Romans 10: 13
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Being an old, retired English teacher, I can't help but love old sayings, idioms,
expressions that were used in my earlier years but may be unfamiliar to younger
folks. My father always emphasized the need to be very very careful when a deal
came up that was "free." Surely, there had to be a catch, some small, hard-to-read
fine print or some exceptions that made the original "free" anything but.
Often there were vacations promised where one could receive free airfare for
three days and two nights for a nominal fee, or amazing deals on swamp land in
Florida, etc. Things that were of value simply did not happen for free.
The God of the universe who created a perfect world and placed His creatures
within it valued those He created and wished to walk with them in this garden
in the cool of the evenings. He was and is a God of relationship, having been
in the ultimate relationship with the Son from time eternal. The problem was
that His created could not handle temptation by a wily snake-type creature
and, suddenly, creation was tainted. Sin crept in and creation was fouled.
Now God could have simply thrown up His 'hands' and turned His back on
what He had called Good, or He could have wiped it out and started over
again. God was truly justified in feeling great wrath for the disobeying
ones He had fashioned. Instead, the One who had been wronged, who
deserved to have reconciliation provided a means for those who had fallen
short to be reconciled.
It would be akin to having someone break into your house, steal valuables
and then having you provide them with money to repay you for what had
happened. The difference, and it's a whopping difference, is that we are
talking salvation, here. We are talking the chance to have the barrier created
by sin between God and ourselves, to be ended. We are talking eternal
life with our Creator. We are talking about Saving Grace.
Our end of things....you already know. Call of Jesus to be your Savior,
Repent and believe upon the Son of God. Might want to get that done
immediately.
Praise our God!
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
He cut it from ten to two...and I'm still batting .000
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22: 36-40
Baseball is a sport where failing can be a good thing. If a batter successfully hits the
baseball for a hit, one-third of the time, he stands a very good chance of wining a
batting title!
The Mosaic Law, ten commandments delivered personally by God to Moses and
then given to the Hebrew people, were not designed for success! When I look at
those Holy commands, then search for my success rate, I fall way short of being
successful. Back before I realized what Christ was saying in His list of "but I tell
you's," I thought I was doing okay in some areas. After all, I hadn't killed
anyone. Then Jesus expanded upon those commands in rebuking the Pharisee
legal attitudes..... example....
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[a] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 6
I guess the fact that I had, at one time or another, wished for the demise of another
person sort of qualified me for failure.
Then, amazingly, I discovered that Jesus answered a question by naming two great
laws or commands that were to be followed. Oh boy, now I stood a much better
chance. No I did not!
The bottom line, here, is that we, as humans, filled with sin, are unable to
accomplish any of the commands, whether ten or two, that God laid out as
goals for righteous behavior and standing.
So the point is (was)...
WE NEED JESUS! They were designed to point us to our incapacity and
to the one true Fully man who could and did fulfill the law. Did His success
in keeping full righteousness cancel the law? No. He said that He came to
fulfill it, not to cancel it.
We who are in Christ are being transformed, being sanctified by the work
of God's Holy Spirit toward men and women who are more and more
righteous and more and more like the one true second Adam. We won't
get there, won't stop sinning until we go to be with Jesus in a place
where there will simply be NO sin.
Glorious! Praise our God!
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22: 36-40
Baseball is a sport where failing can be a good thing. If a batter successfully hits the
baseball for a hit, one-third of the time, he stands a very good chance of wining a
batting title!
The Mosaic Law, ten commandments delivered personally by God to Moses and
then given to the Hebrew people, were not designed for success! When I look at
those Holy commands, then search for my success rate, I fall way short of being
successful. Back before I realized what Christ was saying in His list of "but I tell
you's," I thought I was doing okay in some areas. After all, I hadn't killed
anyone. Then Jesus expanded upon those commands in rebuking the Pharisee
legal attitudes..... example....
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[a] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 6
I guess the fact that I had, at one time or another, wished for the demise of another
person sort of qualified me for failure.
Then, amazingly, I discovered that Jesus answered a question by naming two great
laws or commands that were to be followed. Oh boy, now I stood a much better
chance. No I did not!
