Only One Gospel

Galatians 1:6-10 - I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. 

Jesus only preached the truth and as I've said many times it was not always an easy word. Many turned from this Man who could do miracles. Once the miracles were accomplished and His difficult words spoken, some no longer wanted to listen. They only wanted the physical things, not the spiritual.

Jesus offered eternal life; they wanted what they could see now. They listened to the Pharisees who grumbled, complained and went against He who stood for truth and righteousness.

If we are to emulate Jesus we must also speak the truth, as hard as it is. Jesus did not come to sugar coat His Gospel. He came to show us right from wrong, heaven from hell, obedience over sacrifice. He wanted relationship over religion. He came to show how the laws they tried to live by (religion) would never earn their way to heaven, but turning to Him and believing in Him (relationship) would.

Do I seek to please man or God? I know there are times I fail but I want only to please God. I want to serve Him, not man. Does what I do please Him or man? It can please man if it comes from the heart of God.

We must be discerning in who or what we listen to. The History Channel, Discovery Channel or Hollywood movies are not always the place to understand God. The Bible is. If what anyone says does not line up with what the Word says, it's suspect.

1Timothy 6:3-5 - If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.

Religion or Relationship?

Job 36:22 - "Behold, God is exalted by His power; who teaches like Him?"

Continuing in the Book of Job, his three friends having spoken wise yet accusatory words to him, Elihu speaks the words above. They are true. But job already knows this. It's almost as if these guys are trying to show how smart they are. Attached to this scripture was a devotion of sorts from Oswald Chambers, a Baptist evangelist and teacher. His writings are widely acclaimed. His wisdom quite keen. I didn't want to do anything to add to his words which so aptly speak for themselves:

The Essence of Christianity - There is always a tendency to produce an absolute authority; we accept the authority of the church, or of the Bible, or of a creed, and often refuse to do anymore thinking on the matter; and in so doing we ignore the essential nature of Christianity which is based on a personal relationship to Jesus Christ, and works on the basis of our responsibility. On the ground of the Redemption I am saved and God puts His Holy Spirit into me; then He expects me to react on the basis of that relationship. I can evade it by dumping my responsibility onto a church, or a book or a creed, forgetting what Jesus said: "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life." The only way to understand the Scriptures is not to accept them blindly, but to read them in the light of a personal relationship to Jesus Christ…. A scientist can explain the universe in which commonsense people live, but the scientific explanation is not first; life is first. The same with theology; theology is the systematizing of the intellectual expression of life from God; it is a mighty thing, but it is second, not first. Quoted from: Baffled to Fight Better. 

Just as I have pointed out repeatedly. It's not about our religion, our church or the beliefs of that church or the pastor or priest, or any other office within the church. It's about a relationship with Jesus Christ. All we are called to do is receive Christ. We cannot work for His forgiveness for our sins but we must first admit we are sin-filled and in need of redemption. And Jesus...Jesus...is the only way toward that redemption. HIS work on the cross was accomplished 2,000 years ago. He died for you and me.

Our church, our clergyman, the beliefs of or in them are not the starting point. It starts with Jesus. Oh, to hear about Him one might have to step inside a church (that preaches the absolute truth). But coming to Christ can be done by responding to a call within your spirit, a song whose lyrics so speak to your spirit, a message preached on the radio or a person' swords spoken on a street corner (or
blog).

When we come to Christ He gives us the desire and ability to know Him more when we read His Word and hear HIM speak to us through the Scriptures. If we rely solely on a man in robes or suit or even jeans and a tee shirt standing squarely in a pulpit we may be hearing only his words. They may be accurate, they may not. In the last two churches I have and am attending the pastors have all said not to just believe what they say, but check the scriptures ourselves. They all agree we are to not place them in the highest authority...Jesus is the highly exalted one. Be sure what they say is accurate...and call them on inaccuracies if there are. Man can fail, God cannot.

No matter what religion, it should not come before Christ. As Chambers states, we must be willing to come to Him, put Him first, not second.

He is also called our Mediator...between God and man. If we pray to anyone else we are putting Him second. Not one other person is greater than He. He alone has the power to save. He only died on the cross for our sins. His Father brought Him into this world for that reason...no one else. It's why He calls us to seek Him first. In Jeremiah 23 we are asked: “Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord, “And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?” says the Lord; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord. And then Psalm 139 says this: Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? Hallelujah to our God who knows all, who wishes us to commune with Him. What an honor...when He died on that cross the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom to allow each of us access to Him.

Pastors, priests, ministers, all followers of the Lord, must adhere to this: He must increase, I must 
decrease (John 3:30). Often when I think about that scripture or pray that for myself I catch myself  saying I must decrease that He may increase. NO. He comes first. There's a reason we are called lowly worms in scripture. And why He is highly exalted, seated at the right hand of the Father. Because. Just because. He is God. No one else can compare. No one. Not one. He alone is worthy of all honor, praise and glory.

Psalm 99:1-3,5,9 - The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; let the earth be moved! The Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples. Let them praise Your great and awesome name—He is holy. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool— He is holy. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy. 

