May the Source Be With You: An Exclamation, an Explanation and an Effect

Last week we looked at John 4:7-26. This passage of scripture tells us about the encounter a Samaritan woman has with the Lord Jesus. We learned that Jews and Samaritans had long been bitter enemies and would not talk to each other, let alone would a Jewish man approach a Samaritan woman to give him a drink. Jesus did, however, and a conversation ensued that would not only change the woman’s life, but the lives of many in her village. Let’s look at the next part of the passage.

“27 At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?” 28 So the woman left her water pot, and went into the city and *said to the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.”

— John 4:27-30 (NASB)

Image by JamesDeMers from Pixabay

The Exclamation

We can see in the verses above, the disciples were “amazed that He had been speaking with a woman.” They did not question him however, and the woman, who was obviously so excited she left her water pot behind, went into the city and exclaimed, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?”

I find it interesting that the men of the city listened to her. Once again, I think this woman, while not the most proficient at keeping a husband, seemed to have some amount of sway in the community. She asks them to confirm what she was already on the verge of believing herself: Jesus was the Messiah. She was not afraid of being laughed at, bullied or ridiculed. Her excitement seemed to overflow and she could not resist the urge to let the truth of what had happened to her and what Jesus had taught her, bubble forth, like a spring of water.

Image by Achim Böhmer from Pixabay

“31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” 34 Jesus *said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. 36 Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.””

— John 4:31-38 (NASB)

The Explanation

After the woman left, the disciples seemed overly concerned with Jesus’ physical need for food. Knowing their eyes were still not open at this point to His true identity he takes a few moments to teach them about His true purpose and mission, to do the will of His Father and to accomplish His work. He draws an analogy from the fields around them likening them to the harvest of souls for eternal life. While I am not Bible scholar, it seems to me, Jesus was not only teaching them about His purpose, He was going back to answer their initial question as to why He was talking to that woman. She was part of the harvest that He was going to reap. He was also drawing the parallel that physical food is not as important as doing the will of God.

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

“39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.””

— John 4:39-42 (NASB)

The Effect

It is with excitement and awe we read about the effect of this woman’s testimony. The Word is clear, “From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me all the things I have done.’” Jesus stayed on two more days at their request and, “Many more believed because of His word.”

There are several things I want us to take away from this: As women we have value, we can and should be bold, and we have the source of living water.

What prompted me to go this direction on my Faith page was a devotion I read in Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost for His highest. If you regularly follow me, you know that is one of my favorite devotional books and I use it regularly. The title of September 7th’s devotion was, “Fountains of Blessing.” You can read the entire devotion by clicking on the link.

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

Our value is directly tied to the fact that we are a creation of God, and His Son, Jesus, chose to give His life for our eternal well being. It doesn’t matter if you are a man, woman, adult, child, black, white, red or yellow; you have value because of who God is and who you are to Him.

Image by skeeze from Pixabay

We can and should be bold in our witness for Him. That doesn’t mean we need to know special verses or have just the right words to say. All we need to do is be obedient. If He gives us the opportunity to share the gospel, we need to do it. If we merely share what Christ has done for us, or as the Samaritan woman did, share that Jesus knows everything about us, yet He still loves us. There is nothing in the Bible that says we have to be another Billy Graham to share God’s love. Believe me, in the world we are living in right now, we need to speak truth, His truth, even if it is uncomfortable.

Image by Pezibear from Pixabay

If we have the Spirit of Jesus living in us, we are a fountain of living water for everyone around us. A fountain continues to give water, at all times. It doesn’t get tired or turn itself off, because its source is coming from deep down inside. Recently, I have seen how Christ has been this source of living water in my own life. It seems everyone around me, needs something and many around me are tired, overwhelmed and negative. All of that has the tendency to suck us dry. However, when I know the source of my strength, joy and peace is coming from Him, I never do run dry. His living water keeps me from becoming a desert wasteland.

The best way to receive the living water is to know the source of that living water. If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior you already have that source and you only need ask and He will give you refreshment over and over.

I hope you are having a great weekend and don’t forget to spend some time going to the source .

