A Fruit-filled Life

2009-11-04T11:43:00.000-06:00

Well... it's been about... WAY TOO LONG since I've posted a blog entry!!! I'll have to go back and check the last time I put anything on here, but I just wanted to throw out a quick post, hoping to get back into the swing of things... So, here's a quick shout-out/warm-up for today.

God is alive! He is moving individuals and people groups for His glory! I'm excited to be a part of what God is doing in the every-day hustle and bustle of the little town I live in, as well as the general Austin area.

God reveals Himself through the inspired Scriptures which, when read, speak boldly of His character, His love, His sacrificial work on the cross, and of His desire to restore us to Himself.
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

I've been reading through the Scriptures lately and have been greatly encouraged by what I've read. Paul, in Romans, speaks of the peace which we have with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1). And Jesus tells us that we are blessed when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, for we shall be satisfied (Matt. 5:6)! But I've also been seeing several warnings as well... There are parts which speak of an incorrect type of righteousness, which leads to self-righteousness! There are those who would rest in peace with God but have no love of Christ, the Mediator and peace-negotiator.

These things and more have been exciting and sobering to read. I long to share them with you all, but I'm afraid this is all I can handle for today! Blogging is something I have enjoyed in the past, but have put off for a long time. It's going to take some getting re-adjusted to. I'm actually hoping that nobody will read this until I get back into the groove of writing!

Well, Grace and Peace to you, my friends!

Just Some Thoughts...

2009-07-15T09:50:00.002-05:00

You know... there are some times when I feel completely inadequate for any task. Do you know that feeling? I hope not...

There is something so "real" feeling about inadequacy, sometimes... but you know what... it's these feelings, when I listen and obey them, which cause me to be completely ineffective for the kingdom. So, then it comes down to a couple of questions which I must ask myself in order to determine the validity of my concerns.

1. Am I strong? Not, am I physically strong, but am I a strong-willed, confident person?
Well, I'm just going to come out and admit right now that I'm not a very confident person. In fact, my track record is so full of passed-up opportunities because of my deep fear of failure! What a shame! I have left alone so many opportunities for sharing the gospel because of my lack of confidence! Why???
Well, here's the deal... I care waaaaaaaay too much what other people think about me. You see, when I care more about what someone might think of me than how desperately that person's soul needs salvation... I revert to a selfish withholding of the life-giving message of Christ's atoning work! (actually, I'm making myself sick thinking about the Silence which has so often molested the opportunities I've had for sharing the Gospel...)
Consider this... If I have an opportunity to share Salvation with a friend and I don't say a word about Christ... I have become an ineffective Christian and, more or less, an agent of damnation to that person's soul! Now, is that person's soul my responsibility? Directly, I would probably say "no." But, indirectly, this friend's soul is under my gaze as we speak, and by not caring enough to offer the Way at some point in the conversation... I have indeed lost all effectiveness as a disciple of Christ.
So, to answer question 1... I am not strong! However, I have Christ! He is my strength! 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says:

"And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

That's awesome! If only I could remember these words of encouragement when I am tempted to remain silent, for fear of man... Would I still consider the rejections of men to be such a great burden to bear if I allowed Christ to be my strength? And not only my strength, but if He was my only focus, my only love... this indeed would free me from much of my self-induced fear and ineffectiveness!
Alrighty then! Answering question 1, once and for all: "I am not strong, in-and-of myself, but I have Christ. He is my strength when I am weak, and His power is perfected in my weakness. Therefore, my feelings of inadequacy, because of fear, are invalid and should not hold sway or command over my words and actions."

2. Am I necessary? Does anyone really need me or am I just tolerated?
This question is so self-centered and prideful that I'm ashamed to admit it's presence in my life. However, for the sake of honesty, it remains a question I must ask when these feelings of inadequacy arise.
Okay, well let me clear this up at the beginning... this is not a question that we MUST ask ourselves, except if it is something that you actually struggle with. For me, my deep-rooted desires of acceptance do affect my effectiveness as a Christ-follower, therefore this IS a necessary inspection.
The answer to this question is two-fold. First, am I necessary in the sense of "Does God need me?" NO! He doesn't need me, but that's the beauty of our serving God! He doesn't NEED any of us! But He allows us to bring what little we have to offer and uses us in spite of our failures and shortcomings. However, if I come with pride in my service, thinking that I have something to offer God... I am approaching this service in a very wrong way! I have to remind myself, constantly, that God can work quite effectively without me being present. How comical is that??? How prideful is that??? That I would even begin to worry that the Holy Spirit would somehow be less able to move and work if I'm not there to help. Clearly I think WAY too highly of the value of my service!
So, to answer part one of question two... I am not necessary! However, God has promised to work, in and through me, for the spreading of His fame. The requirements for me are:
A. That I serve with humility.
B. That I serve UNDER the Christ who's name I carry, and not attempt to make my own name greater! (okay, so A and B are pretty much the same thing...)
C. That I serve with ALL my strength, and that strength not being my own, but Christ's power in me.
D. That all of my service be done in an effort to show the love of Christ to others in whatever I'm doing. (This includes that all service be done to the glory of God, whom I serve)

So, the second part of this question is this: "Does anybody care about me?" or "Am I necessary in people's lives or am I just a tolerated presence in the room?"
Wow! Talk about a self-centered, prideful question to have to ask yourself! And I'm going to answer this one very quickly because I feel gross just examining this part of the question! How highly do I consider myself, if I am asking this internal question of other's affections?
The answer to this question is: "It shouldn't matter ONE BIT what other people think of me!"

This may sound kind of cold and unfeeling, but my prayer has been "Lord, please help me to not care at all what other people think of me!" Please understand the gravity of this prayer and do not take it lightly... There is such a deep-seated desire in me for acceptance and approval that I cannot rightly examine how I appear in other people's eyes until I have completely deconstructed my current self-examination, in this respect. So, I'm not asking that God would allow me to be completely unaffected by the concerns other might have about any wrong behavior I might exhibit, but that I quite simply no longer let my fears and desires of approval and acceptance rule my actions and, again, cause ineffectiveness for His name's sake.

Do you feel this very same weight? Perhaps some of you do not... but maybe some of you do. Maybe you, just like me, need to be freed from the weight of approval. Friends, wait not a moment longer! This SIN, for sin is what it is, causes the soul to rot while the ego grows roots deep within the heart! There is not a moment to lose in uprooting this barrier which so quickly strips the wandering, searching, perhaps well-meaning Christian of any usefulness.

"Do people need me?" There is NO ROOM for this question in our hearts! There are many other, much more important, questions that we should be asking ourselves!

So, a wrap-up of question 2... Recognize, in humility, that we are not NEEDED, but that God has chosen to use us, to His glory and for His purposes! There is no greater cause to which we might play a role or in which we might find meaning!
Secondly, LET GO of the desire for approval and acceptance by other sinners! We are acceptable in the sight of the only One whom it really matters that we might be found acceptable by! Because of the blood of Christ, we are acceptable in the sight of God, by His grace and mercy! Praise be to God! There is indeed acceptance for the longing heart... we just have to look in the right place.

3. Who am I serving?
This question makes me reconsider whether or not my focus has shifted off of Christ, as my center focus.
Am I now serving myself, my desires, etc...? If I become more focused on my own desires, I very quickly fall into the traps we discussed in questions 1 and 2. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters..." (Matt. 6:24a) And He meant it! You cannot serve the God of heaven if you are serving your own agenda.
So, how do we avoid this trap? We conform our agenda to the agenda of Christ! We no longer look at our own desires but, instead, follow the example of Christ in glorifying our Father in heaven in EVERY aspect of our lives!

Another important consideration is this: "Am I serving the affections of others?" This is easy to do! It is very easy for me to make an idol of other people... to set them in front of Christ and to make them a higher priority than Him. What a sad day... the day when you awake to realize that your Savior is calling out to you from the back of a crowd... a crowd which you have placed in-between yourself and your true Master. This is a hauntingly familiar situation...

Serve God alone! This is my only exhortation and encouragement for this final question. If you are serving God, then you will find yourself serving others, but it will be service which points all glory to God and not a self-seeking, approval-hunting type of service. By making God the sole focus of your service, you will glorify Him even in your service to others!

To bring this all back together... What are the results of these feelings of inadequacy which tend to arise when I'm off focus? Well... depression, ineffectiveness for the kingdom, fear of man, failure to share the Gospel and ultimately you get the life sucked out of you! There is a loss of all vitality when I do not live missionally! Seriously! If you want your "Best Life Now" then forget about yourself and live for the glory of God!!! There is no other way to a fully satisfied life! The greatest and only true joy to be found is a life that is fully devoted to Christ.

Do I say all of this because I have triumphed in this area? No! But I say these things because of my repeated failures in these areas... and because of the repeated grace of God over my soul! If ever there was one upon whom the well of grace might run dry... it is I! But thanks be to God, that His faithfulness, grace and mercy FAR EXCEED my failures towards Him! I am a grateful wretch... unworthy, but doubly blessed! All praise and glory to God!

Is there anyone who has experienced the depression I speak of? Is there one who has known the desperate longing for acceptance and approval? Friends... beloved friends... All is found when we lose ourselves in the love of Christ! There is no greater satisfaction for the longing of your soul! Please... hear these words, not of mine, but of Christ... "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Our Lord does not desire to burden us down with cares, but rather to give us lasting peace. Rest for the weary, wandering soul can ONLY be found in Christ alone!

Grace and Peace to you, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ!

Questions or Comments? Please e-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com.

What Faith Looks Like: A Brief Glimpse

2009-07-12T11:38:00.004-05:00

"But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep." - 1 Corinthians 15:13-20

So, here's a little something that is extremely pertinent to the faith I've been touching in on the past few blogs... the resurrection of Christ, from the dead, is the only thing that makes our faith worth anything. Without the resurrection of Christ, our faith does nothing and we are to be pitied above all others. What would a live of sacrifice and devotion to a cause be, if the cause was not legitimate? The same is true of our relationship with Christ and the faith that we put in Him.

If Christ has not been raised from the dead, then our faith is useless!

If Christ has not been raised from the dead, then those who have historically placed their lives on the line and sacrificed comfort and pleasure for His sake, have done such commendable acts in vain!

HOWEVER... since Christ HAS BEEN RAISED... we have a faith that saves and Savior who is interceding, on our behalf, before the throne of God!

So, who or what then is the object of our faith? Is it not Christ? The only One who can save! Yes! Indeed Christ is the the ONLY way, as is seen in John 14 where Christ says, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (Jn. 14:6) Faith in Christ, faith in His atoning work on our behalf is our only hope for redemption from our sins. Now, this requires that you actually see and recognize your sin for what it is... that it is the separating factor between you and God. If you do not see your sin and understand it's effect on your relationship with God, then you will not understand or appreciate the altering affect of Christ's death on your behalf.

However, assuming that you do in fact recognize the fact that YOU are a SINNER in need of saving grace and that Christ has paid the penalty for your sins... and not only did He pay them, but He paid them in FULL... then there is nothing left for you to pay! God no longer has a bill with your name on it, if in fact you have put your life in the hands of Christ, and have put your faith in Him. That's why the Scriptures say, "...if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Rom. 10:9)

It's the faith in Christ and His resurrection that makes all the difference!

I know this is short, but that's all I've got for right now!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com.

God Justifies Through FAITH

2009-07-02T08:12:00.003-05:00

"For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law." -Romans 3:28-31

These few verses bring a lot of hope to those of us that live in the Western world... If justification of sins came through the Jewish Law... we would have no means of justification. However, since faith is the concept by which we are saved, there is hope for those who are not of Jewish origin and have not grown up in Jewish society.

I can tell you right now, without hesitation, that we would all be in trouble if we were justified through the Law! There is no doubt in my mind that we would all fail, miserably, in our attempts to uphold the Law. You see, as we've studied in the past, the purpose of the Law is to reveal sin. It convicts, by it's higher standard, the fallen nature that resides within us. Even in Jewish society the Pharisees and Sadducees would uphold the Letter of the Law, but not necessarily the Spirit of the Law.

What do I mean? I mean that they would outwardly comply with what the Law commanded them to do, but would not do it out of a heart that desired to please God... they were more concerned with their appearance before men. Actually, when Christ would call them hypocrites, a term that literally means "one who wears a mask," He was specifically calling them out on their false appearances. Rather than seeing the Law as a basic guideline of life, with plenty of room for upward progress, it was often viewed by many as the highest standard to be reached and most would try to get by with the bare minimum that was required of them.

All of that to say, "Thanks be to God that it is through faith in Christ by which we are saved!" And not only that it is Christ who saves, but that He is the Savior of the Gentiles as well as the Jews! This is really the only point I have to make this morning...

I am so thankful that faith in Christ is the prerequisite for a relationship with God the Father. If we were measured according to the Law then I would fall so short that there would be no hope of recovering... But God justifies us by faith!

What is this faith? Perhaps you are very familiar with what it means to have faith in Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior... but then again, perhaps not. If this is a new concept for you and you are curious to learn more, please e-mail me at the e-mail address below. Faith in Christ is the total dependence on His death, burial, and resurrection, as your only hope for reconciliation with God. It is the understanding that we are not, and could never be, good enough for God, in our own strength. Faith is the confession of sins, repenting (turning away) from your sin and no longer living in it, and trusting Jesus' blood to pay God's demanded penalty for your sins. This is a very simplistic, introductory look at what it means to have faith in Christ. For a more in-depth understanding, please e-mail me with specific questions or talk to a pastor or elder in your church or a trusted Christian friend. Ask them to show you, in Scripture, what faith looks like.

I don't want to make this blog so long today that we lose the simplicity of this concept of faith being our only hope of redemption.

Well... I'm probably going to have to jump back into this same thought, the next time around, because I'm out of time this morning!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

No Room For Boasting!

2009-07-01T07:31:00.003-05:00

"Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law." -Romans 3:27-28

In contrast to yesterday's blog... this is going to be amazingly short!

Faith in Christ trumps works! A million to one, you cannot out"do" the grace of God, through Christ Jesus' death on the cross. Since there is nothing we can "do" to be justified, by obeying and observing the Law, we see that faith is the requirement of justification.

Don't understand this to mean that we should not do good works, since we have been saved through faith in Christ. Rather, as a result of having been saved through faith in Christ, we should live as God has commanded us to live -to help the poor, the orphan, the widow- all the while understanding that NONE OF THIS will save or justify us before Him. It is only the atoning work of Christ which will redeem us, but it is the ministry of Christ which we are called to, so that "they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 5:16)

Basically, it is the privilege of the one who's faith has been placed in Christ, to then do good works for the glory of God. AND... in all of this, our boasting is eliminated because it is by the very act of God that we receive the faith to believe in Christ in the first place! So, works won't save us, which means no boasting there. Faith in Christ is the ONLY thing that can save us, which is from God so that boasting in ourselves is excluded! The only thing left to boast in is the One who had mercy on your soul!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Righteousness of God Demonstrated

2009-06-30T12:12:00.006-05:00

"But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." -Romans 3:21-26

Okay, so I included yesterday's text, in addition to today's verses, in order to keep the context of verses 25 and 26 clearly intact. So, without further ado, let's dive in!

Remembering that we're looking at the redemptive plan of salvation being fulfilled through Christ, let's look at God's purpose behind Christ's death on cross... verse 25 says, "whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;"

Once again we will review our necessity for a savior... Verse 23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." Thus, all of us are incapable of pleasing God in our own strength or efforts. Christ's death was the atoning sacrifice on our behalf, so that there might be a way for us to be reconciled to God. Therefore, as we see in verse 25, His blood was shed on Calvary as the propitiation (The act of appeasing the wrath and conciliating the favor of an offended person - dictionary.com "Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1996") of our sins, before a holy and righteous Judge. The penalty of our sins was blood and Christ paid that penalty, once and for all.

Now... the reasoning behind this sacrifice on man's behalf? Well... I could sit here and type for hours about how all things that have ever happened and will ever happen are caused, by God, to bring glory to God. The thing that we will look at today, though, is how God's character is revealed through the entering of sin into the world and then, through the death of Christ.

First, God's character revealed through the entering of sin into the world. Before sin entered into the world, here's what we know about God:
We know Him as Creator. In Genesis 1 we see that God made everything that exists out of nothing. This gives us an understanding of God's authority over all creation. We see His power to create matter, an ability that God exclusively posseses.
We see Him outside of space and time. We understand from Genesis that God existed before all matter. He is not bound by the same laws that bind us as finite beings.
We see Him as the Author of good. In each part of creation, we read that God saw what He created and called it "good."
We see Him as the Provider. He provides Adam with all of the necessary things of life in order to demonstrate His ability to completely satisfy all of man's needs.

Now, enter sin! What do we now see about God's character?
We see Him as Holy. His character is such that, once sin has entered into the world, perfect communion with His now stained creation is no longer possible.
We see Him as Judge. He pronounces judgment against the offenses commited towards His commands. (Gen. 3:14-19)
We see Him as compassionate. God does not completely forsake His creation because of their sins, but rather provides the first blood sacrifice as the atonement of their sin, and uses the skins to clothe them!
We see His faithfulness. Genesis 3:15 gives us the first glimpse of a Savior to come."And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." This is God's first promise of the redemption to come, through His Son!

Now... enter Christ! The Savior of the sinful world!
We see God's Mercy! Mercy can be defined as "not receiving the punishment I deserve." Christ paid our debt... and with that act of mercy, we now have a Perfect High Priest who intercedes for us before the throne of God Almighty!
We see the Grace of God. Grace can be defined as "the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God" - (dictionary.com Random House)
Eph. 2:1-10 describes this grace in a very poignant manner.
We see the Love of God. God's love is made evident in His effort of restoration between us and Himself. We have nothing to offer God, but He gave up His only Son in order to restore our relationship with Him.

Finally, looking again at Romans 3, we see His righteousness displayed through the death of Christ. His righteousness was displayed towards mankind in order that we might be justified, by God, through our faith in Jesus. (v. 26) God alone is the Justifier of our souls. This is an attribute of the character of God, revealed through Christ's death. Does it seem like I'm going in circles? Perhaps I am, but somewhere in these circles I'm trying to make certain that we understand this incredible glimpse into the character of Almighty God! I'll try to make my point a little easier to understand...

God, through the death of Christ, allowed us to understand His love, mercy, grace, and compassion, to name a few attributes. These would have otherwise gone as unknown characteristics if we did not have the death of Christ as the demonstration of these attributes of God. Now, of course we see glimpses of His patience, mercy, grace, etc... throughout the Old Testament, but not to the perfect extent which we see in Christ Jesus.

Now! The final point. All of these attributes of God are put on display so that God might be glorified in all things. God, as perfect and holy, is the only One who is able to exalt and glorify Himself in a righteous manner. We as humans cannot rightly exalt ourselves, but for God it is perfectly right and just for Him to cause His name to be lifted high, because He alone is Holy, Holy, Holy!

So, all things that exist are in existence for the final and utmost reason of glorifying God. This is a point which we could spend literal DAYS looking at and marveling about! I'll try to boil it down a little: If we live lives of Christ-likeness and in pursuit of God, bearing witness to His name and loving Him in all that we do... we bring glory to His marvelous love, grace, mercy, compassion, kindness, faithfulness and strength. On the other hand, if we live in selfish ambition and in rebellion to His Word... we bring glory to His justice, judgment, righteous anger, holy jealousy, and perfect wrath. So, in a nutshell, "You cannot escape your purpose in the glorification of God, no matter what side of the fence you're on!"

Well... that was a mouthful! Er... a "whatever-ful" it is when you blog for a long time on a very small set of verses! And I'm not even sure if any of it made sense! Hopefully, this will prove helpful to someone, in some respect. Otherwise... well... we'll just move on!

Grace and Peace, dear friends!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Manifest Righteousness of God

2009-06-29T08:20:00.003-05:00

Hello, all! Wow! It's been awhile since I've been on here... Well, God's been working in some interesting ways, in me, and I'm excited start blogging again! I won't go into all of the details of my sabbatical, just yet, but I assure you some of it will come up in some of the future blogs...

Well, with that being said, let's jump right in! I don't have a lot of time today so I'm going to try and break this down rather quickly this morning...

So, the last thing we covered was the Law and how it makes us aware of sin. Now let's get into the Good News! The Gospel, as it were, from Romans chapter 3... Now we see that "apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested..."

First, let's look at this word, "manifested." From dictionary.com the definition of "manifested" is as follows: "readily perceived by the eye or the understanding; evident; obvious; apparent; plain" (dictionary.com; based on the Random House Dictionary)

So, manifested means "apparent." God has made His righteousness apparent! Through what? His Son! In Christ Jesus, the righteousness of God was made apparent for all those who believe. This may seem pretty simple, and maybe it is... but it's essential that we grasp the point of our salvation, right here and now, before we move any further into Romans...

Without Christ being understood as our ONLY good and our ONLY righteousness and our ONLY hope... we will fall into the desperate depravity of believing that we are able, by some other strength, to redeem ourselves before God. That's why we've looked at the Law!

Paul showed us the Law so that we might realize the depth of our wickedness, not because he hoped that some might stand and say, "I've done all these things!" How can I say this? Because look at the very next thing that Paul says... "for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." We looked at the Law so that we might realize our desperate need for a Savior.

Why is this so important? Why must we understand how wicked we truly are? Because until we do see our wickedness for the offense that it is against Almighty God... we will never understand the gravity of our sin and it's effect on our relationship with Him. Until we are able to take ownership of our faults, instead of passing the blame onto someone or something else, we will never be open or humbled enough to receive the healing that Christ offers us.

If you do see the depths of your own sins, however, and you do understand the need that you have for a Savior... then let's keep reading! Be prepared for the greatest headline that has ever hit this world! "Christ has been raised!"

Through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, He has paid the penalty for our sins and made apparent, "manifested," His claims to deity by His resurrection from the dead. These claims have been made known to be true by His appearance to hundreds of men and women in the weeks following His resurrection.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." -2 Corinthians 5:17

Let's look at verse 24 really quickly and then I'm going to have to be finished for today...

"being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus."

What a hope we have! We are justified, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, and can spend eternity in heaven with Him, because of what HE has done! It's a gift of grace, not something we have accomplished in ourselves... simply an undeserved measure of grace and mercy which has been poured out on us by the God of the universe! (Eph. 2:1-10)

What love! We were all sinners, damned to an eternity of punishment... "But God!" What an amazing combination of words! Please... read this passage and let it's implications rest on your soul as you go throughout this day...

"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." -Ephesians 2:1-10

Grace and Peace, dear friends!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Law and the Lamb

2009-05-19T07:58:00.002-05:00

"Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." -Romans 3:19-20

So, here's one more look at the problem of sin in our lives. The question now becomes, "How do we know that what we're doing is wrong?". The answer... through the Law!

The Law is God's standard of holiness. It is the bar which has been set, and by no other law does God judge the world. Through the Law we are made aware of those things which we do that displease God; those things which are against His laws and standard of perfection. The Law condemns the sin within us.

This is an incredible gift! If you cannot see the benefits of the condemnation which comes from Law... let me try to explain what I mean. The Law makes us aware of a fracture in our goodness. We begin to see, through the Law, that we have displeased our Creator and we have rebelled against His goodness. The sin in our hearts is revealed through God's standard of obedience. Look at the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20 -

"You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Exodus 20:3-17)

As is evident by this list... there is not a single person (outside of Christ) who has ever been able to keep all of these commands. From the moment we are born we are selfish, self-serving beings who cannot, in and of ourselves, honor God or faithfully serve Him. The Law burns in our consciences the fallen state of our hearts. We see, through the Law, our failure in following the commands of God. Ten rules of living which no man or woman has been capable of keeping... These laws have been in effect for thousands of years, and yet only one man, Jesus Christ, has ever kept all of them to their fullest extent. You see, Christ came to fulfill Law. We see this in other places in Scripture; that Christ was the fulfillment, not the abolitionist, of Law. This is something we will be studying in greater detail, in the not-so-far-off future.

So, I've mentioned the conscience already... The conscience is a gift from God. It is the tool by which we are convicted of those things which are wrong in our lives, even before we become children of God, our consciences convict us of wrongdoing. Think about it... our society has a standard of "right" and "wrong." For example:

We all agree that murder is wrong. Murder is not considered acceptable in our society... Where does this conviction of wrong come from? Who is to say that there is anything wrong with murdering another human being? Why do we recoil at the news of such happenings? Why can a non-Christian group of people stand up and say, "This man deserves death! He has taken the lives of others, therefore His life is forfeit!" What gives us this sense of justice and judgment? There must be a foundation for such a universal wrong... If you think about standard human behavior for a minute... there are very few things which people agree on to such an extent as murder, embezzling, rape... even lying is something which causes distrust and sorrow in the lives of those who are affected by it. What gives us this feeling of wrong-doing when we see and experience these things, whether done by other or by ourselves? Where does the guilt come from? Where does the sense of punishing the one responsible for such actions come from? ... The conscience!

The Law speaks to our conscience and tells us that those things which we read, of which we are all guilty of breaking at least some if not all, are the standard of behavior that demonstrates righteousness (right-standing with men/God). We see ourselves in light of the Law and it reveals the sins which we have within us.

Even in human law, given by humans, the reason for laws is not for the upright citizen but rather for the ones who would seek to do wrong. The law condemns wrongdoing. This has been a very long and probably a very circular topic to look at this morning... I just want to make sure that we understand Law before we look at the bright side of this whole ordeal. You see, the Law does not give us much hope for right-standing before God. If all we have is the Law and our conscience, which tells us that we have not kept the Law, then we are condemned within ourselves and stand ashamed before the throne of God. We understand that there is no good in us and that we have fallen short...

There is yet hope, though... Enter, Christ Jesus, the Savior and fulfillment of Law! The only way by which men could be justified before God, according to Old Testament Law, was through the sacrificing of animals. The blood of lambs, bulls and other animals was the atonement by which current sins could be forgiven. This, however, was never meant to be the fulfillment of Law, because the blood of lambs could not cover the sins which you were yet to commit. You had to keep sacrificing lambs and bulls to atone for the sins which you would continue to commit, over and over again.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only One to ever live a sinless life, upholding the entirety of the Law... He became the sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world. Through the blood of Christ we have eternal redemption. This is not something which must reoccur in order for our sins to be continually covered. Christ's death was the finality of blood sacrifices! Through His death and resurrection we now have a way to be found blameless in the sight of God! This is something we will look into in much greater detail, in the next blog. I did not, however, want to leave this blog without the hope of the Gospel.

So, basic recap... The Law speaks to our conscience and reveals the fracture that has taken place between us and God. Our conscience convicts us of our wrongdoing and urges us to make things right. We see that, through the Law, we can never be completely forgiven or made clean... there is only temporary cleansing through Old Law. Then, we see Jesus! God's redemption plan! "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (Jn. 1:29b) His death and resurrection make a way for us to be cleansed, completely, of our sins and shortcomings before God. We are washed in the blood of the Lamb and, therefore, we are clean in His sight. This is such incredible news!

I can't wait to get into this in much deeper detail. I must, however, end this episode right here and now. I'm sorry to cut things short, but I will be late for work if I don't get going!

I love you all! Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com

The Problem of Sin - Part 2

2009-05-13T09:11:00.003-05:00

Well, the good news is that I wasn't late for work yesterday! The rest of the good news is that I'm off today and I can make this entry as long as I want to! So, let's dive back into Romans 3 and re-examine the text...

"As it is written, 'THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.
THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING, THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS;
WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS; THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.
THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES." -Romans 3:10-18

Again... the stress and importance of this entire section of Romans is the realization of our hopelessness without a Savior. Steps 1 and 2 of the Alcoholics Anonymous "12 Steps" program state:
1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behavior; that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

I find it interesting that a program that is designed to free people from addictions states that we are powerless over the things which have beaten us down... You see, the understanding of the need for outside assistance is universal. God Himself said, "It is not good for the man to be alone..." You see, we were created with a "relational gravitation." All I mean by that is this... we were created with a desire for community with others. In our fallen state, however, we turn inward for help and the solution to our problems. God's original design was for us to turn to Him with all of our fears, doubts, problems, pains, struggles, etc... So, the first step in overcoming the sins with which we struggle is, "To realize that we can't overcome our sins!" We can't beat them! This, in turn, leads us into step 2...