The One Thing

Matthew 19:16, 21 - Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" "...Follow Me."

I picked up a book sitting on the bookshelf. It's called Hiding God, The Ambition of World Religion by Warren Henderson. The first point brought up talked about what seems to be the many different religions we know of in this world and the difference between the concepts of these religions. 

(As an aside, after I had written my draft of this blog, I listened to a song that was linked in an email to me. It took my thoughts into another direction and yet the same direction! Make sense? Well......women's minds do that much to the chagrin of men! There are times when "just coming to the point" can't happen.)

One of the first quotes in Hiding God is from Oswald Chambers and you know I like this guy! He says: Christianity is not a devotion to work, or to a cause, or a doctrine, but a devotion to a person, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, there you have it in a nutshell. It's about a relationship not religion. Sound familiar if you read my blog? Jesus doesn't want us following the sometimes misguided doctrines of a church, or work for a cause, but to follow Him personally. No church is perfect...but Jesus is.

A question was posed once awhile back to a man named Harry Ironside, a teacher, preacher and author, as he was preaching the streets: There are hundreds of religions...and each sect thinks theirs the only right one. How can plain men like us find out what really is the truth? Ironside's response was there were only two religions: the one covers all who expect salvation by doing; the other, all who have been saved by something done...so, can you save yourself, or must you be saved by another? If you can be your own savior, you do not need my message. If you cannot, you may well listen to it.  Ooooh, I like preachers who just tell it like it is! And, oh, to have words like that flow off my tongue or fingers! 

John 19:30 - "It is finished."  So, Jesus Christ died for my sins. It's not about the good deeds I did but about what One Man freely did for me. Our deeds (outward religious acts, ceremonies, and sacrifices) are as filthy rags and not one of us is good (Isaiah 64:6). There is only One whose perfection we cannot obtain, so we need Him...we need His work done on the cross that removes our rags. Our pride is our stumbling block. No one wants to think anything but that we are basically good people. How many times have we heard this? "Oh, I do good things for people, give generously, help others, go to church, give to the church, work hard for a living, am patriotic and vote, teach these things to my children, so I believe I'm a good person. That goodness will be seen by a loving God and that will saved me." 

No, sadly, those works will not. We are to give ourselves to and delight ourselves first in Christ. He then gives us the desires of our hearts, which I believe become our good works. This is a hard word. Nothing we do without Christ is worthy. A confession of faith is first necessary. A devotion to Christ, not to ourselves. Apart from Christ we are nothing...nothing. 

When we confess our sins to Jesus, we are to, by faith, believe it is so. That's why Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished." His work was done. It was His work...not ours. All we need to do now is receive Him and accept that. We no longer need to return to repeat that confession if it's heartfelt in the first place. We can instantaneously ask for forgiveness when we have sinned...just ask Him then and there. No need to store up a list to confess later. 

The guilt and feeling of needing to be saved again and again is not having faith. I struggled with this idea for some time until I realized it was a once and for all thing. It should also not be a feeling of fear, a scare tactic toward salvation. If you have done this you will only receive peace, acceptance and a feeling of freedom.

How do I know these things? I've read them, not in the newspaper, self-help book or in the latest magazine or seen it in mainstream media (even fair and balanced) but in the Bible. I've experienced them and I've heard them preached, too, but it was after my acceptance that my eyes were opened. It was also then that I realized that I was loved for who I was...I was beautiful in His sight, warts and sins and all. Like Glenn Beck who daily tells us not to just believe him but check things out ourselves, we are to test the scriptures (Acts 17:11).

If our religion tells us our salvation is based on the good deeds we do, it's wrong! We can work our heinies off and never accomplish what Jesus did. We should not fear we will not be accepted if we don't do good. We can't ever be good enough. We can never do enough work. We can have confidence, however, that our heartfelt confession of Jesus Christ and devotion to Him will save us. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but this truth is: it is Jesus Christ who has done the thing...the one thing...He died for the forgiveness of our sins. Does that sound like something we can do? Does that sound like what other religions believe? God so loved the world....that He GAVE...GAVE... John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Salvation is not works but simply accepting the free gift He has finished for us. It's not free if we have to work for it. Ephesians 2:8 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God...

Oh, people, such a simple matter that is so hard to comprehend. Probably because it's so simple. Why do we insist on complicating things or trying to strive for them? We can't imagine a God who loves us so much when we've been brought up in a society or world or family where it is expected that we "do" in order to be. I always felt if I was just smarter, just prettier, just thinner, achieved more, made less mistakes in everything I did, people, parents or friends would like me more; I'd be more accepted, more beautiful. Even today those thoughts linger until I remember that Jesus loves me the way I am because I have received His free gift of salvation. I am (we are) beautiful (as Mercy Me tells us in this song) in His eyes. Please watch the video! And to those whom I have criticized or have lost patience with, forgive me...you're beautiful too, especially to God.

