More on religion or relationship

Did you ever baby-sit other peoples' kids? Maybe your neighbor's or your relatives' baby? You did everything you could to keep the baby warm and well fed, you sang for him or her, you told stories and you changed diapers. You did all you could to do a good job as a baby-sitter.
But then you got your own kid. A sweet, little baby with your nose and your spouse's eyes. You did the same thing to this little darling as you did to the other kids you used to baby-sit, but this time it was different. You would go to very great lengths to keep your baby warm, fed and satisfied; however, there was something more about this baby, he or she was yours. Your heart was fully with this baby, you would probably risk your own life, if necessary, to keep the baby safe and well.
I think this is a good picture of how our heavenly Father sees us; not as adherents who have the same mindset or opinion as He has, but as His children. We are God's children, and He is our Father. There's a relationship there, and this relationship led to the death of the Father's firstborn Son, Jesus Christ. The Father loved you and me so much that He sacrificed the very best and dearest He had, His Son.
Would a "buddah", an "allah", a "stone" or a "holy cow" do that for us? These are gods that religions believe in. And they would not die for us.
"The proof is in the pudding", is a good saying, also here. What's the proof that we're in a relationship rather than a religion? It's the result of what the deity has done that's the proof. Jesus died for us. And not only that, He rose again. Has any of the other "gods" done that? Can I talk to Muhammed today? No, but I can talk to Jesus, because He is alive and well, and He cares for me and loves me.
That's relationship. 

Religion or relationship?

Most people have some kind of idea about some kind of a god. And there are just as many "gods" as there are religions. I believe there's something in every man that longs for something or someone to believe in, something bigger than themselves.
My personal definition of religion, is man's craving for something or someone bigger than themselves, obtained by living according to a set of rules or laws that appease that something or someone.
To live according to a spesific religion's rules or laws, can be very hard. You have to perform, and if you don't "your" deity will be angry and punish you.
I will not go into detail about different religions, but if you who read this have a religion that requires you to perform to live up to your god's standards, you know how tiresome it is.
The headline for today's text is Religion or relationship?
There is ONE "religion" that is not a religion, but a relationship. It's name is Christianity.
In Christianity you don't have to perform to appease God, because someone else appeased Him about 2000 years ago; His name is Jesus. Jesus was God's Son, and was sent to die for your and my sins. And through Jesus' shed blood on Calvary, God is appeased. All you and I have to do is believe in Jesus and accept His sacrifice as if it was for me (which it was), and we have a relationship with God in heaven.
Jesus said it this way in the Bible: "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). Jesus is not only God's Son, but He is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE for EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES ON HIM.
And when you and I accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we're in a RELATIONSHIP with God, our heavenly Father.
Religion or relationship? I have chosen relationship - relationship with almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ.
I encourage you to do the same!
God bless you!

Word, words, words ...

Do you know how many words you speak during a normal day? Probably not. I don't either. But do you know what words you speak during a normal day? Maybe not.
The Bible has many words to say about our words. How about this; "Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few" (Eccl. 5:1). Let my words be few! Wow! That sounds difficult. If you're a talkative person, how can you let your words be few? The answer is; by letting the Holy Spirit gain more ground in you, by letting the Holy Spirit guide you and show you, not only when to speak, but also how and what to speak.
Let's look at two scriptures from the New Testament about words. Matthew 12:36 says "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken".
You and I are to give account for every careless word we have spoken. That shows me I really need the Holy Spirit to help and guide me through this word situation.
Let's look at Ephesians 4:29; " Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen".
Here we're given a guideline as to what to speak. We're to speak words that build others up, words that are beneficial to those who listen.
Sounds difficult? Yes, it is. Sounds too difficult? No; because when God tells us to do or not do something, His power and might goes with His command so we can do what He says we can do, and we can abstain from the things He says we should not do.
We can trust in God's promise that He'll give us power to "... do everything through him who gives me strength" (Philippians 4,13). Do everything, that includes "taming our tongue". He will give us power to do everything we need to follow His admonition. The question is if we're willing to receive His help.

Dare you confess God's promises to you?

