Ecc 1:1-4 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. …
Ecc 1:9-11 … What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.

These verses seem almost hopeless until you understand the hope that is eternal. That is the point of the verses, to help you understand that we must focus not on the temporal but the eternal. I like the way C.S. Lewis put this into prospective, at least for me:

You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body. ~C. S. Lewis

When this concept is realized (or in my case re-realized … again); this truth of the Bible for which we claim to believe, then we start to really understand the framework of what Ecclesiastes is trying to say to us. That to focus only on the here and now is a loss. To focus only on success the way it is measured in the temporal is a vanity that we cannot afford. We must step back and leave a mark that is not temporal but eternal on this earth. It is our calling as Christians to make a mark for the One True God. This mark will not gain you fame or fortune; it will gain something much more valuable. The approval of a loving God and the souls of the lost.
Focus is a good thing if it is rightly done. We must insure that our focus does not get so ensnared by the world that we forget about what is really important, the relationship with a loving God that wants commune with His creation. So let us not be like the sheep and lose ourselves in the “busy”. Let us use our gifts not only for personal gain which is vanity, but for the gain of Heavenly things, which is eternal.

• In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. 2 This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, 5 to be registered along with Mary, who was •engaged to him and was pregnant. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him snugly in cloth and laid Him in a feeding trough—because there was no room for them at the inn. 8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 today a Savior, who is •Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. 12 This will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!

This is the greatest thing to ever happen to mankind.  My wife found a quote by John MacArthur this week that states; “Many men throughout world history have wanted to become gods, but there has been only one God who wanted to become a Man.” This is no small thing and is worthy of our earnest celebration, our praise, our thoughts and our prayers to God. This is the reason we gather with our families and share times together. We should be in celebration of the greatest of Gifts!

But I am afraid that many will not even take the time during the next couple of days to even think of Jesus Christ, let alone talk about Him, or share the story of His life. We have let the world and the many lights, colored paper, and other things mask the reason that we are getting together.  We like to talk about it being about family, friends, food and other things, but this not the purpose of this season. Oh, don’t get me wrong, those things are nice and have their place in this celebration. I too look forward to spending time with each of those, however, I am very purposeful not to let those things out weigh the reason we are gathering and celebrating. For we do not celebrate for the sake of the celebration, we do not gather for the sake of gathering, there are 364 other days of the year that we may do that. We are gathering for the sake of Christ Jesus.  To celebrate the gift of His birth.

But the gift was not merely a miraculous birth to a virgin. The gift was much greater than this. The real gift was not the birth, but the purpose behind the birth. The purpose which was spoken of by Isaiah some 700 years before His birth, “to bear the sins of many” (Isaiah 53:12) so that we might have a relationship with God. That we are able to be forgiven for our sin and that we may take our burdens and cast them unto Him that is faithful to do that which He promised. (Heb 10:23 ~ 23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.) The purpose to reconcile mankind to God.

This purpose, to come and to die for us, to suffer a death not fitting for a beast, let alone the God and Lord of all. This was and is His very reason to come. To show us a love and understanding of our joys and trials like no other; To step down from Heaven and walk in our shoes and show us that He understands family, friends, joy, relationships, all the things that we hold dear. He also showed us that he understands the darker things that we face, the temptations, the fears, the betrayals, and the yes, the pain, oh the great pain that he went through for us. He wants us to know that He not only loves us but He understands us. He is not a disconnected, unreachable, above it all God. He is a right next to you, in the trenches, rejoicing in your victories, smiling at your joys, sharing your concerns, feeling your pain, and weeping at your failures – God.

He has set a way to not only be a part of your life, but to be in your life. To be a constant councilor that lives within you, that you might understand His level of commitment to you as His creation. This is the real gift, the gift that was wrapped in the flesh of a baby, born to a virgin, and was destined to die, not for His transgressions, but for yours and mine.

The gift of God is Himself. Take this gift and cherish it. Hold it close to your heart for that is where God wants to be. He wants to be a part of your “everyday”, not your “once a year”. He gave this gift especially for you. Do not forsake the gift; do not put Christ on “the shelf”; because it is not Christ that will decay from your lack of attention to Him. He is timeless and cannot decay. It is you that will decay. The Gift of Jesus Christ can restore you, but only if you take it, cherish it, and nurture it. Christ does not have a “shelf life”, He was simply never intended to be put there.

So, in this time of Christmas, make sure that you make time for the One that gave everything for you. Make sure that you do not let the things of the world crowd out the one thing that we should be focused on. Jesus Christ.

