Bible Ballistics: I pledge allegiance??? Vol. 4 #8 6/29/14

As we prepare to celebrate ‘Independence’ Day, here in America, I thought we’d look at ‘allegiance’.—“loyalty or commitment of a subordinate to a superior, or of an individual or group or a cause”. To what or whom are we giving allegiance? We say the ‘Pledge of Allegiance” to the flag, we are loyal to the country we love, to brands we use, to people, to organizations….etc., the list could go on. But my question today is, “Have you pledged your allegiance” to the one who saves? Do you claim the name of Jesus and yet give Him no loyalty or commitment, for whatever reason?

Romans 11:36 says, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” Glory to Him who created all things, including faith. Glory to Him who saves!!

 We live in a time of ‘selfies’: ‘self’ pics, ‘self’-indulgence, ‘self’-gratification, and ‘self’-righteousness. We have, in many ways, neglected and even ignored the wonderful gift of conviction. Because it’s not of ‘self’, but of God. The conviction of the precious Holy Spirit, who brings men to see their sinful state and burdens them to come to the cross. And when we come to the cross it is worthy of all our allegiance–All that we have, the very breath that we breathe for all is ‘of Him…through Him….to whom be glory…”

But what’s the importance of ‘conviction’? Is it important? While we don’t hear this preached much these days, we need it. What is ‘conviction’? Conviction means to “convince” of something. To be convinced of one’s own sin.

2 Corinthians 7:10, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

Romans 3:23-24, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” Are you convinced?

Jesus paid the price for sin, but unless and until we see ourselves as ‘sinners’, we see no need of the Savior.  Conviction is the work of the Spirit of Christ (the Holy Spirit) who brings people to see themselves as a sinner, lost before a Holy God. In Romans, Paul reminds us that while we are/were lost, Jesus paid the price for our redemption (buying us back) from the debit we owe– as sinners.

Romans 5:8-9, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

Romans 6:22-23, “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (See Ephesians 2 also)

We who belong to Jesus are ‘free from sin’ and it’s power and are now servants of God, rather than servants of sin. We have obtained this life through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus—because the ‘wages (payment) of sin is death’, but the death of Jesus, when we trust HIM, gives us eternal life. Jesus delivers us. The Spirit brings this ‘short-coming’ to our hearts and souls—only then can we see the significance of Christ’s redemption–The payment HE made for ‘MY’ debt.

In Genesis 3, we see sin enter the world, man hiding his sin, by hiding himself from God, and God’s response. So, what did God do? He came ‘asking’, “Where art thou?” Did God not know where they were? Of course He did. Then why ask? So that ‘they’ would recognize where they were. They felt the shame and embarrassment of sin, but didn’t know what to do until God came to them. God, in his mercy and grace, walked them through the sin in their lives, revealed to them the harm, degradation and evil of their sin and showed them the way to be restored (in part) to fellowship with God. He provided a sacrifice for them. He showed them that the sacrifice of blood was required to cover their sin and restore their relationship to God, until the ‘once for all’ sacrifice was made by His own Son.

Hebrews 10:10, “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

God brought them to see their sin, and by His Holy Spirit He is still revealing sin, and restoring people to relationship with HIM because of Calvary. Have you been there?

 God hasn’t changed—He is still the initiator of Salvation:

 John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

And John 14:5-7, “Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”

Without the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, there is no saving faith. God initiates salvation–it is never our idea!!!! No, you didn’t think of it yourself. God brought you to Himself through the convicting of the Holy Spirit, and without God’s initiation—there is no saving faith, there is no salvation. As we’ve looked before at John 1:12-13,

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Think back in your own life.   What are you counting on to save you?

A prayer,

baptism,

your faithful work in the church?

These are all good things but they don’t achieve, win or gain salvation for anyone.

 John 5:38-40 says, “And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. 39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”

Are you refusing to come to Jesus?

Or pledging ‘self’ to Him?

