Success

“Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.” Proverbs 3:3-4 ESV

How can we be both successful in life as well as find favor with others?

 

1. Will it be because of the family we are born into?
2. Is it going to be due the people we meet?
3. Is it in the knowledge/wisdom we gain (i.e. schooling…)?
4. Can these intangibles even gained if one is not born with/into them?
5. Could it be that doing things that please others will be the route to favor?
6. What is success anyway? Money? Family? Friends? Experiences?…

If you study the Bible enough, you will find that God’s way to (and definition of) success is very different that the worlds (and by that I mean all us humans)…

And the truth is, only his way (and definition) truly matters.

Jesus said “…whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” Matt. 16:25

Jesus’ way to success, in his own life (pre-resurrection…) and now ours(also pre-resurrection), is the very laying doing of said life… I’m not saying that God is not at all interested in life in the here-and-now… Nor that we are to live life like monks… I’m not saying that we are to have no enjoyments, nor am i saying that there will not be things in your life that the “world” would call success. What I’m saying is that if you really want to be successful, if you want it all to be worth something… an by “all” I mean your time, your energy, your passion, your -ok you get it…

If you want success, you are going to have to “lose your life”… You are going to have to become apart of the only thing that is going to be of eternal consequence…

The Body of Christ

Paul looked at everything he had been and everything he had done and said, and i paraphrase “its all nothing… the only thing that matters is doing what God has called me to do…

Like I said, we are a part of the Body of Christ, and just as Jesus (again pre-resurrection) was always doing, going, reaching, preaching, healing and saving, We must do the same… since we are his body… Of course it is HIS Spirit that does the supernatural parts… not us…

So to answer my questions from the beginning:

1. Will it be because of the family we are born into?
   Yes… we must be born again… John 3, Acts 2…
2. Is it going to be due the people we meet?
   Yes, like Paul or goal must be to “know HIM and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…” Phil 3:10
3. Is it in the knowledge/wisdom we gain (i.e. schooling…)?
   Yes, But not just any kind of Knowledge….”knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” Col 1:9
4. Can these intangibles even gained if one is not born with/into them?
   No, See Answer to Question 1
5. Could it be that doing things that please others will be the route to favor?
   This one is tricky… we will refer back to Prov. 3… It was Mercy (Steadfast-Love) and Truth (Faithfulness) that are given as a way to success and favor… These things are not always pleasing to those around us (some will not want us to be merciful… others will want us to forsake truth… The key to it all is this Love God, then love everyone else… Don’t worry so much about pleasing people… make sure you are loving them! ALL OF THEM!
6. What is success anyway? Money? Family? Friends? Experiences?…
   True success is eternally life… and not getting there alone, but rather with as many others a possible!

So back to Prov. 3:3-4 once more. We must be a Merciful, loving, truth loving, faithful people… and if we are, we will be successful

The following is a excerpt from John W. McGarvey’s commentary on the book of Acts I was just reading… WOW…

…Never did mortal lips pronounce, in so brief a space, so many thoughts of so terrific import to the hearers…

Commentary on Acts 2:22-24.

It is impossible, at this distance of space and time, to realize, even in a faint degree, the effect upon the minds so wrought up and possessed of such facts, produced by the announcement next made by Peter.

(22) Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God among you, by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him, in the midst of you, as you yourselves know;

(23) him, delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain;

(24) whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held under it.

Filled with amazement, as they were already, by a visible and audible manifestation of the Spirit of God, they now see that the whole of this amazing phenomenon is subservient to the name of the Nazarene whom they had despised and crucified. This conviction is brought home to them, too, in a sentence so replete with overwhelming facts, as to make them reel and stagger under a succession of fearful blows rapidly repeated. In one breath they have just heard no less than seven startling propositions:

1st. That Jesus had been approved by God among them, by miracles and wonders and signs which God had done by him.

2d. That they, themselves, knew this to be so.

3d. That it was not from impotence on his part, but in accordance with the purpose and foreknowledge of God, that he was yielded up to them.

4th. That when thus yielded up they had put him to death, by the torture of crucifixion.

5th. That they had done this with wicked hands. 6th. That God had raised him from the dead.

7th. That it was not possible that death should hold him.

