RE-POST FRIDAY

A look back on the beginning of our series on where the church is in current history. Read it HERE!

Habits To Be Made

Today I want to take a brief moment and have us all reflect upon our spiritual walk. There are times when our growth as Christians seems stunted or that we are simply standing still. This is not a place that we need to stay in, we should constantly be striving to grow in our walk. While you have probably heard us mention that sin can be a cause for us to not grow, we also need to reflect upon our spiritual habits. Our spiritual health is built upon establishing spiritual disciple and habits and our daily habits can reflect our spiritual walk.

The first spiritual habit we should create is to meditate on God’s Word. We often hear that we need to empty our minds, that we should focus inward to find peace. This is not the case for a Christian. We are called to reflect on God’s Word, “6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9 and again in Hebrews 10:16 ““This is the covenant which I will make with them After those days, declares the Lord: I will put My laws upon their hearts, And write them on their mind,””. If we wish to grow in our walk with God, we need to focus on His Word. Scripture needs to be inscribed on our hearts and minds so that we can easily recall them at any time. A.W. Tozer puts it this way “We were not given the Bible as a substitute for God until we get to heaven. Rather, the Bible is to lead us straight into the heart and mind of God.” The more we study His Word, the more we come to understand Him.

Another spiritual habit that is needed is to know when to sit still. This world if busy, there is always something going on; something to read, something to do, something to distract us. We often get so caught up in our busy schedules that we don’t sit still until we go to sleep, and sometimes not even then as our dreams are plagued by what we still need to get done. As Christians, we should not be busy for busy sake. Activity for activity's sake hinders us from really getting to know God as He desires to reveal Himself. We need to take time to sit and listen to what God is telling us. “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10.

There is a warning here as well. While we are called to be still and listen to the Lord, this is not an excuse to be idle. In the end we still have the great commission to fulfill “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” Matthew 28:18-20. God does not view those who have opportunity to do work but choose not to in a positive manner. Be spiritual or in earthly work, God calls us to know when to work and to be active in it. “I passed by the field of a lazy one, And by the vineyard of a person lacking sense, 31 And behold, it was completely overgrown with weeds; Its surface was covered with weeds, And its stone wall was broken down. 32 When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked, and received instruction. 33 “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest,” 34 Then your poverty will come like a drifter, And your need like an armed man.” Proverbs 24:30-34 is just one such example. A healthy Christian walk will understand the times to be active and the times to wait upon the Lord for His guidance.

  There is also a habit of expectancy that should be involved in our Christian walk. Often times we believe that our walk and life is boring, this dull sense of the Christian faith poses itself with the issue of not being in the presence of God. When we believe that our walk is dull it is hard for us to seek after God and the Bible simply becomes words on a page. We then forget that we have a living God who provides for us and actively wants us to seek after Him. “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.” Proverbs 8:17. We are called to seek after God, “13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 if we are not actively reflecting on how God has shown Himself to us daily, how can we become excited to continue to walk with Him? We must discipline ourselves to come to the Word with excitement and anticipation to meet with God. When we start each day seeking God’s presence and continue to search for Him throughout our day, we then are able to recognize when God is guiding us. When we do this our walk is no longer boring, but instead active and exciting as we learn more about our God. Examine the Bible and you will find not one verse declaring the Christian walk to be boring; but rather through Genisis to Revelation, you will see example after example of a walk with God being our greatest adventure on both sides of the grave.

  Hopefully as you reflect on your own Christian walk, you can see habits that are good to keep but also the ones that need to be corrected if you wish to grow in your knowledge of God. I know for myself whenever I reflect on my Christian walk, I see areas that I do well in as well as areas that I need to continue to work at. However, if we take these spiritual habits seriously, we will see that the Christian walk is not meant to be boring but instead filled with the anticipation of understanding our Lord and Savior better.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex

A Study of 1 John: Introduction

If you have ever wondered or had doubts about your faith, I want to assure you that you are not the first Christian to have these struggles. If you have ever been the victim of false teaching, I want to encourage you that the Lord still loves each and everyone one of you. In fact, the Lord has written an entire book of the Bible just for you. 1st John is dedicated to those who are doubting their faith or who are victims of false teaching. In our present day, we are seeing more believers than ever doubt their faith and fall prey to the wilds of the devil and false teaching. While unfortunate, we are not without help and guidance. Through the Apostle John, God writes a letter directly answering these challenges and helps point us in the right direction with a solid foundation of assurance of salvation and the tools needed to measure and assess the teachings brought to us. Over the next few weeks, I want to do a verse-by-verse study of the book of 1st John and see the amazing confidence we can have not only in our salvation in Jesus Christ, but also in His continued work to help guide and advise us on the teachings that is brought before us.

Based on the writing and style of vocabulary, most scholars attribute the author of 1st John to the man it is named after, the Apostle John. The book is both a proactive and counter move by the apostle to answer issues that started to arise in the churches. Merrill C. Tenney, the Dean of Graduate school at Wheaton College, states rather eloquently, “The stated purpose of the First epistle, ‘These things have I written unto you, that you may know that you have eternal life…’ (5:13), carries the reader one step beyond the Gospel, which says, ‘These are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.’ John 20:31. The Gospel was written to arouse faith; the First Epistle was written to establish certainty.’”[1] While we do not know when the exact time or place of the writing of 1 John took place, there is strong evidence that it was around 90 A.D.

The Church was transitioning into a new era, the large numbers of Jewish believers were being crowded out by Gentile believers. The Synagogue had separated itself from the Church, rejecting the Messiah. What Jewish believers that were still there, were now outnumbered. With the influx of Gentile believers outside ideas and predisposition to gravitate toward pagan teaching was creeping in. Gentile philosophical thought was now starting to influence doctrinal teaching. Naturally, the focus was centered on the person of Jesus Christ. “Who was He?” “If He was God, how could He die?” or “If He died, how could He be God?”[2] Unfortunately, instead of going back to scripture, people proposed new ideas and false teachings became rampant; an issue that is still present today. These errors in Biblical understanding and practical logic took root and spread, still influencing us now.

