Psalm 1 gives us a contrast between the way of the blessed man and the ungodly. It says;
(1) Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
(2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
(3) And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
(4) The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
(5) Therefore the ungldly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
(6) For the LORD knoweth of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Today is a good day to choose if you are willing to walk the path of the believer who is blessed to the Lord, of if you will walk the path of the ungodly.
The first step onto the path of the godly is through salvation by grace. You must believe on Jesus Christ to be saved. (Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. Acts 16:31)
The next step is to decide if you will live a life that ends like Lot’s or like the blessed man in Psalm chapter 1
Verse one tells us that the blessed man separates himself from evil. He is like the man in Psalm 119:115 who says, ‘Depart from me, ye evil doers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.’
The entire congregation of believers should separate themselves from evil according to the example of Nehemiah 9:2 which says, ‘And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.’ But, for an entire Christian congregation to separate themselves, the individual believer must first be willing to separate his or her self from evil.
The man who is blessed delights in the law of the Lord. Jeremiah 15:6 says, ‘Thy words were found, and I did eat them: and thy word was unto me the joy and the rejoicing of mine heart:’.
Every true believer wants to blessed of the Lord. The problem preventing blessings comes by at least two avenues.
First, the believer may have some serious problems in his own life. He may not want to be ‘blessed of the Lord’ enough to surrender sins in his own life. He may find it easier (at least for the moment) to fight his own battles than to surrender to the Lord.
The second avenue is more subtle. It is given to us in detail in verse one. The blessed man:
DOES NOT - walk in the counsel of the ungodly, The blessed man doesn’t even walk near the counsel of the ungodly.
DOES NOT - walk in the way of sinners, The blessed man doesn’t stand still long enough to listen to what the ungodly have to say. He doesn’t go down the road them ‘just a little way’ in order to be sociable. He cannot be beguiled with their fancy words if he refuses to listen to them in the first place. (Think Eve here.)
DOES NOT – sit in the seat of the scornful. The blessed man does not join in with the ungodly for any reason.
ON the other hand, the ungodly:
DOES –listen to the counsel of the ungodly. He is willing to listen to whatever is ‘new’ or ‘exciting’. Honestly, there is nothing new in the realm of religion, or anywhere else for that matter. Everyone faces the same lie today that Eve faced in the garden. You will either listen to the liars who say things like, ‘you can be a god,’ or this path other than the Jesus Christ leads to heaven’, or you will just keep on walking like the blessed man.
DOES – quit walking and stop to listen to what the ungodly have to say. This man walks with the world a ways down the road. He sees the success of the worldly. He notices that he might apply their methods of success to his own life, to his church, to his business, to his family.
DOES - sit down and join the ungodly. Pretty soon, the ungodly have joined in with the world. If they were Christians to begin with, you can not tell them from those who belong to the god of this world. An example is of course Lot. He looked at the prosperity of Sodom. He walked down and considered their way of life and ‘principles’ of prosperity. He joined them. He became just like them.
This is how weak and ineffective preachers of the gospel come about.
They pay attention to what the world says about how to build a successful business and manage that business profitably.
They apply worldly tactics to the church.
They join in with the world, putting money and numbers above the grace and humility of Christ. They measure success by the measuring stick of the world which tells them they are successful if they bring in enough money.
This could not happen unless the leaders and members of the church were ALSO walking with the ungodly, standing still to listen to their ‘siren song’, and some have even joined the ungodly.
The blessed man: (v2)
Enjoys studying and learning the word of God.
He considers God’s law day and night in every thing he does.
Then, the blessed man is blessed even more.
His roots have grown deep into the world of God. He knows right behavior from wrong behavior. He is prosperous and fruitful.
On the other hand – The ungodly do not receive these blessing, but instead are failures;
They are like wheat chaff blown away in the wind. This is a terrible way to live. They have no foundation on which they are able to stand. Political, social, and religious ideologies and changes keep them anxious about everything. They do that which is right in their own eyes.
They do not stand in the judgment, or in the congregation of the righteous. They have not submitted to God, but instead of established their own righteousness.
The LORD knows their ways, and they shall perish. Their end is destruction. If the ungodly are such as Abraham’s nephew Lot, they are saved, but without any good works.
The ungodly face judgment day with fear.
The saved who have lived an ungodly life are spoken of in I Corinthians chapter 3. Verse 13 says, ‘Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire: and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. (v14) If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. (v15) If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.’
Those whom God never knew are those spoken of in Matthew Chapter 25. Verse 46 says, ‘And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into eternal life. Matthew 7:23, also speaking of the judgment, says, ‘And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from, ye that work iniquity.’
What an unspeakably horrible way for a soul to end up. It becomes even worse when you know such an end could have been avoided.
If you think that your life is your business, think again. What you do does matter. How you live your life does count. Again, consider Lot. Just suppose that Lot had gone down to Sodom with a heart set on the Lord like Abraham’s heart. Lot would not have conformed to the behavior in Sodom. He might have been able to change the mind set of some of the people of the city. Perhaps Lot’s influence could have influenced at least ten people in Sodom to turn from their wickedness and turn to the Lord God Almighty. Lot would have been instrumental in saving the city.
So, is this a good time to consider how your life is going at the moment. If you are lost – then it is time to get saved. If you are saved, you are either living a life is clearly following the pattern of the blessed man spoken of in Psalm 1:1; or, you are not. If you aren’t sure, here is a good way to decide.
Isaiah 58:1 says, ‘Cry aloud, spare not, lift up they voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.’
The way you live your life is supposed to be so different from the life of the world that you stand out like a clear blast on a loud trumpet.
Unfortunately, many Christians are living such a half-hearted Christian life that the ‘trumpet sound’ of their lives tells the world nothing. I Corinthians 14:8 says, ‘For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?”
That is what happened to Lot. He spent his life joined to the people and ways of Sodom. Many Christians today are doing the same thing on different scales. Some live just as worldly as Lot lived. Others are much less openly sold out to the world, but never the less, the sound of the trumpet ‘heralding their Christianity’ is so off key it only causes the people around them to hiss or ridicule Christianity. It does not prepare them to understand that must decide for Christ, or they have decided against Him.
If you put a bunch of Christians living the life of the ungodly together, and they all blew a trumpet with the skill equal to the way they live their Christian life, you would get the whole bunch of trumpets blowing loudly, but without a single pure note in the bunch. Can you imagine what an awful sound that would be?
