Faith and Works

        “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” - James 2:17-18

         James gives us some key verses to see how faith and works fit together. According to Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is a confidence and assurance of the existence of something unseen. When you get in you car in the morning, you do not have to check under the hood to see if the motor is still there. So that is the faith side, and works is the knowing that the unseen is there and acting upon it. It is getting inside the car and turning the key and starting the engine. These two are both crucial to the Christian’s daily life. If you say you have faith in something and yet are unwilling to act upon your “faith,” then that faith is useless. On the other hand if are working or acting not out of faith, but are having to confirm everything by seeing it or experiencing it continually. To use the car example again, faith without works is saying that you believe the engine is in the car, but you are unwilling to get in and turn the key. Works with the absence of faith would be like having to check under the hood for the engine and making sure everything is hooked up every single time you get in the car. That is ridiculous!

         Genuine faith and works go hand in hand, two sides to the same coin. It seems overly simple when you consider it in the terms of driving. When was the last time you had to check if your engine was still there or refused to get in until you had? Probably never. Why? Because it is a fact, you know it to be true and you do not hesitate or doubt. So why is it so hard for us to believe God’s Word? What He says has proven throughout the ages to fact, and it is more of a reality than of that engine sitting in your car. So I would like to challenge you to use that same faith that you have in the fact that your engine is still in your car since the last time you drove it, and begin to apply to what God says in His word. Read the Scriptures, discover the promises, search out who He is, find out what He has done for us, then take it by faith and act upon it.

fun stuff

Sorry I haven't had any posts lately, I been pretty busy. but to make up for it, here is some graphic design work that I've done recently to make up for the lack of posts. please leave your comments on the one you like the best.

Enjoy!

Andrizomai: to quit yourself like men

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 an epic quote from C. T. Studd

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As a man ought to be

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Study to show yourself aproved

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another great quote, this time from E. M. Bounds

Let me know what you think

Fearless and Unshakable Confidence

          We as Christians are in a war. It is the ultimate battle of the ages: the kingdom of light against the kingdom of darkness. This is not a spiritual metaphor or analogy; this is serious and this is real. There are real lives that are hanging in the balance, real attacks from the enemy, and real responsibilities to uphold. As a Christian, we are currently living in hostile territory. This world is the domain of the prince of darkness, and it is his bent to harass our lives. Those under the control of this world are against us as Christians. If we live in such a way as not to upset the natural flow of society, then the world will tolerate us and maybe even be our friends. But as soon as we give our allegiance to our rightful king, then everything changes. We will be despised by men and persecuted for our pursuit of Jesus Christ.

         Just look at the life of David. One day the prophet of the Lord came to his house, bypassed all of his older brothers, and anointed him king of Israel. Now King Saul was still the reigning king, and when he found out that David had been chosen by God to be king, all hell broke lose on David’s life. Saul put a bounty on David’s head and sought to kill David to protect his own throne. David became the most wanted man in the kingdom. He was a hunted fugitive living in a cave, reproached of men, and despised of the people. But in the midst of all of this, David did not fear and lived in confidence in his God. What!?! How could he do that? He had twenty-two assassination attempts on his life and was constantly living on the run. With all these problems how could he live without fear and still trust in a God who would let this happen to him? Because David knew that God was on his side. For If God be for us, who can be against us (Rom. 8:31)? 

          Back when God chose David to be the king of Israel, the prophet Samuel anointed him with oil to mark him as king. But something else happened at that anointing, the Spirit of God filled David from that day on. Although he was not recognized as king, he began to live like one. When a lion and a bear came to attack his sheep, David rose up and broke their jaws and retrieved his lambs. Later when a giant stood and blasphemed the armies of Israel, David said “who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” Then armed only with a sling and the spirit of the living God, he sprinted to the battle. David knew the power of his God, and he knew that he had been chosen by God to lead the nation of Israel. As a result of that, David lived with an unshakable confidence in his God. 

          We serve the same God as David, and God has not changed. When the Spirit of God is given to us as Christians, we should have the same fearlessness and unwavering confidence in the power of our God as David did. When the kings of hostile kingdoms come to persecute us, or the giants of our day mock and blaspheme the living God, may we rise up with the growl of David and boldly say:

The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what man can do unto me?

