ClydeStyle

Category: Faith

  • Living with honor

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    Honor is like a little battery placed on your shoulder that has to stay there as you walk. And then while you’re walking, someone is constantly trying to knock it off.

    Or honor is like a glass of water filled to the brim and someone is trying to get you to spill it.

    Whatever the case, as Christians we are challenged daily and judged by a world which is against us. To be the light in a dark place is not an easy task, but it is the challenge give by the savior. He said to let our lights so shine that others would see our good works and glorify our father in heaven. That sounds easy enough, but have you ever really tried it?

    The Christian must act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God and positive effects are inevitable. We must live our lives with honor remembering that we are citizens of another place and this place we live in is temporal.

    So live with honor that others will find the path. Live with honor to make your calling and election sure. And live with honor so that God will honor you in the end.

  • Parable of purity

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    Once upon a time a father baked a beautiful cake. He decorated it with the finest icing, and he  added extra icing to it because his cake was so sweet.

    He took his cake and placed it in a display case for safe keeping until the right person came to purchase.

    Each evening, unbeknownst to the father, some guy would reach up and take a bite out of his cake. In fact, by the time he noticed, there were more than 11 bites out of his cake.

    The father was sadden and although he still cared deeply about the cake, he wondered if the bites would hinder quality sales of the cake. The father also remembered when he used to sneak bites of cake and it saddened him more. “No one should be trying to taste cake before purchasing it!” He exclaimed.

    The interpretation of this parable is this: The cake is this man’s daughter and every bite out of it represents the daughter’s sexual experiences. The purchasers are men who would be great candidates for marriage.

    Moral of the story: No one wants to purchase a community cake. Or as the Apostle Paul wrote: “Marriage is honorable by all and the bed is undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”

  • The power of one

    untitledIt is easy to look at this world and all of the evil there in and feel that as one person we are powerless. It seems like my voice and vote doesn’t matter and my single voice is too small.

    Well, this ideal is family to the fear and doubt that is given by the evil one. This concept has halted a lot of would be powerful movements. A wild forest fire can be started with one match and whole wars have been started with one shot.

    What if the energy that was donated to the negative thoughts were reserved for the one? The one who would dare to speak out against injustice or the one who would dare to love their spouse in spite of infidelity.

    Or the one who would dare to challenge a bully or plead for the less fortunate. Or the one who would choose to see that the glass really is half full or understand that the best dancing is done in the rain.

    Jesus made a huge impact living only 33 mortal years on earth. God has given most of us more time and the same power!

    Let’s celebrate the power of one and do something with it.

  • Killing faith

    There are many different faiths of the past being expressed through tradition and culture and sometimes law. The cumulative traditions attempt to ignite present faith, but it’s not working.

    In our society we allow human experience, human merit and human tradition to define our faith instead of allowing the word of God to do such. Faith should be deeper and more personal than mere religion. It then allows for a person or group to respond to the value and power of God as perceived and grasped through the forms of cumulative tradition. These forms serve only as an extension of what we truly believe in our hearts. The stronger the inner faith, the more visible the belief.needforfaith

    This is similar to the faith of the past being used to increase the faith in the present. Typical bible classes use this format to increase the faith of members by teaching the things from the past. The apostle Paul wrote in his epistle to the Romans that the things which were written aforetime were written for our learning and that in the understanding of these things we would have hope.

    However, we can’t afford to allow faith to be lessened to simple belief. Faith needs to be allowed to breathe and produce a product that relies on the transcendent and fosters trust in another — this defines a resurgence of faith. Many churches stop evolving and reach a point where tradition supersedes God’s word. In many places the members don’t even know the difference. Bible classes are not well attended and teachers and leaders, instead of studying and creating their own lessons for their flock, purchase generic material that does not address the issues of today. Faith has to step out from the exclusive assignment of religious belief to an action that allows us to trust and build hope. faith

    I believe the only way to really accomplish this is by taking the members out of the traditional bible classes and take the teaching to their world. Classes need to be inclusive and outside of the traditional setting. A resurgence of in-home bible studies designed to put faith in motion. This goes beyond small groups which were designed primarily for fellowship. In-home bible studies would be equivalent to “labs” that a college student would have if he was taking biology or chemistry. The only true task of the Lord’s church today is to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ relevant in the 21st Century.

    If we want to be truly transformed by the renewing of our minds, it has to be through our understanding of God’s word. We must study to show ourselves approved of God. If not, we will kill our faith.

  • Gratitude vs. Thanks

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    I was unaware of the symbol for gratitude. Of course, Eastern culture exhibits the symbol as much a we see stop signs here.

