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The_Colomborican
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Name: Conrad
Country: United States
State: Georgia
Metro: Atlanta
Birthday: 3/5/1980
Gender: Male
Interests: My interests are:Monica(wife),Soccer, working out, comics, drawing, meeting people, reading, learning, adidas, apple(MAC), biking, rafting, boxing, Stephen King, FOOD, seeking God honoring relationships
Expertise: Functional Training...bout it really
Occupation: Other
Industry: Medical
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
MSN: ikanostraining@hotmail.com
Member Since:
7/21/2005
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| I will give thanks unto thee with uprightness of heart, When I learn thy righteous judgments. (psalm 119:7).
How often does this thought cross our mind? Who would have thought that our giving thanks to God is directly linked to us learning His righteous judgements? Can we not thank God even if we do not know these judgements? Are there degrees of uprightness or purity of heart?
It's such an awesome thing to have our lives completely devoted to the Word of God. To learn it and be guided by it. I know this sounds all "churchy" and all, but do we ever think about how our thanksgiving and praise to the Lord is impacted when we do not know Gods decrees? Usually we as Christians think that knowing Gods Word just helps us defend Christianity and maybe helps us lives correctly (usually we think that we can figure out how to live Christianity on our own without being devoted to Gods Word). We often fail to remember that all of our being should be touched by His Word including our praise and thanksgiving. | | |
| An Aspect of the Path
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it (Matthew 7:13-27)
So I’ve been taking a little more time to pray and think about this passage. One of the important questions of study is “What does this reveal about God?” It seems to me that Gods justice comes out in this passage when Christ says, “Not everyone that says Lord, Lord shall enter…” God obviously is just and will not allow sin to endure.
As we continue to take a look at the “strait” path to which God has called us to, let us also continue in thought about what this path reveals about God. Recently (I know that I’m not the only one who can vouch for this) there has been a lot of talk about “God”. What I mean is that people have concocted individual ideas about who God is and what He is like. Because of this God has been reduced (at least in the minds of men) to our standards, and understanding, and since all of us can form our own standards God is perceived as many different things to many different people. This invention of God is not foreign to Christianity. Even to the church He has been attributed with a multitude of false characteristics. To some He is not almighty, but someone who (with the right amount of faith ratio) will pour out an outlandish amount of money on us, thus reducing Him to “our great sugar daddy in the sky”.
Yet in His word Christ shows an aspect of God through this sermon. Christ here speaks of the path that we are to “enter in at” He says that the path is strait. In verse 22 He goes on to equate the “strait” path with the will of the Father who is in heaven. So one could confidently say that the will of the Father is “strait” (at least when it comes to salvation and conduct). His will is narrow, confined, and not broad or flat or something that anyone can travel. Now if His will is narrow, and He has laid out a path that is narrow as well, would it not be safe to say that the attributes, character, and nature of who God is is narrow too? What I mean to say is that God is not who we make Him, and since He is not who we make Him; He is not many different things to many different people. In fact to think of Him in any other way than what He has revealed Himself to be is the same as idolatry. If we think of God in any other form than what He truly is is to make an idol of worship in our hearts. Thus we end up worshiping our thoughts, and our standards, our god.
We must walk on this path that God has revealed in His Word. We cannot walk on any other path and be correct. This puts in perspective the thought that all peoples worship the same God “basically”. To call on God in any unbiblical way is not to call on Him at all. This also puts into perspective the statement that I have heard so much: “I have my own relationship with God”.
In this society of choices, we’ve put God on the shelf along with the cell phone plans, fast food menus, cable/internet providers, and any other thing for which there are many choices. And because we treat God like we do these other things, it’s no wonder why we don’t want to commit to Him. It’s time for the Church (of true believers) to wake up and serve the God who has revealed Himself and His will to us through His Word. We must arise to live as Christ told us to live. “He that hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man”. It is that man that will weather the storm; it is he who will walk the strait path…the will of the Father. To do any different is to deny Christ and to be apostate.
