"For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren...." (Romans 8:29--NASB)
Our text does not say that the Father predestined us to a good self image. He predestined us to a Christ Image. Today we hear a lot of "self image" talk. Poor Jane. She just has such a poor self image. Truth is, Jane is just as proud as those with a good self image. The only difference is, they have it and Jane wants it. I say to Jane (and those who are trying to bolster her self image), "Rejoice in your poor self image. We should all have a poor self image, and trade it for the Image of Jesus Christ." And how about this?--- "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me!!"
Thus saith the Lord, "Stop trying to improve your self image and work on your Christ Image. Take your self image to the Cross, and let the Blood of Jesus deliver you from the image of self into the Image of Christ."
Father, in Jesus' Name, Dear Father!-- Keep me from pop religion! Amen.
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(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4&?NCID=aolfod00030000000002)
Watchman
Sentinel
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
"IF!"
"If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive." (Psalm 124:2, 3a)
Frankly, "If it had not been the LORD who was on our side," there would be no Israel today. In fact there would be no Jews. The German intent was expressed at Wansee, January 20, 1942. Their intent was to [swallow]...alive" every Jew on the planet. Most just do not realize how close the German came to fulfilling this mandate.
And what about you and me? "If it had not been the LORD who was on our side," we would probably be dead, certainly on our way to the Fires of Hell, "having no hope and without God in the world." Now some might say, "Well, what about all those times I escaped injury, recovered from some disease, had food, shelter, etc., all before I surrendered my life to Jesus?" It was "the LORD who was on your side." You may say, "But how can that be? How could God be on my side, when I was not on His?" Simple. Jesus Christ being on your side has nothing to do with you or me. It has everything to do with Him. He was on your side at conception, or you might have been aborted. He was on your side growing up, or you would have had nothing to eat. He was on your side, or you would have had no shelter. Frankly, "If it had not been the LORD who was on our side," we would have absolute nothing, going nowhere. The human race simply does not understand this.
Now I am not saying that this theology is an "automatic ticket" to Heaven, but it does magnificently reveal the Love of the Living Triune God, keeping us, sustaining us, preserving us so that we can respond to His love, forgiveness, His atoning Blood, and enter His Kingdom. This, "LORD-who was-on-our-side," is unearned. You cannot perform well enough to secure it; you can never be "spiritual" enough to boast in it or anything, for that matter, in life. My dear, dear, aspiring-in-life friend, there was, is, and never shall be anything about you or me which deserves it/Him. It is not, "If I had not been so worthy, so spiritual, so exceptional that the Lord was always on my side"------------- just can never be. It is and shall always be, "If it had not been the LORD (revealed solely in Jesus Christ) Who was (and is) on our side." Rufus Moseley once summed it up perfectly when he described Jesus Christ as, "Perfect Everything." This is it.
Father, in Jesus' Name, continually remind me that it is not "me on my side," but, "You on my side" that is the victory in life. Amen.
Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
"Don't They Know It's the End of the World?"
"Man goes out to this work and to his labor until the evening."
(Psalm 104:20)
This is a Tuesday. It is the first day after an American holiday. It is not the beginning of the week, the middle or end of the week. It is a cloudy and cool day. Good friends of ours lost their oldest child the other day. "Wars and rumors of wars" rage around the world. Gas prices still rising. This is what the psalmist was talking about. As cruel as it might seem to us, life goes on with or without me. An old song says:
"Why does the sun go on shining
Why does the sea rush to shore
...Why do the birds go on singing
Why do the stars glow above
Don't they know its the end of the world
...I wake up in the morning and I wonder
Why everything's the same as it was
....I can't understand, no, I can't understand
How life goes on the way it does
This was the way I felt after our son died. I woke up the next day, a Saturday, a gentile rain was coming down, just as though nothing had happened. How can life, the world, people around me just go about every day life as before when mine was full of so much sorrow? A retired pastor in his 90s came to our door that day and reminded me of what David said after he lost his son. "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."
I can tell you today that no matter what life has handed you, it is not "the end of the world." You are on a journey, difficult and unforgiving as it may seem at times, a journey to "Him Who loved me and gave Himself for me," a journey of victory if we abide in and cling desperately to Jesus Christ, staying full of His Word. Oral Roberts had a good word many decades ago. "Today is the first day of the rest of your life"----- The Eternal Life in Jesus Christ, heading to our home in Heaven, where "friends will be there we have loved long ago, joy like a river around me will flow, yet just a smile from my Savior I know will through the ages be glory for me."
Father, in Jesus' Name, don't ever allow me to think "it's the end of the world." In You there is no "end," just constant beginnings. Amen.
Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.
Monday, May 26, 2008
The Surface or the Depths?
"Then one from the crowd said to Him, 'Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.' But He said to him, 'Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?' And He said to them, 'Take heed and beware of covetousness....'" (Luke 12:14)
The man in our text wanted to deal with the immediate, the surface. Jesus was after the depths of life, the healing of the soul. If you follow closely the teachings and work of Jesus, you will see that no person is excluded from judgment, and no person is excluded from mercy. The Biblical premise is always, "All have sinned and come short...." You get no break based on gender, ethnicity, race, economic status, or temper tantrums. Our Living Triune God is out to save us, not spoil us.
I have heard people "take sides" with the prodigal and his brother. But Don Basham referred to them years ago as the prodigal who left and the prodigal who stayed at home. There may be on the surface of things what appears to be an injustice with the prodigals and the "man" in our text. But Jesus does not deal with surface issues. Jesus goes to the depths of our lives, "for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God-- piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." What He says to us and does in our lives may not always seem "fair," but it will be redemptive. It will conform you and me to the Image of Jesus Christ -------------------------------------------- save our lives.
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to be more concerned about Your work in me than getting my way. Amen.
Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.
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