Sat, Jun 29th - 1:48PM

Jhn 5:15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. Jhn 5:16 ¶ And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. Jhn 5:17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Jhn 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

We must be willing to dig into the word of God, to fully understand what He wants us to do His way by His will.. Jesus had healed a man who had been sick for many years. Were the Jewish leaders happy about it? Not only were they not happy about it they were ready to slay Lord Jesus, because of it. The Lord knew they were hypocrites, who tended their cattle on the sabbath therefore working by letting them loose to go feed, and rescuing any that needed it. They valued their cattle above people, and felt not one bit of compassion for the healed man, because they had long ago chosen their own righteousness above true righteousness that comes out of loving God and others.

Even today, too many Christians have this same rigid attitude about the Sabbath. Of course no true Christian would try to kill anybody that did not adhere to the Sabbath. If you ask some Christians what the Sabbath is, most likely they will tell you it is A day that you go to A church and sit in A pew, and that it is a A day of rest. It is likely they will cite the fifth of the Ten Commandments:

Exd 20:8 ¶ Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates: 11For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.  

Brothers and sisters we know a whole lot of us work on Sundays, and we better show up if we intend to keep our jobs and feed our families. Not a few of us rush home from sitting in the pew to “rest” watching TV, playing various video games, and carrying out many other activities that we enjoy, without the slightest thought of praying or reading and studying the Bible. Let’s take a closer look at the Sabbath:

Exd 35:1 ¶ And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These [are] the words which the LORD hath commanded, that [ye] should do them. 35:2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.

Yeah, God commands death for doing any work on the Sabbath. Sooo we know if the Sabbath of the Old Covenant was really being enforced there would be a whole lot of dead folks on Sunday. “Welllll, Christians can get away with working on Sundays, ‘cause we ain’t Jews”.

Surely we are not Jews but if we want to play around with these commandments God does not give an opt- out for what He says is: Num 15:16 One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.

There is a difference between the Old and New Covenants; they are absolutely not the same. We ought to study God’s word to understand His intentions and purposes for mankind in these covenants. God is not the author of confusion, and makes it easy to understand our responsibilities in worship, which is richer and deeper than the Old Covenant command of worship limited to one day AND PUNISHABLE BY DEATH TO ALL THOSE WHO DISOBEY IT.

love

serola

Thu, Jun 20th - 9:26AM

Jesus Is Coming Back: 

25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. Luke 21:25-28 KJV

The lesson of the Fig Tree: 29And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. Luke 21: 29-33.

Be Watchful: Luke 21: 34- 36And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. 35For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

 Beloveds, one day Jerusalem will be overrun by armies, destroyed and its inhabitants taken captive. False Christs will arise and after various cataclysmic events, signs, and wonders the Lord will return and take His people from the earth. Only then will He visit His wrath on those unbelievers left on earth. None but God knows the time these things will take place, but one thing is certainly sure, He has given us the knowledge so that we can know the signs preceding His return. He will not fail to help us to be ready for His return. 

WATCH OUT, brothers and sisters. Pay attention, and ever keep in mind we are not to become complacent. Lord Jesus warns us not to get caught up over-dosing on ungodly habits, drunkenness and over concern with the things of this life. Stay prayerful, actively living out God’s will, as we wait for our king’s return, then we will be found worthy to stand before Him. And by God’s faithfulness and power, this we will do.

But if all we do is show up for church on Sunday, and then live the rest of the week prayerless, never opening the scriptures, never witnessing, never showing love to the poor, neighbors or friends, caught up in the latest video games, movies, politics, self- absorbed only in those things that impact us, we are truly self- deceived.

This earth ain’t our home. We are foreigners and strangers on earth. We are citizens of the kingdom of God. The Bible speaks over and over again about our flesh. Certainly many of us have observed the flailing arms of infants striking themselves. The babies cry unaware that they have done it to themselves. This kind of problem ends as the baby matures developmentally. God teaches us that things arising out of the flesh come out of our old nature. Through the works of the flesh we cause harm to ourselves and others.

Our Creator details what the flesh or the old nature looks like, as we mature in Christ we harm ourselves and others less and less. God clearly demonstrates what the flesh does, and gives many examples of it throughout the scriptures. He does even more by His power, in enabling us to rise above the old man or old nature. Christians are not to think, behave, or live out of the old nature.

The Lord is Good 1Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3If so be ye have tasted that the Lord [is] gracious. 1 Pe. 2:1-3 KJV

Some complain that they tried to get certain fleshly behaviors out of their lives…”but it just came back again, stronger than ever”. All this means is that we continue to lay it aside as Christ empowers us to, even unto the very day of our departure from this earth. Neither you nor I can blame the devil for allowing ourselves to live a fleshly life. No doubt the devil, the father of evil can be blamed for much, but this is not one of them. As we gain experience in self-discipline, we mature, and become more helpful in lovingly benefitting other brothers and sisters in living godly lives. We can be absolutely sure that we please God, when we obey and trust Him out of love.

Gal 6:1 ¶ Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. The Bible ,however, is clear, if the person will not hear you in private, nor the second time with witnesses- take it to the church and follow God’s prescription. Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell [it] unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

Love

serola

Wed, Jun 12th - 7:19AM

1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5PUT TO DEATH, THEREFORE, WHATEVER BELONGS TO YOUR EARTHLY NATURE: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Col. 3: 1-14 KJV)

Brothers and sisters, Paul writes clearly not only to the Collosians, but to every believer, with NO EXCEPTIONS, Christians are to live according to God’s standard alone. The Bible is clear, Christians don’t have to practice sin. God has empowered every Christian to operate according to the new life that He has given us as new creations in Him.

What a far cry from what some churches are teaching today. Appallingly it is not that unusual today for those who practice things eschewed by the apostle Paul to get into groups where they introduce themselves to one another as “ Hi I am so and so and I am a drunk (polite to say alcoholic), I am a sex addict etc.”. Some remain in these kinds of groups for years, with no real change.

  The root cause of such problems is unbelief. If we believe the Bible, we willingly choose to leave our old lives behind, trusting the truth that what God has for us is so much better.

1Jo 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (KJV)

This is a basic principle truth of scripture. Only the Holy Spirit reveals this easy to understand verse, that it is not double talk but the absolute truth. Every Christian is to deal a death blow to every work of the flesh operating in their lives, no matter the pain, no matter the cost. What belongs to the flesh is spelled out in detail by God, and must be rejected. We must continually grow and put on the new man, and live the new life. And this we will do by God's power working in us.

love

serola

Sat, Jun 1st - 5:43AM

Forgiveness for the Offender

After Paul challenged the Corinthian church, he wrote to them afterwards:

5If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. 7Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 10Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. (NIV) 2 Cor. 2:5-11.

The church had passed the test and shown their obedience. As a result Paul lets them know it is now time to comfort and receive again this brother who was extremely sorrowful and therefore repentant. Paul wanted to let them know better than yield to any scheme of satan’s to be unforgiving and to forbid the repentant brother to return to them as a brother.

Saints (G40 hagios), expelling an unrepentant brother or sister from the church is not an act of hatred but of love. Those returning repentant have passed the test and the church must receive them in  restoration, comfort and love. I think it is significant that no mention is made as to whether this brother held an office in the church or not, because it really does not matter. No one is above church discipline.

love

serola