TWO RULES TO LIVE BY
God gave 10 commandments to Moses on the mountain (Exod 20:1-17), which were multiplied to 613 rules that religious Jews were expected to keep. These were enforced by the Pharisees during the time that Jesus lived on the earth. These were reduced to only 2 by Jesus, which He repeated several times in His teaching, as recorded in the 4 gospel accounts. They were simply, 1/ "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength", and 2/ "Love your neighbor as yourself". These are simple rules, but there is a lot more involved in keeping them than most people realize! I am slowly coming to understand what is involved since watching the "Agape Road" teaching by Bob Mumford on his DVD's. I first read his book by that title, and then listened to the audio CD's series given at a large seminar about 10 years ago, and am now enjoying the teaching much more by seeing Bob deliver the teaching in the original setting. I enjoy reading about the way Jesus replied to the Pharisees, who were the most religious crowd of Jews who were always trying to point out how Jesus didn't keep some of their religious traditions. One example of this is recorded by Matthew in his gospel (Matt 22:34-40), and then in the next chapter he records what Jesus thought of these "religious" leaders. He uses some very uncomplimentary names for these guys, like "hypocrites", "blind fools", and "whitewashed tombs"! Not the type of descriptive words you would expect to hear from the "gentle Jesus", that some people consider Him to be
I often wonder how He would describe the "religious leaders" of the church today that most people believe to be the Church that Jesus said He would build. When you compare the church we see in the book of Acts with what we call the "church" today, you are hard pressed to see any resemblance. This has caused me to use the terms "True Church" and "false church" to describe the two very different organizations! Actually the True Church that Jesus has been building for the past 2000 years is an "organism" because it is a living thing. An organization is not a living thing, but simply a group of people who are joined together to accomplish certain worthy goals, similar to the Kiwanis Club, or some other service club. We must always remember that the True Church is composed only of people who have been "born again" by the Holy Spirit, and are "New Creatures in Christ" as described by Paul in (2 Cor 5:17)!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
SOME THOUGHTS ON TIME
SOME THOUGHTS ON TIME
The little word "time" is a very interesting word, that the Concise Oxford English Dictionary recently stated is the most often used noun in the English language. And the Bible has a lot of scriptures that speak about time. With our finite minds, it is very difficult for us to properly understand time. Most people complain about never having enough time, but the fact of the matter is that we all have the same amount of time. Every day has 24 hours, and every week has 7 days, that gives us all a total of 168 hours a week, or 10,080 minutes! The best description of time I ever saw presented was a large circle drawn on a sheet of paper to represent time and space inside the circle, surrounded by eternity. God exists outside of time in eternity, and is not confined to operate in our circle. From His perspective it is always "now", and in (Ps 90:4) Moses stated when referring to God "For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours" NLT. And Peter was probably referring to this OT passage when he wrote "----a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day"
(2 Peter 3:8) There are lots of scripture passages that warn us that the day is coming when time will be no more, and that God is giving us time to get things right with Him. But I believe He has an appointed time to roll up time as a scroll, so to speak, and our universe will become part of His eternity again. One of the most challenging scripture passages to me is the third chapter of 2 Peter, from which we quoted part of verse 8 above! If you read the whole chapter carefully you will see several references to "The Day of The Lord". This is probably the most important day mentioned in all of scripture, and is certainly worthy of some careful study. For the redeemed children of God it will be a glorious day, but for the wicked children of Satan, it will be a horrible day when God starts to pour out His wrath. (Rev 15:5-8) Listen to the last two verses from the NLT, "I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your secure footing. Rather you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to Him, both now and forever! Amen." That is a word for all to read and heed!!
