What the Heck Is Going On?

Hello any reader who may be out there! I write this mostly to just get some thoughts down.

It's been a wild couple of years here in the Bailey home. 2 baby boys, a lot of change at work, and just plain stinkin busy just trying to keep the basics in order in life. I saw a step backwards at work, and a great blessing in our living situation, renting this huge, nicely updated home we're now in. With all the emotional and other ups and downs, I've rarely had time to truly connect with my God and Savior. I've scarcely felt this sort    of crazy upheaval in my life, and it has tempted me to freeze up, or hide, or what have you. There's little that could have prepared me for the many things we have seen and been through of late, including this 2 months long cough the little ones have had, which has often brought on their throwing up from the coughing and stuff. My sweet Kelly has been taxed to the limit, but has amazingly managed to keep the home running and me and the kids happy. I pray for some relief for the sickness soon, and a return to some kind of normalcy. Funny how you have to get older first to have more kids, when you feel least the energy to properly parent and shepherd them all!

It's through all this that I am learning more and more that I need the indwelling power of God's Holy Spirit. I look sometimes at my natural limitations and wonder how I can ever do more than survive. Lord, open my eyes to see, and ears to hear, what you have for me and my family to accomplish in this season of our life, and may the vision be so compelling as to cause us to press into you, to trust you, to cause us to rise up with wings as eagles and run the race unhindered by sin and unbelief! We need you Jesus! You are faithful, and your gifts and calling are without repentance. May we embrace our cross with joy, believing in the glory of the recompense of the reward of our faithfulness.

Where Does My Hope Lie?

 

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to get out of bed when you are going somewhere fun, like a road trip, or to Dollywood, or wherever. You have something to look forward to. You have a means of motivation to get up and make whatever preparations for the trip you need to make. Remember when you were a little kid on Christmas morning, or even now, how early you got up. Nothing could keep you in that bed. You had an expectation of good things to come. You were excited. You believed that you had received what you had asked for for Christmas.

Jesus said that if we believe we will receive what we have asked for, we will receive it. So the first key to hope of any sort is simply to believe that what you desire will happen. How can we tell we believe something to be true? We have eager expectation it will come to pass. When we pray, can we get excited about the answer? If so, that's hope.

Where no hope is, there is no vitality, no vigor. There is no power. Paul said 3 things abide in the heart of a Christian: faith, hope, and love. These are all gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit abiding within us

Romans 5:1 ¶ Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;

4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

6 ¶ For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Faith is first, and brings in the other 2, hope and love. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. And love is the greatest of the 3. God is love, and his love working through us is a gift to others. And hope is his gift of joy and life to us. But hope is not always automatic. It is initiated by what? Tribulations! It says in the last passage tribulation leads to perseverance, to character, to hope.

Why would this chain of events lead to hope? For one thing, tribulation makes you look forward to what comes later. Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame, because of the joy that would be brought at the completion of things. What does it mean "despising the shame"? It means he didn't think too much about it, thought very little of it, had no big concern for it. Remember, hope does not put us to shame, it does not disappoint us, when our hope is in the everlasting Father, who poured out his love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, all these events lead to hope because of who we become through the midst of trouble. If living for Jesus was easy, many more people would be doing it. In fact, some people come to Jesus thinking things will get easier. But they soon find out it isn't. People say crisis doesn't produce character, it only reveals it. While that may be true, it DOES also produce it, through perseverance. I've heard it said that necessity is the mother of invention, meaning that things are only invented if there seems to be some need that demands it. Likewise, perseverance only happens when there is resistance. When one has persevered, he sees the power of God being effective in him, causing him to endure through anything. Then, once he comes out the other side a better man, still with faith intact, he gets more joy, because his faith has been tested and still remains. He is assured more than ever that Christ is in him, the author and finisher of our faith. And the Bible says that Christ in us is the hope of glory!

Hope is indispensible to the disciple of Christ. If we desire to be like Jesus, be pure as he is pure, we must have hope within us. No hope means this; let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. The most vile actions come from those who feel they have nothing to lose. When the devil was cast from heaven, he lost hope of ever being in favor with God again. And you see the destruction he brings in the lives of those who also feel they have no hope. But those who have hope don't give up. Those who have the certainty of eternity with Jesus have a reason to go on, a reason to follow him, a reason to care. They also have the ability to make a difference.

