Our sufficency is of God.
2 John {1:4} I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children
walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from
the Father. {1:5} And now I beseech thee, lady, not as
though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that
which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
{1:6} And this is love, that we walk after his
commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have
heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
From the beginning the commandment was to love one another. How could it be otherwise? God is love. When man fell into sin it was into a world that knew only love and now it would know the opposite of love, it would know hatred. The commandment to love is a command to live. People try to make it so God is harsh and restrictive, but He's love and all He asks is out of love. Loving one another is so important. Loving one another is what it's all about. Love. Putting others before ourselves. Putting God before ourselves. We walk in love.
1 John {4:11} Beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another. {4:12} No man
hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God
dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. {4:13}
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit.
No man has seen God at any time.
No man has seen God.
God dwells in us... if we love one another. God's love is perfected in us.
We know we dwell in God and God in us because God's given us his Spirit.
With the Holy Spirit in us, living in us, we know that God's love is in us and we can love with God's love. We need the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit will help us to love with God's love. Nothing is of ourselves.
2 Cor. {3:4} And such trust have we through Christ to Godward:
{3:5} Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency [is] of God
Our sufficency is of God.
We are NOT sufficient of ourselves.
May the Lord bless us and keep us, may the Holy Spirit dwell in us so that we may love one another with the only true and powerful love that is God's, all through the love of Christ, by His grace and His mercy now and forever.
Amen.
5/25/10
Psa 16:1 '...Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.'
Psa 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
We can't preserve ourselves. We can make choices, in fact we make choices every single day of our lives. We make choices in big things and in little things. We choose our own steps. Even those who work under an exacting boss choose to work for that boss. All but slaves- those held captive by another- have choices and even slave have choices but they are very hard to make especially when being killed for disobedience is one of the choices. In the end we can't keep ourselves, the world is too wicked. We have to ask God to preserve us. We have to trust that God will preserve us. Our prayer needs to be 'Preserve me O God for in thee do I put my trust.'
With David, a beloved of God, we need to be satisfied when we wake in our Lord's likeness meaning... nothing on earth is going to be truly satisfying, nothing. Our satisfaction needs to come from the eternal and after we sleep in death we will wake in the likeness of our Savior upon His return for us. Right now as David sleeps the sleep of death he will be satisfied when he is raised from the dead with His Savior's likeness. And in truth we are raised incorruptible as our Lord is incorruptible. We are changed instantly and brought to a new life and that satisfaction is all any of us needs- life eternal in Christ our Lord and Savior, our God.
Can we say that... can we say we'll be satisfied when we wake with Christ's likeness? We are told to seek first the kingdom of God, and we truly need to do that...seek FIRST, not second, not third, not as an afterthought or once a week, but we need to seek first the kingdom of God and that kingdom is our Savior and His righteousness.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior now and forever.
Amen.
5/25/11
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Mat 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Mat 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
*******
Those who HEAR the sayings Jesus was bringing to them and DO them- are likened unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock.
Hear and do.
Hear and do.
Hear and do.
Yes, I'm repeating this over and over because it bears repeating much more than I'm doing here, it warrants repeating until we get this embedded into our minds. We have to not only hear, but do what we hear. We have to LISTEN to our Savior and LEARN from Him. In learning we are living in the manner our Savior would have us live. These are LIFE lessons. These aren't mere stories being told to us - something to read and then forget. These are LIFE lessons we are to read and absorb until they are a part of us. Three chapters of Matthew- one hundred-seven verses- two thousand four hundred forty-one words of LESSONS.
And those who HEAR AND DO will be likened unto WISE men.
Mat 7:24 ...I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock
A wise man builds his house upon a ROCK. Why? Keep reading...
Mat 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
Rain comes.
Floods come.
Winds come.
The house is beaten.
But as long as that house is upon the rock it's going no where!
We all know, especially living in the times we do with the internet and television news bringing us vivid instant pictures of devastation that rain, floods, and winds can bring that even houses on rocks can be swept away, obliterated by tornado winds. The ROCK here is a much stronger Rock just as the house truly represents us. If We… if our lives are built upon the Rock that is our Savior then NOTHING will be able to rip us apart, nothing will be able to tear us down, nothing will be able to take our Savior from us. They might be able to take everything we have physically but they can not take our spiritual life from us, that spiritual life that is where salvation in our Savior is found, where TRUE life is found.
There is another side of this too- Jesus goes on to say this...
Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
A house built upon the sand. Truly foolish! When we do not LIVE for our Savior, we are not on a rock but rather sand and it doesn't matter if we are on sands that imitate rocks… because if they are not THE ROCK… those sand rocks will disintegrate just as surely as if they were pure sand. Too many are standing upon imitation rocks and they will not stand in the day of rain, flood, or wind. Too many have built their lives upon sand.
Jesus' own words to us so why don't we heed them? Why? Why do we hear but not do? Why? We are given the truth and the way and the life- JESUS. We are given all the love we need to live in Him. We need to LIVE Him. We must have Him as our Rock and no other.
1Co 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
That Rock was Christ!
Let us build our houses, our LIVES upon the Rock Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! By His grace, by His righteousness! In His love! In His mercy! Now and forever may we live!