Please understand, if you are committed to other studies and don’t have time and are not lead to read these, then don’t. If these words are not a help to you, they do not bring thought and refection to you, they do not cause you to draw closer to God, then simply ignore them. But if they do speak to you, if they do cause you to pause in your life, then take that pause and listen to what God has to say, not me, for I am just a man. Listen for what God has to say in and to your soul. Seek His voice in your life and pursue it with reckless abandonment. For this is the gift of salvation that God has provided for us. The gift of a relationship that God wants to have with us.
 
Take this gift and enjoy the sweetness of His Spirit in your life. Take the gift that He has made for you with wonder and delight. The Bible says to “be like little children” (Matthew 18:3) when it comes to our beliefs. To believe and accept the things that God will lead us to, as we are children. Much like children who believe their earthly father has good things for them and trust them when they are lead. This is how we are to be with our Heavenly father.
Unfortunately, we much to often do not trust like a child, but act like one. We take our salvation and our faith and treat it as a child would a giant lollipop. You know, the huge lollipops the you can buy at various fairs and such. Yes, when we first get our new “lollipop of salvation” we are so excited to get it, we covet it, we enjoy the sweetness of it , the color and the taste, but far to often we soon lose focus on it. We no longer pay that much attention to it. Soon the things of the world are sticking to it. We get little bits of “this and that” on it and soon, oh so very soon, the wonderful gift that our Father gave us, does not look so appetizing.

The problem does not lie in the gift, but in how we treated the gift. How our attention on the gift seems to sway once we had enjoyed its taste. The focus of our attention wondered as we look and play with the other things the world has to offer. This lack of attention to the gift in our hand leads us to allow things to come into contact with the gift that were never intended to. The things of this world that cover the gift and make it seem as though it is no longer good for our consumption. Those little bits of “this and that” that make us look at the gift differently. This things were never supposed to come between you and the gift. It is not the gifts fault that this has taken place, it is yours. This gift is still the exact thing it was intended to be. It is your actions that have soiled the gift. The sweetness, the joy, the color, the very make up of the gift has not changed. It is your perception and how you treat the gift, that is what has changed.
 
We began to feel as we need a new gift, a new “lollipop” to focus our wavering attention. We no longer want to hold the one we have. The one that was especially made for us. We want a new one, without all the bits of “this and that” that now cover the gift we received. We want to experience a brand new gift, one that is still perfect and not soiled by our hands. So in this feeling of want and desire to experience something new, we often take the gift and lay it aside. We began to seek the things of this world that are “new and exciting” over the gift.

This is the folly of the heart. To receive the gift, to be excited about it, and then to lose focus on it. Why do we do this? Why do we not continue to hold the gift is great esteem? Why do we let the things of the world get between us and the gift? Why do we not do that which is necessary to make sure the gift is taken care of? The answer is simply, it is not pleasant, but simple. The answer to this is found in the very first book of the old Testament, Gen 3:1-7. The very first act of our will against God. The root of sin that is now passed to us. The answer to the questions before us is the simple unflinching answer of; selfishness, pride, and envy which is sin.

Many of you will say, you mean to bring sin into this? Come now, in this day and age, the age of science, you still believe that there is evil and sin? We have sociology, physiology, and a few other “ologies” that I don’t know about, and you want to talk about sin? In the words of C.S. Lewis,” I don’t know what the time has to do with anything”, nor do I know what the sciences of men have to do with the knowledge of God. The sciences of men seem to be fluid and change with each new discovery. Where as the knowledge of God is static, it never changes, nor does it move with the tides of human opinion as does the sciences of man. So, yes, I am talking about sin and its effects on the lack of focus we have on our gift from God. The selfish and prideful thing that stands between us and a joy in our souls. Not a happiness as the world knows, but a joy that comes to you not predicated on the circumstances around you, but a knowledge and relationship that is in you.

See this is the very thing the gift, your salvation, brought to you when you were focused on it. The Joy of the Lord. A budding relationship with the Lord and God of all. When you first understood that you needed Christ in your life. Not to improve your life, because if that is what you thought salvation was for, then I have to inform you that you were either misinformed or misunderstood the reason for salvation. The reason of salvation is very simple, it is to bring you into a righteous relationship with God Almighty; To accept that Christ paid for your sins and there is nothing that you did to deserve it. That it was an act of grace by God and not of you. This is the reason for Salvation, not to make your life better, but to allow you to choose an eternal life with God. The have a relationship with Him. If you go to God for your personal material gain, then you have not gone to God, you went to an idol that suited your needs. God wants a relationship, a true relationship with you. He is not a vending machine that dispenses happiness and material goods if you pray just right. He is the Eternal and Omnipotent God, and he suffered and died that you might have a relationship with Him. ~ But I digress.
 
