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Friday, April 29, 2011

Faith is not enough...character counts

"Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence..."--2 Peter 1:5.  This passage is the beginning of a list of 7 items that we must add or supply to our faith.  Rather than type out the verses this list encompasses I will give you the other 6 as my next series of evening devo's we will deal with these individually.  The other 6 are: knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.  One point about this list is to show us simply that faith is not enough.

Faith is not enough.  In your faith supply moral excellence. Morality is huge in our lives as Christians.  We must add moral excellence to our faith if we expect to be partakers of the divine nature as stated in 2 Peter 1:4.

Faith is not enough.  Morality of course is a broad topic.  Morality can also deal with what is ethical.  One of the main areas of morality the Bible deals with is sexual morality and the commands to save ourselves from giving our bodies to the opposite sex until we are married.

Faith is not enough.  The Greek word used here for moral excellence deals with excellence of character.  As it has been said before character is who you are when no one is looking.

Faith is not enough.  Ask yourself this.  Who are you when you show up to church services on Sunday? Then who are you when you go to work or school on Monday? Who we are Monday through Saturday needs to match who we are when we show up to worship services on Sunday.

Faith is not enough. I would like to bring in a side issue. We also must realize that faith is not enough when it comes to salvation.  Romans 16:26 speaks of an obedience that comes from faith. Faith is crucial but if we have faith in God, the Scriptures tell us we must also repent and be baptized into Christ in obedience to the gospel. (See Acts 2:38, Romans 6:3-5, and Galatians 3:26-27).

We must understand that faith is simply not enough but we must add to that faith, moral excellence or excellence of character.

FAITH IS NOT ENOUGH! CHARACTER COUNTS! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Sodom and Gomorrah...

Genesis 18:16 through Genesis 19:29. It was difficult to pick out just one passage from this section of Genesis because it all goes together.  This section of Genesis deals with the events leading up to and the aftermath of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. This should be a familiar story to all of us. I would like to explore briefly 3 points from Genesis 18 and 19 and how it applies to us.

Genesis 18:16-33...Here we see God reveals to Abraham what He is "about to do" (v. 17).  Here we see the uniqueness of Abraham's relationship with God. Abraham knew that God would never destroy the righteous with the wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Abraham humbly tells God he knows God would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there were 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, or even as little as 10 righteous people there (vv. 24-33). Problem was there was none righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah. We also see Abraham had a very close relationship with God, is ours the same? We also can glean from here that God will protect His people wherever they are present.

Genesis 19:1-25...Here we read of the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Lot and his wife escaped from the city.  After that Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed.  The twin cities were destroyed because their sin was "exceedingly grave" (Genesis 18:20).  What needs to be addressed here is what that means. There is evidence that the twin cities were destroyed because of the sin of homosexuality, not inhospitality contrary to what many believe. Jude 7 tells us they indulged in gross immorality. And a sodomite is defined as one who has "unnatural relations." Finally, we are told in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 that those who practice homosexuality will not inherit the kingdom of God. I am aware this is a sensitive subject in today's political climate but I urge you to look at God's Word in regards to this subject.

Genesis 19:26-29...Here we see the aftermath and a very tragic event during the escape of Lot and his wife. Lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt (v. 26).  My brother Jared Kyle preached a sermon about Lot's wife and reminded us of the words of Jesus in Luke 17:32 to "Remember Lot's wife." When we run from sin, we can't look back. Jesus said in Luke 17:33, whoever keeps his life will lose it but whoever loses his life will preserve it.  Lot's wife did not want to let go of her former life.  We must remember Lot's wife. If we have been saved from our sin, we mustn't look back on that life. If you haven't been saved from that sin, remember the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Jude 7 tells us Sodom and Gomorrah served as an example "in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire." We can be saved from this through obedience to the gospel.

So we need to examine our relationship with God, we need to examine the Scriptures and realize that according to the Scriptures the sin of homosexuality was the reason Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, and finally, we need to remember Lot's wife and we must never look back when we have repented of our life of sin and been baptized for the remission of those sins.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

*Please feel free to email me if you would like further info on any of the above subjects at davidmalleyg@gmail.com*

Thursday, April 28, 2011

False prophets and teachers...

"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves."--2 Peter 2:1. Peter's second letter addressing much of which addresses what will be happening in the days leading up to Christ's return.  Among these things, false teachers and prophets would arise.  The false teachers and prophets would bring upon themselves swift destruction because they exploit people with their "false words" (2 Peter 2:3).  But 2 Peter 2 says that the godly will be rescued such men, which is a note of encouragement for the godly.  We must remain alert and be aware of these false teachers and false prophets. This is a scary thought for me and I believe this is one of many reasons we need to realize the importance of knowing our Bible in todays day and age to guard against the false prophets and false teachers.

False prophets and false teachers.  Too often we forget that most of the New Testament was written to the church and not the lost.  The New Testament tells us how to save the lost but the things written on its pages can equip us to guard against the false teachers that are running rampant in the world and unfortunately, in the church.

False prophets and false teachers.  There are a number of issues facing God's people within our own numbers that are dividing the brethren and incorrect views on these issues are being spread and promoted by some of these modern day false prophets and false teachers.

False prophets and false teachers.  So how do we guard ourselves against these false teachings that are going around in our numbers? Well one solution is found in the verses found at the end of 1 Peter. 2 Peter 1:19-21 tells us we will do well to pay attention to the "prophetic word"  and that no "prophecy or Scripture was a matter of one's interpretation" but men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. This is how we know we can trust the Bible is because it is from God, not from man. Cf. 2 Timothy 3:16.

False prophets and false teachers.  Finally, to guard ourselves 1 John 4:1 tells us to test the spirits to see if they are from God for the same reason, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

This is just something that we need to be aware of so I pray you will remain true to the Scriptures and as we are told in 2 Peter 1:19-21, we will do well to pay attention to the prophetic word handed down to us as to "a lamp shining in a dark place."

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Laughing at God's Plans...

"Sarah laughed to herself, 'After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?' And the Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I indeed bear a child when I am so old?' 'Is anything too difficult for the Lord?'...--Genesis 18:12-14.  At this point in time, we see God's promise reaffirmed to Abraham that he and Sarah will have a son.   Problem is Sarah has been barren and is well past the age of child bearing.  So what does she do? She laughs at God's plans.

Laughing at God's plans.  I am sure we have all heard the old saying "If you want to hear God laugh tell Him your plans."  Well this morning I want to flip that around, how often are we guilty of laughing at God when He tells us HIS plans??? This is what was going on with Sarah.  Sarah analyzes the situation and compares the odds of her ever having children and she just cannot see how it is possible she will ever have a child.  Therefore, she begins laughing at God's plans.

Laughing at God's plans. Is anything too difficult for the Lord? This is God's question to Abraham after Sarah laughs at God's plans.  We find in verse 15 that Sarah denies laughing.  But this is a legitimate question, is anything too difficult for the Lord? There may be situations where the odds are against us but God doesn't deal in odds.  We can find throughout the Old Testament where the Israelites were outnumbered by sometimes thousands. Yet if they trusted God and followed His commands, victory was theirs.

Laughing at God's plans.  This morning realize that even if the odds are against you in any given situation, with God you can come through victoriously even when the situation seems impossible.  We can't forget God created the entire universe.  If He can make sure the universe continues to do what we know it to do, I think we can trust Him to handle our problems even when the odds are against us.

Laughing at God's plans. I have faced some impossible situations in my life so I can speak from personal experience that God has gotten me through.  It was by no means easy and required effort on my part but speaking from experience, I encourage you to lean on God even when the situation seems impossible. You can also look to Job for a great example of how someone held to God even in the very worst of circumstances. It's okay for God to laugh at our plans but let's not make it a habit to be laughing at God's plans.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Exposure...


