Enemies of the Cross
Philippians {3:18} (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross
of Christ: {3:19} Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.) {3:20} For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: {3:21} Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Many walk...the enemies of the cross...whose end is destruction. Whose God is their belly. Whose glory is their shame. Who mind earthly things.
Is this you? Is this me?
We don't think of ourselves as enemies of the cross and yet if our *God* is our belly... if our glory is found in things shameful... if we only mind earthly things aren't we enemies of the cross?
Pro. {14:12} There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.
We think our ways are right, but are they?
What would we do to have food? Kill? We like to think not, but people have and people will. We commit shameful acts and in a world where the line is blurred and shameful acts are glorified we don't hardly even call them shameful. We glory in our audacity, our daringness to be different, to be coarse and bold, to act deplorably. We laugh at things we've no business laughing at because the world has now declared it acceptable to laugh. Think back to sixty years ago when the world was so much different. When children rarely dared to speak out against their parents without reprecussions in the name of respect. Slowly in some ways, quickly in others the perversions of the world have taken over and now they rule our lives. They rule our entertainment, they rule us in many jobs, they rule our vacations, we wake up to them, we go to sleep to them. We glorify self and perversions we call finding self and letting self reign regardless of any others. We applaud those who dare to stand up to propriety, and we make all forms of fornication acceptable, pleasure has become the god of so many lives. 'Whose glory is their shame' is so appropriate and when we glory in shame we are enemies of the cross how can we not be?
Minding earthly things- are we entrenched in 'living life to the fullest', in not letting life pass us by, in making the most of the life we have. There is a saying about when you go to the grave you want to go kicking and screaming and yelling what a ride... this is minding the things of the earth, of this life. We get so caught up in earthly things and to do otherwise we are called lunatics. To tell people you are living for another life than this one makes you crazy, people nod and smile but secretly they think you're very, very strange.
If our treasures are in heaven where they should be, then accumlating treasures here on earth is what? Senseless, right? People who have everything taken from them- through natural disasters, through accidents - they feel that devestation of loss of all things temporal. It is devestating and don't let anyone tell you different. There is no bright side unless people are grateful just to be alive and a lot are.
Philippians {3:18} (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross
of Christ: {3:19} Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.) {3:20} For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: {3:21} Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Enemies of the cross. We don't want to be enemies of the cross. We don't want to be deceived by the world. We need to cling to the cross and all it represents and all it represents is the heavenly, not the earthly. Jesus came to save us, to give us eternal life with Him in heaven, He didn't come to give us eternal life in this existence we now live. We have to remember the cross, we have to keep the cross before us. We have to love God with all our heart, love Jesus, love what He's done for us by the cross.
By His grace and mercy may we find forgiveness in Him now and forever, friends with the cross, not enemies. Friends with Him not the world.
Amen.
7/22/10
Psa 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
This is so true. We trust in THINGS. People trust in things and people feel betrayed with things fail them, sometimes they take it as a personal affront. Things. Chariots…cars. Horses…cars. Think about it. If you're trusting in your chariot and your horses in David's day you were trusting in the things that transported you from place to place. Trusting in the thing not trusting in the name of the Lord. Whether it's a horse or a car, no matter the object if we place our trust in things we will ALWAYS end up disappointed sooner or later. Even the most reliable thing can fail us eventually, but God never ever fails us.
Oh yes, you'll have people who say that God lets us down more than any thing ever could but those people don't know God the way they should. Those people want a fairy god father not God our Heavenly Father.
We need to trust in the name of the LORD our God. When our trust is solely in God we will understand that things can fail us and will fail us, but never God, never.
May the name of the LORD our God be forever before us as we remember that He is trustworthy beyond all else! Many things in our lives will fail us, but not God. As our cars break down, as our houses show their age, as even our own bodies fail us in various ways, we need to remember that God will forever be One to trust. Failing things exists all around us and by the grace of God may we see their failure and use them as a reminder of God's unfailing love.
By the mercy of our Lord, in His righteousness now and forever!
Amen.
7/22/11
Pro 8:36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth
his own soul…
If we truly
believe that we WRONG our own souls when we sin against God, why do we find it
so incredibly easy to sin and so awfully hard not to?
Do we care about wronging our souls? We need to, we really need to.
