A Crucified Life - - Speaks For Itself

 

2 Corinthians 6:8

By honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No.

Evil Report: defamation, reproach, ill-repute

From the Greek word 'dusphemia' (pronounced doos-fay-mee'-ah).

Good Report: commendation, praise

From the Greek word 'euphémia' (pronounced yoo-fay-mee'-ah).

    Slandered. Spoken ill of for speaking the Truth. To share the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ is to expect people to come against you. As they came against Christ who not only speaks Truth but is Himself Truth, how can we expect any less to happen to us as His faithful followers? 

Jesus Himself warned His disciples that as many came against Him for the Truth of the Word which He spake, people would also come against them, against us. 

>John 16:1-3

>John 15:18-20

>Proverbs 29:27

>Matthew 10:22

>Matthew 24:9

    Knowing that even the very mention of the Name of Christ could get a person killed, how does the kingdom of God keep growing? Grace.Joy. Peace. Rest. Forgiveness. Wisdom. Love. Hope. Mercy. Of God. In Christ. Through the Holy Spirit of God. 

>GRACE: Ephesians 2:8

>JOY: John 15:11

>PEACE: John 16:33

>REST: Matthew 11:28

>FORGIVENESS: Ephesians 1:7

>WISDOM: Proverbs 11:30

>LOVE: 1 John 4:16

>HOPE: Psalm 39:7

>MERCY: Titus 3:5

    All of these things Christ is to us who believe. All of these are in us and need to be displayed to everyone else by our words and our actions. The name is the reputation. Whose name are you defined by? The faithful follower of Christ is defined by Christ's Name and carries His reputation with them wherever they go. 

    Philippians 2:7, 8

But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

     As such He did, so, too, do we, His followers. We make ourselves of no reputation, and yet, we are known by many for who we are. As Christ is known, both loved and hated, we who love Him and follow in His steps, are both loved  and hated. Though we desire no reputation of our own, we are given two. We are only slightly known to this world. But in God's kingdom we are fully known.

REPUTATION

Clean Hands - Lauren Alexandria

Better Than Life - Phil Wickham

Here's My Heart - I Am They

No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus - Steffany Gretzinger

Nothing Without You - United Pursuit

I Belong To Jesus - Paul, Hannah McClure

Give Us Clean Hands - Caedmon's Call

I Speak Jesus - Here Be Lions

Hands and Feet - Audio Adrenaline

Build Your Kingdom Here - Rend Collective

Known - Tauren Wells

    

A Crucified Life - - Carries The Message of Reconciliation

 

2 Corinthians 5:19

That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 3056

Message: a word (as embodying an idea), a statement, a speech

From the Greek word 'logos' (pronounced log'-os): preeminently used of Christ (Jn 1:1), expressing the thoughts of the Father through the Spirit.

    When we hear Jesus speaking to us in the Scriptures, we see that He said He was only speaking what the Father told Him to speak. It is God expressing Himself through His only begotten Son. 

>John 8:28

>John 5:19, 30

>John 12:49, 50

    What is the Message of Reconciliation? It's the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. It's the Message of Hope.

It's the Message of Perfect Peace. It's the Message of Life Eternal In Christ. It's the Message of Agape: Divine Love of God from God for a world full of sinners, sinners like me. 

    It's God drawing us to Himself as a father wraps his arms around his long, lost son who has finally come home. It's God bringing us close in His embrace as a mother would comfort her fearful children. It's God bringing us into His family via our faith in the Message of The Cross.

    It's the Message of amazing grace through the blood which Christ shed for us. It's the power of God in action, writing His Word on our hearts, with the quill of grace. It's the Message of Someone paying our sin debts with His own Son. The Son who surrendered His own will to the will of His Father and obediently went the Way of the Cross for us.

    It's the Message of forgiveness for the iniquity into which we are born: that sinful nature that is in all of us. It's the Message of forgiveness for the sins we confess to the Father that we might be cleansed from all unrighteousness in us. It's the Message of forgiveness for the trespasses, whether we knew we were trespassing or not, we have done against God. 

