MARCH 13 – Get Your House in Order

MARCH 13 – Get Your House in Order

2Ki 20:1  In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. 

How often do we think of death and dying? Dying is not a favorite subject. Dying means not spending time with children and grandchildren. Dying means missing the pleasures of this world. My wife, born in southern Arkansas, raised in southern Arkansas, had no trouble moving north when I was called to pastor in the north except for one thing; the children were going to be over 700 miles away. That would be a drive of 11 hours to see children and grandchildren and now great-grandchildren. We want to live to be with our family. We want to live to enjoy the Razorbacks. Win or lose, this team and the Texas Teams and the Oklahoma teams are loved and watched. Let us not leave out hunting. I know Arkansas shuts down the first day of deer season.

Life and living have us under a grip. I know we say we are prepared to die but the question is there and seldom thought about, is your house in order? Have you studied as you should have? Have you lived as you should have? Have you witnessed as you should have? Have you worshiped as you should have? Have you been as faithful in the house of God as you should have? Have you compromised truth? Have you compromised practice? Have you been morally, ethically, and truthfully as righteous as possible? I know how I stand on this list. It is not good. I could have been more righteous than I have been in the past.

So what would your answer be if the Lord came to you tonight and said, get your house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live? Hezekiah prayed, “remember how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect hearty, and have done that which is good in thy sight.” Hezekiah destroyed false religion and pagan symbols that carried the people away from God.

What would our reply be?

JANUARY 19 – The Land Before us

JANUARY 19 – The Land Before us

Deuteronomy 1:8 – “Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land… “

What a statement that is made here. God said here is the land, all you have to do is go in and possess it. What is there in our life that we have not gone in to possess. I do believe there are items that have been set before us that we have not possessed.

One of these is listed in Galatians 5:22 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance:.” How many of these fruits do we possess? These are things that are healthy emotion/attitude adjustments given by the Spirit unto those that are children of God. So why do we hate instead of love, be sad instead of reveling in joy, always in turmoil instead of experiencing peace, short tempered instead of longsuffering, harsh instead of gentle, badly behave instead of good, faithless instead of faith, abrasive instead of meek, running to excess instead of temperance. Why have we not taken each of these gifts one by one and by the power of the Holy Spirit added each of the these free gifts to our life and be conformed to Christ. It has been set before us, why do we not possess these.

These personal life changes would make a difference in another area. Our witness. We interact with lost people every day and blithely go on our way without one concern about their soul and relationship with God. This is a land set before us to possess. While reading years ago, I read about a man that made a promise to God that he would witness to 10 people a day. At the end of a day, he climbed the stairs to his apartment to go to bed. He realized he had only witnessed to 9 people. Desperate to meet what he had committed himself to, he tried to think of where to go to find someone to witness to. No stores were open no cafes were open and then he thought, the train station. There will be somebody there. He hurried to the train station and people were just beginning to unload. He finally had the tenth person to witness the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. This man that heard the gospel that night was saved. A man went in to possess a soul by sharing the gospel. If he had said it is too late, he would have missed this man.

There is so much that God wants for us that we simply turn our back on. What a day to be blessed in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and to be bold in possessing the land of witnessing to others.

My commentary from Romans 12:1,2

It is very apparent that the LORD expects some changes from us. I would like to make some distinctions about certain claims about those that try to live a life that brings God honor and glory. I do believe that accusations are made that are not true at all. A common word, legalism, has been wrenched out of its setting to try and destroy those that are experiencing the transforming power of salvation and indwelling of the Holy Spirit and are in the process of renewing the mind to be more like Christ.

A quick look at Acts 15:1,2 – And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

2  When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

22  Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:

23  And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:

24  Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:

Notice verse 24, . . . “and keep the law.” This is Biblical legalism. It is an attempt to bring the law into salvation. Thus making salvation of works and not faith and grace. The Bible does not speak of a person having been saved as a legalist. It speaks of Pharisees being legalist because they believed that tithing of mint and anise would get them into heaven. (Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42.) These Pharisees rejected Jesus and therefore Jesus called them hypocrites and whited sepluchres.

Ephesians 4:17-32 – tells us to not walk as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind. They do not understand and are alienated from the life of God and are suffering from blindness. For this reason they accuse the saved of being legalists. The separation from the world that is called for by God’s Word is condemned by those that want to look like the world and act like the world. They ridicule those that are renewing the spirit of their mind. Paul said to the Ephesian brethren that they were to put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. He then proceeds to give a list of ungodly things.

Romans 12:1 says we are to be living sacrifices. We are not to be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of the mind. We have some today that have a stinking thinking problem. They are trying to look like the world. I wonder what is up with that?

Six short statements with great meanings

 

Subject: Six short statements with great meanings Posted: 01 Jun 2016 06:39 PM PDT What a miserable existence we have when our lives do not reflect these values. Dr. Robert McCurry – 1986 **{1} Once all villagers decided to pray for rain; on the day of prayer all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella.** That’s FAITH** ** {2} When you throw a baby in the air, she laughs because she knows you will catch her.** That’s TRUST** ** {3} Every night we go to bed, without any assurance of being alive the next morning, but still we set the alarms to wake up.** That’s HOPE** ** {4} We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future.** That’s CONFIDENCE** ** {5} We see the world suffering, but still we get married and have children.** That’s LOVE** ** {6} On an old man’s shirt was written a sentence ‘I am not 90 years old: I am sweet 16 with 74 years experience!’** That’s ATTITUDE** May you always have love to share, health to spare & friends who care. Author Unknown Submitted by Dr. Robert McCurry

Assurance of Resurrection

 

 

John 11:23-26

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” John 11:25, 26.

 

There are a lot of things in this world that can make us feel unsure. The feeling of true assurance is something that avoids us all too much. When we are able to fix our hearts on things that we know are sure, it brings security to our lives.

Merriam-Webster defines assurance as “being certain in the mind” and “inspiring confidence.” Nothing can bring more certainty to the mind and inspire more confidence in the heart of a believer than God’s Word. In today’s Scripture, we see a promise that should ease the heart of every believer, a truth that should set our minds at peace. And what is that truth?

Death will never defeat the believer!

That is a powerful truth! Through Jesus Christ, we have total victory over death. Life, the assurance of the resurrection, is a sure reality that we can rest in.

Christ has the authority to make this promise. Why? Because He is life and He is the resurrection. As believers we are “in Christ” (1 Cor. 15:22). By being placed in Him, we are also placed in His resurrection and in His life. That means we have the assurance of these promises, and “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise” (2 Peter 3:9).

 

 

JUST A THOUGHT

Will you rest in the assurance of God’s promises?

Nathan Rogers