An Ideal for which I am Prepared to die

      Nelson Mandela talking about, equality for all, in the country of his birth, South Africa. Are there any ideals which you feel strongly about? If not, why  not? I wage to say, that if we don't live by our convictions and follow our passions, that our lives stand the chance of being ordinary. This is a scary thing, as ordinary indicates a lack of thinking beyond yourself, it shows no signs of ambition and leads the person living such a life to ponder the relevance of their existence! What are you prepared to die for (if need be, that is)? Live for that!

How Do I Really Know? #1

Picture by: Kirsti Pennels

   One of the most frequently asked questions I have come across in talking and ministering to people, is regarding their salvation: "How do I really know I'm saved?" This came as quite a shock to me, because some of these people I would have regarded as being 'strong' believers and yet they still struggled with this foundational issue.

   In contemplating this phenomenon, I started to see a common denominator, that is, in almost every case, these folks were extremely religious. What I mean by religious is, that they said and did all the right things, and were convinced that in the doing, they would earn acceptance from God. A works based faith. This is a very dangerous place to be, because even though many main streams of Christianity preach a version of this, it places the onus on your works, and not on faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, for your salvation.

   Let's see what the bible says we need to do to be saved and how we will know that we are, it's pretty simple:
In John 3:16, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, explaining to him the new-birth experience, saying that "...whoever believes in Him (Jesus) shall not perish but have eternal life ... " The Apostle Paul reiterates this in Romans 10:9 when he writes, " That if you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" Belief (or faith) is an issue of the heart, only God knows your heart and sees your faith, thus He is faithful, by grace, to save you and you automaticaly enter into His eternal blessing.

   Due to a severe lack of understanding of what happens when you get born-again, people tend to get disillusioned, because they feel as though nothing has changed and start to doubt whether, in fact, they were/are truly saved. In a nutshell, this is what happens when you put your faith in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour: a)Your sins are forgiven, past, present and future tense b) You are redeemed from every curse that came with the fall of man ,when sin entered the world, with Adam. These include poverty, sickness, disease and fear (all having their root in sin) c) You have the power of God inside of you to change your circumstances and those of others (2Peter 1:3) d) You have inherited eternal life with the Father (John15) (this is a hugely broad topic which deserves deeper exposition, future posts will deal with what happens when you get saved).

   So, realising what you can tap into, once you are born-again, will go a long way in making a reality of what has happened to you in the spirit. Remember you are made up of spirit, soul and body. When you get saved it is your spirit that is renewed, your soul and body remain pretty much the same, initialy. Thus, in the parable of the sower (Matt 13:18), Jesus explains exactly what happens when people start to doubt, He says "When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away that what was sown in his heart" This makes it very clear as to why people sometimes doubt their salvation, satan steals the truth and replaces it with confusion. There is only one way to counter this: " ... know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32)

   What is the truth then? The truth is that "Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God ... if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us" (1John 4:7-11) "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God ... God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in Him" (1John 4:15-16)

Question: How do I know if I'm saved?
Answer: Love.

"The only thing that counts is faith, expressing itself through love" - Galatians 5:6

   If you love others the way God loves you, not because you have to, but because you want to, because you love them with His love. Because He is on the inside of you. Then there should be no doubt! (see 'Love, Life and Ministry' posts)

   Salvation is thus not a: fruit, works or performance based issue, it is a heart issue. A thankful (loving) heart will produce fruit and inevitably works (James 2:26), not the other way around. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God - no by works, so that no man can boast" (Eph 2:8-9)

All scripture quoted from NIV (1984) with emphasis added

It's the Goodness ...

Photo by Kirsti Pennels

"Or do you despise the the riches of His goodness, forbearance (tolerance), and longsuffering (patience), not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" - Romans 2:4 (emphasis added)

Some preach hell-fire and brimstone, others the wrath and the judgement of God and still other "preachers of the gospel" will hammer on what YOU need to do in order to inherit eternal life. The above mentioned scripture clearly indicates that it is the "goodness of God" that draws men unto Him.

If we are to continue as generations have done before us and try to scare people out of hell, instead of loving them into heaven, then we will have learnt nothing from their mistakes. Fear motivates to a certain extent, but as soon as the reason for the fear (hell) is forgotten, then there is no reason to have faith in a loving God, anymore. Love and acceptance are much stronger motivators: " There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment (torment)" (1 John 4:18 emphasis added)

In Psalm 103:5 the psalmist has his revelation of God's nature, "For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations" If our God declares Himself as being good, gracious, loving and faithful, why would we preach a gospel of condemnation that is contrary to His nature? I think the main problem is that not everyone, preachers included, see God as being all good. They have a warped view of His true nature, a nature that is revealed from the beginning through loving covenants, which culminated in Him sending His only Son to reconcile man to Him.

We can't afford to see God as the big-man-upstairs who is going to strike us down when we do something wrong. We owe it to ourselves and we owe it to the world to get a first hand revelation of who He is, by studying the Word and spending time in His presence. Then it will be the goodness of God that motivates us towards a victorious Christian life and our motivation for seeing the lost saved will take on a new dimension. Presenting a good and loving God to people will bring the world to it's knees, it will drive out all fear and it will bring hope to a generation holding on to the thinnest of threads.

Translations used: New King James and NIV (1984) with emphasis added

Fall Walk-a-Thon!

Our final Charis Bible College mission fundraiser for the year: Fall Walk-a-thon! Please read below and send me your prayer requests and donations (see donation button to the right).

Life Between the Lines

Life Between the Lines

Out of the corner of my eye I see a man sitting

From the edge of his beard hangs a morsel of something that was

His eyes seem to be focused on the book in his hands

It seems as old as him, but without the furrows of pain on its brow

It's pages lighten the countenace of its reader; as though to bring life

But as the light fades so does the hope it gives

Because letters are just letters, strung together to form logic

Words are just words, forged out of a neccessity to communicate

Pages are just pages that create a platform to express

But as the man turns the page, his face brightens again; hope renewed

The light shines brighter than before, darkness dispelled

Letters ar not just letters, words are not just words, pages are not what they seem

Behind the words there is hope and between the lines there is life

As the man continues to read, the light does not go out; it never will

"For your word has given me life" - Ps 119:50

09/03/2011

Love, Life and Ministry: A Love Confession

This is most probably the final installment in my Love, Life and Ministry series. Below is a compliation of my favourite love verses, from the bible. I have attempted to put them in a format that is easy to read and that has a logical flow. I hope you are blessed by this!

Photo by: Kirsti Pennels

A Love Confession:

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies (Psalm 36:5), your love is better than life (Psalm 63:3), your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth (Psalm 26:3). Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life (Psalm 23:6), because the LORD is good and his love endures forever (Psalm 100:5) and I trust in your unfailing love (Psalm 13:51). Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). It is by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:35). Likewise, greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). But, God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) So, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (Romans 8:35) For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:37-39) So, do everything in love (1 Corinthians 16:14) For Christ’s love compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14) and the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6), so whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:8). And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13) and God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (John 3:16)