KEY TO VICTORY OVER TEMPTATION
Everyone has trouble with temptations of many kinds, while listening to a teaching CD by Bob Mumford recently, this thought came to me. It is tied to a little poem that Bob quoted, which goes like this.
"Tobacco is a dirty weed,
they say it fills no human need,
it makes you thin, it makes you lean,
it takes the hair right off your bean,
But I like it!"
The moral of this silly little poem as I see it, is that we can never be delivered from a habit that we like, even if it is destroying you. I think you can apply this to any evil habit that you might be trying to quit. God has promised us victory over our enemies, but not our friends, or things that we love to do! So if you like some evil habit that you are perhaps even "addicted" to, the only hope of being set free from it, as near as I can see, is to count it as an enemy.
Another fact that I learned from listening to this teaching by Bob, is that what we focus on always enlarges, or expands. In other words if we see a sign like "Wet Paint Do Not Touch", or "Keep Off The Grass", what is the first thing you want to do? Our fallen nature, which has been handed down from Adam, just naturally wants to disobey every restriction placed upon us. If we focus on positive, God honoring things, the scripture from Paul given to the church at Philippi, gives us some good advice. (Phil 4:8-9). Then there is a passage in Paul's letter to the churches in Galatia, recorded in (Gal 5:16-26) that speaks to this same issue. God has provided us with His Holy Spirit, to help us with this struggle with our fleshly nature. A careful reading of these verses point out clearly the difference between the "works of the flesh", and the "fruit of the Spirit". The works of the flesh will result in our failure to enter into our heavenly inheritance, (verse 21). While the fruit of the Spirit will produce in our lives, the character of Jesus Christ. This Is the real 7 fold DNA of God the Father, as outlined in (Exod 34:6-7). These qualities recorded by Moses were God's own self described parts of His very being, 1/ Compassion,
2/ Grace, 3/ Slow to anger, 4/ Merciful, 5/ Truth, 6/ Faithful, and
7/ Forgiving. When Jesus said "I and the Father are one", we know that He came to put a face on the Father, so to speak, since God is a Spirit and is invisible. (John 4:24)!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Monday, November 15, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
BULL'S EYE
BULL'S EYE
We are all familiar with this expression, which represents the center of a target we might use for target shooting with a gun or a bow and arrow. The goal is always to hit the bull's eye, but we seldom do. (Rom 3:23) tells that "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God". In other words we have not hit our goal which is always the bull's eye. For us as followers of Jesus, this would be the perfect will of God, or as scripture defines it as "holiness". In (Heb 12:14) we read "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord". NKJV. I heard of a man who bragged about hitting the bull's eye painted on the side of his barn with an arrow, which he left in place to show his friends. The truth was however that he had first shot the arrow, and then painted the bull's eye around it! In (Prov 14:12) we read "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death". In other words our ways or ideas are not always in line with God's ways!
We might say that God has painted a bull's eye around certain truths, so to speak, and these should be targets for us to aim for as we live our lives as followers of Jesus. God's overall goal is for us to become more like Christ in our behavior day by day. And for this reason He has written His Word as our guide. (2 Tim 3:16-17). We need to read the scriptures daily, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what He gave to the authors who wrote the words they used in the original documents. Remember, whichever English translation we use is some translator's choice of words, and not necessarily always the best choice. That's why we need to check out important passages in other translations, to get the best understanding of the real meaning. Like the believers in Berea did, as recorded in (Acts 17:11). We need to pray "Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth" (Ps 86:11)
We all need to aim at the right target, which God has been faithful to direct the original authors of His Word, to use plain easy to understand words and phrases. Some theologians have complicated God's Word with their theories, which have been accepted by the church as being inspired by God. Some of these theories line up with scripture, but some do not, and have brought a lot of confusion to believers. To borrow a phrase from a recent ODB devotional "When we aim our lives at God's Word, we'll discover that His ways are right on target—every time"!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
We are all familiar with this expression, which represents the center of a target we might use for target shooting with a gun or a bow and arrow. The goal is always to hit the bull's eye, but we seldom do. (Rom 3:23) tells that "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God". In other words we have not hit our goal which is always the bull's eye. For us as followers of Jesus, this would be the perfect will of God, or as scripture defines it as "holiness". In (Heb 12:14) we read "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord". NKJV. I heard of a man who bragged about hitting the bull's eye painted on the side of his barn with an arrow, which he left in place to show his friends. The truth was however that he had first shot the arrow, and then painted the bull's eye around it! In (Prov 14:12) we read "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death". In other words our ways or ideas are not always in line with God's ways!
