July 19th 2015
The World Is In A Big Mess. Who Is Responsible For
It? I Am!
Philippians 4:7-8 (NIV)
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
No, the “I Am” in the above title does not refer to God, it refers to you!
In the selected verses Paul is telling us to dwell on good thoughts. How are you doing with this suggestion from Paul? It has been said that two people talking for 30 minutes cannot avoid gossiping about some other person who is not present. Gossip as used here refers to some type of slander not some positive comments about some other person! I do believe that someone who is attempting to be a follower of Jesus Christ is less apt to gossip about another person, but they are still likely going to fail such a test. Do they (we) ever really view our discussions through the lens of What Would Jesus Do?
Do not go along to get along! In an effort to get along with everyone, we are being told to accept everyone as they are, do not try to change them, even if what they believe is wrong, in the eyes of God. This idea is referred to as Political Correctness. PC has no place in the lifestyle of anyone who professes to be a Christian. Do you agree with this statement? As Christians we are to love the sinner, but hate the sin! Do you agree with this statement? Do you think Jesus Christ would follow a PC directive for Himself? Are you really working on becoming more Christ-like?
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. (Philippians 2:13, NLT) If God/Jesus is working in you, is He also working through you? Do you ever even think about tapping into the power God promises His followers? What can be accomplished by a sinner like you (us), if you truly believe that the Holy Spirit is indwelling you? Do you believe this indwelling is REAL? Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) “Therefore honor God with your body“
Do you really worship the God of the Bible? Many times we attend a church of our choice, but our minds are not totally pointed toward worship, there are too many distractions of the world that we bring into the church with us. God spoke to Isaiah about such things, so this type of problem is not a new thing. The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” (Isaiah 29:13) Thanks to God, that the ramification of such lack of concentration is not as costly, as it was during Isaiah’s time.
We live in a world where we are being told that we are the result of a series of naturalistic events that resulted in us being alive today, which is just the result of some evolutionary mishaps. In such a scenario there is need for a god or gods. Some of our churches that claim to be Christian, have fallen prey to such thinking, and thus, have conformed to such ideas proposed by man. God spoke to Isaiah about the dangers of believing men instead of God. Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he? (Isaiah 2:22) Again God spoke to Isaiah about following men instead of God! The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” (Isaiah 29:13)
Do you have a heart for God? You may be wondering by now, just how you can correct the woes of the whole world? Well of course you cannot! Jesus came to this earth as the God/man, and people of His day killed Him. Many of them hated Him, and it may have been because He represented a different view of the world than the men they followed believed to be true! If you are truly trying to be a follower of Jesus, then you will encounter some possible disagreement with your views, and some people may not like you. However, there are people who would love to hear the story of Jesus, and why He came to this earth. Your job in being a Christian is not to save anyone’s soul, as that is impossible, your job is to tell others how having Jesus in your life has improved your life.
How has your life been improved by having Jesus be a part of it? If you do not believe having Jesus in your life has improved it, then of course, you cannot and should not makeup a good sounding story to tell others. That would be a lie! Some people may be confused about the affect Jesus has had on their life, if they were born into a family that professed a love of Jesus, and thus, you may have never had a time before Jesus to remember. If you are anything like me, then you struggle every day with some area of your belief! I think this type of struggle is a good sign, as you are really thinking about trying to become more Christ-like! An impossible task, and it should test your resolve to move away from the worldly possessions that absorb you and diminish your true worship time.
Are you working on becoming an overcomer in this world? You must first improve your worldly belief system; before you can ever help someone else improve! Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Revelation 3:20-21) Is Jesus knocking on your hearts door? Be sure you are receptive to letting Him in! His presence with you can cause you to say or do somethings that may make you feel uncomfortable.
As you can see we need to be working on becoming more Christ-like, so we can someday sit with Him on His throne! Yes, I know I keep repeating myself, but it seems so necessary, because this commentary has ranged from feeling inadequate to tell how having Jesus in your life has improved it to now telling you someday you may share the heavenly throne of Jesus! Now that is some Good News!
