Tag Archives: Christ
Welcome to the second week of Advent!
Tradition holds that the second week of Advent is about preparing ourselves for the coming Messiah, with John the Baptizer being our model. This is when our focus turns from the promises to fulfillment of Messiah. Obviously, there is a connection between each week, as we begin by looking out our need for the promised Savior, and then we move to finding the truth of the living Savior.
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. -Isaiah 40:3, KJV (see Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4)
John was prophesied centuries before either he or his cousin, Jesus, lived. John is also the final of the Old Testament Prophets. He was the last to prophecy the coming Messiah before Jesus began His ministry.
He was an ascetic – someone who separates from society in many ways through denying comforts and desires, including diet and habits, for religious purposes. (See Numbers 6 to understand more of John’s asceticism, known as the Nazirite vow.) He seemed pretty crazy and weird, but he laid the groundwork for the Messiah.
What did this mean?
He called out sin, decried fame, and [literally] pointed to the Lamb of God, the Messiah.
As Christians – believers in the life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus – we are likewise called to point to the Savior. We are to prepare the the way for His return and encroaching Kingdom.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. -Matthew 28:18-20
How are you pointing others to Jesus?
Good Lord, give us a passion for sharing the Good News of Jesus – to call out sin, love people, and glorify Your Name.
1 Comment | tags: Advent, Baptist, Baptizer, Christ, Christmas, Coming, Jesus, John, Lord, Messiah, Path, preparation, Prepare, Second Coming, Sin, Warning, Warnings | posted in sin, Truth, Warnings, Word of the Lord
Welcome to the first week of Advent!
Tradition holds that the first week of Advent reminds us of the importance of prophecy and that we are desperately in need of a Savior. The Hebrew Bible – the Old Testament – reveals much through the Prophets and Wisdom literature and poetry.
If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:
Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:
And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday: thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
Job 11:13-18
We first need to see our need for cleansing from sin. Then we need to remember that, through Christ, we have already been cleansed of our sin.
This knowledge gives us hope.
Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
Psalm 27:14
Therefore, we no longer wait, as Israel did, for an unknown Savior. Rather, we wait for the return of our Lord, when all misery, pain, and tears will cease. He shall reign as God and Lord over a remade and perfect Creation.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
Heavenly Father, we have sinned against you, but You sent Your Son to save us from our sin. Thank You for revealing Jesus’ first coming through Your Prophets of old and His immanent return through the Apostles. Give us a grateful heart and a sense of urgency to spread this Good News with the world with humility and grace.
Leave a comment | tags: Advent, Christ, Christmas, Coming, forgiveness, Hebrew Bible, Holidays, hope, Isaiah, Jesus, Job, Old Testament, Peace, Prophets, Psalm, Second Coming, Sin | posted in hope, Jesus, Peace, sin
An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked. –Proverbs 29:27 KJV
I was ready to write about politics, and angry partisanship. And this verse certainly can speak to partisan politics.
However, I just want to speak the truth:
There are only two sides in this historical and eternal battle: with God or against Him (Matthew 12:30).
There are no other ways or sides, and this leads to many people seeing Christians, and by extension God, as narrow-minded (which is true, to a point – Matthew 7:14), even evil, for saying not everyone is good or can get to God their own way.
But, if Jesus truly is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, then there is no other path to God (John 14:6).
If you do what God calls evil, you are a wicked sinner. But if you repent of your evil ways (change the way you think and act – Romans 12:1-2) and believe Jesus died for your punishment to cover your wickedness and rose again to life, then you are on His side (Acts 2:38-39).
To refuse the leading of the Holy Spirit to believe in Christ is choose to be against God (Matthew 12:31, John 8:44).
Leave a comment | tags: anti-Christ, Baptized, Believe, Book of Proverbs, Christ, Politics, Repent, Sides, The Righteous, The Wicked | posted in Fear of the Lord, Paths of Life, The Righteous, The Wicked
He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage. –Proverbs 26:6, KJV
The past two entries from Michael and me covered answering the fool in various ways. The next one after this from Dawn does a great job unifying Proverbs 26:4-5.
For this, I will look at how we can play the fool and be played by the fool with proverbs.
Playing the Fool
We may be very godly, have Scripture memorized (or be very quick looking up passages in our Bible apps on our phones 😉), and we have the right verse to respond to everyone.
But sometimes, people don’t need the Bible verse. Either they are adamantly opposed to our messageor they simply needed a hug and a listening ear, and our perfect verse led to a tantrum or to their brain shutting down and stop listening to us. Or worse, they lash out at others or injure themselves.
