“The cross is rough, and it is deadly, but it is effective. It does not keep its victim hanging there forever. There comes a moment when its work is finished… After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual experience the Presence of the living God.”

A.W. Tozer

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Exodus 20:7
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

If the word vain is defined as not having real significance, value or importance, how do we use the Lords name vainly. In other words, how do we use the Lord in thought, word and deed in worthless ways?

Martin Luther’s Definition of Faith:
An excerpt from
“An Introduction to St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans,”
Luther’s German Bible of 1522
by Martin Luther, 1483-1546

Faith is not what some people think it is. Their human dream
is a delusion. Because they observe that faith is not followed by
good works or a better life, they fall into error, even though they
speak and hear much about faith. “Faith is not enough,” they
say, “You must do good works, you must be pious to be saved.”
They think that, when you hear the gospel, you start working,
creating by your own strength a thankful heart which says, “I
believe.” That is what they think true faith is. But, because
this is a human idea, a dream, the heart never learns anything
from it, so it does nothing and reform doesn’t come from this
`faith,’ either.

Instead, faith is God’s work in us, that changes us and gives
new birth from God. (John 1:13). It kills the Old Adam and makes us
completely different people. It changes our hearts, our spirits,
our thoughts and all our powers. It brings the Holy Spirit with
it. Yes, it is a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this
faith. Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn’t
stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone more…

Genesis 17:1
“I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.

Exodus 8
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, ” Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

That they may do what? Serve Me. So God’s desire was not that they might serve or hoped that some would serve, but so that they may serve Him (His desire is that we all may freely choose to serve Him). Why do we have such a hard time with this? If He is the Lord, shouldn’t we honestly desire to serve Him?

John 3:36
“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

We must consciously choose to obey Jesus and his teachings. If not we may start the good race but in time we may become blinded to another gospel (false teaching) as warned in 1 Timothy 4:1 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons”

May the Lord guide our thoughts and may our desires be to glorify Him alone. Thank you Jesus

I THIRST!

I tremble with compassion as I think about these two words. The Lord thirsts! My Lord and Savior hanging on a cross meant for me and all he says as part of his last 5 words is, “I Thirst”. So much more could have been said yet to the end Jesus chose to remain faithful to the will of the Father and remain consistent to his very nature.

John 19:28 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I Thirst!”

Only after he knew that ALL things were accomplished (finished) did Jesus think of his own needs. Jesus could have saved his energy to pronounce his innocents or even the judgement of those that hung him on the cross. Instead he chose to reveal his very nature again. One that placed others needs (deserving or not) before his own.

Consider this point, Jesus never used his authority for personal gain. Where is it written that more…

And Jesus said to them in Luke 9:20 “But Who do you say I am?

This was sent to me and I wanted to share it with you all.

Have you ever felt disconnected from God? I have not had the time (or made the time) to study and meditate on God’s word for the last week. And the last couple of days, I have really felt distance between myself and our Lord and Savior. Not that I haven’t prayed, but I just feel empty. I was speaking to a close friend of mine and he had mentioned that; we (as humans) have the tendency to get relaxed, in our relationship with God, when trials and tribulations are no longer upon us. And unfortunately this is true.

Today I sat, studied and meditated. And to tell you the truth I feel rejuvenated. But not quite there.

In my other book I’m reading, by John Piper, it also helped with the way I’m feeling (leave it to God to find a way to tell you what you need to hear). And this is what it said:

“There are times in the lives of the most godly people when spiritual hunger becomes weak, and darkness threatens to consume the light, and everything but the vaguely remembered taste of joy evaporated….Martin Luther wrote to Melanchton from the Wartburg Castle on July 13, 1521, while he was supposedly working feverishly on the translation of the New Testament:
‘I sit here at ease, hardened and unfeeling-alas! Praying little, grieving little for the Church of God, burning rather in the fierce fires of my untamed flesh. It comes to this: I should be afire in the spirit; in reality I am afire in the flesh, with lust, laziness, idleness, sleepiness. It is perhaps because you have all ceased praying for me that God has turned away from me…. For the last eight days I have written nothing, nor prayed nor studied, partly from self-indulgence, partly from another vexatious handicap…. I really cannot stand it any longer….Pray for me, I beg you, for in my seclusion here I am submerged in sin.’ ”

Now, I’m not as far as Luther ( I hope), but I have felt that my spiritual hunger may have weakened. I only write because I hope that you will continue to pray for me, and those around you, that we may always have that strong spiritual hunger for the Lord, His word and His desires. I thank you for all the times you have prayed and thought of me, and the Lord has blessed me from it, but I ask that you continue to pray for my spiritual walk (and for other’s), as we know that we are never out of troubled waters until that great day when we see our Savior’s face.

Thank you,

God bless

Signed a Friend

As he stated “leave it to God to find a way to tell you what you need to hear”, the timing was perfect for me to receive this letter. For I too feel the darkness of the flesh (world) tugging anxiously on me.

Thank you God for giving me this dear friend and may he be encouraged to know that YOU have chosen him to minister to the likes of me.

peace_Out

Which of these two types of people are the radical thinker? The one that holds true selective passages as absolute while ignoring others or the one that wrestles with all of the Lords words while trying to apply them relevantly in their life?

Live your faith out loud!

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Colossians 3:17