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21
Apr
2010

As you have believed…

“And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.’ Jesus said to him, ‘I will come and heal him.’ But the centurion said, ‘Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, “Go!” and he goes, and to another, “Come!” and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this!” and he does it.’
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“Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, ‘Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
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“And Jesus said to the centurion, ‘Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.’ And the servant was healed that very moment.” (Mat 8:5-13 NASB)

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Journal,

Only two times in the Scriptures does it say that Jesus marveled. One had to do with unbelief in His own hometown. It says,

“And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered [marveled] at their unbelief…” (Mar 6:5-6 NASB)

The other time was with the Roman soldier. Here it says,

“Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled, and said to those who were following, ‘Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.”

This is also where Jesus gives the first prophecy concerning the Gentile nations. He says,

“Many will come from the east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness.”

The outer darkness speaks of loss of covenant relationship. He later tells some of the leadership, “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you & given to a people, producing the fruit of it.” (Matt21:43)

There are many truths to be found in this setting. In this case I want to share on the distinction to be seen between great faith and little faith, or having no faith at all. Let’s see what it is that actually makes our faith great.

The place to begin is with…


The Word of the Lord

The term ‘Word of the Lord’ refers to anything God has said. It has a special emphasis on the Scriptures simply because they came from God’s mouth. The Scriptures are a living Word to God’s people. Cf. Deut. 8:2,3; Jer. 1:12.

In the New Testament the gospel itself is also called ‘the Word (living message) of God.’ Cf. Luke 8:21; 11:28; Acts 4:31. Acts 11:1.

Then there is a related meaning for the term ‘the Word of the Lord.’ This meaning is simply God speaking to His creatures. This can be seen when Jesus bid Peter to come to Him on the water. Cf. Matt 14:25-29.

Put these inter-related meanings together and you get a feel for the meaning of ‘God’s Word.’ The Word of God is God acting directly upon our lives, whether it is our hearing the gospel, or in our reading the Scriptures, or simply having the Lord speak directly into our hearts by whatever means He chooses. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27)

A Scripture that explains this is Hebrews 4:12,13, which says,

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight.”

And so, why did Jesus marvel at the Roman Centurion? Jesus marveled at the Centurion because he recognized who Jesus really was, and this on a level far beyond anything that even the apostles had caught at that time. This is why Jesus marveled! And this is the foundation for learning to live a true walk of faith.

It all centers on hearing from Jesus for yourself, and in…

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Acknowledging His Lordship.

Listen carefully to the language of the Centurion; “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

Listen to it again. See if you catch it: “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

What was the centurion saying about Jesus? He recognized the Lordship of Jesus. He actually called Jesus, ‘Lord.’

Is there any Scriptural support for what the soldier said? Note Psalm 103:19-22.

Who is the One who commanded all things into existence? Now note Psalm 33:6; Col 1:16.


The Working Principle of Faith

Always understand that the written Word and the spoken Word of God must always agree.  God did this on purpose, simply because many spirits will try to speak into our lives. Therefore God gives us two safe guards for our walk with Him. Every child of God is given the Holy Spirit as a testifier to truth. Every child of God is given the Scriptures by which the Holy Spirit teaches us God’s ways. Cf. John 16:13-15; 2 Timothy 3:16,17.

The working principle of faith always begins with learning to rightly divide the written Word of God. Cf. 2 Co. 3:3-6,18. Ignore this beginning place and you subject yourself to all kinds of interferences in your faith walk, including your own emotions, and desires.

Those who get in trouble spiritually are almost always those who place esoteric experiences above God’s Word. While dreams, visions, and prophecies, can play a part in our walk with the Lord, nothing is ever to take the place of learning truth from the sacred Word of God. It is a love of truth that will put the believer into a true faith walk. Cf. Jeremiah 23:20,22,28,29; John 14:15,23,24.

And so we come to the crucial element of the walk of faith. Our walk with the Lord will always center on the statement that Jesus made to the Centurion.


As You Have Believed

The walk of faith is a heart walk. Here is the heart issue of our walk with the Lord.

  1. Our faith walk will always be in proportion to the place that Jesus occupies in our life. What we receive from the Lord will always be determined by what we are willing to believe. This was the message that Jesus spoke to the Centurion. But what was it the Centurion said that caused Jesus to define his faith as great? Look at it again. The answer is there. Now ask yourself if you can measure up to the Centurion’s faith.

The short side of things is that a true walk of faith requires that we have a real passion for truth. This is what the word godly means. (Godliness literally means God-towardness.) As long as there is an attempt to manipulate God’s Word to meet our life style, or to fit into what we want to believe, we are not walking as godly people. Cf. Psalm50:16-23; 15:1-5.

Godly people always recognize Jesus for who He is. Godly people seek to please the Lord in all things. Godly people hold fast to the Word of the Lord.

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And now for the finishing touch.

There is one more facet that needs to be understood about walking in faith. In the New Covenant it is the Holy Spirit who puts us into direct contact with Jesus. Learn to live by the Spirit and the walk of faith will take care of itself. There is no faith walk aside from Jesus Christ guiding your life. Think about it.

Which brings me to a song that you need to take note of, It is titled, ‘Reaping in The Spirit, by the Isaacs (Acapella)

May the blessings of the good Lord, overflow your life. May your walk of faith be filled with all the sweetness of heaven.

Always in Christ,

Buddy

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16
Apr
2010

Heaven calling earth…

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1Pe 2:9 NASB)

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Journal,

One word remains a constant in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, it is the word ‘call,’ or ‘the called.’ The Greek word is kaleo [kal-eh’-o] which means to call someone in order that they may come or to go somewhere or to follow someone.

In 1Thess2:12, Paul says we should, “…walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Actually our English word ‘church’ comes from this same root word ‘kaleo ‘. The Greek for church, that is ekklesia (ek-klay-see’-ah] originally spoke of a herald calling free citizens to a gathering. With regard to the church, it addresses that same idea. The church addresses, ‘the called out ones, called to publicly assemble themselves to Christ.’

Where does the call come from? It comes from Christ Himself. When Jesus asked the apostles who they thought He was, Peter responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then said,

“Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock [the heavenly revelation] I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” (Mat 16:17-18 NASB)

This statement is so often misunderstood. Jesus was not saying that the church would be built upon Peter. He was saying that the church would be built upon the revelation that Peter received from the heavenly Father, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It is upon this heavenly revelation that Christ Jesus would build His church.

