Blog Archives - TheNewU

LYDIA

6/27/2018

June 27, 2018 LYDIA
Acts 16:14-15 “And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening, and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.’ And she prevailed upon us.”
There is much we can glean from these two verses about Lydia in the book of Acts. The first thing we learn about Lydia is that she was not an idle person, but an industrious woman who sold fabric. In our culture, many suffer as a result of not being industrious, not being about a task that is worthwhile. I’m reminded of the verse that tells us “where there is no vision, the people perish.” Proverbs 29:18. The next quality, and the most important quality about Lydia is that she was a worshiper of God. No matter what our state in life may be, no matter our circumstances, we can choose to worship God, and when we do, He takes note of it. Worshiping God is taking the focus off of our life and focusing on the awesome, all powerful and all loving God that we serve. Thirdly, and very important, Lydia was listening to Paul as he taught and preached the gospel. It is obvious that Lydia had a desire and a heart to know God above all else; her heart was open to the things of the Lord. It is also noteworthy that Lydia not only listened to the message of the gospel, she responded to the gospel. We are told that the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. Her response was to offer her house as a place for Paul and his companions to stay and be refreshed. Lydia also demonstrated that she was humbled in spirit when she said, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord.” The beauty of the scriptures as seen throughout is that the message of the gospel cuts right to the core issues of the heart, and the message is clear and easily understood by those who desire to know God. Let us learn from Lydia. Let us not be idle in life, but be about a worthy cause; let us be a worshiper of God; let us take time to listen to what God says through His word and through His Spirit; let us be a responder to the message of the gospel; and let us be humble in spirit. With these qualities, God is pleased, and we are blessed. We have but one life to live-we have an opportunity to live as unto the Lord.
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”
Blessings,
Buddy

TEST YOURSELF

6/24/2018

June 24, 2018 TEST YOURSELF
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-unless indeed you fail the test?
Because it is easy to develop spiritual blind spots and take things for granted, it is good advice for us to examine ourselves to make sure we are living in the faith. Evidently, many of the believers in Corinth were not living according to the gospel and were in need of correction and instruction. The Apostle Paul was passionate about calling believers to live according to the new creations that they were in Christ. The message of the gospel is to touch every area of life-there is no valid distinction of what is spiritual and what is non-spiritual. We must be alert to the possibility of becoming so familiar with or accustomed to giving mental assent only to the gospel, that we fail to actually apply the teachings of scripture. We can actually adjust to living in ways that are not in keeping with the scriptures and be ok with doing so. The words of Paul in the above scripture should serve as a warning to us and cause us to do just as he instructed the Corinthians to do-examine ourselves. The key truth that Paul presents to the Corinthians and what makes all the difference is that Jesus Christ is in us. And since Jesus is in us, living according to His ways is not something we should take lightly, to say the least. Jesus has redeemed us, we belong to Him, and He has a purpose for us to fulfill. We must make sure that we are not simply giving ‘lip service’ to being a follower of Jesus; we are called to be being transformed into His image, representing Him in the here and now. So, the issue for us is, are we conscience of the fact that Jesus Christ is in us? If we do belong to Him, then the most urgent thing we have before us is that of our living in such a way that our life is in harmony with the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no need for us to fear not being pleasing to Him; as we get to know Him, it becomes our nature to do the things that please Him. Let us gladly examine ourselves and test ourselves to make sure we are living to who we are in Christ-it’s the right thing to do.
1 Peter 4:17 “For it is time for judgement to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
James 1:25 “But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it-not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it-they will be blessed in what they do.”
Blessings,
Buddy

EVERY THOUGHT

6/21/2018

June 21, 2018 EVERY THOUGHT
2 Corinthians 10:5 “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”
We all know the importance of our thought life; you could say that our thought life is the engine that drives us. The power we have to choose what we think about is an awesome power. God gave us a powerful mind, but for it to function according to the design, it must be under the direction of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Romans 12:2 tells us to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind.” For those who do not know God, the mind is the ultimate thing in life; many believe that man’s problems are solved by education alone and that fulfillment is found in doing whatever is in the mind to do. The above verse is an awesome verse, and we may even wonder is it really possible to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Humanly speaking, it is impossible to do so. However, the scriptures are not theoretical, but are given as a guide for the believer to adjust his or her life to. It is a red-letter day for us when we actually take the time to decide what we are going to think about! We tend to let our mind drift and act as though the mind itself decides what we think about. There is only one gospel, and its message is true and steadfast, and it serves as a sure foundation for life. Our mind is a battle field, and unless we win the battle for the mind, we will never experience the life God has for us. Obviously, we must choose what to feed our mind; someone has coined the phrase “garbage in-garbage out” in regards to programing our minds. As believers, let us examine our thought life and let us use the truths of the gospel as the plume line to determine whether or not our thoughts are in keeping with what pleases our Father. And yes, let us take every thought captive; let us take dominion over our thought life so that we may rule in life.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
Blessings,
Buddy