Is it any wonder that Christians are not transforming the world when our own lives have not been first transformed? Christians should live their lives in a way that stands out like a loud and true trumpet. A figurative question for many Christians is, ‘Is it time for you to learn to play the trumpet?’
The Judge of your heart is God. But it appears that at least two things are wrong in the heart of many Christians.
First, Christianity as a whole is lacking in humility and meekness. Moses was a mighty man of God. At some point Moses became humble enough to understand that he could not do anything through his own power. Then he became meek enough to understand that God could do all things through him. Moses still accomplished great things, but he knew by whose power his deeds were really accomplished. By the way, have you noticed that all the great men of the Bible made it clear that it was God who was doing great things through them?
Second, the saving message of the Gospel of Christ is often not presented with humility and grace. Our hearts are supposed to be broken over the lost. We are supposed to love them as Christ loved them. The Gospel message should not be presented in a manner that says, ‘Well, you can just get saved, or you can go to hell.’
The blessed man should never forget Romans 5:8 which says, ‘But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’
The song for this article is ‘Just a Closer Walk With Thee’.
A closer walk with Jesus is what is necessary to transform the ungodly man into the blessed man. If you doubt it can be, remember the transformation of Saul, persecutor of Christians, to Paul, the greatest mortal to the Gentiles.
Thank you for reading my article. God bless you.
Barbara Henderson
‘Just a Closer Walk With Thee’
http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/j/u/justaclo.htm
I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.
Refrain
Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.
Refrain
When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.
Refrain
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Kids Leave Home and Leave Church
Bewildered parents are sitting in darkness wondering what happened. They go over and over in their minds the things they went through raising their children. They took them to church every time the door was opened. They made sure their kids were involved in every single church activity. They tried to make sure their kids were popular even at church. Of course they wanted them to be popular at school also, but especially at church. After all, church was the place where their kids would be most likely to find good kids to hang around with. They did the best they could, but it just wasn’t good enough. These parents are broken hearted, terrified for their children’s eternal future, and have no idea of what went wrong.
The truth is they did everything they could to set their kids up in a social circle that would keep them from turning to the really bad things of the world. They never thought their kid would be the one to give up the church. ‘What happened?’, they wonder. ‘What happened?’
Well, the parents bought into a scam.
They were fooled into believing that a social circle was church.
They were fooled into believing that teaching their children to be good was good enough.
They were fooled into believing that the sin nature, the inborn trait to break the commandments was not really important.
They were fooled into believing that the way to win their children to the Lord was to forget fear of God, fear of hell, and teach the kids that ‘Jesus wants them to be happy’.
The parents looked at things from the view of this world. They wanted their kids to have:
wealth – to have all the things the rich kids had,
position – probably called ‘popularity’,
and a mild version of all the sinful pleasures offered by this world for their children,
The parents of these wayward children would have done well to have considered Moses, who refused:
The high position he had as the son of pharaoh’s daughter,
The wealth of Egypt (he was filthy rich)
The pleasures of sin (for a season).
If they had wanted the things of God for their children more than anything else the outcome would have likely been better. The sad truth is that very often, the parents have not rejected the things of the world themselves. They still want position, wealth, and the pleasures of ‘little sins’ that won’t really mess up their lives. They still haven’t admitted that ‘Sin take you farther than you want to go, cost you more than you want to pay, and keeps you longer than you want to stay’. (quote source unknown)
So, how are they going to teach such things to their children?
Kids are able to see when something is not really working.
The kids go to church;
They have a ‘salvation experience’;
They believe Jesus wants them to be happy.
Then, they begin to notice that Jesus has no power to make them ‘happy’.
Ultimately, they see Jesus as having no power to do much of anything.
After all:
Did Jesus make them part of the in crowd at church or school?
Or did He leave them as the dork or nerd that nobody really liked?
Jesus didn’t make their skin clear up,
or help them lose weight,
or cause them to grow taller,
or get their parents to dress them in the designer clothing of the month,
or any other thing necessary to ‘be happy’.
Kids are also able to see that the most religious people in the church face trials and disappointments.
Some of them go bankrupt.
Some of their marriages fail.
Some face illness personally or a close family member gets sick and dies.
Some suffer chronic illness.
Where is Jesus when all that happens?
If He can’t stop all that from happening, and He can’t make them popular and well liked, then what is the point?
Of course they are going to leave!
The truth is they are leaving the church because they have never really been to church. They have been to a social gathering, and they really didn’t like the circle of people there. Something was fake about it, and they picked right up on it. It is right to leave a way of life that is based on shifting sand.
Society is full of people who have given up on Jesus Christ, His church, and Christianity altogether. As my granddad’s third wife used to day, ‘The woods is full of them.’ At least mentally, they have given up on Jesus.
The truth is they really don’t know anything about the real Jesus or what He taught.
They have just given up on a manmade institution filled with rituals and ‘seat of the pants’ theology.
They have walked away from a failed institution filled with failed dreams and goals.
So, what can be done now? Is a ‘Great Awakening’ possible? Will the churches wake up and start preaching the truth? Some of them might, but most of them won’t.
One thing necessary is for Christians in general to come to an understanding that Jesus is NOT the author of the health and wealth gospel. Neither is He the author of the ‘Jesus wants me to be happy’ gospel.
Jesus wants His children to be obedient! Obedience leads to joy in the Lord, and it may/probably will lead to some true happiness in this world. But that happiness is not going to come from making you rich, beautiful/handsome, popular, and very successful. You may actually be all those things, but don’t count on it. Don’t count on being poor, ugly, and a failure either. Take the life Christ gives you, whatever it may be. Ask for help in changing things and circumstances that are bothering you. God is not the ‘god of ineffectiveness’. Ask and see what good does for you. Jesus does change circumstances and He is a help to all His children. However, Jesus is not a genie in a bottle who grants every wish.
Jesus wants His children to be thankful. Thankfulness starts with the individual believer. Unthankful parents have a hard time instilling a thankful attitude in their children.
Jesus wants His children to study so they won’t be taken in by silly theology like ‘give some preacher more money than you can afford so Jesus will give you a ton of money so you can join the super rich’.
Jesus wants His children to take up their cross and follow Him.
Ouch! Oh my goodness! I have got to be kidding…right?
Umm, no. I am not kidding. To tell the truth, that was not really what I personally wanted to hear either.
