April 27, 2017                                             LAYING  HOLD  OF
Hebrews 6:17-19: “In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,”
A lot of the promises we find in the scriptures are not fulfilled automatically. As believers, we have the responsibility to discern our part in responding to the promises and the conditions of the promise. Often, God makes a promise that is dependent on our action or response. For example, God promises that we will find Him—If we seek Him. We know something about God, but God desires to show us even more about Him and His purposes. The good news is that His purposes are unchangeable and He has promised that we will find comfort and hope as we discover what He has for those who love Him, for those who seek Him. God is not hiding His purposes from us, but is desiring to reveal them to us-the heirs of the promise. Because man as a whole rejects God and insist on living according to his own dictates, the result is that the world is in darkness and in a state of crisis, and uncertainty is the norm.  However, in God’s kingdom, His character and His purposes remain constant and His promises are sure and steadfast. God is light and He is wisdom, and only in Him can we find a hope that remains no matter what is taking place in the world around us. The hope that God gives is not tied to circumstances, but is tied to the unchangeable character of God. We do face trials and difficulties as believers living in the world, but we have the promises that God gives us strength for the trials and that He will use the trials for good and that we will know His presence in the trial. The ‘lostness’ of man, and the depravity of man is becoming more and more obvious; many are desperate and living without hope. For the believer, there is an anchor for our soul that holds during these turbulent times, and that anchor is the hope that comes from knowing that the promises of God to us are unchangeable. Let us search the scriptures so that we might know the promises that God has given to us, and let His promises be our anchor.
2 Corinthians 1:20: “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.”
Romans 15:13: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
April 24, 2017                                          ONE   FATHER
Hebrews 2:9-11: “But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,”
How awesome is this verse! Because of the love that God has for His people, Jesus left the presence of His Father in heaven, came to earth, born and laid in a manger, and took on flesh and blood; for a little while, Jesus was made lower than the angels. It was God’s grace that allowed Jesus to taste death for everyone. It is impossible for us to know or understand what a sacrifice it was for Jesus to leave the presence of His Father and His heavenly abode and to become a man, knowing that man, whom He came to die for, would reject and crucify Him. But, God had a reason for sending His Son and allowing Him to endure such suffering. In this verse, we discover the very reason why God sent the Son, and why the Son was willing to come and taste death for us. When we see and understand the reason behind what God did, our life changes forever.  The reason that God and His Son Jesus did what they did was because JESUS (the one who sanctifies) AND OURSELVES (the ones who were sanctified) ARE ALL FROM ONE FATHER! God knew us and loved us long before we were born physically; our birth was not just a random act or accident. (There is no reason a believer should ever feel unloved once they see the love of the Father.) Jesus is our Savior, BUT He is also our Brother, and is not ashamed to call us brethren. God carrying out His master plan to redeem His children was the greatest rescue event of all times!  Our salvation has been secured, we now share the glory of the Father, and we have been joined to Him forever. These truths certainly should lead to a mega-shift in our view of life on this earth. We still live in flesh and bones and we know the limitations of our physical beings, but the reality is that we are sons and daughters of God who have been made new and we are destined to spend eternity with our brother Jesus, and our Father, God. For the brief time we spend on earth, we do so with the power and strength of God at work in us, knowing that He is transforming us into His image and He is using our lives for His purposes. Life is so much more than the things we do in the routines of life, but in the routines, He is at work. We are to view the things we do as a result of what He is doing is us. For example, we work at a job because God has made us to be productive, because He is productive; we work to not only meet our needs, but to meet the needs of others; we work with integrity and character and as unto the Lord so that He is glorified. Let us live, knowing that the creator God is OUR FATHER.
John 20:17: “Jesus said to her, ‘Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Now go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”
Blessings.
Buddy
 
 
 
 
 

