DISCERNING LIFEPLACE

DISCERNING LIFEPLACE

Monday, March 9, 2020



1Corinthians 6:19-20; 7:23-24 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. … Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.



  “Listen to yourself and you’ll be surprised what you can learn, and you may not like what you hear.” is the gist of another of Grandmother Ida Mae McGee’s wise sayings. Another one of her loving adages that went not beyond auditory until maturation by and in the Word became reality.

  The Apostle Paul encourages personal examination to test as to whether we are true to the Word of Life. Grandmother’s exhortation prepared me for this exercise; our elders plant seeds that often lie dormant until the weather changes!

  At each refreshing shower or violent storm do I say “I am His, He is mine.” or “He is mine, I am His.”? There is a difference.

EBB4

O' TO BE HIS BOASTER!

O’ TO BE HIS BOASTER!

Friday, March 6, 2020



  Proverbs [GW] 4:23-24 Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it. Remove dishonesty from your mouth. Put deceptive speech far away from your lips.

  1Co 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I no longer used childish ways.



  I don’t know about all men’s youth, but me and my young pals exercised considerable braggadocio, it being common among boys (and girls?). We considered it great fun embroidering tales of our mighty feats and victories, some complete hyperbole, others pyramidal.

  Boasting about self is a sign of immaturity regardless of age, even when some pop psychotherapist deems it a useful method of building self-esteem. I didn’t even find truth in this as a boy forever fearing I’d be found out and ridiculed – hardly an esteem building exercise, eh what?

  And there’s the blessed maturity detailed in 1Corinthians chapter 13; love displacing immature arrogance and living above self as Scripture says, "Whoever brags must brag about what the Lord has done." (GW 1Cor.1:31; Paul referencing Jer.9:23-24)

  Let us continue to worship the lord in maturing together.

EBB4



A few other pertaining verses: Pr.34:2; Rom.3:27-28; 1Cor.9:16; Eph.2:9; Phil.2:5, remembering to prayerfully read all in context.

 

SAY WHAT?

SAY WHAT?

Thursday, March 5, 2020



Romans [ESV] 12:1-3 I call upon you, therefore, brothers, through the compassion of Elohim, to present your bodies a living offering – set-apart, well-pleasing to Elohim – your reasonable worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you prove what is that good and well-pleasing and perfect desire of Elohim. For I say, through the favour which has been given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he should think, but to think soberly, as Elohim has given to each a measure of belief



  Recently a professing Christian publicly stated that “We should work to earn the life we deserve.”

  As a Christian what is your reaction to this?

  Does the statement reflect Romans 12:1-3 worship pleasing to God?

EBB4

IS THE JONAH STORY TRUE?

IS THE JONAH STORY TRUE?

Wednesday, March 4, 2020



  John [MKJV] 17:14-17 I have given them Your Word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not pray for You to take them out of the world, but for You to keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Your truth. Your Word is truth.

  Romans [MKJV] 3:3-4 For what? If some did not believe, will not their unbelief nullify the faith of God?

Let it not be! But let God be true, and every man a liar; as it is written, "That You might be justified in Your sayings, and will overcome when You are judged."

  Titus [GW] 1:1-3 From Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I was sent to lead God's chosen people to faith and to the knowledge of the truth that leads to a godly life. My message is based on the confidence of eternal life. God, who never lies, promised this eternal life before the world began.

God has revealed this in every era by spreading his word. I was entrusted with this word by the command of God our Savior.

  Hebrews 6:17-20 In this way desiring to declare more fully to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, God interposed by an oath, so that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil, where the Forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.



  I’ve been asked if the Jonah story is true or is it a representative tale? Yes, it is true whether individuals or groups believe it or not.

  Not believing the earth is round doesn’t make it flat, all evidence showing it a globe. Totally denying the veracity of the Word Incarnate (Living, Jn.1:1) and written (2Tim.3:16; 2Pet.1:20), or being a professing Christian that believes the Bible pick-and-choose cafeteria style, does not make its content or the Author untrue.

  Then there’s the fickle contradictory “I believe I’m going to heaven because Jesus redeemed me.”, or some such statement of faith in His salvation . . . but not believing portions of Scripture like the story of Jonah – when the same Jesus verified the story as is recorded in 2 of the Gospels: Mt.12:39-41; 16:4; Lk.11:29-32.