One such type of thinking is called Gnosticism, a heretical idea of religious philosophy based on a premise that spirit is good, matter is evil, and that the two are not enduring relation to each other.[3] Doubts of Christ’s person were becoming rampant, with many speculating His very existence. These Gnostics would later produce two views of thinking. First, was Christ being only a ghost and a vision of God and was not actually man. This view was more apparent during the first century while the second idea was that He was only a man. The first being called Docetism, and the second Cerinthianism. Why do I go in such detail? I want to help you understand that while we tackle 1 John, the writer is intentionally attempting to answer both these challenges about Jesus Christ. John asserts that Jesus Christ was not only audible, visible, and tangible; but 1 John 1:1 identifies those who would deny Jesus Christ’s reality was an antichrist. I do not want to go into too much detail just yet, but John directly answers such thoughts of man attempting to deny the Lord Jesus.

While the Apostle John does a marvelous job refuting these two ideas, I do want to add additional thoughts on why we can tell Docetism and Cerinthianism are false teachings. Traditional stories and other religions evolve the exact opposite way. The man or prophet is a normal person and after they die; they are thought of only as a man, only years and at times centuries later are they deified. With Jesus the exact opposite is done. There are those who attempt to immediately say He is a ghost or some spiritual being of God and not a man. This identifies that the stories are valid since no one could dare say the miracles He did were false. In fact, they would not start to argue that Jesus was only a man until generations later. This proves that during the time of His ministry on earth, no one would refute the events of His death and resurrection. Therefore, John is writing from personal experience. Having been one of the 12 disciples, he was in fact able to refute the silliness of the Gnostics and help the believers be fully settled on Jesus Christ as salvation.  

I would encourage you to read ahead in 1 John for yourself as we take on this amazing adventure. Two words of guidance for you as we take part in this study, first that 1 John is not written like our legal and philosophical friend the Apostle Paul does, but rather in a symphonic musical construct. A theme is seen throughout the letter with the reader needing to focus on the single line of thought. The second word of guidance would be for the reader to understand that John tackles issues that will cause conviction within the reader, this should not be shied away from but rather embraced. God, through His Apostle John, declares the rich mercies to the believer while bringing to light that sin has no place in the believer.

I am so excited to take this journey with you, as we study and learn more about Jesus Christ and our own walk with Him.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,

JL

[1] Tenney, M. C. (1953). New Testament Survey. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

[2] Tenney, M. C. (1953). New Testament Survey. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

[3] Tenney, M. C. (1953). New Testament Survey. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

RE-POST FRIDAY

How can you make yourself a new person without waiting for the new year? Read it HERE!

Let Us…

The book of Hebrews is filled with instructional verses and gives great further explanations of Jesus Christ and His authority. This book is also filled with warnings and verses of exhortation. In fact, if you find yourself struggling in your walk with Jesus Christ, the book of Hebrews is one that will offer guidance on why this may be and how to fix it. However, there is one passage that offers three “Let us” statements that show us what we must do as followers of Jesus Christ.

“22 let’s approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, 25 not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

Hebrews 10:22-25

The first “Let us” statement is found in verse 22, ““22 let’s approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” By using the phrase “Let us” the author of the book of Hebrews is declaring that this is something that we must do. It is not optional, we must approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having been cleaned from an evil conscience, and been washed pure. The only way that we can further our walk with Christ is by drawing closer to Him. This is not a task that we can do on our own, we need Jesus to cleanse us from our sins. There are those out there who would tell you that you must make right with Jesus on your own, that you must remove sin from your life before you are worthy to approach God. This is not a concept that is found in the Bible, but instead is a false teaching. The only one who can remove our sins is Jesus Christ Himself. That is the good news of the gospel; because we cannot do it on our own, we need someone to step up for us. We place our faith in Jesus Christ, He washes our sins away making us new creations, and in doing so the gap between man and God is closed. We can now approach God wholly and without shame because Jesus removed our shame from us.

The second “Let us” exhortation is to “23 Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;” In this verse, we are told that we need to old fast to our profession of faith. The book of Hebrews offers a list of warnings (2:1-4, 3:7-11, 5:11-6:3, 10:26-31, and 12:25-29). These warnings are in place to encourage the reader not to drift from the faith. The author of Hebrews was writing to believers who were tempted to return to Judaism in order to avoid persecution, they were wanting to let go of the hope found in Jesus until times were easier. This “Let us” statement acts as a reminder that we need to hold firmly to our hope in Jesus with the understanding that He is faithful to complete His promises. God does not change, “8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 with this knowledge we can rest assured that He will remain faithful to His promises. “if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13. This “Let us” statement is in direct response with the warning passage found in Hebrews against drifting away. “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.” Hebrews 2:1. When we pay attention to what the word says, we grow in our knowledge of it, and do not drift away. In other words, we hold firmly to our faith in Jesus Christ.

  The final “let us” exhortation is to “and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, 25 not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” The first part of this exhortation is to encourage one another in love and good deeds. This means that we should be encouraging others to seek after Christ. We should not be shying away from spreading the gospel. As ambassadors of Christ, it is our responsibility to show others Christ and urge them on in their Christian walk. This comes from being knowledgeable ourselves in the Word so that we can help guide those around us. I do want to point out here that while this exhortation mentions encouraging others to good deeds, these deeds cannot replace actual salvation which is only found in placing our faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that even our best works are still worth nothing, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;” Isaiah 64:6. God does not want our self-claimed righteous acts, He wants our obedience to Him, ““Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22. The ‘good deeds” in this exhortation is to follow God’s Word.

