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Pursuit

Pursuit

2 Peter 1:1-4 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Do you see it? Do you see the gospel, the good news in Peter’s opening statement in his letter? There in the first couple of sentences of the hope that Christ brings; those that have responded to His calling and forsaken the sinful desires of the world. The Message puts it like this:1 I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God’s straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 2 Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master. 3 Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! 4 We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you – your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust. Your life life before, and after, in Christ.

Look deeper into what Peter is saying there; he is speaking of the relationship that you are gaining and cultivating in Christ. His calling is to the pursuit of that relationship, to move your life closer to how He lived. It is in that whole hearted pursuit that knowledge and intimacy is found. Peter continues on the application side of that pursuit; 5 So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. 6 Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. 7 Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (NLT)

How in the world can you claim knowledge of something you don’t pursue? How can you claim intimacy with someone with whom you spend little time? Google will not lead you down the road of understanding of Christ; that wisdom comes with a humble heart, prayerfully spending daily time in the Bible. With that pursuit is gained a wisdom and knowledge that surpass all earthly understanding. It is a wisdom of the heart, it is a wisdom that cannot understand all things, but rest in the sovereignty of God. It is a wisdom that in constant pursuit of the tidbits of revelations that are gained; priceless pieces of God opening your mind, through your heart, in His Word.

All I need

09 May

All I need

1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

I wish I could insert the entire commentary from Matthew Henry here of 1 John 2:12-17. He so elegantly explains of how at all levels of our Christian lives we are to focus on God alone. Of how we are to abide in God’s Word, so deeply planted in our hearts, that we move to a life focused only on God and the things of God. Of how we as Christians should be so bent in that pursuit, of Him that to the sinful desires and pursuits of this world, that we are “crucified to the world, (to) be mortified to the things, to the affairs, and enticements of it.” Philippians 3:8a Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Satan and his enticements of the worldly pleasures of sin are a battle that is fought all our lives, and only won through the strength found in abiding in God’s Word.

I fell, no I jumped, into the pursuits of these sins of this world for much of my life. Those pursuits and confessions of those sins could fill a book. I lived for the moment, and the moment was about me and what I could obtain. Pride is at the root of my testimony, and God has been hammering away at that foundation of sin upon which my life sat. He has revealed it, and continues to do so almost daily. There is a part of me in this Sanctification process that has become “mortified” to the extent of materialism that surrounds me daily. The evidences of it, and the pursuit of it, are everywhere I find myself daily. All these point to how far the world is from God now. 16 For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world.

You must ask yourself the question of verse 15; do you love the stuff in this world more than the Creator of this world? Do you spend your life in the pursuits of all that you can obtain in any and all areas? Are you so focused on your next conquest that you don’t have time for God? There is nothing you will ever obtain, never able to “name and claim”, that will make a cent of difference in eternity. That cent of difference can make the difference where you spend eternity. 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. The scriptures of verse 16 outline the three topical sinful pleasures that can take our eyes and hearts off God: Sinful sexual desires, covetousness or materialism, and pride. 16 For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world . Where is your struggle? I have all three……..

Imprecatory Prayers?

30 Sep

Imprecatory Prayers?

Matthew 5:44-45 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

The topic of imprecatory prayer versus a heart full of love is a difficult one in today’s society. We live in a society that breeds selfishness, instead of selflessness that comes with encompassing love for one another. Today we are told to reach for the goal at all cost and we can do anything we put our mind to. These drives push us towards these goals and sacrifice relationships along the way. Those who do not aid us in the pursuit become deterrents and most likely no longer friends. Many of these relationships may be moved against each other. There are many scenarios that cross our paths where others seem to go against the winds of our lives. If they become adversaries, are we taught we can use our faith to pray against them? – No.

When Christ paid the price for our sin at the Cross, we have moved to living under the law of Grace; getting something we did not deserve. On that principle cannot pray invoking judgmental prayers against anything. Christ has told us plainly in Mark that we are forgiven to the amount we forgive. Mark 11:25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” These are the hard things in life; to let go of our strong sinful desires to lash out at those who hurt us. To defend our honor, or most likely our pride that is being damaged. But when we look at our sins in God’s eyes; what if He took the same approach with us? Every part of our being may want to lash out, but the inner being of His Spirit can keep us still. He whispers to let it go, to let Him deal with the injustice in His Way and His time. We must rest in His Sovereignty, and understand there is most likely a greater work going on than just our pain. He can be using our pain to reach someone who is hurt more.

Luke 6:27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. 32 But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. These things move you up the ladder of sainthood, and closer to God with every blow. A life full of His love and the denial of self is a life He will use to become a disciple that reaches many. You move towards a relationship with your Father that will release you of the pain that these sinful circumstances tend to bring.

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