Tag Christ

Sunday Drive Devotional: Keeping Between the Lines

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

“Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”** (Jeremiah 6:16**)

The Ancient Paths and the Modern Highway

There’s a quiet wisdom built into every well‑marked road. The lines don’t shout, they don’t argue, and they don’t demand attention. They simply guide. Jeremiah called them the “ancient paths,” the good way laid down long before we arrived, the road that leads to rest. Those ancient paths were never meant to be decorative. They were meant to be followed.

But even the best paths need maintenance. When a road is neglected, it stops feeling ancient and starts feeling hazardous. A once‑smooth drive becomes an obstacle course, a vehicular game of dodgeball or bumper cars. Instead of enjoying the journey, you spend your time bracing for impact.

Anyone who has driven a Pennsylvania backroad in early spring knows the feeling. One moment you’re admiring the scenery, and the next you’re praying your suspension survives the pothole that just tried to swallow your front tire. Potholes have a way of reminding us that even the oldest, most trusted paths require care.

Learning to Drive on the Roads That Teach Us

Many country roads don’t have lane markers at all, but that doesn’t mean the driver is free to improvise. Your driving habits were shaped on the roads that did have lines, the ones that trained your eyes, your instincts, and your sense of responsibility. The driving test wasn’t about memorizing rules; it was about forming habits that would keep you and everyone around you safe.

God’s Kingdom works the same way. His boundaries are not burdens; they are blessings. They are not restrictions; they are protections. They are not obstacles; they are guidance.

Scripture tells us that God set the planets in their courses and told the ocean how far it may come (Job 38:11, Psalm 19:6). All of creation honors the lines He drew. The stars don’t wander. The tides don’t rebel. The seasons don’t negotiate. Creation stays in its lane.

And then there is humanity, the only part of creation that looks at God’s markings and says, “I think I’ll try something different.” One person ignoring the rules of the road can cause a wreck. One believer ignoring the wisdom of God can cause spiritual damage that ripples far beyond their own life.

Returning to the Good Way

Jeremiah’s call to “ask for the ancient paths” wasn’t nostalgia. It was an invitation to return to the well‑marked road, the one God laid out for our good. The one that leads to rest, not chaos. The one that keeps us from turning life into a demolition derby of our own making.

The lines are there because God loves us. The boundaries exist because the journey matters. The ancient paths still lead to rest but only if we stay on them.

So today, as you drive, let the road preach. Let the lane markers remind you of God’s steady guidance. Let the potholes remind you that neglect creates danger. Let the whole journey point you back to the One who laid out the path long before you ever set foot on it.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for the ancient paths You have laid before us. Teach us to honor the lines You have drawn, not as restrictions but as gifts of protection and peace. Keep our hearts attentive, our steps steady, and our lives aligned with Your wisdom. Strengthen us to walk in the good way, to maintain the paths entrusted to us, and to travel with humility, gratitude, and obedience. Lead us safely, guide us faithfully, and grant us rest for our souls as we follow Your road. Amen.

The Indwelling Christ: A Test of True Faith

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

A Call to Honest Examination

Paul’s command in 2 Corinthians 13:5 is not gentle counsel but a summons: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.” He does not ask us to recall a moment of sincerity or to lean on a memory of spiritual awakening. He calls us to look honestly at the present reality of our inner life. The question is not whether we once believed, but whether Christ is truly dwelling within us now. Paul presses the point further: “Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” The test is not about religious activity. It is about indwelling. It is about whether the life of Christ is actually present and active within the believer.

Christ Within: The Only True Evidence

Scripture makes this standard unmistakably clear. Paul writes, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). If Christ is in us, there is hope. If Christ is not in us, there is no glory at all. John echoes this reality when he says, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). Life is not found in religious familiarity but in union with Christ Himself. Paul goes even further in Romans 8:9: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” The dividing line is not church attendance, doctrinal agreement, or moral behavior. The dividing line is the presence or absence of Christ within.

The Danger of Overestimating Ourselves

This is why Paul warns us not to overestimate our spiritual condition. “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought” (Romans 12:3). We are prone to assume devotion because we participate in religious environments. We sit in church, we sing the songs, we nod at the sermons, and we assume these things testify on our behalf. Yet Jesus confronted the most religious people of His day with devastating clarity: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8). External proximity is not internal reality. The Pharisees prayed, fasted, tithed, taught Scripture, and yet Jesus said, “You are like whitewashed tombs… outwardly you appear righteous to men, but within you are full of dead men’s bones” (Matthew 23:27). They failed the test not because they lacked religious activity, but because they lacked the indwelling Christ.

