Showing posts with label Christian blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian blog. Show all posts
Friday, April 15, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
God's Redemption Started in the Garden
"We start out saying, 'If God were really a good God, He would not keep from me the things I want.' So we go on our own way to get those things and get hurt in the process. Then we blame God for the pain and in our anger we lash out at Him, 'Why did God let this happen to me?' It all starts with a question: 'Why won't God give me this?' And it ends with a question: 'Why did let this happen to me?' These are the effects of the fall of man.
God did not intend to leave man lost and hopeless. From the very beginning He had a plan. His first revelation of that plan is in Genesis 3:14-15. "And the Lord God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly shall you go, And dust shall you eat all the days of your life; And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise Him on the heel."
This is the first promise of the Savior, the Messiah. What the Lord God describes here is the work of the cross, where Satan would bruise the heel of Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ would smash the head of the serpent. Sin is the barrier between God and man. At the cross, Jesus Christ would remove the barrier and open the door to God so that anyone could have freedom to approach God by faith in Him. The rest of the of the Bible is an account of God keeping the promise He makes here.
"And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them." (Gen. 3:21)
God's clothing of Adam and Eve is the first Biblical picture of redemption. A guiltless animal is sacrificed to provide a covering for sinful man. In accepting the covering, Adam and Eve acknowledge that they are helpless to bridge the spiritual separation from God that their sin has brought into the world.
Though they are helpless, they are still free, and they exercise their freedom this time by choosing to look forward in faith to the coming of the promised Redeemer." -Exert taken from "The Basics," by Gene Cunningham
God did not intend to leave man lost and hopeless. From the very beginning He had a plan. His first revelation of that plan is in Genesis 3:14-15. "And the Lord God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly shall you go, And dust shall you eat all the days of your life; And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise Him on the heel."
This is the first promise of the Savior, the Messiah. What the Lord God describes here is the work of the cross, where Satan would bruise the heel of Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ would smash the head of the serpent. Sin is the barrier between God and man. At the cross, Jesus Christ would remove the barrier and open the door to God so that anyone could have freedom to approach God by faith in Him. The rest of the of the Bible is an account of God keeping the promise He makes here.
"And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them." (Gen. 3:21)
God's clothing of Adam and Eve is the first Biblical picture of redemption. A guiltless animal is sacrificed to provide a covering for sinful man. In accepting the covering, Adam and Eve acknowledge that they are helpless to bridge the spiritual separation from God that their sin has brought into the world.
Though they are helpless, they are still free, and they exercise their freedom this time by choosing to look forward in faith to the coming of the promised Redeemer." -Exert taken from "The Basics," by Gene Cunningham
Friday, February 4, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Making Sense of Your Life
Francis Chan returns to Cornerstone Church after doing mission work in China and India. Powerful testimony of what God is doing around the world. Also, if we believe the Bible, what should our lives look like?
Monday, January 24, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Vision and Darkness- My Utmost for His Highest
"When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him" —Genesis 15:12
Whenever God gives a vision to a Christian, it is as if He puts him in “the shadow of His hand” (Isaiah 49:2). The saint’s duty is to be still and listen. There is a “darkness” that comes from too much light-that is the time to listen. The story of Abram and Hagar in Genesis 16 is an excellent example of listening to so-called good advice during a time of darkness, rather than waiting for God to send the light. When God gives you a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will bring the vision He has given you to reality in your life if you will wait on His timing. Never try to help God fulfill His word. Abram went through thirteen years of silence, but in those years all of his self-sufficiency was destroyed. He grew past the point of relying on his own common sense. Those years of silence were a time of discipline, not a period of God’s displeasure. There is never any need to pretend that your life is filled with joy and confidence; just wait upon God and be grounded in Him (see Isaiah 50:10-11).
Do I trust at all in the flesh? Or have I learned to go beyond all confidence in myself and other people of God? Do I trust in books and prayers or other joys in my life? Or have I placed my confidence in God Himself, not in His blessings? “I am Almighty God . . .”— El-Shaddai, the All-Powerful God (Genesis 17:1). The reason we are all being disciplined is that we will know God is real. As soon as God becomes real to us, people pale by comparison, becoming shadows of reality. Nothing that other saints do or say can ever upset the one who is built on God. -My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers
Whenever God gives a vision to a Christian, it is as if He puts him in “the shadow of His hand” (Isaiah 49:2). The saint’s duty is to be still and listen. There is a “darkness” that comes from too much light-that is the time to listen. The story of Abram and Hagar in Genesis 16 is an excellent example of listening to so-called good advice during a time of darkness, rather than waiting for God to send the light. When God gives you a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will bring the vision He has given you to reality in your life if you will wait on His timing. Never try to help God fulfill His word. Abram went through thirteen years of silence, but in those years all of his self-sufficiency was destroyed. He grew past the point of relying on his own common sense. Those years of silence were a time of discipline, not a period of God’s displeasure. There is never any need to pretend that your life is filled with joy and confidence; just wait upon God and be grounded in Him (see Isaiah 50:10-11).
Do I trust at all in the flesh? Or have I learned to go beyond all confidence in myself and other people of God? Do I trust in books and prayers or other joys in my life? Or have I placed my confidence in God Himself, not in His blessings? “I am Almighty God . . .”— El-Shaddai, the All-Powerful God (Genesis 17:1). The reason we are all being disciplined is that we will know God is real. As soon as God becomes real to us, people pale by comparison, becoming shadows of reality. Nothing that other saints do or say can ever upset the one who is built on God. -My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Christian Classic Library
This is an excellent resource if you would like to read Christian Classic Literature.
http://www.ccel.org/
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Franciscan Prayer
"May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done." -Franciscan Prayer
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Suffering and Joy for the Christian
"God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering."-Saint Augustine
"One of the greatest evidences of God’s love to those that love him is, to send them afflictions, with grace to bear them." -John Wesley
Facts:
18 times in the New Testament, joy and suffering are linked together.
Old Testament, over 23 Hebrew words for joy
"One of the greatest evidences of God’s love to those that love him is, to send them afflictions, with grace to bear them." -John Wesley
Facts:
18 times in the New Testament, joy and suffering are linked together.
Old Testament, over 23 Hebrew words for joy
Monday, December 27, 2010
"Where the battle is won or lost"
’If you will return, O Israel,’says the Lord . .
-Jeremiah 4:1
Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there.
I should never say, “I will wait until I get into difficult circumstances and then I’ll put God to the test.” Trying to do that will not work. I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity, disaster, and defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. The reason the battle is lost is that I fight it first in the external world. Get alone with God, do battle before Him, and settle the matter once and for all.
In dealing with other people, our stance should always be to drive them toward making a decision of their will. That is how surrendering to God begins. Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point— a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory. -Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest"
Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there.
I should never say, “I will wait until I get into difficult circumstances and then I’ll put God to the test.” Trying to do that will not work. I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity, disaster, and defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. The reason the battle is lost is that I fight it first in the external world. Get alone with God, do battle before Him, and settle the matter once and for all.
In dealing with other people, our stance should always be to drive them toward making a decision of their will. That is how surrendering to God begins. Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point— a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory. -Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest"
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