1 Kings 4:29-33 Remember when the Lord asks Solomon what he'd like, and God blessed King Solomon with wisdom and discernment in judging God's people? Well, I read this in scripture: "29: And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. 30: And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt." So, God gave willingly wisdom to Solomon, and the wisdom of foreign lands, though he would be a King of Israel. It says in James 1:5-6a, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." And adds in the next verse, "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering..." (and then explains that you'll receive nothing when you ask without faith). Continuing in 1 Kings 4... "31: For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan and Exrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about. 32: And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five." Man, that's a lot! "33: And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes."
This brings me to why I make this: I'm studying all of that in school! I'm going to USF as a biomedical science major, and in Bio II, Biodiversity, I've had to study all of these organisms from the alternating reproductive cycles of plants seedless and nonseedless, to the symmetries and distinguishing features of creatures from jellyfish to reptillians to caecillians, and organisms I didn't know about sometimes (sea daisys and what-not). And I'm finding that tonight, my mind knows that it's right to do homework and to do my schoolwork, but my spirit doesn't believe that it's right. I know it's the will of God...in my mind. But I don't believe it. It's strange. So I'm going to scripture to find biblical reasons for doing my homework, searching, to know that it's the will of God for me to study this and believe it.
And an example that an elder at my church gave to me once: Daniel 1:17 "17: As for these children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams." This verse is at the beginning of Daniel; now, here's what the Lord says to Daniel in a vision, later-on... Daniel 10:12 "12: Then he said to me, 'Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words." The Lord listened to Daniel asking for understanding, and had given him wisdom...
I saw on Brandon Stagg's website's article, "Biblical reasons to home school," Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." and, Psalms 119:97-104.
The Nature of Sin Sin! From your fruitful womb what myriads of ills proceed! What countless hosts of evils are the fruits of sin! How many are the sins themselves! Sins of thought — rebellious thoughts, proud thoughts, blasphemous thoughts, atheistic thoughts, covetous thoughts, lustful thoughts, impatient thoughts, cruel thoughts, false thoughts, thoughts of ill memory, and dreams of an unholy future; what swarms are there! However, the omission of thoughts which should have been, such as thoughts of repentance, gratitude, reverence, faith, and the like, these are equally numerous: with the double list my roll is written within and without with a hideous catalogue. As the gnats which swarm the air at eventide, so numerous are the transgressions of the mind. <from the book Spurgeon Gold>
It is very simple, but it's a clear, very well-placed message!
jimmy_tst Having viewed myself as a free thinker until I was 29 years old before I accepted Christ almost four years ago, I think I can share some observations...
1. Christianity is about God accepting us unconditionally whereas religion is about man trying to make himself acceptable by his good works.
2. Christianity is Christ-centred, whereas religion is man-centred.
3. Christianity glorifies Jesus as the one true God, giving Him all the praise and honour, whereas religion shines the spotlight on man himself - his efforts, intelligence, etc.
4. Christianity is concerned with heart transformation - transforming life from the inside, whereas religion is preoccupied with behaviour modification.
5. In Christianity, we obey because we want to, whereas in religion, people obey because they have to.
In short, Christianity is a love relationship between us and the living God.
To those who are lost, come to Jesus, and He will set you free from heavy burdens, oppression and bondages, and you will find rest for your souls.
Judas Was a Preacher Judas was a preacher; nay, he was a foremost preacher, “he obtained part of this ministry,” said the Apostle Peter. He was not simply one of the seventy; he had been selected by the Lord himself as one of the twelve, an honorable member of the college of the apostles. Doubtless he had preached the gospel so that many had been gladdened by his voice, and miraculous powers had been vouchsafed to him, so that at his word the sick had been healed, deaf ears had been opened; and the blind had been made to see; nay, there is no doubt that he who could not keep the devil out of himself, had cast devils out of others. Yet how are you fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! He that was as a prophet in the midst of the people, and spake with the tongue of the learned, whose word and wonders proved that he had been with Jesus and had learned of him — he betrays his Master. Understand, my brethren, that no gifts can ensure grace, and that no position of honor or usefulness in the Church will necessarily prove our being true to our Lord and Master. Doubtless there are bishops in Hell, and crowds of those who once occupied the pulpit are now condemned for ever to bewail their hypocrisy. You that are Church-officers, do not conclude that because you enjoy the confidence of the Church, that therefore of an absolute certainty the grace of God is in you. Perhaps it is the most dangerous of all positions for a man to become well known and much respected by the religious world, and yet to be rotten at the core. To be where others can observe our faults is a healthy thing though painful; but to live with beloved friends who would not believe it possible for us to do wrong, and who if they saw us err would make excuses for us — this is to be where it is next to impossible for us ever to be aroused if our hearts be not right with God. To have a fair reputation and a false heart is to stand upon the brink of Hell.