The Voice That Reveals Our Allegiance

Jesus Himself defined the test of true discipleship with piercing simplicity: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). The evidence of belonging to Christ is not merely hearing Christian voices but hearing His. It is not following Christian culture but following Him. The modern church has trained many believers to outsource their spiritual discernment to pastors, authors, influencers, and institutions. Yet Jesus did not say, “My sheep hear their pastor’s voice.” He said they hear His. And He warned that many who assume they belong to Him will discover otherwise: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father” (Matthew 7:21). Words are not proof. Obedience is.

The First Commandment as the True Measure

This is why the first commandment is the true measure of the heart. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). That word all dismantles every rival authority. To love God with all your mind means His Word outranks the voices of media, academia, science, politics, and even our own understanding. Proverbs speaks directly to this: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). To love Him with all your heart means no affection competes with His. To love Him with all your strength means obedience is not occasional but the natural outflow of devotion. Jesus tied love and obedience together when He said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Love without obedience is sentiment. Obedience without love is religion. True discipleship holds both.

Adam, Eve, and Abraham: Two Portraits of the Test

Scripture gives us two vivid portraits of this test. Adam and Eve failed it because they trusted another voice above God’s. The serpent questioned God’s character, and they embraced the lie. The text says, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food… she took of its fruit and ate” (Genesis 3:6). They trusted their eyes over God’s Word. They leaned on their own understanding instead of His command. Their failure was not about fruit; it was about allegiance. Abraham, by contrast, passed the test because he trusted God’s character even when the command made no sense. When God said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love… and offer him there” (Genesis 22:2), Abraham obeyed. Hebrews explains why: “He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead” (Hebrews 11:19). Abraham trusted God’s voice above his own logic, above his emotions, above the visible circumstances. That is what passing the test looks like.

The Inner Witness of the Spirit

When Paul tells us to examine ourselves, he is calling us into that same clarity. He is asking whether Christ is truly the center of our affections, the anchor of our decisions, the voice that shapes our convictions, and the Lord who governs our steps. John gives us a simple diagnostic: “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3). Not perfectly, but sincerely. Not flawlessly, but faithfully. The presence of Christ produces repentance, humility, endurance, holiness, and a growing love for truth. The absence of Christ produces apathy, compromise, self‑rule, and selective obedience. Paul’s command is not meant to create fear but honesty. It is not meant to condemn but to reveal. And when Christ truly dwells within us, His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16).

Christ in You: The Only Hope of Glory

For if Christ is in us, His presence will not remain hidden. His life will press outward. His voice will rise above the noise. His truth will confront our excuses. His holiness will shape our conduct. And His glory will begin to take form within us, even in quiet and unseen ways. But if Christ is not in us—if our faith is merely cultural, inherited, intellectual, or performative—then no amount of religious activity can compensate for His absence. Jesus warned of this with sobering clarity: “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Without Him, we may appear spiritual, but we will lack the life that only He can give.

Returning to the Center

This is why Paul’s command matters. It calls us back to the center. It calls us to the first love. It calls us to the first commandment. It calls us to the living Christ who does not merely inspire from a distance but dwells within those who belong to Him. The hope of glory is not found in our performance, our knowledge, our traditions, or our religious habits. The hope of glory is Christ in us. And nothing less will do.


What if instead of Santa Claus you got a visit from Jesus Christ?

Allen Frederick 1 Comment

Source: victorpicarra.files.wordpress.com

Here is is a thought to ponder as you end 2014 and make plans and preparations for 2015. Now that Christmas is behind us now maybe a good time to ask this very important question.

We say December 25th is the day we celebrate Jesus’ birth, okay what day do we set aside to celebrate his SOON RETURN?

What instead of spending so much time and energy making preparations for the jolly fat man, who is never going to come because newsflash he is not real, we put the same amount of energy and preparation into a imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Nary a thought is given to a returning King but we sure do spend a great deal of time preparing for the arrival of Santa Claus.

Isn’t something out of kilter here? Shouldn’t the Christian church be focusing people’s attention on the upcoming arrival of King Jesus? Isn’t that what Advent is supposed to be preparing hearts and minds for? Isn’t the coming of a Messiah the reason for Christmas?

