The Gift - John 4:10

  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

    I overheard someone the other day complaining about Thanksgiving. He shrugged his shoulders and asked what we had to be so thankful for. I didn’t know the man personally so I reserved any thoughts of judgment. Then it struck me like a bolt from the blue. I didn’t know him personally! And therein lie his problem. Not that he and I weren’t personally acquainted but that perhaps he had yet to receive the gift of grace from God and the contentment that proceeds from the gift of  “knowing Christ, personally!” He certainly didn’t talk like he was blessed by the gift of salvation through Christ. His discontentment gave me pause to think more about my own disposition and if I were resolute enough in my own thankfulness.
    Grumbling about our lives is far too common, even among those of us who are saved through the gift of God’s grace. I catch myself complaining about “this or that” far too often. And it is only the refocusing of my attention on that unmerited gift of grace that stems the tide of my discontentment. Careful inventory of our blessings will often quell our tumultuous hearts. “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” - Matthew 6:27. I find I am most at ease; I am most content, when I forget my anxieties and rest in the Lord.
    May we all find our place of “rest in the Lord” through God’s gift of grace on this Thanksgiving Day. And may we learn to extend that contentment to each and every day of our lives. “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” - Psalm 118:24. Happy Thanksgiving!

There Is Indeed A King - Judges 17:6

 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. - Judges 17:6

    Ochlocracy: the rule of the mob. This archaic term is seldom used anymore. Most people mistakenly confuse it’s concept with that of anarchy, which is no rule or order of law at all, i.e. chaos, disorder, mayhem. Don’t be confused. In an ochlocracy there is most definitely a rule of order. As it’s definition states; it is the rule of the mob. And that rule is anything that runs counter to a systematic rule of order either via legislators or individual ruler. As opposed to such systematic paradigms, the ochlocracy ostensibly runs about on its own power rather than that of well-defined moral principles or a subjective rule of law; in our case, the bible. Certainly ochlocractic rule manifests itself in a variety of ways, depending of course, on what “the mob” sees as tolerable, in the least respect, or desirable at worst. But one thing is for certain: no ochlocracy has ever or will ever use the holy law of God as an manifestation of their behavior.
    As our title verse states, “In those days there was no king .  . .” This is a prerequisite for an ochlocracy: there can be no individual ruler, otherwise it’s a dictatorship. So there is no ruler present in a ochlocracy. In such a situation it is inevitable that men will then do what is right in their own eyes. Herein lies the fallacy that an ochlocracy runs about on its own power. It does not, for we know from Romans 14:23 that whatever does not proceed from God is sin. If God is not the prime motivator of your thoughts, words, and deed then Satan is! There are simply two ways and only two ways. The mob sees the worship of God as some type of pathological sickness. But there is nothing pathological about worshiping God; it is man’s greatest purpose!
    The problem inherent to ochlocratic thinking should be obvious, especially to believers. Since man has walked the earth he has not known a day when there was no king! “For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods.” - Psalm 95:3. Therefore, we indeed have a sovereign king and we must obey Him. We cannot afford the mistake of doing what is right in our own eyes? If we believers know what God’s law demands it is just as certain that unbelievers know the law too; it is their choice, their deliberate choice to disobey Him and do what is right in their own eyes. Whether it is abortion, same-sex marriage, sexual promiscuity, or moral relativism in general they know the law of God and still refuse to obey.“But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,  for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine . . .” - 1 Timothy 1:8-10.
    We know what God has ordained. We know what God expects from us. All of humanity does. We have seen His revealed will. “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” - Micah 6:8.
    Make no mistakes: there is indeed a King, a King of kings, Jesus Christ. And we know that those who prefer to do what is right in their own eyes rather than obey the law of God will wage war with the King of kings, but they will not prevail. There is no God-given right for a woman to kill her unborn child. There is no God-given right for men to have sexual relationships with other men. “You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.  You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” - Leviticus 18:21-22. No matter how loud they scream. No matter how many law-suits they initiate. No matter how many judges they have in their pockets. No matter what their celebrity-gods declare . . . they will not prevail! “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” - Revelation 17:14.
    Let us continue to pray for their souls that they may see what the called, the chosen, and the faithful see, that Christ is King! May the Holy Spirit of God fill their hearts as He has done ours and may we always bow down on bended knee to Christ Jesus, our Sovereign Lord, Savior, and King of kings.

“Go . . . AND SIN NO MORE!” - John 8:10-11

  

 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”  She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
 - John 8:10-11

    In the social media there has been a recent spate of posts suggesting that Jesus hung around with tax-collectors, drunkards, and prostitutes. “Hung out?” I’d suggest that such a description is hardly scriptural. Jesus didn’t commune with unrepentant sinners; allow me to offer the scriptural evidence.
    No where in the bible do we get a picture of Christ running around with sinners. No where! We see Him in encounters with sinners and when our lord Jesus Christ encounters the sinner in his or her sin He demands they cease and desist their sinful lifestyle; as the example in our title verse clearly depicts. Where the said sinner repents Christ welcomes them into His Holy company. But no where in scripture do we see Christ welcoming and continually communing  with unrepentant sinners. . . no where! Just as Jesus washed the dirt from the feet of His disciples (John 13:3-5) we are washed clean of our sins by His holy blood. What, to return to our worldly filth again? And then what: Christ is to die that agonizing death for us over and over again because we want to remain in our filthy circumstances? Christ even admonished Peter that he must be washed to enjoy the salvation He was to provide for him - “Peter said to Him, ‘You shall never wash my feet!’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.’” - John 13:8. No! Jesus did not “hang out with sinners!”
    The woman about to be stoned left her sinful life behind as did Levi (Matthew) the tax-collector. They left their sins behind to follow Christ! Consider how she responded to Christ when He asked, “Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, LORD.” “Lord,” she said. In her moment of tribulation she recognized Christ as the Lord! What fool would dare suggest that this woman left the scene that day and returned to the life she had before Christ’s intervention? And an “intervention” is exactly what it was. Christ intervened in a life  that cried out for forgiveness and that is why He said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
    In another instance of Christ’s “questionable associations” we find Him calling upon Zacchaeus , yet another tax-collector and sinner. “And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”- Luke 19:5-7. Zacchaeus made hast, came down, and received Him joyfully. Again, here is a sinner who recognized Christ as the Lord and not merely received Him but received Him joyfully! Verses 8 thru 10 detail the effect of Christ on the man and the salvation that accompanied his faith in Christ: “Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;  for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.’” Zacchaeus restored what he had taken unjustly; he didn’t remain in his sin.
    Again the scriptures tell us - “And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, ‘How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard it, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’” - Mark 2:16-17. This was the very reason Christ came into the world - to save us!
    If your will is to save someone from a raging inferno you have go to the fire. You can’t save them from afar as you watch the flames consume them. Jesus seeks to save those who need saving, so in effect, He goes to where the fires are burning. “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.” - Matthew 18:11.
    Christ’s first words in the Gospel of Mark set up the purpose of His entire ministry here on earth: “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,  and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” - Mark 1:14-15. Jesus never said or suggested that it would be just fine for us to remain in our sins. He never said he would accept us in our sins. He came to save us from our sins. And anyone who preaches another gospel is a liar and a wolf in sheep’s clothing!
    May the Holy Spirit of God grant us discernment enough to know the one true Gospel of Jesus Christ from the post-modern heresy that tells us Jesus accepts us and our sins and does not require repentance from us.