"We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Finally! The answer to all of our problems! Jesus is the ONLY power we have! He says in Matthew 11:28-30

"Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Are you weary of your problems? Does sin own you on such a regular basis that you simply don't have the strength to fight it anymore? This is the place where you can admit "I need help!" It's when we are at the end of ourselves that we can finally realize that someone with greater power than us is our only option for restoration! This is the place where we must fall to our knees and say, "Jesus, You are my only good! Please, help me! I need You to rescue me from myself!"

Albert Einstein said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." This is true of us, as well. We try to overcome our failures in our own strength... I don't know about you, but this usually just leaves me feeling defeated when I fail again... it leads to depression, anger, self-pity... it's not a good place to find yourself. We expect different results from the same attempts at "being good" on our own. When does the insanity end???

It ends when we realize that sin is too big of an issue for us to deal with on our own! When we realize that Christ is the only One who can heal us... that's the first step towards freedom from the bondage which holds every man and woman captive.

So, we are unable to bring any righteousness of our own before God as an acceptable offering of atonement for our sins... We see that there are none who seek God and none of us does good. We are a crooked, broken mess! We have NOTHING to offer to God! This is the understanding to which we must come before we are ready to move into the good news of Christ's redemptive work on our behalf.

We're going to be getting into more of chapter 3 tomorrow, most likely, but THIS is the thought for today.... the only point I wish to convey. Dig deep! Think long and hard about this concept... we have nothing to offer God and we cannot do good, based on what we've read in Romans 3. So, apart from Christ, where do we stand in the sight of our Creator and Lord? Secondly, have you come to the place where you can say, "I need Christ to change me! I cannot do this on my own!"? Do you believe that Christ can restore you to sanity? If you're not sure if Christ can restore you, I'll help you out a little bit... Of course He can! There is nothing which you have done that Christ cannot redeem you from! There is no trouble which plagues you that Christ cannot replace with His peace! There is no sin which outweighs the blood of Christ!

Well... more of that at a later time!

Grace and Peace, broken sinners in need of a Savior! It's nice to have you here beside me... there is comfort in the realization that you're not the only one with struggles.

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Problem of Sin - Part 1

2009-05-12T08:10:00.003-05:00

"As it is written, 'THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.
THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING, THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS; WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS;
THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.
THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES." -Romans 3:10-18

Okay, so now we're getting into some of the really tasty stuff!

So here is where we learn that there is no good in us! This is a key concept to grasp for those of us who would be called children of God. You see, what these verses show us is that there is no merit by which we come to the cross of Christ. We are completely devoid of any deservance of the mercy and grace which has been shown us. Not only that, but we cannot seek God!

Jesus tells us in John 6:44-45, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me." Jesus tells us in these verses that it is by the will and prompting of God that we even begin to desire Him! He calls us to Himself, reveals Himself to us, and we respond according to His grace and kindness towards us. This is such an incredible concept to try and grasp. I don't want to delve too deeply into this issue today, but if you have any questions about this whole concept please feel free to e-mail me.

The major issue in Romans 3 is the fact that we are all sinners... Paul lays an incredible foundation for the following chapters with this concept that we all have this problem called "sin." It's a defect of character that is found in every human being who has ever lived. The understanding of the weight of our sin is, as I said earlier, crucial to the concept of Christ's death on our behalf. If there was a way, apart from Christ, by which we could atone for our sins, then His death would have been pointless. There is, however, only Law apart from Christ... The Law, as we will look at later, reveals the problem of sin in us. It is a standard to which no man can ever fully measure up. Thus, it is the glass by which we see ourselves in our broken state... by which we see our sin. The Law is the background against which our sins are held in order to be examined. The Law is the light to which we hold up the bill of our righteous deeds in order to test for falsity. And, sadly, we are all found as frauds...

"There is no one who does good, not even one." Psalm 53:3b

Apart from the grace of God, we are depraved and subject to the destructive power of our own selfish desires and sins. I cannot find a smidgen of light in Romans 3:10-18... As I have already mentioned, if there was hope for us apart from Christ, then the cross looses it's power. But there is no other way. All we have is sin and unrighteousness when Jesus isn't a part of the picture.

Paul says, "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not." (Romans 7:18)

So, a little something we can take away from this (since I have to end this so suddenly and abruptly, this morning)... If Jesus is the Lord of your life, then this is what you have been saved out of! This lifestyle... the one that serves and pleases only "self" should no longer be a part of who you are. The fear and love of God should be apparent in our lives. These things are evidence that Christ does indeed dwell in us and that He is doing a restoring work in us! This is great news! Especially since we've just read that, apart from God, we cannot even desire to do good!

So, hopefully this has been as equally encouraging as it has been sobering. A basic re-cap would be... "We have no good in us, that comes from ourselves. Any and every bit of good which we have comes from the redemptive work of Christ, in us!" So, there you have it! Once again I apologize for the abrupt end I must put to this entry... However, I'm about to be late for work!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Faithfulness... It's a God Thing!

2009-05-08T07:37:00.002-05:00

"What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, 'THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.' But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?" -Romans 3:3-6

So, here's one of those things that's going to be really fun to think about... God's faithfulness! It stands throughout the entire span of time; past, present and future! His faithfulness is carried out in many different ways....

First, we see His faithfulness through the promise of redemption. Jesus Christ, God in flesh, came to earth and lived a sinless life. He was then unjustly tried and crucified for the sins of the world. He took upon Himself the punishment which was due each of us, for our sins, and made a way for us to be found acceptable in the sight of God. John 14:6 says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." So, we see God's faithfulness to provide a way of redemption...

Next, we must look at God's faithfulness to carry out judgment against sin. God is holy! This means that sin cannot be found in His presence. We are sinful beings. Without the blood of Christ to atone for our wrongs, we cannot come into the presence of God. Therefore, God's judgment is carried out against the unrepentant heart. This demonstrates God's faithfulness to His holiness. He does not change! His Word stands forever! Sin must be punished, and God is the perfect and righteous Judge. He is faithful to judge the nations, and the heart of every man.

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 8:38-39

Here is another aspect of His faithfulness to consider. He does not change! (1 Sam. 15:29; Malachi 3:6) God is immutable! This means that His character does not change! He is, always has been and always will be faithful to His character. This is a great relief for those of us who have been betrayed, time and time again, by others... When Jesus said, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." (John 6:37) He is saying, "If you are Mine, then you are Mine, I shall never leave you nor forsake you!" (Deut. 31:6).

So, basically what Paul is getting at in Romans 3 is that we might not comprehend the mind of God, but that He is faithful, nonetheless. Let every man be found a liar, but God's words and promises will stand forever! We see this in an even clearer light when we look at Isaiah 55:8-11...

' "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.' "

It's actually quite comforting to know that God's mind is infinitely greater than our own! Let's face it... if the Creator of the Universe thought along the same lines and at the same level as the average human being... WE'D ALL BE IN TROUBLE! If He was subject to change as often as we are... if He was not the very essence of stability for all of matter... then we'd be living in chaos!

So, thanks be to God! That He is ever faithful! His promises are true! And we can count on His faithfulness when ours runs out! His love is faithful, even when we are not... such faithfulness truly transcends the human capacity for understanding! So, if we can learn to live with the same faithfulness, to the same cause, as Christ, which is to magnify His Father in everything, then I think we just might be on the right track! Let's learn to live in faithfulness! First, to our God, then to His Word, then in everything which His Word shows us.

My simple thought pattern is this... If it's a characteristic of our God... it's probably worth modeling! Let's learn to be faithful beings!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Circumcise Your Hearts!

2009-05-05T07:38:00.003-05:00

"For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God." -Romans 2:25-29

Well, these verses go very nicely with the last few that we looked at...
It's a slightly different twist on the same issues we saw in verses 17-24. Paul is going after the heart of those who would claim Christ as Lord and is asking them, "What is really god to you? Is it the God of universe, or is it something which He has created?"

This is an important question, which Paul asks in 25-29... What is genuine circumcision?

I think the answer is "circumcision of the heart." That's what God desires of us. We see countless times in the Scriptures where Jesus is talking to a large crowd and one of His biggest issues was that the actions and the words of the Pharisees and Sadducees didn't line up. Not only that, but the fact that He knew their hearts, and the pride and duplicity with which their disciplined lives were laced... Being outwardly circumcised, they had a false sense of security and belonging, all the while their hearts were completely uncircumcised! The covenant they kept was one of outward obedience, but their hearts were still chained to their desires for worldly pleasure and monetary gain.

You know... pride is an extremely dangerous thing! It's a very common problem too! It takes root when we live the life of the "good Christian" on the outside, but we do not change what's wrong inside of us. We see those who are struggling around us and, since our hearts are not humbled, we look down upon the "weaker brother." Friends, it is a dangerous position, when you find yourself feeling contempt for the struggling believer, rather than feeling compassion for such a one...

Well, that's pretty much an entirely different subject all-together, but I can't help but rail a little on such a predominant issue as hypocrisy! My apologies....

So, how do we become inwardly circumcised? How do we belong completely and wholly to the God we serve?

There's a couple of things to look at here...

First, the work of inward circumcision is done by the Holy Spirit. (v. 29) Paul says in Romans 7:18 "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not." The Holy Spirit does the work of conviction in our lives and is the One who empowers us to do the will of the Father. In and of ourselves we could not live uprightly.

Secondly, we must look at the things which we call "god" in our lives. God says, very simply, in Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before Me." And Jesus says in Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth." Notice the NO ONE can serve two masters... Jesus says that it is impossible to be wholly devoted to two different things... and with God, you cannot be only partially His. He hates the lukewarm... "And because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." (Revelation 3:16)

So, we see two definitive truths alive in these verses. A relationship with Christ means that our inward being is wholly devoted to and belongs completely to Christ. And, secondly, we see that the Holy Spirit is at work in us.... which means that we must listen (through the study of the scriptures and through our conscience) to His prompting in our lives. (Phil. 1:6, 2:13, Romans 5:5, 8:14,16, 1 Cor. 2:11-14)

Also, if you look at the last few words of verse 29, "and his praise is not from men, but from God." This is, once again, extremely indicative of the heart... are we striving for the praise of men? Or do we operate in such a way that we do the things which nobody else will ever see, just because it's the right thing to do? Do we honor God in the small, unobserved ways? Or just in the ways which are noticeable by others?

All of this to say, "Be circumcised in your hearts." We are not trying to be Jews, but we are trying to live lives which honor God and show Him to be our Lord. We ought to be striving for sincerity, as I mentioned last week, in every aspect of our lives.

Well, I'll leave you with these thoughts... I know it's given me plenty to think on!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Sincerity Is a MUST! (Practice what you Preach)

2009-05-01T08:02:00.002-05:00

"But if you bear the name 'Jew' and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For 'THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,' just as it is written." Romans 2:17-24

Wow! What a wakeup call! I was sitting here reading this text, this morning, and I couldn't believe how clearly it woke me up...

Are we practicing what we preach? Because I can definitely talk a good talk! But can I walk the road to Calvary as well as Christ did? I'm not so sure about that one...

What does it really mean to take up our cross and follow Christ? I think Paul nailed it right there! It means that we're an example of everything that we claim as truth. We don't live double lives. There is no differentiation between our "Sunday-selves" and the "Weekly-Us." How on earth can we expect to be an example of Christ if we preach His Word and then live a completely opposite life???

Check out this portion of the verse again... it just slammed me this morning...

"For 'THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,' just as it is written."

?!?!!! Yeah... that's not intimidating in the slightest, right? How many times have I said one thing and then done another? This is such a sobering thought.... that we who claim to be children of God would blaspheme His holy Name with our duplicity!!!

So... Who wants to be on this side of the line? Who wants it said of them, "You are a blasphemer of the God of the Universe, because you spoke His Words but lived like the world and thus destroyed all and any impact you might have had for the sake of the Gospel..."? Well? Any takers? Yeah, me neither.

So what do we do? What steps do we take to avoid such incriminating charges as "blasphemy"?

Well, I think step one is "Sincerity." There must be sincerity in our walk with Christ. If things aren't right between me and God then I am NEVER going to be an effective disciple. So, sincerity starts with the inward relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Secondly, sincerity must take place in our relationships with others. If we wear the "Sunday mask" to church and pretend to be who we're not... we'll never be free of the guilt which accompanies such games. There is a certain level of fakeness which plagues most churches today. The modern church has become a place where you cannot have problems... what's with that??? Isn't the church the place where broken people are supposed to find healing? Isn't the church supposed to be the place where we come because we know that we aren't good enough and that Christ is the only good in us?

So, we go to church with this understanding that we have to be "Super Christians" in order to be found acceptable. We say all the right "churchy" words and know all of the songs by heart... but our hearts are calloused by our adulterous relationship with the world!

This cannot be! Sincerity means that, when we talk with others, our life says, "I'm messed up! But thanks be to God, I am His! He's working on me and sanctifying a life that has been broken by sin!" After all... the world already has a surplus supply of people who live in duplicity. What people are looking for, when they come to a church or are looking into the lives of those who claim Christ as Lord, is for truth, real-ness... they want to see what "real" looks like. Anyone can pretend to be okay and deny all hurts and pains; but it takes a sincere Christ-follower, who lives humbly and according the Word, to admit that they are powerless in-and-of themselves and that Christ is the only good they have!

Perhaps I've gone a little too far out on a tangent, but I hope you understand the point I'm driving at... How true and effective is our witness if we are preaching repentance and truth to others and then living in the very sins we call others to repent of? There is no truth in that! Have you ever wondered at the ineffectiveness of your witness? Perhaps this is something to reflect on.

So, today let's make an internal inspection of ourselves. Let's check those deep corners of our hearts and minds for things which are a little out of whack. Then... let's take those things to the cross... let's confess them to the One who already knows all of our faults. He has already died for and covered those sins with His blood, but we are told to confess them to Him openly anyways. That's what sincerity is all about. We have to be sincere and honest with ourselves just as much as we do with anyone else. If you lie to yourself about the issues of your heart, then how can you ever expect to be honest with someone else?

My prayer is that we will be bold in this and ask God to bring to light anything and everything with is not honoring to Him. That He would show us those things which would be damaging to our relationship with Him and which would cause us to be called hypocrites and blasphemers. My hope is that we would take these things and lay them at the foot of the cross... that we would repent of these things and turn away from them.

Friends, I can say this from experience... there is so much freedom in sincerity! God's been shaking me, breaking me, and re-shaping me these past few weeks... I'm not going to lie, it's definitely painful, but it's also definitely WORTH IT!!! The freedom that comes with sincerity is incomparably greater than any life lived in hypocrisy and duplicity!

I'll leave you each to wrestle with these thoughts...

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

2009-04-21T08:18:00.003-05:00

"But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified." - Romans 2:3-13

Wow! I apologize for the gaps in-between the last few blogs... God's been doing a work in me, and it's left me less than energetic about blogging. But it's all good, because times of brokenness and reliance upon Christ cause us to become more devoted to Him and become less amused with ourselves and our own abilities. When you're brought to the edge of yourself and the love of Christ and His abilities continue to stretch out in front of you... You realize the smallness of self and the enormity of God and of His love for us.

I just want to touch, really quickly, on a single verse in this passage... "For there is no partiality with God." Amen to that! Isn't it great that no matter what we do we cannot earn, nor detract from, God's love for us???

I was recently struggling with this very concept... Have you ever felt outside of the grace of God? It's not a pretty place to be! Of course, we know from Scripture that God will never fail us or forsake us (Deut. 31:8). But what's happening, then, in those times when we feel so far off? Guilt! Shame! It's quite simple really, we are judging our character by the standards of Scripture and realizing that we have fallen short... again! It's important, at this point, to remember the grace of God. We CANNOT be good, but Christ is our good, instead. He paid the penalty of ALL of our shortcomings, past, present and future! The hope we have is in HIM!

So, forget about the partiality that we humans struggle with, because it doesn't exist with God. Nor should we have partiality, it shows that we are basing our response to others on their ability to perform well. This is not the love of Christ.

Really quick, though, here's what I'm not saying.... I'm not saying that this is applicable in, say, the workplace. Should the boss give everyone a raise so as to not show partiality to those who perform well? Of course, in a situation like that, there is reward for good behavior and correction for bad behavior. But this is because these institutions are run by fallible humans, who are working for money, which has nothing to offer us in eternity and can actually become a god to some of us, if we're not careful.

What I am saying is this... in your workplace, home, school, etc. treat everyone with the love of Christ. Don't evaluate their worthiness of your good treatment towards them. Remember what you have to offer God? Nothing. So, keep that in mind when you are showing kindness and the love of Christ to others. They might not have anything to offer you, but that's okay. You have everything that matters, Christ, to offer them!

I don't think I'm doing a very good job of explaining what I am thinking... but unfortunately that's all I have time for today. I'll probably revisit this idea tomorrow and try to make more sense of it.

In conclusion, we can rest in the assurance that we are children of God and that His love for us is not portioned out according to our worthiness, but rather according to the fact that He has decided to love us and that His love never fails. We have been called out of our sins, and He has given us the greatest gift, eternal life! I hope this is as encouraging to you as it has been for me... to know that my past failures aren't going to affect my grade with God, but that Christ's blood is all that matters when I stand before Him.

Look at verse 4 again... "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?"

It is the kindness of God, which we see, in light of our unworthiness, which causes us to fall on our faces and cry out for mercy... We cry out for forgiveness, not because of our own understanding, but because God revealed to us the greatness of His love for us!

It is this same kindness which birthed forth the Savior... Jesus' death was the kindest act of God towards us. It was the only way that we could be saved from our sins, and He accomplished ALL of it. We had no part in our salvation. He simply chose to express His kindness towards each of us! What an awesome concept!

So, don't get caught on the flipside! Don't sit there with a stubborn and unrepentant heart, as Paul continues on to say. God's righteous judgment will be poured out on the stubborn one who says in his heart, "There is no God."

The contrasts are given... which side are you on?

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Don't Play "The Judge"

2009-04-15T06:31:00.004-05:00

"Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things." - Romans 2:1

"Therefore" means "in light of what we've just said." So, we need to remember what we've just looked at in the end of Romans 1.

"And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them." - Romans 1:28-32

So, here we see Paul calling out the Romans on their sin. They were busy keeping an eye on each other's holiness and, in that process, not keeping a close enough eye on their own! Jesus talked a lot about this same subject...

"Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5)

This whole ordeal really boils down to one simple thing... Spiritual maturity. It is the humble and loving Christian that is going to be able to bring peace and restoration to a situation. To paraphrase what we just read from Matthew 7... "Examine yourself, FIRST!"

Have you ever noticed how the faults that someone points out in another person are usually the same faults that we notice in the person doing all the pointing out? Did that make any sense at all??? You know what I mean, though, right? There are people who are so quick to point out the things that they see in others, but we notice the same things in them!

Okay, so first off... would it not be considered gossip if we were to discuss the faults of others with people not at all directly related to the issue? I think that's a big "Yes"... it would be gossip to talk about other people's faults and shortcomings, in their absence.

Secondly, according to what we've just read... What does that tell us about the condition of the gossip's heart? It would seem that, according to the Scriptures, the person who notices the faults of others should be just as quick, if not quicker, to examine themselves before they ever consider going to that person and pointing out the things that they notice.

So, what does a judgmental heart say about our inward condition? It says that we have the same problems as the one whom we see struggling! Not only that... but we condemn ourselves when we judge others with a higher standard than the one that we use to judge our own behavior! Consider this... no matter what "standard" you judge by, it will always fall short of perfect. God's standard is so much higher than man's standards could ever reach! With that being said... why would we ever even think of judging others while letting ourselves off of the hook? We're saved by GRACE alone! There is nothing that we have ever done to make ourselves worth the saving work which Christ has done in us! So, really, we're putting our own standards above the power of the cross when we judge our brothers and sisters in Christ.... That's a sobering thought!

Galatians 6:1 puts this concept into perspective, perfectly!

"You who are spiritual..." again we come back to the idea of spiritual maturity being a primary necessity in dealing with others. We must be able to come to a brother or sister in love. There cannot be a judgmental tone to the way in which we address the issue, because that is pure hypocrisy according to Christ. It shows a lack of compassion and desire to see the other person restored.

"In a spirit of gentleness..." Again we see what we've just covered... that our goal must be their restoration. Anything short of seeking the other person's restoration shows a dangerous relation to a judgmental spirit, which again leads us back to hypocrisy. Do you see the vicious cycle which takes place when we do not treat others as if they are given the same amount of grace with which we ourselves would hope to be treated?

In conclusion... how much grace are you extending to your brothers and sisters in Christ? How much understanding do you treat their circumstances with? And how much of an emissary of Christ's love are you towards those who are struggling and in need of support? Being a "mercy-giver" is as important a ministry as any other... some are called to be comforters, but we are all called to love others with the same love which Christ showed us!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

2009-04-14T08:26:00.002-05:00

"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them." - Romans 1:21-32

I know we've covered the first couple of these verses several times already, but I wanted to add them on as a refresher since it's been a little while since we last looked at them. I won't be directly addressing them, but they're there to show their relationship to the verses that we'll be looking at today.

This is all a continuation of one thought... darkened hearts, without the light of Christ to illuminate them, fall into the deepest pits of sin and rebellion. The list that Paul gives... "being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful..." (vv. 29-31) it shows us that there is a broad spectrum which he calls the foolishness of those who do not acknowledge God. So, do we mean that those who are disobedient to their parents are not acknowledging God? Yes... God gave us parents, He told us to honor and obey them, and when we do not follow this command upon our lives we are breaking God's law and are not showing acknowledgement of His authority over our lives. We should be acknowledging God's authority over every aspect of our lives, but this is often easier said than done...

Well... I'm running out of time, much quicker than I would have hoped... My prayers for you, today, is that you will take some time to reflect on how you either have or haven't been acknowledging God as your ultimate authority.... What drives us? What is the determining factor of our actions? Who do we serve? Ourselves and the lusts of our flesh, as Paul mentions? Or are we serving the One Who has called us to forsake our own agenda and to follow Him, wholeheartedly?

If you call yourself a Christian, you've been called out of the depravity of "self." Paul says, "How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" (Rom. 6:2) We're a part of something bigger, by the grace of God, and that's not something to take lightly! We must take the necessary steps to be freed from the lusts of our own desires! Confess your struggles to the One who understands... repent and turn away from them... And be used by the One who has set YOU apart for His glory and your ultimate good! He loves you... that's why He called you out of your darkened state of depravity. That's why He was willing to send His Son to earth to live a perfect life and die a gruelling death on your behalf... because of the great love with which He loved us... The least we can do, in return (not that we could ever repay the debt which He covered with His own blood), is live a life which points to Him in everything that we say and do... to flee from the things which cause Him sorrow and which separated us from Him in the first place.

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Good Friday: Just a verse or two...

2009-04-10T08:37:00.002-05:00

"Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
But the LORD was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors."
- Isaiah 53:1-12

That's our Christ! Those were our sins... He took them all! He interceded for US!!! We are the transgressors, WE were due the stroke of wrath... but He shielded our lashings with His own body!

That's all I have to say for today...

May the Grace and Peace that comes through the Blood of the Lamb be yours in abundance!

Just A Quick Thought...

2009-04-09T21:11:00.002-05:00

As I sit here in my living room... listening to my family as they all play a game together... I'm compelled to stop and think a minute about the fast-approaching day. Good Friday.

Why do we call it "Good" Friday? Perhaps we're referring to the gruesome death of our Savior, on a cross? I'm not sure we could call that "good"...

Perhaps it's because of the diverted wrath of God being poured out upon His Only Son, instead of upon each of our souls? I guess the only problem I have is... couldn't they have found a better word than "Good" to describe what happened on that day? I consider it to be a "good" thing when I can have chocolate ice-cream while I blog from the comfort of my couch! So, something's wrong in the wordage of our modern society...

Could it be that the word "Good" just doesn't do justice to the enormous work accomplished on the cross? Or could my usage of "Good" just be WAY too generous a word for the situation? When Paul talks about Goodness being a Fruit of the Spirit, in Galatians 5:22-23, the meaning of the word is "moral or spiritual excellence." I don't think that my chocolate ice-cream is causing moral excellence in me... I'm just saying... I could probably find a better word to use.

Again, though, I'm thinking that there MUST be a better word we could use for the day in which sin and death were fought with the sinless blood of the Lamb of God! But what word could it be? This my dilemma...

You know what, though? It's not as big a deal, as I'm making it, that we would have a word to better describe what our Savior accomplished... but rather that we would have a better (fuller) understanding of what exactly happened on that day. That we would understand our sin... that our sin was the reason that He must die. That our punishment was placed upon the shoulders of the only person who should never have needed to bear that load. That the punishment for our sins was the greatest agony that can possibly be experience, both by body and soul. The agony of suffocating, ever so slowly, drowning in your own blood... But if that weren't punishment enough for the perfect life that He lived, there was a greater, more despairing thing to come.... The agony of separation from His Father... The Father whom He had had perfect communion with since before time began.

His Father could not look upon Him because of the enormity of the sins which fell upon our Savior that day... He cried out! Not because of the pain from the whips. He Cried out, not from the weight of the crowds jeering. He Cried Out, not because of the searing pain in His most blessed wrists and feet, as cold, cruel nails dug deeper and deeper into Him... HE CRIED OUT... because His Father had forsaken Him! He cried out because His perfect communion with the Father was broken!

Do we understand this agony? I don't think that we do... I don't think a human being has ever experienced, on this side of the grave, complete separation from the God of the Universe.

Does the prospect of complete separation from God cause you to tremble? Does it cause in you an extreme desperation? If not, we must question what our hearts are truly devoted to. How much do we love our Lord? Does the idea of being separated from Him cause us to weep in despair of what our lives would be like without His light in us?

To what extent do our words and actions demonstrate the grateful love and devotion that we have for our Savior? What is our response to the Love that we've seen? Do we humbly bow and cry "Holy! Holy! Holy!"? Or do we sniff contemptuously at the blood that we have taken part in shedding, blood which has the power to redeem souls, and go about in our pursuit of worldly pleasures? Friends, I confess my guilt to the latter... I have chased meaningless things! I am guilty of allowing distractions to creep in and become more important to me than loving my Lord!!!

What is this illness??? What madness could possibly drive us beyond perfect love? What insanity could offer more pertinent things than eternal life to our souls??? Two words... Pride and Selfishness

Pride... the inability to recognize our need for someone, outside of ourselves, to save us from our predicament. Or, quite simply, the unwillingness to admit that we don't have all of the answers and that we aren't in control of our own destiny.

Selfishness... the self-absorbing cancer which plagues so many of us, today! The constant pursuit of personal goals, rather than pursuing the things of Christ!

I don't want to get too in depth, right now. But I do hope that these thoughts, mixed with an understanding of the meaning of Christ's death on our behalf, might cause us to consider our priorities more...

Who do you love? God or this World?

Who do you serve?

Who gets the majority of your time?

Who is on your mind, when you wake up and when you go to bed?

I'm convicted by the very questions that I'm asking each of us to consider! I'm guilty! I'm a sinner, saved by grace that I do not, CANNOT, deserve! I'm a work in progress... but that doesn't mean I'm exempt from growing in my love for my Savior. If we truly call Him "Lord," then we will want to know Him more, to serve Him more, to give our all for HIM!

So, Good Friday... the day that the World was given HOPE! Without Christ's death, there is law... And we cannot keep the whole Law. There is no way for us to keep the law, or the death of Christ wouldn't have been necessary. There would be less importance to the death of Christ if we were capable of saving ourselves. But that's not the case! The Law cannot be kept, in full, by a fallen soul. BUT GOD! Those precious words! Most precious because they represent intervention by the only One who could possibly bring hope. The only One outside of the fallen nature. The only One... sent His Only Son. His Only Son, after living a perfect life, sacrificed Himself for us... a people who could never repay Him! There's something to be said of sacrifice with no expectation of repayment. He loved us that much!

I feel as though I may be rambling... there are more qualified preachers who could do a much better job of helping you to understand the weight of our sins and the freedom and hope we have in Christ's victory over sin and death! I just thought I'd give my "two-cents worth."

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Too Few Hours In A Day

2009-04-08T22:27:00.003-05:00

I, uh... er... ran out of time today...

I thought that I'd have time, this evening, to work on some more thoughts with these few verses... but I think we'll have to wait and hope that it works out better tomorrow morning.

Of course, by the time most of you read this, I'll probably already have the next post up! At least... hopefully!

Grace and Peace!

Glory? Who's Glory?

