ClydeStyle

Category: God’s Promises

  • Benefits of sitting at His table

    20130112-234503.jpgIn the middle of the 23rd Psalm, David writes that the Lord would prepare a table for us in the very presence of our enemies.

    The curious student would ask, “well, what’s the benefit of that?” You see, God got real personal about us and the universe knew it. He created us in his image and as the angels stood in amazement at God’s affection toward us, Satan hated it.

    He thought if He could only get us to transgress God’s law then God would be forced to kill us or cast us away. This is something Satan knows all too well. Formerly Lucifer, he hoped to strike a blow for his cause. What happens in such cases is that your enemies will strike out against the people you love when they can’t get to you. Satan could not do anything with God on any level. So it stands to reason that he would bother us.

    When we stumbled in our garden (yes, everyone has their own garden that they were cast out of when they sinned) the angels didn’t even know that the manifold wisdom of God would be known by the church (Eph. 3:10). So in other words, God had a plan for us before the foundation of the world! His plan was perfect and it was hidden from the universe. His plan was John 3:16!

    It wasn’t enough to just save us. God had to restore us. Restoration is still a work in progress for us because it’s something we expect God to do for us, but many of us are still holding grudges against a brother or sister because we’re mad. God’s restoration puts us back where we were — with him!

    This is symbolized in the story of Mephibosheth (2 Sam. 9). Remember, he was the grandson of the former King Saul. He should have been put to death as part of the former royal family, but David not only spared him, but restored him to where he would have been if he was king. David understood restoration.

    This concept is ever present in the story of the prodigal son ( Luke 15). His father killed the fattest calf for his youngest son who had returned home from learning the most important lesson of his life.

    And finally, this concept is symbolized with the taking of the Lord’s Supper. This divine feast is for believers who are continuing in the faith and are looking forward to the coming of the Lord. Jesus designed this Holy feast and it’s more of a demonstration of his love for us in front of the unseen world. It serves as a reminder to evil as to who we belong to. It’s in the presence of our enemies that God showcases our relationship to him. This is when your big brother tells the bully to “back off or else!” This is God’s celebration for our decision to follow him.

    This very important table is another step in the direction of making us fear-free. Our God who promised to provide all of our needs according to his riches in glory does not want us fearful. So instead of being afraid, why don’t we simply remember where we sit in Christ and enjoy the feast!

  • God did not give you the spirit of fear

    photoIn 2 Timothy 1:7 the bible says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of
    a sound mind.” I really believe this, but clearly in our society people are afraid. The fear clouds our judgement and makes it difficult for us to make sound decisions. It was never God’s will for us to live in fear. There are things he has done for us mentally, spiritually and physically so that we would not fear. It is my goal and prayer that this little blog post will help us all see fear as a choice, and choose to trust God instead.

    There is a lot to be learned from an indepth study of the 23rd Psalm. I have heard this psalm preached a number of different ways and they have all been correct and inspiring, but I have not heard one yet on fear. The 23rd psalm is all about eliminating fear from the mind of the child of God. It was written for us to remember the state the Lord, our shepherd, has left us in.

    If we believe that the Lord is really our shepherd and we won’t be lacking in anything as the first verse says, then it’s easy to see that the first four things God does, takes away all of our reasons to fear.

    The text says “he makes”, “he leads”, “he restores” and “he leads” again. All that hard work goes to waste if we receive it and still fear. The “still waters” and the “green pastures” speak to our physical needs. The “paths of righteousness” speaks to our spiritual being and I’m sure you need no help with what “restoration” speaks too.

    Then the text declares that evil would not be feared because God is with us. And not only is he with us, but his “rod” (discipline) and “staff” (authority) comfort us. If God is for us, who can be against us???

    Then this whole idea of setting a table before us is so deep that I will share it as a subject of next weeks blog. The anointing was to prepare us for service and the cup running over is pure blessings. So the way I see it is like this: The Lord as our shepherd is out in front of us. The rod and the staff are to our right and left sides for comfort and protection. The only area left to cover is our backs and you know how God gets our backs don’t you??? God covers our backs with two things which will always be there and he promised to keep us in his family forever. Read it for yourself and sleep well at night!

