FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT
What is darkness?--It is simply the absence of light. And scripture tells us that Satan is referred to as the prince of darkness, but Jesus is the source of light! (John 1:1-5). Jesus is the light of the world, and Satan's darkness can never extinguish the light! Hell is presented in scripture as the extreme place of darkness (Matt 8:12), and in (Jude 13) he uses the term to describe the eternal abode of sinners as "---the blackness of darkness forever"! Sin is always connected with spiritual darkness in scripture, while salvation from sin by being "born again" by the Spirit of God, is always referred to as walking in the light. The old expression people often use when they come to a relationship with Jesus is "I saw the light"! This is a very truthful saying, and simply explains what happens when we experience the truth of (2 Cor 5:17).
We might say that Satan is "total darkness" and is referred in scripture as the prince of darkness or "the god of this world who blinds the minds of those who believe not lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them" (2 Cor 4:4) "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts", (2 Cor 4:6). Paul writes in (Col 1:13) "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love". In (1 Peter 2:9) we are told we are "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light". As believers then we should walk in the light of God, and not be a mixture of light and darkness! We should now hate the things we once loved, and love the things we once hated! That is the proof of our salvation. However many believers are still a mixture, or a blend of light and darkness, and as such do not properly represent Jesus to the world. Satan is a deceiver, and comes as "an angel of light", and has many false messengers "who transform themselves into ministers of righteousness" in order to deceive us (2 Cor 11: 13-15). Jesus warned us that in these last days in which we are living, many false prophets (not just a few) would come in His name, and would deceive many (not just a few). (Matt 24: 4-5). Paul refers to God as "unapproachable light" in (1 Tim 6:16), but Jesus came to earth to put a face on God, so to speak, and make Him approachable through His incarnation! Jesus truly is the light of the world!! We need to let His light shine through us as we "walk in the light" (1 John 1:7)!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
A CHRISTOCENTRIC LIFE
A CHRISTOCENTRIC LIFE
This expression simply means a life that is centered on Jesus Christ! It is quite easily seen from even a casual reading of the Bible, that since the entrance of sin into the world by the disobedience of Adam in the Garden of Eden, this has created a major problem! This problem can be defined by the use of the word "egocentric", as pertaining to humans, in other words people have made themselves the center of their world! "Ego" is a word often used to refer to that quality of man that focuses on "self", as opposed to a concern for others. It is quite common in our 21st century society that caters to an emphasis on what is best for "me", rather than a concern for others. We can see this in many different areas of life, where the main emphasis seems to be on what makes me "look good", "feel good", and "be right".
As opposed to this lifestyle, God's Word clearly presents the possibility of a life that can be centered on Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to earth some 2000 years ago to be our Savior. The Old Testament portion of the Bible predicts His coming, and the New Testament declares the details of his birth, life, death, and resurrection. Our Creator God, who caused everything that exists in our universe to be made, including us humans, certainly had a carefully crafted plan for how to live our lives. He has revealed this plan through His written Word, the Bible. He choose certain people who He inspired by His Holy Spirit, to write exactly the words He wanted us to hear. He chose Hebrew as the language for the Old Testament, and Greek for the New. Our problem is that we are usually limited to translations from the original languages to our own, which leaves a slight possibility for some chance of the translators not making the best choice of words. But regardless of what language we speak, or what version of translation we use, we can be reasonably sure we are reading the direct Words of God in the Bible.
And even a casual reading of the Bible should convince any person that God wants us to live a "Christocentric" life, rather than an "Egocentric" one. This naturally starts with an understanding of how we make Jesus Christ part of our life by accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, and following this with making Him the center of our lives. This is not an easy road to travel to become spiritually mature, but like our natural life it begins by being "born again" by the Spirit of God. Then we have to start out as a spiritual baby, and progress toward maturity, but it is well worth the effort required to become mature, and with God's help you can do it!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
This expression simply means a life that is centered on Jesus Christ! It is quite easily seen from even a casual reading of the Bible, that since the entrance of sin into the world by the disobedience of Adam in the Garden of Eden, this has created a major problem! This problem can be defined by the use of the word "egocentric", as pertaining to humans, in other words people have made themselves the center of their world! "Ego" is a word often used to refer to that quality of man that focuses on "self", as opposed to a concern for others. It is quite common in our 21st century society that caters to an emphasis on what is best for "me", rather than a concern for others. We can see this in many different areas of life, where the main emphasis seems to be on what makes me "look good", "feel good", and "be right".
