Burdened under the law

The Galatian church was a church being turned away from the grace of Jesus.  Paul had taught them, they’d believed, but someone had come into their midst and caused them to believe that grace wasn’t enough.  Sound familiar?  Suddenly, they started thinking they had to begin observing the old Jewish customs again of the Passover, the Feasts, festivals, and other areas of the law.  They were even about to become circumcised.  They went back to the old ways because what they were doing wasn’t enough.  It couldn’t be enough, could it?

Paul asked them if they really believed that if they started out in the Spirit of the Lord were they were now being made perfect by what they were doing in the flesh?  He implored them, “Stand fast in the freedom by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”  Over and over, he reminded them that Jesus fulfilled the law and brought grace and victory for a reason.  He said that if we bind ourselves within the confines of the law again then Christ died for nothing.  Christ died to fulfill the law once and for all, and anyone who tells us otherwise is not of God.

That freedom doesn’t mean we should simply live or speak however we choose, however.  There is more to the story…

Tune in again tomorrow,

jamie

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How can I save those I love?

Pr. 24:11:  “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.”

I have not been able to shake this verse since I read it yesterday.  My heart breaks when I think of people I know and love who are stumbling towards the slaughter.  Some are walking there willingly, and others are being deceived.  I want nothing more than to grab them in an embrace and lead them to the Lord.  But what can I really do?  I can’t make up people’s minds for them.  I cannot convince them with smooth words, or even stop them with my insistence.  How can I deliver them?   How can I hold them back?

The fact is, I can’t.  This is where I have to pray and trust that God will be able to get hold of them, to deliver them and hold them back.  Maybe God can use me in some way, but the truth of the matter is, it is between them and God.

Genesis 3:4 is where the serpent convinced Eve to sin against God.  “…in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  Satan is still using this same tactic–telling us we will get something from the sin.

“You will know what it’s like to really feel loved.”  “You will finally have peace.”  “You will get what you’ve deserved for so long.”  “Your pain will finally go away.”  “No one will ever know.”

This is how he leads people to the slaughter.  His empty promises that are actually lies in disguise.  1 Timothy 4:2 tells us that our own consciences can become seared with a hot iron.  When that happens, we no longer view sin as sin.  It becomes a right to which we cling.  Our lives become about us, our wants, and our desires.  Our lives become about what we deserve…just as Eve ‘deserved’ to have her eyes open to know good and evil in just the same way that God did.

The truth is that it is God’s will for us on this earth is to tell people about His kingdom.  We can find this truth in His Word.  When the focus of our lives is only our own will, then we have departed from God.  God has and is all that we need, and more.  All the things satan promises, are things that only God provides.  Satan has wanted to be like God from the beginning, so he tries to promise what only God can give, but his path only leads to pain, destruction, and death.

Knowing this, my heart breaks that people I love are being led to the slaughter.  Oh, how I long to open their eyes!  God, please open their eyes.  Holy Spirit, please bring back to their remembrance the truth of Your Word.  Lead them away from death, and hold them back from the slaughter, dear Lord, I pray.  In Jesus’ saving name, Amen.  

Trusting,

jamie

Everybody lies?

Proverbs 19 has 5 verses that directly relate to lying and it got me thinking.  On the TV show House, the lead character’s main line was, “Everybody lies.”  He said it so many times that it began to sound like fact.  It seemed like every one does, in fact, lie.  (Although we know that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, and the old rules don’t have to apply)

I’m so glad that it is impossible for our God to lie.  It’s important to note that whatever God speaks actually happens.  When He said, “Let there be light,” there was light.  When He called it Day, it became Day.

When God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures,” the waters abounded with an abundance of living creatures.  Whatever things God says are true, and they are proven all around us.

That means that when God said He does not forsake His inheritance, it is fact.  (Isaiah 94:14)  And those who believe in Him ARE His inheritance.  (Gal. 3:26)  It means that He actually loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  (Jo. 3:16)

Did you skim over that last verse?  Jesus said those words.  Remember that they’re fact.  When Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth!” Lazarus came forth.  (Jo. 11:43)

It also means that He will come again, just as He said He would.  (Rev. 21-22)  Until He returns, it means we can rely on this verse to guide us as we do His work here on earth:  “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”  (Jo. 12:12-13)

While we’re waiting, we can trust in His Word.  If He said it, it is true.  If He called a mountain ‘fire’, it would be fire.  If He called green ‘blue’, it would be blue.  Do we truly understand that He cannot lie?  Whatever He says is truth.  We can place our entire hope upon His Word.