    “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever” (Psalms 23:6).

  • The truth about forgiveness

    Friends,

    How often have you heard that we are supposed to forgive and forget? This has even been attributed as a biblical principle – the only problem is that God never told us to forgive AND forget.

    Consider this: We are VERY human and in our carnal state it is not remembering the sin that is wrong, it’s how we remember it.

    If I am remembering someone else’s trespass against me for the purposes of fueling my hatred toward them, then God’s going to have a problem with that.

    If I am remembering the trespass as a reminder of how human we all really are and to fuel my compassion toward humanity, then God will be pleased.

    You see, we can’t expect God to forgive us if we are unwilling to forgive others — was this not the Lord’s prayer?

    Not to mention that Jesus also said that if we didn’t forgive genuinely (from the heart) our brother his trespasses, then God would not forgive us (Matt.18:35).

    The issue I like to focus on is how much more the world will get to understand our God by the way we forgive. Any fool can seek revenge, but it takes a child of God to love their enemies, have compassion for those who persecute and give grace to evildoers.

    You don’t forgive people because they ask for it or because they deserve it. You forgive my friend because you have been forgiven.

    Selah

  • We need to wait for God’s end

    Friends,

    Everyone can relate to the feeling of being betrayed or having someone do something to you without cause.

    It’s not right! It doesn’t feel good! And it’s hard to forgive in such cases.

    There are many who may still be struggling to overcome the results of someone’s wrong doing. You would not be human if as a spiritual person you didn’t wonder or question where is God in all of this?

    In 1 Peter 2, the bible tells us that it is thank worthy to God “when we suffer wrongfully” and “take it patiently.”

    Although this is easier said than done, we need to wait on the Lord. God’s providence follows us into the calamity. God’s control has limited and manipulated the wrongdoing before it came to us.

    Did you catch what I said? God has already worked things out. Now remember I am talking about the trouble that comes your way that you did not cause. This is the same type of trouble that James says to “count (it) all joy when you fall into divers temptations” (Ja. 1:2).

    Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all believers trusted God enough to allow his control and not seek to fight alone? There is a clear war going on here my friends — Good vs. Evil.

    The real question is: Who are you going to trust? Can the wrongdoing of mankind trump the goodness of God when it comes to his love toward us?

    Let’s wait (on the Lord) and see!

  • The importance of types in scripture

    A few weeks ago, I began teaching a class on types in scripture.  By types I mean that an Old Testament story is somewhat of a mirror to a scenario today. We often don’t associate or connect the Old Testament and the New Testament together this way, but we really should. There is much to be learned by “things written aforetime” (Rom. 15:4).

    There are several types portrayed in scripture between the time of Adam and the Law of Moses. I would like to expound on five. First, God’s action toward Adam and Eve in the garden as he made provisions for his people and gave them purpose.  This is something he does for us in Christ today. Christ was our provision and we have a purpose in our life that centers on doing his will. Second, even when God put Adam and Eve out of the garden, he taught them a lesson on the consequences of sin. Because of their sin, something died. Physically, God shed blood from animals to cover their sin. This practice would continue until Christ died on the cross. Many bulls and goats died because of the sins of God’s people. And all that blood could do is what it did on Adam and Eve’s exodus from the garden – cover their sins.

    Third, Cain and Abel is one of the oldest lessons in the bible as it relates to man. Abel’s offering was based on God’s revelation; Cain’s offering was based on man’s imagination. This lesson is played out every Sunday as so-called religious people attempt to worship the Father “their” way and not God’s way. Many are responding to the gospel by man’s imagination instead of God’s revelation. This is a powerful lesson that man must learn before Jesus returns.

