fully man; that is, He existed as the perfect unity in one person of a divine and a human nature (John1; Colossians 1). As Theanthropos (“God-Man”), the spotless “Lamb of God” (John 1:29) lived a perfectly sinless human life and died a sinner’s death to sufficiently atone, once for all, for the sins of humanity (Romans 5:1-21; Hebrews 10:11-18).

New Creation – The essential doctrine of New Creation is aptly codified in the words of the apostle Paul: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  All who believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and confess him as Lord are reconciled to God and inherit eternal life in his glorious presence (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10).  Jesus’ resurrection from the dead inaugurates the renewal of all things.  The new creation of faithful believers and the new creation of the natural world will be consummated in the resurrection when Jesus returns bodily to earth as the conquering king (Romans 8:18-25).

Eschatology – The study of end-times—its importance is difficult to overemphasize.  It is the thread that weaves the tapestry of Scripture into a harmonious pattern.  It is the study of everything we long and hope for.  Early in Genesis, Adam and Eve fell into a life of constant sin terminated by death.  The rest of Scripture chronicles God’s unfolding plan of redemption.  Although Christians debate secondary aspects of eschatology, such as the timing of the tribulation or the meaning of the millennium, we are united in the truth that just as Christ came to earth once to bear the sins of the world, so too he will return again to gather the elect and to usher in the resurrection of all things (1 Thess 4:13-18; Hebrews 9:27-28). On that day, the just will be resurrected to eternal life and the unjust to eternal conscious torment and separation from the love and grace of God (John 5:28-29).  Paradise lost will become paradise restored, and the problem of sin and Satan will be fully and finally resolved (Revelation 20-22). 

1 Timothy 4:16

“Watch your life and doctrine closely. 

Persevere in them, because if you do

you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

We can’t go through life getting mad because no one is doing what we think they should be doing. God gives us convictions and grace as we go through life for us to cope and make it though and to serve his individual purposes in our life – we must understand that just because he gives us a conviction about a certain matter does not mean anyone else should or will have the same conviction.  As we concentrate on our own walk and love others like Jesus commanded we grow.  We all should read 1 Cor 13 regularly to keep our life in balance:
1If I speak in the tongues^a of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,^b but have not love, I gain nothing. 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Greater is he who is in you; than he that is in the world. 

 WE are called to love others, not change them.   If you struggle with pride Remember we are but dust and without Jesus we are hopelessly worthless and lost. This world brain washes us to believe we should be self reliant and have self esteem and self confident which are all completely the opposite of what God says. When we are weak, then we are strong because we rely on Jesus.   He tells us to cast all our care on him, to be dependent on him like a child, and that we can do nothing with him, and its not by our might or our power, but by his spirit the battles are won daily.  Yes god wants us to be confident, but not in ourselves but in HIM and what he can do thru us.  The world is constantly bombarding us with half truths and subtle lies to deceive us and get us off track.  

I know you're already a thankful and grateful person, but I thought I'd share the following comment anyway.  It helps me when I feel angry or I'm mad at someone.  – its impossible to have a bad attitude and be bitter and hateful if you have a thankful and grateful heart.  It’s impossible – they trump the bad attitude every time. Praying for a person or situation really helps as I'm sure you already know.   It is to your glory to overlook an offense. 

God bless you all,  Dad

Oh Olivia and I saw Hunger Games - Donald Sutherland played a bad guy.  Olivia got mad how they manipulated the games. 

 

Calendars & the Meaning of Anno Domini (A.D.)

Abbreviation for Anno Domini - Latin for The Year Of Our Lord - used in the Gregorian Calendar to refer to the current era. A date such as 1945 A.D. literally means 'the 1945th year of our lord', the lord in question being Jesus Christ, providing a religious context and clearly distinguishing the time from an earlier era, where B.C is used instead. The use of A.D. was popularised by Bede.
Modern historical research suggests the current A.D. date is actually wrong, as Jesus was born 4-7 years earlier than the year 1 date the Gregorian Calendar works from. However, in the modern age the actual meaning of A.D. is widely forgotten or misunderstood and the term simply signifies a different era from BC.  There is no year zero in this scheme, so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC. This dating system was devised in about AD 525, but was not widely used until after AD 800.

