Posts Tagged ‘God’s love’
One Verse That Can Show The Difference Between Being Under The Law And Under Grace,.
Pro 3:5 – 6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will direct your paths.
These verses, taken from the Old Testament, can easily show the difference between the Jews living under the Law and the Christians living under Grace.
The Law was a works based system of willing obedience to the Law and all of the promises, blessings and curses that it entailed. Needless to say it was a failure.
In the above scripture, having God direct your life, stated in the last clause, was based on all that was commanded to do by the Hebrews in the beginning. It was a work based command of obedience. In other words, if man did what was commanded of him then God would direct his life. Here man works and God responds with blessings or curses. Because of sin in man, he could not always do what God commanded of him. He failed.”’
What if these scriptures were written in the New Testament to the Christians under Grace. Now living under Grace is a faith based system dependent on God’s will, the person and works of Jesus in His perfect obedience to the Father and the application by the Holy Spirit the results of what Jesus accomplished to the saved; everything Israel could not do on their own.
This might be one way it could be written.
“I trust in the Lord with all my heart and I do not look to my own understanding and in all my ways I acknowledge God, for He directs all my ways as He wills and has blessed me greatly.”
Here God works His will in man and man responds accordingly. Just the opposite of man under Law.
Under the Law, based on the will of man to be obedient, man always fails. Under Grace, based on the will of God, God never fails. In the “faith based” system of being under Grace God works in man both to will and to do of His good pleasure. So what God has willed for man to do man obeys willingly.
How about you. Is your life a works based system trusting in your will of obedience (grudgingly or not) to the Law or a faith based system of being under Grace trusting in the will of God in what He is doing in your life?
One scripture with a view of it under the Law and one view of the same scripture under Grace. Which one describes you?
###
You Talk Too Much
From March 2021
Edited for 2025
The month of March is very special to my wife and me. It is when we celebrate our wedding anniversary. This year we will celebrate fifty six(56) years of marriage and we are even more in love with each other than ever before.
I know my wife loves me for she will tell people that I have very few faults and none of them is bad, except for one. She tells me that I, “Talk too much” and never know when to shut up. I just keep going on and on and on. With this, I will agree. If she can say it and I can agree, that is love talking.
Every morning I usually get up a lot earlier than does my wife. I like spending this time washing up, getting breakfast, enjoying the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Then I will get paper, that I usually retrieve off of the front porch when I first come out of the bedroom, take it with me into the living room with my coffee and settle into my favorite seat and enjoy them; mostly the coffee these days, however.
During the washing and the making of breakfast and coffee, I like spending time with God. It is not a kneel down and pray kind of a meeting. It is just a time that I like talking with God and telling Him my thoughts, concerns and thanks intermingled with some praise and worship of Him. Sometimes, though, it seems I have a hard time saying anything and will just ramble on. Until, until just one particular morning.
Right in the middle of my rambling I suddenly became blank in my thoughts. I could not think of anything to say and it scared me. Then suddenly a verse came to me and I knew it was from God. Through His word, He was talking to me.
What I heard made me think that He must have been listening to my wife, for what I heard was this, “You talk too much… “”Be still and know that I am God… “” .”
One part from my wife and the important part from Psalm 46: 10
Of course, God was right. Every morning during our time together I was doing all of the talking. Many times, it was only words of repetition just to hear me thinking. I was never quiet. Never listening for Him and forgetting that God will only talk to me through His word.
It has taken me quite a while to be obedient in this respect for I do like talking. Just ask my wife. Yeah, once I get started I do talk too much. I never know when to quit and I just keep going on and on and on. However, with God’s nudging, I am learning to listen to my wife more and, more importantly, listen to God more.
It is amazing how many more wonderful qualities I am discovering about my wife since I have been listening more to her and have become less at going on so when I do talk. It is still on a learning curve, but getting better.
God’s presence in the morning has started to become more real to me as well. I find when I do talk less and just enjoy spending time with Him, while talking less, it has actually brought me closer to Jesus than ever before.
You know, as my wife has said, “You talk too much” and having God tell me, “Be still and know that I am God…” has been a wonderful learning experience for me. I have become closer and more in love with both of them than ever before.
I do believe that God really does listen to His children. If it happened to me, it can happen to you. I was going to say, “I pray God does the same for you”, but He already knows that, for He knows my every thought. I am glad that He does for those moments when I am still, knowing that He is God.
Update: I have not heard that phrase, “You talk too much”, since then. So, I guess I will be quiet now and just listen and learn.
Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!
No Greater Love Than The Love Of Jesus
Romans 5:8 KJV
“But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
February is the month of Valentines Day, celebrating romance and love for that special person in our life. On this day we try our best to show just how much we love because we never reveal a love like this on any other day of the year. So many of us work out something special on Valentine’s Day out of guilt for not demonstrating how much we love during rest of the year.
