God uses kings for His purposes. Cyrus was one of these, Jehu was another. Isaiah 45:1-3 speaks of God’s sovereign plan. Here, God uses Cyrus to rescue the Jewish captives following their 70 year exile in Babylon. “Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. “ At a time preceding the same 70…
Healing at the Cross Posts
We all know the awesome experience of seeing something that is pristine, new. It evokes the senses, draws out the appreciation in us, fires the feelings. However, the phenomena of this “new” experience dwindles quickly as “new” becomes “old” in a short amount of time. We know the pattern instinctively. We expect it. Newness in our spiritual life bows a knee to the falling mental mechanism, as butter surely melts. Yes, cars will rust, food will spoil. Even our chewing gum loses it’s kick as digestive juices absorb the first-flavor. The time monster devours new stuff as quickly and systematically as a garbage disposal. As the song says, “It’s just the way it is.” So, how do we grasp the concept of “new” as in “all things are made new” from the Bible? “Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.” Right now, so says 2Corinthians 5:17.…
Galatians 5:13 instructs us, ” …brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” In this profound verse, Paul addresses the Christian who has discovered the Precious Holy Spirit, the death of separation, the life of resurrection, the victory of ascension, the repose of being seated with Christ in glory. In a sense, Paul admonishes us as Spiritual men and women: Don’t use your liberty as a bondage maker by willfully reverting to the sphere of “non-liberty..’ The implication here carries a power house of truth. The Spiritual man has become a discerning person. also a will-deciding individual he or she choose their identity. They carefully must be wary of past identities. They must discern false identities. They must adhere to the parameters of their new identity in Christ. Paul summarizes the accepted identity, “in love…
Rom 14:1-4 teaches, ” Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eats herbs. Let not him that eats despise him that eats not; and let not him which eats not judge him that eats: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judges another man’s servant? to his own master he stands or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. “ Rom 14:17 for the reign of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; Paul addresses the strong in faith by saying to them in jist, “Their “strength” in Christ was never to be ungentle; never to be “used like a giant’s.” It was to be shown, first and most, by patience. It…
Peter beckoned the Lord, “bid me come unto thee on the water.” He too walked on the water. “But when he saw the wind forcible, he was afraid; and beginning to sink; he cried, saying, Lord, save me.” “Instantly Jesus stretched out His hand and caught hold of him, saying to him, ‘O little faith, why did you doubt?’” When boisterous winds cause our undergirding to swirl, please remember the outstretched arm of Jesus. Friends, our lives include miracles on the upside, but fallings on the down. To know beforehand that Christ’ open hand of rescue awaits my down-plunges, is an absolute essential for any “success” I may gain. Consider Psalm 37:23-24 “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.” ESV Jeremiah 10:23 teaches “I know, O Lord, that…
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 Defined by the Dictionary of Psychology, Imagination is “the reorganization of data derived from past experiences, with new relations, into present ideational experience”. This means that imagination is often based on real experiences, or a person’s experience with their own reality. It is safe to say that imagination is how one views the world. It is often a re-creation of the world. So, if one is asked to close their eyes and describe a place, they would re-create an image in their head about their perfect world and this would be imagination. Proverbs 13:15 tells us, “Good understanding giveth favor: but the…
“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Romans 5:10 Through the Holy Bible we understand that “all” men were the objects of Christ’s dying. 1Timothy 2:4 teaches, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” and 2Peter 3:9 follows, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ and 1 John 2:2: “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. ” see John 3:16, 1 John 4:10 But what of man’s requirement? — Faith is the whole of the requirement. Ephesians 2:8 teaches us, “For by grace…
On our Romans 7 discourse, Expositors comments, “…it is the cry of a human soul, if ever there was a personal cry. the passage betrays a kind of conflict far deeper and more mysterious than merely that of “I ought” with “I will not.” –It is a conflict of “I will” with “I will not”; of “I hate” with “I do.” Romans 7:19 illustrates this, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. “ Troublesome, the divided mind looks like this: On one hand, we want to do good. On the other hand, however, evil over-rules the good intentions, resulting in injurious or bad actions. Perhaps we determine harder to do the good we want. Before long we witness the weakness of our will as we surrender again to that troublesome, pernicious, destructive, baneful display. We need an…
Instead of confident walking, we shake. Instead of inward peace, our heart divides. Instead of trusting our Savior, we distrust our threatened fortunes — poor health, financial strain, relationship shortcomings. Our trials and testing are greater than we have ever seen before. We fear we are going to die, or suffer pain, or lose everything. In the case of some, the above rattles their cage like a rain storm in the desert, maybe a flood on a mountain. Things hit us as strange, mystifying — out of the ordinary — to say the least. Help stands aloof, we fear an abandonment has somehow taken place, a forsaking or betrayal. Forgive me if I sound a bit familiar, but, at my age, all of this kind of talk has overtaken me Z times. These kind of words, and even more dire ones, more descriptive, more hopeless, appear to me as Christianity…
Thinking in terms of Old year/new year? In many ways our lives progress that way. But, what about a new dynamic; time/eternity? Does the eternal dimension make time obsolete? Does God recognize an earthly calendar — valentine’s day, birthdays, father’s day, new years day? I noticed this: When I have a cold or flu, my body does not heal miraculously as New Year starts. My finances do not increase or decrease based on the simplicity of the Feast of Steven. My schedule often remains the same before and after birthdays and anniversaries. My point? Does God celebrate any days in particular ? Well, Paul taught us: “…this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. ” Philippians 3:13-14 Philippians 3:15 goes on “So…