    Forth, Enoch, the bible says, was translated so that he didn’t see death and it was all because of his faith. Our faith works exactly the same way in that Col. 3:13 tells us that we are translated into the kingdom of his dear son because of our faith. Enoch’s testimony will always serve as a wonderful type for us today in that it was said of him before his translation, that he pleased God. We then learn, in  Heb. 11:6, that without faith it’s impossible to please God. Enoch was a man of faith and because of his faith he was translated. And today because of our faith so are we.

    Fifth, we have to say a bit about Noah. There are so many types when we discuss Noah. My favorite is the comparison of the Ark to the Church. Both places work much like the inn in the story of the Good Samaritan. The inn was the place where Christ would keep his souls saved until his return. The ark served that purpose and the Church today does as well. Do you see any other types in the bible during the time spanned between Adam and the law Moses gave?

  • The Change has come!

    So I was reading the bible the other day and pondering the words in 1 John 3:2. Now before I go into what it says I need to set the stage a bit.

    Occasionally in hospice I come across some veterans and have the esteem pleasure of talking with them. We discuss many things, but I particularly like it when they feel like discussing the war. I’ve never been to war, but I admire those who fight for our freedoms. Most vets have a difficult time adjusting to life here in the states after experiencing war. I don’t think we will ever know the fullness of their  experiences no matter how many stories we hear.

    There is something about war that once you experience it, your life is forever changed. There is much blood shed, death, and the loss of close friends. War surrounds you with sadness and pain. Those who are fortunate enough to make it home have some horrible images burned in their minds. This is probably the worst thing you can experience in this life — to be surrounded by enemies who want you dead, while watching your comrades fall and narrowly escaping yourself.

    I wonder how much the human side of Jesus was bothered by this? Christ being 100 percent man and 100 percent God knew things that other men didn’t. When you consider this, Jesus knew that the very men he chose as apostles would all die horrible deaths (except John) and would be in a state of turmoil for the rest of their lives after meeting him. Jesus’ apostles were surrounded by enemies who wanted to introduce them to tragedy. They were well aware of the stoning of Stephen (acts 7) and all had their fair share of beatings and imprisonment. Their lives were forever changed after meeting Jesus.

    Now back to 1 John 3. This text says, ” Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” KJV. Seeing Christ now would be to experience the fullness of the Godhead bodily and when he returns, that is exactly who we will see. But for those of us who have really experienced the wonderment of Jesus Christ and the freedom that comes with that experience, have had our lives changed forever.

    We were dead and now we’re alive. There was blood shed and death here too and God be thanked for that! We live a life surrounded by sadness and pain, but Jesus fixed that! The hallelujah part of this is that as we continue to experience and learn of him, the end result is our change into his image. 2 Cor. 3:18 says it this way: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” KJV.

    Dear friends let’s lead everyone we come in contact with toward the source of our happiness and the Joy in our hearts! To God be the glory!

  • Turning the page on another year

    2010 is on its way out.

    It ran the course it was supposed to and things happened this year as they were supposed to. So we bid farewell to this year and hopefully look to a brighter 2011.

    I find life to pass like reading the pages of a book. Life is nothing but a book, really. Each day is a page we turn. Some pages we want to linger with and others we want to turn away from right at the start.

    If we could continue this book theme for a moment, I’d like to share some things with you regarding your life.

    Our life is like an open book. We try not to let everyone read us, but sometimes those that are reading, spread the news about what they have read. We try to turn pages and allow our book to be read, and it seems that there are always people who want to turn back to pages that were uncomfortable for you. These people like to remind you of all the bad things written in your book, but they never want to talk about the good stuff.

    There are also people who are jealous of the things written in your book and they take time away from reading their own books to talking negatively about what’s in yours.

    Still there are other people who would have you skip pages in your book and not let you experience every page. Just imagine someone telling you that you were too old for something or someone.

    Not only do we have people reading things into our book, we can sometimes be are own worst enemy. How many mistakes have we repeated? I know I’ve made the same mistakes that have appeared on pages 11, 19, 33, 47, 51 and 69. Some mistakes are hard to shake.

    There are also negative things in our book that we won’t let go of. We want to sit and sulk about something in the past instead of moving forward.

    Turn the page my friend. Allow the new to replace the old and embrace the challenges of the future as you learn from the old things written in your book. So get ready to turn the page on 2010 and don’t be afraid to share your book with others. Your life story may be the only hope they have!

    Welcome, 2011!

  • Part 2: Unconditional Love???

    In the Bible, the Apostle Paul made a really big deal about the gift of love. He says:

    “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…”

    Whenever I have heard this passage (1 Corinthians 13:1-8) taught, it’s used as an absolute definition. I believe that the intent of this passage is to give you the results of practicing unconditional love, not simply define it.

    Unconditional love has nothing to do with the person being loved. It has everything to do with the person who is giving the love. Unconditional love seems to refine the giver. We dwell on the benefits to the receiver, but the giver of unconditional love benefits the more.

    Let’s say that I have an anger problem, but I choose to love unconditionally. As my anger is kindled, I am faced with the choice of whether to honor unconditional love or follow my anger. If I allow love in, it will not only conquer my anger, but solve the reason why I am angry in the first place.

    Or say that I am faced with a person who has the reputation of being incapable of love, what are my choices? I could choose to stay away from that person which is what most would choose, or I could choose love. Now, this doesn’t mean that we allow people to run over us. It means that we will love them enough to do what others would not and that includes telling them what they really need to hear instead of enabling their behavior.

    When you truly love someone, you don’t give up on them. This is why God said, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” When you truly love someone, when they are at their weakest, you are the strongest. This is why it was “while we were without strength, Christ died …”.

    When you truly love someone,  you become a benefit to them that they can see. You enhance their life so that it’s worth living. This is why Christ said, “I came to bring you life and life more abundantly.” The greatest part of loving someone is doing something for them that they could not do for themselves. This is why “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever shall believe on him shall not parish, but have eternal life.”

    Love is something for the mature, not the immature. If you are trying to love someone and “self” keeps getting in the way, you’re not ready for the commitment of unconditional love. But if you would allow this love to have it’s way with you, all of your insecurities, fears, quirks and impurities would pour out of you.

    Remember, mankind requires a condition,but  God never did. Who do you believe will be left standing in the end?

  • Part 2: Is my heart right with God?

    Adam and Eve continued their family problems as the fourth chapter of Genesis introduced us to the oldest lesson in the Bible. The account of Cain and Abel shows perfectly the joys of serving God and the consequences of disobedience. This account tells us how to be pleasing to God and how to disappoint God. It tells us what good God can produce in us through His revelation and what bad things can be conjured through our imagination.

    In Heb. 11:4, the Bible tells us that it was Abel who offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain did and it was from that sacrifice that he obtained witness that he was righteous. One of the joys of being a child of God and having the opportunity to serve Him with gladness is the fact that we can know assuredly that we are righteous.

    In Jer. 23:1-8 we understand that in the rebuke of the pastors of Judah and Israel, the prophet explains that our righteousness is in the Lord and that being true, everyone who is “in the Lord” has obtained righteousness through Him. Abel’s witness, therefore, is in God reaching down from heaven and consuming his offering (I Chr. 21: 26 and 2 Chr. 7:1) and likewise with us as Paul said, “…like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

    Jude well documents the perils of traveling “the way of Cain.” Cain had his own ideas about how God should be to him. Cain obviously took God’s word as a suggestion instead of heeding the Master’s voice. Even in the text where God gave him an opportunity to turn from his ways (Gen. 4:5-7) he chose instead to go his own way and kill his brother – which led to Cain being banished from the presence of God. This must be the wickedest of states to be in. Who would want to be alienated from God?

    But, dear reader, isn’t there a little “Cain” in us all? Why is it that we knowingly do things? Sometimes we even plan to do things wrong. God’s word tells us to have self control, yet when someone crosses us we let them have it. If we don’t lay hands on them, we definitely have a few choice words for them. God’s word requires us to love one another, but for some reason we always want to love the people who are easy to love. As for the challenging folks – they don’t stand a chance. And some of us believe that it’s ok to not show love to the people who make life difficult for us. It’s hard! We remember that it’s God we want to serve, it’s just that we remember that too late. And so quickly things are said or done that we wish we could take back.

    Thank God that there is hope for us. We live in this flesh and until we are changed at Judgment Day to put on incorruption, we will sin. God knew this so He sent Jesus to take our punishment. As a result, we now have the forgiveness of sins, a promised inheritance and God’s Spirit with us. What God is expecting from us is that we walk by faith. We’re not called to be perfect, but we are called to be faithful. Catch the difference: Faith requires us to hear, believe, trust and obey. We hear God’s word. We believe that his word is true. We trust that the things said in his word will come to pass and then we obey what it says. This does not make us perfect –  it makes us pleasing to God.

    To answer the question is our heart’s right with God, we must first establish who we hear, who we believe, who we trust and who we obey. If I still think that I have value (in and of myself) and have taken credit for my good fortune, then I should hear myself. If I believe that God is far greater than I am and His thoughts are not my thoughts and His ways are far above my ways, then I should hear Him. The choice is really simple. It’s the consistency that’s going to kill us.

    Be encouraged my friends that despite the odds and everything that we see, God is in control and can definitely be trusted. Make peace with the Almighty and live faithful unto Him. For the 117th division of Psalm states: “O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise Him, all ye people. For His merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endures forever. Praise ye the LORD.”

  • Is there a resurrection for the dead?

    This week in my life was filled with death.

    Now it might sound strange for me to say that since I work in hospice, but my week was filled with death because two people that I personally knew died. And neither was over 60.

    I watched at one particular funeral as the people crowded around and some seemed to be really worried about the death. They seemed to be hopeless wondering how will they go on. You couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.

    As I sat there watching everything I wondered if many of these people – who considered themselves Christians – believed that there truly is a resurrection for the people of God today.

    For Christians who profess their faith it seems that you should never see us hopeless. You should never see us discouraged. We should never allow ourselves to be in the position to allow our actions to deny that Christ has risen.

    Maybe it’s that everyone has a hard time applying the idea at a funeral that Christ lives and that our loved ones will live, too –  if they believe in Him.

    Who am I fooling?

    For America to profess a faith in Christianity, we sure don’t handle death well.

    We need a healthy dose of God’s word. Then we need to understand what it means and finally learn how to apply it.

    Let’s try it.

    In the 14th chapter of the book of Job, Job was lamenting to his three friends about his life. As many of you know, Job, in a very short period of time, was hit with tragedy. He was a rich man and lost all that he had – including his family and his health.

    His friends thought he had done something to anger God and he was being punished. Job insisted that he hadn’t done anything wrong.

    By the time you get to the 14th chapter, Job, in a very helpless state, wonders about what happens when a man dies. He said that there is hope for a tree (verse 7) because with his own eyes, he has seen a tree that had been cut down still grow.

    In Verse 14 Job says this: “If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait until my change comes.”

    Now Job uttered these words with the hope that God would evoke a change in him after death.

    This, for him, was just a hope – because Job never got to hear John 3:16. In fact, Job never knew God as his father in heaven.

    That’s because the family relationship with us and God was a direct result of the finished work of Jesus on the cross. When he broke the bonds of sin and set the captive free, He established a new covenant with us which now saves us. This new covenant is sealed with the blood of Jesus and was in the mind of God before the foundation of the world.

    For Job to have never heard this and to still have a glimmer of hope is marvelous! This is why he was known for his patience.

    But to the people living on the resurrection side of Jesus, we need to tell the world about the Savior we serve and the very important fact that He has risen. The fact that he has risen brought teeth to this promise by Jesus: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”

    Application: Jesus set us free from sin and this freedom is available to everyone who believes. With that said, if you are a child of God and happen to die (which is something we all will do until Jesus returns) at any age, you WILL live again. If this is not true and Christ is not risen, then our religion, my preaching and our faith tradition mean nothing.

    Death does not checkmate God’s promises to us!