Life is to Short to Waste it

     Darkness seems to be all around us. Sadness and misery prevails. Life is so short not to be happy in someway. If we are unhappy who is the winner not us. Why the unhappiness, so to die unhappy? Is that what you really want? Life is definitely to short not to live it well.
     1 Peter 5:7 "casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." Prov. 17:22 "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Prov. 15:13 "A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed." We see that having happiness is better than having sorrow. Sometimes being sad cannot be helped but we do not have to feel that way all the time. Being happy is part of the human experience as well.
     Our time here is short. James 4:14 "yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." Ps. 102:11 "My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass." 1 Peter 1:24-25 "²⁴ for "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, ²⁵ but the word of the Lord remains forever."...." So we see our life here is short so we must not waste the time we do have.
      The apostle Paul tell us why we should not lose heart. 2 Cor. 4:16-18 "¹⁶ So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. ¹⁸ as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." The apostle Paul is telling us that this life though temporary is giving us enough time to prepare for our eternal life with Jesus Christ. We are all moving from the physical to the spiritual from the seen to the unseen. Now is the time for our preparation, a time for major choices to where we want to spend our eternity.
                                                                                                                               (ESV)

The Devil's Argument to God about Us

     What is the devil saying to God about us? In Rev 12:10 "And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God." The devil accuses us of wrong doing before God. He said to God I am right about them and you are wrong. Your faith in them is misplaced. I know them better than you do. The devil is trying to show himself to be greater than God in understanding before all of heaven. In Isaiah 14:13,14 "¹³You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; ¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make like the Most High.' "
     The devil is trying to prove to God that we are more like him than we are like God. And we being more like him we would want him to rule over us and not God. He wants to ascend to God's throne and be like God. The devil wants us to worship him. After all in his eyes we are his children preferring to do his will over God's.
    The devil accused Job in front of God he said in Job 1:11 "But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." The devil see us like himself if somebody were to hurt him he would retaliate with curses. He would not still love them. In his mind Job would bite the hand that feed's him without question if he thought that God was punishing him in some way. The devil was proved wrong. In Job 1:21,22 "²¹And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." ²²In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong."
     The devil accused Job again saying in Job 2:4,5 "⁴Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. ⁵But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face." Again the devil saw Job like himself someone who would hate the one was causing him trouble. He thought Job would abandon his faith in God. The devil was trying to prove his point that people like themselves more than God, but Job prove the devil wrong by remaining strong in his faith and love for his God.
     We are more than just flesh and bones we are all children of the most high God. We are spiritual beings as well as fleshly ones but our heart belongs to Our Father who created us. The devil challenge our love for our God daily. Even though he was cast down to Earth, he will not give up accusing us before God. He wants to prove God wrong by showing that we love ourselves more than we love God.
                                                                                                                              (ESV)

Our Fight Against the Evil One

     1 John 5:19 "We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." The apostle John said the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, so our enemy has a great influence in our world. We see this evil one has been influencing mankind for a long time. In 1 John 3:12 "We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous." Cain acted like the evil one and murdered his brother. It is clear who this evil one is, in the book of John 8:44 Jesus said "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Even after many centuries, this murderer and liar's influence can still been seen daily in our local news.
     The people of the world seems to think sinning is o.k. Blinded they are by the evil one. 1 John 3:8 "Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil" The children of God are different from the children of the devil. 1 John 3:10 "By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother."
     The apostle Paul tells us what we need to do and who we are really fighting against. Eph 6:11,12 "¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the comic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
     We see that our fight is not against our brothers and sisters. It is against the evil force that is influencing them to sin. We must find a way to open their eyes and their ears to the truth of God's word. We must continue to love them and to forgive them because they have lost their way. We know the truth but they have become blind to it. A blind man stumbles around in the dark and they who live in spiritual darkness are stumbling around all over the place. We see this but they do not. True freedom is freedom from evil. Our own example can be a guiding light to them.
                                                                                                                             (ESV)

Why Do I Blog?