May the source be with you always!

Turning a Dry Land into Springs of Water

I have been mulling over how to address the issues that are going on in our country for the past week. I would be remiss if I did not post something acknowledging the struggle and difficulty felt by so many of our Black brothers and sisters. You might figure that it is not my responsibility to talk about these things on my blog, because I am a fashion blogger, but I am also a faith blogger and Black people are just as much a part of God’s creation as white, red or yellow people. Certainly, many of you who grew up in the church can remember singing this song when you were a child:

Image by Capri23auto from Pixabay

“Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red, brown, yellow
Black and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children
Of the world

Jesus died for all the children
All the children of the world
Red, brown, yellow
Black and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus died for all the children
Of the world.

Jesus rose for all the children
All the children of the world
Red, brown, yellow
Black and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus rose for all the children
Of the world”

— Jesus Loves the Little Children written by Donna Krieger and George F. Root

In the New Testament the Gospels reveal various situations where Jesus was involved with children. He spoke to them, he shared their lunch, he healed them, raised them from the dead and blessed them.

“13 Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them.
14 But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
15 After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.”

— Matthew 19:13-15 (NASB)

It does not say what the color of their skin was, it just says that they were children.

In another passage we see the emphasis on our equality in Christ.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

— Galatians 3:28 (NASB)

I want to look at two areas of concern when it comes to race relations in our country. The first has to do with two foundational teachings that have come to be accepted as truth by mainstream society.

Teachings

Humanism -

Image by Comfreak from Pixabay

First let me take a few moments to define this word.

1 - Devotion to the humanities: literary culture.

2 - Devotion to human welfare.

3 - A doctrine, attitude, or way of life centered on human interests or values especially : a philosophy that usually rejects supernaturalism and stresses an individual's dignity and worth and capacity for self-realization through reason

For the intent of this post, I am referring to the third definition and more specifically secular humanism.

“Secular humanism is a philosophy or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision making.”

— Wikipedia

Protagoras, a Greek philosopher who lived during the 5th century B.C., is famous for the saying, “Man is the measure of all things.” The obvious problem with that being the answer to the question, who is the man against which all else is measured?

While many believe that humanism elevates humanity, it actually does more to defeat and down grade humanity. Take for instance the issue of slavery, over which our country fought a civli war. Humanistically speaking Black slaves were considered to be less than human and were most often treated as nothing more than chattel. White men and women gave no regard to the fact that Black people could actually achieve self-realization, let alone would they help them attain that. Black slaves were not equal. They had no rights. They were looked down on, abused, misused and most often regarded as possessions to be thrown away if they were not performing up to standard.

Image by orythys from Pixabay

The theory of humanism, places man on the throne, but in order to do that, there must be something for him to rule over. How many of us are guilty of thinking we are better than someone else? I think we all have done this as some point in our lives. You can fill in your own thought bubbles, but here are some examples.

“I’m skinnier than her.”

“I have more money than him.”

“I’m prettier than those girls.”

“I live in a better neighborhood than that family.”

“It’s because they are black that they get into trouble.”

Do you see how easy it is to go down that road; a road Jesus never intended we go? Without God on the throne, we will be king ME. I will look out for number one, because that is the way humanism works.

Evolution -

This second foundational teaching is taught in our schools. If you watch children’s mainstream television shows, cartoons, and video games it is assumed that we evolved from some primordial soup over billions of years and somehow came to be the intelligent, peaceable creatures we are.

Image by My pictures are CC0. When doing composings: from Pixabay

If, indeed, we are so intelligent and evolved as the scientists say we are, then why can we not get along? Perhaps it is because we are buying into a theory (and it is just as much a theory as creation), that is flawed and not only flawed, but one that allows mindsets like racial superiority and entitlement.

If you need an example of someone in history who bought into both humanism and evolution, take a look at Adolph Hitler. Not only did he believe that only one race was superior, he led most of Europe in a wave of terror and killing that still stands today as one of the most horrifying acts against a race (the Jews) ever committed in history. And let’s not forget, Hitler wasn’t only prejudice against Jews, but also blacks and anyone with a handicap.

Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay

Both secular humanism and evolution are missing one very important thing: God. Only God is able to give light where there is darkness. Only He can provide an eternal truth that is neither changed or affected by one man’s desire to put himself and his ideas on the throne. The essence of the words, “God created man in His image,” means that every single one of his human Creation has equal value and worth. The essence of an Almighty being enthroned on high means that we are all accountable to an unchanging standard, HIs standard, not one that someone else made up.

Personal Responsibility -

Now let me bring this down to our level. You and I have something called individual or personal responsibility. Each of us is responsible for how we treat our fellow human beings. If I truly believe that Black lives matter, then I am responsible to not only show that attitude in my own life, but also to encourage those around me to that same belief.

Before we can promote change in the society around us, we must promote change within ourselves. What does that look like and how will that help? Let’s go back to the book inspired by the One who sees us all as His crowning creation. Whereas above I looked at two influences on society as a whole, in this section I want to look at two attitudes that affect us as individuals.

Attitudes

Selfishness -

“1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

— Philippians 2:1-4 (NASB)

If you don’t think selfishness is a major player in the unrest in our country, let me go back to basics. Why do we sin? Why did Eve desire the fruit in the garden, when she was told to not eat of it? She wasn’t thinking about the long term ramifications of her choice. Eve saw and desired.

Image by Antonios Ntoumas from Pixabay

“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 (NASB)

The evils of racism truly are about selfishness. We think we are better than someone else. We see something we want, so we figure out how we can get it no matter what the cost, not only to ourselves and those around us, but to society as a whole. Think about it, if our society was truly based on the verses in Philippians; if we truly did nothing from selfishness and truly thought others better than ourselves, there would be no disparity among black and white. This scripture is spot on for the situation we are in. We are supposed to care about Black people. We are supposed to regard them as more important than ourselves and look out for their interests and we are to do this just like we do for our own families.

Ignorance -

Ignorance is a lack of understanding, awareness or information. We can be ignorant by choice or by circumstance. Over the last three months there have been times I have chosen to be ignorant about what was going on with the Covid virus. I would get on my computer and not look at the zillions of articles about symptoms, death rates, essential workers and whether to wear or not wear a mask. I just didn’t want to think about it.

Now it is true confessions time. I have done the same thing about Black people. I never really felt that I had to investigate how they were being treated: we live in the United States after all. Wasn’t the Civil War a long time ago? Though I knew their journey was hard, weren’t they living just like me; struggling to keep their families and marriages together, working their jobs, getting their groceries and living a normal life. I am beginning to see that my thoughts were ignorant. Yes, Black people struggle in similar ways I do, but I am learning they also have a dimension I do not. They are black.

I am not going to tell you what you should do to overcome ignorance. I am only going to tell you what I am trying to do. I have worked with some lovely Black women. I have gone to church and raised my girls with some beautiful Black men and women. I have worked with inner city youth through the church we used to attend. Unfortunately, I never really got to know these people in a deep, personal way and that I regret. Perhaps I would have come to realize the paths they walk have an added layer, a complexity that as a white person I will probably never understand, but I need to try.

My goal is to learn and to listen. I need to hear their voices, just like I listen to my grandson when he has a desire or a frustration. I would never just write him off, so why would I simply dismiss the feelings and pain of my Black brothers and sisters? I shouldn’t, not if I really believe the things that Christ taught and said.

Image by Couleur from Pixabay

“28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the [q]foremost of all?”
29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord;
30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.””

— Mark 12:28-31 (NASB)

Only God can bring about real, life long change and I hope that He will begin that work in my own heart today.

“He changes a wilderness into a pool of water And a dry land into springs of water;”

— Psalm 107:35 (NASB)

How Will You Answer These Questions?

These last several weeks, I have been looking at the 8th chapter of the book of Romans in the New Testament. The book of Romans was written by Paul the Apostle to the Christian believers in the church at Rome. The basic theme of this book is the gospel message, thus when we come to chapter 8 it makes sense that Paul would discuss the battle between the flesh and the Spirit. We cannot accept Christ as our Savior and then expect to go on living just as we were before we made that commitment. The Spirit of Christ in us changes us, if we let Him have His way with us.