Actually there is much more to the picture of being ‘the called’ than meets the eye. It reaches all the way back to ‘paradise lost.’ The place to begin is to take another look at…

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The lost paradise

What was the most precious thing that Adam lost when he rejected God’s word? Notice Genesis 3:8:

“They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”

There are  three terms in this Scripture that are very significant. Each term describes what Adam lost. For instance the Hebrew word for ‘sound‘ is ‘kole’, which can literally be translated as ‘voice.’ Where the voice of the Lord had been a comfort to them, now the voice of God frightened Adam and Eve.

They were finding out that sin is not merely something people do. Sin is an influence that seeks to govern our lives. Thus Adam and Eve had come under the very influence and power of sin.

Then you have the word ‘cool.’ The Hebrew ‘ruach,’ means, breeze, spirit, or breath. Adam and Eve had also lost the spiritual refreshing that had been a great part of their walk with the Lord. The bottom line was simple – No more hearing the voice of the Lord on a true spiritual level. No more refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Their lives had forever changed.

Finally the word ‘presence.’ The Hebrew word ‘paneh’ literally means ‘face.’ This Hebrew word is often used metaphorically for the entire person. Adam was now cut off from the ‘person’ or ‘face’ of the Lord.

So, in accepting Satan’s lie, Adam’s life became contaminated by sin. His very nature changed. Adam’s former spiritual walk with the Lord was now replaced by sacrifices. Each sacrifice would speak of Adam’s lost estate, that he had been cut off from the direct presence of the Lord. From that moment on there would be a vacancy in the heart of the human race. We can describe this vacancy as a homesickness. There is a cry in the human heart for a return to paradise.

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The call of eternity.

But God left something in place. He left in Adam and Eve a sense of eternity. Solomon draws attention to this in Ecclesiastes 3:11 –

“[God] has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. ”

The sage is pointing out that man cannot find out the redemption work of God, without the aid of God Himself. This redemption work of God would come into place through God’s very own Son.
However, this ache of the human heart tells us where religion comes from. All religions are based on man’s attempt to get back to paradise.

Oh yes, the natural man is very apt at inventing religions. But in the midst of all this God did something special. He set forth through Moses a religion that would occupy a space in time until the clock of redemption would reach its determined place. This religion would involve temple sacrifices and a priesthood. From this religion God would send forth prophets to the nations who would speak in His name.

What was God’s time clock of redemption Listen:

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Gal 4:4-7 NASB)

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God dismantled religion.

The dismantling of religion began with a prophet’s call. A voice is heard in the wilderness, “Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”
John the Baptist would finish up the work of the Old Testament prophet. His job was to introduce the Redeemer. And so we hear John make a startling statement, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

For the next three years the Lamb of God would walk the earth. Then we hear some of the last words that Jesus spoke, and that to a thief hanging next to Him on a cross.

“And he [the thief] was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom.’ And He [Jesus] said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.'” (Luk 23:43 NASB)

Paradise lost was now restored. The cross would for all time become the door to heaven. No religion would ever again take the place of a personal walk with God’s Son. The call from heaven would never change.


What is the essence of the call of heaven?

Listen to these Scriptures. Think about the message that they give –

“After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.'” (Mat 3:16-17 NASB)
“And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!'” (Mat 17:2-5 NASB)
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (Joh 3:16-18 NASB)

“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (Joh 6:40 NASB)
“The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (1Jn 5:10-12 NASB)

The call from heaven declares that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died, was buried, resurrected, and ascended into heaven, that He is now Lord, and that by calling upon Him as Lord becomes our introduction into the realm of salvation.

The apostles preached this clarion call from heaven, which simply states, “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts2:21; 16:31; Rom10:9,13;

This is why the word church [ekklesia] means ‘the called out ones’. We have been called back into fellowship with the Father through His Son Jesus. We can walk in His presence and enjoy His voice. We are called to live in His grace and in His love. Everything that Adam lost has been restored and much more. The apostle said it has not even entered into our hearts all that God has prepared for us.

So, the questions remain: ‘Have you responded to the call from heaven?’ ‘Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God?’ ‘Have you called upon Him as Lord and Savior?’

While you are thinking on these things listen to this song. The time is short and the hour is late. The Lord is coming soon. Will you be ready?

I have  no other message to leave with you. I cannot help but preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

In Christ Always,

Buddy

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13
Apr
2010

Israel’s prophets and apostles…

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'” (Mat 23:37-39 NASB)

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Journal,

It is important to place the apostolic writings in their proper role. The apostles were not simply apostles to the Church. They were also apostles to Israel. It is in this sense that the apostles took up the mantle of the prophets of old. Jesus said to them, “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others [the prophets] have labored and you [apostles] have entered into their labor.” (John4:38)

The prophets spoke to the coming of Messiah. Their work was completed with John the Baptist. They were His beforehand servants. The apostles spoke after the fact, that is, Israel’s Messiah had come, had ministered to the people, had been rejected, was crucified, rose from the dead, ascended on high and is now at the right hand of the glory on high.  The final atonement for sin had been offered. Temple sacrifices were now null and void. The apostles were His witnesses.

A second part of the picture involves the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D. Israel’s transitional time was over. With the destruction of the temple Israel no longer would exist as a nation and no more temple sacrifices would be possible.
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The judgment in 70 a.d. had its centering on the rejection of Jesus Christ. Israel’s house was left desolate. The land was now under a curse. Israel’s role as a viable nation would disappear entirely, that is, until May 14, 1948.
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Both Israel’s prophets and Israel’s apostles issued this time piece of Jerusalem.
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Hence our beginning Scripture where Jesus tells Jerusalem that her house is being left desolate, and the one to follow. Listen carefully:
“So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them [the prophets], and you build their tombs. For this reason the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation.” (Cf. Luke 11:46-51)
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This is a matter of redemption history.

Why would the blood of the prophets and the apostles be charged against that generation? It would be due to the greater sin of their leaders. If anyone should have recognized Jesus Christ as Israel’s Messiah, it would be that generation. All the prophets from ancient time spoke of the days of Christ. They set forth both his rejection and His sufferings. The very time of Messiah had been prophesied by Daniel.

The deeper side is that when the high priest and the elders of Israel rejected Jesus Christ, they were rejecting God Himself. The blood that ran through the veins of Jesus was the very blood of God. And because they had rejected God, all that was left was a judgment. Israel would be given a transitional time of forty years for entering into the new covenant of Christ. The sword would come in 70 a.d. Believing Israel would be separated from unbelieving Israel.