INCREASING THE HARVEST

6/18/2018

June 18, 2018 INCREASING THE HARVEST
2 Corinthians 9:10-11 “Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.”
God likes giving! Those who do not know Him, like getting! God so loved the world, that He gave….John 3:16. We will find that life is much more fulfilling and satisfying when we live out of the new person that God has made us, with a desire to bless others. God desires that we express the righteousness that comes from being in Him, and as we do, He will continually supply and multiply the seeds of righteousness. You could say that God is all about us being expressions of righteousness. We have been, and we are being transformed into His image; we have been made new, with a new nature, a new spirit, and a new mind. Out of this new person that we are, we can be living, walking, talking, examples of what it means to be made in the image of God, expressing His nature to those around us. How blessed we would be to see ourselves as receiving seed from God, seed not to be stored, but to be sown. God enjoys multiplying our seed and He enjoys increasing our harvest! He not only gives us seed, He gives us bread for food. When we are about sowing the seeds that He has given us, He promises to enrich us in everything! Each of us, as believers, have been given seeds to sow, and there are endless opportunities to sow the seed He has given. It may be giving a glass of cold water, visiting someone who is sick or needy, giving to a particular need, writhing a note to someone, praying for someone, sharing a scripture- (Jesus went about) you get the idea. Acts 10:38 tells us that Jesus “Went about doing good.” Let us not over ‘spiritualize’ this idea of sowing seed, but let us in a very practical way take to heart the fact that God wants us to sow seeds of righteousness. Most importantly, we do not sow seeds in order for us to get a ‘pat on the back,’ but we sow in order that thanksgiving to God may increase. Let us say ‘good riddance’ to self and let us become liberal in giving, sowing seeds of righteousness everywhere we go. God has promised that we will not run out of seed, He guarantees a good harvest, and we will be enriched in everything! What a deal!
Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
2 Corinthians 9:6-7 “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Blessings,
Buddy

ACKNOWLEDGE HIM

6/15/2018

June 15, 2018 ACKNOWLEDGE HIM
Proverbs 3:6 “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Psalm 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
These are straight-forward verses-a command and a promise of what will happen if the command is obeyed. The implication is that God does not tell us every single action to take, but He does say that in whatever we do, acknowledge Him. We are not robots, but are men and women who have because of our being adopted into the family of God, have been made stewards in all of life. We work, we go shopping, we may play golf-we go about the things pertaining to life. The key is that we understand that we are called to represent Him in all we do, and to see that all of the blessings we enjoy come from Him. God wants our heart. God enjoys our trusting Him and depending on Him for everything. God is our provider whether we realize it or not-so it is right that we acknowledge Him in everything we do. In fact, without Him, we could do nothing worthwhile or anything that has lasting value; without Him, all we do is in vain. Acknowledging Him in all our ways is saying that we see Him as the provider, as the enabler, and the one who has all wisdom. God gives us specific direction in His word, and He guides us by the Spirit that lives in us, and as we follow His will and walk in His ways, He directs our path. As alluded to above, God’s word nor His Spirit within dictates every action we are to take, but in all that we do, we acknowledge Him and do what we do as unto the Lord. It is truly a matter of knowing in our inner man that God is God, that He is our Father, that He alone is our provider, that His promises are true, and that only in Him do we find life. When we begin to understand just how big and how awesome God is, and how helpless we are without Him, acknowledging Him in all we do becomes natural for us. As believers, we are sons and daughters, we have been joined to Him, and though we live on planet Earth, we are a members of the kingdom of God. How could we help but acknowledge Him in all we do.
Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”
Blessings,
Buddy
[email protected]