The second aspect of this “Let us” statement is to not abandon meeting together. In the last two years this has been especially hard for the body of Christ. We have been told to stay indoors for our own good. However, the body of Christ is not meant to lock itself away, we are meant to be walking in this world as light to those who are lost. When we are not meeting with other brothers and sisters in Christ, and we are okay with not meeting, there is something lacking in our spiritual walk; we have cooled off in listening to the Holy Spirit guiding us. This world will never go back to the way it was before the lockdowns or before 2020. There will always be some measure of restrictions now and in the coming days there will be new challenges to face. The author of Hebrews is encouraging us here to not cower to this world, but instead walk amongst the lost and show them that with Jesus we have no need to fear the ruler of this world. This is not only beneficial for the nonbelievers, but for the believers as well. If we lock ourselves away we do not receive the encouragement that we would get if we were around other believers. By locking ourselves away it becomes much easier for someone to walk away from the faith entirely. As the body of Christ, we need to be in communion with other believers so that we do not become fearful of this world. As followers of Jesus Christ, it is paramount that we establish ourselves firmly in approaching God in sincerity, holding firm to our faith, while encouraging and not abandoning our own meeting together. Now is not the time for us to be swayed by the world; but all the more share the gospel, hold to what the Lord has shown us in His word and in His own self, we need to love more and be more outspoken to those who are willing to listen. In the end remember that each of the “Let us” statements are calls to action. As Christians we are not called to sit on the side line of life, but actively participate as key players. For believers are too important to Christ to not be part of His calling, it is why Hebrews is filled with so much instruction and guidance all backed in the authority of Jesus Christ. 

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex

Plans For This Year

Today I wanted to write you all and spend a brief moment revealing the future of Mill House Ministries this spring. As this year continues, we plan on incorporating some monthly programs and material to those who have our free subscription but also help bring about a greater understanding of the Bible as a whole. We will do a five part study continuing The Basics coming in March and part of April, with continued future small segments as the year continues. However, we want to transition our studies in two ways. First, with word by word studies of books of the Bible. Second, topical studies that need to be discussed pertaining to the body of Christ today. We plan to continue the Monday and Wednesday posts. By doing this, we desire to help build the resources no matter where you are in your spiritual life, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, “16 All Scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Our monthly publication will return in February and are aimed to follow the first Saturday of each month following. Additionally, we plan on creating the opportunity for diverse special guest writers who are coming on board. Finally, as we get closer to the summer we want to encourage you to subscribe as we plan on providing more tools for believers in Jesus Christ, Philippians 4:9states, “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me--practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”Ultimately, Mill House Ministries wants to be a tool for you to be encouraged as we see the day coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as Titus 2:11-15 states, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you”So from Mill House Ministries to you, we hope you take this amazing journey with us as we continue to grow and empower the readers to see Jesus Christ as your personal savior, but also your living Lord right now.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,

JL

RE-POST FRIDAY

A reminder that in New Years or new situations we can find comfort in Jesus Christ. Read it HERE!

Mary’s Preparation

Whenever I read through the last days of Jesus Christ’s life I was always struck by the woman who poured the perfume over Him. In both Matthew and Luke’s accounts she is nameless but yet Jesus states that her deeds will be remembered, “13 Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”” Matthew 26:13. It wasn’t so much that what she had done that made me take notice of these passages, but more of the fact that she knew that Jesus needed to be anointed and prepared for the grave. I had always wondered how she would know this, but simply chalked it up to God directing her steps. While this is certainly true, it recently came to my attention how this woman would know that Jesus needed to be prepared for burial yet she was not worried that He would rise again.

To understand this better, we need to identify who this woman is. As mentioned above, both Mathew and Luke do not name her. However, if you read the book of John you can find out her identity. “Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.” John 11:1-2. The three names mentioned in this passage should be easily remembered. Who hasn’t heard the story of Mary and Martha, the two sisters who hosted Jesus Christ in their home. It was Martha who demanded that Jesus tell her sister, Mary, to help her prepare the meal; Mary instead was listening to Jesus speak, Luke 10:38-42. The third person mentioned is Lazarus, who Jesus raised from the dead in John 11:1-46.

Now that we have identified the woman who began to prepare Jesus for His coming burial, we can look at her actions a little bit more.

“6 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” 10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Matthew 26:6-13

This scenario occurs not long before Judas goes to the priest to betray Jesus. I had always wondered why it was necessary that she pour the perfume over his head. John Henry describes it this way in his commentary about this passage, “This was as it were the embalming of his body; because the doing of that after his death would be prevented by his resurrection, it was therefore done before; for it was fit that it should be done some time, to show that he was still the Messiah, even when he seemed to be triumphed over by death. The disciples thought the ointment wasted, which was poured upon his head.” Perhaps during her time sitting at Jesus’s feet and learning from Him, Mary understood that Jesus would have to be crucified for our sins. I believe that it was God the Father who led her to perform this action at this time, Mary would have no way of knowing that in just a short time Jesus would stand trial and be sent to the cross. However, as an act of acknowledging that He was the Messiah, Mary made preparations for His death.

But why would Mary act this way? After all, even the disciples were unable to understand that Jesus must die and rise again, “31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise from the dead. 32 And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s purposes, but on man’s.”” Mark 8:31-33. I believe the answer as to why Mary did not doubt Jesus’s words can be found in the situation around her brother Lazarus.

This recounting can be found in John 11. We see that Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick. We can see that Jesus held Mary and Martha in high regards, “5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” John 11:5 so why then would He wait two days before setting out to see them? “6 So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.” John 11:6. We have seen through other miraculous healings that Jesus did not need to be present for those who were ill to be healed, just look at the account of the Roman soldier in Luke 7:1-10 or the royal official and his son in John 4:43-54.

