John 14:27 (NKJV)
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Jesus promises His peace to those who trust Him. Nearly everyone is actively seeking for peace in their life. The greatest problem is the fact that many are seeking peace the wrong way. Jesus Himself said in this verse that peace cannot be achieved by worry or fear. We all have great concerns and are tempted to fear. But if we think about it, it is foolish to think that we can be at peace when there is turmoil and the apprehensive of fear going on in our mind.
It is interesting that when Jesus spoke this verse concerning peace, He was telling the disciples (and us) about another Helper. The more we allow the Holy Spirit to control our mind, the more peace and rest we will possess. As we learn to trust the Lord more and more throughout life, we will find that we can rest, knowing that the Lord is in control despite the wars and difficulties around us.
Jesus never said that we would have no problems at all. In fact He said the opposite. He said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NKJV). When we trust Jesus as our savior we overcome eternal death. Even so, if we trust Jesus each day and moment by moment, He will grant us the strength and peace that we need to make it though each challenge in life. At these times we need our mind fastened on God and not the challenge. Isaiah says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3, NKJV).
We will also face difficulties from others around us. In order to help this situation we need to actively pursue peace among others. David said, “Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:14, NKJV). Paul reminds us to seek peace will all men. He says, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” (Romans 12:18, NKJV). We may not always achieve peaceful situations among others. But Paul reminds us to do everything we can to live at peace with others. If they accept our peace, then we have obeyed God. But, if they don’t accept it, then that is their disobedience.
We only have peace when we are in Christ. Paul said, “For He Himself is our peace”, (Ephesians 2:14a, NKJV). The more often we trust Christ, we will find greater rest and less anxiety. Paul states it so well when he says, “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7, NKJV). Trust God, praise Him always, bring all things to Him, do not let anxiety overtake your mind and then God’s peace with guard you heart and mind with overwhelming amazement.
Thoughts, comment, objections.
Daniel A. Smith
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Spiritual Food
John 4:34 (NKJV)
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work”
Just before this verse, the disciples asked the Lord if He wanted something to eat. He answered them by saying, “I have food to eat of which you do not know”, (John 4:32b, NKJV). They were unsure of His answer, so they asked if someone had brought Him some food. They were only thinking of physical food, not realizing what Christ was saying.
Jesus responded by sharing one His main purposes in life. He said that His food was to do the will of the Father. By this He was saying a few different things. This phrase implies, ‘My very nourishment for existence comes from doing My Father’s will’, or ‘My health and well being is based on doing the will of My Father’, or ‘There is nothing else in life greater than doing the will of My Father’. Doing the will of God was of utmost importance to Christ.
Shouldn’t we hold the same value? If our purpose in life, our desire at the start of each day and our full focus is to do the will of God, we surely will have much more victorious lives. We can only find God’s will, purpose and plan for our life by spending time in His word, spending time in prayer and seeking godly friends and counsel. God’s may not reveal His will right away. We may have to actively seek Him, wait for Him or pray for long periods of time. But God will show us if we seek Him. James tells us, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much”, (James 5:16b, NKJV).
Jesus was not only committed to accomplishing the will of God, but He was also committed to fulfill God’s total purpose in life for Him. This is why He stated that He wanted to finish the work of God. He didn’t want to do anything half way or leave anything undone that God had for Him to do at the end of His life. This is what sent Him to the cross. Jesus’ unwavering desire to accomplish His Father’s will put His own will secondary. He and the Father realized that He was the perfect sacrifice for sin. The Father saw in necessary to give His own Son in redemption for the salvation of souls. It was the Father’s will that Jesus die, so naturally Jesus complied with His Father’s will.
We also need to be just as committed to doing only the will of God. We need to start each day asking God to show us His will for that day. Just as a good servant or ambassador, we need to begin the day by saying to God, “Oh Lord, here I am, reporting for duty, whatever is Your will, that I will do.”
Thoughts, comments, objections.
Daniel A. Smith
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work”
Just before this verse, the disciples asked the Lord if He wanted something to eat. He answered them by saying, “I have food to eat of which you do not know”, (John 4:32b, NKJV). They were unsure of His answer, so they asked if someone had brought Him some food. They were only thinking of physical food, not realizing what Christ was saying.
Jesus responded by sharing one His main purposes in life. He said that His food was to do the will of the Father. By this He was saying a few different things. This phrase implies, ‘My very nourishment for existence comes from doing My Father’s will’, or ‘My health and well being is based on doing the will of My Father’, or ‘There is nothing else in life greater than doing the will of My Father’. Doing the will of God was of utmost importance to Christ.