He has already been born, he has been crucified, he was buried, he arose from the dead and ascended into heaven, his next big move will be to return to gather together all his believers. Since no one knows the date or time of his upcoming arrival it really would behoove us to be ready and waiting by the door when he comes to call don’t you think?

Many call this generation the Millennials and perhaps they are for this may be the generation that ushers in the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. What are we doing to prepare the Millennial generation for the millennial reign of Christ? Was there any talk around the Christmas tree of Jesus’ second coming? Or were we too busy opening presents and talking about all the stuff we got? You do know that you will not be able to take any of it with you.

The greatest gift ever given to man was when God gave us his own son to die in our place. There is not a gift under heaven that can compare to that great gift of God. Nor is there anything under heave that is able to keep you from the wrath of God that is going to come to this earth. Therefore the gift God gave us is the only thing that we can take with us and will protect us from the coming wrath, everything else is worthless by comparison.

Since we do not know when Christ will return we only know that his return is guaranteed shouldn’t we be working hard to make preparations for his return? Just saying.

That is the way I see it, what say you?

See on Scoop.it – Eagle Views

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If You Love God, the World is Going to Hate You

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

“… Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4, ESV).

 

This week in Pakistan, a pregnant Christian mother of four and her husband, falsely accused of burning pages of the Koran, were beaten by a Muslim mob and thrown into a kiln, a fiery oven at a brick factory, where they were roasted alive.

Over 200 Christian girls in Nigeria were captured by Boko Haram. “I abducted your girls, said its leader, Abubakar Shekau in May; “By Allah I will sell them in the marketplace” as slaves.

Pastor Saeed Abedini, an American, is still being held in prison in Iran for apostasy and practicing his Christian faith. Source

The current trend in society today is for everyone to get along. The tag-line is tolerance. Except when it comes to morality and societal norms than tolerance becomes lost in the rhetoric and vitriol.

No one likes to be told what to do, and yet that is exactly what is happening in our society. A few people are telling everyone else how they are to behave and act. They are pushing their views of morality upon the masses, and refuse to show any tolerance to those who might not hold to their moral standards. These preachers of hate stand in the city square and pontificate loudly and forcibly their viewpoints and even threaten dissenters with legal action. They are all for freedom of speech and assembly as long as those who are speaking are using the approved talking points and are gathered in support of the ‘cause’. There is no room for opposing viewpoints.

If anyone does happen to offer an opposing viewpoint or even question the legitimacy of the issue they are shouted down, or worse yet browbeaten into submission.

Who are these militant purveyors of hate? If you said right-wing conservative Christians you would be 180 degrees out of step with the real world. The true haters are all those who hate God. They call themselves progressive, liberal, or free-thinkers. They portray themselves are ‘enlightened’ and educated, while portraying their adversaries as ignorant, unenlightened, and regressive. They only wish to hear one side of an argument, and that has to agree with their viewpoint.

Real enlightened individuals espouse multiple viewpoints, and ponder all differences of opinions, and weigh all options before forming a defining position on any issue. The ones who militantly vocalize only one viewpoint are not open-minded at all but are rather close-minded and dogmatic. They show no tolerance or mercy. They are hateful, vindictive, and vile ideologues.

They do however have one thing in common, they have a uniform dislike for anything that resembles God or godliness. They hate the sound of Jesus’ name, and run with their ears stopped when scripture is read out loud. They bash Christianity and decency at every opportunity. They are lawless, abusive, selfish, slanderous, ungrateful, unthankful, disrespectful, loud, obnoxious, unforgiving, proud, abusive, greedy, brutal, lack any self-control, are conceited, and boastful. They rejoice in wrongdoing, and actually encourage others to take part in their destructive behavior as if to be promoting a worthwhile cause.

Those who espouse Christian principles and a Godly worldview, attempt to live at peace with all men. They are loving and kind, generous, forgiving, merciful, law-abiding, honest, truthful, and humble. And because they love Jesus Christ and have faith in the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, they are hated by the world, just like Jesus was.

2 Timothy 3:2-4 (NIV)
2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God–

We have been warned that this day would come.  There will be those who will pretend to be godly and even use scripture to support their perversions, and the bible tells us to have nothing to do with them. Do not imitate their ways, do not even engage them in their folly, simply have nothing to do with them. Let them go and do what they are going to do, because in the end they will receive the rewards their folly deserve, for they have rejected the wisdom of their elders, and have forsaken the sure paths to walk in crooked paths. They have built their lives on the shifting sand of moral relativism and as a result what they are building will crumble and fall. It is inevitable and their destruction is sure.

