Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Light Pierces the Dark


1 John 1:5-7 NLT - This is the message he has given us to announce to you: God is light and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.

Light always pushes back darkness. We see this all the time by turning on a light. God did so for the world by first creating light to separate day from night. We can’t see the good or the bad if we don’t have the light. We won’t know we are spiritually dark until we come in contact with the light. We will know it when we do whether we are ready to admit it or not.

I knew real Christians when I still walked in the dark. They had a light I did not have. It took me a long time to accept Christ due to a lot of professors of the faith not walking out that faith. They fit in verse six above and did not properly shine the truth for me to see. Once I had my own encounter with Jesus and knew I had to follow him, I went to those real Christians to join their church. I’m not expecting perfection in anyone, but I do expect to see them trying to follow the faith. If they mess up, I expect them to have a contrite heart with God to confess it and ask for help to overcome it. Jesus cleanses our sins if we let Him.

God gave the Law as a guide. Those commandments help us see the light and know how dark we are without it. We can’t win God’s favor by doing them or earn anything for that matter, but we will do them if we truly love God and want to follow Jesus’s example.

Prov 6:23 NLT - For these commands and this teaching are a lamp to light the way ahead of you. The correction of discipline is the way to life.

We need the Law to pierce the spiritual darkness in our hearts so we can see the truth in proper lighting. We need to accept the discipline we receive so we can properly walk and fellowship with Jesus. That is how you are known as His disciple. You may walk ugly at times as you learn, but the world will see if you are truly walking with Him or not.

Are you accepting His discipline? Are you shining His light for the world to see no matter what life throws at you? Do people ask you about it because they see something they are missing? Tell them about it, and no matter what, stick with Jesus through every good and bad thing that happens. The dark will know you are His.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Faithful


In studying this word and looking at even two versions of the Bible I found that faithful relates back to trust and assurance that God will do what He says. He has to be speaking the truth or else He would be a liar, in which case we would not have faith in Him. All these qualities work together for a full picture of who God is and what His Law does.

The following verse is in two versions to help you understand what God wants to do for you.

1 Cor 1:9 NKJV:  God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Cor 1:9 NLT:  God will surely do this for you, for he always does just what he says, and he is the one who invited you into this wonderful friendship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

He is not just our God and the Lord of Lords, but He wants a relationship with each and every one of us as a close friend. He wants to help you be what He created you to be and to keep you safe.

2 Thess 3:3-4 NKJV:  But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.

That is a great promise to hold onto through everything, like what the psalmist writes about in the following verses. I shared the entire eight verses because it explains a lot of how we feel despite what we know of God. The flesh is weak and hates to wait. However, this man knows to hold on to following the commandants given by God because they are trustworthy and faithful in what they say.

Ps 119:81-88 NLT
I faint with longing for your salvation; but I have put my hope in your word.
82 My eyes are straining to see your promises come true. When will you comfort me?
83 I am shriveled like a wineskin in the smoke, exhausted with waiting. But I cling to your principles and obey them.
84 How long must I wait? When will you punish those who persecute me?
85 These arrogant people who hate your law have dug deep pits for me to fall into.
86 All your commands are trustworthy. Protect me from those who hunt me down without cause.
87 They almost finished me off, but I refused to abandon your commandments.
88 In your unfailing love, spare my life; then I can continue to obey your decrees.

The psalmist may have written this a few hundred years before Jesus Christ came, but knew in his heart what was written to the Hebrews after Christ’s death and resurrection.

Heb 10:23 NKJV:  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

I stand firm in my belief in God. The more I study and write about what I’m learning, the more I believe it compared to the other options in the world. It’s because I can have faith in God and trust Him. I’ve had people break friendships and even talk behind my back about this change, but here I am sixteen years later still confessing I’m a follower of Jesus Christ. And the main thing that solidifies it for me is that God is love and wants us to love the world no matter what. We can do that if we do things His way.

Does what you put your faith in have a solid foundation or will it melt away under persecution? Does it keep you safe and treat you like a true friend?


Wednesday, February 7, 2018

God and His Law Are Just


Isa 45:20-21 NLT
"Gather together and come, you fugitives from surrounding nations. What fools they are who carry around their wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save! 21 Consult together, argue your case, and state your proofs that idol worship pays. Who made these things known long ago? What idol ever told you they would happen? Was it not I, the LORD? For there is no other God but me — a just God and a Savior — no, not one!

Let that sink in. Read it a few more times if you have to. What in this world made by man can truly save us and determine where we wind up after death? Definitely nothing made by man. This battle won’t be won by flesh or things made by it. It will be won by the truth in the spiritual realm. The truth is that Jesus already won it for us by beating Satan, taking the keys of hell, and making sure we don’t have to receive the death we deserve.

Rom 3:26 NLT
And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.

We are all sinners. We have all done things against God whether we believe in Him or not. However, we will not be judged by our nature if we accept Jesus Christ by repenting of what we did wrong. Then when God looks at us He will see Jesus instead of us. Thus we can walk into heaven.

Rom 7:11-12 NLT
Sin took advantage of the law and fooled me; it took the good law and used it to make me guilty of death. 12 But still, the law itself is holy and right and good.

This section of Romans keeps coming up in this study. That is because the Law will tell us what is good or bad if we bother to look at it correctly. We need to understand where we went wrong and that we need help to overcome it before we can even go to Jesus. When we break into repentance for what we did we will be saved. The sinner that is not repentant when telling Jesus he accepts Him is only giving lip service.

God gave us a free will to decide how we will live. He gives us our whole life to determine which way we will go. We have no idea how long we will be here in this temporal life, but at the end of it where you wind up for eternity will have been your choice based on how you chose when still alive.

Think about where you want God to put you for eternity. If you are still debating, I urge you to do your own research comparing the options out there for eternity, but don’t take too long. I know I’m glad I figured this out and chose Jesus. I thank Him for giving me the time to do so and further time to grow in understanding Him so I can share what I know with you.