We might say that God has painted a bull's eye around certain truths, so to speak, and these should be targets for us to aim for as we live our lives as followers of Jesus. God's overall goal is for us to become more like Christ in our behavior day by day. And for this reason He has written His Word as our guide. (2 Tim 3:16-17). We need to read the scriptures daily, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what He gave to the authors who wrote the words they used in the original documents. Remember, whichever English translation we use is some translator's choice of words, and not necessarily always the best choice. That's why we need to check out important passages in other translations, to get the best understanding of the real meaning. Like the believers in Berea did, as recorded in (Acts 17:11). We need to pray "Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth" (Ps 86:11)
We all need to aim at the right target, which God has been faithful to direct the original authors of His Word, to use plain easy to understand words and phrases. Some theologians have complicated God's Word with their theories, which have been accepted by the church as being inspired by God. Some of these theories line up with scripture, but some do not, and have brought a lot of confusion to believers. To borrow a phrase from a recent ODB devotional "When we aim our lives at God's Word, we'll discover that His ways are right on target—every time"!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Monday, November 8, 2010
How to Understand Scripture
HOW TO UNDERSTAND SCRIPTURE
Our Creator God knew we humans would need a standard by which to govern our lives, so He chose certain men to record His Word in print. This written Word of God we call "The Holy Bible", and it is now available in many languages and various translations. The original word was given to these men over a period of many years, and recorded in basically two languages Hebrew and Greek. Because we are mostly dependent on our English translations, we need certain guidelines to follow, to make sure we are getting the exact meaning of what these original writers intended us to know. They were inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:16), the same Holy Spirit who indwells us followers of Jesus today, so we should be sure to seek His guidance for the correct understanding of what we read from His Word.
A fairly simple way of understanding scripture came to me from a little booklet called "Understanding Scripture at Face Value". The authors Robert Van Kampen, and Charles Cooper explain face value as "the normal, natural, customary sense of the text intended by the Author/author at the time it was written. This booklet has helped me to understand how the church has been led to believe certain doctrines that are not really based on God's Word. The 5 principles given in this booklet are as follows.
1/ Seek to discover the Author/author's intended meaning. Each and every passage of scripture has only one meaning, although it may have more than one possible application. This meaning was determined by the author at the time of writing, never by the reader!
2/ Recognize the importance of context. Only when we know and understand the context in which a text is written, will we know how the writer intended the passage to be understood.
3/ When ever possible, let scripture interpret scripture. Always interpret difficult passages in the light of clear passages.
4/ Determine the literal reference of figures of speech. A figure of speech is "any deviation either in thought or expression, from the ordinary and simple way of speaking.
5/ Look for near/far implications and applications in prophetic passages. In other words the same scripture may apply to more than one certain time. For example in
(2 Sam 7:5-16) the prophet Nathan's message to King David applied to his son Solomon, as well as to Jesus, who is referred to as the heir of David's throne forever!
If these 5 principles are followed faithfully when studying scripture, be prepared for finding out that many doctrines you have been taught as truth, are really not! In other words, some people have presented their own theories as if they were truth based on God's Word, when if fact they were trying to make the scriptures confirm their theory by putting their own meaning on them. We must never be guilty of doing that! Someone has referred to this as "Experiential Theology", or in other words taking some experience and attempting to find scriptures to support their experience, instead of checking to make sure their experience lines up with scripture! God's Word properly interpreted and understood is "Absolute Truth"!!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
APPLICATIONS
APPLICATIONS
I understand that many cell-phones are now "smart phones", to which can be added all kinds of features. You can do almost everything on them that you can do on a computer! These various additions are called "apps", which is short for applications. Most of us may not have a smart phone with lots of apps added to it, but we have something far superior! Our Bible, which is the written Word of God, is readily available to all of us, and contains all the apps we will ever need to meet any situation! These apps are personally made available by our Creator God, through His Holy Spirit, using His Holy Word, to help us solve problems. We don't need the Internet.
Consider certain scriptures like the second chapter of Paul's letter to the church in Philippi for example. In verse 2 we see the "unity app", in verse 3 the "humility app", in verse 14 the "no-grumbling app", in verse 15 the "shine-as-lights app", and so on etc, etc. You get the point, I'm sure! Or take the fifth chapter of Ephesians as another example, the "imitate-God app" (5:1), the "walk-in-love app" (5:2), the "purity app" (5:3) and so on. The book of Proverbs is loaded with apps, as well as many other books in our Bible. So we have no excuse, and don't need to depend on any "smart phone" to live a full active life.