Two Trees

Jesus is the bread of life. It is his body and blood that is our life. Unless we eat of him we have no life in us. Moses represents the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Jesus represents the tree of life of which Adam and Eve never saw fit to partake of in the garden. In Revelation He says,

 

Re 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

 

How do we overcome?

Re 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. What is the word of our testimony? Simply that we have been born again by the spirit of God through faith in Jesus, the Gospel of God, that he loved us and gave Himself for us.

 

    We know that we already have life through the bread of heaven Jesus Christ, who is our very life. Someday we will also get to eat of the tree of life, which even Adam and Eve never got to partake of. It was God's original intent for mankind to eat of the tree of life and to live with Him forever in paradise. The way to this fellowship was blocked the day the first Adam chose death over life. Both trees were in the midst of the garden. Doubtless they were aware of the tree of life and its proximity to the other. Perhaps they would have eaten from the tree of life that day, had the serpent not been nearby to tempt them. Satan still does that. He tries to hinder people from entering into life by tempting them to take matters into their own hands, to enlighten themselves with so-called sight. He will oppose you from partaking in the bread of life in exchange for something portrayed as more appealing.

    Why would we want to try to do God's job and try to establish our own righteousness, when we can have God's righteousness in Christ?

Isa54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Isa 55:1 ¶ Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Isa 55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? and your labour for [that which] satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Isa 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David.

The Times they are a changin'

Well, it's been a while since I blogged.... since before Thanksgiving! Speakin of which, I have a whole lot to be thankful for! a great new baby son, Jeremiah Wayne Bailey, my little feller, was born February 20th at 5:59 PM by emergency c-section. Yes, mama Kelly fell down at a gas pump and sent the labor into action, as she had a placental abrution. Thank God, she came out okay and little Jeremiah came out all perfect, all 8 lbs. 2 oz. of him! Things could have gone much worse. Heck, it may have been God the whole thing played out like it did. At any rate, God is so good, and my little family just got a little less little. He is still providing for us as ever. And why wouldn't He? He who spared not His own Son, but freely gave Him up for us all, how will He not with Him freely give us all things? I take nothing for granted, but my God knows what I need before I even ask. I do ask though, as He is the one form whom all blessings flow, every good and perfect give, from Him in whom is no changing or shadow of turning. I know that my Jeremiah Wayne is just such a gift from my Father. And Kelly has been amazing through it all. His big brother and sisters adore him and are such good helpers. They can even get him calm when he is fussy sometimes. It's also nice having plenty of play buddies being born all around the same year as he was! Until next post!

Notes from Romans 5

 

Vs. 1- We are presently justified by faith. We have literally been declared righteous by God, simply through faith in Jesus Christ. It is for this reason, and for this only, that we can rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We can even rejoice in tribulation, because we know that tribulation will only make us stronger and give us even more reason to have joyful hope.

Vs. 6- There was a time we had no strength, and no hope to be right with God, so God in His mercy sent Jesus to die for us.
God clearly shows to what extent His love for us goes, when He sent His Son to die for those who were His enemies. This love is so amazing, we would do well to try to apprehend it with all our heart, in all faith, letting the revelation of such an over-board love consume us always.

Vs. 9-10: We need not fear that His sacrifice was good enough to reconcile us only initially with the Father. It's not as if, once payment was made, we were now left to fend for ourselves to remain saved. The fact that Jesus is alive, seated at the right hand of the Father, daily making intercession for us, is continuing proof that Jesus is going to see us through to the end, because He not only made the payment for our sin, but He guarantees that we will have life with Him forever because of His ongoing mediation between us and the Father, as the Father Himself has placed Jesus in just such a position for just that function on our behalf.

Vs. 16-19: We find that, through Adam, even though we may not have committed the same sin or sort of sin that Adam committed, we still fell under his condemnation, under his death sentence, as we were all of one race. As hopeless and unfair as this might seem to the natural mind, God also was unfair in his pardoning of our sin; in fact He was downright gracious to us in that pardoning. We, like Adam, have sinned, and sin is our very nature before Christ. For God to just let us go un-punished, and even to declare us righteous, is not fair. It's better than fair. Fair would be to give people what they deserve. And in Adam, we deserved judgment and condemnation. But even though we were too late to be made righteous by our obedience, Jesus obeyed God, and now all who belong to Him through faith get the credit of His perfect obedience to their account. I am ever-glad that I will not get what I deserved! What amazing grace this is indeed! That's why it is said, that where sin abounded, grace much more abounded. That's why Jesus says that he who is forgiven much will love much, but he who is forgiven for little will love only a little. Do we really see how much we have been forgiven for? Do we continue to see how He even still forgives us daily?

