“So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish.” Job 8:13 Psalm 31:6 teaches: ” I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the Lord.” Proverbs 10:28 adds “The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.” A hypocrite is “a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives.” Vocabulary.com Beloved, natural faith can become wishful thinking, so thinks the pretender, but is “hope deferred”. It makes the heart sick — how long can wishful thinking be sustained? When a person pushes a belief that is not true in the hope that it will become true, he or she will reap a great disappointment — maybe in the realization of that very false hope. ” …but he that seeketh…
Tag: <span>resurrection</span>
We face perilous times. These times include harassments, distractions, risks and threats. However these perils are nothing more than statues on a lawn, pictures on a door, costumed children at our house for “trick or treat.” Though very real to those who “keep” their life, they fade away to those “losing” their lives — to those “dead” and hid with Christ in God. see Colossians 3:3. Let’s consider 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ overmasters us, the conclusion at which we have arrived being this–that One having died for all, His death was their death, and that He died for all in order that the living may no longer live to themselves, but to Him who died for them and rose again. — Weymouth translation. You see, ” For, with me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” was Paul’s striking testimony in Philippians 1:21. He saw…
“For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 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. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Galatians 2:19-21 Let’s be honest, the Law excluded us from it’s righteousness, which righteousness is the reward for perfectly following it. That Law could never make those coming with sacrificial offerings perfect, being weak through our fleshly nature. See Hebrews 10:1-3 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. Better Hope? “…(the law)…
“The voice of my beloved! lo, this—he is coming, Leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hill’s.” Song of Solomon 2:8 When last had we leapt or jumped or even skipped? Buoyant as a bird or gazelle comes a jumping someone, in our allegorical sense it’s the Christ, resurrected from the dead and demonstrating what a post-grave world looks like. Lo and behold He invites you and me into it. “Behold, there He stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice.” Song of Solomon 2:9 From the glory of the resurrected world, our Messiah seeks us who have not yet passed through. My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away,” Song of Solomon 2:10 We were, before salvation came, dead in trespasses and sins , But now, we hear of His love for us, we wonder as He…
“…Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” Genesis 3:8=9 Have you heard? God talks to sinners. “…And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? Genesis 4:5-6 God talks with angry men. He goes on to say much more to Cain, even after Abel’s slaying. To say it straightforwardly, if God never spoke to sinners, we’re all lost. Often the words are ignored. “…And forthwith he (Judas), came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, ‘Friend, wherefore art thou come?’” We know the unfortunate ending for Judas. Matthew 26:49-50 But, Jesus, God incarnate, spoke to an adulteress in John 8: “When…
Do you often grapple over the many decisions, including non-decisions, that brought you to your present circumstances? Lets try. There was the life changing time when Christ became real, the decision to marry, and the decision to have children. There was the decision for Bible College, moving to another state, finding a new job. These events are on the positive side of planning. Then there was the unforeseen happenings: the departure of a spouse, the death of a child, the loss of a job, the pains of sickness. On top of that are the many unthinkable mistakes, abuses, betrayals, and cowardly opting-outs. These were the lessons, hard to be learned, and may have stolen a large part of our lives. Nevertheless here we are. What are we to think about it all? The Apostle beautifully says: ” But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of…
Through the cross of Christ we die to ourselves. He took us with Him to that death; He died ‘for’ us but also ‘as’ us. Our new life has co-crucifixion stamped all over it. Christ died, yea rather has risen and we with Him. We are risen unto eternal life. Eternal; have you thought of it? A life with no beginning and no ending resides in your being. It supersedes and replaces the mere natural life which has been corrupted by the deceitful lusts. That old life and old man are judged forever, and we know it, believe it and reckon it. Romans 6 teaches us. I am required to make the choice of living in the new, otherwise the old usurps and re-establishes itself. ‘Choices’ themselves reside in the new man; in the old I only have the illusion of free choice. I must take care to establish, feed,…
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish…” John 10:28 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:” “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? John 11:26 “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called…”1 Timothy 6:12 “…and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12B Have we transferred eternity into our profession? Do we believe eternity? Timothy did. Do we profess eternity? In an article called “Seeking eternal life, silicon-valley is solving for death,” https://qz.com/ we read: “For years now, the luminaries of Silicon Valley have been putting their minds, money, and machines behind an all-out effort to solve for death. Full of futurists who don’t have enough time in the day to achieve their lofty goals,…
There hides a secret place and there a person finds a stairway leading up. In that secret place of Song of Solomon 2:14 the safe zone promotes our elevation, our lift, our rising above. There He encourages our voice, our countenance. There hides another place, a strong tower, where we also ascend to the highest overlook possible. Here, in His nature, we are above our enemies. A third hiding place preserves from trouble; songs of deliverance flow around. Another places us under His wing’s shadow. Psalm 32:7, Proverbs 18:10. Psalm 91:1 Corrie and Betsie ten Boom were middle-aged sisters working in their father’s watchmaker shop in pre-WWII Holland. Their uneventful lives are disrupted with the coming of the Nazis. Suspected of hiding Jews & caught breaking rationing rules, they are sent to a concentration camp, where their Christian faith keeps them from despair and bitterness. Betsie eventually dies, but Corrie survives,…
Not she with traitorous kiss her Master stung, Not she denied Him with unfaithful tongue; She, when Apostles fled, could dangers brave, Last at the Cross, and earliest at the grave. Author unknown …Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. …throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene… The bravest of all, Mary stayed, not caring for her life in garden, cross, and grave. THE RISEN ONE Until his final hour he had never refused her anything or turned away, lest she should turn their love to public praise. Now she sank down beside the cross, disguised, heavy with the largest stones of love like jewels in the cover of her pain. But later, when she came…