November 30, 2022                                    AMBASSADORS
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespassed against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God was entreating through us; we beg you on the behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Ambassadors have an important role to play; while they are abroad, they represent, and speak for the country that appointed them as ambassadors. Being ambassadors for Christ is a much greater role than that of representing an earthly country. It is amazing that God has made us His ambassadors; He has appointed us to represent His kingdom here on earth! A key point in the passage above deals with reconciliation. The big picture of what God wants is for man to be reconciled to Him. One definition of reconciliation is “the restoration of friendly relations.” The main objective of Christ coming and be crucified for our sins was to reconcile us to God; because of what Jesus did on our behalf, “we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Those who know Christ as Savior have been reconciled; now they are to about the ministry of reconciliation-encouraging others to be reconciled to God. A word about reconciliation; obviously, when one accepts Christ as Savior, they are reconciled to God; their sins have been forgiven and they have fellowship with God. The fellowship we have with God is something that must be maintained; it is possible for a believer to revert back to living according to the flesh. Yes, we have been reconciled to God, but we must be continually walking according to the Spirit and  desiring to do the things that are pleasing to Him. Because we have been reconciled to God, we need to live like we have been reconciled. Because we are ambassadors for Christ, we need to live in a way that is in keeping with His kingdom and His ways. Ambassadors do not punch a clock-they have no off days. Being an ambassador for Christ certainly impacts how I conduct myself; my actions, the words I speak, and my attitude should reflect Jesus, who I represent to all. As we interact with others, it should be our heart to see them reconciled to God; not only it is to be our heart, we should also be proactive in encouraging them to be reconciled to God. We must remember that that is why Christ came; He came to reconcile man to Himself, and He has given us a ministry of reconciliation. Let us resist the world’s philosophy that tells us to ‘live and let live.’
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
November 28, 2022                        THE NECESSITY OF A GOOD FOUNDATION
Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine, and acts upon them, shall 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.”
Everyone knows that a building must have a good foundation if it is to stand the test of time. So it is with life; in order to withstand the storms of life, we must have a secure and firm foundation. Yet, it is so easy to go about life and all of our activities and not give much attention to the foundation that we are building upon. As Jesus so powerfully said, the rain, the floods, and the winds come in life, and he said we will experience trials in life. If we are going to survive the storms of life, and not only survive but overcome the storms, our foundation must be firm. There are numerous foundations that one may build on, such as intellect, material gain, self-determination and effort, a strong work ethic, reputation, success in the work place, and etc. However, these foundations will fail the test; there is only one foundation that will endure any and all storms, and that is Jesus, the chief corner stone. Ephesians 2:20-22. So, this all sounds good, for Jesus to be our foundation-but just how does that happen? I have no three easy steps as to how we have Jesus as our foundation, but can share a couple of thoughts that might help. As a starter, our heart must be turned to the Lord instead of being focused on pursuing my way. To have a spirit of seeking Him first is a must; if I am seeking Him, to know Him more fully, then it stands to reason that I would read and become familiar with His word. His word is the truth, and His word never fails. We must develop our though patterns, set our beliefs, and let our actions be built on His word; His word must be our guide. We must not build on the wisdom of man, but on the wisdom that comes from God; in His word we have access to the wisdom of God. We must see that keeping His word, obeying His commands leads to life. If we see keeping His word as being burdensome or robbing us of life, we are greatly mistaken. Crucial to all of this is to be keenly aware of the fact that the Spirit of God lives in us, enabling and empowering us to live life according to God’s design. Perhaps a good summary is to say that we can build on the unsecure foundation of the self-life, or we can build on the only secure foundation of Jesus. May our hearts be set on increasing in the knowledge of God, knowing that only He holds the keys to life. May it be our greatest joy, to follow the ways of the Lord.