Modern technology has more or less taken over our lives in this 21st century world, and most of it is meant for our benefit. It all helps us do things faster, and easier, but is that necessarily better? It seems the most often used expressions these days refer to time. We never seem to have enough to accomplish what we want to do. Some of us older folks can remember when we seemed to get more done without all the modern technology that we have today. Have the use of "smart phones", and all the other gadgets available today really made our lives better? Or have they only added more stress, and taken time that could be spent searching for answers to our problems in our Bibles? I don't pretend to know the answer, but do have a lot of questions about how much time these modern technologies really save us? Probably the answer is a proper balance in how we make use of the 24 hours that we each have available to us, and how we set our priorities! We read in
(Ps 31:14-15) NKJV "But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say you are my God. My times are in your hand". If this is true, and we know it is because it is His Word, then we have the answer, just trust Him to lead us!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
I understand that many cell-phones are now "smart phones", to which can be added all kinds of features. You can do almost everything on them that you can do on a computer! These various additions are called "apps", which is short for applications. Most of us may not have a smart phone with lots of apps added to it, but we have something far superior! Our Bible, which is the written Word of God, is readily available to all of us, and contains all the apps we will ever need to meet any situation! These apps are personally made available by our Creator God, through His Holy Spirit, using His Holy Word, to help us solve problems. We don't need the Internet.
Consider certain scriptures like the second chapter of Paul's letter to the church in Philippi for example. In verse 2 we see the "unity app", in verse 3 the "humility app", in verse 14 the "no-grumbling app", in verse 15 the "shine-as-lights app", and so on etc, etc. You get the point, I'm sure! Or take the fifth chapter of Ephesians as another example, the "imitate-God app" (5:1), the "walk-in-love app" (5:2), the "purity app" (5:3) and so on. The book of Proverbs is loaded with apps, as well as many other books in our Bible. So we have no excuse, and don't need to depend on any "smart phone" to live a full active life.
Modern technology has more or less taken over our lives in this 21st century world, and most of it is meant for our benefit. It all helps us do things faster, and easier, but is that necessarily better? It seems the most often used expressions these days refer to time. We never seem to have enough to accomplish what we want to do. Some of us older folks can remember when we seemed to get more done without all the modern technology that we have today. Have the use of "smart phones", and all the other gadgets available today really made our lives better? Or have they only added more stress, and taken time that could be spent searching for answers to our problems in our Bibles? I don't pretend to know the answer, but do have a lot of questions about how much time these modern technologies really save us? Probably the answer is a proper balance in how we make use of the 24 hours that we each have available to us, and how we set our priorities! We read in
(Ps 31:14-15) NKJV "But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say you are my God. My times are in your hand". If this is true, and we know it is because it is His Word, then we have the answer, just trust Him to lead us!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Saturday, October 30, 2010
OFFENCES
OFFENCES
We have all been offended at one time or another on our spiritual journey by people, and how they have treated us. There is a very interesting verse in the OT about offences. (Ps 119:165). In the KJV it reads "Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Other translations use different words, such as the NLT "Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble". But the message is the same, offences are a cause of "stumbling", and knowledge of, and love for God's Word, is the means of preventing offences! This would seem to be an easy answer to preventing this problem of being offended. Then why don't we just read and heed God's eternal Word, that is "Forever settled in heaven" (Ps 119:89)? That is probably one of those questions that are difficult to answer!
In the NT we read of people being offended by some statements of Jesus. For example in (Matt 13:53-57) when Jesus taught in His home town of Nazareth, verse 57 states "And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in Him" NLT. Jesus often made statements that offended people, and His Word still offends certain people today. Especially when it clearly states something that they don't want to hear! Our society has become so "ego-centric", or focused on self, that we only want to hear things that make us feel good. Our Creator God knows what we need to hear, to help us grow in our faith, and to become more like His Son. So when He sees us getting off in our pursuit of other things, and following the ways of the world, He will use His Word to bring correction to us. But because of our carnal nature that wants its own way, we can become "offended" by the truth of the Word.
