Tag Kingdom of God

If you love me you must accept me as I am…

Allen Frederick 3 Comments

Not so fast.

Mk 17 (GW) As Jesus was coming out to the road, a man came running to him and knelt in front of him. He asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
19 You know the commandments: Never murder. Never commit adultery. Never steal. Never give false testimony. Never cheat. Honor your father and mother.”
20 The man replied, “Teacher, I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. He told him, “You’re still missing one thing. Sell everything you have. Give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then follow me!”
22 When the man heard that, he looked unhappy and went away sad, because he owned a lot of property. Mark 10:17-22

Love ? I love love love you.

Love ? I love love love you. (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

The most important thing that jumped out at me with this passages are the words: Jesus looked at him and loved him.

If I have heard it once I have heard it a thousand times God is love and we must love others. So what is love and how does it relate to dealing with others? This passage is a perfect example of what love actually is and what love expects.

JESUS LOVED this man who came to him wanting to gain salvation. Liken this to the person who comes to church asking what they must do to gain eternal life. For the most part these people present themselves as law-abiding citizens and are living a decent and good life. To the average person this man who came to Jesus was an upstanding citizen, an accomplished man, a leader among his peers, successful by the worlds standards and most likely a person any organization would happily employ. This person is not living a visible sinful lifestyle. He would appear to the natural man that he had it all together.

And Jesus LOVED HIM. He loved him enough to tell him his shortcomings. He loved him enough to not let him continue living the life that he was living. He loved him enough to tell him the truth. As compared to what a GODLY life actually entailed this man had missed the mark completely. This man had put his trust in his personal accomplishments. He had acquired a great deal of success and prominence in this world, his resume was impressive, but failed to gain entrance into God’s kingdom.

Jesus loved him. And told him that he needed one thing. To sell everything he had and humble himself to take up the cross and follow Jesus. Interesting enough that is the same message Jesus gave to all his disciples. If any man wished to follow Christ and be his disciple he must take up his cross and follow him. Mt 16:24, Mk 8:34, Lk 9:23.

This is not a new concept and Jesus was not singling out this person and asking him to do anything less than what he had expected of all his disciples.

Why then is it that today’s church does not require the same of their disciples? Why is it that for the most part everyone who comes to the church is offered entrance without any requirements of self-sacrifice and cross bearing? Why do those who come to the church wish to be treated special? They do not wish to be required to give up anything in their life. They want to continue to live exactly like they have before coming to the church. They feel like this man did, they had achieved everything they needed to be acceptable in society and as such should be offered entrance into heaven simply because of their ‘good works‘ or ‘good living’.

God saved you through faith as an act of kindness. You had nothing to do with it. Being saved is a gift from God. It’s not the result of anything you’ve done, so no one can brag about it. Ephesians 2:8-9 (GW) 

You see then all those things that this man thought he had accomplished did not earn him entrance into God’s kingdom because they were done apart from the will of God. They were not done by God’s Spirit. You see to gain entrance into the kingdom of God we must trust in God to lead us there, we can not lead ourselves there nor earn our way in. Prior to coming to Christ all our accomplishments are not acceptable.

Sell all you have accomplished, give it away, give it to the poor, and take up your cross, deny yourself, and follow Jesus wherever it is he leads you. Then you shall gain entrance into the kingdom of God. Your plans and accomplishments are not what is important. Everything you thought you wanted to do does not matter. It is not YOUR way that is going to get it done. It is HIS way and only HIS way.

Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (GW) 

No one who enters the kingdom of God will ever say they did it their way. And our way is not going to get us there either.

You see folks God is under absolutely no obligation to honor you for your accomplishments, nor is he obligated to honor you because of your ‘good living’. He is God and as such needs to be honored as God and only those who do his will are acceptable into his kingdom.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the person who does what my Father in heaven wants. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we force out demons and do many miracles by the power and authority of your name?’ Then I will tell them publicly, ‘I’ve never known you. Get away from me, you evil people.’ Matthew 7:21-23 (GW) 

Do not be deceived into believing that just because things have gone well for you, and you have accomplished great things in this world, that you have a guarantee entrance into God’s kingdom. There is only one way to get in and that is to deny thyself, and take up the cross and follow Jesus. You can not come to Christ and continue to live like He doesn’t matter.