2009-04-07T07:45:00.002-05:00

"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." - Romans 1:21-23

" 'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.' " - Isaiah 55:8-11

"Thus they exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, wonders in the land of Ham and awesome things by the Red Sea." - Psalm 106:20-22

"Many times He would deliver them; They, however, were rebellious in their counsel, and so sank down in their iniquity. Nevertheless He looked upon their distress when He heard their cry; and He remembered His covenant for their sake, and relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness." - Psalm 106:43-45

Well, hopefully these few verses have helped in the understanding of the history from which Paul pulls this concept of "Professing to be wise, they became fools..." Do not suppose, though, that this behavior is limited to the Old Testament. No, we are still professing wisdom, today, and are, all the while, becoming more and more foolish in our thinking. The "wisdom" of the world is called foolishness in the Scriptures... we see it many times.

The "wisdom" of the Israelites often got them into more trouble than it was worth! Wouldn't you agree? That perhaps if they had just followed the commands of God... they might have all made it into the Promised land of God a whole lot earlier? Am I crazy in assuming that God could have kept His promise to bring them into the land the first time they arrived? But God does keep His promises. He promised blessings for those who would be obedient, and a curse upon those who would turn away and seek their own ways... If you don't believe me, just read Leviticus (chapter 26) and Deuteronomy (chapter 28)!

So, here we see Paul dealing with those who have turned away... They began to follow after idols. He lists a few different things here, but I think one of the more interesting, and probably more applicable, things that he deals with is an image in the form of corruptible man! Isn't that weird? No! It's absolutely true! We idolize those around us... we make a person our ultimate standard of what is good and right and true.

We try to obtain Truth, capital "T", in the places where Truth isn't found. Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life. If Jesus Christ is Truth.... then, when we try to find fulfillment and truth in places other than the Scriptures and our relationship with Him.... we're failing ourselves and our Savior. We are rendering ourselves completely ineffective for His kingdom when we chase after the corruptible, as our number one goal in life.

So, what should we be chasing after? What do the Scriptures say that a follower of Christ should chase after? Well... Jesus said that we should pursue the souls of everyone around us. And when we run out of souls to pursue around us.... we relocate and pursue more souls in other places. We are told to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations." (Matt. 28:19)

In the New Testament we see several other commands as well:

To love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. (Mark 12:30)

To have love above all other gifts of the faith. (1 Cor. 13)

To have humility. (1 Peter 5:5)

To have joy in times of trial. (James 1:2-4)

There are more, but this list should give us a little bit of insight into what God requires of those who would call themselves by His Name. We are not called to be consumers, but rather to be servants... Just as Christ said that He did not come to be served, but rather to serve. (Matt. 20:26-28) Can we even begin to understand this concept? Not of our own accord and on our own merit, but through the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the humbleness (through grace) which He gives us, we can become the fully devoted servant whom God will use mightily for His name's sake! Can I get a "hallelujah!"? Have you ever noticed that the ones who seem to love and understand the things of God the most are those who serve Him without expecting praise or anything else in return? I think there is some good reasoning behind this...

So, all of this to say... "Chase hard after God, and do not turn to the left, nor to the right. But rather let us continue on in the faith and work of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! For there is nothing greater on this earth that we could possibly be a part of!"

Don't profess wisdom... profess Christ! That's all the wisdom we need!

Don't exchange the glory of God for the glory of man... there is no lasting value in glorifying yourself. Only the glory of God is everlasting! Only the glory of God is worthy of our mentioning. Boasting of our own efforts is like bragging about the shack we built next to the Empire State building. Let's take it one step further... It's like boasting about the Empire State building while we stare at Mount Everest. There is a Builder and Creator Who is infinitely greater than we are. Nothing is worth mentioning unless it points back to, or reflects, His greatness.

Be a mirror of Christ. Be a reflection of His light in a darkened world, where men are professing wisdom while spouting follies by the minute! Don't follow the crowd in exchanging the glory of the incorruptible God for corruptible things. Store up your treasures where they are really going to matter the most! (Matt. 6)

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Futile Speculations of the Corruptible Human Mind

2009-04-06T07:50:00.005-05:00

"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." - Romans 1:21-23

"I don't believe in a God who would do that! I believe in a God who loves us and takes care of us!" ...Okay... Many of us may have heard this before. There is a large percentage of "Christians" who would claim that God really doesn't pronounce judgment on people's souls just because they don't believe in Jesus. They would tell you that God loves people, and that people who are good will go to heaven... You know, the only problem I have with this mindset is... IT'S COMPLETELY WRONG!

When did finite human beings begin to think it was okay to put an infinite God in a box and imagine Him in whatever way that they might choose??? If a person spent 30 minutes a day in the Scriptures, reading the Old Testament and the New, they would see just how Holy and intolerant of sin God really is! Let's look at the very first example that is given in Scriptures... Adam and Eve! It didn't take very long for the human race to get really messed up, did it? Adam and Eve, the very first people created by God, chose to eat of the one, single tree in the garden of Eden that they weren't allowed to eat from. What is God's response to this? Pain! Toiling work for man, enmity between the man and the serpent. Suddenly there's danger, and ultimately... death. God casts them out of the Garden, where His presence had resided with them, and they no longer have the joy of intimate communion with their Maker.

Do you see how God views sin? Does it sound like He really doesn't care too much about it? You know what, maybe that's not a very good example of God's distaste for sin... let's move into the next chapter of Genesis... So, God cast Adam and Eve out of perfect communion with Himself in Genesis chapter 3... In chapter 4... Cain murders Abel! So, here we get example 2 of how God views sin. In chapter 3 He casts Adam and Eve out of the garden, and in chapter 4 we find Him addressing the first murder trial. Cain ends up as an outcast, sentenced to wandering the earth for the rest of his life.

Are we beginning to think, yet, that God might in fact care about the sin in our lives? How can we then say that God is anything less than a perfect Judge, Holy and incapable of tolerating sin in His presence? If sin cannot be allowed to dwell in His presence, and Jesus Christ was the perfect sacrifice for the punishment of our sins... How can we say that Christ is not the Only way for us to be saved? How can we even begin to assume that our good works will help us to gain God's approval?

Do these questions sound elementary to you? They are! But even the most elementary facts of human depravity and the saving work of Christ have been ignored in many of the modern day churches! And here is where Paul's statement gains extreme legitimacy.

We see it all the time... people who believe that God is going to pardon their sins based on the fact that they have been "good people." Unfortunately, Paul also tells us that our righteous acts are like filthy rags to God. This is, again, why it is important to understand that it is by grace alone that we are saved, through faith in Christ.

What should this knowledge cause in us? Honor of the One Who is deserving of all honor! Unrelenting thankfulness for His sacrifice on our behalf! But what do we do? Where do you fall in the honor and thankfulness department? Are you speculating? Are you being foolish in your perception of God's holiness, judgment, and completed work on your behalf? Are you trying to add to the work that's been accomplished or detract from it's exclusive ability to save your soul?

There is no benefit in trying to add to the Word of God. Revelation 22:18-19 says, "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book."

There is no need to speculate... all wisdom and understanding comes from the same God who's words are recorded in the Scriptures. We have no further wisdom to offer! We have no understanding beyond that which has been revealed through either the Scriptures or the Holy Spirit, Who communes with our spirit.

Friends, I fear that I may be delving too deeply into a subject to which I do not bring enough of a prepared knowledge and understanding of. I am distracted in my reasoning... and for this reason, I will end this entry right here.

I will sleep, pray, read and return in the morning! Hopefully in that time my thoughts will have cleared, and the troubles that cloud my mind will have passed.

To summarize the entire thought for today into fewer words... "Don't speculate about the importance of the cross, and it's effect on your salvation. Rest in the humble knowledge that it had nothing to do with you, and that God loves you in spite of yourself! Don't get caught up in yourself and forget to Whom all glory, honor, praise and thanksgiving is due!"

I leave you with these thoughts...

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Who's Getting The Honor?

2009-04-03T07:08:00.004-05:00

Okay, so... I'm gonna come down kinda hard today... Don't worry, if you're living a life of sincerity before God, you have nothing to worry about! Otherwise, we're going to be dealing with the hypocrisy of our hearts, today. Lookout! :)

So, here we're going to deal with some interesting territory... the darkened, inner-parts of the human heart. You know, most of the time, it seems like we approach these verses as one who is looking outside the windows of the church, and into the streets filled with the unsaved... However, there is an importance and urgency, within these verses, which we must not fail to reflect on, for our own lives! Here's what I mean...

We, as professing believers, claim to "know" God. Now, obviously we cannot really "know" God, because He is much greater and higher than we could ever comprehend. But that's another topic, for another time, altogether.

Anyways... we know God, as He has revealed Himself to us. But, do we honor Him? Do we treat the Creator of all matter as if He really does matter? Are we thankful for the redemptive work that He accomplished on cross, on our behalf? Or have we, "Professing to be wise," become foolish in our thinking? Have we overlooked the mountain of grace which is before us, and instead built a sandcastle of our own understanding, expecting it to shelter us from the storms of God's judgment upon our sins?

What does Paul mean when he says, "they did not honor Him as God or give thanks..."? Let's look at this... When we as Christians try to "be good" and "live a good life" instead of giving all glory to God for any goodness that is found within us... we demonstrate our works before the world in a way that is most hypocritical! When our actions are not followed with all glory for them being given to God... we are not honoring Him.

As a little aside, here... I understand how good it feels to be praised for doing a good job! We like being praised for our works, but it is dangerous to accept such praise without redirecting it to the One who drives your actions. It's hard to redirect praise! We love the approval of man! But it becomes an extremely addicting drug, if we do not pass it along to the One who deserves all praise and honor! We will become desperate for a "fix" of praise, and will then become resentful when we do not receive it, if our focus is even slightly off! Remember what it means to "take up your cross" and follow Christ? We are called to deny ourselves, and to follow hard after Him! Part of what this looks like is that we give all glory and honor, from any situation, to God! He is, after all, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Such ranking deserves every ounce of praise we can muster from within ourselves!

Back to the verse... here's where an honor-seeking soul gets scary... Paul says that "their foolish heart was darkened..." That's a scary place to be! I'm speaking from experience when I say that it is a dark road, the one the pride will lead you down, when you seek praise in your service. The only way to be an effective servant of Christ, is to deny yourself and to divert all praise before it seeds deep within your heart and becomes even harder to remove. It is a root that sucks the life and vitality from the heart of service.

Well, these aren't very pleasant thoughts... but I hope this will help you to examine yourself, as I must examine myself, to be sure that there is no root of pride or a self-glorifying spirit within us. We must constantly "pull the weeds" that sprout up within our service... If we don't pull them, they will choke out our service, and will cause resentment to take it's place. This leads to us feeling "burnt out" in our service, which then leads to frustration, which leads to us becoming completely ineffective for the kingdom!

Friends, don't let pride win the day! Don't let the desire to be recognized by men leave you without recognition before the Throne! Jesus said, "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' "

Know Christ! Be known by Him! Serve Him faithfully, and know that your reward is in heaven... where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal! (Matt. 7:20-21)

Friends, we have only covered one side of this two-faced coin of hypocrisy and prideful living... there is yet more to be covered. But we will get to that next week...

For now... I plead with you to examine your hearts for any hint of pride or hypocrisy in your service. These are the things which are better dealt with, sooner, rather than later.

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

A Little Recap and A Little Rant

2009-04-02T06:56:00.002-05:00

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." - Romans 1:20

Okay, so... for today, just a little recap of what we've already seen in the past few verses.

I'm not going to make this a very lengthy entry, today...

So, here Paul states what he has already been hinting at in the past few verses. God's attributes are clearly seen in everything that He has created! As an aside, science is extremely useful in acknowledging the existence of a Creator. We are truly without excuse! The more studies and the more research that takes place, the more complexities we discover about cell structures and the impossibilities of evolution. And that takes us back to verse 18 where Paul talks about men suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. They see clearly the complexities of creation, and yet they continue to teach evolution in schools. Proven false theories are taught as possibilities in our public school systems!!! How's that for suppressing the truth?

Anyways, enough of that rant! I wish I could record and show you a video of my recent acquaintance, Caleb, on here! He was explaining to me about a research project that he was a part of, in which they studied the decay of uranium atoms. I don't remember what the technical term was, but it was very interesting... It basically disproved, through the scientific method, the theory of the earth being billions and billions of years old, and actually dates rocks anywhere from three to seven thousand years old! Which would put them within the account given in Scriptures!

I'm going to stop attempting to relay this information, since I'm doing a terrible job at it! I hope you get the picture, though... God's handiwork is clearly seen through creation and the study of it!

Just think, for a moment, about the sustaining nature of the earth... The natural way in which oxygen is replenished and reused by all of creation. The way in which dead plants break down into the soil and supply nutrients to new plants. Self-sustaining life... and yet not "self-sustaining," but rather, "kept in balance by God." The words of His mouth are what keeps everything from falling apart. There is another video I wish I could show you, by Loui Giglio, in which he shows the enormity of the universe, and the complexities of the tiniest structures of the human body!

Well, I think I'm gonna have to cut this one short, today... I started a little late and I have to work a little earlier than usual...

We'll get into some of the "good stuff" tomorrow (not that we haven't gotten into any good stuff already, but you know what I mean!).

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

God Has Made Himself Evident to Us!

2009-04-01T08:35:00.003-05:00

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them." - Romans 1:18-19

Alright! So... we get to move from the righteousness of God... to the wrath of God! That's always fun!

Let's look at these verses in reverse-order... I think they'll actually make more sense to us if we do it that way!

"because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them." (1:19)

What does this verse mean? How has God made Himself evident to us... through us? In one word: Conscience! God gave each and every one of us a conscience. This is the tool, which God has given to man, that speaks truth to the heart. How do you cause a person to feel the conviction of sin and the need for repentance? You go to the conscience! Don't try to battle with them in a sparring match of intellect, but rather go directly for their conscience, which will then say, "truth" to the heart.

The conscience is also the governing factor which tells us that things are wrong. What do I mean by this? I mean that we can look at murder and automatically see that it is not alright. Murder is wrong! But how do we know that? God has revealed His standards to us through our conscience. A group of people from completely different backgrounds could all get together and come to the conclusion that stealing is wrong. Is it because our laws say that stealing is wrong? No, but rather because something deeper within ourselves understands and comprehends the injustice of taking something which is not your own. Who is the very epitome of justice? God!

The character of God is shown to us through His Word as well. He has revealed Himself through Scripture, as we talked about yesterday, and has made known His hatred for wrongdoing. The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) are the standard which God gave, in the Old Testament, for His standard of goodness. Has anyone ever kept all of the commandments of God? No! This is one of the ways that we can know something about our God. He has a standard of perfection, which none of us can attain to!

Don't lose hope on that point, though... because here's what else we learn about God, in the New Testament... We learn that God's standard was kept by His Son, Jesus Christ, and that the innocent blood that He shed on the cross paid the penalty for all of our sins. So, we learn that God is just, through His laws, but that He is merciful, because of His plan of redemption through His Son. He sacrificed what was most dear to Him on our behalf... And through this we see another attribute of God... His love and grace!

So, in light of what we know about God... let's look at verse 18 now. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." God is Holy! Sin cannot dwell in His presence. The wrath of God is poured out upon the souls of those who do not confess their sins and repent of them. Those who would choose to continue in unrighteousness have no excuse for their behavior... they have been given a conscience, just like you and I have.

So, what do we do about this? First, we make sure that our conscience hasn't been seared by the world... that we aren't letting things slip under the radar of our conscience and allowing ourselves to do the things which, deep inside, we know aren't right. Do you think your conscience has been numbed by the things that you have allowed to creep in and gain a foothold in your life? There is hope! Pray and ask God to revive your conscience! Ask Him to make you more aware of the things in your life which are detrimental to your spiritual health. This may take some work on your part... it's not always fun, getting rid of the things that God shows us that are poisoning our hearts. Sometimes it's quite painful, and a bit of a struggle, to let go of things that we want, but that are keeping us from knowing Him better... I am not unfamiliar with this kind of struggle! If you need any encouragement on this matter, please feel free to e-mail me.

Secondly... we must appeal to the consciences of others! This is our greatest tool in showing people their need for a Savior. Take all of the supports, on which they stand, out from under their feet. The average person is going to think that they're a pretty good person... but if you show them, through the Ten Commandments, that according to God's standards they aren't quite measuring up... their conscience will then relay this truth to their heart. They will begin to feel the conviction of sin, and this is when we can share the Good News! We can then show them the way out! That there was a penalty for their sins, and that Christ took that penalty and punishment upon Himself so that we wouldn't have to... that the Scriptures say that if we confess our sins and repent of them (turn away from them), God will forgive us and make us clean, through His Son! This is such wonderful news to the soul that has been made aware if its predicament! If a heart if soft enough to understand the weight of its sin, and to feel remorse because of its offenses against God, then repentance is the next logical step.

God has truly made Himself known to us! His Word is clear... Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life! No man comes to the Father, except through Him! (John 14:6)

I hope this hasn't been too confusing for anyone. If you have questions or if something didn't make sense... then please, feel free to e-mail me! There's no such thing as a stupid question! Any question that I can help you to answer, I would welcome the opportunity! That being said...

Grace and Peace, Dear Friends!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Righteousness of God Revealed!

2009-03-31T07:44:00.004-05:00

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.' " - Romans 1:16-17

Alrighty! Let's look at the encouraging side of this verse, today. Yesterday we talked a bit about how the fear of man MUST NOT be our focus. We cannot be ashamed of the saving Word which has been spoken over our lives. Christ is our focus now... and we must spread His precious Name unto all the earth. Remember, we have the antidote to the disease which lies in every heart...

So, we've kinda talked about the Gospel in the past... now let's look at it's effect on our lives. The Gospel is the power of God, put on display, for the salvation of those who believe. Here's where things start to get really good! "For in it (the Bible) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.' "

Okay... so here's a point that is worth looking into. The part where it says, "from faith to faith," can be kind of confusing, so here's the best explanations that I could find right away...

"This may be a parallel expression to 'everyone who believes' (1:16), as if Paul were singling out the faith of each individual believer - from one person's faith to another's faith to another's and so on. Or perhaps Paul's point is that the righteousness from God is completely on the basis of faith from beginning to end." - "from faith to faith" Notes from The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).

I figured I throw that out there, just to clear up any possible confusion on this point. So that we understand... Paul is NOT talking about different faiths... i.e. Hinduism, Buddhism, etc... but is speaking about the faith that is found within Christianity and the saving work of Christ alone. Are we clear? Good! (if not... e-mail me!)

So... here's the point that I would like to stress this morning... Personal, intentional time spent in the Word of God...

If you don't already spend time alone in the Scriptures, there are a few things you need to know about such times. This is the time where you will find personal convictions, from God's Word... The Bible is a living and active book, filled with the truths of God and instructions on a righteous life that honors Him. More so even than just this... it gives us insight into the character of the Mighty God whom we love and serve!

This is one of the most important things about the Bible. We can gain an incredible understanding of God, through His Word. We see His holiness, His righteousness, His justice, His anger, His love, His mercy, His plan of salvation... what do we see of the human nature? REBELLION! Time after time after time... we see men revile against their Creator, and we see His patience and kindness as He deals with us... This should bring incredible hope into our lives. If God hasn't destroyed the entire earth yet... and if Christ died on our behalf, already knowing all of the sins that we would commit against Him... then we should not fear drawing near to Him because of our dirtiness... He already knows! He knew what it would cost Him, He knew how broken we would be... and He loved us anyways! How do I know this? Because of what I've read in His Word!

Do you see the incredible legacy that was left for us? The Bible, the inspired Word of God, was left for us as our way to know our God better! Don't underestimate the importance of time spent in this Book!!! There are very few things which are truly important in this life... delving deep into this Book is one of those things!

By reading the Scriptures, you will understand better the character of your Savior. And by understanding Him better, you will serve Him with a more devoted heart. With a more devoted heart... you will not be ashamed of the message that you preach! Do you see how this comes full circle??? It's truly amazing!

So... if "THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH..." and if the faith that we are to live by is found in the Bible, and if the righteousness of God is revealed, the power of God for salvation, in this Book... shouldn't we be reading it EVERY DAY???

This is my challenge to you... read God's Word every day, every hour, every spare minute that you can! Read the Psalms, the book of sorrows, joys and everything in-between, and know that there were others who struggled with the same doubts and fears that you face today! Read the Old Testament history, and understand the treachery with which God's love was treated, and yet He remained faithful to His promises! Read the New Testament accounts of your Savior, and be reminded constantly of the Love with which your soul has been redeemed! Read Paul's letters to the early churches... understand the grace of God, from the view-point of a man who was once a leading persecutor against the very Body which he later loved so deeply that his own life was of no consequence to him! All of this and more is available for the encouragement of the soul that is willing to take the time to read the Word of Truth!

That's my challenge to you! Take it or leave it... but I'd suggest taking it!

Grace and Peace, dear Friends!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Ashamed of the Gospel?

2009-03-30T06:53:00.005-05:00

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.' " - Romans 1:16-17

This is such a well-known passage... I'm not even really sure how to approach it!

Let me tell you what I don't think is seen as often as it should be... "For I am not ashamed..." I think that we tend to check out on that part of the verse, most of the time... We are quite prepared to see where Paul tells us that the gospel is the power of God... but we are less ready to be ridiculed and mocked by people. We are less prepared to be as vocal as Paul was about Christ, to the complete stranger... Why?

Are we ashamed? Are we still held back by fear of rejection from others? I know I've had problems with wondering what a person might think if I were to talk to them about Christ. But we must begin, if we have not already begun, to grasp the frailty of human life and the urgency that comes from knowing that the person you are talking with might not live past tomorrow. Tragedies happen every day... people die way before they ever expected to... and if your co-workers or friends do not hear the gospel from you... who's going to tell them? Who else is going to be that light? We CANNOT be ashamed!

There is no shame in knocking on someone's door and warning them that their house is on fire... why should warning them that their soul is headed for destruction be any different? If we could begin to have a genuine affection for the souls of others... we would feel no shame in preaching the gospel to them. If we could love people's souls like Jesus loved them... we wouldn't hesitate to be ridiculed for the sake of them hearing the message of salvation! There's just no way!

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel! In fact, he was beaten, stoned, left for dead, imprisoned numerous times, shipwrecked, and then kept under house arrest, until the day that he was beheaded... all for the sake of the gospel. Does this sound like a man who cared about what people thought of him? No! This was a man who cared that people took the time to think about Jesus! He sacrificed his personal image so that he might reflect the image of Christ.

So what are we going to do? Can we continue to learn these things about our faith and then sit back and say, "Wow! That was powerful!" but do nothing about it??? Can we continue to be the very hypocrites that we are so tired of seeing around us? We CANNOT, MUST NOT live life for the sake of our own image... this is the way of the world! The world has nothing better to live for than their own image... but we have Christ! He is so much greater than we are! We could never hope (not to mention "should never hope") to be greater than He is! So, instead, we mirror Him to all people. We must unashamedly proclaim His name to our generation.

There is no glory for ourselves in preaching Christ to those who do not want to hear... there is only hatred and retaliation... but this alone is a fulfillment of Scripture! Christ said, in Matthew 5, "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me." He told us it was coming, and now we can be a part of Scripture being fulfilled!

Now... here's the good part of the verse, that everyone likes to hear! When we unashamedly preach the gospel, it is going to wreck out the lives of some people! They're going to see Christ in us and be so amazed at the love and joy that they see, they won't even know what to do about it! at this point that we fulfill the other part of this verse! We can show them the power of God through His plan of salvation for those who believe!

That's the good part about preaching unashamedly... that person who says, "Tell me more about this Jesus person..." and you get to tell them the rest of the story!

Friends, we are commanded to preach the Gospel. It's who we are as Christians! We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20), and we must be a faithful and true witness of the One who sent us.

We'll probably get back into these two verses tomorrow, but for now...

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Dear Friends...

2009-03-27T07:34:00.002-05:00

I'm afraid that today would be a less-than-fruitful day, for blogging...

I have some issues of the heart that need immediate attention, and a limited amount of time before I have to be at work this morning.

That being said, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, and I look forward to jumping back into Romans 1 on Monday.

Grace and Peace!

They Are ALL In Need of a Savior!

2009-03-26T06:46:00.003-05:00

"I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome." Romans 1:13-15

It's amazing what you can find when you take a slow and purposeful approach to a passage of Scripture. When you really get down to it... each verse has so much to say!

Today we're going to be looking at a passage that I've had trouble obeying, in the past, and even still now...

"I am under obligation both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish."

Paul nullifies any discrimination of who his audience is intended to be. He says, "I'm under obligation to everyone, for the sake of the Gospel." He doesn't make a judgement call on a person's background or ethnicity, but rather on the fact that they have a soul! When you see a person and you have the understanding of, "that person has an eternal soul, just like I do," it should cause you to have compassion for that person. And not only compassion, but we are called to take ACTION!

And that's where I have the trouble... I too often make excuses as to why NOT to talk to someone about Christ. Isn't that crazy??? Their eternal soul is on the line and I'm thinking, "I don't want them to think I'm weird..." Weird? You know what's weird? That a wretched being such as me could be saved by a God who already knows my faults, and yet He saves me anyways! That's something worth sharing no matter how "weird" you might look to people. Because if you don't share the good news of Christ with that person, today... who's to say that you'll ever have another chance? James says, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." (James 4:13-14)

If we are a vapor... then there is no time to waste when it comes to the souls of our coworkers and friends. But we cannot stop there... we need to have the love of Christ so embedded in us that we say, as Paul did, "to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish." We should not make distinctions between one soul and another, when it comes to the salvation of that person. Just because someone is dirty on the outside and has foul language, doesn't mean that their soul is worth any less than of the businessman , who wears a tie and watches his words closely. They are both headed for eternal damnation if they do not know Christ as their Savior!

For some reason... this is a struggle for us, as human beings, to grasp. That one soul cannot have more importance, in the eyes of God, than another. Let me try to unpack this idea for us, really quickly... God does not see as we see, and thankfully so! For we look at the outward appearance, but God sees directly to the heart of a person. (1 Samuel 16:7) Our thoughts are finite and futile, but the thoughts of God transcend space and time! (Isaiah 55:8-11) He is the Creator of each and every soul, and is unwilling that a single one should perish (John 3:16-17). He gave the Way, the Truth, and the Life, that we might spend eternity, in heaven, with Him! (John 14:6)

Does this sound like something that we should be keeping to ourselves? As Paul would say, "By no means!" which is his way of saying, "That's the exact opposite of what we should be doing!" There is no greater calling on a Christian's life than to be an example of Christ and to preach Him, always, to everyone we meet. There shouldn't be any discrimination, any inconvenient time... think about it...

So, talking with someone about Christ might make you late to dinner, is your stomach going to go to hell if it doesn't get some food right away? Is the temperament of your meeting worth more than the eternal soul of another person? Is your reputation as a punctual person worth more to you than the fact that the downcast soul, standing in the same elevator as you, is in need of a Savior???

Far be it from me to throw the first stone of judgment here, but I think we all know the answer to each of these questions... NO! There is no greater importance or agenda that we could possibly have than warning people of the impending wrath and judgment upon their sin and the way out that has been provided, through Christ.

I know I've said this before, but I'm going to say it again... I'm not telling you this because I have it all figured out already! This is something that God has convicted me of, personally, and I am being made aware of the problem of passiveness that has infiltrated the church today! We have become pacifists! We don't want to disturb the peace... There is no peace without Christ! Can you "hear" what I'm shouting??? We don't have another, more pressing, issue at hand than that of the very souls that God has purposefully placed around us. The ones that He designed, from the beginning of time, to fall under our areas of influence! Don't overlook the "least of these"... because that's the one that Christ loves... He or she is the one whom Christ would have ministered to... He came for the sick, the oppressed...

Well... that's enough of a rant for today, I think. I leave you with these thoughts. And my prayer is that you would consider the importance of every soul that passes you by, today and every day, for the rest of your life.

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Importance of Church! Romans 1:11-12

2009-03-25T06:30:00.002-05:00

"For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine." - Romans 1:11-12

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." - Hebrews 10:23-25

These verses are so incredibly encouraging to me! Paul emphasizes the importance of believers gathering together for mutual edification (building up). That's one of the greatest things about Christianity! It doesn't say, "You're on your own! Go try to be a good person!" But rather, "We're all broken and in need of a Savior. Let's meet together so that we may be encouraged by one another and support one another during times of trial!"

