I Live By Faith

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20 KJV)

There you have it. How great is that!? We don't have to fret about whether we are doing what we must do or not; what laws we must abide by. By faith, Christ lives in and through all who believe. The one who lived and died and lives again for you is with you. He abides in you. He abides in all who believe. It is not by the law; but, by faith that he brings forth much fruit through you.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Nothing To Fear; Yet, We Do

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel..." 

                                                                                       (2 Tim 1:7-10 KJV)

What is there to fear? After all; Christ has abolished death and has brought to light life and immortality through his own suffering and death and life.

There is nothing to fear. Yet, the reality is that there are things that do frighten many of us. Death for ourselves is not one of those things. But, the possible deaths of loved ones who do not know and believe in Jesus can cause us to fear for them. The refusal of people that we care about to get to know Jesus can cause us many anxious moments. 

There are a few ways to combat those anxious moments. The first is to turn to God in prayer. The second is to be bold in our testimony of our Lord; to share what God has done for us and continues to do for us through Jesus Christ our Lord and our Saviour.

May God grant you peace of heart and mind and faith to all whom you love and know.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Get Up and Do Something!

"Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him."                                                     (James 1:12 NRSV)

Temptations occur on a daily basis. The first thing that came to mind when I woke up this morning was: "Do I have to do anything today?" The temptation to do nothing, absolutely nothing, loomed large. 

The truth is that my body has been hurting all over for a couple of days and I would just like to give in to the temptation to do absolutely nothing today. The other truth is that I know, from experience, that if I do absolutely nothing today, I will hurt even worse tomorrow. 

God has called each of us to live life, according to his will. His will does not include doing nothing ever. Those who love him know that He calls us to love and serve Him and we do that by loving and serving the people around us and even beyond our personal borders. 

There are challenges in life. There are also many temptations to not accept those challenges. Time to get up, get out there, and produce the fruit that God has empowered us to produce. Be productive, live in, and share the light of Jesus the Christ in all that you say and think and do!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Christ Alone

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

                                                                                       Col 1:28-29 NIV

You're kidding right?! There's that look I have whenever anyone lifts up their own good works. Over and over and over again I remind people, through proclamation in the pulpit and out of the pulpit, that without Christ we can do nothing to glorify God. We can do nothing to save ourselves! Our striving is useless without the energy; without the power of the Spirit of Christ that works in and through us. 

Get over it! Without Christ we are nothing.  With him we can do all things through him who strengthens us. (Phil 4:13) It is Christ who lives in us who does all things. (Gal 2:20)

It is time to give it up and trust God in Christ Jesus to lead you and be the strength that is required to follow wherever he will lead you; as the Good News is proclaimed through you. 

God's Peace - Pr. J

Every Knee Shall Bow

It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”  Hebrews 14:11 NIV

I am looking for that the day when every knee shall bow. That is not to say that every human being will love the Lord; but, that there will not be one human being who will be able to say that He is not God. Today, many refuse to believe. They will not honor, nor love, nor worship Him. There are also those who say they believe; but, take His great love for us so lightly that one would not be able to tell if they are Christians or not.

I get very weary of witnessing the bowing down of the multitudes to false gods. Fortune, fame, and ego being just three of the countless false gods that are lifted up. I get very weary of the lifting up of the "good works" that people have done. Without the help of the one true God, there are no good works. The glory for a follower of Jesus always belongs to God. We can do nothing. We are nothing without God.

Consider Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refusal to bow to the golden idol that Nebuchadnezzar had made. They knew that there is only one true God. They were so loyal to Him that they refused to bow down to this golden calf even as they knew that the penalty for not bowing to this false idol meant death in the fiery furnace. They were not afraid to live or die for the Lord. And, they did not die. The Lord protected them even in the flames of the fiery furnace. They lived as witnesses to the power of the one true God. Only to Him would these three bow.

One day, every knee shall bow. Some will bow out of reverence and love for our awesome God. Others will bow out of sheer fear as they acknowledge Him for the first time. They will bow as they finally acknowledge that He alone is God.

May God open our ears and eyes and hearts and minds so that today we will acknowledge and worship, in reverence and love, the one true God.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Remain In Christ To The Glory Of God

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:5,8 NIV

Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. One of the first questions we might want to ask ourselves is what it is that we want to do? Jesus did the will of our Father in heaven, opening his arms on the cross; opening the Kingdom to all who would believe in him. Is our purpose to further the Kingdom of God or our own little kingdoms that surround us. Is the purpose of what we would do to glorify ourselves or to glorify God? If it is to glorify God then we must remember that without Jesus we can do nothing. We must abide in him so that he through us might continue to bear fruit, serving our Father by reaching out to a world in desperate need of being reconciled to our Father and one another that we might live in his peace.

Jesus said that he is the vine and we are the branches. A branch that is cut off from the vine will lie on the ground, dry up, and die. It will be good for nothing except to be burned in the fire.

May God help us to remain in Christ and Christ in us that we might bear much fruit bringing glory to God for without him all of our good works are like the branch that has fallen from the vine, good for nothing.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Do Not Insult The Spirit Of Grace

Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three

witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:28-31

It astounds me how anyone who knows about God would blaspheme His name with words too unimaginable to mention here. The Spirit of God is a Spirit of grace. God wants only good for all people. Yet, many will never accept Him; many will never get to know this Spirit of grace. They may know about Him; but, they refuse to get to know Him. 

Personally, I am really tired of hearing God's name taken in vain. I am really tired of hearing such horribly vulgar language. But, it doesn't matter that I am offended. It is a grave matter, though, to offend and fall into the hands of the living God. To use our Lord, Jesus the Christ's name in conjunction with such vulgarity is really asking for trouble to be brought upon one's self. Does no one really understand that it is not a good thing to blaspheme the Lord's name? It is a very dangerous thing! "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." Ex 20:7

Let us pray for all who would treat the Lord as nothing; even less than nothing.

God's Peace - Pr. J