Often we combat our evil thoughts most effectively if we absolutely refuse to allow them to be expressed in words. It is certain that the spirit of self-justification can be overcome only by the Spirit of grace; nevertheless, isolated thoughts of judgment can be curbed and smothered by never allowing them the right to be uttered, except as a confession of sin, which we shall discuss later. He who holds his tongue in check controls both mind and body (James 3:2ff). Thus it must be a decisive rule of every Christian fellowship that each individual is prohibited from saying much that occurs to him…”
Good gifts
And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:5-13 ESV)
How many of you have ever been asked of something from a friend? And you feel obligated to do it because you were friends…
You really didn’t want to do what your friend asked but you did its because you loved your friend…
That is what Luke is saying here… We will help our friends out of love and we know how to give good gifts in love God who loved us first and gave us the ability to love will give us the good gifts we need.
So give good gifts and always remember that God will give good gifts to you!
Fleshly desires…
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Romans 13:11-14 ESV)
Be awake walking in the light of God. Casting of the works of darkness and putting on the armor of light.
Do not be a part of orgies, drunkenness, sexual immorality, sensuality, quarreling or jealousy…
OK carefully examine that list again… How many of you can say you have not done anything on the list. Show of hands please…
Are you sure? Read the list again… Now from personal experience I can say I’m sure I’m at fault for everything on the list except one. Most of us have probably not been involved in an orgy. Most of us have probably been drunk at least once in our lives (that is of course if you are over 21…) Most of us would say that we have not been sexually immoral, but I would ask what does this mean? What is sexually immoral, sleeping around? What about sodomy? “Wait a minute”, I can hear you say, “I have never committed sodomy!” Well maybe not in the sense you are now thinking but what does sodomy mean? According to Merriam Websters Online sodomy is “anal or oral copulation with a member of the same or opposite sex”. So have you still not committed sodomy? We have all probably been sensual… think about how you are dressed the next time you leave your house… I am sure we have all quarreled with some one, and if you were ever in high school you were jealous…
So what does Paul mean here when most of us have failed miserably before we ever really get to begin? It is about being in the light and putting off the flesh. The flesh is that part of us that works for self preservation, that looks out for ourselves. We need to throw that person away and look out for the other, for the last, lost, least, little in society. We need to think about everyone else before ourselves. That is putting off the flesh…
So put off those desires to lift yourself up and lift up your neighbor…
Jacob’s Porch needs your help to keep the light of Jesus shining…
Hello friends…
Ministries all over are in need of financial assistance I know, but here is one in Ohio at Ohio State University that is doing wonderful ministry and touching the lives of students. They just found out last week that the funding they were receiving from The Southern Ohio Synod of the ELCA has been put on hold until such a time they can call a full time pastor… Now it is not uncommon for synods to cut grant money by half during the time when a called leader is not serving a ministry as costs are down, but to fully cut the funding is not a usual practice…
I share this to share with you the post from Facebook of Jay Gamelin the former pastor at the Porch. He shares his thoughts and wonders on a ministry that is touching the lives of people who need someone to help them through dark times, and decisions while they are away from home. This is a vital ministry and needs our support. Please prayerfully consider a gift to this ministry!
Jay’s thoughts:
To all my friends on facebook:
Many of you know of my time in Columbus at a campus mission called Jacob’s Porch. This is a campus mission on the edge of a spiritual wilderness known as The Ohio State University and Capital University. We
are excited how God has moved through this community to create an engaged, gospel-centered mission. In our time there, this mission went from gathering 20 to more than 150 college students to wrestle with God.
It is also a ministry that, in the words of Blanche Dubois, “depended on the kindness of strangers.” It is a place that requires the annual raising of over $120,000 to support the 3 full time staff and multiple part time staff. When I arrived, the synod supported this with about half of this budget. This has been dwindling systematically for years. It was recently announced that the grant is officially suspended until they call a new pastor. Unofficially, and only my opinion, not the opinion of the current leadership at Jacob’s Porch or the synod, I would be surprised to see this ever being reinstated.
In short- this mission needs the kindness of strangers, people like you who take a moment to lend a hand. I am asking for a one time gift, $10, $25, or even $100 to support the students of this mission to hear the good news of a gracious God.
If you care for the church, or just me, or just want to be guilt free, I implore you to make this small gift today. This mission is a shining star in our church. Don’t let it dim.
+++ Jay
Eyes of the Lord
The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
(Psalm 34:15-22 ESV)
Have you ever felt like you were all alone?
Have you ever felt like nobody cared?
Have you ever been in trouble and cried out in anguish in the middle of it?
The holes are deep and dark we can get ourselves into. We can see all of the evil around us and see no way out of what is going on. We sink deeper and deeper into depression and start to wonder if there is anyway out. We scream and shout and kick and throw a tantrum… And nothing seems to get us any where… Everything is black and only getting darker…
But even in our darkest pit, the eyes of the Lord are upon us…
Even when we feel all alone and like no one cares or hears our cries, the Lord is there and He loves us more than we could ever possibly image…
The psalmist knew the pits of despair, and the dark pits we get into…
They also knew how much God loves us, and protects and shelters those who take refuge under His wings and cry out to Him…
So in your dark pit, take heart, that God is right there with you, and loves you more than you could ever know…
Can We Love – Song and discussion of living out the Gospel
beware the leaven…
Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:14-21 ESV)
Again the disciples it seems don’t get Jesus’ discussion of leaven and bread. They think they need to have bread because Jesus tells them to beware the leaven.
Have they not heard anything He has said to this point? Have we heard anything He has said up to this point? We have heard it over and over again, and it seems sometimes we are a little slow to get what He is saying. We are a little slow to really hear what Jesus has said…
You see it is not about bread or real food, it is about teaching and leading. We have to beware of those who will lead us or teach us in a way that is not where Jesus would lead us or teach us.
So don’t worry about yeast in your bread, but discern with your heart and those who are a part of your tribe the teaching and the leading you are receiving and weigh these against what you have known Jesus to do…
the right track…
Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in his heart;
there is no fear of God
before his eyes.
For he flatters himself in his own eyes
that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;
he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
He plots trouble while on his bed;
he sets himself in a way that is not good;
he does not reject evil.
(Psalm 36:1-4 ESV)
Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart… This text is disputed, and the ESV has a footnote for this verse which reads, “Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Jerome (compare Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts in my heart” So some of the manuscripts say in his heart, but most of them say in My Heart!
It is in my heart that transgressions speaks… And I am wicked! I am evil and I have a hard time turning away from the sin I feel led to do. I think we are all there and are only lying to ourselves if we say otherwise. Paul even said that the things he wants to do he does not do and the things he does not want to do he does. We all fight with sin, because it speaks to us in the inner most portions of our being. We are seduced by it and think it is ok, because it comes from deep within us. We are led astray by our own desires wants, and needs. My heart is wicked and filled with transgressions that speak to me and move me to do things I know I shouldn’t do…
Yet I have fear of God. I fear what God will do to me, so am I too far gone?
By recognizing the sin that fills us and knowing that we do what we shouldn’t we still have good before our eyes, and see God for who He is, and fear Him. Never lose the fear of God, or know that you are going down the wrong path. Many of our early church fathers questioned their salvation, and wondered at the mysteries of God. Martin Luther the champion of our understanding that we are saved by grace through faith and not by works questioned if he had done enough to get into heaven. We all question and doubt and sin, just do not ever lose the fear of God, it is what keeps you on the right track…
How precious…
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.
(Psalm 36:7-9 ESV)
Have you ever needed refuge? It seems like I am looking for this all the time now. Refuge from the world that seems to beat us down and make us submit. To do what the world wants us to do.
This psalm opens with “Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.” The wicked are steeped in sin, and it fills their lives and they do not fear God. They have no worries about coming before God. Yet those of us who know God and fear Him can rest in the shadow of His wings and feast on the abundance that is His house and drink from the loving waters of the flowing river of His delights!
Sin will get us no where except separated from the one who created us to be in relationship with Him.
Live in the refuge He provides you and feast in the riches that are yours in His care.
You are what you eat…
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:51-58 ESV)
Why are we afraid of this passage? I heard my pastor speak to us today the word of God about this passage… About our cringing when we hear Jesus say we have to eat flesh and drink blood… We are not cannibals, and most of us do not like the thought of eating somebody else or drinking their blood. This is truly disgusting and makes most of our stomachs turn…
But why are we really put off by this text? As my pastor said, what better way for us to be as close to Jesus as possible, have him in us, than for us to ingest him? If we eat him, then he is as close to us as he can possibly get. He is right here with us every where we go…
He is inside of us, and think about it from the other adage: you are what you eat. Actually I think this should be what scares us more than anything…
If we are what we eat and we eat Jesus, what does that make us? It makes us Jesus…
Someone who goes where sinners are…
Someone who eats with sinners…
Someone who loves the lowly….
Someone who loves when love is undeserved…
Someone who helps others see God…
That scares me, because I’m not Jesus and I’m not ready to go where He wants me to go and do what He did. I’m not ready for that and if I eat Him, then I am Him and I no longer have an excuse to not go…
I no longer have an excuse to not look out for the last, the lost, the little, the least…
I no longer have an excuse for keeping someone out of the gathering…
I no longer have an excuse for not loving…
I no longer have an excuse for holding someone down…
Jesus is in me and I am what I eat…
So are you ready to go and be Jesus to the world? He is ready to help you…
Remember you are what you eat… So chew away!
aSacredRebel 