The "Me" Behind the Words

"....Job spoke again: 'I have heard all of this before.'"  (Job 16:1--NLT)

 

Have you ever noticed that a lot of what Job's friends said seems like good "stuff?"  Yet we find God later saying to Eliphaz, "My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has."  Apparently with the Blessed Trinity there is something much more to "all of this" than words. 

 

There can be a "good" sense and a "bad" sense in our text.  If, "all of this," is the Word of God, then it is good.  But there are usually two problems with "all of this."  First, many "comforters" usually do not stop with the Word.  They go on to add culturally induced cliches, pop phrases which are more intended to impress than to heal.  Secondly, they use the Scriptures in an impersonal manner and motive.  They would rather be heard than comfort.

 

History is full of people who used the Scriptures and their personal philosophy for their own advantage.  What a difference a day would make if we all used the "God-Breathed" Word for the advantage of the other person.

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to deal with the "me" behind the words.  Amen.

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"The Unknown God?" Don't Believe It!

"I...found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD."  (Acts 17:23b)

 

The Athenians had many gods, but their "UNKNOWN GOD" altar proved what the Word of God reveals in Romans 1--- All mankind, knows "His eternal power and Godhead."  Nothing has changed.  They were just like the people you meet today.  They have "an altar...to the unknown God," but do not let them fool you.  When we share Jesus Christ with them, and they respond with, "I just don't understand what you are talking about," it is not that they cannot believe; it is that they won't believe.  The reality is that most people want an "unknown God," because the "Known God" is the God Who is Lord, King, Master, the One Who says, "One thing you lack: Go--sell--come--take up the cross--follow Me."

 

Whatever "altars" may be around you today, the truth of God's Word declares that God has never been, is not, nor ever shall be, "THE UNKNOWN GOD."  The Blessed Trinity said many times in the Old Covenant dispensation, "Here I am."  I am the Knowable One.  In Jesus Christ He reveals Himself as The "I, Your Lord and Master" God, "The Good Shepherd," God, The "Atoning sacrifice for Our Sins" God, The "Come To Me And I Will Give You Rest God, the "Lo, I Am With You Always, Even To The End Of The Age" God.  Worship at this altar!  

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, because You are so Knowable, I want to know You better.  Amen.

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News and commentary:    www.antipasprayerforce.blogspot.com

 

 

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America's Long Distance Church

"So continuing daily with one accord in the temple,and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart...." (Acts 2:46)

 

Where on earth is this church? 

 

Someone recently sent me a video clip of a famous personality sharing a testimony with a very high profile church in California.  I could not help but notice a sign in the background which read, "America's Television Church."  Maybe it should read, "America's Long Distance Church."

  

Our text reveals the Church meeting daily, "from house to house...with gladness(?!)------------"with simplicity of heart."  Now a careful reading of the Epistles will reveal that walking in Covenant did not mean everyone got along, everyone was "normal," there was perfect morality, no false doctrine.  But the Church of Acts is the pattern.  This is not an attack on large churches or modern technology.  The Church at Corinth with 60,000 members was larger than any American church.  But I'm afraid that sitting in the comfort of homes, in dorm pants with a cup of coffee, having fellowship with a television, listening to great music, and big name preaching has become too convenient and far less threatening than "the assembly of yourselves." 

 

In the Gospels we see our Lord Jesus demonstrating the true nature of fellowship, living and sharing with the disciples what Bohnhoeffer called, "The Common Life."  Is it possible to discover once again the "daily with one accord," this "house to house," this "gladness-and- simplicity-of-heart" Church?

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, deliver us all from the social uncomfortableness of being together with all kinds of people, and help us to come into true covenantal relationship.  Amen. 

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"How Can We Then Live?"

"Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: 'Thus you say, "If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?"' (Ezekiel 33:10)

 

In a recent commentary on his book due out in May, The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism, Andrew Bostom writes, "The essential nature of the Qur'anic revelation, as understood by Muslims, was elaborated in 1891 by Theodore Noldeke, 'To the faith of the Muslims...the Koran is the word of God, and such also is the claim which the book itself advances....'  And to this day, as the contemporary Qur'anic scholar Ibn Warraq notes, 'for all believing Muslims, and not merely fundamentalists, the Qur'an remains Allah's uncreated words,'...valid for all times and places; its ideals are, according to all Muslims, absolutely true and beyond any criticism.'"  O. K., so I guess all that remains for humanity is the answer to the questions, "Whom are you going to believe, and to whom are you going to 'submit?'"

 

Many are bombarded every day with the challenge to "the faith of Jesus Christ."  The challenge comes from every aspect of a culture.  In the sea of deception, only a thorough knowledge of the "God-Breathed" Word, an intimate relationship in Jesus Christ, a continual walk in the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, and a submitted relationship in a local church will ensure the survival of a Believer in Jesus Christ.  Answers for whom you should vote, what economic decisions to make, marriage, how to educate your children, in short, "How shall we then live?", come from the Words of God.  Whether people believe this or not will affect their destiny.  So, I encourage you to turn to the Word of the Father, Jesus Christ; let the Living Waters of the Holy Spirit continually flow from your "innermost being," and stay in The Book.  Then you'll know, "How shall we then live?!?" 

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, I am seeking You, and I thank You that you will reveal to me, "How shall we then live?"  Amen. 

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