Somewhere along the way, though, someone seems to have gotten the idea that Christianity was meant for the individual, and that support and accountability, through the church, was not a necessity anymore. Let me just say... INSANITY! The church is not the building, but rather the people, within a gathering, who profess Christ as their Lord and Savior. Does the married man maintain a good relationship with his wife, if he keeps himself separated from her but is constantly in the company of other women? Christ called the church His bride! Can we keep the bride of Christ at arms length, while we spend the rest of our week in the company of the world? The "other women" that I speak of... money, pride, fame, houses, cars, etc... they bombard us as an adulterous woman, begging us to relinquish our convictions, and instead to enjoy the fleeting pleasures they offer.

In the same way that intimacy and communication is important to keep a relationship between a husband and wife strong, a relationship with other believers is important to keep a Christian vibrant and strong in the faith. Paul says, "that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine."

This isn't a matter of "attendance" because we need to have bigger numbers each Sunday! I would rather have fewer people, and for those who come to be actively pursuing Christ and actively ministering to other believers as well as non-believers.

You might ask, why can't we do that at home, by ourselves? Because, again, faith is not something that was meant to be solo... Your salvation is between you and God, true, but we are then called to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. The only way to avoid drying-up, as a Christian, is to be constantly filled with the truths of Scripture. You cannot, in and of yourself, hope to accomplish what God does through the gathering of individuals to whom He has been speaking throughout the week! Let me try to unpack this idea...

When you go to church... There are probably anywhere from 30 to 3,000 people, correct? If God has been speaking, all throughout the week, to those 30 to 3,000 people... don't you think there's a good possibility that He may have given some different insight, into different passages (or even the same passages), to some of those other people? Don't you think that maybe the experiences of life, that some of those people are going through, might be able to encourage you and teach you more about God's character? His loving kindness/Holiness/judgment, etc... ?

Really quickly, let me tell you what I'm NOT saying... I'm not saying that home churches are bad. If in fact there is the accountability of believers, meeting together for the purpose of edification, then the Scriptures say that, "Where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." (Matthew 18:20) The key here is the clause "in My name..." Gathering together, without Christ truly being the center... it just becomes another hang-out session without the accountability and conviction of sins that true Scriptural teaching brings, and we might as well stay home and watch a couple of make-me-feel-good televangelists!

Well, that's it for today's rant! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

A Kingdom-Minded Prayer Life

2009-03-24T06:45:00.002-05:00

"For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you." - Romans 1:9-10

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." - James 5:16

I wanted to take a somewhat different look at this verse, this morning. It's very easy to look at this verse and say, "No relevance to today!" and move on. But I think there's something here that we should take interest in.... the dedication of Paul's prayers to the Body of Christ. I think this is an area in which we are quite often forgetful. I know I am!

What if the people of the church constantly prayed for one another and for the body as a whole? Don't you think that, perhaps, there might be less divisions? Perhaps we would come to church with the mindset that we are there to serve, rather than to simply come and be "filled" or "fed." Too many people leave churches and go "church hopping" because they "weren't being fed" at the last church they went to. My theory behind this story is that they weren't involved enough, nor were they serving enough, to really be a part of the bigger picture. It's easy to grow tired of a show... and if that's how you see church... there is a very good chance of you becoming weary of the same thing, week after week.

Don't hear me wrong on this... I'm not saying that it's not important to be filled up with the encouragement that comes meeting together with other believers. Nor am I saying that church is a place meant only for those who serve every Sunday. What I am saying is this... That if you are becoming weary of your Sunday morning "routine" then perhaps your heart needs a little changing... And that's where prayer comes in!

Praying for someone else can change your entire perspective of that person. Jesus told us to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44) Why do you suppose He would tell us to do this? Perhaps that might gain a new perspective of that person's life?

Now, let's not even go as far as enemies... let's just consider praying for our acquaintances, friends, and families. Do you not think that constant prayer on behalf of those whom you know would cause you to feel a greater compassion for them? Don't you think it might cause you to feel more strongly about preaching the message of salvation to the ones who aren't saved? If you are constantly mentioning them in your prayers... and I mean sincerely mentioning them, not just, "Oh yeah, God, and I pray for Fred." How about, "Lord, would You do the work, that I cannot, in Fred's life. Father, would You call him to Yourself, and would You please use me to minister to him." Do you see the difference? Do you see how the second example might cause you to grow in compassion towards Fred's soul? Do you see how the love of Christ might just seep into your heart towards Fred, and cause you to love Him as Christ loves him?

I heard an example once preached like this.... The preacher said, "God says this to you, 'I'm gonna go throw a party in that person's soul. You wanna come along?' And then we have the responsibility of either responding to that call of ministry or we can sit back and God will use someone else to do His work... In which case He says, 'That's fine, but I'm still gonna throw the party, I'll just get someone else to bring the confetti!' "

The entire point I'm trying to make is this... if you are praying earnestly for someone, and an opportunity to minister to that person comes along, you aren't going to sit back and let the opportunity pass you by... not if you're as sincere as we're talking about here. This requires, though, that we truly grasp this concept of making "mention of you, always in my prayers making requests..."

So, back to the "what ifs" I mentioned at the top... What if we prayed for our pastors? What if we asked God to bless them and that they might bring a fresh word, from Him, that we might be built up in our understanding of Him? And the saying, "fresh word," may sound kind of weird, but it's so true! The Word of God is living and active as it's as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago. If we prayed that God would move in His people, through the preaching of His Word... What crazy things might begin to happen, and all of this for the glory of God?

What if we prayed for those who are down-trodden in our congregations? What if we visited them and comforted them? What if the people of the church actually ministered to one another as God intended? What if lives were being changed because of the prayers of the saints, on behalf of one another? I would imagine that the body of Christ would be that much stronger and that much more of a powerful witness to those who come to "check out this 'Christianity thing.' "

Friends... prayer on behalf of the body of Christ is essential! There's no way around it... we MUST remember to think outside of ourselves when we come before the Throne of God Almighty! The throne of God is the perfect place to go when things are tough for us, but it's also the perfect place to make petitions on behalf of another...

We could probably spend a week, or even a month, on the subject of prayer alone! But I will leave you with these few thoughts for now. I plead with you... don't forsake the responsibility of praying for others. We have been given, through the Holy Spirit, the gift of direct communication with the Creator of the universe! Don't waste your "minutes" on idle chit-chat about the earthly things that you desire to have... Be "Kingdom-minded" in your requests to the Father.

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Is Our Faithful Witness Being Proclaimed?

2009-03-23T07:10:00.003-05:00

"First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world." - Romans 1:8

Wow! What a testimony! Paul confirms the faith that is being displayed by the churches in Rome with these reassuring words... "because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world."

This would probably have to be the equivalent of a modern-day preacher writing a letter to the home-churches in China today... There is such oppression in the churches of China, and yet they are considered the most rapidly growing churches of the world... Why is that? It is nothing short of God's glory being revealed in the lives of His people. Those who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8)... Those who are hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Matt. 5:6).

Is there anyone who doubts the sincerity of the believers in China? They are being tortured, beaten, murdered... The price of Christ upon their lips is often their lives! Does this sound like a fad to you? If so... we need to talk. As when John sent his disciples to Christ for reassurance that He was in fact the One, we would hear the same report as John did from his disciples... "Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM." (Luke 7:22b)

China has no shortage of the poor and oppressed... and neither do we! The difference between the two is that we have become too comfortable with our own agendas and our own lifestyles to be concerned with anyone else. This is not the work of Christ in our lives, but of the enemy! Do you think that God saved your wretched soul so that you could then sit back and receive as many blessings as He might pour out? By no means! We are called to support the orphan and the widow (James 1:27), to give to the poor, to help the brother who is struggling in his soul... God did not bless us just so that we might be blessed, but so that we might bless others in return. There is no glory to be found in hoarding up treasures here on earth. These treasures are merely tools to be used for the work of Christ in our lives.

That's why the "Health-and-wealth gospel" is no gospel at all, but is rather a detriment to the ears that hear such falsities preached, Sunday after Sunday. We are being taught by "churches" that God's number-one goal is to bless us! What kind of gospel is that??? The Gospel that I'm familiar with, the one that is ACTUALLY in the Scriptures, is the one that says that we will be despised and rejected by men when we follow the example of our Lord.

So, reeling it all in here... what report might Paul write about your church? Is news of your faith being proclaimed throughout the whole earth? If not... why? What are we doing wrongly, today, that might cause us to be less effective than the early churches of Rome?

Let's suppose, even, that Paul were to write a letter to just you... What words of encouragement might Paul have about your efforts for the sake of the Gospel?

Friends, I'll be the first to admit that Paul's letter to me would probably look something more like, "You need to be more bold! Do not forsake the preaching of the Gospel because you feel inadequate! There is a much higher purpose and plan for your life than any agenda you could possibly have. Your reputation isn't worth it, at the expense of their very souls, is it? Chris, speak boldly the Words which Christ has breathed into your very being!"

His encouragement to me would probably be more in the form of correction, perhaps not so pleasantly put, if in fact the Gospel is as urgent as Paul stresses in his other letters. The urgency of Christ being preached should cause us to forsake our own pursuits and instead take up the cross of Christ.

If Paul's letter would not be an encouragement to carry on in our efforts, but rather to stop whatever it is that we're pursuing and to begin the work of Christ in our lives... maybe it's time to stop and consider our purpose as believers.

I feel like I may be re-hashing this point over and over again, but I cannot help myself. You see, God is convicting me of my stagnant behavior... As He does, I am compelled to begin a chain-reaction of conviction and, hopefully, actions taken in an effort to correct this disease which spreads rapidly throughout the modern churches of America. I say this to you so that I might be held accountable as well.

The calling that I have felt upon my life, for some time now, is that of a youth minister. I cannot convey to you the sense of urgency that wells up in me when I think of our highschools and the people within them, our CHURCH YOUTH GROUPS and the lack of passion and conviction! But that is a conversation for another day...

For today... please, ask yourself this important question. "Is your faith being proclaimed throughout the whole world?" Are your actions a reflection of the love, grace and mercy of Christ within your life? Or are we still living for ourselves? Mirroring the world's desires and pursuits with our own?

I am asking myself this very question... I do not pretend to have it all together. I will admit to you, right now, that I am being broken even as I write this! There are still things in my life, which are not honoring to God. There are things which require His loving discipline and correction. But He is ever faithful! He is continuing to pour out His love and patience, goodness and mercy upon my life! There is still hope for those of us who have failed the calling that is placed on our lives, but we must act now! Don't wait any longer! Become that faithful son or daughter of the King, of whom it will be said, "Well done!" when you enter into the presence of the Father.

Friends, when it's all said and done, what greater words could be spoken of our lives except these, "They were the example of Christ to those whom they knew!"?

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

My Peace Story/Confession - The Greeting: Part 8

2009-03-20T07:11:00.004-05:00

"To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." -Romans 1:7

So, we briefly looked at grace, yesterday, and now we move on to peace! Well, I'm not sure how much "new" stuff I have to say about peace... If you want a more in-depth look, however, check out some of the earlier entries I did on peace. They're gonna be pretty far back there, but you should still be able to find them.

Let me just take a few minutes to tell you the most recent run-in I had with the peace that God supplies...
I was depressed. I felt like nobody cared. I looked at those that I loved, and felt like there was nobody who loved me in return. I was listening, quite intently, to the lies of the devil. "You're not good enough. You aren't lovable... How can you call yourself a Christian? Look at how you reacted to that person."
So far... not a whole lot of peace going on... is there? I was struggling with a sense of value and worth! I was often wondering, "What's the point of life? Is this all I can expect for the rest of my life... to feel like an outcast?" Friends, there was a level of self-pity there that I hope none of you ever stoops to!
Now... Tuesday night prayer meeting, March 3rd, 2009. (Aha! So, you thought this was an OLD story huh? Nope, I'm still broken... still in need of constant correction from God.)
I don't remember much of the actual prayer meeting, itself. We sang some songs, prayed in groups... and I felt such a burden the whole time! At the end of each prayer meeting, however, we have a time of communion. And I purposed to really focus in on Christ and His saving work, on the cross. I got into the line of people that were headed up to receive communion, and was all-the-while meditating, or at least trying to, on the things of Christ. Now the line I was in began at the back of the room and curved around towards the side of the room. The problem was that we were going to the same station for communion as another line of people, which meant that we were merging with this other line in what looked to me like Friday evening traffic (Just picture your local highway at 5pm on Friday). The pastor noticed this problem and, along with an elder, began giving communion for the line that I was in. When I reached the front, I was still struggling with feeling the nearness of God (another subject for another time), but as I came up to the elder who was handing out the bread, he looked at me and smiled. He said, in hushed tones, "Hey! How's it going man? This is the body of Christ. This is the body which was broken for you!"
At this time I was thinking, "Wow! Okay, this is good!"
Now... here's where I got really messed up in my self-pity party...
Next was the pastor, who held out the cup and said, "Tonight you are a son of the King, because of this blood, which was shed for you!" Yeah... that was it...
Friends, the realization of HIS love for me... it washes away all of the "need" I had felt for the approval of man! The restless nights of desiring for someone to care, those were burned up in the passion of HIS love for me!
There is a peace that only God can supply... The kind that doesn't leave you when things are tough. You might forget, every once in a while, Who it is that really loves you, unconditionally. I did! But He never quits on us! He is there, the Solid Rock on which we stand, and He alone is our peace! Paul says, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father..." Paul knew where the grace and peace came from! You can't find these two things, in their true form, except through our Heavenly Father.
The funny thing about those times of wondering and wandering is that, when God does make Himself plainly known in those moments of brokenness, we see how great His love for us really is! We find that peace that we had strayed off the path to try and get from other sources... it was there all along, in Him!
I don't have time, today, to go into all of the aspects of peace. However, I would encourage you, if you haven't read the week that we went through peace, to go back and read those for a fuller understanding of what peace is and what it isn't. The truth is, though, that even though I wrote all about peace, experiencing it was completely different. Because I still longed after human affection. I struggled with peace, even after I wrote all of those blogs about it! It takes faith in action, and sometimes (like what happened to me) it takes experience, to really understand and fully grasp what it means to forsake all others for the peace which God supplies. It is the sweetest thing, though, once you learn to rest in the arms of the Father!

With that... I do truly bid you the Grace and Peace of God in your lives!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Grace... The Greeting: Part 7

2009-03-19T06:27:00.003-05:00

"To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." -Romans 1:7

Okay, so here's where we get to the end of the official "greeting" portion of Paul's letter. He finishes his greeting with this final blessing... "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
It's interesting because, every letter that Paul writes begins with this prayer over the church to whom He is writing. Let's look at the two parts of this profound greeting...

Grace... "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!" We are all familiar with this song. Even among the unchurched peoples of the world, this song has its place in history. However, only the believer can truly understand and appreciate this grace. Look at what Paul says in Ephesians 2. DON'T SKIP OVER THESE VERSES! You will not understand the rest of what I write, if you don't fully grasp the weight of these verses... read them closely.

"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." -Ephesians 2:1-10

This verse speaks volumes about the love which God has for us! Those words... "But God"...
"But God" did what we could not... "But God" loved a people undeserving... "But God" sent His beloved Son on our behalf... "By grace you have been saved..."

You see... grace is a free gift that we do not deserve. You and I do not, cannot, deserve the grace of God. It is unmerited favor, simply because He chose to love us! Think about a parent and their child. Every parent thinks that their baby is the cutest, most adorable baby that has ever lived... Am I right? I mean, no parent says, "Wow! We sure messed up with that one!" Maybe later in life, when the child has had a chance to be a monster and make their own decisions but... well, that's way off tangent! The point is, after the birth of that child, the parent's adoration and affections are turned to their child. They love their child so much that they would give their own life for them. Why? What has that child ever done for them? Cried, made messes in their diapers, kept them awake at all hours of the night... There is no specific thing which would cause a parent to love their child... except, the simple fact that they love them. A parent loves their child because they love their child! It's as simple as that...

In the same way, God loves His children simply because He loves them! We have not, COULD NOT, ever earn His love! The point where the example, of earthly parents loving their child, falls short of mirroring God's love for us is this... Parents can become disappointed in their children and thus forsake or disown them, but those whom God has loved... He will never unlove! Does that make any sense? To the average human mind, it probably doesn't. Our love it too conditional. We change far too often in our opinions of people. But God... He loved us "even when we were dead in our transgressions..." That's the kind of love that the human heart desires most... the kind of love that keeps on loving even when we've messed up so badly that we cannot deserve whatever love we might receive!
This is the epitome of the grace which God has bestowed on our lives! His love is evidenced by the grace that we've received! It's a free gift, and it's the best thing that could ever happen to a person!

Well, I think that's enough for us to chew on for today... we'll continue this verse tomorrow!

Friends... GRACE and Peace to you! This is my prayer...

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Our Responsibility in Spreading the Gospel (The Greeting: Part 6)

2009-03-18T08:41:00.003-05:00

"Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ..." - Romans 1:1-6

Okay, so here's a thought that I didn't completely expound on yesterday...

The individual's responsibility to spread the Gospel. It is not the responsibility of pastors, alone, to bring the message of salvation to this world. It is the Great Commission, which is to every believer, to take the Gospel to every tribe and nation... in other words, to every street corner, neighborhood, business (employer or employee), and every home into which we are welcomed.

Again, if you claim Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior... there is no other route. There shouldn't be any other options in our lives. Yet, sometimes... most of the time... I fail to bring Christ into the conversation. What fear is it that keeps me from sharing the message of Christ, the only way to be saved from eternal punishment in hell? Are we so consumed with self that we cannot stop to stumbling blind man that he is headed for destruction? So it is with every unsaved soul that passes us by...

Friends, there is an urgency to spread the Gospel, which seems to be lost in the American churches today. We are taught solid doctrines... sometimes... and we sing great songs of worship... but is the urgency of Christ's message taught? "Repent or perish!" It may sound harsh, but the truth often does...

Let's suppose that you are walking along the busy streets of Las Vegas one evening (we won't try to imagine why we are there...), and you recognize the former President of the United States, George W. Bush just a little further down the sidewalk. He is talking with some other gentlemen that look like important men of business... As you are watching, a car careens from the road and is heading in their direction... Now, supposing that you are close enough, do you leave them alone because they seem intently engaged in each other's company? Or would you shout and warn them of the imminent danger that approaches? Let's take it one step further... would you risk inconveniencing these men by shoving them to the ground to keep them from harm? I would think that the answer should be quite clear! Just in case it isn't, the answer is "Yes, you should risk the inconveniencing of their agenda for the fact that, should they be killed by this car, their agenda no longer has any meaning anyways!" Too often we allow the excuses of meaningless, earthly agendas keep us from sharing the only thing that really matters!

So, you carry the antidote to the number one killing virus, with which the whole world is infected... are we so selfish that we will keep it to ourselves. This virus, sin, is certain death to every soul that it infects. Let's look again at what Paul tells us...

"through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake..."

"To bring about..." gives us the understanding of action and "the obedience of faith" reminds us what action is to be taken... that which Christ has commanded us. Again, the Great Commission...

Friends, I'm as guilty as anyone alive of not fulfilling this calling... I tell you, however, that in the most recent of weeks I've had my eyes opened to the urgency of the Gospel. My hope and prayer is that I will not delay any longer, but that I would speak boldly of Christ and of salvation.

Perhaps this is something that you are uncomfortable with... perhaps you don't know how to talk to people. Let me ask you this... What if someone hadn't had the courage to come to you with the message of salvation? Where would you be going when you die? Without the knowledge of your sins and your need of a savior, and without the good news of Christ's death on your behalf... you would be headed for eternal damnation and separation from God.

Friends, there is no greater disservice that we can do for someone, than to withhold salvation from their souls. Whether or not they accept our message or not, is between them and God, but you will have a clean conscience, that you pointed them in the way of truth. You did not withhold the very message of grace which covers your multitude of sins.

This is the calling on our lives... this is what Paul lived for and it's what we should be living for. If Paul had cared more about his own well-being than about Christ, then many many people would never have heard of salvation, and we wouldn't be reading this letter that he wrote...

Who do you know, that will be spending an eternity in hell unless they are showed their sins and their need for Christ? Do you wish to account for their blood? I do not write this to scare anyone into evangelizing... I write it to show you the urgency of our message! You don't know whether or not the person you work with is going to make it home tonight... they might get into a fatal accident on their way home. Is their approval worth more than their soul? Is man's approval worth more, to you, than your own soul?

If sharing your faith is something you struggle with, I ask that you would pray earnestly for God to give you boldness. You can do nothing greater, for the Kingdom, than to be a bold witness of Christ's power in your life. Fulfill the calling that is upon your life... and in everything you do, preach Christ: The Way, The Truth, and The Life!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Greeting: Part... 5???

2009-03-17T08:13:00.002-05:00

"Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ..." -Romans 1:1-6

Okay, so we've looked at quite a bit of information so far... We've seen Paul profess his willing slavery to Christ Jesus, and his apostleship. We've looked at the prophets, whom Paul mentions, and their prophecies concerning the coming of the Christ. And we've looked at Jesus' fulfillment of ALL of the prophecies and His fulfillment of God's demands for a blood sacrifice, for the atonement of sins. With that being said...

Today we're going to look at verses 5 and 6. Paul begins these words with a turn-around that references back to verse 1. So, he points back again to the source of grace in his life and the source of his apostleship, Jesus Christ. Here's the reason that Paul gives... "to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake..."

Paul's calling was to the Gentile nations (anyone who was not a Jew), a calling which he took very seriously and passionately pursued for the rest of his life. Notice, though, that Paul says "through whom we have received"... There were others who were also called to the Gentile nations. Paul then says something that hits us right where we are at, look at this... "among whom YOU also are the called of Jesus Christ."

WE are called to the purpose of spreading Christ's name and glory throughout the earth! Are you looking for the meaning of life? There it is, right there! There is no higher calling on your life, if you are a professing believer in the work and person of Jesus Christ, than to glorify His name and lift up His name and to preach His name to the ends of the earth! Hear me loud and clear on this one... There is no greater calling... We are to lift up our God in highest praise. Everything else that we do is worthless, unless the light of Christ shines through us and causes our efforts to become opportunities in which to share the Gospel with others.

So, when Paul says that we're called, understand what he means... He means that our lives are marked with the purpose of reflecting Christ as our greatest love and our greatest pursuit. He means, and I mean really means, that without Christ EVERYTHING ELSE is worthless.
Also, it is important to understand that we being called by Christ means that we did not come to Him, but rather that He called us to Himself. We were dead in our transgressions... are we God, that we might raise ourselves from death? No! Only by the grace and mercy of a loving God and beautiful Savior are we made alive! From the beginning of time we have been set apart for the glory of God. You were called...

Do I mean that you had nothing to do with your salvation? Yes... Do I mean that it had everything to do with God choosing you and predestining you to Himself? Yes... Do I mean that God is unjust and unfair in choosing you and not choosing others? Absolutely NOT! The question is not "Why didn't You choose them, God?" ...but rather... "Why on earth did You choose me?" God IS perfect justice... He is holy, which means that He is complete and whole, not lacking anything. We are broken... we are cracked and misaligned. Perfect judgement would cast every human who has ever existed into condemnation! BUT GOD... such powerful words from Ephesians (and elsewhere)!

The Bible tells us that God is rich in mercy. Mercy is when you do not receive the punishment that is justly due you... If you were to look at the 10 Commandments... would you pass all 10? None of us can say that we have kept all of the Commandments. In doing so, you will have lied and thus broken one of the commands right there! Congratulations! You're a part of the fractured and broken system! There is good news, though... That mercy that we've mentioned... God sent His Son to pay the penalty for your sins and mine. The perfect blood of Jesus Christ has covered over our sins, if we will only repent (to turn away from) our sins and follow Him. God loves you... not because you've done something to deserve it... just because He loves you! That is why He has called you to Himself...

This is a lot to try and digest... Unfortunately, I'm out of time for today, but we'll continue with these same verses, tomorrow.

In the meantime... Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

An Aside of Considerable Irony!

2009-03-16T08:50:00.002-05:00

"The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD." - Proverbs 16:1

That verse is so true for me, this morning... my plan was to wake up early and get going on this blog... but God's plan was for my alarm to not go off, and instead, I got a few extra hours of sleep, so that I won't crash and die on my way to Waco this morning!

With that being said... I woke up with about a half-hour before my planned departure. So, we will be continuing (Lord willing) with Romans 1, tomorrow!

Grace and Peace, dear Friends!

Verification of Christ's Claims, through His Resurrection (The Greeting: Part 4)

2009-03-13T09:28:00.003-05:00

"Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord..." - Romans 1:1-4

So, I know we've already covered these first few verses and that I keep putting them up there... but I want to keep everything in context. This would be much easier if Paul had used punctuation in his letters. Unfortunately, the original text was written, not only without chapters and verses, but also without a lot of punctuation. The letters of the New Testament were written as a continual thought... As you can see, we are four verses into Romans and have not yet found a period... lots of commas, but no periods.

With that being said... let's dive in!

So, yesterday we covered the prophetical backing of the Old Testament in defense of Jesus' claims as the Son of God. And if I had looked a little closer, I might have included verse 3 with yesterday's text, since it references the Old Testament prophecies as well! God had said that the Savior would come through the line of David. This is seen several times, in the Old Testament.

Today let's look at New Testament fulfillment of those prophesies, as laid down by Paul's letter to the Romans. "Who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord..." (1:4)

Easter is coming... most of us could probably recount the story of Christ's death and resurrection. But what we must understand is that it is His resurrection which gives power to His words as the Son of God. There are plenty of idealists in the world. There are even some who are claiming to heal the sick and the deaf and the lame. But only Christ has ever proclaimed Himself the Son of God, been killed by those who reviled Him, and then come back to life! It's just not something that happens all of the time.

The important part to remember is that, way before Christ is ever arrested or tried by the courts and the Sanhedrin, He constantly told His disciples what was to come. He proclaimed, well in advance, His death and resurrection. This was also OT prophecy being fulfilled (Isaiah 53).

Now, where this gets important for you and for me... His death and resurrection didn't just verify His claims as the Son of God, but was the ONLY way for us to be saved, once and for all, from the penalty of our sins. "DEATH" was written on each of our hearts, before we were even born, and Christ spilled His own blood on the cross... with which He wrote "LIFE" over the death within our hearts! The death and resurrection of Christ made it possible for Him to be THE perfect mediator, for our souls, before the throne of God. Every accusation of the devil is counterable by the blood and testimony of Christ Jesus.

DO NOT, however, take this lightly. This is not a license... it is a free gift that comes from an unconditional love! We do not, because of this blood, have the freedom to live in the pleasures of this world, but must see the importance of obedience to Christ's words, which He spoke while He was alive! We will cover this more specifically in the chapters to come.

So, I say all of this, but the question must then come... "Is Jesus Christ your Lord?" It is an undeniable FACT that He IS the Lord of All, but are you rebelling against His Lordship? Or are you living in the humility of His grace and mercy, and devoting yourself to Him? At the end of the day... this is the question that matters most. "Who are you living for?"

As an aside, anyone who has lived long enough can tell you... living for yourself is a worthless endeavor! In the end, every "treasure" that you might acquire will become worthless to you. Until you see Christ as the highest goal and ultimate fulfillment of purpose in your life... you will not truly live.

If you have further questions about today's blog... Please, e-mail me! I'd be happy to talk about what we've discussed today. For now, though, I leave you with these thoughts...

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Promises of Old Testament Prophecy (The Greeting: Part 3)

2009-03-12T09:09:00.004-05:00

"Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures..." - Romans 1:1-2

Okay, so today we're going to look at the accounts of the Old Testament prophets, which point towards all that Paul is about to teach us. Most of us are probably familiar with the stories we've heard from the Old Testament, about David and Goliath, Abraham, Joseph... but I don't think as many of us are familiar with the prophets. You know... the one's who are always so hard to read... mostly because they keep mentioning people and places that we have no idea about!

However, these prophets were used of God to point the children of Israel towards the hope of Salvation. It was the prophets, whom the Pharisees and Sadducees would study, that gave the God-inspired insight into the coming of the Savior. Unfortunately, the Pharisees and Sadducees and all of the religious leaders, were looking for a conquering hero. They were reading only half of the message, apparently... because Isaiah says it like this:

"Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. Just as many were astonished at you, My people, so His appearance was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men. Thus He will sprinkle many nations, kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will understand.

"Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him." -Isaiah 52:13-53:6

When you read this as a continuous thought, you begin with the victory of Christ. However, it doesn't take long before this prophesied King, becomes much less kingly in appearance... "despised and forsaken of men"? The Jews were looking for a military leader! This man, Jesus, preached the Kingdom of Heaven, not one of this earth... He taught about compassion and forgiveness of sin, not the keeping of religious practices. "To obey is better than sacrifice," (1 Sam. 15:22) was a concept they had heard before, but not one that they practiced. You see, they obeyed, outwardly, and yet their hearts were of unchanged stone. Jesus came to soften hearts and heal the broken, the Jews were looking for someone to break the chains of Rome!

The Jews believed God's word, that the Christ would come, but didn't understand what God's plan for salvation looked like. So, when Paul and the other apostles, most of them unlearned men with the exception of Paul, were able to look back on the prophetical texts of the Old Testament and make the connection with Christ, we can see that this is not an accomplishment of men but of the Holy Spirit revealing the truth to them.

So, after that little rabbit-trail of information... The prophets were the God-inspired messengers of what was to come. There are well over a hundred prophecies that pointed to the coming of the Savior... and only Jesus Christ could fulfill all of them. The probability of any one person fulfilling even a few of them is such a high number... Here's a link with a little bit of information on the odds of messianic prophecies being fulfilled. http://www.raptureready.com/featured/funk/statistics-probability.html (about the middle of the article).

So, we see that Paul's pointing out of the promises of God being fulfilled in the gospel message is actually an incredible note of authority for every other claim that is to be made about Christ, in Romans, rather than a small aside. It is the fulcrum on which every other truth swings, and to which every other truth is attached. For without the fulfillment of the OT prophecies, the Gospel would swing wildly and have no basis of stability and truth, or would contradict the rest of the Word of God. However, Paul also quotes the OT in reference to Christ's authority and authenticity, quite regularly, throughout not only Romans but his others letters as well.

Not only this, but the entire consummation of Scripture, Old Testament and New Testament, points to Christ. Without the gospel, the Scripture is incomplete. The Old Testament cannot stand alone as complete, nor does the New Testament nullify the Old, but rather they fulfill each and every promise of each other.

So, God's promises, given by the prophets, were fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Now... we should be prepared to dive into the rest of this letter with the understanding that Paul is not coming up with this stuff on his own. God promised the Savior, through His prophets, and brought about the fulfillment of that salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

I think we've explored this passage well enough... I apologize if some of you are more confused, now, than you were before we began. I feel a bit scattered-of-thought this morning....
If necessary, I will reiterate today's blog in a more clear and concise (not to mention condensed) way, at a later date.

For now... Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Greeting: Part 2

2009-03-11T05:43:00.003-05:00

"Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God..." - Romans 1:1

So... we've covered what it means to be a bond-servant, or rather a willing and wholly devoted slave, to Christ. Now, let's explore what it means to be "called as an apostle."

From the Greek, apostle means "one who is sent." I love the picture that this brings to the table... we are sent by God, as missionaries of His Word. This is not something that we do of our own, rather we are called, by God, to a purpose higher than serving ourselves. Ephesians 4:11 says, "And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ..." Now... let's not get too carried away with this, but notice how all of these positions are ones of ministering to others... none of these positions are stagnant, none of them are positions of only receiving the instruction, but rather all of them are positions of ministering to others.

Nobody is listed as having been given as a "listener." Paul did not list a certain group of people as having the "spiritual gift" of simply receiving God's Word, but rather we are all called as apostles, to be sent out, and then there are those whose area of ministry is more specifically zoned in to certain action... Pastors and teachers, for example are called to minister specifically to the body of Christ, but are not exempt from sharing the Gospel with non-believers as well.

That being said, let's look at the next part of verse 1... "set apart for the gospel of God..." This is crazy good stuff! Do you realize just how incredible it is to be set apart for, and in, the good news of Christ's defeat over sin in your life??? You are a child of God Most High! You were set apart, called to salvation... This is indescribably good news for us! When our righteousness is counted as filthy rags in the sight of God... while we were yet sinners, Christ died for US! You and me... how crazy is that?

I don't know about you (well, actually I do), but I DO NOT deserve anything but the wrath of God. My heart is filled with every wicked thing, and it is only by the grace, mercy, and patience of God that these things are skillfully removed, as a cancerous infection by a skilled surgeon, from this wretched being! That's the greatest part of the Gospel message... WE DON'T DESERVE ANY OF IT! But God... such powerful and incredible words! "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-7)

You've been set apart. Now... what are you going to do about it? This is not something to keep to yourself! You are no more deserving than the serial killer and rapist who is buried deep within the prison walls. You are a lying, thieving, murderous, adulterer at heart, who has been freed from the punishment of sin by the grace of God and the blood of Jesus alone! Do not become boastful in anything other than the grace that is upon your soul! Secondly, do not think that you are any more deserving of this grace than the drug addict or alcoholic who lives next door or down the street or downtown... Pray and ask God to help you to see them as He sees them... as He saw you. This should bring tears to your eyes.... to realize the love that a holy and just God must have, to be willing to sacrifice His beloved Son for a people undeserving...

Dearest Friends... you've been set apart as messengers of the Gospel of God! Don't lose sight of your mission. Do not resist being "sent out." Go! Show others the light that now lives inside of you. "But now in Christ Jesus you who were formerly far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:13)

I'll leave you with that thought...

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Greeting - Part One

2009-03-10T06:20:00.003-05:00

Okay... So, right out of the gates, we have some very interesting things to cover. We're probably not going to cover everything in these seven verses, today. I'm not sure if we'll make it past the first verse, even!

The word that Paul used for bond-servant , in the original Greek, is doulos. A great definition of which is this:

"a slave"

"devoted to another, to the disregard of one's own interests" (From "The New Testament Greek Lexicon" )

"To the disregard of one's own interests..." This is an incredible concept that Paul just throws out there in the opening sentence of his letter to Rome. The first half-sentence of Romans 1:1 establishes Paul's view of his mission. "I am a slave to the will of Christ!" Is this a slavery of unwillingness? No, Paul used the word in its Hebrew sense to describe a servant who willingly commits himself to serve a master he loves and respects.

So, how does that translate to us? What are we doing that shows that we are willing slaves of the King? That we are serving Him with our best and with a humility that is typically associated with a slave? In opposition... what are we doing that rebels against this idea of being bond-servants? In what areas of our lives do we need to surrender control?

You see, a slave doesn't have control over his or her tasks. The Master directs and wills, the slave submits and obeys. This is a hard concept to teach to people who live in modern-day America... we are too proud, we have too high an opinion of ourselves, we are fed self-deserving thoughts through every media outlet and from on every side.

It is not a popular religion that says, "Deny yourself, and take up the work of another. Live for others, and forsake your own comfort!" However, Christianity is not a religion. Religion is a following of rules and regulations, in hopes of achieving a right standing with a higher power... Christianity is a reckless abandon of self, because of the realization that we were dead in our transgressions and sins, and that Christ died a brutal death on our behalf so that we might spend eternity in heaven with Him. There is a difference between these two ideas....

Religion says, "Follow these steps. Do these things, and don't do those things, and perhaps your righteousness will merit you a favorable position with god."

Christianity says, "There's nothing you can do to gain God's favor... any doing that there was to be done HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE! Christ died for your sins... believe in Him, serve Him, love Him... this is your responsibility in life. I can't wait to get to Romans 12, which talks about offering our bodies (lives, skills, abilities, spiritual giftings) as living sacrifices... we are a walking, talking testimony of the grace and mercy of a loving God upon an undeserving people.

So, back to Paul's opening statement. To paraphrase: "I, Paul, in light of Christ's mercy and grace upon my life, am a willing and humble slave to the will of God the Father and to the continuation of the work of Christ, here on earth." And this paraphrase of Paul's words is mirrored by the life we see lived out in Acts and in the letters that he wrote to the churches. I'm not making this up! Paul is an incredible example of what happens when a sinful heart collides with the realization and reality which is Christ!

My question for you today is this... How do our lives reflect that collision of sinful heart and sinless Savior? Do we express the same humble servitude as Paul and the other apostles? Do we give our lives over, completely to Him? Or do we portion out our Sunday MORNINGS, and then keep even the rest of that day for ourselves??? Friends, we are slaves unto righteousness, to the work of the cross, to the great commission of Christ... which is to go and preach the gospel to every tribe and nation! We cannot call ourselves Christians and then live a life of self-service and unchanged hearts.... it just can't be that way. If you truly call yourself a Christian and believe the Word of God, then you must lay down all pride... you must come to a place of humility and realize that your primary concern must be loving your Savior and King. You must understand that God has placed you WHERE YOU ARE, to be a light to a dark world, in your workplace, in your neighborhood, perhaps even in your own family... Your role, as a Christian, is the service and advancement of the Gospel. The word "Gospel" means, literally, "good news!" What better news is there in this world, than that of a Savior who has taken YOUR punishment for YOUR sins? Spread it! Obey! Become an obedient and willing slave to the King of Kings.

We'll pick up where we left off in the greeting, tomorrow. Friends, please dwell on this concept of total abandon... There is nothing in this world that is so important as the complete devotion of your heart, mind, soul and strength to Christ...

Let us say, together with Paul, that we are bond-servants of the King of Kings, and let us serve Him joyfully!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Something New!

2009-03-09T08:45:00.003-05:00

Hello Friends!

I have been trying to figure out what I could use as a steady topic for this blog, for quite some time now. I must admit that I am much more comfortable with a series than with daily randomness. Perhaps that is an area in which I should trust God more?

However, I've come up with an idea and I think I know now what I'm going to be going through for the next... however long it takes me to get through it!

That being said, I was thinking of going through Romans. I'm going to start with Romans 1:1 and go all the way through to Romans 16:27 (Unless of course God shows me something different, somewhere along the way, to blog on).

My greatest wish is that this would be an opportunity for feedback from you, the readers, whenever we get to subjects in which you have experience or opinion. I would love for this to be a place where you can come and ask questions when we get to something that doesn't make sense to you. For example, when we are approaching a verse that you either love and that has blessed you, or if it's one that you don't quite understand, that you would e-mail me at the "afflquestions" e-mail that I put at the end of each blog entry. That way I could do some specific research before addressing that particular verse. I'm not going to pretend to have all of the answers to every verse that we will come across in Romans. There is a very good chance that, on a weekly basis, we will come across something that I will not have all of the answers for. However, this doesn't deter me from this task.

Well, with that... I'm going to be done for today, and I will "see" you all tomorrow with Romans 1:1!

Friends, Grace and Peace to you!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com.

The Humility of Christ

2009-03-06T07:18:00.002-06:00

"Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Philippians 2:1-11

I know most of us are probably pretty familiar with these verses. But my prayer for you this morning is this... that you would read these verses as if it was the first time in your life that you had ever heard them. Read the truth in these verses, and don't let the importance be lost to familiarity. Especially when it talks of Christ's attitude towards His role in the Father's plan.

How often do we feel like we are being "under-used" by God in our current position? That we have more potential, if only we could do "this thing," instead of serving where we are already at?

Jesus Christ, God in flesh, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped or attained, but rather HUMBLED HIMSELF. Does anyone else think that, since Jesus humbled Himself, perhaps we should learn to be humble as well???

How often do we, with or without intention, struggle for equality with God? Think about it... when we try to tell God that we would be better off serving somewhere other than where He has placed us, what are we saying? Essentially we're saying, "God, I know You put me here, but I think (implying that we somehow know better than God) that I would be more effective if I was serving over there."

Christ became obedient to the point of death! We have a hard time being obedient to the point of confrontation! Good grief! Am I saying this to condemn you? No! I am condemning myself just as much as I might be condemning anyone else. But we have Christ as a model. We are not condemned, even in our feeble attempts for power, because we have a patient Father and a faithful Intercessor, through Christ Jesus. Am I saying that we can stay in this state of mind? Again, No! We MUST model Christ! I am preaching to myself as much as to anyone else! I struggle daily with either modeling Christ, or making my own path.

What happens when we make our own paths, though? We lose our joy. We become frustrated. We make idols of our goals, instead of seeing the will of the Father, which is to bring glory to Him. We are, again perhaps un-intentionally, struggling to bring glory to ourselves through self-accomplishment.

Now... when we are working under the humility of the cross... it is impossible to lose sight of WHO receives the glory. It is impossible to be dissatisfied with our service, when we are serving because of the joy we have in our salvation. It is impossible to be proud of our accomplishments when we remember that our righteous acts are as filthy rags... our greatest works cannot save us. We come, humbly, because our Savior drug us from the pit...

My prayer for you, today, is that these words would fall afresh on your heart. That you would read and re-read them... They speak of the Body of believers, working together, and of Christ's example to us. Most importantly, they speak of the victory of Christ and of His glory. They prophesy of our worship of Him, and they tell of the future acknowledgment, by every single soul, that He is in fact LORD of all!

Grace and Peace, dear Friends!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

"Watch Over Your Heart"

2009-03-05T06:37:00.002-06:00

"Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." - Proverbs 4:23

You know... I've failed miserably at following this verses instruction...
Have you ever let something play such a large part in your life and then had it taken away from you? I have! I'm guilty of not watching over my heart "with all diligence!" I've let other things be my ultimate concern... other people...

So, why is this such an important concept, to guard our hearts? First, because they should be devoted to God, above all else. Second, because our joy is crippled when we put our trust in the things of this fallen world.

Friends... I never seem to learn this stuff fast enough... It seems like I always begin to understand the concept once I'm already wallowing in the results of my mistakes. Why is that? Is God such a cruel Father that He would cause us to come crawling to Him before He forgives us and receives us into His arms? NO! On the contrary, WE are such fallen beings, such prideful beings, that we do not listen to the instructions that He has given us. God has already given us all of the warnings, all of the instructions, all of the keys to a life of joy and peace... we just don't listen!

Why don't we listen? I'll tell you why I don't listen... it's usually because I settle for the here-and-now, easy solution to my desires. When I'm lonely, I look to friends and entertainment, rather than the Creator of my very being, for comfort! How insane is that??? Instead of the One who wired me with all of my desires, knowing that He would be enough to fulfill all of my needs (Psalm 23), I turn to that oh-so-fallible thing or person who has just as many faults as me. Where is the logic in that???

Here's the truth... I struggle, sometimes, with acceptance. I long to be accepted by people... I desire to be a part of something bigger than myself. But for whatever reason, I overlook the fact that God is the ultimate fulfillment of "something bigger!" What kind of club or circle of friends could I join in on that could ever be anywhere near as big as being a part of God's redemptive plan for this world??? Come on people! Answer that question for yourselves, today! What is God calling you to do? In what way can you be a part of the biggest "something bigger" that has EVER been?

God has given each of us, me and you, our own spiritual gifts, which we are to use to bring Him glory. Now... this brings us back to Proverbs 4...

You will never have joy if you do not learn to guard your heart and make God your ultimate concern and desire. If you chase the things of this world, they will let you down. Look at the second part of verse 23 "For from [the heart] flow the springs of life." LIFE! It flows from the heart! The heart which was meant, from the very beginning of time, to belong wholly to God!

Friends, let me ask you this question, in closing... Who or what holds the keys to your heart? There is only One who is worthy or capable of this position in your life. Your husband or wife, if you are married, is not the correct answer. You should be devoted to them so deeply that you never forsake them for another... but they should never be THE ultimate love in your life... they are still fallible...
Christ is the only one who has proved Himself a trustworthy caretaker of our hearts. The Father is the only One who understands the deepest longings of our hearts... because He put them there.

With that... "Watch over your heart with all diligence..." Try to understand... it's for your GOOD. God doesn't give us these Proverbs to rob us of our joy, but to be the ultimate fulfillment of it.

If you have a need for prayer or questions about what I've said today, please... e-mail me and let me know what's going on. I don't claim to have all of the answers, but I do have Christ, and I know that when I've failed to guard my heart... others have been used by Him to point me back into His arms. It's only in the arms of Christ that you will find healing and fulfillment.

Dear Friends, this is my prayer for you... my hope.... Watch over your hearts, and have LIFE!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

A Look at Confession

2009-01-12T08:30:00.003-06:00

"How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!
"When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD'; and You forgave the guilt of my sin."
-Psalm 32:1-5

I'm still trying to digest these verses... I love the imagery that is used here:
"my body wasted away" "Your hand was heavy upon me" "my vitality was drained away"...
and then...
"You forgave the guilt of my sin"

What a concept! Just as Proverbs 3:12 states, "For whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights." The same is true of our God! He weighs heavily on our conscience when we are living in sin, and when we confess those sins to Him, He forgives the guilt of those sins. Christ's purpose, through His death on the cross, was to take our guilt upon Himself. He paid the price for our sins, and the weight of that guilt and shame was put upon His shoulders, so that we might not be condemned!

Let's look at an example from the life of Christ. Matthew 9:2-7 -
And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven." And some of the scribes said to themselves, "This fellow blasphemes." And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, "Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, and walk'? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--then He said to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your bed and go home." And he got up and went home.

Why was it such a big deal for Jesus to tell the paralytic that his sins were forgiven? I'll tell you why... because, in Jewish culture, people who were blind, diseased, or paralyzed where seen as cursed by God. It was assumed that the paralyzed man had either sinned, himself, or that his parents had sinned and that it was the cause of his paralysis.
Do you see the guilt and shame that this would cause an individual? To have everyone condemn you because of defect? This man's whole life was most likely lived in the guilt of condemnation!
This gives all the more weight and impact to Christ's words to him! "...your sins are forgiven" He was telling this man, essentially, that He no longer needed to live under the guilt of this presumed sin.
This was the reason that Christ came, not just to remove guilt, but to change lives... from the inside out! Notice how He first heals the man of guilt and sin, and then of his paralysis... It is the same with our lives. He has already paid the penalty for our sins, now He continues to work in us, to cause our appearance to be more like Him! "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)

Friends, do not keep silent about the sin in your life! Confess it to God, to Him who already knows, and repent. The blood of Christ covers our sins, and remaining in Him causes us to be more like Him and to bear good fruit. There is no need to live in the guilt of hypocrisy. Sincerity is freedom! Come... sincerely and repentantly come to the One who removes the guilt and stain of sin. Then... walk in the Shadow of the Almighty! Christ has given you the way of redemption, now walk in it!

May you "get up and walk" in the understanding of salvation today! Believe, confess, and walk in Him! Don't live your life trying to hide your flaws, but rather bring them to the cross and lay them down! Abide in Christ and bear much fruit!

Grace and Peace, dear friends!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T22:03:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Ahhh.... the time when everyone tries to do something different than the year before!
Sometimes we do a really good job of keeping our "resolutions" for the new year... other times.... not so much!

Well, one of my "resolutions" if you will, is to get better sleep! So, with that being said, I apologize for the shortness of this entry, but I will be back soon with more than a few things to talk about!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

A Prayer...

2008-12-26T22:30:00.002-06:00

Lord,

Your mercy is unfathomable...

Your grace is endless...

Your wisdom is unsearchable...

Your plans... Your plans, O Lord, are so much greater than I could ever dream! Your ways are greater, Your thoughts are higher... Nothing compares to You!

Father, as we approach a new year, let us not forget You in the hustle and bustle of life. Lord, may we instead focus more intently on You. May we rely more heavily on You. May we seek You more diligently...

Give me the strength, O God, to seek You as You deserve to be sought after! Give me a passion, O Lord, to spread Your fame as Your fame ought to be spread over this world. Birth in me a worship that never dies out, but only continues to grow and to bring you more glory, more praise, more mouths professing You as Lord! Instill in me a desire for holiness. To be more like You in word, thought and deed.

May my actions be a direct result of my life having been changed by You, and therefore be an extension of Your hand at work among this generation.

God... all of this to say, 'I love You! ... Thank You for loving me!'

Amen!

A Christmas Thought... or two

2008-12-25T23:29:00.002-06:00

Christmas... Emmanuel... God...with us...

What a concept! A child, born with the express purpose of glorifying God as nobody else ever could. With the purpose of a sacrificial death on our behalf! A life that was lived blamelessly. And today we celebrate His arrival into flesh, time, and space. The Christ, who has always been at the right hand of the Father, came down in human form to do what would have been impossible for anyone else to do...

There is no other gift that compares to eternal life... to forgiveness. We cannot give enough THINGS to ever compare to the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness towards us!

Thank you, Jesus!

Merry Christmas, dear Friends!

May God's Grace and Peace be yours in abundance!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

A Time for Reflection

2008-12-23T19:28:00.004-06:00

We're getting closer... Christmas is just two days away! Today was Christmas Eve-Eve!

I did something interesting today... I went shopping... it was interesting because of two things:

First, there were people still buying presents for Christmas! As if they didn't know it was coming and only found out a couple of days ago...

Secondly, there was a certain lack of joy... Do you know what I mean? Have you felt it, too? I feel like I'm in a musical version of 'Do You See What I See?'. There's a problem with society's perspective on life... but nobody seems to notice! Perhaps it's like some weird sci-fi movie where we're all sick and we can only see it in other people... maybe we're all sick, but don't know that we have caught what everyone else has.

What am I saying? I'll try to put it simply.... It's easy to judge others, but to think inwardly and reflect on personal thoughts and actions, intentions... this is harder to do. Not only is it harder, it's scarier, because we know there are things that we must change about ourselves. It's easy, though, to ignore our faults and instead find them in others.

Have you ever known someone who was very quick to point out the faults of others, but could never see that they had the same exact issues? This is what I'm talking about... Maybe we are noticing other people that seem to be missing the "Reason for the season," but don't realized that we too have gotten carried away with our gifts and preparations and have forgotten where our focus is supposed to be.

My challenge to you is to spend time in prayer and reading of God's Word, this week, and really focus in on the things that really matter. Spend some time just thinking about what the birth of Christ meant for you personally... Salvation was born that day!

I hope you will join me in reflecting, this season, on Christ's birth and eventual death and resurrection. The ONLY HOPE that this world has is Christ! If we cannot focus in on that fact... how can we expect to share it with others?

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

2008-12-22T08:36:00.002-06:00

Isn't it sad how we can hear a certain phrase or word all of our lives and only now begin to understand what it is actually implying? I was thinking about the phrase "led me to Christ."

When someone says, "Yeah, So-and-so led me to Christ," I used to think of someone praying with someone else, for salvation... but now... I'm not so sure I'll ever see it quite like that again.

You see, yesterday the Lord painted a picture, in my head, of someone being led to Christ. It looked something like this...

I saw, instead of a prayer, a man literally leading another man to the feet of Jesus. I saw Jesus sitting there, smiling, as the men approached Him...

This is a bit different than the old scenario I used to picture. I used to see a very church-like altar call, if you will, instead of an actual leading to the actual person of Jesus Christ. Does this make any sense? If it does, then you're one step ahead of me! I'm still digesting all of this! It's and incredible way of thinking about what happens when we are sharing the Gospel with our unsaved friends!

Consider this... that instead of "praying a prayer" being the ultimate goal of your witnessing, you are trying to show them Jesus! Christ will do the rest. He already has! He is simply using you, as a tool, to draw others to Himself.

Being a tool of salvation requires, then, that we look and sound like Jesus...
How is our speech? Does it reflect a Holy and perfect God?
How about actions? Do we demonstrate a level of self-control and love that surpasses the normal inclinations of the human heart?
What about the fruits in our lives? Are we growing good fruits and displaying a deep understanding of God's Word?

I guess I'm saying all of this just to say... Be a leader! Be a guide! Be an example! Mirror Christ in all that you say and do. Do I say this because it is easy and I've already done it? You already know the answer, "Of course not!" I say this because I understand that it is what God has designed us for and called us to do. So I'm growing right along-side of you all!

Especially in this time of year, friends, let us be as the light of that Star, from so long ago... Shine brightly, friends, to show those who are seeking the Christ, where He may be found!

Be the light, dear friends!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Lord is My Only Good!

2008-11-18T07:39:00.003-06:00

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' " Matthew 7:21-23

"Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. I said to the LORD, 'You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.' " Psalm 16:1-2

Here's a truth that we need to get ahold of... "You are my Lord; I have no good besides You." What a statement! What truth!

I tend to forget, from time to time, that I have no good except Christ. The reality is that "there is no one who does good, not even one." (Psalm 53:3) The only good thing that we possess is something that we could NEVER earn! It's amazing!

I'm kind of short on time, today... but that's okay. I just want to take some time to meditate on what it means to do "the will of My Father who is in heaven," and to realize that I have nothing to bring to God's table. He chose me... and He's the only good thing that I have! Praise be to God for my helplessness!

Friends, I hope these verses will bless you as they have blessed me!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com.

Contentment

2008-11-17T07:28:00.003-06:00

"But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content." 1 Timothy 6:6-8

"As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake." Psalm 17:15

"For He has satisfied the thirsty soul,And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good." Psalm 107:9

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Matthew 5:6

It would seem to me... from reading these verses... that we are supposed to desire the things of God. For, only through Him can we be satisfied or content. Paul tells us that godliness is great gain when it is mixed with contentment. What do you think he means by that?

Where is the gain in godliness? It's found in the attributes of God! He is faithful to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness... isn't that gain? To not be condemned to an eternity in hell? I would call that an improvement of our circumstances!

He has promised us peace when we rest in Him. Look at the world around you... all of the worries, doubts, fears... I would say that there is a great gain, even while we are here on earth, that comes from a life that is content to rest in God!

The gains of godliness do not look like the gains of the world. However, the gains of godliness hold much more value and significance than those of the world. Job said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." (Job 1:21) So, we see that we cannot take any of our monetary gain beyond the grave...

Let us look, though, at the gains of a life in Christ. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control... the fruit of the Spirit. Also, the fact that we are no longer condemned, but may rest in the assurance of Salvation and knowing that we will, one day, go to our true home!

Now... let's look at what I'm not saying! I am not saying that we mustn't ever accept or concieve to own anything that is not a bare necessity. If this were the case... I wouldn't be writing this blog right now, or else I would be a self-proclaimed hypocrite!

Yes... I do own a computer, I also play guitar and own a piano... However, I use these things, which I firmly believe that God has allowed me to have, to bring Him glory. Such should be the case with all that we "own" (or rather... that which God has blessed us with).

I do not think that the things we own, in and of themselves, are inherently evil. It's when they become our all-consuming identity and everything that we strive for... that is when we are in danger of apostasy... the turning away from our God, the very One that has blessed us with everything that we own! This is when our things become idols!

Let's look again at the verse from 1 Timothy... "If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content."(6:8). So, we see that God is calling us to contentment... with the bare essentials. If we have covering (clothes... maybe a house!) and food... with these things, we should learn to be content. The things that sustain us? No! God sustains us! The things that God knows that we need in order to survive. Jesus tells us, in Matthew 6, that our Heavenly Father is faithful to provide the things that we need.

This verse has given me plenty of things to think on, today. I'm still digesting what it means to die to myself and live for Christ! I will leave you with these thoughts, and I would encourage you to take some time and think about these verses... examine yourself... where do you keep your treasures? Here on earth? I hope not! The riches of God's glory are far more lasting!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com.

Your Gift, God's Glory!

2008-11-14T08:43:00.003-06:00

"As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." 1 Peter 4:10-11

I love that the Word of God is living and active! I'm pretty sure I've never heard this verse before... but then again I know I have! But I love how new and applicable things can become as our circumstances change! God knows exactly what we're going to need, when we're going to need it, and He gives us the exact words of comfort, encouragement or conviction that are necessary for that moment.

Peter reminds us that we've all been gifted in different ways, as Paul talks about in Romans 12, and that those gifts are to be used FOR GOD'S GLORY! "...so that in all things God may be glorified through Christ Jesus, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Yeah! I'll "Amen!" to that! What an awesome concept... and yet so fundamental. To live our lives for Christ, since He lived and died for us. Let's look again at the example of Christ. Because, to say that He lived and died for us is not the entirety of why He came. Christ came to live a life that honored and glorified God. In the process of honoring and glorifying His Father, Christ also had the purpose of being the perfect sacrifice for our sins. So, just as Christ lived with the focus of glorifying His Father, so we should live!

So... what's your gift? Are you a master of the written word? of the spoken word? of one of the arts? Are you a minister to those who are troubled in spirit? Whatever your gift is... you have been given it for a reason! God made you, who you are, for a purpose... be sure that you use your gifts wisely. Don't let the chance of being a part of the eternal pass you by because you're so caught up in how your talent/gifting can serve you for the here-and-now! Don't misunderstand me... our gifting can usually be quite a profitable opportunity for us... but we cannot think of them as such. We MUST use them to God's glory! However, look at this part of the verse again...