Let’s take a look at the next portion of Romans 8:

“9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”

— Romans 8:9-11 (NIV)

I chose the New International Version of these verses because I like the picture it paints. There are three pictures I want to look at in the form of three questions.

1 - What realm are you in?

I like that the NIV uses the term realm. Since I am a fiction writer, specifically trying to focus on science fiction and fantasy, kings, kingdoms and realms are easy ideas for me to imagine. Paul says that we, if indeed, the Spirit of God lives in us, are not in the realm of the flesh, but in the realm of the Spirit. Why, then, do we spend so much time living, working, striving and worrying in the realm of the flesh?

We worry about money. We fuss over our homes, our clothes and our personal space. We worry about our families, our parents, our kids and our grandkids. We obsess over movies and books. We plan for vacations and save our pennies, just in case the economy crashes. We search for the perfect home, car, job and partner. We do all this, pulling ourselves along by our own bootstraps, willing ourselves to fight, to claw, to overcome and to win. All for what? In the end our flesh decays, just like all the stuff and we all end up in the land fill.

That is the realm of the flesh. This realm is built on a garbage heap of lies, circulated by an enemy unseen, who comes unbidden, crouching outside the door of the home we think is so secure, waiting for the opportunity to pounce and devour. Yet, because we live in the flesh, we do not see him. We do not realize the effect he has had on our lives. We do not even care, because out of sight is out of mind.

But, we are not in the realm of the flesh. We are in the realm of the Spirit. This realm is the realm of light. It is light that only those who know the Son can see, if they are brave enough to look. Often, as we walk in the flesh, in this world, we forget that there is a real spiritual world moving and operating behind the scenes. This is the world, that we, who walk in the Spirit, have access to. It is in this realm that things can be changed: hearts moved to Christ, battles won against the enemy, prayers answered, miracles performed.

There is no doubt, we need to take care of ourselves, our families and our affairs, but when we allow this world and things put out there by the enemy to consume us, then we are living, not in the realm of the Spirit and light, but in the realm of the flesh and darkness

2 - Sin or righteousness?

Image by Chetan Dhongade from Pixabay

We are faced with a choice as we walk through life. Am I going to choose to sin or choose to be righteous? What is sin exactly? Sin is anything that separates us from God. Things like hate, envy, lust, murder, adultery, lying, eating too much, spending outside our means, stealing, cheating, gossiping, etc. are all things that bring darkness into our lives. The Bible says God is light.

“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

— I John 1:5 (NASB)

Living in the Spirit means we are fellowshipping with the light of Christ. Our desire should be to be like Him. He was the perfect man.

“You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.”

— I John 3:5 (NASB)

We should strive to be perfect as well. You might say that is not possible. It isn’t possible if we are living in the realm of the flesh and choosing to sin.

“By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.”

— I John 4:17 (NASB)

This verse says that as He is, so also are we in this world. He was perfect and by His Spirit, we are able to be perfect as well. Don’t misunderstand, as Paul said,

“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”

— Philippians 3:12

Our complete perfection will not happen until we are with Christ, but day by day, as we make the choice for righteousness, we sin less and less.

3 - Living or dead?

Image by Foto-Rabe from Pixabay

If Christ is in us and we are walking in the Spirit, rather than the flesh, we will have life. This doesn’t just apply to the afterlife. Many Christians sit around, mistakenly thinking that life only happens after we are dead. While that is true and we who are in Christ will live for eternity with Him, look at what Jesus said in the gospel of John.

“9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

— John 10:9-10 (NASB)

The life that He gave to us, starts the moment we enter through the door of belief in His sacrifice and resurrection from the dead. We don’t have to wait until we get to heaven to have the abundant life.

Does that mean we will never struggle again? Does that mean we will float along with no more storms or difficulties? No way. What we will have is a life that is full of joy amidst sorrow, healing amidst pain and peace amidst chaos. I know, I am living it.