The trouble is,
with sin so accepted we don't comprehend the wrong we are doing to ourselves or
others. With the love of many waxing so very cold,
sin has lost all it's horror. We call it being enlightened when we say we
are not taken in by that old, out-dated, dinosaur concept of sin. We know better
now. We have evolved. We no longer have to believe in something so silly. Sure
we might believe in right and wrong, everyone knows that it's wrong to do
certain things, but all those other things that people used to call sins, well
they're old wives tales, middle ages stuff. It's all that religious stuff that made
our ancestors act crazy and kill people. Yeah, religion has killed more people
than anything else in the world- they should all be outlawed. Why, just today
when reading comments on the Norway bombing one commentator said something along
those same lines- religion is the cause of all the terrorists acts.
People believe all this! People support all this! A whole generation of
people are being brought up that it's wrong to speak the name of Jesus, in fact
they can get in trouble it they bring up Jesus in school. They're also being
taught it is wrong to be prejudice against others religions.
Do you see? They are being told not to be bold about their own
religion but to be accepting other
religions. In fact they are told they have to be tolerant to religions that
promote the doing away with their own religion. I'd have NO problem with that if it
were being taught as 'loving your neighbor, turn the other cheek', but that's
not the case here. They are being indoctrinated to believe there is something
really wrong with their religion, but not the others.
Back to sin…
I read a very
good book that clarified really nicely about the moral concepts we have of right
and wrong, how they had to be formed from something- not just happenstance. How
all over the world every society has the same concept of general right and
wrong. The book is called 'Mere
Christianity' by C.S. Lewis and is definitely worth the read.
It is true that
this moral compass exists for the majority of people yet people make up lots of
excuses to bend that moral compass to point more in the direction they want it
to go in than the direction it would point if left alone, if left not tampered
with. That moral compass has been skewed so badly that in our society today if
you believe in God's ten commandments- yes, all ten of them;
and if you believe it is a sin to break those ten commandments- then
you're one demented person, with a few screws loose, and you ought to be dealt
with delicately, tip toeing around your crazy self.
Seriously, hold up God's ten commandments as your standard and people
will nod and smile, they're good in theory but impossible for people to
keep. They're okay and all, you
know they like the one about not stealing, and not killing, but hey people have
to lie, and they have to covet it's just plain natural, so is not honoring your
parents- sheesh didn't they have awful parents back when God gave those
commandments? Not all parents deserve to be honored that is for sure, so take
out all those pointless commandments as being sin and worthy of death, and while
you're at it take out those pesky commandments about having just one God and all
that too- people today know better. It's okay that there are several gods as
long as people get along and don't try to kill each other. And hey, that sabbath
thing- it's kinda nice to have a day off work, but you do what you gotta do and
work when you have to especially nowadays with work so scarce.
There, that about sums up the normal take on the ten commandments, nice
guidelines but not really that important, God won't reject someone because they
see things differently than He does.
Of course that's all assuming the people believe in God at all. It's just
downright stupid to hold on to a faith that has no substance, childish and
silly.
Today's moral
compass is definitely broken, not just bent, it's broken and it's only going to
get worse.
Sin.
Pro 8:36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth
his own soul…
Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth
the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Joh 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the
light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Our deeds.
We have a raised
standard.
We have a Savior
who died because He knew we could never save ourselves.
We have the Love
of God in sending His Son to save us.
We have His word,
His wisdom and if we sin against our God, against the wisdom He wants us to
have then we are condemning ourselves, we are wronging our own souls.
We have to know
that sin exists and that we need a pardon for that sin.
We have to
recognize the sin that exists around us- the candy-coated sins, polished up nice
'n shiny to make them more acceptable- we have to recognize the sin and if we
find the sin in our lives we need to throw ourselves at the feet of our Savior
and beg His forgiveness.
By the grace of
God may we NOT sin against Him!
May we realize, really realize that we condemn ourselves when we sin and
even a fool should know that condemning yourself, hurting yourself, is not right
in any way, shape, or form. And I already know that many people do hurt
themselves and strangely enough find solace in doing so- this world is so
corrupt- that compass is so incredibly broken we have to cling tightly to our
Savior as He leads us to Him as the entire world follows the broken compass.
In His amazing
LOVE!
By His grace and
mercy!
