September 4th 2016
I’m Not Who I Ought To Be, But I’m Not Who I Used To Be!
Acts 17:24-25 (NIV)
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
Did you wake up this morning, and find yourself breathing? If you did, then give thanks to God! Yes, it is true if God decided that today was your day to be blessed by death, then you would not have been breathing. When Adam sinned, mankind was cursed because of sin, and death was one of the consequences of that first sin. However, while death was a consequence of sin, it was a blessing, not really a curse. Let me explain this idea of a blessing. Think about it, when you die and leave this mortal life, your soul remains immortal and thus lives on. Then based upon your lifestyle choices, your soul goes to either heaven or hell. If in your lifetime you chose to follow Jesus, your soul continues its eternal life with Jesus in heaven.
As the selected verses state God has granted you mortal life, and more importantly, He has given you a soul that lives eternally! Within your mortal life you get to choose where your immortal soul will reside for all eternity. The reason death is a blessing, is that if God had cursed Adam and all of his descendants without introducing mortal death, then we would all live forever without the possibility of forgiveness, and we would all be cast into hell immediately. This is how the fallen angels are treated; they have no possibility of salvation! So death of your body releases you to continue your soul’s immortal life.
John wrote some interesting ideas about how being born again protects you from any harm from Satan, and also causes you to not want to continue sinning. We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:18-20) I believe that in these verses, born of God equals being born again.
In the above verses we read “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” Most people do not believe that Satan is in control of the whole world! In Acts we read an interesting story about a fortune telling slave girl. Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned round and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. (Acts 16:16-18) I have known some Christians who have gone to a fortune teller, and did not think it was important or threatening in any way.
Fortune telling is not a gift from God, it is a gift from Satan! God certainly knows the future, but He does not divulge it to mankind, as a means of earning money! From this writing it appears this slave girl did know something about the future, and she got this information from a spirit. As it says, “she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.” Her owners were angry because Paul cast out this spirit and they lost their meal ticket. God told Isaiah about His ability to know the future, because He controls it. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. (Isaiah 46;9-10) Most fortune telling is a hoax, but some is obtained from evil spirits. It likely could be dangerous.
God does allow mankind to participate in prophesies so that we understand that the Scriptures are divinely inspired, and thus, are the Word of God. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21) So no man or angel can know the future, as only God is capable of that feat. This same Holy Spirit was left behind on this earth by Jesus to allow mankind to be able to grasp the meaning of the Scriptures. This Spirit actually indwells those humans who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16 NLT)
With the help of this Spirit we can tell the Good News story to others and bring them into salvation, if they personally accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Jesus told a story about a sower sowing seed, and that some of this seed did not do well, because it was too affected by worldly worries and accumulation of wealth being too important to some men. However, some took root and produced a good crop of new followers. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. (Matthew 13:8.) How is your crop production? Was your soul sown into good soil?
Of course, this growth is first experienced by the seed within you. You cannot express the truth of Jesus without first believing it yourself. To be able to tell the story of Jesus you must first take it to heart. This planting of the Jesus seed in you must begin to grow, and then, it may blossom into something beautiful. Take time and study of the Scriptures every day, and pray often out of gratitude to Jesus for His indescribable gift of salvation. The comment at the beginning of this commentary is not mine, it is being repeated from hearing it last Sunday from the pulpit at the church we regularly attend.