I do not fear those who can kill only the body and not the soul.

Death, where is your sting?

Hell, where is your victory?

If God be for us, who can be against us?

Reckon: Take God at His Word

      Reckon – is a simple word and concept, but yet so difficult to fully grasp the reality of this term. The idea of reckoning is taking something you know to be true, and, by faith, firmly fixing it as a reality in your daily life. It is looking at the Word of God and seeing the promises and facts about the Christian life, and believing that they are true. The hard part is that we are operating on faith that has never seen what we are reading in Scripture. The Bible tells us “be ye holy,” “Let not sin rein,” and “the old man has past away,” and our faith waivers because we look at our lives and the lives of the Christians around us, and we see men and women that are still in bondage to sin and have no power in their daily lives. As a Christian we must operate on faith and not by sight. I do not care  if every Christian you see is wallowing in defeat and bondage to his flesh, you must choose to believe the Word of God.

      For far too long the modern Christian movement has stripped away our trust and confidence in the truth of Scripture. The modern church has explained away the parts of Scripture that they do not like or that convicts them of the truth that should be ruling their lives. No matter what those around you claim to be true or even what your own experience might have to say on the matter, every word of the Bible is fact regardless of what you or anyone else have to say about it. I believe God and His Word over your piddly experience. 

      So how do we rectify the truth of the Word of God and the seemingly blatant contradiction of our daily lives. We must reckon it as so.  James says, “faith without works is dead, ” but just saying that we believe God’s Word is not enough. Our faith must step forward on the truth that has been set before it. We must take God at His Word and live it out. That does not mean we go around saying we have victory when we are still living under the thumb of sin, instead take the promises of God by faith and refuse to accept any other alternative. When sin tries to rear its ugly head and attempts to control you and reestablish a foothold in your life, you must rise up and proclaim that through the power and authority of Jesus Christ sin has no more claim upon your life!

      So the question before us is: where are the men and women who will take God at his Word? Where are those who are willing to take a stand upon the promises and truths of  Scripture and not be moved? Where are those who will exercise the kingly authority in the name of our risen and mighty Savior and command that sin would not rein in their bodies? Where are the men and women who will live by faith and not by sight? We must be the ones to rise up and say: “my God has spoken, He never lies and He never changes, So all things are under His mighty conquering feet. For at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!”

The Standard of the Perfect Rod

      “Who are you to say that God is God?” it is the Challenge of all time. From the garden of Eden when the serpent questioned God’s authority and truthfulness, to Korah’s rebellion to say that He could led the nation and who was Moses or even God to say other wise? And today it is no different, the world and our flesh continue to challenge God’s divine right to rule our lives. These men have sought to make their own standard instead of abiding by God prescribed pattern in His Word. They either place their own words above God’s, or they seek to change God’s standard to a level that they think is fair or matches their wants. They have created doctrines that allow them to live their lives however they see fit. They have removed the holy standard of God so they will not be convicted by it, or at an extreme they try to deny God’s very existence, because if He does not exist then they cannot be condemned or held accountable for their deeds.

God look down from heaven and says “so, you want to challenge My right to rule do you? Alright, let’s put it to the test.” As in the time of Korah’s rebellion, God tells all who would wish to stake their claim as ruler to take their rod, their symbol of authority and the measure of their design, to lay them out before Him, and whichever one God chooses would be the one with authority. In Korah’s time, God choose Aaron’s rod over all the others. For future generations there was still a test for those who would challenge God’s right to rule. God laid out the all of the standards for the leader of His people, the Messiah, and said if any wish to stake their claim on His rule they had to meet His standard. Through all of time men try to reach that standard, but all fall short, all except one man...

This one man had many requirements to fill to establish His authority to rule. He would have to match every standard and pass every test. He could not fail or deviate in the smallest area from this standard of righteousness. There were many tests that were completely out of his control or influence, but He still had to be perfect. He had to be the Son of God, of the seed of a woman, and yet born of a virgin. He had to be of the liege of Abraham, Isaac, and of the kingly line of David. He must be born in Bethlehem and come out of Egypt. He must be preceded by Elijah, start his work in Galilee, be meek, undesirable of men, without guile, and consumed with zeal for the Lord’s house. He had to be betrayed by a friend at the cost of thirty pieces of silver, numbered with criminals, beaten and bruised. He must die, no bones broken, and His body must be pierced. Not only that, but He must be raised from the dead and ascend to the right hand of the Father. If this man had failed any of these tests or come short of the perfect standard, then He could not have been the Messiah.

