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Col.1:16 - For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. NASU
Well, that is a pretty easy question to answer. The answer would be yes. What exactly is "blasphemy"? The meaning signifies the speaking evil of God or to speak injuriously against Him. In the Old Testament if an Israelite blasphemed the name of God that person was to be put to death. If that were done today the world's population would decrease dramatically. I am sure we probably all know that by using God's name in vain that is one way for a person to blaspheme the name of God, but there are other ways.
I can't tell you how many times I have heard Christian's blaspheming God's name in the situation I previously mentioned. The Christian doesn't know what to say so they say to the parent's of the deceased child "God most have needed another angel in heaven so He took your child". Are you kidding me? This makes me cringe. The scripture I used from Colossians says, "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth…" If God needs another angel in heaven He doesn't need to take a child from earth to fill His longing desire. I don't believe you have really thought through your answer or you would never say that. First, it makes God look like He is some type of Eternal Ogre. A very cruel and vindictive deity who sits in Heaven and decides He wants to really hurt some of His creation here on earth. What better way to hurt the parents than "to take one of their children or in some cases take their only child". Please if you are a Christian don't blaspheme God in this manner. Remember the definition of "blaspheming" is to speak injuriously against and that is exactly what you are doing by saying God took a person's child because He needed something in Heaven. Don't you believe those parents needed that child? What are those parents going to think of God if they believe what you said about Him? Second, what would be thought of a human who would steal a child from a family? Would you be able to convince them the kidnapper was a loving person and he needed that child more than the parents? Do you know those parents are going to go through the rest of their life with a hurt that can't be healed? So why place a thought in their mind that God just takes children without any regard for the parents? Frances Bledsoe told me 10 days after I did the funeral service for her son these words. She said, "Preacher I have buried my husband and I have now buried my son and I want you to know it is so much harder burying a child". A few years later Ruth Baker told me the exact same thing. Let's not fall into the trap of blaspheming God by blaming Him for the death of a child. We also need to realize the parents don't need to hear some theological mumbo jumbo. They just need to know we care and many times the best way to show that is by saying nothing.
I believe your tears will say everything the parents need to hear way more than any of your theological words or explanations. I hope this Pump Up will keep you from blaspheming God and in so doing it will also keep you out of trouble with Him. Think About These: The Christian's talk and walk must go together. The written word can be erased not so with the spoken word. The word that is sufficient to the wise is usually enough for the rest of us too. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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John 1:45-46 - Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." And Nathanael said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
This is what is going to happen to Nathanael. He is told by Phillip that he and some of the other guys have found the Messiah. The One Moses and the Prophets wrote about in their writings. He is invited to come and meet the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael makes this snide remark, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Whoa! What an insult? You see profiling is something that has been done for thousands of years. Nathanael judges Jesus simply because He was from the town of Nazareth. I had a professor who had a favorite saying and it was "Don't confuse me with the facts my mind is already made up." I have met a lot of people like that in the world and the church. Are you open to the truth? No really are you open to the truth? I have been a Christian for 50 years now and I can tell you about some of my conversations with non-believers and they have a lot in common with Nathanael. I remember one conversation I had with a person who knew me before I was a Christian. He couldn't believe I was falling for this Christianity garbage. So I asked him, "Why don't you believe in Christianity? His answer was the Bible is filled with contradictions. So I asked him, "Have you ever read the Bible"? He said, "No." So I asked him, "Well, if you have never read the Bible, how do you know it is full of contradictions?" Nathanael was not going to believe that Jesus was the Messiah simply because Phillip said, we have found the One Moses and the Prophets wrote about.
Phillip saw Jesus as the Messiah. The One Moses and the Prophets wrote about in their writings. Moses writes in Deut 18:15- "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. This prophet that was going to be raised up according Moses was going to be Jesus. Peter quotes this passage of scripture in Acts 3:22 and states Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy. Isaiah 61:1-2 is a prophecy that Jesus Himself says He is the fulfillment of it in Luke 4:18-21. I pray that you believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, and the One who sacrificed Himself on the cross of Calvary so that we could have the forgiveness of our sins. There are a lot of other things we can believe about Jesus but the ones above are essential for us to believe. Jesus is the Christ. He is the LORD and Savior of the world.