Psalm 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
November 26, 2022                              WE  HAVE  BEEN  BURIED  AND  RAISED
Colossians 2:12-15 “having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”
We may not often think about the fact that we have died, and have been raised from the dead. If we have been born again, the old us, who we use to be, has died. A water baptism is a picture of just that; the water represents a grave, and then the one being baptized is raised up as a new person. This miracle of our old self dying and then being raised a new person is possible only by the ‘working of God.’ We were dead in our transgressions, without hope; we had a ‘certificate of debt’ against us that kept us imprisoned. But thanks be to God, He canceled out the certificate of debt, and nailed it to the cross! If there is any good news to be heard-that is it. We have been made ‘alive together with Him’ and all of our sins forgiven. Because we may be so familiar with the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and His resurrection and know about baptism, we may lose the impact of what we it means to be raised up with Him. Let us always be conscience of our resurrection to life in Christ and let us live out of the new person that we are. Our being raised from the dead is not to be just an event that happed at some point in the past; the very essence of being made alive together with Jesus is that we live life in a way that reflects His life. Jesus was not anxious, nor impatient, was not argumentative, was not depressed, not fearful, and the list could go on. You may be thinking that “That may be true, but I am human; I’m not Jesus.” This may sound like a stretch, but the amazing truth is that we can live as Jesus lived! Hold on-Jesus never sinned, but we have sinned; yet, because Jesus broke the power of sin and has made us new creations, we can walk according to the Spirit and not sin. If we choose to walk according to the flesh, we do sin. I’m saying, just do not assume that you do not have power over the flesh, but assume you do have power over the flesh and that you do not have to yield to sin. Remember, we have been made alive together with Christ, and He lives in us. If and when we yield to the flesh and sin, let us quickly confess it and turn from it, and continue to walk in the Spirit.
Romans 6:1-4 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
November 23, 2022                             APPLYING  ALL  DILIGENCE
2 Peter 1:5-10 “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control; and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For He who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
Being a follower of Christ, being a believer, is a call to action. God has initiated our redemption; Christ became the sacrifice for our sins; now we have been made a part of the family of God; and even though we currently live in this world, we are living in the kingdom of God. Now that all of this has taken place, and now that we are recipients of such grace, and have been given a new identity, we are to be about growing in this new life we have been given and about being expressions of the life of God in us. There is no room for us to be lackadaisical or to live in a ho-hum fashion in regards to our growing in the faith. Peter admonishes us to ‘apply all diligence’ in adding the qualities that are listed in the passage above. Peter is not giving us ‘suggestions;’ he is saying that it is necessary for us to be adding godly qualities to our lives-to be becoming like Him. In fact, he says that if are not adding these qualities, we are useless and blind! That is a shocking statement-but it makes the point about how serious this issue of growing in the faith actually is. Peter goes on to say that if we are not adding these qualities, we have forgotten our purification of sins-we have forgotten all about what it means to be saved and to be made new and joined to God and set free from the power of sin. An amazing promise is that as long as we practice these things, we will never stumble. That may sound impossible. There is a lot to be said at this point, but when we are walking in the Spirit, when we are walking in the ways of God, we do not sin-or stumble; we sin when we do not walk according to the Spirit. Simply said, when our hearts are turned to the Lord, when we are pursuing Him first, and when we are growing in the knowledge of God, we will not stumble. Now as we are walking with the Lord, we may allow a wrong thought or may do something that is not pleasing to the Lord, but because our heart is turned to the Lord, the Holy Spirit will quickly correct us and prompt us to repent, and as we do so, we continue to walk in the Spirit. (To repent means to change direction.) What I am saying is that to walk in the Spirit means that as we walk, the Spirit guides and also corrects us and adjust us as needed. So, let us be engaged with God and embrace the life He offers.
Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the desires of the flesh.”
Colossians 1:9b-11a “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;”
Blessings,
Buddy  

 
November 21, 2022                                    THAT  YOU  MAY  BE  FILLED
Colossians 1:9b-13 “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 delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
God’s plan and His will for us is much better than we think! If we think in human terms, we will live far beneath our privilege as sons and daughters of God; and if we think in natural terms, we will miss the awesome blessings of God. There is a principle we see in the scriptures; the natural comes first, then the spiritual. The Old Testament was a picture of the natural whereas the New Testament is a picture of the spiritual. The spiritual is far more powerful than the natural, and is eternal. As we read these verses, let us know that they are intended for us; they are not reserved for the ‘spiritual elite,’ or for those in ‘full time ministry.’ (All believers are in full time ministry.) Yes-we can be filled with the knowledge of His will-we can have understanding; we can walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and can please Him in all respects. We can bear fruit in every good work; we can increase in the knowledge of God. (I sometime feel like I have plateaued in my knowledge of God-not sure it is increasing.) We can be strengthened with all power according to His might, and we can attain to all steadfastness and patience. And, we have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of God. What a transfer! Finally, we have been forgiven of all sin-and hear this-God does not remember our sins! Hebrews 8:1. They have been blotted out forever. The point is, can we believe what is said in this passage is for us? Not only believe it, but walk and live in these truths-claiming them as ours? These truths are not a ‘pipe dream;’ they are to be reality for us. By faith and by understanding our identity in Christ, let us be filled with all that God has done for us, and then walk it out. (There is a beginning point of being filled, but it is also continual; for the remainder of our life here on earth, we can be increasing in the knowledge of Him.)