Jesus said to Pilate,
“You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” (Jn19:11)
The greater sin was the sin of knowledge. Many of the leaders knew that Jesus was the Messiah. A careful search of the gospels shows this to be the case. (It wasn’t the godly leadership that rejected Jesus. It was those of the house of Satan.)

And so we hear in the book of Hebrews this final warning:
“For if we go on sinning willfully [Jewish people by rejecting Jesus] after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.
The apostolic writer goes on to say,
“Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.’
And again,
‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Cf. Heb10:26-31)
The book of Hebrews has to do with whole of the Jewish peoples. It was written as a final warning not long before the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple in 70 A.D.  The temple went up in a fiery judgment. The transition was over. The gospel had been sent to the Jew first. The new covenant no longer have a Jewish exclusiveness to it. It would belong to the people of the world.
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The words of a book.

God speaks in Isaiah, saying,
“On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the Lord, and the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” (Isa 29:18,19)
This prophecy reaches across the church age and into the future. While the book has been releasing its treasures throughout the church age, it will also fulfill its purpose for the Jewish peoples in the final days of the age and into the future.

Two thousand years ago and old man prophesied over the child Jesus and His mother, saying,“Behold, this Child is appointed for THE FALL and RISE of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed.” (Luke 2:34)

The fall came with the rejection of Jesus. The rise comes with the acceptance. The cross was a sign that has been opposed by Rabbinic Judaism throughout the church age. What will bring about the rise in Israel? Listen to another prophet:

“And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.” (Zech12:9,10)


The testimony remains in place today.

Christianity was not some upstart religion to be counted among the various movements in Judaism of the day. The testimony of God, the testimony of Moses, the testimony of the prophets, of David, of John the Baptist, the testimony of nature itself, the wonders and miracles, and the testimony of those Jews who had truly received Him as Lord and Savior, all bore witness against those who would reject Him. No further testimony was needed.

And so, where are we in redemption history? Earlier I pointed to a date, May 14, 1948. Israel had to take her place once again among the nations. The rejection of Jesus took place in Jerusalem. The acceptance of Jesus Christ will also take place in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is God’s time clock.
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“For I say to you [Jerusalem], from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'”
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Take time to listen to the song, ‘Jerusalem.’
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Think about it.
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Blessings,
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Buddy

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09
Apr
2010

Time for a little laughter and reflections…

Journal,

Maybe now is a good time to let our hair down with a bit of laughter. I’ve looked over some of my favorite video clips that I’ve shared on my blog. Thought I pass a few of them by you just for a moment of laughter and reflection.

For you who love the Gaither Homecoming Group, this first video will surely tickle your ribs. Watch as Mark Lowery has his fun with Bill Gaither.

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Remember Americas Got Talent? This next video will also bring laughter. Watch 11-year-old Taylor Ware yodel her way right into your heart.
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OK, I want to test your giggle some more. Everyone knows that I have a great love  for animals and dogs in particular. I’ve found that dogs are so highly intelligent that they’ve been known to drive a vehicle. Pay close attention to the very first part of this clip. It sets the stage. A dog asks for directions.

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Now for something extra special. Would you like to hear a girl who shares in a Jewish lineage sing of her love for Jesus. Let’s see if the Isaacs can pull on your heart-strings.

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Guess I need to show my heart a bit more. I’ve had a dream for years. When I think about my three kids and their musical abilities, I think, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if I could form a gospel group with my kids.’ Oh well, dreams are what life is made of. And Pop isn’t as young as he use to be.

Anyway, some years ago the kids helped me to make a Jubilee CD with songs that the Lord had given me. They provided the music for my songs. Others in the church also helped out. Thought perhaps you would like to hear one of my favorite songs. (Don’t expect anything professional.)

It is titled, In The Year of The Jubilee.



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Thats it for now.

Much love coming your way.

In Christ Jesus always,

Buddy

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08
Apr
2010

Learn to live on higher ground…

“The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward…” – Genesis 13:14
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Journal,

Yes indeed, how I love the song, ‘Higher Ground.’ Well, I can’t put it off any longer. How about singing it with me. Here it is in video form. The words are just below.

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Higher Ground

(1) I’m pressing on the upward way
New heights I’m gaining every day
Still praying as I onward bound
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
Chorus:
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
By faith on heaven’s table land
A higher plane than I have found
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
(2) My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay
Tho’ some may dwell where these abound
My prayer, my aim is higher ground.
chorus:
(3) I want to scale the utmost height
And catch a gleam of glory bright
But still I’ll pray till heaven I’ve found
“Lord, lead me on to higher ground.”

(1) I’m pressing on the upward way

New heights I’m gaining every day

Still praying as I’m onward bound

“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

Chorus:

Lord, lift me up and let me stand

By faith on heaven’s table land

A higher plane than I have found

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

(2) My heart has no desire to stay

Where doubts arise and fears dismay

Tho’ some may dwell where these abound

My prayer, my aim is higher ground.

Chorus:

(3) I want to scale the utmost height

And catch a gleam of glory bright

But still I’ll pray till heaven I’ve found

“Lord, lead me on to higher ground.”

Are you feeling God’s call to higher ground…

If you are a child of God, you do feel this heavenly call. The call comes with our birth from above. All through our earthly journey, the Holy Spirit makes us aware that this present world is not our home. Peter said that we are aliens and strangers in the earth. Jesus said that we are not of this world.

Listen to Paul:

“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yea; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Php3:13,14 nasb)

But there is more to be said.

The upward call of God in Christ Jesus, also includes our present life. As children of the throne of God, the Lord wants us to learn to live in heavenly life even now. Of course not the full measure. That comes when we arrive home.

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Heavenly life speaks to learning to live in harmony with heaven.

The call to live an upward life is not without its difficulties. In fact we are told to lay aside anything that may be hindering our call to living in God’s higher life. It is up to each child of God to decide what the hinderance may be in his or her life. The Holy Spirit helps us with that.

Here are some things that can hinder our call to live in our higher upward life. Use it as a check list: (Place your cursor over Scripture references.)

