Monday, June 17, 2013
What Would You Ask For?
1 Kings 3:5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what you wish me to give you.”
I was reading this passage and was blown away by Solomon’s response to such a request, which is pretty amazing just by itself, but when you put it in context it is so much more powerful.
Imagine being the son of a dieing king who was known as a man after God’s own heart and having an older brother who by normal right of succession should be the one to claim the throne. Adonijah the older brother went off with King David’s military commander Joab and Abiathar one of David’s chief priests and his adviser and anointed himself king while David the king still lived. David had made a vow that Solomon would inherit the kingdom and once he heard of this he sent Zadok, another chief priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the Chief of his Mighty Men to go and anoint Solomon king. A messenger came to Adonijah to tell him that David had Solomon anointed king by Nathan and Zadok. All the men that came to celebrate Adonijah’s false anointing dispersed and Adonijah was brought before Solomon and Solomon had him sent away. As David is dieing he tells Solomon of all those that deserve justice but David had sworn not to kill, himself. So Adonijah tries using Solomon’s mother to develop a scheme but Solomon has him executed along with Joab who followed him but sends Abiathar away because he had carried the Ark of the Covenant. Solomon also has those that David had told him about put to death.
A while after all this Solomon travels to a distant altar to sacrifice to the Lord and whilst sleeping there God asks him the question, “ Ask what you wish me to give you.”. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Solomon had a lot going on in his life, he was just crowned king and had to dispense a lot of justice and I guarantee very few of them were easy decisions to make. Solomon’s response is as follows:
1Kings 3:6-9 You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.
Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.
So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours.
Solomon’s response is so humble and selfless it is astounding. To start his responding prayer he talks of his father and how great a man he was through the power of God. When Solomon does finally mention himself it is not as a great leader or some cocky young king who thinks he knows everything and is all powerful, but as little child who does not know how to go out or come in. So he is essentially saying he is a toddler and completely incapable of the position without the help of God. In the next verses Solomon has such a heart for the people God has placed under his care. Solomon’s wish is for an understanding heart and discernment to judge wisely. Rather than ask for all the gold and jewels or all the kingdoms, or all the women in the world, Solomon selflessly asks for the Wisdom to deal justly with God’s chosen people, who have been placed in his care.
Solomon had a mighty devotion to his duty as king of God’s chosen people, had I been in his place I don’t know what I would have asked for, even now after thinking on it all afternoon I still can’t quite find the words to say if I were to be asked of God. I suppose I would pray to be His instrument, that like Christ I would make myself of no reputation, to go into the dieing world of the lost and shine His light into the hopeless darkness of their hearts that they may shine with the hope of Christ, That He would be my strength, my voice and my Glory. Amen.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
The Metaphor of Psalms 127:3-5
To preface this, I do not have children although I hope to one day, but I am an archer and a bit of a mid-evil weapons fanatic. I wanted to write on this subject because I’ve never heard any pastor or preacher get this metaphor quite right. They always miss the most crucial part of these verses. Their main focus when they go to this passage is usually just verse 3, where it says, “children are a gift of the Lord.” and then they make a very minor point of verse 4 and 5. They make mention of children being arrows and it being a blessing to have a full quiver so that all the guys in the audience can do their Tim Allen-esk man grunts, and that’s about as deep as they go into this amazing metaphor.
Now to get a little weapons history. The bow and arrow was the pinnacle of weapons technology for centuries. The bow and arrow allowed one man to be able to kill as many men as he had arrows without being threatened by a sword, therefore drastically improving the combat effectiveness of the soldier. It also allowed an army making a siege of a fortress able to kill the soldiers posted on the wall or inside the wall without having to breech the fortress, which in turn would severely demoralize the defending army.
At the time this Psalm was written the bow and arrow reigned supreme on the battlefield. So when Scripture says that children are like arrows in the hands of a warrior, and blessed is the man whose quiver is full, its not just comparing them to weapons to sound cool, although it does sound cool. Think of it, if children are arrows, what is the arrows function? Is it not to reach forward and hit somebody that the archer could not otherwise affect? Children are our legacy, if a child is raised on Scripture and comes to know Christ early and is encouraged to grow spiritually by their parents, long after their parents are dead they can reach people for the sake of Christ. If one generation raises its children poorly and does not emphasize the truth of God’s word, the subsequent generations will suffer. We are living in a suffering generation here in America. Christianity is slowly dieing because parents have stopped raising their own children, even “Christian” parents. They send their kids to a pagan school to learn pagan ideals, and then they wonder why their children turn away from God. Just like arrows, children must be crafted with great care, from beginning to end, to ensure they will fly strait and penetrate the enemy.