"...whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies..."

This can also be applied to an area in which God has put you, as an employee or employer. So, don't misunderstand me in thinking that our gifts are never to be used for our personal gain, but the FOCUS must be on bringing God ALL of the glory. If being the best employee in your entire workforce is the way that God has given you to be a witness, then go for it! Be the best employee, but at the same time... give God the glory! Be a light in your workplace and don't let the corporate ladder take more precedence in your life than reaching the lost co-workers around you.

I may have made this whole thing more confusing than it needed to be! You may have already figured this our for yourselves. However, I will continue to proclaim the goodness of my Savior and the things which He reveals to me, through His Word!

Friends, I encourage you to take hold of that gift which God has so richly blessed you with... and use it as a sacrifice of praise and honor, back to Him!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

A Quick Shout Out!

2008-11-13T12:01:00.002-06:00

Hello All!

I hope you've been having a good week! As you know, if you've been reading this blog, my week has been very helpful in re-directing my focus! I'm constantly amazed at how, even in the middle of a study, God will instantly convict me of the times that I've gotten off of the straight and narrow!

Well, today has already been a pretty full day, and we're just at the 12 o'clock marker! Today I am going to Waco with the band, Courrier, and we're going to be doing a show there. Unfortunately, with all of the things going on this morning, I haven't had a lot of time to get on here and write something. So, I will hopefully catch up on everything tomorrow morning, but I just wanted to throw out a quick shout and make sure y'all know that I'm on the way to recovery! It's been a crazy time... but God is faithful to shape me as He would have me to be!

I pray that He will continue to do the same for you!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Trunk: Our Testimony of God's Work In Us

2008-11-12T08:00:00.003-06:00

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

Did you know that Paul mentions standing firm at least twelve times in his epistles to the early churches? What better example of standing firm than that of a tree? Now that we have talked about the root issues that we face... let's look at the trunk!

The trunk is the outward assurance of what's happening under the ground. When the roots grow... the trunk is also widening and becoming stronger. In the same way, a Christian's outward influence should become stronger and more sturdy (more noticeable, if you will), as he or she continues to root themselves in the rich soil of the Scriptures.
We need to become a noticeable figure on the landscape of morality, today. There are so many "scrub-brush" type people out there... the type who lack depth and leech the soil of nutrients, but do not provide any sustenance for others. Their goal is one and the same, to hoard for themselves all that the earth might offer them. There is no return or thanksgiving for what they've received.
A strong, sturdy tree, however, gives shade and yields its fruit to those who would pass by. Let's look at the call, through our actions, of a Christian... as portrayed by a tree. "Come, rest in the Shadow of the Almighty, Who lives inside of me. I am but a mirror of the peace and rest that He gives to those who trust in Him! So rest... lay down your burdens and be revived! Here! Taste the fruits of a life lived for Christ! The fruit that is produced here is good. It satisfies and does not leave you desiring other things."

The Tree of Life, which is Christ, is a strong and mighty tree! He provides His shade, which protects us from the scorching and withering heat of the sun. His fruit is more satisfying than any other food! When you taste of the "Bread of Life" He has said that we will not hunger again! Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of our every need and desire.

Does this mean that we will be invincible against the cries of the flesh? No! As I have admitted to you, the things of this world will still weigh heavily against you. However, you will always end up without complete satisfaction, anytime you eat of the fruits of this world. What the world has to offer only satisfies for the moment, but Christ is the ever-satisfying sustenance that we need.

Back to the issues of the trunk! (I am King of rabbit trails!) A good, broad trunk defies the storms of life. The mighty oak is a symbol of strength, fortitude and unshaken character. Such should be the influence of the Christian... at work, at school, at home, at our friends house.... the list goes on and on! Our neighbors ought to see our "trunk" of faith and have no doubt about its sturdiness. Such should our witness be, that all who would see our countenance in the face of adversity would marvel at the confidence which we display.
Okay... that was kinda wordy... let me rephrase that in everyday-speak! Our lives should show a confidence in God that is so great that, even in times of hardship, we do not falter in our walk... The result of this being that others would wonder what makes us so strong.

Let us strive to have trunks that do not bend in the winds of adversity, but that stand strong in the face of the most punishing persecutions that we might face. Friends! Be trees that boast greatly of God's glory and power in your lives! Remember... the oak itself comes from a tiny acorn, which is easily crushed under foot. It is only by the will and direction of God that it rises to its fullest potential! So are we, as the beloved children of God! He has chosen us, His acorns, to rise as mighty monuments and testimonies of His power in our lives! Do not presume that this is a feat that we might accomplish aside from the grace and allowance of an all-powerful Creator. We are testimonies of His work... we must not seek our own glory in any of these things. For, just as easily as God allows us to rise, He can topple the mightiest of trees with but a word from His lips!

Friends, live to the glory of God! This is my only command, my only plea! I say this as one who is also having to, daily, sacrifice my idols before the King of Glory!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

More on Roots...

2008-11-11T07:34:00.002-06:00

Okay... I took a good deal of time, yesterday, to examine my roots and I am very disappointed in what I've found.

When I actually began to look at my life, who I believe myself to be, I was startled to find how shallow my roots really are! I was ashamed... my confidence and my happiness have been determined, in these past several months, by my own abilities and accomplishments. As I delved deeper into my own heart, I found an uncertainty there. There was a whispering voice, telling me that music was my only chance of success or acceptance... my only chance of being needed by anyone.

Okay, so here's a disclaimer... I am not the greatest musician in the world, but I do love music. Unfortunately I have just realized to what an unhealthy extent my love for music has reached! I have measured my worth by my abilities as a musician and a singer... what sorrow! I am poorly lacking as a skilled musician, and my voice does not have an incredible range. However, this is not the issue at hand.

The issue at hand is this... What I once used for the glory of God, I have now made my idol! Friends, this is no easy admittance! Do you think I want people to know that music has meant the world to me, and that when people seemed either passive or disinterested I felt that it was a personal attack on me? I am admiting to you my fears and my failures as an example of what a Christian ought to be. I was seeking to be fulfilled in something other than Christ.... what a futile effort! I ought to have seen this sooner...

I admit all of this to you in order that you might see my roots... I know that there are deeper roots in my life, but I have been drawing all of my sustenance from these, more shallow, surface roots. So, I now have a task before me... I must lay down my music, which I have allowed to become my primary, and once again delve deep into the rich soil of God's Word... of understanding exactly who He is to me... I need to re-discover my first love. For, if I continue on in my search of fulfillment through the things of this world, I will only come up short-handed in the end!

Where are your roots, Christian? Are you drinking deep of the Father's love and are you being satisfied, completely, in Him? Or are you struggling as well? There is no shame in struggling against our flesh... it's when we succumb and no longer resist the flesh... that is where we get ourselves into trouble!

Unfortunately... I'm going to be late for work if I don't get moving! I would ask you to pray for me... that I might rediscover my worth, which is truly in Christ! I would also ask that you take some time to examine yourself... where are you drawing your fulfillment from?

Please, feel free to share with me, via e-mail or a comment on here, about how you're doing. I'm always encouraged to see what God is revealing to His children!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Some Thoughts on Roots...

2008-11-10T11:49:00.003-06:00

"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers." Psalm 1:1-3

Okay, so maybe this verse spoke to me because of the plant illustration... but it is a very good example of what happens when we follow God's commands in Scripture. In case you don't know this about me... I work at a garden center, and I am always pleased when there is a plant-to-life illustration involved in a verse! Like when Jesus talks about us being branches on the Vine, which is Christ, and the Father being the Vinedresser.

This verse (Psalm 1) is a prime example of such an illustration. A firm believer being compared to a tree... what do you think of when you think "tree"? I think of a firm-standing trunk, but not only that... I think of the massive root-system that is under the ground. The roots are drinking in water and nutrients through the soil in which the tree is firmly planted!

Look again at verse 2... "But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night." Here's where our roots come into the picture. Plant your mind the Word of God! Do not allow yourself to worry about tomorrow, or the cares that this world calls our "top priority," but rather dwell on the promises and commands that we have been given by Almighty God! (Matt. 6:25-34)

Too often I catch myself worried about the things that the world tells me should be my primary concerns in life... a good paying job, a nice car, a big house, entertainment, etc...

Especially in the area of entertainment... we live in a society that says, "entertainment is everything!" If we are not constantly being entertained, we feel as though something is missing or wrong with us. That is, actually, correct! We were never promised, nor can we ever achieve, complete satisfaction in entertainment or the things of this world.

However, I still find myself struggling with "boredom," that illusion that says, "I need to always be busy with something or else I am not fulfilled." I ought to be completely fulfilled in Christ!

Back to my original point... plant your mind, firmly, in the Word of God, SO THAT you will not be torn away from it in times of trial.

Have you ever tried to tackle a tree that is well-seasoned? How does it respond to your attack on it's structure? No, I'm not talking about a newly planted sapling here... we're talking about the tree that has been firmly rooted for quite some time... a trunk of at least 8 inches in diameter. Go ahead... run at it! Give it all you've got! Unfortunately... all you've got is probably nowhere near what it would take to uproot the tree.

In the same way, you too should be planted firmly in the understanding of the Scriptures, so that you are not easily uprooted.

We will examine the other parts of this Psalm, in greater detail, in the next few days... for now...

take some stock of your "roots." How deeply are you planted? Are you constantly expanding your understanding of Scripture and of Christ? Bury yourself deep within His Word, and you will not easily be torn from it.

Let's focus on the development of our roots... without good roots we are susceptible to disease and drought... these things will prove fatal to the shallow tree, as well as to the shallow-faithed Christian.

With these thoughts, I leave you.

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

2008-11-08T18:03:00.003-06:00

Howdy, Folks!

Okay... so, I've been pretty bad about posting things on here, ever since we finished the Fruit of the Spirit study. However, I'm going to begin blogging again on Monday, November 10th!

Now! Here's where YOU come in to the picture... if I don't post... I would like you to bombard my e-mail! That's right! Don't let me get away with procrastination and sleeping-in anymore! If you can help me to stay accountable, I would very much appreciate it!

So, here's to a new beginning, with no agenda and a "who-knows-what-we're-studying today" sort of format!

I'll "see" you all on Monday!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments (or keeping me accountable) e-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Thoughts on Hypocrisy

2008-10-21T07:25:00.003-05:00

"The opposite of sincerity is hypocrisy, a lie with an attractive cover." -William Gurnall, "The Christian In Complete Armour" Vol. 2

"A lie with an attractive cover." Have you ever had one of those moments? Have you ever caught yourself outside of sincerity's graces? I have! It's very easy to become a "churchy" Christian, and to give all of the right answers. We speak "Sunday School" very fluently, yet our hearts do not understand or believe the incredible things that our lips are proclaiming!

Hypocrisy, my friends! I present to you the number-one threat to the avid church-goer's relationship with Christ. Being an "avid church-goer," so to speak, becomes dangerous when we hear truths over and over, but they no longer impact us. We become familiar with all of the right answers and all of the right things to say in response to others, but we do not ever truly allow what we have heard to enter into our hearts and change the wickedness that is inherently there.

This is a dangerous place to be! How do we change it? How do we learn to be more sincere in our faith???
These questions and many others have been going through my head this morning! It has caused me to examine my life and ask the question, "Do I really believe what I'm saying?" Do I believe what I say when I pray to the God of heaven? Do I believe that there really is a God in heaven? How much do I actually believe that Christ ACTUALLY DIED and became THE ransom for my sins?
Do I believe these things to the point of such conviction that I cannot escape the truths that they bear? That I do not chance hypocrisy when I speak in a group of fellow believers?
"...for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13) Paul shows us, in this verse, that even our will to do good comes from God.
So, our safest escape from hypocrisy is through times spent in prayer before our Maker. Plead and ask the God of Heaven to show you His truth! Ask Him to help you to believe the things that you read in Scripture. Ask Him to help you to understand and believe in the saving work of Christ's death on the cross, on your behalf. Ask God to make Himself real to you. When you have a sincerity of heart, a sincerity of mind, and sincerity is on your lips... hypocrisy will have no foothold in your Christian walk.

I would love to hear your input on this subject of hypocrisy. Please e-mail me with any questions or comments at afflquestions@yahoo.com .
Grace and Peace!

Contentment...

2008-09-29T09:13:00.004-05:00

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." - 1 Timothy 6:6-10

Godliness with contentment! How hard it is, sometimes, to live in contentment with what God has seen fit to bless us with!

I know that I am too often concerned with what I want, rather than the blessings that God has already given me. To be truly satisfied in all that God gives us we must first expect nothing from Him. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us... that should be enough. He says that He takes care of the lilies of the field... how much more will He take care of us?

The difference with "being taken care of" and "getting what we want" is so stark a contrast that these two should never cross each other in our minds. Our desires and our needs should never be confused when it comes to God's promise to provide for us. Remember... we are not here to be served, but to serve... just as Christ served.

The love of money has brought many churches to a place of complete ineffectiveness. We must strive to be content with what God has blessed us with! I must learn to be content, you must learn to be content! If we do not grasp this concept then we will be focused completely in the wrong direction. We must learn to fix our eyes on the things above, and to not worry about what tomorrow will bring. (Matt. 6) If we are more concerned with money than we are about our relationship with Christ.... we need to do a serious overhaul on our hearts...

Well... I'm curious... Does anyone else have any insight on these verses? I know that this passage spoke to me this morning, because lately I've been very "financially minded" and it has been a consuming line of thought for me. I need to re-center my attention to where it needs to be... on Christ! I need to be content with what I have... and thank God, daily, for providing the very air that I breathe!

That's all I have for now!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

An Over-Due Entry... sorry...

2008-09-25T21:41:00.002-05:00

Hey Guys! Sorry it's been a little while since I've posted anything on here... I've uhhh... really got no reasonable excuse. Sorry...

Here's an e-mail I sent out on Wed. morning... these verses really spoke to me and I hope they'll do the same for you!

___________________________________________________________________

Hey there!

I was just doing my devotions this morning and found something... er... "re-discovered" something that I couldn't help but share with everybody! It is true that the Word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword! Do you believe that? I do!

Here's what I read...

Proverbs 3:3-8

"Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones."

I'm pretty sure we are all quite familiar with these verses... at least the few in the middle. Who doesn't know Proverbs 3:5-6, right? But what I did this morning was actually pray through each part of these verses and claim the truths of God and His sovereign will over my life as I read them.

So, look again at the amazing concepts presented in this passage...

"Do not let kindness and truth leave you... write them on the tablet of your heart." Kindness and truth should be the everyday practice of a follower of Christ... which means that we should live, every single day, in the kindness and truth that we see modeled in Christ Jesus. It should be inscribed on our hearts and embedded so deeply in our souls that it is second nature to us. The end goal of this is "...favor and good repute in the sight of God and man." Obviously God is the most important one that we please, but a good reputation with those around us is also important in our attempt to be a light to those who do not know Christ.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart..." Try praying this... it's awesome!!! I'll admit it was scary at first, because I have put my trust in so many other things... but saying to God, "Lord, I want to trust You! I want to trust You with ALL of my heart! I don't want to just say it, I want to live it!" This has revived, in me, a desire to truly trust Him with everything...

"...do not lean on your own understanding..." This one is hard to do sometimes... I know I like to base my decisions on what I KNOW for a fact that I can accomplish. But this is a continuation of the previous thought, we are to trust God so fully that we abandon our finite and puny understanding in order to embrace the fuller and richer plans of Creator God! Don't try to live life according to the "knowledge" or "wisdom" that you already have or that the world has to offer... don't let your own "understanding" hinder you from doing the will of God. Trust that He will lead you, but don't get ahead of Him either...

"In all your ways acknowledge Him..." This one got me! I started re-praying over the areas that we just covered... I started acknowledging His control over my life. I started to acknowledge His plans for my life and my lack of understanding... Basically, we need to come to terms with the fact that God is in control... Acknowledge Him in ALL your ways and...

"...He will make your paths straight." Yeah... at this point I kinda started that laugh/cry thing where the truths of God hit you so hard you can't figure out exactly what you're supposed to do about it! I couldn't get over these words... let's dissect it a little further.
"HE will make your paths straight." God Himself will straighten out our broken and twisted paths... amazing!
"He WILL make your paths straight." His promises are never made lightly. He has said that He WILL make our paths straight! God is always faithful to His word! Praise God that He will never leave us nor forsake us! (Even though it sometimes hurts when God keeps His promises.)
"He will make your paths STRAIGHT." O how broken and beaten down are the paths of our lives, sometimes! I know mine have been crooked and unfocused lately... Here is where the verse hit me... just understanding that God will, in fact, straighten out my broken and misdirected life! By misdirected I mean that I have been chasing after all the wrong things... pursuing my plans, instead of trusting the Lord with all of my heart... and I had been leaning on my own understanding. But God... I love those two words together! But God has promised that He will take our broken and messed up lives and He will make us new... He will make our paths straight again! The passage goes on to say that it will bring healing to our bodies and refreshment to our bones! O to trust our God, to fear Him and turn away from evil... this is the life that we are called to. And in return we are told that God will guide our steps... that He will, lovingly, make our paths straight and take care of us. If we will only learn to trust Him and be satisfied in Him, He will make our paths straight, He will heal us of our brokenness and will bring rest to our weary souls. Christ once said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28) Trust God completely with ALL of your life... lean into the grace and mercy of Christ, and rest there.

I think that is what impacted me the most with these verses... is that I have not had rest in a long time! I have been weary... and I have been leaning on my own understanding. If this is you as well, then I urge you to lean into the goodness of our Savior and to trust Him with your burdens.

Well, that's it! I hope this passage will bless you as it has blessed me!

Grace and Peace!

Let's Be World-Changers!

2008-09-22T08:04:00.002-05:00

Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations." Then I said, "Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, because I am a youth." But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am a youth,' because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you," declares the LORD.
Then the LORD stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant." Jeremiah 1:4-10

This passage has been on my heart for a few years now... I'm praying about and examining the possiblities of becoming a youth minister, traveling from church to church with a message to our youth. Friends please pray for me, pray that God would reveal His will for my life.

Take a look at your own life for a second... You too have been appointed as a prophet to the nations! We are all called to minister to the city in which we live... to our neighborhoods... we are the prophets who were called out of mediocrity and into the grander plans of our Creator! God is inviting YOU to be a part of something huge!!!

Are you perhaps struggling with the same issues as Jeremiah? Do you feel under-equipped? Do you feel afraid? Just as Paul told Timothy, "Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example to those who believe." (1 Timothy 4:12) Be the Christian, NOW, that you are meant to be. Don't wait until after school... after college... after you get that good-paying job... NOW is the time to be the living, breathing example of God's work in your life.

Be a prophet to the nations! Don't sit back and watch the decay around you.... STAND! Stand and make a difference. We are the next generation of Christian leaders... or not! Will we fall? Will we lose so much ground that our children can barely pick things back up again? May it never be! May we never lose sight of our mission... to go and preach the Gospel to all peoples in every nation on earth! Be a light, wherever you are... don't think that you have to go to a remote village in Africa in order to be a missionary. It starts in your schools, in your workplace... wherever you are RIGHT NOW. This is your mission field... be the LIGHT!

This is the message that I want to spread to the youth around me! This is what God has laid on my heart. His Word has spoken mightily into my life, through the book of Jeremiah, and has convicted me of stagnancy. I want to make a difference... I want to make a difference!

Will you join me? Join me in prayer, join me in studying God's Word, join me in reaching out to those whom we come into contact with... let's be world-changers!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

9 Weeks Later...

2008-09-19T07:10:00.002-05:00

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." -Galatians 5:1

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh." -Galatians 5:16

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." Galatians 5:22-25

"Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." 2 Timothy 2:22

Friends, it was these verses that spurred me on to start this study... and today marks NINE WEEKS of studying Scriptures that call us to be the men and women that God intended for us to be. I still feel weak, and I still feel small... but I am going to keep going! I'm going to press forward and continue to study God's Word daily. I will strive to understand, more deeply, what God's will is for my life, by following His commands.

I hope this study has been a blessing to you... it has been an eye-opener, for me, to the things that I need to change in life. I hope that you will continue to study the fruit of the Spirit, on your own, and possibly continue to visit this blog and see what God's doing in my life and showing me through Scriptures. I don't know if I will continue to blog every morning during the week or not, but I will try to keep it as consistent as possible.

Friends, go in the Grace and Peace of God! Be a light to the world, and shine in the darkest of places! Practice love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...

As a finishing remark... notice how much these fruits overlap sometimes. Love is the beginning of each of the other fruits! Self-control is a culmination of love, peace, patience and gentleness! Kindness is an outward sign of love and inner peace... it speaks of the goodness that is in your life. Faithfulness is born out of love and patience... self-control can have a whole lot to do with your faithfulness as well! We must learn to develop ALL of these fruits in our lives; some of them are non-existent without the others.

So, may all of the fruits of the Spirit be yours in abundance! And may the world be changed, it's view shifted, by the example that you are of godly behavior... of Christ-likeness! Friends, that's all I have! Again, strive on for godliness... don't let the world bring you down because of the difficulties that may arise as a follower of Christ. I will continue to keep my blog e-mail and I will be checking it regularly, so you can e-mail me if you need any encouragement or advice about anything! Now... Go! Change the World!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

2008-09-18T08:24:00.002-05:00

"Like a city that is broken into and without walls, is a man who has no control over his spirit." Proverbs 25:28

"and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." -Ephesians 4:24

Put on the new self! New... does this strike a chord with anyone else? For me... it's a great relief to know that I can put on the NEW self... instead of trying to patch up the old one! We were dead in our transgressions and sins, but we have been made alive through Christ. We are a new creation in Christ Jesus. This means that, no matter what we've done, there is forgiveness and newness of life when we come to Christ.

The new self is supposed to be one of righteousness and holiness, a life that glorifies God in every aspect. So... self-control... glorifying God. These things go hand in hand. I cannot be an effective example of Christ without self control. Look again at what Proverbs says, "Like a city that is broken into and without walls, is a man who has no control over his spirit." A city without walls cannot defend itself against an attack by the enemy. In the same way, I cannot defend myself against the desires of the flesh (anger, swearing, harsh words of criticism, etc...) without the Armor of God.

Friends, truly the armor that God gives us is our best defense against an un-controlled temper. The helmet of Salvation, the breastplate of Righteousness, the belt of Truth, the feet prepared with the Gospel of Peace, the shield of Faith, and the Sword of the Spirit. Let's look at these things individually:

The helmet protects our head... our minds... from being fed lies by those who would seek to question our faith and our salvation. The helmet redirects and blocks against these doubts and fears that would otherwise penetrate to our minds. Put on the helmet of Salvation!

The breastplate guards our heart... our vital organs... what causes us to function properly and effectively. Righteousness is the same guard against us becoming ineffective and having our hearts filled with sin. Righteousness is basically an intentional lifestyle that glorifies God.

Belts are typically used to support what we are wearing... the belt of truth is essential in supporting our faith in Christ. "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32. Not only does the truth set us free, but it holds up and supports our faith. Truth is also essential, because we can very easily take Scripture out of context if we are not seeking truth for the sake of truth. If we are trying to make Scripture fit our agenda, then we are not applying the belt of truth to our warfare and we WILL fail. Seek truth in your times of studying God's Word.

Feet represent movement... advancement. Feet prepared with the Gospel of Peace are the feet that will advance the Gospel message to the furthest parts of the earth. Know the message of the Gospel of Peace... "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." John 3:17. "...but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence..." 1 Peter 3:15.

Shields are used for defense against the blows of the enemy. When we are engaging the world in combat (or basically living everyday life), we will encounter opposition by those whom we come into contact with who do not agree with us. The conflict we find there can potentially cripple us, if we don't know how to defend our position... Faith is our shield... faith is our defense. Don't leave home without it!

The Sword is for battle... our only weapon of destruction that is mentioned. "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 2:16-17. It equips us to reprove others... to correct. It is our offensive weapon, used for the revealing of sins... the conquering of sins. The Word of God cuts through our misconceptions and fears, our doubts and our unrighteousness... it brings healing. Just as a skillful physician cuts away at the disease within our bodies, so the Word of God cuts away at our sinful pride and arrogance. The Sword is our effective offensive for advancing the Gospel.

I'm sorry if that was somewhat of a large tangent to take... But it's important that we understand the roles that this armor plays in our lives. We will not learn to be self-controlled on our own. We will need to search the Scriptures... we will need to get on our faces and beg God to deal with our impatience, with our lack of self-control, with our sinful tendencies...

Another helpful tool in self-control is Scripture memory. Memorize the verses that will help you in your defense against the areas you struggle with. You can usually find applicable verse by either looking them up in a concordance, or an online Bible... I use biblegateway.com for a lot of my studying by topic. If you have problems dealing with anger... type in "anger" and start reading what the Scriptures say about dealing with anger and about it's destructive tendencies... Memorize the verses that stick out to you about controlling your anger.
This is obviously just one example... no matter what your problem is, look through the Scriptures to find comfort and direction on dealing with it.

Memorizing Scripture is extremely effective for self-control because the verses will come to mind when you are tempted to lose control.

So, today's lesson in a nut-shell... Memorize God's Word and apply the Armor of God to your everyday life. This is your most effective tool in becoming a self-controlled and obedient child of the Most High God.
Wow! So simple, and yet expanded to take up a sizable amount of the screen. Not to mention to provide a bit more insight and direction!

Friends, may the Armor of God be yours, may His Word never cease to be written upon your hearts! Memorize His promises and instructions, that you may LIVE!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

My Yesterday Story... about Self-Control

2008-09-17T06:51:00.003-05:00

"For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict." -Titus 1:7-9

....I feel ridiculous... I think God actually took me seriously, yesterday, when I asked Him to help me with self-control! And yes, I failed miserably... I was bombarded with opportunities to exercise self-control... but it seems like everything that occurred, yesterday, affected me much more strongly than usual. For no apparent reason, every little thing that happened was magnified, in my mind, about a thousand times. I finally realized this... at about 6:30... right before we were going to our prayer meeting.... Yeah... nothing says "Call me a hypocrite!" like walking into a prayer meeting after having the most un-self-controlled day, after spending the first hour and a half in that morning blogging on self-control!!!

You know... the amazing thing about walking into a prayer meeting with that mentality, though... I was humbled. I was ready to hear what God had to say. When we are at the end of ourselves is when God is able to work in us. It's almost like He says, "Oh, good! You're done trying to figure things out on your own! Now I'll show you how I am going to do it!"

All of that to say... It's time to stop pretending I/we can do this on our own! I need GOD to do a work in me... YOU need GOD to do a work in you... We cannot do this on our own! We are too weak, in our own strength, to fight the battles that God has for us. We cannot ignore the spiritual battles that take place within us! They are real and they are taking place in our lives, daily! My day, yesterday, was filled with inward conflict... the desires of the flesh, the desires of my heart, the desires and commands of God... everything was warring within me. Friends, I stupidly tried to handle it all on my own... what a failure of a day!

I'm sharing this with you, because maybe you had a day similar to mine. Maybe you asked God to show you where you need to work on self-control... and what I found was that I didn't really have a very good grasp on self-control at all! Yesterday was somewhere around the worst day that I've had, as far as an attitude goes, in months! I haven't had such a bad day in quite a while... Why do you think that is? Because I was being made aware of my current position in self-control! I was being shown my "red dot" on the map. You know... the "You are HERE!" dot that shows you where you are in a large building. What I found out was that I was about as far from my destination as I could possibly get! It was like looking at a map, at a kiosk, and seeing your red dot, right at the edge of the building that you just walked into... then you realize that your destination is on the exact opposite side of the building! You didn't realize how far you were from your goal! I certainly didn't realize how far I have to go...

Friends, I'm hoping to have a much more God-directed day, today. I would encourage you to pray for God's help again... if you failed half as much as I did yesterday... pray that God would now take control of the situation and help you to be peaceable, and self-controlled. Admit to God that you cannot do this on your own. It's hard to say, "God I have no idea what I'm doing!", but it sure does open us up to His will and His plan for our lives. Be honest with yourself, before God, about your current standings in self-control... Admit your "red dot" to God, and ask Him to help you get to the other side.