  1. It could be an area of doubt or unbelief that needs to be dealt with. A doubtful person is unable to receive from the Lord. James 1:5-8
  2. Perhaps an attitude of worldliness is interfering with your heavenly walk. (The pursuit of gold or fame can blur your vision.) Col3:1-5; 1Tim6:9,10
  3. Another blinder is pride. Don’t begin thinking too highly of yourself.) Rom12:3-5
  4. How about your first love. Have you lost your first love for the Lord? Think about it. 1Pet1:6-8
  5. Believe it or not, it can even be some form of religious bondage. Some improper teachings can serve as a religious yoke that can freeze up your spiritual life. It could even be religious pride. Mat6:5-8; Isa65:5; Prov16:5
  6. Are you wrestling with some form of fleshly temptation that keeps reappearing on your door step? It is time to flee and refuse to entertain the temptation any longer. Mat26:41; Rom13:14.
  7. Another big one is compromise. It is easy to justify what we want to do, when deep in our hearts we know that is not right. 1Kings18:21; Mat6:24
  8. It may be that you just need to lay your life before the Lord. Pray in this way, “Lord, I’m not happy with me or the life that I am living. I only want what you have for me. Teach me Lord, how to live in the heavenly life. Forgive me for my many wrongs. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.” (This is only a suggestion. Just open your heart to the Lord.) Psalm139:23,24
  9. Last but not least – You need to take responsibility for your own life. What does this mean? It means to stop blaming others for whatever mess you feel your life has become. The Lord specializes in changing our messes into victories. Gen3:12; Joshua 24:15; 2Co2:14

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The Adorned Heart

When God spoke to Abraham, saying, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are,” keep in mind that this experience took place only after Lot had separated himself from Abraham.

Sometimes in our walk with the Lord, we will be called to points of separation from certain things or certain someones in order to move on in our faith journey with the Lord. What this something may be remains entirely between the believer and the Lord.

In any event these points of separation have to do with the believer’s heart. A true Biblical Christian is someone whose heart has been adorned with Christ. From the moment of our new birth, there is a new life principle at work. Christ directs our life from within. It is in these directives that we find ourselves moving on to higher ground.

Now that we’ve dealt with the hinderances to learning to live on higher ground, let me share…

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Seven simple keys to a righteous ‘higher ground’ walk with the Lord.

1st Seek to know the Lord in all your ways. Cf. Prov3:5,6.

2nd Seek to live in a state of forgiveness. This includes forgiving others and living without judgments. Rom14:3,4

3rd Seek to discern things of value. Cf. Rom14:7,8,13,18,19; Jer15:19

4th Seek to train your thought life for godliness. This is not a ‘one time’ win. It is a daily giving our hearts and minds to the Lord. Cf. Phil4:6-8,13; 2Co10:3-5

5th Seek higher things. Faith will take you where angels fear to tread. Doubt will leave you in the dust. Don’t let the devil tell you that you can’t attain a deeper walk, or that you can’t live by faith. Cf. Col1:12,27,28

6th Seek to live the love walk and learn the language of faith. The language of faith calls for an agreement God’s truths. This includes learning to bless others with your words. Cf. 1Pe3:8-12

7th Seek that the Lord be glorified in all your life. Cf. Psalm 115:1x

Well, thats it for now.

May you be blessed in all that you do for His name’s sake,

Buddy

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Posted by Buddy, 2 comments
06
Apr
2010

Beware of ‘the Lie’…

“Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD has not spoken.” (Eze 22:28 nasb)

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Journal,

The ability to discern properly relates to a believer’s intuition, that is, to the deep of the inner man that alerts him to things that are not right. The mature believer has learned to pay close attention to the ‘cautions’ of his own spirit. But where the immature believer gets in trouble is when he overrides the cautions in his heart. Often this overriding comes from, ‘Something must be wrong with me. Everyone else thinks this is of God.’

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The apostle Paul calls attention to our need to grow up spiritually:

“For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.” (Php 1:8-10)

The problem is that we humans long for spiritual realities. Hence the problem. Ever since the fall of Adam, all humanity has entered into Adam’s state of spiritual disrepair. Moses speaks of this as a defect.

Listen to Moses:

“For I proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He. They have acted corruptly toward Him, they are not His children, because of their defect; but are a perverse and crooked generation.” (Deu 32:3-5).

When a person turns to the Lord, they enter into a new expression of being as a believer. They are now followers of Jesus. Yet there is still work to be done in order to repair what had been lost in the fall of Adam. The Bible speaks of this work as ‘the renewing of our mind,’ or, ‘the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.’A place to begin is in understanding what the Bible means by ‘the lie.’

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The Lie That Caused the fall of Adam –

The original lie that Satan used on Eve can be considered the mother of all lies. Understand this and you are on your way to realizing how this same lie is making its rounds in large portions of the Charismatic movement today.

‘The lie’ was that Adam and Eve could be exactly what God is, therefore they would have no need for God. They themselves would be gods. And this is the very lie being pushed today. It is insidious because people do not realize that it actually undermines the Lordship of Jesus Christ in a person’s life. If I can do everything Jesus does, then why would I need Jesus. (Think about it.)

Satan is a liar. A lie is a deception at work. A deception is a form of mind control. One Hebrew term that defines deception means, ‘to steal the heart.’

While the Bible says that God cannot lie, Jesus tells us that Satan’s primary calling card is lying. Satan’s main mode of operation is defined Biblically as. ‘power and signs and false wonders, and all the deception of wickedness.’ (Cf. 2Th2:9,10)

The lying wonders do not do away with the true miracles and workings of God. But the miracles of God are always in a form of bringing glory to Jesus Christ, and not to a man.

Coming back to Satan as a liar, Jesus spoke to a certain group who were religiously serving Satan, though they would certainly deny this. They were willing to believe in Jesus, but it had to be on their terms, and not on the terms for who Jesus really was.

Listen:

“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.

“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (Joh 8:42-44)

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Once again let’s come back to the lie that caused the fall of Adam.

The first recorded lie in the Scriptures was when Satan used his dark power to deceive Eve. The lie that he used to deceive Eve has become what the Bible calls, ‘the lie.’ It is the godhood lie. (Keep that term in mind.)

Concerning the forbidden fruit, Satan said to Eve, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day yo eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, [you will be a god] knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4,5)

This godhood lie is found in one form or another in the history of the human race. Roman Emperors were worshipped as gods. The Pharaohs considered themselves to be gods. The emperor of Japan was considered a god. Hinduism is a major player in the godhood lie as well as is Mormonism and new age teachings. And today this lie is being promoted by certain well-known charismatic speakers.

It is not a matter of my picking on notable Charismatic preachers. You can decide for yourself. Here are samplings of Charismatic teachers (and others) who are promoting the godhood lie.

The Original Lie being Promoted Today –

“You don’t have a god in you, you are one.” (Kenneth Copeland, “The Force Of Love”, audiotape #02-0028, Kenneth Copeland Ministries.)

“I am a ‘little messiah’ walking on earth.” (Benny Hinn, “Praise-a-thon Program” on TBN, broadcast.)