Only through HIS
righteousness!
Amen.
of Christ: {3:19} Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.) {3:20} For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: {3:21} Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Many walk...the enemies of the cross...whose end is destruction. Whose God is their belly. Whose glory is their shame. Who mind earthly things.
Is this you? Is this me?
We don't think of ourselves as enemies of the cross and yet if our *God* is our belly... if our glory is found in things shameful... if we only mind earthly things aren't we enemies of the cross?
Pro. {14:12} There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.
We think our ways are right, but are they?
What would we do to have food? Kill? We like to think not, but people have and people will. We commit shameful acts and in a world where the line is blurred and shameful acts are glorified we don't hardly even call them shameful. We glory in our audacity, our daringness to be different, to be coarse and bold, to act deplorably. We laugh at things we've no business laughing at because the world has now declared it acceptable to laugh. Think back to sixty years ago when the world was so much different. When children rarely dared to speak out against their parents without reprecussions in the name of respect. Slowly in some ways, quickly in others the perversions of the world have taken over and now they rule our lives. They rule our entertainment, they rule us in many jobs, they rule our vacations, we wake up to them, we go to sleep to them. We glorify self and perversions we call finding self and letting self reign regardless of any others. We applaud those who dare to stand up to propriety, and we make all forms of fornication acceptable, pleasure has become the god of so many lives. 'Whose glory is their shame' is so appropriate and when we glory in shame we are enemies of the cross how can we not be?
Minding earthly things- are we entrenched in 'living life to the fullest', in not letting life pass us by, in making the most of the life we have. There is a saying about when you go to the grave you want to go kicking and screaming and yelling what a ride... this is minding the things of the earth, of this life. We get so caught up in earthly things and to do otherwise we are called lunatics. To tell people you are living for another life than this one makes you crazy, people nod and smile but secretly they think you're very, very strange.
If our treasures are in heaven where they should be, then accumlating treasures here on earth is what? Senseless, right? People who have everything taken from them- through natural disasters, through accidents - they feel that devestation of loss of all things temporal. It is devestating and don't let anyone tell you different. There is no bright side unless people are grateful just to be alive and a lot are.
Philippians {3:18} (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross
of Christ: {3:19} Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.) {3:20} For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: {3:21} Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Enemies of the cross. We don't want to be enemies of the cross. We don't want to be deceived by the world. We need to cling to the cross and all it represents and all it represents is the heavenly, not the earthly. Jesus came to save us, to give us eternal life with Him in heaven, He didn't come to give us eternal life in this existence we now live. We have to remember the cross, we have to keep the cross before us. We have to love God with all our heart, love Jesus, love what He's done for us by the cross.
By His grace and mercy may we find forgiveness in Him now and forever, friends with the cross, not enemies. Friends with Him not the world.
Amen.
7/22/10
Psa 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
This is so true. We trust in THINGS. People trust in things and people feel betrayed with things fail them, sometimes they take it as a personal affront. Things. Chariots…cars. Horses…cars. Think about it. If you're trusting in your chariot and your horses in David's day you were trusting in the things that transported you from place to place. Trusting in the thing not trusting in the name of the Lord. Whether it's a horse or a car, no matter the object if we place our trust in things we will ALWAYS end up disappointed sooner or later. Even the most reliable thing can fail us eventually, but God never ever fails us.
Oh yes, you'll have people who say that God lets us down more than any thing ever could but those people don't know God the way they should. Those people want a fairy god father not God our Heavenly Father.
We need to trust in the name of the LORD our God. When our trust is solely in God we will understand that things can fail us and will fail us, but never God, never.
May the name of the LORD our God be forever before us as we remember that He is trustworthy beyond all else! Many things in our lives will fail us, but not God. As our cars break down, as our houses show their age, as even our own bodies fail us in various ways, we need to remember that God will forever be One to trust. Failing things exists all around us and by the grace of God may we see their failure and use them as a reminder of God's unfailing love.
By the mercy of our Lord, in His righteousness now and forever!
Amen.
7/22/11
Pro 8:36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth
his own soul…
If we truly
believe that we WRONG our own souls when we sin against God, why do we find it
so incredibly easy to sin and so awfully hard not to?
Do we care about wronging our souls? We need to, we really need to.
