Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: faith

  • Rude christians

    Rude christians

    I have searched the Gospels, Letters and Old Testament and found NO excuse for rudeness in Christians.

    Christians claim that God is a God of love. (Scripture confirms this.) We claim that Jesus came to the world because God ‘so loved the world….’ (Scripture confirms this.) God is love. Jesus is love. The Holy Spirit counsels us in love.

    So why do christians so often witness rudeness, coldness and indifference to the heart of God’s love?

    I must confess that on occasion I am the rude christian who does not return the phone call of a brother or sister in the Lord. Sometimes I forget to answer a text or an email. I often forget to pray for some saints who I know need prayer. Yet I speak of a more devastating rudeness by which we wound the body of Christ’s church.

    As I have just spoken against elevating any saint, man or woman, above God; I will lift up their many examples of love for others. (We have witnessed or read of what they have done for others out of love and compassion; things that we ought to do, but do not.)

    Have you seen a Christ-like love for others, even from a non-Christian?

    Yes, of course; we all have.

    The Law of Moses sets high moral example for us. The Qur’an sets some very strict examples of how men and women ought to behave in relation to each other. The traditions and writings of Hinduism, Buddhism and other poly-theistic religions hold relationships of family and community much higher than (it would seem) do Christians. We seem unwilling to practice this relational love in our daily, relational lives with other Christians.

    Their better relationship to family, community and country will not cover our sinfulness or redeem our mortal flesh from hell. Their fine families and close communities will not bring even one soul to eternal life. (And you do not just die, return as a cow, bird or amoeba to work your way once more to eternal bliss of some sort.)

    Yet Christians must realize that this same love for others is the same love that Christ Jesus commanded brothers and sisters in the Lord to have for each other.

    (No rudeness.)

    God IS a God of relationship.

    IF we are truly in relationship with God; IF we truly have a relationship with Christ Jesus; THEN that relationship does NOT include a rudeness toward God the Father and that relationship does NOT include a rudeness toward the risen and eternal Christ Jesus… IF HE IS your LORD.

    Do not grieve the Holy Spirit by rejecting His counsel of love – a love for one another, which does not include rudeness.

    We have numerous scriptural instructions to “love one another.” No doubt, this love intended by Jesus does not include even a hint of rudeness.

    I could say much more just on the meaning of Christ’s love commanded to us and perhaps will return to this in another post.

    John 15:17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

    My focus, however, is a conviction against our rudeness which Christ will not condone.

    Perhaps the closest possible example of Jesus that may seem to demonstrate rudeness for another human being follows in this story.

     Matthew 15:

    21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word.

    ‘There it is,’ you say. Jesus appears rude to the woman here.

    Jesus had left Galilee with the Disciples. (You know how sometimes you just have to get away from it all. Not exactly a vacation, but time together for Jesus and His dearest friends.)

    I’m kind of busy with other things. You know, we all are. right? So Jesus had not gone to the Syrian coast to work or to preach.

    23b And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

    Wow!  Nicely said, “get lost.”

    Is it rudeness to Jesus to try to send her away? (I wonder if some of my casual requests for an answer from my brother or my sister in Christ seem intrusive?)

    ‘I left you a voice-mail (when you didn’t answer).’ I didn’t get a reply to my text… even now. (You know I was hoping for some Christian fellowship – some time together for just you and me, dear brother/sister in Christ.)

    Why are you ignoring me?

    But something happens here that shows this woman to have more than just a casual, intrusive request of Jesus.

    25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

    Again, the woman is persistent. (I know, I’m a real bother to you.) She comes humbly to Jesus, kneeling before Him, humbling herself to Him as her Master in every way.

    The woman makes her request as a lowly servant, saying, ‘Even the master who feeds his own children and family will give crumbs to the dogs.’

    Yes, beloved sister… beloved brother in the Lord… give me just a crumb. (I know you’re busy; yet I need this one thing from you.

    I need a crumb of your love, dearly beloved.)

    27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

    28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

    Jesus may have (at first) appeared rude, as our Lord was engaged in conversation and engaged in meals with His Apostles. Jesus may have seemed rude to her as He paid closest attention to those nearest to Him.

    Yet what was the lesson of Jesus and the obtrusive relationship of this woman from outside the fellowship of followers?