  Is there even a man that could measure up to these tests? Not a man, but the very Son of God, Jesus Christ. He is the only one who could be the perfect sacrifice and possess all authority above, on, and under the earth. 

A Return to Grace

    Something is missing in the Christianity of today. Just take a look back at the book of Acts and the Christians of ages past, and you will see that there is a significant difference between their lives and ours. Compare the lives of Paul or George Muller to a Christian of today, and there is no comparison. So what has happened? Why is there a difference between them and us? Grace is the key to this problem.  We do not say that grace is not important, but what has happened is that grace has been redefined in our day. In What’s so Amazing About Grace?, Philip Yancey defines grace as the mercy and forgiveness that God shows to us sinners, giving His hug of acceptance to let us know that He loves us just the way we are.

    Here is how Christianity works. God places a standard in front of us that is impossible: to be perfect, to be holy, a slave to righteousness, and dead to sin. It is not enough that the standard sits there towering over us, but God calls us to live up to this impossible standard. We try our best to reach that high standard and fail time and time again in our own strength. Here is where the divide between Christian history and modern Christianity begins. Today there is a consensus that God never intended for us to live that impossible standard. Many say that Jesus lived the perfect life so that you and I would not have to. Now there is some truth in that. Yes, Jesus did come and live the perfect life to be the sacrifice that we could not be, and yes, God never intended for us to  attain His standard of perfection on our own. But what is forgotten is that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice to give us grace, so that by His grace we could live the impossible life.

    So what is grace? Grace is the indwelling power of the Spirit of God to enable us to live according to God’s plan and to carry out his errands on this earth. William Law says it so well, “the purchase of the cross wasn’t mere forgiveness. . . it was Pentecost.” Christ did not shed His blood to just cover over your sin and leave you as a helpless victim of sin. He came to bring you abundant life. By His death we now have the power of God imparted to us to live victoriously for His glory.

    The grace of God brings salvation. For by grace are you saved through faith; and it is not of your own working because it is the gift of God. This salvation is what  the prophets of old searched for diligently and prophesied of this grace that should come unto us through Jesus Christ. Therefore, be strong in grace that is in Jesus Christ, for His grace is sufficient for us, because His strength is made perfect in our weakness. But it is by the grace of God that I am what I am, and His grace is not given to us in vain. For I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I still live; yet it is not I, but Christ that liveth in me.

The Way to Treat The Word of God

The Word of God is one of the most important things that a Christian could have. It is the very words of the Almighty God transcribed by the pens of men. By these very words the worlds were spoken into existence and all things are held together by its power. it is the seed of truth that is planted in our hearts that produces faith unto salvation. It is a sword that is quick and powerful, dividing asunder of soul and spirit and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It is our sustenance and more precious to us than our daily bread. It is without error, 100% true, with kingly authority, relevant to all generations, unchanging, and enduring forever. Men have tried to discredit it, prove is false, burn it, and even threaten and kill those who distribute and read it, and it has continued to prove faithful and true to all generations.

But in our day the authority and integrity of the Word of God is under attack more then ever. Under the guise of Christianity and humility, the postmodern/ emergent church movement is undermining our confidence in the Word of God as a solid foundation. These modern thinkers abandon the facts of the Bible and appeal to our humanity for an emotional response. Their basic premise is that the Word of God adapts and evolves to difference times, cultures, and users. They have come out with new translations and redefined the terms to create their own rendition of Christianity. One that does not require you to make drastic changes to your life and that does not offend the culture of today. Because they are changing and redefining the Word of God, the solid rock that we stand on and have confidence is being turned into jello-like foundation. They are compromising the integrity of Christianity, the Bible, the Gospel, and the very nature of God Himself under our very noses.

