Believing God Today

Giving Hope and Comfort in His Grace

Monthly Archives: March 2012


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Holy Week 2012

This was originally posted on Believing God Today on April 20th 2011 as Holy Week.

As I was pondering the cross of Christ and what that means, I thought of something I would like to write. What came out on paper was another matter altogether. This happens from time to time! If Jesus had not gone to the cross…we would not have forgiveness of sin. We also would not have eternal life with God, instead we would be eternally separated from Him. I for one can’t imagine eternal life with the Living God…even more then that I can’t get a grip on being separated from Him forever!

The cross of Christ…how often it is talked about. The cross should be talked about, no cross…no forgiveness. Jesus paid a very high price for our sins. Can you even imagine being brutally tortured and then being crucified after that? Jesus did this and more.

At the start of Holy week on Palm Sunday we see Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey (Matthew 21:2-7) while a large crowd of people spread there cloaks on the road (Matthew 21:8) and others spread palm branches on the road. (John 12:13) Why is this so special?

This verse in (Zechariah 9:9) predicts that the Lord will enter Jerusalem on a donkey, See also (Matthew 21:4-5). A donkey was also symbolic of humility and peace. The donkey was as well a symbol of Davidic Royalty. When King David chose his son Solomon to be king, he had Solomon ride on his (David’s) own donkey, (1 Kings 1:33,38-39) which indicated David’s public sanctioning of Solomon being the next king. Spreading ones cloak out before someone was an act of royal homage. Palm branches were used in a victory celebration, and the Apostle John saw a great multitude in heaven (Revelation 7:9) before the throne holding palm branches. So we can see that Jesus upon entry into Jerusalem was treated like royalty. This was of course no accident, if He would not have been acknowledged as He was, the very stones themselves would have cried out. (Luke 19:40)

 Then Jesus clears the temple, and then is healing people, (Matthew 21:12-16) and the children were calling out to Him Hosanna to the Son of David. This did not endear Jesus to the Pharisees who were already out to get Him.

On the following day Jesus proceeds to teach the people and warn them about the Pharisees.(Matthew 21:23-24:51) The Pharisees were threatened by Jesus teaching and were actively plotting how they could kill Him.

Jesus disciples made preparations for all of them to eat the Passover meal together. It was during this time Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, (Matthew 26:26-28) giving thanks for the bread and then breaking it and giving it to the disciples and saying, “take and eat; this is my body.” After Jesus took the cup of wine gave thanks and said, “Drink from it all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus also tells who it is that will betray Him.

Jesus then goes to the Mount of Olives into Gethsemane to pray. He takes with Him the inner circle-Peter, James and John. Jesus goes a little further into the garden and prays three times and each time comes back to find the disciples sleeping! Mark 14:34-41 Luke records in his gospel (Luke 22:44) that so great was the anguish of Jesus that He sweat drops of blood (This is medically speaking possible for this to happen). Jesus prayed that the Father would take from Him this cup which He was to drink. Yet He also prayed that the Father’s will be done…not His despite how great the strain was on Jesus.

Jesus is after all this arrested and brought before the high priest and then Pilate. All the while Jesus is taunted and then severely beaten. (John 19:1-3) As all of this is occurring Jesus is not fighting back or even really defending Himself. He allows Himself to be mistreated horribly and accepts it. There is a lot to be said from all this…it would be difficult for any of us to accept these things were they done to us. It would be impossible for any of us to withstand the flogging Jesus took and then carry the cross (part of it) as He did to His crucifixion. Jesus was a bloody mess after what they did to Him, the flogging was much worse then what was normally done to other people. Jesus suffered all this as a man for sure, but the strength He possessed to get through this was garnered from the presence of the Holy Spirit in Him and His belief and confidence in His Father.

Lastly of course Jesus was crucified on the cross. This alone was a painful experience, but He had to take upon Himself all the sin of the world so that we could be forgiven our sins. Jesus also paid the penalty of death and separation from the Father…which is the very penalty those who do not believe will have to pay. This is called the second death. Only for those who do not believe…in the last day at judgement this will be permanent. Believe in Jesus and be saved…He paid a very steep price for your life.

Related articles http://ptl2010.com/2012/03/30/palm-sunday-the-palm-leaf-and-the-cloak/

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Homeless - Until He Moved in With Jesus

Reblogged from Darrell Creswell:

Click to visit the original post
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Experts estimate that at any given time there are between 1 to 2.5 million people who are homeless in America.

Years ago, I traveled quite frequently and on this cold winter night in 1985, happened to be in downtown Chicago. I was staying in a hotel downtown and wanted to take a short walk before retiring for the evening. I stepped outside and saw a gentleman slowly walking toward me.

Read more… 939 more words

This is a great story, which happens to be true! A story about one man being touched by another and inspired by that chance meeting on a cold Chicago street. Or was it chance? Read this engaging article by Darrell, it will move you I promise!