Played by the Fool
This second point is more prevalent in our world. This is the person who knows just enough about religion or academics or life in general to be dangerous.
This is the person who takes a Bibke verse out of context to prove you wrong, uses a blend of world religions’ teachings to show how much more about the world they know (but misapply much of it due to contradicting the Bible), or tries to help make the world better without accounting for human sin (while pointing out the sins of humanity).
This person speaks without knowledge and hurts others more by driving them away from God (see Jeremiah 10).
Avoiding the Cup of Wrath
What we all fail to realize – whether playing or getting played by the fool – is that we are setting each other up to drink damage, from the ultimate damage, God’s cup of wrath.
But there is a relief. We can allow the Holy Spirit to guide us (and help us keep our mouths shut).
But only if we repent and believe in the One who drank that cup for us (Isaiah 51:17, Jeremiah 25:15, Habakkuk 2:15–16, Matthew 20:20–23) are we able to receive the Holy Spirit.
Anyone who uses wise-sounding or even scriptural words to cause division or lead others away from Jesus Christ is only cutting them off at the feet so they stumble straight into eternal destruction.
Leave a comment | tags: Book of Proverbs, Christ, Damage, Destruction, Eternal destruction, Fool, Jesus, Knowledge, Mouth, Proverb, Wisdom | posted in Fools, Knowledge, Wisdom
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. -Proverbs 25:2, KJV
We are wise to remember that Jesus is the Son of God, and therefore He is God.
Jesus spoke in parables so that those who are willing to listen and see can find the truth, but those who are unwilling to listen and see the truth will ignore and even hate truth. (Matthew 13:10-17)
We are co-heirs with Christ, our King. (Romans 8:17) We are called priests – servants of God – but even a royal priesthood. (1 Peter 2)
As Audio Adrenaline put it, “boys become kings, girls will be queens,” so we are tasked with the honor of searching out the truths of God as revealed through Scripture.
Do not neglect your royal priestly duties as a Christian. Study the Word of God for yourself. Rely on those saints on whom we have the labors of faithful study that divulge the deep truths of the Bible. Go to church and be fed by your local shepherd and brothers and sisters in Christ.
Do not merely say a prayer and attend a church. Make your Christianity your own, and seek Christ with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
And then love your neighbor by sharing that truth. (Matthew 28:18-20)
1 Comment | tags: Bible study, Body of Christ, Book of Proverbs, Christ, Co-heirs, Conceal, Disciple, discipline, Faithful Witness, Faithfulness, God's Word, Great Commision, Greatest Commandment, King, kings, queens, Reveal, Secret, Seek, Share, truth | posted in discipline, Faithfulness, Truth, Word of the Lord
The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright. -Proverbs 21:18 KJV
I see two ways the wicked can be a ransom for the righteous and the transgressor for the upright.
First, the fulfillment of “you reap what you sow.”
Think of Haman from the book of Esther, who hoped to hang Mordecai, but was instead hung on the very gallows he had built.
Or the men who tried to trap Daniel and were themselves thrown into his pit of lions to be devoured.
In other words, if you plan evil against someone, you may very well find yourself suffering that fate.
Secondly, the ransom is not the payment but the prize.
Think of the kidnapped child. The “ransomed child” is paid for and redeemed.
(You probably see where this is going …)
Jesus Christ is the only truly righteous and upright One, and He sacrificed Himself for our ransom. Praise be to God that we wicked transgressors are the ransomed of Christ.
Likewise, we should go out and be willing to sacrifice everything to bring others to the knowledge of our Great Redeemer.
Leave a comment | tags: Book of Proverbs, Christ, grace, Jesus, Mercy, Ransom, Ransomed, Redeem, Redeemed, Relationship, righteous, Sacrifice, Sinner, Transgressor, Wicked | posted in Mercy, Relationships, The Wicked
The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression. –Proverbs 19:11 KJV
For normal, every day people, it is important to remember that most people are acting out of fear. Therefore, do not take attacks (verbal, physical, emotional) personally.
Put yourself in their position, and you might see there is no need to be angry.
If you are unable to change things (politics, entertainment, some circumstances), holding onto pain or offense hurts nobody but you.
Put yourself into a position to change things or avoid them.
If you are a Christian, you must realize that most attacks are either those briefly discussed above or are attacks against the One who lives in you, Jesus.
You are in a position of honor, suffering as your Lord.