We may believe that we have great love for others but we do not, for there is no greater love than the love of Jesus. Here is why.
Our love is a tainted love, one given from a sin nature based on conditional love. It is not a sacrificial love expecting nothing in return. However, the love of Christ is a sacrificial love given to people who do not deserve to be loved by God.
Because we are as stated in Romans 3:10-12 KJV
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: [11] There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. [12] They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one.”
None of us are good enough to deserve to be loved by Jesus but, here is what Jesus has done for us to save us out of His love:
Romans 5:9-10 KJV
“Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. [10] For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Ephesians 2:5 KJV
“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”
Colossians 2:13-14 KJV
“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; [14] Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
In short, what Jesus did was to save people from facing the wrath of God, for being sinful people living in disobedience to God, providing forgiveness for “ALL” of our sins – past, present and future sins – by being obedient for us. He gave us a new spiritual life and guaranteed our entrance into heaven, not based on what we have done nor by our will, but by the will and grace of God because of what Jesus has done.
As we read in that famous verse:
John 3:16 KJV
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
In other words, they who believe in Jesus will never perish because of our sins and is given eternal life in heaven. So how do we show we believe in Jesus? Read the following scripture verse:
Romans 10:9 KJV
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
You, too, can know the love of Jesus by confessing Him to being Lord over you and believing that God raised Him from the dead. Only then will you be able to say that there is “No Greater Love Than The Love Of Jesus.”
###
What Is The Rest Given By Jesus?
Matthew 11:28 KJV… Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Right away the first thing that would come to mind is physical rest. Everyday people come home physically or mentally tired needing to rest from the days work. However, this is not the kind of rest that Jesus is offering.
In the verse that follows the main verse, above, states exactly the kind of rest about which Jesus is talking. Here is that verse:
Matthew 11:29 KJV… Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Rest for our souls, spiritual rest, but from what? You must remember to whom Jesus is talking. These are the Israelites who have been living under the Law which is a works obedience based religion. These are people who are trusting in their own righteousness to make themselves deserving of entering Heaven upon their death.
Under the Law with the various rules, regulations, and blessing and curse promises, the Jews worked daily at their obedience hoping their righteousness was good enough to get them to heaven. However, they continued to fail to be obedient to the Law and to God, and they would become quit weary in their daily life of working to be obedient. They just could not do it and would feel the burdens of their failure.
Jesus knew this and came to offer a rest that would take this heavy yoke of a burden from off of them and offered a better path to Heaven; through Him.
The call Jesus gave was to come to Him and trust in Him for their salvation even though they knew not what He would do. How could this Jesus have a way designed to provide rest for their soul?
It was not until after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus that the “rest” that Jesus offered would come to life. Just stop working at being obedient to the Law and rest in Jesus. That was it. Just like we read in Hebrews.
Hebrews 4:10 KJV… For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Even today, everyone who is not a disciple of Jesus still live under the yoke of the Law, still trying to achieve your own righteousness, and you, too, will fail. The offer of “rest” that Jesus made to the Jews, He offers to you as well. Here is how you can enter into the “rest” offered by Jesus.
Stop trusting in your own righteousness and rest in the knowledge that Jesus has done for you what you cannot do for yourself. By coming to Jesus and proclaiming Him to be Lord and by faith trust in Him for your salvation you will enter into the “rest” that is offered by Jesus. Taking off the burden of obedience to the Law and trusting in Jesus for having done for you what you cannot do for yourself will give you the “rest” you so greatly need for your soul.
You no longer need to be obedient to the Law for salvation or even to keep your salvation. For your salvation from being born-again to keeping your salvation, and never loosing it, was all done by the will of God based on all that Jesus has done for you who are saved.
How about you. Do you want to continue being under the Law with the yoke of trying to be obedient to the Law, trying to gain your own righteousness and failing, or would you rather enter into the “rest” that Jesus gives and be covered in the robe of His righteousness?
Resting in Jesus is easy. Let go of your own works of righteousness and confess that Jesus is Lord, trusting in His righteousness, and by faith believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead and you will be given the rest that was promised by Jesus.
Coming to Jesus will give you wonderful comforting “rest”for your soul. Is not that what you really want anyway?
A Christians Lifestyle Should Be To Live Peaceably With All Men
Romans 12:18 KJV … If it be possible, as much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men.
The scripture above is one that is rarely mentioned, less preached on and hardly ever mentioned among born-again Christians. Can you think of any reason why? I am sure you can.
However, living in peace with everyone is the Christian’s responsibility, because of the phrase, “as much as lies in you”. We are not to respond to others being peaceful with us, but for others to respond to us being at peace with them. It is our lot in life to be at peace with others no matter how they treat us.
