Salvation

What is salvation? In theology, salvation is defined as ‘deliverance from sin and its consequences’. As Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ is the only name through which we might be saved (Acts 4:10-12). What is sin? Aside from being a topic for an endless discussion, the bible describes sin as the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4). Therefore if there is no law then there is no sin (Romans 4:15) – whole other discussion, so back to the topic. Why should I desire salvation? I’ve often asked myself this question.

The Bible states that at the end of time sinners, who choose not to accept God's gift, will burn and become ashes and cease existing (Malachi 4; Revelation 20:14, 15; 21:8). After reading these verses you may ask why bring us back for the second death? God is honest and upfront in His dealings so He’ll let us know why it is we can’t inherit eternal life (Revelation 20:13). So back to my original question: Why should I want salvation? If I won’t be alive to endure the sight of what I’ve missed why shouldn’t I just enjoy what I have here and know – what I’m sure of – and just cease existing in the end? The law of God as we learned earlier is very specific and has very little to do with my own pleasure. So why should I want to keep it? Why should I live a life of self-denial, altruism, and service to God?

Well, the answer may originate from different experiences for different people. I am still in the process of understanding why I should want this. The answer I have for now is that I want to know God. I want to meet Him, I want to spend as long as it takes to understand what kind of Individual cares about the most insignificant things in my life. He cares and aligns events to the minutest detail to ensure that I am blessed and that I can be a blessing to others. Something as simple as finding a missing plug and having a phone work or causing me to look up moving information that I could share with my friend the next day. Even when I’m being the most selfish brat He works things out to open my eyes and silence me.

I’m not saying that this question will never come up again but I write this to encourage you and me. One day I’ll be down and things will seem to not be going my way and I’ll just want to throw in the towel and live in complete and utter selfishness. But these words will serve as a reminder that I’ve seen the evidence that there is a Higher Power that cares and is interested and simply wants to live and communicate with me (Exodus 25:8). He wants to be my Friend. The opportunity to know Him is more than enough to ‘fight the good fight of faith’ (1 Timothy 6:12).

Live Blessed

Love

What is love? This word has been overused, misused, and abused. So what is it? Is it a principled way of living, or is it a feeling one has towards various nouns and verbs? The dictionary defines love as “an intense feeling of deep affection”. If this is true, what is a feeling? A feeling is defined as “an emotional state or reaction”. This definition implies that a change is possible — we can stop loving each other.

But as Christians, is this the Biblical view? “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Love my enemy!? My enemy can only conjure negative feelings within me; how is it that I am to have an “intense feeling of deep affection” towards them?

There must be more to love than just a feeling. When asked about the commandments, Jesus said, “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29–31). Jesus also said: “If ye love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

Jesus made a point of associating Love with the commandments. But you can’t command someone to feel. Feelings arise as reactions to different events commands/principles are done regardless of how one feels. God gave many commandments throughout the ages; some pointed to His coming, and others were for specific individuals or groups, but one set written in stone transcends the Old and New Testaments and down throughout the ages into our time.

The Ten Commandments given to Moses, found in Exodus 20 and reiterated in Deuteronomy 5, and repeated throughout the New Testament (e.g., Matthew 19:22) and utilized in the laws of modern civilizations, stand as the all-encompassing law of God. The Ten Commandments can be split into two — the first four showing our relation to God (Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart) and the last six our relation to each other (Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself).

So if obedience to the Law of God is Love, then all aspects of His Law are included in the definition of Love. What, then, is a law? Law is defined as “the system of rules that a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and may enforce by the imposition of penalties”. Therefore obedience to the law, following all its requirements, whether doing its required action or the fulfillment of the consequences associated with disobedience, are all considered Love. For example: If the law says you should not steal, but if you steal, you must repay four times the amount you stole — not stealing is love, and the repayment is love.

Exodus 20:5 outlines judgement on those that worship other gods; however, we see that there is mercy for individuals that choose to obey God’s commandments. This brings us to the two phases of Love — Justice, and Mercy. Love is not limited to obedience or judgement; there is also mercy. Mercy is a vital aspect of love that demonstrates the understanding that human beings are not perfect. Our ability to fall and make mistakes make us highly susceptible to disobedience and, therefore, in great need of mercy. However, for Love to be complete, both Justice and Mercy need to be satisfied.

Therefore, we discipline our children, and we comfort them and empathize with them and encourage them to make better choices by sharing our own life experiences. We tell each other the truth and choose not to be a hindrance to those we encounter daily. And above all, we work daily on our Love toward our Heavenly Father, choosing to obey His Commandments. Love is not a mere feeling; it is a way of living; it is daily choosing to live for someone else’s best interest and thereby for our own benefit.

Be Blessed.

Laodicea

The plague of our world and churches is a Laodicean mentality. The dictionary defines Laodicean as being lukewarm or halfhearted, especially with respect to religion or politics. This week a man made a public statement of his biblical understanding of what marriage constitutes. This resulted in extreme reactions from those that agreed with him and those that did not. What about the rest of us? As a Christian I have a moral code by which I live my life but how often do I suppress my beliefs for “easy runnings”.

I read, in my evening devotion, this passage: “Even more than God abhors infidelity, He abhors indifference in religious matters, because religious pretensions without genuine religion is a continual stumbling block to sinners.” (EGW, letter 122, 1901) Recently I have become increasingly aware of my attitude of indifference in every aspect of life. In light of this new wave of thought reading this passage hit me like a ton of bricks. How can I expect God to defend and protect me when in simple situations I won’t speak up for Him? (Matthew 10:33)

It is time that our generation stop living our lives as cowards ashamed to say and live what we believe for fear of “political correctness”, or popular culture. Jesus said: “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32)

Stay Blessed

A Little Leaven

Compassion

Compassion is defined as ‘Sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.’

For most of my life, this term has baffled me. Being raised to know the commandments of God and live accordingly I found the idea of compassion to be contradictory to obedience. If someone is living a lifestyle that is in direct opposition to God I believed that my moral responsibility was to shun that person and everything associated with him or her. That’s not reasonable.

I recently read a devotional about a woman that went out of her way to be helpful to others – giving people rides to the airport and church, helping her ex-husband pack for a move, and throwing a baby shower for an unwed mother. Giving people rides to different places has never been an issue with me. I’ve always believed that ‘since God saw fit to bless me with transportation I should do what I can to help others with it.’ Helping the ex-husband pack is one I will need some time to understand. The baby shower for the unwed mother is the one that hit me.

I grew up in a church where most of the young people lived lives that went against the rules. Many had children out of wedlock, others contracted diseases and most left the church. My parents made a point of keeping us away from other young people in our church because this example was not one they wanted for their children. I think this is where I get the idea that if there is a situation I find particularly immoral I should avoid it. This mentality has led to a myriad of other problems, but that is beyond this post.

In the Bible we see Jesus ministering to sinners, to the chagrin of the Pharisees (Luke 15:1, 2). However, Jesus’ ministry of compassion extended beyond the temporal needs of these people, He pointed them to the source of lasting peace – the Holy Scriptures, specifically the Law (Luke 18:18-22). The crippled man brought by his four friends to Jesus was told that his sins were forgiven (Matthew 9:1-8). The woman caught in adultery was told to go and sin no more (John 8:2-11). It seems to me that beyond car rides, helping with moves, and throwing baby showers the most compassionate thing we can do for a person is share the word of God with them. In God’s Word, we all find the hope that repentance will be accepted, forgiveness will be granted, and help will be readily available to avoid the traps that so easily take us down. There is no greater gift a person can receive.

Scripture teaches that because all sin separates us from God that all sins be seen as equal – “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Therefore, if someone commits a sin, it is not my duty to be judge, jury, and executioner, because I am just as guilty as they are of sin (Matthew 7:1). My sole duty is to reflect Christ to the world – embracing His commandments, and showing mercy to His suffering children (despite the cause of their suffering) “He had shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8)

Continue to be Blessed

The Peace that Passes All Understanding

Trauma
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Post Traumatic Stress ↔ Post Traumatic Growth

Today I heard on the news of a “new” concept, post-traumatic growth. Post-traumatic Growth is the ability of the human being to become more resilient after enduring an extremely stressful experience.
The first chapter of the book of James speaks to this point it says: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”(James 1:2-4)
Every day humanity faces different types of stresses Eustress and Distress. Sometimes it feels like all the trials we endure are distressing; however, the attitude with which we respond to our varied ordeals is truly what determines how we come through. The passage says to “ let patience have her perfect work”. Human survival instinct is to escape our pain as quickly as possible. But in doing that have we learnt anything?

Granted, walking with your eyes wide open into trouble when you have better options is not the wisest. That’s why James continues to say: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”(James 1:5) However, don’t forget when you ask anything of God you must believe in Him, in His power, in His benevolence, in His mercy, and in His understanding (James 1:6-8).

In this time of extreme financial, social, and spiritual crises I hope this brings you hope. As you go through threatening experiences please be encouraged and know that there is a God that does not sleep. He is always there to bring you through because He has plans for you to bring you the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

God Bless.

Coping Through Tough Times