Amen.
walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from
the Father. {1:5} And now I beseech thee, lady, not as
though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that
which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
{1:6} And this is love, that we walk after his
commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have
heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
From the beginning the commandment was to love one another. How could it be otherwise? God is love. When man fell into sin it was into a world that knew only love and now it would know the opposite of love, it would know hatred. The commandment to love is a command to live. People try to make it so God is harsh and restrictive, but He's love and all He asks is out of love. Loving one another is so important. Loving one another is what it's all about. Love. Putting others before ourselves. Putting God before ourselves. We walk in love.
1 John {4:11} Beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another. {4:12} No man
hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God
dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. {4:13}
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit.
No man has seen God at any time.
No man has seen God.
God dwells in us... if we love one another. God's love is perfected in us.
We know we dwell in God and God in us because God's given us his Spirit.
With the Holy Spirit in us, living in us, we know that God's love is in us and we can love with God's love. We need the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit will help us to love with God's love. Nothing is of ourselves.
2 Cor. {3:4} And such trust have we through Christ to Godward:
{3:5} Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency [is] of God
Our sufficency is of God.
We are NOT sufficient of ourselves.
May the Lord bless us and keep us, may the Holy Spirit dwell in us so that we may love one another with the only true and powerful love that is God's, all through the love of Christ, by His grace and His mercy now and forever.
Amen.
5/25/10
Psa 16:1 '...Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.'
Psa 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
We can't preserve ourselves. We can make choices, in fact we make choices every single day of our lives. We make choices in big things and in little things. We choose our own steps. Even those who work under an exacting boss choose to work for that boss. All but slaves- those held captive by another- have choices and even slave have choices but they are very hard to make especially when being killed for disobedience is one of the choices. In the end we can't keep ourselves, the world is too wicked. We have to ask God to preserve us. We have to trust that God will preserve us. Our prayer needs to be 'Preserve me O God for in thee do I put my trust.'
With David, a beloved of God, we need to be satisfied when we wake in our Lord's likeness meaning... nothing on earth is going to be truly satisfying, nothing. Our satisfaction needs to come from the eternal and after we sleep in death we will wake in the likeness of our Savior upon His return for us. Right now as David sleeps the sleep of death he will be satisfied when he is raised from the dead with His Savior's likeness. And in truth we are raised incorruptible as our Lord is incorruptible. We are changed instantly and brought to a new life and that satisfaction is all any of us needs- life eternal in Christ our Lord and Savior, our God.
Can we say that... can we say we'll be satisfied when we wake with Christ's likeness? We are told to seek first the kingdom of God, and we truly need to do that...seek FIRST, not second, not third, not as an afterthought or once a week, but we need to seek first the kingdom of God and that kingdom is our Savior and His righteousness.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior now and forever.
Amen.
5/25/11
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Mat 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Mat 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
*******
Those who HEAR the sayings Jesus was bringing to them and DO them- are likened unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock.
Hear and do.
Hear and do.
Hear and do.
Yes, I'm repeating this over and over because it bears repeating much more than I'm doing here, it warrants repeating until we get this embedded into our minds. We have to not only hear, but do what we hear. We have to LISTEN to our Savior and LEARN from Him. In learning we are living in the manner our Savior would have us live. These are LIFE lessons. These aren't mere stories being told to us - something to read and then forget. These are LIFE lessons we are to read and absorb until they are a part of us. Three chapters of Matthew- one hundred-seven verses- two thousand four hundred forty-one words of LESSONS.
And those who HEAR AND DO will be likened unto WISE men.
Mat 7:24 ...I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock
A wise man builds his house upon a ROCK. Why? Keep reading...
Mat 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
Rain comes.
Floods come.
Winds come.
The house is beaten.
But as long as that house is upon the rock it's going no where!
We all know, especially living in the times we do with the internet and television news bringing us vivid instant pictures of devastation that rain, floods, and winds can bring that even houses on rocks can be swept away, obliterated by tornado winds. The ROCK here is a much stronger Rock just as the house truly represents us. If We… if our lives are built upon the Rock that is our Savior then NOTHING will be able to rip us apart, nothing will be able to tear us down, nothing will be able to take our Savior from us. They might be able to take everything we have physically but they can not take our spiritual life from us, that spiritual life that is where salvation in our Savior is found, where TRUE life is found.
There is another side of this too- Jesus goes on to say this...
Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
A house built upon the sand. Truly foolish! When we do not LIVE for our Savior, we are not on a rock but rather sand and it doesn't matter if we are on sands that imitate rocks… because if they are not THE ROCK… those sand rocks will disintegrate just as surely as if they were pure sand. Too many are standing upon imitation rocks and they will not stand in the day of rain, flood, or wind. Too many have built their lives upon sand.
Jesus' own words to us so why don't we heed them? Why? Why do we hear but not do? Why? We are given the truth and the way and the life- JESUS. We are given all the love we need to live in Him. We need to LIVE Him. We must have Him as our Rock and no other.
1Co 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
That Rock was Christ!
Let us build our houses, our LIVES upon the Rock Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! By His grace, by His righteousness! In His love! In His mercy! Now and forever may we live!
Amen.