We must rise up and defend the Word of God at all costs. These men have crept in and, with no sense of reverence, sought to change God and His Word. It is time we said “ENOUGH!” You mess with the deity, authority, and integrity of the Word of God in text, and you are messing with the deity, authority, and integrity of the very person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Word made flesh; they are one and the same. To attack one is to attack the other. We do not seek to define God on our own terms because God defines Himself. He is Righteous and Holy. He never lies and always keeps His promises. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in Him is no shadow of turning. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. This is our God! Whatever He says to do, we come under His authority obey Him. We are to study to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen that need not to be ashamed, so that we may rightly divide the word of truth with all reverence and holy fear. We must do all that is in our power and be ready lay down our lives, if need be, to uphold the integrity and authenticity of the Word of God.

Fortification: Made Strong to Pour Out

Our lives are under constant attack. We have a wall that surrounds us and blocks the enemy’s attacks, but the enemy is always looking for ways to harass us and take our focus off of God. He uses cunning and deceit to find an access point. He is smart enough not to waste his time attacking the strong part of the wall when he could find a weakness in our defenses and exploit it. These weakness, holes, gaps, or breeches give him the opportunity to harass, sabotage, destroy, and deceive us. If we are to serve Christ effectively these breeches must be repaired and our walls made strong. Most Christians agree up to this point, our lives are under attack and we need to have our “walls repaired” so that we are not open to the assaults of the enemy, but it is what happens next that devision begins. Once the wall has been repaired, what are we supposed to do?

Many Christians believe that we are delivered from the enemy’s attacks so that we could live healthy, wealthily, and prosperous lives. They expect to experience no hardships or difficulties, no trials or pain. They are confused of what fortification really is. They think that all pain and difficulties are from the enemy and that God only brings love and prosperity. But the truth is that there are two kinds of pain, enemy pain and God pain. The pain that the enemy brings darkness, confusion, disease, condemnation, abuse, lies, and death. God pain is the good kind of pain like being sore after exercising or birthing pain. It brings light, strength, truth, healing, and life. Once we have identified what is from the enemy and what is from God, we now know what we must resist and what to allow.

We are fortified, not that our lives may be sheltered for our own selfish desires, but so that we are made strong to pour out. Christ fortifies us so that we can turn outward and serve those in need, instead of constantly trying to ward off the enemy attacks. For far too long Christians have adopted a defensive battle strategy, to be inward focused, how to keep their lives from falling apart. We are called to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. We are to be the deliverer of the poor, eyes for the blind, feet to the lame, the protecter of the orphan and widow, and to rescue the defenseless from the jaws of the wicked. As Christians we should be on the offensive, not just waiting to repel the attacks of the enemy, but to always our swords at the ready to storm the very gates of hell to rescue the lost off it’s doorstep. That is what we are fortified for, we are made strong to pour out our lives in service to our king. We are to always be ready to go and fight and lay our lives down for the cause of heaven, for to live is Christ and to die is gain.

The Body

All things are created with a reason and purpose. the sun has made to light and warm the earth. the air was made to breathe and provide life to all living things. Food was made to provide nourishment. but what was the human body and life made for? we were created for one purpose: to bring God glory. how? we are called to be holy, yielded, instruments of righteousness, givers of praise and worship, and the body of christ here on this earth.

but there is a problem, there is a controlling force in our life called the flesh. the flesh’s agenda is simple, to seek it’s own pleasures and anything that contradicts that is quashed. we are bound in this body of sin, we look around and see the flesh reeking havoc in our lives and realize that we are not fulfilling our designed purpose. “Hey flesh!” we cry, “Look at what you are doing to my life, it’s a mess!” we then timidly suggest. “do you think you could quiet down a little, maybe take a shower, and clean up some of this mess?” “What do you think you’re doing?” the flesh growls, “I’m gonna do whatever I want and you cannot do anything about it, Ha!” we try to get up and reason with flesh to talk some sense into him and teach him some manners, just who does he think he...ungh! what’s going on!? why can’t I stand up? we then realize that the flesh has duct-taped us to a chair in the corner and try as we might we cannot seem get loose. we look around in fearful horror as we watch the flesh continuing on his destructive rampage laughing maniacally the whole time. we begin to see that the damage to our life is much more extensive then we first thought. “Stop!” we cry, as the support of our life starts to give way, “please stop! I’m telling you to stop!” the flesh monetarily pauses and glares at us with a crazy grin smeared across his face, “and if I don’t stop, what are you going to do about it?” he laughs again and turns again to his carnage. with a new realization of the servility and seriousness of our condition, we cry out for help. “Help! I’m tied to a chair I can’t do anything! my life crumbling! I need a rescuer! I need someone to get rid of the flesh! Oh who can save me from this body of sin!”