Many of us like this rich man are imprisoned to our own wants, needs and desires, and as such we are not fit for God’s kingdom. Until we are willing to lay it all down and take up our cross to follow Jesus, we will never inherit the kingdom of God.

What is love then? Love dares to speak the truth. And the truth is NO ONE shall enter the kingdom of God without taking up their own personal cross. Regardless of their standing in the world.

This is hard for believers to handle because even Christ’s own disciples took exception to how Jesus handled the rich man. They were shocked that he turned the man away. Actually the man turned himself away because he refused to do what Jesus had asked him to do. Remember Jesus asked him to give all his money away because he LOVED HIM.

Mk 23 (GW) Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for rich people to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were stunned by his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 This amazed his disciples more than ever. They asked each other, “Who, then, can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “It’s impossible for people {to save themselves}, but it’s not impossible for God to save them. Everything is possible for God.” Mark 10:23-27

You see guys and gals, it is impossible to save ourselves. It is impossible no matter how hard we try nor how well we live to enter into the kingdom of God apart from the cross. The cross is the entrance gate into God’s kingdom. That is how it works. There is no other way. You can not avoid the cross. You can not buy your way in. You can not earn entrance. It is a gift of God and as such can only be bestowed upon man by God through Jesus via the Holy Spirit.

In other words you must be born again. Jn 3:1 No flesh can inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor 15:50

eagle_feather_icon.gifThis is a view from the nest. What say you?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

 

Along for the journey

 tj201009292334-3.jpg

This has been A View from the Nest. The statements, comments, or opinions expressed are solely that of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of the host of this site or any affiliates thereof. Any questions or comments should be directed to myself and not to the host or hosts of this site.
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There Will Always Be Rulers Who Will Suppress the Truth

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I am not sure where I first read this but I thought it was worthwhile to be passed on to my readers so I did. Unless we come to an Epiphany of God through Jesus, unless we realize that God is with us in the form of man the God-man Jesus, then we have not had a true encounter with the living Christ. Wise men were seeking the King of the Jews. What they found was a 2-year-old boy. What they knew was a star had guided them to the very place the King of the Jews could be found. Having met the one spoken of by the prophets of old, they were warned in a dream to leave a different way because Herod had desired to kill this child king.
The three Magi before Herod, France, early 15t...

The three Magi before Herod, France, early 15th century. Stained glass: colored glass, grisaille; lead. Restored by F. Pivet, 1999. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Epiphanies are “aha” moments, times when we come to realize something that should have been as plain as the noses on our faces. This Day of Epiphany starts a chain-reaction of aha moments as the human family begins to recognize that Jesus the Messiah has come. The epiphany of which we speak is an increasing revelation that began with the shepherds and the Wise Men, extended to Simeon and Anna at Jesus’ presentation as an infant, then to John the Baptist and those who saw Jesus’ baptism, further to the servants of the wedding at Cana, and on to worshipers at his hometown synagogue in Nazareth. By the time this year’s season has come to its end at the Transfiguration, we will be reminded that God, who is greater than Moses or Elijah, is with us!

What we know of Herod we know primarily from a historian (Josephus) who did not like him, as well as from this testimony in Matthew. Herod was, by their testimony, insecure, paranoid, easily threatened, and ready to act violently if he thought someone might be in his way.
But in Matthew’s story, our Christian story, Herod is not just a maniacal historical figure. He is also stand-in for the powers of the world. These powers keep others from accessing truth they do not want to be accessed, and then try to control the outcome of any truth discovered.

The Magi are free agents initially drawn into Herod’s scheme as pawns. The angels in dreams send them home by another way; and in the verses following, send the Holy Family into exile in Egypt, also as free agents. Herod lashes out with extreme violence, ordering the execution of every Jewish male under age two unless he may have missed someone.

 God’s consistent activity in this story was Epiphany! God acted in surprising, transforming ways to subvert the powers that be and all they would attempt to stop God’s reign from being made known (Epiphany!) through Jesus. In nature, God arranged the alignment of planets viewed by the astrologers. Through the astrologers going to Jerusalem, the wrong people are asked and Herod’s suspicions are raised. Through Herod, the Magi discover where they need to go to find the king they seek. Through a series of dreams, God leads the astrologers and the Holy Family to safety in the face of what were very serious death threats from Herod. It is subversion after subversion, God never once using the “right channels” to spread the word of the newborn king and God’s kingdom surely coming to all the world. Not once. God always acted by Epiphany!

