Category Archives: Man

I Shall Not Lack Anything – Psalm 23

Posted on by
Reply

            David will always be known as a man after God’s own heart.  He was often the measurement for a great man and great king.  Yet, he had his own fleshly (sinful) weaknesses.  He should have been out leading his army in battle, but he stayed back and committed adultery.  He should have taken responsibility for the fruit of his adultery, but instead tried to change the circumstances by murdering Uriah.  He failed to raise his boys in godliness and  paid  for it in the Absalom revolution.  But even in fleeing from Jerusalem during the Absalom revolt, we are blessed, because David wrote one of the greatest Psalms ever recorded.

            Psalm 23 is only six verses in the English, but contains tremendous words of comfort and hope.  Even while David was on the run, out in the wilderness with the refuge of Jerusalem in his rear view mirror, David recalls at least thirteen aspects of the Lord’s sufficiency.  His first line is “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”  This last phrase could easily be translated, “I shall not lack anything.”  Following in the Psalm we see many ways God was still providing for David.  David did not want for (did not lack):

1)      Spiritual rest – He makes me lie down
2)      Spiritual nourishment – In green pastures
3)      Spiritual freshness for life – He leads me besides still waters

4)      God’s forgiveness – He restores my soul
5)      Spiritual guidance – He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake
6)      Spiritual courage – Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil
7)      Divine companionship – You are with me
8)      Divine protection – Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me
9)      Divine provision – You prepare a table before me
10)  Divine calm –  In the presence of my enemies
11)  Divine blessing – You anoint my head with oil, My cup runs over flows
12)  Divine confidence – Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
13)  Divine destiny – I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever

When you seem to be empty, alone and fearful of the unknown, come back to Psalm 23 and find your confidence in the Shepherd.  Focus your eyes on Jesus and He’ll provide all that you need in any and every circumstance.

Legalism vs. Law

Posted on by
Reply

Paul warned that there is one solution to legalism – knowing and living under the rulership of Jesus Christ, because he made us alive with Him having wiped out the requirements against us (Col. 2:11-15).  So Paul continues don’t let someone cheat you from your reward by imposing commandments and doctrines of men on you (Col. 2:16-23).   Therefore live by dependency on Christ, not man-made legalisms.

As you went over the questions on the back of the insert, did you understand the Laws of Liberty, Love, Sacrifice and Accommodation?  Did you understand how they are related to the Law of Christ?  And how they are not legalism?  These are important to understand, because you can almost get the idea that “law” is a bad word.  Context is key to understanding all principles of Scripture.

Legalism is not a word found in Scripture, like “trinity.”  Legalism refers to any addition, subtraction, twisting, or distorting of Scripture established by man that focuses a person on the action rather than his relationship with Jesus Christ.  We’ll look at this specifically on Sunday when we look at “What does Scripture teach about a legalist?”   We’ll also see how any Christian can fall into legalism.  Can you?

Set Free in Christ to Live for Him

Posted on by
Reply

What a great response to our message last Sunday, “You are set free in Christ to live for Him!” I love how God sets us free that we are no longer under law, but under grace (Rom. 6:14), which makes us want to love the Lord with all our heart. It motivates us to want to live for Him rather than for self! It makes us want to press to the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, rather than the sinful ways of the world. You are free to please Him, not the requirements of the law. You get to live for Him, not something in the world. And you’ll see that love, by who is getting the attention in your life!

One of the topics in the message was the subject of baptism. Paul wrote that we are “buried with Him in baptism” and we looked briefly at baptisms in Scripture. I mentioned there are real and ritual baptisms. The three ritual baptisms are :
1) the baptism of John (Matt. 3:1-11)
2) the baptism of Jesus (Matt. 3:13-17)
3) the believer’s baptism (1 Cor. 1:13-17).

A ritual baptism involves immersion and identifies the person with another subject, as in:
1) the kingdom
2) Christ’s public ministry on earth under the Father’s authority
3) identification with Christ’s burial and resurrection unto life, respectively.

By contrast, a real baptism is an actual identification with the object mentioned. For example:
1) the Baptism of Moses (1 Cor. 10:1-2) is Israel’s actual identification with Moses going through the Red Sea
2) the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13) is the actual identification of the believer with the body of Christ
3) the Baptism of Fire (Matt. 3:11) is an actual identification of the unbeliever into Fire at the end of the Tribulation and Great White Throne judgment
4) the Baptism of the Cup (cross) (Mark 10:38-39) is Christ’s actual identification with the cross
5) the Baptism of Noah (1 Pet. 3:18-19) is an actual identification of the seven souls with Noah.

