For the truth’s sake
2 John
{1:1} The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth
{1:2} For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.
{1:3} Grace be with you, mercy, [and] peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
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For the truth's sake.
For the sake of what is true.
We have to live in the truth, know the truth, which is the grace and mercy of God and Jesus Christ.
It's beautiful really, so beautiful.
Jesus said if we thirst in Him we'll thirst no more.
Jesus said if we were hungry in Him we'll be hungry no more.
How is this possible?
Because the truth of grace and mercy tells us that we are forgiven our sins by Jesus' sacrifice and love, prepared for the world to come, not this world. We will never thirst or hunger in Christ, in the world to come.
The hope that is in Jesus is eternal life, it is life in another world not this one. That hope is real and Jesus, and it must be real to us, more real than the life we live now. It must be worth more to us than this life. It's not easy to believe that way though, is it? We are alive here and now and all our senses demand we believe in what we can see, feel, hear, taste, smell. We are taught not to believe in anything else. We are called fools if we believe in something that isn't tangible. Fools, deceived, simple-minded, delusional, there are many names for us who believe in the unseen world to come. We have to have the hope in the world promised by Jesus, because hope in this world is what is really senseless. This world offers so little, but it does offer hope. The truth is in Christ Jesus, He is the truth, the world and life He offers us is the truth. Love is the truth.
We will not thrist or hunger- two basic needs so often not met in this world. In Jesus we have hope of living in a world truly govern by love. This world will never offer us that, never. Peace is something unrealized and where it is realized it is all caught up in treachery and lies, rulers under different names, peace that is forced and not realized as what is true and good, just and right, it is not borne of love.
As hard as it is to look past all that we know, all that we feel and see, we have to.
Our hope isn't here and now and the more we try to make it such the further from the truth we'll be. The more we seek happiness here, the more we seek justice and truth here, the more we lay all our hopes on our lives now, the less we'll have our hope in Christ and the world to come.
No, I'm not saying we shouldn't try to live a life that has happiness and contentment in what lot we are given, but there is so much more to it all than that. Our love for our fellow man through Christ must prevail. We need to do for others all we can do, not just seek our own contentment selfishly.
Christ's promises are all real and the truth is real in Him and it's beautiful. Questioning our lot in life health wise, monetary wise, is pointless when we live for Christ. We must strive to do all we can to live as Jesus lived, to walk in the truth of love.
May this become reality for all of us here and now, our one and true hope, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:”- John 11:25
12/07/09
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Being born of flesh we are caught up in the flesh- letting tribulations, letting distress, letting persecution, famines, nakedness, peril and swords separate us from God. This is our tendency. To let LIFE come before God. To let this life and all of it's horrible upsets and disappointments, all of it's heartache and pain keep us from the ultimate life in Christ is the goal of the flesh and all those who are living in the flesh and the flesh only. We have to live in the Spirit. To live in the Spirit we must be born again into the Spirit, through the love of Christ.
Honestly we are counted as sheep for the slaughter, we are. Being counted as sheep for the slaughter means what?
Psa 44:22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
We are God's to do with as He pleases. Seriously, it's as simple as that. If it is the will of God that we do suffer persecution even unto being martyred then that's what must be. This life here that we live is His and we have to allow it to be His to do His will. We have to know that as long as we are living in the Spirit and not just the flesh, that we are safe eternally. Not safe here temporarily, but in eternity. Our treasure is truly in heaven and this is living in the Spirit.
We need to be born of the water and of the Spirit, born not of corruptible seed but incorruptible seed, by the word of God, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
May God Bless us all as we seek to let the Spirit lead us in all we do. The flesh will try to corrupt us and we will cry out with Paul about how wretched we are, but Christ has overcome and we need to cling to Him and His righteousness to overcome in Him.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord.
Amen.
12/07/10
12/07/11
Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Abraham obeyed God's voice.
Abraham kept God's charge.
Abraham kept God's commandments.
Abraham kept God's statutes.
Abraham kept God's laws.
All that Abraham did BEFORE Moses became God's prophet. There were no written ten commandments and yet Abraham kept God's commandments. How is that possible? It's possible because God's commandments are as everlasting as He is, was, and ever will be. Seriously. Now before anyone gets all riled up think about it for a moment. Eve broke God's commandments, right? She had to or else she couldn't have sinned.
1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
She sinned. She transgressed God's law. It wasn't written but it was known. And it goes beyond the direction God gave to Adam and Eve to not eat of the tree of knowledge.
Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
We've already discussed it a bit- Eve coveted the fruit of the tree- it was pleasant to her eyes, she desired the wisdom she believed she could gain from consuming the fruit. She wanted more than she needed. In what Eve did, she broke some of those ten great commandments, the laws of God. If people don't recognize that then they are blind because it's truth. God's law were written down, but before they were written down they were known. We KNOW that God can do this…
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people
God can put His laws into the minds and hearts of people.
Where do you think God's law was in those He first created? Seriously? Think about it. We need to think about this because too many people believe that laws equates legalist and legalist are not those who believe in the love of God and salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Too many believe that keeping the law is something separate from the love of God and it is not!
It's really, really not.
More tomorrow by God's amazing grace!
Amen.