November 21, 2021                             BORN  OF  GOD
John 1:12-13 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, not or the will of the flesh, nor or the will of man, but of God.”
Ephesians 1:4 “Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him, in love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,”
Matthew 23:9 “And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.”
We may think that our beginning was when we were born; obviously, we had earthly parents to whom we were born physically…but there’s more-a lot more. It was not happenstance that we were born. Even though it may have been an unexpected pregnancy, or even an unwanted pregnancy, it was not such in the sight of God. Our parents may have had great excitement about our being born, but our being born was much more than two people wanting a baby. It is a major realization, a spiritual break through, for us to come to know that God knew us long before we were born physically, and to know that He is our real Father; we are Fathered by God! (God used our parents to get us here physically, and we should be grateful for the role our parents played in the process.) It is beyond comprehension that God knew us and chose us “before the foundation of the world” and that He formed us in our mother’s womb!!! To know that we were born of God has great implications for us. Because we are born of God, we must know that God loves us, and that is the most important truth to know in all of life. Because we are from God, and God is our Father, we do not have to live with a poor self-esteem—we are somebody—sons and daughters of the Creator God! We are ‘somebody,’ but not in an arrogant way; with humility we confess that we are here because of the grace and work of God. Because we are born of God, it is an indisputable fact that we have a purpose for being here; our over-arching purpose is to glorify and honor God with our lives. I had been a believer for many years, but one particular night, God revealed to me in a very clear way that He was my Father. My immediate though was “What do I have to fear or what do I have to worry about-nothing!” Let us spend time meditating on the above scriptures; let us ask God to awaken us to the reality that we are indeed born of God; that we are loved and cared for by Him; that we have a destiny; that we have a reason for living; and because we belong to Him, He is in the process of transforming us into the image of His Son.
Romans 8:29-30 “For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
November 19, 2021                        KNOWING  WHO  IS  APPROVED
1 Corinthians 11:19 “For there must also be factions among you, in order that those who are approved may become evident among you.”
Faction has the idea of dissention, contention, and conflict. If you are part of a family, a church, a social club, or employed, you know about factions. Often, in the holiday season when families try to get together, factions often arise for whatever the reason. (When you take time to look at what causes the factions, it is normally something that is not a big deal-almost insignificant on the grand scale of things.) This was true when members of the early church met together to share the Lord’s supper-there were factions within the group. However, factions can serve a purpose: it’s possible to go from factions to unity. That’s where you and I come in. God enables us to rise above the factions; to see the bigger picture; to see that the presence and the life of God brings about peace and unity. It is indeed freeing to realize that we do not have to join the faction! Our appeal for unity and peace is based on the unity and peace we have in Christ; Christ is not divided; and we are a part of His body. Simply put-factions should not be. In our work place, in our church, or wherever we hang out-there will very likely be some who are not believers; yet I believe that God can use us to be peace-makers. I understand that there are some basic differences in the beliefs of believers and non-believers, and there are some things that the two cannot agree on, but God will give us a response that opens the door for peace. For us, let us know that factions are a part of life; but also let us know that God can use us to speak the wisdom of God and the peace of God in the midst of factions. Let us rise above dissentions.
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Romans 14:19 “So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.”
2 Corinthians 13:11 “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”
Blessings,
Buddy

November 17, 2021                                       ARISE AND SHINE
Isaiah 60:1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”
Ephesians 5:14 “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Isaiah 40:31 “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Sometimes we lose sight of the truth; we forget the basics; we become dull; we begin to coast and live on auto pilot; the routines of life become just that-routine; we live without vision; and we become responders more than initiators. Sorry for starting off this blog on such a negative thought! However, I know that in my own experience of life, I sometimes fall into one or some of these tendencies. Unless we guard against it, our familiarity with the scriptures, and even with our view and understanding of God, can cause us to lose the newness, the freshness, and the power of what it means to be a part of God’s kingdom. In God’s kingdom, there is no room for boredom and ho-hum living-no matter your age or your plight in life. One of the main ways of not becoming a casualty of ‘familiarity’ is to actively apply, or put into action the admonitions and the commands found in God’s word; if we fail at this point then we are living according to our own ways, and our ways always puts us on a downward slope. Let us hear the warning of Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Walking in the ways of God always leads to life. Can we realize afresh, may the Spirit of God remind us, of what it means to be joined to Him, to be re-born, to be a child of God, to be forgiven, and to be the temple of the Holy Spirit? Because Jesus rose form the dead, we too can walk in newness. Romans 6:4. If our faith, our knowing God the creator does not energize us for life, then we are overdue for a spiritual check-up. Many mistakenly segment or compartmentalize the gospel and view some things they do in life as ‘spiritual’ and some things as secular or non-spiritual. The gospel of God, when the truth of it is grasped, dramatically impacts every part of our life; God living in us through His Holy Spirit makes all things new and takes us out of the ho-hum life and causes us to live a super-natural life. As believers, we go about many of the same task and routines as non-believers-we work, we play, etc., BUT there is a world of difference. As we walk with the Lord, as we live out of our new identity in Him, all that we do has purpose-has life- and is energized by God. The call of God for us to rise and shine has no age restrictions, nor any other restrictions, but is a call to every believer “for our light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon us”. God is not limited; God has done what is necessary for us to live life to the fullest-even in the difficult times. Daniel 11:32b gives us a tremendous promise: “but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” Are you, am I, doing exploits as a result of knowing our God, or are we living in a rut, on auto pilot, just taking life as it comes? God, the all-powerful One, the Creator, the life giver, lives in us-how can life be monotonous or boring? If we have lost the zest for life, let us take time to rekindle our love for Him; let us read His word to renew our acquaintance with Him; lets us obey what He says to us through His Spirit and through His Word; and let it be our heart to please Him in all we do. Go ahead-do some exploits!
Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law is happy.”
Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
November 14, 2021                               BUT  TAKE  COURAGE
John 16:19-20, 22, 33
“Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, ‘Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not behold Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me?’ Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to joy.”          “Therefore you too now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you.”     “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
We for sure have dealt with sorrow and tribulation. However, as believers, we can experience peace even the midst of troubles and trials. Jesus was revealing future events to His disciples; He knew they would experience great sorrow when He would be crucified, BUT He also knew that their sorrow would be turned to joy. Even though the disciples had been with Jesus for three years, they had no knowledge or understanding of the events about to unfold. They did not understand that the death of Jesus meant that the Holy Spirit would be sent to live in them. The Holy Spirit came to live not among us, but IN us-and that makes the difference in everything. As great and awesome as it was to be with Jesus, it would be far greater for Him to live in them through the Holy Spirit. God understands that we have sorrow in this life, but He has made a way for us to overcome what faces us and to know the peace that He gives. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 reminds us that we do not grieve, or sorrow as those who do not know God. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is THE life-changer. His resurrection means that we are forgiven of all our sins; that we are His sons and daughters; that we have a destiny with Him; that we have been given new hearts, new minds, and a new nature; that we are complete in Him; and that we have been made overcomers in life. It does not mean that we are exempt from difficulties; but it does mean that we are not defeated by the difficulties. The world does not have the hope that we have, and the world does not have access to the Spirit of God who comforts and gives abiding joy. The word for us today is that Jesus gives us peace in the midst of trials, persecutions, and difficulties. Jesus knew the implications of Him dying for us and then being raised from the dead. Let us embrace the fact that we live post-resurrection. Now, the Holy Spirit of God, LIVES IN US this very moment and we are joined to God and we are safe and secure in Him, even when the storm rages about us. “but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
John 14:16, 26 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever.”       “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
Blessings,
Buddy

  
November 12, 2021                                   TO  THOSE  WHO  LOVE  GOD
Romans 8:28-31,35 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”        “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecutions, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
The promise that “all things work together for good” is not a blanket promise to all people; this promise is for a specific group of people-for those who “love God and or called according to His purpose.” (I am not certain that this promise applies to all believers; if a believer is living contrary to the ways of the Lord, do all things work together for good for that person? I think that ultimately things do work together for good for him as God even uses the fruit of our wayward ways to bring us back to Him.)  However that may be, let us look at the promises that are for those who love God. Most would be quick to say that they love God; however, we may need to take a closer look at what does it mean to truly love God, and what are the evidences of a love for God. First and foremost, love is a matter of the heart. To love God means that we think about Him often; it means we want to do things that are pleasing to Him; it means that we want to get to know Him intimately; it means that we honor Him; it means that we desire to walk in His ways-to obey Him; and it means that we will be drawn to His word. The important thing to understand is that we do not do all of these things in order for Him to accept us or be pleased with us; we do these things because they are a result of loving God. The fruits of love just happen-it does not take effort to love-and that is the freeing part. If a young man is in love with a young lady, no one has to tell him to call her, make a way to be with her, to buy her flowers, do things that she enjoys-or whatever. So it is with loving God; knowing Him and being in fellowship with Him is our greatest desire in life. You may be thinking that “If I did all of those things, I would be perfect.” We may stumble along the way, and we may revert back to our self-life on occasion, but God is always drawing us to Himself, and the love for God that is rooted in our hearts will surface and our fellowship with our Father is restored. You and I are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus-that is where God is taking us and no one or anything will prevent that. Our part is to love Him, and as the Holy Spirit guides us and equips us, we adjust our lives to the example we have in Jesus. Our ultimate calling is to be like Jesus! Let us find rest and peace in the fact that we cannot escape the love that God has for us and that He is for us; and if God is for us, who can be against us? Nothing cannot thwart His purposes. Knowing the plans God has for us and knowing His love for us, how could we not love Him, and how could we not desire to live according to His plans for us?