Is your “lollipop” a little dirty? Is it cover with the bits of “this and that” that should have never come between you and it? If so, there is good news. God, through Christ, says He will clean it and make it as though it is brand new again. You want to find something new and exciting? Let me challenge you to get on your knees and talk to our Lord Jesus Christ and admit to Him how you have treated your “lollipop”. Tell Him about how the world, the bits of “this and that” got in your way. Be honest, seek Him, and He will honor your true heart felt repentance and make the “lollipop” of your salvation new again. This will be more exciting and better than anything this world can offer you. It will be the path back to having a righteous, joyful, relationship with God.

Revelation 21:3-6
3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God’s dwelling is with men, and He will live with them.They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will exist no longer; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away. 5 Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give to the thirsty from the spring of living water as a gift.

37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important commandment. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend  on these two commandments.”

I need to love God more and me less. I need to put Him higher and me lower in the hierarchy of my life. I struggle with this. I struggle with making sure that God has His right place. I struggle with the flesh and its desires. The desire to do things in “my power” instead of His. The desire to take credit when it is not mine to have. The desire to be a selfish prideful thing that has only my best interests at heart. The desire to chase the things that the world offers instead of the things God offers.

This is not what God called me to be. This is not love, not even the love of self. This is something else, something that cannot be described as love or even self preservation, it is something darker. It is a selfishness rooted in sin. It is the very thing the bible warned us about when Jesus said that we love the darkness;

Jn 3:19-20 – 19 “This, then, is the judgment: the light  has come into the world,  and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.

But we as Christians are called to be in the light. We are called not to be this way. We are called to stand in the light, to seek it, to live in it and love it.

Jn 3:21; 21 But anyone who lives by  the truth comes to the light, so that his works  may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

We are called to be more than the sum of our parts, we are called to be the sum of His parts.

Php 3:9;  9 and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law,  but one that is through faith in Christ —the righteousness from God based on faith.

We are called to be children of the most High God. This calling is not a duty, it is a privilege! It is an honor that we do not deserve, that we did not work for, or can achieve with our own strength.. It is a gift freely given from God. One that has to be accepted and not earned. For there is no way to earn it. You cannot be good enough, pretty enough, nice enough, friendly enough, compassionate enough, or giving enough to earn this gift. You must be humble enough.

You must have a humility that understands your sin against God is great. A humility that understands and accepts the fact that you do not deserve the favor of our God. That he is a righteous God and that you are a sinful creature. That His grace and the gift of His Son, Jesus, was an act of great compassion for His creation. An act that He did not have to do. An act that gives you the opportunity to live in a way that will allow you to have a relationship with Him.  A relationship that allows access to the very throne room of God himself. A most holy place that is reserved only for the elect. The elect being the very people that accept this gift of grace and humble themselves before a gracious God.. That truly repent of their sins, that turn from their ways and follow him.. That are willing to struggle against their very nature. That are willing to turn from their desires to do and to have the things that are not of God.. To put on a new set of priorities. To receive a new life that see these things for the destructive forces that they really are. To have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus. To have the Holy Spirit dwell in you. To have the greatest council one could ever have living within you.

To see God for the loving and gracious God that He is. Not the wishy-washy, let you do anything and everything, spineless and gutless god the world has come to know. But a God that loves you enough to tell you “no”, to guide you, to hold you accountable, to convict you when you are wrong, to bless you when you are obedient to Him. This is not a God of rules, this is a God of relationship.  A God that we call Father, and as a good Father he guides us and directs us so we will become the best possible people that we can be. No, not a God of rules, a God that cares and wants to live within us. This is a God that wants so badly to have you with Him, he came and died on a cross of you.

The  alternative to this is to chose your own destination. To reject what God offers. You have a choice, you have free will. There are only two choices however, one is to be with God, the other is to tell God that you are fine without him. God calls this choice, its final destination, the lake of fire. Now some of you may be telling yourselves that God would never send anyone to hell. I agree! God does not choose this destination for you, you choose it for yourself! He has made if very clear there are two choices. No “special knowledge”, no silly “secret words”, nothing but two simple and clear choices. To be with God, or to reject Him. So simple and clear, he wrote it down for us.

See, hell was never intended for the destination of His creation, we, in rejecting Him, chose to go here. We in effect say, no I will have my fun now, I will live the way I want and let the chips fall where they may. God in response says, the chips will in fact fall here and in this way, are you really sure want to make this your choice? God then makes sure we understand the what and where the final results of that choice is. See we do not make that choice blindly, He tells us what the choices are, what the consciences are and then lets us chose.

This is the beauty of God. He does not force His will upon us. He does not want mindless followers that have no choice. He wants children that follow him because they want to be with Him. Are we any different? Do we not seek relationships with those who want to be in our company?  Who want and desire the same things we do? We are made in the image of God, then why is it so hard to understand that God wants you to want to be with Him. He wants you to chose Him over yourself. To put aside the things that mean nothing for the one thing that means everything. To have a relationship with the Lord & God of all.

