Tag: opportunities

Jude (Part 4)

Jude (Part 4)

This is the fifth installment in this series and there will be at least one more after. We find ourselves now in the 17th verse and we will explore to the 23rd. It is a call to remain faithful. It is written to the Church, believers, you and i . . . if you by some chance find yourself here and you are not a believer, this still can apply to you as you ask God to reveal himself to you through the pages of His Love story written to us we call the Bible.

As we have been dealing with judgment we now turn the corner a bit and Jude begins this next section with the word, “But.” “But you, my dear friends, must remember . . .” Take note here, Jude is trying to point something out for us, remember this, “what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted, They told you that in the last times (end of days) there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.” We live in a time that even in the Church people scoff at the Word of God, “certainly,” they will say, “it doesn’t mean that! God is Love. So let us just simply love everyone.” i think we can love someone and still tell them the truth. Consider for a moment what the writer of Proverbs says in 12:1 “To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.” Later in the same chapter, they write, “An honest witness tells the truth; a false witness tells lies. Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing. Truthful words stand the test of time, but lies are soon exposed.” (17-19) A bit further on in verse 26 we read, “The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray.” Chapter 12 concludes with verse 28, “The way of the godly leads to life; that path does not lead to death.“

i could very easily continue but you get the idea. Jude then writes, 20-21 “But you,” again, take note, “dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.” Why the emphasis in remaining in? i think Jude is stressing the need to remain faithful, connected, and looking out for each other. Why this conclusion? Well, he continues, 22-23 “And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.”

So here we ready the delicate nature of loving someone who is steeped in sin. We do not, we cannot condone one’s behavior of sin. The sin is vile and destructive. The person, however, is loved!  “For God SO LOVED the world . . .” “While WE were YET SINNERS Christ died for us . . .” Our mission is reconciliation, agents of change in a culture that has wandered far from the Creator, but sent by the Creator to draw as many back as possible, “snatching them from the flames of judgment . . .”

Let us remain faithful, honest, and loving.

You are loved,

cj

Jude (Part 3)

Jude (Part 3)

We now find ourselves in a unique place in Scripture, the 14 verse of Jude 1. Here he references a Prophet named Enoch. We read of him in the old testament book of Genesis, the beginning. In Chapter 5 we read that Enoch was the seventh from Adam. He had children. He lived 365 years and “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” Enoch never died but was taken into heaven, there is only one other we know of who was taken to heaven before death, Elijah. In Jude, he quotes Enoch saying, “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.“

Interestingly, there is a book of Enoch, it is not in the Canon of Scripture, never was, the Jews did not include it in their collection either. It wasn’t written by Enoch, best we know, although he was taken so, well you never know i guess. However, Jude thought so well of it that he quotes Enoch 1:9 in Jude 1:14-15. The writer of Hebrews also thought to include Enoch in his writing in Hebrews 11:5 all-be-it not as inclusive as Jude. Yet, here we are faced with the idea of Enoch and what or why did Jude include him in his warning? If you were to read Enoch in Chapter 1:2 you will see that the book is written for a generation yet to come, “…but not for this generation, but for a distant generation that will come.” So Jude taking this prophecy somewhat seriously to have included it in his writing to the Church.

The fear of the Lord is a real thing and in it, we must conclude that fear and respect, humility and self-control are absolutely required characteristics of the Church, and of the individual Christian. For here is the description of the other, “These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.” Jude 1:16

This is a difficult passage. Not because of its teaching, but because of its implications to the whole. Judgment, wrath, and doomsday are real ideas, thought so highly of by one of the Fathers of the Church that he writes a very poignant letter of warning. Should we not then take heed of it? Let us sit here, pray, listen, and wait for the Lord to reveal to us His truth.

You are loved,

cj

Jude (Part 2)

Jude (Part 2)

Once again we will be looking into Jude. This is, as the title states, part 2, there is also an introduction. If you have not yet read those i would suggest going back and reading those before continuing here.

Jude is writing about those who have crept into the church unnoticed. The warning is for us to be alert. So that we do not fall prey to them. To continue to search the Scriptures daily so that we remain knowledgeable and able to spot the imposter.  These folks have come in the side door, they slipped in the back. Yet, their resume and their teachings are not the same. In as much as they have subtly shifted meaning, context, and even grace, ultimately denying the very person of Jesus, while claiming His name.

Verse 8 reads, 8 Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile [i]angelic majesties. These men, by dreaming, let me say this, that dreaming isn’t bad, it is good, and we should have lofty dreams. However, these men were not dreaming lofty God-sized dreams, they were dreaming as men. It was for power, prestige, influence that these men dreamed. We know this because they defiled the flesh, this is the same as “strange flesh” that of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is a perverted sense of grace and self-assumed authority in matters best left to God’s Word and not man’s opinion. You see they reject all authority to include Church authority and all the way down the line to government authority. They have taken it upon themselves to pronounce judgment rather than hang onto the authority of Scripture. Thumbing their noses at Jesus Himself as they curse the very Word.

These men are like hidden reefs that would shipwreck your faith. Pual writes to Timothy in 1:18-20 says, “This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” These men are hollow, waterless clouds, pushed my any which wind that blows, in other words, their moral compass is broken and they are persuaded by the mood of the people rather than the Word of God. Trees without fruit. We are told that we will know them by their fruit, Jude isn’t saying anything new and yet we need to be reminded.

8 Yet in the same way, these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile [i]angelic majesties. 9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are [j]destroyed. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay [k]they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. 12 These are the men who are [l]hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, [m]doubly dead, uprooted;13 wild waves of the sea, casting up their own [n]shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the [o]black darkness has been reserved forever. (Jude 1:8-13)

Take a deep breath. Ask yourself this, are you seeking the approval of man or of God? Let us together walk the road less traveled and seek the will of God, dream God-sized dreams and live out our lives flowing from the grace that we have been shown. Not by running from God’s Word, or watering it down, but by living it out — that we might save some.

You are loved,

cj

Jude (Part 1)

Jude (Part 1)

Let me start here: if you have not read Jude (an introduction), stop now and go read it . . . it will make more sense that way. However, as a reminder to those who did read it let me refresh your memory. Jude is one of four brothers of Jesus and at some point led the Church in Jerusalem. He came to faith after Jesus’ resurrection. This same Jude then pens this letter and it is powerful! As a call to repentance, as a reminder of judgment, and as a warning to stay alert as we contend for the faith.

He doesn’t waste time with small talk, antidotes, or gibber, he is very matter-of-fact. In the verses, we will look at this week, we will see his heart, and his understanding as the brother of Jesus and leader of the Church. Let’s look at verse 5, “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.” Here is an interesting point, there are a couple manuscripts out there as well as a few versions of the Bible that use “Jesus” in place of “the Lord”. Could these early manuscripts be more accurate to Jude’s point? i think so. Jude had come to an understanding of who Jesus was and was not ashamed of it.

We love grace, i love grace. We preach grace, i preach grace, and it is glorious! However, we mustn’t lose sight of Jesus. Jesus, actively a part of the Old Testament, who is the same yesterday, today and forever, saves us by His cross. He leads us free from the chains of sin, out of bondage and into freedom. As the Israelites out of Egypt and still, subsequently (lit. the second time) He destroys those who did not believe. Folks, there is judgment. There is a hell and it has been preached since the formation of the Church. Do not be led astray. We must continue to contend for the faith in a world that would pervert the grace of God, even some in the Church.

5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that [e]the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, [f]subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after [g]strange flesh, are exhibited as an [h]example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. (NASB)

5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved[c] a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire,[d] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (ESV)

Pray with me for insight, for understanding, for fresh revelation into God’s Word. Let the Spirit of God speak to our hearts through these words written by Jude inspired by the Spirit. May we grow in wisdom and faith, as we seek to walk humbly with Jesus, contending for the faith. Until next week . . .

you are loved,

cj

Living in ideals . . .

Living in ideals . . .

Ideals. An ideal to me is like the bullseye on the target. When you live your life in the realm of idealism you are aiming square for the bullseye of the target of life. Much like in target shooting, you are not going to hit the bullseye every single shot you take. Sometimes you hit dead center, right on the mark, and other times you just miss the mark and by just a hair. Now when you are aiming for ideals, you will miss as if you were shooting with your eyes closed, over your shoulder, at a moving target that isn’t even there, now that’s missing the target.

Jesus sets up a pretty nice target in His sermon on the mount found in Matthew 5-7. It’s a big target full of ideals. Heavenly stuff. In Matthew 6 He teaches his disciple how to pray. Our Father…and so on. Now this line, Your (the Father’s) will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. What makes heaven heaven, the will of the Father is being done. The ideal is being lived out in tangible ways every moment.