Sincerely submitted. Dave Jamer
The little word "time" is a very interesting word, that the Concise Oxford English Dictionary recently stated is the most often used noun in the English language. And the Bible has a lot of scriptures that speak about time. With our finite minds, it is very difficult for us to properly understand time. Most people complain about never having enough time, but the fact of the matter is that we all have the same amount of time. Every day has 24 hours, and every week has 7 days, that gives us all a total of 168 hours a week, or 10,080 minutes! The best description of time I ever saw presented was a large circle drawn on a sheet of paper to represent time and space inside the circle, surrounded by eternity. God exists outside of time in eternity, and is not confined to operate in our circle. From His perspective it is always "now", and in (Ps 90:4) Moses stated when referring to God "For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours" NLT. And Peter was probably referring to this OT passage when he wrote "----a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day"
(2 Peter 3:8) There are lots of scripture passages that warn us that the day is coming when time will be no more, and that God is giving us time to get things right with Him. But I believe He has an appointed time to roll up time as a scroll, so to speak, and our universe will become part of His eternity again. One of the most challenging scripture passages to me is the third chapter of 2 Peter, from which we quoted part of verse 8 above! If you read the whole chapter carefully you will see several references to "The Day of The Lord". This is probably the most important day mentioned in all of scripture, and is certainly worthy of some careful study. For the redeemed children of God it will be a glorious day, but for the wicked children of Satan, it will be a horrible day when God starts to pour out His wrath. (Rev 15:5-8) Listen to the last two verses from the NLT, "I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your secure footing. Rather you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to Him, both now and forever! Amen." That is a word for all to read and heed!!
Sincerely submitted. Dave Jamer
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
A BAD CHOICE
A BAD CHOICE
I was recently reminded of a really "bad choice" that many people make. God has created us all with the power to make choices, because He gave us a free will of our very own, which is part of our soul. He expects us to make right choices, but we often fail, and sometimes make some really bad ones! One of the most important choices that we all must make is the choice of where we will spend eternity. Here again we have 2 choices, according to God's Word, either "heaven" or "hell", there is no other! Jesus actually spoke more about Hell than about heaven while he lived here on earth over 2000 years ago. Because some people don't read the Bible, they may not be aware of what it contains, that's why those of us who are followers of Jesus should be ready always to tell them. Some people don't even believe there is such a place as hell. They can't believe that a loving God would ever send people to such a place even if it did exist! That's how deceived people can be without some knowledge of the Bible.
Let me assure you on the authority of the scriptures, in both the OT and the NT that "hell" is a real place, and definitely a "bad choice" as a place to spend eternity! I have heard people jokingly say "well if it is a real place I will enjoy being there with my friends". That statement shows just how deceived people can be. As I understand it, hell is such a place of total darkness, so dark that one soul could be within a few feet of another without knowing it. That is the result of "total separation", not only from God who is the source of "light", but from all other creatures! Certainly no place for a "party", that some sinners might expect it to be!!
That is why people should be aware of what God's Word really says, and not just their own concepts, often based on man's opinions or theories, that contain Satan's lies! Jesus declared "for he is a liar and the father of it". (John 8:44). In other words he couldn't tell the truth about anything because there is no truth in him. Paul makes an important statement for us who are living in these last of the "last days". It is found in (2 Cor 11:13-15), where it serves as a warning of false prophets and teachers who will show up in the "church" in these days. So let us who know the truth, encourage others to read the Bible to find out about various things like heaven and hell. Then they will not be so likely to make "a bad choice"!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
I was recently reminded of a really "bad choice" that many people make. God has created us all with the power to make choices, because He gave us a free will of our very own, which is part of our soul. He expects us to make right choices, but we often fail, and sometimes make some really bad ones! One of the most important choices that we all must make is the choice of where we will spend eternity. Here again we have 2 choices, according to God's Word, either "heaven" or "hell", there is no other! Jesus actually spoke more about Hell than about heaven while he lived here on earth over 2000 years ago. Because some people don't read the Bible, they may not be aware of what it contains, that's why those of us who are followers of Jesus should be ready always to tell them. Some people don't even believe there is such a place as hell. They can't believe that a loving God would ever send people to such a place even if it did exist! That's how deceived people can be without some knowledge of the Bible.
Let me assure you on the authority of the scriptures, in both the OT and the NT that "hell" is a real place, and definitely a "bad choice" as a place to spend eternity! I have heard people jokingly say "well if it is a real place I will enjoy being there with my friends". That statement shows just how deceived people can be. As I understand it, hell is such a place of total darkness, so dark that one soul could be within a few feet of another without knowing it. That is the result of "total separation", not only from God who is the source of "light", but from all other creatures! Certainly no place for a "party", that some sinners might expect it to be!!
That is why people should be aware of what God's Word really says, and not just their own concepts, often based on man's opinions or theories, that contain Satan's lies! Jesus declared "for he is a liar and the father of it". (John 8:44). In other words he couldn't tell the truth about anything because there is no truth in him. Paul makes an important statement for us who are living in these last of the "last days". It is found in (2 Cor 11:13-15), where it serves as a warning of false prophets and teachers who will show up in the "church" in these days. So let us who know the truth, encourage others to read the Bible to find out about various things like heaven and hell. Then they will not be so likely to make "a bad choice"!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
A COVENANT KEEPER
A COVENANT KEEPER
King David is an excellent example of a covenant keeper, in (1 Sam 20:42) we read about a covenant he had made with Jonathan, who was the son of King Saul. We know Saul lost his position because of disobedience, and became the enemy of David, who was chosen by God to replace him. Many years later he inquired "Is there yet anyone left in the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathon's sake?" (2 Sam 9:1) NLT. He was told that there was a son of Jonathan named Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet because of a fall when he was an infant. David remembered the covenant, and the story of how he restored to this crippled son of his covenant partner is told in the rest of (2 Sam 9:2-13). This passage shows us the true character of David in the way he cared for this crippled man that he had never known existed! We can place ourselves in the position of Mephibosheth in this story, and of course David was a picture of Jesus, who is often referred to as the "Son of David". When He found us as a helpless lost sinner, "crippled" in many ways, He took us into His "Forever Family" as a redeemed "saint", the greatest miracle we could ever receive!
It's no wonder that when Saul of Tarsus met Jesus on the Damascus Road (Acts 9) he became a completely changed man who God used to write much of the NT. Paul never forgot this encounter with Jesus, and witnessed of it everywhere, and started many churches among the "Gentiles" (non Jews) by boldly declaring the good news abut Jesus (Rom 1:16). And even though some Jews who refused to accept Jesus as their promised Messiah, tried to cause Paul trouble in every city he planted a church in, he kept on spreading the gospel message of the Kingdom of God everywhere he went. This gospel was all about the "New Covenant" that God had promised to make with his chosen people (Jer 31:31). The old covenant was made with Abraham (Gen 15:18-20), and renewed with his son Isaac and again with his grandson Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. And of course God raised up a nation from Israel's 12 sons, that became known as Israel who God referred to as His "chosen people". This old covenant we call the OT was between God and man, but because God knew man was not capable of keeping his end of the covenant, He made this "New Covenant" between Himself and His Son Jesus the Son of David (His human lineage), but also the Son of God! The only One capable of keeping His end of this covenant for us!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
King David is an excellent example of a covenant keeper, in (1 Sam 20:42) we read about a covenant he had made with Jonathan, who was the son of King Saul. We know Saul lost his position because of disobedience, and became the enemy of David, who was chosen by God to replace him. Many years later he inquired "Is there yet anyone left in the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathon's sake?" (2 Sam 9:1) NLT. He was told that there was a son of Jonathan named Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet because of a fall when he was an infant. David remembered the covenant, and the story of how he restored to this crippled son of his covenant partner is told in the rest of (2 Sam 9:2-13). This passage shows us the true character of David in the way he cared for this crippled man that he had never known existed! We can place ourselves in the position of Mephibosheth in this story, and of course David was a picture of Jesus, who is often referred to as the "Son of David". When He found us as a helpless lost sinner, "crippled" in many ways, He took us into His "Forever Family" as a redeemed "saint", the greatest miracle we could ever receive!
It's no wonder that when Saul of Tarsus met Jesus on the Damascus Road (Acts 9) he became a completely changed man who God used to write much of the NT. Paul never forgot this encounter with Jesus, and witnessed of it everywhere, and started many churches among the "Gentiles" (non Jews) by boldly declaring the good news abut Jesus (Rom 1:16). And even though some Jews who refused to accept Jesus as their promised Messiah, tried to cause Paul trouble in every city he planted a church in, he kept on spreading the gospel message of the Kingdom of God everywhere he went. This gospel was all about the "New Covenant" that God had promised to make with his chosen people (Jer 31:31). The old covenant was made with Abraham (Gen 15:18-20), and renewed with his son Isaac and again with his grandson Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. And of course God raised up a nation from Israel's 12 sons, that became known as Israel who God referred to as His "chosen people". This old covenant we call the OT was between God and man, but because God knew man was not capable of keeping his end of the covenant, He made this "New Covenant" between Himself and His Son Jesus the Son of David (His human lineage), but also the Son of God! The only One capable of keeping His end of this covenant for us!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)