Bible Ballistics: BBs #141      Sacrifice to HIM!!!

Just a brief word today that I hope will remind us that genuine faith should always be evident in our lives when we have truly been redeemed and regenerated by the Spirit of God. He saves us to serve Him and be HIS witness to the world. What kind of witness are we being to the world for our God?

Psalm 4:5, “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.”

How? By living through Jesus Christ and giving my life to Him day by day…

Galatians 2:20, “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.”

So???   Here’s our shot for today.

 Offer the “sacrifices of righteousness” TODAY!

 HOW?

 Die to self and

 “live by the faith of the Son of God”!!!

 And then we can truly say with the Psalmist:

 “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” Psalm 18:2

Then the world will see and:

“..believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”  John 20:31b

Then our sacrifice can be a reflection of His sacrifice for us!

Ready?

Set?

 GO!

 

 

Bible Ballistics: ‘For’give Us This Day???   Vol. 5 #17

We hear lots of folks around us saying, “I don’t have to put up with that!”, or “I’ve had enough!” Well, is that true? Yes and no! God created us with an individual free will- we have the freedom to choose our behavior, responses and actions, but what most seem to forget, is that for every action there is a ‘re’ action; for every choice there is a consequence. And while we are truly free to ‘choose’, we are not free to set the consequences. And there are consequences!!! Don’t misunderstand me, there are boundaries, and behaviors that we are not to accept or “tolerate”, and God himself reminds us of this in His Word:

Galatians 6:7-8, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

God will NOT be mocked: ”to make mouths at, to ridicule”. God is God, He always has been, and He always will be and He will not to be mocked or minimalized, and that is just what our world is doing now.

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Exodus 20:7

To take God’s name in vain, is to disregard His name and His person/character. To “mock” who and what He is, as well as His authority to rule our world, and more importantly to rule ME!!! Every person will give an account to God sooner or later. As Paul tells us in Philippians 2:10-11,

“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

God holds us accountable for our choices. We can choose to bow before Him now as our Lord and Savior and “reap life everlasting”, or we can reject Him now and bow before Him as our judge at the end of time.

Revelation 20:15, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Only those who accept and bow before Jesus will have their names written in the “Lamb’s Book of Life”.

Revelation 21:7, “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

I say all this to bring us to our real subject for today—forgiveness. Do I have to “put up with” the actions of others? Does God have anything to say about this?

Colossians 1:10-11, “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;”

Here we have the call that’s on every believer to—

 —walk worthy of the Lord—pleasing HIM–

–being fruitful in good works—

              –increasing in the knowledge of God–

              –being strengthened by HIM–

How? By being strengthened by God’s “glorious power”… “unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness”

As we are walking in God’s Spirit and His strength we are to be growing into a person of not only “all patience and longsuffering”, but patience and longsuffering ‘with joyfulness”!!! Say what??? God wants me to be patient with others? Even in the Model Prayer in Matthew, Jesus calls us to have trust in God and exercise forgiveness toward others.                     

Matthew 6:11-13, “Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 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.” We are to live KINGDOM lives.

Let’s look at some of these words.

Longsuffering: a self-restraint of the mind before it gives room to action or passion, forbearance, long-suffering. To have the power to avenge oneself, yet one who refrains from the exercise of this power. Generally relating to people and relationships rather than circumstances.

Patience: to abide under, Endurance toward things or circumstances in contrast to people or relationships.

Forgive: to send away, dismiss; to leave, let alone, omit or neglect. To cancel a debt, in this case a debt of sin.

Debts: a debt which is owed, which is strictly owed; an offense or trespass which makes reparation (amends) obligatory.

So? What do I have to forgive or put up with? While we are never called to condone sin or wrong, we are called to love sinners and forgive those who owe us as an obligation of “reparation”. Because we who are saved have been forgiven of our sin, we are to extend forgiveness to others; even putting up with things that annoy, upset or cause us pain. What did Jesus endure at Calvary for my salvation?

Colossians 1:12-14, “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:” (meet=fit)

Jesus paid the debt I owed –a debt I could never have paid, no matter how hard I tried or how long I tried to be ‘good enough’ to please God! So whom can I refuse to forgive? And how many times or for how long must I keep forgiving?

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21-22

Peter asked Jesus a specific question about forgiveness, and he thought he was being magnanimous to forgive 7 times. Yet Jesus called him to forgive 7X70 times! 490 times! OK, so I am compelled to forgive those who wrong me; what does that forgiveness look like? Do I forgive to receive a blessing? To be obedient? To gain the upper hand? Or am I to forgive because I am forgiven, and the love of the God who saved and forgave my sin, is now within me?