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Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Drusilla over at Drusilla Mott On Faith and Writing nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Thank you Drusilla for thinking of me, I deeply appreciate it.

To accept this award, I am supposed to share seven things about me, well here they are;

  1. I love to see God’s beautiful sunrises and sunsets
  2. I like thunderstorms and severe weather, tornadoes fascinate me
  3. I enjoy writing
  4. I look forward to time in the Word each day
  5. It is a precious thing to know God forgives and loves me
  6. I enjoy encouraging others and appreciate the encouragement I receive from others
  7. I like to work outside, and enjoy seeing so many different scenic places

I am also supposed to nominate seven other blogs for this award, I appreciate all of these authors positive contributions to the Christian blogosphere, and to me personally. There are others that I did not list here, but I appreciate all of you who write!

  1. Gospel Apprentice
  2. Darrell Creswell’s Blog
  7. Chief of the Least


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How can God Forgive Me?

Have you ever thought to yourself, “how can God forgive me after what I have done”? Or maybe you asked yourself that question along with this one, “how can God love me after the things I have done?”

I have a couple answers for you, actually several answers.

Matthew 12:31 And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. As you can see here in this scripture, all sins will be forgiven, so no matter what you have done, if you ask with a sincere heart, you will be forgiven. As for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, if you are worried about it, then most likely you have not committed it, and if you are a believer…you cannot commit this sin.

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

Note the wording of this verse; it does not say for God so loved only the people who committed “these” sins…it says that whoever believes in Jesus will have eternal life! “Whoever”, is you! There are no hidden stipulations here, if you believe in Jesus and His work on the cross as being sufficient to forgive your sins…you are forgiven and you receive the free gift of salvation as well.

Roman’s 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Before you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you were for all intents and purposes God’s enemy! Keep in mind here that God’s enemies will at the end of all things wind up in hell. However, God is not willing that any would perish.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Since God has this great love for us, all of us, He made a way out of our sins for us. Confess your sins to God; accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, and you will be forgiven…not just the believer who sins, but also the person who has never asked forgiveness, regardless of what they have done. Yes even that person, who is God’s enemy, will be forgiven!

Still you think to yourself, “what I have done is unforgivable”, well let us look at an example of some one who really offended God. This man did so many things over many years to anger and offend God; it is in a way amazing that God did give him another chance. Then again, remember who we are talking about here, a God that is willing to forgive all sins, so He says in His Word. I am talking about King Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33:1-17).

King Manasseh was a very bad man. He erected alters to Baal, he made Asherah poles. Asherah was the name of the wife of the chief Canaanite god El, and the poles were set up in her honor. King Manasseh also built alters to all the starry hosts, right in the Lord’s temples. King Manasseh sacrificed his own children to these pagan gods. He also practiced sorcery, divination, witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and spiritists. All these things are of course forbidden by God to do. King Manasseh was then a very bad man, a man who spit in the face of God and did unbelievably evil things.

King Manasseh was punished, and when he called out to God, God listened. God did more then listen though…He forgave King Manasseh his sins and even restored his kingdom to him! After all this man had done against God, God forgave him and set him back on the throne of Judah.

Regardless of what you have done, go to God and truly, from your heart ask forgiveness. God will hear you and forgive you your sins. God loves you and wants to forgive you, but you need to go to Him and ask for forgiveness. Do it today, right now.

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Rediscover the Church

 
 
TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012
Rediscover the Church
—1 Peter 4:11
If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

We are living in a time in which some people are saying that we need to re-envision the church or reinvent the church. But I beg to differ. I think we need to rediscover the church. I don’t think we need a new version of it as much as we need to get back to the original version that Jesus himself established.That is the church that changed the world. That is the church that turned its world upside down. I don’t know about the church of today. It seems to me the world today is turning the church upside down.I think the answer is to get as close as we can to the original foundation and template for the church that Jesus himself established. This is God’s original design for the church.My goal as a senior pastor is not to have a big church; it is to have a strong church—and even more to the point, a biblical church. Having said that, there should be church growth, and I think the best kind of growth is through the addition of new believers.A trend in a lot of churches today is to be relevant to the culture, so they are trying to do everything they can to connect. I am all for relevance. However, I do not believe in relevance at the expense of reverence. This is still the church. And when I stand up to speak, I am not there to entertain or to give my personal philosophy or political views. I am there to teach the Word of God and to call people to Jesus Christ.I think sometimes we are trying so hard to be cool that we have forgotten how to be biblical. Let’s keep the integrity of our message intact.

Greg Laurie

I read this devotional today and thought that truer words have not been spoken. My next thought was related to Greg Laurie’s statement in this devotional that,
“A trend in a lot of churches today is to be relevant to the culture, so they are trying to do everything they can to connect.”
Now while I am all for connecting with people in whatever ways we can as a church body, that does not include doing things that are clearly un-biblical!