Not Knowing.

Have you ever thought of the things that the wise men did not know? Like Abraham, they set out on a journey, not knowing where it would take them (Hebrews 11:8). They did not know how long the trip would take when they decided to follow the star that appeared in the East. Then, they did not know how they would be received in the faraway foreign land. They did not know what the king would look like; nor did they know when or if they would return home. Yet they, like Abraham, chose to make the journey.

Following the light of God is a similar journey requiring faith. We often feel that we don’t know where our journey will lead us, and we certainly never know what we will find along the way. We do, however, know that God goes before us, and with us, and that the journey is not in vain.
 Notice the prominence of images of light in the Epiphany readings. So many people are looking for a light at the end of the tunnel — something to signal an end to the present madness. Their concerns and fears wear a dozen faces: loneliness, depression, economics, bullying, terrorism, disease, marital discord — the list goes on. Epiphany’s reminder of the unchanging love of God for us is as refreshing as a glimpse of light at the end of a dark tunnel.
God is still at work today to thwart the schemes and plans of the enemy of truth. His will, will be done on earth as it is in heaven. There is no greater power in heaven or earth that can outwit, outlast, out maneuver God. All the plans of evil men to suppress the truth will come to naught. God’s ways will flourish and all those who are willing to accept His guidance shall be delivered from evil.

This is the true meaning of the word Epiphany! Eureka I found it. I found the truth. I found life and purpose. I found the one who was foretold by the prophets of old. I found Jesus! So can you if you are willing to seek Him with your entire being. You must be willing to face opposition and overcome those who are more than happy to keep you ignorant of the truth. There will be many who will try to suppress the truth by their actions. They like Herod of old will do everything within their power to keep you from finding the truth and to hinder the truth from being found out.

You are being lied to my friends and I am here to tell you that you can get victory over Herod’s lies. His reign of destruction will not continue and will be brought to an end. But the Kingdom of God shall remain forever. Now that is something to shout EUREKA about.

eagle_feather_icon.gifThis is a view from the nest. What say you?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness.

Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

tj201009292334-3.jpg

This has been A View from the Nest. The statements, comments, or opinions expressed are solely that of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of the host of this site or any affiliates thereof. Any questions or comments should be directed to myself and not to the host or hosts of this site.

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August Edition of Pop Goes the Gospel

Allen Frederick 4 Comments

Welcome to this month’s Edition of “Pop Goes the Gospel” another exciting expedition through cyberspace stopping along the way to gather some spiritual nourishment to strengthen our walk with the Lord. The fruit is ripe, the water is warm, the sun is shining so grab your sunblock, a beach  towel, and enjoy a cool summertime treat. Let the carnival begin!

'Pop Goes the Gospel'

'Pop Goes the Gospel'

Feature Article

Trent Cotton presents Using Chicken Little to Teach Kids about Mistakes posted at Christian Men-Christian Warriors. This month’s feature article is a lesson learned from the Children’s film Chicken Little. This is a must read for all who are dealing with “sins of our past” getting past our past reputations. Got a bad rap, check out this month’s feature article and learn along with Trent the lessons of Chicken Little. Thank you Trent for your submission.

In Culture

NCSue presents Making sense of paradox posted at IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING.NCSue asks us all to take another look at the paradoxes of Scripture. She offers up a new look at how Christianity seems senseless to those who are skilled and learned in the world. God’s ways surely are not our ways. A must read. Take time to answer all the questions there will be a quiz.

DeMarcus presents Growing Spiritually posted at Self Improvement Articles.DeMarcus offers us a quick but thorough look at growing up Spiritually. Thank you DeMarcus for your submission.

Rich Bordner presents My Story « The Pugnacious Irishman posted at The Pugnacious Irishman, College life can be ruthless for a young child of God or in the case of Rich a proving ground. The trying of our faith is a requirement if we wish to grow in that faith. A faith that is not tested is not faith at all. Thank you Rich for your candied story of life after high school, and your journey toward a deeper walk of faith.