Upon receiving notice that Lazarus was ill Jesus could have quite simply healed him at that instant. So why would He wait two days before going to see this family that He loved? At the risk of sounding cliché, Jesus was fulfilling God’s plan by arriving when He did. By the time that Jesus arrived at Bethany, Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days (John 11:17). When Mary and Martha heard that Jesus had arrived, they both questioned Him stating that if He had been there Lazarus would not have died. Jesus responds to them this way “23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[a] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”” John 11:23-27. Jesus then goes to the tomb that Lazarus was buried and asks for those there to remove the stone, in which the miraculous healing of Lazarus occurs, “39 “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”” John 11:39-44

Now we return again to Mary pouring the perfume and preparing Jesus for His burial. We have already asked how did Mary come to the conclusion that Jesus would need to be prepared at this time, I still hold that it was God the Father who called her to complete this task. However, why would Mary be so willing to trust in Jesus saying that He would rise again? I believe that this is really a simple answer when you look at what Jesus did for her brother Lazarus. Mary had already seen that Jesus could bring people back from the dead, it would be simple for Mary to believe that Jesus Himself would rise from His own death. By preparing Him for burial, Mary was acknowledging that He was the Messiah who had come to save all who would place their faith in Him. While she did not know how this was possible, Mary simply did what she always had done; she listened to what Jesus was saying and responded to His call.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex

A Christian Journey

If you are new to the faith or someone who is coming back after a long break, I want to encourage you to take a moment and think about exactly what it is that brought you to where you are today with Jesus Christ. We know that Salvation comes through Jesus, we know that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one gets to the Father except through Him. Yet, after salvation is it game over? Is our life now a boring mess of just waiting here on earth for our final breath, and then to enter into paradise? May it never be! Salvation is only the first step in an exciting adventure that the Lord wishes to take with us. It is why His book details such an adventure and how we are to interact during this time. His guidance for us as we move forward on our quest to serve Him, and yet learn more about the abundant life that God has given us. Today’s post is simple but important; more people today are becoming saved than any other time in human history, and yet they do not know where to start this amazing journey. If I may be so bold, I have a prayer you should ask the Lord. This prayer comes from Psalms 25:4-5. This is my personal aspiration and my reason for getting up each and every day. 

Psalms 25:4-5 “4 Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. 5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You [are] the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.”

Let this be your battle cry each and every morning when you wake up. Ask Him before each meal and before you go about your day to be a part of your journey. When you ask this, you will understand just as much as I have, how real our God is. He cares so much for us that He will show us His ways, He will teach us what to do, He will lead us in truth and teach us why Jesus is our salvation, and finally He will teach us to be expecting and eagerly waiting for His return.  

When we bring our life into the right perspective, we can realize how this life is meant to be.

Psalms 25:8-10 “8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way. 10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.”

Unlike religions of this world, those who are born again believers in Jesus Christ have a very real and intimate relationship with Jesus; we just need to know how to recognize this truth. This is one reason why Mill House Ministries was created, so that we could share what we are learning from God with you all out there. We want to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ as salvation for our sins, but also as our living hope for this world right now. So remember, if you are struggling to know what God is doing in your life, if your life looks boring and resembles complacent Christianity, I encourage you to seek the Lord and pray Psalm 25:4-5 and see how verse 8-10 is revealed. 

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,

JL

RE-POST FRIDAY

We continue looking back at our Christmas posts from 2020, we look back at why did Jesus have to be born of a virgin? Read it HERE!

What A Comfort In Jesus

We all need encouragement at times, it’s part of the human nature. We all look for ways to make a difficult time seem manageable or to be reminded that the struggles now will be worth it in the end. The Bible is filled with many verses and passages that offer encouragement, although the most prevalent ones could be found in the Book of Psalm. It is one such psalm that I want to look at today. Psalm 84 is filled with verses that can bring encouragement to the reader and one that I hope you will all look at if you find yourself overwhelmed.

Psalm 84 begins with the writer describing the dwelling places of the Lord. “How lovely are Your dwelling places, Lord of armies! 2 My soul longed and even yearned for the courtyards of the Lord; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. 3 The bird also has found a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may put her young: Your altars, Lord of armies, My King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah” Psalm 84:1-4. In these verses I am often reminded of how God cares for even the smallest of His creatures. Even the birds have found a place to rest, if God cares enough for the smallest creation how much more will He care for mankind which was created after God’s own image? When we abide with Christ, we are blessed even in times of trouble and because of this we always have a right and capability to praise God.

The next set of verses describe those who have found that their strength is in God. “Blessed is the person whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the roads to Zion! 6 Passing through the Valley of Baca they make it a spring; The early rain also covers it with blessings. 7 They go from strength to strength, Every one of them appears before God in Zion.” Psalm 84:5-7. These short set of passages have always reminded me that our strength does not come from ourselves, it comes from God. Because of this there is no situation that we cannot handle because God is the one that we lean on. Through the strength given by our faith in Him, we can conquer any situation that is presented to us.

The last set of verses in this Psalm hold some of the most quoted verses. “Lord God of armies, hear my prayer; Listen, God of Jacob! Selah 9 See our shield, God, And look at the face of Your anointed. 10 For a day in Your courtyards is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than live in the tents of wickedness. 11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity. 12 Lord of armies, Blessed is the person who trusts in You!” Psalm 84:8-12. Here we are reminded that God is our shield in times of trouble, this goes back to the concept of the Armor of God found in Ephesians chapter 6. No aspect of the armor can be put on without faith in God and in this psalm we are reminded that God guides and protects us even when we stumble. The next key point to this psalm is that God is justice, He judges the world perfectly and in His presence we will see that it is better to walk in His ways then follow the ways of the unrighteous. God not only protects us, but He also guides us in His perfect judgement. By walking in His ways, we are reminded that God does not withhold good things from those who follow Him. This is echoed in James 1:17, “17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”  

So, remember this when life is hard, so you know to lean on the Lord. But remember this even more when life appears to all fall into place, for God is in control of everything and we need to recognize this fact if we are to continuously be reliant on Him. God is so good to those who desire to follow Him, no matter what life throws at us, He is there. Psalm 84 reflects the comfort we can have in Christ.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex

Elementary Teaching

Everyone is a new believer at some point, and that is ok. However, the Christian needs to be growing and progressing in their understanding of God if we are ever to grow in maturity as followers of Jesus Christ. But what does that mean? What are some basics that define the elementary levels of understanding within the Christian faith? Hebrews breaks this down for us in a unique and simple way. What you will find out is that which the Bible calls elementary, has been sophisticated. In fact, the bar has been lowered so much that church leadership might not even have the basics down. So, what are the elementary teachings in the Bible that define the early stages of our Christian faith? They can be found in Hebrews 6:1-2.

“Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and about the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.”