    Faith! For her faith Jesus showed her compassion. For her humility Jesus gave her healing for her beloved daughter.

    Suppose that your daughter was possessed by a demon? Suppose that you knew of a Man who could save her from darkness? What would you do?

     John 14:12

    “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

    Do you grieve the Holy Spirit by your rudeness to those for whom you should have compassion and show mercy?

    Jesus didn’t and neither should we.

    I ask you; dearly beloved sister, dearly beloved brother: in the Name Christ Jesus, would you please have fellowship with me?

    Please give some crumb of Christ’s love to another.

    (To do anything else, would just be rude.)

  • A Personal God – Jesus

    A Personal God – Jesus

    Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. – Isaiah 26:4 ESV

    … and he would have given you living water.” – John 4:10b

    “I and the Father are one.” – John 10:30

    Setting aside for a moment your personal preferences for worshiping God; whether ritualistic routine, overflowing emotion, singing, shouting, standing, sitting, hands held up, heads bowed low, knees on the floor or feet off the ground; on the scriptural presumption that Jesus and God are one, let us examine two things:

    The Person of Jesus and His personal mission for each of us.

    Before Christ became God in Person on this earth as the Son of Man, some worshiped God and some worshiped worship. Some worshiped the Law, some worshiped family and forefathers above the Living God. Though Moses stood in the Presence of the Living God, the people worshiped God only in the fear and emotion of the moment.

    Exodus 20:

    18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

    22 And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.

    Followers feared Moses only when he reflected the glory of God, yet would not obey the commands given to Moses by the God they feared.

    The Prophets spoke God’s word and demonstrated the truth of God’s refining exhortations. Generation after generation, God’s worshipers assumed a posture of disobedience and self-righteousness; for by their witness they forgot the fear of God. By their witness they failed to please the LORD with the same love and compassion the LORD had shown them from generation to generation.

    The worshipers of God would not listen to Moses. The worshipers of God would not listen to the Prophets.

    Therefore, God intervened in time in the Person of Christ Jesus to redeem a sinful world from the futility of death and the inevitability of judgment.

    Jesus Christ lived in Perfect righteousness on the earth. NO man of any religion on the earth has lived in the righteousness of Christ. Men of every era have lived agendas of purpose for the earthly agendas of man; not the will of God for a Heavenly Kingdom.

    Jesus did not come into the world for worship of holy mothers or ancient fathers. Jesus did not come into the world to win a war by peaceful protest or by sword. Jesus did not come into the world to work miracles to impress or heal men who will die.

    The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…

    1 Timothy 1:15a

    Jesus became the sacrifice to God for the redemption of sin – sins you and I have committed in God’s Holy presence.

    The gospels testify to the glory of Christ Jesus, the Word of His instruction and the Life of His own witness.

    Our God is a Personal God and He IS present in the Person of Jesus Christ.

    By the perfect and sinless example of Jesus Christ we have assurance of forgiveness for our many sins and eternal life for our soul, which does long for the embrace of God through the love of His perfection.

    Fear the God Who IS. Give thanks to the One who has formed your flesh and summons your soul.

    Jesus Christ was witnessed by the Apostles, including Paul who was blinded by His presence. Jesus Christ was witnessed by disciples who believed (as well as those who refused to follow Him).

    The Apostles stood and sat and ate in the presence of the Person of Jesus from day to day and after the resurrection of His crucified body. They are witness to the Person of God in Him.

    And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” – Mark 4:41

    Acts 9 (excerpt) … and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing.

    God and Jesus pursue sinners personally – sinners like you and me.

    Jesus taught us how to live as a perfect son (which I am not) and how to approach God as a perfect father (which I am not). We are neither perfect son nor father, perfect daughter nor mother; yet because Christ Jesus has taken our sin from us, He presents us to God the Father as blameless to do the will of our Father and Lord, as He would have done ‘on earth, as it is in Heaven.’

    Our Personal God and Father has sent Himself in His only Son, Christ Jesus, to us; as example for a personal obedience to His will on earth in this day and until the day He has appointed for our finished work, the witness of His love, to complete His purpose for our mortal life.

    In Christ Jesus, our Lord, my soul stands before God and man as witness to hope eternal and witness to eternal life daily.

    In you, our Lord has placed an eternal voice and temporal call to a personal relationship of love to fulfill His purpose for your mortal life on this earth.

