MORE JESUS AS CENTRAL

Jesus, the Word

John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.

By Him, In Him

Colossians lets us know His importance to us. In Him we have redemption through His blood. (1:14) By Him were all things created.(1;16) He is before all things and by Him all things consist.(1:17) In Him dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (2:9) We are complete in Him (2:10) We are quickened with Him and forgiven all our trespasses. (2:13)

WOW!

Revelation 1:8 I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Jesus is central. We need to keep Him central in our hearts, in our theology.

JESUS: the Center of all things Christian

The blessings of the kingdom of God are found in our relationship with God. To have a relationship with God we must have it through Jesus. He is the only way to the Father. When we were born again we gained access to new life, new blessings, and new relationships.

We first know Jesus as Savior. A whole series could be taught about what happens when Jesus becomes our savior. Though this new birth is the most important initial experience, it is just the beginning of blessings in Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit and Bible witness of Him. Indeed the Bible was given as a revelation of who God is and what He wants in our relationships with Him. We must realize that our limited carnal minds cannot understand God or Jesus. We need the help of the Holy Spirit and the anointing of the ministry gifts to truly understand the revelations of God in the Bible.

The Bible has a lot to say about Jesus. Some people get confused. How can He be a lion and a lamb? How can He be the bread of life, the Lord of Glory, the suffering servant? These explanations of who He is are all true, and there are many more. They are not given to confuse us. Each one of these explanations of who Jesus is is an invitation to know Him in a different facet and role. They are there so we can know Him better.

We can get to know Him as our good shepherd. We can get to know Him as our prince of peace. If we study these things and ask Him to reveal Himself in these ways, He will. If we draw near to Hom He will draw near to us.

The whole idea of God’s revelation of Himself is so we can know Him. As we come to Him seeking to know Him in His various facets, we grow closer to God. As we experience God we become more like Him. WOW! Talk about richness and goodness!

Remember. It all starts with JESUS and what we have in Him.

Peace in a Troubled World

As Christians, we have a great advantage. We know The Prince of Peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Is. 9:6 Upon His coming angels proclaimed, “Peace on earth goodwill to man”Luke 2:14 What they did not say was, “All humans will be at peace now.” Their message was about God’s gift of Jesus and the reconciliation between God and humans. Part of our new nature is Peace. Gal.5:22

Furthermore, we are told to live in peace with others as much as it is possible. Romans 14:19 But scripture does NOT say “go along to get along”. We live in peace not compromise. Peace is not our highest goal though we are to value it. Pleasing Jesus is our highest goal.

I was asked, “If Jesus is the prince of peace, what about Matt. 10:34-36? In these verses, Jesus says that He did not come to bring peace but a sword. Does this mean He was not the Prince of Peace? No, of course not. Look at the context. Jesus was speaking of bringing truth to a lying world, light to darkness, and righteousness to evil people. Of course, conflict and divisions followed. Jesus came as the Prince of Peace not the prince of convenience or compromise.

Jer. 6:14 says people will say “Peace. Peace.’ but there will be no peace. Does this mean the Prince of Peace has failed? “We do live in a messed up world.” God forbid! He has brought about peace with God for all that would accept Him. He gives us His peace as part of our new lives. We can live in a messed-up world and have inner peace. Jesus is truly our Prince of Peace.

A NOTE: Focusing on one verse on peace or any other subject without considering others and their contexts can lead to confusion and misunderstanding.

Grace and Peace be to You.  Brother Tim

Biblical Wisdom About Money

This is shared with us by my pastor, Monte Knudson.

There are extremes of riches and poverty that cause unique temptations if we let them. Prov. 30:8-9

Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses. Prov. 12:9

The rich and poor are more alike than you think. Prov. 22:2

You can’t outgive God. Prov. 3:9-10 (11:24, 22:9)

Poverty is not pretty. Prov. 10:15 (14:20, 19:4)

Money can’t give you ultimate security. Prov. 11:7 (8:18, 11:28)

The Lord hates those who get riches by wickedness. Prov. 2:6 (22:16, 22:22-23)

The Lord loves those who give to the poor. Prov. 28:27 (14:21, 22:9)

Hard work and good decisions lead to great provision. Prov. 6:6-11 (10:4, 13:11, 14:23, 21:17, 22:4, 27:23)

Money is not everything. Prov. 23:4 (8:10-11, 19, 10:2, 11:4, 13:35, 16:8, 20:17, 22:7)

Christians, God, and Fears

As a Christian God takes up residence in us. There are many references to His new nature in us or Christ in us the hope of glory or our body being the temple of the Holy Spirit. God is with us and in us.