It describes how this agreement carefully avoids defining what they agreed upon, and that it was a bowing down of the Lutheran church of today to the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification as a valid interpretation of the doctrine. The true doctrine screams of faith without works being what is used in the doctrine of Justification, but Roman Catholicism mixes Justification with their definition of Sanctification, saying that works is the bible's acceptable means of justification, that one can merit God's grace through good works and teach that 'something other than trust in Christ' is necessary for salvation through His grace. The agreement says that we're saved by both faith and works, which is just not found in the Holy Bible.
No one will stand before God and say that they got there on their own merit. The bible speaks radically against this misinterpretation of the facts: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast, being justified by faith alone, not by the deeds of the law, and His grace is given to us through that faith, which is not of ourselves. This is (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:28).
If Roman Catholicism believed the biblical, historical, classical definition of the Justification rather than its own definition it would immediately have an impact on its view of indulgences, prayer to saints, prayer to Mary, and other extra-biblical tradi tions (extra-biblical means it's not in the bible).
Lets study doctrine - the bible says, to 'exercise ourselves unto godliness' (1 Tim. 4:7), and that doctrine is according to godliness (1 Tim 6:3). This same area of scripture exhorts us the present church following Jesus long after it was written (as God designed it) to give attention to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine (1 Tim 4:7). Adding, "Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." (1 Tim 4:15)
If you read any post in my blog before a certain date in 2005, you'll read all sorts of false doctrines and false teachings from spurious sources - some of them televangelists, some of them gnostic teachings I was reading. This isn't giving attention to the doctrine...Christ's doctrine. It says in the Word, Acts 2:42 that the apostolic, first-generation of the church continued daily in fellowship and the apostle's doctrine, which was taught to the apostles by Jesus. We are to continue even today in the apostle's doctrine, as revealed in scripture. Anything else is a study on heterodoxy, not on orthodoxy, what is orthodox. On false doctrine, not what Christ's taught. So, this area of scripture the Lord used recently to put an urgency in my spirit. To 'exercise' myself to Godliness - to give attention to reading, exhortation, and to doctrine. That word exercise means somewhat to train. It says that bodily exercise profits little but exercise unto Godliness is profitable here and in the world to come. I started bodily exercising, and now I'm going to give attention to that godliness the scriptures so willingly presents.
I've heard things tonight... that in the scriptures, it bears the very image of Christ. Very interesting, but if I don't judge these things on what the bible presents, then I'm no good. Don't listen to me - I'm full of false doctrine, or will soon be full of it. I'm unstable, untaught, in the Word of truth, and deserve no serious attention. But if the Word of God says it, and it's the clear, consistent teaching of scripture, then it's the Lord speaking through me a meer man, and it's to be listened to, because the Lord Jesus Christ said and taught it and backs it up by honoring His Word even today.
So lets train. Spiritual Sweat. I remember that on this blog, I once posted a yearly bible outline to read the bible in a year. And then never followed it myself. Rediculous. Hypocrisy. That will get me in a lot of trouble when I give my account before the throne of Jesus. No - we must study doctrine, according to godliness. We must be practicing what we're studying!