2 Peter 1:2-4 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
November 17, 2022                                 IT’S  SERIOUS    continued
Revelation 3:17-22.    See last blog dated Nov. 15 for these verses. If you did not get to read the last blog, go back and read it as today’s blog is a continuation.
As mentioned in the last blog, we are new creations and have been given new natures with new minds and new hearts; yet our flesh battles with our spirit, but we do not have to yield to the flesh. We must realize that apart from Christ being in us, we are “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” Revelation 3:17. Throughout the book of Revelation, we find these three words “He who overcomes.” I believe that in essence, this overcoming is about overcoming the self-life, living according to our own preferences. Our enemy is all about getting us to live according to self-so the real culprit to overcome is Satan and all of his lies. In verse eighteen of chapter three, God said “I advise you;” and surely we want to hear and receive His advice. The truth is that true life, life with no regrets, life as it was designed to be by our Creator, is only found in God through His Son. God tells us to buy pure gold from Him; I believe that we ‘buy’ form Him by giving up our life in exchange for His life. When we live this life that comes from Him, we become rich in the purest form of what it means to be rich. We also get white garments with which to clothe ourselves; white garments is a reference to purity. As we walk with Him, we do so in purity and with the assurance that our sins have been forgiven. Also, we receive eyesalve that we may anoint our eyes that we may see. As we live life according to Him, we are able to see truth and able to better understand the issues of life; we gain His prospective. More awesome news is that if we hear His voice and open the door when He knocks, He will come in and dine with us and we will dine with Him!  How awesome is that?? When we overcome this world, when we overcome the self-life, we get to sit with Him on His throne; we get to live as a victor in the here and now-all because of what Christ has done on our behalf. This passage ends with ‘he who has ears to hear, let him hear.’ Some feel that to give up their life would be a dreadful thing to do; but the truth is that the greatest thing we could do is to give up our life in exchange for the life He offers. There is life after the self-life. Let us thank God that He gives us advice and that He invites us to receive from Him all He has to offer; and, that He desires to dine with us and for us to dine with Him. Dinning has to do with close relationships and friendships being enjoyed. May we reject living life according to our ways, and may we discover life in Him.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in Me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
John 6:35 “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
November 15, 2022                                  IT’S SERIOUS
Revelation 3:17-22”Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eyesalve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and dine with him, and He with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to Him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
If we believe that the bible is the word of God, then this passage should grab our attention in a powerful way. The book of Revelation is God speaking directly through the writer, most assume is the Apostle Paul. In chapter three, God has a message to seven churches; the passage above was written to the church in Laodicea. Even though these letters were written to specific churches, what God has to say certainly applies to all believers. The passage above is like a RED ALERT! Note that God says “I advise you;” if God is giving advice to us-it behooves us to hear and take His advice! First, let us make sure that we do not see ourselves and being wealthy, in need of nothing, while apart from Him we are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind. God invites us to buy from Him gold refined by fire that we may become rich-to be clothed with white garments-and have eyesalve to anoint our eyes that we may see. We could get into a lot of detail and could have a lot of questions in the book of Revelation; but let us get the clear message that God has for us in this passage. If you read the book of Revelation, you will find many verses that have the words “To him who overcomes.” I believe the main thing for us to overcome is that of overcoming ourselves and our desires, viewpoints, and understandings, and living life according to our preferences. The world is constantly telling us and tempting us to live according to the ways of the world-and that is what we must overcome. Overcoming also certainly involves resisting the lies and temptations of the enemy. Overcoming is a matter of living life according to God’s design and God’s plans-and not according to how we think life is to be lived. Overcoming the world’s philosophy and living according to God is the big deal. There is much more to discover in this passage, so we will continue this in the nest blog on or about November 17th.  Be re-reading this passage and be meditating on the advice that God is giving.
Blessings,
Buddy

 
November 13, 2022                                    IN TIME OF NEED
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.”