Jeanine Mathis presents Question: Can You Boycott Heaven Because of Who God Allows to Be There? posted at Walk in Light, Jeanine tackles and interesting question found while surfing the net. I liked this article because it pointed out that there is only ONE JUDGE and it is not us. My conclusion to this post was well you have to read it and decide for yourself. Thank you Jeanine

In Church Life

Keith Tusing presents Leadership is Tough posted at CM Buzz.Keith offers a short but sound lesson on the difficulties of leadership. He says that if you are not being criticized it is possible you are not doing anything for the Kingdom, so get used to it. Good job Keith and thanks for your submission

Bible SEO presents Beatitudes: Blessed are Poor in Spirit – 8 Part Series posted at Bible Study Exposition Online, saying, “This bible study lesson is an eight part series of the Beatitudes mentioned in Matthew 5. This first part covers the meaning and context of beatitudes; it also deals with implication of being ‘poor in the spirit’, and the promise of Kingdom of Heaven.” Take some time out this week and do this study on the Beatitudes, it will do you a world of good.

andriel presents The Mystical Theory of Atonement posted at ReturningKing.com, For those who love an deep theological exegisis Andriel offers up plenty of ‘spiritual meat’ each and every issue of Pop Goes the Gospel. Once again andriel offers up such a post. This is a must read for anyone who seriously wishes to delve into the deeper things of God. Warning this is not for the casual reader this post will make you think.

Rick Schiano presents Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Be a Christian posted at Ricks Victory Blog.Rick offers up a TOP TEN List every Christian should strive to emulate. This is not a silly TOP TEN list as seen on late night TV but a serious list of the TOP TEN attributes of a TRUE CHRISTIAN. See how you stack up to the TOP TEN.

In Media

Alvina Lopez presents 50 Awesome Online Communities for Christians posted at Online Bible College Degrees – Online Bible Colleges.Another top 50 list from the folks you like to post list the students at Online Bible Colleges.

In Life

Sacha Calagopi presents Stuck in the Airport posted at God’s Word For You Today, Sacha another first time contributor to this carnival offers up a glimpse into what it is like to have to wait. This reminds me of an old saying ‘When my ship comes in I will probably be at the airport” giving voice to the frustration many feel about supposed missed opportunities. Savha points out that waiting on God is not an exercise in futility but rather a preparation for flight.

Jessica Nagel presents Gratitude posted at Sustainable Halo.This simple post from Jessica Nagel asks just one thing. What are you grateful for? Stop by and leave a reply and tell the world what it is you are grateful for.

In Family

Brooklyn White presents 100 Best Blogs for Christian Moms posted at Online Christian Colleges.Brooklyn White from Online Christian Colleges offers up yet another Post of Lists. This one is dedicated to the Christian mom and the 100 best sites. I am sure you will find something valuable in this list.

Bill presents Blessed in His Image posted at The Covenant Blessing, Bill a first time submitter to this blog carnival offers up an insightful post on being made in the image of Christ. He reminds us that we are all made in God’s image and if we really understood how fearfully and wonderfully we were made it would help us improve our self-image.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of pop goes the gospel using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Inauguration Day

Allen Frederick 3 Comments

Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org
Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor.



In*au`gu*ra"tion\, n. [L. inauguratio a beginning: cf. F. inauguration.]

  1. The act of inuagurating, or inducting into office with solemnity; investiture by appropriate ceremonies.

2. The formal beginning or initiation of any movement, course of action, etc.; as, the inauguration of a new system, a new condition, etc.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Near Sheep Gate in Jerusalem was a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew. It had five porches. Under these porches a large number of sick people—people who were blind, lame, or paralyzed—used to lie. One man, who had been sick for 38 years, was lying there. Jesus saw the man lying there and knew that he had been sick for a long time. So Jesus asked the man, “Would you like to get well?” The sick man answered Jesus, “Sir, I don’t have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I’m trying to get there, someone else steps into the pool ahead of me.” Jesus told the man, “Get up, pick up your cot, and walk.” The man immediately became well, picked up his cot, and walked. John 5:2-9 (GW)

The Pool of Bethesda was located on the eastern side of the city near the Fortress of Antonia. The name Bethesda means "house of mercy."
 
