David the Prophet

I have written about King David before, but this article is more about David the prophet.  They are one and the same, but the perspective is different. 

For purposes here, we will be looking at the passage in Acts 2 where Peter stands up along with the rest of the apostles and makes a speech.  He is establishing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that He rose from the dead.  He quotes David where David is recorded in Psalms 16 prophesying about the coming Christ.  Realize that when David spoke about Jesus, he was doing so many centuries before Jesus would be born.  Here are some of Peter's comments quoting David:

"Because You will not leave my soul in Hades,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of joy in Your presence."

Without explanation, this writing would be difficult to understand.  But Peter in his speech explains that David is not speaking of himself...but of the Christ to come.  Here is Peter's explanation:

"Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.  This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses."

David testified of Jesus, perhaps not even knowing what he was saying.  He made it clear that the Christ would not see corruption, decay, from the death process.  Peter in his speech is pointing out that David died and his grave was still in existence (still is today).  But Jesus has no grave because He rose from the dead and proved that He had the power over death.  And this is important to us, of course, because by proving that He could overcome death, He can carry us beyond the grave....to a heavenly reward.  How great that is!  Praise God!

Thanks for reading.  Praise God for His wonderful grace.

Authority

Authority is a subject that I do not like....on many levels.  It is like "rules."  Who wants rules, or restrictions, or authority?  But a realistic look at the reasons for all of this brings us to the realization that these are important....and necessary.  Our society would not work, and we personally could not properly function without rules and authority.  So let's take a brief look at what the Bible is teaching us about the subject.

Jesus speaks to us about this.  I think one of the best passages to see Jesus as our authority is at the end of Matthew.  In talking about the apostles, "Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on the earth has been given to Me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.' "  Notice that All Authority in heaven and earth was given to Jesus.  That is truly a broad statement, but certainly a true one.

Jesus did not soften His words when He spoke of His role.  In John 14:6, He told them, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me."  This powerful statement did not leave any room for exceptions or loopholes.  Jesus meant what He said.  He is the only way.

These statements are quite direct and final.  There is no way to find salvation...heaven...without doing so through Jesus.  Those who believe that He was a good man, maybe a prophet, but not the Son of God, not God Himself, will not find salvation.

Jesus is the authority.  And we need an authority to give us guidance and direction and purpose and ultimately, eternal life.  Jesus is the Way.  He is the truth.  And for sure He is life, real life, eternal life.  Let us follow Him, serve Him, love Him.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!

Daniel

I could not do a complete job of discussing the prophet Daniel in this simple blog, but some discussion seems useful.  The book of Daniel in the Old Testament is fascinating and easy reading and is one of those fun books to just read through, especially the first 6 chapters. 

The person Daniel was a real person, as are others in the Bible.  And he wasn't just real, he was really great, one of the really great men in all of the Bible.  What made him great was his faith.  He decided early in his life that he was going to serve God.  Whatever seemed right, whatever he felt God would want him to do, he was going to do it.  If it meant going up against the government or rejecting a king's order or getting himself thrown in jail, he was willing to serve God first.  Daniel gives us an example of putting faith in God first.

Daniel is placed in a position of interpreting king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon's dream.  He explains his situation to the king: "But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart."  He gives the credit to God for his abilities.

And Nebuchadnezzar recognized the greatness of God, though it isn't likely that he ever fully repented of his evil ways.  Notice this: "This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen.  Now you, Belteshazzar (Daniel), declare its interpretation, since all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for the Spirit of the Holy God is in you." (Daniel 4:18)

In Chapter 6 we find the story of Daniel being thrown into the lion's den because of his determined faith in God.  Verse 23 shows us the result of a night with the lions: "So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God."

Life continues to work out for Daniel and his three friends in this story because of the great faith in God.  And the same will work for us if we dedicate ourselves to a complete trust in Him.  What a great example Daniel is to each of us. 

Have a great week...and keep the faith! 

Happy Easter

I truly wish you a Happy Easter and hope it is a good day.  And I hope that you took the opportunity to worship your God today.  He wants to be worshiped.  It is likely that some readers will not appreciate my approach to a blog on Easter, however.  I try to make all of my thoughts totally Biblical, as will be the case here.  But some of these comments run counter to traditional Christian thinking about "Christian holidays."

There is no reference to Easter in the Bible.  That is the truth.  If you look in the old King James Bible you will find the word used once, but actually referring to Passover, the Jewish feast.  The celebration of Easter is a man made idea, one that sounds like a good idea, but still is from man not God. 

So, what is in the bible about this subject?  For sure there is plenty of reference to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  These events are recorded in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the first four books of the New Testament.  And the significance of these events cannot be overstated.  No other events have changed the world like the events of these few days.  But how are we to celebrate this is the question.

