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John 5:36 - "THE VERY WORKS THAT I DO - TESTIFY ABOUT ME." NASU
John the Baptist was in prison and he is having some doubts about Jesus being the Messiah so he sends some of his men to ask Jesus if He were the One that was to come or should they be looking for another. Jesus gives them this answer in Lk 7:22-23 - And He answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed , and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. NASU Oh yeah, He is the One all right because Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be doing exactly what Jesus said He has been doing.
I was at the bedside of a man who was going in for some major heart surgery. When we were all alone he confessed to me that he had not been living his life correctly and he would like to have a second chance to make things right at home, at work and most importantly with the Lord. I prayed that he would come through his surgery successfully and that the Lord would allow him time to change his legacy. I learned something really important from that brother that day and it was when you are faced with the possibility that you might die you really want to arrange your life according to those things which are really important.
If you said, "My family, my job or the Lord is important to me." Then your works should be your proof that your family, job or the Lord is really important to you. Don't say that something is important to you and then have no works to support your statement because that will make you a hypocrite and that is certainly not what you're interested in accomplishing. It was really important for Jesus to stay focused on His goals and we see Him doing exactly that staying focused on His purpose for coming to earth. That is why He says that His works testify about Him. So ask yourself this question: "What do your works say about you?" Think About These: The plain fact is that human beings are happy only when they are striving for something worthwhile. This will be a better world when the power of love replaces the love of power. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Mt 5:3 - "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." NASU
Some of the teachings of Jesus were certainly paradoxes. The passage above about the Kingdom of Heaven belonging to the "poor in spirit" can't be correct. Are you kidding me? The teachings in the time of Christ were very clear that God blessed those who were rich not those who were poor. The ones clearly going to heaven were the rich. You are poor because you have been cursed by God. Your poverty is a testimony as to where you stand with God. Jesus comes along and teaches something totally contradictory to this first century belief. He teaches that the "poor in spirit" will be residents in the Kingdom of Heaven. Now that my friends is a paradoxical lesson taught by our Savior Jesus.
You can be the richest man or the poorest man on earth and be "poor in spirit". How is that possible? The person who is "poor in spirit" is the one who knows he/she is bankrupt spiritually without God. They know that if they are ever going to get to Heaven they are going to get there with God's help (His Grace and Mercy) and not their money or good works. If someone asks you are you going to Heaven when you die there is a way to know for sure. I have asked that question to many people over the years and the majority of the people always say something like "I hope so!" That is the wrong answer my friend. Getting to Heaven is not based on "our hope so" it is based on our faith in Jesus Christ.
It is possible to know if you are going to Heaven. It all starts with the realization that we're totally bankrupt spiritually. We are in need of God's help. Do you believe you have sinned? If you answered yes that you believe you have sinned then you need to know that your sin has separated you from God. It was your sin that separated you. You have not inherited anyone's sin. We can't get to Heaven on our own. We need to have faith in God's plan and that plan is that He sent His only Son Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners.
Do you believe that Jesus accomplished what the Bible says He accomplished? Do you believe He made atonement for our sins and the sins of the world? If you believe that He did accomplish His mission or purpose for coming to earth then my recommendation is do what He says. John 3:3-6 - Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" 5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. A person is born of the water and the spirit when he has been baptized. Acts 2:37-38 - Brethren, what shall we do?" 38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. A person who has faith in Jesus will do what He says and in being obedient to His commands you will receive the forgiveness of your sins and the Holy Spirit. If you do what Jesus says you will know you can enter into the Kingdom of God aka Kingdom of Heaven. Think About These: We cannot do everything we want to do, but we should do everything God wants us to do. The atheist can't find God for the same reason a thief can't find a policeman. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Eph. 4:26 - Be ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, NASU
Mark 3:4-5 - And He said to them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?" But they kept silent. 5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. NASU
The apostle Paul said, "Be angry and yet do not sin..." (The reason it is in all capital letters above is this is a direct quote from the Psalms 4:4) Jesus, according to Mark, was angry with the Pharisees attitude in regard to healing on the Sabbath. Jesus was there to heal people and it didn't matter to Him if the healing took place on the Sabbath or not. I have said it this way: "It is never wrong to do what is right." and that is what Jesus did. What mattered to Jesus was a good deed was done and this glorified God.
If you are angry my question to you would be "What is the source of your anger? I believe this to be a very important issue. You must identify what causes you to become angry. Many people have called Jesus' anger "righteous indignation". I have no problem with anyone calling His anger that. The question for us is "Could our anger be called righteous indignation"?
Candace Lightner's 13 year old daughter, Cari, was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Fair Oaks, California in May 1980. Candace used her "anger" to organize a group of people we know today as Mothers Against Drunk Driving or MADD. Driving laws in our country have been changed because Candace used her anger in a positive way. The apostle Paul said, we can be angry we just can't allow our anger to lead us into sinning. So maybe you have been cheated or robbed in some way. It is okay to be angry but don't allow your anger to become sin.
Years ago when I was doing counseling I would tell people they needed to learn how to ventilate their feelings. You will either do one of two things with your feelings. You will either ventilate or suppress them. The choice is yours. The best solution is learning how to ventilate properly. Let's say you are driving and the person driving the car in front of you is going to slow according to you. How are you going to ventilate what you are feeling? You can get closer and do what they call "riding their bumper" or when you get an opportunity to pass you cut back in real close to them to let them know you don't appreciate how they are driving, OR you could think and say to yourself is God trying to slow me down to save me from a serious accident up ahead? This is exactly what happened to one passenger who was supposed to be on ValuJet Flight 592 from Miami to Atlanta where all 110 passengers and crew were killed. He said, he was yelling and screaming at all the cars that were in front of him for not driving fast enough according to him. He said the realization of the crash hit him hard as he stood in the airport and heard the report of the crash of flight 592. All those cars that were in his way were now the reason he was still alive. James 1:19-20 - But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. NASU
According to James we are to be slow to anger and then Paul says, if you are going to become angry don't allow your anger to lead you to sinning. I hope you have an anger free week. Think About These: "Anger" is one letter short of danger. For every minute you are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness. Striking while the iron is hot maybe okay, but don't strike while the head is hot. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Matt. 6:4 - No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." NASU
The Greek word for "serve' is "douleuo" and it means to be a slave to. Wealth has been called a terrible master. We have all probably known someone who was a slave to wealth. People want to be rich. There is nothing wrong with being rich unless you have allowed it to become your master and it has enslaved you. People have lost their health, families and friends when all they had time for was to pursue wealth. I have told you before about my conversation with an elderly farmer in VA. We went for a walk around his farm and as we were walking he said that the youth puzzled him. He went on to clarify his statement by saying this: "The youth spend all their health to gain wealth and then when they are old they spend all their wealth to gain health." I just smiled and had to agree with him.
Where do you spend most of your time? What takes up the majority of your day? What are some promises that wealth cannot make you? Can wealth say to you, "If you are wealthy you will be able to sleep well at night?" We all know that is false. Yet, that is exactly what the Psalmist says, "…Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, O LORD! You have put gladness in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety (Ps.4:6-8). He is able to lie down and sleep not because of the bumper crop of grain and wine but because God has put gladness in his heart and because of this gladness he is able sleep in peace. So do you want to have a good night's sleep? Then I highly recommend serving the LORD. It is better to serve the LORD than serve wealth. Think About These: Never spend your money before you've earned it. Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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