So parents I urge you therefore to raise your children biblically and train them to do the same. They are your arrows against an unbelieving world, you continue to evangelize just as the warrior would slay those around him but remember your arrows will reach much farther than you can with your sword arm, and the more arrows you have the more damage you can inflict on the enemy. So Blessed is the man whose quiver is full.
Now to get a little weapons history. The bow and arrow was the pinnacle of weapons technology for centuries. The bow and arrow allowed one man to be able to kill as many men as he had arrows without being threatened by a sword, therefore drastically improving the combat effectiveness of the soldier. It also allowed an army making a siege of a fortress able to kill the soldiers posted on the wall or inside the wall without having to breech the fortress, which in turn would severely demoralize the defending army.
At the time this Psalm was written the bow and arrow reigned supreme on the battlefield. So when Scripture says that children are like arrows in the hands of a warrior, and blessed is the man whose quiver is full, its not just comparing them to weapons to sound cool, although it does sound cool. Think of it, if children are arrows, what is the arrows function? Is it not to reach forward and hit somebody that the archer could not otherwise affect? Children are our legacy, if a child is raised on Scripture and comes to know Christ early and is encouraged to grow spiritually by their parents, long after their parents are dead they can reach people for the sake of Christ. If one generation raises its children poorly and does not emphasize the truth of God’s word, the subsequent generations will suffer. We are living in a suffering generation here in America. Christianity is slowly dieing because parents have stopped raising their own children, even “Christian” parents. They send their kids to a pagan school to learn pagan ideals, and then they wonder why their children turn away from God. Just like arrows, children must be crafted with great care, from beginning to end, to ensure they will fly strait and penetrate the enemy.
So parents I urge you therefore to raise your children biblically and train them to do the same. They are your arrows against an unbelieving world, you continue to evangelize just as the warrior would slay those around him but remember your arrows will reach much farther than you can with your sword arm, and the more arrows you have the more damage you can inflict on the enemy. So Blessed is the man whose quiver is full.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
A brief study of the Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 12:3b “…and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit is the so essential to Christianity, He is the one that opens up our capacity to understand the concept of Salvation, or anything Spiritual for that matter. Many times the scriptures make mention of the fact that the wisdom of God is not even comprehensible to man, and that he thinks it foolish. The same goes for God, “For the wisdom of the world is foolishness before God…”(1 Cor. 3:19a). As the opening verse states it is only by the illumination of the Holy Spirit that we can even know that Jesus is Lord.
I had never thought of it before but after reading True Evangelism, by Louis Sperry Chafer, my eyes were opened to the fact stated above. It is truly amazing to think about all the things the Holy Spirit does for us. As an unbeliever He helps us to understand that the seemingly impossible to fill hole in our lives can be filled by God, and God alone (John 16:7-11, 15a). As a believer, He Indwells and fills us, giving us eternal security (John 10:28-30) and fellowship with God (1 John 1:3). The Spirit will continually reveal things unto us. Through the Spirit we are all made equal in our second birth, for you see, the Spirit came to All who believed (1Cor. 12:13). The Spirit also makes intercession for us (Romans 8:26,27). If we live by the Spirit and not the flesh we are given the fruit of the Spirit, “…which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23). What more could we need to make this life easier than these nine attributes? Notice also the wording of this passage, that it is the Fruit not fruits, meaning that all of these are imparted upon the believer who is filled with the Spirit.
After observing all that the Holy Spirit does for us, it’s understandable why Jesus referred to Him as the Comforter and a Helper (John 16:7, 15:26). Without the Holy Spirit the Christian life would be an impossibility, just think about it, if Jesus left to be with the Father and the Holy Spirit wasn’t sent to this world, nobody would be able to understand the things Jesus taught, even the disciples were clueless as to a great many things He taught until the Holy Spirit was imparted unto them. (John 13:7).
Now we can Grieve, or Quench the Spirit(Eph. 4:20, 1 Thes. 5:19) by trying to take our lives back into our own hands, or when we return to our sinful ways, taking the “old man” off of the cross and living by his standards rather than putting on the “new man” and renewing our minds by the Spirit of God.(Eph.4:17-24) Every moment of everyday we have the choice to live this life for ourselves or for God. It has been my experience since coming to this realization that there is absolutely no lasting joy in living for myself, but every day and moment I give to the Lord, every time I make myself available to Him, whether it be my hands to work with or my mouth to speak with, there is an indescribable joy that fills me, that feeling that I am right where I was made to be, In Christ. Just like Major Ian Thomas said, “All that God is, is available to the man, that is available to all that God is.”. For man was created to have daily fellowship with God, Adam walked and talked with God daily in the Garden of Eden up until he sinned and lost that direct fellowship with God, but Jesus came that through His death burial and resurrection we might be forgiven the Sin of Adam that has passed on generation through generation. And when He ascended into heaven He sent the Holy Spirit into the world that everyone might have the chance once again to have fellowship with their Creator.
The Holy Spirit is the so essential to Christianity, He is the one that opens up our capacity to understand the concept of Salvation, or anything Spiritual for that matter. Many times the scriptures make mention of the fact that the wisdom of God is not even comprehensible to man, and that he thinks it foolish. The same goes for God, “For the wisdom of the world is foolishness before God…”(1 Cor. 3:19a). As the opening verse states it is only by the illumination of the Holy Spirit that we can even know that Jesus is Lord.
I had never thought of it before but after reading True Evangelism, by Louis Sperry Chafer, my eyes were opened to the fact stated above. It is truly amazing to think about all the things the Holy Spirit does for us. As an unbeliever He helps us to understand that the seemingly impossible to fill hole in our lives can be filled by God, and God alone (John 16:7-11, 15a). As a believer, He Indwells and fills us, giving us eternal security (John 10:28-30) and fellowship with God (1 John 1:3). The Spirit will continually reveal things unto us. Through the Spirit we are all made equal in our second birth, for you see, the Spirit came to All who believed (1Cor. 12:13). The Spirit also makes intercession for us (Romans 8:26,27). If we live by the Spirit and not the flesh we are given the fruit of the Spirit, “…which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23). What more could we need to make this life easier than these nine attributes? Notice also the wording of this passage, that it is the Fruit not fruits, meaning that all of these are imparted upon the believer who is filled with the Spirit.
After observing all that the Holy Spirit does for us, it’s understandable why Jesus referred to Him as the Comforter and a Helper (John 16:7, 15:26). Without the Holy Spirit the Christian life would be an impossibility, just think about it, if Jesus left to be with the Father and the Holy Spirit wasn’t sent to this world, nobody would be able to understand the things Jesus taught, even the disciples were clueless as to a great many things He taught until the Holy Spirit was imparted unto them. (John 13:7).
Now we can Grieve, or Quench the Spirit(Eph. 4:20, 1 Thes. 5:19) by trying to take our lives back into our own hands, or when we return to our sinful ways, taking the “old man” off of the cross and living by his standards rather than putting on the “new man” and renewing our minds by the Spirit of God.(Eph.4:17-24) Every moment of everyday we have the choice to live this life for ourselves or for God. It has been my experience since coming to this realization that there is absolutely no lasting joy in living for myself, but every day and moment I give to the Lord, every time I make myself available to Him, whether it be my hands to work with or my mouth to speak with, there is an indescribable joy that fills me, that feeling that I am right where I was made to be, In Christ. Just like Major Ian Thomas said, “All that God is, is available to the man, that is available to all that God is.”. For man was created to have daily fellowship with God, Adam walked and talked with God daily in the Garden of Eden up until he sinned and lost that direct fellowship with God, but Jesus came that through His death burial and resurrection we might be forgiven the Sin of Adam that has passed on generation through generation. And when He ascended into heaven He sent the Holy Spirit into the world that everyone might have the chance once again to have fellowship with their Creator.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Agorazo
I was born a slave with no hope of ever being free, under my own power. For I ask you, what power does a slave have other than to serve the master? My master was a cruel one, but it was the only one I knew. "When I'd look for freedom he'd put more chains on me, and strangle my heart so that I'd live like a zombie."(Josh Garrels) there was no earthly means of escape. As you may have guessed my master was SIN. Jesus Himself said, "Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin."(John 8:34). For I was born into this world with three strikes against me: I inherited Adam's original sin, the nature to sin, and any personal sins I would commit along the way; all of these would enslave me and the penalty for them was death.
"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned."(Rom.5:12)
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
In John 8:31 Jesus also states, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." For it is only through the study of God's word that we can come to an understanding of what the truth is, that is the gospel. It is only through the death of Jesus, the perfect Son of God, that we could have been Bought from the slave market of sin. Jesus was, "...a ransom for all..."(1Tim. 2:6), in the Greek text the word for ransom is Lutroo, and it means quite literally a ransom, or to bring forth a ransom. When you think about it we were bought for a king's ransom, literally the king was our ransom, He gave up His life so that we, the lowest of slaves might have freedom.