O Lord God Almighty, not the God of the philosophers and the wise but the God of the prophets and apostles; and better than all, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, may I express thee unblamed? They that know Thee not may call upon Thee as other that thou art, and so worship not thee but a creature of their own fancy; therefore enlighten our minds that we may know Thee and Thou art, so that we may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. –Tozer-
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| The Calling to the Strait Path
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:13-20)
Oh Lord, may we have ears to hear your call. May it wake us from our current slumber to rise and be vigilant to walk this difficult and blessed road that you have called us to. May we rely upon the light of your Word that you have given to us, and the guidance of your Spirit that indwells us, to tread carefully on this obstacle littered way. Amen
There is a call. Can you hear it? Jesus makes it plain, the way is strait. Often times this passage is spoken of as referring to a “narrow” or “thin” path, and yet other times is confused with the term “straight”. This is somewhat misleading for the term does not just mean “thin” or “narrow”, and is not to be confused with “straight”. The term that Christ used here means “pent up, difficult to be entered” –Barnes-, as well as “ …compressed, as in a defile place between high rocks, a tight place” –Robertson-. Strongs defines it as “narrow (because of obstacles close by)”.
Is the Christianity that we see about us and even that which we live today the “strait” path that Christ spoke of? I would dare say that the Christianity that is commonly accepted today is one that can be traveled while one is still asleep. I say that because it seems apparent from looking around that Christianity in America has been taking a long nap.
The path that Christ called us to is one that REQUIRES a vigilant, devout, disciplined, and spiritually aware walk. This is because the path is riddled with obstacles, and deterrents. No wonder Christ gives a warning about false prophets in the very next verse. It’s funny, my buddy JC on his wildernesschild xanga is on a journey out of “make believe”, he says that the world is not flat. I don’t know if he knew this but the word that Christ used when he said, “wide is the gate” means “ spread out, and flat”. The word used for broad means spacious. I think JC was on to something.
When Christ used these words, he was conveying the idea that the way to destruction is flat and spacious and easily traveled. Christ calls us to a road that is not easily traveled, in fact it’s dangerous, and He showed us how to walk it. He did it first! Is our walk loud? Bold?
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8).
I think that Peter had this same idea in mind when he wrote this. Satan wants to throw all kinds of obstacles in the way. Not only that, but this world will seek to distract us with its pleasantries and philosophies. No wonder that path is so crowded.
It’s time for us to take up the call and wake up! Am I there? No, I’m also on this path, and as I look back over my life, I know that I have been asleep at times. Yet I know that this is what the Lord would have us to do. There is a “beam” that leads to life, a life we were designed to live, a “beam” that is hard to follow at times, but if we look into God’s Word and submit to His will, we will see it. We must travel this together. It is my hope that we can walk together in brotherly love, all those that will.
Do you hear the call?
Will you come?
Does your faith seem strait? Or is it curiously flat and spacious?
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| Ever notice how you never have a whole lot of time to post your own xanga after you've responded to everyone else's?
So this post is going to be an interesting one for the xanga universe. As my goal: To be truthful to the Word of God so His name may be praised. Though this is my goal, at times I fall flat on my face. Therefore I ask for your input and correction if I violate any doctrine IN FACT. But I beg you to speak the truth in love.
If any of you have been to the wildernesschild xanga lately, you know where this is coming from. For those of you who haven't, go check it out, it's pretty cool.
What if God wanted to be a redeemer? What would He need to do that? Obviously He would need someone to redeem. Living in this day and age you don't have to look too far to see someone H can redeem. Before time God knew that Christ was going to the Cross to pay for our sin. He knew that sin would exist. He knew that Adam and Eve would fall in the Garden. He knew that "the serpent" would tempt them to eat the fruit. A couple of questions arise from this scene. We'll get to those in a minute.
It has been said that God has foreknowledge of all that is, I agree with this. So did God have a foreknowledge of the fall? YES! Now was this problem (the fall) something that God had to figure a way around? If He knew that this problem was going to exist wouldn't it make sense not to make the environment the problem was going to arise from in the first place? At first glance this may make sense, but obviously this is not the case because He did create it. Remember, He wants to be a redeemer. So could this be by His design?