The Anglo-Saxon historian the Venerable Bede, who was familiar with the work of Dionysius, used Anno Domini dating in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, finished in 731. In this same history he also used another Latin term, "ante vero incarnationis dominicae tempus" ("the time before the Lord's true incarnation"), equivalent to the English "before Christ", to identify years before the first year of this era,[14] thus establishing the standard of not using a year zero,[15] even though he used zero in his computus. Both Dionysius and Bede regarded Anno Domini as beginning at the incarnation of Jesus, but "the distinction between Incarnation and Nativity was not drawn until the late 9th century, when in some places the Incarnation epoch was identified with Christ's conception, i.e., the Annunciation on March 25" (Annunciation style).[3]:881

On the continent of Europe, Anno Domini was introduced as the era of choice of the Carolingian Renaissance by Alcuin. Its endorsement by Emperor Charlemagne and his successors popularizing the usage of the epoch and spreading it throughout the Carolingian Empire ultimately lies at the core of the system's prevalence. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, popes continued to date documents according to regnal years for some time, but usage of AD gradually became more common in Roman Catholic countries from the 11th to the 14th centuries.[16] Eastern Orthodox countries only began to adopt AD instead of the Byzantine calendar in 1700 when Russia did so, with others adopting it in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Gregorian calendar, and the year numbering system associated with it, is the calendar system with the most widespread use in the world today.  In the 16th century, Pope Gregory XIII (1502-1585) decided to resolve the problem of the "out-of-kilter" calendar once and for all. Pope Gregory XIII engaged several highly-regarded astronomers including the noted Jesuit Christopher Clavius (1538-1612) to devise a new calendar to overcome the deficiencies of the Julian Calendar. On 24 February 1582, he signed a Papal bull known as Inter gravissimas authorising the new Gregorian Calendar

THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT

THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our selves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November [New Style, November 21], in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620.

John Carver William Bradford Edward Winslow William Brewster Isaac Allerton Miles Standish John Alden Samuel Fuller Christopher Martin William Mullins

William White James Chilton John Craxton John Billington Richard Warren John Howland Steven Hopkins Edward Tilly John Tilly Francis Cook

Thomas Rogers Thomas Tinker John Rigdale Edward Fuller John Turner Francis Eaton Moses Fletcher Digery Priest Thomas Williams Gilbert Winslow

Edmond Margeson Peter Brown Richard Bitteridge Richard Clark Richard Gardiner John Allerton Thomas English Edward Doten Edward Liester John Goodman George Soule

http://www.pilgrimhall.org/compact.htm

Original version as recorded by William Bradford
In ye name of God Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by ye Grace of God, of great Britaine, Franc, & Yreland, King, defender of ye Faith, &c.
Haveing undertaken, for ye Glorie of God, and advancements of ye Christian faith, and the honour of our King & countrie, a voyage to plant ye first colonie in ye Northern parts of Virginia; Doe by these presents, solemnly & mutualy, in ye presence of God, and one of another; covenant & combine ourselves together into a Civill body politick; for our better ordering, & preservation & furtherance of ye ends aforesaid; and by vertue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just & equal Lawes, ordinances, Acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and convenient for ye generall good of ye Colonie; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
In witnes wherof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cap-Codd ye 11 of November, in ye year of ye raigne of our soveraigne Lord King James, of England, France, & Yreland, ye eighteenth, and of Scotland ye fiftie fourth, Ano: Dom. 1620.
http://www.usconstitution.net/mayflower.html

Mayflower Compact – Who signed it and why?
One of the first lists of the Mayflower Compact’s signers was provided by William Bradford’s nephew, Nathaniel Morton. The names are published in his 1669 New England’s Memorial. They are also posted by the Avalon Project of Yale University. Some of the more familiar names includes are those such as: John Carver, William Bradford, Edward Winslow, William Brewster, Isaac Allerton, Myles Standish, and John Alden.

When creating the Mayflower Compact, the signers believed that covenants were not only to be honored between God and man, but also between each other. They had always honored covenants as part of their righteous integrity and agreed to be bound by this same principle with the Compact. John Adams and many historians have referred to the Mayflower Compact as the foundation of the U.S. Constitution written more than 150 years later.

America was indeed begun by men who honored God and set their founding principles by the words of the Bible. They lived their lives with honesty, reliability, and fairness toward establishing this country “for the sake of its survival.” A great many of America’s Founding Fathers have been quoted in regard to living by Biblical values.

Edmund Burke (1729-1794), outstanding orator, author, and leader in Great Britain, defended the colonies in Parliament. "There is but one law for all, namely, that law which governs all law, the law of our Creator."