 

 

    

Rambling on Love

I've had it said to me that God not only loves me, but He likes me. On one hand, this doesn't make sense. Isn't "love" better than "like"? For instance, I'd feel much better knowing my wife loves me, and doesn't just like me. Otherwise, we could've just remained good buddies and never gotten married. Now, I know that I've just jumped to a different kind of the word "love" in a sense. But when someone says to me that God doesn't just love me, He likes me, that actually makes all the sense in the world to me. And it makes sense in such a way as to create joy in me. Why? I think part of it is, we have a skewed view of what "love" means, even the kind gotten from that Greek word "agape"("God's love", some say). We're taught things like "love is a choice." I've had people at work say "I love you, because God says I have to." It was humorous when I heard it, but I think there are many who view it simply that way. That makes love a duty, viewed from that perspective. And we all know that a duty may be done out of all sorts of motives. A parent may, or spouse can say, they love you. But you see many such relationships where there may be those words uttered within the ties of familial or marital bonds, but there seems to be lacking a real warmth of affection in the relationship. It can seem as a grudging duty. And many see loving God or Christ's Church the same way. I "have" to love God. I "have" to love my brother, or else I haven't fulfilled my obligation. Not to say whether my heart is in the thing.
So we sometimes project onto God our idea of "love". "Maybe He tolerates me as He would an annoying disappointing child", we think. "I'm not His favorite by any means. But He loves me, becuse He has to, or He would be acting out of character. He is a dutiful Father. He'll see my needs are met, although He'll probably do no more than that. Well, at least I know He loves me." We view love as a begrudging, dutiful thing, a cold, determined going-through-motions kind of deal, bound by some oath sworn to our hurt.


But if you like someone, that implies, in comparison, a much more willing, initiating, delightful thing. We generally don't make a deliberate choice to like someone. It usually comes naturally. We want to hang out with people we like, but we don't have to. We want to serve people we like, do nice things for them, give them gifts. We don't even have to think twice about it. To like someone brings with it a warmth of affection. People we like are called our friends. If God likes me, He is my friend. He isn't just stuck with me out of an obligation. He likes me! And He loves me. His liking me is part of how His love works. He delights in me, not just dutifully tolerating me.
I say none of this to diminish the word "love", or to imply that it is simply based on feelings, or that we are not commanded to love one another, or that it is just some buddy-buddy surface thing devoid of real commitment or covenant. Rather, I just think we sterilize the meaning of the word sometimes without realizing it, and it can take the revelation that God "likes" us to bring the warmth of affection He has for us to remembrance. Sometimes it's easier to acknowledge that God loves the world than to see He how He loves and likes me.

A Son Versus a Slave

 

Liberty reveals the true character of the one who possesses it. When you visit the zoo, the animals are behind bars, or in some other kind of enclosure that makes escape impossible. Why are those barriers there? Because everyone knows what the nature of those animals is like: wild and potentially dangerous. There have been instances of animals escaping from circuses or zoos and injuring people, sometimes resulting in the execution of the animal. Had the animal stayed confined to the enclosures prescribed for it, it and all those in its path would have been better off. That's why you'll never see a tiger or elephant roaming free in American society.

    So it is with people. Humans have a default nature: sin. Many institutions have been put into place by God or society to govern those controlled by the sin nature and to curb the destructive effects of their actions. The first one we encounter in our lives is the God-ordained institution called the family. Dads and moms are the authority in this unit, and have all say so in what the children may or may not do or how they may or may not act. In fact, the child is given very little liberty, and must be governed almost as a wild animal that will do its self and others harm if not kept under close watch. Scripture says that a child left to him-self brings his mother to shame. Why? Because of the child's nature which leads him only towards sin.

Pr 22:15 ¶ Foolishness [is] bound in the heart of a child; [but] the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

It is true that a child, by nature, has no true ability to govern his or her self sufficiently. It is necessary to even bring corporal punishment (spanking) at times, so strong is the stubbornness of a child in his foolish intentions.