"But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."--1 John 1:7.  Here John is drawing a contrast, we see this by the use of the word but.  John is drawing a contrast between walking in darkness and walking in light.  He says in verses 5 and 6 that since God is light, we must walk in the light.  If we walk in the darkness we have no fellowship with God.  And here in verse 7 we find that if we walk in darkness we do not even have fellowship with one another. What John is basically saying is that we need exposure.

Exposure.  No doubt the image above grabs your attention.  The light from the light house exposed the darkness that surrounds it.  That is just what naturally happens, light dominates darkness.  The smallest light is always what stands out in the middle of the darkest of places.

Exposure.  We as Christians we need more exposure.  I can speak from both direct and second hand experience that we can't have a solid relationship with God or with each other if we are trying to hide things from each other.   This is not to say we need to be all up in each other's business and be nosy about things but we need to be willing to share our struggles and our sins with one another. We need exposure.

Exposure.  It's hopeless to try to hide something from God as He sees everything.  But it's not good to hide our sins and our struggles from each other as Christians either.  We need exposure.

Exposure.  To practically do this, unless you feel you need to, I am not saying you have to go forward this coming Sunday and publicly confess what is happening in your life. My encouragement for you and for us is to find a brother or sister you know you can confide in and share that struggle or sin with him or her. This creates accountability and it allows that person to help you through your struggle and I guarantee it builds the relationship.  And even better, Jesus will cleanse us of all sin if we walk in the light.  Last night I was able to share a struggle of my own with a very close friend and brother. When I did he actually made the statement to me, "It's part of walking in the light." I couldn't agree more based on 1 John 1:7. Thanks Shane. :-)

Exposure.  Finally, I need exposure as well. I am taking this opportunity to ask you, the reader to please pray for me and my family as we have experienced a very sudden death in the family. I'm not at liberty to discuss details but please pray for me and my family as we grieve our loss.  We cannot have fellowship with God or with one another if we don't gain exposure.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS! AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!      

Rushing God's Promises...

"So Sarai said to Abram, 'Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children.  Please go into my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her...So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael."--Genesis 16:2, 15. Sarai, failing to trust God that she would bear Abram's (Abraham's) son decides to take things into her own hands and give Abram a child through her maid servant, Hagar.  Sarai was rushing God's promises.    

This account is what is at the heart of much of the religious debate that goes on between Muslims and those of both the Jewish and Christian religions, the birth of Ishmael.  Ishmael would be what the Scriptures describe as "a wild donkey of a man" and his hand would be against everyone.  The Muslim religion did not originate at this time but this account found in Genesis 16 is at the core of their belief system.  This is true all because Sarai rushed God's promises.

Rushing God's promises.  The Muslim discussion aside, how often do we do what Sarai did? We don't trust God to fulfill His promises His way so we try to make things happen on our own.  More often than not, this works against us.  The text tells us that Hagar despised Sarai after conceiving Abram's son.  In Genesis 16:5 the text tells us Sarai blamed Abram for this.

Rushing God's promises.  Too often when we try to take things in to our own hands, things don't quite work out the way we had planned and too often we blame others for the consequences of our own actions.

We need to learn to be patient and give God room to work.  Being patient sometimes means allowing God to work in a person's heart so that they might come to an obedience to the gospel, rushing a person can destroy any hope of this happening.  Rushing God's Promises can also lead to severed or strained relationships. This is what happened with Abram, Sarai, and Hagar.

So my encouragement is that God has made promises and unlike human beings, God never breaks His promises to His people.  So let's stop Rushing God's Promises.  DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!    

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A simple reminder...

"Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless."--2 Peter 3:14. Peter's second letter written to remind them of what was spoken of by the prophets and the apostles as we see in 2 Peter 3:2.  He reminds them of what will come in the last days and what will happen to heaven and earth.  He then tells the Christians what they should do.  He tells us what we should do in response to impending events.  Peter does this by way of a simple reminder.

A simple reminder.  2 Peter 3:14 begins with the word therefore so we must ask what's it there for?  Therefore means since you know God is coming back, be ready.  We need to be found in peace, spotless, and blameless.

A simple reminder.  We need to be found in peace.  Are you at peace with God right now? Are you at peace with your brother/sister in Christ? If not, make peace by being reconciled to God through Christ and obedience to His gospel and/or by turning from the sin in our lives.  We need to make peace with our brother/sister by resolving our differences with them.

A simple reminder.  We need to be found spotless.  Don't allow the sin in your life to taint your relationship with God, remove that sin in your life, whatever it might be.

A simple reminder.  We need to be found blameless.  Does this mean sinless? Not really. This means to be found in a position where we have overcome our struggle with sin, not by our own merit but by the grace of God and our desire to do His will.

A simple reminder.  May we be reminded that Christ will come for you and for me one day to gather us up into heaven, how will He find us when He comes? Be diligent to remove what it is that will prevent you from meeting any one of these three, make peace with God or with your brother/sister as described above, to get rid of sin maybe get rid of the internet or your cable so sin does not enter into your home.  We have the power to overcome sin that we might be found blameless by the grace of God.

This is just a simple reminder. LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS! THANKS FOR READING!

Pack your bags...

"...Go forth from your country"--Genesis 12:1

"Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you."--Genesis 12:1.  Genesis 12 introduces us to Abram, later to be known as Abraham.  This is where the journey toward the redemption of sin that would come through Christ really begins.  We as Christians when we put on Christ in baptism, we become a part of the seed of Abraham (See Galatians 3:16). Hebrews 11:8 names Abraham as one of the great men of faith, I wrote a devo about that passage back in March called Every great journey requires a first step (Click to read).  But that was from the New Testament perspective, now if you will join me, I would like to take a look at when God actually told Abraham to pack his bags. 

Pack your bags.  Ever had a time in your life where you had to drop everything to accomplish a greater task? I have had my share, the biggest one I can think of is when I reflect on the sequence of events that led to my decision to come to the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver.  In short, my world in California was going through some major changes to the point where I found myself in a very negative atmosphere. I don't know how much of a hand God had in all of that but looking back, I see it as God telling me to there was something greater for me and it was time to pack my bags so I graduated college, quit my job, packed my things and moved here to Denver. I have never looked back.  God has blessed me in so many ways since I have made the move, its crazy. But I love it :-). 

Pack your bags.  Looking at Abraham, obeying God was an act of faith, notice from the passage Abram (Abraham) was told to leave his relatives and make his way toward the land God had in store for him. Sometimes this is what obeying God involves.  Obeying God and packing our bags sometimes can mean leaving everything we have ever known behind in order to accomplish His will. It was scary for me to leave California, having been there 8 years living with my parents and now going out on my own but I knew this is what God wanted for me.  There was not a doubt in mind I needed to pack my bags.

Pack your bags. So where does this leave you? Well in order to be a disciple of Christ, one of the things we must consider is found in Luke 14:26-27.  This Scripture says we must hate our family.  That does not mean literally hate them but love God more. We must also be willing to bear our cross and follow Him. Our journey is toward our Promised Land, heaven.  Abram was ready, are you? We have to be ready when God comes and essentially says it's time to go, pack your bags. 

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Antichrist

"Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son."--1 John 2:22.  The first of three letters John writes to reaffirm Christians of their hope in Christ.  He states various reasons why he writes.  Among them, so that their joy be made complete (1 John 1:4), so that they may not sin (1 John 2:1), and in 1 John 2:12-14, we are told the purpose for him writing to various groups. All this reassurance leads to the reminder of antichrist, he who denies that Jesus is the Christ and denies the Father and the Son.

Antichrist.  Thought this particular devo would be an attention grabber given all they hype that goes around in the brotherhood and in Christendom as a whole about antichrist.  My purpose tonight is not to identify who is the antichrist but like John, reaffirm you who have placed your faith in Christ can rest assured your hope is secure.

