Today Reminder (What about rest) – 29 June 2018

A reminder for today

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

This morning we spoke to one of South Afrika’s top bodybuilders and I soon realised we train to hard. We need to take time to rest. But don’t we do that in life too. We work and work and soon work becomes all we have, and we overwork without realising it. When you live in South Africa you know what work is. We have to work twice as hard as ever before to get somewhere. This burden that we have has increased in the last years with all the laws that was passed and the constant crime and hate that drives the bad ones to destroy us and everyone in their way. So, as a South African we understand the words “heavily burden” very well.

But I am sure any Christian in the world will know how it feels to be heavily burdened. In this life sin becomes one of the most difficult burdens we carry together with all the rest that comes with living in a world where Christians are hated and persecuted. What does Jesus say here in Matthew 11 when He says that all of us that labours and all of us that is heavily burdened must come to Him and He will give us rest.

Jesus continues to say that we must take His yoke (burden, bondage) upon us for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Jesus says that we must accept Him as our saviour and in that we must trust Him. This is where He takes our yoke and gives us His. His yoke is simply to trust Him and follow Him. That is why He said learn from me for I am meek and lowly in heart. Jesus is humble and ordinary, and He lived a simple life by giving His life for other. 

So, to take up His yoke is easy. The life lived by faith is a much lighter yoke and a much easier burden to carry than the heavy and burdensome yoke of self-righteousness under which we continually strive to make ourselves acceptable to God through works. It is through trusting Him that we forget about the world around us and we continue to focus on His word and His guidance. This applies to us here in South Africa as we struggle through race-based oppression, but I assume it applies in same way to you, because in the end it is all satan and his plan to destroy all Christians. Therefore, replacing your yoke with trust is simply taking fear out of the equation and replacing it by hope. Hope in God and trust in His time and plan. He is coming.  

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus. 

Cheers

Today Reminder (What about forgiveness) – 28 June 2018

A reminder for today

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. (Matthew 18:21-22)

Forgiveness is one the most powerful acts of love we can do unto other. First let us look at our own forgiveness for our sins. 1 John 2:1-2 says, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Notice the word propitiation here. The word propitiation carries the basic idea of appeasement or satisfaction, specifically toward God. Propitiation is a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to him.

Propitiation teaches us that man is a sinner and that God hates sin because God is righteous. Therefore, sin must be judged, and judgment was assigned to me by God the Father. The wrath of God is on all those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Saviour. However, when I trusted in Jesus Christ as my Saviour, He stood between me and the wrath of God. He took that wrath upon Himself, paid the price of my judgment, and gave me eternal life!  That is a blessed truth. It means that Jesus Christ satisfied God’s demand for the righteous judgment of my sin.

In the first three chapters of Romans, Paul makes the argument that everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, is under the condemnation of God and deserving of His wrath (Romans 1:18). Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). All of us deserve His wrath and punishment. God in His infinite grace and mercy has provided a way that His wrath can be appeased, and we can be reconciled to Him. That way is through the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus Christ, as the payment for sins. It is through faith in Jesus Christ as God’s perfect sacrifice that we can be reconciled to God. It is only because of Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection on the third day that a lost sinner deserving of hell can be reconciled to a holy God. The wonderful truth of the gospel is that Christians are saved from God’s wrath and reconciled to God not because “we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). The only way for God’s wrath against sinful man to be appeased and for us to be reconciled to God is through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. This truth is communicated in 1 John 2:2. An important part of Christ’s saving work is deliverance from God’s wrath; Jesus’ propitiation on the cross is the only thing that can turn away God’s divine condemnation of sin. Those who reject Christ as their Saviour and refuse to believe in Him have no hope of salvation. They can only look forward to facing the wrath of God that they have stored up for the coming day of judgment (Romans 2:5). There is no other propitiation or sacrifice that can be made for their sins.

It is clear that God has done so much for us to free us from sin and to bring us into complete forgiveness. Take a moment and think how many times God has forgiven you and how many times have you forgiven other. Jesus taught us that we must forgive in order for us to receive complete forgiveness “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15). Forgiveness combined with prayer is two tools that we have to defeat the enemy and to keep his lies away from us. It is important that we forgive and pray about it so that we can clear our minds and our spirits from the burden that was created by the enemy. Life is way too short to keep a grudge and to continue to be angry at someone. If we set them free, we will be free, and, in that freedom, we will find a new journey that will lead straight to God. Jesus said that we must forgive seventy times seven and even when He was on that cross He asked for forgiveness of His accusers, because He said that they did not know what they were doing. Forgive and be free.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus. 