The Word says God is Love. That perfect love is in us.

1 John 4:8

The Word says perfect Love casts out fear.

1 John 4:18

Are there fears trying to hold you back or keeping you from being all you know you should be? If you are a Christian, you have the answer to that. God is in you. God is Love. Perfect love casts out fear. Believe God. Let God’s Spirit arise in you and cast off the fears. You do not have to live in fear as a Christian.

Convenience

I love my conveniences. I love being able to communicate with friends across the globe. I am thankful for that and so many other 21st-century conveniences. They make work and play easier. Good stuff!

But if I let convenience become part of my value system, my character, I will never be great. I will gravitate to the easy. I will demand the world conform to me. I will not persevere. I will take the route of least resistance.

The great men and women who overcame and changed their worlds were people who did not give up when things got hard. During the US Revolutionary War Things seemed bleak…sometimes impossible but George Washington and his soldiers stayed through the tough times until Victory.

Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Roy Benevetez, Audie Murphy, and millions of others who helped change history, and change the world all persevered when things were tough. They stayed the course when things were not convenient.

Conveniences are fine, But there is no convenience button or EZ button for relationships, success, or greatness. To improve ourselves and our world we must press through the inconveniences and not fall back to whatever is easiest.

God’s Love is Active.

God’s presence and love really feel wonderful. But God’s love is much more than warm fuzzies. God’s Love is dynamic. Wherever it is there is the corresponding. action. God’s love is a great motivator. God’s love is active.

I recall Psalms 136. In it, every act of God listed was connected to His loving kindness. In Matt. 14:14 we see Jesus moved with compassion and healing the sick. Of course, John 3:16 tells of God’s love for the world and what action He did because of that love…nothing less than JESUS.

If one has the love of God that person wants to express it towards others. I personally thank God for all of His people who have demonstrated God’s love for me through their many kindnesses.

God loves you. Embrace that love and love others ACTIVELY.

God’s Love is Faithful.

We humans deeply desire faithful love. But we find so much disappointment as human love can be so unfaithful. Probably we have all experienced the hurt of loss in our love lives. And it is not only the other persons in our relationships but we too fail. We mean well but we fail. Often we expect the same human falure from God that we experienced from humans. But God’s love is faithful.

Why is it faithful? How can it be faithful? His love is faithful because love is His very nature. 1 John 4:8 God is Love. If it is your very nature to love it is very easy to love faithfully.

In Psalms 136 we see a chronicling of God’s faithful love for the Children of Israel. He had them remind themselves of His goodness and faithfulness. We too need to remind ourselves of His faithfulness to us and His love for us.

God is so serious about His love relationships with His people that He makes BLOOD Covenants with them. The New Covenant is in Jesus’s blood. It does not get more serious with God than that. In this new covenant, His love is shed abroad in our lives, He gives us new life and character. He gives us love and peace. He gives us health and success. His love is faithful. He will not turn His back on His covenant promises written in Jesus’s precious blood.

We can count on His love being faithful.

It’s All About Relationships.

Christianity is not at its core about buildings, denominations, or even creeds. Christianity is about God making it possible for us to have new and wonderful relationships with Him.

Relationships with Him can transform our relationships with ourselves and each other. Christian creeds do not stand apart from this. They identify proper Christian relationships.

The core understanding of these relationships includes God’s loving nature, who Jesus is, what He means to us, and how sincerely God wants us to be free and successful.

Any foundational teaching should start here. In the following weeks, I will be doing devotional teachings on Jesus, God’s Love, and Liberty. There will be a new post every week or so. God’s richest blessings to you.

Peace in Troubled Times

In troubled times we long for peace. But external peace in a fallen world is difficult to find. We can not depend on our government to provide peace. We certainly can’t trust large media to give us peace,

But we as Christians are to have peace,,,a peace that passes understanding, We were given God’s peace as part of our new nature. We were given the comforter, the Holy Spirit. We have access to fellowship with the Prince of Peace.

The Word of God will give us peace in our emotions if we would just believe it. Fear is the opposite of faith in God. WORRY IS FEAR MEDITATED. We have the tools and the relationships to have peace in troubled times. We must choose to take advantage of what we have or we will be just like the world…letting outer circumstances dictate our inner peace or lack of it.