I’m not who I ought to be, but I’m not who I used to be! This statement sums up well the process all followers of Jesus are undertaking by trying to stay on the narrow way that leads to heaven and eternity spent with Jesus. When you get on that path there are continual struggles in your walk with Jesus. However, there is, or should be also great joy, as we now know that Jesus paved the way of this path, by dying for your (our) sins. Salvation is assured for you, and you could not have accomplished it yourself on your own merit. Salvation is the only true free gift you will obtain in this lifetime that you will take with into all eternity! Without this seed planted in your soul, you would be destined for hell. Thank Jesus, then go plant a seed in someone who needs to believe too!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Acts 17:24-25 (NIV)
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
Did you wake up this morning, and find yourself breathing? If you did, then give thanks to God! Yes, it is true if God decided that today was your day to be blessed by death, then you would not have been breathing. When Adam sinned, mankind was cursed because of sin, and death was one of the consequences of that first sin. However, while death was a consequence of sin, it was a blessing, not really a curse. Let me explain this idea of a blessing. Think about it, when you die and leave this mortal life, your soul remains immortal and thus lives on. Then based upon your lifestyle choices, your soul goes to either heaven or hell. If in your lifetime you chose to follow Jesus, your soul continues its eternal life with Jesus in heaven.
As the selected verses state God has granted you mortal life, and more importantly, He has given you a soul that lives eternally! Within your mortal life you get to choose where your immortal soul will reside for all eternity. The reason death is a blessing, is that if God had cursed Adam and all of his descendants without introducing mortal death, then we would all live forever without the possibility of forgiveness, and we would all be cast into hell immediately. This is how the fallen angels are treated; they have no possibility of salvation! So death of your body releases you to continue your soul’s immortal life.
John wrote some interesting ideas about how being born again protects you from any harm from Satan, and also causes you to not want to continue sinning. We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:18-20) I believe that in these verses, born of God equals being born again.
In the above verses we read “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” Most people do not believe that Satan is in control of the whole world! In Acts we read an interesting story about a fortune telling slave girl. Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned round and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. (Acts 16:16-18) I have known some Christians who have gone to a fortune teller, and did not think it was important or threatening in any way.
Fortune telling is not a gift from God, it is a gift from Satan! God certainly knows the future, but He does not divulge it to mankind, as a means of earning money! From this writing it appears this slave girl did know something about the future, and she got this information from a spirit. As it says, “she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.” Her owners were angry because Paul cast out this spirit and they lost their meal ticket. God told Isaiah about His ability to know the future, because He controls it. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. (Isaiah 46;9-10) Most fortune telling is a hoax, but some is obtained from evil spirits. It likely could be dangerous.
God does allow mankind to participate in prophesies so that we understand that the Scriptures are divinely inspired, and thus, are the Word of God. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21) So no man or angel can know the future, as only God is capable of that feat. This same Holy Spirit was left behind on this earth by Jesus to allow mankind to be able to grasp the meaning of the Scriptures. This Spirit actually indwells those humans who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16 NLT)
With the help of this Spirit we can tell the Good News story to others and bring them into salvation, if they personally accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Jesus told a story about a sower sowing seed, and that some of this seed did not do well, because it was too affected by worldly worries and accumulation of wealth being too important to some men. However, some took root and produced a good crop of new followers. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. (Matthew 13:8.) How is your crop production? Was your soul sown into good soil?
Of course, this growth is first experienced by the seed within you. You cannot express the truth of Jesus without first believing it yourself. To be able to tell the story of Jesus you must first take it to heart. This planting of the Jesus seed in you must begin to grow, and then, it may blossom into something beautiful. Take time and study of the Scriptures every day, and pray often out of gratitude to Jesus for His indescribable gift of salvation. The comment at the beginning of this commentary is not mine, it is being repeated from hearing it last Sunday from the pulpit at the church we regularly attend.
I’m not who I ought to be, but I’m not who I used to be! This statement sums up well the process all followers of Jesus are undertaking by trying to stay on the narrow way that leads to heaven and eternity spent with Jesus. When you get on that path there are continual struggles in your walk with Jesus. However, there is, or should be also great joy, as we now know that Jesus paved the way of this path, by dying for your (our) sins. Salvation is assured for you, and you could not have accomplished it yourself on your own merit. Salvation is the only true free gift you will obtain in this lifetime that you will take with into all eternity! Without this seed planted in your soul, you would be destined for hell. Thank Jesus, then go plant a seed in someone who needs to believe too!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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