Bible Ballistics: BBs #143      Someone Who Cares???

As we go from day to day, week-to-week and month-to-month, we often think no one is watching, that no one cares. It’s so easy to live in our ‘techno wiz’ world and get so caught up in gadgets, gizmos, gaining things that we forget the people around us. There are untold numbers of people who are hurting, people like us who have hopes, dreams, disappointments and struggles: People who look but don’t see: People who smile but are crying on the inside. People—not just people, but WE are dying of loneliness, fear, frustration, hopelessness, and confusion,. ALL of us are people who need someone to care—we’re created that way!

Well, I care and I’m not alone, there are many of you who care, but there is one who cares, more than anyone else in this world, what happens to you. His name is Jesus, and Jesus cares so much for you that He gave His own life for yours. He gave His life to not only save us from hell, but to give us life—abundant life. Not a pain free, nor problem free life, but a victorious life IN JESUS Christ the Lord of all!!!

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 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. 11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” Jn. 10:9-11

His life for mine!!! His life for yours!!! And what did that love and caring cost Jesus? The setting aside of heavenly glory (never ceasing to be God), taking on human flesh as a baby, to an adulthood of ministry that ended in His laying down His life on a cross because He loved us. We have a great high priest who not only gave a sacrifice for sin, but He willingly laid down HIS life as the sacrifice for my SIN!

Hebrews 2:17-18, “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

He walked in our shoes, He lived in flesh and blood through this sinful, wicked world—but HE gained the victory, and He shares that victory with us. He not only shares but HE cares for you and He wants you to come to HIM. That’s why HE died!

“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.” Hebrews 4:15-16

So??? Here’s our shot for today! YOU are NOT in this ALONE! Jesus cares about you—HE loves you and you can have victory IN HIM!

“But thanks be to God,

which giveth us the victory

through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren,

be ye stedfast,

unmoveable,

always abounding

in the work of the Lord,

forasmuch as ye know

that your labour is not in vain

in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:57-58

Bible Ballistics:    Even So Lord Jesus!!!   Vol. 5 #18

As we’ve been talking about forgiveness and service, I want to take a different twist on service today. Our service to God is to be a sacrifice of praise coming from grateful hearts aligned with Jesus:

Hebrews 13:12-16, “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. 14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. 15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

Communicate: “to partner with; fellowship with.” Helping one another. A thankful, praising people should be a generous, caring people.

Because Jesus suffered for us, we are called to bear “his reproach”—to be unashamed of the gospel, of the “one way” of Jesus, even when everyone else is ridiculing and degrading the worth and veracity of God and His Word.

Romans 1:16-17 Paul says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

Are we unashamed of the ‘gospel of Christ’? Or do we often compromise what we believe and know as the truth of the Word, to avoid ridicule or slight from those around us? Paul called Timothy to beware of this very temptation:

2 Timothy 1:8-9, “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,”

We are living in days that may produce persecution for those who hold to Jesus and the truth of His Word. In fact the persecution has already begun as people are being put out of business for not buckling to the ‘political correctness’ of immorality that is rampant around us. Pastors are facing imprisonment for standing on the ‘whole counsel’ of God’s Word. We must determine what we believe and just what we are willing to endure to follow Jesus. How can our life be a praise to Jesus if we are uninformed of His Word, and/or unwilling to stand with Him? Jesus told us that we are not above our Master:

John 15:19-21, “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. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.”

Jesus wanted us to know that following Him would have a cost. Yes, salvation is a gift of God, but when we accept that gift, and align ourselves with the Son of God, we will be in line to suffer as He did—are we willing to submit if the cost is suffering? We often forget what Paul told Timothy many years ago:

“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Are we living ‘godly’?

I’d like to close with a passage that brings a unique twist to our thoughts of unashamed service, and it comes from Mary, the mother of Jesus. Here we have a real ‘sacrifice of praise’.

Luke 1:38-39, “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. 39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;” She heard, believed and acted!

Here we have a young woman, most believe a teenager, confronted with an angelic visitation, an announcement that she would become a mother without benefit of an earthly father, and yet her only question was about what would be expected of her—an amazingly overwhelming revelation and yet a profoundly simple response.

“be it unto me according to thy word”

Now on the surface that doesn’t shake us too much, but let’s consider what just happened to this young teenager.

She encountered an angel with a message from GOD!

She was praised by this angelic messenger from God!

She was chosen to bear the Messiah of God!

Those are the usual things we think about and that is awesome enough, yet she maintained her composure through this once-in-a-lifetime encounter. She didn’t flee—she stayed! She didn’t question with doubts—she only asked how it was to be accomplished with a virgin! Yet there had to be other questions racking her mind. Think about it!!! I can’t believe that she didn’t.

What would she tell her parents?   God did it! Right?

What would she tell Joseph?          God did it! Right?

What would she tell her friends?     God did it! Right?

Let’s face it she was facing scandal. A young virgin, engaged to an upstanding, godly man—now pregnant! How? This young woman chose to yield herself to God and submit to whatever God had for her!!! How about us?

How often do we question? Doubt? Just plain balk? Complain? Make excuses? Argue? Offer alternatives to God’s plan?

My challenge to each of us today is that we will learn to be more yielded to God. That we will learn to yield our hearts and our lives to God’s service and truly offer that “sacrifice of praise to God continually”!!!

To seek His face.

To do His will.

To answer His call.

To thank HIM.

To say “even so” Lord Jesus!!!

To thank Him for His amazing love that took Jesus to Calvary for ME! Think about it. What less can I do except offer to Him the “sacrifice of praise”? How can I do it? Paul gave us some good advice:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2

“Praise Him, Praise Him, all ye little children. God is love, God is love.”

“Thank Him, Thank Him, all ye little children. God is love, God is love.”

Bible Ballistics: BBs #142      Me Forgive??? How???

We talked recently about forgiveness and I’d like to take it a bit further. How are we even able to forgive?

Daniel 9:9 says, “To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;”

A bit of an unusual passage for our topic, but Daniel reminds us that all ‘mercies’ and ‘forgivenesses’ originate with the Almighty God—the God of all creation. The God who forgives, is the only one who can help us learn to practice forgiveness, and I’m so glad HE does. His forgiveness in me is how and why I can and must forgive!

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.”

God is at work in us—

He’s put HIS love within us—

We’ve been justified and forgiven—

We have PEACE WITH GOD—

He is growing us through life—

Hope and confidence are ours!!!

Why? Why would the God of the universe do all of this for me? Good question, and the answer is as simple yet complex enough to keep us busy the rest of our lives, but suffice it to say:

“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

That same love that caused God to create us knowing we would mess it all up, is the love that had already planned for our redemption in Jesus—

His incarnation—

His perfect, sinless life in human flesh—

His death, burial and resurrection—

His atoning sacrifice for MY forgiveness!

And not only this, but when I come to Him in repentance and faith He pours His Sprit within me to enable me to express HIS character to the world. That includes HIS love and HIS forgiveness lived out in and through me.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Rom. 8:28-29

So??? Here’s our shot for today. When we belong to God, He is working all things in, out, over, under, around and through our life to conform each of us into the “image of his Son”.

So??? Let YOUR light shine for Jesus—stop letting Satan dim your light with SIN!!!  I’m ‘gonna let it shine’!!!

 

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!