    On the other hand, as a child begins to mature into an adult, and begins to see the good in being responsible, and in making wise decisions, and gaining trust with the parent, he or she is granted, little by little, more liberties. As the child proves their ability and willingness to be trusted in small ways, greater permissions, liberties, and responsibilities are granted. Rules that had been in place before to protect the child from others and themselves are no longer necessary. The relationship to the parent soon becomes one less of Master and slave to one of being true Father/Son and Father/Daughter relationship. They begin to work together oftentimes, the son even sometimes joining dad in the family business. In adulthood, the son makes his own decisions, and in a good relationship he relates to his Father in love and co-operation.

    Even as an adult, we are under some broader authority, the law of the land. Even adults, sin nature intact, prove that they are not by nature loving and self-governing. Why then would there be police officers, judges, juries, divorce courts, civil courts, prisons, and executions? What then would be the need for such things and institutions, for laws? Laws only exist for those who do evil, who will not of their own accord love others.

    The Kingdom of God mirrors parent/child relations and civil institutions.

 

1 Timothy 1:5
¶ Now the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

6 Some have deviated from these and turned aside to fruitless discussion.

7 They want to be teachers of the law, although they don't understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on.

8 Now we know that the law is good, provided one uses it legitimately.

9 We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers,

10 for the sexually immoral and homosexuals, for kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching

11 based on the glorious gospel of the blessed God that was entrusted to me.

 

The law is not made for one who walks according the Gospel, who has Jesus in Him, with the love of God at work and ruling over his heart, words, and actions. He doesn't need it; the same way a free person never intent on doing crime doesn't need a house-arrest ankle bracelet on him at all times. The same way a dog that isn't going to run away and kill the neighbors' chickens doesn't need to be kept on a leash.

Galatians3:22 But the Scripture has imprisoned everything under sin's power, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.

24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.

25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

26 for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Before we have faith in Jesus, we have to have an outside source of restraint to govern ourselves, because it isn't in us to love as Jesus loves. But once we put on Christ, something entirely new happens. We are transformed from being slaves who do their duty out of fear of being punished into sons who bear the resemblance to their Father and obey Him in love, and who know they have an inheritance with Him forever. We have the power, authority, and right to carry out the will of our Father. We transition out of a childish understanding of obedience (obey or get spanked or grounded), to one of actually partnering with our Father in the family affairs and purposes. We get adopted! Here's what Galatians says in reference to slaves and sons:

 

Gal.4:1
¶ Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything.

2 Instead, he is under guardians and stewards until the time set by his father.

3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elemental forces of the world.

4 But when the completion of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!"

7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

8 ¶ But in the past, when you didn't know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods.

9 But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and bankrupt elemental forces? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?

Here's an awesome promise for us:

John 8:35
A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever.

36 Therefore if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.

 

Remember, a slave has no rights to anything of the head of the house, or to any continuing relationship with him. Only a son does.

A man in religion but not in Christ is very much like a man in prison. He has to have the threat of retribution in the back of his mind to keep him from doing what he really wants to do, and that's to sin. Many of the worst sinners I have ever known or heard of were "religious". So law instead of Holy Spirit power eventually not only fails to make you right with God, but actually sends you into a worse and worse spiral of depravity and helplessness.

So how has it been with you in your experience with God, with Christianity? Does it seem to you that you are a slave to religion, to what someone else is forcing you to do? That's a miserable way to live. Why not humble yourself and ask God to change you, to make you a son who cries "Abba, Father!" to give you real love and holiness with a new heart which is only in Jesus. One who is a child of promise and grace and not of religious bondage.

    

Freedom is in the Eye of the Beholder

 

The devil has tempted God's offspring to question the goodness of God from the beginning of time. The whole deception Satan used against Eve in the Garden of Eden was that God only forbade them from eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil because God was trying to keep them down, to rob them of some knowledge or wisdom that was good to have. He painted God as being an insecure tyrant who didn't want Adam and Even to become His equal by having such knowledge. He also called God a liar, when he disputed the statement where God said they would die in the day they ate of the fruit. He promised them freedom even as he was seeking to bring them into bondage. That bondage was soon known and felt by the two hapless innocents who called paradise their home. Where they had been free to wander about unclothed without shame, they soon knew their nakedness and became enslaved to shame. This then led to them hiding from God, showing they were now slaves to guilt and fear. As God pronounced the curse that sin brought, they discovered they would be slaves to hard toil, hard childbirth, and many other curses. They had to know at last what fools they were to believe the serpent's message of freedom. They didn't know how good they had it. It's true what they say, sometimes you don't know what you got till it's gone.