Jesus wants His children to tell the truth. And, above all else, tell the truth about Salvation. The truth is that there are two eternal destinations. One is heaven, which we all know about. The other is hell, a place we don’t hear a lot about. Unrepentant sinners go to hell. That is an unalterable fact. How cruel to avoid such an important truth when teaching children!
When I was small, I knew without a doubt that I was a sinner. Obviously, I wasn’t as big or bad a sinner as my brothers. Furthermore, I wouldn’t have been even that big a sinner if I hadn’t had those three brothers getting me into trouble all the time. Nevertheless, I definitely was a sinner. I heard the preacher say that sinners go to hell. Well, I was terrified! I positively did not want to go to hell. But, as a sinner, there was no doubt that was where I was going. So you can understand how thankful I was to hear there was a way to escape hell. I didn’t bother to question why there was only one way. I was just glad there was one way. Still, I managed to make myself miserable for quite a while before my little feet walked down that aisle and I made a public profession of my faith in Jesus Christ. It was definitely fear of hell that set me to thinking of a way to escape it. While I was worried about escaping hell, I really was not worried too much about how popular I was at church or school. I wasn’t even worried too much about getting better grades at school than at least one of my brothers. (The kid with the lowest grades got the most attention from my parents for the next quarter, and no kid in their right mind wanted more ‘help’ from parents with school work.) I had my priorities straight. Find out how to escape hell, and get that settled as soon as possible. (I think I was saved before my ‘aisle walking experience’, but that was what made it public and fully relieved my anxiety about hell.)
There are some today who think the concept of hell is too much for a child to handle. They are wrong. To learn about hell as a child is a wonderful blessing. It is the beginning of the fear of the Lord. It is the beginning of wisdom. It sets little feet on the road to salvation.
To learn of hell is the grace of God! The second verse of the song ‘Amazing Grace’ says,
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.’
It is the grace of God that teaches us to be afraid of hell! When we come to realize that we are headed for a place of torment, we are terrified. At least we should be.
It is the grace of God that gives our terrified hearts relief. There are no words to describe the ‘relief’ from knowing you are not going to hell. God ‘relieves our fears’ through salvation in Jesus Christ.
Then, after salvation as a small child, I was thrown into doubt about my salvation, which did plague me off and on until I was 30 years old. Doubts about salvation make for ineffective Christians. I would have probably had some doubts anyway, but my doubts began in Sunday School. Sunday School is another word for ‘lion’s den. It is a nice place to socialize and meet people in your own age group. It is at the very best, a place where you might hear something correct about Bible theology and doctrine. Or, you may get someone going over a printed Sunday School booklet that provides a mild lesson. On occasion, you may have a teacher who knows enough Christian theology to be an effective teacher. On other occasions you may have a teacher who intentionally teaches false doctrine. They have an agenda, and they are not bashful about carrying it out. The main point about Sunday School is that there are practically no controls on what is actually taught. I personally think that larger classes are better than smaller classes. Classes for families instead of classes segregated by age are another possibility. Children can understand far more than most people realize.
Christians – with or without children – need to understand that the job of the church is not to make kids or new converts happy and comfortable. Their job is to focus on the truth. And the truth is that the human race is in the middle of a war zone! The devil wants our children, and he is going to use any weapon possible to get them! Ultimately, the greatest help anyone can have is the truth. The truth is the greatest asset possible for building a life of satisfaction and contentment. It gives a solid foundation on which to base decisions.
It is the duty of EVERY Christian to know enough Bible theology/doctrine to recognize blatant error when they hear it, or see it. You may be thinking, ‘How can you ‘see’ theological error?’ An example would be seeing dancing on the stage at church. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBRgOz8kYDo
The kids dancing may be having fun putting on a performance, but what on earth does that have to do with growing a strong Christian?
How about yoga in church? If someone wants to do yoga they should know it does have links to eastern philosophies/religion. Stretching and breathing exercises are not bad; they are healthy. But, mixing Christianity with eastern mysticism is sin! And what place does exercise have in church anyway?
Teaching and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the job of the church. For the church to take a break from teaching and preaching for a yoga session or dance program is like a heart surgeon stopping in the middle of a heart transplant to dance around the operating room to an uplifting rendition of ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’.
Jesus Christ is the bridge between God and man. That is the message of the church. You cannot go to God the father except through Jesus Christ the Son. You learn about salvation through the Bible, Christian witnesses, and the church. All the garbage in the church today is like all the garbage on your television set. Let’s say you are watching a program that is totally appropriate and family friendly. But, the program is interrupted by ten commercials for every ten minutes of the program. The commercials are, for the most part, totally inappropriate. Many are even R-rated commercials, even though they are in a family friendly time slot. By the end of the program, 95% of the ‘good’ program is totally overshadowed by the trash that was thrown in with it. That is the way church is in many instances. The preacher may do a pretty good sermon, but it does not get top billing. It is not the focus of the ministry. The main focus of the church is ‘outreach’ through various programs.
The true measure of a church is the number of people who actually are committed to Jesus Christ, and continue in well doing. If 90% of children who grow up in church are leaving church, then something is not going well. .
Bringing worldly things into the church only brings in worldly people.
The church cannot really compete with the world.
Why go to church for yoga? You can get that lots of other places.
Why go to church for New Age philosophies watered down to fit into Christianity when you can get pure New Age theology outside the church?
Why go to church for dance? You can get that lots of other places, too.
Why go to church to socialize? You can socialize a lot of other places, and you won’t have the restrictions that apply to church socializing.
Why go to church to be happy? You can find worldly happiness much better in the world than in a church.
Why go to church to meet the right people? It appears that the ‘right people’ are much more common outside the church anyway.
Not only are children brought up in the church leaving the church, but new converts are leaving the church as fast as they come in. Why? It is for the same reason. Most of the time, they come into the church for the same reasons parents take their kids to church. They want a happier life. They have problems. They are looking for help in succeeding. They are looking for healing for a broken heart. They decide to give Jesus a try.
BUT….
They NEVER let ‘grace teach their hearts to fear’. They do not understand they are in danger of hells torment! They think they are in torment right now! And maybe they are really in a sad state. But nothing is comparable to eternal torment.
Lost people need to understand the dire predicament they are in BEFORE they can understand what salvation means.
It is the job of Christians to be telling the world the truth. We might not get a net full of fish, but we might catch one now and then. It will change the eternal destination of each one that actually hears the truth and acts on it according to the instructions of Jesus. We don’t know what reform could come through our individual efforts.