Here is a complete epitome of the four gospels, condensed into one short sentence. The name “Jesus of Nazareth” brought vividly before their minds a well-known personage, and all his illustrious history flashes across their memory. The first assertion concerning him is an appeal to his miracles as a demonstration that he was from God. There is no need of argument to make this demonstration clear; nor of evidence to prove the reality of the miracles; for they were done “in your midst, as you yourselves also know.” The fearfulness of the murder is magnified by the thought, that he had been voluntarily delivered to them, in accordance with a deliberate purpose of God long ago declared by the prophets. The manner of his death makes it more fearful still. They had nailed him to the cross, and compelled him to die like a felon. These things being so, how penetrating the appeal to their consciences, “with wicked hands you have crucified and slain him!” This was no time for nice distinctions between what a man does himself, and what he does by another. The “wicked hands” are not, as some suppose, the hands of Roman soldiers, who had performed the actual work of his execution, but the hands of wicked Jews. Here, before him, were the very persons who had been assembled but fifty days before at the Passover, and had taken a hand in the proceedings of that awful day. He appeals to their individual consciousness of guilt; and this gives an intensity to the effect of his discourse upon their hearts, which it could not otherwise have possessed. Conscious of fearful guilt in having thus cruelly murdered the attested servant of God; and suddenly revealed to themselves as actors in the darkest scene of prophetic vision, how shall they endure the additional thought, that God has raised the crucified from the dead? Never did mortal lips pronounce, in so brief a space, so many thoughts of so terrific import to the hearers. We might challenge the world to find a parallel to it in the speeches of all her orators, or the songs of all her poets. There is not, indeed, such a thunderbolt in the burdens of all the prophets of Israel, nor among the mighty voices which echo through the pages of the Apocalypse. It is the first announcement to the world of a risen and glorified Redeemer.

John W. McGarvey, A Commentary on Acts of Apostles (7th, Accordance electronic ed. Altamonte Springs: OakTree Software, 1999), n.p.

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The Perfect Hero

You ever notice that all Heroes and Heroines ,whether they are of the “super” variety or not, have some flaw. They all have an imperfection… a character flaw.

I’m not merely talking about things like Superman’s issue with kryptonite, though that does apply.

Heroes, both those created by man in fictional stories and truly heroic individuals, are not prefect.

They do not do everything right. They do not get everything right.

Many times as they are attempting to help some they must make choices that will exclude others from their help.

On top of all that, they often must engage in illegal activities to “do the right thing”…

We are so used to the idea of a hero having a flaw, a weakness, a failing and even at times a vice, that when we hear or see stories whose heroes do not contain these characteristics they seem unrealistic.

The interesting thing is, our Hero… our Rescuer… our Savior had/has no flaws…

Jesus is the perfect Hero.

He had no weakness when he was on earth and has none now as he reigns from Heaven.

Yes he was fully human and got tired and hungry… He was tempted and tried… He even despised the means by which he would be the ultimate Hero – death on a cross… but none of that ever stopped him from helping, healing, feeding and ultimately saving men and women.

And no.. Death did not defeat him for a second. He allowed himself to die and rose himself back up – that was the plan the whole time.

He never left collateral damage.. he did not hurt any to help others.

He never was unable to offer his assistance to those who wanted his help.

He never had to make a choice between saving some and not others (though many make that choice for him…).

He never had to do wrong to do right…

He is the perfect savior, the perfect Hero… and I wonder if His perfection is to much for some…

The Prayer of Faith

This following is an excerpt from The Hidden life of Prayer, by David MacIntyre

 

The prayer of faith, like some plant rooted in a fruitful soil, draws its virtue from a disposition which has been brought into conformity with the mind of Christ.

 

1. It is subject to the Divine will—“This is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us” (1 John 5:14).

 

2. It is restrained within the interest of Christ—“Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).

 

3. It is instructed in the truth—“If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).

 

4. It is energized by the Spirit—“Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Eph. 3:20).

 

5. It is interwoven with love and mercy—“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25).

 

6. It is accompanied with obedience—“Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:22).

 

7. It is so earnest that it will not accept denial—“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Luke 11:9).

 

8. It goes out to look for, and to hasten its answer—“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).

 

….A Disposition Conformed to Christ…

The Patience of God

I know there are so many elements to the “Easter” story. This post is not in any way an attempt to downplay or marginalize — the Passion/Suffering of our Jesus, the profound and prophecy fulfilling statements of the Lord on the Cross or His subsequent Triumph of over death, hell and the grave.

