In order to get our prayers answered, take the first step and get clean before God. None of us want to live in filth physically. The smells, the feel, the oily look, the . . .well you get the picture. Several years ago I joined a group on a trip to Honduras, and came back with a hanging bag that had to be put down because it had absorbed some kind of a bad, stinky odor! We had a little puppy, or should I say "poopy", when I was very young who would decorate the carpet with multi-colored droppings. Needless to say, this is not the way to live long and prosper in the Sauvageot household. Most of us have a level of tolerance when it comes to cleaning. At a certain point an internal alarm goes off and we MUST CLEAN. Then again, you can visit some places and wonder where the alarm level is for those people.
Wouldn't it be great if our spiritual sensitivity was so acute that ANY SIN set off a loud spiritual cleaning alarm? God will not hear our prayers when we "regard iniquity in our heart". He has the power and desire to clean us up, but we must first come to Him for cleansing. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to forgive us form all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
We can either be sin "coverers" or sin "confessors". Sin "coverers', like Achan, will not prosper. However, when we come clean with God and agree with Him regarding our particular sins, He will clean us up. 1 John 3:22 carries a powerful promise: "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."
It is time to clean up! I don't know about you, but I must have instant and full access to the heavenly throneroom. My budget requires it. My ministry requires it. My friendships require it. Every part of my life necessitates that God brings His power and His help. Like preacher Harold Clayton from over in Texas, I wake up in the mornings and pray, "Lord, HELP!" How about you? Do you also have a need of daily and moment-by-moment heavenly intervention? If you do, then come to the fountain for salvation's cleansing, and then have your feet washed daily so that you gain access in prayer.
GOD BLESS YOU TODAY!!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Principles of Giving
A little girl was given a dollar bill and a quarter with the instructions to put whichever one she wanted to in the offering at church. When the family got home, her mother asked her which one she had given. "Mamma, I was going to give the dollar, but the preacher said that the Lord loves a cheerful giver, and giving the quarter would make me more cheerful. So I gave the quarter."
1 Corinthians 16's first few verses provide some powerful principles of giving.
1. Giving is God's program. God Himself is the Giver. He is the source of every good and every perfect gift. He gave the very best, when He gave His only begotten Son to die for your sins and for mine. He has ordained that His children should also be givers. Offerings to care for the needs of widows, to care for the needs of preachers, and to assist struggling congregations can be discovered in the book of Acts and the Epistles. Before we begin the next bake-sale or garage sale, let's first ask ourselves, "Am I doing my part in God's program?"
2. Giving is a Priority. These believers were told that they should give on the first day of the week, as an act of worship. Throughout the Bible giving and worship are tied together. We really do not worship unless we are giving something to God. Romans 12:1-2 show us that our reasonable service, our act of true worship, is to present ourselves to God totally. This includes our wealth. Abraham returned from the battle with the kings and presented tithes to the King of Salem in an act of worship. The OT Law called for sacrfices, bulls, goats, sheep, turtledoves, and meal so that people could come to God in worship. The first day of the week became the Christian sabbath as believers began to gather and worship in celebration of the resurrection. It was on this day of the week that Paul instructed the Corinthians to bring their offerings in worship.
3. Give Personally. "Every one of you." Nobody can beg to be excused from this one. Young and old, rich and poor, new convert and ripened saints are all included. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Every heart should unite in worship of our Lord, and our giving indicates our heart-focus.
4. Give Proportionally. This passage says, "as God hath prospered". Financially, God has prospered some more than others. With this blessing, God also adds the responsibility of giving more. One Biblical truth to be mentioned in this idea of proportional giving is the tithe: or tenth. This principle is first observed in the life of Abraham and the other patriarchs. Worship, submission, protection, and blessing are all related to this truth. Malachi 3 clarifies some of these truths regarding the tithe. Jesus sat by the temple one day and watched the people give their offerings, and he made a startling statement concerning one poor widow woman. He declared that she had given more than all of the others, though she only gave two mites. . .a very small amount. Reason? She gave ALL.
5. God protects the gifts. Instructions are given here to select faithful individuals to safe-guard the offering while it is intransit. This speaks of good stewardship and accountability. God watches over His own. He expects us to also take care of the offerings being given. By the way, God not only protects the offerings that are given, He also protects the church from those who would give with deceitful hearts and motives. Ananias and Sapphira show this to be true!