Forgive them. You may be the one who wins them to the Lord.
Leave a comment | tags: anger, anger control, Book of Proverbs, Christ, relationships, Someone else's shoes, Suffer, Wisdom | posted in Relationships, Wisdom
I’m sitting on the back porch as the birds herald in the morning when I hear the cat-bird. Yea, he’s back! I love that odd avian sound truly mimicking a cat.
Oh, wait. Now I’m hearing a jumble of sounds (including the cat-bird’s) all mixed together, all different. There seems to be a cacophony of twitters all coming from the same bird in rapid fire succession. It’s still pretty dark, so I can’t see the perpetrator, but it’s got to be a mockingbird—that strange creation that can’t seem to find a voice of its own. Continue reading
1 Comment | tags: birds, Christ, clarity, find your voice, mockingbird, Opinions, prayer, proverbs, truth | posted in conversation/speech, Uncategorized, Wisdom
Proverbs 27:20
“Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.”
“Death and destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes.” – NIV
I, I
I enjoy video games. I have done for a long long time. I have worked in a video game shop. When a new big game comes out I find it hard to resist: I want to play it, to experience it. I knew the latest Grand Theft Auto would be a well deserved 18: but I am a sensible deserving adult, right? However upon playing a portion of the game I just simply decided that I didn’t want this kind of thing in my life. I can appreciate that it is a good game: the mechanics work well but for me the mechanics are implemented in a dark fashion. So I got rid of it. To be honest it was a sacrifice. I enjoyed most elements of the game but when it forces me in a direction that I don’t want to go in and have no chance to skip, I have to make a choice.
Why? Because what I fill my life with dominates it. What I let my eyes see affects my actions. Or as Jesus put it: what I fill my heart with will eventually come to the surface. Let me be clear – I’m not suggesting that playing dark or violent video games will turn a person into a killer: just that at some point, on some level, it will have an impact on their mood and outlook. That’s why despite me enjoying parts of the game, especially the chance to play online with friends, I have decided it’s not for me. I guess it crossed a line that I didn’t want to. Now I still have games in my collection that involve things like shooting so what does this verse have to say about them?
Balance in Favour of God
The eyes are never satisfied. They take everything in and the more they see of one thing the more they want it. Be that video games, films, porn or purity. People talk about our lives being in balance but for me the key is to make sure your eyes see enough of God that they just keep wanting more. The times I have genuinely spent focusing on God are the times when all other things in my life take a back seat. You may not like video games but I guarantee there is something in your life that is your go to thing when God is not central. The thing you spend most of your time doing, or thinking about when you aren’t doing it. If we could make God that thing, a lot of our other problems would fade into insignificance.
Matthew 6:33 ‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’
Leave a comment | tags: Bible, Book of Proverbs, Christ, Christ Jesus, Christianity, faith, God, Grand Theft Auto, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Proverbs and Sayings, Religion and Spirituality, Solomon, Wisdom | posted in advice, counsel, desire, Faithfulness, Fear of the Lord, Love, Trust the Lord, Wisdom
Proverbs 27:6
Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.
It Makes Sense
This is one of those proverbs we can look at and agree with. We all know it makes sense. It is much better to have friends who will be honest with us even when it hurts, then friends who will just pamper and flatter us even when we are clearly in the wrong.
The trouble is something making sense doesn’t guarantee we will follow the advice. In this case there are multiple reasons why we ignore this advice, our society is much more comfortable with flattery, even when it’s false, than truth; it can be hard to receive truth from a friend; we can find it difficult to speak truthfully to our friends in case they decide to ditch us.
First Things Firsts
To see more meaningful relationships we need to be ready to be examples. We need to be people who are good at taking criticism, and also brave enough to give it. Many people misread the plank in the eye parable. They use the excuse that as they will never be perfect, and therefore always have impaired vision, they cannot challenge other’s behaviour. I have even heard parents say that they cannot challenge their wayward ward because they were just as bad when they were children. But we only need to read to the end of the parable to see Jesus intention –
Matthew 7:5 (emphasis mine) ‘You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.’
We are to be wounded and we are to wound. And all the better our friendships shall be for it.
Leave a comment | tags: advice, Bible, Book of Proverbs, Christ, Christ Jesus, Christianity, faith, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Lord, Matthew 7:5, Proverb, proverbs, Proverbs and Sayings, Religion and Spirituality, Solomon, Wisdom | posted in advice, counsel, Love, pride/humility, Temptation, Wisdom
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Proverbial Thought 