The trouble is,
with sin so accepted we don't comprehend the wrong we are doing to ourselves or
others. With the love of many waxing so very cold,
sin has lost all it's horror. We call it being enlightened when we say we
are not taken in by that old, out-dated, dinosaur concept of sin. We know better
now. We have evolved. We no longer have to believe in something so silly. Sure
we might believe in right and wrong, everyone knows that it's wrong to do
certain things, but all those other things that people used to call sins, well
they're old wives tales, middle ages stuff. It's all that religious stuff that made
our ancestors act crazy and kill people. Yeah, religion has killed more people
than anything else in the world- they should all be outlawed. Why, just today
when reading comments on the Norway bombing one commentator said something along
those same lines- religion is the cause of all the terrorists acts.
People believe all this! People support all this! A whole generation of
people are being brought up that it's wrong to speak the name of Jesus, in fact
they can get in trouble it they bring up Jesus in school. They're also being
taught it is wrong to be prejudice against others religions.
Do you see? They are being told not to be bold about their own
religion but to be accepting other
religions. In fact they are told they have to be tolerant to religions that
promote the doing away with their own religion. I'd have NO problem with that if it
were being taught as 'loving your neighbor, turn the other cheek', but that's
not the case here. They are being indoctrinated to believe there is something
really wrong with their religion, but not the others.
Back to sin…
I read a very
good book that clarified really nicely about the moral concepts we have of right
and wrong, how they had to be formed from something- not just happenstance. How
all over the world every society has the same concept of general right and
wrong. The book is called 'Mere
Christianity' by C.S. Lewis and is definitely worth the read.
It is true that
this moral compass exists for the majority of people yet people make up lots of
excuses to bend that moral compass to point more in the direction they want it
to go in than the direction it would point if left alone, if left not tampered
with. That moral compass has been skewed so badly that in our society today if
you believe in God's ten commandments- yes, all ten of them;
and if you believe it is a sin to break those ten commandments- then
you're one demented person, with a few screws loose, and you ought to be dealt
with delicately, tip toeing around your crazy self.
Seriously, hold up God's ten commandments as your standard and people
will nod and smile, they're good in theory but impossible for people to
keep. They're okay and all, you
know they like the one about not stealing, and not killing, but hey people have
to lie, and they have to covet it's just plain natural, so is not honoring your
parents- sheesh didn't they have awful parents back when God gave those
commandments? Not all parents deserve to be honored that is for sure, so take
out all those pointless commandments as being sin and worthy of death, and while
you're at it take out those pesky commandments about having just one God and all
that too- people today know better. It's okay that there are several gods as
long as people get along and don't try to kill each other. And hey, that sabbath
thing- it's kinda nice to have a day off work, but you do what you gotta do and
work when you have to especially nowadays with work so scarce.
There, that about sums up the normal take on the ten commandments, nice
guidelines but not really that important, God won't reject someone because they
see things differently than He does.
Of course that's all assuming the people believe in God at all. It's just
downright stupid to hold on to a faith that has no substance, childish and
silly.
Today's moral
compass is definitely broken, not just bent, it's broken and it's only going to
get worse.
Sin.
Pro 8:36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth
his own soul…
Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth
the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Joh 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the
light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Our deeds.
We have a raised
standard.
We have a Savior
who died because He knew we could never save ourselves.
We have the Love
of God in sending His Son to save us.
We have His word,
His wisdom and if we sin against our God, against the wisdom He wants us to
have then we are condemning ourselves, we are wronging our own souls.
We have to know
that sin exists and that we need a pardon for that sin.
We have to
recognize the sin that exists around us- the candy-coated sins, polished up nice
'n shiny to make them more acceptable- we have to recognize the sin and if we
find the sin in our lives we need to throw ourselves at the feet of our Savior
and beg His forgiveness.
By the grace of
God may we NOT sin against Him!
May we realize, really realize that we condemn ourselves when we sin and
even a fool should know that condemning yourself, hurting yourself, is not right
in any way, shape, or form. And I already know that many people do hurt
themselves and strangely enough find solace in doing so- this world is so
corrupt- that compass is so incredibly broken we have to cling tightly to our
Savior as He leads us to Him as the entire world follows the broken compass.
In His amazing
LOVE!
By His grace and
mercy!
Only through HIS
righteousness!
Amen.