Mark 11:25, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

I don’t forgive to be forgiven; I forgive because I am forgiven. And because the love of God is within ME! I’m not forgiving for my own selfish relief, or to evade consequences; but to please my God—the one who forgave me.

Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Luke 7:47-48, “Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.”

Only when I realize how much God has forgiven me, can I really understand the need to forgive others with an open and loving heart. Just as Jesus talked about the love of this woman who realized her need and received the forgiveness she longed for; only when we see our need do we come to the one who can and does forgive sin. When we receive HIS grace and forgiveness we can’t help but love HIM much. And loving Him with all my heart, how can I help but truly forgive others? Not go along with the popular buzz on social media and the culture around us, but to be willing to forgive “as” I was forgiven not just “because” I am forgiven. Not for any prize, reward or blessing but just because it pleases my LORD!!! Because I AM forgiven!

Bible Ballistics: BBs #140      Rock, Paper, Scissors???

Ever play this game to decide something or just for fun? Let’s use the ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ today to remind ourselves of the dependability of JESUS!!!

Matthew 7:24-27, “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 floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; 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.”

We often minimalize this story and think of it only as a children’s song, but it has great import. It reminds us that we can choose the foundation of our lives! Are you going to choose the ROCK=JESUS, or the Sand=anything else! But don’t forget, every choice has consequences. Looking at the comparison, it doesn’t say “IF” the rain, floods, winds and beating assaults come, but “WHEN” they come. We all face trials and difficulties in life: what we stand on makes the difference! How about you? Are you building on Jesus, the solid Rock, or on sand? The comparison/contrast indicates that both houses appeared to be the same on the outside, yet the disasters revealed the true nature of their foundation. Only Jesus-the Rock of Ages-can conquer the onslaughts of life and use them for our good, for His glory and as a testimony of His ‘Rock Solid” power. The rock will crush all!

Daniel 2:45, “Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”   THE ROCK WINS!!!

What about the ‘paper’? Let’s see?

“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jeremiah 31:33

God writes His law on the hearts of His own, and He writes on our hearts so that we can be read by the world! Our lives are to be the paper for God’s message to be seen by world. In ‘living’ color!!! We are to:

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16,

2 Corinthians 3:1-3, “Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? 2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”

What does your ‘paper’ say? And Scissors? They cut away the bad to enhance the good. He’s purifying ME!!!

“Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.” Proverbs 25:4

Bible Ballistics: BBs #139      Hide or Seek???

We all remember playing “Hide and Seek”, where someone was ‘it’ and everyone else hid, waiting for ‘it’ to seek them. The hidden players tried to make it back ‘home’ before ‘it’ could find and tag them. Many fun hours of child’s play but God isn’t playing “Hide and Seek”, He is looking for YOU:

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”  Luke 19:10

God sent Jesus to find and deliver us from the power of ‘sin’ and Satan—the soul thief:

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

“They” who are hiding can be found—they can have life and hope and deliverance–in Jesus, who came to ‘seek’ lost and hiding mankind. When He finds us and we give our lives to HIM, we can have abundant life. HOW? “Follow the Leader”, JESUS!!! We can now live life ‘Seeking’ HIM!

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

 

And how do we find HIS righteousness? How can we be good enough? We can’t, but God can and HE enables us: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21,

 

“Therefore if any man be in Christ,

he is a new creature:

old things are passed away;

behold, all things are become new.

18 And all things are of God,

who hath reconciled us to himself

by Jesus Christ,

and hath given to us

the ministry of reconciliation;

19 To wit,

that God was in Christ,

reconciling the world unto himself,

not imputing their trespasses unto them;

and hath committed unto us

the word of reconciliation.

20 Now then

we are ambassadors for Christ,

as though God did beseech you by us:

we pray you in Christ’s stead,

be ye reconciled to God.

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.”

Jesus came that we could not only be found but also changed—the old is passed away, the new ‘life’ in Christ pervades our hearts and minds. How? By God’s crediting Jesus’ righteousness to our sinful account. He saves us from the ‘debt’ due—death. (See Romans 3:23 and 6:23), and He also gives us HIS precious Holy Spirit to indwell guide, teach and lead us in this new ‘life’. Are you hiding? Don’t hide from the one who loves you and died that you might have real life!! Are you found? Let HIM live through YOU!!!

 

“For God so loved the world,

that he gave his only begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth in him

should not perish,

but have everlasting life.”

                                           John 3:16

Bible Ballistics: Relevant or Reliable??? Pt. 2 Vol. 5 #16

We talked our last time together about the need to stand on the Word of God rather than the methods and motives of the world. We looked at 2 Timothy 4:1-4 and Paul’s message to Timothy and the call to “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine…” We must be ‘reliable’ with the truth of the Gospel, more than ‘culturally relevant’ toward the wickedness of our American culture.