    Gratefulness and thankfulness each have its purpose, but have you ever viewed these words as levels of maturity? What I mean is a child will mimic what you say to him, but there will be no emotion behind it and that’s because there is not much intellect behind it. Imitation is what children do and it seems that some people never grow past mimicking.

    We are taught by our parents to say thank you when someone does something for us. We say thank you as a sign of respect. We do it because it’s the “right” thing to do.

    We grow up and understand thankfulness in the context that we learned it as a child. Thankful means to be glad or relieved that someone did something for us. That is a great thing to understand — when you are a kid.

    Gratitude seems to be the next level because it means that you understand what has been done for you and you want to express an inward feeling outwardly. You want to do something because you are moved by what someone else has done for you.

    Wow! That is different!

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    So ultimately our faith must do better than rest at thankfulness because faith without works is dead. So if we understand what God has done for us, then our actions should speak for us.

    So if I am grateful for God’s unconditional love then I will give it to someone else. If I am grateful that God has forgiven me, then there is no way I don’t forgive. If I am grateful that God’s grace saves me from a state where I could not save myself, then why would I not be so grateful as to learn of him and shout from the roof top telling others about him?

    Thankful appreciates. Grateful expresses the appreciation. Thankful shines with a smile. Grateful is a call to action.

    Therefore, I need to be grateful instead of thankful. I need to be more of a doer and not just a hearer that my faith and trust in God may be displayed before the world.

    I give God my thanks regularly, but I need to let him and everyone else know that I am grateful.

  • Becoming truly independent on Independence Day

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    As June comes to a close we are set to focus on a summer which is in full swing.

    The month of July reminds us that as a country, we took measures years ago to insure that we would enjoy freedom. We declared our independence and wrote songs about it. Heroes secured their place in history and it has been taught to future generations.

    Wouldn’t it be cool if we not only remembered our independence as a nation, but we examined our own lives and sought independence for ourselves?

    Over time we develop bad habits, bad relationships and bad dispositions. Maybe instead of complaining about them we decide to do something about them.

    Maybe you have been a dumping ground for other people’s problems or a scapegoat for other people’s troubles.

    Maybe you are in an unhealthy relationship or you are financially strapped because you are living above your means.

    Maybe you are enabling someone in a negative way that keeps them handicapped from dealing with their own problems.

    Whatever your lot, you can decide on Independence Day to free yourself! You should be in control of your life! Who better to make decisions for you, but you?

    This just takes some planning and praying. You can do this. Free your mind and you body will follow. This would make July 4, 2013 the best holiday ever!

    Think about it and make it happen. You deserve it!

  • How we are saved

    20130614-230636.jpgHave you ever wondered exactly how the gospel saves? I mean we say it all the time and it is a staple in Christian circles. However, is the “how” ever addressed? We definitely get the “who” the “what” and the “where”, but it seems the “how” is the black sheep of this family.

    Well, please allow me to share the “how” and open your heart to the rightly-divided word. The facts of the gospel are contained in 1 Cor. 15:1-4. Paul writes that Jesus died according to the scriptures and he was buried and he rose on the third day according to the scriptures. So the death, burial and resurrection are the simple facts.

    In Romans 5:10, Paul says that in His death we were reconciled back to God. With Jesus’ death we have a new relationship with God. The bible says that we are but filthy rags before him. The blood of Jesus reconnects us. This is the soul purpose of his death — that those who die with Him get the benefit of being united with God.

    The resurrection is this new life that we, who believe, live in. Rom. 5:10 says that we are “saved” by His life. How? You see, for those who are in Christ, it is His life that we walk in, not our own. His life is the light. And that life is the light of men (John 1:4). And if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). So there is only light and darkness. We walk in the light by faith. We have been called to walk by faith, not live perfect lives. As a child of God who has been reconciled to God and saved by His life, I have eternal security as long as I “walk by faith” (a.k.a. Stay in the light).

    The death and resurrection are tied together by the burial just like our reconciliation and life in Christ are tied together by baptism. Rom. 6:4 says, “we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

    This makes baptism as essential to salvation as the burial is to the gospel. No wonder Jesus said, “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved …”(Mark 16:16).

    I hope that I have brought clarity to this topic and please don’t hesitate to comment on this blog with questions.

    In Christian love,

    Clyde

  • Yes, no and not now (Part 3 of 3)

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    So you want your prayers to be in step with the will of God do you? I don’t blame you, too often we ask God as a last resort and we’re still struggling with what things we should pray for.