    Here's something that may sound familiar in a backwards sort of way. The way to life for Adam and Eve was broad and wide. The path to destruction was very narrow and difficult. Why? Because they were free to eat from any tree in that whole vast garden, except the one. Their life was easy. Most every way they turned meant only more pleasure. Complete freedom. They knew God and had their life sustained forever in Him. NOTHING was required of them. Except believing God. They weren't even under His wrath. They had no need of repentance, or of dying to sin ,or of fighting the temptations and hostility of a corrupt world system that was against God. No fighting with a sin nature. But there was a path to destruction and it was narrow and difficult. One lousy tree off limits. Seems it would be pretty hard to mess up the good thing they had going. A slim, narrow chance of blowing it. But they managed to. A difficult thing to pull off you might say, based on the odds of success seemingly stacked in their favor. But such was the power of deception over them.

    This whole thing played out in such a way as to prove Satan a liar. First, if God were really the tyrant the devil claimed He was, He would have never allowed the temptation and the sin in the first place. If He were really so insecure, the choice would never have been there to eat of the tree. He did not desire puppets, and still doesn't. He knew He would send Jesus to the cross even way back before this all played out. Adam and Eve did not believe God's love for them, even when they were His friends. Once they were banished from the garden, He left clues that the door back in would be re-opened someday. He left the tree of life there. The way out was centrally related to the way back in. Both trees, it is written, were put in the middle of the garden. They were not so far from each other physically. The one was partaken of through unbelief in the goodness of God. The other is partaken of in the opposite way, through faith in Christ, the very representation of the love and goodness of God. God did something so incredible. We became enemies of God that day, through taking into our innermost being the sin nature, which is opposed to God in every way, through our heredity from our first father Adam. We, as a race, gave rule of our lives to Satan that day. But God, willing to show His goodness to the children of Adam once again, sent His only begotten Son to die for us, to bring us back to Him. To all who are over-comers of this present world, this God-hating kingdom, through faith in Jesus Christ, He now gives the right to eat of the tree of life. Jesus said the way back is difficult and narrow. Why? Because the way out was. The way back is difficult because when you love and trust God in a world that doesn't, you get your share of trouble. Narrow, because Jesus said He is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.

Faith is not easy. Why? Because it often contradicts what you see with your eyes and hear with your ears. Freedom, to the natural eye, is not withholding from my-self what pleasures this world has to offer; no one telling me who to be or how to act; freedom to be self serving, to see what knowledge I can gain, to write my own rules. To believe in God, or not to. To believe about God what I think He is like. Even so far as to believe I am good enough to please God, because I know right from wrong, and I do my best to do what is right. Yes, the freedom to feel like I will live forever in heaven because I do some good deeds. I have the freedom to think that I know every bit as much as God. This is all deception at its finest, believed by Adam and Eve and all who came after them.

Will we go with the flow? Or have faith in the goodness of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Will we see obedience to the Gospel as bondage? Or can we see the freedom God has provided in being His friend through Christ and the rebirth of our nature, one that was His enemy, but now loves Him? Jesus said whoever sins is the slave of sin. Some don't see it that way. They see sin as freedom. Those not born again cannot see the Kingdom of God. Freedom is in the eye of the beholder.

Jesus said that whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Do you fear bondage from God? Taste and see that He is good. You'll become bound to forgiveness from your sin, and a clean conscience, bound to friendship with God for eternity, and bound to walking with Jesus Christ, the one who loved you and gave Himself for you. Do you feel like messages of hell and condemnation in a lake of fire have been spoken for God to threaten you into coming to Him? These things are real. But hell is not simply the lesser of two evils, a worse alternative to being a slave to boring, kill-joy religion. It is simply the natural outcome for those who won't believe the goodness of God, and come to Him for salvation from the wrath to come. God is not wishing you to perish. He has given you opportunity for true freedom.

Getting Your Hopes Up

I have begun thinking lately that God is increasing hope in me for certain things. For instance, we've been wanting to sell this mobile home we live in for forever. We've had many interested lookers over the last few years, but most did not have the credit to buy it or what not. Which stinks, because we really would like a back yard where our little ones can run and play and we don't have to worry about them getting out in the road and such. Plus it's kind of tight quarters these days. So we can't look for that house until we sell this place. I just took the attitude with Kelly, "Don't get your hopes up", any time someone inquired about the place. Besides, I figured why would I want a house payment when I wasn't saving any money right now to begin with? How could I even afford more per month? I have always known I should be content with what I have, so I have tried to be, and for the most part have been. This is different now though. I have begun to believe that a different house is something my Father wants us to have. As a result-and I am still thankful for this place- I have begun to get my hopes up. Why? Because I believe God wants something different for us. It's not just the house. I wouldn't be against remaining in this mobile home even on a different piece of property, where the opportunity for the kids to play would be better. But I am not sure the move would be good on the structure, which isn't too sturdy to start with.
Why was I ever afraid to get my hopes up before? Maybe I thought to do so would show I was a discontented, unthankful grumbler about what God had given me. Or I didn't want to be disappointed, or look foolish if I told someone I was believing God for a new home and it didn't happen. But (and I don't mean to take this out of context), my Bible says hope does not make ashamed, or dissapoint. While I know this mainly applies to the Gospel, I believe it also applies to this life, because he is not the God of the dead but of the living. And he loves me as much now as he will in heaven. If the day comes he wants us all to pick up and go live in a tent, I will be perfectly fine with that, too. It is all to do with his will, be it a house, trailer, or tent. We want to talk about being content with little, because that seems more pious. But PAUL (you know the Apostle?) said he learned to be content with little as well as with MUCH. He wasn't afraid of a season of material blessing corrupting him. He knew he could do all things through Christ who strengthened him. And yes, that's the context of that verse. He knew how to do with little, and he knew how to abound. His main hope was not in this world, be it wealth or poverty. He was free of all labels and his citizenship was in heaven. In fact, he said if in this life only he had hope, he was of all men most miserable.
All that to say, in all things (including a yard for my kids!), I'm gettting my hopes up!

Amazing Church

I enjoy God letting me see things lately. Again I was amazed by the love of the saints of Harvest for one another this past Saturday at the wedding of BJ and Lisa and at the reception. I saw people tirelessly serving just to bless Bj and Lisa and their families. Even in the midst of very difficult personal grief for some. And the joy that flowed from the hearts of all in attendance toward the bride and groom. This love is a testimony to me that I serve with those who are disciples of Jesus!

Wonderful Sunday

I've heard it said, and rightly so, that Sunday worship time is not a time to spectate. We come to serve, to worship, to encourage others. But today I was greatly blessed by what I heard and saw. I just kind of took it all in, and the presence of Christ among his people today just caused me to have sweet joy and appreciation for the effectual grace of God in his people. From announcements of joyous occasions-wedding, new baby announcement- to seeing a new worship band led by a guy leading the Sunday worship for the first time with all young people, I was very blessed. And again, Christ was lifted up as the only source of right relationship and justification with God. I am privileged to be a part of the family of God!

Righteousness Part 2

To continue in this topic, let's go deeper into what God has provided for us in Christ Jesus. We should remember, as Mrs. Sheila Atchley pointed out in her recent blog, righteousness is not some thing that grows in us. It is the free gift of God in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us righteousness, wisdom, sanctification, and everything else that pleases God. HE is righteousness incarnate, and all who have faith in Him, who are placed in Him by God, are righteous. 1 Corinthians 1:30 states all this, including the fact that of Him(God), we are in Christ Jesus. We can't even boast of our faith that got us into this grace by which we stand. Vs. 31 states :

"Therefore, as it is written, ' Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.'"


God chose the foolish and base things of the world to confound the wise, so that no flesh can glory, or boast, in God's presence. Paul said that even Abraham had no place to boast before God, though he had some good works.