Yet this morning (3am), while I should be sleeping so I’ll stay awake in Church tomorrow, I cannot get away from one facet to the whole story…

The fact that this perfect, sinless, spotless Savior( I don’t have enough words to describe Jesus’ flawlessness) – Jesus went to the cross knowing—

Knowing that all… yes all would run when he was arrested, except for maybe Judas… who knows what he did right then….

He know that Peter would deny him,

Jesus knew that only One of his twelve “Apostles” would be there when he died. ONE.

Jesus knew that, not his disciples, who followed him for most of his ministry, but rather a man who had previously been embarrassed to be seen with him in the light of day and another we never hear of but once would be interested of having him buried,

Jesus knew that, though he had told the twelve over and over, they (the eleven…) would not believe he was going to rise from the dead.

Jesus knew he would not find them where he had told them to meet him, but rather he would find them in a room with the doors and windows shut, fearing for their lives…

Jesus knew of the shame he was going to endure, in fact he despised it…(think about that… despised…)

On and on we could go, but here is what I get from all that:

We serve a patient God…

Knowing all that Jesus knew would have stopped anyone else.

God knows that we humans (not forgetting that Jesus is what humanity was truly meant to be like…)

— God knows we imperfect, sinful and spotted humans are prone to failure…

Yet He still wants us to be apart of his kingdom! God came down has a human himself to make being part of his kingdom possible,  knowing that many would reject him and that most of us who did not reject him, would still mess up a lot…

We serve a God who is patient.

Let us keep that in mind as we walk this walk.

• If you are new in Christ, remember – GOD IS PATIENT;

          Yes he wants you to mature; yet he knows it will take time.

• If you have been serving God for a while, remember – GOD IS PATIENT;

Three years walking with the Lord in the flesh and the disciples missed a lot… you probably have to0, but God knows it takes time…

• If you have messed up, and I mean MESSED UP or just messed up… remember – GOD IS PATIENT

Yes, God wants you to live an overcoming life… and don’t forget that… but don’t forget that if you mess up or as the ESV puts it “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”

I know that “Holy” is the word that probably describes God the best… but in his dealing with mankind, I think “Mercy”, which is the pre-rec/foundation for “patience” is the best word.

Longsuffering – the KJV word for patience/endurance is the word that describes what Jesus was going through  that fateful week some +/-2000 years ago.

We serve a Patient God!

Contentment… Using what you have before you ask for more.

I was reading through Joshua the other day and came across a story buried in the “distribution of inheritances”…

Joshua 17:14-18 is where the story is found

V. 14. Then the people of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since all along the LORD has blessed me?”  

If you look at what the “people of Joseph” (Ephraim and Manasseh) were saying it is a bit confusing.

“Why do we only get this small part of the inheritance – since God has always given us so much before?”

Now it should be noted that the inheritance they received does not appear to be so small, but to them it was too small, especially since God must have previously blessed them greatly.

They were basically accusing Joshua of not treating them like God always treated them.

They were special,

They were to be treated better

They deserved more then this!!!

Joshua responds:

V. 15. “If you are a numerous people, go up by yourselves to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.” 

He turns their challenge right back at them -

“Ok, so God has blessed you so much, why don’t you use the blessings he gave you, namely the abundance of able fighting men, and go get some more blessing for yourself!”

He did not say they could not get more (blessings),

He did not say that they were wrong to desire more,

He merely pointed out that the blessing was going to come through that which they had already received.

1. They were to clear the land (of forest… Al Gore would cringe at that…) that was already theirs,

2. They could take the land near them that was not allocated to any other tribe.

They did not like his response so the responded:

V. 16. “The hill country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel.” 

Joshua was done with them at this point, he was not going to argue with these ungrateful people who just wanted HIM to give them more and fight for them.

He comes back at them with what amounts to a command, not a suggestion:

V. 17.  “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only,  18.  but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”

He puts the responsibility on them.

They had been blessed by God,

They were a powerful Tribe, able to go to War and win

They were now to use these things GOD had blessed them with to receive the things they wanted now.

How often are we doing the very same thing the “People of Joseph” did in this passage?

We ask God to bless us, to protect us, to heal us, to work on our behalf, yet we are not willing to take the blessings we have received and use them?

We cannot horde the blessings of God.

He gave them to us to use, and if we do not, he will at some point stop blessing.

We need to learn to be content,

We need to learn to use what God has given us; and through the use of that which we already have been given, GOD WILL bless us with even more!