     Why do I blog? For me it kind of like why do painters paint or singers sing? They like what they do or even love what they do. What they do is a way of expressing what they feel inside and a way to share that with others. My blog gives me a way to express the way I feel inside more importantly the way I feel about God and I can share that great feeling with others.
     Where else can you talk about God outside a church? You can easily strike up a conversation with someone about sports, music, news, politics, television shows and celebrity gossip in your everyday life. Where are you going to talk to someone about your feelings about God's word? If you are a spiritual person like me you need some kind of outlet to express yourself and blogging for me is satisfying.
     Granted I will not get a great following but this blog is a personal blog. I will not be trying to sell you anything but to share my feelings on biblical matters. Mostly sorting out my own feelings about God. If people do read this blog I feel bless to be able share my feelings with them.

Baptism: A Symbol of Dying and Resurrection

     When I was looking through some Bible scriptures I came along this one in Col 2:12 it said, "having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead." This brought to me a crystal clear image of what baptism is all about. The water that we go under represents the grave or the tomb of Christ. When we go under the water it symbolizes our body dying. When we are raised out of the water it symbolizes our resurrection.

     Romans 5:4 said the same thing it said, "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." What are we putting to death at baptism? Col 3:5-8 said, "⁵Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ In these you to once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you must put them away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth."

     What is walking in the newness of life? Col 3:12-15, "¹²Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful."

     We see baptism is a public declaration that we have accepted Jesus Christ and we are following in his footsteps. We die to our fleshly ways of living and then we are raised up to a spiritual way of life. We do this by dying symbolically then rising from the dead in a symbolic manner through baptism.                                                                   (ESV)

Glory to God

     If I have nothing I still have God. People may let me down but God never does. God sustains me through everything. His spirit lifts me up when I am down. God gives me purpose for my life. His word the Bible answers my questions and gives me wisdom to use in my life. God gives me hope when I feel hopeless; Even if my body does die my spirit reaches out to God to live forever. Because of his mercy and love, I am raised up to be a heir in his kingdom. Glory be to God forever and ever. Amen.
     Psalm 86:12 "I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart and I will glorify your name forever."

   

Our Way or God's Way?

     Lets start out and call our way the fleshly way. In Gal 5:19-21 said, "¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these...." Now God's way is the spiritual way. Again in Gal 5:22,23 it said, "²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control...." We see by this that God's way is the greater way without question.
     God said in Isaiah 55:8,9 "⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. ⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
     Romans 8:7,8, "⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Now those who chose God's way Romans 8:14 said, "¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."
     So I say what King David said in Psalms 25:4,5 "⁴ Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. ⁵ Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long."  Amen!                                                 (ESV)

Your Body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit

     1 Cor 6:19,20  "¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. ²⁰for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." God created us to be a temple for his Holy Spirit. He communicates to us through his spirit. He pours out his love and his gifts to us through his Holy Spirit that dwells within the temple (our body).

     This is who we are a living temple to God's Holy Spirit. Our purpose and our life's happiness depends on our understanding of that fact. Our life belongs to God who created us in his image. Our body, mind and spirit functions according to the way God made us and if we try to go against that Holy way then, we are heading for disaster. Romans 8:13 said, "For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." Jeremiah 17:10, "I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."
     A bear cannot not be a bird nor can a bird be a bear. We are according to the way we were designed. God made us his sons and daughters and within each of us a temple to his Holy Spirit. We cannot cater to our fleshly desires over our spiritual needs to do so is going against our true nature. The apostle Paul drives home that point in 1 Cor 3:16,17, he said, "¹⁶Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroy's God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple."                                                                                   (ESV)

Giving Praises to God for His Wonderful Creations

     I give praises to God for his wonderful creations; the sky above and all the wonderful birds within it. The night sky with all the stars and the moon. What about the beauty of the ocean and all the creatures below it. How awesome are the sunsets above the land and the sea. What about the beautiful landscapes and the creatures that live upon it. There is much to be thankful for. God in his infinite wisdom and love have given us much to look at and to appreciate.
     In Psalm 19:1 said, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." Psalm 8:3,4  "³When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,⁴what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?"
     We seem so small compared to everything around us. Why does God care, because he loves us. In John 3:16 it said, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Because of that love, God has given us this beautiful World to live in and when I look upon his creation I see his power and the beauty of his spirit. I am thankful for God's love and my heart is moved to give praises to God, for his wonderful creations. Psalm 150:6 sums it up in a pretty good way, it said, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!"         (ESV)