"For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to Him as righteousness.' Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trusts in the One who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 'Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.' "

These passages of Scripture so blow me away. They are my bread in times of discouragement. Why? Because I love to sin and get away with it? Baloney! God is my witness, how I have hungered, and thirsted, and mourned for righteousness, from the viewpoint of knowledge of my wicked heart. And Jesus said that is a blessed condition in which to be, for I shall be filled, says He. And filled with Him I am! I know now more than ever what the writer meant by: "..that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." And this verse follows yet another instance of Christ bearing our reproach. Then we get to translate this grace to one another:

"May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God."

How has Christ welcomed us? With forgiveness, with grace, with love which covers a multitude of sins. How much more should we welcome one another, as we all stand in the same grace together, who belong to Jesus, who love Him because He first loved us, the called and chosen saints of God?

Righteousness

Righteousness

What is righteousness? It is something we will not enter heaven without, Jesus makes that clear. So it is upon us to know what this really means. Dictionary meaning of "righteousness":

"The state of him who is as he ought to be; rightness; one who is acceptable to God; morally just"

Jesus said," Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will in no case enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

So what does that mean? How does the Bible describe the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees? First, Jesus said they say one thing, but do another. So, they are hypocrites. Secondly, even what they did do as acts of righteousness were only insignificant deeds in God's eyes, that omitted what were the more important aspects of the will of God. They tithed of every minute possession, such as spices, while neglecting faith, justice, and mercy.

So, the answer is to just get better at obeying the "greater commandments" of the law? No. One scribe answered correctly on which were the greatest commandments: love God with all you are, and love your neighbor as yourself. But with such an answer, Jesus only told him that he was "not far from the Kingdom".

The key to the difference between "not far from" and actually being a part of the kingdom of heaven lies in the fact that knowing the will of God only condemns us the more when we have knowledge of it, but don't do it. The Bible declares that none is righteous (no not one, it says). All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, his glory meaning us glorifying him in loving him or attaining his righteous standard. Knowing that we should love God above all we are, but not doing it, brings great condemnation. Our good attempts earn us no points on judgment day. Isaiah declares by the Spirit of God:

But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

It can't get any clearer than that. Jesus Christ's blood is for each and every person. All stand in dire, indispensable need of it. Even as a Christian, our righteous acts do not commend us to God; only the righteous blood of Jesus can do that. But it is clear that all who are begotten by Him will be like him. 1 John says:

 

If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

And

Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

 

Righteous living, springing from a righteous heart, springing from the life of Christ within us, is the result of eternal life abiding within us, not the cause of it. Trying to do "righteousness" as a way to trick yourself into thinking you have eternal life is a blind method employed by Pharisees since time began. The tree is good or it is bad. God alone can change the nature of anything, anyone. Only God in Jesus Christ can resurrect a dead spirit, with its dead works, its dead religion, its worthless fruit.

Trusting God in the Midst of Mystery

It's common to every man and woman to have moments in life where their faith is tested due to befuddlement as to what God is up to in their circumstances. Or in the circumstances of those whom they care about. It's also easy for us to tell others our opinions about why we think they are going through the things they are. Remember Job's "friends"? They were ignorant counsellors, to whom God replied basically "Shut up, you have no idea what you're saying, and you misrepresent what I have planned to bring about in this." That's why it is important for us to know and admit that some things are a mystery to us, and maybe God means it to be that way for now. We are given a behind-the-scenes look at how the scenario with God and Satan played out concerning Job. But in the end of the book, God doesn't give Job the whole story or any real explanation even. He simply reveals his majesty and wisdom and strength to Job. By this he brings him to a place of repentance, humility, and trust. He learns that God is good, and that only God can justify a man, and not the man himself, though Job was a mighty good one by human standards. He also blesses Job more in his latter days than he had ever before.

So then, if we wish to glorify God, it is not upon us to fully explain him and his methods, for we can not. But we can proclaim his goodness, faithfulness and majesty, and lift up Jesus, the Son of God, the mediator of the New Covenant, who by himself purged our sins and is seated at the right hand of the Father where he makes intercession for us day and night. And he promises:

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." - Romans 8:28-29

First Entry

Well, I was told I should do a blog sometime back by Pastor Tim. It seemed like a nice idea, but never took the time. So here is my first entry! It is late and this will be short.

As of late, I have had the Lord Jesus flooding me with his truth, his promises, and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit. I hope that, as the Lord encourages me, I may also encourage any who might read this blog. May he use it all to is glory.