RESURRECTION FAITH

WHAT IS IT??

        Over the past few weeks, I have been going through the Old Testament and one of the questions in my studies is what is resurrection faith? Now at first I thought; "what does this have to do with the Old Testament??"! Because it must mean believing that Jesus rose from the dead! Well, yes it does but there is more of a meaning there that I discovered. Let's look at a good example.

         In Gen.17:15-17, God told Abraham that He would bless Sarah with a son. Now, the problem was Abraham was a 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old!! Scripture says that Abraham laughed at this but he also believed what the Lord had said when you read further.

         In the Hebrew translation, Sarah's womb was considered dead due to her age. But God was going to do something that was in the natural, impossible!

         To have resurrection faith means to believe that God can bring life out of what is dead!

God can create anything out of nothing! (Heb.11:1-3)  We are to believe that He can move in our life and others!! 

          Here is another example with Abraham. Look at Gen 22:6.  We all know the story that Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his own son Isaac.  Now this is the same son that the Lord promised them that they would have when they were old!!! What do you think of that!!! God promised them a son and now He wants Abraham to sacrifice him!!!  What would you be thinking right about now??  But he still obeyed because he believed in what God can do! Look what Abraham said in verse 5b; "... The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we'll come back to you."  You see it??  He said; "we'll".  Translated plural for him and Isaac to be returning!! Abraham believed that even with the sacrifice of Isaac, that God would bring him back to life!! 

            How do we look at the "storms" in our life everyday?  It is hard to have the faith we need to get through the stuff we walk in but God is there for us every step of the way when we make Him the focus in it!  

            He is the creator God that we call Father!!  Stay focused on Him......He will get you through it!!!

God Bless!!!

Paul

DOUBTING THOMAS

JOHN 20:24-29

Many of you have been following us about my wife's health battles she has been going through and we are so grateful to you all for the prayers and support. It isn't over and we might have some rough days ahead. But what I want to talk about is something that everyone sometimes walks through (whether they admit it or not!).

It is doubt!! And the perfect example of that is in John 20:24-29; doubting Thomas! Let's look at what happened to Thomas. Jesus had risen from the dead and appeared to His followers in a locked room. Thomas was not there (for what ever reason). So when he showed up, everyone was so excited and was sharing with him that Jesus had appeared to them all! Now Thomas reacted differently than what you would expect. Was he upset that he wasn't there when Jesus appeared? Or was he maybe was so overwhelmed with what happened to Jesus that he was heart broken and he was walking in so much sorrow that he didn't really feel the excitement the others were feeling. Of course we don't know for sure but try to put yourself in his place. He walked with Jesus. He saw all the things He did and listened to the words He spoke. And then seeing Jesus being taken away, beaten, put on a one sided trial, and then put to death on a cross; he probably was devastated!!

I know I would be!! More than once the thought of why we are going through so much has crossed our minds. It is easy to be the "strong Christian" when you aren't going through what another person is going through but when you walk through something in your own life, there is sometimes doubt!

Lets get back to Thomas. He stuck around with the other followers as they were celebrating Jesus defeating death. Of course they had to remain out of sight from the general public due to the authorities were looking for Jesus's followers. He was there for eight days before Jesus appear to him and the others. Eight days!!! What must have been going through his mind? Still, he stayed there. Maybe because he was hoping to see Jesus! He had said earlier that unless he seen and touch the wounds that Jesus had, he would never believe!!

And then along came Jesus!! Right through the locked door!! (thats for another time!) And Jesus knew exactly what Thomas had said earlier!! He knows our heart. He knows what we cry out for. And then Thomas makes a statement that was unheard of for a Jewish man to make! "My Lord and My God"!!! No one had said that before!!! 

We are human and we will go through tough times and we will doubt, but the Lord is always there for us! Even though we might question where He is or why we are going through what ever, we need to seek Him and take comfort in Him.

Remember, Thomas stuck around and didn't just take off! Don't give up!! God is BIGGER than what you are going through!!!

God Bless!!

Paul

WHOM DID GOD BURY?

WHOM DID GOD BURY?

DEUT. 34

    Another one of those titles that can get your interest! I have always loved reading about Moses and how he had a great relationship with God. Think about all the times he spent with Him and all the problems Moses had. And with that relationship he had with God, he knew that he wasn't going to see the promise land even though he was leading the people there. I could picture him telling the people all the time how the promise land will be better than what they could even imagine but he himself wouldn't get to step foot on it!! I think I would get discouraged after a while!! 

     And now they get to the end of their journey and God takes Moses up to Mount Nebo and allows him a view of the land. Many would think that would make Moses mad but he and the Lord were so close that I think Moses was full of joy for knowing that he had obeyed God and led the people to it. Then in verse 5, Moses died on that same mountain. WOW!!! His "job" was over! I would love to know if there was a conversation about this! The Bible doesn't say but in verse 7 it says that Moses was in good shape and his eyes were good. So, it sounds like he was still healthy but his time was up!! He had done what he was called to do. In verse 6, God buried Moses secretly. Now there are many views about this but the scripture does say that He buried him. God cared so much about Moses! What an example of the close relationship God had with him!

       There is so much more on this that I can't really share here because it is in a message form but what I really would like to show here is that Moses had a full life that had huge responsibilities but he kept his relationship with God strong. He wasn't perfect but he strived for that daily communication with the One who was always there for him.

        No matter how many times I read the Word, God always shows me something different that I can learn from. 

        Enjoy your time with Him!

God Bless!

Paul

GOD'S PLUMB LINE

GOD'S PLUMB LINE

AMOS 7:7-8

      I started to study the book of Amos the other month. I felt the need to look at some of the books of the Bible that I knew that were there but I never really got into them before. A friend of mine, Dr.Russ Frase, was in the area to train a group of us for teaching his two year Bible curriculum and on Sunday he spoke out of the book of Amos. I thought that might be a good one to start with!! (no big spiritual revelation there!!)

      So I started to get a back ground of the author, place, culture, etc so that I could understand more about it. It is a fascinating book!! 

      But one thing stood out. It was in chapter 7. God had shown Amos a plum line. OK. I know what one is and I have used one a few times but I thought this is going to be good!

      A plum line is what is used to determine if something is straight vertically. Contractors use it a lot and we "weekend warriors" try to look like we know what we are doing when we use it!.

      God was showing me that for us to stay true to Him, we have to have that "vertical alignment" with Him. That connection with Him. One of the tools He has given us is His Word!! Yes......here I go again talking about the Bible and how we should read it but it is true! His Word has everything in it for us to lead a life set apart for Him. How many times do we pick it up in a day? Or a week? Hopefully not just on Sunday but do we really sit down and read and meditate on it? And we do need the Holy Spirit to guide us through it because that is how we can hear the instruction He has for us. It is a blue print to how we should live. 

       We sometimes vary off our pathway in life and we need something to keep us vertically aligned with the Creator of all things. 

        We get busy doing the "Christian things" that take up a lot of time and I am not saying that is bad but we can't let that or any other stuff take our time away with Him.

        So, this holiday season, try to take time everyday to get your Bible out and sit down and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you through the Word of God. It sure is a lot easier trying to get through the day with Him than without Him!!

God Bless!! 

Paul

WHEN JESUS GOT UP FROM HIS THRONE

    I have to admit, that's a pretty good title!!! I have been studying two topics that seem to have a lot in common. Purity and compromise. Those are two that would take a lot of time and we still wouldn't be able to go through a tenth of it!!!

    So, let's look at this title. When did Jesus get up from the throne? I didn't even think about this until I started to read a study on Revelations and the Greek language.

    In Acts 7:54-56, the high priests and some of the other big shots had Stephen before them with charges (which were drummed up against him). Now, you have to read what Stephen said and how he addressed them! He had walked with great power by the Holy Spirit before and he was well schooled in addressing his belief in Jesus. They were intently listening to Stephen and he presented his case but he pretty much told them that they were hypocrites and that didn't set well with them. They dragged him out and began to stone him. This is where I started to see something that I had missed before. In verse 55, "...Stephen, filled by the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw God's glory, and he said, (56)"Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man STANDING at the right hand of God!".

    In Daniel, he sees Jesus seated at the Right Hand of the Father. (7:9). In the New Testament, Jesus was seated in : Eph. 1:20-23; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3; 10:12; 12:2. 

Seated means in many cultures : rest and completion. Jesus' work of redemption is finished and He now rests after accomplishing His Divine assignment. 

    But here we read how Stephen sees Jesus standing up at the right hand of God!! What made Him stand up?? Now, you might be saying, "what does it matter". Well, I believe that Jesus stood up to take notice and honor the first martyr that died in His Name!! It is almost like when a General stands in honor for a soldier. Why else would He be standing when most of the scriptures say that He was sitting?

    In the first three chapters of Revelation, Jesus is seen standing among the Lamp Stands. Something He saw and felt moved Him to stand up and move among the seven churches.

So think about this, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father but He gets up when Stephen is being stoned and when John is having his vision. 

    So where am I going with this? Jesus was moved to stand when Stephen was being killed. He stands up when He sees His churches going off in different directions.  He is concerned about what goes on in our lives every single minute of the day. We have access to the unlimited power of the Holy Spirit at anytime. We have to be bold in our faith during these days and we can't allow the world to influence us to compromise the Gospel in any way!

    I need to ask for the discernment from the Holy Spirit to help me through each day so I don't fall prey to my own selfish desires. 

    That's why the Word is the Word of God and we need to know it and live it!!

God Bless!!

Paul

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE EARLY CHURCH

ACTS 2:42-47

         We just got done with Pentecost Sunday! Now we enter into the time referred to "Ordinary Time" or "Everyday Time". All of the big holidays and celebrations are done with and now is the time for us to absorb and assimilate the life of Jesus into our own lives. This time is where the early church began to grow and take shape. In the above scriptures, we read how the apostles and other followers of Christ were meeting together, praying together, and having meals together. Many were new believers who had witnessed the infilling power of the Holy Spirit in the apostles and the signs and wonders that were happening at that time. I would think that one of the disciples stood up and said, "hey, we need to start teaching these new believers so they can experience all that God has for them!" Or maybe something like that. What a problem to have! So many new believers! And they were hungry for the teachings the disciples had! They devoted themselves to the teachings, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Lets look at a few things here.

          The word "devoted". In Greek, it means to be strong towards something, full attention, commitment, steadfastness. To give all or a large part of one's time or resources to a person, activity, or cause. 

Wow!! They were totally sold out on what the disciples had to say and do! They must have been like sponges and soak up all they said! They must have had time spent during the week to listen to the teachings as well as getting together for a formal meeting time. 

I think about how much time I spend on fellowship with my other believers. Now you might say that these were new believers and myself I have a few years on them but many times, I feel like I need to be like a new believer. To have that spark, to be excited about listening to someone else's experience when they witnessed or prayed for someone.
            Many times, we "modern day Christians" get to "sophisticated" that we are dull to these situations that are occurring all around us. We lost our excitement and drive due to the daily lifestyle we lead. 

             Let's look at another word. Fellowship in the Greek means, participation, communion, sharing, close association involving mutual relationship. They wanted to be a part of the disciples everyday lives. To learn as much as they could by the lifestyle they were leading. Think about the people in your own life that are reflecting the love of Christ to others. 

             Next word. Breaking of bread. OK, more than one word! This meant that not only were they having meals together but you could say that they were having communion also at times. I love the conversations you can have with others over a meal. You can really get to know them well! 

And now, one of my favorites....Prayer!! They were coming together as one unit or assembly to pray. Prayer is not an exercise, it is a lifestyle of a believer! It is an expression of dependence on God to move through the prayer. They were humble enough to know that they can't do things on their own and they needed the Holy Spirits help. 

              I see that I need to be like a "New Believer" everyday! To be totally sold out to the Lord! Saying is not good enough........it has to be followed up by action! To pick up the Bible everyday, to pray and worship, to speak to other believers, to encourage, to proclaim to people around us how God has blessed us. To look forward to Sunday mornings! The worship and praise together! The ministering of the Word, the fellowship, etc. We all need it!! 

              The early church was all about the basics; the Word, praise and worship, praying for one another, fellowship and breaking of bread together, encouraging one another, sharing the Gospel to the lost, being the shining light in the darkness! 

Man complicates.........God simplifies!!!!

God Bless!!!

Paul

WHAT DAY IS IT??!!

ASCENSION DAY!!!

HAPPY ASCENSION DAY!!!  What??? You mean today is something special??  Yup!!! We have forgotten how much was dependant upon Jesus returning to the Father. Back in November I wrote about the importance of Jesus returning to the Father so that the Holy Spirit could come upon us. Well, today is the day that Jesus ascended into Heaven! How important is that??!! 

Here are a few meaningful points of this day!

1.  It signaled the end of Jesus' earthly ministry. The period of human limitations was at an end.

2.  It signaled success in His earthly work.

3.  It marked His return to His heavenly glory.

4.  It symbolized His exaltation by the Father.

5.  It allowed Him to prepare a place for us.

6.  It indicated the beginning of His new work as High Priest and Mediator of the New Covenant.

7.  It set the pattern for His return. He will return just as He left, bodily and visible in the clouds.

8.  The power of the Holy Spirit was going to be set forth to the believers. 

Now this is a good list to start with!!! To many times in the past, our joy sometimes ends on Easter night. We forget what happened after He rose from the grave. For forty days, He appeared to many people with many signs and wonders! And then He went to the Father so that we could be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do His Will!!! Now that is pretty awesome!!

The apostles wanted to know about when He was returning to establish His Kingdom and He told them that it was not for them to know. They had work to do! So do we!! To tell everyone about Him!!

So this is worth celebrating isn't it!!??

God Bless!

Paul