Real faith comes from God, is imparted to us by God, but is preceded by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Until we know that we are sinners, why would we need a Savior? From what would we need to repent and be saved. It’s like trying to give ‘chemo-therapy’ to a person who doesn’t know they have cancer. Why would someone undergo such a harsh remedy if they didn’t realize that they have a terminal cancer, in need of treatment? Why would anyone come to Jesus who is good enough on their own? They wouldn’t.

So where is our allegiance?

 Is it to our God, who has brought us to repentance and faith?

 Is it to ourselves and

 our own ability to do enough good to get to heaven?

Have you heard the voice of the Spirit, calling you to the Savior?

Do you belong to Jesus and hear that ‘still small voice’ calling you to forsake the world and cleave to your Savior?

 What ever our need—

 God is our only hope.

 Spend some time

in quietness

 before the Lord,

 listening to that precious Holy Spirit

 speaking His heart to ours.

 To know and obey the dearest one to our souls,

 in our living TODAY!!!

Bible Ballistics: “BBs”#72 Headache????

Continuing in our conversation about ‘time’ and ‘daily living’, I didn’t discover our topic today, I have one. I’ve had a headache off and on all this week, and I hardly ever have headaches. Not in years!!! Welllllllllll, guess what I discovered this morning while taking my vitamins and medications—no blood pressure pill all week.   DUH!!! Can’t believe I did that!!!

That brought to mind a scripture that also refers to our use of everything around us, including time. How often do we get a spiritual ‘headache’, only to find that we haven’t taken our medication—The Word of God and prayer? We’re not thinking right, and it hurts us.

The cure—

The Word!!!

Philippians 2:5-8, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Jesus humbled Himself unto the will of the Father, even unto death—the death on the cross. I am called to do the same. I’d just like to share a couple of passages this morning about our dying to ourselves. Not doing work for Him, but yielding to HIS work IN us.

1 Peter 2:23-25, “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.”

So? Here’s our shot for today.

Galatians 2:20-21, “ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”

I am dead to self—

alive to and by Christ—

walking in His finished ‘work’—

not works of the law—

but by HIS Spirit IN me.

 Yield!!! Today. It’s better than aspirin!!!

 

Bible Ballistics: “BBs”#71 This Day????

A day late due to Internet trouble, but I decided to go ahead and post the BBs today. We’ve been talking about ‘daily’ living, and I must tell you—I’m not preaching at anyone but myself. Anytime we take a stand on God’s Word, the enemy will come, and we’ve been in a battle royal in regard to ‘daily’ living. It’s been a long month here at our house—with hospital dilemmas, family issues, time constraints, weariness and just getting along in the world.

I am sure that all of you have been there, are there or will be there–because we all have this life in common. But the verses that the Lord brought to me this morning as I got up to ‘conflict’ in my face (almost the first thing), was Psalm 118:24, one of my consistent rocks of support and encouragement, I hope it is for you.

“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

 Not because it’s easy!!

 Not because it’s what others are doing!!

 Not even because I have to,

 but because I know the God who made the day—

 I am in HIS hand,

 MY circumstances are in HIS hand,

 MY issues are in HIS hand,

 and those who are coming against me—

will face HIS hand!!!

 Proverbs 3:5-8, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.”

So??? Here’s our shot for the day—God is God of this Day, and

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”

I’m there!!!

Join me!!

The Lord will defend against the onslaught –

       whoever and whatever it may be.

Bible Ballistics: Give us, When???   V4#7

In our Bible Ballistics BBs on Friday we talked about living in ‘today’. We seem to have hit a pulse in this vein so I thought we’d continue in that subject again today.

We talked about the model prayer in Matthew 6, and saw that Jesus told us to ask for ‘our daily bread’, but continuing on to verse 13 we also find,

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” God is our source ‘because’ it’s all HIS.

Now obviously, ‘give us this day’ is clearly telling us to trust God for our ‘daily’ provision. Scripture also tells us that we are to ‘work’ for our sustenance; God gave man work as a gift, not a curse. God gave man work in Genesis 2:15-16 as the way to receive ‘today’.