No, the “I Am” in the above title does not refer to God, it refers to you! Do not fear telling someone about Jesus and the positive effect He has had on your life!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Philippians 4:7-8 (NIV)
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
No, the “I Am” in the above title does not refer to God, it refers to you!
In the selected verses Paul is telling us to dwell on good thoughts. How are you doing with this suggestion from Paul? It has been said that two people talking for 30 minutes cannot avoid gossiping about some other person who is not present. Gossip as used here refers to some type of slander not some positive comments about some other person! I do believe that someone who is attempting to be a follower of Jesus Christ is less apt to gossip about another person, but they are still likely going to fail such a test. Do they (we) ever really view our discussions through the lens of What Would Jesus Do?
Do not go along to get along! In an effort to get along with everyone, we are being told to accept everyone as they are, do not try to change them, even if what they believe is wrong, in the eyes of God. This idea is referred to as Political Correctness. PC has no place in the lifestyle of anyone who professes to be a Christian. Do you agree with this statement? As Christians we are to love the sinner, but hate the sin! Do you agree with this statement? Do you think Jesus Christ would follow a PC directive for Himself? Are you really working on becoming more Christ-like?
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. (Philippians 2:13, NLT) If God/Jesus is working in you, is He also working through you? Do you ever even think about tapping into the power God promises His followers? What can be accomplished by a sinner like you (us), if you truly believe that the Holy Spirit is indwelling you? Do you believe this indwelling is REAL? Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) “Therefore honor God with your body“
Do you really worship the God of the Bible? Many times we attend a church of our choice, but our minds are not totally pointed toward worship, there are too many distractions of the world that we bring into the church with us. God spoke to Isaiah about such things, so this type of problem is not a new thing. The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” (Isaiah 29:13) Thanks to God, that the ramification of such lack of concentration is not as costly, as it was during Isaiah’s time.
We live in a world where we are being told that we are the result of a series of naturalistic events that resulted in us being alive today, which is just the result of some evolutionary mishaps. In such a scenario there is need for a god or gods. Some of our churches that claim to be Christian, have fallen prey to such thinking, and thus, have conformed to such ideas proposed by man. God spoke to Isaiah about the dangers of believing men instead of God. Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he? (Isaiah 2:22) Again God spoke to Isaiah about following men instead of God! The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” (Isaiah 29:13)
Do you have a heart for God? You may be wondering by now, just how you can correct the woes of the whole world? Well of course you cannot! Jesus came to this earth as the God/man, and people of His day killed Him. Many of them hated Him, and it may have been because He represented a different view of the world than the men they followed believed to be true! If you are truly trying to be a follower of Jesus, then you will encounter some possible disagreement with your views, and some people may not like you. However, there are people who would love to hear the story of Jesus, and why He came to this earth. Your job in being a Christian is not to save anyone’s soul, as that is impossible, your job is to tell others how having Jesus in your life has improved your life.
How has your life been improved by having Jesus be a part of it? If you do not believe having Jesus in your life has improved it, then of course, you cannot and should not makeup a good sounding story to tell others. That would be a lie! Some people may be confused about the affect Jesus has had on their life, if they were born into a family that professed a love of Jesus, and thus, you may have never had a time before Jesus to remember. If you are anything like me, then you struggle every day with some area of your belief! I think this type of struggle is a good sign, as you are really thinking about trying to become more Christ-like! An impossible task, and it should test your resolve to move away from the worldly possessions that absorb you and diminish your true worship time.
Are you working on becoming an overcomer in this world? You must first improve your worldly belief system; before you can ever help someone else improve! Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Revelation 3:20-21) Is Jesus knocking on your hearts door? Be sure you are receptive to letting Him in! His presence with you can cause you to say or do somethings that may make you feel uncomfortable.
As you can see we need to be working on becoming more Christ-like, so we can someday sit with Him on His throne! Yes, I know I keep repeating myself, but it seems so necessary, because this commentary has ranged from feeling inadequate to tell how having Jesus in your life has improved it to now telling you someday you may share the heavenly throne of Jesus! Now that is some Good News!
No, the “I Am” in the above title does not refer to God, it refers to you! Do not fear telling someone about Jesus and the positive effect He has had on your life!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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