Here we have the foundation of the Christian faith, the elementary teachings that every Christian SHOULD KNOW.

The author of Hebrews starts first with prioritizing the focus of what the elementary teachings is all about, “About Christ.” The entire Bible is God’s book pointing man to Jesus Christ. The faster a person figures this out, the quicker they can see the big picture which is why the Bible was commissioned by God Himself. Each of the following topics are centered around Christ, His interactions with us. These categories are the following:

Repentance    

Faith toward God   

Instruction about washings    

Laying on of hands      

Resurrection of the dead     

Eternal Judgment  

Six topics that are there to help all believers understand the fundamental and elemental foundations of the Christian faith. Now you might be asking, “Why is this all important?” Let’s go and quickly review each one here now.

Repentance is the act of man knowing they are a sinner. They have recognized that they are without excuse and are in need of a savior. This carries the Greek word, “metanoia” which means reversal. The person is wanting to reverse the sentence that has been bestowed on them. They are asking God for Jesus to come into their life and forgive them. Here are just a few of the verses describing this elemental teaching: 1 John 1:9, Act 3:19, Matthew 4:17, Romans 2:4, and Mark 1:15.

Faith toward God, this simply means that you are now entrusting God to fulfill what He has promised to do. The word “toward” in Greek is “epi” which implies the meaning to be superimposition of a time or place of an event. When we understand the context of what we are talking about, we know that it is building off of the previous element which is repentance. Which the only date in time that significantly brought about the connection of “Faith toward God” and “Repentance” is in fact Jesus Christ on the Cross. We can repent and have faith knowing that God will fulfill His promise because of what He has done with the Son. Here are just a few of the verses describing this elemental teaching: 2 Timothy 2:13, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, 1 John 1:9, and 1 Corinthians 1:9.  

Instruction of Washing of Hands, you might be thinking God is wanting us to be good hand washers. However, the translation into English is hard to understand, but the Greek helps reveal the true meaning of what God is saying here. The word “instruction” in Greek means “didache” which signifies something that has been already taught to them, like a tradition being passed down. The second word is “washings” which is “baptismos” which means baptism. The author is pointing to the tradition of baptism and the importance this has with the symbolic change that has come about from the previous two elements. Repentance and faith in God. Baptism is the outward expression of an inward change. How incredible that the first two point directly to the third and the third points directly to the previous two! Here are just a few of the verses describing this elemental teaching: Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, 1 Peter 3:21, and Romans 6:4.

Laying of Hands is one that is very tricky to understand until someone points it out to you, than you will never forget it. Once again, the Greek helps us understand where the English falls short. The word “laying” in Greek is “epithesis” which means to grasp and hold, with an official way. The next word is “hands” which in Greek is “khire.” This word implies a sense of hollowness or to literally grasp power. When you place these two words together it means to grasp power or to have power grasp you. How ironic that God, through our repentance, is faithful to hold us, which is represented through Baptism. Each element plays a role together. Here are just a few of the verses describing this elemental teaching: Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 41:13, John 10:29, and Psalm 139:10.

Resurrection of the dead, today this is probably one of the worst kept elementary teachings inside Christendom. No one talks about it, even though it is our blessed hope (Titus 2). In the book of Hebrews, we see that God is wanting us to know what awaits those who are His. This is the resurrection, the Rapture for the Church, and the renewing of all those who are Jesus Christ’s. Nevertheless, for this resurrection to happen, one must have repentance, which is based on knowing God’s faithfulness, which is furthered symbolized through the baptism, and we triumphantly walk knowing God has us held tightly in His hands. This is part one of Eschatology that is brought into the elemental teachings. God wants us to know that we have hope in the future and He has designed a master plan. Here are just a few of the verses describing this elemental teaching: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, Revelation 3:10, 2 Thessalonians, and 1 Corinthians 15:35-50.

Eternal Judgement is exactly what it sounds like. Man is to be judged. All men, period, the end. Hebrews 9:27 states, “And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment.” No matter if you are a believer or not, you are judged. For the believer, our judgment has been passed onto Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross for us. For those who are not saved they will be judged on the Great White Throne of Judgement, which can be found in Revelation chapter 20. But for those who are saved through repentance, because of what Jesus Christ did, which is symbolized in baptism, held by God, and already resurrected before the Great White Throne of Judgement, well you won’t even be there. You will be with the Lord, blessed and in His presence. For us today, this is the second part of the Eschatology, but it perfectly wraps up the six categories.

All of this goes directly back to Jesus Christ who is the foundation for all of this. Don’t believe me? Even the numbers symbolize God’s handy work.

1 means God, perfection, wholeness, and completeness. This is something that we cannot contain on our own accord. Thus, we need repentance.

2 ironically when seen in completion of 1, takes us to the second of the trinity which is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. How curious the second element is “Faith toward God,” this faith comes from having faith that Jesus paid it all and all we owe to Him.

3 is the trinity, in which case is perfectly symbolizes by how the three together have designed us to be saved which is expressed to the public through water baptism.

4 is the Gospel message. Here we see how the Gospel is God’s way of grasping those who wish to be saved out of their current states of bondage.

5 is the number of grace. We are to be raised from the dead as a sign of God’s grace being bestowed on us who are saved.

6 is the number of man. As earlier stated, God is judging every man. How that sentencing will be carried out is up to you. You can either accept God’s eternal salvation through His free gift of Jesus Christ, or you can try it on your own and see how real Revelation’s 20:15 really is, “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Quickly ending, we see that to truly understand these topics requires a deep understanding of the Word of God. It will take time and practice. Yet, God calls this the elementary teachings of His Bible. Instead of lowering the standard, we need to rise to the occasion and become experts on the elementary teachings of Jesus Christ. Wrapping up remember this, each of the teaching’s points back to the foundation of Jesus Christ, which is the proper place for all Bible studies to point back to. As believers this is the minimum, and today we have people in charge of the churches who do not understand the simple. Let’s not be below the minimum, but rather excel to what deeper and more mature teachings are in 2022.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,

JL

RE-POST FRIDAY

A look back at how God flipped the Christmas script. Read it HERE

A Lesson From the Book of Philemon

Perhaps one of the books that has always confused me has been the book of Philemon. This very short letter from Paul to a friend seemed out of place when compared to books such as Hebrews, James, or Titus. Why would a letter written by Paul to a friend be here? It seemed strange to me that in the inspired word this letter was there. Why would it be included and what can we learn from these twenty-five verses? I could not find the reasoning for this letter to be included in the Bible until recently.