Shouldn’t we hold the same value? If our purpose in life, our desire at the start of each day and our full focus is to do the will of God, we surely will have much more victorious lives. We can only find God’s will, purpose and plan for our life by spending time in His word, spending time in prayer and seeking godly friends and counsel. God’s may not reveal His will right away. We may have to actively seek Him, wait for Him or pray for long periods of time. But God will show us if we seek Him. James tells us, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much”, (James 5:16b, NKJV).
Jesus was not only committed to accomplishing the will of God, but He was also committed to fulfill God’s total purpose in life for Him. This is why He stated that He wanted to finish the work of God. He didn’t want to do anything half way or leave anything undone that God had for Him to do at the end of His life. This is what sent Him to the cross. Jesus’ unwavering desire to accomplish His Father’s will put His own will secondary. He and the Father realized that He was the perfect sacrifice for sin. The Father saw in necessary to give His own Son in redemption for the salvation of souls. It was the Father’s will that Jesus die, so naturally Jesus complied with His Father’s will.
We also need to be just as committed to doing only the will of God. We need to start each day asking God to show us His will for that day. Just as a good servant or ambassador, we need to begin the day by saying to God, “Oh Lord, here I am, reporting for duty, whatever is Your will, that I will do.”
Thoughts, comments, objections.
Daniel A. Smith
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Contradiction or Confirmation
Matthew 1:16 (NKJV)
And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.
There are no other passages that are so avoided and viewed with such disdain, more than the genealogies. Today’s verse is the end verse of the genealogy recorded in Matthew 1:2-16. It begins with Abraham and ends with Joseph. Whereas, in Luke 3:23-38 we have the genealogy of Jesus which begins with Joseph and ends at Adam. Already, just by these few words, it seems like these passages do not agree.
There is no other task that some people want to accomplish more than to prove that there is error in the bible. This is impossible. God’s word is truth, all His words are right. David says, “The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times”, (Psalms 12:6, NKJV). How then, do we deal with this seeming contradiction of these passages?
First of all, Matthew 1 records the family line of Joseph. In the first century, and also today, the child receives the name of the father. All the people around Jesus, as He grew up, accepted Him as Joseph’s son. Joseph was the step-father of Jesus since Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:16 says that Joseph was the husband of Mary and Jesus was born of Mary. Mary physically bore Jesus, but He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Joseph and Mary never came together until after the birth of Jesus. Even though Joseph was considered the father of Jesus by all his peers, he was merely the step-father. All would have accepted that Joseph was the physical father. But, we (and those in the first century) need to receive, by faith, the fact that Jesus was born of Holy Spirit, so that we can then be saved.
The other genealogy in Luke 3 is the family line of Mary. This genealogy descends, beginning with Jesus and ending with Adam. Adam is the father of man. Adam’s line shows the human side of Jesus. This was needed in order to show that for Jesus Christ was fully human.
Jesus was fully God and fully human at the same time. He needed to become a man in order to live out the same experiences and temptations that man did. He also needed to die a martyr’s death in order to be the savior of the mankind. But, He needed to be conceived of the Holy Spirit in order to be God. This enabled Him to live the perfect life that He did.
So we see, these two passages do not deny each other, but they confirm each other. They do not contradict. They merely share the same historical facts from a different perspective. The heavenly side of Christ needs to be supported and so does the human side. God came to earth in all perfection and needs to be trusted by faith. But, Christ the human needed to die in the flesh in order to be the perfect sacrificial lamb of God. The death of Christ pays all our sins and all we need to do is trust Him by faith with a repentant heart.
Thoughts, comments, objections.
Daniel A. Smith
And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.
There are no other passages that are so avoided and viewed with such disdain, more than the genealogies. Today’s verse is the end verse of the genealogy recorded in Matthew 1:2-16. It begins with Abraham and ends with Joseph. Whereas, in Luke 3:23-38 we have the genealogy of Jesus which begins with Joseph and ends at Adam. Already, just by these few words, it seems like these passages do not agree.
There is no other task that some people want to accomplish more than to prove that there is error in the bible. This is impossible. God’s word is truth, all His words are right. David says, “The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times”, (Psalms 12:6, NKJV). How then, do we deal with this seeming contradiction of these passages?
First of all, Matthew 1 records the family line of Joseph. In the first century, and also today, the child receives the name of the father. All the people around Jesus, as He grew up, accepted Him as Joseph’s son. Joseph was the step-father of Jesus since Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:16 says that Joseph was the husband of Mary and Jesus was born of Mary. Mary physically bore Jesus, but He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Joseph and Mary never came together until after the birth of Jesus. Even though Joseph was considered the father of Jesus by all his peers, he was merely the step-father. All would have accepted that Joseph was the physical father. But, we (and those in the first century) need to receive, by faith, the fact that Jesus was born of Holy Spirit, so that we can then be saved.