That's about all I have for today. I just wanted to share with you that it really does work when you ask God to show you things that need change in your life. He is faithful! I will say it again and again! Remember, though, that there is also forgiveness of sins and failures... He is faithful there too!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Self-Control

2008-09-16T06:46:00.002-05:00

"Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love." -2 Peter 1:5-7

Self-Control - Control or restraint of oneself or one's actions, feelings, etc...
Syn. : calmness, composure, discipline
(Dictionary.com/Thesaurus.com)

"Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness." -Romans 8:8-10

"So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled." -1 Thessalonians 5:6

"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.' " -1 Peter 1:13-16

"Be self-controlled!" Notice that it doesn't say, "Try to be self-controlled." No, this is a command, given as an imperative. We MUST learn to be self-controlled. This is not an option in a Christian's life. In order to effectively model the life of Christ and to be a strong witness we cannot be tempermental time-bombs. What do I mean by this?

Self-control is a very broad term and covers many aspects of the human life... we are taught, from a very young age, that we must have self-control (or patience) when we are hungry... we must wait for our food. We are also taught early on that we mustn't throw temper tantrums when we don't get our way... we must learn to deal with adversity in a mature manner.

However, when we get to our later years in life, we seem to forget about a lot of these concepts... we become impatient and testy when the traffic doesn't move quickly enough (oooooooooh, did I get you there?), we are quite tempted to utilize that ingenious invention of the car-horn, or to simply mutter under our breath about the lunacy of the incompetent drivers all around us... For some of us though, our tempers are most often tested in one of two places... maybe both: the workplace, or the home. The high-stress environment of work causes many of us to display very ungodly behaviors that do not coinside with our claims to Christianity, and the way we react to situations at home leave us feeling like complete hypocrites... Why?

A very simple, and yet complex, concept... Self-control has very little to do with you! Self-control has more to do with allowing God to take control of the areas in your life in which you fail the most. Our tempers, for example can be most easily controlled when we take them to God and ask that He would help us in these areas. However, do not expect to suddenly have self-control... No, most likely God will give you many many opportunities to exercise self-control. God is quite good at answering our prayers of improvement in the areas of fruit, but not in the ways that we would hope... He allows circumstances to arise in which we are tested... and from these circumstances we learn what it means to have self-control. Again, the best thing you can do is pray... pray that, in the situations that arise, God would remind you that they are opportunities for growth, and that you would see them as such.

We're going to dive much deeper into this in the next few days... For now, though, I would like you to examine yourselves and pray and ask God to show you the areas in which you need to develop self-control. If you have any specific areas you need to work on, be aware of opportunities for growth... God is faithful, and He will give you the chance to grow in these areas.
Also, know that I am right there along side of you... I'm praying too, that God would help me to be a more self-controlled person. Friends, I will admit to you, right here and now, that I struggle with self-control in many areas. I am a very tempermental person sometimes, and it disgusts me to think that I would say one thing and do another. I will be running right there with you, striving to gain a better understanding of this concept of self-control... which, if you haven't noticed, may also require a little bit of a review on patience! It's amazing how tied-together these fruits are...

Friends, pray that God will show you the areas that you do not have very good self-control in... and be ready for whatever occasions might arise for you to grow in those areas. They will come!
Until tomorrow...

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

An Aside: On Darkness and Deliverance

2008-09-15T06:34:00.006-05:00

"Turn Your footsteps toward the perpetual ruins; the enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary." -Psalm 74:3

"Save me, O God, for the waters have threatened my life. I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; My eyes fail while I wait for my God." -Psalm 69:1-3

I didn't intend to deviate from the study of self-control, this morning, but I wanted to share something that the Lord has been showing me lately...

I have been going through some difficult times, this past week/weekend, and I have sunk deeper and deeper inside of myself. There is no darkness deeper and more attractive than that of self-pity... it is a cancer that eats away at your soul. I had allowed this darkness to creep in and eat away at the damaged areas of my soul. By damaged I mean, those areas that I have not trusted God with. There are several of these areas in which I was allowing myself to be swallowed by the enormousness of my troubles. They still cause pain, even now, when I dwell on them...

I have been reminded, though, of God's faithfulness. Thanks to the incredible wisdom from an unexpected source, whom I hold in highest esteem, I was reminded of the need to give everything over to God... to let go. And I was holding on! I was holding on tight, not willing to let go of the things that I loved, but that were destroying me from the inside out!

These Psalms that I have listed... they are truly the cry of my heart, right now! "I am sinking, but God! Hold me up! I can't do it without You... Turn Your footsteps toward the perpetual ruins that are my soul... my sins have damaged everything within this sanctuary. I need Your restoring power in my life... Your healing power, O God. I need You to be my All-in-All, Father..."

Have you been here before? Are you in this place right now? What darkness is eating away at your soul? Why? What steps do you need to take in order to fight this soul-eating cancer from within you? Friends, self-pity is a dangerous thing... it nearly took me last night... again, I'm so grateful for the wisdom of my friend! God puts people in our lives for a reason! Who is the voice of reason in your life? Who can help you fight the darkness that you are facing? The obvious and most reliable person is Jesus Christ, but I mean someone physically here on earth, that you could talk to and ask question. Find someone you can trust, and ask them to help you find the light again! Seek the light of day, the light of Jesus Christ, once more within yourself. Don't live in the darkness... nothing good can come of it.

I, personally, am going to be on a long road to recovery... I'm sure of it. There is no easy way out of this one! The day is practically just beginning, and yet I must already fall on my face and ask God to be my number one! I must, DAILY, call upon the Lord to be my first and foremost concern, to be my strength... to be my Healer. "O God, please hear the cries of my heart!"

Friends, I hope you believe me when I say that I am in absolute sincerity in my need for prayer, right now! I am crawling towards the light, but my tendencies are to slip back into darkness... I'm fighting this battle with all of my strength, but my strength alone is not enough! I need the strength of El-Shaddai, God Almighty!

If you are sinking in darkness, I beg you, cling to El-Shaddai! Cry out to God! Literally, cry out to Him! I took a drive, last night, and audibly cried out my frustrations and needs to God. Cry out to Him... Again, I would also encourage you to find someone, a godly influence in your life, and share your troubles with them. Seek godly counsel. I was amazed! I was just venting my frustrations to a person younger than me... and God spoke through her to bring me back to Himself! I felt like a child... but I was also acting like a child! Sometimes, though, we have to admit that we feel like a child... we are scared, frustrated, confused and don't know what to do. We need someone else to be our voice of reason. I certainly did!

Well, I hope this has encouraged you... to know that you're not the only one who goes through these struggles. I may not go through the exact same things as you, but there is someone who has... find that person and ask them to help you fight this fight. We need mentors... we need trainers in the battles of life. We were never meant to walk through life, all by ourselves, and figure out everything on our own. We are supposed to seek godly counsel.

Friends, may God be your light and your Redeemer through times of trouble. Seek His face! Don't dwell in the darkness... crawl! Run! Whatever it takes to get back to the light of Christ!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Gentleness: A Wrap-Up

2008-09-12T06:27:00.002-05:00

This has been a difficult week... I'm afraid I didn't do a very good job of providing continuous insight on gentleness each day this week. I guess that's because gentleness is still somewhat of a foreign concept to me... rarely, if ever, is gentleness seen as anything more than weakness. I have had to try and overcome this mindset that I must exhibit control of a situation by being demanding and persistent with people. I have had to look into the deeper parts of my soul and search for signs of gentleness... I don't know that there was much there, to begin with.

We are all good at being outwardly "gentle" in various situations. But are we really gentle people? Or are we putting on a good show so that we don't look bad to those we are with? Self-entitlement is so prevalent in America, or anywhere else for that matter, today that we seem to be nearly incapable of actually living out a gentle lifestyle. We are bombarded with the idea that you must have what you want, when you want it, how you want it. There is no alternative! How sad... How do we show the light of Christ in our lives when we become upset with our waitress and let her and everyone else know it? I've seen it happen... pitiful! A grown man behaving like a child because he wants to be served first!!

How do we show the light of Christ to our friends when we get upset with our brothers and sisters (husband or wife), and demand our way or berate them? What part of gentleness says that tearing people down with words is okay? I haven't seen that part... I've only seen where we are supposed to die unto ourselves...

Friends, I have a long way to go with gentleness... I am the least qualified to demonstrate this quality of the Christian life. However, I desire to change... I want to be more like the Christ that I preach! I want to be able to demonstrate all of the fruits of the Spirit to such a degree that people can't talk to me without wondering what makes me so different! And I don't want to just demonstrate them, but actually have them be a part of my everyday life, my personal life. I don't want it to be a show. I'm pretty sure God hates it when we try to set ourselves up as con-Christians. Perfect in the eyes of the church and our friends, despicable in the eyes of our families... the ones who see the person that we really are and mock what we pretend to be!

I hope that you too will desire change. I hope that you are as tired of the falseness and the dirty feeling from living a double-life. There's a certain despair that comes from this lifestyle... when we feel like we're really good at being good when we are around others, but can't seem to be good when we're with the ones we are supposed to love the most! That's because we are trying to "fix" things in our own strength! We are not giving it up to Christ, and admitting that we are failures on our own! This is the first step in becoming more like Christ... admitting that you are weak and need His help, then giving over control in these areas of your life. It's hard, but as I've said before, it's not supposed to be easy to follow Christ. That's why He calls us to take up our crosses, daily, and follow Him. We wouldn't need a cross if we didn't have things in our lives that needed crucifying, daily!

Friends, I look forward to next week... though again it is not an area that I am very well equipped in. I look forward to the convictions of what we will find. I look forward to understanding, better than I do now, what I must change in my life to be more like Christ.
Have a great weekend, and God bless!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Hurricane Ike... not gentle!

2008-09-11T07:16:00.002-05:00

My mind is overrun with the necessary preparations for the upcoming storm in Central Texas... we are supposed to be getting somewhere around 5-6 inches of rain and 50-60mph winds! So, please pray for us, but more for the people of Beaumont and East Texas that have been issued evacuation notices due to the storm.
I cannot help but wonder if these storms are forms of God's judgement on our nation because of our wickedness. And I believe that we deserve it! Yes... it is unfortunate to witness or be a part of catastrophe, but we as a nation have removed ourselves from under the protection of our God by turning to the idols of money, fame, sex, movies, entertainment... we have fallen. Does this sound too harsh to you? Trust me... we deserve a lot worse than we get, most of the time! Just because we are taught that we "deserve the best that life has to offer" doesn't mean it's true. We live in OVERABUNDANCE! We gorge ourselves on pleasure, we forget and forsake those who are in need. Yes, we deserve to be punished...
"Father, forgive us our wickedness, and turn our eyes once again towards You! We have forgotten... we have failed You... but You are faithful. Please restore us to You, as a nation, as individuals, as a people that have been blessed time and time again! We need You... God, let us not forget the calling on our lives... To serve You, and to "look after orphans and widows in their distress" for this is what You have called "pure and undefiled religion" in Your sight. Father we have rejected and forgotten those whom You have told us to bless in Your name... we have sinned in our neglect. Please give us a passion and a desire to completely abolish the hunger issues that we see around us. You can do it, Father, we have faith in You and Your ability to work through us! Lord, that we would feed the hungry, look after the sick, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit those who are in prison... for these reasons will You say to us on the day of Judgement, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' (Matthew 25:34-36)
"Lord, I want to serve You! I want to worship as You have called worship! This is my desire, Lord, to honor You with all of my heart, strength, soul, and mind. May Your words never depart from my lips, but may I be a light unto the world for all to see, at all times."
Amen

Gentleness: Restoring Others... gently

2008-09-10T07:12:00.003-05:00

"Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted." -Galatians 6:1

This one verse is probably enough for today... Here we address the issue of conflict from within a believer. Unfortunately, most of the time, this conflict then spreads outward as the situation is addressed. How do you deal with sin in a brother- or sister-in-Christ? Paul says we should do it gently... of course I don't think that he means we should be timid or fearful of addressing the situation. No, we should not fear the situation, but rather we should fear for the soul of the person that we must confront. That is why we must confront them with compassion and understanding of the struggles of sin. We, as Christians, are not exempt from being tempted, but we are called to resist temptations, however, there are those things in each of our lives that we stumble over time and time again! This is where we need someone to come along side of us and restore us with compassion, wisdom, understanding... have you had one of these kinds of people in your life?
Maybe you had trouble with anger... and someone came along side of you saying, "Hey, I know what it's like to have issues with anger, but here's how I learned to deal with it... I give it all to God. I do business with God and He does business with my anger issues."
The scenarios are limitless, of course, and I could not hope to cover everything right here and now, but I hope you get the point I'm trying to make. We need people in the church, in the workplace, at school and on the streets who can come along side those who are hurt and hurting others... those who don't have peace and are stuck in the deepest pits of life. We need people of compassion, with gentleness and understanding, wisdom and tact in speech and action...

I don't think I've ever seen a person turn their life around because someone yelled at them, "You need to get your act together! Jesus hates your sin! He hates the way that you live!!!" Now... I'm not going to rule out the fact that God is Sovereign and can use any situation for His will, but as far as typical effectiveness in restoring someone goes... it's not likely that you would have much success at changing a person's life with a speech quite like that!

We must learn to deal in gentleness in everything that we do, but especially if we are bringing someone else's sin to their attention. It must be done in love... that is ultimately what must take place. You must show them that you actually care about their well-being and their spiritual growth in Christ. You must be willing to come along side of them... to hold their hand, if necessary, and be there for them every step of the way. Provide the accountability that creates responsibility in a person. And when they fall back down, be the first to reach out and pull them back up, once again, in love! Persistence, mixed with patience... this is the gentleness of restoration that Paul talks about!

I'm afraid that's all I have for today... I hope this has stirred some ideas in you, about how to deal with those whom you might know that are living in sin. Think about ways to restore, gently, those whom you must address. And also, think about how you react when people try to tell you about something that you might be doing wrong... if they are coming to you in gentleness, search your heart for what they are saying, and seek to make any changes that might be necessary to get yourself back on track with God!

Friends, may God bless you as you continue to grow in Him!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Gentleness: Surrendering Self-Entitlement

2008-09-09T06:31:00.002-05:00

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." -Proverbs 15:1

"Let your gentle spirit be known to all men." -Philippians 4:5a

"Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom." -James 3:13

"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy." -James 3:17

I would like to just take some time and re-read all of these verses... Just drink deep of what we are seeing here... Once again we see wisdom and gentleness teaming up together to form a bond of unity in a person's life and in his or her response to others. "A gentle answer turns away wrath..."

For me personally, I have struggled with gentleness... I still struggle with gentleness. My brothers and sisters are a great source of practice for me, but I most often fail in the exercise of love and patience, kindness and gentleness... Why? Because I have not yet learned to completely rely on God, to rest in His promises, and to meditate on them day and night.

If I were more constantly reminded of gentleness, I would be less likely to fly off at the handle when my siblings do something that I don't want them to do. If I was so saturated in the will of God for my life, instead of allowing myself to be distracted by the problems of the here and now, then I would probably be more attentive to my attitude and how I relate to others.

There have been times, in the past few weeks, where I have spent days at a time meditating on kindness, on love, on peace in Christ... and those are the days that have been the most productive in growing in my relationship with God and with others. When I remind myself, throughout the day, that God's desire is for me to be like Christ in everything, then I think and pray constantly for His help in the areas of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

I remember the week we were studying kindness... I would go to work in the mornings and begin to pray aloud, as I was working, for God to develop in me character that would glorify Him. During that week I had several opportunities to demonstrate kindness... and I was more aware of other people's needs. He will answer when we call.

So, here's my challenge to you... meditate on gentleness. Where do you struggle the most with being a gentle witness of Christ's influence in your life? Where does your patience meet it's greatest failures? These are the times, the places, where you must be the most intentional about exercising gentleness, patience, peace... Don't let the old sin nature have it's way... you have died to sin... remember? How can we live in it any longer?

I'm afraid I have strayed a bit from my original intention for today's blog, but I want you to understand the importance of not simply hearing what is said about God and then walking away... No, you must actually apply and strive for what is seen in the Scriptures. We are told to bear fruit...

So, getting back to gentleness, I wanted to look at what it means to be gentle in dealing with others, today. More specifically, to be gentle in dealing with adversity...

It's hard, sometimes, to let something go... especially when you feel like someone is being rude just to get on your nerves! Breath deep! Exhale... "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger..." Remember these words when you're tempted to retaliate. I am not very good at applying this to my own life! I think gentleness is one of the areas that I need the most work in. Actually... I'm SURE gentleness is one of the areas I need the most work in!

I had an opportunity, last night, to exercise gentleness and patience with one of my siblings... It was hard! But thanks be to God, because I had spent time meditating on Him and His Word earlier that day, I carefully and calmly addressed the difference of opinion between us and was able to come to an agreement with my brother. The issue? ...not important! haha You thought you were going to get something out of me! The issue was ridiculous, which made it all the more difficult for me to restrain myself from getting angry with my brother. However, God has a very good memory of the things that we pray for and gently reminded me of my request for gentleness in my own life.

Gentleness, for me, has ultimately been a sacrificing of what I feel I am entitled to. If my siblings aren't doing exactly what I would have them to do... gentleness looks something like: Presenting my suggestions in a loving manner and then... stepping back and allowing them to make their own decisions. "But," you might ask, "What about if they are being completely irrational?" Are you being irrational in your expectation of your siblings, wife/husband, or co-workers? Consider their angle on things... Are you just being demanding? If there is a genuine issue, deal with it in patience... it will be hard, but we must not let our tempers win the day.

Some people would say that gentleness is too much like being a push-over. Perhaps, but that's because we live in a world where we have been taught to push and shove our way to the front of the line, to the top of the peak... But I don't see that anywhere in the Scriptures. No, I see Christ, washing His disciple's feet... humbling Himself to the position of a servant... This is our role-model! Here is our King! He has made Himself the lowliest of men... and He has called us to do the same! Push-over? That's only because there are people that are pushing! And understand this about those people... they are pushing to the front because they are searching... they haven't found true purpose in what was right in front of them... This should cause us to pity them! When you are "pushed over" remember that Christ has already been pushed! When you are beaten down, most likely by words, remember that Christ has already been beaten as well... with words, fists, whips...

Friends, modeling Christ looks nothing like the success of the world... it's hard. Gentleness is HARD! But modeling Christ is the greatest thing that we could ever hope to accomplish in this life. It is our calling, it is our duty, it is our greatest joy! Therefore, practice gentleness in all that you do. Be self-giving instead of selfish... and pray for those who are pushing you down... pray that they would come to understand that what they are truly searching for is found only in Jesus Christ. I leave you with these thoughts for today...

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Gentleness: An Overview and a Slight Detour!

2008-09-08T06:30:00.004-05:00

"What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?" - 1 Corinthians 4:21

"Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." -Ephesians 4:1-3

Gentleness... there are so many things that I want to try and cover in this study! I'm hoping, though, not to cover everything in today's overview, or else I won't have anything to blog about for the rest of the week. So, I'll probably keep today's overview kind of short...

We, as Christians, are called to gentleness. Aggressive behavior does not accomplish anything towards us being peacemakers or effective witnesses to others. Does gentleness mean that we have to be pushovers? No! But it is a denial of self... letting things go... and also not jumping on other people for things.

Ultimately, gentleness is a sister of Wisdom. As believers, we need to pray that God would give us wisdom and tact in situations where we will be addressing issues with other people. Wisdom, because we do not want to appear foolish or hypocritical when we approach someone to give constructive criticism. Which, by the way, is the only kind of criticism that we as believers should give... we should never tear someone down just for the sake of doing so. But when we point out the areas in a person's life that need change, we must also point to the Savior, who is capable of making that change in their lives, and His Word, which holds the instructions and keys for godly behavior. This is gentleness...

So, we want to have wisdom in order to point people in the right direction! And we must also have tact, which is the ability to know when and where to deal with certain issues or situations. Sometimes it is not the best idea to address a situation while it is in mid-motion... catching a fool in his folly, so to speak, can lead to extreme defensiveness on the part of the listener... So, tact is knowing when to address an issue and how to present the problem without being condemning or overly-critical... this is gentleness.

Friends, I'm excited to jump in and study this concept of gentle behavior towards our fellow believers as well as non-believers, but right now... I would like for us to take some time and pray that God would give us Wisdom and Tact. I would ask you, please pray for me, that God would give me wisdom as I search the Scriptures and then relate my findings to you. I would be inexpressibly grateful for your prayers!

Pray for yourselves, as well, that God would give you a heart that desires Him and that glorifies Him through your actions and words. This is what gentleness does, you know... it is a testimony to the power of God in our lives. This is what each of these fruits that we've studied is about! That we might look more like Jesus to those around us! People will be curious about how you have such love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and such self-control in your life... where does it all come from? And there is your opportunity to point them towards the cross... in gentleness, with wisdom and tact!

Friends, may God bless you as you seek Him this day! Until tomorrow...

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Faithfulness: It's Hard...

2008-09-05T06:18:00.002-05:00

"Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men." -Psalm 12:1

"For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant." -Psalm 78:37

"I have chosen the faithful way;I have placed Your ordinances before me." -Psalm 119:30

"Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD,But those who deal faithfully are His delight." -Proverbs 12:22

"The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I have hope in Him.' " -Lamentations 3:22-24

"He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much." -Luke 16:10

"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." -1 Corinthians 10:13

As I think about faithfulness, this morning, I'm nearly overwhelmed by my past dealings in unfaithfulness... I think about how hard it is to actually stick to what you say sometimes! My brother and I volunteered to lead a time of worship, through music, at a camp this past summer... eight weeks of loading and unloading every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night... We said we would do it! It was hard, but we were faithful to our word... but it's not always this way, is it? No, sometimes I allow the difficulty of a situation to overwhelm me, and I slowly-but-surely crumble beneath the load.

Do you feel what I feel: that intense desire to give in at times? To throw in the towel and call it quits?

My faithfulness is weak... and yet, my God has said that no temptation has overtaken me except which are common to man... I'm not recieving any "special temptations." I just let the weight of the moment overwhelm my faith that God can get me through ANY situation... such weakness on my part.

Thankfully, God's faithfulness is not limited to our being faithful to Him, but He is faithful even when we are not! He has promised a way of escape, through the blood of His Son, and we must lean on Him in the times when everything else is crashing down around us.

Just remember... Christ died, once and for all, for the sins of the world. There is no sin that you can commit that has not been covered by the mercy and grace of our Savior's sacrifice. However, we must not continue in our sins! Paul says in Romans 6:1, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" It is true that we must not continue in sin, but when you do sin it is also important to confess these sins to God... "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).

Confession of sins is the first step in returning to faithfulness in our relationship with Christ. Of course, confession doesn't mean to simply say, "Yeah, Lord, please forgive me for sinning today..." No! This type of confession is the type that you say, for example, "God, I am a liar! I have sinned against You by not upholding the truth in all that I say and do. Please forgive me, Father. Please help me to stop lying... I want to be a truthful messenger of Your Word!" Get specific between you and God about what sins are affecting your life. Confess your struggles to Him. He is faithful and righteous to forgive you of your sins, but you must first bring them to Him and forsake them at the foot of the cross. Lay your burdens at the feet of Him who has saved you out of your sins... He is faithful, He is loving, He is true to His Word and He will forgive you and make you clean again!

Friends, this is our first step in becoming faithful servants of the Mighty God that we call Father! Faithfulness is not something that we can accomplish through our own efforts, but is cultivated in our relationship with God, through the Holy Spirit, and through Him changing our hearts as we study His Word and draw closer to Him. Only then will we truly understand and desire faithfulness.

So, take some time, today, to get right with the God of the Universe! Don't spend another day in unfaithfulness towards the God who has been faithful to you since before you were born! Reconcile yourself to Him, at the foot of the cross. Don't waste another minute in complacency. Become the Spirit-filled, fruit-bearing witness of Christ's saving grace that you were meant to be! Be faithful men and women, clinging to the Word of God as your guide to all faithfulness and righteousness.

Friends, I hope this week has blessed you, challenged you, and convicted you as much as it has me! I now see many more ways in which I need to grow! And with the help of God I will grow! Have a great weekend, and live in the faithfulness of God's Word!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Faithfulness: Some Thoughts

2008-09-04T08:23:00.002-05:00

"Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself..." -Ephesians 5:22-28

"I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; and they have testified to your love before the church." -3John 1:4-6a

"Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." -Revelation 2:10

"These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful." -Revelation 17:14

I want to take a slightly different direction than the one we've been on the past two days. We've looked at God's faithfulness to us, even in our unfaithfulness, and we've looked at how we should respond to Him. Now I would like to shift gears and focus on our faithfulness to others.

Our witness to others is going to be heavily affected by our faithfulness to our words and convictions. It is so damaging to a person's reputation when they say one thing and do another... not only is it damaging to that person's reputation, but if they are claiming the name of Christ then they are damaging the other person's view of Christianity. People will often say, "Yeah, I know some people who are Christians... they aren't any different than me." Or I've even heard, "Yeah, those Christians are more messed up and more evil than I am!"

Human beings tend to judge their spiritual standings based on works... they are stuck in the Law and are not living under the Grace of God. However, they do have one thing right... our actions speak volumes about us. When we say we love God and that we are Christians, and then we do things that are completely contrary the commands of Scripture... what messed up message are we giving to our unsaved friends and co-workers?

Not only actions, but also our words condemn us! We say we love God, but then we spout off problems in our marriages or problems with brothers and sisters, parents, teachers or whatever the case may be. We act more frustrated, more angry, less self-controlled and all around crazy! For example:

I have a friend who is a walking contradiction! She will say one thing to me, about loving God and God loving her, and then the next minute I hear her telling someone all about feng shui and harmony with nature! She talks about going to church and learning about God, and then I hear her yelling on the phone and cursing to whomever is on the other end of the line...

My friend's case may seem to be one of extreme measures, but I think we are all capable of such bold contradictions. If you claim to be different than others because of what Christ has done in your life, then people are going to watch you, carefully, and see what it is that is different about you. Most of time, unfortunately, they end up saying, "I thought so..." Why? Why can't we be men and women of our word?

Here's the point! Hang with me! I took a long time getting here, but now we're getting to the point, so hang with me a little while longer...

We are not faithful witnesses, because we still look and act just like the world... we get frustrated with our marriages, so we give up... we get frustrated with our children's behavior, so we let them go their own ways... WE DON'T LOOK ANY DIFFERENT!!! We blow up when things don't go according to plan, we fall apart! We aren't faithful...

Friends, here is the point... in order to ever be effective witnesses to others, not to mention in order to be faithful followers of Christ, we must live our lives as people that are set apart... people that are different! We must hold STRONGLY to the commands of Scripture! We must persevere! When things get tough, we have to lean heavily on our Saviors arm, but we cannot give in and become like the rest of the world or we will lose our effectiveness as witnesses for the kingdom of Christ. If we fall apart, they will see us as being no different from anyone else and say, "It's not worth it to live like that... they do the same things I do anyways!"

Let me tell you something! Church is a waste of time on a Sunday afternoon, IF we are not going to be changed by what we hear, and are not going to make a difference for the cause of Christ. That's what faithfulness is... it's being changed by what you hear and then remaining changed and not reverting back to your old ways. Faithfulness says, "I have come this far, by the Grace of God, and I'm never going back!!!"

Faithfulness says, "I said that I would be with you until the day I die, and I meant it! I might not always feel like I love you, but that's not what matters. What matters is that this is a God-ordained union and I'm going to stand by you, with the help of our Savior, and we're going to make it through this struggle together!"

Friends, this is what the world will see and what will cause them to wonder! This is where heart-change takes place in the lives of our unsaved friends! When they see the unmistakable difference in our lives, and hear our mouths proclaim the name of Christ! Faithfulness is the difference between us and the world around us. This is where we make our stand!

I urge you, therefore, to examine the areas of your life which are lacking in faithfulness... Begin with your faithfulness to time spent alone with God. How faithful are you in your time spent with God? And I don't mean going to church on a Sunday morning...

How faithful are you towards your husband or wife? Are you tempted to "make casual conversation" with someone at work because things aren't going so well at home. Don't be fooled! This path is never the one that God would have us to take! I don't care what you think about how this person or that person makes you feel! It's all a lie and, when everything comes crashing down, it may be too late for you to ever restore your relationship with your spouse. Be faithful to the one that God has given you! Even when love seems scarce, remain faithfully devoted to one another. This is a God-honoring marriage... the one that goes through the rocky parts of life and comes out refined and stronger than it was before! This is the faithfulness that will cause others who witness your struggles to scratch their heads and ask, "What do you have that I don't? Why couldn't I persevere through the same struggles?" This is your opportunity to preach what you practice... which is exactly the order in which we should do things!