There is a very scary scripture recorded in (2 Thess 2:9-11), in the NLT we read about the effect of believing the lies of the coming Antichrist "He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth". Paul is very clear in this chapter that Jesus cannot come back until after the Antichrist appears on the scene. This truth offends certain people who have believed in a "any moment" rapture. We need to "love and accept the truth" in order to prevent being deceived! This is a critical truth for followers of Jesus to understand!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
We have all been offended at one time or another on our spiritual journey by people, and how they have treated us. There is a very interesting verse in the OT about offences. (Ps 119:165). In the KJV it reads "Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Other translations use different words, such as the NLT "Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble". But the message is the same, offences are a cause of "stumbling", and knowledge of, and love for God's Word, is the means of preventing offences! This would seem to be an easy answer to preventing this problem of being offended. Then why don't we just read and heed God's eternal Word, that is "Forever settled in heaven" (Ps 119:89)? That is probably one of those questions that are difficult to answer!
In the NT we read of people being offended by some statements of Jesus. For example in (Matt 13:53-57) when Jesus taught in His home town of Nazareth, verse 57 states "And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in Him" NLT. Jesus often made statements that offended people, and His Word still offends certain people today. Especially when it clearly states something that they don't want to hear! Our society has become so "ego-centric", or focused on self, that we only want to hear things that make us feel good. Our Creator God knows what we need to hear, to help us grow in our faith, and to become more like His Son. So when He sees us getting off in our pursuit of other things, and following the ways of the world, He will use His Word to bring correction to us. But because of our carnal nature that wants its own way, we can become "offended" by the truth of the Word.
There is a very scary scripture recorded in (2 Thess 2:9-11), in the NLT we read about the effect of believing the lies of the coming Antichrist "He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth". Paul is very clear in this chapter that Jesus cannot come back until after the Antichrist appears on the scene. This truth offends certain people who have believed in a "any moment" rapture. We need to "love and accept the truth" in order to prevent being deceived! This is a critical truth for followers of Jesus to understand!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
ELECTION
ELECTION
The residents of New Brunswick have just come through an election that has seen the ruling Liberal Party defeated after only one term in office. So for the last month or so, we have been bombarded with election talk. However I have a different type of election in mind, one that is mentioned in the Bible in various places. One of these places is in (Eph 1:3-14), where Paul uses the term "in Christ" several times. This is a very important NT phrase, and implies that the moment we repent from our sinful ways (Rom 3:23), and receive Jesus as our Savior, we are "born again" into the Family of God, and are then "in Christ" for eternity. (see John 1:10-13). Then in (2 Cor 5:17) we read about anyone who is "in Christ" is a "new creation", this refers to our new birth (John 3:3-5), or our now being part of the "New Covenant".
This is the position we find ourselves in as followers of Jesus, we didn't deserve it, as members of the fallen race of human descendants of Adam, but because of God's grace, He accepted us as part of "His Forever Family"! This is the heart of the gospel, that our Creator God would make provision for us to become part of His family. This is all part of what the Bible refers to as "election", or "predestination" (Rom 8:29-30). In other words, as I understand it, even before He created our universe, He knew by His "foreknowledge", those humans who would accept His offer of grace, and receive the gift of salvation, and those who would not. He created us all with a free will to make choices, and He always respects our freedom to choose. Some people believe that predestination means that God has predestined some to be saved, and some to be lost. But this is a false teaching, based on a lack of understanding of God's foreknowledge. Because He knows everything in advance, he knows the choices we will make, before we make them! That should put the "fear of God" into the heart of all of us, and make us a lot more thankful for His grace!
A brief study of scriptures that mention election, like (Rom 11:28) and
(2 Peter 1:10-11), along with (Rom 8:29-30), should help us to understand a little more how great and marvelous God's provision for us is in His Son!
The next time you read Paul's letters, like Ephesians or Colossians, count the number of times he uses the phrase "in Christ". And then thank God for the words of Peter to "make your call and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10)!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
The residents of New Brunswick have just come through an election that has seen the ruling Liberal Party defeated after only one term in office. So for the last month or so, we have been bombarded with election talk. However I have a different type of election in mind, one that is mentioned in the Bible in various places. One of these places is in (Eph 1:3-14), where Paul uses the term "in Christ" several times. This is a very important NT phrase, and implies that the moment we repent from our sinful ways (Rom 3:23), and receive Jesus as our Savior, we are "born again" into the Family of God, and are then "in Christ" for eternity. (see John 1:10-13). Then in (2 Cor 5:17) we read about anyone who is "in Christ" is a "new creation", this refers to our new birth (John 3:3-5), or our now being part of the "New Covenant".