    It's the Message which has withstood time and all its ravages. Though armies have tried to destroy it, the Message always wins out. Myriads of peoples in many lands and cultures across this globe are still trying to eradicate the Message of the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. But GOD. But God can't be stopped by anyone. Ever. 

    It's the Message of authority and wisdom. The Message is Truth. It is the Light of God shining into searching hearts, hearts that are searching for the real, for the true. I went searching for the real, the true. And I found it in Christ Jesus. So can you.

    

THE MESSAGE

 The Gospel - Ryan Stevenson

O Come To The Altar - Elevation Worship

No Matter What - Ryan Stevenson

Come To The Table - Sidewalk Prophets

Mended - Matthew West

Same Power - Jeremy Camp

Start A Fire - Unspoken

Goodness of God - Bethel Music

God Is On The Move - 7eventhTime Down

Love Broke Through - Toby Mac

Point To You - We Are Messengers

Changed - Jordan Feliz

A Crucified Life - - Is Accountable to Christ

 

2 Corinthians 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad. 

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 5319

Appear: to make visible, make clear

From the Greek word 'phaneroó' (pronounced fan-er-o'-o): make known, make manifest, to become apparent.

    Everything we say and do has consequences. Whether we receive the results of our actions and words in this life or the next, we are accountable to Christ for our testimony and our witness. 

Job 34:11 

For according to a man's deeds He repays him; according to a man's ways He brings consequences.

Matthew 16:27

For the Son of Man will come in His Father's glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

Matthew 25:32

All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

    A crucified life lets go of the offense and embraces forgiveness. As Christ was dying on the cross, He still retained mercy and compassion, saying, "“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” - Luke 23:34. 

    Are we this forgiving? this merciful? this compassionate? He asked His Father to forgive them, to not hold this thing they had done to the Father's Son against them. 

    May our hearts be as full of love for those who sin against us, that our words towards them are words of love, mercy, forgiveness. That our actions towards they who desire to see us fail be actions of love. 

    May that which held Christ on the cross also hold us. It wasn't the nails; it was the Love of God for you and I.

LET IT BE JESUS  A Christy Nockels Album

    

Guard Your Heart - - Build Your Faith

 

Jude 1:20, 21

20. But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 

21. keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 2026

Building: to build upon

From the Greek word 'epoikodomeó' (pronounced ep-oy-kod-om-eh'-o): to build up, to edify; to follow a plan with pre-designed specifications; to make progress in building up (from one level to another).

UNWAVERING FAITH

~PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT~

Hebrews 10:23

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;)

James 1:6

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

    If we have our doubts when we pray, then we are praying in doubt, not in faith; our prayers will neither be received nor heard. We must pray expecting to receive, with confidence and absolute trust in God's perfect will. But only if we pray according to His will. 

    Praying in The Holy Spirit, The Holy Ghost, is praying according to God's Word: the Word we are being led to and through when we listen to The Spirit of God. If we pray our desires, then it is doubtful we will receive the answer we want. But when we pray God's Word over every situation, then God's Will will prevail. 

    Praying in The Spirit does not mean we have to pray in tongues (although that will happen sometimes with the person who is filled with The Holy Spirit), but that we need to be working with The Spirit of God throughout our daily lives: fervently (urgently), consistently (constantly) and in faith (believing that it will be so). James 5:16; Ephesians 6:18; James 1:6; 1 Timothy 2:1.

    Unwavering faith sees its sins forgiven, its bodies healed, its minds delivered, prisoners freed. Not just then, but even today. Unwavering faith desires to please God: doing what makes God happy. 

BUILDING ON THE FOUNDATION

~HONOR~

    Knowing that our Foundation is Jesus Christ, we need to be careful how we are building on that Foundation. For God built His Foundation with Justice and Righteousness (Isaiah 28:16, 17). 

    Reading 1 Corinthians 3:10 "We must be careful how we build on that Foundation". Throughout this past year we have been learning what it means to be born again. We are still learning. Each monthly series this year I have still listed under the main heading of Being Born Again. (if you don't see some of it on this site, check Facebook).

    1 Peter 2:1 tells us to "Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander." These items do not make good building blocks. Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander fall under the commandments of what not to do, how not to behave with one another: Thou shall not bear false witness (malice, deceit, hypocrisy, slander). Thou shall not covet (envy).   They are hindrances to the building. Our natural desires war against our spiritual desires (1 Peter 2:11) but conducting ourselves with honor is a desirable building block of faith (1 Peter 2:12).

~MERCY~

    In Matthew 25:35-40 Jesus is speaking on the faithful servant, the one who will enter into the joy of the Lord. "For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’

    Not everyone is called to be a missionary, but we are all called to pray for one another. In prayer I pray that needs are met. That the hungry are fed, the thirsty receive clean water, the sick are ministered to: their wounds bound, their diseases healed, their dead raised to life. 

I pray for the captives, in prison and out of prison, to be delivered and set free. I pray that their needs also are met. When I pray for those who serve on the front lines of ministry, I pray for each of these things on them as well. This is mercy.

~GRACE~FORGIVENESS~

    Saving grace is what God extended through Jesus Christ to us. (Acts 15:11). It is only by grace we are saved at all (Ephesians 2:5, 8). Grace is an extension of God's love. It is having and showing compassion; it is forgiveness multiplied beyond number (Matthew 18:21,22). Because if we are counting how many times you have "forgiven" a person or persons, then we are not really forgiving them at all: we're tallying up offenses and holding grudges. Not ideal building blocks at all to lay on the Foundation of our faith.

    The grace, the forgiveness, we offer to each other must be sincere and offered in love, the true love of God which lives in the born again believer. If we keep coming back to the original offense we received from the one we think we forgave, then we never offered them love and grace in the first place. Our hearts need to be right with God, aligned in His Justice and Righteousness, that we may freely give grace to one another.

KEEP IN THE LOVE OF GOD & HIS MERCY

 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11

9. For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

10. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.

11. Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.

Romans 14:8

If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

2 Timothy 2:11

This is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him.

    The only way to Keep in the Love of God and His Mercy is to remain in God's love, in God's testimony, in God's Son Jesus Christ. To remain in God's love is to live (dwell, take up residence) in God's love. 

    How do we conduct ourselves in our everyday living when we interact with family, when we are working with colleagues, when we sit in waiting rooms? Are we living in the love of God when we get angry, frustrated, upset? Are we living to the Lord by our actions and our words? These are questions only we can ask ourselves and only we can answer. If our answers are not in keeping with God's definition of Christian conduct, then we need to take the matter before Him in prayer and ask that He keep changing us, molding us into the people He wants us to be. 

    Have you ever thought about how the clay might feel on the potter's wheel? Being poked here, prodded there; smoothed away in some areas, broken off in others. Yet there the lump of clay sat, waiting for the potter to create in them what the potter had in mind to create. 

    We are lumps of clay being perfected on the Potter's wheel. Perhaps we, too, should wait without argument while our Potter finishes working on us; while He builds us into Himself. 

    We know we are saved. We both know and hope for our resurrection into eternal life. For it is in Christ that we have the Resurrection and the Life. Let us therefore live in God as He lives in us: with grace, with integrity, with mercy. 

2 Peter 3:13, 14

13. But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

14. Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.

I BUILT MY HOUSE ON A STONE by Jason Upton

HOUSE OF PRAYER by Eddie James, Jayna Cullens

POUR ME OUT by Brandon Lake

FILL MY WAY by Iris DeMent

TREMBLE by I AM THEY

I WON'T LEAVE YOU HERE by Southern Raised Bluegrass

    

    

    

    

    

Remove My Guilt

 

REMOVE MY GUILT

Psalm 25:11

For the sake of Your name, O LORD, remove my guilt, because it is great.

Psalm 19:13 Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless and cleansed of great transgression. Psalm 79:9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; deliver us and atone for our sins, for the sake of Your name. Psalm 143:11 For the sake of Your name, O LORD, revive me. In Your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble. Romans 5:16-17 Again, the gift is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment that followed one sin brought condemnation, but the gift that followed many trespasses brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive an abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! Romans 10:8-10 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.