    Remember, prayer is designed to be a comfort to us. It’s like being able to talk to the king of the land and having favor with him. It’s a privilege to be in a covenant relationship where he has requested that when you’re going through rough times you talk to him about it.

    Prayer is not a wishing well or a Jeanie in a bottle. It is not a set up where if God likes you, he will give you what you ask. Prayer is not a way to gain material things that we want and it is vain to pray for things God has already granted.

    For example, for you to pray to God because some poor person needs food and you already have a house full of food is vain. God doesn’t expect you to rid the world of hunger. He just expects you to take care of the situations you know about. I have a family and let’s say I lose my job. God knows what I need before I ask. Well in a covenant relationship, I need to thank him for the job I know he has purposed for me. Why? Because the Bible says if a man does not work, he doesn’t eat. And a man that doesn’t take care of his family is less than an infidel. So, I can be assured that God has prepared a way for me to take care of the family he gave me so no panicking! Just simply be relentless in search of that job because faith tells you it’s there.

    When someone is deathly ill and we pray for them, our prayer should be one that is honest, vulnerable and direct. There is no way to know if it is time for the sick person to die. All we know is that death is common to man and therefore all must die. My prayer would be to let God know how I feel and then let him know that I trust his decision and that he knows best. There is nothing wrong with asking God to heal someone, what makes it bad is when God has revealed his will and we don’t accept it.

    God is still GOD when things turn bad, when death visits our house and when we are at our lowest point. He still works things out for our betterment. If we really understand this, then all of our prayers will be of faith. And remember faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

  • Yes, no and not now (Part 2 of 3)

    Will_Of_GodFather knows best was the title of a popular sitcom during the early stages of television and in that program (which was before my time) attempted to show real life family problems that daddy was able to solve. Well, this second edition ponders the question of who knows more — God or us? You would think that the answer to this question would be easy. In word it is, but in deed it is contradictory.

    Everyone would say that God knows more than they do. No one sane would ever challenge God to a knowledge contest. We would argue another person down regarding how awesome our God is. We would not allow anyone to degrade our God, we would be offended if someone mocked our God and we definitely don’t want anyone to discredit the existence of our God. Yet, all on our own, we will second guess where God is in a crisis. We tend to allow doubt to enter into our minds when trouble comes. We still believe that we have some significant contribution to whatever is going on. We have a horrible sense of importance, meaning we value our own opinions sometimes more than God’s truth.

    Psalm 50:12 records God saying, “If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof.” This scripture makes me laugh because we are so out of the loop when it comes to God. We only know what he allows us to know. Scientist only discover what God decides they can discover. I wouldn’t know what kind of food to give God and I really wouldn’t know how to get it to him. I am helpless. I can’t even save myself.

    How many more things does God have to do for us to prove he is God? What else is needed to convince our minds to trust him? Why are we still making God prove himself? Our prayers should be prayers of faith. We should be praying to God understanding who we are praying to and what we are praying for. James wrote that we have not because we ask not. Then he said when we ask, we ask amiss. We must pray God’s will. But how do we know God’s will you ask? I will discuss this next week.

  • Yes, no or not now (Part 1 of 3)

    Trust-God1Have you ever wondered how God decides to answer prayer? It is difficult for us to understand how God would respond to us as we know it is written that God’s ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts. But certainly we can understand what God’s word has to say about prayer to the almighty and understanding that God is sovereign.

    Sovereign speaks of God’s supremacy, his kingship and his Godhead. To say he is sovereign is to declare his majesty and that he is the Most High. His sovereignty states that he is exactly what Paul called him in 1 Tim. 6:15 — that he is the only Potentate, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. So God has the power then to decide to answer our prayers, deny them or delay them. And we trust him to do such…or we should.

    To pray to God is to trust God. To make your request known to him is to acknowledge him as the giver of all things and believe that he will respond in the best interest of his children. Our problem is deciding whether God is saying yes, no or not now to us. The first step in understanding this process is to know you are praying in God’s will. You can only know God’s will by studying his word. God’s word tells me that his intervention is greatly needed in this world. It let’s me know that God’s will is far better than the will of man and that salvation belongs only to the one who gave it. So TRUST is the first ingredient in understanding God’s answer.

    There is a familiar gospel song entitled Trust and Obey which was written by John H. Sammis who was a Presbyterian minister. It says, “When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,  What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey. Trust and Obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

    Are you willing dear reader to trust God and allow His will to be done? Next week we will discuss the silence of God when it comes to answering our prayers.