What it really comes down to is one word…Him, Jesus, Lord, Savior, Lover, Friend, Defender….okay, so that is more than one word, but I know, many of you who follow my faith posts, know exactly what I am talking about. You have experienced His peace, love, forgiveness and joy even when your world is rocking like an earthquake of epic proportions.

I leave you with those three questions, based on three little verses in Romans. How are you going to answer them?

Until next time, keep fighting the fight.

Mulling It Over - Part 1

I wanted to get back to my Mulling It Over series, where I look at a portion of scripture, taking it apart in order to more deeply understand and think about God’s word. When we dig deeper into God’s word we learn new things. It doesn’t matter how many times we have read through the Bible. The Holy Spirit is capable of teaching us something new over and over. Searching through the scripture is often like going on a treasure hunt. My goal with this series is to discover some of the wonderful nuggets that God wants to teach us.

Pixabay

Beginning this month, I want to take a look at the book of 2 Peter in the New Testament, specifically verses 1 - 11. Both 1st and 2nd Peter were written by Peter, one of the original 12 apostles. If you know anything about Peter, you know that he could be rather bull headed, overly enthusiastic and thick, but Peter was the one to which Jesus posed statements such as,

“And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ”

— Matthew 16:17 & 18 (NASB)

Scofield’s reference notes from 1917, makes clear Jesus was not intending to build the church on Peter, but on Himself. Jesus’ statement to Peter was a confirmation of the faith he had; a faith that is necessary for all believers to have. The fact that Peter was privy to this information reveals the depth of trust and love Jesus had for this man.

Pixabay

As a shepherd of the flock, Peter had the responsibility to teach and instruct the members of the early church. In his first letter he encourages the church through the difficulties of persecution, which Christians were facing at the time from Nero. Many followers of Christ were being used as torches, if you get my meaning. Peter speaks of hope and the grace of God.

In his second letter, Peter addresses the presence of false teachers and wrong doers within the church and suggests the need for growth in the faith and watchfulness for Christ’s return.

This week, I just want to introduce the passage and then look at the introductory verses.

“Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,
6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,
7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

Take it apart:

Verse 1 -

Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

The author identifies himself by giving his name and then by giving his credentials. He is both a bond-servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. These two descriptions say much about the man Peter.

Pixabay

I have looked at this idea of being a bond-servant on an earlier occasion, but lets review. Another word for bond-servant is slave. Typically, a bond-servant is one who works for someone else without wages. Basically a bond-servant is owned by their master. Why would a person want to identify themselves with this moniker? The Apostle Paul also used the term bond-servant to refer to himself. The common denominator for these two is the person of Jesus Christ. They had committed their lives to Him in such a way that they identified themselves as being His slaves. They were sold out to the person of Jesus and knew their lives were no longer their own.

Peter also identifies himself as an apostle. One way to define the word apostle is to list other words that have the same idea. Words like, advocate, backer, proponent, promoter, supporter and herald, all are synonymous with apostle. Peter was one of the original 12 men who followed Jesus and lived with him during his three years of earthly ministry. This fact gives Peter a huge amount of credibility to speak about Jesus’ message to the early church and to us today.

Pixabay

…to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours…

This letter is written specifically to those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. Many people today who are not proponent’s of the Bible claim that it is no longer relevant in our world today. They claim it is outdated, yet Peter, over 2000 years ago wrote his letter to those who were of the same faith as him. In other words, his letter is as real and living to us today as it was to the early church, for the very reason that we share a common faith in Jesus Christ.

…by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

This confirms that same faith came about by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Our faith in Him is secure because of what He did and who He was. Jesus is God and his life on this earth, was not to preach a social gospel. The gospel that Christ preached was not salvation from the hardships of life, but salvation from ramifications of sin. It is His death on a cross and his rising from the dead that enables us to place our faith in Him.