April 21, 2017                                                FINDING  HOPE
Romans 15:4-6: “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus.”
It is a blessing to know that God is well aware of the plight of man on earth. Not only is He aware of all we face as human beings, He has made provision for those who believe in Him, for those whose faith and trust are in Him. God saw the depravity of man and the inability of man to keep the ways of God, and God had compassion on the world, and His compassion was expressed by sending His Son that all might be saved. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16. Not only does believing in Him ensure eternity in heaven, it also has the power to transform our life on earth. One blessing that accompanies believing in Jesus is that of having hope, even in difficult times. As we observe the world about us, it is difficult, if not impossible to find reason for hope. But God has intervened. Even though the world is in darkness, those who know Him can be, and should be filled with hope. Two gigantic events have taken place that make it possible for us to have hope. One is that Jesus has come that we might be saved and made a part of His kingdom, and the other is that God has given us His written word-the book of life. The scriptures were given to us as a way of learning who God is, what kind of God He is, and as a book that gives instructions on how to live in the kingdom of God. A sure anchor for our soul, mind and spirit, and a basis for hope, is knowing the God that is revealed in the written word. Reading and becoming familiar with the scriptures is not something we need to do in order to be a ‘good Christian,’ but rather we read the scriptures in order to know how we are to live and to learn the things that are pleasing to Him. The scriptures are like a plumb line by which we measure our live, or like a compass that always points us in the right direction. Another blessing that comes as a result of living according to the scriptures is that it produces unity among the believers. Finally, living out the scriptures has a way of simplifying life, and keeping pur focus on what really matters. If we are wise, we will seek after what God has said in His word in order that we might experience life as He designed. If we live on our own, or according to what we think, we will be living way beneath our privilege as a child of God.
Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Blessings,
Buddy
 
 
 
 