We are complete in Christ and we have been made new creations; yet we are not exempt from trials and we are still ‘flesh and bone.’ That may sound contradictory, but it is not. Peter Parris says that “The scriptures contradict themselves, but only in our mind.” Yes, we are spiritual beings who have been joined to God, but there are times when we are needy and times when our weaknesses become apparent. Weaknesses could include our yielding to sin, or becoming anxious or fearful, or any number of things. In such times, we have the blessings of being able to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace-to Jesus, our high priest, who sits on the throne. Our high priest has experienced life in flesh and bone and life in the world; He understands life on earth. The comforting truth is that He can sympathize with our weaknesses because He has been where we are. Jesus faced every temptation we face, yet He never sinned. He does not chide or rebuke us in our weaknesses, but invites us to come and find mercy and grace to help in time of need. The call for us is to draw near the throne of grace; we may be tempted in times of need to go it alone, or to try to escape or deny that we are in need, or may seek help from the wrong source. Also, our pride can stand in the way of us admitting we need help. To draw near means we simply acknowledge our need, and our weakness at the moment, to God, and then receive from Him grace and mercy. We all have, or will face times of need and our weaknesses will become evident; in such times, let us run to the throne of grace and find mercy and grace to help from our high Priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses. Do not misunderstand, He does not only sympathize with our weakness, but He comes to our aid and extends mercy and grace; and from other scriptures we find that He also gives encouragement, and when we need it, He corrects us. He is all sufficient.
Psalm 68:6, 55:22 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”     “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.”
1 Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
November 11, 2022                            INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  LIVING
Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
We need not live without purpose or without direction, or without hope. This passage gives us a clear tract to run on; it simplifies our mission in life once we embrace the truths presented. The grace of God has appeared; had it not, all would be lost, without hope. Not only did God bring salvation, He also gave instructions as how we are to live life on this earth; His instructions for living lead to abundant life-to life as He designed. His instructions are simple, yet powerful. As a starter, we can choose to deny ungodliness-it’s that simple. We are faced with what is ungodly almost continually. We live in an ‘ungodly’ world where being ungodly is the norm; immorality, greed, anger, dishonesty, addictions, unfaithfulness, gossip, and the such, are rampart in our culture. We live in a fallen world, but God has redeemed us and we are no longer ‘of’ the world. We are also to deny worldly desires; worldly desires has to do with pursuing the things of the world and being focused on the temporal instead of pursuing the things of God. On the positive side, we are to live sensibly, righteously and godly; do what is right, what is pure, what is honorable, what blesses others, make wise decisions, doing what is pleasing to God, have compassion, and learn the secret of being content in all circumstances. Let us set our hope, not on the things of this world, but on the return of Christ and all that He has in store for those who love Him. And here is the grand and glorious news: He gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed! Did you hear that? We can live holy lives, and not participate in anything that is ungodly. If that is not good enough, He has purified us-now we are to walk in purity, being pure because we have been purified. God has redeemed us and purified us through Christ for Himself for His own possession! Because of the amazing things that God has done on our behalf and because we are His possession, we are to be zealous for good deeds. Just as God is good, and just as Jesus went about doing good-so should we. Our motive for doing good deeds should not be to gain His approval or to earn His love; our good deeds are to be expressions of the good God who lives is us. Sin broke man’s fellowship with God, BUT now we have been forgiven and restored to our Father and we can now live according to His wonderful, fulfilling design.
Romans 12:1-2 “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
November 9, 2022                                     LIVING  LETTERS
1 Corinthians 2:14-15, 3:2-3  “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifest through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;”     “You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on the tablets of human hearts.”
Our life matters. Our life is a message to all. Our life is so much more than going to work, paying our bills, enjoying a hobby-or whatever we do out of routine. The scriptures above remind us that our life is so much greater than the natural, physical life; our life is to be a picture of the nature of God-a “fragrance of Christ.” Who we are and all we do is to reflect our God; we are to be a “sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” In the world, we see frustration, anger, depression, violence, hopelessness, selfishness, pride-and the list goes on. The great news for us is that we do not have to live as the world lives. Just think about it; our life is a letter-not written with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, and it is being read all the time by everyone. Wow! I ask myself-what is my letter saying to those around me. The other great news is that being a fragrance of Christ and a letter of Christ is not burdensome, but is something that takes place naturally when we know our true identity as sons and daughters of God. It’s not that we ‘should be’ letters of Christ, but that we are, and that we get to be letters of Christ. As believers, I know that we want our life to be a letter or fragrance of Christ; at the core of our being, let us examine ourselves and make sure that our hearts are turned to God, that our motives are pure, that we are keeping and honoring His word, and that we are living according to our true identity in Him.    
1 Corinthians 3:5-6 “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.”
Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under a peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Blessings,
Buddy 
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