Romans 1:16
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes... (NKJ)"
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
We Must Know His Severity and Goodness
We Must Know His Severity and Goodness
Romans 11:22 (NKJ) - Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Fearing His severity too much can prevent us from doing what we are supposed to be doing:
This point is clearly illustrated through the evil servant in the parable of the talents. He so feared his master that he buried his talents instead of using them as the master has commanded (Matthew 25:14-30). As shown here, too much fear of His severity can prevent us from moving and the Lord considers it evil.
Properly fearing His severity will prevent us from making great mistakes.
King Saul did not fear the severity of God and His commandments when He decided not to wait on Samuel but to offer burnt offerings to the Lord himself. This mistake costs Saul his kingdom (1 Samuel 13:8-14). As shown here, a lack of fear of the severity of the Lord carried a great consequence.
Taking advantage of His goodness is dangerous:
Under the banner of grace, many people dangerously roll the dice and fail to observe the principles and commandments of God. Romans 11:22 (see above) clearly warns us to continue in His goodness or we will be cut off.
He honors those who love Him for His love and goodness.
Embracing the love and goodness of God and allowing it change us will bring us closer to Him. Psalm 91:14-16 (NKJ) Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him. And show him My salvation.”
The conclusion:
Fear prevents us from doing something but love causes us to do something. When you were a child, fear prevented you from doing things you shouldn’t such as hurting a sibling but love made you do things to please your parents such as making them a handmade Christmas card in school. Knowing His severity keeps us safe and respects His authority and dominion over us, knowing His goodness allows us to love Him with all our heart, mind, and soul while loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Romans 11:22 (NKJ) - Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Fearing His severity too much can prevent us from doing what we are supposed to be doing:
This point is clearly illustrated through the evil servant in the parable of the talents. He so feared his master that he buried his talents instead of using them as the master has commanded (Matthew 25:14-30). As shown here, too much fear of His severity can prevent us from moving and the Lord considers it evil.
Properly fearing His severity will prevent us from making great mistakes.
King Saul did not fear the severity of God and His commandments when He decided not to wait on Samuel but to offer burnt offerings to the Lord himself. This mistake costs Saul his kingdom (1 Samuel 13:8-14). As shown here, a lack of fear of the severity of the Lord carried a great consequence.
Taking advantage of His goodness is dangerous:
Under the banner of grace, many people dangerously roll the dice and fail to observe the principles and commandments of God. Romans 11:22 (see above) clearly warns us to continue in His goodness or we will be cut off.
He honors those who love Him for His love and goodness.
Embracing the love and goodness of God and allowing it change us will bring us closer to Him. Psalm 91:14-16 (NKJ) Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him. And show him My salvation.”
The conclusion:
Fear prevents us from doing something but love causes us to do something. When you were a child, fear prevented you from doing things you shouldn’t such as hurting a sibling but love made you do things to please your parents such as making them a handmade Christmas card in school. Knowing His severity keeps us safe and respects His authority and dominion over us, knowing His goodness allows us to love Him with all our heart, mind, and soul while loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Friday, August 15, 2008
New Age Has Crept Into Pop Culture
Let me start this off by saying I'm not a doom and gloom believer nor am I a self-appointed watchman. Those who know me know that's the furthest from the truth but I feel I should post this as a warning of some things I have observed in pop culture:
1. I went to McDonald's a few weeks ago and bought a fruit n’ yogurt parfait. When eating I noticed the print on the cup. It was a woman in a new age meditative posture with her palms up, thumbs and index finger touching. For those of you who don't know, this hand position is what is called a mudra. The purpose of mudras are to position your hands in order to channel or manipulate energy in a specific way.
2. Months ago I saw a commercial with cows saying "OM." For those of you who don't know this is called a mantra. A Mantra is a repetitive chant to channel or manipulate energy for a specific purpose. These are typically vowels of the Sanskrit language, definitively not tongues, definitely not God.
3. Oprah promoted the Secret ant A Course in Miracles. These are not of God, and definitely do not recognize Jesus as Lord.
4. Yoga was invented as a Hindu method to combine physical with spiritual. The positions were invented to open energy channels called chakras in order to manipulate the energy in these so called energy centers. A yoga master is called a yogi. Now some people say it’s for exercises but if you do, make sure you run from teachers who promote meditative or chanting type practicing, you're practicing Hinduism and not realizing it.
5. Relaxation methods are cover-up for new age practices such as reiki which a Buddhist healing modality that uses chanting and meditation and manipulation of energy channeling. Beware, these things many times are advertised wrongly without the person knowing what they are really getting into. At a relay for Life charity event there was a "relax with reiki" tent. Yeah, it everywhere! Even the Cleveland Clinic was running experiments on the medical benefits of this new age practice.
Take this for what it worth but take it as a fair warning...
I pray to our Abba Father that He blessing us all with wisdom, understanding, and discerning of spirits in Jesus' name!
Please repost this for your friends to spread awareness!
Your brother in Christ!
1. I went to McDonald's a few weeks ago and bought a fruit n’ yogurt parfait. When eating I noticed the print on the cup. It was a woman in a new age meditative posture with her palms up, thumbs and index finger touching. For those of you who don't know, this hand position is what is called a mudra. The purpose of mudras are to position your hands in order to channel or manipulate energy in a specific way.
2. Months ago I saw a commercial with cows saying "OM." For those of you who don't know this is called a mantra. A Mantra is a repetitive chant to channel or manipulate energy for a specific purpose. These are typically vowels of the Sanskrit language, definitively not tongues, definitely not God.
3. Oprah promoted the Secret ant A Course in Miracles. These are not of God, and definitely do not recognize Jesus as Lord.
4. Yoga was invented as a Hindu method to combine physical with spiritual. The positions were invented to open energy channels called chakras in order to manipulate the energy in these so called energy centers. A yoga master is called a yogi. Now some people say it’s for exercises but if you do, make sure you run from teachers who promote meditative or chanting type practicing, you're practicing Hinduism and not realizing it.
5. Relaxation methods are cover-up for new age practices such as reiki which a Buddhist healing modality that uses chanting and meditation and manipulation of energy channeling. Beware, these things many times are advertised wrongly without the person knowing what they are really getting into. At a relay for Life charity event there was a "relax with reiki" tent. Yeah, it everywhere! Even the Cleveland Clinic was running experiments on the medical benefits of this new age practice.
Take this for what it worth but take it as a fair warning...
I pray to our Abba Father that He blessing us all with wisdom, understanding, and discerning of spirits in Jesus' name!
Please repost this for your friends to spread awareness!
Your brother in Christ!
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