April 18, 2017                                               FIRMLY  ROOTED
Colossians 2:5-7: “For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
If there are two things needed today in the body of believers, it is good discipline, and stability of our faith. It seems that as a whole, in the Christian community today, there is a shallowness, evidenced by and a lack of discipline and stability in our faith. For whatever the reason, we are rather easily discouraged, and tend to be lacking in ‘good discipline.’ We live in times that are difficult in many ways; our society faces numerous challenges and problems-it would take the rest of the page to list them-you know what they are. And, I dare say that everyone reading this has in some way been touched by the difficulties and brokenness we face today. However, the believers who lived during the time these scriptures were written suffered in ways we can’t even imagine. Believers were routinely persecuted by the government and by the religious leaders because of their faith in Christ; many were imprisoned and many were tortured and put to death. In the midst of such suffering, Paul said that he rejoiced to see their good discipline and the stability of their faith. In our “Christianity” it is paramount that we, just like those believers of the past, adopt as a life style, good discipline and a stable faith, no matter what our circumstances may be from day-to-day. By receiving Jesus as Lord, He is to become our life and we are to be built upon Him, walking in His ways. If our life is rooted in anything other than the Lord Himself, our roots will not hold when difficulties come our way, and we will not be properly nourished. We are not left to do ‘the best we can’ and figure things on our own; the scriptures give us instruction concerning how we are to live. We become ‘firmly rooted’ as we read and study the scriptures with the desire to increase in the knowledge of God, and as we apply or act on what we learn from the scriptures.  The all-important question for each of us is whether or not we know Jesus as our Lord and are we walking in His ways. Don’t be distracted by the temporal world, but be focused on what is eternal; seek His kingdom first.
1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, My beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
April 16, 2017                                                      IF
Colossians 1:21-23: “And you, that was sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked words, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; I Paul am made a minister;
For many years, the prevailing message from the church has been that of accepting Jesus as Savior that we might go to heaven when we die. In a subtle way, the message has been that if one will trust Jesus as their Savior, everything will be fine. What has been grossly neglected is the teaching and emphasis of how those who have accepted Jesus as Savior are to live as the people of God. Thank God that Jesus does secure our salvation, but He did much more than that; He purchased us and we are no longer our own; we belong to Him. We are saved by His grace and not by our works, but this great salvation is to bring with it a new life-a life different from the life we lived before our salvation. Our salvation is the beginning of our being transformed into the image of Christ, meaning that our life is to be becoming increasingly like the life of Christ. As believers, we are to take our salvation seriously, to take heed to what the scriptures teach regarding our salvation. In Philippians 2:12 we read: “Therefore, my friends, as you have always obeyed-not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good pleasure.” One of the key motivations for working out our salvation is the fact that it is GOD who is at work IN US-how dare we not pay attention to His work in us! And note, our life is to be all about living for “His good pleasure.” CS Spurgeon once said: “We have been clear upon the fact that good works are not the cause of salvation; let us be equally clear upon the truth they are the necessary fruit of it.” To proclaim Jesus as Savior has huge implications. We have the power to choose to not ‘work out our salvation’ but we will suffer consequences-not because God does not love us, but because life outside of the life that God has for us is life that is unfulfilling to say the least. God desires to bless His people, but contrary to popular thought, there is a big IF that we must consider. We will know and experience His blessings ‘If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.” God is desiring to bless even those who are not living in His will, but His richest blessings are for those who have died to themselves and are living for His good pleasure.
James 2:22 (speaking of Abraham) “You see that his faith and his action was working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.  Verse  24: “You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
April 13, 2017                                      BE  ANXIOUS  FOR  NOTHING
Philippians 4:6-7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
You might be thinking that whoever wrote this had no idea of the culture and the times in which we live today. The instruction to “Be anxious for nothing” may seem to be beyond reach, yet that is exactly what God is saying to us. In order for us to live without being anxious, we must know in the deepest part of our being that God is the creator and that He is ruling supreme, AND that He is our Father. God is all-knowing and all powerful, and He makes “all things work together for good to them that love God. To them who are called according to His purpose” Romans 8:29. No matter what difficulties we may be facing, God invites us to pray and make supplication, and make our request to Him! The fact that He invites us to make our request to Him, demonstrates His love for us. We must note that God did not promise that He would grant us everything we may ask for-He is not a heavenly Santa Clause. God knows more than we do what we need, but He still gives us an open invitation to make our request known to Him. God may grant our request, or He may say ‘no’, or He may say ‘not now.’ But whatever answer He gives, we can rest assured that it is the very best answer for us. When we make our request to God, with thanksgiving, knowing that He knows best and is working all things for our good, we experience the peace of God. The peace that comes with trusting God is a peace that surpasses all understanding-we can’t explain it. With this belief and mindset toward God, our mind and heart will be guarded against unrest and anxiety. Many do not experience or understand the truth of these verses; and the one who does experience the reality of being ‘anxious for nothing’ may be looked upon as being shallow-minded and not in touch with the real world. We do face serious, hurtful situations in life, and God understands this and He comforts us in the midst of the trials. Nonetheless, He has made provision for us that includes making our request known to Him with a sense of thanksgiving, and trusting Him to grant us whatever He knows is best.  Life becomes much more simplified and much more complete when we come to a place where we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the God who created everything is our Father. Because God is our Father, what is there to fear? What is there to be anxious about? Our Father’s love for us is sure and steadfast and He does indeed cause all things to work for our good when we walk in His ways. Even should our life not be pleasing to Him, He continues to draw us to Himself and He waits with open arms to receive us back to fellowship with Him. Hear the words of Jesus: “Be anxious for nothing.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
April 10, 2017                                             ACTION  REQUIRED
Matthew 7:24-27: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.”
Many in our culture, including those who profess to be Christians, have come to a place where they are content to hear, without acting on what they hear. We somehow think that it is sufficient just to hear and know the truth. We place value on knowledge. As believers, we feel that we are ‘spiritual,’ or ‘right with God’ if we have right doctrine, and to some degree, know the scriptures.  We often quote John 8:32 in support of our emphasizing the importance of knowledge; “and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” However, we should note what Jesus said in the preceding verse: “If ye abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.” Of course it is critical that we have a correct understanding and knowledge of the gospel, but we also must understand that being a follower of Jesus includes the doing of what He says. During Jesus ministry on earth, many would seek Him out to hear Him, hoping to see a miracle, but then depart form Him once they heard His teaching. The whole idea of the gospel is that Jesus came to teach and to demonstrate that life in the Kingdom of God was different than life in the world; often the two are in opposition.  Life in the kingdom of God brings with it different motives, different desires, different viewpoints, and a desire to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. One cannot live in the kingdom of God apart from acting on the words and teachings that the scriptures record. At the point of our salvation God put within us a new mind, a new heart, and a new spirit, equipping and enabling us to live in total harmony with His written word. Every word that Jesus spoke, and the words He spoke through the writers of the New Testament, are words meant for our good, and are words that lead to life when acted on. Acting on the scriptures does not diminish life in any way, but on the contrary, acting on the scriptures results in experiencing life to the fullest.  We need to hear the words of scripture, but we also need to act on, or apply what we hear.
Matthew 4:4: “Jesus answered, ‘It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
John 14:23: “Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves Me will obey My teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.’”
Blessings,
Buddy
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April 7, 2017                                                A  CHEERFUL  GIVER
2 Corinthians 9:6-8: “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just has he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”
If a person can read, then he or she can readily get the powerful truths of this passage of scripture that are so plainly presented. These verses are not only easily understood, they also contain tremendous promises from God for the one who enjoys giving.  The subject of giving cuts to the very heart of a man or woman, exposing whether the heart is set on giving, or on getting. The natural man, the one who does not know God personally, is focused on getting whatever he wants for himself. (A person who is not a Christian can give, but he does so because there is some return for him, whether it be that it makes him feel good about himself, or for financial reasons.) Because God is a giving God, the one who knows Him and walks in His ways, is also one who gives. The law of sowing and reaping is a law that is as sure as the sun rising in the east. The promises that God makes for the cheerful giver are for us! It is key that our heart is one of enjoying giving and that we give as we purpose in our heart to give.  God is not pleased when we give because we have to, or because we have been pressured to give. God has made us new and He has given us a new heart, and out of our new heart, we give. It’s just a plain, simple, but profoundly powerful fact-God loves a cheerful giver!  Often times, the Holy Spirit will put in our heart and mind a desire to give something to someone, and when He does, we are blessed when we follow through and give just as we purposed in our heart. Giving includes more than the giving of money; we can give our time, an encouraging word or card, a listening ear, etc. The promise that God makes us is that when we cheerfully give, we will experience His grace and He will see that we have an “abundance for every good deed.” The old saying that “you cannot out give God” holds true. While the world gives with selfish motives, the one who has been transformed by the love of God, gives with the desire to bless others, with no strings attached. Do not forget-God loves a cheerful giver!
Luke 6:38: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall man shall give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
2 Corinthians 9:10: “Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”
Blessings,
Buddy
 