This is the position we find ourselves in as followers of Jesus, we didn't deserve it, as members of the fallen race of human descendants of Adam, but because of God's grace, He accepted us as part of "His Forever Family"! This is the heart of the gospel, that our Creator God would make provision for us to become part of His family. This is all part of what the Bible refers to as "election", or "predestination" (Rom 8:29-30). In other words, as I understand it, even before He created our universe, He knew by His "foreknowledge", those humans who would accept His offer of grace, and receive the gift of salvation, and those who would not. He created us all with a free will to make choices, and He always respects our freedom to choose. Some people believe that predestination means that God has predestined some to be saved, and some to be lost. But this is a false teaching, based on a lack of understanding of God's foreknowledge. Because He knows everything in advance, he knows the choices we will make, before we make them! That should put the "fear of God" into the heart of all of us, and make us a lot more thankful for His grace!
A brief study of scriptures that mention election, like (Rom 11:28) and
(2 Peter 1:10-11), along with (Rom 8:29-30), should help us to understand a little more how great and marvelous God's provision for us is in His Son!
The next time you read Paul's letters, like Ephesians or Colossians, count the number of times he uses the phrase "in Christ". And then thank God for the words of Peter to "make your call and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10)!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
VIRUSES
VIRUSES
I recently read an article on viruses like the H1N1 pandemic last fall. The statement was made that viruses are living organisms that need a "host" in order to survive and wreak their havoc. In some cases a virus can be present for years before the host is even aware of it. Also a virus can mutate into a different form in order to avoid detection, as if it had a mind of its own! When I read this I thought about evil spirits, or demons, as the scriptures describe them. As you are aware Jesus spent a lot of His ministry time casting them out of people. Actually often when He cast them out, the person received their healing. So demons and sickness or disease are closely connected. People who live with an "Eastern World View" understand the invisible realm of the spirit much better than those of us who live in the West, with a "Western World View". We tend to see things through a lens based on a humanistic, rationalistic, mindset, which has no understanding of anything that can't be proven scientifically. This leaves us at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to the supernatural invisible realm, which according to Paul is more real than what we can detect with our five senses.
(2 Cor 4:18)
However, because Father God has given to followers of His Son Jesus, the Holy Spirit, to replace Jesus when He went back to be with the Father; we now have the ability to understand the invisible spiritual realm. In Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth, he gave instructions on receiving, and properly making use of the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit. We find this information in chapters 12, 13, and 14, which should be studied carefully, to know how to mature in the use of these gifts. In (1 Cor 12:10) we read "He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or another spirit" (NLT). The "other spirit" would of course be a demon, and Satan's purpose would be to lead people into deception. He is known as the "deceiver of the brethren", and there have been many cases in church history where this exact thing happened. We need to heed the warning of Jesus and the apostles to beware of false teachers or prophets who will come into our midst in these last days. See (Matt 24:23-25), and (2 Cor 11:12-15) for clear warnings from both Jesus and Paul! In light of these warnings, we should be praying for this gift of discerning of spirits mentioned above.
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
I recently read an article on viruses like the H1N1 pandemic last fall. The statement was made that viruses are living organisms that need a "host" in order to survive and wreak their havoc. In some cases a virus can be present for years before the host is even aware of it. Also a virus can mutate into a different form in order to avoid detection, as if it had a mind of its own! When I read this I thought about evil spirits, or demons, as the scriptures describe them. As you are aware Jesus spent a lot of His ministry time casting them out of people. Actually often when He cast them out, the person received their healing. So demons and sickness or disease are closely connected. People who live with an "Eastern World View" understand the invisible realm of the spirit much better than those of us who live in the West, with a "Western World View". We tend to see things through a lens based on a humanistic, rationalistic, mindset, which has no understanding of anything that can't be proven scientifically. This leaves us at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to the supernatural invisible realm, which according to Paul is more real than what we can detect with our five senses.
(2 Cor 4:18)
However, because Father God has given to followers of His Son Jesus, the Holy Spirit, to replace Jesus when He went back to be with the Father; we now have the ability to understand the invisible spiritual realm. In Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth, he gave instructions on receiving, and properly making use of the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit. We find this information in chapters 12, 13, and 14, which should be studied carefully, to know how to mature in the use of these gifts. In (1 Cor 12:10) we read "He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or another spirit" (NLT). The "other spirit" would of course be a demon, and Satan's purpose would be to lead people into deception. He is known as the "deceiver of the brethren", and there have been many cases in church history where this exact thing happened. We need to heed the warning of Jesus and the apostles to beware of false teachers or prophets who will come into our midst in these last days. See (Matt 24:23-25), and (2 Cor 11:12-15) for clear warnings from both Jesus and Paul! In light of these warnings, we should be praying for this gift of discerning of spirits mentioned above.
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
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