“And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:” (eat from your work)

Work was not the curse of sin, because it preceded the sin of man, but the curse of ‘anguish and toil’ came into work. Work changed but God stays the same, as Genesis 3:17-19 says,

“And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

–The ground was cursed, and man would find sorrow in his labor, thorns and thistles would also compete with the treasured harvest, making his job more difficult. He would sweat and toil for his food, and at the end of his days, die and return to the dust, until the resurrection. But God had already provided for our ‘salvation’ and sustenance!! Our future hope in eternity with God.

Job 19:25-27, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” Do you know the Redeemer? If so, you will see your ‘Redeemer’ in person!!

If we know Jesus, we will see Him face to face, yet we are to work with all our being, for God in all we do until then. While trusting to His unchanging sovereignty– that we will rise. If we have trusted Jesus, and placed our faith in His atoning death and payment for sin—we can work in HOPE.

I work today—in HOPE.

I work,

play,

serve and

share

with a complete HOPE and confidence

in the total sovereignty of God.

He is working in my life.  

It’s not just that He has a plan that I can follow or not (which He does), but that He is working every day

to make me—

to make you—

into the image of Jesus Christ our Lord.

NOW!!! (See Romans 8:28-29)

Romans 8:31-32 says, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”

Where are you living today?

In the grip of Satan’s lies of defeat,

or the confusion of the world’s ideas.

We must remember with Nehemiah,

‘the joy of the Lord, is your strength.”

Where is your trust? When? Each day?

Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”

The draw of the world is strong

and the baggage from our past,

the past of others,

and the drama all around us,

are always at work to keep our eyes on anything other than Jesus:

Ourselves,

our trials,

our failures,

the failures of others,

financial woes,

job struggles,

the list is endless,

but the Savior is the eternal victor—

so keep your eyes on HIM.

Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

This ‘author and finisher’ of YOUR faith—

He started it—

He WILL finish it.

As Paul also said in Philippians 1:6,

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good workin you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

Jesus is our strength and source, and Romans 8:31 also reminds us,

“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Are you on God’s side?????

Where are your eyes?

Your heart?

Your mind?

Remember you have victory in Jesus (that would make a good song!! ha ha)—You don’t have to accept the defeat that the enemy throws at you. Remember that Satan is a liar and Jesus is,

“the way, the truth and the life”…

The only way!

The victorious way!

The ‘today’ way!

Let’s strive to walk in today,

with Jesus our Lord.

My strength,

my joy,

my everything.

How? Remembering the words of Hebrews 4:15-16,

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

He’s here for YOU.

Every day!

TODAY!

Leave the past there—in the past.

Today belongs to you and JESUS!!

Bible Ballistics: “BBs”  #70     Today, Yesterday or Tomorrow????

I was reminded recently by a friends comments, how often we live somewhere besides where we are. For those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ, who are kept by the power of our God, we can trust to His grace, we can know that His timing is right. The question we all face is, ‘Will we walk in His Spirit and trust Him with our lives’?

 Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

Jesus, himself, tells us we are to walk in the here and now.

Matthew 6:10-11, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread.”

This simple phrase reminds us that we are to walk with Jesus ‘TODAY’. What ever is in our past, is just that, ‘Past’. What is ahead tomorrow, only our Father knows, regardless of what the government, the weatherman or the media says—only God holds tomorrow. And as a popular song says, “ I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I DO KNOW WHO holds tomorrow.”

So? Here’s our shot for today??? Remember today is just that, “this present time”. I’d like to share a short prayer I wrote some years ago, I pray this almost every day.

 “Father, YOUR will for TODAY is MINE.

                     YOUR work for TODAY is MINE.

                      YOUR pleasure for TODAY is MINE.

         Tomorrow is YOURS alone, to reveal.

              Yesterday is OURS alone; mine to release to YOU,

YOURS to weave into the image of Christ my Lord.”