Antichrist.  Take a moment and look at what is being said in the media about Jesus Christ.  There are people that say everything about Christ from Muslims who claim He did not really die on the cross and that He is not God.  We also have people who paint Christ to be nothing more than a good moral teacher. These are just a small sample of people who deny that Jesus is the coming Messiah.  These people are antichrist.

Antichrist.  With all this discussion of antichrist we need to set aside what people say and look at what God says in His Word, the Bible.  We will leave aside the critiques of the Bible but I guarantee you it can be trusted.  The Bible screams loud and clear that Jesus is our Lord and the expected Savior from our sins.  I have heard it said that in order for Christ to be who He was and is, He had to fulfill over a hundred prophecies concerning Him in the Old Testament and the odds of any one man fulfilling all of them were slim. But you know what? Christ did it. Anyone who denies this is the antichrist.

Antichrist.  So where does this leave you? My encouragement to you tonight rather than going in and hunting down all the prophecies concerning Christ and the New Testament evidence of who He was and is, your "homework" tonight is to read Isaiah 53, one of the most famous Messianic prophecies.  Read that and ask yourself if that chapter alone does not paint a graphic picture of what Christ would do for you and for me on the cross.  Anyone who denies that Jesus did this, they are the antichrist.

So if you believe that Jesus is who He says He is, the next step is to repent and obey the gospel through baptism.  If you have done this, I would encourage you to read 1 John. It's only 5 chapters and you could probably read it through in 30 minutes or less. 2nd and 3rd John are even shorter so you could probably read 1-3 John in about the same time.  Our one and only hope is found in Christ. Whoever denies this is the antichrist. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!    

Move past pride


The Tower of Babel--Genesis 11:1-9

"They said, 'Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the earth'"--Genesis 11:4.  I find this story to be among the most interesting in the Old Testament.  We see a group of people descended from Noah and his family.  At this point in time, the whole world was of one language so communication was not an issue.  Rather, than spread out these people decide to use their one language to their advantage, build a tower that would reach into heaven in order to make a name for themselves.  I have heard people say the sin here was that they were trying to be like God. However, it's simpler than that.  What they did is the reason they were forced to move past pride.

Move past pride. The story of Babel later to be known as Babylon.  Above is an artist's rendition of the tower of Babel, one of many.  In this story, we find the origins of world languages.  But what was their sin? We have to go all the way back to Genesis 9 to find out. In Genesis 9:1 God tells Noah to "Be fruitful and multiply and FILL THE WHOLE EARTH." (Emphasis added).  The descendants of Noah were failing to do this. Rather than spread out, they gathered into one place.  So what does God do? He comes down and confuses their languages so they are not able to communicate in order to finish the task forcing them to scatter across the earth.  This is why the area was called Babel.

Move past pride. We can also see that the pride of life was an issue here as well. These people were more interested in making a name for themselves than they were doing God's will.

Move past pride. What does this mean to us? Pride led to disobedience here.  Too often we are more concerned with how we look to the world than we are with pleasing God. There are times in our lives when we say "Let us make a name for ourselves" instead of pleasing God.  Pride is also the cause a lot of this.  Pride is a huge problem these days for us as Christians when it comes to doing God's will.

Move past pride. My encouragement to you start out the week is to move past pride.  Do God's will and move past pride by taking time to talk to the cashier at the local grocery store about Christ, or move past pride by talking to your family member who is not a Christian about Christ.  If pride is stopping you from being reconciled to a brother or sister in Christ, move past pride and go to that person and resolve the situation and don't let pride stop you. Or maybe you can move past pride and take time to buy some food for that homeless person you see on your way to work.  May we all move past pride. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

A sign of a promise...


"I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign for the covenant between Me and the earth."--Genesis 9:13.  The flood has ended.  It is now time for Noah and his family to exit the ark.  God promises never to destroy the earth in the way He did with a flood.  God would place His bow, the rainbow in the sky as a sign, a sign of a promise. 

A sign of a promise.  God uses the rainbow to remind Noah of His covenant with the earth. God also says in Genesis 9:14-15 that by the bow God will also remember the promise. 

A sign of a promise.  We can't ignore the fact that those of the homosexual community have taken the rainbow, something of God and used it for their own sinful purposes. **That is another discussion for another time**.  It breaks my heart that not only the rainbow but almost everything else God has created has been twisted and destroyed for the purposes of sin. The rainbow was never supposed to be the sign of sin but the sign of a promise. 

A sign of a promise.  We know floods and other natural disasters involving water still occur today. But those are local floods, not global floods.  The promise was that God would never bring a global flood.  Quite honestly, this is why the premise of last year's movie 2012, while not a bad movie, it was unrealistic.  I don't know how the world is going to end but based on what we read in Genesis, I can pretty much guarantee that it is not going to be a global flood like it was in the movie.  How do we know this? Again, we have the rainbow, a sign of a promise. 

A sign of a promise.  Rainbows don't always appear after every rainfall but they are a beautiful sight when they do.  Next time you see a rainbow, don't think of what the world has taken the rainbow and used it for.  Think of it as one of God's many natural wonders.  God has given us such a beautiful world. It's not perfect but God's glory is still seen in nature. When you see the rainbow, be reminded that God has promised never to destroy the world the way He did in Noah's day. The rainbow is a sign of a promise, God's promise.

If you are interested in how God does this, click here for some info on how a rainbow is formed.

THANKS FOR READING! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

   


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

This isn't that hard...

"...and His commandments are not burdensome."--1 John 5:3.  This is the second part of this verse.  Right before comes the fact that if we love God, we will keep His commandments and the broader context deals how if we love God we will love one another. But this verse tells us His commandments are not burdensome. Tonight, I would like you to join me as we explore this idea of God's commandments not being burdensome. Essentially what this verse is saying is that following God's commands, well, this isn't that hard.

This isn't that hard.  Being a Christian.  I think we would all agree it's not particularly easy by any stretch of the imagination.  However, I think we make it harder than it needs to be, myself included.  Let's be honest with ourselves here, what God asks us to do is pretty simple. In this context, loving others? Easy.  Get baptized? Easy. Tell others about the gospel message? Easy.  Teach? Easy. Please don't get me wrong, doing these and other things does require work and preparation, some of them more than others.  However, we make it harder than it needs to be. Doing this requires our initiative to do them. This isn't that hard.

This isn't that hard.  Why? Because the difficulty is more in making the decision to take the initiative.  Returning to my examples. What stops us from loving others? Here are some classic excuses, "He/she is mean to me" or "He/she offended me in some way so I don't want to love that person." Have we forgotten that we offended God with our heinous sins yet He loved us enough to send His Son to die on the cross for those sins? What stops a person from getting baptized when they already understand the purpose and the commitment involved? Could be any number of things, pride or they think they have more time and don't think it would hurt to put baptism off for another day are just a couple of examples. Truth is if one hasn't been baptized, he/she cannot afford to lose that time. Teaching others the gospel? Well pride, fear, or worse apathy gets in the way here most of the time. And teaching? Well fear is one thing that stops a person but here is my "favorite" excuse when someone does not want to teach, "I don't feel called to teach" WHAT?! Isn't this what we are commanded to do?!?! ALL OF US! Matthew 28:19-20 is proof of that.  This isn't that hard.

This isn't that hard.  So I leave you with this, think of the examples I just gave or think of some other area of your responsibility to God where you struggle in overcoming whatever it is that is stopping you from fulfilling that responsibility. Did I mention that was responsibility to GOD? Whatever it is, pride, fear, discomfort, the assumption that you have more time, my encouragement to you tonight is to give God control of whatever it is that stopping you from, again for example, loving someone.  Let go of whatever is stopping you from being baptized. Let go of whatever it is that is stopping you from teaching others the gospel message.  :Let go of whatever it is that is stopping you from teaching a Bible class, doing a devotional or better yet preaching a sermon.  Why? Because this isn't that hard. And remember loving God means keeping His commandments. This isn't that hard.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!  Comment, click on the highlighted links or email me at davidmalleyg@gmail.com if you have any more questions or comments!   