Joseph Smith – the so-called prophet of the Mormon Church said: “As God is, man shall become.”

Shirley McClain proudly declared: “I am God. I am God. I am God. I am God.”

Jim Jones (the infamous murder of the Jonestown massacre)- “You are what Jesus was. Jesus said that every human being was a god. It is written that you are gods. I’m a god and you are a god.”

Margot Adler – “We are as gods and might as well get good at it.”

Benny Hinn – “Don’t say you have Jesus. You are everything he was, is and shall be.”

“When you say, ‘I am a Christian, you are saying I am a little Messiah walking on the earth. May I say it? You are a little god running around.” – Benny Hinn

“You are as much the incarnation of God as Christ was….The believer is as much an incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth.” (Kenneth Hagin, “Word of Faith.”)

“Adam and Eve were placed in the world as the seed and expression of God. Just as dogs have puppies and cats have kittens, so God has little gods; we have trouble comprehending this truth. Until we comprehend that we are little gods, we cannot manifest the kingdom of God.” (Earl Paulk, “Satan Unmasked”)

“I am a little god!…I have His name. I’m one with Him. I’m in covenant relation. I am a little god! Critics, be gone!” (Paul Crouch, TBN).

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End Time Delusions and Deceptions

I want to be kind in saying that there are men and women who get caught up in the convolution of all the Charismatic error because of their own lack of understanding of the Scriptures. This may even be true for some of the noted charismatic teachers. These people often come to their senses and began to recognize that much of what they are involved in is super charged flesh. The Lord in His goodness helps these misguided souls to find their way out of the quagmire of deception.

For the sake of my readers who are concerned over how to spot someone who may be operating under a spirit that is not of God, here are some common traits that are found in false preachers and teachers. (I’ve provided Scripture resources for your study. Place your cursor over the Scripture.)

Beware of:

(1) People with an arrogant boastful spirit. Pride is always a major working factor in a demonic deception. Cf. Dan7:11; James3:15,16.


(2) Counterfeit gifting. Sorcery manifests itself as a form of spiritual mind control, and in a manner of fortune telling. Cf. Acts 8:9-11; Matt7:21-23.


(3) Sensual and fleshly exhibition with no true reverence or respect for holiness. 2Pet2:2,3.


(4) The preaching of a false Jesus that does not Biblically agree with true character of the Son of God. Cf. 2Co11:4,13-15.


(5) The preaching of a gospel that is not in full accord with God’s testimony as given in the New Testament. Cf. Gal1:6-9; 1Tim6:3-6.


(6) Lifting up personalities who claim to be modern-day apostles and prophets, and, who, in turn, claim authority equal to that of the Bible apostles and prophets. Cf. Eph2:19,20; 2Co11:12; 1John2:6.


(7) Where the preacher uses language that equates himself with God; where he boasts of godlike abilities; where he preaches an earthly prosperity message; where he claims powers of creation, and such like.

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Here is an example of a noted Charismatic teacher making pure mockery of God creating the animals. If you are unable to see the mockery here it must be because you are not well acquainted with God’s Word. Judge for yourself.

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What is our single need with regard to a true walk of faith…

The only remedy for our disrepair is to come to God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”(John 10:10)

And for you you are still in fear about your walk with the Lord, and about being deceived, always keep in mind the great Shepherd promise:

Jesus said:

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (Joh 10:27-30 NASB)

Be encouraged. The love of the Lord belongs to you.

In Christ Jesus always,

Buddy

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04
Apr
2010

Hello, I’d like a Word with you…

“He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.” (Deu 8:3 NASB)


Journal,

The ancients said that when two or more men were studying the Scriptures, they were never to be disturbed. The reason was because the Shekinah was present in their study.

The Skekinah had various meanings, depending on how this word evolved over time. But it comes from a word which means ‘to dwell.’ It spoke of God’s presence.


The Shekinah was often identified with the Holy Spirit, or with the Messiah, or with what the ancients called ‘haKovod’.

The haKovod was God’s manifested glory. For example when Moses went into the Holiest of Holies, there above the mercy seat was a Light. This light was called haKabod. (Or Kavod.)

In Paul’s letter to the Galatian Churches, he speaks of the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of [God’s] Son.” (Gal4:6) The terms Spirit of the Son, voice of the Holy Spirit, and the anointing that abides in us, are all valid expressions of God’s life in believers. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27)

On Pentecost 33 ad, the Holy Spirit, who is also called the Spirit of Christ, took of residence in His new home the Church. The apostle speaks of this when he said that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
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Background for the Bible speaks.

This is the background for the idea of how the Bible is made the textbook of the Holy Spirit. Reaching back to the creation of Adam, you recall that God breathed into Adam the breath of life. In the fall, Adam’s spirit life became corrupted.
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We see a prophetic reenactment of this when Jesus appears to the disciples. It says, “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.'” (John 20:22)

What does this have to do with the Bible being the textbook of the Holy Spirit. What Paul tells us is that the sacred Scriptures were ‘breathed‘ out of the mouth of God. This is what the Greek word translated as ‘inspiration’ or ‘inspired’ actually means.

2 Timothy 3:16, says,
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reroof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
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The word “inspired” is ‘theopneustos,’ which literally means ‘God breathed.’ Paul’s point is that the Scriptures are God’s speaking directly to us. Theos is God. Pneustos comes from pneumaticos, which translates as ‘spiritual.’ Pneumaticos carries the idea of invisibility and power. Paul is telling Timothy that the Scriptures are God’s ‘powerful’ speaking place for His people.
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Thus the Bible is God’s training manual where the Holy Spirit trains believers to a life of righteousness, that is, a life that is God pleasing and God serving.
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Did not David say much the same.

“The Law [Torah means God’s instructions] of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” He adds, “Moreover by them Your servant is warned.” (Cf. Psalm 19:7-12)

Both Paul and David are speaking of the same body of Scriptures. The only Bible the early Church had was the writings of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms.

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It goes without question.
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And so, it goes without question that the Scriptures are God’s primary speaking place to believers. The Bible carries its own testimony. The prophet said, “To the law and the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.” (Isa8:20 – The word ‘dawn’ is a Hebraism that speaks of the path of righteousness.]

God’s Book is His feeding place for His children. He spreads us a wonderful table, and invites us to join Him.
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Recall what the two disciples said when Jesus was speaking to them after the resurrection, that is, when he did not allow them to recognize Him? They said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32)

Is there Scripture for such a thought? Yes. God spoke through the prophet, and said, “On that day the deaf will hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.” (Isa29:18)

Paul explains it somewhat like this – In the new covenant as we look at the text book through the eyes of the Spirit, it reflects the glory of God in Christ upon our minds and souls. The more of this reflected glory we see, the more our lives transform into the likeness of the One we are looking at. This is what makes up the continual transformation life that causes us to be more like Jesus as we travel life’s highway.

