"Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.' Jesus replied, 'You are blessed...because My Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.'" (Matthew 16:16, 17--NLT)
If our ongoing life style is not in, "....My Father in heaven has revealed this to you", we are living on very, very "thin ice." Whatever I base my life upon must be, "My Father in Heaven has revealed this to you." Whatever "revelation" comes to me through someone and I depend upon, "....learn this from any human being", our Lord Jesus Christ will never say to us, "You are blessed...." I only have a "sure foundation" in and for life, and favor in the Living Triune God when impartation takes place. And this only comes to you and me, "....because... Father in heaven has revealed this to you."
Over this past weekend there was a plethora of movies, documentaries, etc., about the "life of Jesus," e.g., "The Robe," "King of Kings," "Killing Jesus," and then the epic, "The Ten Commandments." So we have a novel, attempts to relate "historical material" (one would hope it would be the Bible) and dramatize it, and the story of the "Exodus" of the Jews from Egypt. Every writer attempted to tell their story, because that is exactly what they did/do-- story telling. It is classic, "....learn this from any human being."
Someone asked me recently, "Do you think a Catholic can be saved." What they were asking is, Can they be saved while still a Catholic? I pulled something which a theologian/pastor/missionary should never say: "I don't know." What I do know, however, is that if it were not for my embracing of the Words of Jesus, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trust in, relies on) Me...will live even if he dies...," I would be miserably lost. These "wonderful Words of life" have been saving me for the past 47 years, and I can tell you with the utmost certainty that I am alive today, "....because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you."
That which Jesus has given to us through whatever process, however many ts were crossed and Is dotted, is not my issue at nearly 74 years of age. Jesus saved me from sin and the power of Satan. Jesus, moment by moment, keeps saving me by His Indwelling Presence and the daily impartation of His Words right now, right here, regardless of the next "praise gathering," the next "mission," the next "good works." It is not tradition, encyclicals, or any "why-did-God-allow-this" to which I cling. It is, "....because my Father in Heaven has revealed this to you."
I will be leaving early tomorrow morning for "Indian Country." The plight of the First Nations People Group has been with me for decades. At every opportunity I pray in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee Hearings. The First Nations carry, more and more, a similar "weight" as does Jerusalem, Berlin and Washington, DC. I do pray and ask that you say a prayer for this upcoming mission. Above all, I pray that you will see more and more the word of Oswald Chambers: "Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work." This is not a "word" for intercessors or monastic orders. This is truth for all humanity. Prayer is primarily communion, fellowship, identity with and in the Godhead, His Purposes/Will in the Earth. It was the intent in the Garden-------- nothing has changed.
Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You that "saved" is not so much my testimony, as "saves." Amen.
If our ongoing life style is not in, "....My Father in heaven has revealed this to you", we are living on very, very "thin ice." Whatever I base my life upon must be, "My Father in Heaven has revealed this to you." Whatever "revelation" comes to me through someone and I depend upon, "....learn this from any human being", our Lord Jesus Christ will never say to us, "You are blessed...." I only have a "sure foundation" in and for life, and favor in the Living Triune God when impartation takes place. And this only comes to you and me, "....because... Father in heaven has revealed this to you."
Over this past weekend there was a plethora of movies, documentaries, etc., about the "life of Jesus," e.g., "The Robe," "King of Kings," "Killing Jesus," and then the epic, "The Ten Commandments." So we have a novel, attempts to relate "historical material" (one would hope it would be the Bible) and dramatize it, and the story of the "Exodus" of the Jews from Egypt. Every writer attempted to tell their story, because that is exactly what they did/do-- story telling. It is classic, "....learn this from any human being."
Someone asked me recently, "Do you think a Catholic can be saved." What they were asking is, Can they be saved while still a Catholic? I pulled something which a theologian/pastor/missionary should never say: "I don't know." What I do know, however, is that if it were not for my embracing of the Words of Jesus, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trust in, relies on) Me...will live even if he dies...," I would be miserably lost. These "wonderful Words of life" have been saving me for the past 47 years, and I can tell you with the utmost certainty that I am alive today, "....because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you."
That which Jesus has given to us through whatever process, however many ts were crossed and Is dotted, is not my issue at nearly 74 years of age. Jesus saved me from sin and the power of Satan. Jesus, moment by moment, keeps saving me by His Indwelling Presence and the daily impartation of His Words right now, right here, regardless of the next "praise gathering," the next "mission," the next "good works." It is not tradition, encyclicals, or any "why-did-God-allow-this" to which I cling. It is, "....because my Father in Heaven has revealed this to you."
I will be leaving early tomorrow morning for "Indian Country." The plight of the First Nations People Group has been with me for decades. At every opportunity I pray in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee Hearings. The First Nations carry, more and more, a similar "weight" as does Jerusalem, Berlin and Washington, DC. I do pray and ask that you say a prayer for this upcoming mission. Above all, I pray that you will see more and more the word of Oswald Chambers: "Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work." This is not a "word" for intercessors or monastic orders. This is truth for all humanity. Prayer is primarily communion, fellowship, identity with and in the Godhead, His Purposes/Will in the Earth. It was the intent in the Garden-------- nothing has changed.
Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You that "saved" is not so much my testimony, as "saves." Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
