Bible Ballistics: BBs #81    What’s Your Source????

We’ve talked about being ‘plugged in’ to Jesus, and if we claim to be a believer, a ‘Christian’, then our lives and conversation ought to reflect our source of life!! What comes out of our mouths is a reflection of what’s inside our heart.

While we live in an ‘anything goes’ culture, that shouldn’t be our ‘standard’? We have a different source of life—Jesus!! The culture should be attracted to us because we reflect Jesus. They will never be attracted to Jesus through us when we look, act and talk like the rest of the world. What comes out of your ‘mouth’? Your fingers — texting, messaging or FaceBooking? Do you say or print things that bring shame to our Lord, or worse blaspheme God or use HIS name in vain? Are you being a reflection of His glory or conformed to the world?

James 3:8-11, “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. 13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.”

Only God can tame the tongue but we must yield it to Him first—along with our heart!!! Are you being an honorable reflection of Jesus, or conforming to the ‘world’?

Matthew 15:18-19, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:” Do your words defile you before God?

James says that a fountain produces water true to it’s source-sweet or bitter. If our heart is sweet, then the words that come from our mouth should, no WILL, show it.

Jesus makes it even clearer. Words ‘defile’ not just because they come out of your mouth, but also because they actually come from the heart. Make the ‘heart’ pure and it will show in all you do and say.

2 Corinthians 5:17-18, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Are you ‘in’ Christ Jesus?

So? Here’s our shot for the day.

What’s your source?

Is Christ Jesus seen

in your lifestyle,

your choices,

your actions?

Look around you; do people know you love Jesus by the way you live? Let’s make it so.

Isaiah 43:12b, “ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.”

What kind of witness are you?

 

Bible Ballistics: Final Recall ?????? Vol 4 #12

I’d like to share a burden that is weighing on me today. There is a time coming when every human being will be called to stand before a holy God and give an account of themselves. When that day comes there will be no opportunity to receive Jesus, the day of grace will have passed. What will you say when you stand before HIM? Are you ready to face God? Where have you placed your confidence?

If that day were today would you be ready? What are you counting on to be right before God? What rules your life? Have you given your life to Jesus or are you still sitting on the throne of your own heart? What things are you giving your life to? Who or what do you make time for? Is God on your priority list, or is He somewhere down in the, “when I get time” portion of your list? If you haven’t yet had time for Him, then it’s not likely that you will ‘find’ time for Him. In fact, I’ll guarantee that you will never “find” time for God. You must ‘make’ time for God. What are you making time for?

At that coming day, God won’t ask if you are current on trends, fads or how many friends you have. He won’t ask if you were popular, or how many gadgets you mastered, but He will ask what you did with His Son, Jesus. The one who came and died, was buried and rose again so that you could have life in Him. But as John 14:6 tells us, He is the only way to God. No matter what the world may say, God has said there is only one way—Jesus. And He changes lives.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Romans 14:12 says, “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”

How will your account look to God? Is Jesus your advocate or are you counting on something or someone else to make you right with God? Jesus has some stark things to say in Matthew 7, and I think it would serve us well to search out what Jesus says about “that day”.

Matthew 7:21-27, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

In this part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we can learn a lot about ‘that day’ and appearances. Let’s search out what it says:

–Saying ‘Lord, Lord’ doesn’t make you a believer!

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

How do I ‘do the will of the Father’? Only when I have received the righteousness of Christ—in salvation.

2 Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” My sin replaced by HIS righteousness. Have you been to Calvary?

       –Many who say ‘Lord, Lord’ will be rejected

because they “work iniquity”. In other words, they talked a good talk, they worked a good work, they accomplished great miracles—BUT

—Jesus knows the truth—

       He said ‘depart from me’

              ‘ye that work iniquity’

       all they did was for self NOT God—

You can fool people but you can’t fool God…

Jesus goes on to make one of the clearest pictures of salvation in all of scripture. Yet, one that we often relegate to simply being a children’s song. Jesus makes a conclusion with this picture or parable.

–Therefore—concluding with the contrast/comparison  reveals that if you:

              hear His words and do them=

build on the rock—a sure foundation

storms WILL COME—

if you are built upon the rock the storms will not be able to destroy you because you are built on the rock.

              hear His words and don’t do them=

build on sand—

implying a similar looking structure

looking like the other by all appearances

But with a major difference—

an unsure foundation

                      storms WILL COME—

because there is no sure foundation the house collapsed and GREAT was its fall!!!

Looking good isn’t enough.

So in conclusion, what are you building on? Are you saying one thing and living another? Do you claim to know Jesus and yet have no time for Him, His word or His work? Remember—saying so, doesn’t make it so. Does the ‘spirit of Christ’ dwell in you? Have you heard His voice?

Romans 8:9, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

Please be sure who’s you are. Jesus is coming soon and I want to know that those that I love are going to join me in heaven. I pray that you will examine your own heart before God. If you’re His—press on with Him. If you’re not His, repent and believe and He will save YOU.

(See Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Revelation 3:20, 1 Corinthians 15:1-5, and if you need more information please message me, leave a comment, or email me and I’ll try to help any way that I can.)

He is coming soon. Please be sure you’re ready.

 

 

Bible Ballistics: BBs #80    Is Your Light Plugged In????

We talked last time about being ‘strong enough’ to persevere and stand for Jesus with ‘joyfulness’. With that in mind, I’d like us to consider a question today about “lighting”. Matthew 5:14-16 says,

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Let’s draw some conclusions.

How are we light?

John 1:4,12-13 “In him was life; and the life was the light of men……. 12 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.”

Because Jesus IS life and light, He gives us life and light through salvation, so that we can be the ‘light of the world’.

