ALWAYS AND NEVER

ALWAYS AND NEVER

 

I have often said that as followers of Jesus we should eliminate these   2 words from our vocabulary. I have often heard "you always say that", or perhaps "you never do what I tell you to do". I'm sure I am not the only person who is used to hearing these words spoken in this negative sort of way. But I recently read a devotional thought in ODB on Aug 6, 2012, which put a very positive spin on the words "always" and "never". We only have to think of the promises given to us by Jesus in (Matt 28:20) where He declared "I will be with you always". And then in (Heb 13:5-6) where He declares "I will never leave you nor forsake you! So we can boldly say: the Lord is my helper, I will not fear". These are only 2 of many similar passages that we can depend on because they are direct promises made by Jesus who is TRUTH. (John 14:6). So as long as we know Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and have been "born again" by the Spirit of God and adopted by Father into His Forever Family, we are assured of eternal life in heaven when we die.

 

Many people are trusting in other things to get them to heaven when they die because there are many false religions that have been spreading through church circles in the past several decades. Some of these originated in the Far East many years ago and have come to NA as part of what has been called "New Age Philosophy". This basically promotes the idea that there are many roads that can lead us to heaven when we die. They are all lies started by Satan, the enemy of God, who started out as Lucifer who was one of the three arch angels in heaven. You can read about him in the OT books of (Is 14:12-21) and (Ezek 28:12-19). Lucifer was one of the highest created beings to share the leadership of God's Kingdom until his beauty and wisdom caused pride and rebellion to enter his heart and he introduced "sin" into the perfect environment of God's heaven. The result of this rebellion was God casting him out of heaven, and he chose earth as his abode because it was the only planet in our universe that was created to sustain life. The rest is history, as they say, and is accurately recorded in the Bible. Thank God He has provided His "Written Word" to guide us on out journey through life. And of course we have His Son Jesus Christ who is called the "Living Word" of God, who paid the price of our redemption from sin and then returned to heaven to be seated at Father's throne. (Ps 110:1). They then sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of followers of Jesus today!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                   20/08/12

CONSUMERS OR PRODUCERS

CONSUMERS or PRODUCERS

I recently read an article in a magazine we receive called Mission Frontiers by Mike Breen called "Obituary for the American Church". He used an expression that caught my attention "Disciples are not Consumers, they are Producers". You would need to read the article yourself to see what he really meant by this expression but I will try to explain a bit about how this pertains to us and the local churchs we attend. It is not difficult to realize that we all live in a "Consumer Culture" in North America. It seems everywhere we turn some advertisement is telling us about some new product that we must have. The fact is that most of us already have more "stuff" than we know what to do with, why would we need more? But that is what drives our society, the need to want more of the latest things available. We have all been affected to some extent simply by living in this culture, whether we are a follower of Jesus or not. We all live in a "fallen world" that has been separated from our Creator God because of sin, and we have an enemy who Jesus called the "father of lies" (John 8:44), who is constantly trying to deceive us. God has already dealt with this problem of sin, by allowing His Son Jesus to die on a cross to redeem us, but He leaves the decision up to us as individuals whether we will believe this truth and accept it or not!

 

One of the last commands Jesus gave to His followers before He ascended back to heaven is recorded in (Matt 28:18-20). The main point of this so-called "Great Commission" was "go and make disciples", baptize them and teach them everything He had taught them. In other words teach them to not only be disciples but to make disciples. From my vantage point of being involved in various churches of different denominations for many years, my observation would be that churches have not done this very well. The sad result is that we have churches full of members who are not real disciples themselves who have no idea how to make disciples. And we have come to be "Consumers" and not "Producers" as our brother Mike said. I assume what he meant by producers would be the making of disciples as Jesus commanded His disciples to do. So what can we do as followers of Jesus in this year 2012? Most of us are not church leaders, but if we attend a church we should discuss this matter with our spiritual leaders and gently bring this scripture to their attention. If they are truly followers of Jesus themselves they should see clearly that we have a problem. As a submissive member of the flock under their leadership he or she should appreciate your concern!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                             28/07/12

STOP& LISTEN& OBEY

STOP! & LISTEN & OBEY!

Back on July 6, 2012 Joe Stowell wrote the devotional thought for ODB based on (Ps 131:2) which reads "surely I have calmed and quieted my soul". I wonder how many followers of Jesus could truthfully say that today about their very busy and stressful lifestyle. I know it seems like there is no way to escape the pressure of the "information overload" that our high technological world of emails and smart phones etc. places on the average person, but stop and consider how Jesus handled the pressure He must have felt by times. He was often followed around from town to town by throngs of people looking to be healed by Him, and remember He was Divine but He was also human, the only God/Man who ever lived, and scripture tells us that He was "tempted in all points such as we", so He would know personally what His followers would face. Check out (Mark 6:31) to see how He handled the situation, where it is recorded that He said to His disciples "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile". If we claim to be His followers today don't you think the same advice would apply to us?

I think the same words that the Psalmist used in Psalm 131 that we quoted at the start of this article would certainly apply to us today, because it is part of His eternal Word. So how can the average follower of Jesus in this very busy world we live in, in this 21^st century cope? I would think that common sense should tell us, "The same way they did in the first century". It should be a "no brainer", all we have to do is stop and listen for the still small voice of His Holy Spirit, and then obey immediately what He says to us. That is one of the functions that Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would do when He came to earth to replace Jesus when He ascended to the Father after He had completed His task He was sent here to accomplish. (John 14:16-17). So it would appear to me that the first thing we should do when we feel overwhelmed by the pressures of our stressed out life is to simply follow the pattern laid down by our Lord. But of course that presupposes that you already know Jesus as Lord and Savior, and if you haven't yet done that, of course that is your first step. Just read (Eph 2:1-10) and follow the clear instructions given to us by Paul the apostle. Of course there is a maturing process to become a fully mature child of God, but the Holy Spirit will help you understand the Word of God as you faithfully read it!!

Sincerely submitted

Dave Jamer                                                                                   11/07/12

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