So, stop fooling yourself into thinking that there is somehow a different choice for YOU.  That somehow and in some way this does not apply to you. That you and God have an understanding. That you, because of your own “goodness” will be one of the ones that God wakes up and realizes His plan was flawed. That you don’t have to listen to Him or seek His will for your life. That you will, even though you never gave Him a single consideration in your life, never spent any time in seeking a relationship with Him, will be known by Him and allowed into His heaven. Or, maybe -  it is your plan that is flawed.

Mt 7:21-23

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ … 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height 19to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

What a concept for a people who have never known a human king. This is a practice that we do not really have a full grasp of . To bow our knee. I have been taught throughout my Christian life that the position of the body means nothing, it is the position of the heart that really matters. While I believe this to have a great truth within it, I also believe that is misses the wholeness of truth. It misses the part the truth that has to do with honor and submission.

If you start out with your heart in the wrong place, I agree that you have a problem. However, we are to bring ourselves, our flesh, that part that rebels against God into submission; 1 Co 9:26-27 ~ 26 Therefore I do not run like one who runs aimlessly, or box like one who beats the air. 27 Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified

I find it very interesting that when Paul is talking about bringing his body into submission to God, that he used two different athletes. He did not use priests, those who are trained to bring “the spirit” under control, he use athletes. Those who have been trained to take the body under submission. Those who have to will their bodies to perform in a manner that they often do not want to. I was, in my younger and less weighty years, a runner. I used to run about 15 miles a week. This was a discipline that I had to make my body do. One that I had to commit to and to will myself to do. The very moment that I allowed my will to say “no, I don’t really want to do this anymore”, was the day I stopped and have not run since. I now pay a heavy price for that lack of will, as I am now over weight, not as healthy as I wish and am now wishing I would have never stopped running.

So how does this tie into the Scripture found in Ephesians above? Think about it this way. As a former runner, I can think about running all I want. I can imagine myself running. I can still hear myself breathing as I ran. I can remember the way it felt when I ran. However, this does not accomplish the benefit of actually running. It does not have the commitment, the discipline that is required to actually accomplish the task. It is a mind game that I have played until I am fat and old. A mind game that we like to play with our spirit as well.

We like to think that just having the “right place” mentally is good enough. That if our hearts are in the right place, that is what counts. This is where, only part of the true, makes for a deadly lie. The right part of this is, we must in fact have our hearts in the right place. We must have a soft open heart to God. We must seek him in our hearts. The other part of this, as Paul clearly writes in 1Cor 9:26-27, is that we must bring our flesh into submission as well. We must do more than just have a good mental place, we must have a physical submission as well.

Think of it as the runner, or boxer as Paul describes. How successful would we be at either of these if we do not actually exercise? If we do not actually make the body of flesh do what our intentions are? We would be, as I am today, the afore mentioned, old and fat. Why then is it so different for our Christian walk? Why then does this rule not apply to our physical state when seeking to be “in shape” for God? I am persuaded that it in fact does. I am persuaded to believe that not bowing a knee, not making the effort to submit your physical body before a Holy God is keeping us, as God’s people, from achieving a spiritual health that God desires for us.

Which brings me back to the lack of understanding we have as a people of the importance of bowing a knee before a King. Bowing your knee before your King, shows that you not only have a heart for your King, but you will humble yourself before Him as well. That you will not only give him a place in your heart, but will stop and give Him your physical state as well. That you will exercise not only your spirit in pursuit of His Truth, but your body too.   That you, with your whole being, will pursue His cause and His mission for you. That it is more than just a mental exercise, it is an exercise that you will commit your mind, body and spirit to. It is an act of honor to the One that is worthy of our honor and praise.

Php 2:8-11 ~
9 For this reason God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those who are in heaven  and on earth and under the earth 11 and every tongue  should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

How does it feel to be hungry? In what ways do we feel a hungry spirit

I was in the process of doing a study and these question got me thinking about how we approach the thoughts and knowledge of our faith and our commitment. It was interesting to me the way we ask and apply the knowledge of Christ. It struck me in this study, which is from a respectable, well known Christian leader, that we are too focused on the one side of the coin. The side that has the emotion based thought processes on it. Let me explain.

The world seems to base how much it feels about things to be more important that what it knows about things. We love to ask how we feel about something as if there is truth to be found in that. That our feeling will turn on some secret light that will shine and reveal things to us, that our logic would not. Here within lies the problem. The problem being, there is no truth in feelings. They do not possess any special powers. They do not shine light were logic and reason can not reach. They are unreliable and change with the mood and the weather. How you feel about something is and should always be secondary to what you Know about something.

