ABIDE WITH ME

ABIDE WITH ME

 

This is the name of a familiar old hymn, and also the title of a devotional article that I read today from ODB. The author mentioned about a certain soccer game in England called the annual FA Cup final, which always begins with the singing of this traditional hymn. He went on to say "At first that struck me as being odd. What does that hymn have to do with football?"

But he went on to describe how as followers of Jesus everything we do in life whether it be sports, working at our job, gong to school etc. Jesus always abides with us whether we always realize it or not. (Heb 13:5). So our actions should always reflect a Christ like attitude, knowing that He is always right there beside us and actually inside us as the indwelling Holy Spirit who was given to us when we received Jesus as Lord. Remember we now are citizens of heaven spiritually, (Eph 2:1-10). Although now for a time we still occupy these earthly bodies and live in this "fallen world". We are actually what we could refer to as having "duel citizenships" as some people have who were born in one country and them immigrant to another. Well if we are "born again" as Jesus told Nicodemus he must be in (John 3:3-8), then we are citizens of heaven as well as citizens of whatever country we reside in.

 

So it would seem to be extremely important then as a follower of Jesus in our century to realize constantly that we are citizens of heaven right "now" and make sure our actions and motives always reflect our position as children of God. Our spiritual journey starts when we receive Jesus as Lord, but remember that is only the start of what could be a long journey up the Agape Road to intimacy with the Father. And this road can have lots of twists and turns, and a few "pot holes" and "detours" to encounter, but remember who you are, and where you are going. The end of the road is certainly heaven when we die, but our goal while still here on earth is to properly represent heaven to sinners in this fallen world who don't know Jesus as the "way". He is not only "the way" to the Father in heaven, but He is the "only way"! (John 14:6). The popular statement "There are many roads that lead to heaven" is a so-called "New Age Lie" that will often lead to hell. Jesus called this the "broad road that leads to destruction" as opposed to the "narrow road that leads to eternal life". So be sure you are traveling on the right road, and help point other travelers to Jesus who is the WAY!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                  21/07/12

 

HELP IS ON THE WAY

HELP IS ON THE WAY.

 

I was impressed by the devotional article in ODB today written by Joe Stowell, one of my favorite authors. He based it on (Rev 2:12-17) one of the 7 letters to various local churches that existed at the time John wrote Revelation. The city of Pergamos was probably located in a time and space much like the place we live in today. Read this passage to get the background, and compare it to that in which we live in 2012. Jesus refers to Pergamos, or Pergamum (in the NLT), as the city where "Satan has his throne". I'm not sure where he has his throne today, but I'm quite sure it is not in Saint John NB, but I do know he has his agents that work for him here as well as everywhere. But Joe points out in verse 13 where Jesus says "I know where you dwell", this should bring hope to all followers of His! Joe's closing line was "Our greatest hope here below is help from God above". This should be a comforting word for all of us who have been adopted into His Forever Family!

 

And of course we know from scripture that the moment we believe in and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and the Father adopts us as a member in His Family He gives us His Holy Spirit to abide with us forever. And when we read chapters 14, 15, and 16 of the Gospel of John and consider all the words describing the Holy Spirit who came to replace Jesus on earth after He returned to His Father in heaven, why should we ever worry? The fact is we are under the constant care of our loving heavenly Father who is real Agape Love, and has promised to never ever leave us, so we can be "Eternally Secure"! And that is not just a doctrine for different groups in some churches who have taught a different doctrine to argue about. That has always grieved me to see followers of Jesus arguing about their different church doctrines. The simple fact is that if we are all "born again" by the Spirit of God we are all brothers and sisters in the same family. As far as being members of the Church that Jesus said He would build (Matt 16:18), there can only be one True Church in every community or location on the globe, with many different cells, but all connected to One Head which is Jesus Christ. All these different groups that use the name "church" are either counterfeits of the real thing, or perhaps real Churches that have never found out yet where they belong in the "Body of Christ", which is the proper name for this Church that Jesus started, and continues to add to all over the world!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                       30/06/12