I love Phillip's response "Come and See". He doesn't engage in an argument with him. He just very calmly says, "Come and See." There is a great lesson in Evangelism. We don't have to be argumentative. We don't have to force our beliefs about Jesus on any one. Some times a simple "come and see" might be our best answer. Once Nate meets Jesus we have a change of his heart or mind. John 1:48-50 - Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." 49 Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel." 50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these." In order to become a disciple of Jesus you have to be open to the truth about Jesus as Nathanael did. The great take away from this Pump Up to me is an "honest skeptic" can be changed. They can become believers in Jesus Christ. All we have to do is be willing to tell people to come and see. Think About These: Truth angers those it doesn't fully convince. To hear truth and not accept it doesn't nullify it. The most important person to be honest with is yourself. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Luke 24:8- And they remembered His words,… NASU
The disciples had high hopes for Jesus. They thought He was their liberator from the Roman authorities. Little did they know He was their liberator, but the only difference was Jesus was going to free them spiritually and not physically or politically. Jesus had been crucified three days earlier. The disciples watched Him die right before their very eyes. These women have come to the tomb where Jesus had been placed. They are there with spices to anoint the dead body of Jesus. There is one big problem: Jesus is NOT there. HE HAS RISEN! There are two angels at the tomb who appear like men and they say, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? Yes ladies, why do you seek the living One among the dead? Good Question!
Seriously, look what the angels say to them in Luke 24:6-7 - "Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." "Remember ladies how He spoke to you…" No, they don't remember. They FORGOT what Jesus taught them. Listen to me, if you want to forget something, which we all will do, forget anything you want but don't ever forget that Jesus died for you, was buried and resurrected on the 3rd day. DON"T EVER FORGET THAT! The best thing we can do for ourselves is to REMEMBER what Jesus has taught us. Hands down this is the best thing you can do for yourself. Let's do a quick survey: How many of you believe you have forgotten something? If you are in the minority and think I haven't forgotten anything here is a question for you. What was the first sermon you ever heard? What was its title and sermon text? Okay, we can now agree we have forgotten some things. It is okay to forget some things, no big deal, but forgetting that Jesus died on the cross to atone for our sins now that is a big deal. Remember every day of your life that Jesus is the Christ, the One and Only unique Son of God and that death could not hold Him. He resurrected and we will also. Everyone is going to resurrect but your final destination will be determined by what you have done here. Jesus said it this way in John 5:28-29 - for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. The choice is yours. Do you want to be resurrected to life or to judgment? I can't tell you what to do but it would be to your benefit to choose being resurrected to life. Just sayin! Maybe you should give it a thought?
Luke 24:8-10 - And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Don't forget the Words of Jesus and remember to share His words with others. Think About This: We can't do everything we want to do, but we can do everything God wants us to do. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Matt. 26:51-52 - And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew out his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. NASU
In Gal 5:19-21- Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:… strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions,… envying, drunkenness,… and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Is Jesus telling us to put our sword of "strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, envying, drunkenness," away? Jesus tells us if we don't put our sword away it will be the very thing that kills us.
Look at the person who hasn't properly dealt with bitterness from events that have happened to them in their life. They go around like a time bomb. They're constantly looking for someone to disagree with and unleash an explosion on them. I am sure we probably would all like to relive a few life situations where we lost control. We blew it. We embarrassed ourselves and those around us. If we could only get those hurtful words back in our mouth or as Jesus would say, "Put your sword back in its place". Why does Jesus want us to put our sword back in its sheaf? Jesus tells us "for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword". He doesn't want us to die that way.
He says in Prov. 14:16-17 - A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is arrogant and careless. A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated. A wise man is cautious. He knows evil and turns around and goes the other way. A fool or in other words a man or woman who is not wise runs right into evil and will pay the price for being foolish. Does this sound familiar to anyone? If you will keep your sword in your sheaf you will not be quick to lose your temper. Again, how many times have we regretted losing our tempers? So the next time we want to get angry and lash out at someone let's say to ourselves you know this is probably a good time "to keep my sword in its sheaf". No sense cutting off someone's ear when I am not being led by the spirit of God. Think About These: "Anger" is just one letter short of danger. He who has a sharp tongue soon cuts his own throat. People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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