We live in times of financial crisis. Even in these times, God expects us to be faithful in our giving. Remember, He is our Source. I thought of a widow woman picking up sticks so that she could feed her son one last time and then sit down and die of starvation. While she was picking up the sticks, a preacher gave her instructions to cook him a little cake first. She told him her story, but obeyed anyway. God took care of her and her son throughout the time of drouth. We serve the same God today. One preacher said. "He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the hills, and the taters under those hills!" Amen! Let us trust and obey Him.
1 Corinthians 16's first few verses provide some powerful principles of giving.
1. Giving is God's program. God Himself is the Giver. He is the source of every good and every perfect gift. He gave the very best, when He gave His only begotten Son to die for your sins and for mine. He has ordained that His children should also be givers. Offerings to care for the needs of widows, to care for the needs of preachers, and to assist struggling congregations can be discovered in the book of Acts and the Epistles. Before we begin the next bake-sale or garage sale, let's first ask ourselves, "Am I doing my part in God's program?"
2. Giving is a Priority. These believers were told that they should give on the first day of the week, as an act of worship. Throughout the Bible giving and worship are tied together. We really do not worship unless we are giving something to God. Romans 12:1-2 show us that our reasonable service, our act of true worship, is to present ourselves to God totally. This includes our wealth. Abraham returned from the battle with the kings and presented tithes to the King of Salem in an act of worship. The OT Law called for sacrfices, bulls, goats, sheep, turtledoves, and meal so that people could come to God in worship. The first day of the week became the Christian sabbath as believers began to gather and worship in celebration of the resurrection. It was on this day of the week that Paul instructed the Corinthians to bring their offerings in worship.
3. Give Personally. "Every one of you." Nobody can beg to be excused from this one. Young and old, rich and poor, new convert and ripened saints are all included. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Every heart should unite in worship of our Lord, and our giving indicates our heart-focus.
4. Give Proportionally. This passage says, "as God hath prospered". Financially, God has prospered some more than others. With this blessing, God also adds the responsibility of giving more. One Biblical truth to be mentioned in this idea of proportional giving is the tithe: or tenth. This principle is first observed in the life of Abraham and the other patriarchs. Worship, submission, protection, and blessing are all related to this truth. Malachi 3 clarifies some of these truths regarding the tithe. Jesus sat by the temple one day and watched the people give their offerings, and he made a startling statement concerning one poor widow woman. He declared that she had given more than all of the others, though she only gave two mites. . .a very small amount. Reason? She gave ALL.
5. God protects the gifts. Instructions are given here to select faithful individuals to safe-guard the offering while it is intransit. This speaks of good stewardship and accountability. God watches over His own. He expects us to also take care of the offerings being given. By the way, God not only protects the offerings that are given, He also protects the church from those who would give with deceitful hearts and motives. Ananias and Sapphira show this to be true!
We live in times of financial crisis. Even in these times, God expects us to be faithful in our giving. Remember, He is our Source. I thought of a widow woman picking up sticks so that she could feed her son one last time and then sit down and die of starvation. While she was picking up the sticks, a preacher gave her instructions to cook him a little cake first. She told him her story, but obeyed anyway. God took care of her and her son throughout the time of drouth. We serve the same God today. One preacher said. "He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the hills, and the taters under those hills!" Amen! Let us trust and obey Him.
Monday, April 13, 2009
He Lives!
We serve a wonderful Savior. Not only was He willing to come to earth, live in poverty, endure all kinds of opposition, and die on the rugged cross, He also was able to rise from the dead. Romans 1:4 "And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection. . ." 1 Corinthians 15:57 shows that we have victory through Jesus Christ, "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
He gives us victory by fulfilling the Law. The Law was given so that we might know ourselves GUILTY before God. Romans 10:4 shows us that the Law could not save us because it had an natural weakness, our flesh. We could not keep the Law! Jesus did. He satisfied the righteous demands of the Law of God. Not only that, Colossians 2 shows us that He took the handwriting of ordinances that was against us and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. That means that in Jesus the Law no longer has any accusations that will stick!