As opposed to this lifestyle, God's Word clearly presents the possibility of a life that can be centered on Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to earth some 2000 years ago to be our Savior. The Old Testament portion of the Bible predicts His coming, and the New Testament declares the details of his birth, life, death, and resurrection. Our Creator God, who caused everything that exists in our universe to be made, including us humans, certainly had a carefully crafted plan for how to live our lives. He has revealed this plan through His written Word, the Bible. He choose certain people who He inspired by His Holy Spirit, to write exactly the words He wanted us to hear. He chose Hebrew as the language for the Old Testament, and Greek for the New. Our problem is that we are usually limited to translations from the original languages to our own, which leaves a slight possibility for some chance of the translators not making the best choice of words. But regardless of what language we speak, or what version of translation we use, we can be reasonably sure we are reading the direct Words of God in the Bible.
And even a casual reading of the Bible should convince any person that God wants us to live a "Christocentric" life, rather than an "Egocentric" one. This naturally starts with an understanding of how we make Jesus Christ part of our life by accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, and following this with making Him the center of our lives. This is not an easy road to travel to become spiritually mature, but like our natural life it begins by being "born again" by the Spirit of God. Then we have to start out as a spiritual baby, and progress toward maturity, but it is well worth the effort required to become mature, and with God's help you can do it!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
DISTURBED
DISTURBED
The Greek word translated as "disturbed" in our English NT is (throeo), and is only used twice. Once by Jesus in His Olivet Discourse (Matt 24:5-6) "For many will come in my name, saying 'I am the Christ', and they will mislead many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not "alarmed" (throeo), for this must happen, but the end is still to come". Some translations use troubled, or panic instead of alarmed or disturbed, but all these words imply the same meaning. The other time this Greek word is used is in (2 Thess 2:2) "[we ask you brothers and sisters] not to be easily shaken from your composure or "disturbed" (throeo) by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here". Apparently the Thessalonians had been told by someone that the rapture has already taken place, and that the day of the Lord had begun. The significance of these parallel statements by Jesus and Paul is that 1/ both Jesus and Paul warn their listeners not to be deceived as to think that the Lord has already come when certain events transpire.
2/ They both reference false Christ(s) who will claim authority.3/ They state that these events must occur "before" His return!
Many in church circles today have been influenced by a doctrine that teaches that Jesus could return at any moment, and catch away His believers, and take them to heaven. This doctrine is called the "Pre-tribulation Rapture", and teaches that the church will be taken before the appearance of the Antichrist, or "man of lawlessness" (2 Thess 2:3). Jesus cannot return until certain things happen in the world, and in the church. This doctrine depends on believing in a "secret rapture", which cannot be proven by scripture. In fact any passage that refers to the second appearance of Jesus is anything but secret! For example read (1 Thess 4:15-18), notice the shout of the Lord, the voice of an archangel, and a blast from the trumpet of God! This will definitely not be a quiet, secret affair!
Both of the scripture passages mentioned above by Jesus and Paul, declare that certain things must happen first before Jesus can return. Note the 3 things we mentioned, and be on the lookout for them on the world scene, especially the appearance of Antichrist. He will be the cause of the "great tribulation", which God will use to purify His Church, as near as I can see!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
The Greek word translated as "disturbed" in our English NT is (throeo), and is only used twice. Once by Jesus in His Olivet Discourse (Matt 24:5-6) "For many will come in my name, saying 'I am the Christ', and they will mislead many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not "alarmed" (throeo), for this must happen, but the end is still to come". Some translations use troubled, or panic instead of alarmed or disturbed, but all these words imply the same meaning. The other time this Greek word is used is in (2 Thess 2:2) "[we ask you brothers and sisters] not to be easily shaken from your composure or "disturbed" (throeo) by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here". Apparently the Thessalonians had been told by someone that the rapture has already taken place, and that the day of the Lord had begun. The significance of these parallel statements by Jesus and Paul is that 1/ both Jesus and Paul warn their listeners not to be deceived as to think that the Lord has already come when certain events transpire.
2/ They both reference false Christ(s) who will claim authority.3/ They state that these events must occur "before" His return!
Many in church circles today have been influenced by a doctrine that teaches that Jesus could return at any moment, and catch away His believers, and take them to heaven. This doctrine is called the "Pre-tribulation Rapture", and teaches that the church will be taken before the appearance of the Antichrist, or "man of lawlessness" (2 Thess 2:3). Jesus cannot return until certain things happen in the world, and in the church. This doctrine depends on believing in a "secret rapture", which cannot be proven by scripture. In fact any passage that refers to the second appearance of Jesus is anything but secret! For example read (1 Thess 4:15-18), notice the shout of the Lord, the voice of an archangel, and a blast from the trumpet of God! This will definitely not be a quiet, secret affair!
