Thoughts on Christ and His Word

Judges 7:2 The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her... After God had weeded down the army to 300 men He sent Gideon to attack the Midianites. After the battle had begun and they were routing the Midianites Gideon's men were hungry exhausted yet they continued the pursuit. Gideon and his men asked for help from two cities but neither would help them. But God in His mercy gave them strength and they pursued the Midianites and overtook them. 15,000 Midianite soldiers were fleeing from a force of 300. The Midianites had a 50 to 1 advantage. But they were already defeated in mind and spirit. God had convinced them of Gideons invincibility and their inevitable  doom. God's glory is revealed more when there's less humans trying to take it. God wants to do great things through us but He also wants that we give Him all the glory.

Recently I read a post in Pastor John Hopler's Morale Booster to GCC leaders.  He wrote: Pastors are always helping people work through relational conflicts. When doing mediation, consider 1 Peter 3:8: "Let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind hearted, humble in spirit." According to this verse, there is a close relationship between sympathy and harmony. Sympathy means "feeling what the other person is feeling." Time and time again, I have found that if both parties in a conflict can genuinely feel what the other person is feeling, harmony will occur. I think his thought is good for all Christians who are trying to help others resolve conflicts.  Let's help those we are helping to put themselves in the other person's shoes in order to evoke some sympathy for one another.

Have you ever wondered how or why Christians can walk away from Christianity and then you hear that they became Muslim or joined a religion that rejects the fundamentals of the Christian faith?   They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. 1 John 2:19 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.   2 John 9 In these passages the Apostle John reveals a stunning truth: not everyone who is among us and looks like a Christian is really a born again believer. The fact that they would leave us, meaning Christians or Christianity, and reject the teachings of Christ - his deity, humanity, redemptive work on the cross, and his resurrection, reveal that they do not have God nor ever belonged to Christ. It's not that they los...

I was watching CNN yesterday and I saw a report of how the terrorist group ISIS was coming after some people on top of Mount Sinjar in Iraq. And Iraqi helicopter touch downed and rescued about 15 people, among them young children. Horror was on their faces. This made me angry at this terrorist group.  They have slaughtered thousands of people simply because they don't believe in their version of Islam. Sin should make us mad. The Bible says Lot was a oppressed by the evil around him. He saw murders, homosexuality, rape, and all kinds of sexual and violent sin. He was vexed in his soul. Are we vexed by what we see around us. Or have we grown so accustomed to the sin that surrounds us that is no longer makes us sad or even mad. Or even worse, do we sit and enjoy the sin of others instead of being the light God intended for us to be.

J. Oswald Sanders writes "To aspire to leadership in God's kingdom requires us to be willing to pay a price higher than others are willing to pay.  The toll of true leadership is heavy, and the more effective the leadership, the greater the cost." (from Spiritual Leadership ) He goes on to talk about several areas where leaders must pay the price.  One such area is self-sacrifice.   "Those who lead the church are marked by a willingness to give up personal preferences, to surrender legitimate and natural desires for the sake of God." About fatigue he writes "If a Christian is not willing to rise early and work late, to expend greater effort in diligent study and faithful work, that person will not change a generation.  Fatigue is the price of leadership.  Mediocrity is the result of never getting tired." Spiritual leadership is a costly venture.

The other day I asked some of our church leaders what they did to pick themselves up when they felt discouraged.  Here is a few of their answers: Ask God for peace Listen to uplifting music Prayer Meditate on the Word of God I can say that I have done all of these at one point in my life to lift myself out of discouragement.   Paul had a method of keeping discouragement away - recalling how God's mercy had given him the hope of resurrection with Christ and the ministry with which he served (2 Corinthians 4). Everyone needs a strategy to get out of discouragement.  I hope some of the above can help you.

John the Baptist was a straight shooter. Simply put, he called things as he saw them. This got him in trouble later on in life and ended up with his head on a platter. John called people to a very practical form of faith in God. Luke 3 says John came "preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin". In v.8 he calls on the people to "produce fruit in keeping with repentance". In verse 9 he says "the ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." The people then asked him what to do in their specific situations. To one group he says if you got two tunics share with the one who doesn't have any; if you have food share with the one who doesn't have food. To the tax collectors he said don't collect anymore money than what you are required - meaning be honest in all your financial dealings. When soldiers asked him what they should do, he told them no...