(March 3, 2011)
Prayer House News!
It's good to be back home (though colder than Florida). Tonight the Mighty Men meet at 6:30pm followed by RPM at 8:00pm
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next Sunday we start our two service schedule. The first service will begin at 8:00am and the second at 10:00am. Our first service will be a more traditional style of worship - mid-service prayer at 9:00am and then the second service will be very much like what we now have - more contemporary in worship style.
==============================================
Devotional!
You Shall be Holy
Some might say, “What about the verse that says, ‘without holiness no man will see the Lord. Isn’t that calling us to live holy so that we can make it to heaven?’” Well actually, “no.” Let’s look at that verse. It’s one of my favorite lessons.
Hebrews 12:14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (NIV)
Keep in mind what 1 Peter 1:15 says, “but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” Be holy in all your behavior. This relates more to how you treat others than it has anything to do with your personal salvation. Hebrews 12:14 starts off with something similar; pursue peace with all men. In the context of these verses the writer of Hebrews is talking about how it is difficult for us to be disciplined.
Heb 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
The discipline being referred to here is separation. Separation requires discipline. There are times when God asks us to separate ourselves from what others are doing to teach us discipline. The reason for that is stated in verse 11. Once we have been trained by discipline it will yield the fruit of righteousness.
Righteousness bears fruit and that fruit is the salvation of others. I have said it before (by now you should all know this), righteousness deals with our relationship with men; godliness deals with our relationship with God. Righteous living generally refers to the right treatment of other men. It’s treating others the way God has treated you. Therefore, anything you do for someone else in the name of Jesus is an act of righteousness. So the discipline referred to in these verses is that of doing everything we can to show others who Christ is. That separation is called holiness. So he says, Pursue peace with all men (that’s rightousness) for without holiness (without treating them the way God would treat them) no man (your neighbor) will see God.
People misapply that verse all the time thinking it says that they must be holy in order to see God one day, when in reality, the issue of holiness in this verse has nothing to do with our own salvation – it has every thing to do with their salvation. Without us living holy – no man will ever get a clear picture of who God is. Without holiness, no man will see the Lord. We are going to see God one day because we are saved – not because we never sinned while on earth.
It’s because of this misconception about the requirements of holiness that we live thinking that we will never make it to heaven – all the while – knowing that anything that adds to the work Jesus did on the cross – nullifies his work. Isn’t it ironic how we believe in salvation by grace while we spend most of our time thinking we must measure up to an impossible standard?
=================================================
Medication: A Merry Heart
I've learned...
...that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in.
...that it takes years to build up trust, and only suspicion, not proof, to destroy it.
...that you shouldn't compare yourself to others - they are more messed up than you think.
...that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are celebrities.
...that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are politicians.
...that regardless of how wonderful a relationship is at first, the passion fades, and there had better be a lot of money to take its place.
Prayer House News!
It's good to be back home (though colder than Florida). Tonight the Mighty Men meet at 6:30pm followed by RPM at 8:00pm
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next Sunday we start our two service schedule. The first service will begin at 8:00am and the second at 10:00am. Our first service will be a more traditional style of worship - mid-service prayer at 9:00am and then the second service will be very much like what we now have - more contemporary in worship style.
==============================================
Devotional!
You Shall be Holy
Some might say, “What about the verse that says, ‘without holiness no man will see the Lord. Isn’t that calling us to live holy so that we can make it to heaven?’” Well actually, “no.” Let’s look at that verse. It’s one of my favorite lessons.
Hebrews 12:14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (NIV)
Keep in mind what 1 Peter 1:15 says, “but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” Be holy in all your behavior. This relates more to how you treat others than it has anything to do with your personal salvation. Hebrews 12:14 starts off with something similar; pursue peace with all men. In the context of these verses the writer of Hebrews is talking about how it is difficult for us to be disciplined.
Heb 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
The discipline being referred to here is separation. Separation requires discipline. There are times when God asks us to separate ourselves from what others are doing to teach us discipline. The reason for that is stated in verse 11. Once we have been trained by discipline it will yield the fruit of righteousness.
Righteousness bears fruit and that fruit is the salvation of others. I have said it before (by now you should all know this), righteousness deals with our relationship with men; godliness deals with our relationship with God. Righteous living generally refers to the right treatment of other men. It’s treating others the way God has treated you. Therefore, anything you do for someone else in the name of Jesus is an act of righteousness. So the discipline referred to in these verses is that of doing everything we can to show others who Christ is. That separation is called holiness. So he says, Pursue peace with all men (that’s rightousness) for without holiness (without treating them the way God would treat them) no man (your neighbor) will see God.
People misapply that verse all the time thinking it says that they must be holy in order to see God one day, when in reality, the issue of holiness in this verse has nothing to do with our own salvation – it has every thing to do with their salvation. Without us living holy – no man will ever get a clear picture of who God is. Without holiness, no man will see the Lord. We are going to see God one day because we are saved – not because we never sinned while on earth.
It’s because of this misconception about the requirements of holiness that we live thinking that we will never make it to heaven – all the while – knowing that anything that adds to the work Jesus did on the cross – nullifies his work. Isn’t it ironic how we believe in salvation by grace while we spend most of our time thinking we must measure up to an impossible standard?
=================================================
Medication: A Merry Heart
I've learned...
...that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in.
...that it takes years to build up trust, and only suspicion, not proof, to destroy it.
...that you shouldn't compare yourself to others - they are more messed up than you think.
...that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are celebrities.
...that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are politicians.
...that regardless of how wonderful a relationship is at first, the passion fades, and there had better be a lot of money to take its place.
0 comments:
Post a Comment