Cheers

Today Reminder (What about Love) – 27 June 2018

A reminder for today

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

What can we say about love? I love 1 Corinthians 13 and I have read it a thousand times. Paul says here that there are three things that is very important, and they are faith, hope and charity. The dictionary translates charity as an organization set up to provide help and raise money for those in need or the voluntary giving of help, typically in the form of money, to those in need.

Newer Bible translations such as the amplified translates this verse like this: And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God’s love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love.

The Greek word 'agape' is translated both as 'charity' and 'love' in many places in the new testament in the KJV.

Charity is an interesting case in the King James Bible because the 1 Corinthians 13 passage (which uses charity 9 times) had been translated using the word love in Tyndale's New Testament of 1526 - 85 years before the King James translation. Certainly, it was not the case that the King James translators did not know that love might have fit. Rather, they purposely chose charity as the word to use there. Evidently, they saw an importance in distinguishing some of the uses of agape in a specific way. We will look at scripture to see if we can discover what specific nuances of the word are being brought out when charity is used. The use of love is the more general use and will not be discussed here in detail. 

Some form of the word charity is found in the Bible 29 times. All of these references are in the New Testament. In fact, the word does not occur in any form in the Bible until the book of Romans. It is definitely a New Testament word. Charity is found 9 times in 1 Corinthians 13, which makes it the Charity Chapter in the Bible. Many people have called it the Love Chapter (in correction of the King James Bible); but this distinction clearly goes to 1 John 4 where love in mentioned 27 times (unless you included the 3 times "beloved" is used). Also, the fact that 1 Corinthians 13 uses charity 9 times connects it with the nine-fold fruit of the spirit. Nine often denotes a spiritual fruitfulness. 

In order to define charity scripturally, we will go to the scripture. That is, we will observe how the word is used in scripture and let that be our final authority for the meaning of the word. Notice the following points about charity as it is used in scripture:

1. Charity is the epitome of perfection in the Christian life. It is the "greatest" of the three abiding virtues (1 Corinthians 13:13). It is the "bond of perfectness" (Colossians 3:14) and the "end of the commandment" (1 Timothy 1:5). Of the seven things Peter exhorts the saints to add to their faith, it is the seventh (2 Peter 1:5-7). Obviously, the Christian life reaches its pinnacle in the practice of charity. We certainly should know what it is.
2. But to know what charity is, we must know what it is not. Today, people often think of charity as nothing more than a giving of money for some good cause. However, the Bible strongly contrasts the charity it proposes to the misunderstood charity of giving funds. 1 Corinthians 13:3 states, "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." According to this verse, it is possible to give all your goods to feed the poor and yet not have charity. Therefore, the giving of funds is not biblical charity.
3. Biblical charity can also be distinguished from other forms of love. Though most dictionaries say that charity includes the idea of the love of God for man, there is no indication that it is used in that way in the King James Bible. In fact, it is not specifically used of the love of man for God either. Although there are some passages where the word could be used in application of some of these forms of love, those passages where the word is specifically defined never refer to God's love toward man or man's love toward God.
4. Charity specifically refers to the love that we have toward other men. Paul stresses that we are to walk "charitably" toward our weaker brothers (Romans 14:13-15). He praised the Thessalonians because "the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth" (2 Thessalonians 1:3). In 1 Peter 4:8-9, Peter told the believers, "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging."

John encouraged the saints, "Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church..." (3 John 1:5-6). In all of these passages, charity describes the love of the saints for others. Most of the time, it refers to other believers: toward each other, among yourselves, to the brethren. In one case (3 John 1:5-6), it includes strangers. But in them all, God is referring to the special love that believers should have for others. 

There are plenty of passages that speak of the importance of love in general, but the Bible speaks of charity to point us to a specific kind of love. Charity is the love toward others that suffers long with them and is kind (1 Corinthians 13:4), that does not behave unseemly, seek to get its own way, or is easily provoked (1 Corinthians 13:5); that rejoices not in the iniquity of others (1 Corinthians 13:6); that bears, believes, hopes, and endures (1 Corinthians 13:7). It is the grace that proves the believer to be mature in his faith and practice. May the Lord give us all more charity.

Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus. 

Cheers

Reference: David Reagan.