To do this successfully, we must know the truth, and convey that truth in a way that is understandable.
To be effective, the truth must be presented without watering it down to make it more palatable to the individual. The natural man can’t understand the Gospel anyway. The Holy Spirit has to give understanding. ( 1 Corinthians 2:14, ‘But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.’)
The Gospel must be presented when the opportunity arises whether it is easy or hard. It must be presented with the same charitable love with which Christ Himself presented it to us. Christ did not compromise the truth. He was not distracted by trying to reach a position in society or the work force. He didn’t seek wealth as a prize or means to getting social or political position. He just continued in well doing.
Today parents are facing some churches that are totally counterfeit. They are also facing churches that have some sound teaching and theology; but it is mixed with worldly things, ignorant teachers, and even out and out heresy creeping in
Honestly, true converts are not leaving their Christian faith. We are told in 1 John 2:19 that, ‘They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.’ It is just so heartbreaking to think of all the time they spent in church, or at least thinking they were in church, and they never truly converted.
It is important not to set a goal of finding a perfect church. That isn’t possible. What you want in a church is a preacher who is committed to preaching the truth with compassion. I personally want the KJV Bible, and a traditional hymnal as the basis for the church music. Do your very best to avoid getting caught up in the dynamics of different personalities in the church. 1 Corinthians 2:2 tells us, ‘For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ,, and him crucified.’ Sadly, there is a lot of pettiness in most churches.
It is important to be committed to church attendance. Hebrews 10:25 tells us, ‘Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much more, as ye see the day approaching.’ Remember that one of the reasons for church attendance is simple obedience.
Jude 1:3 tells us, ‘Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.’
Whether the individual Christian is a parent, a grandparent, a new convert, or even a child like Samuel was when he served Eli, he or she is duty bound to earnestly contend for the faith. Do your best to be sure your church is not teaching a social gospel to anyone, much less the little ones. I know there will always be some who leave the church, but it could be a smaller number if they consistently heard the truth while they were in church. And, kids who grow up in a church that preaches a social gospel will do better to leave that type of church than to stay in it.
BUT, even kids growing up in a church that preaches sound Bible theology will gain nothing from it if they are NEVER IN 'BIG CHURCH'. From the time your kids are three years old they should be sitting in church with YOU! I do not care in the slightest if they interrupt the service, make noise, or do whatever kids do. Preachers have microphones - let them turn up the volume if there is a problem. With time and patience you will have a kid who sits through a church service without causing a disruption. Do not be fooled into thinking 'there is time' because you don't have a clue about how much time there is for your precious gift from God to hear the truth with a heart that is willing to listen. If your church frowns on you taking your child into church - then take your child into church anyway. If it causes a big problem in the church then find another church. The job of the church is to seize the opportunity to win the hearts of the children first and foremost. The idea that 'the disruption might cause someone to be distracted' is pure garbage. Your child is the one God is going to ask you about personally. 'Where is the flock that I gave to you?' is a question you will answer to God Almighty. It is going to sound pretty lame to say, 'Well, Lord, I didn't want to disrupt the service so I let my kids play in the nursery and children's church until they were five years old; but then I moved them to children's church where they had a lot of good social opportunities; and then they had a youth service with youth minister who had no training but was very charismatic.'
And, give your child credit for being intelligent! The Bible says to understand and be saved we have to become as little children. Guess what? Little children are already little children. Their conscience is not seared over. They have an ability to hear the truth. Personally, my kids NEVER went to the nursery - as in never even when they were tiny babies. I kept them in the service with me, and if they cried I took them out personally. I do not care in the slightest who might have been offended by me doing what was the very best for my own children. There is a book called 'The dumbing down of America' or something like that. What is far more evil is the dumbing down of the church. It is lethal to keep children in 'sing a song feel good' classes when they should be in church listening to a real sermon and learning songs that praise God.
Barbara Henderson
We have Siberian Kittens! http://trulysiberians.com for photos and updates
The truth is they did everything they could to set their kids up in a social circle that would keep them from turning to the really bad things of the world. They never thought their kid would be the one to give up the church. ‘What happened?’, they wonder. ‘What happened?’
Well, the parents bought into a scam.
They were fooled into believing that a social circle was church.
They were fooled into believing that teaching their children to be good was good enough.
They were fooled into believing that the sin nature, the inborn trait to break the commandments was not really important.
They were fooled into believing that the way to win their children to the Lord was to forget fear of God, fear of hell, and teach the kids that ‘Jesus wants them to be happy’.
The parents looked at things from the view of this world. They wanted their kids to have:
wealth – to have all the things the rich kids had,
position – probably called ‘popularity’,
and a mild version of all the sinful pleasures offered by this world for their children,
The parents of these wayward children would have done well to have considered Moses, who refused:
The high position he had as the son of pharaoh’s daughter,
The wealth of Egypt (he was filthy rich)
The pleasures of sin (for a season).
If they had wanted the things of God for their children more than anything else the outcome would have likely been better. The sad truth is that very often, the parents have not rejected the things of the world themselves. They still want position, wealth, and the pleasures of ‘little sins’ that won’t really mess up their lives. They still haven’t admitted that ‘Sin take you farther than you want to go, cost you more than you want to pay, and keeps you longer than you want to stay’. (quote source unknown)
So, how are they going to teach such things to their children?
Kids are able to see when something is not really working.
The kids go to church;
They have a ‘salvation experience’;
They believe Jesus wants them to be happy.
Then, they begin to notice that Jesus has no power to make them ‘happy’.
Ultimately, they see Jesus as having no power to do much of anything.
After all:
Did Jesus make them part of the in crowd at church or school?
Or did He leave them as the dork or nerd that nobody really liked?
Jesus didn’t make their skin clear up,
or help them lose weight,
or cause them to grow taller,
or get their parents to dress them in the designer clothing of the month,
or any other thing necessary to ‘be happy’.
Kids are also able to see that the most religious people in the church face trials and disappointments.
Some of them go bankrupt.
Some of their marriages fail.
Some face illness personally or a close family member gets sick and dies.
Some suffer chronic illness.
Where is Jesus when all that happens?
If He can’t stop all that from happening, and He can’t make them popular and well liked, then what is the point?
Of course they are going to leave!