He gives victory by defeating sin. Jesus defeated sin in His birth. Instead of being born to a human father and inheriting the sinful nature of Adam's race, Jesus was born of supernatural means. Luke 1:35 tells how this happened. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was born of a virgin birth, and it is important that we believe this. Without the virgin birth, we have no perfect Savior able to redeem us. Jesus was born of perfect birth. Jesus also lived a perfect life. Instead of being "pretty good", or some "prophet", Jesus lived and died without sin. Only on the cross did Jesus taste the bitter cup of sin and sin's penalty when he was made sin for us. But remember the next phrase of htis verse from 2 Corinthians 5:21, ". . .who knew no sin. . ." Jesus lived a perfect life. He knew no sin. Even His enemies could find no fault in Him at all. Certainly Jesus was tempted. Satan tempted Him in the wilderness. The book of Hebrews states that He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Though severely tempted, Jesus lived a sinless life. Then He died a sinless death, a vicarious death, for you and for me. In the Old Testament, the Jews were instructed to take a lamb for their family and set it aside for a period of time. This was done in order to examine that lamb. Blemishes or deformities would disqualify the lamb. The lamb had to be without blemish and without spot in order to become the Passover sacrifice. Jesus is our Passover Lamb. He is without blemish and without spot. He has defeated sin.
Not only has Jesus fulfilled the Law and defeated sin, He has also removed the sting of death. Walk through history's graveyard and you will find that the brightest and best have met and succumbed to the last enemy, death. Caesar and Alexander, Lenin and Mao, Socrates and Aristotle, and the list is endless, all are in the grave. Great religious leaders, Mohammed, Buddah, Confucius, Smith ALL IN THE GRAVE! But, especially at this time of the year, we walk through a garden spot, look for a wounded body seeking to bring our belated gifts only to find that He is not here! He is risen as He said! He has removed the sting of death! Death now is but the foyer to eternal life for those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So the question becomes more important: WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH JESUS WHICH IS CALLED CHRIST? He is the Son of God. He is the soon coming King. He has fulfilled the Law, defeated sin, and removed death's sting. Will you trust Him today for your salvation. He alone can take away your sin.
He gives us victory by fulfilling the Law. The Law was given so that we might know ourselves GUILTY before God. Romans 10:4 shows us that the Law could not save us because it had an natural weakness, our flesh. We could not keep the Law! Jesus did. He satisfied the righteous demands of the Law of God. Not only that, Colossians 2 shows us that He took the handwriting of ordinances that was against us and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. That means that in Jesus the Law no longer has any accusations that will stick!
He gives victory by defeating sin. Jesus defeated sin in His birth. Instead of being born to a human father and inheriting the sinful nature of Adam's race, Jesus was born of supernatural means. Luke 1:35 tells how this happened. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was born of a virgin birth, and it is important that we believe this. Without the virgin birth, we have no perfect Savior able to redeem us. Jesus was born of perfect birth. Jesus also lived a perfect life. Instead of being "pretty good", or some "prophet", Jesus lived and died without sin. Only on the cross did Jesus taste the bitter cup of sin and sin's penalty when he was made sin for us. But remember the next phrase of htis verse from 2 Corinthians 5:21, ". . .who knew no sin. . ." Jesus lived a perfect life. He knew no sin. Even His enemies could find no fault in Him at all. Certainly Jesus was tempted. Satan tempted Him in the wilderness. The book of Hebrews states that He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Though severely tempted, Jesus lived a sinless life. Then He died a sinless death, a vicarious death, for you and for me. In the Old Testament, the Jews were instructed to take a lamb for their family and set it aside for a period of time. This was done in order to examine that lamb. Blemishes or deformities would disqualify the lamb. The lamb had to be without blemish and without spot in order to become the Passover sacrifice. Jesus is our Passover Lamb. He is without blemish and without spot. He has defeated sin.
Not only has Jesus fulfilled the Law and defeated sin, He has also removed the sting of death. Walk through history's graveyard and you will find that the brightest and best have met and succumbed to the last enemy, death. Caesar and Alexander, Lenin and Mao, Socrates and Aristotle, and the list is endless, all are in the grave. Great religious leaders, Mohammed, Buddah, Confucius, Smith ALL IN THE GRAVE! But, especially at this time of the year, we walk through a garden spot, look for a wounded body seeking to bring our belated gifts only to find that He is not here! He is risen as He said! He has removed the sting of death! Death now is but the foyer to eternal life for those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So the question becomes more important: WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH JESUS WHICH IS CALLED CHRIST? He is the Son of God. He is the soon coming King. He has fulfilled the Law, defeated sin, and removed death's sting. Will you trust Him today for your salvation. He alone can take away your sin.
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