The bottom line, here, is that we, as humans, filled with sin, are unable to
accomplish any of the commands, whether ten or two, that God laid out as
goals for righteous behavior and standing.
So the point is (was)...
WE NEED JESUS! They were designed to point us to our incapacity and
to the one true Fully man who could and did fulfill the law. Did His success
in keeping full righteousness cancel the law? No. He said that He came to
fulfill it, not to cancel it.
We who are in Christ are being transformed, being sanctified by the work
of God's Holy Spirit toward men and women who are more and more
righteous and more and more like the one true second Adam. We won't
get there, won't stop sinning until we go to be with Jesus in a place
where there will simply be NO sin.
Glorious! Praise our God!
Thursday, October 1, 2015
SETI. Seriously...?
I like listening to Carl Sagan; he had such an interesting voice. I was privileged
to teach his niece, Rachel, many years ago. What a wonderful, bright young
lady.
When it comes to SETI, I have to just shake my head and wonder; what in the
world are these people thinking? What would be the motivation for searching
the universe for other intelligent life? What would be proven if such a discovery
actually came to pass?
Perhaps these folks are feeling lonely. This blue marble seemingly out there in
a vast black void of space might make one feel alone. Perhaps it would be
better to discover that there have been other instances where something crawled
out of the primordial ooze onto a beach and then took millions of years to
randomly change into more complex beings able to communicate with us
on this earth?
It all fits in with the search for 'black matter,' 'the God particle,' etc. We are
beings that crave answers; we would really like to know the meaning, the reasons,
the answers. It doesn't feel right when we cannot find solutions to issues where we
do not have complete knowledge.
Well, I do know that contacts with aliens in movies and books have really not,
for the most part, been pleasant experiences. We haven't done too well in
these fictional accounts, having to rely on virus or water, etc. to deal the final
hand in repulsing alien invasions.
Look; we aren't alone. We do have answers. Knowing this is as simple as
listening to our hearts and observing the world around us. God created this
world and He did so with magnificent success. He spoke things into creation,
He breathed life into you and me, He is completely sovereign and in control
of where this blue marble of a planet is headed, its future and its eventual
restoration. It's a plain as the nose on our faces; yet, we still cannot
accept the fact that we aren't that smart, that aware and that intelligent
to really understand this vast universe without the assurance that there is
One who can and does.
Go on looking, or look inside yourselves to that spot that needs to be
filled with a loving, sovereign Father God.
Praise Him!
to teach his niece, Rachel, many years ago. What a wonderful, bright young
lady.
When it comes to SETI, I have to just shake my head and wonder; what in the
world are these people thinking? What would be the motivation for searching
the universe for other intelligent life? What would be proven if such a discovery
actually came to pass?
Perhaps these folks are feeling lonely. This blue marble seemingly out there in
a vast black void of space might make one feel alone. Perhaps it would be
better to discover that there have been other instances where something crawled
out of the primordial ooze onto a beach and then took millions of years to
randomly change into more complex beings able to communicate with us
on this earth?
It all fits in with the search for 'black matter,' 'the God particle,' etc. We are
beings that crave answers; we would really like to know the meaning, the reasons,
the answers. It doesn't feel right when we cannot find solutions to issues where we
do not have complete knowledge.
Well, I do know that contacts with aliens in movies and books have really not,
for the most part, been pleasant experiences. We haven't done too well in
these fictional accounts, having to rely on virus or water, etc. to deal the final
hand in repulsing alien invasions.
Look; we aren't alone. We do have answers. Knowing this is as simple as
listening to our hearts and observing the world around us. God created this
world and He did so with magnificent success. He spoke things into creation,
He breathed life into you and me, He is completely sovereign and in control
of where this blue marble of a planet is headed, its future and its eventual
restoration. It's a plain as the nose on our faces; yet, we still cannot
accept the fact that we aren't that smart, that aware and that intelligent
to really understand this vast universe without the assurance that there is
One who can and does.
Go on looking, or look inside yourselves to that spot that needs to be
filled with a loving, sovereign Father God.
Praise Him!
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