Before we dive into the meaning of the book, we should have some background on those included in it. Philemon was written by Paul who if you have read the letters to Timothy and Titus, you would know that he does not hold back in his dedication to the gospel as well as empowering and at times admonishing the reader. Much can be learned from Paul regarding the spiritual walk a Christian should have, such as joy in trials (Philippians), having the Armor of God in Ephesians, and to have knowledge of the future in 2nd Thessalonians. With this in mind, we would expect Paul to always be assertive in his writing. However, when we look at Philemon, we see the softer side of Paul.

The next person to discuss is who the letter was written for. Philemon was a wealthy follower of Christ who led a church in his home. When we review the verses in this letter we can tell that Paul holds Philemon in high regards. Paul is aware of Philemon’s undisputed faith in Jesus Christ, however Paul does have an issue with Philemon and that is concerning a man named Onesimus.

Onesimus was a slave to Philemon and was believed to have robbed from him. In doing so, Onesimus fled Corinth and went to Rome. It would be here while in the bustling city of Rome, Onesimus would meet Paul. This encounter would lead to Onesimus being converted by Paul, who would send him back to Philemon with this letter.

With those facts in mind, we can now take a better look into this letter. After his initial greeting (in which we again see that Paul had no issues facing the physical challenges of being imprisoned, all because he knew that was where God needed him to be) we see Paul addressing Philemon’s character, “4 I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints; 6 and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for the sake of Christ. 7 For I have had great joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.” Philemon verses 4-7

In this passage we see that Philemon was invested in the lives of others. He was leading a church in his home, preaching the Word of God, and in doing so he was encouraging believers around him. I see Philemon as the missionary who opens their doors to those on the mission field and provides them rest and a chance to be encouraged in the faith. Philemon made himself available to believers to find rest and encouragement in their faith. We see here that Paul is acknowledging Philemon’s spiritual gifts, hospitality and teaching, before he brings up the issue of Onesimus. This was not an attempt by Paul to manipulate Philemon, instead to remind Philemon of who he is in the body of Christ. This is the softer side of Paul that we see, followed shortly by the Paul that we are used to.

“8 Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is proper, 9 yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—” Philemon verses 8-9. Here we see the fire of Paul that we are so used to. Paul is stating that he could order Philemon to accept Onesimus back into his household, but instead Paul is appealing to the heart of Philemon as the man who refreshes so many believers. Paul is leading up to his appeal by addressing Philemon as another brother in Christ who had been forgiven of his own sins by God.

We now come to the appeal that Paul makes of Philemon. “10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I fathered in my imprisonment, 11 who previously was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. 12 I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, 13 whom I wanted to keep with me, so that in your behalf he might be at my service in my imprisonment for the gospel; 14 but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion, but of your own free will. ” Philemon verses 10-14. Paul is asking Philemon to receive Onesimus as if it was Paul himself coming to him. If anyone has been in a situation where they were wronged by someone who later came asking for forgiveness, you can imagine how Philemon probably felt. I do not believe that it would have been easy for Philemon to see Onesimus, I am sure there was probably some anger and hurt. And yet Paul is asking Philemon to welcome Onesimus back, not out of compulsion but out of love for another brother in Christ who has seen his sin and been forgiven by God.

I am sure that Philemon would have felt some doubt to Paul’s confession that Onesimus has changed and has become a fellow believer in Jesus Christ. Which is why the next passage is so important for us to remember ourselves. “15 For perhaps it was for this reason that he was separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.” Philemon verses 15-16. When we are faced with someone who has wronged us but is now a born-again believer, we need to remember this passage. Perhaps there was a separation, in this case Onesimus fleeing to Rome, in order for that person to come to know Jesus Christ. This is a New Testament action of the Old Testament prodigal son. Sometimes someone has to be removed in order for them to acknowledge their sins to see that they need to be forgiven and place their trust in Jesus Christ.

Ironically, Paul does bring a soft but firm voice in his letter, “17 If then you regard me as a partner, accept him as you would me. 18 But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; 19 I, Paul, have written this with my own hand, I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well). 20 Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.” Philemon verses 17-20. This passage reminds me of that in Matthew 18, “23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 And when he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 But since he ]did not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made. 26 So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ 27 And the master of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 But he was unwilling, and went and threw him in prison until he would pay back what was owed. 31 So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their master all that had happened. 32 Then summoning him, his master *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 34 And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he would repay all that was owed him. 35 My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”” Matthew 18:23-35. I feel as if Paul is imploring Philemon not to be like the salve in this passage who was so unwilling to forgive the debts of others when his own debt had been forgiven.

We should not forget that Paul himself is speaking from experience in a similar matter. In his concluding remarks, we see that Paul includes Mark in his message. “21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say. 22 At the same time also prepare me a guest room, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given to you. 23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” Philemon verses 21-25. In Acts 13, we find that Paul was abandoned by Mark which resulted in the mission field being hampered by disagreements with Barnabas and Paul. However, in this letter to Philemon we see that Mark is included in the list of Paul’s fellow workers. This means that at some point in time Paul and Mark reunited under Christ.