Satan is the one who lies.  He is the father of lies and that proof is also all around us.  Anytime we begin to believe something contrary to the Word of God, we can remember that if God said it, it is true.  It is impossible for God to lie!  Now, that is encouraging.  🙂

Believing,

jamie

That leaves a pleasant taste…

Pr. 22:18:  “For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; let them all be fixed upon your lips”

Keeping the words of wisdom and knowledge within us is not only wise, but indeed, it is pleasant.

When Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus responded with the scripture.  When Satan attacks us with doubt, fear, anxiety, and other lies, it helps if we have the truth from the Word of God fixed upon our lips.

Lie:  I am unworthy.  I am not good enough.  I am inferior.

Truth:  God formed me in my mother’s womb.  I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are the works of God.  (Ps. 139:13-14)

Lie:  I can’t do this.  This will turn out so badly.  I’m not strong enough.

Truth:  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  God’s strength is made perfect in weakness.  The Lord will show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.  (Phil. 4:13, 1 Co. 12:9, 2 Ch. 16:9)

Lie:  I can’t trust anyone.  I can’t bear this.

Truth:  The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.  Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.  If I humble myself in the sight of the Lord, He will lift me up.  Branches are pruned to bear more fruit.  (Pr. 29:25, Ja. 4:10, Jo. 15:2)

Lie:  God will never forgive me.  I will never be good enough for God to love me.

Truth:  Greater love has no on than this, than to lay down His life for his friends.  God loved me so much that He gave His only Son, that believing in Him I would not perish but have everlasting life.  God did not send His song into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  Jesus prayed for me, asking God that I would know “that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”  (Jo. 15:13, Jo. 3:16-17, Jo. 17:23)

Isn’t God’s Word much more pleasant than the lies that Satan whispers?  The best part is that God’s Word is the truth.  It is pure.  It is proven.  And God is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.  (Pr. 30:5)

Know the Word and know the pleasant truth of a love that is unlike any other.  Fix it in your heart and upon your lips.

Trusting,

jamie

Which way?

Pr. 16:25:  “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

This verse is so fitting in our world.  Although, it has been since time began.  Didn’t satan twist words just so to coerce Eve into believing the way she was taking was right?  Certainly its end was the way of death.

Today, he is still doing the same.  He twist words to make them sound right.  Sure, there may be some truth in the words he whispers, but is it THE truth?  The Word of God reveals the truth of Jesus who is THE WAY, the truth, and the Life.

It is an imperative that we verify our path by the Word of God.  The way we’re headed may seem right, but is it truly?  In order to end up with eternal life, we must go by way of Jesus Christ.  All other ways, even as right as they may seem, lead to death.  Find the true Way.

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  Mt. 7:13-14

Walking slowly,

jamie

How ya sleeping?

Pr. 3:24:  “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.”

Solomon wrote that when we keep wisdom and discretion this will be one of the results.

I have nights where I awake in the middle of the night and am bombarded by terribly self-defeating thoughts.  I suppose that during the day I am more alert and ready to defend myself, but at night I am groggy and vulnerable.

This happened to me again last night.  As I was lying there being  attacked by thoughts of defeat, doubt, hopelessness, and despair, I heard these words come to the surface of my mind:

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus’ name.

Christ alone is my Cornerstone.  On Him, the Solid Rock, I stand, and certainly all other ground is sinking sand.

Verse 2 says,  “When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace.”  How fitting for the middle of the night when my thoughts loomed so largely in the forefront of my mind.

Through wisdom, I was able to rest on His unchanging grace last night.  Through discretion, I was able to apply good judgment to which thoughts I would allow to take me captive and which I would no longer entertain.

Remembering on whom my hope is built brought me peace and I was able to rest sweetly the remainder of the night.

This is a good example of a reason we must have the Lord’s wisdom in our lives.  Satan loves to attack our thoughts with fear, deception, and lies.  Often he uses half truths to attack us, which is why we sometimes believe or give in.

If we know the Word, and His truth, we will be able to take up our shield of faith and withstand the fiery darts of the wicked one.  We will be able to remind ourselves that do not need to place our trust in “the sweetest frames,” but wholly trust in Jesus’ name.