I Tim 6:6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment ESV

Not everything said in the Bible has equal weight

A look at an problem I have with “Love Wins” by Rob Bell.

I’m not a theologian,

I’m not the most scholarly person out there,

I cannot read or write Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek (nor Latin for that matter),

But I can see some issues with Rob Bell’s “Love Wins” just at a glance (I read the intro and Chapter 1).

Rob Bell assumes (at least from my brief reading) that the things said by every person in the Bible have equal weight..

He may not be consistent on this, but that is what i saw.

For example: He Goes into this whole discussion on how Jewish society saw “heaven” in the time Jesus was on earth, and tries to take what people, like the rich young ruler and the thief on the cross, say to prove what heaven is.

This is all well and good if they are saying the things that are true or better put, if they have a full understanding of what Heaven (and hell for that matter) truly are.

• The problem is, what if they have the wrong concept?
• What if the rich young rulers view on Heaven is just as skewed as Rob Bell claims ours is?
• What if the thief on the cross really had no idea what he was asking for? (see this link on a possible explanation to what happened to him)

Is it not clear form the end of Luke/Beginning of Acts accounts that the Disciples had the wrong idea of what Christ had come to do?

If they got that wrong, after 3 years of following him, how can we assume that everyone else in the Bible gets everything right?

We need to be careful when we try to use scripture in a way that it was never supposed to be used.

• Not every Person in the Bible is an example to be followed (think of Ahab, Jezebel, Solomon.. to name a few)

• Not every statement made in Gods Word is one you should make (Call you child Ichabod if you disagree )

• Not every idea is an idea we should live by (should we go out and make a Gold calf since the Bible says Aaron made one? I think not!)

Let us pray that people will be able to read the Bible and see that truth that God has given to us, not just the framework that He used.

We need more people to stand up (or maybe sit down) and write books from an Apostolic Perspective.

Vocabulary of Salvation (Part 4): Adoption

A change of family; a new relationship with God

(Rom 8:14-24; Gal 4:5; Eph 1:4; Eph 3:15; Joh 1:12; Joh 3:16; 1Jo 3:8-10; 1Jo 5:1-18).

There were three different forms of adoption used by Paul in describing the state of the Son of God. Sometimes it appears he may be using one of these, sometimes he mingles the ideas of adoption together.

 

A. Son reaching maturity

1. The son was taken by the father before the forum.

2. The father took off his son’s coat and put a manly coat on him. The child’s coat was called toga pretexta which was exchanged for the manly coat, the toga virilis.

 

The son reaching maturity [called majority by the Romans] was in contrast to his minority. When a son reached a legal age, his father brought him before the citizens of the city and said publicly, “This is my son; he has now come to full age; he inherits my name, my property, my social position.” Then there was the exchanging of coats. Paul refers to this in Rom 8:22-23. Someday God will bring us before the universe and declare before all, “Bear witness, this is my son in Christ. He is joint heir of my name, of my nature, of my dignity, of my possessions, and of my throne.

 

B. Changing families

 

1. Twice the father would sell his son, and twice he bought him back. The third time the transaction was completed.

2. He was then complete heir to the estate of the new father.

3. There also had to be a legal transfer before the magistrate.

 

Roman adoption was always rendered more serious and more difficult by the Roman patria potestas. This was the father’s power over his family; it was the power of absolute disposal and control, and in the early days was actually the power of life and death. The only way this patria potestas could be broken was by the adoption from minority to majority or by being adopted into another family.

 

Changing families required two steps: The first was known as the mancipatio, and was carried out by a symbolic sale, in which copper and scales were symbolically used. Three times the symbolism of sale was carried out. Twice the father symbolically sold his son, and twice he bought him back; but the third time he did not buy him back and thus the patria potestas was held to be broken.

 

There followed a ceremony called vindicatio. The adopting father went to the praetor, one of the Roman magistrates, and presented a legal case for the transference of the person to be adopted into his patria potestas. This was done before seven witnesses. (Rev 1:4; Rev 3:1; Isa 11:1-2; Eph 1:17).

(1) The adopted person lost all rights in his old family and gained all the rights of a legitimate son in his new family.

(2) He became full heir to his new father’s estate. Even if other sons were afterward born, it did not affect his rights. He was inalienably co-heir with them.

(3) The old life of the adopted person was completely wiped out; for instance, all debts were cancelled.