As for your my brothers and sisters in Christ:

Matthew 5:11-12 (BBE)
11 Happy are you when men give you a bad name, and are cruel to you, and say all evil things against you falsely, because of me. 12 Be glad and full of joy; for great is your reward in heaven: for so were the prophets attacked who were before you.

 

And that is the way I see it. What say you?

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Fruit Inspectors, Log Detectors, or Foolish Advisors? You be the Judge!

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Isaiah 59:14-15  “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth has fallen in the streets and equity cannot enter.  Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey:  and the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no judgment.”

 

I am afraid that we have lost our way in America. For too long we have been fed this anti-biblical principle that no one is allowed to judge anyone for anything, and we are all just supposed to love one another no matter how the other person behaves or what the other person believes even if those beliefs are contrary to our own. We are being told over and over that tolerance is the way forward, and we all need to be accepting of others.

The only problem with this is those who are calling for others to not judge set themselves up as the arbiters and judges of all that is judgmental. In other words they judge others while exempting themselves from the same judgment they are meting out.

In fact, in today’s modern culture, “judge not” carries more weight than another of Christ’s one-liners, ”Go and sin no more.” This is a situation where a little Bible knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

JUDGE NOT and THOU SHALL NOT are not stand alone statements.

It is important to take scripture in context to get the full meaning of what Jesus or any of the other biblical writers are trying to say. Taken in context then we have our judge not comment below.

Mathew 7:1-5 “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”

You see, Jesus commanded us to not judge hypocritically, He never commanded us not to judge. He asked us to remove the logs so we could “see clearly” to help our brother. How are we to remove a log if we feel that we do not have a log? And how is it that we learn about having a log in the first place? If everyone around us keeps telling us the way we  see things is right and good, then we will continue down a path that we think is right only to find that path led us right to our own demise. What was the problem? How did we get here? Why did God allow me to go down this road? My friend it was because you had believed the lie that you should not be judged in anything you said or did or thought. You were blinded by a huge log that you refused to allow anyone to point out to you.

So then how do we learn about our logs or specks for that matter? We learn from others who have already removed the logs from their eyes, or better had the logs removed for them by the Lord through spiritual encounters.

I Corinthians 2:15 “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.”

We are instructed to judge all things….things…not people.  Actions, thoughts and words are things. Choices are things, what people do are things. You should judge decisions and actions of others to decide if those actions are good or bad. Yes my friends some things are bad for you. Heck if we follow the teaching of these blinded fools and not judge anything then we will not be long for this life since we will be eating poisoned fruit. Who is it among us who will stand and say that they do not judge what they eat? No one would intentionally ingest poison, and yet many, for lack of judgment, are ingesting a deadly poison, that of a failed worldview. Their visions are clouded by huge logs. Just like a good chef knows how to pick good fruits and vegetables to cook with, and seeks out only the freshest and finest ingredients, shouldn’t we do the same when it comes to things that pertain to this life?

Yes we are and yes we should!

I Corinthians 6:2-4 “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.”

“….How much more the things that pertain to this life.”

Only  a fool would willing eat poison, or follow a path that led off a cliff, and using sound judgment is the key to avoiding such deadly consequences. The problem with sin though is its subtlety. It is not  labeled poisonous and  there are no DANGER signs posted on the pathway of destruction. In fact sin is very enticing, it has an intoxicating appeal. It is addictive. Like the siren’s of Homer’s Odyssey sin’s haunting allure leads all to their destruction.

We all have specks in our eyes and our visions are cloudy, some even have forest growing in their eyes, therefore all of us need some guidance and direction when it comes to matters that pertain to life. It is where we go to get that instruction which could be a matter of life and death. Paul admonished the Corinthian church to set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. In other words listen to those who you might not otherwise esteem as notable. Many times God speaks through those we least expect and in ways that challenge our intellects.

How then can one know what is good and what is bad? Discernment is the short answer, but learning from others is probably the better answer. Allow others to look for logs and specks. Allow your fruit to be inspected by a certified fruit inspector.

Matthew 7:15-18 “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”

Jesus clearly delineates between good and bad, and exhorts us to do the same. That requires judgment.

Do not think too highly of yourself that you feel you are above reproach in all areas of life. Pride will surely lead you down the road of self-destruction because you will not heed the warnings of others, or listen to the rebukes of those who have gone down the same path before you. You will simply cry out in a loud voice…WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE while you are speeding along the pathway of destruction.

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