The water of the flood.

"...The water of the flood came upon the earth."--Genesis 7:10

"It came about after the seven days that the water of the flood came upon the earth."--Genesis 7:10.  This is it, the 100 years of building the ark are complete, Noah enters the ark with the animals and his family and it is judgment day.  God would destroy the whole earth with a global flood cleansing it of evil.  Rain fell for 40 days and nights.  40 more days pass and the earth gradually floods eventually reaching levels that literally cover the mountain tops and for 150 days, Genesis 7:24 tells us that the waters prevailed.  There is no chance for any one person or animal to survive that is not on the ark.  This all happens when the water of the flood came upon the earth. 

The water of the flood.  Many times when we tell this story we focus on Noah and his obedience to God. This aspect is important and we will come back to it but what about the flood itself? God brought the flood to cleanse the world of evil and start over.  It would be up to Noah and his family to repopulate the earth.  God is all powerful.  We have to realize that God could have used an infinite number of methods to destroy the evil of the world but He chose the water of the flood. 

The water of the flood. What is the significance that God used water? Why was Noah spared? What does this all mean for us? Well we know water has a cleansing aspect and is a source of refreshing. We drink it when we are thirsty.  We use it for recreation when we go swimming or boating.  We use it so that out plants and animals will survive. Water brings life. The water of the flood brought new life after destroying the old life.

The water of the flood.  Why was Noah spared? Because of obedience. If you have your Bible handy, turn to 1 Peter 3:20-21 in the New Testament. This passage tells us that only a few, eight in all were saved in Noah's day.  The exact phraseology is that Noah and his family were brought safely THROUGH the water. they were saved from an evil generation through water. 

The water of the flood.  What does this all mean for us? Well notice 1 Peter 3:21. Verse 21 begins by saying "Corresponding to that..." meaning in the same way.  Verse 21 goes on to say BAPTISM NOW SAVES YOU. God does the saving but it is through the water. God saved Noah through the water. God now saves us through the water of the flood, the water of the flood of baptism. Another statement from Peter in Acts 2:38 we find Peter saying that since we crucified Christ, we must "REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS." (Emphasis added).  

The water of the flood. This is the significance of the flood itself. Noah was brought safely through the water because he obeyed. God will once again execute judgment on the earth and the only we can be saved from that judgment is through the water of the flood of baptism and obeying all that He has commanded. Our chance to be saved from this evil generation is NOW but God will only save us if we go through the water of the flood. If you have done this, I pray you remain faithful and share this message with others who need it.  If you have not been baptized, find a congregation of the the Lord's church and respond to the gospel message.      

If you have any more questions about this ever important issue click on the highlighted links or feel free to comment or email me at davidmalleyg@gmail.com.  Our soul depends on obedience to the gospel message. Other Scriptures to look at would be Romans 6:3-4, Galatians 3:26-27 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.  DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

This is how we know

"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments."--1 John 5:2.  1 John 5 begins after God tells us through John that love is perfected through Christ.  We are also told in 1 John 4:7 to love one another. Why? Because love is from God.  Why we love is the context. 1 John 5:2 tells us this is how we know.

This is how we know.  The following verse in 1 John 5:3 we will find that loving God is keeping His commandments.  Furthermore we find that His commands are NOT burdensome. We will deal more with that aspect of His commands tomorrow night.

This is how we know.  Keeping His commands is how we know we love God. One of those commands is loving Christ and in turn loving God's children, loving one another as put in 1 John 4:7. This is how we know.

This is how we know.  Loving the children of God.  I want to take a slightly different approach tonight. Maybe cause you to do a little self examination. Do you love God? The almost automatic response from the Christian is yes.  But before you answer the question, let me ask you, how is your relationship with the brethren?  

This is how we know.  Our relationship with the brethren can be a good gauge on how our relationship with God is doing.  Scripture is clear about the fact that if we hate our brother, we can't claim to love God. Hate of course is a strong word. But there is no middle ground between love and hate. If we don't love the brethren the way we should, let's be honest with ourselves here, the lack of love is a display of hate. This is how we know.

This is how we know. So tonight, ask yourself the two questions I posed. Do you love God? If so, examine your relationship with the brethren. While emotions are involved in love. Love is more of a choice and an action then it is emotional or physical. At the writing of this devo, a really good friend of mine who is a sister in Christ told me I was awesome. (Not boasting by the way and THANKS ASHLEY! YOU ARE AWESOME TOO!). But it's little compliments like that make the difference between loving someone and hating them. This is how we know.

This is how we know. So this week go out of your way to love the brethren by saying a kind word to them or helping them out of feeling down. Do you love God? Well this is how we know. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS! AND THANKS AGAIN ASHLEY FOR YOUR ENCOURAGING WORDS!

A candle in a dark room...


"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord."--Genesis 6:8.  Noah, the man we all know as the one who went onto the ark along with his family while the rest of the world was destroyed with a global flood.  At this point in history, we are told in Genesis 6:5-6 that every intent of the the thoughts of man's heart was evil continually and that the Lord was grieved in his heart for making man.  The world was a very dark place and because it was it would soon be destroyed but in this dark world there was a candle burning, and his name was Noah. Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was like a candle in a dark room.

A candle in a dark room.  You may be looking at the image above and chances are your eyes are drawn to the candle in the center of the image. Why is that? Well the candle is a light in a background of darkness. This was Noah. The word "But" in Genesis 6:8 shows a contrast.  The world was dark and it was evil in his day BUT Noah was different, he stood in stark contrast to the world around him. Noah found favor. Genesis 7:1 tells us Noah was righteous. He sought to please God and this is why he would be spared in the flood. He was a candle that God would not put out.

A candle in a dark room.  Because Noah found favor with God, God told Noah what He was going to do. We know the story. God tells Noah to build the ark so he and his family could be saved.  Noah did what God asked him to do.  It took Noah about 100 years to build the ark.  Chances are during the construction, he was mocked for doing God's will but his light continued to shine and Noah continued to build.

A candle in a dark room.  So what does this mean to us? Today, we still live in a dark world where the intent of the thoughts of men are evil continually as stated in Genesis 6:5 but we must continue to build and do God's will even when we are persecuted for it.  I don't like preaching fire and brimstone but we can't ignore the fact that God will once again execute His judgment on the world and each one of us will be rewarded according to our deeds, good or bad.

A candle in a dark room.  Look again at the image above. When God looks around the world, where do you fall? The candle above occupies a very small amount of space in the image yet it dominates the picture even when it is surrounded by darkness.  When God looks at this dark world, will you be lost in the background or will you be that light that stands out in the middle of the darkness whose light God will not put out? I don't know where you are in your walk with God but maybe you allowed your candle to go out and need to light it once again. Or maybe you don't have a candle at all, lighting our candle begins by obeying the gospel of Christ. When God looks around this dark world, will you be a candle in a dark room? DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!  

Monday, April 18, 2011

Are you In Love?

"Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life."--Jude 21.  Jude, one of the shortest books of the Bible consisting of one solitary chapter of 24 verses. This passage is a piece of encouragement for the few of those who are faithful to remain faithful because the true faith is under attack by those who have slipped in among us, the ungodly, those who reject authority, the unbelievers and those who came in the same way as those of Sodom and Gomorrah and so many others whose end is destruction.  In response to this, Christians are urged to keep falling in love but with what or whom?

