I continue to be surprised at some of the things believers will defend, while not realizing those things are not Biblical or productive to a closer walk with Jesus Christ. These unBiblical things are detrimental to spiritual growth and oriented toward the emotional senses. When we focus on the emotion, more than truth we tend to error, missing God's blessing of intimacy with Him.
When we seek God, asking Him to show us truth, there should be many things that we abandon as we discover the heart of God.
Years ago I began praying that the Lord would remove from my thinking anything that is not Biblical truth, things that are merely human tradition that we have been led to believe were essential to our Christianity, but in fact deter us from a close relationship with Him.
The more I read the word of God and the more I seek His face, the more things I find that have been human tradition, having little to do with a born again believer and how we should be living our lives.
Our Christian culture has been burdened down with many traditions of men that were not only, not endorsed by God, but take us away from Him.
Mark 7:8 ""Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men."
Colossians 2:8 "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ."
Mark 7:1-13
"7 The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem,
2 and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed.
3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders;
4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.)
5 The Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?”
6 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.
7 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’
8 Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”
9 He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.
10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to be put to death’;
11 but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’
12 you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother;
13 thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that."
The dishonoring of father and mother is only one way we dishonor God through our traditions. The most devastating way we have dishonored God is in the matter of the holidays, adding man made traditions and pagan worship practices, to the worship of our God, is an abomination to Him.
Christ gave us the model for worship in the Lord's Supper and in the way He taught us to pray. There is no need for anything to be added to what He told us. We add, because we like our own way better, it tickles the senses and brings about good feelings for us, but is a stench in the nostrils of God.
When we honor the ways of the pagans by adopting some of their traditions as our own, we have nullified the worship of God, relegating it to the level of the pagans. Bringing down His worship, rather than lifting it up, by obedience to what He told us to do.
Amos 5:18-24: "Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord,
For what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you?
It will be darkness and not light;
19 As when a man flees from a lion
And a bear meets him,
Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall
And a snake bites him.
20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness instead of light,
Even gloom with no brightness in it?
21 “I hate, I reject your festivals,
Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings.
23 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
24 “But let justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."
God told us how to pray:
Matthew 6:9-13 "9 “Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’"
When we are grateful to God alone, when we desire to be delivered from evil and when we desire His will in our lives, we will grow in holiness. We will not grow and we will regress when we mix paganism with the principles of God. Always this ends up negating God's message and our witness.
God told us what to celebrate:
Luke 22:19 "And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
The Lord instructed us to hate the way of the pagans through the description of His mind toward their practices. No where in the Word do we see the Lord instructing us to celebrate anything other than His Feast day, the Lord's Supper and it was to be done whenever we come together, not once a year or once a month. His feast day was a demonstration of the fulfilled prophecy of His death, burial and resurrection. Man added "Christmas" with all it's pagan trappings, honoring the Catholic mass with it's veneration of a false god "santa." Man added "Easter" with all of it's pagan practices, honoring the goddess of fertility.
Even those who say they only focus on Christ on that day, cannot deny that they are participating in the celebration of the pagans by celebrating their holidays with them while even using their paganistic titles "Christmas and Easter. The Christian witness is destroyed when we participate in these abominations.
1 Corinthians 11:23-32
"23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.
30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world."
Please pray and ask God: "Does it honor Him to "Christianize" pagan holidays"?
Deuteronomy 12:1-5
"12 “These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully observe in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess as long as you live on the earth.
2 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.
3 You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place.
4 You shall not act like this toward the Lord your God.
5 But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come."
You may say, "we are under grace now we are not bound to the old testament commandments." OH, do we not see the heart of God in these commandments. Why would we want to practice something God hates. He has not removed His hatred for the ways of the pagans. He has not endorsed an attitude of believers to do anything they want any way they choose. Do we care about the heart of God?
When our focus is on our "freedom" then we have an attitude problem. Our focus ought to be, "what shall I do that pleases God." We sin when we focus on what we think we can get away with, yes it is called sin. We honor God when we seek His Will His Way.
1 Corinthians 10:23
"All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify."
1 Peter 2:16
"Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God."
I remember chastising my children when I had given them a task to do, taught them how I wanted it done and they did it their own way. It is not helpful or kind to our parent or even employers if we get a job done but neglect to please the one who is the authority.
God cares "How" we do things, we forget this because our culture has taught us that if we did it, we were good for just the doing of it, no matter whether we did it the right way or not. This is lazy to say the least. God cares about the details and the excellence. He knows we will not be perfect, but also knows whether we care about His heart or whether we are just doing enough to get by without concern over pleasing Him. A parent knows this too!
As the Hebrew teacher said: "love is an action word, without the action, there is no love." The Hebrew word for "love", has two facets, one that we love by doing and the other that we love by withholding help. Both involve making a choice to do what is best for others and what honors God.
Perhaps we should be asking God what honors Him, rather than using phrases like "I am free in Christ to do what "I" want.
Monday, December 22, 2014
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Where is the Lord's Supper?
I never hear anyone speaking of the celebration of the Lord's Supper on facebook.
They will speak about every other holiday but never mention the Lord's Supper.
Interesting that the Lord's Supper is the only feast Christ gave us, and it is the one most ignored, not only by the world but also by those who say they are Christians.
Man brought all the popular holidays and everyone with few exceptions observe those, believers and non-believers alike love these days.
Why do you suppose the world loves the holidays we so adamantly hold onto as though they were a must? Perhaps it is because they are man made, self centered and festive.
The Lord's Supper is all about worship of our Lord. It has nothing to do with self, in fact we are told to examine ourselves to evaluate our sin, that we might be cleansed before we enter into that worship.
Which other of the holidays do we see a worship of Christ alone with a pure heart?
Luke 22:14-21
"14 When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15 And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. 21 But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table."
They will speak about every other holiday but never mention the Lord's Supper.
Interesting that the Lord's Supper is the only feast Christ gave us, and it is the one most ignored, not only by the world but also by those who say they are Christians.
Man brought all the popular holidays and everyone with few exceptions observe those, believers and non-believers alike love these days.
Why do you suppose the world loves the holidays we so adamantly hold onto as though they were a must? Perhaps it is because they are man made, self centered and festive.
The Lord's Supper is all about worship of our Lord. It has nothing to do with self, in fact we are told to examine ourselves to evaluate our sin, that we might be cleansed before we enter into that worship.
Which other of the holidays do we see a worship of Christ alone with a pure heart?
Luke 22:14-21
"14 When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15 And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. 21 But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table."
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Free Indeed!
John 8:36 "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
Freedom in Christ is the greatest place to be, free from the affects of intimidation from those who don't want to obey Christ.
Freedom from false guilt for not following the culture.
Freedom from the guilt of a conscience that must continually justify itself to be able to sleep at night.
Freedom to obey the Lord without any regrets!!!!
How many of you are experiencing this freedom? I sure am!
No amount of ridicule, intimidation or pressure could make me return to the bondage of compliance with a runaway culture.
Hallelujah, I am free indeed!
Freedom in Christ is the greatest place to be, free from the affects of intimidation from those who don't want to obey Christ.
Freedom from false guilt for not following the culture.
Freedom from the guilt of a conscience that must continually justify itself to be able to sleep at night.
Freedom to obey the Lord without any regrets!!!!
How many of you are experiencing this freedom? I sure am!
No amount of ridicule, intimidation or pressure could make me return to the bondage of compliance with a runaway culture.
Hallelujah, I am free indeed!
By God's Power and Might
So often we are more focused on the mechanics of ritual than we are on the spirit of worship. God said that we are to worship in "Spirit and in Truth."
Outward expressions of worship are not necessarily evidence of a heart submitted to Christ. Often ritualistic body language is nothing more than an emotional response to outer stimuli, usually in groups of people while hardly ever alone at home.
I am convinced that the spiritual life of those who are expressive in gatherings, is not nearly what is in their heart while alone at home, because those I have met those who display their emotions in public, and are not living obedient lives otherwise. There are some who are consistent both in gatherings and at home, but few.
Our culture places more emphasis on outward show of emotion than on inner spiritual character. We know this by their reaction when they are encouraged to obey God. Most of them use the words like, "don't judge", a lot when challenged to evaluate their sinful lifestyle.
There is an attitude that "I can live as I please, as long as I say the right things." I find more believers who mouth words than those who actually walk the walk. I also see more believers who believe they are all right with God, but are hostile when confronted with a sinful attitude or lack of obedience in a "sacred cow" area of their lives.
1 Samuel 15:22 "Samuel said, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams."
Our sacrifices of emotionalism in worship is not pleasing to God unless there has been a life of obedience outside the gatherings.
Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”
Colossians 3:22 Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
Hebrews 13:17 (KJV) Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
1 Peter 4:16-17 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
When we roll our eyes at those in authority over us, when asked to do something, our spirit is in disobedience even if we do what we are told. I encountered this often when raising children. In front of me, they often would reluctantly do as I say and when my back was turned there were facial expressions and whispering that indicated a heart that was in rebellion.
Most children have done this, sadly some never grow out of it, continuing the same response to life that they had when they were children. The only difference between a child and an adult is that the child has to hide it so as not to be punished for it, but the adult can openly show disdain and rebellion without punishment, while making all those around them miserable because of their selfishness.
We think because we are adults we no longer have to submit to anyone any more, we can just let everything fly and be pleased that no one was able to control us.
We are controlled even when we think we are not. We are either controlled by the devil and his minions or we are controlled by Christ. When we follow our feelings in getting what we want our own way, the devil is manipulating our thinking, making us believe we are in control. Selfishness in someone shows they are not in control of themselves. They are controlled by their emotions and by the devil who manipulates us.
If we are to have "self control", we will have to ask the Lord to work it in us, shear will power will not make us able to resist temptation, only the power of God will give us the self-control we need to be obedient to Him.
Proverbs 25:28 "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls."
2 Peter 1:5-7 "2 Peter 1:5-7King James Version (KJV)
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
2 Timothy 1:7 "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
Titus 2:11-14 "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."
God redeems us and works in us that we might have His power to resist sin and have self control.
Outward expressions of worship are not necessarily evidence of a heart submitted to Christ. Often ritualistic body language is nothing more than an emotional response to outer stimuli, usually in groups of people while hardly ever alone at home.
I am convinced that the spiritual life of those who are expressive in gatherings, is not nearly what is in their heart while alone at home, because those I have met those who display their emotions in public, and are not living obedient lives otherwise. There are some who are consistent both in gatherings and at home, but few.
Our culture places more emphasis on outward show of emotion than on inner spiritual character. We know this by their reaction when they are encouraged to obey God. Most of them use the words like, "don't judge", a lot when challenged to evaluate their sinful lifestyle.
There is an attitude that "I can live as I please, as long as I say the right things." I find more believers who mouth words than those who actually walk the walk. I also see more believers who believe they are all right with God, but are hostile when confronted with a sinful attitude or lack of obedience in a "sacred cow" area of their lives.
1 Samuel 15:22 "Samuel said, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams."
Our sacrifices of emotionalism in worship is not pleasing to God unless there has been a life of obedience outside the gatherings.
Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”
Colossians 3:22 Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
Hebrews 13:17 (KJV) Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
1 Peter 4:16-17 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
When we roll our eyes at those in authority over us, when asked to do something, our spirit is in disobedience even if we do what we are told. I encountered this often when raising children. In front of me, they often would reluctantly do as I say and when my back was turned there were facial expressions and whispering that indicated a heart that was in rebellion.
Most children have done this, sadly some never grow out of it, continuing the same response to life that they had when they were children. The only difference between a child and an adult is that the child has to hide it so as not to be punished for it, but the adult can openly show disdain and rebellion without punishment, while making all those around them miserable because of their selfishness.
We think because we are adults we no longer have to submit to anyone any more, we can just let everything fly and be pleased that no one was able to control us.
We are controlled even when we think we are not. We are either controlled by the devil and his minions or we are controlled by Christ. When we follow our feelings in getting what we want our own way, the devil is manipulating our thinking, making us believe we are in control. Selfishness in someone shows they are not in control of themselves. They are controlled by their emotions and by the devil who manipulates us.
If we are to have "self control", we will have to ask the Lord to work it in us, shear will power will not make us able to resist temptation, only the power of God will give us the self-control we need to be obedient to Him.
Proverbs 25:28 "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls."
2 Peter 1:5-7 "2 Peter 1:5-7King James Version (KJV)
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
2 Timothy 1:7 "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
Titus 2:11-14 "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."
God redeems us and works in us that we might have His power to resist sin and have self control.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Evaluating Our Beliefs is an Ongoing Process
Matthew 18:15-20
15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.
17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18 Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
For as long as I can remember believers, including myself believed that verse 20 was the indication that we should always be gathered with others to pray or worship. I cannot count the number of times I have read these verses and missed that the two ideas were one. I had separated the "gathered together", verse 20, from the message of church discipline. And, many have separated verse 20 from the statement that "whatever you ask in My name it shall be done for them", from the church discipline.
And, yet, we see from these passages that the Lord was telling us that we should come together to evaluate sin in the body and agree on what is to be done. These verses are not speaking of coming together to worship, rather coming together to handle a sin matter. They also are telling us that whatever our decision about the sin matter, will be in the Lord's will sense we are seeking Him for what is to be done.
The statement "whatever we ask in His name", has nothing to do with getting whatever we want from God as long as we use the name of Christ. All these verses that we have taken out of context are directly related to church discipline.
It is no wonder that we have missed this, since almost all our lives we have heard the verses alone out of context. Our minds are programmed to see those verses alone. WE HAVE BEEN WRONG!
These verses separated from one another seem to indicate that there is no power in our prayer unless we are gathered together. We know this can't be true because Christ prayed alone, and so did the prophets. Some of my best times in prayer have been alone with God. There are no distractions by the words of others, that sometimes we may not even agree with. I take comfort in knowing that God prays on our behalf, since we really don't know how we should pray. It is good to pray with others from time to time, but that does not mean that we should always pray with others.
Romans 8:26 "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;"
This mini study because of the challenge of another believer, has motivated me to look more closely at the context of any verse, guess what...I thought I was doing that, until I encounter a verse that was ingrained in my head from the beginning of my new birth in Christ, seen a particular way. The grooves in our brains, formed by continual repetition are nearly solidified, if we do not heed the challenges by fellow brothers and sisters, we remain in our ignorance.
Some of the grooves in our head that are nearly solidified from constant use and indoctrination by our culture might be as follows:
Christmas
Easter
Don't Judge
Self esteem teachings
one man pastorship in churches
worship teams
forgiving others for our own sake
let the Holy Spirit expose sin rather than speaking to people.
Giving ten percent of our "tithes" to God
Eating meat is a sin
It is kind to tell bereaved family at funerals that their deceased family member went to heaven.
The church is the new Israel
We must reform the church
We must make sure our delivery in witnessing is palatable to the hearer so they will receive it.
It is inappropriate to witness at funerals, weddings, birthdays or any other gathering where people are wanting to just enjoy their time.
There are many more of these grooves in our heads that need to be cleared out in order to more fully honor God.
Can any of you name some that are not listed here? This might be a great time to begin asking questions, the first one being, "what am I believing that is not Biblical?"
15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.
17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18 Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
For as long as I can remember believers, including myself believed that verse 20 was the indication that we should always be gathered with others to pray or worship. I cannot count the number of times I have read these verses and missed that the two ideas were one. I had separated the "gathered together", verse 20, from the message of church discipline. And, many have separated verse 20 from the statement that "whatever you ask in My name it shall be done for them", from the church discipline.
And, yet, we see from these passages that the Lord was telling us that we should come together to evaluate sin in the body and agree on what is to be done. These verses are not speaking of coming together to worship, rather coming together to handle a sin matter. They also are telling us that whatever our decision about the sin matter, will be in the Lord's will sense we are seeking Him for what is to be done.
The statement "whatever we ask in His name", has nothing to do with getting whatever we want from God as long as we use the name of Christ. All these verses that we have taken out of context are directly related to church discipline.
It is no wonder that we have missed this, since almost all our lives we have heard the verses alone out of context. Our minds are programmed to see those verses alone. WE HAVE BEEN WRONG!
These verses separated from one another seem to indicate that there is no power in our prayer unless we are gathered together. We know this can't be true because Christ prayed alone, and so did the prophets. Some of my best times in prayer have been alone with God. There are no distractions by the words of others, that sometimes we may not even agree with. I take comfort in knowing that God prays on our behalf, since we really don't know how we should pray. It is good to pray with others from time to time, but that does not mean that we should always pray with others.
Romans 8:26 "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;"
This mini study because of the challenge of another believer, has motivated me to look more closely at the context of any verse, guess what...I thought I was doing that, until I encounter a verse that was ingrained in my head from the beginning of my new birth in Christ, seen a particular way. The grooves in our brains, formed by continual repetition are nearly solidified, if we do not heed the challenges by fellow brothers and sisters, we remain in our ignorance.
Some of the grooves in our head that are nearly solidified from constant use and indoctrination by our culture might be as follows:
Christmas
Easter
Don't Judge
Self esteem teachings
one man pastorship in churches
worship teams
forgiving others for our own sake
let the Holy Spirit expose sin rather than speaking to people.
Giving ten percent of our "tithes" to God
Eating meat is a sin
It is kind to tell bereaved family at funerals that their deceased family member went to heaven.
The church is the new Israel
We must reform the church
We must make sure our delivery in witnessing is palatable to the hearer so they will receive it.
It is inappropriate to witness at funerals, weddings, birthdays or any other gathering where people are wanting to just enjoy their time.
There are many more of these grooves in our heads that need to be cleared out in order to more fully honor God.
Can any of you name some that are not listed here? This might be a great time to begin asking questions, the first one being, "what am I believing that is not Biblical?"
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Do Not Deny Others The Blessing
For those who have been born again.
I know you did not become born again without confessing your sin and desiring forgiveness.
Why would you deny others this very important blessing?
Having to face our sin, own it, and become cleansed from it, is a blessing. All those who have done it are free from the guilt of their sin, not because we forgave them but because they saw the need and answered the call of repentance.
May we stop forgiving people to feel better about ourselves, and obey God His way, not the way of the world. May we have a greater concern for the welfare of others, than we do for our own feelings.
I know you did not become born again without confessing your sin and desiring forgiveness.
Why would you deny others this very important blessing?
Having to face our sin, own it, and become cleansed from it, is a blessing. All those who have done it are free from the guilt of their sin, not because we forgave them but because they saw the need and answered the call of repentance.
May we stop forgiving people to feel better about ourselves, and obey God His way, not the way of the world. May we have a greater concern for the welfare of others, than we do for our own feelings.
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