The other genealogy in Luke 3 is the family line of Mary. This genealogy descends, beginning with Jesus and ending with Adam. Adam is the father of man. Adam’s line shows the human side of Jesus. This was needed in order to show that for Jesus Christ was fully human.
Jesus was fully God and fully human at the same time. He needed to become a man in order to live out the same experiences and temptations that man did. He also needed to die a martyr’s death in order to be the savior of the mankind. But, He needed to be conceived of the Holy Spirit in order to be God. This enabled Him to live the perfect life that He did.
So we see, these two passages do not deny each other, but they confirm each other. They do not contradict. They merely share the same historical facts from a different perspective. The heavenly side of Christ needs to be supported and so does the human side. God came to earth in all perfection and needs to be trusted by faith. But, Christ the human needed to die in the flesh in order to be the perfect sacrificial lamb of God. The death of Christ pays all our sins and all we need to do is trust Him by faith with a repentant heart.
Thoughts, comments, objections.
Daniel A. Smith
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Labor For The Lord
John 6:27 (NKJV)
Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.
Within this chapter, Jesus provides for and ministers to the masses. He fed 5000 people with 2 fish and 5 loaves. He walked on water and then the people wanted more. He then told the people where their focus needed to be within God’s provision.
He tells us not to labor for earthly food or possessions. Is Jesus telling us not to have a job, have a career or provide for our family? In no way is He saying this. Timothy reminds us, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever”, (I Timothy 5:8, NKJV). We need to provide for our family, work for a living and do all that we can to show excellence in professionalism and moral character amidst a fallen world.
But, our primary focus in life should not be labor or money. Our first and foremost desire in life must be to please God. If we please God in all that we do, walking by faith, it is then that we will give no thought for food or clothes. God will provide all our needs when we trust Him. We need to labor, primarily for heavenly treasure. Some of these treasures are the salvation of the souls for others and our family, the spread of the gospel, a morally pure life style and seeking God with our whole heart, soul and mind.
Food and possessions will decay and/or get lost or stolen. But heavenly treasure will endure eternally. These things are the least we can do for Jesus Who gave us His very life. He also has sealed us with His Spirit, making heaven unchangeably secure for His children. Once the Holy Spirit lives in our heart, we need to respond in complete dedication.
The major difference between earthly and heavenly treasures is timing and endurance. When we labor for money or things, we will see the reward of our labor very quickly. But, God’s rewards for eternal labor, many times, will not actualize until heaven. God’s amazing memory forgets nothing. He will remember all self-less deeds, whether done in public or private. God’s bank account cannot be stolen or changed like an earthly account. Matthew tells us, “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”, (Matthew 6:20-21, NKJV) Examine your own heart, is your primary treasure heavenly or earthly?
Thoughts, comments, objections.
Daniel A. Smith
Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.
Within this chapter, Jesus provides for and ministers to the masses. He fed 5000 people with 2 fish and 5 loaves. He walked on water and then the people wanted more. He then told the people where their focus needed to be within God’s provision.
He tells us not to labor for earthly food or possessions. Is Jesus telling us not to have a job, have a career or provide for our family? In no way is He saying this. Timothy reminds us, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever”, (I Timothy 5:8, NKJV). We need to provide for our family, work for a living and do all that we can to show excellence in professionalism and moral character amidst a fallen world.
But, our primary focus in life should not be labor or money. Our first and foremost desire in life must be to please God. If we please God in all that we do, walking by faith, it is then that we will give no thought for food or clothes. God will provide all our needs when we trust Him. We need to labor, primarily for heavenly treasure. Some of these treasures are the salvation of the souls for others and our family, the spread of the gospel, a morally pure life style and seeking God with our whole heart, soul and mind.
Food and possessions will decay and/or get lost or stolen. But heavenly treasure will endure eternally. These things are the least we can do for Jesus Who gave us His very life. He also has sealed us with His Spirit, making heaven unchangeably secure for His children. Once the Holy Spirit lives in our heart, we need to respond in complete dedication.
The major difference between earthly and heavenly treasures is timing and endurance. When we labor for money or things, we will see the reward of our labor very quickly. But, God’s rewards for eternal labor, many times, will not actualize until heaven. God’s amazing memory forgets nothing. He will remember all self-less deeds, whether done in public or private. God’s bank account cannot be stolen or changed like an earthly account. Matthew tells us, “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”, (Matthew 6:20-21, NKJV) Examine your own heart, is your primary treasure heavenly or earthly?
Thoughts, comments, objections.
Daniel A. Smith
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)