If we could only say and do what we were practicing out of scripture, in the Word of God, out of Jesus's mouth, and what Jesus did... how would be? I myself would be able to say very little, and to do very little. We need to study, because how do we know that it's acceptable to God or not? The bible never institutes the office of a Reverend, yet we have thousands of them today - it calls them Elders, in 1 Tim. 5, that I learned in church last Sunday. If we could only do and say what we were practicing from the bible... So lets go for this, to give attention to proving what we are doing now, at least, as biblically what the Lord wants us to do. For example, Daniel 1 - the Lord will give us knowledge and wisdom in school in studying in order to be a better witness. This is clear and consistent because Moses was trained in all the wisdoms of Egypt before he separated himself from Pharoah's daughter. Paul's wisdom as a Master Builder in Christ, as he put it, was to relate - to become weak or to become like one without the law in order that at least some might be saved through his suffering; so it's okay to go to school and to learn and to study hard. That's just an example. Now, where in scripture does it say to go to church? Hebrews 10:25. Anywhere else? I mean, lets find biblical reasons for what we believe, and why we believe it! Lets separate ourselves from the world by practicing godliness... By holding that the Word of God is true... By living to do every thing to the glory of God, blessed forever amen.
That's what the law does - it stops the mouths of sinners, from justifying themselves. Well, through grace, lets open our mouths! We've been given this grace by God! Lets walk, fully pleasing Him in conscience and word and deed. Loving on Him. All we have to do here is to love Him with everything that He's given us to be, and as Christians! We're so afraid of legalism. And boy, no one is more afraid than I am - I was a legal eagle - I didn't eat certain meats, I kept the Sabbath holy, and though it was a sin to do otherwise - legalism. But God says in His Word, that He's prepared for us good works, in our sanctification (we've been saved, so lets do x to glorify the Lord that saved us out of gratitude). Not out of compunction, but to press towards the mark of the high calling of God - because we love Him, because He loved us and first gave Himself for us! Lets not be afraid of good works - knowing that we're not saved by those works, and VERY IMPORTANT - that we're already fully pleasing to God through faith in His Son without the works, and we already have His full attention, but out of sacrifice to the Lord for being so good, do it because we want to, because we love Him... Make sense?
I hope that I wont read what I wrote in 10 months... and just cringe on how far off I was... -_- Arrr... Well.
Young guys listen to me. There is no such thing as biblical dating. If you're dating, I don't care who you're dating, you're out of God's will. If you're a young man and you're dating, you're out of God's will. Period. You can come talk to me about it later, you can be mad if you want. But that's just the truth. There's no such thing as recreational dating. There is biblical courtship, there is no recreational dating. Number 1.
Number 2, guys ask me, 'When can I start thinking about someone of the opposite sex?' Well you can start thinking whenever the thought comes to you, the question is when you can start acting... When then can we start even courtship? I said, first of all, the only time you ever think about being with a girl is because you feel like the Lord is leading you into marriage with that girl.
Number 1, Recreational dating is unbiblical... Another thing. This is when you can first begin to initiate the dealings that lead to a relationship. This is when you can begin: When as a young man you can biblically lead a girl as a spiritual leader. Until that moment, you cannot be with anyone of the opposite sex.
Number 2. Emotionally you can care for her - that means you're willing to make a life-long commitment and not test the waters with any other person. Financially you can care for her: if dad's still paying the insurance on your car, forget about it.... And physically protect her - that doesn't mean you can whoop every guy in the county, but it does mean you will be whooped by every guy in the county before you allow anyone to pass, that you have enough moral fortitude and courage to draw a line in the sand and say, 'Over my cold, dead, blue, deformed body will you do that.'
...I love hunting and...I have some Wikki(sp?) Eskimo broad-heads at home. They're very, very sharp, they're two-bladed, so they have to be very, very sharp. And I have a little wrench that I use to put those broad-heads onto the arrow shaft, because you don't even want to put your hand on the side of them because if you slip, they'll slice your finger off. Now, I have a 3 year old boy and I built a hickory bow for him. He's got a little arrow that he shoots and it has a blunt, wooden tip on the end of it - wont penetrate much. Except his little brother's eye, but... Sometimes I'll be those arrow-heads off and on and my little boy Ian will come up there and he'll want to touch the arrows, and I'll say, No son, you can't. These arrows that your dad can handle - they'll kill you. Now one day, son, you'll be man enough to handle these arrows, and you can hunt like a big boy. You can hunt like a man. But you've got a lot of growing before you can do that. One of the greatest problems, young men, that we have today, is that a lot of young men are wanting to play with big boy toys. And yet they're still little boys. You see, we don't want to pay the price of becoming a man in order to do men things. The bible says, Become a man, and God will lead you into the ways of a man.