Remain in love, God's love.  Some hear the term "in love" and think romantic feelings and the emotional bond they have to their mate, husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, etc.  Here Jude is indeed urging Christians to remain in love but with someone else, GOD!  Jude says we must keep ourselves in the love of God.

Remain in love, God's love. Jude shows us how to keep ourselves in the love of God. Jude 20-23 says we are to build ourselves up on our "most holy faith" and we must pray in the Holy Spirit. We must have mercy on those who are doubting and save others snatching them out of the fire, and on some have mercy with fear. According to The Bible Knowledge Commentary, fear here means caution due to the fact that even their garment is polluted by the flesh (this means we must exercise caution due to the severity of the sin in their lives that has produced the stench of death).

Remain in love, God's love.  Why does Jude urge us with such exaggerated language? Well we as Christians need to understand those who are wolves in sheep's clothing are among us even as you read this devo. And worse some of our own brethren are falling victim to what these ungodly people are teaching. This is why we must keep falling in love beginning by falling to our knees in prayer.

Remain in love, God's love. It's a scary thought that the people described in Jude have made their way into our numbers. As told in Jude 3, we must earnestly contend for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. Jude also tells us these ungodly men have slipped in unnoticed. We must be alert and most importantly we must remain in love, God's love.  Do so by putting His Word into practice. Remaining in God's love begins by obeying His commands. I will deal more with this tomorrow night.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!  

"It's Not My Fault"

Blurb: These thoughts are based on a point I heard brought out regarding the following passage during a gospel meeting I was at this weekend. Wayne Burger, an instructor of mine at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver was the speaker...

"The man said, 'The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree and I ate.' Then the Lord God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?' And the woman said 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate."--Genesis 3:11-12.   Adam and Eve have just been caught for eating from the tree they were commanded not to eat of. Naturally, they must answer for what they have done.  But you'll notice from the passage neither wants to take responsibility for their actions and they blame the other. They basically say "It's not my fault."

It's not my fault. We have all heard this excuse before. I am willing to bet that all of us have probably used it ourselves at some point in our lives.  We live in a world that does not want to be held accountable for the choices they make.

We notice from the passage that Adam blames Eve for "making him do it." But something I hadn't noticed before until it was brought out this weekend was Adam indirectly blames God for causing him to sin, we see this with the statement, "The woman whom You gave..." This reminds me of how often people blame God for the consequences of their own choices.

It's not my fault. After Eve is the center of attention, she blames the serpent, the devil. This also brings to mind the statement that some kids or even adults will sometimes make, "The devil made me do it."

What we have to realize is that in reality no one or nothing can make us do anything. Sin is a choice. Following God is a choice. Adam could have chosen not to eat of the fruit. Eve could have done the same. Adam also could have chosen to remind Eve of what God had commanded. They obviously made the wrong choice.

We have a choice. A choice to follow God, and His commands or not. Even if we have sinned, the option to turn back to Him is still available. We have to remember that we will be held accountable for our actions whether they were good or bad.

We have to remember, God is not going to accept the excuse of "It's not my fault." What will you choose? DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Friday, April 15, 2011

He was grieved in His heart

"Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  That Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart."--Genesis 6:5-6.  Genesis 6 has always been an interesting but tough chapter to read because of these two little verses right here--"God was sorry that He had made man on the earth and He was grieved in His heart." We will explore these two points.  But first what would follow in Genesis 6:7 is that God would destroy man from the face of the earth. How can that be true with humans still being here today? Well, in Genesis 6:8-22 is when we read about Noah who found favor in God's sight, we will look at Noah on Monday. But let's look at the first point for today.

God was sorry that He had made man. At first glance, one would read this as saying God wished He had never created man. Well the logical consequences of that argument would suggest that God made a mistake by making man and I think we all know that God DOES NOT make mistakes. What this really means is due to the fact of how evil society had become since the garden in Genesis 1-3, God had become sorrowful because humanity as a whole was so far from Him which caused Him to be grieved in His heart.

He was grieved in His heart.  Have you ever been so heartbroken over something someone did to you or to someone else that you just cannot understand why somebody would do such a cold and heartless thing? Take that feeling and multiply it.  This is how God was feeling about how evil His own creation had become as a whole.  Noah and his family of course were the exception. But it's like the rest of humanity just slapped God in the face without giving it a second thought by this point in the opening chapters of the Bible.

What does this mean to us? Well look around our world, I mentioned in last night's devo that sin is everywhere we look so open and exposed.  It's on TV, on the Internet, on billboards and to some extent it is creeping into our church buildings and God's people. There is no doubt that God is grieved in His heart because of what is happening to the world He created which in the beginning was very good. God is no doubt grieved in His heart over the sin that we have allowed to exist among us as His people.

As Christians, we have a responsibility to fight against the sin that exists in this world and in the church by first bringing people to an obedience of God and His Word and an obedience of the gospel of Christ. This is what Noah would attempt to do. We will look at Noah in more detail on Monday. In the meantime, FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Cain and Abel...Part 2...Sin...you must master it.

"Sin...you must master it."--Genesis 4:7

"If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."--Genesis 4:7.  This was the last thing God said to Cain before we read of the the tragedy to follow, Cain killing his brother Abel. This is part 2 of the devo I did this morning. Tonight I want to focus on God's instructions to Cain, "Sin is crouching at the door...but you must master it."

Sin, you must master it.  A little background in case you missed this morning's devo. What happened in Genesis 4:1-6 was that God accepted Abel's sacrifice but not Cain's.  We find in Hebrews 11:4 that Abel's faith made the difference. But after these events, God notices that Cain's "countenance" falls because Cain was angry. God tells Cain that if he does well his countenance will "be lifted up." It's almost like God is saying, if you do things right, it will be all better. But then we see what happens if Cain does not do well.

Sin, you must master it.  If Cain does not do well, sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is for Cain but Cain must master it.  The key thought is that he must master it.

Sin, you must master it.  Sin is everywhere today. We drive down the road, we see it on some billboard advertising the local bar in town that is offering drinks at half off.  We see ads on TV that are using sexual images to sell their product. We even find those same advertisements when we pick up our mail from the mailbox.  Not to mention the internet as well. Because sin is so public and exposed, it is in us as well. The question is what will we do about the sin that exists in our lives?

Sin, you must master it.  The fact that God tells Cain that he must master sin, in this case, anger. Again, anger as an emotion is not sinful but it is what we do with that anger that can cause sin. Cain clearly had an anger problem.  But the fact that God tells him he must master his sin should give us all encouragement in that whatever sin we might struggle with, God has given us the ability to conquer it.

Sin, you must master it. I don't know what sin you struggle with, maybe it is anger, maybe it is lust, or greed, or something else. God told Cain He must master his sin. Why? Because sin's desire was for Cain. This was written down for a reason. Sin, more specifically Satan, desires us. We must master our sin, God has given us the ability to conquer our sin through Him and through His Son whose gospel we must obey. This is only the beginning of our mastery of sin.

Sin, you must master it. Among other things, conquering sin involves self control.  Another practical method in conquering sin is removing that which causes you to sin whether it's the computer or the TV or even some of the movies that might be in your DVD collection or songs on your iPod or maybe we need to think about the people we hang out with.  These are just a few examples. The point is from Genesis 4 we can see that God has given us the power and the ability to master and conquer sin.

Sin, we must master it. And if we do, there are benefits both in this life and the next. We will be better Christians and better people. What will you do? DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Cain and Abel...Part 1...Am I my brother's keeper?

"...Am I my brother's keeper?"--Genesis 4:9

"Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Where is Abel your brother?' And he said 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?'"--Genesis 4:9.  At this point in Genesis Adam and Eve have already been cast out of the garden of Eden and have had children.  Among them, Cain and Abel. In Genesis 4:1-8, we find that Cain and Abel made their separate sacrifices but God had favor or "regard" for Abel's but not for Cain's.  This led to the first murder in recorded human history, Cain kills Abel.  When the Lord comes looking for Abel, Cain asks God the question that some have said has plagued generations ever since: Am I my brother's keeper?

