Have you ever heard that statement made by someone you know? Perhaps you have made that statement before. Pop psychology promotes this thought. - I never quite knew the meaning of "finding myself".
In my devotions yesterday I was reading something and within that reading there was a sentence or two about "finding ourselves" and so I decided to address this today
For the believer, I don't understand wanting to getting to "know ourselves" as being a priority. Spending time on this is spending time in the very thing we are called to put off- our flesh, our human ways and desires. According to the Word of God, when we become Christians we are to count ourselves dead to self but alive in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:11 (NKJV)
"Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Paul had an understanding of the power of the "old man" and the temptation to resurrect it- that is why he said "I die daily" (I Corinthians 15:31b)
Spending too much time finding ourselves can also be quite depressing- it spends time focusing on who we WERE before Christ, which is a pretty wretched sin sick individual. Paul refused to look at the past, he said he was forgetting that which was behind and pressing on- Philippians 3:13.
So instead of pondering on "finding ourselves" what should we be thinking about- who should we be trying to find out more about and ever increasing in knowledge of? Well the Apostle Paul and Jesus Christ answer that question perfectly
Let's look at what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:8-10 (NKJV)
"Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ.
And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.
That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death."
Now let's look at the last recorded prayer of Jesus Christ. John 17:3 (NKJV)
"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent"
It is not a question of acquaintance with ourselves, or of knowing what we are, or what we do, or what we feel; it is simply a question of becoming acquainted with God, and getting to know what He is and what He does, and what He feels. Comfort and peace can never come from anything we know about ourselves, but only and always from what we know about Him.If we were planning to take a dangerous voyage, our first question would be as to the sort of captain we were to have. Our common sense would tell us that if the captain were untrustworthy, no amount of trustworthiness on our part would make the voyage safe; and it would be his character and not our own that would be the thing of paramount importance to us."
Friend, this life can be compared to a dangerous voyage. Everyday we face the waves of terror, war, disease, a poor economy, gangs and violence on every scale. I know that knowing myself cannot divert any of this.....I want to know the Captain of the ship! The One who holds the whole world in His hands. The One whose eye is on the sparrow and who knows exactly how many hairs I have on my head. He is in control and knowing Him puts my heart at peace....for nothing can separate me from Him. Praise you Jesus!
Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV) "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities not powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, or any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Don't allow Satan to rob your joy by focusing on "finding yourself". Concentrate on knowing the One who came to find you and me, lost sheep in need of a Savior. Make a commitment today to focus on knowing Christ!
So sorry! Wanted to get this written sooner but things got a little hectic and so here I am, finally! Last blog I talked a little bit about Job. That Old Testament man who lost it all, but never lost his praise! Was he a fake? Was it all a masquerade? Or did the praise that he spoke come from his heart? That is what I want to talk about.
I believe there are two ways to live our lives. We are either saved, or we aren't. If we are saved, we are either conformed to the world, which is the "masquerade" or we are living transformed, which is the "metamorphosis".
What do I mean? Let's dig in....
Go to Romans 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
The word "conformed" in the Greek is the word "suschematizo" It is used only 2 times in the Bible, (Romans 12:2 and I Peter 1:14)- It is used of masquerading or putting on an act. It also conveys the thought of following a manner of life that is unstable and changing rather than enduring, An outward form that varies from year to year and day to day.
When we conform ourselves to the ways of this world then we will be a spiritual roller coaster. As our lives change, so will our walk with the Lord. We will praise Him when things are great, and walk away when things are bad. This certainly did not reflect the life of Job. He had it all! He was a wealthy man in both money and possessions and he had a large family that he dearly loved. Satan told God that the reason Job walked such a blameless life was that God had blessed Him greatly and never allowed him to face such suffering. He was sure that if heartache was to come upon Job, then Job would curse God. Satan was wrong! (Which proves that Satan cannot see into the future, he is not Omniscient as is our God!)
Job did not conform, but rather he was transformed- Let's look at the word "transformed" . In the Greek, this word is "Metamorphoo" which is where we get the word metamorphosis. It is used in Mt 17:12, Mk 9:2, Rm 12:2, II Cor 3:18. An example would be a cocoon. The outward appearance is not changing, the change is coming from within....and in time a beautiful butterfly will appear. When God is doing the changing in our lives, it will always come from the inside out. And it always produces beauty. When we try to change ourselves, we find ourselves trying to change from the outside in and that doesn't work.
