MY POWER SOURCE

MY POWER SOURCE



Ephesians [GW] 1:17-23 I pray that the glorious Father, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know Christ better. Then you will have deeper insight. You will know the confidence that he calls you to have and the glorious wealth that God's people will inherit. You will also know the unlimited greatness of his power as it works with might and strength for us, the believers. He worked with that same power in Christ when he brought him back to life and gave him the highest position in heaven. He is far above all rulers, authorities, powers, lords, and all other names that can be named, not only in this present world but also in the world to come. God has put everything under the control of Christ. He has made Christ the head of everything for the good of the church. The church is Christ's body and completes him as he fills everything in every way.



 I lived the first 7 years of my life in a home that had electricity. Granted, all we had was bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling, but when we pulled the chain there was light! Then the Great depression hit and my parents lost everything. For the next several years we moved from place to place, none of which having electricity. Then we moved to town and how wonderful it was to flip a switch and have light!

  We sometimes take our modern conveniences for granted, but then one day we flip the switch and nothing happens.  The power is not there! We check the appliance, the plug, the circuit breaker, and even contact the power company.

  God is the source of spiritual power. A wonderful thing to know. He never fails! We, however, sometimes move away.

Leslie Nivens

CHURCH

CHURCH

Friday, February 7, 2020



Ephesians [GW] 5:20-30 Always thank God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Place yourselves under each other's authority out of respect for Christ. Wives, place yourselves under your husbands' authority as you have placed yourselves under the Lord's authority. The husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. It is his body, and he is its Savior. As the church is under Christ's authority, so wives are under their husbands' authority in everything. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. He did this to make the church holy by cleansing it, washing it using water along with spoken words. Then he could present it to himself as a glorious church, without any kind of stain or wrinkle-holy and without faults. So husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. No one ever hated his own body. Instead, he feeds and takes care of it, as Christ takes care of the church. We are parts of his body. 



  “church” is first mentioned by Jesus as recorded by Matthew (16:18), then from there by other of God’s penmen on through Revelation totaling 80 times in 79 verses. It is never ever about a physically constructed edifice. It is always about people, not a go-to building or meeting place. The church is the body of Christ. As John 1:12 family we congregate as Christian community members, saints on earth. We never meet at church. We meet as the church.

  The church is believers trusting in Lord Jesus Christ that live in love as kinfolk.

  This is another important point to understand and think for it should be part of how we see Jesus, ourselves, and others within and without the family of God.

EBB4

TWO AIMS: ONE TARGET

TWO AIMS: ONE TARGET

Thursday, February 6, 2020



  Matthew [ESV] 9:14-17 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” [Mk.2:19-22; Lk.5:37)

  Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.



  Jesus’s ministry while among men had, continues to have, two purposes with one target. Just as medical professional does; practicing both prevention and cure toward good health. Police do the same. At times you and I do this.

  Jesus demonstrated the true purpose of the Law, all 613 of them – describing and demonstrating the new way of grace.

EBB4

COMMUNION

COMMUNION



GotQuestions.org: "Why is there so much disagreement about holy communion?"
  Holy communion or the Lord’s Supper (also known in some churches as the Lord’s Table or the Eucharist) is a source of significant disagreement within the church as a whole. What’s agreed upon is found clearly in Scripture: communion was instituted by Jesus during His last supper with His disciples. During that time, He served them bread and “the cup.” He told them that these elements were His body and blood (Matthew 26:26–28; Mark 14:22–24). He also instructed them to repeat the ceremony in remembrance of Him (Luke 22:19).
  Disagreements over holy communion stem from many questions: Was Jesus speaking of His body and blood figuratively or literally, or were His words a mystical combination of the figurative and literal? How often is the church to observe communion? Is the Eucharist a means of grace or simply a memorial? What was in the cup—fermented wine or unfermented grape juice?
  Because Jesus did not give specific, step-by-step instructions regarding the ritual, naturally, there is some conflict about the hows and wheres and whens, and what exactly the bread and wine represent. There are arguments about whether or not the elements actually become the blood and body of Christ (the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation), whether they somehow contain His Spirit (Luther’s doctrine of consubstantiation), or whether the wine and bread are simply symbols of His body and blood. There are differing opinions about the liturgy that should be spoken and whether or not confession should be part of the ritual. Denominations differ on the frequency of the communion, how it should be performed, and by whom.
  There are four biblical accounts of Jesus’ last supper with His disciples, three in the Synoptic Gospels and one in 1 Corinthians 11:23–34. When we look at these accounts in combination, we know the following:
  1. During the Passover meal, Jesus blessed, broke, and offered bread to His disciples, saying, “Take eat, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
  2. He also passed around a cup, telling them to divide it among them: “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood, poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins.” He also instructed all of them to drink it.
  3. It was during this last meal that Jesus mentions that one of His disciples would betray Him.
  4. Jesus says He will not drink of the fruit of the vine again until He drinks it anew with His followers in the Father’s kingdom.
  As He instituted the Lord’s Supper, Jesus was focused on the spiritual relationship between Himself and His disciples. He did not provide particulars of how or when or where or by whom the elements should be served, and, therefore, different churches have some freedom to decide those details for themselves. For example, whether a church observes communion once a week or once a month is not really important.
  However, other disagreements over communion are theologically significant. For example, if partaking of the Lord’s Table is necessary in order to receive grace, then grace is not really free and must be earned by deeds we perform, in contradiction of Titus 3:5. And, if the bread is actually the body of Christ, then the Lord is being sacrificed again and again, in contradiction of Romans 6:9–10. These matters are significant enough to have divided the church through the years and actually became an issue of contention during the Protestant Reformation.
  Understanding that we are saved by grace, through faith, apart from works (Ephesians 2:8–9) and considering Jesus’ words concerning the elements of communion to be figurative, we focus on the beauty of the new covenant (Matthew 26:28) brought into effect by Jesus’ own blood. We remember His sacrifice for us as often as we partake of the Lord’s Table (Luke 22:19). And we look forward to once again sharing the cup with Christ in the kingdom of God (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18).