I believe that Jesus Christ Is LORD, that God raised Him from the dead. In my heart I believe and am justified; with my mouth I confess that Jesus Christ Is LORD, and God saves me.

It is both that easy and that hard; simple and difficult. God calls everyone to salvation:

John 3:16-17

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

(where it says "world" put your name, because you have born into this world)

Romans 8:29

For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

Predestination just means God had a plan all set up before we were even born that would allow us to become His sons and daughters. It does not mean that God knows ahead of time who will be saved and who will not.

How cool is that?

Ephesians 1:4-5

But the one who loves God is known by God. He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will.

1 Corinthians 8:3

But the one who loves God is known by God.

Do you love God? Do you believe that Jesus Christ Is LORD? There is no later, there is only Now, only Today:

2 Corinthians 6:2

For He says: "In the acceptable time I listened to you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." Behold, now is the time of favor; behold, now is the day of salvation.

If you have not yet accepted Christ as LORD, now is the time to make that decision. Tomorrow is not promised.

2 Peter 3:9-11

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness.

James 4:14

You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Psalm 39:5

You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah.

Come, now is the time.

Repent and Be Baptized

"The sermon preached in the power of the Holy Spirit invariably commanded men not only to repent, but to be baptized with the Holy Spirit." --Cortland Myers, 1909



In Matthew 3 we meet up with John the Baptist again, who is now calling men to repent and be baptized with water, for "the kingdom of heaven is at hand", meaning near. But what did he say a few days on?

Matthew 3:11-12 "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but will burn up the chaff with an unquenchable fire."

And who could do that? Jesus the only begotten Son of God, who must first go through a time of testing and temptations in the wilderness. Did He bring Himself there? No. Matthew 4:1 "Then was Jesus LED up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." To prepare for that part of His journey Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights.

When He was hungry, He was tempted by the tempter to turn stone into bread. When the devil brought Him to Jerusalem (the holy city), he tempted Him to jump off the highest pinnacle of the temple to see if God's angels would catch Him. When the devil took Him to a very high mountain, showing Him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory, the tempter offered Jesus these if only Jesus would worship him.

But none of these temptations did Jesus give into. Not just because He is God's Son, The Lord Jesus Christ but because Jesus had the Holy Spirit with Him. As an example for us, Jesus showed us that WE CAN OVERCOME TEMPTATION when we have JESUS, THE WORD OF GOD, and THE HOLY SPIRIT of GOD upon us! That is exciting news!

And what were the first words out of His mouth afterwards? Matthew 4:17 "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And while He made the rounds of the cities healing the sick, teaching in parables and raising the dead, He was forgiving sins, too, to the heart that sought Him in earnest.

Now, we move to Acts 1:4-5 "And being assembled together with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."

Which brings us to Acts 2:1-4 wherein the 120 men and women are in the upper room fellowshipping and praying together waiting for the Promise of God to arrive. Fifty days after the Passover Sabbath had passed is the Day of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-16), the feast of weeks (Deuteronomy 16:10), the feast of harvest (Exodus 23:16), and the day of the firstfruits (Numbers 28:26).

Afterwards, these men and women went out into the city streets proclaiming the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, with the power of the Holy Spirit. It is here in Acts 2:38 that we hear Peter say to us, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

But this Promise/Blessing is not given just to them/us, Acts 2:39 "For the Promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Whether 'afar off' means geographically or genealogically, that Promise is still active today; just as the call of God on our lives is!

So, today, we say "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. You and your children and those that are afar off."

----Oh, Father God, I repent of all my wicked ways, of the sins in my heart and my life. Have mercy on me and forgive me. Deliver me from an unrighteous lifestyle and lead me in Your Word. Give me Your gift of the Holy Ghost that I might walk and live in Your power. Teach me Your ways and Your will that I might never stray from You again. Fill me and feed me that I may not hunger for the things of this world but be content in You. Be glorified, O my God, in me. In Jesus' Name, Amen. And amen. ----