Now that we have discussed this short letter, I wonder if you have noticed what took me so long to see. The letter to Philemon is a great example of forgiveness and reconciliation. It is a reminder to all believers to not hold a grudge when we are faced with someone seeking reconciliation with us. Forgiveness plays a key role in our faith, if we have placed our faith in Jesus Christ then we have all been forgiven of our sins. When we are faced with a situation like Philemon and Onesimus we need to transfer our hurt and pain to the only One who has forgiven our sins, Jesus Christ. Through Him we can reach reconciliation with brothers and sisters in Christ.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex

How to Prepare For 2022

If there is one thing that causes people all around the world to look forward and think of tomorrow, it is the new year. A time of celebration, excitement, and reflection. Many people thought 2020 was a difficult year, however we quickly realized 2021 was equally up to the task. Looking forward, many have hope for 2022, while others have dread. I believe as Christians we have a unique perspective on the new year that shouldn’t be forgotten. This perspective, if built on the Word of God, is a solid foundation. Witnesses have documented Jesus’ own words with Him cautioning the listeners and later readers to pay attention to His words. For when we lean on His words and act upon them in like manner, we are prepared for the season ahead in 2022. Matthew 7:24-27, “24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.”

Here we see two people. The first has taken God’s Word and is acting upon it. “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” This person not only is listening to the Jesus’ teachings, but is apparently meditating on it since the listener knows when and how to act upon the teaching. They know what word applies to what life scenario. This is critical for the believers to know; the Bible is God’s knowledge written down for us. Without blemish and applicable at all times in our life, to include 2022. Thus, we need to be adherent to the Word of God and be like Proverbs 1:7 which states, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

We do not know what 2022 will hold, however we know what God’s word says for the coming end of the age and we know that things are to get rough. If you have ever been around a woman in labor, you will understand this; this age is showing signs of labor pains for a transition into the next. These labor signs can be read throughout the Bible if you need help on where to first look, I would encourage you to read 1-2 Thessalonians, John 14 and 1-2 Peter.

Nevertheless, as believers when we act upon Jesus’ words, we find that whatever 2022 will throw at us is insignificant with Jesus at the helm of our life. “25 And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.” How, interesting that God does not promise an easy life, in fact He warns of what is coming, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” John 16:33. Yet, it doesn’t matter for us who are saved and are acting upon the Word of God. There are no surprises to Jesus in 2022. This should be a comfort to us who are entering into this year.

However, there is a second group that Jesus discusses in Matthew 7. This group is the person who does not act upon Jesus’ words and decides that they are in control of their own life and will act in their own knowledge, work, and understanding. “26 And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.” It should be noted that Jesus’ emphasizes the end, “and its collapse was great.” How eerie of a statement. For those who reject to listen to the Word of God, 2022 will be a year that will certainly reflect uncertainty, fear, and possible calamity.

Now there might be some who are thinking I am taking this to an extreme and that God did not intend for it to be used in this manner, however I would argue that verses 28 and 29 of Matthew 7 reflect the serious and contextual accuracy of today’s post. “28 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.” Jesus is being recognized as having authority. This means two things; one He knows what He is talking about, and two He wasn’t shy about making sure people understood He was serious and clear with His teaching.

So, as we go into 2022, we need to see if we are acting upon His word or are we just acting like believers. The best way to see homes that are built on a solid foundation is for storms, and with 2022 arriving we can be rest assured we have storms coming. How lucky are those who have acted upon His word and adhere to Jesus Christ and His Gospel. For those who are not saved or are unsure, you can be sure right this very minute. Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and ask for Him to live inside your heart. THAT’S IT! If you mean it, send us an email and we would love to reach out and help you along on this amazing journey. 2022 can be an exciting year of adventure for those who are adequately in God’s loving embrace. Yet this embrace only comes from having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

RE-POST FRIDAY

A look back at the meanings behind a few of Jesus Christ’s different titles! Read it HERE!

New Year Resolutions

The holidays are nearing an end, we have gone through our season of thankfulness as well as a season of remembrance of when the Savior Jesus Christ was born. It is around now that many people look to the future. They view the coming new year with hope and reflect on things that they wish to change. Many resolutions are made to eat healthier, exercise more, read more, relax more, ect. And yet, how many of us reflect on our walk with Jesus Christ and strive to build a deeper faith and a deeper understanding on what we believe. 

As created beings, we all long for a deeper connection to God and a deeper understanding of His Word, many try to look inward to build this connection. However, this is not possible. We cannot build a deeper connection on our own and often times we are unaware of hinderances that could be preventing God from building a stronger faith in us. In this time, it would be important to take a look at our current walk with Jesus Christ and see if there are any hinderances that are stopping us from having a deeper understanding of our faith.

One of the first hinderances is sin. Sin in itself separates all man from God. “But your wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” Isaiah 59:2. God is one hundred percent holy and in Him there is no darkness, “5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5. Sin is one hundred percent darkness, because God cannot abide with the darkness of sin, if there is sin in your life then your path to growing in the faith is being hindered. For the unbeliever this means accepting that the sin in our life is a debt that cannot be paid on our own, it is only through the blood of Christ and accepting His sacrifice on the cross that we can be cleansed. For the believer that has already acknowledged this fact but still feel disconnected from God, look closely at your life and see if there is any sin in your life that you have not confessed. We cannot come before God if we are still holding onto sinful desires. If there is anything in your life that is going against the Word of God, this is sin and needs to be confessed then removed if you desire a deeper connection to God.

The second hindrance to a deeper connection to God is the condition of the human heart. As mentioned before, mankind often feels as if we need to perform some act to make God notice us or to earn His salvation. This is far from the case as proved over and over in the Bible, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Isaiah 64:6. Just like everyone longs for a connection to God, we all deep down recognize that we have rebelled against God. Some choose to accept this fact and ask God for His forgiveness, while others deny it and continue to live in a way that only leaves them yearning for something more. They fail to realized that what they are looking for is for Christ to save them. God does not want our actions, He wants our obedience to Him. “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51:16-17

When we are struggling with a deeper connection to God we often are set in one of these two issues. In doing so we lose the concept of God’s Majesty. If we wish to form a deeper connection to God, we need to acknowledge that actions on our own will not accomplish this. We need God first in our lives to have any form of a relationship with Him, and we need to be careful that we are not swayed by a form of religiosity that focuses on human actions without coming before God and confessing our sins. We cannot forget that we are made in the image of God and need to behave as such.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex

A Lesson From Wise Men

What does it mean to put action to your faith? We in the Body of Christ forget at times that we should be acting upon what God has promised. When God makes promises we can be assured He means what He says. As believers we need to take His word seriously. We are living in dangerous times, times that Paul said would be perilous times, 2 Timothy 3:1, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." But how do we act upon God’s Word? How do we put our faith into action? A good example of this can be found in the book of Matthew with the wise men journey. However, before that we need to go to Israel’s beginning. Hundreds of years before Jesus would be born and the Wise men would even come east, the people of Israel were journeying from Egypt to the Promised Land. During this time it was prophesied in Numbers 24:17, “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult.” Years later when the Jews were sent to Babylon, their teachings and knowledge of the Torah would be part of the schools. Daniel, from the book of Daniel, would be one of the fathers of this teaching. The wise men were educational descendants of Daniel and the writings of the Torah. Now many call these men Magi or Wise men, but what does this mean in today’s terms? These would have been the PHD, scientist, doctors, and philosophers of today. Their knowledge and discipline to study would have surpassed everyone. 