For one, teaching that God wants you to “have it all baby”, insert prosperity gospel teaching here, that is wrong. God does not want to give you all things! If you had everything your heart desired, what would you want God for? God promised the Christian life would be a hard act to follow, but but well worth it. God promised to bless us…He did not promise to give us gazillions of dollars, nice cars, and big houses. Yes some of us will have those things, not all.

Another one that gets me…the use of foul language from the pulpit! It helps people to “relate” Really??? Are you serious here? How about Paul’s teaching on not using foul language, only saying what is useful to build people up and edify them(the church)?

When Paul said that he became like whatever people group he was trying to reach, he did not mean to completely turn yourself into those people. Paul tried to reach the Pharisees with the Gospel. Paul used to be a legalistic person, so he could relate to them on that level, it does not mean that he himself became legalistic. I used to drink…a lot. So I can relate to the people who do so, I can talk their language, that does not mean I’m going to go get drunk with them!

Today’s church goes to far in trying to blend in…if the church itself blends in so well with the world that people can’t see a big difference between the “church” and the “world”…is the church all that much different from the world that is not to be a part of?

The church needs to relate any way possible to today’s world and the people in it, but it cannot do so to the point of compromising the Gospel. A church needs to be a church, and stand on the same biblical values the original church did. It is one thing to offer to help people that are lost in their sins, while making it clear they won’t be judged, but helped…it is a whole different thing to modify the teachings of the bible so as not to “offend” anyone.

When I go to church, I don’t want some “feel good phony baloney”, I want to hear the truth!

Related articles Faith Child – No Reverence or Relevance
Cite Simon – http://citesimon.com/2012/04/16/why-church-inc-is-a-bad-idea/
Michael Conner – Comfortable Christianity

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The Sacrifice of Christ

The Crucifixion , by Vouet, 1622, Genoa

A friend of mine recently posted about how Christ was scourged before being crucified. This got me to thinking today about that, and all of what happened at Calvary.

Jesus before all this was taunted and ridiculed mercilessly. A crown of thorns was placed on His head; that would have been painful. He was scourged…an extremely painful thing to endure. Suffice it to say, when someone was scourged, they were essentially whipped. Only the whip was many in one. Imagine many pieces of leather tied to the end of a pole; now imagine articles being tied into these pieces of leather that would rip open the flesh…deeply. These tools of torture were capable of ripping apart the skin, and tearing into the muscles as well. This would then be extremely painful. Then there was the cross; the sheer physical agony was horrendous. The weight of all the people’s sins had to be even worse. For more information on Scourging, see this post on Christian Blessings,

Scourging

What I really want to focus on is why Jesus did this. I think about this frequently, during communion I often think on this and it brings tears to my eyes.

Why would Jesus do this, why would He suffer so much for me? What would be the first reason Jesus would endure the cross?

Some, or dare I say many are going to say because He and the Father loved us that much.

That is a good reason, but it is not the first reason. There is another reason Jesus did this, and it is even more important then His love for us.

God must remain true to Himself or He would cease to be God! Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Now if Jesus is and always has been the same, then so has the Father. John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

God is love (1 John 4:8). God also tells us to love our enemies, (Luke 6:27 “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,) if God says that we are to do things, He is not going to tell us to do them and not do them Himself.

God must remain true to Himself first, before anything else. Do you see? God said, “love your enemies”…before we were granted forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ, we were God’s enemies! What did God do about this situation? He loved us…and died for us.

God made the law, knowing full well we could not keep it perfectly. God made the penalty for breaking the law death. So since we all sin, our penalty is physical death, followed by spiritual death. In order that we would not have to suffer the second death, a sacrifice needed to be made that was acceptable to God. This sacrifice needed to be perfect, and not an animal…a perfect man. So God sent Himself down to earth…as a man…and made good on the penalty of sin, for all of us. Jesus lived a perfect sinless life, and then willingly suffered terrible pain and agony beyond imagining, and then death. God, knew that He would have to pay the cost of His own rule…that His created creatures (us) could not pay the penalty, only a perfect, flawless man could do that…enter in Jesus.

Yes God also did this out of His great love for us, but God must be true to Himself first.

God said, “love your enemies”, so God did likewise…He died to save us (God’s enemies before conversion) from ourselves! Jesus said that if we love Him, we would obey Him (John 14:15). So also did Jesus obey the Father at all times, even at the end facing cruel torture and crucifixion. Luke 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

So Jesus obeyed His Father and suffered the cross, and willingly died for us. Knowing that Jesus died for us is important, but what is even more important is, knowing that He did it willingly. There is not, never was, nor will there ever be any force powerful enough to kill Jesus Christ. Nothing, and no one could do this…ever; Satan could not so much as put a scratch on Christ. This all-powerful being, incapable of being defeated and killed…lay down His life willingly to pay for our sins.

Think about these things as we approach Easter. We have been given a gift, more so then we normally even think about.

