Salvation

Jesus will calm the storm if you ask him to

Becoming a Christian does not insulate our lives from trials and tribulation. The Christian life is not an easy feel good road. And it sure does not come with a benefit package guaranteed to fix all of our problems.

But you can rest assured that if the ship of your life is tossing on that sea of strife and tribulation, Jesus will calm the storm if you ask Him.

Mark 4:35-40 proves my point: “On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.  And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.  But he was in the stern, asleep on a cushion; and they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”  And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”

There are two other accounts of this story in the Bible, (Matthew 8:23-27 and Luke 8:22-25). Each author has a slightly different account of what had happened. However, the gist of the story remains the same in all three accounts: “Jesus will calm the storm if you ask Him to.”

Stop Talking And Pray

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). There is a time to speak, and a time not to speak. Happy is the person who can discern between the two. In many cases silence is golden. Therefore, anything we say will only hinder the flow of what God wants to do, so it is best to: “Stop talking and pray”

Esther, formerly (Hadassah), Queen to king Ahasuerus, fasted and prayed and sought God’s timing before she approached her husband about a very important matter. Was she upset about what was happening to her people? Of course, she was. There was a lot at stake and she knew it. She didn’t run in and start arguing. Rather, she prayed first and then ministered to him in love, while God prepared his heart. The Lord will always give us the right words to say, and show us when to say them if we ask Him. Timing is everything.

I have known people who never miss a chance to use the excuse of “just being honest” to devastate others with their words. The Bible says: “A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back” (Proverbs 29:11). In other words, it is foolish to share every feeling and thought. Being honest doesn’t mean you have to be completely frank in your every comment.

If you do have to say words that are hard to hear, ask God to help you discern when the person would be most open to hearing them. Pray for the right words and for the person’s heart to be totally receptive. I know that’s hard to do when you have a few choice words you are dying to let loose. But hard as it may seem, it is best to let God hear them first so He can temper them with His Spirit. This is especially true when talking has ceased altogether and shouting becomes the norm, and every word brings more pain…

It is time to stop talking and pray.

The Ten Commandments God Gave Israel

The Ten Commandments of the Mosaic Law on a mo...

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Deuteronomy 5:1-22 and 32

1 Moses summoned all Israel and said:

Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. 2 The LORD our God  made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 It was not with our ancestors that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. 4 The LORD spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. 5 (At that time I stood between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:

6 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

7 “You shall have no other gods before me.

8 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

11 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

16 “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

17 “You shall not murder.

18 “You shall not commit adultery.

19 “You shall not steal.

20 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

21 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

22 These are the commandments the LORD proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

32 So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33 Walk in obedience to all that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that yo

Walk the Walk and Talk The Talk

As I navigate through my Christian journey. I realize that it is not enough for me to only talk about my faith in God, and the goodness of Jesus Christ. But my actions and behaviour  should be  loaded with Christ like characteristics. I should thrive to be a worthy representative of Jesus Christ. And make sure that the life I live as a Christian, is in sync with the words I speak…Therefore, I should walk the walk and talk the talk.

To do otherwise would mean I have become sounding brass and clanging cymbal. I must practice what I preach, so I can be an example to others.

The Kingdom of God, was the central theme of  Jesus’ ministry but Love was the prominent message. Therefore, as a follower of Jesus Christ, I am required to display love. In Mark 12 :31 Jesus commanded His disciples to love their neighbor as themselves.

The apostle Paul, writing to the church in Corinth states: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away” (1 Corinthians 13:1-8).

So as I and others continue our journey in faith, we should :”Be . . . followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour” (Ephesians 5:1,2). We should thrive to: ” . . .Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving our own selves” (James 1:22).

The purpose and process of “Repentance”

Baptism of Christ by Pietro Perugino, circa 1498

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My earlier post talked about being born again and the process everyone has to go through. Today we will talk about repentance, another process in the born again experience.

Repentance:

The new birth cannot begin until repentance is sought by the person an event brought about by willing obedience to the call of the gospel. In response to Adam’s sin God has made provision through the gospel of Christ‘s birth, death and resurrection to resolve humanity;s problem of spiritual isolation from God and restore the lost communion and fellowship they once shared. This hope is made possible through two effects of the gospel, when presented to the lost by the work of the Holy Ghost. First, there is an awakening in the heart of the person upon hearing the gospel  that contrasts with an intellectual response. For example, on Paul’s mission trip through Thyatira, Luke recalls that a religious businesswoman, named Lydia, “heard us; whose heart the lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul” (Acts 16:14).

There may have been others present at the hearing, but the Holy Ghost was instrumental in awakening, or opening the heart of this particular woman in such a way that the gospel paul shared resonated as truth within her spirit. As a result, her entire family was saved and baptized. A second result of hearing the gospel is conviction, a certain sense of guilt and remorse over the sin condition awakened in one’s life by the spirit of God (John 16:8). This awareness heightens the consciousness of sin that is under God’s judgement, yet it enables a hope for deliverance from its power through redemption in Christ. These intrinsic properties of the gospel, pave the way for a personal response by the hearer.

Once conviction has brought to awareness the reality of personal sin and accountability, the message is either rejected or accepted. To reject the offer of salvation is to continue in spiritual isolation from God and risk the fate of  being eternally lost. On the other hand, to accept the hope of reconciliation with God demands repentance (Acts 2:38; 3:19) a requirement of salvation that includes two particular aspects: (1) An emotional condition of feeling deep sorrow and regret for personal sin (2 Corinthians 7:19), and (2) a willing act of confessing  and turning from a life of sin to one that pleases God..

Although the meaning of repentance denotes a reconsideration and changing of ways, one Old Testament scripture clearly brings this aim toward salvation into better understanding: “He that covereth sins shall not prosper; but whoso confessed and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). Clearly, this concern for finding the mercy of salvation begins with sincere remorse from the awakened knowledge of a sinful heart. Its remedy requires, first, a confessing for personal responsibility for this condition and, second, a changing of direction from a life of sin to one of godliness. these aspects of a truly repentant heart make possible the opportunity for the Holy Ghost to do his necessary part in the new birth process.