Could you imagine if we began to pray this prayer with authority, with mission, with purpose, with desire, with sincerity, with a pure heart…Let Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven? And then, with as much fervor lived within those ideals? Not as a yoke of bondage but as a response to the grace we live under, knowing that our miss isn’t condemnation but an opportunity to realign our sights. And as the Father leads us by His Spirit into His perfect will, lined out for us through the Word, Jesus, we are made more and more into His likeness.

Romans 12:1-2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Malachi 3:16-17 “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name. “They will be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”

Life

Life

Life ~ Living matter and, as such, matter that shows certain attributes that include responsiveness, growth, metabolism, energy transformation, and reproduction. This definition of life was taken from Britannica.com. It describes life as having five attributes.

Responsiveness ~ Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Acts 2:37 . . . To be alive in Christ, to have life, one must respond. After hearing the message presented by Peter in Acts 2 many were cut to the heart and asked, what they should do, in response to the love of Christ.

Growth ~ “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”  Ephesians 3:17-19 . . . Life requires growth. To be alive spiritually one must have growth.

Metabolism ~ The chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life. The metabolism is the process of our bodies taking what we eat and drink and turns it into energy for the life of the body in its many processes. Jeremiah 15:16 says, “When your words showed up, I ate them— swallowed them whole. What a feast!” In Matthew 4:4 ‘Jesus replied, “It’s written, People won’t live only by bread, but by every word spoken by God.’” In order to be spiritually alive we must devour the Word of God.

Energy Transformation ~ Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” We must take the energy we receive from God and be transformed. To be truly alive, to have life in Christ we must be transformed.

Reproduction ~ If we are alive in Christ, the sign of life is that we reproduce! Jesus said, “Go and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19) James tells us to be “But don’t just listen to God’s Word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are fooling yourself” (James 1:22)

To be spiritually healthy, to have abundant life in Christ, these five attributes must be functioning. And not just functioning but working in tandem . . . If you feel sick or stuck in your relationship with Jesus, it may be time to see a doctor, Jesus is the great physician, asking you these questions:

  1. Are you responsive to the Holy Spirit?
  2. Are you seeking to grow in your knowledge of Jesus?
  3. Are you feasting on His Word?
  4. Are you allowing that energy to be transformative of your body, mind, and soul?
  5. Are you reproducing, are you making disciples?

You are loved,

cj

Pentecost

Pentecost

There are few points in History where we can honestly say our entire eternity hinged on it. The birth of Christ, the garden of Gethsemane, the Cross, the resurrection, Pentecost . . . etc. The list doesn’t end there but i want to focus on Pentecost. The marvelous day in which the promised Holy Spirit landed in the heart of the believer. The promised “helper” the very presence of God in our lives! That is pretty spectacular. And, it is absolutely necessary!

Take Romans 8:2-6 for example:

“2 The power of the Holy Spirit has made me free from the power of sin and death. This power is mine because I belong to Christ Jesus. 3 The Law could not make me free from the power of sin and death. It was weak because it had to work with weak human beings. But God sent His own Son. He came to earth in a body of flesh which could be tempted to sin as we in our bodies can be. He gave Himself to take away sin. By doing that, He took away the power sin had over us. 4 In that way, Jesus did for us what the Law said had to be done. We do not do what our sinful old selves tell us to do anymore. Now we do what the Holy Spirit wants us to do. 5 Those who let their sinful old selves tell them what to do live under that power of their sinful old selves. But those who let the Holy Spirit tell them what to do are under His power. 6 If your sinful old self is the boss over your mind, it leads to death. But if the Holy Spirit is the boss over your mind, it leads to life and peace.” 

Do you see how important it is for us to have the Holy Spirit? It doesn’t stop there we could explore for days upon days the absolute work or the Holy Spirit and still not exhaust it absolutely. He empowers us on in love and good deeds. He is the one in us and through us enabling us to do even greater things! That is a really awesome thought, isn’t it? i hope that you will take time to sit in this passage. The fullness of His work in us, and the contrast of Him not being in our lives. The Spirit vs. the flesh. It is an eternity issue. Let us remember the day of Pentecost in the line of other “Holidays” because it is as important!