The truth is they are leaving the church because they have never really been to church. They have been to a social gathering, and they really didn’t like the circle of people there. Something was fake about it, and they picked right up on it. It is right to leave a way of life that is based on shifting sand.
Society is full of people who have given up on Jesus Christ, His church, and Christianity altogether. As my granddad’s third wife used to day, ‘The woods is full of them.’ At least mentally, they have given up on Jesus.
The truth is they really don’t know anything about the real Jesus or what He taught.
They have just given up on a manmade institution filled with rituals and ‘seat of the pants’ theology.
They have walked away from a failed institution filled with failed dreams and goals.
So, what can be done now? Is a ‘Great Awakening’ possible? Will the churches wake up and start preaching the truth? Some of them might, but most of them won’t.
One thing necessary is for Christians in general to come to an understanding that Jesus is NOT the author of the health and wealth gospel. Neither is He the author of the ‘Jesus wants me to be happy’ gospel.
Jesus wants His children to be obedient! Obedience leads to joy in the Lord, and it may/probably will lead to some true happiness in this world. But that happiness is not going to come from making you rich, beautiful/handsome, popular, and very successful. You may actually be all those things, but don’t count on it. Don’t count on being poor, ugly, and a failure either. Take the life Christ gives you, whatever it may be. Ask for help in changing things and circumstances that are bothering you. God is not the ‘god of ineffectiveness’. Ask and see what good does for you. Jesus does change circumstances and He is a help to all His children. However, Jesus is not a genie in a bottle who grants every wish.
Jesus wants His children to be thankful. Thankfulness starts with the individual believer. Unthankful parents have a hard time instilling a thankful attitude in their children.
Jesus wants His children to study so they won’t be taken in by silly theology like ‘give some preacher more money than you can afford so Jesus will give you a ton of money so you can join the super rich’.
Jesus wants His children to take up their cross and follow Him.
Ouch! Oh my goodness! I have got to be kidding…right?
Umm, no. I am not kidding. To tell the truth, that was not really what I personally wanted to hear either.
Jesus wants His children to tell the truth. And, above all else, tell the truth about Salvation. The truth is that there are two eternal destinations. One is heaven, which we all know about. The other is hell, a place we don’t hear a lot about. Unrepentant sinners go to hell. That is an unalterable fact. How cruel to avoid such an important truth when teaching children!
When I was small, I knew without a doubt that I was a sinner. Obviously, I wasn’t as big or bad a sinner as my brothers. Furthermore, I wouldn’t have been even that big a sinner if I hadn’t had those three brothers getting me into trouble all the time. Nevertheless, I definitely was a sinner. I heard the preacher say that sinners go to hell. Well, I was terrified! I positively did not want to go to hell. But, as a sinner, there was no doubt that was where I was going. So you can understand how thankful I was to hear there was a way to escape hell. I didn’t bother to question why there was only one way. I was just glad there was one way. Still, I managed to make myself miserable for quite a while before my little feet walked down that aisle and I made a public profession of my faith in Jesus Christ. It was definitely fear of hell that set me to thinking of a way to escape it. While I was worried about escaping hell, I really was not worried too much about how popular I was at church or school. I wasn’t even worried too much about getting better grades at school than at least one of my brothers. (The kid with the lowest grades got the most attention from my parents for the next quarter, and no kid in their right mind wanted more ‘help’ from parents with school work.) I had my priorities straight. Find out how to escape hell, and get that settled as soon as possible. (I think I was saved before my ‘aisle walking experience’, but that was what made it public and fully relieved my anxiety about hell.)
There are some today who think the concept of hell is too much for a child to handle. They are wrong. To learn about hell as a child is a wonderful blessing. It is the beginning of the fear of the Lord. It is the beginning of wisdom. It sets little feet on the road to salvation.
To learn of hell is the grace of God! The second verse of the song ‘Amazing Grace’ says,
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.’
It is the grace of God that teaches us to be afraid of hell! When we come to realize that we are headed for a place of torment, we are terrified. At least we should be.
It is the grace of God that gives our terrified hearts relief. There are no words to describe the ‘relief’ from knowing you are not going to hell. God ‘relieves our fears’ through salvation in Jesus Christ.
Then, after salvation as a small child, I was thrown into doubt about my salvation, which did plague me off and on until I was 30 years old. Doubts about salvation make for ineffective Christians. I would have probably had some doubts anyway, but my doubts began in Sunday School. Sunday School is another word for ‘lion’s den. It is a nice place to socialize and meet people in your own age group. It is at the very best, a place where you might hear something correct about Bible theology and doctrine. Or, you may get someone going over a printed Sunday School booklet that provides a mild lesson. On occasion, you may have a teacher who knows enough Christian theology to be an effective teacher. On other occasions you may have a teacher who intentionally teaches false doctrine. They have an agenda, and they are not bashful about carrying it out. The main point about Sunday School is that there are practically no controls on what is actually taught. I personally think that larger classes are better than smaller classes. Classes for families instead of classes segregated by age are another possibility. Children can understand far more than most people realize.
Christians – with or without children – need to understand that the job of the church is not to make kids or new converts happy and comfortable. Their job is to focus on the truth. And the truth is that the human race is in the middle of a war zone! The devil wants our children, and he is going to use any weapon possible to get them! Ultimately, the greatest help anyone can have is the truth. The truth is the greatest asset possible for building a life of satisfaction and contentment. It gives a solid foundation on which to base decisions.
It is the duty of EVERY Christian to know enough Bible theology/doctrine to recognize blatant error when they hear it, or see it. You may be thinking, ‘How can you ‘see’ theological error?’ An example would be seeing dancing on the stage at church. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBRgOz8kYDo
The kids dancing may be having fun putting on a performance, but what on earth does that have to do with growing a strong Christian?
How about yoga in church? If someone wants to do yoga they should know it does have links to eastern philosophies/religion. Stretching and breathing exercises are not bad; they are healthy. But, mixing Christianity with eastern mysticism is sin! And what place does exercise have in church anyway?
Teaching and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the job of the church. For the church to take a break from teaching and preaching for a yoga session or dance program is like a heart surgeon stopping in the middle of a heart transplant to dance around the operating room to an uplifting rendition of ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’.