I praise your Name Jesus, thank you for giving your life, that mine could be restored. Thank you Lord for loving me so much. Thank you Father that through this miracle of love in action, I am given the gift of eternal life, and am forgiven my sins. Amen.

gth                                                                                                                                                                                                                              3/23/12

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How our Faith Walk should be

I came across a really awesome video today, actually it came in an email to me from a friend at church. I decided I wanted to share it with all of you who visit here on Believing God Today.

Then it hit me, there is a simple lesson to be learned along with this so cool video of a Bald Eagle. As you watch this eagle and what it is doing you will see it is very tenacious in it’s pursuit of the prey. (no you won’t see anything at all disturbing)

As the Bald Eagle was very tenacious in its approach to what it was doing, so we need to approach our walk with Christ. Be tenacious…don’t give up. Put some effort into your pursuit of Christ. The Lord will help you, but you need to be willing to do your part. Jesus will not come where He is not welcomed with open arms. If you refuse to do your part, reading the Word, worship, making appropriate changes in your life etc…even though the Holy Spirit lives in you upon conversion, you won’t get far in your walk with Him. An eagle’s primary focus in life is on obtaining food and shelter. Without those two items, they will die. Our primary focus needs to be on God, without Him…we will die. the rest He will provide for us.

Don’t waste your energy pursuing the things of the world. Instead pursue God first, then God will bless you with those things of the world that we all need to live.

Watch this video, it’s unlike anything I have ever seen!

The eagle makes several passes before it starts swimming – So stay with it.

Ever See An Eagle Do The Breast Stroke?
This footage was taken at Mallard Lakes subdivision in Baton Rouge .
Someone had shot a nutria, and it was floating dead in the water.
I can’t believe what this eagle did to bring that nutria in.
I never saw an Eagle doing a breast-stroke before.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/87xNpOYOlQ4?rel=0

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A Call To Action – Fasting and Prayer

We are going to begin setting up a day (or days) to call our fellow bloggers to join us in fasting and prayer for a revival in the United States.  If you are not from the U.S. you are still welcome to join us to fast and pray for the church as a whole.

If you have not already done so, and would like to, you can join OneCry.com -a site for people wanting to join together in prayer for the country and the church.  Greg Holt from Believing God Today has set up a group at OneCry called Believers United for Revival which can be found here if you care to join.

OneCry.com has set up a united time of prayer every Tuesday from 8:00-8:30 PM Eastern Time.  There is a phone number on their site if you wish to participate in this prayer time.  Info can be found here.  Long distance rates are applied.

Please see one of the two links below for the rest of this post. There is more info on fasting and a date that has been set up as our first day of fasting. We also have a group on Facebook which you can find here. Thank you for your prayerful consideration of this.

Greg

http://drusillamott.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/a-call-to-action-fasting-and-prayer/

http://ptl2010.com/2012/03/24/a-call-to-action-fasting-and-prayer/

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Baptism part four

This is the final installment in my series on baptism. Thanks to all who have read these posts, I appreciate you doing so.

If you missed any of the first three articles in this series, here are the links to them,

http://believinggodtoday.com/2012/03/11/baptism-part-one/

http://believinggodtoday.com/2012/03/13/baptism-part-two/

http://believinggodtoday.com/2012/03/20/baptism-part-three/

What are the reasons that someone ends up with the eternal destination of hell? It has nothing to do with baptism that is for sure. We all know the reason for our eternal destination in heaven; we believe in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross of Calvary. Why do we need to believe in Jesus and what He has done? We are all guilty of sin, (Romans 3:23) and we need a Savior because we can’t save ourselves! Set aside the issue of baptism for a moment and look this related issue.

We all sin as established in (Romans 3:23), but in order for there to be sin, we have to be aware that we have sinned (Romans 7:7-8) (Romans 7:13), hence the reason for the law. A baby is not aware of that fact, nor are they even remotely capable of being aware. As a child we are aware of having done wrong, we have sinned, infants are not capable of knowing this, nor sinning. Then in order to receive forgiveness of sin, we have to confess our sin to God, 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. An infant cannot confess sin to God, because an infant has no idea what sin even is!

From this I draw the conclusion then that babies that die, go to heaven. No the bible does not say that, but the bible does not say that they don’t. If sin is the reason (and it is) that we are assessed, by God the death penalty, then we must be aware of that sin. Since an infant is unaware of it’s sinful nature, then the penalty does not apply to them, and baptism of an infant has no meaning other than as a reassurance to the parents.

The time for baptism is when one has reached an age of accountability, meaning in this case when a person knows what sin is and what the penalty for sin is without the intersession of Jesus Christ by faith.  In the Jewish faith that age was generally considered to be twelve or thirteen years of age; then a person was accountable to God for their sins. When sin and the resultant penalty of death is understood, the concept of spiritual birth is understood, and the fact that this (spiritual birth) is possible through the death and resurrection of Christ, then it is time for one to be baptized. Baptism without the understanding of what it symbolizes just does not make sense; this would be akin to committing your life to Jesus Christ and having not a clue as to Who Jesus even is, it just would not make any sense!