YOU HAVE DIED

6/12/2018

June 12, 2018 YOU HAVE DIED
Colossians 3:1-4 “If you then have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set you mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
In order for us to live the life that God has designed and to live according to the gospel, there is one inescapable, non-optional truth that cannot be ignored. This core truth stands in opposition to human nature. Even though our very nature resist this truth, we must embrace it if we are to live as God intends and if we are to experience the power of the gospel. The key that opens the door to all that God has for us is that of realizing that who we were before coming to know God as Savior, has died. The picture of baptism is that of us dying to who are and being raised up with Christ, to live in newness. I suppose it is possible for one who has been born again to revert back to who he used to be and to try to live ‘his’ own life. I also believe that often, it is a case of not coming to understand the call to die to self and the blessings that follow. As believers, our life is in Christ-not our selves. Acts 17:28 reminds us that “For in Him we live and move and have our being.” Dying to self requires faith and trust in what God has said. Dying to self is yielding everything to God. The scriptures tell us that at the point of salvation, old things pass away and we become new creations. As new creations, we are placed in Christ; as the verse above tells us, our “life is hidden with Christ in God.” The whole idea of dying to self defies logic, and as said above, it goes against human nature. Because dying to self is not a once for all deal, but a continual process, Colossians exhorts believers to keep seeking the things above and to set our minds on things above since our life is in Christ. Contrary to what we may think, dying to our self in no way lessons our life, but to the contrary, it enriches the life we live. Let us not resist giving up our way of life, because our way of life falls for short of the life that is ours in Christ Jesus. Let us live under the lordship of Christ, doing His will, representing Him in all we do, obeying His every command. Yes, if we have accepted Christ as Savior, then we have died to who we were; we now walk in newness of life, empowered and directed by the Spirit of God who lives in us! Not with reluctance, but with joy, let us day by day die to ourselves and live the life that is ours in Christ Jesus. Dying to self does not mean that we will no longer enjoy life; the ultimate joy is found in the life that God makes available to us in Christ. Take God at His word.
John 8:12 “When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Blessings,
Buddy

BECOMING VESSELS FOR HONOR

6/10/2018

June 9, 2016 BECOMING VESSELS FOR HONOR
2 Timothy 2:21: “Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”
No doubt that each of us want to be “vessels for honor” and “useful to the Master.” In the letter to Timothy, Paul is giving council and guidance to Timothy on what is required to become useful and effective in the kingdom of God and the instructions Paul gives are practical and easily understood. There are a number of things that Paul instructs Timothy to do; such as be strong in the grace of God, endure all things, teach others the word of God, be disciplined, pursue righteousness, faith and love and peace, be patient when wronged, etc. Paul also instructs Timothy and those he teaches to avoid certain things, and he sums it up in verse 19 when he says: “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness.” The gospel is powerful, supernatural, spiritual, and it takes the power of God to live out the gospel, but I fear that sometimes we over “spiritualize” the message of the gospel. For the believer, God’s word is clear and it is specific in nature, and its message is easily understood by those who “have ears to hear.” I recently heard a song entitled “He Didn’t Throw the Clay Away” and it is about God being the potter and we being the clay and how He wants to mold us into His image, making us vessels for honor. Our becoming vessels for honor is what God desires and He has told us how we become such vessels and He is indeed molding us with that end in mind. I’m sure that if clay had feelings, while it was being molded it would feel some discomfort and would have questions about the process! Paul told Timothy to pursue righteousness. There has been much damage done as a result of an erroneous teaching about “righteousness.” I don’t have the space to go in to detail about this, but to sum it up; some would say: “We are righteous in Christ” and end the sentence with a period. It is more accurate to say: “Because we are righteous in Christ, let His righteousness be seen in our life and in our action.” The word of God is full of instructions as to how we are to conduct ourselves while on this earth. Because we have been redeemed and made new and because we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we can indeed be vessels for honor, pleasing to the Master and prepared for every good work. How blessed we can be by being a vessel for honor, useful to the Master! Being a vessel for honor speaks volumes in regards to how we live our life, because only as we are working with Him as He molds us into His image, can we become vessels for honor. As being vessels for honor, we reflect the image of God to those around us-wow! A key aspect of becoming vessels for honor is to know the love of God-that His love has been “shed abroad in our hearts,” and this love is supernatural. It can become our ambition to be a blessing to others just as God blesses us. What could be greater or more fulfilling than being a blessing to our children, grandchildren, our spouse, our friends, our co-workers, even to those we don’t know. Being a vessel for honor does not mean that we are perfect, but it does mean that when we stumble, we are quick to confess it and then return to fellowship with our Father. There is no other experience or pleasure in life that can compare to the blessing we receive by becoming vessels for honor, useful to the Master. The good news is that, no matter our past, we can start today becoming vessels for honor.
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.”
Blessing,
Buddy