Some day the truth will be revealed and it will be freeing. Until then, seek the truth. Search the scriptures for the truth of who Jesus is. Listen to His words. What freedom to know the simplicity of what He tells us. Grab your Bible or go online. Carefully, slowly, read the Book of John in the Gospels of the New Testament. That's all I ask. Challenge yourself. Refuse the mindset that it's too difficult to understand. Ask God to help you see. Ask that the voice of Jesus be heard. 

Psalm 37:4 - Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

What Defines a Good Relationship?

  Matthew 15:8-9 - "'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."'

     I know I've written about this before. I wrote this blog last week. And oddly enough yesterday, being Valentine's Day, the message Pastor Paul gave was about relationships. But first things first....

     I was thinking about the content of this blog in my car after dropping a friend off at the Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix last week, after all conversation was done and the silence settled in.
     I've said it before: A good relationship comes about from or with communication and spending time with one another. We all have family and friends (not necessarily in that order) we relate to in some way. It can be good or not so good at times. One relationship that continually needs cultivating, however, is our relationship with our Heavenly Father. It means changing who we are. Unfortunately there are several denominations which don't talk about a relationship with God.
     Jesus never really comes right out and specifically says it's not about religion but a relationship, but I know it's hidden in the things He did throughout His ministry on earth. He's all about relationship. He's all about truth. He's all about life. He's all about His saving grace. Mark 8:36 - For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? In other words, what is so important in this world that we would rather have IT than Jesus?

     Religion deals with keeping rules and obeying laws. Relationship is being set free from the rules and laws, not that they aren't important, but understanding that we can never perfectly keep these rules or laws, but a relationship with Jesus, sets us free from that...it's all about what Jesus did for us so when we fail we can be forgiven. When we are in relationship with Jesus, we change...we want to spend time with Him. That's relationship.

     One story that comes to mind about relationship over religion (and laws) is the one about the Samaritan woman. There's just so much insight in this one short visitation by Jesus. Jesus knew all about her and confronted her about her sins. She was amazed at all He knew (like He knows all about us) and she went on to point out that she was a Samaritan woman and He was a Jew and Jews don't associate with Samaritans... Jesus wasn't worried about the religious rules here; He was only interested in a relationship. He wanted her to know Truth. He wanted her to be in relationship with Him so she could be forgiven of all her sins. He wanted her to drink of the Living Water (that also is Jesus) so she would never thirst again. So He met her at the well.

     And actually, Jesus does this relational thing all throughout His ministry. The religious leaders of His day rejected Jesus because He didn't adhere to their rules. His way of doing things came from listening to His Father, not man. Do we listen to what a man or a church's set of rules dictate or do we listen to what our Father in Heaven tells us through His Son? Are the church leaders teaching us about Truth? Jesus didn't care what the religious leaders thought about the timing of the miracles He performed. He only cared about the people and setting them free from disease, handicaps and sin (which included all the religious laws). He didn't care what day of the week it was; He only cared that His Father was telling Him to heal this person.... 

     Jesus doesn't tell us that our religion saves us. It's a relationship that does...a relationship with Him. It's about listening to Him and what He has to tell us we are to do ... Lose your earthly life and gain your eternal one. Who wouldn't like to have that sort of security?
     He tells us that when we are in relationship with Him we are changed. And that means for the better. One cannot believe they are saved and then live any old way. We must shrug off those things that held us captive. If we had addictions, even mildly, the change should help us overcome these things. When temptation strikes we should have more strength through the power of God to not let temptation rule.
     It is in a relationship with Him that we realize what the Way, the Truth and the Life is. It's life changing, mind altering (in a very good way). We are saved from our old selves and the sin that we have lived with. I had a friend who couldn't understand why I needed to change just because "I found God." All I could say was it just happens...when it's for real, the old person begins this change...not always so drastically or all at once, but enough. For some it's a greater change immediately than others.
     Not all things change all at once but we should be cognizant of our nature and be aware of the Holy Spirit's promptings. Genesis 35:2 tells us basically what we are to do: "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments." This means, according to a Bible commentary by John Gill, renewing the mind, cleansing the soul, and changing of heart and life. In Matthew 18:3 Jesus tells us "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." That's Jesus speaking, not me. Change is losing the old man and taking on the new. That only happens when we give our lives to Jesus and get in relationship with Him. 
     I know it's a difficult idea to get situated in our head, heart and soul. It's something you can't just let pass quickly through your mind. It's something you need to take the time to think about. It's something a relationship with the Lord begins to cause to happen. Any relationship requires change. It requires putting aside some of your own ideas and allowing new ones to enter in. It's a two way street. When there's no change, relationship fizzles.
     Yes there are rules we are to abide by...and actions and words we should consider changing for the good. This all comes about when a relationship is priority over a religion, when we desire to know personally the Man who died for us over a religion merely talks about the Man or fails to lead us to that Man. The following scriptures give us a good idea of what giving our life to Christ is all about and what happens when we do. It brings us into intimate relationship with a Man who calls us His friend.

Ephesians 3:12 - In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).

John 15:13, 15 - Greater love has no one than this,than to lay down one's life for his friends [which Jesus did for us]. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends....