ALL THINGS, part 5: God knows

And there is no creature hidden from His sight,

but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him

to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 4:13, NKJV

 

Jesus asked Simon Peter the same question three times:  Do you love me?  And twice Peter answered, You know I do.  But by the third time he was asked, Peter was disturbed and perhaps a little exasperated.  What was the Lord getting at?  Was this a preamble to Peter's punishment for denying he knew the Lord, or for doubting the resurrection?  Was this how Jesus was going to make an example of Him in front of the rest of the disciples?  In desperation, he explodes out the mouth (as he was often prone to do):  "Lord, you know all things!  You know that I love you!"

 

Lord, you know all things.

 

You know what is in my heart, and what is going to come out of my mouth.  You know my thoughts even before I think them.  You know when I get up and lie down.  You know when I come in and go out.  You know my wanderings and my wonderings.  You know everything about me past, present and future.  Not just that, you know everything about everybody else, too.  You know what's going on the world, how it's all working out according to Your plan, how it will all end.  You've got it all right there in your hands before Your very eyes, and You know all things.  You know everything there is to know about everything there is to know anything about.

 

Lord, you know all things.

 

Nothing is hidden from you, nor can it be, though I wish sometimes you didn't see so much.  And sometimes, because I think I know myself too, my own heart speaks judgment and condemnation over me for my failings.  Just like I'm sure Simon Peter's was doing that day on the beach.  I know what I've done, where I've been, the mistakes I've made.  I know how bad I am sometimes.  But so do you.  And I'm thankful that even though we both know how bad I am--you probably having a better understanding of it than even me--you won't allow me to be destroyed in my badness.  Your goodness and faithfulness holds me up and keeps me together until I can get to where You know I'm going, to become what You know I'm going to be.

 

For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart

and knows all things.

1 John 3:20, NKJV

 



ALL THINGS are mine...and yours

"All things that the Father has are Mine.

Therefore I said that the Holy Spirit will take of Mine and declare it to you."

--Jesus, John 16:15

 

All things belong to God, and because He is God, all things belong to Jesus Christ.  Each and every thing, visible and invisible, imaginable and unimaginable, tangible and intangible--all things belong to Him, and are His to distribute.  Jesus returned to Heaven and received from the Father the gift of the Holy Spirit, which He then bestowed liberally and without measure upon His church.  And through the living, breathing, abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we have access to all things that are God's in Christ Jesus!

 

Anything you need, the Holy Spirit declares it.

 

Anything you need, the Holy Spirit reveals it.

 

Anything you need, the Holy Spirit gives it.

 

Through Jesus Christ, we have become the adopted sons and daughters of God.  We are part of His family, grafted into the vine, bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  We belong to Him, and He belongs to us.  We have a benevolent Father who gives good gifts to His children, starting with the saving grace of Jesus Christ and the empowering grace of the Holy Spirit.  And having not withheld His only Son from us, will He not also freely give us all things?

 

I love being a believer in Jesus Christ, because all things that are God's belong to Him, and He has given it all to me, everything I need for life and for godliness.  All things are mine!

 

For all things are yours...and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

1 Corinthians 3:21, 23, NKJV

Dog Fight

Dogs fight over the silliest things, at least from a human perspective.

 

They fight over the square footage on which they can pee.

 

They fight over who has the biggest bone, the meatiest bone, or the most bones.

 

They fight over who gets to sit next to Mama.

 

They fight over rubber chew toys.

 

They fight over who has the right to run with the big dogs, and who has to stay on the porch.

 

They fight over the food bowl (although I have to admit I understand that one more).

 

They fight when they feel threatened.

 

They fight when they feel unwanted.

 

They fight when they feel bullied and pushed around.

 

They fight when a stranger walks within running distance.

 

I've seen a few dog fights in my time.  I've even waded into them myself to break it up, though not without consequences.  I've suffered a few dog bites, even from my own beloved pet.

 

People fight over some pretty silly things too.

 

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty;

only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh,

but through love serve one another.

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this:

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

But if you bite and devour one another,

beware lest you be consumed by one another.

Galatians 5:13-15, NKJV

You Can Always Tell a Pharisee...but You Can't Tell 'em Much

"But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

And whoever exalts himself will be humbled,

and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

--Jesus, Matthew 23:11-12

 

Do you know how to identify a religious hypocrite?

 

• They are usually prominent in the church community
• They dole out religious advice to anyone who will listen to them
• They make themselves the standard of holiness in the church community
• They set the standards...and continually move the bar so that no one can measure up
• They make Christianity difficult to do, and are almost always unavailable to help others in any meaningful way.
• They always look the part of spiritual authority and prominence
• They love being recognized for their own importance and contributions to the kingdom
• They also love titles.

 

In response to the religious hypocrites of His day, Jesus had a few warnings for them.

 

"Woe to you..." for making salvation an impossibility.  (Matthew 23:13)

 

"Woe to you..." for masking injustice with false piety.  (Matthew 23:14)

 

"Woe to you..." for making your converts just like you.  (Matthew 23:15)

 

"Woe to you..." for not understanding that Christ is the true standard of holiness and source of power.  (Matthew 23:16-22)

 

"Woe to you..." for focusing on the insignificant and ignoring the eternal.  (Matthew 23:23-24)

 

"Woe to you..." for making the outward appearance the priority, while ignoring the inner condition.  (Matthew 23:25-26)

 

"Woe to you..." for covering up your own deadness with outward imitations of life.  (Matthew 23:27-28)

 

"Woe to you..." for celebrating the sins of the past and disguising them with honor.  (Matthew 23:29-30)

 

Religious hypocrisy starts when we make the traditions and commandments of men standards of faith, and when salvation is about works rather than grace.

 

Religious hypocrisy progresses when we focus on works, and it becomes about us--see how holy I am?  Then when we are focused on ourselves and our works, we ignore the needs of others, often using and abusing them.  We begin to think we are the example, and insist that everyone become like us.  We make up rules to explain ourselves, coming up with creative ways to bypass the Word of God.  Holiness becomes an exact science of works, while true holiness in Christ and through Christ-likeness is forgotten.  We allow inner impurity while presenting a false front of righteousness.  We cover up our spiritual deadness and decay with a show of religiosity.  And finally, we reach the point that evil becomes good, and good, evil.

 

And in the end, religious hypocrisy produces death and damnation for all who follow it.

 

Woe be unto us when we can point a finger and say, "That believer in Jesus Christ is just not as holy as me."  That's when we need to be pointing in the mirror.

 

 

ALL THINGS, part 3: The Holy Spirit will tell you

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name,

He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things

that I have said to you."

--Jesus, John 14:26

 

There is so much that we don't know, so much that we don't understand.  But Jesus said, "That's okay.  I'm going to give you help!"  This He did by sending the Holy Spirit, God's promise to all believers, the indwelling presence of God whom Jesus said would teach us all things, bring all things we have learned to our remembrance, and guide us into all truth.  Meaning God will continue to talk to us through His Holy Spirit, if we have ears to hear.

 

Do you read the Scriptures and come across passages that baffle you?  Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you the meaning, and He will.



 

Are you afraid of talking about Jesus because you don't have a good memory about chapters and verses and quotations?  Rely on the Holy Spirit in those times, and He will dredge your memory banks for the right things to say.  Of course, that means you have to have put it in your mind to begin with.  So ready, your Bible, pray for understanding, and depend upon the Holy Spirit to bring it out at the right time.

 

Do you encounter circumstances and situations in which you are confused and wishful of the truth?  The Holy Spirit will guide you into truth, if you will let Him.

 

The Holy Spirit is our helper in all things.  He is God's personal representative in our lives, ever present, all knowing, completely God living and moving and breathing in me.  He is the source of life and liberty and knowledge and help.  He is God's special gift to every believer, the guarantee of future glory, the one who convicts and convinces, the one who changes lives.

 

And not only that, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:10 that the Spirit reveals to us all the wonders that God has in store for us, because He searches out the deepest things of God so He can show them to us!

 



ALL THINGS He created

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power:

For Thou hast created all things and for Thy pleasure they are and were created."

Revelation 4:11, KJV

 

For Thy pleasure, the elders sang.  According the will, plan, purpose, desire, and design of God, everything that is now, ever has been, or forever shall be was created by Him, through Him, and for Him.  From nothing, God spoke everything into existence.  That spoken Word was Christ, who was from the beginning with God.  Who was from the beginning God.  And through Him everything was made.

 

In the beginning, there was God.  Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  It started with Him.  It started through Him.  It started by the power of His will.  He spoke and it all began.  He originated everything that is and set it all in place.  He knows every speck of the cosmos personally, because He made them.  He made the earth and all its fullness.  He made me, fearfully and wonderfully, in the womb of my mother.  Covered there in the hidden parts, God put me together.

 

And for His pleasure was I created.  To do His will.  To look like Him, to be like Him.  That is my purpose, to please the one who made me and fulfill His plan for my life.  How much easier things would be, how much simpler, if we all just realized we were made by God with that reason in mind. He made me, and He has given me an instruction manual to help me understand His will and my purpose.  He wants to and will and does communicate further instructions to me if I am listening.  He wants me to please Him, and He's not going to leave it up to my imagination to figure out how.  That is the lunacy of religion, trying to figure God out when He has already given us everything we need, right there in His Word.

 

This is not my world, not my body, not my possessions, not my life.  All that I am and ever hope to be, I owe totally and completely to God.  He is my Creator, and I will worship and serve Him all of my days.



ALL THINGS are possible

"If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."

--Jesus, Mark 9:23, NKJV

 

A young man was in great need.  Unable to communicate, seized by violent convulsions, given to self-destructive behavior, he had been tormented by an evil spirit since his childhood.  We are given no reason for his condition, no indication of how it started or why, no explanation for why this one had been targeted by the working of Satan.  But word had reached his loving father that Jesus the miracle worker was in town.  Perhaps this Jesus could do something for his son.

 

Bringing the boy to where Jesus was said to be, the father found not the healer but nine of his disciples.  These were seasoned members of the ministry team, witnesses to the wonder working power of their teacher and active participants themselves.  These had preached sermons and performed miracles and exorcised demons.  Surely they could help.  As a crowd gathered, the disciples attempted to do what they had done and seen done many times before.  Only this time, it didn't work.  Soon they were engaged in a public debate that turned a victim into a spectacle, still helpless in his affliction while others discussed the theological implications of his pitiful condition.

 

But as they were speaking, Jesus showed up.

 

He heard the desperate cry of the father, saw the devastation in the life of the son, and as the young man convulsed, Jesus spoke.  "Only believe.  All things are possible.  Only believe."

 

To which the father replied, "Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelief!"

 

Then Jesus rebuked the evil spirit and rendered the young man delivered and completely whole!

 

People were always saying to Jesus, "If you can..."  And Jesus reply, and His response, was always, "Of course I can.  If you can believe for it, I can certainly do it."  He healed the blind, the lame, the deaf, the mute.  He cast out demons and raised the dead back to life.  He fed 5000 with 5 fish sandwiches.  He walked on water and turned it into wine.  There was nothing He could not do.  There is nothing He will not do, for those who believe.

 

And still today, people ask, "If you can..."

 

He can.  Nothing is impossible with God.  When One has all power and all authority, He can do absolutely anything.  Not just that, He can do everything!  Whatever you need from Him today, believe.  I mean REALLY BELIEVE!  And see what God will do for you.

Why I Haven't Been Blogging

When I look back over my last few blogs and realize how long it's been since I actually wrote anything, I immediately think, "You should have been writing all this time.  There's so much happening!"  Then I remember that the reason I haven't been writing is because there's so much happening.  Life in 2013 started off on the downhill slope.  Then it gained both size and momentum.  And it hasn't really slowed down.  Want me to catch you up?

 

First was becoming the new pastor at Lovelady Assembly of God in Lovelady, Texas, 80 miles from where I was living (in Bryan).

 

Then Mom & Jim came for a visit.

 

Then I started a new relationship, that went from Zero to Married in four months & ten days.

 

Then I quit my old job as the custodial engineer for Parkway Baptist Church.

 

Then I moved.

 

Then I flew to Colorado and moved Mom & Jim...here with me.

 

And I was courting...

 

Then my Granny died.

 

And I was courting...

 

Then it was wedding announcements, wedding registries, wedding showers, wedding planning...

 

And I was courting...

 

Then I moved Mom & Jim to their new home 14 miles away.

 

And I was courting...

 

Then it was packing and moving and rearranging the house to prepare for the new arrivals.

 

Then it was a broke down truck that needed fixing.

 

...wedding practice...

 

Then the wedding.

 

Then a short honeymoon (the real, longer one to come later) and a week at home alone.

 

Then it was loading up the new family and moving them to Lovelady.

 

Then it was more packing, unpacking, repacking, moving and removing.

 

Then it was a leaky washer and a burnt up dryer...and new ones.

 

Then it was more packing, unpacking, repacking, moving and removing, plus sorting and storing both in the attic and the new store room.

 

Most importantly, I am now sharing my life with the woman I love, our two-year-old adventurer, plus Rosie the Beagle and two black dogs that adopted us.  Plus pastoring this wonderful church in Lovelady, Texas.

 

And now here we are, five months since my last post, and I wonder where the time has gone.

 

It's not that I haven't had anything to say.  In fact, quite the opposite is true.  I have blogs and book chapters and poetry and journal entries out the wazoo!  I just haven't had the time to get it all out of my head and onto the page.  And I suspect that if I want to find the time, it's going to have to be early in the morning before everyone else is up, when the world is still quiet and calm, and no one is calling my phone or my name.

 

Welcome, Brave New World!  It's a joy.