Paul goes on to say that the Book remains a closed book to the unbelieving Jew, but to those, both Jews and Gentiles, who believe, the Book becomes a living oracle. He says, “To this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their [nonbelieving Jew or Gentile] heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” (2Co3:15,16)

As I mentioned earlier, Jesus also gives insight into this area. He said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one can snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:27,28)
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God’s sheep will not follow strangers
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Jesus said that His sheep simply will not follow a strange (stranger’s) voice. When dealing with the demonic, it is important to keep these truths in mind. There are a lot of strange voices filling the earth today.

This opens up an area that a some don’t like to talk about. Too often we assume that someone is born again just because they seem to be knowledgeable. This person may not be saved at all. (People often confuse knowledge with new life.) This is why it is crucial to know the identifying signs of new covenant salvation. It is too easy to follow a ‘masquerading‘ spirit.

One of the greatest sign that a person born again will always be the inner peace that comes from having been to the cross. This ‘peace’ is a heavenly testimony that cannot be duplicated. It is only available to those who have accepted the Lamb’s salvation. Old timers called this ‘divine assurance.’ Like the song says, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. O what a foretaste of heaven divine.”

What about people who get high on ‘revelations.’ Some ‘revelations’ can be deceiving spirits at work. This is most surely the case when our revelations cause us to get puffed up, where we are right and everyone else is wrong, or where there is a clear break with the Scriptures themselves. The prophet said that this is a sign that a person’s soul is not right within them.

What is ‘the‘ revelation that we are to believe. It is the truth of the textbook, that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures; that He is now the judge of the living and the dead.
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When we accept this Calvary truth and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are transferred out of the domain of darkness and into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. The textbook has come alive. We have received its message. It is a living oracle from that moment on. (Cf. 1Co15:3,4; Acts 10:42; Col1:12-14.)
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The outflow of living water (God’s aliveness).
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Jesus describes a person who has been to the cross. He said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit…” (John 7:37-39)

Notice Jesus said, “As the Scripture said.” There is a dual meaning here. It means the Scriptures have delivered their message to the heart of the one who believes in Jesus. From this comes the overflowing life. Living water is a Hebraic symbol for the Word (Voice) of God.

The Lord is describing a person who has been to the cross and now has within their being a life power that can only come from God. This person has ‘found the answer’ and is not looking here and yon for satisfaction. (To grow in wisdom and knowledge is far removed from chasing revelations.)

Peter calls this innermost being, ‘the hidden person of the heart.’ Paul refers to this as the ‘Abba! Father!’ experience. It is also called the ‘sealed‘ life. (The Holy Spirit seals the true believer in Christ (Messiah) and then in turn occupies permanently the heart of the person who is sealed.)

Paul went on to explain that this great enlargement of our spiritual life, consists of God’s Light and Wisdom. He said, “But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory.” And, “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit…” (1 Co2) Paul’s point is that this wisdom is found in the Scriptures.
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The hidden life.

There is a hidden wisdom, a hidden life, and a hidden Light that belongs only to the community of the faith. In my understanding this was what David was speaking of when he said, “In Your light we see light.”

As a final note on the textbook of the Holy Spirit, let me share a Hebraism that is easy to miss in our casual reading of the Scriptures. Paul said, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2Co3:18)

The mirror imagery is Hebraism for God’s sacred writings. Remember the laver of water in the tabernacle plan? The bottom was covered with mirrors. This translated to the sages as the mirror of God’s Word. Also note the ‘water’ element of the laver. Water speaks of the outflow or stirrings of God’s Word in our life. (There is more to be said on this, but we can leave it for now.)

So it is true that the Bible we hold in our hands contains the living voice of Jesus. It is sometimes compared to the garden of God. Have you walked in the garden lately?
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OK, here goes. Take time to listen to, ‘On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand.’
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Oh yes, before I forget. God would like a Word with you.


Your friend in Christ,

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Buddy

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Posted by Buddy, 6 comments
02
Apr
2010

What will be, will be…

“After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great.” – (Gen 15:1 nasb)


Journal,

You may find it interesting to know that all the promises given to Abraham can only be fulfilled in Christ. This is irrespective of whether you are Jew or Gentile. In the study to follow, we want to consider how one particular promise given to Abraham, becomes the hallmark of a believer’s walk with the Lord. We will also see why new covenant believers are noted as children of Abraham.

Abram had been through an exhausting experience in his rescue of Lot and his family. On his return home the “friend of God” was refreshed by Melchizedek king of Salem.

It appears that after leaving the king of Salem, Abram was struggling with fear of reprisal from the kings that he had defeated. He knew his servants were no match for their trained warriors if they decided to avenge themselves against him.

We have to keep in mind that Abram was still a stranger in a strange land. But something would happen to settled the issue. It says the “Word of the Lord” came to Abram in a vision. What he heard was, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward will be very great.” (Gen15:1)


A miniature picture of the believers walk.

This is only one of Abraham’s experiences with the “Word of the Lord” that helped give shape to his walk of faith. Actually, the life of Abraham is a miniature picture of a new covenant believer’s walk with Jesus. Abraham’s whole life was an out-walking of a call from the Lord. Such is the new covenant believer’s walk with the Lord.
To appreciate what happened to Abraham in this incidence, we need to grasp something that the ancients believed (which also accords with the New Testament). According to the Targums and according to Philo, the Hebrew people believed that “the Word of the Lord” spoke of God Himself, that is, God entering into creation in a form or in a way that was perceivable to the senses.

The sages had a number of terms to express this ‘coming forth of God.’ They spoke of God coming forth from God in various terms, such as, the Reflection, the Image, the Form, God’s Shadow, the Shekinah, the Word, God’s Wisdom, Memra or Logos, and even ‘the Angel of His Presence.’

The reason this knowledge is important to believers is because we find many of these same terms being expressed not only in the new covenant writings but also in the writings of the Old Testament prophets. In fact, the Bible is filled throughout with an under flowing revelation that reaches its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. (The more you study the Scriptures, the more you will see Jesus.)


A Message for all believers.