Both of the scripture passages mentioned above by Jesus and Paul, declare that certain things must happen first before Jesus can return. Note the 3 things we mentioned, and be on the lookout for them on the world scene, especially the appearance of Antichrist. He will be the cause of the "great tribulation", which God will use to purify His Church, as near as I can see!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
AGAPE VS EROS
AGAPE vs EROS
These are two Greek words that are both translated in our English Bibles as "love", although they have completely different meanings in the Greek. This is not uncommon because English is a very poor language by comparison. Thank God He had the scriptures recorded in Hebrew and Greek! Can you imagine the confusion if it had been recorded in English? There are many places in scripture where the translators used different English words for the same Greek word. For example check out (John 14:2 and 23), the KJV translators used "mansions" in verse 2, and "abode" in verse 23 for the exact same Greek word. The proper word should be abode or dwelling place. (Eph 2:19-22). In the matter of "Agape" and "Eros" the real meaning in Greek is nearly opposite from one to the other. Agape can best be described as the God kind of love, while Eros is a sensual or sexual kind of love. Eros could better be defined as lust and not love. Agape is a love that "gives", while Eros is a love that "takes". "God so loved (Agaped) the World that He gave---" (John 3:16). We use the word love very loosely today, for example we love our special foods, our cat, our car, our job etc. As Christians we should be careful how we use this word, realizing that it has different meanings. There are even more meanings in the Greek for love than these two but we are not considering them now. I wish to draw your attention to the fact that Agape is a "giving" type of love, while Eros is a "taking" type. This is an important distinction when considering spiritual things. God gives, and we receive, or at least that is how it should be. But often when we stop receiving for some reason, and start taking from God, we are exercising Eros love. Often we can be guilty of this when we are trying to make a scripture say what we want it to say to prove some theory or doctrine we might hold. This could be called "raping" the scripture, and I'm sure we have all done it at some time. It often happens on the back side of a move of God, when things cool off and we try to make things happen like they did at the height of the revival. This trying to make things happen can take many different forms, but the result is often an open door for "fanaticism" of some sort. Our Creator God seldom repeats a move of His Spirit exactly like the last one. Why would He, because He is still a Creator? We humans are such creatures of habit, and we like things we are used to and familiar with, and don't like to change. So God, who is always moving forward, has to find a new group of people who will move on with Him. A careful look at church history is all we need to prove this to be true, so let's seek to be a close follower of Jesus, a receiver of God's love, and not a taker!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
These are two Greek words that are both translated in our English Bibles as "love", although they have completely different meanings in the Greek. This is not uncommon because English is a very poor language by comparison. Thank God He had the scriptures recorded in Hebrew and Greek! Can you imagine the confusion if it had been recorded in English? There are many places in scripture where the translators used different English words for the same Greek word. For example check out (John 14:2 and 23), the KJV translators used "mansions" in verse 2, and "abode" in verse 23 for the exact same Greek word. The proper word should be abode or dwelling place. (Eph 2:19-22). In the matter of "Agape" and "Eros" the real meaning in Greek is nearly opposite from one to the other. Agape can best be described as the God kind of love, while Eros is a sensual or sexual kind of love. Eros could better be defined as lust and not love. Agape is a love that "gives", while Eros is a love that "takes". "God so loved (Agaped) the World that He gave---" (John 3:16). We use the word love very loosely today, for example we love our special foods, our cat, our car, our job etc. As Christians we should be careful how we use this word, realizing that it has different meanings. There are even more meanings in the Greek for love than these two but we are not considering them now. I wish to draw your attention to the fact that Agape is a "giving" type of love, while Eros is a "taking" type. This is an important distinction when considering spiritual things. God gives, and we receive, or at least that is how it should be. But often when we stop receiving for some reason, and start taking from God, we are exercising Eros love. Often we can be guilty of this when we are trying to make a scripture say what we want it to say to prove some theory or doctrine we might hold. This could be called "raping" the scripture, and I'm sure we have all done it at some time. It often happens on the back side of a move of God, when things cool off and we try to make things happen like they did at the height of the revival. This trying to make things happen can take many different forms, but the result is often an open door for "fanaticism" of some sort. Our Creator God seldom repeats a move of His Spirit exactly like the last one. Why would He, because He is still a Creator? We humans are such creatures of habit, and we like things we are used to and familiar with, and don't like to change. So God, who is always moving forward, has to find a new group of people who will move on with Him. A careful look at church history is all we need to prove this to be true, so let's seek to be a close follower of Jesus, a receiver of God's love, and not a taker!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
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