The next problem is we try to ascribe “feelings” to things that are not really “feelings” at all. Hunger is often expressed as a feeling, as in “I feel hungry”. However, hunger is actually a physical reaction and not a feeling. You crave water and food because your body needs to have it to sustain life. Not because you feel like it is a good idea to have it. This is a much different thing than a feeling and is analogist to the hunger or thirst I have for God. I do not hunger or thirst for God because I feel like it is a good idea, but because my very soul craves to be fed so it can survive this life. I do not feel hunger for God as I would “feel like” something is unfair. I have a hunger for God, like I have a hunger for food. My thirst for God is as real as my hunger for food or water.

That then lead me to this thought; I look into our society and see people that do not drink water. They drink all sorts of flavored drinks, like soda, coffee, and other drinks. They are sweet on the lips and provide very little of what the body actually needs. I have even heard people say they hate to drink water. This is a totally feeling based thought process as water is the most important fluid that you can drink. You can actually survive longer without food than you can without water. Yet, we base our decisions on whether to drink water totally on how we feel about the taste of it. We say things like, I don’t like the taste of water, ignoring what we know about water. We put forth the feeling based argument of our preferences over the factual based logic that we must have it to survive.

We do the same with the living water of Christ. We like to talk about the flavored things in life, the sweet on your lips things that we drink in life that either bring no or very little real value to us. Things such as popularity, the new car, the flat screen, the raise or promotion at work, all of which is for personal gain. There are a host of other things that we like to disguise as something they are not to make them palatable. But in the end, they are merely a substitute for the one thing we really need to have for a healthy body. That is the clean, clear, and Holy Living Water that is Christ.

So, we know we need to drink of the Water. Some have even gone out to a church to find this Water. Others have tried to find in nature, and other places and things that simply do not have the Living Water flowing from them. Oh, they may have the effects of the Living Waters, but do not contain its source. It is important to know and to note that this Living Water should always be given in the manner that Christ gave it. We should not attempt to add sweetener. The Water does not need to be sweeter, it simply needs to be partaken of. We should never try to add artificial color to it. I have often seen that people try to color the Water by adding to it, that which should not exist in the Water. Things like prosperity gospels, the adding to your bank account if you just believe and drink. This is artificial and has no place in the Living Water.

There are other artificial claims that have been added to the Water. Other sweeteners that do not belong. This is why it is so important that you go and draw from the spring yourselves. The one place to find the source of the Living water. The Spring being the Word of God. This is where you will find the real content of the Living Water. This is where God makes clear what the Water is and what it should contain. You will find in it Truth, and a way to feed the thirst in your life that will actually satisfy it. Not just temporarily make it go away, as so much of what the world offers does. You will find this to be able to quench the thirst in your very soul. To fill the hunger that you feel. For the hunger you feel, is not a feeling, it is a physical reaction. It is your soul crying forth that you would seek and partake of the bread of life. That you would drink deeply of the Living Water that is Christ. That you would meet the need of your spirit and to feed your soul that which it actually needs. The Living Water and the Bread of Life.

John 4:10-14

10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God,
and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would
give you living water.”

11 “Sir,”  said the woman, “You don’t even have a
bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this ‘living water’? 12 You
aren’t greater than our father Jacob,  are you? He gave us the well and drank
from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”

13  Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water
will get thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give
him will never get thirsty again—ever!  In fact, the water I will give him will
become a well   of water springing up within him for eternal life.”

The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (Jn 4:10-14). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

Revelations  22:1-2

1 Then he showed me the river  of living water, sparkling like crystal,
flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb  2 down the middle of the broad
street ⌊of
the city⌋.

The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (Re 22:1-2). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

John 6:32-40

32 Jesus said to them, “•I assure you: Moses  didn’t
give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the real bread from
heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives
life to the world.”

34 Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always!”

35 “I am  the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No
one who comes to Me  will ever be hungry,  and no one who believes in Me  will
ever be thirsty  again. 36 But as I told you, you’ve seen Me,  and yet you do
not believe. 37 Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who
comes to Me I will never cast out.  38 For I have come down from heaven,  not to
do My will, but the will of Him  who sent Me. 39 This is the will of Him who
sent Me: that I should lose none of those He has given Me but should raise  them
up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of My Father:  that everyone who
sees the Son  and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise  him
up on the last day.”

The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (Jn 6:32-40). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

This we do not for our personal gain, for there is none. But we do so that people may be saved.

1 Co 10:33
…not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

………………………………………The Study……………………………………………..
Ro 7:9; 9Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life.