And so the Lord appeared to Abraham with a message that carries through to all who truly believe in Jesus. He said, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward will be very great.” The Messiah Himself would be Abram’s shield. Of course a shield serves a purpose of protection. For the believer, Christ Himself is our shield against all our enemies, against the power of sin, against Satan and all that the world offers.
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Is the Lord Himself a shield for us? Yes, but in a manner that goes far beyond the physical. When Jesus entered into our world, it was to take our place on the cross of redemption. Out of the cross, the Lord Jesus was to take to Himself all believers. The apostle spoke to this in saying, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col3:3)
In fact when Paul tells believers to take up “the shield of faith,” he is speaking of our faith in Jesus. Our protection does not come from our “faith in faith.” It is bound up in our faith in Jesus. No one becomes an overcomer because they have faith in faith. In fact I have heard terribly distorted messages concerning the issue of faith. It is as though faith itself had become a thing we were to trust in. We are never told to trust in faith. We are told to place our faith Christ alone.
When the Lord said that He was Abram’s shield, this truth reaches across redemption history. David adds, “For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.” (Psalm 5:12) The message God keeps sending His children is not to be afraid.
The struggle with fear.

Like Abraham, Paul struggled with fear. He also had a vision from the Lord. Listen: “The Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” (Acts 18:9,10)
Jesus Christ has become our world. He is our shield of eternity. This does not mean that we will have no trials or struggles in life. Far from it. What it means is that we are the children of eternity. Our destiny is His destiny. This truth comes under the great doctrine of our full ‘Identification With Christ.’ John said, “As He is so also are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17)
How then does all this work in our relationship to Abraham? The apostle said, “So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.” (Gal3:9) Paul includes in the blessing of Abraham, the promise of all believers having the Spirit of the Lord in their lives.
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The children of Abraham.
Then Paul includes,
“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” (Gal3:27-29)
The only thing we have left is the last part of the promise given to Abram. The Word of the Lord said, “Your reward shall be very great.”
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Did Abraham understand this idea of reward? Did he know it had to do with eternity? Did he know it had to do with a place called heaven? Yes, he understood much of this. And so did God’s people of old.
It says,
“By faith [Abraham] lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for a city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Heb11:9,10)
But it doesn’t end there. Listen again,
“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth … But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” (Cf. Heb11:13-16)
Yes, we have the shield of Abraham. His God is our God. His Lord and Savior and Messiah is our Lord and Savior and Messiah.
How about you? Are you holding loosely to the world and tightly to Jesus? Are you living as though a pilgrim in this present world? Really something to think about.
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What does any of this have to do with the title of this journal entry, ‘What will be, will be’? Very much indeed. God has already declared what is to be. With that in mind, I am going to share a song with you that is secular, but is filled with wisdom if you connect it to God’s, ‘What will be, will be.”
Take time to listen to Doris Day as she sings, ‘Que sa ra, sa ra.’

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Always in Christ,
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Buddy

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31
Mar
2010

Of His fullness we have received…

“For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” (John 1:16 nasb)


Journal,

A difficulty we have in interpreting Scripture is the tendency to read our own belief systems into the text. This is called eisegesis, or ‘reading into.’ The proper way to interpret Scripture is called exegesis, or ‘reading out of.’ (Most doctrinal failure is a problem of eisegesis.)

To properly understand what a Biblical writer means when he uses a certain term, we have to understand how that term was used during his time. When John says, “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace,” we need to know how the term ‘fullness‘ was used at that time.


The Greek word ‘pleroma‘ means ‘that which fills,’ and it comes from ‘pleroo’, or, ‘ to fill with a content.’ As used by the gospel writers, pleroma had a two-fold meaning. It meant that believers have been brought to fullness in Christ’s sphere of life.

In this case there is nothing we need to do to be any closer to God, than being ‘in Christ.’ This fullness of our sphere of relationship takes place in the new birth. It is not some later added spiritual experience.

The term also means believers are filled absolutely by the person of Christ as the Giver. No believer has more of Christ than another believer. If of His fullness we have all received, then there is nothing else we need to receive. It is here that we get the idea of Christ living out His life in us. Paul had this idea in mind, when he said,

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Gal2:20)

Then you had the nonliteral use of pleroma or pleroo by the gospel writers which was, “to fill up to a specific measure.” or, “to fulfill a divine demand or claim.”


We see this when Jesus speaks to the rejecting Jewish leadership…

… saying, “Fill up (pleroo), then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.” (Matt23:32) This meant that they would become completers of all those who killed the prophets in times past. He goes on to say,

“Upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, to the blood of Zechariah.” (V35)

In coming back to how this term applies to the new covenant, let’s go another step. Paul says,

“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled (pleroo) the law.”

Paul is saying that the love of God that is poured out in our hearts in the new birth, is now the governing principle of the new covenant, and that by walking in the Spirit of love we automatically fulfill, or reach the full goal of the Law of Moses.

Paul’s point is that Christ has removed any need for performing rituals. Anyone can perform a ritual, but only those truly born of God’s Spirit have the capacity to fulfill the love walk.


There is a final sense in the word ‘pleroma’ which has to do with completeness, or to finish up a thing.

This is a very important concept, since it relates back to our original reference Scripture. Listen again;

“For of His fullness (pleorma; or, ‘completeness’) we have all received.”

Again listen carefully to Paul;

“For in Him [Jesus] all the fullness [pleroma] of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete [pleroo], and He is the head over all rule and authority.” (Col2:9,10)

Paul’s emphasis is our completeness in Christ. Completeness means there is nothing you can add to make it any more complete.


Children of the Great I AM.

At the very moment of the new birth, a believer is made complete in Christ. No one can take from that. Nor is there anything to add to that. All the apostles agreed on this issue of our completeness. This is the sum and substance of the new covenant. And it is because of this sum and substance, that John said we are given “grace upon grace.”


Grace upon grace means that at no time in a believer’s life will he or she be able to get beyond God’s redeeming grace. Is that what it means? Hear again the apostle;

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He *lavished* on us, in all wisdom and insight.” (Eph1:7,8)

The key word is ‘lavished.’ Perisseuo means a super abundance, or be over and above anything needed or required. God can lavish grace on all His children because we have received the fullness of Christ. We are children of the Great I AM.


The struggle

This continued to be a struggle for the early believers just as it is for many today. With them you had the judaisers on one hand, who said you must fulfill the law of Moses, and, on the other hand, you had the gnostics and philosophers who had plenty of additions. These kinds of systems have always been around.