1 John 4:16-17, 19 “And we have come to know Him and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.”        “We love, because He first loved us.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
November 9, 2021                                    GROW  UP
Ephesians 4:11-13 “And HE gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as some as evangelist, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
We must not become stagnant spiritually. We are called to maturity in Christ; we are to be becoming like Christ! This coming to maturity is not a personal matter or something we do on our own. Because we in the western world tend to be individualistic, we may think it is up to us to mature in Christ. However, we are members of the body of Christ, and as members of His body, each member gives and receives from the other members; the body of Christ is connected. If we think we have no need of the body, then we are in error. God places various members in the body just as He pleases, and each member has a part. It is God’s desire, and His plan, that each member grows and matures to the ‘fullness of Christ;’ in other words, we are to become like Him. To help us in the process of maturing in Christ, God places within the body of Christ apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors and teachers. (These are particular gifting’s to the body but, everyone in the body has certain spiritual gifts that are designed to bless the body.) God uses these particular gifting’s to equip the saints for the work of service and to build up the body of Christ. In light of this, it is crucial that we find our place in the body of Christ and be about maturing in the faith. (There is one problem: there are ‘churches’ out there that are not functioning according to the plans and designs God has for the church; so, you need to find a church-big or small-that is desiring to be the church as depicted in the New Testament. There are no perfect churches because imperfect people make up the church-but that is the beauty of it-believers with various back grounds and all sorts of temperaments, come together with the common desire to grow up in Christ.) Let us desire to gain a greater knowledge of God and let us be mature believers who resemble Christ. The beauty of the body of Christ is that every member has a place and a role in the body where each one contributes to the health of the body as a whole.
Ephesians 4:14-16 “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
Blessings,
Buddy  

​ 
November 7, 2021                                  WHY  HE  CAME
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
Isaiah 58:6 “Is this not the fast I choose: to lose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?”
Jesus made a statement that reveals the key to having a vital, healthy relationship with Him; He said that He came to preach the gospel to the poor. Jesus was not referring to the financial standing of a person, but to the one who knew that he or she needed a Savior-to the one who knew he was bankrupt without Jesus-to the one who was ‘poor’ in spirit. Those who think they are self-sufficient, who have it all together, who have no need, miss the message and the power of the gospel. The gospel that Jesus preached had dramatic results for those who heard and received what He preached-and it is just as powerful today as it was then. Jesus came to release the captives; man can be captive to many things. One may be captive to certain thought patterns, certain activities and habits, to addictions of all sorts, to depression, to loneliness-the list goes on-but the gospel sets us free from anything that holds us captive. Man apart from God is blind; what he may think is true, is not true. Not until the gospel is received can man see what is true. Many are downtrodden; the trials and difficulties we face in life can cause us to become discouraged and downtrodden in spirit. However, Jesus came proclaiming the gospel that lifts our spirits, gives us hope, and secures a future for us. In believing and receiving His gospel, we become overcomers in life. When we embrace the gospel and when we walk in the ways of the Lord, we experience His favor and His blessings, even in the difficult times. If not alert, we can find ourselves spiritually coasting in life, losing the joy and the wonder of the message that that Jesus is still proclaiming to us today. IF we have received His gospel, then we are not being held captives, our eyes can see truth, we are not downtrodden, and we know the favor of the Lord. That is a bold statement-but it is true; the gospel does what Jesus said it would do. Should you find yourself being downtrodden, or captive, or blind to what is right and what is true, do not feel condemned, but be renewed in the spirit of your mine, turn back to the Lord, believe and act on what He says, and fully embrace His gospel. Let us a remember and be thankful that He came to set us free; free to be who He created us to be.
1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
Ephesians 3:16-19 “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”
Blessings,
Buddy
 
 

 
November 5, 2021                               RUN  WITH  ENDURANCE
Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
We have a race to run; the race is set before us. We are not alone; there is a countless number of believers who have gone before us, and there is a countless number of believers who are alive today-‘surrounding us.’ This matter of being joined to God and living our lives according to His gospel is no small deal. The writer of Hebrews is encouraging us to run the race with endurance, but he is also admonishing us or warning us that if not alert, we will not run as we should. We need to determine if there are any encumbrances that hinder us from running well, and is there any sin ‘which so easily entangles us.’ There are many things that could encumber us: such as our being consumed with certain activities or hobbies; focusing on the temporal; seeking fame or fortune, harmful thought patterns,  allowing ourselves to become indifferent or even becoming spiritually slothful-or whatever. The point is, let us be alert to anything that draws our attention from the things of the Lord. In this passage of scripture, encumbrance and sin are closely related; perhaps sin is more obvious. Most of us quickly renounce and reject certain sins, but at the same time may allow certain ‘small’ sins to hinder or entrap us. Evaluating our spiritual health and our relationship with the Lord is a good thing to do-and is scriptural; but we are not to become absorbed in self-evaluation. One purpose of the Holy Spirit being given to us is to guide us; if we are sensitive to the voice of the Spirit, He will point out to us any encumbrances or sins that are hindering us or preventing us from running the race set before us. In this race, because we encounter obstacles and resistance along the way, we must run with endurance; we must set our eyes on Jesus and the blessings we will receive when we meet Jesus face-to-face. Do not misunderstand; this does not mean that we must refrain from enjoyable or necessary activities; but it does mean that we do all we do as unto Him and that we keep Him as our priority in life. The good news is that we can “lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us” and we can “run with endurance the race that is set before us.” We have many witnesses rooting us on. If you have been side-tracked, get back in the race-it is not too late to finish well.
1 Corinthians 9:25 “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.”
Blessings,
Buddy

November 3, 201                                          FILLED                                           
Colossians 1:9-12 “..we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He has delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
What a prayer request! We may think that this prayer that Paul made for all believers, including you and I, is ‘pie in the sky,’ just a prayer that sounds good, but would never be a reality for us. Read this prayer request again and look closely at what Paul is asking God to do in each one of us. We may be guilty of having a small view or understanding of what it means to be born again, to be made new, and to be joined to God. Paul knew that this prayer was for real; He knew that this is exactly what God wants to do in us and He knew that by the Spirit of God in us, this prayer request could become reality. This prayer on our behalf is an excellent picture of what it means to be made new; to be transferred to the Kingdom of God. We also must remember that when Paul made this prayer, believers faced persecution and trials on every hand, yet they could experience this prayer becoming a reality. You might say that if this prayer described me, I would be perfect-and that would be correct. In Matthew 5:48 we read: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Here, to be perfect means to be ‘complete,’ and in that sense we are perfect as Colossians 2:10 tells us that we are complete in Him. We are not ‘sinless’ as believers, but if and when we sin, we can be quick to confess our sin and continue walking in the ways of the Lord. Our ‘completeness’ in Christ means that there is provision for sin should we sin, AND our finding our completeness in Him does away with any desire to sin and instead, creates within us a desire to please Him in all we do. God has done a marvelous work in us; we can now spend a lifetime discovering and expressing what all it means to be in Him. There is no higher calling in life, nothing that compares to living as sons and daughters of God as expressions of the love of God, and the power of God to make us new creations. As we re-read this prayer made on our behalf, let us claim each segment as ours-who we are becoming-who we are right now, in Him.
Colossians 2:6: “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
October 31, 2021                                 NEARER  AND  BIGGER THAN  WE  THINK
Psalm 139:1-7 “O Lord, Thou has searched me and known me. Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up; Thou dost understand my thoughts from afar. Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, Thou dost know it all. Thou hast enclosed me behind and before, and laid Thy hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where I can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence?
We tend to think of God being ‘up there somewhere,’ and we must do our part if we are to connect with Him, such as pray, read the bible, go to church, or whatever. It is true that we can break our fellowship with God and it can seem that He is distant, and we can go about to living our life according to our own dictates. It is also true that if we ‘draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.’ James 4:8. However, God knows it all-and all means all! Even before we speak a word, God knows the word we will speak! There is no escaping God. Hebrews 4:13 tells us “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” For some, the idea of God knowing everything about them is not a pleasant thought. However, once we come to know His as our Father who loves us and cares for us and a Father who will never abandon us, we find great comfort in Him being all-knowing. What a blessing to know that we cannot escape His presence-even if we are living the ‘self-life’ and not seeking Him. Again, do not misunderstand; we can break our fellowship with God by not seeking Him and by living according to our own desires. The point is that He knows our ways-He knows our thoughts, our desires, our actions-He even knows when we sit down and when we get up! He has ‘laid His hands upon us.’ And the greatest part is that He loves us. As the psalmist said, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.” So what do we do? The fact that He knows everything about us should serve as a motivation to live our lives is such a way that is pleasing to Him.
Psalm 139:13-16 “For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Thy works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes has seen my unformed substance; and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Thy thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them.”
Blessings,
Buddy