The answer comes from Jesus, Himself.  He got with his apostles right before His death and told them what He wanted from His followers in the future.  He told them He would be leaving them, that His time on earth was coming to an end.  Then, "After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, 'Take this and divide it among you.  For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.'  And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.'  In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.' "

This account, repeated in Matthew, Mark and Luke shows what Jesus was wanting in the way of remembrance.  And how often should it be remembered?  We see in the book of Acts that the Christians would gather together weekly to observe this remembrance, this communion, this partaking of the Lord's supper.

So let's not just remember the death and resurrection of our Lord just once a year.  It is important...and important enough to be remembered weekly.

Thanks for reading.  Feel the love!

Thankful

I am going to start here with the worst expression in the English language today...and with the best.  The worst expression is "Oh my God."  This is so common, yet so demeaning to our God.  It is using the name of God in a useless, meaningless way.  It is taking the name of God in vain, and He doesn't like that.  Don't do it!

The best expression, I think, is "Thank you, Lord."  I say this all of the time, but no human ever hears it.  There are so many times in every day that we all have to thankful to our Lord.  When I had a car wreck about a year and a half ago, a semi swerved into me on the interstate, I hit it with a smash and I didn't get a scratch.  I was thankful, and I continue to be thankful.  And while life can be hard many times, we all have lots of good reasons to be thankful...every day.

We know that life is short.  James 4 says, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow I will go to this or that city, live, do business and make a profit' when you don't even know what will happen tomorrow!  What is your life?  It is a vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills I will live and do this or that.' "

There are two thoughts here:  One is that we need to put our trust in the Lord.  He sometimes steps into our lives.  We don't know when or why always...but we know that He does.  The second thought is that our lives are short and we need to use our time and resources wisely. 

But whether God steps into our lives here on earth, one thing that we know is that He does save us, all of us who follow Him, eternally.  He offers us salvation...forever....and that means everything.  This life can bring unbelievable pain and heartache; but He offers us freedom from all of that forever! 

So we can be thankful.....everyday....to our Lord.  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, the life."  He is the way, the only way.  He tells us the truth.  And most importantly, He gives us LIFE, real life, forever life.

Trust in the Lord!   Thanks, for reading.  Have a really great..and thankful...week.

Self Control

There are so many things that beset us, things that tempt us, try us, entrap us.  The devil is real and out to get us....and he does sometimes.  Sometimes he wins.....and we let him do it....freely.  It is interesting that we all have different challenges in our lives.  We know that what tempts one person may not tempt us at all.  And sometimes we marvel that another person could be so weak in an area of their lives, knowing that what is so difficult for them to avoid doesn't look attractive to us at all.  But that is life.

The subject of self control is much broader than that.  It seems to extend across all aspects of our lives, all temptations.  Whatever tempts us, each of us, has one solution:  self control.  In all of the Bible, the one thing that is taught for us to control is Self.  We cannot control so many things in our lives.  Think about that.......politics, weather, traffic, other people's actions, even health sometimes.  Many things are out of our control.  But Self....now there is our challenge.

Peter in listing the things that we are to add to our faith, includes self control.  It is a critical ingredient to our service to God.  (2Peter 1:6) "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Notice Paul's teaching in Acts 24:24, "Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess.  He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus.  As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, "That's enough for now...."  Felix was a man whose life was totally out of control, at least in the sense of righteousness.  But we also know that, while me may not be a Felix, we have our need for self control.

I wish for you all the best of God's blessings in developing more and more of the control of self...and the service to our Lord.

The teachings are many for our practice of self control.  But we know that it is easier said than done in controlling ourselves.  Let us each work on us; let me work on Me.  Surely I need it. 

Sons of Abraham

We are sons of Abraham.  That may seem a bit strange since Abraham lived several thousand years ago.  But in fact, Abraham is the father of the Jewish nation through his son Isaac and on down through the generations.  And Abraham is the father of the Arab world, the Muslims, through the son Ishmael of Abraham.  And since Jesus is a distant relative of Abraham...in an earthly sense, we too are children, descendants of Abraham...in a spiritual sense.

We see the latter connection, the Christian connection, by going back to Genesis 12 and seeing the promise of God to Abraham there.  Several promises were made to Abraham by God in this passage.  But the one of great significance to us says, "And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 

Galatians 3 makes the connection clear between Abraham and the Christian.  It is here in this Galatians passage that this Jesus, a descendant in an earthly sense, is the seed of Abraham.  Note verse 16: "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made.  He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 'And to your Seed,' who is Christ."  And verse 29 sums it all up:  "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

We then, as Christians, are heirs of Abraham; not in a physical sense or any bloodline.  But we are heirs in a spiritual sense...through the gift of Jesus Christ..and heirs "according to promise,"  the promise given to Abraham in Genesis 12.

Somehow this seems a bit complicated; but it is wonderful thing to be an heir to Christ and to the promise of Abraham.  Only a Christian, a true follower of Jesus has this comfort.  Yes!

Thanks for reading.....and have a great week!