Where are we to shine? To the world, “it giveth light unto all that are in the house”. We can shine before the world because:

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12 (See John 9:5 & 11:9) When we follow Jesus—we reflect HIS light to all those around us.

How are we to shine? Before the world by God’s power–to God’s glory.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Why?

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10.  (We who are saved, see verses 8-9)

We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, to do good works. Our work doesn’t save us, but His precious Holy Spirit, who dwells within believers, empowers, guides, and leads us to do good works for God because we are saved. We just need to listen, obey and follow. God has ordained it!!!

So? Here’s our shot for today. SHINE.

Live every moment in Jesus’ light,

and the world will see His light IN you.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

If you don’t have the light you can’t shine.

Check your source!!

                     Plug into Jesus if you’re not already!!

                            And live plugged in!!

 

Bible Ballistics: BBs #79    Are You Strong Enough????

One of my favorite passages, a prayer of Paul’s, is one that I pray for myself and for others. It’s found in Colossians 1. If you’ve never looked at the prayers in scripture, it would be a profitable study to undertake this summer. Let’s look at a portion of Colossians 1 and observe what we can learn from this prayer.

“For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”

Just a few highlights for our consideration:

Fill yourself with the Word and Prayer=do right

       Do right—Act right—Live right=grow more

       Live in God’s strength=develop patience and endurance

       Be grateful and recognize God’s work to save us=

              Delivering us from Satan’s power and–

              Translating us into the kingdom of Jesus the Son–

Redeeming us and forgiving our sin–

All purchased for us by the blood of Jesus!!

So??? Here’s our shot for today.

Endure with God’s strength and

persevere with His power.

So you can not only stand and persevere—

but do it with joyfulness!!!

Ouch!!

With joyfulness?

Yes!!

When we grow in our knowledge of God’s will and His ways, we will gain strength and confidence to stand fast “in the evil day, and having done all, to stand…” (Ephesians 6:13)–

       With joyfulness–“Rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil 4:4)

Won’t you join me in pursuing ‘joyfulness’ in our Lord? The road will be long, but it’s all in HIS hands. Let’s trust HIM and rejoice!!!

 

Bible Ballistics: Is Anybody Watching?????? Vol 4 #11

There’s a lot of talk and concern these days about energy. Do we have enough to go around? Where will we get it? Wind turbines, coal, natural gas, and other options seem to be consuming people’s thoughts and energy. But where does energy come from? The Apostle John gives us some food for thought in 1 John 1:1-7, let’s examine it together today.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. 5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

John calls us to walk in the light? But what light? John says in verse 1 that the ‘light’ was from the beginning. We know from Genesis 1 that God (Elohim) was there, and we know that the Holy Spirit was there, where was Jesus?

Gen 1:1-3, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”

God created all that is, we know that –and John tells us in his gospel as well as the 1^st letter he wrote, that Jesus was also there in the beginning. The 1^st chapter of Hebrews also speaks to this question. Genesis 1 says the Spirit ‘moved’ (KJV a word connoting movement, or hovering, kind of like a hen quivering her wings to gather her chicks). The Spirit moved, or hovered over the mass that would be made into the earth. The creative power (energy) of Jesus (with His Father) accomplished creation (energy)—being the defining element of all. Now, I know we’ve stirred up some of your ‘little grey cells’, so to speak, so let’s look at scripture and see what we can learn from the whole counsel of God.

Firstly, we know that the ‘light’ created on the first day was not the ‘sun’, as it was created on the 4^th day. So it seems that this first ‘light’ was the imparting of ‘energy’ to create what would follow. I think this is a parallel to the creative power that Jesus brings to bear on us when we are saved. He births us into the kingdom of God by His power, the power of His sacrifice. (See John 1:12-13 and note the word ‘power’)

Hebrews 1:1-3, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:”

God spoke to us through Jesus during His time on earth, but He existed before that. He was there at creation, “by whom also he made the worlds;” doing what He does –creating!! Physical and spiritually—Jesus creates life-energy!!! He is the one who is “upholding all things by the word of his power”. The source of energy that holds all things together.

John 1:1-5, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

In John 1:1 and 1 John 1:1, the Apostle confirms the eternal nature of Jesus. He didn’t begin at the incarnation, for Jesus was always there. He simply took on flesh in order to become the sacrificial Lamb, in order to pay for our sin. He brought His ‘energy’ to bear on ‘sin’. Yours and mine.

Jesus, the “Word”, was in the beginning—with God, being God. How did God create all that He created, in what way? By “speaking”—by the ‘Word’—by Jesus. All things were made by Him—the Son.In HIM was life (energy), and the life was the ‘light’ of men. The light that shines in the darkness. But also true is the fact that men can be blind and refuse to see this light. Kind of like the phrase people use when a situation or topic is totally obvious but those present refuse to acknowledge it. We call it the “elephant in the room”—it’s there but no one wants to deal with it. Jesus is that way!!! He is the light; He shines in the darkness, yet men and women, boys and girls, refuse to acknowledge HIS light. Why? Jesus gives us that answer also.

John 3:18-20, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”

And who is this light? Let’s make it plain, right from the mouth of our Lord.

John 8:12, “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (not just walk in it but also HAVE it—within)

 Jesus shines His light upon us, we can believe and be saved, and receive eternal life. Or we can reject Him, in word and deed (and either one is enough) and have the condemnation of death and hell, instead of life.

So, my questions are:

“Is anybody watching you?”

Are you watching Jesus?

Are you saved and walking in HIS light?

Has Jesus become your own personal ‘light of the world’?

Or are you contented in the dark.

Do you think no one sees?

May we follow Him and not only walk in the light but also exhibit that we “have the light of life”– before all those who may be watching YOU and ME.