GOD HAS A SOUL

6/6/2018

June 6, 2018 GOD HAS A SOUL
Hebrews 13:16,18: “And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Pray for us, for we are sure we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. ….equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
We may forget that God has a soul; He can be pleased, and He can be displeased. It was obviously Paul’s desire to be pleasing to God in everything he did, and so it should be with us. God is not a distant God who sits on a throne, untouched by the activities of humans living on planet earth. God loves the human beings He chose to create, and He loves them so much that He sent His Son to be a sacrifice for the sin of man when man sinned against Him. Not only does God redeem those who believes in Him, He gives each believer His Holy Spirit; you can rightly say that God resides in His people. God’s redemption of man includes much more than going to heaven when he dies; redemption makes it possible for man to enjoy God and for God to enjoy man. God is personable. Before Adam and Eve sinned, God walked in the garden with them and talked with them-that is a picture of the heart of God toward us. Redemption is all about restoring the relationship that God and man enjoyed before the fall of man. That relationship has been restored, and it is being restored-that is one of the mysteries of the gospel. We have been adopted into God’s family, and now we are undergoing a transformation process that will culminate at the appearing of Jesus when He comes again. One of the basic aspects of this transformation is that of coming to know God as our true Father. Fathers who live as God designed, love their children; they enjoy them; they provide for them; they spend time with them; they care for them; and they enjoy pleasing their children as well as being pleased by them. God is pleased when we do what is right and what is good because that is what He does. He is pleased when we obey His word. When it is our goal to please Him in all we do, we will experience the peace of God, will have a good conscience, and others will be blessed because our actions will reflect the nature of our Father. Even in this world that has gone astray, God invites us to enjoy Him and He has made it possible for us to live in such a way that our very life is a reflection of Him. Just as with Paul, let us do the things that please Him.
Ephesians 5:8-10 “for you were formally darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consist in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”
Blessings,
Buddy

SPIRITUAL AND SECULAR

6/3/2018

June 3, 2018 SPIRITUAL AND SECULAR
2 Corinthians 5:18 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,”
Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for people.”
Many tend to view what they do as being either ‘spiritual’ or ‘secular.’ However, this view is in no way biblically based, and is in fact contrary to the clear teachings of the word of God. Distinguishing between what is spiritual and what is secular robs the believer of seeing that all that he or she does as being a ministry. Jesus, in His teaching and in His life, never separated the spiritual from the secular. Along this same thought, and another contradiction to scripture, is that of ‘clergy’ and ‘laity.’ By adopting these two mindsets regarding spiritual and secular, and clergy and laity, the impact of the gospel in the work place, at the mall, on the golf course, etc. is not what it could be if believers saw themselves as having a ministry to those in their circle of contacts. In Ephesians 4:11-13 we learn that God gives to the body, the church, certain ministries for the edification of the body, for the equipping of the members so that they can fulfill the ministry that God has for them. In our culture, many tend to see the ‘clergy’ or the ‘ministers’ as the ones who do the ministry and see themselves as the ‘laity’. Wikipedia gives this definition: “A layperson is a person who is not qualified in a given profession and/or does not have a specific knowledge of a certain subject.” Believers make up the body of Christ, the church, and each one has been given certain spiritual gift(s) and this gifting from the Lord defines their area of ministry. Let us as believers see the church as a place where we are equipped for the ministry to which we are called rather than merely a place we go to get blessed. Our ministry is to flow out of our relationship with our Father; our ministry is based on the love of God. As believers, we are His ambassadors and our mission in life is to represent Him. Ministry takes on many forms: it may be leading a bible study, visiting someone who is in need, encouraging others, helping someone with a project, giving council, mowing the neighbors grass-or whatever. The key is that we be in fellowship with God and be alert to the opportunities for ministry, and be alert to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We cannot meet every need we see, but we can be obedient to the direction of the Spirit within. And, by realizing that we are ministers as unto the Lord and by fulfilling our ministry, we will be blessed in the process.
1 Peter 4:10 “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
Blessings,
Buddy
[email protected]