August 2nd 2015
Do You Ever Feel Like An Alien?
1 Peter 2:11-12 (NIV)
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Would anyone see your good deeds, and then, they would glorify God? Do you ever really feel like an alien, because your views of this world are so different than those of an acquaintance or a friend who is not a professing Christian? Are you apt to change your view to compare favorably to their view, just to avoid a confrontation or argument? If you take this approach, then of course, you will not feel like an alien! If you do this, and if we are honest we all do it sometimes, do you ever feel guilty of failing Our Lord? Did Jesus die for your sins? Do you believe He did?
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13) I believe my immortal soul was saved, because I accepted Jesus’ death on that cross now over 2,000 years ago! This does not guarantee that I will be a good person, but it puts me on the narrow path, which allows even me to become more Christ-like. Are YOU on that path? Do you know for sure? This is the most important thing for you to gain in this lifetime!
This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24) Is getting to know God on your bucket list? Boasting about earthly possessions or earthly accomplishments will not guarantee happiness, only by taking time to know the Lord will allow you to have a peace based on the knowledge that your immortal soul has been saved. In Old Testament times God was the Savior, and it can be argued people groups were selected by God for salvation.
Now in New Testament times we have a Savior, and each person has a direct connection to Jesus, if they elect to make that connection. And this is the only way to be saved and to see Jesus in heaven! It is the only way; and do you know the way to heaven? Thomas who was one of the disciples said he did not know the way to heaven. Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:5-6) Please believe it, Jesus is the only way by which you can go to heaven, when you die to this life.
Jesus told stories about people being given currency of some type by a ruler or rich person, and then, that rich person would go away for a while, and when he returned, he would expect some gain on the currency he left with the selected person. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. (Matthew 25:29) In such parables when the rich person returned, he would take away the currency from the one would did nothing with it except to hold on to it. Being ready for Christ’s return involves more than playing it safe and doing little or nothing. It demands the kind of service that produces results. I believe these comments are not meant to be pointed to any type of gain in earthly possessions, but they are meant to be gains or losses of spiritual knowledge. The more time you devote to trying to gain heavenly wealth the more you will be given. Adversely if you have gained some spiritual knowledge, but you do not continue to work on it, what you already had will be lost, or it will be taken from you, and given to someone who has continued to work on their heavenly wealth! What do you think?
Have you ever said something like, “What can one person do anyway?” You would like to help, but really getting something done is too daunting of a task, let someone else do it! Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ still they are swearing falsely." (Jeremiah 5:1-2) In this scenario it makes clear an answer to a question most of have asked before, maybe even have asked many times, “What can one person do?”
Be careful that what you may swear to or about is really true, and a trustworthy statement! We all hide behind such statements to just bypass an opportunity to serve. It allows us a copout to allow us to feel good about not helping, because “what can just one person do?” In this day of social media, we can see evidence of how just one person can become the latest “going viral” topic. In these verses from Jeremiah God is promising to stop the assault on Jerusalem “If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.” Here God shows the power of just one person who believes in Him. As you can see here God was already in the business of accepting individual faith, and giving it great power.
Professing Christians should often times feel like an alien, because we see worldly situations differently than non-believers! Then we take action to try to right the wrong, or just to help another member of mankind. Are you ever a Good Samaritan, or do you adjust you route just off the narrow path, and avoid spending you valuable time with trivial stuff? Who is your neighbor? So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:12-14) Looking for the small gate?
Do you ever feel like an alien?
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
1 Peter 2:11-12 (NIV)
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Would anyone see your good deeds, and then, they would glorify God? Do you ever really feel like an alien, because your views of this world are so different than those of an acquaintance or a friend who is not a professing Christian? Are you apt to change your view to compare favorably to their view, just to avoid a confrontation or argument? If you take this approach, then of course, you will not feel like an alien! If you do this, and if we are honest we all do it sometimes, do you ever feel guilty of failing Our Lord? Did Jesus die for your sins? Do you believe He did?
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13) I believe my immortal soul was saved, because I accepted Jesus’ death on that cross now over 2,000 years ago! This does not guarantee that I will be a good person, but it puts me on the narrow path, which allows even me to become more Christ-like. Are YOU on that path? Do you know for sure? This is the most important thing for you to gain in this lifetime!
This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24) Is getting to know God on your bucket list? Boasting about earthly possessions or earthly accomplishments will not guarantee happiness, only by taking time to know the Lord will allow you to have a peace based on the knowledge that your immortal soul has been saved. In Old Testament times God was the Savior, and it can be argued people groups were selected by God for salvation.
Now in New Testament times we have a Savior, and each person has a direct connection to Jesus, if they elect to make that connection. And this is the only way to be saved and to see Jesus in heaven! It is the only way; and do you know the way to heaven? Thomas who was one of the disciples said he did not know the way to heaven. Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:5-6) Please believe it, Jesus is the only way by which you can go to heaven, when you die to this life.
Jesus told stories about people being given currency of some type by a ruler or rich person, and then, that rich person would go away for a while, and when he returned, he would expect some gain on the currency he left with the selected person. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. (Matthew 25:29) In such parables when the rich person returned, he would take away the currency from the one would did nothing with it except to hold on to it. Being ready for Christ’s return involves more than playing it safe and doing little or nothing. It demands the kind of service that produces results. I believe these comments are not meant to be pointed to any type of gain in earthly possessions, but they are meant to be gains or losses of spiritual knowledge. The more time you devote to trying to gain heavenly wealth the more you will be given. Adversely if you have gained some spiritual knowledge, but you do not continue to work on it, what you already had will be lost, or it will be taken from you, and given to someone who has continued to work on their heavenly wealth! What do you think?
Have you ever said something like, “What can one person do anyway?” You would like to help, but really getting something done is too daunting of a task, let someone else do it! Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ still they are swearing falsely." (Jeremiah 5:1-2) In this scenario it makes clear an answer to a question most of have asked before, maybe even have asked many times, “What can one person do?”
Be careful that what you may swear to or about is really true, and a trustworthy statement! We all hide behind such statements to just bypass an opportunity to serve. It allows us a copout to allow us to feel good about not helping, because “what can just one person do?” In this day of social media, we can see evidence of how just one person can become the latest “going viral” topic. In these verses from Jeremiah God is promising to stop the assault on Jerusalem “If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.” Here God shows the power of just one person who believes in Him. As you can see here God was already in the business of accepting individual faith, and giving it great power.
Professing Christians should often times feel like an alien, because we see worldly situations differently than non-believers! Then we take action to try to right the wrong, or just to help another member of mankind. Are you ever a Good Samaritan, or do you adjust you route just off the narrow path, and avoid spending you valuable time with trivial stuff? Who is your neighbor? So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:12-14) Looking for the small gate?
Do you ever feel like an alien?
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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