In coming against the gnostics who were troubling the young believers, John had this to say;

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”

He then says, “By this, love is perfected (brought to completion) with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He [Christ] is, so also are we in this world.“ (1John4:15,17)

John is bringing out another view of our relationship to God. He says that Christ perfectly represents every believer in heaven. And this is where our salvation lies. You can also refer to this as the life exchange of the cross. Christ took our life to Himself in His death on the cross, and, He, in turn, gave us His perfect life to be our standing with heaven.

There is so much more to be said but I hope you are getting the picture. But here are a couple more just for good measure:

“There is no fear in love; but perfect casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears [punishment] is not perfected in love.”

Then how about this one:

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days … For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Heb8:10- 11)

Well, have you received the fullness of Christ? Think about it. In the meantime listen to this beautiful song, ‘It Is Finished!’

There you have it.

Keep looking up.

In love with Jesus,

Buddy

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25
Mar
2010

Is the clock winding down…

“When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.” (Luk 21:9 nasb)

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Journal,

While reading the paper yesterday morning I could not help but notice a picture. The caption read,

Statue crossing

A 25-foot tall replica statue of the Egyptian god Anubis, with a suitcase at his feet, passes in front of the Statue of Liberty while taking a tour of the New York waterways Tuesday. The statue was traveling to announce the upcoming exhibit ‘Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharoahs” starting on April 23 at the Discovery Times Square Exposition.”

The Egyptian god Anubis was the God of death. He was also known as the son of Ra. Ra was the god of destruction and misery. I did find it interesting that the Associated Press placed the god Anabis in the forefront of our Statue of Liberty.

Of course this should not be taken too serious. The news media is always looking for something to stir up people. They can’t be trusted merely to report the news. They go about trying to create news. Most folk know this. This is why the new media is held in such low regard by most everyone, everywhere.

Yet there is an very old adage which says, ‘One picture is worth ten thousand words.’

And so a question must be asked…

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What do the gods of Egypt signify in the Scriptures?

With regard to the afore picture it should be noted that in the Bible, Egypt, Babylon, and Sodom and Gomorrah are often used interchangeably to depict the spirit of the world, for all forms of sinfulness and debauchery, of gross immorality, and as the seedbeds for sorcery and deception.

In the book of Revelation, Jerusalem the city where Jesus was crucified is mystically described as Egypt; “And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.” (Rev11:8)

In the ancient Jewish writings, Egypt is especially singled out for sorcery. In the Talmudic writings, Kiddushim 49b states, “Ten measures of sorcery came into the world, Egypt took nine of them for herself and the rest of the world took one.”

Where there is much to be said concerning the time clock of redemption, I want to deal primarily with what appears to be the spirit of sorcery that has been infiltrating the church world for a number of years. It is the spirit of sorcery that is set forth as a major hallmark to precede the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Let’s talk about this issue of can there be…

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Sorcery in the Church

From the beginning of Christianity the major battlefronts have been with heresies, schisms, and even to the issue of false prophets. The reason these are major fronts is because that while persecutions are from outside the church, these battlefronts take place from within. And according to the Scriptures these battlefronts are going to intensify the closer to the appearance of antichrist.

Here are some questions to consider.

  • Is it possible to worship a Jesus who is not the true Jesus of the Bible?
  • Is it possible to preach a gospel in the name of Jesus that is not the true gospel of Jesus Christ?
  • Is it possible to receive a spirit into your life that is not the Holy Spirit?”

According to Paul it is quite possible to worship a false Jesus, to preach an unholy gospel, and to receive a spirit that is not the Holy Spirit. These were the very things taking place in the Corinthian Church. Follow carefully:

“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.” (2Co11:3,4)

The apostle said that the time would come when people would not endure sound doctrine, “but wanting to have their tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.” (Cf. 2Tim4:1-5)

Paul gave a charge to the elders of Ephesus. He said, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has made your overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased by His own blood.”
He goes on to say, “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert…” (Cf. Acts 20:28-31.)

Notice that Paul tells the elders to be on especially on guard for themselves as well as for the flock. When an elder (generally a pastor) comes under the influence of a false teaching, the danger for the flock increases.

The apostle Peter also gives a very solemn warning. He said, “… just as there will be false teachers among you … in their greed will exploit you with false words … having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness…” (Cf. 2 Peter 2.]
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A return to primitive Christianity.

Perhaps it should be pointed out that most every movement begins with a rally cry of ‘Let’s return to early Christianity.’ This usually happens under the guise of certain notable teachers. And here is where the trouble begins. These celebrated teachers take to themselves to be God’s spokesmen for the movement. They become the special anointed ones.
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The Lord gave a solemn warning concerning these ‘special’ spokesmen. He said,
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“And then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ’; or, ‘Behold,  He is there’; do not believe him; for false Christs (special anointed ones) and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. “But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.” (Mar 13:21-23)
Where God’s people get in trouble is by placing certain teachers on a level of trust they should never be placed. This is a dangerous place to be. We are instructed by the apostles to try both the spirits and the doctrines of teachers. Is it easy? No. A false teacher actually masquerades as a true prophet of God. They tend to be very charismatic and charming. They speak with authority and often use the name of Jesus. And that is what makes this a difficult issue.
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Their doctrines are often earthly focused. Of course this in itself is an attraction. Who among us would not like to prosper. Little do people realize that these earthy messages appeal to our vanity. James calls them sensual and even demonic.

The Lord gave the warning through Jeremiah the prophet, in saying,
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“… in the last days you will clearly understand it. I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied. But if they had stood in My council then they would have announced My words to My people, and would have turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds.” (Jer23:20-22)

Finally, let’s be sure to make a distinction between someone who from all appearances is actually a false prophet, from the someone who may be being misled, and needs a turning point in his or her life. A false prophet actually operates under the spirit of sorcery. They set themselves apart often by claiming to tell the future, especially under the garb of personal prophecy. The power they operate under is not from the spirit of holiness. It is flesh driven and self exaltation. But this ‘telling the future’ is just a form of fortune telling.
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Some of God’s people have been caught up in things that are not of the Lord, and when they come to their senses, they are able to see where the thing that caught them was not of the Lord. It was a deceiving influence.

The apostle gives instructions for these people.
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“…with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.” (2Ti 2:25-26)

Yes, there is a great deal more to be said but for the sake of time I’ll close out this journal entry for now.
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Think about these things.  And while much of what I’ve shared may seem on the negative side, keep in mind that the light of truth can often be seen best when compared to the lies of darkness. And remember the great promise of our Shepherd.
Jesus Christ by AshraFekry.x

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (Joh 10:27-28)
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In fact the Lord instructed us to rejoice as that day draws near because our full redemption is coming into place.
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Your servant in Christ,
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Buddy


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