I could go on and on about all of the areas in which we should be faithful to our families or to our word, but I don't want to generate a list... that is not my intention. I do not want you to think that faithfulness is limited to a list that I give you, but I would rather that you examine yourself and your individual circumstances to determine what areas you need to work on faithfulness in.

That being said, I will leave you to meditate on what I've said this morning. Re-read the verses I put at the top of today's blog... find more verses that speak on faithfulness... Do whatever it takes to get right with God and to start being a faithful servant of the Word. This is what I'm going to do... I pray and plead with you to join me.

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Faithfulness: Our Response to a Faithful God

2008-09-03T06:23:00.003-05:00

"Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be,For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men." -Psalm 12:1

"That they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God." -Psalm 78:7-8

"My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me." -Psalm 101:6

"Remove the false way from me, and graciously grant me Your law. I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me." -Psalm 119:29-30

"I have chosen the faithful way!" This should be the declaration of all of us who claim to be followers of Christ... there should not be any hesitation. Yesterday we looked at the faithful nature of the unchanging God, who will be faithful for all eternity. He sent His Son to fulfill what was lacking in our faithfulness to Him. The precious blood of Jesus was shed so that our unfaithfulness might be reconciled before God...

So, what is our response to such loving faithfulness? What are we, in turn, going to do in response to this demonstration of unmerited favor? We, as children of God, must commit our lives to the work of the Gospel. We have been commanded to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20).

Here is where faithfulness comes into play... How well do we fulfill this commission that our ever-faithful Savior has required of us? How often are we so saturated with the message of Christ that we can't help but spill it over into our conversations at work, or with our lost friends on the weekends?

This is just the tip of the mountain that we call "faithfulness." Look at what we have been saved out of... we were saved from our sins and eternal punishment in hell! We were once wretched creatures, without hope, who had no chance for righteousness in our own strength. "But God..." Yes, dear Friends... we were the unrepentant souls, "but God..."

In response to this truth, we must echo what Paul has said in Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Our response to Christ's work in our lives MUST be faithfulness.

Have we so delusioned ourselves as to believe that we can be saved by Holy God from the depths of our sins and then go on living in the patterns and ways of this world? No! "How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:2b). Remember, we were crucified with Christ, we have died to the old sin-nature!

I have said all of this to make one point... We must become the same faithfulness that we see in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Again, this is not something we can ever hope to attain on our own, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. However, we cannot sit back and wait for a bolt of lightening to strike and a loud voice to come from the sky, revealing to us all faithfulness and all knowledge and wisdom. We must begin to pray and act in accordance with the will of God. This is faithfulness... that we would see the commands of God, in His Word, and fulfill them to the very best of our abilities and with every effort we can muster.

Friends, I am not really sure how else to stress the importance of our faithfulness as Christians. Faithfulness looks something like "total devotion in every aspect of your life!" Commitment to being more like Christ... this is faithfulness! There is so much involved in being a faithful follower of Christ... and yet, it is simply: Doing the will of our Father, who is in Heaven.

Faithfulness means that, even when we cannot see clearly what God is going to do, we follow Him without question or hesitation. This is a lot to ask of a human being, living in 21st century America, brought up in a culture that says that everything we believe must be supported by facts and hard evidence in order for us to accept it. We are taught, by our society, to look at all of the evidence before we take our first step... Christ says "follow Me!"

Friends, it is hard to be completely faithful, in every circumstance, to a God who asks us to trust Him... but has He ever given us a reason to doubt His ability to take care of us? Look at the track-record of our God... Faithfulness it the theme of the Old Testament, even in light of the unfaithfulness of His people! The ultimate end of His faithfulness being brought to completion in the work of Christ on the cross. This work completed the faithfulness that God promised all throughout the history of the Old Testament. And it is still the completed work of His faithfulness to us!

Trust God! And from that trust, become a faithful servant of His will. Faithfully witness, to those around you, of the love and mercy of our God. Faithfully lead your families in the study of His Word. Faithfully hold to the commands of the Scriptures. Do not waver, do not falter... but if you do, confess your sins before God and His faithfulness will once again restore your relationship with Him. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

I'm afraid that's all I have for you today. I hope this hasn't been too confusing, and hopefully it has encouraged you to be a faithful witness for Christ. I'm afraid that I am sorely lacking of a deep understanding of faithfulness... but that's what this study (or in today's case, more like ramblings) is all about!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

The Faithfulness of Our God

2008-09-02T06:19:00.002-05:00

"The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He." -Deuteronomy 32:4

"For the word of the LORD is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness." -Psalm 33:4

Our God is the faithful and immutable Creator, who sets us apart and calls us by name! His faithfulness to us cannot be broken by anything. When we stray from the upright path He pursues us... when we fall down He picks us up! When we are unlovable, by those around us, He loves us with an everlasting love. This love is the result of Christ's finished work on the cross...

When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He died for our sins once and for all. Because of His faithful sacrifice on the cross, God is faithful to us even when we are not faithful to Him... However, this does not mean that we can live in unrepentant sin and ignore the commands of our God. Anyone who calls themselves a Christian and yet bears no fruit... we have already referenced this issue once before... " 'Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away..." (John 15:2). This is not a "time-out" kind of taking away either. This is complete separation from Christ as the life-giving vine. However, if you have the fruit of Christ in your life, you will not be removed from the vine, but will be pruned so that you become more fruitful. This is again the faithfulness of our God!

God is faithful to prune and grow us, as Christians, and to develop in us a love for Him and the things that are of Him. He has called us His children and, as our Heavenly Father, He is faithful to fulfill His role as our loving and caring Father... stern, but loving, in all things! He is faithful to address and correct the behavior in our lives that is detrimental to us and to cultivate, in its place, the fruit of the Spirit.

We are told that we must, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7) "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21). These two verses speak heavily of the faithfulness of our God, but also of our faithfulness to the work of Christ... you see, we must ask, seek, and knock with a God-glorifying goal in mind. This is what it means to have your treasures where your heart is... we must treasure Christ so much that our requests to God are made in an attempt to bring more glory to Him! He is not obligated to fulfill our every desire simply because we ask Him for something.

We will look more into our faithfulness, as a response to God's faithfulness, tomorrow. For now, I would like us to meditate on the faithfulness of God in light of our unfaithfulness as sinful human beings... God does not call us to Himself because we are good people, or because we have never sinned. No, He calls us to Himself because He is God! There is no other explanation that I can give to the faithfulness of God! He calls us, the depraved sinner, and saves us out of eternal punishment. Our wretched souls do not deserve this favor, but God saves us anyways.... look at Ephesians 2:1-10 "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

I love this passage... "But God..." What an amazing truth! "But God" loved us so much that He gave Himself up for us... such love and faithfulness to a people so undeserving of any favor! "But God" pursues us, "even when we were dead in our transgressions," and shows us forgiveness through His Son.... this is a humbling truth to digest. That God would love us so much, when we have done nothing to deserve it... this is the level of faithfulness that our God shows to us!

Friends, take this day to thank God and praise Him for His faithfulness to you. Think about what your life would be without His love and grace...
Perhaps you do not understand what I am talking about... perhaps you've never experienced what it means to have a relationship with God... If so, I would ask that you find someone to talk to who can help answer any questions you might have about this love and faithfulness that is never-ending! You are free to e-mail me with any questions you might have... afflquestions@yahoo.com . But I would encourage you to find a local pastor or trusted friend who can help you search the Scriptures and help you understand what you must do, in response to the love and faithfulness of God. Search your heart... you know that faithfulness is something that you greatly desire! We are a people who are tired of lies and deceit... we want truth! Truth is found within the pages of God's Word! Search it! Seek and you WILL find!

Friends, rest in the faithfulness of our God! Thank Him for His never-ending love and mercy upon your life! And ask God to prepare your hearts for what we must do in response to His faithfulness towards us. We will begin looking at our response to God's faithfulness, tomorrow.

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Faithfulness: An Overview

2008-09-01T21:02:00.002-05:00

"The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He." -Deuteronomy 32:4

"Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens,Your faithfulness reaches to the skies." -Psalm 36:5

Faithfulness... what a wonderful, and yet scarce, quality! Our society today is all about loopholes and excuses...

Friends, it's time that we, as Christians, rise up and become people of our word! I am saddened to think that the divorce rate is equal, if not higher, among self-proclaiming Christians as it is among those who hold no claims to faith. What has happened to " 'Til death do us part" ??? Why can we no longer be faithful to our word? Because... it is easier to find excuses or "reasons" why not to persevere through the harder things that life brings!

What have we become? It used to be that a handshake would seal a deal between to parties, but now everything is in writing... we are no longer people of our word!

Thanks be to God, that He is immutable... never changing! He is the same today and tomorrow and forever! His promises from His Word will never become void! He does not change His mind, but is faithful... even when we are faithless! We have a hope for faithfulness because our God is still faithful to us. We must, in turn, become faithful followers of Christ and, from that, become faithful in all that we say and do.

Integrity really comes into play when you talk about faithfulness. Integrity is doing what you know is right even when nobody else is watching... meaning that you aren't doing the right thing just to be noticed, but because you have faithfulness embedded into you. So, faithfulness must already be a part of your character before you can ever hope to have integrity. You must desire faithfulness above an easier alternative.

We must be willing to sacrifice our own comfort in an attempt to be examples to those around us of the faithfulness of our God. We are the visible and tangible evidence of God's work in our lives. Therefore, we must mirror His attributes to those around us. "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us..." (2 Corinthians 5:20).

However, as I have said many times before, this is not something that we can achieve on our own. Just as a love that honors and glorifies God must come from God, He must also be the source of our faithfulness. Any attempt at faithfulness, through our own efforts, will only end in failure. It is only through prayer and diligent study of God's Word that we will ever become the faithful children that we are commanded to be.

So, as we delve deeper into this study this week... we must remember to cover all of our efforts in prayer and in God's Word. Memorizing the verses that speak of His faithfulness will help us to remember and be more confident in the faithfulness of our God as well. Do not try to cultivate faithfulness without the help of the Holy Spirit.

Friends, let us be faithful to our God, this week, and remember that "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." (James 1:17). Ask God to give you the desire for faithfulness, to persevere when things aren't easy. I anticipate this being a very rewarding and very interesting week of study... I hope you will continue to join me in this endeavor for godliness in every aspect of life. Friends, God bless, and I can't wait to take the next step!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

P.S. - A special thanks to Abigail Gamm for her input in todays blog! Thanks Abby!

A Slight Detour...

2008-08-29T07:53:00.002-05:00

Friends, I'm afraid I'm running out of ideas on this "Goodness" week. I hate to keep driving things into the ground... So, I wanted to take today to share with you a study method that I learned awhile back. It's called the REAP method, and is a very effective method for personal devotions and journaling time:
Read
Examine
Apply
Pray

Obviously the very first step would be to pray that God would speak to you, through His Word. Something along the lines of, "God, I pray and ask that you would speak to me, through Your Word, this morning, Lord. Please meet with me, and show me what You would have me to learn today. Amen." You know something along those lines, but make it personal... use your own wording and let it come from your heart. Sometimes my prayer has been, "God, I don't know what I'm doing right now... but I ask that you would show me, through Your Word, Your will for my life."

Then... you Read... read a chapter or two or whatever your reading plan looks like. When you get to a verse that sticks out to you underline it. Don't stop and ponder it too deeply at this point. Finish reading your chapter, underlining things that jump out at you.

When you're done reading, find one of the verses that stuck out to you the most and... Examine what the author is saying, or what the verse is saying. Remember, we're not trying to apply the verse yet, we're just looking at what is being said in the verse that you underlined. I'll use my own devotions from this morning as an example:
I read Galatians 2 and underlined about 3 different places in the chapter. Then I looked over what I had underlined, a.k.a. what stood out to me, and then picked one to focus on for today. I chose Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
So, here we would ask ourselves, "What is Paul saying?" That's all we want to know...
He says that he has been crucified with Christ, which means that, just as Christ died, he too has died to this world. "and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me..." He has given up his own life, and exchanged it for the work of the Gospel. He continues on to say that He lives by faith in the Son of God, and he recognizes the sacrifice of love made by Christ on his behalf. So, there you have it! Paul says that he no longer lives for himself, but for Christ. He has taken up his cross, to follow Christ, and he lives by faith alone.

Now that we somewhat understand what Paul is saying here, we know better how to Apply it.
Here is where you would write your resolve as to what changes you might need to make in your life. Mine for this verse would be:
"Just as Paul died to himself (his old sin nature) I too must die to my own desires and follow Christ. I must learn to live as though Christ is living through me. The life of a believer must be governed by the Holy Spirit communicating with our spirits and I must be willing, by faith, to obey what the Spirit tells me... 'and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God...' I must learn to have a complete and trusting faith in my Savior, Jesus Christ.
"Also there is the reminder of Christ's love, which I must not be quick to forget! The love of Christ is the key to my salvation, and the constant reminder of His love will keep me going, even when things are tough."

Now that we've applied the verse, here is where we would write down a prayer about what we've read, examined and applied...
"Lord, thank You for Your Son's sacrifice on my behalf. God, I know that, without Your merciful sacrifice and love, I would have no chance of a relationship with You. Father, I thank You for the undeserved gift of Your love. I want to live for You, Jesus. I pray and ask that You would help me to die to myself, and to live for You. Lord, I ask that You would help me to have that 'crucified with Christ' mentality. That I would not hold to my rights, which come only from You anyways, but that I would consider myself as Your slave... that I would understand that my goal in life is to glorify You and serve You. I thank You, Lord, for Your Word this morning... in Jesus' name, Amen."

And there you have it! A simple, yet very efficient, study method for reading the Scriptures on your own! Let's go over it one more time:
Read a chapter (or whatever amount that you read) and underline things that jump out at you
Examine one of the point that you underlined and ask yourself "what is this verse saying?".
Apply the principles seen in the verse and write out what you need to do
Pray and ask God to help you with the changes that need to be made in your life to become more like Christ.

I hope that this method of study will be as helpful to you as it has been to me. If you aren't quite clear on any of the points, please, send me an e-mail and I'll try to clarify. I can be quite confusing sometimes!
I hope you have a great weekend and I look forward to starting back up next week!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Goodness: Moral Excellence

2008-08-28T06:58:00.003-05:00

"And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another." -Romans 15:14

"...For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth)..." -Ephesians 5:8-9

Goodness is one of those things that we must apply to every aspect of our lives. Goodness is an integral part of most of the other fruits that we have looked at and are going to look at.

Let's take a look at goodness from the perspective of "moral excellence." Make decisions based on your morals, what you believe and know to be right, and sticking to those decisions. Again, excellence is attained with much practice, with time... but it is crucial that we build up our moral standards to be above reproach. This is not a holier-than-thou mentality, but quite simply it is a striving after the heartbeat of God.

"But," you might ask, "What about those things that we aren't sure about whether or not they are okay for us to do?"
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." -2 Timothy 3:16-17
So that we may be equipped for every good work... also look above that where he says that the Scripture is useful for training in righteousness. If we truly desire God then we will desire His righteousness, and from this verse we see that Scripture is our guide for right living. We are told that, through Scripture, we will become adequately trained for every good work! Isn't that amazing? When you go to college they give you a list of books you will need, plus other resources, in order to study and learn about a specific field of work. We have been given one Book, the holy and inspired Word of God, and it is adequate for all training in righteousness for all people.

Back to the issue of moral excellence... through reading the Scriptures we are made aware of the things which we must not tolerate in our lives, and also of the things which we must integrate into our lives. "Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth." -Colossians 3:5-8

Moral excellence may also mean reviving an unconscious conscience... you know... that little voice that used to tell you that what you were doing was wrong, but you have silenced it over the years. We have become calloused to the Holy Spirit's calling us to repentance, and instead we ignore what we know is right. This must stop, now! Where has the morality of the church gone?
Friends, we are in a serious decline, as a nation, as far as our morality goes... Who is going to show the world what goodness looks like, if the church fails to do so?

The ones who claim the name of Christ need to arise from their sleepy stupor and once again exemplify morality in our society. We live in a world of tolerance and taboo... but as Christians we are called to a black and white, night and day contrast of good and evil. We are not supposed to linger near the line where sin will tempt us from the other side. No, run from the temptations. Scripture says to "resist the devil and he will flee from you..." -James 4:7b

All of that to ask this simple question... Where is your morality? By what standard do you measure yourself? And do you know that God measures with the staff of holiness? Is your standard equal to or above the holiness of God? We must press on and not be found guilty of lingering over sin and temptations... we must hold to a higher standard!

Friends, this is the point of goodness... don't get caught up in mediocrity. Stand for the excellence of God, and model His character! There is nothing in this world that is too great to give up for the sake of moral excellence... goodness that glorifies God. Please consider these things... and then examine your life for areas in which you must perfect goodness, in order to be more like Christ. I too will be examining myself, and I am somewhat afraid of what I might be called to give up. But for me... "to live is Christ and to die is gain." Dying to the things of this world in order to live in Christ, it's worth it!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Goodness: Spiritual Excellence

2008-08-27T08:09:00.002-05:00

"How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You, which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, before the sons of men!" -Psalm 31:19

Spiritual excellence... for a true example we must turn to Christ Jesus, the only perfect human, God incarnate. A life that is devoted to God, and does not allow other things to overcome that devotion... It's hard to imagine taking on such an arduous task in today's overly-distracted society, but I believe that it is something that can be accomplished by the faithful follower. However, it is not our own efforts that would ever accomplish this... it must be done through great reliance on God and through His strength.

I have tried many times to accomplish the things that are of God, without falling at His feet and begging His mercies upon my efforts, but they always fail in my own strength. The same is true of goodness, in the form of spiritual excellence, being developed in our lives... The things of the Spirit must be accomplished through the work of the Spirit in our lives. I cannot stress this point often enough. Friends, I've already tried to do these things in my own strength and I'm here to tell you that it doesn't work!

Spiritual excellence will only be found in time spent in prayer, meditation upon God's Word, reading the Scriptures, hearing the Word of God preached, or basically in time that is spent with God as the focus... You cannot expect it to grow like a plant... you water it every so often, but mostly you just let it do its own thing. That's not how to become excellent in anything! Professionals, in any given field, are not the ones who sit back and are very neutral about their occupations... No, the professionals are the ones who dissect and rethink their occupations from every angle, becoming more proficient from every aspect of what they do. They strive for excellence!

Don't misread what I'm writing, I'm not telling you to become a "Professional Christian" but rather a professional student of the Word of God. Be eager to learn, eager to understand more and more about this God that we serve!

Back to the issue of spiritual excellence... what does it look like in our lives? Goodness from a spiritual standpoint would look like the development of fruit of the Spirit which are not necessarily outwardly displayed... like peace, patience, even love to some degree... Cultivating these fruits in our lives will inevitably cause us to be more like our heavenly Father. This is the ultimate goal of spiritual excellence, is being more like Christ in our relationship with God. Jesus spent a lot of time in prayer and spent time alone with His Father... this is an example for us to follow.

Basically, spiritual excellence is the inward sign of our relationship with Christ and is a testimony to the difference that should be evident in our lives. I probably could have just written that and left everything else out for today, but I tend to expand on a point to the extent that I begin to see it bursting at the seams!

So, tomorrow we will look at how goodness is developed as moral excellence in our lives.
Friends, I would encourage you to strive for spiritual excellence first and foremost in your lives... become the Child of God that you were created to be!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

My Adventures With "Heavy Sleeper Syndrom!"

2008-08-26T06:09:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends,

I am, unfortunately, somewhat of a heavy sleeper... which means that this morning my alarm went off an hour ago and I didn't wake up to it! Today is going to be somewhat of a hectic day and I won't be home until who-knows-when tonight.

So.... I would enjoy any insight that any of you may have in the areas of moral or spiritual excellence. What do these things mean to you? Consider this a homework assignment! I would love to hear what your thoughts are on this subject and what goodness might look like, being displayed in your life.

Again, I apologize for being so short on time...

Grace and Peace!

Send me your thoughts at afflquestions@yahoo.com . Thanks!

Goodness: An Introductory Charge!

2008-08-25T07:21:00.005-05:00

"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter." -Proverbs 25:2

"Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of his gifts falsely." -Proverbs 25:14

"Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit." -Proverbs 25:28

Goodness! What does this word make you think of? I'm not quite sure that I knew what to think when I first looked at this word. Are we simply being commanded to be obedient? According to John MacArthur goodness is: "Moral and spiritual excellence manifested in active kindness (Ro 5:7). Believers are commanded to exemplify goodness (Gal 6:10; 2Th 1:11)." [The MacArthur Study Bible, notes on Galatians 5:22 "goodness"].

Let's take a look at the verses listed in his notes: Galatians 6:9-10 - "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith."

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 - "To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you , and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."

We see here that the origins of our "goodness" comes from our Father who is in heaven. Paul says that God is the one who can "fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power..." in our lives. What stands out to me in this verse, though, is that he says that God will fulfill our desire for goodness... which means that we must first have a desire for goodness. We must first seek God with all of our hearts. Remember the promise of Jeremiah 29:13 "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart."

Desiring God and the things of God is the first step in attaining the fruits of the Spirit. Without desire, there is no motivation, no conviction, no reason to go on when things get hard... we must desire God to the point of desperation, when we understand the urgency that knowing Him is far more important than anything else in this life.

Before we move into our study of goodness I would like to invite you to join me in taking this day to prepare our hearts... to pray and ask that the desire for the things of God would be birthed in your life. This is my prayer, that God would be magnified in me, and that the desire for things that are of Him would receive the highest level of importance and the greatest amount of energy in my life.

Friends, I look forward to studying goodness, but it will be in vain if we do not desire the things of God above everything else in life. If we are too distracted by earthly pleasures, what good is it to even bother with goodness or kindness towards others? We must first have the desire for growth, otherwise we strive in vain...

I pray that you will join me in preparing our hearts for what God has said He will fulfill in the hearts of those who desire Him. God bless each one of you as you seek His will above your own!

Grace and Peace to you, my brothers and sisters...

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Kindness: Some Finishing Thoughts

2008-08-22T07:46:00.002-05:00

"But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also. I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it. But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability. For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have." -2 Corinthians 8:7-12

I just wanted to clarify a point or two about showing kindness. We are not expected to just wake up one day and be the most kind person that anyone has ever met. No, it will take much time and practice to become others-focused enough to show kindness on such a level. Now, you might have a good day, when you are constantly watching for and being mindful of opportunities to show kindness, but in general it is not expected that this is something you will catch on to right away.
Just like any other fruit of the Spirit, kindness has to grow in our lives. Kindness has to be cultivated and nurtured as it ripens, until it is fully grown. It is the same with loving others, loving God, being patient, having joy, having peace... understand that these things will take time.

Now, looking at what Paul has said in 2 Corinthians... "But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability. For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have." Begin with the desire for change! When desire is born in your heart, which may take some time and will probably take a lot of prayer, you must take that next step in "finishing it." Work towards the goal and standard that has been set, but do not lose hope if you stumble... look at the second part of what he says. "For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have."

Christ does not demand more of us than we are able to give, but He is patient and will give us the strength to persevere. He will meet us where we are at, but we must be willing to move forward. That is the readiness that Paul speaks of... the desire for change. The Holy Spirit will begin to move inside of us and will shift our focus, if we will only call out to God and honestly seek His will for our lives. In God alone do we find the ability to learn true love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control... it is by Him alone that these things will ever be grown in our lives.

Do you desire change in your life? Are you as tired as I am of being unloving, or just being a jerk, without really knowing why we do so? I believe that it is simply that we try to be loving or kind by our own strength... when we know for a fact that we need the Holy Spirit. You are an acceptable offering according to what you have, not according to what you do not have! Come just as you are, but desire to be cleansed! Now is the time to get on our faces and ask God to make us new, to work on our lives in the ways that only He can!

Friends, do not be discouraged if you can't show kindness or generosity in a grandiose way, as you might wish to. But rather give of what you do have, possibly time, and know that it is acceptable to God as a pleasing sacrifice. Is your gift baking? You might bless someone more than you know by simply baking something and stopping by to check in on them! Showing that you care about someone... this is a great way to show kindness, and also the love of Christ. Are you skilled in repairing things? Perhaps there is a neighbor or a friend who needs a little help on a Saturday afternoon... acts of service are very effective ways to show kindness, and again they might supply an opportunity for sharing Christ with that person. Friends, these are just a couple of ideas out of a million as to how you can show kindness...

I hope this weeks study has spurred you on towards love and good deeds. That you might desire to show kindness, especially towards your own families! It must start at home! Otherwise we are kidding ourselves... if we think we are such kind people, but cannot be kind to our own family. Do not be found a hypocrite!

Friends, may the kindness of our Lord and Savior be with you! May you continue to grow in Him and may the fruit of the Spirit be manifested in your life! I look forward to starting "goodness" next week! Until then...

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .

Kindness: Thoughts and Ramblings

2008-08-21T06:35:00.002-05:00

"Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart." -Proverbs 3:3

"The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds" -Psalm 145:17

"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men." -Luke 6:35

"But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY." -1 Peter 2:9-10

"So that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light..." We have been called out of darkness... We have been adopted as sons and daughters by the Lord of Creation. He has given us hope and a future with Him!

What does this have to do with kindness? It has everything to do with kindness! We are told to "...proclaim the excellencies..." of our God. As I have stated before, this need not even be with words, but can be displayed through our interaction with others. Jesus said, "So then, you will know them [His followers] by their fruits." (Matt. 7:20) What are our fruits? They are exactly what we have been studying and will be studying in the next few weeks.

This is why kindness is so crucial in our lives... because it is one of the most tangible evidences of love in our lives. An act of kindness is easily recognized in today's busy world. If you stop to help someone who is struggling you are now the exception, rather than the rule. We have lost kindness in our schedule-controlled lifestyle and are amazed when someone makes an effort to help someone else out of sheer kindness... with no expectations of gaining anything in return. This is nearly unheard of in today's society.

We must be the movers, the shakers, the standard breakers! As Christians it is our job to "...appear as lights in the world." (Phil. 2:15). Kindness is one of our most effective tools as an opportunity for sharing the Gospel with others. Sometimes you don't have to say a word about Christ, though I think it best to use every opportunity to do so, but people will ask you if you are a Christian simply because of a marked difference in your character. This is when it is crucial that we not hold ourselves aloft, filled with pride, and "admit" to our status of "Christ follower." God forbid that our kindness ever be a tool of pride! Do not fall into the slippery pits of the hypocrites, for their reward has been received in full. They got the attention that they so desired. But rather, with humility, serve others with the same kindness that you would want to be treated with.

This may all seem elementary to you... try applying it then! How elementary is it, really? It may be fundamental, but laying aside pride and recognition, taking the attitude of a slave, denying our own wants and desires... these are not elementary things... Our sinful nature swells up within us, in indignation, when we are not praised for our good deeds. Swallow your pride! Does that sound elementary to you?

I do not say these things to be harsh... but because I so desire to accomplish these very things in my own life. It is not easy to serve when you know that you will, most likely, not receive anything in return... especially if you know that nobody else will probably even notice your deeds. But this is when we are most blessed by our Father in Heaven, who sees all things, whether done in secret or in the open. Our joy should come from the joy that we see in others when we show them the kindness of Christ.

Friends, this is what has been weighing heavily on my heart, this morning. Humility... kindness is not kindness without humility. It is an attempt at personal gain, otherwise.... or it is done with an unwilling spirit. To simply do the right thing because it's the right thing to do... that is no reason at all, but to do what is right because it's what Christ would do and because we desire to be more like Him... this is what being a Christian is all about! We must truly begin to understand what it means to "take up our cross" and follow Christ.

I hope that you have learned and been encouraged from what has been covered in this study of kindness... I too am learning these things as I share them with you. That being said, I hope that I have not been too repetitious in what I have covered. However, I feel that this is one of those concepts that has been so lost by our churches and our people today that there cannot be enough emphasis put on it's role in our lives. The kindness that you show, Friends, is simply an outward sign of the inward change that has been brought about by the kindness that Christ has shown in saving you!

Go, therefore, and be changers, movers, breakers, and Christ followers who shine as lights in the universe, casting light on this darkened world. Show the light of Christ as you go about your day!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .