Archive for November, 2018
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
Psalm 9:1, ESV
God has done amazing things.
If you are saved by grace, give Him thanks and share it with the world!
Is there any more reason more worthy of thankfulness than this?
O Lord , you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
Isaiah 25:1, ESV
God has been planning and doing since before time. He knows how it all ends and how it gets there.
Trust Him. Praise Him.
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
Psalm 63:3-4, ESV
True life is found in the love of God.
Give God the Father thanks and praise for sharing His love through the vicarious death of His Son and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
But you, O Lord , are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
Psalm 3:3, ESV
Our Lord is our ultimate protector and source of all joy and hope. Without Him, we have nothing and amount to nothing.
Only when we enter eternity do we fully realize the Prize He is for us and how He has saved us.
We are back at it looking at songs and hymns that made an impact on my spiritual life! I took last week off from posting songs. Part of it was not being able to get access to the songs I wanted to use in a usable format (because the band broke up just as YouTube was becoming a thing, and I currently only have access to ripped copies of the CD’s now stored on the cloud.) Part of it was being Veterans Day. Also, as many of you probably understand all to well, there was stress and issues to deal with in life away from the blog.
But this week’s song is a biggie (you know … to me, at least.) It helped me realize the importance of the historical church. Also, when a modern ascetic Christian who made great music thinks it is important, I think it is good to pay attention!
I believe in god the father
Almighty maker of heaven
and maker of earth
And in Jesus Christ his only begotten son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
Born of the virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
He was crucified and dead and buried[Chorus]
And I believe what I believe
is what makes me what I am
I did not make it,
no it is making me
It is the very truth of god
and not the invention of any manI believe that he who suffered
was crucified, buried, and dead
He descended into hell and
on the third day, rose again
He ascended into heaven
where he sits at God’s mighty right hand
I believe that he’s returning
To judge the quick and the dead of the sons of men[Chorus]
I believe it, I believe it
I believe it
I believe it, I believe itI believe in god the father
Almighty maker of heaven
and maker of earth
And in Jesus Christ his only
begotten son, our Lord
I believe in the holy spirit
One holy church
The communion of saints
The forgiveness of sin
I believe in the resurrection
I believe in a life that never endsAnd I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
I did not make it, no it is making me
I said I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of god and not the invention of any manI believe it, I believe
I believe it, I believe
I believe it, I believe it
I believe it, I believe it
I believe it, I believe it
I believe it
Some do not care for the old creeds. “No creed but Christ,” many of them say. The irony of that credo is … well … as I just said, it is a creed.
What many may fail to realize is that the creeds are not meant to replace Scripture, but they help to clarify what we believe God has revealed to us through Scripture. The creeds help to dispel heresy, false teachings, and misunderstandings.
Rich Mullins based this song off of The Apostles Creed, an ancient, early creed of the Church.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
You probably see the similarities. This song is a strong reminder not to “move the ancient boundaries.” (Proverbs 23:10) Too many people these days are so quick to forget the past with the intention of focusing on loving people. But to ignore the creeds and 2000 years of church history is not the answer. This leads to various problems, as evidenced by the vast number of individuals, groups, churches, and denominations that are abandoning Scriptural truth for modern, “enlightened” teachings.
Instead, we should focus on the sound doctrines and teachings found in the Bible and illuminated by the Church throughout history. These illuminations and teachings should always be measured by the text of Scripture to ensure it is not being twisted. (This is a great definition of “Sola Scriptura” – Scripture Alone.)
Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
2 Corinthians 9:15, ESV
God’s gift of grace has cleansed us, made us new, and invited us back into fellowship with the Creator of all things!
Remember to tha k Him, today and every day.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV
We are victorious in Christ.
But lest we get boastful and arrogant, we must remember that this promise primarily speaks to our victory over demonic powers and ultimately death itself!
For this we thank God daily.
I know (for most of you, at least) that you read ” the opposite of love” and think “is hate.”
I disagree. (And if you already know what I think about this, please hold your comments until the end. Thanks.)
Hatred comes from one of two places.
The first is loving something/someone so much that you want to protect that love. Anything that interferes with or threatens that bond or the well-being of the object of love is rightfully hated.
“do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”
Zechariah 8:17, ESV
As a reminder, this does not mean we hate people. People are acting out from the real problem: sin, the evil within.
We hate the sin. (We can have another conversation at another time about the saying “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” Also, another another conversation can be had about jealousy.)
What is this?
I will ask a few questions to get us there:
Hopefully you see it now!
Fear leads to all kinds of craziness, such as avoiding others, making mistakes, hurting others, and even hatred.
This is not to say that fear always leads to hatred. Hatred can come from misplaced love (loving self or something more than is good) or ignorance (both innocent and willful ignorance). This is a mixture of the first source of hatred and fear.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
1 John 4:18, ESV
Loving others frees us of hatred and the fear of what they may do to us.
Love also frees us of the fear of God’s punishment for our sin, but only when we see the truth that He loved us and showed it by coming as a man to sacrifice Himself for the forgiveness of our sin. This is also what empowers us to love others. (1 John 4:19)
It is also what reminds us that, while we are born into and perpetuate the sin of Adam and Eve, we are freed from that sin.
It is so, incredibly appropriate that Thanksgiving begins the Christmas season. Unfortunately too many people are caught up in the materialism of “doorbuster savings” and getting the newest electronic gismo that will be outdated by the time they get it home, that they fail to take time to be truly thankful. The truth is, if you have a roof over your head, food and clean water, you are better off than most of the people in the world.
This Thanksgiving, be sure to start off the Christmas season right by really setting everything aside, and being thankful for everything God has done for you.
And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
1 Chronicles 29:13 ESV
We must always – ALWAYS – remember to thank God and give Him praise for all He has done and is doing and will do.
In fact, get in the habit of thanking God before asking God.
a simple man of God 