Another time back when..I shared one of my favorite church signs with you Tried Christianity…Try Jesus. One author that I have read over the years is Beth Moore and the other day while doing some research for a study lesson I revisited a book written in 2004 I believe. The title of the book is Believing God and I opened the book to chapter one. Well, that is all it took because it fitted in somehow with a subject I was wanting to confront.  

It is God’s intention for all believers lives to be fruitful, if we are to succeed. That alone just by itself leads us to ask, are we living a successful Christian Life?  Theology, the study of the nature of God and our religious beliefs differ to such a degree that we (the church)  leave ourselves open to ridicule. Many church going Christians work hard to lift the church up, to support the ministry…working selfishly for something that is hardly working. To be even more blunt, our own personal belief system isn’t working. Those of us who acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Savior are blessed and have assurance of our salvation. Perhaps we would be more understanding of that salvation if we accepted the fact it is our duty while here on earth to do all we can for Christianity to succeed, here and now. My feelings, perhaps a bit hard, are that both ourselves and the church are taking a defensive stance. We are not going forth with the greatest story ever told, we have become content with just getting by. Getting by is not our Christian destiny. We are meant to be effective tools of the faith, taking the word to all people. Are we satisfied being complacent with our present efforts, or does the God we serve deserve much more? Do we live our faith or just rest comfortably in a world of indifference?

The Church has become a victim of a world content with the  status-quo mind set. Overwhelmed by the societal demands for change, driven by cultural change and political agendas. We as individuals find our faith challenged in the very basics of life itself and a Church struggling to remain relevant. It has allowed the myth of kingdom power to lull it into a false sense of beliefs while in reality it has become powerless and given up its seat at the table of public opinion. In many parts of the world the Church and Christians are held in contempt and ridicule. We who are the Church have perverted the scripture to fit agendas of the day, no longer valuing biblical theology. We want to be the best and in reality we are far from God’s best. God has made many promises to his people that allows us to be productive while living our lives here on earth.Throughout the Bible there are writings of these promises shared by the prophets and writings of the apostles. But we wander in this wilderness of uncertainty and the burden of belief  becomes heavier through our wavering faith. When we allow God’s promises to become a living motivator and reality, we have at our disposal the awesome power of God to be productive and live a life of peace and joy. When God gave the Israelites the promised land…they had to go and take it, to make it theirs. 

There are those who would take away these promises if we continue to remain complacent. We must live a life “standing on the promises”… They are our strength and hope…Matthew 11:30  “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Come out of the wilderness, “Stand on The Promises” Live a Christ like life, filled with the peace and joy of that which is promised to all who carry the burden and keep the faith.

Life is Good

jk

The power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way along with the fact that you can read story after story of people in the Bible who faced difficult times and still chose to go forward in the faith, not knowing what the outcome would be, leads us to this week’s Blog. Endurance could also be expressed by any of the following:

bearing; tolerance; sufferance;  fortitude; tenacity; patience;  acceptance;  resignation;  stoicism; stamina; staying power;  perseverance;  persistence; determination……

As you can see endurance covers a wide range of emotions but what about endurance from a Biblical point of view?…

Romans 15:4 ‘Endurance Leads To Hope’  As Christians we must endure in the faith because it strengthens our faith and seeing this it gives hope to those struggling to find the faith and those who want to believe, to have hope.

Galatians 6: 9, 10

 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

If we allow the lower side of us to prevail, so to speak, we can expect to harvest nothing but trouble. If we instead take the good way and do what’s right, God will repay, the harvest will be plentiful. We cannot expect there to be no consequences for our sins but God can and does forgive us of our sins. 

Romans 5: 3,4

 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

The word Paul uses for fortitude in these verses means more than just endurance.  It makes a stronger statement that indicates a spirit that does not passively endure  but seeks to overcome the trials and tribulations of life. Paul makes a strong statement to close out these verses, Christian hope is not an illusion. Hope such as this is the result of the believers love of God, it is real and sustaining. Hope such as this is the result of a loving God, with an everlasting love backed by an everlasting power. There is no end to Biblical justification supporting the Power of Endurance…

1 Corinthians 10: 13

13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 

I have always believed that life is what it is….Our faith and the God we serve provides us with the means to meet the challenges that we will face in this life. Paul knew life was a chancy business and temptation would surely come our way. The Greek word translated to temptation has a meaning pointing to more of a test and is meant to not make us fall but to test us. With God’s help we will emerge from it stronger than ever. Temptation is not unique for any individual, it comes to all of us from time to time but we must remember others have endured it and come through it. Keep in mind as we are going through it so have others and through the grace of God they have endured and conquered. For the Christian there is no temptation that God cannot provide a way out of. It is not the way of surrender or retreat. It is the way of conquest in the power and grace of God.