The question is, how do we go about practicing peace with others as Christ did while here on earth. What scriptures are there to which we can look at that will help us to be at peace with others? Here are three of many scriptures that will help guide us as to what God requires of us in living a life of peace.
They are pretty much self-explanatory.
1 Timothy 2:1-3 KJV
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; [2] For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. [3] For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
2 Corinthians 13:11 KJV
Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
Hebrews 12:14 KJV
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
These last two verses should be more than enough of Godly incentives to instill in us a desire of wanting to do what is necessary in living a life of peace with everyone. Praying for those in authority, from the head of a nation down to the local government, to daily living a life of peace with all men is pleasing to God.
How much are you willing to do in living a lifestyle of peace in order to experience God’s love and peace in this life and in the life to come? Depends on how much you really want to see the Lord and for living in eternity with our Lord Jesus.
###
Christianity Stands or Falls On The Resurrection Of Jesus!
Have you ever given thought to the importance of the resurrection of Jesus from the grave?
If Christ were not raised from the dead, then His dying on the cross would be meaningless. He would just be another Jew put to death by Roman soldiers at the insistence of the Jewish religious leaders for His claim of being the Son of God.
The virgin birth of Jesus to Mary would not have occurred and Joseph would have been His real father and not God.
Christianity would be a false religion, meaningless and accomplishing nothing.
Paul the apostle put it best; of how important is the resurrection of Jesus, when he wrote to the Corinthian church the following information. Taken from 1 Corinthian 15 – various versus. (KJV)
1Co 15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
1Co 15:15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ:
1Co 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead,
Having read these verses, you now see how important is the resurrection of Jesus. It cannot be said any better then what we read in verse 17 above in that. “if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins.”
Without the resurrection of Jesus from the grave Christianity becomes a false religion, no different from any other religion, but thanks be to God that Jesus has been raised from the dead.
This allows us to confess that Jesus is Lord and we can say that we believe that God has raised Him from the dead to show the salvation, the forgiveness of sins, has been given to us by the grace of God.
Truly, Christianity does stand or fall on the resurrection Of Jesus!
Believing What Christ Said About Eternal Life
If I were to ask you this question, “Do you believe Jesus when He speaks to us?”, most likely you would say “Yes, of course”. What if I were to ask you, “Did Jesus ever lie?”, again you might quickly answer “No, He never did.”, but is this something you really believe?
While there are many different Christian religions, for the most part, they all believe in Jesus for salvation. The problem, however, is that there are many who call themselves Christians that believe it is possible that one could lose their salvation.
If it were possible to lose one’s salvation, along with eternal life, would that not make Jesus a liar? I guess it would depend upon what Jesus has said about eternal life, and the best place to find out what He said is in the Scriptures.
There are three scripture references I would like for you to see. You can read them for yourself and decide what it is you want to believe.
The first scripture verses are from John 6: 37 – 40
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
John 6:39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Here we see that Jesus said that He would lose none of all whom the Father gave to Him, and that they would have everlasting life.
The second scripture verses are from John 10: 25 – 29
John 10:25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
John 10:26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
John 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
In speaking of His Sheep Jesus said that He gave them eternal life and that they will never perish, and that no one can take them from Him. In addition, He reminded everyone that the Father gave them to Him and that no one can take them out of His Father’s hand as well.
The last scripture verse I would like for you to see is this. From John 17: 2
John_17:2 (KJV) As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
God the Father has given to Jesus all power over all flesh, and that Jesus would give eternal life to all whom the Father has given Him.
So, now what is it that you believe? Do you still think that you can have eternal life taken from you? On the other hand, have you been given the assurance that, according to what you have just read, your salvation and the promise of eternal life in heaven is secure in the words of Jesus.
These are but a few scripture verses that are quotes from Jesus, to say that one could lose eternal life is tantamount to calling Jesus a liar. If you still believe eternal life can be lost, you are saying that you do not believe what Christ said about eternal life. It is that simple.
Jesus said:
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish…
Giving Thanks To A Great God
When it comes to eating a most wonderful meal, November is the month for me.
This is a month for giving thanks and nothing says giving thanks more than Thanksgiving. The meals at this time of the year are fantastic. Especially the ones I remember as a kid from the late 1940’s to the early 1960’s.
From my Mom to my Grandmothers they all knew how to cook from scratch and using nothing but fresh – never frozen – meats and vegetables, mostly from their garden.
The fresh Turkey was always nicely brown, fork tender and juicy. Filled with wonderful stuffing that was moist and tasty. The “smashed”, yes smashed, potatoes were nothing like today’s “whipped” smooth and wimpy potatoes. Those potatoes, which I still make myself, where hardy, full of russet flavor, buttery and so wonderfully stiff with a thickness that it would hold up to any homemade gravy from the pan drippings of the Turkey. Add a side of corn and you have a fantastic meal. Except…
Except, it was even better when you had a side of homemade cranberry relish, made with real cranberries, apples and oranges with sugar for added sweetness.
We ran everything through an old style hand cranked food processor (grinder). Beginning with the cranberries dumped into the intake funnel, as you turned the hand crank to crush the berries out came the ground up berries and juice. Then the apples were added, peeling and all, along with the oranges just sliced with the rind still on, all through the same manual food processor.
Once the right amounts of fruits were added, all the ingredients were mixed with a big spoon while adding sugar to the mixture for the sweetness one wanted. Then it was finished… ummm, not quite.
For best results, the mixture was best made about two weeks before Thanksgiving so that it could sit and marinate, and the results were an added measure of taste that was out of this world. Not to mention, that whoever made this relish always filled a quart-canning jar with the relish, seal it with paraffin wax and a lid, and set it in the back of the refrigerator until…
Until Christmas!
At this point, after having sat for so long in a cold environment the result from the fermenting process gave the relish an extra added boost of extravagant flavor and a taste that no canned relish or sauce could ever duplicate. Can you say “ambrosia”?
Not to be outdone by the meal there was one last thing to have; either a big slice of homemade pumpkin pie topped with homemade whipped cream, or a big hunk of homemade thick apple pie topped with real homemade ice cream. What a way to finish a scrumptious meal.
However, before the meal, one thing was always done before any eating took place, and that was the saying of grace.
Now this was something that the kids always took turns in saying and it was very appropriate for little children to say as it was also the way Jesus wanted people to be in following Him – with the faith of a little child.
Our version went like this…
“God is great, God is good and we thank Him for our food. By His hands, we all are fed. Thank you Lord, for our daily bread. Amen.”
You see, food is a blessing. We do not need to ask God to bless it. It already is blessed because God has given it to us. All we need to do is to be grateful to God for our daily bread and just give Him heartfelt thanks in return.
Even Jesus gave thanks for food as He did at the last supper:
Luk_22:19 (KJV) And he took the bread, gave “thanks”, and gave it unto His disciples…
The food is the blessing…
“God is great, God is good and we thank Him for our food. Amen.”
You Talk Too Much!
The month of March is very special to my wife and me. It is when we celebrate our wedding anniversary. This year we will celebrate fifty two (52) years of marriage and we are even more in love with each other than ever before.
I know my wife loves me for she will tell people that I have very few faults and none of them is bad, except for one. She tells me that I, “Talk too much” and never know when to shut up. I just keep going on and on and on. With this, I will agree. If she can say it and I canagree, that is love talking.
Every morning I usually get up a lot earlier than doesmy wife. I like spending this time washing up, getting breakfast, enjoying the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Then I will get paper, that I usually retrieve off of the front porch when I first come out of the bedroom, take it with me into the living room with my coffee and settle into my favorite seat and enjoy them; mostly the coffee these days, however.
During the washing and the making of breakfast and coffee, I like spending time with God. It is not a kneel down and pray kind of a meeting. It is just a time that I like talking with God and telling Him my thoughts, concerns and thanks intermingled with some praise and worship of Him. Sometimes, though, it seems I have a hard time saying anything and will just ramble on. Until, until just one particular morning.
Right in the middle of my rambling I suddenly became blank in my thoughts. I could not think of anything to say and it scared me. Then suddenly a verse came to me and I knew it was from God. Through His word, He was talking to me.
What I heard made me think that He must have been listening to my wife, for what I heard was this, “You talk too much… “”Be still and know that I am God… “” .”
One part from my wife and the important part from Psalm 46: 10
Of course, God was right. Every morning during our time together I was doing all of the talking. Many times, it was only words of repetition just to hear me thinking. I was never quiet. Never listening for Him and forgetting that God will only talk to me through His word.
It has taken me quite a while to be obedient in this respect for I do like talking. Just ask my wife. Yeah, once I get started I do talk too much. I never know when to quit and I just keep going on and on and on. However, with God’s nudging, I am learning to listen to my wife more and, more importantly, listen to God more.
It is amazing how many more wonderful qualities I am discovering about my wife since I have been listening more to her and have become less at going on so when I do talk. It is still on a learning curve, but getting better.
God’s presence in the morning has started to become more real to me as well. I find when I do talk less and just enjoy spending time with Him, while talking less,it has actually brought me closer to Jesus than ever before.
You know, as my wife has said, “You talk too much” and having God tell me, “Be still and know that I am God…” has been a wonderful learning experience for me. I have become closer and more in love with both of them than ever before.
You know, I do believe that God really does listen to His children. If it happened to me, it can happen to you. I was going to say, “I pray God does the same for you”, but He already knows that, for He knows my every thought. I am glad that He does for those moments when I am still, knowing that He is God.
Riff's Christian Journal 