EBB4

GOD'S PEACE

GOD’S PEACE

Tuesday, March 3, 2020



  John 14:27 [Jesus said] Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

  1Corinthians [MKJV] chapter 12 … But the one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing separately to each one as He desires. …



  I do not see God’s peace as a promise. Jesus did not promise peace, He pledged, empowered and does provide peace; a reality that may be presently gained and lived. Philippians 4:4-13 and 1Peter 5:6-11 are two passages that explain how to gain and maintain this peace, if God’s provision is taken to heart; as with so many other choices in Scripture, God providing, we choosing or not. 

  I share an experience of wondrous peace, loss of peace, and regaining peace that included the lesson of 2Timothy 2:15-16; 3:16-17: Trusting Jesus as Redeemer at age 27 I was nonetheless an excited fragile novice witnessing of His Truth. Then along came Charismatic Larry, he asking me if I spoke in tongues? I did not. Larry explained that until I spoke in tongues I had no evidence of the indwelling Holy Spirit, therefore I was not really saved. I was overwhelmed with fear. My peace was gone! I had never been so afraid in my life!! When I arrived home at 1am after my work shift Ann knew something was wrong, but being of the other gender I said I didn’t feel well, which I didn’t.

  The next day at first break I sought out Bud Bond, the Christian that had patiently explained salvation to me. He being a wise older believer did not respond “Don’t listen to Larry, he’s stupid.” As he and other elders schooled me, Bud did not spoon feed me in reaction. He gave me a Scripture reference to read, consider, and get back to him when I could.

  I read 1Corinthians 12:1-31 and the answer was so simple! And my consciousness of God’s peace returned, but it wasn’t just the regained peace that day. Thanks to Bud Bond’s submission to God’s ways I gained a wonderful learning and teaching method.

EBB4



PS. Larry was disappointed in me as I didn’t see things correctly.

 

UNDERSTANDING JONAH; UNDERSTANDING SELF AND OTHERS

UNDERSTANDING JONAH; UNDERSTANDING SELF & OTHERS

Monday, March 2, 2020



  The Book of Jonah

  Romans [MKJV] 12:1-3 I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to every one who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But set your mind to be right-minded, even as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.

  Philippians [GW] 3:7-15 These things that I once considered valuable, I now consider worthless for Christ. It's far more than that! I consider everything else worthless because I'm much better off knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. It's because of him that I think of everything as worthless. I threw it all away in order to gain Christ and to have a relationship with him. This means that I didn't receive God's approval by obeying his laws. The opposite is true! I have God's approval through faith in Christ. This is the approval that comes from God and is based on faith that knows Christ. Faith knows the power that his coming back to life gives and what it means to share his suffering. In this way I'm becoming like him in his death, with the confidence that I'll come back to life from the dead. It's not that I've already reached the goal or have already completed the course. But I run to win that which Jesus Christ has already won for me. Brothers and sisters, I can't consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don't look back, I lengthen my stride, and I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God's heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus. Whoever has a mature faith should think this way. And if you think differently, God will show you how to think. . . . 4:13



  What was Jonah’s problem?

  The typical answer I once believed is he resisted God’s will and consequently suffered.

  Wrong. Resisting God’s will is not the problem, it is a resultant produced action.

  So what was Jonah’s problem?

  The problem is the same one we are confronted with every day; Our laboring to not conform our thinking to the world’s thinking and in doing so deny ourselves the power of Jesus’ resurrection. To explain I’ll use a diagram that continues to help me understand myself and others.

ACTIONS

^

ATTITUDE

^

BELIEFS

===

Noah resisted God’s will

^

His attitude was that of a snob.

^

He believed?

 

  The above diagram is useful for spiritual discernment every day. Here’s a specific exercise for those interested in spiritual growth through discernment: What do you believe about Philippians 4:13? Is it a “name it and claim it!” mantra? Or is it a resultant summarizing declaration? Which belief is in line with Romans 12:1-3 thinking that pleases God? And what difference does our answer, belief, make in our life?

EBB4

CONFESS WHAT?

CONFESS WHAT?



Mt.10:32-33; Lk.12:8-9; Rom.10:9-10; 1Jn.1:9



  John says “My little children…” “…confess our sins…” and we do have to do that [for ongoing spiritual vitality], but salvation is not dependent on that. God already knows our sins! What we are doing is confessing the Lordship of Christ in our lives.

  This both a private and/or public matter, not just a matter of participating in church and doing good; a lot of people go to church and do good, but have never confessed that he is Lord of their lives.

Leslie Nivens