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

The shortest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 117, it is just two verses. Yet these two verses are immensely profound in their simplicity. You want to boil things down to the minimum and just look at the core of human existence? Then here you go:

“Praise the Lord, all you nations! Worship Him, all you peoples! Because God’s faithful love towards us is strong, the Lord’s faithfulness lasts forever! Praise the Lord!”

It doesn’t get much simpler than this, Praise the Lord. Worship Him. Because, He is faithful. His love is strong towards us and He is forever faithful. Thus, we should, Praise the Lord! No matter what you are facing, no matter what difficulties or trials befall you, Praise the Lord! In the good and in the bad, Praise the Lord! In the sun and in the rain, Praise the Lord! In life and in death, Praise the Lord! In sickness and in health, Praise the Lord! In the hardest of times and in the best of times, Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord,

you are loved,

cj

Perfection!

Perfection!

How many of you are perfectionists? You do, and do and do until, in your eyes, the thing you were doing is perfect, unless in your eyes perfection isn’t attainable. In which case you don’t even attempt it for fear of failure! How many of you have given up on perfection as an unachievable mark? There is no way it will ever be perfect so why bother! Then there are those that do without any prejudice or thought it is just that you do things and good is good and bad is bad; therefore you strive for good, which varies by activity. We have talked before about how we should aim for the target. Why would we aim or shoot for anything else?

If the goal is to love our neighbor as ourselves, why would we, on purpose, act any other way? He is an enemy? “Love your enemies, pray for those that persecute you,” it says in Matthew 5, as Jesus teaches on the mount. If we are to take after the widow and orphan, why then would we on purpose neglect them or ignore them? Of the hungry, naked, sick, in-prisoned, should we not do for the least of them as we would even Jesus Himself. As Jesus declares in Matthew 25, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Now if these are the goals, “To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to Love our neighbor as ourselves.” If we aim for that target and somehow miss the mark . . . the pessimist will say, “see an impossible goal is met with imperfection!” A perfectionist will say, “I will fail, therefore, this task is not for me!” While the doer will say, “But I do this one thing:” One thing, is the difference between apparent failure and never trying, “But I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. The GOAL I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

“Failure isn’t falling down. Failure is not getting up after you have fallen down.” ~Richard M. Nixon

A life of dependance . . .

A life of dependance . . .

We all depend on someone or something for life. Some will say they don’t depend on anyone, well that simply says, “I depend on myself.” So the reality is everyone depends on something for their existence. It may be work, that job you hate going to every Monday, or it may be a spouse, or a relative of some sort. It could be the Government, a retirement investment or an inheritance. Some who are very ill depend on machines or medicine for life, without them they die. So whether we like to think in these terms or not we are all dependent upon something or someone for life.

Being dependent upon riches or popularity or even other people, yourself included leads to disappoint, despair, even tragedy. Oh there might be momentary pleasure, riches, even glimpses of happiness. However, we can name person after person of influence who has struggled with fame, fortune, popularity and riches. A quick google search will show us these facts to be true. And whether we like to admit it or not we are dependent by nature. So, lets talk about for a second, the idea of being dependent. For if we are by nature dependent then we should find the true source of our dependence.

i offer up to you this passage from Jeremiah 17:5-8;

Wisdom from the Lord

5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,
    who rely on human strength
    and turn their hearts away from the Lord.
6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,
    with no hope for the future.
They will live in the barren wilderness,
    in an uninhabited salty land.

7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
    and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
    with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
    or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
    and they never stop producing fruit.

 

John D. Rockefeller, (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937)  said, “If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it.” Now this coming from a man who arguably was the richest man in modern history. Yet, although rich as could be his dependence was not on his wealth, as this quote here will show, “This Sunday School has been of help to me, greater perhaps than any other force in my Christian life, and I can ask no better things for you than that you, and all that shall come after you in this great band of workers for Christ, shall receive the same measure of blessedness which I have been permitted to have.”

You might argue that it was easy for him to have his dependence on Jesus because he was so wealthy. Well, to that i say what about Horatio G. Spafford. Here is a man who lost everything, with the exception of his wife, “saved alone” from a shipwreck. He went on to pen one of, if not the greatest hymn of all time, “It is well with my soul”. Read his full story here. Today, where do you find your dependence, i submit to you that if your answer is anything but Christ alone, you need to stop what you are doing and reevaluate life and put your hope, trust, confidence . . . dependence on the only one who can and will see you through, Jesus the Messiah.

You are loved,

cj