Back to the questions real quick
1. Where was God's foreknowledge if He created the environment for the fall?
2. Where did this Tempter (Satan) come from? Did God foreknow this?
Ok, we have a whole bunch of "major" doctrines that emerge from scripture as we read it. Any good student of the Word would say that we cannot come up with any major doctrine without having a necessary amount of scripture to substantiate that belief. Now having said that, I want to speak of the doctrine of Satan. It is commonly accepted that Satan was an angel in heaven and that he fell from his position because he wanted to be God. After this satan led a rebellion and took a portion of the angels of heaven with him. After this, as far as we can tell, he possesed a snake in the garden and then tempted Eve with the fruit.
Now this whole belief is based upon what? What verses do we have that actually speak to satan being an angel? We have to passages in the whole Bible that we point to to say that satan was an angel. If one looks closely at these passages we can see that the word Satan, serpent, dragon, liar, murderer, or any of the other names that are consistently attributed to satan are non existant in these passages. Actually, to uphold this doctrine we have to say that there is a double application to these passages because the beginning of both passages say the target audience is the prince/king of Tyre ( Ezekiel 28), and the king of Babylon ( Isaiah 14:4).
Now if we are to hold to this belief, we have to assume some pretty interesting assumptions.
1. That this double application theory is accurate.
2. That before his fall satan was perfect as is stated in Ezekiel, and that he some how perpetuated his own temptation. Which no other creature has been able to do in all of scripture.
3. That the words of Jesus in John 8:44 are somehow not literal and misapplied (I'll explain later).
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it (John 8:44)
Alot of people say that when Jesus said "beginning" he meant the beginning of the earth and not the beginning in relation to the creation of the angels. But satan was a liar before the creation of the earth and man, he had already led the other angels away from heaven. So the word beginning could not just mean the beginning of the earth, surely Jesus would have known this. So what other beginning is there? Jesus said that Satan "abode" ,literally "to stand", not in truth. Most people take this to mean that he (satan) was at one time in truth and fell from it. Could Jesus have meant that he never stood in truth? Futher verifying the statement the satan was a " murderer from the beginning"?
Now if we are going to point to two very loosely interpreted passages as our proof that satan was an angel (Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28), I have an alternate options to propose.
1.The Bible is silent in regards to the origins of satan, or...
2. He was created by God with the design to be in opposition towards God in order to tempt man and cause man to fall into sin and thus providing a creature for God to redeem. Fulfilling God's desire to be a redeemer to man and creating a Holy bride for Himself.
Where do I get these ideas? The whole chapter of isaiah 45 says that God will create what he will and no one can say to Him "what are you doing"? One of those is evil. Read Isaiah 45:7 and tell me what you think. Is it possible that God created satan as he is? | | |
| I had an interesting thing said to me the other day...
It was a beautiful evening in the A-town. Myself and this individual were sharing some prayer requests and praises. There was a pause in her speech and I could tell that she was thinking or contemplating about something. Suddenly a combination of radiance and a smile crossed her face. She said ' oh! I have a praise!". She then proceeds to tell me how their was a position at her job that was open and that the initial person that her job offered the job to declined the position. Naturally I thought, "Great! now you can apply for it." but before the words could even start to be formed in my mouth, she coninued. She said " this is a praise because the person they offered it to was a homosexual and he wanted to stay in California with his partner, so he declined. When I heard that I was thanking God so much for His protection!". The excitement in her voice was almost tangible as she recounted the "miraculous" protection that God had placed in her life.
Why do we as Christians praise God for not bringing unbelievers into our lives? Why do we see this as some sort of divine protection and not an opportunity to minister and witness? Why would we rather see these people continue in their path to destruction (and be glad!) as opposed to welcome their presence and take the opportunity to show them the truth? Oh God! Convict us! If Christ had this mentality none of would be saved! He would have stayed in glory and watched. Thank you Lord for your goodness.
How can we decide who should come into our lives and who shouldn't? How do we know that this is not the work of Satan keeping this person from coming to Christ?
Dear Lord, may we not have a selfish motive or attitude that would actually thank you for not having an unbeliever come into our lives. May we see this mentality as detestable. May we remember the words of Christ and learn "And when Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
(Mark 2:17)
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