Am I my brother's keeper? First of all, most would be asking why God accepted Abel's sacrifice but not Cain's. Hebrews 11:4 tells us that by faith, Abel offered the better sacrifice making him righteous in the sight of God. But returning to Genesis 4, we see also in Genesis 4:5 that "Cain became very angry" because his brother's sacrifice was accepted while his was not.

Am I my brother's keeper? In context, we can conclude that it was anger that drove Cain to kill his brother.  The Scriptures do not tell us who was the older of the two directly but it appears that Cain was born first based on Genesis 4:1-2.  That makes Cain older. If the conclusion is correct, Abel was Cain's little brother.

Am I my brother's keeper? Cain and Abel were more than likely young men already when this took place since they were working and offering sacrifices but they still had a responsibility to look after one another as brothers. Anger is what drove Cain to kill Abel, his little brother.

Am I my brother's keeper? There are times when we are going to be angry with our brother (or sister).  Anger is a God given emotion but it is what we do with that anger that makes the difference. Ephesians 4:26 tells us to not let the sun go down on our anger or to be angry and not sin. Tonight we will look at another aspect of the Cain and Abel account but we still need to answer the question, Am I my brother's keeper?

Am I my brother's keeper? The answer is yes. We may get angry at our brother or sister sometimes but we have a responsibility to settle our differences as brethren, especially and most importantly as brethren in Christ. Cain's anger led to murdering his little brother. Our anger may not drive us to physically murder our brother but remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:22-23 where we see that anger can drive us to murder our brother in our hearts.

If you have something against someone or as we are told in Matthew 5:23-26, if you know your brother (or sister) has something against you, go to that person and resolve it before presenting your offering to God at the altar.  This is especially crucial if they are a brother or sister in Christ.

Am I my brother's keeper? You bet we are. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Power


**This was my devotional thoughts at church tonight.** Hope you find it encouraging :-).

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."--Romans 1:16.

This last Sunday, our youth minister, here at the Bear Valley Church of Christ Brett spoke about the plague of frogs, one of the ten plagues of Egypt.  What this plague was, among other things, was a display of God's POWER.

One of the last things Jesus said to the apostles in Acts 1:8 was that they would receive POWER when the Holy Spirit would come upon them.

Today of course we don't have the miraculous power but we still see God's POWER at work when a soul is saved through baptism

We see God's POWER at work when HIS WORD pierces someone's heart causing them to re-commit their lives to Him.

These are just a few examples of God's POWER at work. But the Bible also speaks of a different kind of power, the power of sin.

In the Bible, we see the power of sin at work in Pharaoh when he refused to let Israel go.

We see the power of sin at work with the Roman Empire telling Christians to forsake God and worship Caesar as Lord.

Today, we see the power of sin at work when lives are destroyed by the sin of addiction to any given substance.

We see the power of sin at work when we see our young people drawn away from the church by the world when they leave High School and go off to college.

But thanks be to God that His power can win out because of what Christ did on the cross.

You have two conflicting powers.  The power of God and the power of sin.  Which power will you allow to control you? It starts with God's Word.

God is calling us, will we tap into His power and allow His power to defeat the power of sin in our lives? It starts with obedience to the gospel, the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. What will you do with the power?

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Deceived with consequences...


"When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate."--Genesis 3:6.  This was the day humanity died. No, not physically of course but spiritually. It was the sin of Adam and Eve that would bring death into this world because we would not have access to the tree of life anymore according to Genesis 3:22-24.  So we need to ask ourselves why, why did Adam and Eve eat of the forbidden fruit? Well the answer can be gleaned from Genesis 3:6 alone, there were three reasons: The lust of the eyes, the pride of life, and the lust of the flesh. Additionally, they were simply deceived.

Deceived. The lust of the eyes.  We first notice that Eve saw the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes.  She saw that the tree was good for food. Here we find the first reason we fall into sin.  Because on the outside, sin looks good.  Sin looks fun. Sin more often than not promises a good time. Safe to say sin appears beautiful. If it didn't look and/or feel good, no one would do it.

Deceived. The pride of life. The next thing we see is the Eve saw that the tree was desirable to make one wise. I think we all want wisdom but at what expense? Eating of this fruit would give humanity the knowledge and the choice of good and evil.  We see the consequences of this even to this day with all the evil that goes on in this world. The pride of life is the second aspect of sin. It tends to promise something better but when we indulge, it is only to our destruction.

Deceived. The lust of the flesh.  Eve also saw that the tree was good for food and as a result she ate and also gave to Adam.  They both realized what they had done and tried to hide from God.  This is final step when we cross from temptation to sin.  Sin offers all these seemingly good things and then more often than not we give in. Sin offers pleasure, desire, and satisfaction but underneath all those good things is destruction and worse we think we can hide it from God.

Something we must recognize is that Eve could have said no. Also, Adam was probably standing there when all this was taking place. He also could have stopped her. Temptation is not the sin. We cross the line when we give in to that temptation.

The account of Adam and Eve's sin in the garden is what would begin our journey for redemption and our journey back to paradise where the tree of life is. It began our journey back to God. God wants our broken relationship with Him restored.  But that hinges on our obedience to Him and it begins with obedience to the gospel.  May we not be deceived any longer. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Come, Lord Jesus

"He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming quickly.' Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus."--Revelation 22:20. The second to last verse of the whole Bible.  The second to last phrase from the apostle John to Christians suffering persecution from the Roman Empire. If context counts anywhere, its here.

Come, Lord Jesus. For the majority of the book of Revelation, John spends his time telling Christians suffering under the Roman persecution to stay true to Christ.  This is especially evident in the letters to the seven churches found in Revelation 2-3.  But the last two chapters of Revelation are spent talking about the future.  Revelation 21 and 22 can be boiled down to one word: Victory.  Victory over the sin of the world.  The victorious ones  will go on to receive their reward.  This is what prompts the statement, "Come, Lord Jesus."

Revelation 22:20 also tells us that Jesus is coming quickly.  Jesus is coming for two reasons. One, to come and get those who are in his body.  Second, he is coming to judge those who are not.

This is when we will be saved. But in order to receive this salvation at the coming of Christ, we have to be ready and do what He expects us to do to prepare for His return. If you need some idea on where to get started, clink on my link to the right, "Are You Sure of Your Eternal Salvation?".

There are some who fearing the return of Christ. It doesn't have to be this way.  To those who are longing for and desiring his return, their attitude is "Come, Lord Jesus." Which side are you on???

Our journey for redemption began at our exile from the Garden in Genesis 3. It ends here. Where will you be on that great and terrible day??? We must remember Jesus is coming quickly.

My prayer is that you the reader and myself will leave this world victoriously with Christ to spend eternity with Him. Until then, I leave you with Revelation 22:21, the FINAL verse of the Bible. "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen." Come, Lord Jesus.

It is not good for man to be alone...

"...It is not good for man to be alone..."--Genesis 2:18

"Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.'"--Genesis 2:18.  Creation has been finished yet there is still something missing. Man has no suitable helper. The word for suitable can also be translated corresponding to.  The term help meet is one often used in reference to this verse.  But the Lord acknowledges that it is not good for man to be alone.

It is not good for man to be alone.  This is a passage that is often turned to at wedding ceremonies.  Much of the reason for this is because the context of it is used in the New Testament such as in Matthew 19:5 when Jesus is speaking on marriage, divorce and remarriage and He mentions Genesis 2:24. Genesis 2:24 says "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." This passage in Genesis is rock solid proof that marriage is between a man and a woman, and a man and a woman only.