THE GLORY OF GOD

 

THE GLORY OF GOD

 

Moses once asked to see God's glory, as recorded in (Ex 33:18), actually to get the proper context you need to read from verse 12-23. Moses would have to be considered as one of the main characters in the Old Testament, the man who led the Israelites out of their bondage in Egypt. He was chosen by God to write the first five books of the Bible, referred to as  the "Torah", and spoke to God "face to face" to receive the 10 commandments which became known as the "Law of Moses". From verse 19-23 we can see a glimpse of the full revelation of Jesus in this passage. First God said He would be gracious and compassionate toward him and would shelter him in the Cleft of the rock that is a common name used for Jesus, who is the "Rock of our salvation". Could it be that when it is said that Moses talked "face to face" with God that he was actually talking to Jesus? Because God told him in verse 20 that "no man shall see Me and live", but we know from reading (Col 2:9) where Paul is referring to Jesus, he clearly states that "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily". So evidently when Moses spoke face to face with God he was speaking to Jesus. John verifies these words of Paul, when he wrote the first chapter of his Gospel of John, (John 1:1-5). This is a good place to see the close connection between the two testaments.

 

There should be absolutely no question in our minds as followers of Jesus that His Name is the most important name in the world. The one and only name that our enemy Satan hates with a passion and causes people who have no idea who He is, to use His Name to curse God automatically without thinking. Notice they never use the name of Allah or any other false name of any other of the many "gods of this world". That alone should tell us something about the importance of that "Name that is above every other name" in heaven or on earth. And yet have you noticed that many nominal church going "Christians" seem to find it very difficult to carry on a conversation about Jesus. They seem to use the word God with no difficulty, but not Jesus, the only personal Name in the Godhead. Father and Holy Spirit are "titles" but Jesus is definitely the only Name in the Trinity, the common word we use to describe our "three in one" God, Praise His Name!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                 07/07/12

 

 

THE BODY OF CHRIST (part 2)

THE BODY OF CHRIST (part 2)

 

This will be a correction to part of what I included in the first part that I put together recently. I started out by describing how I understand the term "Body of Christ" to actually mean, it is the Church that Jesus said He would build, and has been in the process of doing for some 2000 years since His death and resurrection. I have been a member of that Church for nearly 50 years here in Saint John NB, and have many good memories of experiences in various church settings during that time. But I may of confused some people by a statement I made later in the article that I would like to clarify. My statement read "it grieves me to think that I have been part of these structures", and that could be read as pertaining to my whole time in these various churches I have been part of. And that would certainly be a wrong interpretation, because I love the true Church of Christ and have always tried to serve the churches I have been part of in various capacities from deacon, to board member, to elder, and then as pastor for over 10 years. I certainly do not regret any of that time spent in those positions in these local churches.

 

The problem came in when I changed my focus in part one to what I consider as "non-biblical" churches that are in my mind merely imitations of real Churches. A "church" that would sanction ordaining an openly declared homosexual person or approve of so-called "same sex marriages" should not even bear the name of "church" in my opinion. I have never been part of such a structure, but what I meant that I "grieve" is the fact that during the first part of my time in these churches I believed in, and taught others the "false" doctrine called the Pretribulation Rapture. That is only one of the many other doctrines that are part of some church structures that are only partly based on scripture. As far as I know that was the only one that I was involved in, and that is what I should have made clear in my first part of this article. So I hereby apologize to anyone who might have thought I was grieving my time spent in Churches where I saw God do marvelous things. I fully expect Him to do even greater things in these last days of time here on earth, by the work of His Holy Spirit through members of His Body who are the true followers of Jesus, Praise His Name!! I am still concerned for other false teachings that are spreading through certain church circles, but that will be part of a separate article to come later.

Sincerely submitted

Dave Jamer                                                                                       28/06/12