Job praised God in the good times and in the bad times because he was a man that allowed God to work on the inside. And what is on the inside will always be revealed when we are squeezed by the trials of life. If you squeeze a lemon hard enough, the juice that will come forth is lemon juice! That's what was on the inside. When Christ is living in us and we get squeezed then Christ-like character will still be what comes forth for we have Him living and reigning in us.
Job was not a man without questions, he was human. But one thing that I noticed about Job. His confusion and ramblings came when he tried to "figure God out". He tried to "make sense" of his suffering. We will never figure God out and we will not always make sense of our suffering. But God is in the business of refining and transforming. And today we may only see our lives as the unattractive cocoon, something that is not that great to look at. But God is working on the inside, and if we let Him, He will, in His time, reveal that beautiful butterfly. He knows the way that we take, and when He has tried us, we shall come forth as gold. Read it!! It does not say we might, it does not say "if it all works out"....it says we "SHALL" come forth as gold.
Refining.....refining gold and silver requires intense heat, refining furniture requires sanding it down til it is bare, stripped of all former paint or stain....lots of work, lots of pain, but the final result is beauty.
God is in the business of beauty! I love you! I pray for those of you who read. I ask u to pray for me!
Heavenly Father....
We don't want to live life like a masquerade party.....wearing a mask, a roller coaster of emotions based on circumstances. We want to be transformed, which we know Word says comes through the renewing of our minds. This, we know is done through allowing Your Word to enter our lives and penetrate into our hearts. Father, as we ask You to change us, we know that You are a God of excellence and You strip away all that needs to be stripped away that we might come forth as gold. Thank you that You never leave us nor forsake us in this process. We may lose a lot that we hold dear in the refining process, but we commit to never losing our praise! For we stand with Job and say, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Dear brother and sister: Do not be conformed to this world- do not take on the things of this world! Be transformed through renewing of your mind- which means STAY IN THE WORD OF GOD!
compromise leads to conformity which leads to defeat!
Is "praising Him through the fire" a masquerade or a metamorphosis? Tune into my blog in next few days as we will be looking at the Scripture to answer that question- Have a great day!
Have you ever had one of those moments when you prayed and God answered you immediately? This is what happened to me right now! When I asked God what I should write about, He answered me immediately. A few days ago I wrote about praise, today I am going to write about pain....about trials in our life. Pain comes knocking at every one's door at some time or another. Pain shows up in many different forms. I believe how we respond to the pain that comes into our lives is very important. I am not the author of that statement. God has given us instruction all throughout His Word on how we are to respond to pain- This tells us that He cares about how we respond to our trials. Let's go to the Word of God and let Scripture speak.
I love the Old Testament for it often reveals a lot about the life of someone. As we read, we feel like we really get to know the person for we read about their happy times and their sad times, their victories over sin and their mess ups. Good or bad, pretty or ugly, we read it all.
I want us to take a look at a Biblical character that most everyone knows at least a little bit about, the man called Job.
The book starts with high praise for Job- He was a good man that feared God and stayed away from evil- That is Job 1:1 in a nutshell. But what transpires from there is something we are privy to but Job is not. We are given "behind the scenes" info about what was transpiring between God and Satan. This is something that Job knows nothing about.
In the first chapter we read that Job loses his property and his children. This all happens in rapid sequence, for we read that before one man can finish delivering his bad news, another one is there waiting to tell Job more bad news. Job's response: Job 1:21-22 (NKJV) "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
The second chapter doesn't get any better. We read about Job losing his health. He develops painful sores all over his body and finds himself sitting in the midst of ashes, attempting to relieve his pain by scraping his self with a broken piece of pottery. As if that wasn't bad enough, Job's wife is probably starting to feel very overwhelmed and scared by all this, she has had all that she feels she could take. She goes to her husband and expresses her frustration and questions with God and encourages Job to curse God and die (Job 2:9). Job's response to his wife: "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 2: 10)
The second chapter also reveals that the friends of Job really failed him at a time when they could have been a source of encouragement. They came to comfort him and they probably were sincere. The Bible says in Job 2:13 : "So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great." However, once they opened their mouth it was all downhill.
This is only the first two chapters! A man who was walking on the pathway of pain, redecorating it into a pathway of praise.
So we will stop here with Job. We have read about and learned from a man that lived out a New Testament verse that had not even been written yet- I want to take you to that verse. Lets go to James 1:2: "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials." Lets stop there.
I want to share with you what the Holy Spirit said to me as I read these verses
While we don't always want to accept this fact, we must....we must understand that we can wear the garment of praise even when pain is present in our lives. Not only can we wear the garment of praise, but we are commanded to do so. It is not to be a fake sort of praise, but a heart felt praise to the One who has promised to see us through.
1. Trials prepare us for our purpose- Silver and gold are purified in the hottest fires. It is such a delicate process that the refiner of such precious material does not leave their side as they go though the process of purification. The best fruit comes from a field that has been plowed and the hard ground broken up. Before the seed is planted, the ground is readied. Down the road it reaps a pleasant and profitable harvest.
God has a purpose for us and He wants only the very best for us. He strives to continually conform us more and more to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Friend, that is a process- but just like the refiner, He never leaves our side as we go through the process and His hand is the hand that controls the thermostat of the furnace.
What is the purpose of our trials- Job said it perfectly - Turn to Job 23:10 "But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold." God's end result for us is the best, the most precious of metals- He wants us to become as gold!
2. Problems pave the way for the power of God to be put on display - The power of God is magnified to us as we go through trials. In my illness I have seen first hand the power of God as He tends to me, His sheep. But, what is also great is that His power is made evident to those around God's sheep. His power may be displayed through a divine miracle of healing, or, in what we think of as a less grander scale, His provision for us financially or His encouragement, His empowering us with strength, His lifting of our head. There are times in my life experiences or in testimony of others, that those around us witness such power and end up coming to a saving faith because of what they witnessed! God's power was displayed so perfectly 3days after the most horrific pain one could ever endure- the crucifixion of His Son on an old rugged cross! God resurrected His Son from the grave!
3. Problems prepare us for ministry- The greatest Christian warriors we have read about from the days of the Bible to the very present day have come through the path of pain. They made it and have successfully ran their race because they turned the path of pain into a path of praise. If you look at the ministry of Abraham, Joseph, King David, Joshua, Daniel, John the Baptist, the 12 disciples, the Apostle Paul, Billy Graham, Joni Erikson Tada and of course, the greatest one, our Lord Jesus Christ all have had great ministries but not without their share of intense pain. These are countless others who could testify to the same. They took the path of pain and turned it into a path of praise. Do you want to know why God came down in flesh and dwelt among us through the person Jesus Christ, Do you want to know why for 3 years Jesus emptied Himself of all of His rights to become 100% man, while yet remaining 100% God? Do you want to know why He endured pain and suffering when He could have walked away from it all?
Scriptures tells us in Hebrews 4:15: "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."
Jesus suffered so He could relate to us. Our pain, if we let it, can be used to minister to others as we relate to them in their pain.
If you read the Psalms you will continually read the Psalms of David as he took his path of pain and turned it into a path of praise.
How do we do this?
1.) It takes a conscious effort- It takes surrendering it to God and being willing to leave it with God.
2.) It takes determination to know the Word of God- not just head knowledge but more importantly...heart knowledge.
3.) It takes fellowship with our Heavenly Father- When we get to know the Father, we will gain a more intimate friendship with Him. As we learn more about His character we will understand why we have reason to praise Him even when we are in pain.
4.) It takes a voice that is quick to proclaim His praise and His message to others.- As we speak of God and His Son, Jesus Christ we will find our own faith increasing and thereby we will find ourselves walking on a path of pain but paving over the path of pain with praise.
Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning! (Psalm 30:5)
I am going through some difficult circumstances these days. I also know that I am not alone. The world is a mess and the path of pain is a path well trodden by countless others. For the child of God, please understand this:
Philippians 1:6 (NKJV)- "being confident of this very thing, that He who begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."