 

C. From slavery to sonship.

 

1. First there was a redemption or a buying out (Gal 4:5).
2. He is set at liberty to prepare for adoption (Rom 8:12-17).

 

Moses gained freedom when he was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exo 2:10). As an adopted son he would have to accept the legal obligations and religious duties of a real son. This is the status of the prodigal when he returned home. He asked to be made a hired servant but his father brought him back into the family. In Galatians, Paul emphasizes especially the liberty enjoined by those who live by faith, in contrast to the bondage under which men are held, who guide their lives by legal ceremonies and ordinances, as the Galatians were prone to do (Gal 5:1). Notice also Pro 29:21; Exo 21:6; and Deu 15:17.

 

In Rom 8:12-17 the idea of obligation or debt is coupled with that of liberty. Man is thought of as at one time under the authority and power of the flesh (Rom 8:5), but when the Spirit of Christ comes to dwell in him, he is no longer a debtor to the flesh but the Spirit (Rom 8:12-13), and debt or obligation to the Spirit is itself liberty. As in Galatians, man thus passes from a state of bondage into a state of sonship which is also a state of liberty.

 

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these [and these only] are sons of God” (Rom 8:14). The Spirit of adoption or sonship stands in diametrical opposition to the spirit of bondage (Rom 8:15). And the Spirit to which we are debtors, and by which we are led, at once awakens and confirms the experience of sonship within us (Rom 8:16). In both places, Paul conveys under this figure, the idea of man as passing from a state of alienation from God and of bondage under law and sin, into that relation with God of mutual confidence and love, of unity of thought and will, which should characterize the ideal family, and in which all restraint, compulsion and fear have passed away.

INDEX of Vocabulary of Salvation

NO INTERNET!!!

So we have been without internet for about a month… When we are at Wi-Fi hotspots, I am doing stuff and never to updating this blog… Im going to have to work harder at this…

Anyway, deputation has been great so far…

I will post on that more by Monday… If i get a free sec tomorrow afternoon, i will do it then

Vocabulary of Salvation (Part 3): Regeneration

Regeneration: A change of nature; a new nature before God

 

1. The process by which God imparts a new nature through a second birth (Joh 3:3-5; Joh 1:12-13; 1Jo 5:1).
2. Regeneration speaks of restoration (Mat 19:28; Eze 37:1-10).
3. It is the new life Jesus spoke of (Joh 10:10, Joh 10:28; Joh 6:63; Luk 15:24).

 

The term “regeneration” and the term “new birth” may be used interchangeably. However, regeneration is the process of that experience. It is the process whereby God, through the second birth, imparts a new nature to a man.

In Mat 19:28 regeneration is used to explain the way the world will once again be like it was in the Garden of Eden. This will be during the millennial reign of Christ. It is the Old Testament idea of restoring Israel, breathing new life into old, dead bones. When Jesus used the term He included the idea of purity with new life.

The ideas of “newness,” “regeneration,” and a supernatural origin in the activity of the Spirit are all joined together in Tit 3:5. Here salvation is said to occur by means of “the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit.”

In salvation, therefore, there is a washing and a renewing, a change in the innermost attitudes and inclinations of man’s heart of such a nature that it can be compared only with the generation and birth of life. Unlike natural birth, however, this birth does not have its origin in the will of man, but in the sovereign power of God. It is a birth that is not of the flesh nor of blood, but of the Spirit (Joh 1:13).

The analogy of birth shows that regeneration is a radical change, which brings one from an earlier condition of pollution and death to a renewed state of holiness and life.

In the same vein the Bible speaks of one who has been regenerated as a “new creation” in Christ (2Co 5:17). According to Paul (Gal 6:15), what really matters is a new creation. Thus the Christian is exhorted to “put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:24). So also the new birth is described as a being “brought forth” (Jam 1:18); a “quickening” (Joh 5:21; Eph 2:5). The believer is said to have been made alive from the dead (Rom 6:13). He is also called “his workmanship” (Eph 2:10).

Having been dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1, Eph 2:5), blind and unresponsive to the things that pertain to the Spirit of God (1Co 2:14), unable to do any work that merits salvation (2Ti 1:9; Tit 3:5), the person who has been corrupted in all his powers is re-created in Christ Jesus.

 

(Joh 3:3-5; Rom 3:24-25; 2Co 5:17; Tit 3:5; 2Pe 1:4-14).

 

INDEX of Vocabulary of Salvation