If we know the Word, we can rest on the fact that our hope isn’t built on anything that will sink or corrode, but is on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and His righteousness.

We have all we need in Christ.  I pray that when thoughts to the contrary attempt to take you captive, you will remember this story, and be able to rest sweetly in the truth of the Word.  I pray I will, too.

Trusting in Him,

jamie

Turn to God

Pr. 9:4:  Wisdom cries, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

Wisdom has been prepared for us.  Pr. 9 tells of the preparations that have gone into the instructions that are available to us from wisdom.

I read Psalm 143 this morning, which is entitled:  An earnest appeal for guidance and deliverance.  In this Psalm, David is crying out to the Lord for wisdom, understanding, and guidance.  Here is a snippet of that Psalm:

My heart within me is distressed.  I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands.  I spread out my hands to You; my soul longs for You like a thirsty land.  Answer me speedily, O Lord; my spirit fails!  …cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.  …teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; Your Spirit is good.  Lead me in the land of uprightness.

If our hearts become distressed, when darkness looms around us, or as sin seeks to lure us, we must not allow ourselves to feel ‘simple.’  A simple person is defined as ignorant, foolish, or gullible.  We who trust in the Lord are not simple.  Yet, Satan would have us believe that we are.  He puts thoughts into our minds that confuse us and bring us low.

Satan wants us to believe gullible things such as, “It’s harmless,”  “It’s not That big a deal,” “It only affects me,”  “I will never get past this.”  He wants us to believe foolish things like, “I have to take care of this myself,”  “I just need to man up,”  “God has more to do than worry about this.”  Ignorant thoughts he feeds us sound something like, “There is no way out of this,”  “God could never forgive something like this,”  “If I’ve sinned, there is no hope of stopping,”  “It’s too late to turn back now,”  “My life will never get any better.”

We must not give in to satan and his lies.  He is the father of lies.  He wants nothing more than to destroy our souls.  We are Not simple.  We have the truth available to us through the Word of God.  His Word reminds us of the days of old, the works God has done, and the works of His hands.

If His Word is not getting through, we also have something else even more wonderful:  access to the Holy of Holies.  We have been personally invited by the Lord to boldly approach His throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace to help in time of need, just as David did.

When ‘simple’ thoughts begin to creep into our minds, we must turn toward the throne.  We have a Lord whose wisdom is perpetually available to us.  He has not left us.  He will never forsake us.  He is with us always.  We simply need to turn to Him.  He is waiting with everything we need.

Seeking His guidance,

jamie

There is a better way

Pr. 29:22:  “An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression.”

My blog yesterday (Don’t let the commercials distract you) was written in a bit of anger.  Perhaps it may have even stirred up some strife.  If so, I hope the conflict or contention was directed at the same place as mine.  My anger is towards the real enemy:  satan.  Frankly, I am sick of him and his lies, deceit, temptations, distractions, and snares of sin.

I am angry that he is causing so many people to suffer, die, and become trapped in sin.  If I didn’t know there was a better way, I wouldn’t care.  However, I know that through Jesus there is redemption, healing, salvation, freedom, joy, peace, goodness, gentleness, self-control, love, kindness, mercy, grace, and forgiveness.  I know that until Jesus returns, satan will not relent, but I don’t like to see people suffer or needlessly tempted.

Satan will do anything he can to get our focus off God and His truth.  2 Cor. 11:14 even tells us, “For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.”  We cannot simply allow ourselves to be continually deceived, or we will be devoured.  (1 Peter 5:8)

We must remain vigilant and aware of God’s will and truth, so that we will know when the enemy is trying to deceive or distract us.  2 Cor. 2:11 tells us, ” lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”  We must remain fully aware of his devices.

“The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” 2 Cor. 4:4

He is intentionally blinding people’s minds so that the gospel will not shine on them.  Yes.  That makes me mad.  We are the salt and the light of this world and we must remain on alert.  We must make sure that we are prepared ourselves, and have put on the whole armor of God.  Then, we will be able to withstand the enemy’s darts and teach others to do the same.

There is also a lost, hurting, and dying world around us.  How can we show them the love and the truth of the gospel?  What is it you can do today?  What can I do?