So it is with the work-righteous and the proud unbeliever. Because they do not know the Law of God, which is directed against them, it is impossible for them to know their sin. Therefore, because of their lack of knowledge they are not amenable to instruction. If they would know the Law, they would also know their sin; and sin to which they are now dead to the knowledge of, would become obvious to them.

~ Martin Luther

A Christian , by himself, isn’t good. Jesus said that God alone is Good. The only “goodness” or righteousness, that the believer has comes from Jesus Christ.

Ps 14:1-3
2The Lord looks down from heaven on the •human race
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.
3All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.

2 Co 5:20-21
21He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Php 3:9
…not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith

Could there be “key” to help us unlock the “door of resistance” of the unbeliever; a key that allows us to help open the door that is Christ?

Jn 10:9
9I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.

The Bible does not call it a “key”, it just uses this one “thing” to open the door on the human conscience and let that which is in the human heart be revealed. It is the Law of God. Its purpose is to show the sinner what sin is. To reveal that the goodness that a man thinks is in his heart is not goodness at all, but a human judgment that is not based in the Truth of God.

Ro 7:7
7What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law.

Ro 3:19-20
19Now we know that whatever the law says speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment. 20For no flesh will be justified in His sight by the works of the law, for through the law ⌊comes⌋ the knowledge of sin.

Ps 19:7
7The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

Ga 3:24
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

“I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the Law. The Law is the needle , and you cannot draw the silken thread of the gospel through a man’s heart unless you first send the needle of the Law to make way for it.” ~ Charles Spurgeon.

So we as Christians must know this Law. We are to uphold the essence of the law, but not the letter of it. When we are judged by a Holy God, we are covered by the blood of Jesus, the sacrifice of God. Our “fine”, the payment for our transgression of the Law, has been paid by the perfect Lamb in the Holy Court of God. Thus, we are actually held to the standard, but the price for the violation of it, has been paid by another. This is what Christ was speaking of when he said:

Mt 5:17-19
17“Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished. 19Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

See we are still, and all, called to be a righteous people. We are called to know and to teach the law. As Christ himself said in v17a, he did not come to destroy the law… . He is very clearly stating that the Law of God is not be ignored because of his sake. The Law will be in “effect” (v18) until the end of times . He further states in v17b that he has come.. to fulfill. What does that mean? The law of Moses clearly states that a perfect sacrifice must be made to atone for sin. Christ came to fulfill that part of the Law once and for all. By doing so, he pays for the transgression of those who accept Him as Lord and God. Your fine is paid by His Grace and your faith in that most Holy of Gifts, that is Jesus Christ. Then He ends the whole thing with the encouragement to not only practice the righteousness that is found by following the Law, he tells us to teach it as well. This does not sound to me like that Law is meaningless to the Christian, it sounds like it should be important to them. It sounds as if we should know the Law. That we should be teaching it.

Now this is where a lot of people start baulking and thinking that “religion” is just a bunch of rules that are to be followed. They don’t need rules… and it just goes down hill from there . Okay do not for a second think that Christianity is about the rules. It is not. It is about a relationship with the Most Holy God. I have covered this subject in some of my other posts. So if this confuses you or you want to ask me some questions, feel free to do so.

So, we should now have a better understanding of the “why” part of “why we should be using the law”.

Now lets look at the law itself and get to know it.

What are the Four functions of God’s Law.

1.) Brings people to an understanding of God’s Standard.
2.) Stops sinners from justifying themselves in light of that standard.
3.) Helps them realize that they are guilty of that standard in front of a Holy God.
4.) Brings the knowledge of Sin and the state of their soul. Thus acting as a school master to bring them to the understanding of the need of Christ.

So does this mean that I need to know the entire Law of Moses? Do I need to study the Commandments, the Ordinances and the Judgments? In a word. No. The ordinances and judgments are all based of God’s Holy Commandments. We need to know the Commandments, that we might let the lost and dying world know of God’s standard. Better yet that there is “good news” that goes with it. The Gospel that is Jesus Christ. That the Judgment of God and the punishment of sin has already been paid. We just need to accept that payment for ourselves, and make Jesus our Lord.

So what is this standard of God? It is the Ten Commandments. The very standard that God put forth that we may know what he expects of us. How we as a sinful and rebellious people will be judged. We are without excuse, lets talk, he did in fact write it down for us! So lets look at the Commandments.

We find them in exodus Chapter 20

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
This calls us to make Him preeminent in our hearts. Jesus said in Mark 12:29-30;
29“This is the most important,” Jesus answered:
Listen, Israel! The Lordour God, The Lord is One. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

The first commandment requires us to acknowledge that YHVH (A-doe-nai) is the one and only true God and that he is our God. That we are to worship and glorify Him accordingly. This we should do by thinking, esteeming, honoring, adoring, choosing, loving, desiring, fearing, trusting, hoping, and rejoicing in Him. We should be zealous for Him and should call upon Him yielding our very will and being obedient and submissive to His will. His pleasure should be our desire, and our action should bring him honor. We should walk humbly before Him and bow in His presence. We should long to hear His voice and seek His face in all we do. He should be our Lord and God.

What is it to have a Lord? What does that mean? When we call Him Lord what are we saying?
According to Webster’s 1828 Dictionary it is this:
LORD, n. 1. A master; a person possessing supreme power and authority; a ruler; a governor.

So when we call Jesus our Lord, we are in fact saying that He is our master. THE person that has right and power, the authority to rule and govern our very lives. To commit to any less than this is to deny Him Lordship. It is to say you are important, but not supreme. You in effect say, I am the supreme power in my life and that He must only govern where I see fit.

This thought and action is a violation of this commandment (and the second as we will see). He must be the LORD and not just an advisor. You must place our Lord Jesus not in the “co-pilot seat” as I have so often seen written, but he must be put in the drivers set. He is the one that not only drives, but determines the location, the speed in which you arrive and the course that will be taken. We are to submit and trust Him. We are to have faith that He has the best route for our lives in mind. He will not always, and often not, take us on the smooth well traveled road. At times, much to your dislike, He will ask us to buckle up and take the hard road. But we must know that thou the journey may be rougher than we might have liked, the destination is exactly where we need to be.

This is what it means to have a Lord. One that you will follow not because it is easy, or because it is what you want to do, or even because it is safe, but because it is the path that he asks you to go down.

Are you ready to fulfill this command and have Him as the Lord of your Life?

Your have a friend or an acquaintance that has a medical problem. They have a weird growth on their back. This growth is not that noticeable, and for the most part of day to day living your friend does not seem to mind it and tells you that is really does not bother them.  You however, have  done some studying in your life that leads you to believe that this is not just a growth, but it is something that is actually under the flesh of your friend. A foreign object that does not belong.

You go to your friend and ask them about it. They seem uncomfortable talking about it  and make you feel a little uncomfortable for asking about it.  You think about what a private person your friend is and try to put yourself in their shoes. So you let it go, and go about your business. You chastise yourself for even bringing it up, because after all your friend does not seem to mind it and who are you to stick your nose in it anyway?

Then one day you and your friend are together and you notice that something seems to be bothering them. They appear to be a little sick. This is really not uncommon for your friend, as they themselves  say, they would never win a prize for their genetics. This is always a “tongue in cheek” commit and has never really concerned you before.  However you are really starting to see a pattern of illness that seems to beset your friend. You also notice they seem to be reacting to the growth, that is seems to be bothering them. So you marshal the courage and ask about how they are feeling, not sure of the reaction you will receive.  At first your friend is hesitant about really wanting to talk about it, but they do not close the door on the conversation. So you very gently press about the growth, you point out  that it appears to be sore. Your friend opens the conversation a little wider and tells you that in fact it is bothering him. He then goes on to tell you about his lack of understanding of what it is and why it bothers him at times. He further tells you that most of the time it does not seem to bother him at all.

You inquire a little more about it. You ask when he first noticed it. He tells you that he became aware it when he was little. He thinks it has been there since his birth, but really has never pursued any knowledge of where it came from. He uses phrase like, “I have been this way since I can remember”, “it is no big deal, I am doing fine”, and “besides, if I was born this way, then I should be this way, right?”.  He offers up more platitudes that  seem to you to ring slightly hollow. But you do not want to be confrontational so you listen. At some point in the conversation you make a deliberate effort to ask him about what is going on right now with it. He being open then tells you that it is infected again. He further states that this is a common occurrence and he is “used to it” it just gets him down having to struggle with it all time. You ask your friend if he is going to the doctor about it. Your friend shakes his head and tells you “no”. You ask why not. You friend gets defensive and then tells you something that you find surprising. Your friend tells you ” I do not believe in doctors”. I think they all have their own agendas and I simply do not want to have anything to do with them.  This leaves you a little stunned, and you ask, have you ever been to the doctor? He then tells you that his parents did not believe in doctors either and they just treated it with salve and pain killers and it was fine. So he has done the same. Again, he offers a platitude that does not quite cover the answer.  You now with a new understanding of the seriousness of the condition of your friend, you press on. You point out the overwhelming evidence that doctors are in fact a good thing. Your friend, again defensive,  states something to the effect of ” that is fine for other people, they want to trust in a doctor, that is their choice. It is just not for me”.

