Archive for the ‘ Lifestyle ’ Category
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14, ESV
God wants to respond to His people. He is about relationships. If we seek Him, we will find Him. This is the first step in changing our world.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me
Galatians 2:20, ESV
We need to give up our rights to anything just as He gave up His rights as God to give us life.
Stop demanding and expecting Him and others to do what we think we deserve. Start giving all of you to love others for His glory.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
Psalm 51:1-2, ESV
Mercy: Not getting what we deserve.
Grace: Getting what we do not deserve.
We did not deserve forgiveness, but praise God He sacrificed His Son to give us just that!
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:11 ESV
“Discipline” has gained a negative reputation in recent decades, intoning punishment. However, when we think of it in terms of sports or finances we tend to realize its important good qualities.
May we see the need for discipline in every aspect of our lives, realizing that circumstances are not God punishing us but teaching us godliness and self-control.
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:12, ESV
Too many people have not counted the cost of discipleship (Luke 14) and therefore misunderstand what the Christian faith truly is.
If we wish to be faithful to our Lord, we must forcefully take hold of the truth of Christ and what it means for our lives, and we must strive to live in light of that truth, not the truth we make for ourselves.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ESV
A grateful heart cannot help but rejoice in all things. Look at the disciples in Acts who thanked God for being worthy to suffer because it was for their Lord. This only becomes possible by continuously being in contact with Him.
Do you have a grateful heart?
Today is my 18th Re-Birthday! [For more details, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Yep. 18 years ago today I succumbed to Jesus’ bear hug of forgiveness and grace. My faith is now legally an adult in most of the world.
Do I feel accomplished?
Honestly, I will always know there is more to do until the day I no longer need to number my days (Psalm 90:12), for The Wisdom of God made flesh has been made fully known to His Creation.
Rather, I am beginning to feel the pressure of time. I was a teenager when entering the Christian fold, so I am only in my mid-30s. However, the Lord has been teaching me to number my days (ask those who know me best! There are stories!), so I can see “missed opportunities” and periods of disobedience in my past. I see faces of people I could have been “That person” to.
Yet, these should not be seen as regrets … at least of I truly believe my sovereign Lord truly is sovereign. Rather, these are moments to glean from and push forward.
I think Paul put it best.
. . . and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
Philippians 3:9-16, ESV
Therefore, I finish as I have in the past:
. . . by quoting Jude (3):
Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
Let us celebrate our common salvation and share this faith with our fallen world!
Back in the first year of this blog, I did a short Christmas series, beginning with this post, and then this post and this post and this post.
Shall we relive the memories? Okay!
We have now looked at how Jesus’ parents, the Innkeeper, and some shepherds responded to the birth of Christ. Today, some prayer warriors meet the infant (and this will be longer, because the passage is 20 verses long):
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.
When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
These are two people who have spent the majority of their lives praying. One lived a very righteous life, and the other secluded herself in the Temple to pray continuously.
Simeon “was waiting for the consolation of Israel,” and to see “the Lord’s Christ.” His entire life was about waiting on the Lord – God’s humble servant, if you will. His entire life was dedicated to glorifying God.
Anna went from tragedy – losing her husband relatively early – into a life dedicated to God, 24/7 prayer and fasting. She never left the Temple, so her social life must have been rather limited.
Something fascinating about these two is that the moment they saw the baby Jesus they knew they were looking upon the face of the one who could save Israel and all of humanity. It was instantaneous. Further, this little baby had not even done anything of note (of which they knew, such as the immaculate conception … the virgin conceiving a child without physical interaction with a man), yet Simeon and Anna were ready to die. As Simeon said, “you now dismiss your servant in peace.” He knew he would not die without having seen the Lord’s Christ, and he was content – nay, overjoyed! – to have seen this tiny baby.
Sometimes, when reading this story from Jesus’ infancy, I hear Anna start singing “Let’s Here It for the Boy” when seeing Jesus! Silly, I know, but it at least helps me grasp her excitement!
Do you get excited about the Lord’s Salvation? Can you contain your excitement about all the things God has done and will do? Are you prepared for His Encore, the Second Coming? Are you able to discern His presence? Would you have been able to recognize the child as the Savior of the world? Will you recognize Him when He returns?
We do not necessarily have to hide ourselves away in a temple or monastery to pray 24/7, and we certainly do not have to be perfectly righteous in our own right. Christ took care of that part through His death and resurrection. We do have to be willing servants. I have to be. You have to be.
Back in the first year of this blog, I did a short Christmas series, beginning with this post and then this post.
Shall we relive the memories? Okay!