In an instant, our savior Jesus Christ is at our side and sets us free. the flesh cries out “ hey! you can’t do that! I’m the one in charge here! I have the right to run this life however I want!” then our Intercessor looks the flesh square in the eye and with the voice that shakes the heavens proclaims “I am now the absolute ruler of this life, my Word is truth and law. At my name every creature will bend their knee and confess that I am Lord!” and with that, the Mighty God grabs the flesh and hurls him out. then the Redeemer turns and gently says to us, “I set you free so that you can serve me. If the flesh tries to return, rebuke him in my name and he can’t stay. I must have complete control over every area of your life. the parts of you life the have previously been mishandled and abused, I will repair them and teach you how they were originally designed for, to serve, honor, worship, and glorify me, the Lord of lords, King of kings, and the master of your soul.”

About Scripture

For the next couple weeks I'll be posting some of my class work for you all to read. It's coming from summaries of sessions here at Ellerslie, but the content is such that it's beneficial regardless if you have heard the sessions or not. This week's entry is talking about scripture, the divinely inspired Word of God. All of scripture pertains to Jesus Christ. On the surface it may not appear to be so, but because of the many layers that scripture has, every page reflects the person and nature of Jesus. If we read the Bible as we would any other book, we will only see the obvious facts. But if we humble ourselves before the Spirit of God and ask for spiritual understanding, the Holy Spirit will give us spiritual eyes so that we may troll the depths of scripture. Why? So that we may know the goodness and riches that are in the person of Jesus Christ.

Many people view the Bible as a book of good moral teaching, historical stories, and ancient poetry, but Scripture is much more than that. The Word of God is more than the words of men, it is the divinely inspired account of God’s agenda of redemption on this earth through the person of Jesus Christ. From the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, all of scripture tells of the person and nature of God. The problem when the world looks at the Bible is that they only look at the text as a work of literature. They see words, sentences, paragraphs, grammar, logical thoughts, metaphors, stories, and characters, they can only see the superficial layer of Scripture. One of the things that the world cannot understand is that the Word of God has an infinite number of layers. We cannot find these layers on our own, only when the Spirit of God gives us spiritual eyes and understanding can we then troll the depths of Scripture. As we go deeper, we see more and more of Jesus and we see that He is the key to unlock the Scriptures. In Luke 24, Christ told His disciples“. . . O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” Though Christ may not be explicitly mentioned, all of scripture pertains to His nature and person. As an example, there are multiple stories showing the battle between the Flesh and the Spirit. Esau vs. Jacob. Saul vs. David. Ishmael vs. Isaac. First born vs. second born. First Adam vs. second Adam. All of these reveal the war between the two Kingdoms of Flesh and Spirit and show us a picture of the spiritual realm. It shows us that we naturally desire the first born, which is the Flesh, and it is our natural default to have the Flesh controlling our lives. With the Flesh on the throne we are slaves to its sinful desires. And then one day something happens, the grace of God opens our eyes and we see the second born, which is the Spirit. Now the flesh is always at enmity with the Spirit and through the Flesh’s eyes the Spirit seems weak, strange, foolish, and unappealing. But once grace starts its work, we begin to esteem and long for the things of the spirit. We try to reach out for it and find out that the Flesh is fighting to remain in control and keep us from the Spirit. What is needed is for us to come to the end of ourselves and realize that the Flesh must go, but find out that we cannot get rid of it by ourselves. We need help to dethrone the Flesh. We need an Intercessor to fight for us, and that intercessor is Jesus Christ, He is the one who came to conquer the Flesh and give us new life, a life controlled by the Spirit. All of this is exemplified through stories from the Old Testament, explained in the New, but the key to it all is Jesus Christ.