Patrick Henry (1736-1799), five-time Governor of Virginia, whose "Give me liberty or give me death" speech has made him immortal, said: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly, nor too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. . . ."

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third U.S. President, chosen to write the Declaration of Independence, said: "I have little doubt that the whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our Creator, and, I hope, to the pure doctrines of Jesus also." He proclaimed that it was the God of the Bible who founded America in his 1805 inaugural address: "I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their native land and planted them in this country." 
 http://www.allabouthistory.org/mayflower-compact.htm

Apparent Contradictions & Why we need rules to live by

Context context context.  You cannot take any verse out of scripture and say it’s true.  It must ALWAYS be held in context or it’s almost guaranteed to be misused and/or misunderstood. 

Who among you has not started a comment and been interrupted by another who tries to finish your thought or rebut your statement before you’ve finished. 

Thus you must either interrupt that person (rude) or wait for them to give you the floor back so you can say “I wasn’t finished talking”. 

For example say you are listening to a long political speech or other sensitive social issue and you begin with “I agree”.., and before you can finish your statement someone bites your head off and counters your statement with “how can you say that”.  Not realizing you had not finished your comment and were about to say “BUT not all if it” or you were going to clarify your agreement etc. 

Let’s take the most popular verse in all of scripture and analyze it under this supposition:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

The key is to determine what “believeth in Him” means.  The whosoever and the everlasting life are pretty clear.  Exactly what the believeth in Him means is the issue.

More scripture (redemptive revelation) is required to determine exactly who the son is and what “believeth on Him” means.   And as we all can clearly see from society and testimony in the scriptures that even those living in the day of Jesus denied him and did not believe so it’s no wonder we have skeptics to this day despite the wonders of creation and the fact that God’s laws are written of all men’s hearts. 

Life’s circumstances are not fair and God never said they were., but what is fair is the CHOICE and Evidence we all have before us.  God has written the morale law on all men's hearts to know right and wrong.  If they choose despite their situation to seek the creator they WILL find him (Proverbs 8:17).  Those who despise the light and love darkness will eventually be given over to a reprobate mindset – but none the less as long as man has breath he can repent and turn to the Lord who is not far from any of us. 

Context is vital in all literature.  Take your favorite novel.  If you were to strip one key chapter out of the book having never read the rest of the book – you could and probably would totally misinterpret the chapter and it would have a totally different effect on you emotionally than it would have if you read it the way it was intended.  The Bible is no different – a chapter may not make much sense until you finish the entire book.  All the books of the bible were meant to be read in their entirety not a chapter here, a verse there. An of the 66 books of Scripture each one can help interpret the other.  Thus one author (God).  There is no other way to explain it. 

Take a mystery novel.  Who in their right mind would want to know the answer to the mystery before they begin.  If defeats the entire point.  The joy and purpose was to read and get into the characters and be intrigued by the mystery as it develops.  You try to solve it yourself as you read there are twists and turns you didn’t expect – emotions come out – you laugh and maybe get a tear in your eye.  Sometimes you get mad even.  Then by the end you may even love a character who you almost hated in the beginning, but if you had not read the book in proper order – it would have made no sense at all, because it was not in the proper time and place.  This is what the scripture calls WISDOM. 

Without truth everything is nonsense and irrelevant.  Can you imagine trying to measure a football field without any set standard of measurement?  Or selling and buying produce with no set standard of weight.  You get the picture – it would be chaos or confusing at the least.   If this seems like common sense then why when it comes to morals an ethical behavior people feel they should be able to do whatever feels right for them.  God has rules for living whether we agree with them or not.  When your loved one has to have a major operation do you want the doctor who went thru school cheating all the way and who is loose and fancy free with his technique and doesn’t follow routine sanitation etc. or do you want the doctor who uses the most clearly proven successful technique and thru hard work got his education and who was taught by the best doctors of our day and has a proven success rate.  Or when you fly in an airplane – do you want a drunkard who barely got his license and doesn’t know how all the instruments work or a seasoned pilot who is proud of his record and gets plenty of sleep and possibly served in the military and saved many lives during conflict and completes his safety checklist perfectly each time before takeoff and follows FHA rules and regulations or the guy whose fancy free and takes off when he feels like even if the tower said it’s not his turn.  Well you say that’s different – no it’s not.  These principles apply to every aspect of life.  Business, family, marriage, friendships, church, clubs, military, hospitals, sports, etc.  Can you imagine a championship game in any sport and players not following rules – not only would they lose, but it would be a joke and in the end no one would come to watch.  Its clear there must be rules and they must be followed.  Who better to make the rules than our creator, God.  The Holy Bible is that manual to live by.  We disregard God's rule book at our own risk and are held accountable for all people who we influence in a negative manner as we do what feels good in our own eyes.  A very sobering thought and it's true.  Matthew 12:36 "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken."