Let’s bring it back to you – you were buried with Christ, so you are free in Christ to live for Him. You are not under the law or requirements, so you are free to pursue with all your life to live in holiness and truth! By the way, Justin’s youth paintball expedition went fantastic! Great charge on the opposing forces! Too bad they nailed you so well! Only minor battle wounds and the old guys still have what it takes to whoop up on the younger soldiers! It was a great day of bonding!

Beware of Empty Deception

Posted on by
Reply
The miraculous life we saw in Colossians 2:8-10 is a reality for those who humble themselves to God’s will and His power. God is the potter and we are the clay; He will mold and make us while we are waiting, yielded and still. It’s better than any television entertainment or concert, because there is no explanation besides “it’s the Lord doing it.” I’ve seen it many times again and again.So we need to: Beware of empty deception. The key is we can’t fall back to the philosophies, empty deceit of the world or the traditions of men. They ruin any adventure with the Lord. And we need to: Let His fullness lead you against worldly powers. Jesus is fully God and true humanity in one person! God wants you to press forward in the completeness you have in Jesus Christ. Don’t let anyone tell you, if you are a Christian, that you don’t fit in the Body at Grace, or match up to His grace, or will ever get it right! You are complete in Christ and through God’s work of sanctification, you can experience that completeness on a daily basis. If you are a believer, you are complete in Christ and God fully indwells you to live a miraculous life!

This Sunday, Paul addresses the basis for how to deal with legalism. Legalism isn’t something that is as obvious today as it was 40 years ago, but it still exists. So how do we ensure legalism doesn’t press the wind out of you? How do you press forward with joy and anticipation of God’s work in your lives? I’ll tell you Sunday morning from Colossians 2:11-15! Can’t wait to see you. It’ll be a great morning!

It’s Faith that Matters

Posted on by
Reply
It was great fun having the children on Sunday. They were so alert and Vickie and Debbie did a wonderful job in preparing and leading the children. I’m glad you invited friends and family members to see the children and come to our Resurrection Sunday service.
“When you believe, you will see spiritual” was the message I saw in the passage and first Mary, then the Disciples and finally Thomas were able to see the Lord. Then the penetrating words the Lord spoke, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” God wants us to depend solely by faith on Him. It’s not our senses, our feelings, our experiences, our intelligence that matters nearly as much as faith.
I love the last stanza of “It is Well with My Soul,” which goes:
And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend
“Even so” – it is well with my soul.
I pray that your Day of Resurrection was reflective about the Lord’s inscrutable gift of salvation. We’ll get back into Colossians this coming Sunday looking at “How do you become deeply rooted in Christ?” And we’ll need to consider, what are the consequences of not becoming deeply rooted in Him?
 Hope you can make the Youth Spaghetti dinner tomorrow night. Justin is going to be the auctioneer and rally some fun for all of us.

Reconciliation

Posted on by
Reply

Thanks again for your great support and prayer during the loss of my dad and that we could rejoice together about the salvation of my high school buddy, Dale.

I don’t know if you caught my thoughts on 2 Cor. 5:14-19 on Sunday as well as the thoughts from Colossians. We humanly struggle with reconciliation, because we “hope” things will work out, but we’re not absolutely sure.  If the person was forever gone, then we never have to think about it again.  If the person who hurt you dies, then you never have to deal with them physically again (I understand the memories that might exist).  You can have peace and not be suspicious, questioning, or be on guard.  That’s what God did with all the sins of the world in Christ.  God put all the sins of the world on Christ and when Christ died, all the sins of the world were put away – forever.

Now all that has to happen is to accept the gift of salvation by faith.  Paul writes that “If One died for all, then all died,” and then “…that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them,…”  As unbelievers, we are convicted by the Holy Spirit of sin (John 16:8-11), that we haven’t believed in Christ, of righteousness, that Jesus satisfied the righteousness of the Father and a judgment is coming for those who reject.  Sin is no longer the issue for salvation that I have to do something about; we know because that is not the issue for judgment at the Great White Throne judgment (Rev. 20:11-15).  All the world has to do is accept what the Substitute of the world has done, died for them, thus removing the enmity, the hostility, away eternally.  The Righteousness of God was satisfied and the Love of God welcomes unbelievers who accept the gift of salvation by faith.  Those who do not, reject the pardon and are forever banished from God’s presence.  That exalts God’s character beyond the universe.

I thought I’d also include those five statements that we walked through regarding initiating practical reconciliation.  They were:

  • Expressing regret.  “I’m sorry for what I did.”
  • Accepting responsibility.  “I was wrong.”
  • Making restitution.  “What can I do to make things right?”
  • Genuine repentance.  “I don’t want to ever do that again.”
  • Requesting forgiveness.  “Will you please forgive me?” 

Let me know if you have any questions.  This message was a great way to see the Grace of God for me.