We must stay in the Word.  We must make sure we know who the Lord really is and what is really the truth.  Then, we will be able to shed the light of God on the others who are deceived or lost, with whom we come into contact.  We will be ready and able to reach out with the love of Christ to bring help and hope to the hurting or dying.

Truly, there is a better way than satan would have us believe.  The truth is in the Word.  The hope for the hurting comes from the believers of the Word.  The mercy for the deceived came through the sacrifice of the Word.

Counting on Him,

jamie

 

You will feel it again!

Pr. 26:9:  “Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools.”

Having previously been a bit of a drunkard on occasion, I understand that a thorn in the hand would not go much noticed.  Being drunk dulls the senses and a thorn likely would not even be felt.

Certainly there are times in our lives when even the scriptures enter us and their weight goes much unnoticed.  There are seasons where one can read about the love of God and still feel quite unloved.  Moments come where forgiveness is promised, but the reader feels only guilt.

Likewise, in seasons of sin, we can read about the consequences of our sins and feel no remorse.  In fact, at times we disregard it as irrelevant or inapplicable to us.  Gossip is strongly discouraged in the Word, but we can look at those verses and point straight at someone besides ourselves.

It’s amazing that the same Word of God that captures our hearts and causes us to submit to the Lord and His will can later be just another noise that we can no longer distinguish from the others.

Sin and deceit can so harden us that we can read every verse in the Word about our sins and still choose to walk continuously into them.  The lies of satan can so oppress us and bring us to a place of despondency, that the love, care, and compassion of Jesus seems farther out of reach than Saturn itself.

We’re not alone.  Even the disciples, when in the presence of Jesus Himself, did not always understand.  Some lessons were lost on them or not felt at times, causing Him to ask them, “Do you still not perceive or understand?”  He encouraged them to remember the things which they had already seen Him do.

Thankfully, the Word of the Lord is living and powerful.  (Heb. 4:12)  Open your ears to this next verse this morning, which is very fitting today as it is raining outside my window and is snowing in other parts of the world right now:

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

No matter the season of our life, we must continue persevering in the Word.  In times where we’re so “drunk” that we cannot even feel it, it is still watering our soul to accomplish the purpose for which it was sent.  Do not give up when the scriptures seem unspeaking…God is still speaking, and soon your ears will be opened and you will remember!

Hallelujah!

jamie

Keep strengthening your temple!

Pr. 14:1:  “The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.”

As I am sitting here reading the word of God, I am now aware of the fact that I am building on to the temple of God.  Each time I read of Jesus’ compassion toward those who came to him on earth, I am adding to the foundation.  Each promise I read of eternal life gives me a new window to let in the light of hope.

When I find the verses on how God hears our prayers and we can boldly approach His throne in time of need, my security system becomes even more protective.  Reading the examples of the times when God, in fact, did not forsake His people, my roof becomes a more solid layer of shelter than ever before.

Knowing the Word makes the doors to my house and my heart impregnable to the lies of satan.  When he tries to whisper his way inside, I am able to recognize that his voice is not the voice of my Father; therefore, I do not open the door to him.

The walls to my temple are made stronger by my obedience to the Word.  Each time I put up a boundary, I build onto my walls.  Every sin I do not commit allows extra support to come from my trust in the Lord.  Strength and protection are found through my faith to choose to follow God.

I am remembering the times when I’ve torn down my temple with my very own hands.  When I have deliberately chosen to put off my reading of the Word and my time with God, I have allowed my foundation to become cracked.  Once I allowed the foundation to crack, my temple began to shift, being then moved to the shaky, unstable foundation of selfishness, sin, lust, and pride.

When my foundation became cracked, it also allowed satan to creep through the cracks instead of coming right to the door.  He found his way inside and began eating away at the solid structure I had built.  I may have looked fine on the outside, but the walls of obedience began to crumble and become unstable.  The door to my heart became virtually irrelevant as the enemy ate away at the Word I had hidden in my heart.

My roof and security system also became inconsequential, as the promises and faithfulness of God began to be replaced by lies from the enemy.

A neglected or abandoned house eventually falls into such disrepair that it must be condemned and torn down.  We must continue to build onto, secure, repair, and strengthen our temples day by day.  Our time with God, in the Word, in prayer, and under the teachings of other men and women of God help us to do those things.

We cannot neglect our temples.  Instead of being condemned, they can stand solid until the Lord returns.  A heavenly palace awaits!

Working on my house,

jamie