Yesterday we looked at how Mary and Joseph responded to the birth of Christ. Continuing this little series, how did the Innkeeper respond? (This is a short post, today)
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Many people have a tendency to label the innkeeper as rude, mean, hard-hearted, and even evil. It is possible, but what if these labels are either half-truths or flat-out wrong?
As we read, the Emperor had decreed a census required of all people in the Roman world. Even a tiny town like Bethlehem was besieged by weary travellers heading to comply with Imperial commands. We must remember that Bethlehem was the City of David. David had multiple wives with multiple children. His successor as king of Israel, Solomon, had 300 wives. The descendants of David would have been rather numerous, to say the least (even after centuries of being conquered and carted to and from the land, wars, and natural disasters). It is understandable that Bethlehem, surely the home town of many other people who had children throughout Israel’s history, would see many folks showing up for the census.
This would mean that a tiny inn in this tiny village could only handle so many people, even filling to over capacity. It is safe to say that the innkeeper was handling more than his fair share of responsibility.
If the innkeeper is guilty of anything, it seems it would be being too busy for God. He had to keep his paying guests as happy as possible in cramped circumstances, so he did not have time to worry about a young couple expecting a child. There may have already been some expecting parents staying there. GIVE THE GUY A BREAK!
The question we must ask ourselves – both during the busy holiday season and throughout the year – is are we too busy for God? Do we take time every day to focus on God? Are we filling our lives with so many distractions and obligations that we neglect the One to whom we owe our very existence?
Another thing to consider is that perhaps we struggle finding God because He is not moving where everyone else is going. We must also remember that if Jesus was born inside a cramped, over-crowded inn, how would the shepherds have been able to visit the newborn Savior of the world?
Hey, y’all! Welcome back to a simple man of God!
Yesterday — Wednesday, November 29 — the US was shocked to learn that Matt Lauer, co-anchor of NBC’s Today news show for the past 20 years, was fired after an allegation of sexual misconduct – specifically during the Sochi Olympics a couple of years ago.
This is after a string of accusations that began with Harvey Weinstein several weeks earlier. If you ask some of my friends, I sort of called this tsunami of accusations at that time, saying Weinstein was the catalyst that opened the floodgates.
Sadly, I was right.
In terms of Lauer’s accusation, this one made me stop and actually cry at the news. The big reason is that his accuser did it right. She went privately with her lawyers to the NBC execs, did not demand money or attention, and only requested the right thing be done.
This is not to say that others are liars or only out for some attention. Nor is this to say that every accusation is true. I am merely saying that the manner in which this woman (and others with their allegations) is handling it gives more credence. And this is what helped to break my heart a little more than other accusations of late.
NBC even came out and said they had enough evidence that this was not an isolated incident, which immediately brought into question so many past moments.
With this and so many other allegations, one can easily ask:
I was not surprised by this wave of allegations. Why? Why did I seem to expect it?
Simply, because the Bible told us it would be so.
I do not mean specifically in 21st Century United States of America. This was a general thing.
For starters, several other people have pointed out – as well as the Bible – that whenever people live however they want, especially when the abandon God, they focus on sex.
Think about what the Bible says, especially in Judges: “The people did what was right in their own eyes.”
Does that not sound much like our society?
“Do what feels good. Do what feels right. Do not tell others that what they are doing is wrong.”
And what happened the most frequently? Sexual sins … of all sorts.
In fact, Paul specifically mentioned this and other sins in his letter to the Romans:
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. . . .
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. . . .
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Romans 1:20-21, 24-26, 28-32, ESV
Now, this may sound like I am saying the victims deserved it. Am I?
Consider the number of artists (actresses, singers, etc.) who expressed their excitement at being able to take their clothes off, be in sex scenes, and the like.
This is almost begging for unwanted and inappropriate sexual advances.
And it is not a one way street, only men against women. It is also women against men, men against men, women against women, adults against children …
Some may immediately jump to the Catholic Church’s issues in this area, but it is at least as prevalent outside of the Church, as well.
What Scriptures tells us is that this is all because God basically says, “Fine. Turn away from me. I will let your nature take its course.” He gives us over to our sinful nature, and it plays out … just like we see it today with all of these allegations.
Some may say, “But even Christians do these things (not just sexual)! How can you say they turn away from God?”
This is all about denying the image of God in each other. Whenever we do anything against another human being, we are turning away from God by spurning his image in them.
But God is a God of love, grace, and mercy. He even extends it to those who have abused and been abused.
We must turn away from our own desires and actions to have our minds renewed by Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Only this will keep us from even wanting to commit such acts, let alone doing them, and only this will bring about full healing.
a simple man of God 