Jesus Christ is the bridge between God and man. That is the message of the church. You cannot go to God the father except through Jesus Christ the Son. You learn about salvation through the Bible, Christian witnesses, and the church. All the garbage in the church today is like all the garbage on your television set. Let’s say you are watching a program that is totally appropriate and family friendly. But, the program is interrupted by ten commercials for every ten minutes of the program. The commercials are, for the most part, totally inappropriate. Many are even R-rated commercials, even though they are in a family friendly time slot. By the end of the program, 95% of the ‘good’ program is totally overshadowed by the trash that was thrown in with it. That is the way church is in many instances. The preacher may do a pretty good sermon, but it does not get top billing. It is not the focus of the ministry. The main focus of the church is ‘outreach’ through various programs.
The true measure of a church is the number of people who actually are committed to Jesus Christ, and continue in well doing. If 90% of children who grow up in church are leaving church, then something is not going well. .
Bringing worldly things into the church only brings in worldly people.
The church cannot really compete with the world.
Why go to church for yoga? You can get that lots of other places.
Why go to church for New Age philosophies watered down to fit into Christianity when you can get pure New Age theology outside the church?
Why go to church for dance? You can get that lots of other places, too.
Why go to church to socialize? You can socialize a lot of other places, and you won’t have the restrictions that apply to church socializing.
Why go to church to be happy? You can find worldly happiness much better in the world than in a church.
Why go to church to meet the right people? It appears that the ‘right people’ are much more common outside the church anyway.
Not only are children brought up in the church leaving the church, but new converts are leaving the church as fast as they come in. Why? It is for the same reason. Most of the time, they come into the church for the same reasons parents take their kids to church. They want a happier life. They have problems. They are looking for help in succeeding. They are looking for healing for a broken heart. They decide to give Jesus a try.
BUT….
They NEVER let ‘grace teach their hearts to fear’. They do not understand they are in danger of hells torment! They think they are in torment right now! And maybe they are really in a sad state. But nothing is comparable to eternal torment.
Lost people need to understand the dire predicament they are in BEFORE they can understand what salvation means.
It is the job of Christians to be telling the world the truth. We might not get a net full of fish, but we might catch one now and then. It will change the eternal destination of each one that actually hears the truth and acts on it according to the instructions of Jesus. We don’t know what reform could come through our individual efforts.
To do this successfully, we must know the truth, and convey that truth in a way that is understandable.
To be effective, the truth must be presented without watering it down to make it more palatable to the individual. The natural man can’t understand the Gospel anyway. The Holy Spirit has to give understanding. ( 1 Corinthians 2:14, ‘But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.’)
The Gospel must be presented when the opportunity arises whether it is easy or hard. It must be presented with the same charitable love with which Christ Himself presented it to us. Christ did not compromise the truth. He was not distracted by trying to reach a position in society or the work force. He didn’t seek wealth as a prize or means to getting social or political position. He just continued in well doing.
Today parents are facing some churches that are totally counterfeit. They are also facing churches that have some sound teaching and theology; but it is mixed with worldly things, ignorant teachers, and even out and out heresy creeping in
Honestly, true converts are not leaving their Christian faith. We are told in 1 John 2:19 that, ‘They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.’ It is just so heartbreaking to think of all the time they spent in church, or at least thinking they were in church, and they never truly converted.
It is important not to set a goal of finding a perfect church. That isn’t possible. What you want in a church is a preacher who is committed to preaching the truth with compassion. I personally want the KJV Bible, and a traditional hymnal as the basis for the church music. Do your very best to avoid getting caught up in the dynamics of different personalities in the church. 1 Corinthians 2:2 tells us, ‘For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ,, and him crucified.’ Sadly, there is a lot of pettiness in most churches.
It is important to be committed to church attendance. Hebrews 10:25 tells us, ‘Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much more, as ye see the day approaching.’ Remember that one of the reasons for church attendance is simple obedience.
Jude 1:3 tells us, ‘Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.’
Whether the individual Christian is a parent, a grandparent, a new convert, or even a child like Samuel was when he served Eli, he or she is duty bound to earnestly contend for the faith. Do your best to be sure your church is not teaching a social gospel to anyone, much less the little ones. I know there will always be some who leave the church, but it could be a smaller number if they consistently heard the truth while they were in church. And, kids who grow up in a church that preaches a social gospel will do better to leave that type of church than to stay in it.
BUT, even kids growing up in a church that preaches sound Bible theology will gain nothing from it if they are NEVER IN 'BIG CHURCH'. From the time your kids are three years old they should be sitting in church with YOU! I do not care in the slightest if they interrupt the service, make noise, or do whatever kids do. Preachers have microphones - let them turn up the volume if there is a problem. With time and patience you will have a kid who sits through a church service without causing a disruption. Do not be fooled into thinking 'there is time' because you don't have a clue about how much time there is for your precious gift from God to hear the truth with a heart that is willing to listen. If your church frowns on you taking your child into church - then take your child into church anyway. If it causes a big problem in the church then find another church. The job of the church is to seize the opportunity to win the hearts of the children first and foremost. The idea that 'the disruption might cause someone to be distracted' is pure garbage. Your child is the one God is going to ask you about personally. 'Where is the flock that I gave to you?' is a question you will answer to God Almighty. It is going to sound pretty lame to say, 'Well, Lord, I didn't want to disrupt the service so I let my kids play in the nursery and children's church until they were five years old; but then I moved them to children's church where they had a lot of good social opportunities; and then they had a youth service with youth minister who had no training but was very charismatic.'
And, give your child credit for being intelligent! The Bible says to understand and be saved we have to become as little children. Guess what? Little children are already little children. Their conscience is not seared over. They have an ability to hear the truth. Personally, my kids NEVER went to the nursery - as in never even when they were tiny babies. I kept them in the service with me, and if they cried I took them out personally. I do not care in the slightest who might have been offended by me doing what was the very best for my own children. There is a book called 'The dumbing down of America' or something like that. What is far more evil is the dumbing down of the church. It is lethal to keep children in 'sing a song feel good' classes when they should be in church listening to a real sermon and learning songs that praise God.
Barbara Henderson
We have Siberian Kittens! http://trulysiberians.com for photos and updates
Monday, December 20, 2010
Is There Room in Your Heart for Jesus?
Room in Your Heart is More Important than Room at the Inn
by Barbara Henderson
His name was Finbar. He was called Finny by his friends; Finn by his father; and always Finbar by his mother. Finny was a doctor. One day Finny volunteered for a dangerous mission to take and administer a vaccine to a plague ridden country. The country was also barbaric in their treatment of strangers, and without all modern conveniences.
