All posts tagged Discipleship

God’s Tumbler

Written by: George J. Elling

Did you ever wonder why the various people in your life are there? First there is family. They are there because of biological relationships and marriages. Then there are friends which we “pick” to be there. As the old saying goes, “You can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family.”

Next are people with whom we choose to have a professional relationship with, like doctors, dentists, auto mechanics, lawyers, etc. Then there are co-workers, bosses, employees, managers, business associates, etc. Some of us have teammates from a sports league or fellow volunteers from a charity we engage with. We may have fellow worshipers from a church or synagogue we go to. And, of course, there are those who are our neighbors and other people that don’t fit into one of the above categories.

We all interact with quite a few people in the course of a week. But, why are these particular people in our lives? Is there something deeper about why certain people are the people we interact with in a given week? Does it go beyond happenstance or “our choices?”

A tumbler is a barrel or a drum in which you place stones, or parts, along with some grit in order to polish them. Round and round the drum turns. The items inside are forced into each other, interacting with some friction, enhanced by the grit, to wear down the rough edges of the objects in order to achieve a smooth and polished result.

We, and the people in our lives, can be like the items in a tumbler. We are all going round and round, being forced to interact with each other, sometimes easily, and sometimes with a great deal of friction.

It is easy to simply view people in your life in terms of what they can do for you; a utilitarian view. You can also view people in terms of mission or ministry. These are people whom we are to “love on” and help. But, what if God has this particular set of people in your life to help shape and polish you as well as for you to help shape and polish them? What if you are in God’s tumbler?

This, of course, is not the only reason God allows, or places, people into your life. There are the practical and missional purposes as well. But, I think it is valid to consider how God is “polishing” your life when bumping up against others, especially when there is a bit of friction. We grow through struggle. This was true also of Jesus’ life. The Bible says;

“Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered.”
Hebrews 5:8

Jesus came in contact with all sorts of people during his life on earth. While he healed, helped, and discipled many, he also clashed with many. Some helped his mission, some ignored him. Some tried to control him, and some betrayed him. Through it all, the man, Jesus, learned experiential obedience to the Father and was made perfect, or mature. As a result, he became the man God the Father intended him to be.

After describing the work of ministers (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers), Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus:

15 “…But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”
Ephesians 4:15-16

Notice in this passage the special work of each of the various parts of the body of Christ (not just the professional ministers) and that they contribute to your becoming the man or woman God intends you to become. Not a generic man or woman, but a particular you, a part of the body of Christ who measures up to the standard and stature exemplified by Christ.

But how does this happen? Well, for example:

From the irritating, we learn patience and to appreciate calmness.

From those who persecute us, we learn endurance and to appreciate peace and security.

From the educated, we learn knowledge and to appreciate how much there is to know.

From the lovely, we learn beauty and to appreciate beauty.

From the helpless, we learn to give and to appreciate how God reaches out to us.

From the lonely, we learn to be a friend and appreciate God’s presence with us.

From the dysfunctional, we learn to bring and appreciate order.

From the poor, we learn to give and appreciate what God has given us.

From the ones who truly love us, we learn what true love is and gain a desire to share it with others.

I could add additional examples of how we are shaped by those in our lives, but I think you get the idea.

So today, why not reflect on how God may be shaping and polishing you by the interactions you experience with the people in your life. Pay special attention to the ones you feel cause discomfort and friction. God may be using that person to polish your own rough edges. And remember, it is Christ in you (Colossians 1:27) who will give you the ability to see and understand what God may be doing. Welcome to God’s tumbler!

7 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” 
2 Corinthians 4:7

17 “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:17-18

1 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
Colossians 3:1-4

-GJE

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by gje49 on November 11, 2021  •  Permalink
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Create In Me A Clean Heart

You know it took a post from a dear friend on Facebook to make me think about this passage. She said that she had just moved to a new area and that she had no history there and she was looking forward to getting a new start there. I know that where she was before she didn’t have the “cleanest record” (not legally speaking, just the way that people thought about her – I didn’t personally judge her about what happened in her past) so she was going to a place that had no idea of her past and I am not one to tattle on her – by now I’m sure your mind has already started to grind away imagining things that she may have been guilty of – DON’T.

Ps 51:2 – 15 [KJV]
2Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

I looked this passage up as it just came to mind as I read her post. The main verse that I thought of was verse 10; “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” This passage is part of the prayer that the psalmist, David was praying to God, asking for forgiveness for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba.

