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Archive for July, 2013

Who Made The Customs In The Old Testament?

23 Jul

The Jews? 

No, it was God who made the rules.  God made the law.  God had His people conduct ceremonies, feasts, rituals, sacrifices, routines, etc.

The church today acts like if it comes from the Old Testament then that’s out.  That was back when the Jews did things.

Wait a minute, the Jews didn’t make a bunch of laws and rules and then attach God to them.  So when the church wants to ignore Israel and the Jews, what are they doing?  They just threw out all of God’s thinking in the Old Testament.

Problem?

Here is what the Bible says about God and Jesus.

Numbers 23:19 – 19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.  Does he speak and then not act?  Does he promise and not fulfill?

Psalm 145:13 – 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.  The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.

Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

So we know the Lord doesn’t lie, change His mind, speak and not act and He keeps His promises.

So why don’t we live exactly as the Jews?  We have had fulfillments for one.  We also can read that hypocritical man can put burdens on others that they can’t fulfill themselves.  The Lord made rules for the betterment not be burdensome or unrealistic.  The foods the Lord didn’t want eaten saved many lives at the time.  Later on Jesus explained that the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).  You could heal or save your animals or livestock, it wasn’t crime (Matthew 12:11-12). 

The Lord has fulfilled the Spring Feasts.  He came the first time and fulfilled certain items. 

The law is still there for our benefit.  He still wants us to obey it.  He just died for our salvation that we may be saved when it’s broken.

Which one of the commandments does our Lord want us to break?  Even in the case of the Sabbath, I believe he still wants us to stop, rest, pray, and reflect on Him as often as we can.  The Sabbath made people do that.  Without it, it’s amazing how proclaimed Christians give no time to the Lord.

I’m not saying the church is to become Jewish, that’s what the replacement church is trying to do to an extent.  Except they want to take all the blessings for themselves and let the curses stay with the Jewish people.  No, the church is the church and Israel is Israel.  Each have their own promises.

We need to pay attention and understand all the things that the Lord has to say and understand them.  Not pass them off as Old Testament and sweep them under the rug.  Because the commands on how to live didn’t come from man, but God.

 

It’s Not A Matter Preference; There Is A Right Way

15 Jul

Deuteronomy 12:4 – 4 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.

In the Old Testament God was telling the Jews that there was a right way to worship Him.

What?

I know that shouldn’t shock someone, but in the world we live in today and it’s getting to be so more every day, people think however I believe pleases God.  Whatever, I think, or my personal preference is, God respects that and you should too.

So are God and Jesus into the respect of Man’s thinking?

Proverbs 14:12 – 12 There is a way which seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death.

John 14:6 – 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

I would say that if one reads the Bible, God has a lot of expectations and absolutes.  No wonder this generation doesn’t want to study or read it.

I’ve been preaching it for the last 3 years and it’s stronger today that yesterday.  The only intolerance in the world today is intolerance.

The world says we must include and tolerate all ideas when it comes to spirituality.

Sounds like the major priming of a one world religion to me?

Revelation 17:4-6 – 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5 The name written on her forehead was a mystery:

babylon the great

the mother of prostitutes

and of the abominations of the earth.

6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.

When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.

It would appear that the Woman, which seems to represent something priestly by the description doesn’t have a liking for God’s holy people who will be giving testimony of Jesus.

The tolerant crowd today is not the tolerant crowd of God’s truth or His ways.  We need to stand firm and continue to seek His truth.

Remember the majority does not make the right decision or God’s Word wouldn’t be correct.

Matthew 7:13-14- 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

God’s not looking for an elite crowd, just those who love Him, seek Him, repent, accept His death in the place of theirs, and want to make Him Lord of their lives.  By His Word only a few choose that.  Be one of those few and try to reach others to be also, before our time runs out.

 

Plugged In

09 Jul

Today’s post is inspired by a part of the sermon I received from church by Pastor Josh.

The message was on the Holy Spirit.

One of the pieces of the message was about a guy going out and purchasing a refrigerator.  It had all the bells, whistles, and was state of the art.  However, it didn’t work.  As it turns out, it didn’t work because it wasn’t plugged in.

So here’s the question.  Are we plugged in?

If we are not plugged in, we don’t have power from God.  The power is from the Holy Spirit.

In John we see Jesus speak of Him.

John 14:25-26 – 25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Jesus also said in the beginning of Acts:

Acts 1:8-  8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Today many proclaimed Christian’s are not plugged into God.  So how does one act that is a proclaimed Christian that is not plugged into the Holy Spirit?  The same as someone who isn’t saved at all.  You have a hard time differentiating between the two because the only difference on their actions is one says they are a Christian and another doesn’t.  However their actions are exactly the same.

The reason this is getting worse every day is because many Christians don’t know the Word of God.
Then they improvise to make God an individual that just so happens to think like they do.  That way anything they like to do is okay by God.

If we’re not plugged in we’re doomed to be those that try to use the wide road.

What happens when we have the Holy Spirit?

Acts:11:24 –  24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

Romans 14:17- 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,

Ephesians 4:30 – 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

So He is our strength in reaching others.  He teaches us that the kingdom is not of this world but of heavenly things and God seals us with the Holy Spirit for our day of redemption.

Stay in the Word and remember that our bodies are the temple for the Holy Spirit.