We are also told that "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law..."(Gal. 3:13), the word redeemed comes from the Greek word Agorazo, which means, to go to the market and buy something or to be bought with a price. Now you can see the idea behind the Slave Market of Sin, Jesus literally went to the market to purchase you and I from a Law that we could never live up to, and the penalty of which was death. He gave us freedom from enslavement and death.
Now that we are free we have the privilege to choose our master. For no man is truly a master of himself, though we are freed from the slavery of sin, our old master is always there waiting with his chains. We can either go back to our old ways and be as, “A dog returning to its own vomit." (2 Peter 2:22, Proverbs 26:11), or we can follow the example set by the one who freed us.
“Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”(Phil. 2:5-7).
Now you may think that because you are free you are a god among men, but as Christ is our example we are to be humble as it says Christ “Emptied Himself, taking the from of a bond-servant.” I love that term Bond-servant, the definition of the word is: Devoted to another with the disregard of ones own interests, a servant, an attendant. One of the first things that comes to mind is the character Azeem from Robin Hood: The Prince of Thieves, for those of you that haven't seen it, Robin rescues Azeem from a dungeon that he breaks out of while on the crusades. Azeem’s sentence was death, so after the two of them escape Azeem makes a bond with Robin that he will follow him wherever he goes until he can repay his debt of a life for a life. Robin does not ask for his help and he only freed Azeem because he was the easiest person to free. Throughout the movie the going gets tough but Azeem is always faithfully by Robin's side, no one is making him, and nothing is forcing him to stay. As Lloyd Christmas would say, “His word was his bond.”.
That is how we should be towards Christ, we should empty ourselves of any selfish ambitions, trade in our will for His, and serve Him by extending and advancing His Cause among men.
I am starting this blog with the intention of posting something in it at least once maybe twice a month, but I would like some help from you. If you enjoyed what I wrote please feel free to comment and please bug me if I don’t post anything for a while. Thank you and God Bless.
"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned."(Rom.5:12)
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
In John 8:31 Jesus also states, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." For it is only through the study of God's word that we can come to an understanding of what the truth is, that is the gospel. It is only through the death of Jesus, the perfect Son of God, that we could have been Bought from the slave market of sin. Jesus was, "...a ransom for all..."(1Tim. 2:6), in the Greek text the word for ransom is Lutroo, and it means quite literally a ransom, or to bring forth a ransom. When you think about it we were bought for a king's ransom, literally the king was our ransom, He gave up His life so that we, the lowest of slaves might have freedom.
We are also told that "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law..."(Gal. 3:13), the word redeemed comes from the Greek word Agorazo, which means, to go to the market and buy something or to be bought with a price. Now you can see the idea behind the Slave Market of Sin, Jesus literally went to the market to purchase you and I from a Law that we could never live up to, and the penalty of which was death. He gave us freedom from enslavement and death.
Now that we are free we have the privilege to choose our master. For no man is truly a master of himself, though we are freed from the slavery of sin, our old master is always there waiting with his chains. We can either go back to our old ways and be as, “A dog returning to its own vomit." (2 Peter 2:22, Proverbs 26:11), or we can follow the example set by the one who freed us.
“Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”(Phil. 2:5-7).
Now you may think that because you are free you are a god among men, but as Christ is our example we are to be humble as it says Christ “Emptied Himself, taking the from of a bond-servant.” I love that term Bond-servant, the definition of the word is: Devoted to another with the disregard of ones own interests, a servant, an attendant. One of the first things that comes to mind is the character Azeem from Robin Hood: The Prince of Thieves, for those of you that haven't seen it, Robin rescues Azeem from a dungeon that he breaks out of while on the crusades. Azeem’s sentence was death, so after the two of them escape Azeem makes a bond with Robin that he will follow him wherever he goes until he can repay his debt of a life for a life. Robin does not ask for his help and he only freed Azeem because he was the easiest person to free. Throughout the movie the going gets tough but Azeem is always faithfully by Robin's side, no one is making him, and nothing is forcing him to stay. As Lloyd Christmas would say, “His word was his bond.”.
That is how we should be towards Christ, we should empty ourselves of any selfish ambitions, trade in our will for His, and serve Him by extending and advancing His Cause among men.
I am starting this blog with the intention of posting something in it at least once maybe twice a month, but I would like some help from you. If you enjoyed what I wrote please feel free to comment and please bug me if I don’t post anything for a while. Thank you and God Bless.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)