Good day ladies and gentlemen. I realize I have not posted lately, but I have been aboard the lazy bones train. I have been thinking about what to write and I felt God pushing me toward this topic. I have a tendency sometimes to be over-dominating, and wanting to be right, and I sometimes forget why I started this blog. My original post stated that I was going to use this to spout my 2 cents about things, but most importantly to bring Glory to God which He rightly deserves. I do not know if I have done that to the full extent that I should have. With that being said, I will begin this post titled "The point of the Matter."
John 12:31-33
27 “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” 29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” 30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die. 34 The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.
Here we see Jesus as the Awesome servant king He is. He was a man acquainted with great sorrow. Jesus is troubled greatly because He knows the cross is before Him. Look what He says though in v. 27-28a. He wants to glorify God. He knew His mission and embraced it because it would glorify the Father. He says in v. 32 that if He be lifted up, He would draw all men unto Him.
Isn't that the truth!!! Jesus is a stumbling block to many. Why is that? Jesus answers that and warns us to walk while you have the light. If you have Christ then let His light shine. We can get caught up in the debate over theological issues yet countless are sinking into hell everyday. The apostle Paul was a very smart, well educated man and what did he say over in 1 Corinthians???
1 Corinthians 1: 10-31
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
Christ the Power and Wisdom of God 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “ I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”[a]20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks[b] foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Glory Only in the Lord 26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”
Paul sought to know nothing but Christ and his crucifiction. Leonard Ravenhill I believe said it best. "When you hear someone say there is room at the foot of the cross, don't listen. There is room ON the cross". That is a very challenging statement. The cross symbloized death, not swooning. For those of you who do not know what swooning is, it is a theory that you simply faint and then you revive and are better. We are to die to this world, and be alive to Christ. We should seek to be like Paul in the sense that we know that the cross is the only thing worth boasting in. In doing so what will happen?
1. We will be dead to this world
2. Men will see our good deads and glorify our Father in heaven
3. We will bring glory to God
4. We will bring glory to Christ because people will ask us and we can point to the cross
Remember what Jesus said? If I be lifted up. So we need to point to the cross and warn others of the great sacrifice that God has made for us. This is "The point of the Matter".You see, that is why we are here. To bring glory to God. Let's lift up the Savior and in doing so HE will draw all men to Himself.
May God richly bless you this day as you ponder the vast sacrifice that Christ has given on each of our behalfs. Please take time to thank Him this day.
Jeff
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5 comments:
What are you doing everyday to show God's love for them...How, or are you telling someone...anyone everyday about God's plan for salvation. As for me I'm tired of standing on the sidelines all dressed in my "christian" uniform with God my coach telling me to get in the game and I'm always coming up with excuses!!! I have to ask myself..."If this faith of mine is real then why do I so easily come up with excuses as to not follow" and to be honest, I'm tired of it!! Either I get in the game or take off the uniform. So the question still stands, "What are you doing DAILY to bring all people to Christ???
This is where I'm at, how about you??
Daily I hand out tracts. Grab some from Living Waters, or Chick and carry them everywhere. Hand them out, and follow up next time around. Example was the other day, I handed a million dollar bill to a girl who said she had rec'd one already. This opened up the conversation to ask the million dollar question. She was relatively certain that she would be ok, so I shared repentance and faith with her. Today at the grocery store I handed out a tract to a new worker and when I go back, I will inquire further about any questions she might have. Ask them if they answered the million dollar question.
On the uniform topic do not take the uniform off, just cast your your burdens on the Lord. He will give you the strength, just do not quit. Perseverance is key. Know this, if you are thinking of quiting, where would that come from? Does not Jesus draw you to Himself? He said He would never cast you away. Let's repent and take that small step back to Christ. He will always welcome you and desires us to press on. I to struggle with this because I feel I could do so much more. I am an unorganized person and therefore I am prone to miss the mark because I do not seek to hit any target. Thanks to a good friend, I was rebuked for not being organized, therefore I have since created a 3 month witnessing calendar. I just had another guy sign on today. That makes 3 laborers to come along. God will open the doors, just seek to be faithful. God will do the rest. Do not be discouraged, and know that arrows will come from everywhere telling you that you have gone crazy, or that you can't do that. Peter spoke that way to Christ and what did Jesus say to him? He said he did not have the kingdom purposes in mind. Do not listen to other Christians, listen to God and he will direct your paths. Any council you recieve should line up with scripture. Look past your reasoning and let's look to eternity. If you are interested, I can point you to a local leader in your area that leads group sonto the streets where you can recieve some discipleship if you wish. Let me know where you live and I will hook you up with someone.
Jeff
On Fathers day my family and I went to the Pirates game. Tanner my oldest boy at 12, Tobin my youngest boy at 9, and I handed out the remaining tracts that were in the family van. I thought this would be a pretty harmless venue to hand out tracts with the boys while my wife and twin daughters stood off to the side and watched. The tracts went pretty fast and most were happy to accept them. About 3/4 of the way through handing them out a young man approached me and returned the tract I had given him stating " It's not right handing this sh_t out, thats private" to which I apologized to him as he walked away. After we were finished we met up with my wife and continued to the game. She was standing on the other side of the intersection and was privy to the remarks that the people were making as they walked away. It was very supriseing to her the comments that were made by most who had received a tract. In all it was a very good experience for my boys and my wife and opened up a dialog that I hope in the future will help all us realise the need for this kind of outreach. Here are some thoughts that come to mind and a very inportant safety consideration.
1st and most important- There was a police officer not more than 20 feet from where we were handing out tracts, which may or may not have been the reason that the young man simply handed the tract back and left...otherwise who knows. The last thing I wanted was for my family to get hurt or see me get hurt.
2nd- This may be a good stratagy when handing out tracts...ingaging people as they walk away with these thoughts freshly running through their minds...catching them off guard with the devil hard at work in them.
3rd- This could be a good opportunity for others to see how people respond to the word of God in a non ingaging way to show them the need for and importance of this out reach...maybe even audio and video to show others.
It is my prayer that these comments will honer and glorify God and inspire more people to help bring ALL people to Christ.
I agree. I have video tapped some and recorded some open air preaching. I am saving for a digital vcr so that I can put these on a website. Thanks for the encouragement. I am going to start taking my children out starting tonight. It is a great way to show them faith in action instead of them seeing parties all the time while telling no one about the judgment coming to them upon death. Praise God that you are faithful. I wish you lived in my area because I would love to hit the streets with you. God Bless you brother.
I love Leonard Ravenhill!
I also love Keith Green's music, much of it parallels what Ravenhill is so passionate about, being that they were friends. I really love LR's book "Why Revival Tarries" which is more of a call to prayer. How appropriate.
I am a musician, and I would be honored if you would check out my site. LR has inspired some of my songs. All my music is free for download. Anyway, I just thought I'd share.
-Sean
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www.SeanDietrich.com
"All my music is free for download."
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