Jesus is Lord!

Ecc. 1:1-3, Deut. 30:11-20, Mic. 7:1-13, Matt. 7:13-29

It is all important we realize nothing will take the place of personal submission and surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. Acquaintance with Scripture that does not control our lives…and even falsely presenting scripture to make the “burden” more bearable will only add to our condemnation, rather than prove a means of salvation for those who do not know and have not experienced Truth given through grace.

It is a great thing to be called of God to service on behalf of the lost world; and its a tremendous event in the history of a soul when the voice of Christ is heard clearly without muddled up distractions that cause separation.

All are not fitted for the same tasks; all cannot work in the same way. But each one of us who yield entirely to the Lord Jesus for definite service will find that He enables, trains, and directs, so our lives will be used to His glory.

One cannot possibly be surrendered wholly if the goal is to make Jesus fit into our perspective. Its sinful to try to force Biblical principles and Truth on the world of unsaved men, when we ourselves are not under them. It is as great a sin to insist these principles have no binding authority over the consciences of Christians and non Christians today.

Where is our faith?? In us is fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law a we “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4)

Jesus is LORD, the title alone requires submission to His authority and abandonment of our own…

Relational Truth is NOT Infallible Truth

Here is a recent post from a friends blog: http://jimsdailythoughts.wordpress.com/

John 1:5..."This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all."

John 8:44… “You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the Truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

A life that is built on lies does not comprehend truth as truth but studies it as another version of the lies that are currently accepted as normal life. (Acts 17:21) 

When truth is compared with lies by those who live as liars it is no longer infallible Truth, it is relational truth which must compare favorably with lies. From the mouth of the devil, truths are twisted into lies. The children of the devil, whom we all are without the redeeming work of Christ, twist truth into lies.

Many teachers and writers are presenting the Bible truths in the context of lies. At the root of this weed is a lie that is so evil it rivals all evils of the day… “God wants to reconcile to man.” That is a classic example of twisted truth that many groups of people are building their mission on.

Why is that a lie? Doesn’t the Bible tell us that very thing? Isn’t that why Jesus came? Jesus came to reconcile man to God; He did not come to reconcile God to man. God is light and Truth; He will not change. In reconciliation to a perfect God, it is man who must change. That simple twist of words changes the whole understanding of reconciliation.

With that lie as a foundation, man and man’s culture become as important as Truth. We become equal players in the process of reconciliation. We write the terms of the agreement according to the lies we are most comfortable with. Since it is reconciliation God wants, we will help Him accomplish that by changing the rules to facilitate what He wants.

Even truths, when built on a foundation of lies, are lies. We must accept only God’s revelation of Truth and light. We must silence the voices from society that co-mingle truth with lies and thereby create lukewarmness. 

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When I read this... 1 Pet. 1:24-25 came to mind.  It says " For, all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of the Lord stands forever."

The verse comes directly from Isaiah 40:6-8 and causes me to think about the foundational pegs I've put my trust in.

We know, because Scripture tells us if God goes... then everything worth while goes with Him.  Removing God causes everything in this wretched world to lack basis, permanence,  and ultimate meaning.

The entire situation is summed up in these words: "And then---so the Lord declares the peg driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down." Isaiah 22:25

When pegs of lies upon which we have hung everything, give way, everything---relational truth, hopes, our future---gives way with them and goes down in utter desolation.

We have hung everything we know on the wrong peg--the insecure and unfruitful peg of lies!  That peg.. should have been God; for, as He holds amid the stress of things, everything holds.

It's not easy to choose infallible Truth because the intellectual climate has changed.  Faith has become scientific.  Every question has to be verified, for science believes in verified Truth.  Can Truth be verified through science?? Can Truth in the church be unverified??  This is an impossible dualism and it makes Faith impossible for the modern man!

The foundational pegs of relational truth on which we have hung our faith are in fact coming down.  We are at the end of a sensate society.  It has exhausted itself against the facts of Infallible Truth!

When we take a new foundation.. a new center--God-- will that center be capable of verification?  Will He verify Himself to us as self authenticating??

Lukewarm: Moving from Hot to Cold

God knows the moment we lose our passion and zeal, we lose His vision and desire. Satan knows this too, and there is nothing he likes better than apathetic Christians. 

A lukewarm state is easy to fall into. I’ve heard several definitions of what a lukewarm condition looks like… but one I’ve had personal experience with was serving God in such a way as to not offend anyone… and by association with sin... the devil himself!

I can’t specifically point to a moment in time where I learned my actions were disgusting and all actuality grieved the Holy Spirit… But I remember feeling deep conviction and praying for a heart change.

God has been honoring that prayer, and has begun to reveal to me the things that need immediate attention and response through repentance.  Not just a simple… "I’m sorry please forgive me"…… but an actual commitment to turn from that behavior and abide in Him from that point on.

Words aren't enough… I have to change my lifestyle.. physically.. mentally and spiritually.

God is using several life situations to break me and I'm learning true spiritual fervor… passion… and zeal… are only maintained  when there's a constant sense of my weakness and the need of nourishing my soul upon Truth found in and through the Word of God.

If devotion is neglected we become lukewarm, and the church itself is only what its members make it.

Its true… a believer…out of fellowship with God… may be quite satisfied for a time, boasting of needing nothing. Yet all the while the Lord detects the sad lack of practically everything that makes for vital godliness.

In His grace, He allows trial and affliction to draw the wayward heart back to Him… 

...and that's how He's working in me!

Rev. 3:19 says "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent"

Halfway measures won’t do. 

If we are to be obedient in living in Christ, and experience freedom from our lukewarm condition…  only a passionate, earnest… and I’ll even go as far as describing it as a violent pursuit in tracing evil to its source, repenting, and taking the right attitude toward sin and the One who has been so grievously wronged is essential and absolutely required.

He stands outside the door – but take note... this door includes the door of the church, as well as the individual -- knocking and seeking restoration of fellowship.

The door is unlatched only by repentance; it can’t be opened any other way. So long as there is pride and arrogance in carnality… He remains outside, for He has said in Isaiah 66:2 "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word.”

He delights to dwell with those who fear Him and cleave to His truth, but He knows the proud from far away.

John 14:23: "If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

He has gone back to glory to prepare an abiding place for us. Meantime the Father and the Son delight to find an abiding place in the hearts of the redeemed while still in this wilderness-world.

Woe to us for keeping Him outside the door! 

But we coldly slumber on, barely awakened and continuously finding flimsy excuses for not giving Him admittance.

Be zealous church therefore, and repent!!!! Conditions are worse than we know. Stupor and drowsiness have blunted our sensibilities. The hour is late. The end of the age draws on...and we are indifferent and lukewarm still. Repentance, if it be worthwhile, must come now.

Otherwise it will be too late, and He will say of us as He did of Thyatira in Revelation 2:23, "all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds..."

Imagine what God might do with a truly repentant church, aflame with loving devotion to her adorable Lord!

Do you desire it?

Who can tell how many might be drawn to God if God's people were on fire for Christ and burning with zeal to win the lost?  A lukewarm church is a powerless church!! There's nothing about it to make unsaved men believe its testimony is worthwhile.

But a church characterized by fervent passion and zeal for Christ obtained through repentance and obedience, and energetically reaching out after the lost makes an impression even upon the most ungodly that's hard to ignore.

When the churches themselves heed the command to repent and go “All in” with God, we can and should expect to see repentant sinners racing through the doors…

How awe-inspiring is the long-suffering of the grieved and offended Spirit of God?? And if today we heed the call, and repent, honestly facing every wicked thing exposed by the light of the Word of God, there would come, we may be sure, revival and renewal that would make the once powerless assemblies a living witness for Christ in the world.

Words Do....

Careless habits and unholy ways are inconsistent with the Truth of the new creation.  God has given us exceeding great and precious promises, and because of His goodness we owe it to Him to judge in ourselves every tendency to unholiness, whether in body or in our mind.

We are called to walk in the Spirit in order to avoid fulfilling any unclean desire.  When we use insulting language for example... the words themselves are given power by the intention behind them.. and because this area is so dangerous, we should take great care in selecting the words we speak.

Perfecting Holiness proves growth in relationship to God our Father, which should be continuous here on earth.  As we are daily occupied with Christ and walk in the Spirit, reckoning ourselves dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ, we'll begin to detect the least beginnings of evil and steer clear! 

When we refrain, and resist we're kept from sin's power, and as we go on to faith we'll enjoy unclouded fellowship and rejoicing of God the Father with the Holy Spirit.

No Separation

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus" --Romans 8:1

In Romans chapter 7 we have a man renewed by the Spirit of God, but struggling under law, hoping thereby to subdue or find deliverance from the power of the old adamic nature.

In chapter 8 we have God's way of deliverance through the death and resurrection of Christ, with which the believer is identified before God, and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 

The chapter begins with "no condemnation" and ends with "no separation."  All who are in Christ Jesus completely are accepted in the Beloved and are as free from all charges of guilt as He is Himself.  He met all our deserts on the cross. Now we are linked up with Him in resurrection, not under law, but under grace...

Truth

"Now, O Lord God, the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning His house, establish it forever, and do as you have said" --2 Sam. 7:25

This is faith's response to the promises of God, "Do as you have said."  Nothing can turn aside that which God has planned.  He works everything according to the counsel of His own will.  When He gives quietness no one can disturb.  He never promises one thing and then does another.  His Word is unchangeable and His covenant is everlasting.

Overwhelmed with the assurances of blessing not only for the present but for a long time to come, David bows his head in the presence of God and puts his Amen to what He has covenanted.  He who thus confides in the sure Word of the Lord will never be put to shame...

Words of Truth

Words often lose their relation to truth I think.  They are like institutions in this respect; for institutions, given at first for the purpose of expressing life, often end by throttling that very life, and so must be constantly readjusted and perpetually realigned to their original purposes.

In like manner, our words often throttle the life they are intended to express and hence need constant reconversion and readjustment.

This is particularly true of religious words.  They become sacrosanct, but all out of touch with reality.  An overhaul of the vocabulary is required I think... with relentless inquiry to see what words we're using out of which the content has dropped. 

Its important for the younger generation... because they have a strong sense of reality-- they can sniff unreality from afar.  The young people usually give the speaker the first five minutes to prove he has truth.  If they hear only words.. they'll disconnect.

We need to re-clothe the eternal truths of the Gospel in the language that each age can understand.  But even that won't do, if the re-clothing is just adopting the words of the new age.  The words must have content, life, truth to them, or they will say nothing of significance.

Language is a symbol, and has to be change constantly to fit the facts.  The symbols are not the facts themselves.  A map is not the territory it represents--a map has to be changed regularly to bring it nearer to facts.  Maps of the air, used by aviators, have to be changed every few minutes, or they become dangerous.

Vocabularies that are not being constantly changed to incorporate the truths of the Bible become dangerous.

But we dislike change... especially when it comes to words! 

I fear the Church is committing suicide....