[Read Romans 8:28,29] (29:07) "The sovereignty of God is an essential doctrine for every aspect of our lives. If I do not believe in the sovereignty of God, I cannot have a strong marriage. Now, I want us to look at some things - What is the purpose, sir, of your marriage? And if you can learn this, it will help you. It will give you contentment like you've never had it before. Because I want to tell you, much of what we call Christian teaching on marriage is wrong. It tells you that the goal of marriage is heaven on earth. The goal of marriage is this marital bless, this joy, this little piece of heaven. I'm here to tell you that is not true at all. Some of you are very discouraged in your marriage and the reason why is you've been told what the goal of marriage is, and they told you wrong, and when you didn't reach that goal, you think something's wrong with your marriage. 'Well, I'm supposed to have this marital bliss. My home's supposed to be like a little piece of heaven. It's not. Did I marry the wrong woman? Should I get out of this? What should I do?' They told you the wrong purpose for marriage. Here's what the Bible says is the purpose of marriage. Verse 29, 'For those who He foreknew, He also predestined. To be conformed to the image of His Son.' The number one purpose of marriage is that through marriage, you might become conformed to the image of God's Son with regard to His character. Put it this way - that you might learn to love like Jesus loved. And how did Jesus love? Jesus loved the loveless. So the purpose of your marriage, the sovereign purpose of God, is to the use that woman to do one thing - conform you to the image of God. That's it. Now, how does that work itself out? Well, first of all, lets look at the basis of most people's idea of marriage. They don't see it as a calling, but as the fulfillment of a desire. A young man comes to me, and he comes in the office, 'Brother Paul, I wanna marry this girl' And I say, why. And they say, 'Well, you know, she's just beautiful and uh, we can just talk, and I love her personality, and... we really get along together and... and just everthing, I mean, I just feel so great when I'm with her and...' And I stop him and I say, 'Let me just see if I understand what you're trying to tell me. You want to marry this woman because she fulfills all your selfish, self-centered desires? Is that what you're trying to tell me?' He says, 'No! That's not what I mean' I said, 'That's exactly what you said, young man. You want to marry her because she's beautiful. What happenes when she's not beautiful anymore, and what happens when someone more beautiful comes along - and she will? You want to be with her because you can talk. What happens when you can't talk to her, and what happens when you can talk to your secretary a lot better than you can your wife? You want to be with her because she meets all your need. What happens when your whole life is controlled by the fact that she has needs? How quick are you going to get out, boy?' You see why marriages go wrong? You get into them for all the wrong reasons."
(33:25) "I do love her [, my wife], but that's not the basis of my marriage. The basis of my marriage is the same basis as my call to ministry. It is a sovereign, irrevocable calling of God. And it is this: God has called Paul Washer to lay down his life, dreams, hopes, desires, and everything he ever wanted. God has called Paul Washer to lay down his life for a girl... that's my wife. That's what my whole marriage is about - that's it. So it has absolutely nothing to do WITH ME! It has nothing to do with my needs, nothing to do with my desires, nothing to do with how happy I am, nothing to do with any of that. It has to do with this: God has given me a divine decree: He has spoken forth a command - I am to lay down my life - die, for the benefit of that daughter. That's it. 'Well, what about me?' That's that little adolescent boy talking..."
"This is about following Jesus Christ to the cross and dying to self. To the benefit of our wifes. Period. If she's beautiful, wonderful. If she's not, doesn't matter. If she's easy to get along with, wonderful. If she's not, doesn't matter. I'm not going anywhere - why? Because I'm under orders by the God whom I fear..."