It is not good for man to be alone. I find it interesting that during the whole creation account, everything was very good but then God says man being alone is NOT good.  So He creates a solution, He creates woman. I think we would all agree that human beings as a whole are social creatures.  We have an innate need to be with at least one other person. Admittedly, we have our days when we want to be away from people but that only lasts so long.

It is not good for man to be alone.  There is just something about being alone that all people fear whether they realize it or not.  There is a certain joy we find in being with others, whether its with our families or with our brethren in the church.  Psalm 68:5 according to the New King James says that God sets the lonely in families.

And that's the thought I want to leave you with this morning. God gave us our family for a reason, so that we would not be alone or lonely.  Whether its your biological family or your church family, make the most of the time you have with them. As a practical encouragement, if your married, take your wife (or husband if you are a woman reading this) and kids (if you have them) and go somewhere special where you guys can spend some quality time together, just because. If you are single and on your own, take some time to call up one of your friends and go out to lunch or somewhere just to hang out.  Or maybe call your parents up. I'm sure they would like to hear from you too. :-)

Make time to spend with those you love and care about. Make time to spend some time with someone you don't really know. They need company too. Why? Because it is not good for man to be alone.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Psalm 42: Part 3...Our God...Our Rock...our Help

The Loch Below Andrews Glacier Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado

"I will say to God my rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go on mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?"--Psalm 42:9. This verse begins the third section of Psalm 42 which encompasses Psalm 42:9-11.  The psalmist once again focuses his attention on his troubles.  He begins to question God yet at the same time he knows his hope is in God and God alone.

Our God.  Let's face the facts here.  God is God.  There are times when He will allow things to happen in our lives that are beyond our control and we will not understand why. I don't know if any of us will go through something as excruciating as what the psalmist is going through in Psalm 42 which is something where his suffering is equal to the shattering of his bones.  Adding insult to injury, they once again ask "Where is Your God?"  We may ask that, but tonight I want to remind you that when you are suffering, no matter how small or great, God is right there with you. Remember, He watched His Son die on that cross.  All the sin of the world was on Him. Everything, and I do mean every piece of suffering any of us could go through was nailed to that cross.  If nothing else, that is why we should be confident that God understands our suffering and will see us through it. 

Our Rock. I live in Colorado. Home of the Rocky mountains. The concept of a rock is used in the Scriptures. A rock is solid, a rock is able to withstand the harsh elements of nature.  If we put our hope in God, we will be able to withstand the harsh elements of the suffering that comes with living in this world. I don't know how many snow storms the Rocky Mountains have seen but one thing is for sure, today they are still standing tall and proud because of the God given nature that they are. God will give us His nature and the power to withstand the harsh elements of suffering when we obey the gospel.

Our Help.  At the end of this passage, the psalmist calls God the help of his countenance. As I close out this short series on Psalm 42, I want to leave you with the reminder that while the language is somber and sad in this Psalm, this Psalm is a message of hope that no matter how overwhelming the circumstances, we must remember that God is our Help through the difficult times. 

I know for me, when I am down, more often than not it is helping others through their trials that brings a smile to my face.  I have my struggles, some of which only me and the Lord know about but while I always seek to help people, no matter how I am feeling, I find that just like Paul, it is when I am weak that I am made strong. Are you feeling down today? You may not feel up to it, but go out and see how you can encourage someone else because I am willing to bet that by helping others, you will help yourself and the Lord will work through you. I pray you have found this short series encouraging. If you have missed out on the previous two, the links are on the blog roll. And always remember Our God is Our Rock and Our Help. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS! 

It was very good...


"God saw all the He had made and behold, it was very good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day."--Genesis 1:31.  Genesis 1 is the close of the creation account.  Everything in the heavens and on earth had been created, including God's crowning creation, man, made in His image. Genesis 2 will give us a more detailed account of the creation.  Contrary to popular belief Genesis 2 is NOT a second creation, it is simply a recounting of the same creation from Genesis 1 but with more detail. But my point this morning is the key phrase in Genesis 1:31, "it was very good."

It was very good.  It's hard to wrap our minds around just how good is very good in terms of God's original creation.  The above image of course is just one of many portrayals of what the garden may have looked like but none of us really know.  The point here is that it was very good.

It was very good.  Today, we can look around us and between the pollution, smog, and whatever other junk is floating around in the air we breath, it is clear that the world we live in today is anything but very good. Please don't construe this as an environmentalist statement or something like that. However, let's notice a key thought in Genesis 2:15. In this passage, man is told to keep and cultivate the garden. What God created was very good.  A big part of me thinks He expected us to keep it that way in the beginning.

It was very good. So what do we do now? Obviously we have gotten away from what was very good in today's world.  Not just in terms of creation but also our relationship with God. Every Christian is first responsible for their own relationship with God but also for helping others in their relationship with God which was also very good at the beginning.

Second, I am not suggesting to go out and become an environmentalist.  All I am encouraging you to do is maybe plant your own garden or help someone else take care of theirs.  Or maybe just help someone in their yard altogether.  Maybe it's not such a bad idea to go green.  After all, God did give us a garden to take care of in the beginning and that garden was very good.

This is just some food for thought. I pray you found it encouraging. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Psalm 42: Part 2 Deep Calls to Deep


"Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence." Psalm 42:5.   This is the first verse of the second section of Psalm 42.  Here for a moment, the psalmist turns his attention away from his own sorrow and reminds himself that he must hope in God.  The section encompasses Psalm 42:5-8. Scroll over to read.

Hope in God.  Beginning in verse 5, the psalmist begins to look to God as he realizes if he any hope of getting out of his horrible circumstances, his only hope is God and God alone.  This section becomes a prayer in and of itself.  In this section, the psalmist's attention is entirely on God. He acknowledges his sorrow but clings to God. He declares to God that his soul is in such despair.  The term "deep calls to deep" in Psalm 42:7 shows us how deep someones pain can penetrate. And finally in Psalm 42:8, the word daytime is a symbol for the joyful times the psalmist once had when the Lord was showing His loving kindness.  But now it is night time for the psalmist and all he has to cling to is a song of praise to the Lord.

Even in my hardest of times, I can't say I have ever been as low as the psalmist becomes in this set of verses. But  in some of my friends lives, I have seen them go through struggles where it seems the tough times are all around them. The psalmist here has the same feeling, he compares the troubles he has to waves rolling in one after another but his hope is still in the Lord.

I don't know what trials you are going through. My prayer is that they are not as overwhelming as we read about here in this section of Psalm 42. The message of this section of Psalm is clear, that our only hope is in God. Again, I don't know what you might be going through but my suggestion to you as last time is the same. If nothing else, sing a song of praise to God such as Farther Along or As The Deer.  

I'll be back on Monday night for the final part of this short series on Psalm 42.  Thanks for reading! Love y'all! God bless!

In the beginning, God...


"In the beginning God..."--Genesis 1:1.  All of us can probably finish this statement without blinking an eye.  The trick to studying the Bible properly is putting each passage in context to figure out what any given passage is really talking about. You have to look at the verses before and you have to look at the verses after. Eventually you have to see how the passage fits in the context of the whole Bible.  So this verse presents a problem since we have no verses before it, or does it?

Well the answer of course is no it does not.  As New Testament Christians, the only time we really go back to Genesis 1 is when we are attempting to prove such things as the fact that God created the world in six literal 24 hour days, which by the way HE DID! Going back to Genesis to do this is all well and good but we may reach a point when in our personal study, we tend to gloss over what I consider to be one of the four most important words in the whole Bible, "In the beginning, God..."

