March 8, 2022                                      OUR  AMBITION
2 Corinthians 5:4-10 “For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do  not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord-for we walk by faith, not by sight-we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
Some observations from these scriptures:                                                                                                              This body is our temporary dwelling; we are living in a ‘tent.’ While we live in this tent, we groan and are burdened because we know there is much for us than we are now experiencing in this mortal body. One day, this mortal body of ours, this tent, will be swallowed up by life. God prepared us for this purpose and He has given us the Spirit as a pledge that God will fulfill this purpose for us.
Because God has revealed His purpose for us, we can always be of good courage; we find encouragement because we can see from our ‘tents’ what God has prepared for us-we see where we are moving to-that gives us strength and energy for the present-for life in the tent.
If we are fearing death, it’s an indication we do not understand or believe that God has something far greater for us after the death of our mortal body. If we do believe what God says about this mortal body being swallowed up by life, we had rather be absent from the body and be home with the Lord. We all have a natural longing to be home-but this mortal body we live in is not out home. We can’t see with our physical eyes what God has for us; we walk by faith. If we live according to what we see with our eyes, we are blind to the things of God.
Because of this fantastic purpose God has for us, it is only natural that it will be our ambition to be pleasing to Him. Being connected to and joining in with the plans and the ways of God transforms our lives to the point that we want to live as unto Him-selfish ambition vanishes.
Finally, the reality that many believers overlook is that one day we will stand before Christ and will be recompensed for the things we have done in this life-whether good or bad. Many misunderstand grace; we are saved by grace, but grace is not a license to sin and we are not to take sin lightly. Jesus went about doing good. There are many admonitions in scripture for us to be about good works. We have been made righteous in Christ, and righteousness expresses itself through good works. James says that faith without works is a dead faith.
Romans 14:8 “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”
1 Peter 3:13 “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”
Blessings, Buddy

 
March 6, 2022                                    PAY  CLOSE  ATTENTION
Hebrews 2:1-3 “For this reason we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also bearing witness and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”
When the writer of Hebrews says “For this reason” he is referring to what was said in the first chapter of Hebrews where we are reminded of the great works and miracles of God and how God has spoken to us through His Son. The Son of God came to earth to make purification of sins, and then sat down at the right hand of God-that is an amazing truth! Hebrews 1:1-3. In the last verse of chapter one, we are told regarding angles “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”  (There are angles working on behalf of believers!) One message rings out loud and clear in Hebrews; we must never forget what the Creator God has done and we must pay close attention to what we have heard-what He has revealed in His word. He has made Himself know through His mighty deeds; long ago God spoke to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways; in these last days He has spoken to us through His Son, and God has appointed His Son heir of all things. Our salvation came as result of the Son of God being crucified on a cross! Salvation is not cheap. You could rightly say that the apex of all times, the single greatest event of all times, was Jesus coming to earth in the form of man and giving His life as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. We must come face to face with the fact that God said “every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense.” Am I saying that we must fear God? Yes. But it is a holy fear that we are to have; it is being overwhelmed with the power of God and that we are accountable to Him. Simply said, our response to God should be one of humility and obedience-because He alone is God. Our God is mighty and powerful, but He is also a God who loves us and forgives us and has compassion on us. As said above, if we transgress and are disobedient to what God has said, we will receive a just recompense. (I know that sounds hard, and perhaps it challenges our view of God.) Think about it-if a believer sins, even though God will forgive him, the sin has consequences; for certain, sin breaks our fellowship with God, and it may have devastating consequences. The point of this truth is that we need to pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. The serious and stern warning for us is that we must not neglect our so great a salvation-if we do how shall we escape? (That’s what God said.) To prevent drifting from what we have heard, we must have a steady diet of the word of God, be committed to obeying what God has said, and find our place in the body of Christ where we share life with one another as followers of Christ. We are not to be stagnant-we are to be growing in the faith and in the knowledge of God. Let us be careful not drift from what God has plainly spoken; let us embrace the word of God and adjust our lives to live according to all that God has spoken. We have a great salvation-may we not neglect it.
2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
March 4, 2022                                         YOU  WILL HAVE  TRIBULATION
John 16:33 “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.”
James 1:2-4 “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Ephesians 6:16 “In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
One thing for certain, in the world, we have tribulation and we have trials! I must admit that I do not always ‘count it all joy when I encounter various trials.’ Trials come in all forms, including disease and sickness, addictions of all sorts, division, conflict, depression, corruption, broken relationships, financial, and wars and rumors of wars. In the early church, the most difficult and trying tribulation came as a result of their faith. (That may say a lot about us.) Another thing for certain is that trials and tribulations test our faith. Obviously, Jesus was saying that there was something to be gained in experiencing trials; trials are not just random happenings we must endure with no possibility of benefiting from the trials. The testing of our faith produces endurance. Instead of complaining about the trial or trying to escape the trial, we are to let endurance that is being worked out in us have its perfect work; the perfect work is that we will be ‘perfect and complete, lacking nothing.’ At times can be on the mountain top where everything is wonderful and we can just sail through life-and we can thank God for those times-but we do not always live on the mountain top. In the good times, our faith may not be put to the test; it is in the fire and in the trials and tribulations that our faith is tested. In the heat of the trial, it is our faith that enables us to endure. Once we go through the trial with endurance, it’s like getting a ‘certificate of completion’ and we find that we are ‘perfect, complete, and lacking nothing’-we endured the trial, we overcame. Of course we cannot overcome or endure trials as God intended in our own strength; Jesus was our example and He tells us to take courage, because just as He overcame the world and all of its trials, so can we. Not only can we survive the trials, but we can derive benefit from the trials. We are to be like the seasoned warrior who comes out of the battle a victor. We are told to ‘take up the shield of faith;’ with our shield of faith we can extinguish all of the flaming arrows of the evil one. Even though we may be having difficulty ‘counting it all joy’ when trials come, let us be moving toward what James says about trials and let us not loose heart in the trials, and by faith believe that God does a good work in us as we endure the trials. It is a blessing indeed to be able to have peace even in the most difficult times-because Jesus overcame the world, and we are in Him and He is in us, we can have peace. Tribulations are difficult; but God is able to produce good fruit in us in the midst of the trials.
James 1:12 “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
Blessings,
Buddy

​March 1st, 2022                                SLAVES OF  RIGHTEOUSNESS
Romans 6:16-18, 22 “Do you not know that when you present yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching  to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”        “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”
We are enslaved to something or to someone; not by an outside force, but by our choice. Paul starts out by saying that we are slaves to whom we obey; either sin which leads to death (spiritual death and eventual physical death, separated from God) or righteousness. Simply said, we either obey our flesh, that part of us that is self-centered, or we obey the Spirit of God who lives in us. Before one comes to know God as His Lord and Savior, the only option for that one to is to live according to his flesh-to live with the goal of satisfying self. However, when one comes to know God as his Lord and Savior, he is made a new creation and is given a new mind, a new spirit and a new heart, and the Holy Spirit of God comes to live in him. That changes everything! When one is born again, he is made righteous in the sight of God and is set free from the power of sin. Here is the crucial point we must understand; a believer can choose to revert back to living according to his or her own desires, ignoring the Holy Spirit and ignoring the call to walk in righteousness. As believers, we have the power of choice; we choose who we present ourselves to; we choose who we will obey-either sin (the self-life), or righteousness. This brings us to the crux of the issue, and it amplifies why it is essential that we know our true identity as believers. If we do not know who we are in Christ (to be made new) or what it means to be in Christ, we will find ourselves trying to measure up to God’s word in our own strength-and that leads to defeat, frustration, and a legalistic mindset. As said above, God has set us free from the power of sin-that means that we can say no to sin. We still have an old sin nature that wars with our new spirit man, but we do not have to yield to the old nature as we did before we were saved. Galatians 5:16 makes it clear: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” So, if we sin, it is by our choice. We see now why Paul was reminding believers that it is critically important to understand that we are to present ourselves as slaves to righteousness, obedient to the Spirit who lives in us. If we are slaves to righteousness, we will enjoy the fruit of the Spirit. (Sometimes I fear that we have become accustomed to living with doubts, fear, worry, anxiety, and the such-which are sin.) What a blessing it is for us to be able to present ourselves as slaves of righteousness, walking in the ways of the Lord and living life as He designed.
Romans 6:12-13 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey the lust thereof: neither present your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
Blessings,
 Buddy
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