"Now, how does God use marriage to conform us to the image of His Son? Now listen to me - we have to be very careful with our words here - but it's nonetheless true. God says He will not allow me to be tempted beyond what I can bear. That's what the bible says. God has given me a wife who is strong in all the areas where she must be strong in order for me not to be tempted beyond what I can bear. God has orchestrated those strengths in her. Now, God has orchestrated the weaknesses in my life. He has sovereignly worked and given me a woman that is weak in all the areas where I most do not want her to be weak. Why? To drive me absolutely out of my cotten-picking mind. No, why has He done that? Because He wants to conform me to the image of Christ! And what does that mean? The very things you sing most about and appreciate most about Jesus Christ are the very things you don't want in your life! What is the main thing? Unconditional Love... See, you're in a marriage and you see these weaknesses in your wife and because of those weaknesses, you think that you're locked into a dead-end marriage - It has no purpose, there's no reason, you just lost out, you made the wrong choice, all these other things... Now, if you'll believe God, those weaknesses can cause your life to be filled with more purpose than you ever imagined! She's weak in an area - she's a certain way in an area that you wish she was totally different and it actually not only bothers you, it hurts you. But now you know something! God has orchestrated that, giving you such a woman, so that you will learn to love even though she doesn't meet even the most important conditions that you have! That's what God desires... That's what He desires. And you will find joy and rest in laying down and destroying those silly humanistic speculations, following the Word of God. The sovereignty of God - there's not a maverick molecule in the universe."
"...Why? Because that's the very thing that an absolutely sovereign God who loves me more than it can be defined knows that I need to make me like His Son, so that I might bear an extra weight of glory. Why do you have so many? Some of you are like me - you're in your 40s, 50s, late 30s... You've just come to realize that there's a whole lot of hopes and dreams out there - desires and everything that you had for your life that aren't going to be fulfilled. It's driving you mad - you'll probably end up doing something stupid like committing adultery or getting debt. And you don't understand that all those things are created by God, not by the devil. So that you'll stop wanting all those things are turn to Him, and want Him, and be full! And be full. The sovereignty of God..."
I was at a bible study recently, and I was very convicted but this word: imaginations of the mind based on insecurities. I find that it's nothing more than covetousness.
Let me give an example. For years as a student riding the bus in middle and high school, I used to imagine myself riding on a motorcycle out the window, on top of the power lines. Or one day bringing my shinai or a katana to school and having people jump out and attack me so I can demonstrate sword-skill (one day, I actually did bring a real dagger from my collection to middle school in my belt as a result on Halloween, uncaught). I used to imagine I had powers to levitate objects and pick people up with my mind and fling them across the room and make them hit the wall. Or a twin coming to school with me one day and having the women flaunt themselves at him. These are the most embarrassing that I can remember. And I should feel embarrassed. It's nothing more than covetousness - mental idolatry out of my own heart's lusts and pride. Carnal, evil desires. For attention, for whatever else.
"(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)" "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;" "And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." 2 Corinthians 10:4-6.
We're to cast down those vain imaginations and thoughts - that stem out of our own insecurities.. They're not of the Spirit of God. We're to renew our minds in the Word, to bring every thought captive to obedience to Christ (Romans 12:2). Like idolatry - so many times I've found my own mind running away with the world - these ideas I know now are so strange, that I've picked up from watching The Matrix, playing video games, Animes like Akira... Where they'll enrapture and engross your mind into this little world for so long...taking you away into this God-less world, filling you with so many ideas.
I've stopped watching television. I haven't sat down to watch a TV show in almost 2 years, I think. I don't even watch the News anymore! Like, first I just stopped because I couldn't stand watching dirty commercials, and advertising. And raunchy women show their nothings, only things I should see on my wife, and I don't have one yet. And I stopped watching because every show would have some woman's flappy body parts EVERYwhere. I was having these night-dreams. I took the TV out and put it in the garage. And eventually threw it away.
Now, my older sister has her TV in my room, and she watches it, but I can't even stand the sound of it. I can't dare watch it now, it's like watching pornography - disgusting images, all the time, pumping ungodly thinking into my brain that I'd just washed out. No wonder so many of us men of faith are getting divorces - we're called to renew our minds in the Word, and we're soiling them with so much TV! We need to come out of the world. "The world has a lot of stuff wrong with it. Everything," observed my little sister, Marley, who Jesus Christ has saved at age 13.
Do you love the Lord? Do you love Him enough to give Him not just your heart and your spirit, but your MIND TOO? I genuinely don't want to sin against Him because of the work He's done on my heart when He saved me, salvation. Are we seeking after purity, thirsting for righteousness, and practicing Godliness?
I read in 2Peter 1, "...giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness love... Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, you shall never fall:"
That's just Verses 5-8. Go and read the whole chapter! You'll find, if you're anything like I am, your mind needs much more renewing than you'd thought. I need the Lord to remove 19-20 years of television and worldly thinking.