Some will argue that because we inherit the sinful nature of Adam, when a baby is born, it is born into sin, and therefore subject to judgment, hence the need to be baptized right away. While we are born with the sinful nature, that is different then our own personal sin.

I am not here going to argue about the sin nature. I believe we are born with a sin nature; we all sin after all. Being born with a sin “nature” is not sin; it means that we will at some point commit sin.

Now lets say for the sake of argument that an infant is born with inherited sin. What would be the penalty for inherited sin? Physical death, Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death…keep in mind that this is inherited sin…this is very important here. We are all going to die a physical death unless we happen to be here at the very end when the rapture happens, that is a given. So the infant dies from whatever cause, that is only the death of the body, which we just established will happen to all of us. The Spirit on the other hand will continue to live.

Now…we have established already the case for a person needing to know what sin is in order to be guilty of it. Since an infant does not and cannot possibly know what sin is, an infant cannot possibly be guilty of any “personal sin”. Did you catch that? Personal sin, not inherited sin. We will all die a physical death because we all sin, period. Infants do not sin!

Their infant bodies will have died from whatever tragic event caused their death, but their spirit will live on; infant baptism does nothing to change this in a positive or negative way.

Since the infant did not commit personal sin, then the infant will be counted as righteous before God, and then will enter into eternity with God, not without Him. No personal sin means no judgment against the infant; no spiritual death as there are no grounds for that to happen.

I cannot see a Righteous, Holy, and Just God, which He is…commit an infant to eternity in hell. The infant cannot possibly meet the qualifications of Jesus to be saved, and again…cannot possibly know what sin is!

Baptism is for the believer in Christ, for the one who has repented of sin and knows the only way to be forgiven and saved is through a personal relationship with the risen Lord Jesus. As baptism is a representation of what happens when we commit our lives to Christ, we must first believe in Christ’s atoning work on the cross and know that we need Christ’s intercession for us. We must have a desire to live a life dedicated to Jesus Christ and serving Him as He directs. We must believe in Christ’s ability to forgive us and make us clean and new by His sacrifice on the cross for each one of us.

Baptism is the outward expression of the transaction that has inwardly occurred between God and us. We are publically saying, “I’m with you Lord, I will obey you and live for you, I believe in you Lord.”  Baptism is a beautiful thing, precious in the eyes of the Lord.

I hope this series has been informative and thought provoking for you.

Blessings to all of you, thank you for reading these articles.
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OneCry…Prayer for Revival

  • To my valued readers,

  • Would you please take a moment and read this letter I wrote inviting people to join us in prayer for our country? Do you maybe not live in the U.S? Maybe you have friends who do and would like to join us anyway.

    Would you please consider joining us?
    We are a group of people who are part of a larger group of groups on OneCry.com.

    What is OneCry? We are actively calling out to God in prayer for a revival to happen in our country. This nation has slid so far downhill, God has been taken out of schools, courts and practically everything else! We want God back into our lives, our schools…our everything!

    We are as a nation poised on the brink of a fall, a very bad fall. Either we are going to turn to God because of disasters, or the economy collapsing, political reasons, war, or maybe a combination of many things; or we are going to turn back to God as a nation through prayer and fasting for a revival to happen. Look at the world around you, more specifically our country…it doesn’t look good does it? You need not look any further then the news to see what we have turned into in this country; an immoral, God hating or at least uncaring of what God says, anything goes, I can do whatever I want nation. It’s positively sickening! This is an opportunity to help change that. God does listen to prayer, the more of us praying, the better.

    I need to say here however, that if you can’t seriously commit to praying daily for revival, then maybe this isn’t for you. I’m not doing this to make a big group on facebook or on OneCry or to promote me…forget about me. This is serious and I would like people to treat it as such. Please don’t join just to join. Join us to be a part of this growing movement to bring this country back into the fear of God. He is what matters, not me and not anyone else either.

    Pray about this and give it some thought before you say no. I know all of you are busy, but I deem this to be of utmost importance. This could make a huge change in this country!

    You can find us on OneCry here, http://www.onecry.com/group/eversUnitedforRevival/
    You will see a welcoming message from me; sign the declaration, join the group, and download the PDF’s and go over them as you can. The PDF’s I’m referring to are, Draw a Circle
    Praying for Spiritual Awakening.
    You can also find us on Facebook here, https://www.facebook.com/groups/230652333699363/

    Thank you
    Greg

  • www.onecry.com

    With heavy hearts, we recognize that the church in America is in a state of spiritual emergency. Like the churches warned in Revelation, we have become lukewarm and compromised, and the light of our witness has grown dim. We confess that despite access to more resources and biblical teaching than an…

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Baptism part three

If you missed parts one and two of this series, you can find them here,

http://believinggodtoday.com/2012/03/11/baptism-part-one/

http://believinggodtoday.com/2012/03/13/baptism-part-two/

I would remind everyone this is what I teach from what I read in the bible. I’m not trying to start an argument, or offend anyone here. If you have a different point of view, feel free to express it, but please do so in a considerate manner. I hope in posting this series that it will bless someone, or at the least make us all ponder this issue. I appreciate everyone who reads this series and your thoughts on it. My apologies for taking so long getting back into it, I wanted to do some further editing of this and a couple additions to the text before posting it.

Once again, thank you to all who take the time to read this series, and all the other articles on Christian Blessings. We are glad to have you here!

When should we be baptized? There is not one instance of infant baptism in the bible, not one. Jesus Himself was baptized at about the age of thirty. (Luke 3:23) Any verses in the New Testament speak of believing in Jesus and confessing, and repenting of sins to be baptized, or confessing and repenting of sins in the case of John the Baptist. So, one needs to be old enough to know they are a sinner in need of Jesus forgiveness. (Mark 1:5) (Luke 3:7,12) (Acts 2:38, 41) There are more verses then this, but the idea is that all the people being baptized knew they were sinners in need of a Savior. Baptism is supposed to be the outward reflection of the inward transaction that has occurred between an individual and Jesus Christ. If this is not the case, then why be baptized? I’m not at all suggesting that anyone who was baptized as an infant, that this was wrong (I was). I’m simply saying that from all the information in the bible, adult, or older child baptism is what is biblical, because then the one being baptized has an understanding of what the baptism actually means, and this is important.

Many people believe in the baptism of infants; there is not one verse in the bible that teaches this. John Calvin taught infant baptism, but this is not taught anywhere in the bible!

An example of a verse used to teach infant baptism is; Mark 16:15-16 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

First notice the above verses say nothing of infants. Next we see that Jesus says to “preach the good news”, you can’t preach the good news to a baby. Then we see that Jesus says, “whoever believes will be saved”, babies don’t “believe” anything about Jesus because even if you told them, the baby would be incapable of understanding!

Another set of verses used to “prove” infant baptism in the bible, Mark 10:13-16 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.15I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Notice first off that baptism is not mentioned in these verses anywhere.  Jesus laid His hands on the children and blessed them. He did not baptize them. Surely if Jesus wanted to baptize the children He would have. It is always stressed that one needs to believe in Jesus to be saved and believe the Gospel message; infants are not capable of this. Yes older children can believe and be baptized, but people use these verses as proof that infants be baptized. In Mark 10:15 Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” This is a reference to child-like innocence, receiving what is spoken to them without doubting like an adult tends to do automatically. Compare Mark 10:15 with Matthew 18:3-4  And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Children are humble, and they are teachable, willing to learn. If the child does not understand, he/she asks questions until they get an answer they can understand. These verses have nothing to do with infant baptism.

Here is another verse used to indicate infant baptism, Acts 16:30-33 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. “All his family were baptized” but look at what is said in verse 31,  ”Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved”, an infant is not going to be able to hear the Word of God and believe in Jesus. So the members of the household in view here were adults or adults and older children capable of understanding and believing in Christ. The bible says repeatedly that we need to repent of our sins; confess them to Jesus and believe in Him to obtain eternal life, if this precedes baptism, and it does, then an infant can not be baptized, for they are not capable of doing these things.

Nowhere does the bible ever mention a baby dying and being sent to hell because it was not baptized. That is simply not true, you will not find that in the bible. The bible also does not speak of an un-baptized infant winding up anywhere else either. The bible does not in fact address the issue of infants in relation to baptism at all. Therefore we must look for our answers elsewhere in other teachings of the Word.

Next time we will look at sin, hell, and the role of baptism as it relates to these things.
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I have no time for God

I don’t have time to do my bible reading or devotional reading…really? But you have time for TV and Facebook and a whole host of other time-wasters I bet.

I don’t have time to pray. Ok…but I bet you have time to text someone, read the paper and watch the news. You have time to be on the phone…

I’m too busy to go to church each week. Uh huh…busy doing what exactly? You can’t give God an hour or so of your time to worship and listen to some biblical teaching? Be serious.

I don’t have time to help at church. And the rest of us do? We that help are just as busy as everyone else is.

If you don’t have time for God, it is because you choose not to have time for Him. We all make time for what is important to us. There really is not an acceptable excuse for not spending time with God. If you are a believer, then you need to be spending time with your Lord.

Think about this…

What if God was to busy, He did not have time when…

  1. You are praying
  2. You called out to Him for salvation
  3. You are worshipping, and the Spirit never shows up
  4. You throw up a “hail mary” to heaven in deepest need
  5. You are first seeking Him out having heard good things

The list could be endless here, but you get the idea. Just think about all the many times you need God, including the times when you did not call out His name…but He was there to protect you, maybe bring healing to you. What if God just decided that He was simply to busy to listen to you?