If you are in the furnace take heart that Jesus is there, His hand on the thermostat and if we count it all joy, we will come forth as gold!
Our Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need to hear - it is my responsibility to have the ears of my heart open that I may truly hear Him speak to me. I must admit, there has been a few things concerning my health I have allowed my mind to be preoccupied with and my heart has probably needed a hearing aid so I can hear beyond my own circumstances and how I see them. But God...(love that phrase!)...He opted to call me on my lack of faith and patience and He did so this morning as I read the following. He spoke to me as I read this puritan prayer:
Thou incomprehensible but prayer hearing God, known, but beyond knowledge,revealed but unrevealed, my wants and welfare draw me close to Thee. For Thou hast never said, "Seek ye Me in vain." To Thee I come in my difficulties, necessities, distresses;
Possess me with Thyself; with a spirit of grace and supplication, with a prayer attitude of mind, with access into warmth of fellowship, so that in the ordinary concerns of life, my thoughts and desires may rise to Thee, and in habitual devotion I may find a resource that will soothe my sorrows, sanctify my successes, and qualify me in all ways for dealings with my fellow men.
I bless Thee that Thou hast made me capable of knowing Thee, the Author of all being, of resembling Thee, the perfection of all excellency, of enjoying Thee, the source of all happiness.
O God, attend me in every part of my arduous and trying pilgrimage;I need the same counsel, defence,comfort I found at the beginning. Let my religion be more obvious to myconscience, more perceptible to those around.
While Jesus is representing me in heaven, may I reflect Him on earth, While He pleads my cause, may I show forth His praise. Continue the gentleness of Thy goodness toward me, And whether I wake or sleep, let Thy presence go with me, Thy blessing attend me.
Thou hast led me on and I have found Thy promise true, I have been sorrowful, but Thou hast been my help, fearful, but Thou hast delivered me, despairing, but Thou hast lifted me up.
Thy vows are ever upon me,
And I praise Thee, O God.
Amen
Wow! I read that through and I knew I had to read it again....but this time I wanted to digest it like a favorite food- enjoying each piece instead of just cramming it all end and not taking time to enjoy it and be spoken to by the Holy Spirit. I tore about many parts of this prayer where the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart. I have highlighted these as I want to share them with you. I figure I am not the only one out there who needs to hear this and gain from it. There are many things I have to say- so I am not asking you to cram it all in quickly and go about your day- take as much time as you need with the Lord to allow Him to speak to you- Read it over several days or read and reread- May you be blessed by this timely prayer. I would love to interview the puritan who wrote this prayer- what was he going through at the time? I don't know but I will share what the Lord taught me about what I am going through right now.
Thou incomprehensible but prayer hearing God, known but beyond knowledge, revealed yet unrevealed- My heart was reminded God and His power, His all knowing- He is beyond our comprehension. If I started today listing all the qualities of God I would die before I even scratched the surface of all that He is...Yet, He is a prayer hearing God! Think of the most powerful, influential person in the United States today.....2 people come to mind immediately- President Obama and Oprah Winfrey. How far do you think you or I would get if we called and tried to get an appointment with either one of them? Dream on, right?! But those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior have immediate access to the King of Kings....no secretary to go through, no screening process, no waiting list.....this is our incomprehensible yet prayer hearing God!
My wants and my welfare draw me close to Thee- Through every circumstance in my life, pleasant or difficult, it is supposed to draw me closer to God and make me more aware of my dependence on Him. My flesh struggles with this- My wants and desires tend to make me gravitate to "how can I fix this?" instead of "God, I am depending on you to see me though this".
Possess me with Thyself...so that in the ordinary concerns of life, my thoughts and desires may rise to Thee-As I was meditating over this statement, a few things came to mind. We our actions, our words, our being becomes like that which possesses us. We have all looked at somebody that was acting out in some strange way and said "wow! he is possessed!", or we may notice that if we are a mega fan of a certain TV star or sports star, we take on some of their qualities. When Michael Jordan was at the top of his game, the popular slogan was "be like Mike" and boys played on the basketball courts imitating his incredible slam dunks and flying through the air with what seemed such ease. In the 1980's when Michael Jackson was the music superstar, you could look around and see kids wearing one glove, copying the singer. In the late 1970's when Charlie's Angels was the big TV hit, every girl wanted the Farrah Fawcett hair style. Ok, now I am dating myself, but you see what I mean.....when we allow Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit to really possess us, we become like Him.