The water source was a nearby spring. Recent archaeological discoveries have confirmed the Biblical account, that there were five porches and the fifth one divided the rectangular pool into two separate compartments. Josephus wrote about the Pool of the Sheep-market.

There is a loud cry of discrimination and inequality being heralded throughout our land. There are those who may feel like this crippled man, that there is no one looking out for them, there is no one to give them a hand out, there is no one to help them attain their goals. So here they sit and wait and complain about being discriminated against.
 
Jesus cuts right to the heart of the matter when he asks. "Would you like to get well?" Do you really want your situation to change? Are you really ready for change? Are you willing to take responsibility for change?
 
The man answered that he had no one to help him. There was no one to enable him. There was no compassion being shown him. No one cared or showed mercy. There were others skipping in line and going before him. His answer should have been YES SIR! I want to be healed. Instead he made excuses. Jesus then commanded him to GET UP! PICK UP YOUR BED! and WALK!
 
There is the simple remedy to life’s ills. Get up, pick up, and start to walk!
 
I have listened to crowds of people cry YES WE CAN, YES WE CAN, YES WE CAN and then come running with their hands out. Now I am not the smartest person on this planet but I am having a hard time understanding how you can say YES WE CAN and then turn around in the next breath and cry NO WE CAN’T.
 
We are about to inaugurate a leader who made us cry YES WE CAN but then says NO YOU CAN’T. Our new leader seems to think that the government has the cure, while simultaneously ignoring the huge pool of opportunity sitting right before us. He promises that all can drink from the public pool of funds collected from those who have been healed by the pool’s waters of opportunity, yet he does not offer to lift anyone into the pool to actually be healed.

The crippled man sat by the pool for 38 years. He had seen a whole generation pass before him into the waters while he was continually passed up. For those who have long been imprisoned with this crippling mindset, I can understand their lack of internal strength, to do whatever it takes to obtain their goals and objectives. There are some in our society who have been put down and overlooked for so long that they have accepted their lot and gave up on their goals. They sit by the wayside of life, day in and day out watching others succeed, and lament their inability to achieve. They have lost the inner desire to achieve.

Continue reading “Inauguration Day” →

Tell A Vision

Allen Frederick 2 Comments

Then the Lord answered me, “Write the vision. Make it clear on tablets so that anyone can read it quickly. Hab 2:2 (GW)

Most homes have at least one of these boxes setting in their living rooms as well as bedrooms, kitchens, dens, bathrooms and basements. First they were black and white with only 3 or 4 stations of programming signing off at midnight. Later there was color, and UHF bandwidth added more channels. Then came late night TV and eventually 24 hour a day formats. Today we have HDTV with over 16 million colors and hundreds of programming choices.

Television has impacted the American home like no other appliance. Where once we would listen to a radio story teller engage our imaginations with stories like ‘The Shadow’, ‘The Avenger’, ‘Blondie’, ‘Captain Midnight’, ‘Father Knows Best’, ‘Flash Gordon’, ‘Gunsmoke’, and ‘Hopalong Cassidy’, with the advent of motion pictures many of these radio classics came alive at the cinema. Today the cinema has come to the home.

With the advent of television, story telling was taken to a whole new dimension, no longer must you engage your imagination to envision the story because the story teller has already taken the time to paint the picture for you. Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Michelangelo and others were admired for their visual representations on canvas. Now Oscar and Emmy awards are given to those who paint visual pictures, and tell visual stories on an electronic canvas.

We can no longer dismiss the impact that these moving pictures have had on our society. “As Seen on TV” has turned into a brand-name marketing concept. Toys and merchandise populate store shelves during a major motion picture release. Licensed merchandise, resembling movie story characters, are all the rage at fast food establishments across the country. All this merchandising proves the powerful effect the moving picture has had upon the culture.

With all these stories being told to us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it is no wonder our culture is being desensitized towards the things of God. For the most part, these moving picture producers are telling a story far different than the age old gospel story. They display a worldview devoid of Jesus and tell the story of a world where there is not one God but many gods and goddesses.

Telling the age old story of salvation was given to the church, the gospel of the Kingdom of God was given as the means by which the works of darkness were to be dispelled. We have been given a commission to take this gospel into all the world, preaching, teaching, and making disciples. We, as a church, are charged to tell the story, in all ways, to all people, for all time.

Continue reading “Tell A Vision” →