The Bible is full of promises - God's promises to His children. If you're saved, or born again as we also say, you're God's child, and you're entitled to all of your Father's promises to you.
Wow!
Do you believe it?
"I know it's true, I know it's in the Bible, but I don't know if I really believe it. After all, how do you really know if God means what He says?"
If this is your answer, I have good news for you today. Let's see how a man after God's heart approached God and His promises.
In Psalm 55:16-17 David says; "As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice."
David did not waver, but was convinced that the Lord would save him. He knew that when he called upon God, God would save him.
How could David be so certain? Did he have other ways than we have to know God? Did he have a special "pair of binoculars" that he used to "see" into the spiritual world?
No, David was a human being just like you and me. However, he had learnt to excercise his trust in and reliance on God to the degree that he knew God. He didn't just know about God, but he knew Him. So when David called upon God, he knew that God would save him.
Do you have this same confidence in God's ability to fulfill His promises as David had? Dare you confess God's promises to you? Dare you say them out aloud?
Proverbs 18:21 says that "Death and life are in the power of the tongue ...". If you have a need in your life or there's something you want God to do for you, and you see a promise in God's Word about your situation, don't hesitate to proclaim the promise, say it out loud, let your voice be heard. Let life float from your tongue, and see God's promises come alive for you in your life.

More on the thorn

We cannot leave the subject of Paul's thorn in the flesh without a final summary and conclusion. I said earlier that many people consider Paul's thorn to be an illness, which I believe is not true. "Thorns" were used to describe God's enemies causing opposition and difficulties in the old testament, and there's no reason to believe that Paul ment otherwise.
Let's end this subject with a look at Psalm 103. Here David lists eight good things that the Lord bestowes upon His people. My argument is that if God on one hand sends His blessings in the form of these things, and on the other hand tells Paul that the opposite will not be taken away from him, then God is divided, and He is not. He is ONE, He has one opinion, and that is to do good to those who love Him. Example: God says in Psalm 103 that He heals all my diseases. If He heals all my diseases, He will not say to Paul that He wants him to be ill.
Let's look at the eight blessings Psalm 103 promises those who love the Lord;

1. He forgives all my sins
2. He heals all my diseases
3. He redeems my life from destruction
4. He crowns me with lovingkindness and tender mercies
5. He satisfies my mouth with good things so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's
6. He executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed
7. He makes known His way to me
8. He gives me mercy and grace in times of need

All these blessings are freely given us by God, and He doesn't withhold any good thing from them that love Him. So we can very confidently say that Paul's thorn was none of these things, and neither are your and my thorn neither of these.
Did you notice that in the above list of blessings from Psalm 103, we don't find persecution and affliction caused by our enemies? Jesus said that those who follow Him will experience persecution and affliction, and Paul says in 2 Cor. 4:17 that these light afflictions is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
Persecution and affliction caused by our enemies are a natural part of being a Christian. The more we want God to fill us with His glory and His presence, the more we will experience persecution and affliction. But we can trust God to keep us through these things, and make us grow through them.
I consider this my final word on Paul's thorn in the flesh. If you have any comments and/or questions, I will be glad to read them.

What's my thorn?

Yesterday I discussed what Paul's thorn might have been, and the conclusion was that Paul's thorn most likely was opposition in various forms from people who did not want him to preach the gospel.
The next obvious question is; What's MY thorn? What's YOUR thorn in the flesh? Or rather, do I have a thorn in my flesh, and what do I do about it?
Well, lets first see what Paul did with his thorn. It's obvious that he was afflicted, and wanted to get rid of his affliction, and it says in 2 Cor 12:8; "Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me". He asked the Lord to free him from "this thing" (NKJV). What was the Lord's response? "And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (v.9a). And Paul's response was: "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me (v.9b). When God did not remove this "thorn in his flesh", he most gladly endured it, and saw that WITH this thing Christ's power in him was greater than without it.
But there's one more verse here, let's read verse 10; "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (My emphasis).
Do we see a broken-down man with no strength? No, even though he faced infirmities, reporaches, needs, persecutions and distresses for Christ's sake, he was not a broken-down man. He was strong in the Lord. And that's the kind of strength the Lord wants us to have also. Not strength in our own might, but strength in Him. For God's strength to be great in us, we need to let go of our own strength, we need to be dead to our own selves, and alive to God.
What is my thorn? What is your thorn? I don't know what your thorn is, but I know that if you and I want to live 100 % for Christ and be all He has created us to be, we WILL meet opposition, we will encounter persecutions and be distressed and we might also experience infirmities of some kind. The clue is, however, to never see our "thorn" as a hindrance for our growth in Christ, but as a stepping stone for growth. Want more of God's strength in your life? His strength is made perfect in (your) weakness His strength is made perfect in (my) weakness. For Him to shine through you and me, we need to diminish, to tone down your own selves. Yes, we need to die to our own selves, and through our death, Christ will shine through. More of Him, less of me. That's the blessed life we want to live.