  Now before we continue there might be some who say that Numbers 24:17 isn’t talking about a Star symbolizing the coming birth of the Messiah, however the wise men did take this seriously and were looking for a star. Additionally, they knew based on Daniel 9 when the Messiah was coming. For them this was enough to seek out the promised King. 

  Matthew 2:1-11, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” 3 When Herod the king heard [this,] he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, [in] the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found [Him,] bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” 9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

  Here is a group of men who took the Bible seriously and were actively looking for what the Bible promised. They knew the time frame of Jesus’ coming and they knew of a star. So when the star arrived, it was time for their faith to have action and they pursued the star. Many might argue and fight over what was the star. However, allow me to give two examples I believe why this star was visible to anyone but anonymously enough to be over looked by virtually everyone. The wise men could see it, no where does it say no one else couldn’t see it. So that means the wise men knew to be looking. Second, it was special enough to suggest this was the star to symbolize the coming King’s birth. From this story we have three points that need to be addressed when talking about faith in action. These three points will highlight our own actions on faith to this day. The first option is to be like King Herod who wasn’t studying the Word of God and was clueless of what time he was living in. For the believer today, these are the ones who are saved but have virtually no idea of what the Bible says about these times and is clueless of the prophecies concerning the time about to come upon the world. The second is the Pharisees. This group knows the prophecies and the scripture but instead of taking it seriously, they describe it was metaphorical, symbolic, and even allegorical. They highlight what they desire to ease their life, while neglecting the cold hard truth of God’s Word regarding this time and what we should be doing. The final point is the wise men. This group of believers see the signs and are eagerly going about the Father’s work. They know time is short so they are telling anyone who will listen of the Gospel and sharing the love of Christ to all. 

  So we need to be like the wise men and allow our faith to have action. Do we believe what the Bible says about the end times? Do we believe what His word says? If we do, than our faith will be reflected by our actions. James wraps up this lesson by the wise men rather sufficiently, James 2:17-18, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,

JL

RE-POST FRIDAY

How does God take what is deemed unimportant and make it the centerpiece? Read it HERE!

Christmas Faith Part III

Over the last two weeks we have looked at the earthly parents of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We have seen how God had placed them in that time to fulfill His purpose and we have seen how it was through their great faith in God that Mary and Joseph were able to complete their tasks. However, this series would not be complete if we did not look at the birth of Jesus Christ and why He choose to come as He did.

Any born-again believer will whole heartedly and readily admit that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived the perfect life, sacrificed Himself for the sake of the world, and then rose again to reign. We have already seen why God choose a virgin to give birth to the Son of God, so that the adamic sin would not be passed down allowing Jesus to be born without sin, but have we thought of how it would have been for Jesus to be born in such a manner?

Luke 2:1-7 gives a depiction of Jesus’s birth, “2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

The Lord of heaven and earth, who commands angels, who sets forth kings on earth, came to us born in an unwelcoming manger. By rejecting Mary and Joseph and the many inns, many would have looked at them and disregarded their claim of living righteously with Mary already being pregnant before they were wed, we see already how many of the world will reject Christ. In our human minds, we would have expected the Son of God to be born to a family of wealth and power, instead He was born to a poor carpenter and his fiancé. A.W. Tozer describes it this way in his book “Experiencing the Presence of God”, “Jesus went back not only to the original embryo, but all the way back to the original germ, that He might know everything that man knows and develop the way of man’s development right up to full, blooming manhood. Jesus came down to where we are. If He had been born in a palace, there might have been those who were born in huts and grass cottages that He would not have understood; but He was born in a stable that He might know the poorest there are.”

And yet it was not the rich and powerful who first welcomed Him, instead it was a group of shepherds who came to see what the angel proclaimed to them. “10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”” Luke 2:10-12. The angel came to the shepherds to reveal that the Savior had been born!

But still those with power and might were unaware of the Messiah’s birth, at least until three wise men approached King Herod. “2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” Matthew 2:1-3. It is no doubt that the priests should have been anxiously awaiting the Messiah, they should have been prepared for this news but instead they were caught off guard and were troubled by news of the birth of the Messiah. Instead of the priests being aware of Jesus Christ’s birth, it was instead foreigner from the east.

King Herod then calls the priest together, “4 And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For from you will come forth a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’” Matthew 2:4-6. The priest were aware of where the Messiah would be born, but still they were not aware of the time. The priests had all of the information in the scriptures that would point to where the Messiah would come from, and still they were not actively looking for Him. The religious leaders of the day expected the Messiah to be a political savior and as such expected someone of great background. They were not looking for a spiritual savior and were not paying attention to the signs of His coming. It is also important to note that here we see God’s handiwork in His salvation plan, it was predicted long ago that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will come forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His times of coming forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”” Micah 5:2.

As we get ready to celebrate our Savior’s birth, I hope that you will take time now to reflect on the great faith that Joseph and Mary had as well as see how God’s plan is always in motion. God planned for His Son to come to the world in the manner that He did, at the time that He did, to offer salvation to the whole world. I hope that you will not be like the priest who have all the information to acknowledge the Lord but refused. I hope that you will be like Joseph and Mary and allow God to work in your life as He would.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex