Your Faithfulness Continues through All Generations

    Establish my footsteps in Your word,
         And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.
    Redeem me from the oppression of man,
         That I may keep Your precepts.
    Make Your face shine upon Your servant,
         And teach me Your statutes.

~ Psalm 119:133-135

Definition of Terms: Redemption

"For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died"
~ 2 Corinthians 5:14

I died. You died. Because Jesus died -- for me, for you.

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
~ Galatians 2:20

I am alive. Truly alive. My life paid for, exchanged for another's. I am restored and reconciled with my Father. A new creation. A child of the Light. Redeemed.

Prism |<>| The Temptation of Jesus

Commonly known as the Passion of Jesus, here is an insight into the agony Jesus felt the night before He was betrayed into the hands of the Romans. In Gethsemane Satan came back and was again overthrown. Satan's final onslaught against our Lord as Son of Man is in Gethsemane*. The Son of Man was in such anguish, Jesus sweated blood while He prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

The temptation of Jesus would often be misconstrued as His hesitation to suffer the pain from the blows of the soldiers, the jeers and shame from the crowd, and the crucifixion. The physical suffering was incomparable to the hatred and separation He was to face.

If we understand the character of Christ, His capacity for compassion and mercy, we would understand another dimension to His struggle of accepting the cup from God...It was the grief, the tremendous grief He would carry. I was through an experience when someone I loved had sinned. I was terribly grieved at the evil that was allowed to happen as well as grieved because I saw the separation of that person from God. My realization then, if I feel this tremendous load of grief for this one person, this one situation, Jesus who has infinite compassion and has promised to take on all our burdens , is feeling what I am feeling a billion gazillion (count each and every person in the world) times more! Imagine that grief and pain...

And if we understand who Christ is and His oneness with the Father, we would understand one more dimension to Christ's struggle. I think this was the most difficult part for Him to deal with. I remember those times when I just felt hollow, lost, restless, tossed in waves -- not anchored anywhere. Those were the times when I was clearly separated from God because of my sins. Jesus Christ, Son of Man, who is pure and without sin and is also the Son of God, who is one with the Father, volunteered to be separated from God! He sacrificed Himself to die (for 3 earth days). I could not imagine how He could have borne separation from the Father who He is one with...it was more than depression, devastation...but because His death needed to happen to reconcile us back to the Father.

The amazing wonder of Jesus' resurrection is the glory of Him rising above the power of death and emerging victorious over evil to win the battle for our souls. This was the end in sight. But the struggles of Christ could not be overlooked nor easily dismissed, what He overcame to emerge triumphant could not be taken for granted. An understanding of the bleakness and emptiness He faced magnifies the sacrifice He made and glorifies His authority over the heavens, the world, and darkness all the more.

Worthy is the Lamb. Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ!

* Oswald Chambers, My Utmost, His Agony and Our Fellowship

Love in Action

Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. ~ 1 John 3:18

A Moment with God

The gentle wind that blows and touches my ear is God whispering... I hear His voice calling my name and when I turn to peek, I see His glorious smile...

"Child, you are My child, I will never leave you nor forsake you."

For my knowledge of God does not come from the wisdom of men but from the Spirit.

"My Lord and my God. Holy, Holy, Holy are You. Hosanna in the highest!"

And I urgently search for paper and pen to capture the piercing truth He has reminded me of.

Things of this world I may not fathom
What the future holds I do not know
My trust is in the Lord, and
My hope lies in Him alone

Prism |<>| Familiarity vs Intimacy

"Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me?" ~ John 14:9a NASB

There is a vast difference between knowing someone and knowing someone intimately. The difference lies in what we are willing to give of ourselves. Intimately knowing someone requires commitment...continued commitment.

Jesus said, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:24-2

Jesus Himself has committed that He will help us know Him more and more. That He would help us grow in knowledge of Him and love and that we would bear much fruit. Commitment is a two way street. We also need to make a commitment to pursue intimacy with Him.

"There is a need to be aware of what brings growth to a person's life. One of the most damaging wedges between two people is a sense of insecurity because of a lack of commitment toward each other. God wants you to be aware of His continued commitment to lift your life. He longs for the commitment of your heart to know Him with increasing depth. Three areas promote growth: Truth, mercy, and knowledge of God. Where these are lacking there exists a cold or lukewarm religious form." (Knowing God Intimately, Dennis Burke)

What are the benefits to knowing God intimately? God promises peace in mind and body "Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace..." in Job 22:21a (NKJV) and God promises that "what you decide on will be done..." Job 22:28a (NIV). Acquaint - grow your knowledge of God and trust in His promises.

In Jeremiah 17:7-8, there is a beautiful description of one who has learned to trust God: “But happy is he who relies on the Eternal, with the Eternal for his confidence! He is like a tree planted beside a stream, reaching its roots to the water; untouched by any fear of scorching heat, its leaves are ever green, it goes on bearing fruit in days of drought, & lives serene.”

Our knowledge of God and trust in Him is evidenced in how we live our lives. The deeper our knowledge of God, the deeper our faith. The more we understand God's faithfulness and sovereignty it becomes easier for us to trust in the Lord and follow His precepts. The more we follow His precepts, the more we see ourselves change and transform. The more other people see the fruit in our lives.

How do we grow our knowledge of God? For many, the vast majority of their time with God is in a public setting- either church, Bible study, or prayer meetings. Jesus said in Mathew 6:6, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

It is in quiet times in His presence worshiping, waiting, praising & listening that we enter the highest levels of prayer. When we have left business outside the door & simply opened ourselves to commune with our Father. Our time in our "inner room" is our investment to grow our roots deep into God, to grow our knowledge of Him. Deep roots make strong, healthy trees. Deep roots create stability & confidence in times when winds buffet us. There is tranquility & serenity deep within us because we have tapped into the true source of strength.

Sometimes it is a struggle to just even start spending time with God. And sometimes, even if you drag yourself to spend time with God, alone, your thoughts would be racing and flying in different directions. You must learn to control your mind's wanderings and not waste your precious time with Jesus. Pray to God to help you. Pray for God to help you hold true to your commitment. One thing I have realized, it's not about maintaining your commitment to spiritual disciplines of prayer, reading the Bible, fasting, meditation...it's maintaining your commitment that in every part of your life, every second, your focus is in your commitment to know Jesus intimately. This is the goal.

Dear friend, I leave you with this amazing and wonderful promise of God that when we devote ourselves to knowing Him intimately and commit in our heart to know Him with increasing depth, the returns are immeasurable...

Job 22:21-28

(NKJV)
21 “Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace;
Thereby good will come to you.
22 Receive, please, instruction from His mouth,
And lay up His words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;
You will remove iniquity far from your tents.
24 Then you will lay your gold in the dust,
And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.
25 Yes, the Almighty will be your gold
And your precious silver;

emphasis (NLT)
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored—
so clean up your life.

(NIV)
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
28 What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.

Three Signs of a True Christian

A truly Christian home is a place where sinners live; but it is also a place where the members of that home admit the fact and understand the problem, know what to do about it, and as a result grow by grace. Let us look in more detail at three significant differences that make all the difference in the world.

1. Christians admit their sins. Because they know the Bible says that no Christian is ever perfect in this life (cf. I John 1:8-10), Christians are able to acknowledge the fact and, in time, learn to anticipate and prepare for sin. They, of all persons, should never rely upon rationalizations, excuses, or blame shifting (although, of course, as sinners they sometimes do) to try to euphemize their sins. They do not have to cover up, for all Christians know that all Christians sin. There can be, therefore, a certain amount of openness, honesty, and relaxation about the relationships that Christians sustain to one another, especially in the home. I am by no means suggesting that we may be relaxed about sin; exactly not that. What I am trying to say, however, is that Christians do not need to spend anxious hours of futile endeavor trying to cover their tracks. They do not need to think up ways to deceive the fellow next door into thinking that they are sterling specimens of humanity. They may freely admit what they know is true: that they have failed to do the will of God. With the freedom to admit the truth comes the possibility of repentance, and with repentance they can expect forgiveness and help from God and from one another. Christians can progress rapidly out of sinful living patterns as a result. They can pour their time and energies into the endeavor to replace sinful patterns with Biblical patterns of life. Rather than wasting time minimizing or denying the fact of sin, Christians can concentrate on dealing with sin.

Parents certainly can take a lot of the unnecessary grief out of child raising when, as a matter of course (rather than becoming falsely shocked over the fact), they expect their children to do wrong things at home, at school, and in public. There is then no necessity to subject children to unusual and inappropriate discipline or to the excessive anger that sometimes grows out of embarrassment. Once parents are prepared to admit that the Biblical doctrine of original sin is true not only in theory, but is operative as well in the life of little Mary or Johnny, they can relax and deal with the problem appropriately (Biblically). Again, this does not mean that they will excuse or ignore sinful behavior in their children, or that they will be unconcerned about it as something inevitable and, therefore, about which nothing can be done. No, not that at all. Rather, they will acknowledge sin for what it is and will proceed to deal with it in a Biblical manner. All of which leads to the second difference:

2. Christians know what to do about their sins. Because they have the Bible as the standard of faith and practice, Christians not only know why problems occur in the home, but they know what to do about them. Thus the truly Christian home differs from the home next door in that it can use Biblical precepts and examples successfully to handle and recoup from every occurrence of sin. This, again, is a significant difference. The Bible not only contains directions about what to do when one or more members of the family fall into sin; it goes beyond this and shows what to do to assure that there will be no such future failure. Because this book largely is devoted to a consideration of many of the most common problems found in the Christian home, I will not enlarge upon this point here.

3. Christians progress out of their sins. Where there is spiritual life, there also will be spiritual growth. No Christian can remain the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. A fundamental presupposition of the Christian faith is that there will be growth out of sin into righteousness. Where there is Bible study, prayer, witness, and the fellowship of the saints, the Spirit of God will be at work to produce His fruit. That fruit is righteousness. This book deals also with many of the ways in which the Bible may be used preventively in Christian homes to avoid the trials and problems that the family next door must face simply because they have no such standard.

The Christian home, then, is a place where sinful persons face the problems of a sinful world. Yet, they face them together with God and His resources, which are all centered in Christ (cf. Col. 2:3). Sinners live in the Christian home, but the sinless Savior lives there too. That is what makes the difference!

* Source: Christian Living in the Home, by Dr. Jay Adams

More on enduring

James 1:12

"Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." (NKJV)

"God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." (NLT)