You are now quite puzzled at the fact that your friend is becoming irritated and even a little angry at you. You explain to him that this does not benefit you, that you are here to help him. That the net benefit of the conversation is for his good, and not your own. This statement makes sense to him as he rationally understands the circumstance. He lets his guard down and opens the opportunity for further conversation.

You figure it is now or never, again marshaling your courage, you tell your friend about what you think about the growth. You explain that you have been studying and found good evidence that it is not a natural growth, that it is a foreign object instead. The problem is that the object needs to be removed. Just treating the sore with salve and pain killers is not going to cure the problem.  The fact that sore is consistently getting infected is as causing more problems than just the sore itself. The infection is coursing throughout his body and harming other things as well. The fact that he can not seem to fight off other infections and is continually getting sick is directly related to the infection of this sore. You tell you friend that he needs to trust the doctor and have this object removed. That it is not just the object that is causing him pain, but it is the infection that object causes. The object must be removed, and then the infection must be treated. The wound will then heal on its own. After this,  that he will become a stronger, healthier person in light of the treatment. You explain this does not mean that he will never again get sick or that he will never have another infection. You explain that that he will be able to fight off infections better, that he will be able to handle the times that he gets sick better. You tell him that in the end he will have a life that he can live with a comfort he does not now know.

Our friend has the foreign object that everyone of us is born with. The object in called sin in the Bible. It is in our very flesh from the time that we are conceived. Some go through their lives trying to ignore its effects on the body of their lives. Some claim they do not have it. Some claim that it is something other than what it is. Some come to the understanding of what it is, and choose to keep it. Others, come to the understanding of what it is, and seek the Doctor to fix it.  The Doctor is of course God. The One known as Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can actually remove it. He is the only one to EVER claim He could remove it. He is the cure to the deadly disease that we are born with.

Some want to claim that they do not believe in the Doctor. But as we can see in our story, this when put in perspective is an absurd statement. Did you know that if you claim this in real life, the government will in fact lock you up and force treatment upon you? Now if you are, as you believe to be,  a rational person and the government forces you to get a treatment that you do not want, you may call that evil. I would not necessarily disagree with that statement. However, when we think about God, we often make a statement that goes something like “if God is such a kind and loving God, then why is there suffering”.  Because God has never, nor will He ever force the cure upon us. He offered His one and only Son as the cure and gives you the opportunity to take on the cure, or to die with your disease.  Man has for centuries told God that we do not want His cure, His presence, His guidance and His laws. We in fact tell God in so many ways that we not only do not want Him, the fact we can form the question of “why” shocks even me. I mean we have kicked God out of our government, schools, homes, families, public places and then turn and ask “why is there so much suffering and evil”.

The answer is not found in the lack of God, but the lack of people following Him. The lack of people that will believe not only of God but in God. That He will provide a cure and that the cure is more than just a salve. Unfortunately, we have “clinics” that no longer even bother trying to tell the patient about he real problem. They would rather give out prescriptions of salve and pain killers and tell patient they will be fine as long as the come back. The cure is not being subscribed, the patent is not being told of the ultimate fate of their disease. They are instead being wooed into a belief they are fine when in fact they are dead and do not know it.

The cure is not to feel better, the cure is life everlasting. The cure does not insure a great life, free of disease. It does not promise riches on this earth and happiness the way the world knows it. It promises a challenging life that is worthy to live. It promises treasures in Heaven and a relationship with the Maker and Lord of all.  It not only promises, it delivers that which is says it will. This has been proven throughout time as millions which have come to know this Truth have been willing and in fact have died for it.

Once this Truth is made real to you through faith, you can never be the same. This unfortunately, is the reason that some will not pursue it.  Some out of a pride that can not admit it needs or wants help. Others out of a fear of change. This is a from of selfishness. A selfishness that states that “I am fine on my own” or “I do not want to give up…. Whatever it is you want to hold on to. Either of these are the  kind of pride the Bible speaks of when it says; “pride goes before a fall”. The “fall” is either ignored or not understood. Because to say “no” to this is, is to cause the ultimate destruction to ones self.  Which is not by coincidence, the very thing that pride is trying not to do. It is not without reason that the Bible says things like “he that will be first will be last”. If you put yourself before God, he is telling you that you will be last. This “last” is the one last that you can not afford to be.

Each one of us needs The Cure. We need a Holy and Righteous God to remove the Sin from our lives. We need to take our daily treatments of the Word of God, which is the Bible. This will help us fight off the infections that sin can cause. If we seek this treatment our wounds will heal. We will be a stronger and healthier person because of it. Our spirits will become one with God. We will be able to recognize Truth and seek the most meaningful relationship that we could ever imagine. One that brings a peace to the soul, not to the body. One that brings healing to very spirit of an individual.  A relationship that will take you not only through this life, but for a life everlasting.