I’m sure, well, reasonably sure, that you weren’t reading this after having committed adultery yourself, but as you read this, imagine all of the other sins you are guilty of instead. Even if it is just telling a little lie, the Bible says that even if we are guilty of “thinking about” murdering someone, they are guilty of the actual act of murder. I know, that doesn’t really sound fair, does it?

That being the case, if you think about just the thought of a sin as being just a minor “infraction” (even though most people wouldn’t even think of that as even being a sin/ infraction), and the actual act of murder would, obviously, be a major infraction, your could replace that with any of our bad thoughts, similar to any of those things, and that would make any of us, assuming that you are not in jail as you read this, as guilty of murder as the person in jail for murder – Most of us more than one time a day, especially after driving through a busy city on the way home from work.

Back to the topic at hand…

As I was reading through this passage, I was thinking of myself and, as the Holy Spirit has a tendency of doing, He was convicting me of the sins that I had committed and, as I read it through for the 4th time, I was full on crying as I was ashamed of myself for those sins and many more that kept coming to the surface.

I wonder how many of you out there in cyber-land might fit into the same category. As you read through this, I challenge you too to put yourself in my shoes and dig deep into your own memory and read the passage again (and again, and again…) until you can say with a clear conscience that God can look into your soul and see that it is clear of all sin and you can have a nice talk with Him, one on one.

I pray that this has helped you as much as it has me.  Let me know below, in the comments, what you think…

Thought: “When we feel least like praying is the time when we most need to pray.”

R. A. Torrey from “How to Pray” (1900)

© 2017 Mark Davis

 

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by Christians Are Us on April 3, 2017  •  Permalink
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Posted by Christians Are Us on April 3, 2017

https://christiansareus.com/2017/04/03/create-in-me-a-clean-heart/

Do You Have Questions About Salvation?

For those of you that truly do have questions

regarding true “Salvation” vs. false.

Many of you have seen street evangelist Ray Comfort and have seen his valid method of pointing a person toward the Lord (Jesus Christ) by comparing people’s lives to the original 10 Commandments that God gave Moses nearly 4,000 years or so ago, also found in Exodus 20. While Ray uses this tactic he is very confrontational and will normally end up pushing a person away from God rather than drawing them toward God – While I could use the very same approach, I prefer not to due to the conflict that it creates, so I choose to use the friendlier approach and I like to show people right from the Bible just how God laid out His special plan of “Salvation” to save us from a future eternity in Hell. This being said, I will try to spell out for you as easily as I can God’s plan of Salvation as follows:

  • Back at the beginning of our earthly time (not eternity past), God created Adam and Eve (Genesis 1).  While in the Garden of Eden, God told them that they could eat from anything in the Garden except the fruit of one particular tree – the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. For some strange reason, God gave man (and woman; “man” is being used here as a reference to the collective whole of the human race, moving forward) a “free will”… The ability to choose for themselves what they would do. (Genesis 2:17)

Long story short, Eve, then Adam (in that order according to the Bible – Genesis 3:6) chose to eat of the fruit of the only tree that God told them not to, under penalty of death (Genesis 2:17). This death turned out to be an eternal death and the eventual physical death of their physical body as well. (The serpent, otherwise known as Satan, or the Devil, was the one that approached Eve with the temptation to eat of the fruit originally. Revelation 12:9; 20:2) — Satan, or previously known in Heaven as Lucifer, led a rebellion of the angels in Heaven before the Earth had been created and, again, long story short, had a following of nearly one-third of all of the angels in Heaven, and Lucifer said that he could be just as good as God, if not better, and God could not stand for the rebellion (being sin, as it was against God) and threw Lucifer and his following angels out of heaven and eventually gave them the Earth to roam upon until God’s final judgment which is to happen at some future distant time.

We learn later in the Bible that God created a special place for Satan and his angels called the Lake of Fire, or some even call it Hell. Since there will be people which will choose to follow God and some that will follow Satan, God chose that, after the Judgment, for all of the non-God followers to spend the rest of eternity with the Devil and his angels in the Lake of Fire. (Revelation 19:20) – You can figure that it will not be a party, but rather it will be a place of severe torture and pain and it is said that it is a place where “the worm dieth not“! (Luke 16:19-31) There will be no physical death even though people will want to.
— This story could be very long so I am trying to abbreviate it for you where I can. The whole story and more can be found in the Bible.

God wanted man to spend the rest of eternity with Him in Heaven (“I go to prepare a mansion” John 14:1-3) after His physical death, but since God is perfect and man is sinful, there was no way in our present state for man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven to be with God. So, God could no longer allow man into His PERFECT Heaven. (Habakkuk 1:13)

The Roman's Road to Salvation

The Roman’s Road to Salvation

  • Because we (man) inherit our “sin-nature” (Romans 5:12)– the propensity to sin or break the 10 Commandments in one way or another – some of us worse than others, but all still the same in God’s eyes – Fallible! – and God still cannot let sin into Heaven, none the less! Even if it were only for just a little white lie and that was it… it is still sin nonetheless!
  • God made a way for man to escape the final punishment of eternity in Hell. He chose to come to earth in the form of a man, to be born like a normal man (not an alien coming out of space), to grow up just as a normal child would grow up, and to die the worst death known to man at the time – the death upon a Roman cross, for accusations that were totally untrue and unfounded. (Philippians 2:8)
  • The only real difference between the way He grew up and the way we grow up is that He grew up totally flawless – without sin – none at ALL!!! (Hebrews 4:15) Even though He was tempted just like we are, He never “chose” to sin. (Luke 9:22) This God/Man’s name was Jesus. It is a proven fact, through historians, not listed in the Bible, that He did live and He started what we call today as “Christianity”. The word literally means “Christ-followers” or “Little-Christs” – in other words, we try to emulate what Jesus would do in all situations and actions.
  • One thing that Jesus told His followers was that once He died, He would not just stay in the grave but He would rise again to new life 3 days after (Luke 24:3-8). He died and not just disappear, but He was seen again by more than 3,000 men (not counting women and children) and that was when God allowed us to have His Holy Spirit after we received Him as our Savior. Remember that we are talking about God and that, being God, He can do anything He wants to do – except sin!
    Once we are Saved, He gives us His Holy Spirit to live and dwell with us in our soul (heart as it is known in the “circles”) until we die and are accepted immediately into Heaven. (This is going to be AWESOME!!!!!)
  • The way we know these things is that it is all recorded in a compilation of 66 books together that make up what we call today as the Holy Bible. The way that we know that the Holy Bible is true is that down through the ages – nearly 4,000 years to be nearly exact – there were some people known as “prophets” that God told certain things would happen through history (the advent of Jesus’ birth, His life and His execution included) called prophecy and many of these things have come true as the “prophet” foretold and there are still some that have yet to be fulfilled in the future from now.
  • I will list a few Bible references here (not the only verses that back up these topics but just a few to show we are telling the truth) that will show you some of what I have explained:
    • All men have sinned and are not worthy of going to Heaven: Romans 3:10 – “For there is NONE Righteous, no not one.” and Romans 3:23 – “For ALL have sinned and come SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.”
    • There is a penalty for our sins: Romans 6:23 – “For the WAGES of sin is DEATH”
    • God provided a contingency plan for those of us who WANT it: Romans 5:8 – “But God commendeth His LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
    • There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that we can do as a “work” that can “buy” our way to Heaven: Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by GRACE are ye saved through FAITH, and that not of yourselves, it is the (FREE) GIFT of God. Not of WORKS lest any man should boast.”

— I have to explain this just a little to make sure that it is totally clear: Grace by definition is: Receiving something that you do NOT deserve. Mercy defined is: Withholding something in the form of punishment that you definitely deserve.

We are saved by the Grace of God – He is offering us something that we don’t deserve because He also knows that there would be absolutely no way that we would be able to actually earn it. We MUST have FAITH that God is real; that Jesus did come to earth and lived and died as He said He would (and did – as the prophets foretold) and that He is in Heaven right now preparing a place for us (John 14:2-3) so that when it is our turn to go, we will have a mansion with streets of solid Gold… I’m getting ahead of myself now. But, returning to the subject, God wanted it to be this way so that there would be NO ONE that could stand up to you and say that they did one thing or another in order to get to Heaven because that would be PRIDE and that in and of itself is a sin… again, it can’t be in Heaven!

God made this entry into Heaven to be FREE – but instead of just letting everyone in that says they are going, He wanted only to have people who really appreciated what He did on the cross and that he took our sins to the cross with him and when He died, He went to God in Heaven and said, now I have paid his/her debt in full – He bought our entry tickets but we have to go to the “will call” and pick them up.

That is the point of a Gift… one has to receive it before it becomes theirs. That is why not just anybody is going to make it into Heaven…

  • In order for us to receive the FREE GIFT of eternal life in Heaven, we MUST ask for it:
    — Romans 10:9-10, 13; “For if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, thou shalt be saved.”

— Again, I think a little explanation is appropriate, but this is somewhat self-explanatory. I don’t know if you have any Catholic background or not, but if you do, you might remember having to go to the priest and make your confessions every so often.

  1. This is something similar to having to do that but much less painful. This means that you first MUST believe that what the Bible says is true
  2. and that Jesus DID come to earth to live and die for us and raise the 3rd day
  3. and took the weight of the sin of the world on Him at the time He was crucified and paid the debt for the whole world to enable them to be able to go to Heaven when we die – and we are never guaranteed another tomorrow, so you better do this sooner than later.
  4. This is what you do – and only do this if you want to receive this free gift of Eternal Life offered by Jesus Christ. Read this prayer with me and mean it with all of your heart:

Pray: “Dear Jesus, I know I’m a sinner. I know that I don’t deserve this free gift of salvation, but I want to go to Heaven when I die instead of going to eternal Damnation and torment in Hell. Jesus, I thank you for dying in my place so that I could go to Heaven and for paying for all of my sins and I ask You, right now, that You would forgive me of all of the terrible sins that I have committed. Thank you, Jesus, for Your forgiveness and enabling me to go to Heaven. Amen.”

The last thing here is not a requirement for entry into Heaven, but, I strongly recommend that you find a good Christian Church and be Baptized according to the Bible (Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:27; Baptism Lesson); and be clear that Baptism does NOT have anything to do with becoming saved, but rather it is to come after salvation and then by being baptism by immersion as the Bible teaches, shows obedience to God and it puts you in front of “your peers” to show that you are taking a stand to do what is right and follow Christ and be obedient to the Bible and what God instructs us to do. This is also the first thing you should do to show that you are willing to be conformative to the instructions of the Holy Bible and the Holy Spirit.

If you feel that you can do this later, please DON’T wait. None of us are guaranteed another breath. Tomorrow may never come. I’m sure that you’ve known someone that has passed away (died) suddenly, as do I, and I know that if something like that might happen to me, I’d be in heaven in the next second. Don’t you wish you had that assurance that you could be in Heaven if you died today? I beg you to pray the prayer above to make sure.  If you still have questions, please don’t leave this site until you have your answers. There are additional articles at the bottom of this article that might tell you in a slightly different way that might give you more information that would clear up your questions. If that doesn’t do it, press the button at the button and you can email me personally your questions and I will do my best to give you the answers you so desperately need in a timely manner.

I also do request that if you have any questions or if you did pray this prayer with me that you would visit my website and let me know. There you will also find many materials including an excellent Bible Study, Growing in Grace by Dr. Ed Nelson, designed for those who have just received God’s free gift of Salvation, but please let me know that you took the time to read this and follow the steps. I can also give you some additional links to more supportive documents that can help you through your new walk in Christ.

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Sincerely,
–Mark Davis

©Mark Davis 2017

 

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by Christians Are Us on February 10, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in Gospel Presentations, How To Be Saved, Salvation
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Posted by Christians Are Us on February 10, 2017

https://christiansareus.com/2017/02/10/do-you-have-questions-about-salvation/

Temptation 2

1 Corinthians 10:13
“There hath no temptation taken you
but such as is common to man:
but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it.”

Matthew 26:41 –
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation:
the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

– James 1:12-16
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:
for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life,
which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

James 4:7
“Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Hebrews 2:18 –
“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted,
he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

– Ephesians 6:10-12
10″Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord,
and in the power of his might. 
11″Put on the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12″For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Matthew 4:1-11
“Then was Jesus led up of the
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted
of the devil.” 

Ephesians 4:27 –
“Neither give place to the devil.”

– Mark 14:38
“Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.”

James 1:2-4 –
2″My brethren, count it all joy
when ye fall into divers temptations; 
3″Knowing this, that the trying
of your faith worketh patience.
4″But let patience have her perfect work,
that ye may be perfect and entire,
wanting nothing.”

Luke 4:8
“And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Get thee behind me, Satan:
for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve.

– 2 Peter 2:9
“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly
out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust
unto the day of judgment to be punished”

Proverbs 1:10 –
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”

– Luke 22:40
“And when he was at the place,
he said unto them,
Pray that ye enter not into temptation.”

Revelation 3:10
“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience,
I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
which shall come upon all the world,
to try them that dwell upon the earth.”

Hebrews 2:17-18 –
17″Wherefore in all things it behoved him
to be made like unto his brethren,
that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God,
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18″For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted,
he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

– Hebrews 4:15-16
15″For we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;
but was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin.
16″Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need.”

John 16:33 –
“These things I have spoken unto you,
that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation:
but be of good cheer;
I have overcome the world.”

©2016 Mark Davis

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by Christians Are Us on October 19, 2016  •  Permalink
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Posted by Christians Are Us on October 19, 2016

https://christiansareus.com/2016/10/19/temptation-2/

Sermons We See

http://ChristiansAreUs.com #ChristiansAreUs

“I’d rather see a sermon
than hear one any day;
I’d rather one should walk with me
than merely tell the way.
The eye’s a better pupil
and more willing than the ear,
Fine counsel is confusing,
but example’s always clear;
And the best of all preachers
are the men who live their creeds,
For to see good put in action
is what everybody needs.

I soon can learn to do it
if you’ll let me see it done;
I can watch your hands in action,
but your tongue too fast may run.
And the lecture you deliver
may be very wise and true,
But I’d rather get my lessons
by observing what you do;
For I might misunderstand you
and the high advice you give,
But there’s no misunderstanding
how you act and how you live.”

by: Edgar A. Guest
From: Collected Verse of Edgar Guest
NY: Buccaneer Books, 1976, pg. 599

 

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by Christians Are Us on July 17, 2016  •  Permalink
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Posted by Christians Are Us on July 17, 2016

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How Many Churches Did Jesus Establish?

Recently, I had a reader ask a question that I thought was pretty good and a very viable question at that.

Note — I want you all to know that if a person comments on a post on this blog, it does not automatically end up becoming a new post for me.  The only reason that I repost this text is because I thought it might edify other members of the Bride of Christ – The Church.

And now on to the lesson:

Good day sir, please i have a question for you. how many Churches did Christ build in the bible? Mathew 16:18

Wow – thank you so much for your question.

I’m not exactly certain where you are going with this question but I think I will attempt to answer more than just your initial question as well as an other question which many others (as well as you might fall into this category as well) have asked regarding this text. I’m sorry ahead of time for the probability for this answer being a bit long but I believe for a complete answer to your question, it is required.

You reference, Matthew 16:18:

[KJV] And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Just breezing through this text, one would presume that it is indicating just one church, Peter’s, correct? The Catholic Church believes that Peter was the founder of their faith also being their first pope. That is strange considering that Peter lived in the first century A.D. and the Catholic Church wasn’t founded until nearly 400 A.D. You do the math.

Actually, many believe that this text is indicating that Jesus is telling Peter that He will be building His church on him (Peter), believing that the Greek word for “Peter” and the Greek word for “rock” is the same greek word, “Petra” (G4073 πέτρα petra (pe’-tra) n.).

Here is a brief study on the original words that were used in this verse. The belief is that the verse (belief of the above statement) is stating that Peter is the head of the Church from that point forward; There is one Church (branching into many other sects), the Roman Catholics, that believe this such statement.

Here is the truth to this verse:

The Greek word for “rock” is: G4073 (Strong’s number), πέτρα (the Greek spelling), petra (English translation), (pe’-tra) (the pronunciation of the word in English), n. (indication of the type of word it is, in this case it is a noun – person, place, or thing.)

  1. (properly) a mass of solid rock (such as a solidly massive foundation or as jutting upward for hewing out a large family chamber tomb).
  2. (person) The Solid Rock (of Ages), Jesus, Yeshua.
  3. (Note) The solid rock is in distinct contrast to a piece of rock or a rock fragment.

The Greek word for “Peter” is: G4074 (Strong’s number), Πέτρος (the Greek spelling), Petros (English translation), (pe’-tros) the pronunciation of the word in English), n/p. (indicating that this could be used as a noun or a pronoun, indicated by context, not personal preferences – in this case it is used as a noun.)

  1. a (piece of) rock.
  2. as a name, Petrus, an apostle.

Notice the differences between these two words.

The word “petros” is being used as the “name of an apostle”, but if it were looked at as a form of rock, it would only be a small piece of rock… not much to put a church on.

The word “Petra” is being used as “(person) The Solid Rock (of Ages), Jesus, Yeshua”. If it were looked at as a form of rock, it would be a massive amount of rock, such as a foundation (bedrock).

Comparing the two, it, in my mind, and I think it is obvious the way the accurate translation should be, it should be the “rock” that is being used in this instance to build the Church upon is Jesus, The Solid Rock, The Bedrock, The Foundation of our Faith.

I have to answer your question as: There is only ONE Church being created in the verse, Matthew 16:18. The Church is NOT the Catholic Church, but rather the Church of Christians.

Christ-ian – literally means “little Christs” or “Christ-like, following Christ’s teachings and lifestyle”.

Where Peter was very instrumental in the early Church, especially in reaching the Jews with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul (previously Saul) was the Apostle to the Gentiles. Neither of which started their own sect or “religion” under their own names. They only spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

(All specific references to words used in the Bible come from, Mickelson’s Enhanced Strong’s Dictionaries of the Greek and Hebrew Testaments)

–Mark

©2016 ChristiansAreUs.com

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My Child is a King

My_Child_is_a_King

How would you feel?
What would you say?
If God sent an Angel
To change your world today.

He proclaims,
“You are blessed”
And gives you good news
That seems impossible for you.

A child shall be born
Nine months from this day.
He will be your baby,
Who is born to save.

king_baby

God in the flesh
Will grow in your womb.
You will nourish and love,
For he will come soon.

And when He is born,
“He will be a King.”
The Angelic host
Will gather and sing.

But in your eyes
All you will see,
Is a sweet little baby
This precious King.

You will want to protect,
Like any Mother would,
To hold Him in your arms and remove any pain
But always remember why He came.

He is a King, born to die.
To set the captives free,
And your heart will ache whenever He cries,
And you may never know the reason why.

The ache in your heart, the cries of despair;
When He is taken and beaten and put through this pain,
When he finally breathes his last breath of life.
He says, “It is finished,” as a final goodnight.

But do not fret, for within three days,
He will rise and proclaim,
“For, through Me, your King,
I’m the only way.”

By:  Christine Davis
©2014 Mark Davis

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Assurance Of An Eternal Heaven

Can I really be sure that I will be in heaven when this life is past? That seems to be the question that concerns us most. I know that various religious people and groups tell me a lot of things and most of what I hear is in conflict with what others say. Is there a way that I can be absolutely sure that I will be in heaven? I don’t want to hear more of man’s theories or philosophies on the subject… I want to be sure… as soon as possible!
Then, I would submit to you that we consult with the One who has set the qualifications for entrance into His heaven. Surely, if He wants us in heaven He will tell us how to get there. Amazingly, God has already given us the rule book (The Bible). The rules are simple and to the point. He has preserved the rules for us through many centuries by giving the message of redemption to special men so they could record God’s Word so we may have it today. There is a battle on right now between God (the Creator and author of the rules) and Satan. Satan supports and distributes lies. He tries to get people to fall for the lies that he promotes. That is why it is so very important to consult the Book of Truth– The Bible. A good reliable translation is the KJV (1611)

Let’s look briefly at the facts that we should know, then we can progress from there…

Fact #1 All people are sinners…

Romans 3:23;
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Ecclesiastes 7:20;
“For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”
Romans 6:23;
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Death means you will not be in God’s heaven. There will be separation from God for all eternity in hell.
Simply stated, we are kept out of heaven and doomed to be in hell because of our sin problem. Something had to be done to provide forgiveness and cleansing of those sins. Heaven is a perfectly prepared place for a prepared people. So then, no sin can possibly go into God’s perfect heaven.

Fact #2 God loves you…

John 3:16;
“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.”
Romans 5:8;
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Jesus shed His perfect, sinless blood so that we can have the forgiveness and cleansing from the guilt and penalty of sin.
Ephesians 1:7;
“In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace;“

Fact #3 We must repent and believe that Jesus paid the complete price for our sin.

Acts 16:31;
“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
Romans 10:9-10,13;
“9That 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. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.“
John 1:12;
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”
John 5:24;
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (note: this is present tense; RIGHT NOW!!!)
John 3:36;
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
I John 5:10-13;
“10He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
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.”
Believing is simply… putting your whole trust in Jesus as the One who died in your place for your sins. On the other hand, it also means that we dare not subtract from His finished work on Calvary’s cross. We must come to Him as a guilty, defiled sinners and receive by faith the gift of eternal life in the person of Jesus Christ, thus making us his blood-bought children and forgiving us the guilt and penalty of our sins.
Ephesians 2:8-9;
“8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Some have tried to add to God’s plan of salvation by telling people they must do certain good works or keep certain church ordinances. Works of any sort can never help. Titus 3:5 tells us: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.” Nothing can be added to, or taken away from what God has already done to secure our salvation. Our salvation does not become more, or less, secure by what we do or do not do. If it could be of works, then we have not really trusted Jesus by faith as our personal Saviour from sin.