 
April 4, 2017                                         IN  THE  TWINKLING  OF  AN  EYE
1 Corinthians 15:51-54: “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, be we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.”
The truth of these verses are at the very heart of the Christian faith. One of the pillars of the Christian faith is the belief that there will come a day when all believers who have died will be raised form the dead, and along with those are alive at His return, will put on immortality! And this will all take place in the ‘twinkling of an eye’-what a day that will be! The belief that one day our perishable body will made imperishable, and that this mortal body will become immortal, should be for us a bedrock of hope, no matter what difficulties we face a the moment. As this scripture tells us, it is a ‘mystery’, and only by knowing God and having the faith that He gives, can one believe such a fantastic promise. Those who do not know God see death as the end. However, for those who know God, death is the doorway that leads us into an eternal presence with Him in heaven. For the believer, death is indeed swallowed up in victory. We are reminded in 2 Corinthians 4:16 that in our physical bodies, there is aging, and eventual death: “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though out outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”  As those who belong to God, we are to be good stewards of our physical bodies, but the scriptures remind us that our primary focus is to be on the spiritual and the eternal. In  1 Corinthians 15 we discover the masterful plans and design that God has in all of creation, and at the heart of this is man being transformed into the image of God. There are two important principles reveled in this chapter; one is that the natural comes first, then the spiritual, and the other is that death precedes life. A seed must be buried before it becomes new life producing a harvest. Yes, our physical bodies are decaying, and unless the Lord returns first, we will die and be buried. But wait! That is not the end for we will be raised in incorruption and in glory and with a spiritual body and will live forever with the Lord! Let us focus on two truths; for the Christian, death has lost its’ sting, and two, we are destined to be transformed in to the image of God!
1 Corinthians 15:57-58: “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
Blessings,
Buddy