What's Paul's thorn?

Have you ever wondered what Paul's thorn was? I have heard many explanations and farfetched ideas about what it was. All of which could be true if we only use our human imagnation without searching the Word and asking the Holy Spirit to shed light on this topic.
Let's see what Paul says about this thorn in 2 Cor 12:7;
"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me."
Here Paul says five vital things that all must be taken into consideration when we ask ourselves what Paul's thorn was. The thorn was given

1. to prevent Paul from being conceited
2. Paul had received surpassingly great revelations
3. Paul was given a thorn in his flesh
4. this thorn in his flesh was a messenger of Satan
5. Satan's messenger's mission was to torment Paul

I have heard people say that all bad things that happen to Christians are thorns in their flesh. I absolutely agree that other Christians than Paul can have a thorn in their flesh, but not all adversities that happen to any Christian is of this character. Why? Because Paul received this thorn because of his surpassingly great revelations. Has every Christian received like revelations? I don't think so. Paul's revelations were of such a kind that they could make him conceited, or puffed up, but this thorn kept him humble.
I have also heard people vehemently claim that Paul's thorn was a sickness, and not any sickness, but an eye sickness. They claim that his expression in Gal.6:11; "See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!" indicate that he was turning blind and had bad eyesight. That's just as incorrect as if you thought I was going blind because I have written the above scripture reference in bold letters. I did it because I want it to stand out. It's important.
If Paul's thorn was not a sickness, what was it?
Paul answers that question very plainly and straight forward when he says that it is a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
A messenger of Satan with power to torment. What's that?
When I want to find out what a word or a statement means, I look other places in the Bible to find similar expressions, and to see the connection they're in. And the expression "thorn" is used several places in the old testament. Here are a few examples;
"But evil men are all to be cast aside like thorns, which are not gathered with the hand" (2 Sam.23:6)
"Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be [thorns] in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you" (Judges 2:3)
 "But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live" (Numbers 33:55)
"Then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you" (Joshua 23:13).
In all the above scriptures, thorns are referred to as "evil men", "enemies", "evil nations", and "inhabitants". Not once is thorns referred to as sickness and disease. And when we know all that Paul went through because of evil men that did not want him to proclaim God's kingdom and freedom in Christ, we see very clearly what he means with a thorn in the flesh; people coming against him, and he makes a list of his hardships in 2 Cor 11:23-28;
"I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches".
If you and I want to move forward and grow in Christ, it's important that we let go of traditions and attitudes that do not line up with God's Word.
"For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, [as] the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do" (Mark 7:8)
"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (Col 2:8).
Go for God's umcompromised Word, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what's the meaning behind verses and scriptures you don't understand, meditate and reflect on the Word, and you will grow and mature in your Christian walk.

There is more to life than reaches the eye

"Just as Heaven and Hell are real places, Satan, demons, and God’s angels also exist. Therefore, it is time that we recognize these facts and begin to gird ourselves up with the armor and weapons that we receive from the Word of God so that we can effectively fight— and win— the battle of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10)."
The quote is from Creflo Dollar on Facebook a few days ago. And it is so true. There's more to life than we can see. What we see, is just the result of what we don't see. Feeling "down"? It's not just a feeling, it's the result of influence by evil spirits.
"You're taking it too far," may be your response.
No, I'm not taking it too far, I am just stating a fact. Good and evil, joy and pain, life and death are not "accidents" that just happen. The situation you and I are in today, is the result of how much spiritual influence we've allowed to govern our lives. If we let Jesus in and let Him be our Lord and Savior, we have access to the biggest arsenal of "weapons" there is - spiritual weapons that we need to win the battle of the spiritual warfare we all are in.
If we've just let things happen without using our spiritual authority in Jesus' name, we are an easy prey for our enemy, the devil.
What we see with our natural eyes, is just a small part of the whole picture. "Behind the screen" so to speak, is where the battle is either won or lost.
Get in on the winning team today. Jesus is our victor, and in Him we are victorious.
Join the winning team!