Pixabay

Verse 2 -

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord

Who doesn’t long for grace and peace. We desire others give us grace when we are having a hard time. We desire peace from all the fears and anxieties that plague us on a daily basis. The author states that these will be multiplied to the readers in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. Knowledge of God and Jesus are essential to knowing peace and grace. This is not a head knowledge that nods absently when asked the question, “Do you know Jesus?” This knowledge is a personal, burning knowledge that can only be obtained when we call Him Lord.

The idea of Lordship takes us back to the term bond-servant. Have you chosen Jesus as your Lord? Are you sold out to Him? Do you call Him master?

Next week we will delve into verse 3. If you have any thoughts on this passage or these first two verse, I love to have your feedback. Just leave a comment.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Walking with the Psalmist

Last month I began a discussion on the first song in the book of Psalms in the Old Testament. While we do not know for sure who wrote this psalm, it is clear, by its inclusion in the Scripture, it is important. I explained that Psalm 1 describes two men, a righteous one and a wicked one. Last month I concentrated on the righteous man and found ten characteristics that a righteous man will have. This month, I want to look more closely at the wicked man.

“1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.”

— Psalm 1:1-6 (NASB)

Pixabay

What sort of characteristics describe the wicked man.

1. They are not like the righteous man.

Verse 4 begins with the phrase, "The wicked are not so." It would logically follow that all of the traits that were listed to describe the righteous man are not traits the wicked man has. In other words this man does not love God's word, they hang out with other's who do not love God's word and they are not firmly rooted in God's law. 

2. They are like chaff.

What exactly is chaff? In this Old Testament context the word chaff was used to describe the outer hulls of seeds and other debris separated from the seed when threshing grain. Before the age of huge farm machinery, threshing was a laborious task done by hand on a threshing floor. The stalks of grain were beaten with a piece of wood called a flail. Chaff is not useful for anything and was thrown away. 

It might seem to us, calling a person chaff, is rather mean, but these words were inspired by a holy and righteous God. The point was to give us a comparison with no doubt involved. Righteous is righteous and wicked is wicked. 

3. They are driven away by the wind.

I think we can derive two ideas from this. First of all, the chaff in the threshing process was often swept up to blow away in the wind. It was meant to be discarded, just as our modern combine separates the chaff from the seed out in the field. Have you ever driven by a field when the combine is working and noticed a cloud of dust flying up in the air? That is not just dirt!

The second idea that came to my mind is, often people who do not know God are driven to and fro by the changing winds of life. They try anything and everything to fill the emptiness that exists inside of them and they most often are looking out for their own interests willing to step on others to feel fulfilled.

4. The wicked will not stand in the judgment.

The idea of judgment has become the elephant in the room. No one wants to talk about judgment. No one wants to discuss the consequences of sin. How often do you hear a sermon about sin, hell or the anger of a righteous God? Not as often as we used to, I'd venture to say. While I think we need to show love, wait for the right opportunities and reply with gentleness, we also can't stop talking about the idea that God is a holy and perfect God and we are not. That was and still is the reason Jesus became a man, walked on this earth, died on a cross and rose again. If we stop talking about judgment we might as well stop talking about Jesus. 

Jesus Christ is who differentiates us from all other religions. It is His blood that covers a righteous man and it is only His blood that allows the righteous man to stand at the final judgment. The wicked man will not stand because he has not recognized Christ as the way, the truth and the life.

For us to say, "I don't believe in hell or a judgment," is like saying, "Seventeen people didn't get shot at a high school in Florida." Just because it is terrible, doesn't mean our ignoring it or wishing it away makes it any less a reality. 

5. The wicked will not stand in the assembly of the righteous. 

I am not sure in this case whether it is similar to the judgment, they won't be able to, because their wickedness separates them from the righteous, or if it has to do with their own desire. The wicked do not want to stand in the assembly of the righteous. We have churches closing their doors at an alarming rate. For further info on this Dr. Richard Krejcir of churchleadership.org wrote an eye opening article titled Statistics and Reasons for Church Decline. Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis, wrote a book a few years ago titled Already Gone, which addresses the exodus of many young people from the church. If those who would be righteous aren't even staying in the assembly of the righteous, then the wicked certainly won't be drawn to the church. 

St. Albans Cathedral - England trip 2012

This is just my take on the verse. It is more likely that the wicked won't be able to stand in the assembly of the righteous because of their wickedness. 

6. The wicked will perish.

This isn't a pleasant thought. It might be easy to think of someone like Hitler perishing, because we could easily point out his wickedness, but the scripture is clear:

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

— Romans 3:23 (NASB)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

— Romans 6:23 (NASB)

“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;”

— Romans 10:9 (NASB)

While the standing of the wicked man compared to the righteous man is not pleasant, there is hope. If you are a Christ follower, then you are already familiar with that hope. You are also in a position to help someone who doesn't have that hope. Live your life in Christ out loud, so all the world can see. I leave you with these verses, which I will feature next week on my Mulling It Over column.

“23 But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.
24 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,
25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

— 2 Timothy 2:23-26 (NASB)

Mulling It Over - Part 6 - Ephesians 6:15

This month as I continue to look at the armor of God we are going to talk about shoes! As a fashion blogger, I love shoes of all sorts, whether it be sandals, boots, heels or flats, I love to have a variety of shoes to go with the variety of outfits that I post and talk about. 

I find it interesting that God mentions our feet when talking about His armor. 

Piece # 3 - The Gospel of Peace

“15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ”

— Ephesians 6:15 (NASB)

There are several important points that we can pull from this simple verse.

1) We are supposed to have our feet covered. Seeing as it is summer I am sure most of you have made the run to your mail box without any shoes on. When I was a child we spent most of our time outside in bare feet. Our feet became tough and we could walk just about anywhere. I don't go without shoes, or at least flip flops, anymore. Time has made my feet soft and age has made me less tolerant of pain. Ha, ha. God made a provision for our journey in life, in the armor He gave to us. Our feet need to be covered, because we need to keep walking and keep fighting. We wouldn't get far at all if our feet were not in working order.

2) We are to be prepared. The word preparation implies that we are to do some training or making ready in advance. When speaking in terms of military readiness, our soldiers go through weeks of intensive training. They also learn additional skills about tactics, weapons and psychological readiness. I am sure many vets will tell you, even with the training they had, they still weren't prepared for the horrors of real warfare. 

We are directed in the Bible to be prepared, not only for Spiritual warfare as is being discussed in this passage in Ephesians, but to give an account for why we have hope.

“but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;”

— I Peter 3:15 (NASB)

 What exactly is this hope that we have? What exactly are we, as Christ followers, supposed to be prepared with? 

3) The gospel of peace. I'd actually like to break this phrase into two separate pieces. 

a. The gospel. Simply put, the gospel is the good news. Christ followers believe that we are all sinners and all fall short of measuring up to God's perfect standard. Because of this there had to be a sacrifice made to bridge the gap between God and ourselves. Jesus Christ bridged that gap. By committing our lives to Him we are able to enter into God's presence and have fellowship with Him. When we share the gospel, we are sharing the fact that Jesus paid the price that we ourselves should have paid and by believing in His work on the cross and His resurrection we can and will be with God. John 3:16 is the gospel in a nut shell.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

— John 3:16 (NASB)

b. ...of peace. I love that the word peace is included with this piece of armor. Jesus came so that we might have peace with God.

“ Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

— Romans 5:1 (NASB)

However, it doesn't end there. The idea that this piece of armor is for the feet implies that we are taking it with us wherever we go. We don't put on our shoes to get into bed. We put them on so that we can go out of the house to work, shop, play and the many other things we do throughout a day or a week. For us, the gospel is to be an integral part of everywhere we go and everything we do. Not just the good news, but the peace that the good news brings.

In a world of unrest we all need a little peace, not only for ourselves, but for those we work with, hang with, and encounter on a regular basis. You would be amazed how responding with a peaceful and loving attitude can diffuse a volatile situation.

As we go forward this week, let's be prepared by having having our feet ready with the gospel of peace, so that we might have opportunity to share the good news and bring His peace to all we encounter. 

You can see the first 5 parts of this Mulling It Over series on Ephesians 6:10-18 by clicking on each of the links below:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5