Everyone has to ask themselves this question - Will God judge me on what I think is right and wrong or what He (God) thinks is right and wrong? You dare not answer this question wrong because the result would be grave indeed! 

You may say it's not right to scare people like this.  Well you judge which is worse.  Let people die in their ignorance and sin and end up in eternal hell away from God or to hear a scary sobering message yet respond to the truth and be saved thru Jesus and live in paradise forever.  

One more example then I’ll shut up:  Proverbs 1:28 says "Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me.”  AND Proverbs 8:17 says “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.” 

So which is it?  Is Proverbs 1:28 correct or is Proverbs 8:17 correct?  That question is in error.  Both are correct and without context you will get nonsense and contradiction.  We all need to read the Bible for all it worth and mine its deep treasures.  This is exactly why Jesus said so many times “he who has ears to hear let him hear” and “he who has eyes to see, let him see”.  Your garden variety pagan will laugh and say “I can see I can see Praise the Lord” as they mock God all day long, but when a lost soul sincerely does see clearly and the scales drop from their eyes and the spirit reveals truths to them – they say things like how could I have been so blind all this time. And they cry and laugh and are filled with inner peace & joy that only God can give through trusting your entire life to Jesus Christ who died and gave his life a ransom for many.  Do you wish to be wise Saheeb?   Then seek Jesus starting today!

LEGITIMATE PLEASURE

 

LEGITIMATE PLEASURE

Build a home and life where God’s values are clearly before you:

1)      Anything that refreshes you without distracting you from your ultimate goal
is a legitimate pleasure.

2)      Any pleasure that jeopardizes the sacred right of another is an illicit pleasure.

3)      Proverbs 25:16:  If you find honey eat just enough of it; too much of it and
you will vomit.

Any pleasure no matter how good if not kept in balance will distort reality or destroy appetite.  KEEP your life in BALANCE – The best of pleasures have a shelf life and you walk away from them.  God alone is the perpetual novelty.

Pleasure for pleasures sake will leave you empty.  Pleasure must only be a means – it can never be and end in itself.

There is a place for legitimate pleasure. Pure pleasure brings you within the reach of God’s voice.

The ultimate pleasure you and I seek is the pleasure of intimacy where God alone is enjoyed in worship, it is worship that brings complete pleasure & if you and I learn to worship individually the day becomes a pleasurable one because there is a cohesiveness from the grid of which every other pleasure is interpreted.

Ravi Zacharias – What is worthwhile under the sun (2of2) archives Let My People Think

Listen to full talk at rzim.org at your leisure – a legitimate pleasure which I hope will help you grow closer to God by being wiser in the way you live and use your time.

Mark’s Analysis:

Ravi has some profound truths here from God’s treasure trove of wisdom to help us navigate our course in this life toward God and his will for us and our families and the body of Christ of which Christ is the head. 

How a simple walk, (not for exercise which can make a drudgery of it,) but for the pure pleasure of walking.  Or reading a good book (not to learn or to teach others some truth, ) but for pure personal enjoyment of reading it.  No hidden agenda’s just Pure simple pleasure because you enjoy it and it refreshes you.  I feel these things have been lost and are elusive to so many.  There is an old saying “Misery loves company”  People will try and drag you into their mess OR if they are really seeking may ask you why you are different and what’s your secret.  That is the moment for you to speak grace to their ears and let God’s words flow from your mouth with gentleness and respect meeting those people where they are and loving them to Christ – not by accepting their lifestyle but by not compromising on your own.  I for one am never bored which may seem strange to some people, but I can get lonely.  As I grow older I begin to see that when anyone is bored or lonely something is amiss in their lives.  Everyone needs a good wholesome Godly family to be a part of which should supply both security and direction in life as they grow in nurture and admonition of the Lord.  All who lack this will suffer from a lack of belonging and purpose.  That void that only God can fill -- people seem to try and fill with everything but God.   Society is of no help at all and is actually a hindrance to anyone seeking God.  We as Christ followers must be the example Christ called us to be to a dark world so that they may see His light in us and come to repentance and seek help from the only True God who bestows grace & fogiveness on all who will call on His name.