When one is born-again (John 3:7; “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”), there is a difference. There is new joy, new goals and a new determination to do what pleases our Heavenly Father. We also become aware of those around us that are lost and begin praying that they, too, would soon trust Jesus as their Saviour. The Bible tells us that we are a new creature in Christ by trusting Jesus by faith as our Saviour.
II Corinthians 5:15,17,18;
“15And that he died for all, that they which henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again… 17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new… 18And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;”

Assurance of salvation can only be a reality when we have been “born-again”.
John 3:3;
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

The Holy Spirit now bears witness with our spirit that we are right now, the children of God.
Romans 8:16;
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”
Assurance is based on the promises of God. (not on feelings or emotions). God always tells us the truth. God wants you to have a settled confidence of salvation. Take Him for what He has told you in His word.
John 20:31;
“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
Romans 8:35-39;
“35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Ephesians 1:13-14;
“13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

Claim it by faith. “God said it and I can believe it”. Since you now have Jesus, you are a child of the King. Rejoice, be glad and walk close to your “new-found” friend who will never leave you nor forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5b; “for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”) Get into a good gospel preaching church, be baptized by immersion, and study your Bible, and pray. Grow in the things of God, and serve Him until you are actually in the very presence of the One who planned it all. If you still have not believed on Jesus Christ as your Saviour, I would urge you to settle the issue today. Pray and invite Jesus to be your Saviour and begin that new life. You will be glad that you did.
R.L.D.
©2014 Mark Davis

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Clothing

What does God’s Word say about a person’s clothing; what a person should wear or not wear?

Matthew 6:25 – 33;
“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

1 Corinthians 6:19 – 20 —
 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the
Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye
are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
which are God’s.”

1 Timothy 2:9
“In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel,
with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair,
or gold, or pearls, or costly array;”

— Deuteronomy 22:5
“The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man,
neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment:
for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.”

1 Corinthians 11:14 – 15 —
“Doth not even nature itself teach you, that,
if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her:
for her hair is given her for a covering.”

Romans 8:5 
“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;
but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.”

Luke 12:22 -24;  “And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. 24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?”

— James 2:3 – 4
“And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing,
and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place;
and say to the poor, Stand thou there,
or sit here under my footstool:
4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves,
and are become judges of evil thoughts?”

 

1 Timothy 6:7 – 8
“For we brought nothing into this world,
and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”

 ©Mark Davis 2014

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by Christians Are Us on June 19, 2014  •  Permalink
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Time For Some Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning

Since it is getting to be Spring right now, I thought that this article would be fitting:

Do you remember that picture that you forwarded (SHARED) in Facebook, you know the one that had that inspirational quote on it that looked very positive that you thought that you could relate with. You felt that you could SHARE it with no worries of it coming back on you – as a Christian, it wouldn’t tarnish your testimony in front of your unsaved friends.

Part of being a Christian is forwarding a good Christian testimony in everything that we do. Some of us have many unsaved friends in our social networks; you know the ones – they are the ones that were your partying buddies from before you were saved and you never “cleaned house” after you were saved, thinking that you might be able to influence them to be able to see Christ in your life and you could be a good witness to them.

Or, they could be family members who are watching you to see if you are for real – to see if Jesus is for real – to see if they might want what you have, now that you are saved.

They could be your co-workers that might be offended if you weren’t their friend any longer…

I think you get the idea about your friends.

I have been noticing, lately, quite a few of my friends on Facebook (and other social media accounts that I hold, but don’t pay much attention to), that post those seemingly harmless pictures that feature a nice quote or picture that, on the surface, looked like it might be a good thing to SHARE with your friend-base.

Did you happen to notice who it was that you are promoting with that “harmless” SHARE? What do I mean?

In Facebook, at the top of the picture, next to your name, we see whose photo it is that you are SHARING. Sometimes you might even see a website mentioned on the photo that “advertises” a site and/or organization that may, or may not, be something good (or harmless) – so you think.

We owe it to ourselves, in fact, moreover, we owe it to God, to check things out a little closer – to dig into it and see what you really are promoting when you SHARE these pictures (or statuses) – or for that matter, even LIKE-ing them will show up on your friend’s walls, now.

Put your mouse over that person’s name (or organization’s name) and it will pop up a mini version of the person’s home photo and you can read just a little bit about who/what they are, if you don’t know them personally. If there is still a question, actually click on that link and see some of the posts that they have on their wall – see what they represent and stand for. If it is God-glorifying, then proceed.