Finbar’s mother carefully studied the maps of the country and located the most affluent area. She suggested that Finbar go directly to that area. There he would be able to find the finest accommodations available and the most civilized people in that country.
Finn’s father studied the maps of the country as well. He suggested that Finn go directly to an area where he would have the best chance at a hasty retreat should he not be received well by the locals.
Finny told his parents that personal comfort and safety were not his priority. He was going to take the desperately needed vaccine. Besides, the country was so poor and primitive that it really didn’t make a nickel’s worth of difference where he went in regards to personal safety and comfort. Finn chose to go to an area that had been hit the hardest by the plague. He said at least the people there knew they were sick, or in immediate danger of becoming sick. The people in other areas were still deciding if there even was a plague at all. They definitely would not be interested in a vaccine if they weren’t even sure there was an epidemic. Besides, he wasn’t going to live there permanently. He was just going to be there long enough to get his job done.
Do you sometimes wonder why Jesus chose to be born in to such a poor family? A few reasons are:
He went where the people were going to be most receptive to the way of salvation He brought. At least the poor knew they were poor. They knew they were looking for a way to make their lives better. Jesus went where it would do the most good.
And, what difference would have made to Him to have been born in a palace? He gave up heaven to dwell among men. Compared to His home in heaven, it didn’t make a nickel’s worth of difference if He were born into a very poor family or a very wealthy family. On a scale of one to a million, the poorest earthly families were a one, and the richest earthly families were a two.
Also, Jesus was not interested in securing a place in this world. He didn’t care if there was no room for them in the inn. His interest was/is in the heart of the individual. He doesn’t want room in any earthly establishment. He is interested in room in your heart. Every individual has the same choice. Is there room in your heart for Jesus? That is the room He wants, and you have the opportunity to give Him that room. He said, ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.’ Revelation 3:20
Do you sometimes wonder why Mary laid Him in a manger?
Think about it. She was a very young mother. She was really pregnant, and she had just made a really long trip riding on a donkey. The Bible doesn’t tell us of anyone other than Joseph there to assist at the birth. Joseph was there, but he had just completed the same exhausting journey that Mary had. I think the precious baby was laid in a manger because His parents were simply too tired to hold onto Him. They probably laid Him in the manger and fell asleep from sheer exhaustion. Also, there was the worship factor. When the shepherds came to worship Him, they didn’t worship the mother and Child. They worshiped Jesus alone. The Shepherds had just heard a message from an angel. They had just seen and heard a multitude of heavenly host singing praises to God. It is highly likely that they hardly noticed the mother at all.
Do you wonder why the magi brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh?
I have heard sermons on this many times.
Most agree that Gold was because He was a king. It also stands for purity
Frankincense was because He was a priest.
Myrrh was used as for embalming the dead. It was telling them He would die.
The Bible doesn’t tell us what Mary and Joseph did with the gifts. Possibly they sold them items because they needed the money to live. My guess would be that Mary sold the Myrrh first.
By the way, we think of three magi because of the three gifts, but there could have been more or less. In fact, I think there were more than three. Magi were important people. They probably traveled with all sorts of servants and body guards. Think about it. The magi were ‘kingmakers’. They predicted who would be a king. They were both religious and political in nature. It is much harder to imagine they traveled alone than to suppose they traveled with all the people and things that go along when dignitaries travel. The magi were very powerful to say the least, but they did not let their personal power or influence stop them from humbling themselves before the Lord. They made room in their hearts for Jesus. Wise men still do the same thing today.
It would be a good idea for all Christians to take a look at their hearts today. A Christian has made room in their heart for the Lord. Their eternal destiny is sealed. However, the heart may still be filled with garbage that needs to be swept out. Sins and hurts from the old life still have to be dealt with. As the Christian sweeps out sin, he has to take time to fill up the empty space with the things of Christ, or the evil will come back even worse than before. Look at this fictional example.
Charity is a nice young lady from a nice family. She works in the church with a sincere heart. She loves to sing, and may be a bit prideful about her lovely singing voice. One year she doesn’t get the parts she wants in the Christmas program. She thinks the solos were given to someone with an inferior voice just because of who that person was related to in the church. Charity decides to forgive the matter and just do a good job with the parts she has. That was a good choice on her part, but Charity didn’t go far enough in her forgiveness of the matter. She swept out her hurt and anger at the perceived wrong, but she didn’t fill up the empty space with the things of Christ. The little hurt gradually became a bigger hurt. By the next year Charity was seven times angrier about the matter than she had been the year before. She forgave it again, but still didn’t follow through. She swept the anger out of her heart, which was much more anger than the previous year; but she still didn’t fill up the empty space with the things of Christ. So it went on for several years until Charity’s entire attitude was changed from one of cheerful helpfulness to one of angry bitterness. That is how the devil works. He doesn’t need a big deal in anyone’s life to change their lives from a joyful life to a bitter life.
Are you brave enough to look in your heart and see just how much room you have for Jesus? Yes, He is in the heart of the believer, but is He living in very cramped conditions? Is your heart junked up with hurt feelings, bitterness, and secret sins? Today is the day to sweep these things out of your heart. And today is the day to begin filling the empty space with the good things of Christ.
That brings us to ‘charitable love’. That is the beginning of the good things of Christ with which we should fill our hearts. God’s love for us is charitable love. It is undeserved and unearned. I find it is much easier to accept charitable love than to give it. Thankfully, God’s charitable love for us is without end. We can never use it up. In fact, God enables us to love others like He loves us. I am positive that God will enable you to have charitable love for others because He tells us to do just that in John 13:34-35 which says, ‘A new commandment I give unto you That ye love one another; as I have loved you that ye also love one another. (35) By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.’
So, we are commanded to love others as Christ loved us. Although that may seem impossible when you think of some people in particular, it is possible through Jesus Christ. He would not command us to do something we cannot do. We are capable of such charitable love through Jesus Christ. The more room in your heart you make for Jesus, the more you will be able to carry out this commandment.
Make room in your heart for Jesus – be saved.
Make more room in your heart for Jesus – sweep out the old sins and the old ways and fill the clean space with charitable love.
The one who will be blessed the most will be you.
God bless you each one.
Barbara
http://ourhomeschoolideas.com
by Barbara Henderson
His name was Finbar. He was called Finny by his friends; Finn by his father; and always Finbar by his mother. Finny was a doctor. One day Finny volunteered for a dangerous mission to take and administer a vaccine to a plague ridden country. The country was also barbaric in their treatment of strangers, and without all modern conveniences.