And in habitual devotion, I may find a source that will soothe my sorrows, sanctify my successes, and qualify me in all ways for dealing with my fellow men.- The key word here for me is "habitual". Faith and trust in our Heavenly Father does not flourish when He is just our "emergency contact" no more than our flower garden will flourish from a once a week watering. No, it is through careful attention, frequent conversation, habitual devotion that we find Him to be our All in All!
I bless Thee that Thou hast made me capable of knowing Thee....the source of all happiness- Isn't that amazing, the incomprehensible but prayer hearing God calls out to us "Come now and let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool! He is our source of all happiness. We must grasp that with all our being. If we try to make our source of happiness in anyone or anything else, we will never find happiness and will ride a emotional roller coaster of which we will never get off!
I need the same counsel, defence, comfort I found at the beginning.- Sometimes we are so hungry and we start looking for "something new" to refresh our relationship with the Lord. Yet, when I read the Word, I am reminded of the following.
Revelation 2: 1-7- The church of Ephesus is admonished for leaving their " first love" They are commanded to "repent and do the first works" Everything we need from God has been given to us within His Word-There is not a "new word" out there- What was our source of comfort in the beginning of our Christian walk is what will be our source until the Lord calls us home. It is the time we spend with Him- I am convinced that will make us or break us!
Let my religion be more obvious to my conscience- I want to exchange that word "religion" with the word "relationship". I want my relationship with my Father to be more obvious to my conscience I don't want to be someone who just goes through the motions and not even thinking about what I am doing when it comes to my relationship with my Lord. That can be the danger is anything that we have done for years. I am in the medical profession. I have been doing this for so long that a lot of it I could probably do blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back......but I would never do that! Why? Obvious! Lives are at stake! So it is with my relationship with my Lord- there is too much at stake to just go through the motions!
While Jesus is representing me in heaven, may I reflect Him on earth- Jesus is our Advocate in Heaven- we are His Representatives on Earth! We trust Jesus to be the finest Advocate or Attorney for us, our standing with the Father depends on it. So we must be the best Representative for Him, we are to be His hands, His feet, His voice while we are here....right or wrong, the opinions others have of Jesus, will be formed as they watch us live our lives.
While He pleads my cause, may I show forth His praise- Christ is in heaven forever interceding for us before the Father- Is He not worthy of my praise! Am I not grateful that the Father sees me through the eyes of His Son! Oh yes, may I show forth the praise that He alone is worthy of.
Thou hast led me on and I have found Thy promise true, I have been sorrowful, but Thou hast lifted me up.- For almost 47 years He has led me and I have found His promise true, He has lifted me up time and again. It is through these times that we can draw only one conclusion- We have found Thy promise true!
"Praise is the honey of life which a devout heart extracts from every bloom of providence and grace, and the rehearsal of our eternal song." Charles H. Spurgeon
Oh that I may become preoccupied with praise, instead of my problems, of Christ instead of criticism- rehearsals will soon be over and the curtain will rise- Eternal praise will be offered to the only One worthy of such praise and honor. Worthy is the Lamb!
This morning I was reading from Colossians 4- I will read it from "The Message" a paraphrase written by Eugene Peterson.
Pray diligently. Stay alert, with you eyes wide open in gratitude. Don't forget to pray for us, that God will open doors for telling the mystery of Christ, even while I'm locked up in this jail. Pray that every time I open my mouth I'll be able to make Christ plain as day to them. Use your head as you live and work among outsiders. Don't miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.
I will stop there for there is so much said in these few verses! But, as I asked the Lord what to write about today, this is what He told me to share and so lets dive in.
These verses are speaking to us about our relationship with the lost, the "outsiders" as it is put here. So what are we commanded to do.
1.) Pray diligently-we are given specific instruction to pray for open doors for telling others about Christ, and pray that Christ will be clearly and plainly explained to them. Paul is asking the church to pray for him, that WHILE HE IS IN PRISON he will have doors opened to speak about Christ and speak in a clear way. This is convicting to me. Paul is asking us to pray for doors to open while he sits in a horrible prison, unlike the prisons we know of today. I've got to be honest, when I read this, I thought, "Wow, I would be praying for doors to open....for the prison doors to open!! so I could get out of there!" Yet Paul, having the heart of an evangelist and an immense love for the Lord, asked for folks to pray that he would have opportunity to speak of Christ.
2.) Stay alert-It is so easy to miss an opportunity- I found this out the other morning. It was almost 5am and I was on my way to work. I take the 5 freeway to the 118. I do this a few times a week. I was driving, listening to the news on the radio and thinking about all that was going on in the world as I heard all the bad news. All of a sudden I saw this maybe 6 story building close to the freeway and I thought wow, why haven't I seen this building before? I soon realized I had missed the exit to the 118 and was still on the 5. I had missed my opportunity. I was paying enough attention to drive safely but I wasn't with my "eyes wide open" so I missed my opportunity. Thankfully, there was an exit ahead and I was able to get back on the right freeway. We don't always have that same opportunity when it comes to witnessing. We may never see that person again, or they may die before we have another opportunity to share Christ with them.
God gives us many opportunities to speak about Christ- but how often do we miss that opportunity- Many times I've got to the end of the day and had that "aha" moment when it hit me, God had given me an opportunity, I had missed it.
3.) Use your head as you live and work among outsiders- I thought about this and to me this was a statement that covered a lot of ground. I believe we see that as we read ahead and are admonished to be gracious in our speech and bring out the best in them- When God opens doors, we need to take advantage of that opportunity- but in a gentle Christlike manner. I love how we read that when Jesus looked out on the crowds, He was moved with compassion, for He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36) Jesus didn't shy away from speaking the truth, but He always spoke in love.
When I look around this world today, I am speechless at times at what I see, what I read about, what I hear about on the radio. Gross sin and immorality that used to take place in a more "behind closed doors" is now more "in your face" than it has ever been. Christianity is mocked and we are hated more now than any other time in my middle aged life. It would be easy and it is tempting to get angry and to lash out at those who are involved in this type of behavior- yet when I am tempted, I always here the Holy Spirit reminding me that Jesus saw these folks with eyes of compassion for they are sheep with no shepherd. We must speak the Truth in love. (Ephesians 4:15)
When the Holy Spirit reminds me of this- it is not just a reminder but a mandate to lovingly introduce them to the Shepherd. The Lord reminded me how I love to introduce my husband to friends at work or people that know me but don't know my husband. I am so proud of him, I will take the time and make the effort to introduce him. Yet, as much as I love my husband,.I know that if they never met him it would not greatly impact their lives and he certainly is not the one who will determine the eternal destiny of their souls. The Lord reminded me, I am a child of the King of Kings, yet how often to I take the time and make the effort to introduce folks to Him? If people fail to meet Him, their lives will be greatly affected as will the destiny of their eternal souls!
Time is short- I don't know when the Lord will return- but I do believe we are living in the last days. Even if the Lord should tarry many more days, time is still short. So many times I have looked back over my high school days, my college days and I ask myself "where has time gone?" I know you have done the same.
Let us not come to the end of our lives here on earth with regrets that we did not make the most of every door the Lord opened for us.
"Only one life, will soon be passed- only what's done for Christ will last"
There is a lot of talk about this man in the video, Pastor Rob Bell. He has written a book that was recently released and is causing quite a stir in the world. The book is titled "Love Wins". Let me first say that I have not read the book. I have, however, listened to several interviews he has done and so I don't speak from "rumor" but rather from that which has come from his own lips.
In II Timothy 4, we see that Paul is about ready to be killed. His final words are a charge to Timothy. They are powerful and I will quote them from the New King James Version
II Timothy 4:1-5
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season, Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Rob Bell has made some claims that about God and His teachings that are in DIRECT CONTRADICTION to the Word of God- Essentially, he has created his own gospel- which I guess should not be called a "gospel" for it is not good news for Rob Bell or anyone that is deceived by it.