Revelation 3: 10

10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

We find here in Revelations an old Jewish belief. The Jews divided time into two ages. The present age, which was totally bad and the age to come which was totally good. In-between those two would be a time of destruction and the wrath and judgement of God would come upon this world we now live in. John referred to that terrible time but we as those of the faith can be assured that when this world as we know it comes to an end, those who are faithful to Christ will still be safe in his keeping. 

The link below will give you a number of scriptures that refer to endurance in Bible readings.

https://www.openbible.info/topics/endurance

Keep the Faith, Endure…

Life is Good

jk

Christianity and Judaism and some Sufism sects of Islam, view The Image of God as being of a concept and theological doctrine. Hebrew scholars like Gaon and Philo believe the phase to be a type of  figurative language and that God has bestowed a special honor on mankind which he did not confer on the rest of creation.

In the Hebrew Bible the phrase “image of God” is found in three passages, all in the Book of Genesis. 1: 26-28; 5: 1-3; 9: 6.                 

Consciousness, the fact of awareness by the mind of itself and the world, add to that the ability to speak, both make mankind different from animals. We are able to think and reason, also not all of our actions are just instinctual. Man as an image of God Lost some of its luster with the fall of man in The Garden of Eden and it is  because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that man will once again be redeemed in the Creator’s eyes. All Christian writers agree that each person has value not to be limited by class, race, gender or disability. There are many interpretations as to the exact meaning of this phrase but it can be argued to be a concept that is the foundational doctrine of Christianity and Judaism. From the Christian standpoint we must be aware that we, being a part of the creation, are intended to be part of His plans and purposes for His creation. Imago Dei has within it the fact that if humans are to love God, then they must love other humans that God has created. All of creation is an expression of God.

John 13:35

35 ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another’

God is the maker not the made. He made us in such a way that we long for Him and His presence in our lives. 

Acts 17:28

28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being…….’ 

There is a need to live as a person in the state of Imago Dei,one who understands and strives to emulate Christ’s life and teachings, to live in his image. Image and likeness are two different words that simply reinforce each others meaning. So much has been written about this Image of God…and from so many different perspectives that as a layman I can sometimes become lost in a mass of words generated by the theological and scholarly world, that I revert back to simpler times and the comfort of what I have been taught in church. So here is what I believe to be true. We know that Jesus Christ is The Image of God. What does it mean to be conformed to the image of God?

–The thoughts, words, and actions that Jesus displayed in His life and ministry serve as a model for how we glorify God in our lives. … This is what it means to be conformed to His image.

-We show God’s mercy and grace to all people at all times

-Our love for all creation is unconditional

-God wants His people to expect only the best for others and in our actions present to the world good exceptions of things to come

-Take to the world God’s will for justice

The Image of God is one of mercy, love, hope and the salvation of us all through His son Jesus Christ. I guess we could best sum this up by understanding that the image and likeness of God we seek will be found in the life of Christ…As we wrote earlier image and likeness while different words are the same but I would refer to likeness as a spiritual attribute of the moral qualities Of God. It is worth repeating…The Imago Dei can be found in the life of Christ. May we all strive to live a Christ like life,

Life is Good 

jk

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father who is ever compassionate and the God who sends all comfort, he who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we are able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction’….  (2 Corinthians 1: 2-4)

When Paul wrote this he was writing as someone who knew trouble and if anyone knew trouble it would be Paul. His life up to this point had been a series of challenges, many placing him square in the eye of trouble. Now he shares that experience of God given endurance with those who find themselves in trouble.  Those who sought to become Christians in Paul’s day, chose to face trouble. It would not be uncommon that they found themselves abandoned by family, friends or their pagan neighbors, even at times experience persecution from official powers. Sound falmilar….Could easily be applied to some people today and Churches…most any Christian out reach program. William Barclay notes “It is always costly to be a real Christian, for Christianity is not true Christianity without the cross.” One of the key points of comfort is that we are able to endure. The Greek word does not signify a grim, bleak acceptance of trouble but one that leads to triumph. Christians are able to endure because the Spirit enables us to just not accept suffering but to triumph over it. Difficulties strengthen our faith and in most instances we emerge much stronger and better disciplined in the faith.

In 2Corinthians 1: 3-7  the word comfort as a noun or verb appears nine times. Its root lies in the Latin fortis which means brave. Christian comfort brings with it the courage to cope with all the things life can do to us. It was Paul’s belief that God surely would never seek to comfort us without enabling us with the strength and courage needed to receive and accept such a gift. We must remember that to suffer for Christ is a privilege. The big takeaway from all this is that our comfort from the bad things of life, enables us to comfort others who are suffering. 

Hebrews 2: 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.  

Comfort is God given and the Comfort  we receive during our suffering and sorrow will help us to comfort others in theirs.

Life is Good

jk