    God has something He has sent your soul here to do in the flesh. The Person of God has a mission just for you.

    Will you do it?

    Will you listen to God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord?

    To be continued, God willing

  • Define God

    Define God

    Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke… Hebrews 1:1 excerpt

    So you ‘go to church’ to hear a man say what God has said. Or you read a book by a man (supposedly of God) who will tell you what God has said. Or you will agree with nearly anyone who will mention God in conversation, even if they say Allah is god or Jehovah is god or Buddha is god or best of all, god is in everything.

    What do you believe about God? Can you define it? Can you define God?

    Genesis 1:

    In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth… And the Spirit of God… And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light… And God made… And it was so.

    26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

    Who IS this God who was in the beginning, who created; this Spirit who said and made and it was? Who is this God who said, “Let us…” let the reader understand, ‘us, plural; “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness?” What Spirit can say, “Let us make man in our image?” How can the likeness of God live in the flesh of a man? How can the image of God exist in the image of a woman?

    One of many supposed preachers of the Gospel, a wolf clothed as a sheep who would claim that nearly all paths could lead to God, has written a book asking the reader to consider his understanding of the all-inclusive forgiving nature of god to include unrepentant sinners. (That is not how he states is, but that is what he preaches.) A promotional review of a supposedly traditional protestant denomination states of his book (and definition of God): “Good news for people who want nothing to do with religion; better news for those of us who are deeply committed to the faith, but see that religion is way off track.”

    Really? A book with only a passing, eventual reference of Jesus Christ, Son of God, proclaims an all-inclusive grace for unrepentant sinners apart from the purification brought forth by a permanent change and repentance to our sinful nature.

    Religion, which the world maligns, is much more than a feel-good routine. Religion is a dedication of purpose to a constant worship of God in our very life, created in His Image.  For the purpose of definition: Religion – The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.

    We had best be clear that the distinctive of Christianity is Christ.  How can a book, preacher or christian claimant speak of God without pointed reference to Christ Jesus?

    Perhaps the one who references ‘god’ does not have any more commitment to faith in all of God’s word than one who claims many gods or even the one god of the deceitful heart.

    Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” – John 10:30  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. – John 14:6

    If any preacher, author or friend would claim a religion other than what Christ Jesus teaches in the Gospel – yes, forsaking our sinful flesh for a new life in Christ is Good News – let us remind the one who would re-define God what Holy Scripture has instructed. Perhaps they will tell us, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” – Matthew 7:1 (a favorite of many of the unrepentant) Let us remind them of the rest and the context of Jesus’ teaching.

    Matthew 7:13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

    A Tree and Its Fruit
    15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

    ‘God’ or ‘god’ is many things to many people. The Bible contains more than four thousand references to ‘God.’ Perhaps it is time for some of us to review just a few of these and renew what it is we believe in our faith in God. Are we not called by scripture to ‘in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you… – 1 Peter 3:15

    Our Lord cautions us: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” – Matthew 22:14  We cannot define God with only slight mention of Christ Jesus, and that not as a true Lord of our life. We cannot define God without support of faith in the Gospel or without belief in the truth of all of scripture. We cannot have god serve our flesh, while we will not worship Christ our Lord, who was sacrificed for our sins.

    You may certainly ponder our Creator in the light of John’s introduction to the Gospel.  You know well John’s description of Jesus love for the world; that is, sinners like you and me [John 3:16].

    It is not enough to just smile and pitch love without repentance and change. Jesus also cautions: … but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

    How dare we claim Christ without mention of His Lordship over our will!  May Thy will be done.

    The writer of Hebrews finishes his description of God in the context we must consider and believe to have true faith in the One God who IS and was and will be.

     God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

    5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,

    “You are my Son,
    today I have begotten you”?

    Or again,

    “I will be to him a father,
    and he shall be to me a son”?

    6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,

    “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

    No, our “religion” is certainly not about angels or spirits, worshiping earth or the heavens, conjecture in aliens or chance, teaching from prophets or authors. Our religion and faith is in the One hope of all mankind for the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of our spirit into the very presence of God our Father, the love of Christ Jesus the Son, who became Holy sacrifice for our sins, and eternal life in fellowship with God the Holy Spirit; our God Who IS and was and will be forever. Amen.