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.

Bible Ballistics: BBs #78 Who is Worthy????

When I think about salvation and living for Jesus, my mind goes to the question of ‘Who is worthy’? Sometimes we get caught up in the hierarchy of ‘church’, ‘denominations’, ‘theological persuasions’, and forget who it is that’s worthy of our total abandon. Oswald Chambers talks a lot about ‘abandon’ and it’s always to Jesus—not a doctrine, not another person, not even to an ideology—but to Jesus.

Revelation 5:4, 9-12, “And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. 11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”

Jesus is worthy of all our praise, adoration and allegiance, but He is also worthy of our total ‘abandon’. We can fling ‘fate’ and ‘chance’ to the wind and give our all to HIM who is worthy. Why? Because HE died to give us life and the ability to serve God faithfully, totally and in holiness. He makes us able to be ‘holy’. (See 2 Corinthians 5:21)

He has delivered me not only from ‘hell’ and its torment, but also from sin and it’s power right now–in the today that I live in. I can have victory because Jesus bought that victory at Calvary for ME!!  For YOU!!

“Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29b  For all…who will believe!!!

So? Here’s our shot for today.

How could I live any other way than for HIM?

He who gave it all for me–

What less can I give to and for HIM?

HE IS WORTHY!!!

Am I living like I believe that?

Am I living like a child of the KING—

not in arrogance

but in total abandon to HIM.

‘Not my will by thine by done’–in all?

Bible Ballistics: BBs #77 Praise Who ????

It is a rare day in Oklahoma. I am sitting outside this morning writing this BBs article—it’s some 66 degrees and feels like fall. We rarely get this kind of morning in July and I’m so thankful to God for this marvelous blessing.

Colossians 1:12-14 says, “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:”

I love Colossians, especially chapter 1. It paints such a lovely picture of what Jesus has done for us, and is still doing. God initiates salvation—He chose us, because He loves all mankind!! Jesus said in John 3, that “God so love the world, that HE gave…..”. How can I not thank this God who loves us that much.

In this passage, Paul reminds us that we are to give thanks to the Father—because HE has ‘made us fit’ (meet means fit) to be “partakers of the inheritance”. But how did he make me/you fit? Good question, and he answers it for us.

Through Jesus—we have been:

“delivered…from the power of darkness” (Satan’s power)

“translated….into the kingdom of His dear Son”

How? By the blood of Jesus, which redeems us because, His blood paid the price for my sin!!! Praise His name. I’ve been ‘translated’, which means: to change, convert, conform. Jesus gives NEW LIFE to those who trust Him in faith. Oh, what a beautiful morning!!! It is God whom I praise—not man, not the government, not even the weatherman. Why? Because my God delivers, saves and keeps by His outstretched arm. HE gives us lovely blessings like cool, out of season mornings, and I thank HIM for it!!

So? Here’s our shot for today.

Spend some time today praising God with Me. You fill in the blank. I thank you Lord for_______________________!!!!

After all:

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Revelation 4:11.