When we don’t spend time with God, we are saying to God; “God, you are not that important in my life. I don’t really need You all that much”.

We can’t throw God a bone every now and again like He is a dog and expect that to be ok.

The dog might like that, but God does not. God wants interaction with us each day, not on occasion.

God wants our attention, every day! Not just when we feel like fitting Him in, not when it works into our schedule…every day. Don’t make excuses why you can’t spend time with God, make time to spend with God…period.

If God saved you from the lake of fire, and He did if you are saved, then He deserves to have your time. God gave up His Son, so you could have the life you do…shouldn’t you give Him some of your time?

Just as your parents love you, God loves you because you are His child. He wants to talk with you, listen to you. Spend some time each day praying, and reading His Word. Go to church regularly; help out at church with something. Worship the Lord and give thanks, praise His name…after all, where would you be without God?

God has invested much into you; He saved you from an eternity in hell by giving up His own Son. He continues to be patient with you even when you make mistakes. God wants you to succeed, not in the way the world does, but in the way that Jesus taught us. The more we follow Christ and His teachings, the better off we will be. Following the Lord is a blessing, as we do so, we will be happier and more satisfied in our lives.

Invest your time in God…the rewards are huge.

gth                                                                                                                                                                                                                            3/19/12

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Worthy is the Lord

On my knees I’ll find the strength

My Lord He will go to any length.

On my knees before Him face to the ground

I will listen to Him expound.

On my knees I ask forgiveness

My sins are redeemed with decisiveness.

On my knees before the throne

Jesus says; I will intercede with the Father, so I may bring you home.

On my knees I ask His will for me

My Father He says follow my Son, and then all will be plain to see.

On my knees I seek His grace

Oh this ability to seek His face.

Oh the beauty of His matchless grace

It abounds all through this place.

For the love of money I will not live

For the love of my Lord, I will give.

This world He created for us to share

In this world we need His care.

Lift up your hands all you people of the Lord, sing to Him, the only One

Worship His great Name

Praise the Father, and Jesus the Son

Blessed be the Lamb, without any blame.

Worthy is He

The One and only

Oh worthy He is

To be His child is just great bliss

In the middle of the storm I will lift up my hands

On bended knee, you will give me the strength to stand.

In the walk of life, I praise your Name

For your glory was I made

I listen when God speaks, for this is no game

I thank my God, for I will not fade.

The Lord I will confess

For me He has chosen to bless.

gth                                                                                                                                                                                                                               3/14/12

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Baptism part two

If you missed Baptism part one you can find it here.

What exactly is baptism anyway? Lets look at what the bible has to say about it.

First I want to look at Baptism pre-Jesus. John the Baptist was obviously baptizing before the disciples of Jesus were doing it. There is a difference though in John the Baptist’s baptism, and the baptism of Christ. When John baptized, he did so with water, but his baptism was looking forward to the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.

Luke 3:2-3 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, repentance means to turn away from, to change what we are doing. To repent is to truly be sorry for what we have done wrong, and then turn from that behavior, that action, and change our ways. John’s baptism then was symbolic of repenting before God and turning from sin with commitment to God to live life not in sin any longer, but to do good works and live a life of truth and obey the Lord and His commands Luke 3:8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance…

John also said that his baptism was not the same as the one to come, Luke 3:16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

What exactly is the baptism of Jesus about as compared to John’s baptism? Yes John was the one who baptized Jesus (Luke 3:21), but Jesus did not need the baptism of repentance, as Jesus never sinned. Jesus did this to fulfill all righteousness                               Matthew 3:15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. What exactly that verse means, does not matter in this context, what matters is that Jesus stated His reason for being baptized and it can’t be the same as ours.

The baptism of redemption (baptism in the name of Christ) is very different from that of John the Baptist; baptism of repentance, it is actually rather complex in nature. Colossians 2:11-12 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

Much happens in baptism. The picture is of sinking into the water, and then rising up out of it. Immersion in the water is symbolic of our sinful nature, “the old man” being crucified with Christ. Our sinful self, our fleshly being is buried with Christ in the grave. Our sinful nature, the one we have thus far been a slave to; that we had to obey without a choice…the power of that sinful nature is now broken. We are no longer required to obey our sinful nature, but are free to walk in the spirit.

Romans 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Our new life is begun. As we are raised out of the water, we are born again. Again, the water and the baptism are but symbols of what is happening or has already happened. Just as Christ was raised from the dead, we are raised from our previous state of being spiritually dead, and are reborn into a new existence…we are now forever more spiritually alive through Christ. Note what it says in Romans 6:4…we too may live a new life. This is our spiritual birth, for some their real birthday. Romans 6:5-6 is even further conformation of this, it reads as follows; If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—

So in Jesus, our actual nature is changed. We are no longer slaves to sin; we are free to walk in the spirit instead. Our flesh, or our Adamic nature no longer rules us; Christ has given us control through the power of the Holy Spirit.

What about the type of baptism? We see in the bible that when people were baptized, including Jesus, it was by immersion.                                                                             Matthew 3:16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.

Note the wording of the above verse, “he went up out of the water”, which makes a very strong case for being immersed in the water. I believe immersion is the way to go. However, that being said…if another form of baptism is used such as sprinkling with water…the main thing is being baptized, not the way a person is baptized. Remember…baptism is an important “symbol” of what has occurred internally through your new relationship with Jesus.

Next time we will look at when we should be baptized.

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Spring is in the Air

Oh the spring air is joyous, the air smells wonderful; fresh and clean, a reminder that winter is fading at long last.

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With spring comes a new beginning, a return of life that was dormant the winter through. As if spring is the promise of new life, and the return of life that lay dormant but for a while.

Grass renews and becomes green again; it’s brownness forgotten. Trees leaves re-emerge and become beautiful once more, wearing their coats of color and shape. Flowers will abound once more, what joy there is to be in flowers beheld.

Oh the fresh new growth of spring, and the varied colors and smells, what beauty there is to behold, a feast for the senses to refresh the soul.

As spring moves into summer, the full changes appear. Everything is in bloom and showing it’s God given beauty off…a picture for us to enjoy not only with our eyes; but also with our sense of smell, and our appreciation for beauty…gifts given us by God.

As the new spring and then summer bring about a glad change in this earth we dwell on, so too can the Word of God bring about “spring” in us.

Only we don’t have to wait for a new season. The day of refreshment can be any day we choose.

Don’t wait another day to refresh yourself; do it today! If you have been away from the Word of God, maybe even from worship, start afresh in His Word and receive renewal in your spirit today.

We can have a new start anytime we need one, no waiting. As God renews the seasons and all the things that grow in those seasons, so too will He renew us…we need only come to Him. If you have been away, come back. Be blessed by the Lord as you spend time with Him.

If you spend time each day with the Lord, remember what a blessing it is to know Him. Give thanks today…to the One who made all things.

gth                                                                                                                                                                                                                               3/11/12
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Baptism part one

Baptism, a much contested subject within the church. What is it, at what age should it be done, what about infant baptism, how should it be done? There are many questions about this subject.

As you read this series please realize that what I am saying is based on what the bible says, and I will provide bible verse references. This is meant to be informative and thought provoking, I am trying to be as honest and forthright as I know how here without falling into overt speculation, nor am I looking to argue or offend anyone. Still, this is my teaching on the matter of baptism, and I certainly can’t claim to have all the answers. This is my interpretation from what I have studied in the bible. With this in mind, lets proceed.

Just what exactly is baptism anyway? What does it signify when one is baptized? When we are baptized, it is a public affirmation of our faith in God. Or even better than that, through baptism we are identified with the triune God.

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Through baptism, (often referred to as the believers baptism) we are expressing our willingness to be forever more associated with God. We claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior not in private, but before other witnesses. Water baptism is the outward sign of what is happening on the inside. We are being made spiritually new, we are reborn, not by the baptism itself but by what has transpired spiritually between ourselves and Christ, of which the water and the baptism are symbols (1 Peter 3:21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also–not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ).

So if baptism does not really accomplish anything really meaningful, then why do it?

As outlined above, it is a symbol of what we believe, what or more appropriately Who we have committed to. Water baptism is also a step of obedience. Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 9:18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized.

Acts 8:12, Acts 8:36-38 Acts 16:15

The above verses all clearly show that we are to be baptized. Obedience is very important to God and so should be to us as well. Keep in mind that Jesus Himself was baptized, if Jesus was baptized, we need to be as well, (Matthew 3:16-17 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”)

There are many theories as to why Jesus was baptized, and I’m not going to here delve into that. What I do see as of utmost importance here is this; Jesus says to follow Him, the Apostle Paul said to follow (Paul) as he followed Christ. Following in this instance means to emulate, to do as they are doing. As Christ was baptized, Paul was baptized…so we need to be baptized.

Baptism as referred to in 1 Peter 3:21 is a symbol of what has occurred. Baptism does not save us; the resurrection of Jesus Christ saves us, as we believe in Him and His finished work. Baptism is a symbol, an important one, but nonetheless a symbol. It signifies our proposed intent, which is to be committed to God, to let Him take first place in our lives, to obey God and His calling on our lives. To commit to living a life defined not by sin, but by the absence of constant sin in our lives. Therefore obeying God and what His Word says about baptism is very important. It is one of our first opportunities to obey what we are called by God to do.

Next time we will look at what exactly Baptism is.

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Go.

Reblogged from For His Glory:

"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore and make disciples..." Matthew 28:18,19a

The command was simple. "Go." It was Christ's last. His ministry on earth was complete.

Read more… 928 more words

Go...go into the world and make disciples, but we need to be one ourselves first. This is a great article on being a disciple of Christ and discipling others.