In my years of discipling women, I have always emphasized the Bible to be our guidebook and our final authority. We must know the Truth (the Word of God) if we are to recognize the lie.
Based on the you tube video you just watched, I want to use the Word of God to reveal the lie in these teachings.
1.) Rob Bell first questions he tosses out is this"Will only a select few make it to heaven, and will billions go to hell.?"
I find it very interesting, the way he posed this question. To me, the way he posed this question can play with our emotions. "select few make it to heaven" "billions burn in hell". The offer to salvation has been made to every human being! John 3:16 makes this clear as does Romans 10:13. As far as God is concerned, Billions could go to heaven and a select few could go to hell. In fact, II Peter 3:9 confirms that. In this verse God says that He is not willing that any should perish. Matthew 7:13-14 says that we are to enter by the narrow gate
for wide is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it. Jesus knows the human heart and how we gravitate to darkness. He also knows who will accept salvation and who won't. Be certain of this: God does not send people to hell, we send ourselves when we refuse to accept His gift of salvation.
2.) His comment immediately following is this "How do we become one of the few" I don't sense he is asking this question seeking an answer, rather I sensed it as a mocking statement for those who believe that people will actually end up in hell. As you see in the video, he goes on to ask how do we become one of the select few.....do we get baptized, join a church, on and on.
This is an easy question to answer. He need not look long to find the requirement for salvation
Lets look at Romans 10:9-10,13 (NKJV)
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Down through the years man has added to faith, preaching a gospel of works- but this is a false doctrine! Jesus laid out the plan. Boy, over and over again, Jesus lays out the plan of salvation. Seems to me that it would be a waste of His time if in the end "love wins" and everybody goes to heaven!
3.) He goes on to pose another easy to answer question- "What is God like?". If we want to know what God is like, we should go straight to the source. God is love! The reason salvation exist is because God loved! (John 3:16) God is merciful! The whole reason salvation exist is because God is merciful.(Lamentations 3:22-23) God is Truth!(Deuteronomy 32:4) God is gracious-(Ephesians 2:8-9) The whole reason salvation exist is because God is gracious! God is just.(Deuteronomy 32:4) On the day of judgement, those who accepted His gift will receive eternal life and those who rejected will receive eternal damnation. Just as He said.
4.) Rob Bell claims that the reason that people don't want to be involved in Christianity is because there is an endless list of things we must do to achieve heaven. I don't know who he was listening to when he had that thought, for the certainly doesn't come from the Word of God. Ephesians 2:8-9 supports this
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. not of works, lest anyone should boast."
5.) Lastly, Rob Bell says that what we believe about heaven and hell is so important. I couldn't agree with him more! I just wonder what he means about that. He states he does believe in a hell- but my question is if "Love Wins" (as he argues) then why would there even be a hell. Why even discuss it and why would Jesus talk about hell in the Bible more than any other subject. Rob Bell says that when we understand things as he does than we will see that the good news (the Gospel) is better than we could ever imagine. He is right about one thing. The Gospel as written by God is better than we could ever imagine! I don't need to buy into a new gospel to grasp that. In fact, a "new gospel" such as "Love Wins" , if I buy into it, would actually bring me more pain than I can imagine, in eternal separation from God in a place called hell.
Do you see what Satan has done through the message of Rob Bell? He has taken God's Word and twisted it that he may try to make God look like the bad guy! Do not let Satan deceive you.
Yes, love does win! But not as Rob Bell states. Love won on an old rugged cross over 2000 years ago. Love was what kept Jesus on that cross. Love is what made Him willing to endure such pain and agony. Love is what makes it possible for me to spend eternity with Jesus. Love is what caused God to lay out the plan of salvation so clearly that even the youngest or folks with the lowest IQ possible can grasp what Jesus is offering. Love is what made salvation a "gift" and not something I could earn. Love is what causes God to pick me up when I stumble, brush the dirt off me and set me back on the right path.
Oh Yes, LOVE WON!
p.s. May this be an opportunity to pray for Rob Bell and others out there. I don't question the heart or the sincerity of this man. Only God knows his heart. I would give the benefit that he is sincere- nonetheless, sincerely wrong. May the Holy Spirit open his eyes to the truth.