This is why having no verses before Genesis 1:1 does not present a problem.  Because there was nothing before God! This is difficult for the human mind to comprehend because our mind wants us to believe that everything has a cause.  This is why faith is so important. God is the ultimate cause. Therefore, nothing is above Him. Over 4000 years after Genesis was written, Paul would tell Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that ALL Scripture is useful for teaching.  The key there is ALL Scripture. This means that these four little words in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God..." are there for a purpose. Everything starts with God.  Humanity would have no hope if it weren't for those four words that started it all.

So may we never forget that God is the beginning of everything.  Also, if you have not yet obeyed the gospel, know He is the genesis or the beginning of the salvation of our souls.  So may we never forget, "In the beginning, God..."  THANKS FOR READING! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Psalm 42 Part 1: As the Deer


Psalm 42:1 "As the deer pants for the water brooks so my soul pants for You, O God."  This psalm speaks of a man who is experiencing a sorrow like he has never known before.  I just finished writing a commentary on all 11 verses.  What I want to share with you over the next three nights is a condensed version of what I wrote.  I will be breaking it down the same way it is broken down in the Bible. Part 1 will be Psalm 42:1-4 which I will not type out in the interest of your valuable time.  You can scroll over the passage citation or look at the first 4 verses in your own Bible. Here I will only type out the first verse of each section.

As The Deer.  In these first four verses of Psalm 42 we see a picture painted of the separation from God the psalmist is experiencing.  In verses 1 and 2, he has an extreme thirst for God in the same way a deer or some other animal desperately seeks water in a dry desert. and is longing to appear before God in His temple once again. He is experiencing a spiritual drought.  He calls God the living God realizing that just like water gives new life to he who drinks it, God is the one who is the true source of new life. In verse 3, he compares his tears to food that he has been "eating" day and night.  The psalmist's sorrow consumes him.  Not only is he suffering from the angst of separation from the Lord but his suffering is intensified as his enemies see his plight and mock him saying "Where is your God?" These insults that are added to the psalmist's injury cause him to remember the more joyful times of his life in verse 4.  He remembers when he assembled with the rest of God's people as they went to appear before God.  He is the one who lead these crowds who celebrated such an occasion.  Now, he is far removed from them and His God due to his plight.

This is just a small synopsis of what the first four verses of Psalm 42 are dealing with. But what does it mean to us? Ever been at a point in your life where it seems God is all you have to turn to? We live in a world where more and more people see suffering and ask you and me, where is your God? Many ask this to create doubt in our minds. We CANNOT give in to them.  Are you currently experiencing a spiritual drought like the psalmist is in these first four verses? His first solution to his plight is remembering the joyful times.  We have to remember the joyful times the Lord has given us with His people.  If you have somehow been separated from God's people due to circumstance, find your way back and trust that the Lord will bring you back into His fold..

Some of those people with whom we rejoiced may be gone from this life for whatever reason but hang on to those memories and remember the happy times they brought. I turned to Psalm 42 countless times while my dad was sick all the way up to his death. While the language is somber and maybe even depressing, this Psalm contains a message of hope. Feel free to read it in it's entirety on your own, Psalm 42:1-11.  It's only eleven verses, just a few minutes of your time.

THANKS FOR READING EVERYONE! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL GOD BLESS!  

This is NOT just a joke.

"And there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks."--Ephesians 5:4. Paul, writing to the church in Ephesus as part of a greater message as to how God's people should be living their lives.

As a disclaimer, these thoughts are not directed at any individual or group or individuals.  This area is an area I struggle in as well.  It is only recently that I have begun to look at this area that seems to have become a part of our Christian walk and a part of our relationship with each other to a point where we are not looking at it and asking if God really approves of how we sometimes treat each other when we are "just joking".  This is NOT just a joke.

We have all heard it one or more times in our lives, phrases such as "I was only kidding," or "I was only joking" and of course the ever famous, "It was just a joke." And this one is my favorite, "Joking is just my way of showing you I love you." or some variation thereof. Again, I admit I too have used all of the phrases I just gave at some point in my life.

But the question is, in light of the Scripture in Ephesians, does God approve of some of the "joking" we do??? I was speaking with a fellow brother in Christ, Paul Myers, a former classmate of mine now graduated from here at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver on this very subject. During our discussion, he informed me of the origins of the words sarcasm and humor which by the way have also worked their way into this area of our relationship with each other.  The word sarcasm, according to Paul literally means tearing of the flesh. And humor also has as it's root word humerus as in the bone that is our elbow or "funny bone" (No pun intended). Therefore, sarcastic humor could quite literally mean tearing someone else's flesh and body.

Returning to Ephesians and putting the passage into context, Ephesians 5:1 begins with "Therefore, be imitators of God."  Therefore connects Ephesians 5 with Ephesians 4.  Ephesians 4:25-32 gives us a fairly good idea of how we should be treating each other and when I read this passage I don't see how the way we joke with each other sometimes fits into this. Verse 25 tells us we ought to SPEAK truth with our neighbor.  Ephesians 4:29 says "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." Does some of our joking bring grace to those who hear it? Further, we must ask how does some of our joking affect our example towards new Christians or those outside the body of Christ? Verse 31 says that among other things, slander must be put away. And finally in Ephesians 4:32 we are told to be KIND TO ONE ANOTHER and TENDER HEARTED which brings us up to Ephesians 5 which speaks about how we are to imitate God.

Again, this is an area I struggle with as well and have probably failed in this area numerous times.  As I look at these verses in Ephesians, I fail to see how the way we joke with each other sometimes accomplishes what we are told to do here in Ephesians 4-5.  After all, this letter (book) was written to the church.  That means it was written to you and to me. THIS IS NOT JUST A JOKE.

I AM LOOKING FOR FURTHER COMMENTS ON THE ISSUE. SO FEEL FREE TO COMMENT. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!      

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Victory

2 Samuel 23:10, 2 Samuel 23:12, 2 Kings 5:1, 2 Kings 13:17, 1 Chronicles 11:14, 1 Chronicles 29:11, Psalm 44:4, Psalm 45:4, Psalm 98:1, Proverbs 21:31, Zephaniah 3:17, Matthew 12:20, 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, 1 Corinthians 15:57, 1 John 5:4, and finally Revelation 15:2.

If you will scroll over the above verses individually, you will notice a running theme, VICTORY. But there is something else you should notice about the above passages.  They all have a single common denominator and that is that the Lord is involved in all these instances of victory.

I cant say I have read the Bible all the way cover to cover from Genesis to Revelation. However, I have at least looked at almost every book in the Bible. Again haven't read all the books from beginning to end.  But as I read the Bible, the Bible contains many different types of action. The Bible has adventure, romance, joy, sadness, tragedy, history, drama, poetry and this is just to name a few. But there is one overriding theme and that is victory. Victory for who? For God's people.

It starts in Genesis.  We lose out on eternity with God because of the sin of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.  In Genesis 6, sinful people, with the exception of Noah and his family are destroyed in the flood.  Genesis 11-12 then introduce us to Abram later to be known as Abraham. And this is where the story of God's people begins.

From Abraham to Moses to Jesus Christ. These three would be the leaders of the sinful people such as you and me who are looking to get back to God.

By the time we reach Revelation, through all the symbols and images in that book, we find one thing, that victory is found only in Christ through His cleansing blood that releases us from sin.  The majority of Revelation has already occurred but there is still one event that has yet to occur, the return of Jesus Christ which will bring ultimate VICTORY to His people. Do you want that victory??? Remember the passages I gave at the beginning of these thoughts. Only the Lord can give us that victory and that is through obedience to the gospel of His Son Jesus Christ.  After we have done this, we must faithfully follow Him and obey His commands found in the pages of the New Testament.

So I ask again do YOU want that ultimate victory??? Do you want to be with Christ when He returns??? Well the links I have included in the above paragraph will give you a starting point. So all that's left now is to DO SOMETHING!!! PRAY ABOUT IT!!! LOVE Y'ALL GOD BLESS!!!