Finbar’s mother carefully studied the maps of the country and located the most affluent area. She suggested that Finbar go directly to that area. There he would be able to find the finest accommodations available and the most civilized people in that country.
Finn’s father studied the maps of the country as well. He suggested that Finn go directly to an area where he would have the best chance at a hasty retreat should he not be received well by the locals.
Finny told his parents that personal comfort and safety were not his priority. He was going to take the desperately needed vaccine. Besides, the country was so poor and primitive that it really didn’t make a nickel’s worth of difference where he went in regards to personal safety and comfort. Finn chose to go to an area that had been hit the hardest by the plague. He said at least the people there knew they were sick, or in immediate danger of becoming sick. The people in other areas were still deciding if there even was a plague at all. They definitely would not be interested in a vaccine if they weren’t even sure there was an epidemic. Besides, he wasn’t going to live there permanently. He was just going to be there long enough to get his job done.
Do you sometimes wonder why Jesus chose to be born in to such a poor family? A few reasons are:
He went where the people were going to be most receptive to the way of salvation He brought. At least the poor knew they were poor. They knew they were looking for a way to make their lives better. Jesus went where it would do the most good.
And, what difference would have made to Him to have been born in a palace? He gave up heaven to dwell among men. Compared to His home in heaven, it didn’t make a nickel’s worth of difference if He were born into a very poor family or a very wealthy family. On a scale of one to a million, the poorest earthly families were a one, and the richest earthly families were a two.
Also, Jesus was not interested in securing a place in this world. He didn’t care if there was no room for them in the inn. His interest was/is in the heart of the individual. He doesn’t want room in any earthly establishment. He is interested in room in your heart. Every individual has the same choice. Is there room in your heart for Jesus? That is the room He wants, and you have the opportunity to give Him that room. He said, ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.’ Revelation 3:20
Do you sometimes wonder why Mary laid Him in a manger?
Think about it. She was a very young mother. She was really pregnant, and she had just made a really long trip riding on a donkey. The Bible doesn’t tell us of anyone other than Joseph there to assist at the birth. Joseph was there, but he had just completed the same exhausting journey that Mary had. I think the precious baby was laid in a manger because His parents were simply too tired to hold onto Him. They probably laid Him in the manger and fell asleep from sheer exhaustion. Also, there was the worship factor. When the shepherds came to worship Him, they didn’t worship the mother and Child. They worshiped Jesus alone. The Shepherds had just heard a message from an angel. They had just seen and heard a multitude of heavenly host singing praises to God. It is highly likely that they hardly noticed the mother at all.
Do you wonder why the magi brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh?
I have heard sermons on this many times.
Most agree that Gold was because He was a king. It also stands for purity
Frankincense was because He was a priest.
Myrrh was used as for embalming the dead. It was telling them He would die.
The Bible doesn’t tell us what Mary and Joseph did with the gifts. Possibly they sold them items because they needed the money to live. My guess would be that Mary sold the Myrrh first.
By the way, we think of three magi because of the three gifts, but there could have been more or less. In fact, I think there were more than three. Magi were important people. They probably traveled with all sorts of servants and body guards. Think about it. The magi were ‘kingmakers’. They predicted who would be a king. They were both religious and political in nature. It is much harder to imagine they traveled alone than to suppose they traveled with all the people and things that go along when dignitaries travel. The magi were very powerful to say the least, but they did not let their personal power or influence stop them from humbling themselves before the Lord. They made room in their hearts for Jesus. Wise men still do the same thing today.
It would be a good idea for all Christians to take a look at their hearts today. A Christian has made room in their heart for the Lord. Their eternal destiny is sealed. However, the heart may still be filled with garbage that needs to be swept out. Sins and hurts from the old life still have to be dealt with. As the Christian sweeps out sin, he has to take time to fill up the empty space with the things of Christ, or the evil will come back even worse than before. Look at this fictional example.
Charity is a nice young lady from a nice family. She works in the church with a sincere heart. She loves to sing, and may be a bit prideful about her lovely singing voice. One year she doesn’t get the parts she wants in the Christmas program. She thinks the solos were given to someone with an inferior voice just because of who that person was related to in the church. Charity decides to forgive the matter and just do a good job with the parts she has. That was a good choice on her part, but Charity didn’t go far enough in her forgiveness of the matter. She swept out her hurt and anger at the perceived wrong, but she didn’t fill up the empty space with the things of Christ. The little hurt gradually became a bigger hurt. By the next year Charity was seven times angrier about the matter than she had been the year before. She forgave it again, but still didn’t follow through. She swept the anger out of her heart, which was much more anger than the previous year; but she still didn’t fill up the empty space with the things of Christ. So it went on for several years until Charity’s entire attitude was changed from one of cheerful helpfulness to one of angry bitterness. That is how the devil works. He doesn’t need a big deal in anyone’s life to change their lives from a joyful life to a bitter life.
Are you brave enough to look in your heart and see just how much room you have for Jesus? Yes, He is in the heart of the believer, but is He living in very cramped conditions? Is your heart junked up with hurt feelings, bitterness, and secret sins? Today is the day to sweep these things out of your heart. And today is the day to begin filling the empty space with the good things of Christ.
That brings us to ‘charitable love’. That is the beginning of the good things of Christ with which we should fill our hearts. God’s love for us is charitable love. It is undeserved and unearned. I find it is much easier to accept charitable love than to give it. Thankfully, God’s charitable love for us is without end. We can never use it up. In fact, God enables us to love others like He loves us. I am positive that God will enable you to have charitable love for others because He tells us to do just that in John 13:34-35 which says, ‘A new commandment I give unto you That ye love one another; as I have loved you that ye also love one another. (35) By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.’
So, we are commanded to love others as Christ loved us. Although that may seem impossible when you think of some people in particular, it is possible through Jesus Christ. He would not command us to do something we cannot do. We are capable of such charitable love through Jesus Christ. The more room in your heart you make for Jesus, the more you will be able to carry out this commandment.
Make room in your heart for Jesus – be saved.
Make more room in your heart for Jesus – sweep out the old sins and the old ways and fill the clean space with charitable love.
The one who will be blessed the most will be you.
God bless you each one.
Barbara
http://ourhomeschoolideas.com
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