Whether We Live Or Die

Romans 14:4-9; Philippians 1:21-25 KJV; Whether we live or die we live to the Lord. Live life in the Lord!

He Did Not Turn Away

Isaiah 50:4-9 KJV; Palm Sunday; He did not turn away; but, faced his persecutors.

Will See Our Savior Face To Face

John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. 

                                                                          (Rev 1:4-8 KJV)

We give thanks to him for with his own blood, Jesus washed us from our sins in order to make us kings and priests to God. Because of this precious gift of salvation, when he comes again in full glory we will weep. We will weep for joy at seeing our savior face to face. Others may weep in fear; but, all who believe in his life giving sacrifice will not be afraid. We will rejoice!

That is not to say that Christ is not present with us now. When Jesus gave us the great commission (Matt 28:19-20) he promised us that he would be with us until the end of the world. Yes, the world will end one day. It could be today. It could be a million years from now. In the meantime we wait for the day when we will see our savior with our own eyes as those first disciples did after he rose from the grave. For now we give thanks that he has promised to be with us even today.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

And... The Cock Crowed

Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

                                                (Matt 26:74-75 KJV)

For years my congregations have observed Good Friday with a Tenebrae Service. There is a monologue given as if it were the eye witness account of St. Peter. It is a moving account of how much our Lord was willing to suffer for us. He was willing to endure torture and death for we who would continue to betray him even as Peter betrayed him. 

When I hear the account of St. Peter's betrayal, I am shaken to the core for I know that St. Peter is not the only betrayer. Here is our Lord giving his life that we might live and here we are living our own lives to fulfill our own selfish purposes; to protect ourselves. We can tell ourselves the Lord expects us to have everything we want to enjoy our lives, and I do believe he wants us to enjoy life; but, at what cost? Is the cost putting the love of self; the love of the world above the love of God? Do we realize that in turning to our desires that we are turning away from the one who loves us so much that he would die for us? Do we truly love the one who loved us enough to die for us above our own selfish desires? 

When Jesus rose from the grave he told Peter that if he loved him then he should feed his sheep. (John 21:15-17) If we truly love him, we would be caring for others even as Jesus cares for us. We would not be the first priority.

Tomorrow is the day that we celebrate his resurrection. But; remember, there would have been no rising from the dead if there had been no death in the first place. You cannot have Easter morning without Good Friday. We too, must die to ourselves in order to live in Christ.

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

                                                                                     (Luke 9:23-26)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Continue In What You Have Learned From Scripture

2 Timothy 3

Paul tells Timothy that "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted..." (2 Timothy 3:12 NIV) When I was a young Christian I had a hard time figuring out what this meant. As a much older and hopefully a bit wiser Christian, I now have a better idea. It can be quite a challenge, at times, to live in a society where God is placed on the bottom of the list of his children's priorities, if He's even on that list all. It's difficult to be surrounded by so many people who are in love with themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to the parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. (2 Timothy 3:2-5) Paul's not talking here about unbelievers. He's talking about those who profess to believe in God. He's talking about some of the Christians at Ephesus. Paul says simply, "Have nothing to do with such people." (2 Timothy 3:5) That can be pretty difficult as some of those who would teach and believe such lies are our friends, our neighbors, and often our own family. That, sadly, is a reality.

We live in an age when many who profess to be Christians have heard and believe many false teachings. There are those who profess to be Christian who do not actually believe that Jesus rose from the dead; that He is God. There are those who believe and teach that everyone is saved and that Jesus is not the only way, quite contrary to his word. These denials of the faith must be refuted to protect those who are being led astray by those who would worm their way into homes and gain control over the gullible. We must also pray for those who have been led astray by those who teach and preach to advance their own agendas.

So, what can we do? We can get to know God's word and loving will for us and for all people. Paul encouraged Timothy and the church at Ephesus to "Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:14-17)

We cannot confront lies unless we know the truth. Be diligent, then, in hearing and studying the Word of God found in the Holy Scriptures so that you might live your life in Christ. 

God's Peace - Pr. J

Love Compels Us

"For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Cor 5:14-15)

Every now and then I have one of those days where I would just like to put up a gate and vegetate in my own little world. It can get very wearisome dealing with everyone's egos. But, then I have to remember that it is my own ego that is compelling me to want to isolate and live in peace for myself.

That self-help mantra of "you have to take care of yourself first" is contrary to what Jesus and Paul, after him, tells us. Jesus did not live for himself. He lived and he died for us. His love for us compelled him to do that. After meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus and being changed by his love, Paul's love for Jesus, was so strong that he feared little, not even death. Paul lived for Jesus. His own life, his own comfort, was not his ultimate concern. Our love for Jesus would or should compel us to live for him and not for ourselves.

Whenever, we are ready to throw in the towel and give up on the rest of humankind, we ought to remind ourselves, that Jesus did not. We ought to remind ourselves that we live to serve him who first loved and served us. We are not here to serve ourselves first and give God the leftovers.

May the Holy Spirit help us to always remember our first love that we might be compelled by his love to love and serve him as well as all whom he loves.

God's Peace - Pr. J