Recently, I looked at a photo that a friend of mine had posted that mentioned praying (seemed like something Christian, right? Proceed…). I looked at whose picture it was (as I showed above) and I didn’t recognize them. I proceeded to their page. I saw some things that I didn’t agree with, and I knew that God could not be glorified with. I saw a picture of a man that was standing there, nude, with his hands covering certain parts of his anatomy – I’m sure that God loved that one!

Another friend, last week, shared a quote that sounded pretty harmless and even seemed to have a God-glorifying theme to it. Again, I followed the links and found that it was promoting a wicken/witchcraft site. I privately messaged the person and they promptly unliked/unshared the photo. Not because I told them that it wasn’t good to have on their wall, but because they hadn’t realized where the picture actually came from. They thanked me for alerting them to the error.

Where am I going with all of this?

What most people don’t realize is, these things are not harmless or irrelevant.  When you post something, you are making that “thing” your own.  You are identifying yourself with anything/everything that is underneath that picture/quote.  It is as if you are the one actually saying what is on that post.

I am not trying to tell you what to do. I’m not saying that you can’t have interests that are not directly related to Christianity – I know I do (as hard as that might be to picture). But what I am saying is that we need to be very attentive to where these pictures are coming from and where they are suggesting to your friends to go – maybe because YOU suggested it by re-SHARING that picture.

Maybe you need to go back through your social accounts and see what I’m talking about. You might have some that are questionable that you really should take down.

Remember, you may be the only Bible that your friends might ever read. Make sure that you are portraying the same thing that the Bible would say, so that you, by your actions, might show them the way to their saving realization of Jesus Christ and His free gift of salvation/eternal life.

In Colossians 3:8, Paul tells us; “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.” You might not be “saying” these things but by having them on your wall, you are “saying” everything that you might have ever posted – and, your friends (and you) can go back in time and see things that you have done, all the way back to when you first started posting things online (on that site). And you may have totally forgotten some of those things that you said… they didn’t!

In Ephesians 4:29, it says, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” When we hear this it sounds like it is talking about only those things that come out of our mouths, right? Wrong!

The concept behind this verse is, anything that you do and say that others can observe. “Edifying” means, ministering to or educational to the hearer (something that someone can learn something from) or even building up.

“…That it may minister grace unto the hearers”, means literally, “edify profitably”. That means, in the context of this verse, that the contents of your “speech” needs to be promoting (profiting) things that would lead people to God. Whatever you “say” needs to be something that would not only be “harmless”, but actually push people in the direction of God.

1 Corinthians 15:33 “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” 1 Corinthians 15:50 “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”

In verse 33, we are told to NOT be deceived – this is happening, whether we realize it or not; whether we want it to happen or not – evil – whether intended (by you) to be evil or not – CORRUPTS good manners – in other words: Whatever communication (of any sort – written, spoken or any other type) that we “promote” or say that is “evil” WILL corrupt those that are hearing/seeing it.

People! You CAN’T UN-see something! Once it has passed your retina, it is in your brain and once it is there, Satan can/will use it to corrupt you! If you are pushing it out in front of your friends, you are corrupting them!

Look at verse 50: “flesh and blood” doesn’t inherit the kingdom of God – isn’t able to get into heaven; “flesh and blood” means “things of earth” or “worldly things” – things that are worldly or, to break it down even further, un-Godly things – are not going to make it into heaven!

If something is “corrupt”, we think of it as “dirty” or “unclean” – worldly things are unclean! Thus, “incorruption” is referring to “the presence of God” or “heaven”.

Let’s put it all together now, if you haven’t already: Worldly things (un-Godly things) will not make it into heaven! Putting it into our model here: the things that we say/do/promote to others that are un-Godly will not influence others to want to go to the presence of God or heaven.

God cannot bless us for pushing out in front of others, things that are not Godly – not to mention the scars that we are imposing on others by putting these things in front of them to see before they have the ability to accept or reject them for themselves.  They can’t UN-see it!

We, as Christians, are responsible for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all that we say and do. And, for everything that we say and do, we will be responsible before God – whether it is good or evil! (2 Corinthians 5: 10)

Christians, take my suggestions and take some time to go through your social media pages and delete out those things that are unclean, contain any level of profanity, have questionable pictures or even promote un-Godly websites. Then, as we go forward, before you SHARE or repost those sayings or pictures, take a little time and investigate to see who it is that is promoting such a picture.

Then:

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Repost, or SHARE, these things…

 ©2014 Mark Davis

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