Like Paul may we cling to the only truly ‘relevant’ message: 1 Corinthians 2:2-5,

“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

This stands in stark contrast to much ‘popular’ preaching today. We rely on plans, programs and agendas to ‘fill the churches’ when only “Jesus Christ, and him crucified” can transform lives and hearts and reveal the mighty works of God. Why is the church so powerless? Perhaps because we are more concerned about ‘relevance’ than being ‘reliable’.

Relevant—closely connected or appropriate to the matter at hand.—(the world???)

Reliable –consistently good in quality or performance; able to be trusted.—The Word of God!!!

We seem to be so caught up in being ‘relevant’ (connected to) and accepted by our world, we have forgotten that Jesus called us to be ‘salt’ and ‘light’. And salt and light are the ultimate ‘relevance’ to those in in darkness and corruption, but we’ve settled for compromise to attract, rather than ‘reliability’ that transforms. We are “the light of the world”–Light exposes the dark and it is impossible for light and dark to inhabit the same space! Yet we as believers seem to be trying to dim the light so that it will be ‘appealing’ to the dark world. Salt can purify and preserve, as well as season other things. Jesus calls us to be “the salt of the earth” –that which preserves the good and stops the corruption of evil. But one thing that we forget is that when salt is doing its job, it can often be painful. You know, like ‘pouring salt in an open wound’!!! While it is ‘painful’ it does cleanse and help to heal the wound, and mankind is in desperate need of the cleansing, sin-healing, “Power In the Blood”. As the old song says, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” Jesus washes it away, He doesn’t condone and accept sin!

If men don’t know they are sick, why would they take the medicine? And if people don’t know that they are lost in sin, why would they want the salvation that Jesus offers? Jesus came because of sin:

Matthew 1:21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Jesus himself said,

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 Men will never be found until they realize that they are lost!

Isaiah 53:5-6, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned every one to his own way;

and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all..”

Luke 15:4, “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?”

Luke 15:24, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.”

Jesus came from glory to take on flesh and blood to die for lost and sinful man. He loves us and without His righteous, substitutionary death for us we would be eternally lost. We are all born into sin and without the salvation of Jesus we would have no hope. But Jesus not only came to save us from hell, but to save us from sin—it’s penalty, and its power. And when He returns to this earth He will deliver us from the very presence of sin. But to receive that which HE offers through His blood, we must repent of our sin. We must let go of the ‘selfish ownership’ of ourselves and yield to the control of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must bow before HIM! We can’t hold onto ‘self’ and the “LORD Jesus” at the same time. Remember light and dark can’t occupy the same space!

In Luke 19:3 & 5 Jesus said,

“ I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

In Ezekiel 18:30 God says,

“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.”

Matthew 3:1-2, “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Until we are willing to share the truth of the saving power of Jesus Christ, and the need for repentance, we have failed those who need ‘truth’—the lost. It doesn’t matter how relevant we think we are being to cajole, entertain, and compromise the gospel, we are doing no one any favors to let them miss Jesus because we didn’t point them in the right direction. The “CROSS” is the only direction.

Mark 8:34, “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

The popular call to be relevant, says that not only can ‘whosoever will’ come, but that they can hold on to their sin and still come. I beg to differ; to take up the cross is to die to one’s self and live to and for Christ.

Romans 6:1-4, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” New light not the old darkness!!!

We are saved to walk in newness of life, because we have been delivered from the penalty and power of sin, and empowered to walk in God’s ways!

Colossians 1:12-14, “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:”

Forgiveness of sins that Jesus bought and paid for at Calvary—that is the “GOOD NEWS”!!! And the good news needs to be shared with people in all its power and truth. Not compromised and watered down to attract people with false hope in a self-designed salvation that has no resemblance to scripture, because it’s power is not in the life-transforming blood of Jesus. For only Jesus can transform lives, as He equips us to do all that HE wants us to do by HIS power through the indwelling Holy Spirit. By the blood of Jesus we are made ‘righteous’ before God!

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.”

So when we are changed and transformed how does it look?

John 13:35, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

How? By God’s provision. Romans 5:5

“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

God’s love isn’t what the world calls ‘love’. God’s love is right and good, holy and pure.

John 15:19, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”

When we belong to Jesus we will receive the same treatment that He did. The truth will never be welcomed except by those whose heart’s God is calling. Only the Spirit can convict and draw to Jesus. Our job is to spread the truth—all of the truth. We are not to be ‘mimes’ of the world, but ‘witnesses’ of Jesus truth!!!

John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

“Jesus Christ

the same yesterday,

and to day,

and for ever.”

God hasn’t changed His Word. Will you stand with HIM or the world? Will you be ‘relevant’ or ‘reliable’ with the power of the Gospel of the cross?