SANS REJECTION

SANS REJECTION

Tuesday, February 4, 2020



  Matthew [ESV] 7:21-27 [Jesus explained] “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” [Also note 1Cor.3:11]

  1Corinthians 1:18 [Paul explained] For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 



  God is love, rejecting no one: 2Pe 3:8-9 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (Also note Jn.12:32)

  There are however many that reject God’s love: 2Peter 2:1-22 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 

and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam [Num.22:5], the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” (Also note Mt.7:21-27; Rom. Chap. 1; 1Cor.1:18)

EBB4

THE PLACE AND PURPOSE OF THE BIG 10 TODAY

THE PLACE AND PURPOSE OF THE BIG 10 TODAY

Monday, February 3, 2020



Galatians [ESV] chapter 5 … you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [Mt.22:34-40] But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [Rom. Chap. 7; 2Cor.3:7-10]



  Friday’s DT question was “Are the Ten Commandments our source of morality?”

  The place of the 10 Commandments is in and under the old blood covenant. As John 3:3 born-again John 1:12 sons and daughters of God’s family the 10 Commandments, nor any of the other 603 Old Testament laws have any place or purpose for us. The Commandments were prior to the new blood covenant. They are not our source of morality. For the followers of Christ the reliance break from the Old to the New is definite and absolute. Andrew Farley* correctly explains “So, it’s not Jesus plus Moses. It’s not Jesus plus tablets of stone. For the [New Testament] believer, it’s Jesus plus nothing, 100% natural, no additives!”

  Authentic godliness does not come from Old testament Law! For New testament believers, godly behavior comes from our submission to the incredible gift of the Holy Spirit living within.

  Ahh, but does the Ten Commandments have a purpose in this day and age? Yes, indeed they do, for how else might the need for the Redeemer be defined? Wonderfully, the New Testament is loaded with teaching on the attitudes and actions that God’s Holy Spirit is working in us: “Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.“ (Gal.3:21-26)

EBB4

TEMPERANCE & SELF CONTROL

TEMPERANCE/SELF-CONTROL



  John [ESV] 15:5 "I am the vine. You are the branches. Those who live in me while I live in them will produce a lot of fruit. But you can't produce anything without me. 

  1Corinthians [ESV] 9:24 Don't you realize that everyone who runs in a race runs to win, but only one runner gets the prize? Run like them, so that you can win.

  Galatians [ESV] 5:19-25 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

  Philippians [ESV] 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

  2Peter [GW] 1:3-9 God's divine power has given us everything we need for life and for godliness. This power was given to us through knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and integrity. Through his glory and integrity he has given us his promises that are of the highest value. Through these promises you will share in the divine nature because you have escaped the corruption that sinful desires cause in the world. Because of this, make every effort to add integrity to your faith; and to integrity add knowledge; to knowledge add self-control; to self-control add endurance; to endurance add godliness; to godliness add Christian affection; and to Christian affection add love. If you have these qualities and they are increasing, it demonstrates that your knowledge about our Lord Jesus Christ is living and productive. If these qualities aren't present in your life, you're shortsighted and have forgotten that you were cleansed from your past sins. 



  I have decided that I have what is known as a “compulsive personality”; whatever I am doing I keep on doing and doing and doing. I have to make myself set limits and stop! My dictionary says a compulsion is something that “is hard to resist”. It does not say it cannot be resisted. The Apostle Paul tells us repeatedly to be temperate in all things. Temperance and/or moderation are simply using self-control. I hear people say , “I can’t help myself, I can’t stop smoking, drinking, gambling, overeating or _______. I too have often reached the point where I can’t help myself, but God can, and does help me when I can’t.

Leslie Nivens