Got Fruit ?

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint;But happy is he who keeps the law.
Proverbs 29:18

The world operates on vision. God’s people live by revelation. The world seeks grand and noble purposes and goals to achieve. People dream up the greatest and most satisfying things in which they can invest their lives. Institutions establish goals and objectives and then organize themselves to achieve them. God’s people function in a radically different way. Christians arrange their lives based on the revelation of God, regardless of whether it makes sense to them. God does not ask for our opinion about what is best for our future, our family, our church, or our country. He already knows! What God wants is to get the attention of His people and reveal to us what is on His heart and what is His will, for God’s ways are not our ways! (Isa. 55:8-9).

Whenever people do not base their lives on God’s revelation, they "cast off restraint." That is, they do what is right in their own eyes. They set their goals, arrange their agendas, and then pray for God’s blessings. Some Christians are living far outside the will of God, yet they have the audacity to pray and ask God to bless their efforts!

The only way for you to know God’s will is for Him to reveal it to you. You will never discover it on your own. When you hear from the Father, you have an immediate agenda for your life: obedience. As the writer of Proverbs observed: "Happy is he who keeps the law."

Henry and Richard Blackaby
Experiencing God Day-by-Day

I had quite a few thoughts going on in my jumbled mind last week as I attempted to bring things to order in the post: Christ’s divinity (Apologetics).  That post actually started out not as any type of attempt at apologetics but rather from another observation made while reading Genesis.  As I made mention earlier in Christ’s divinity (Apologetics):

For the Bible believing Orthodox Christian John 1:1-2 is probably the most popular verse that we reach for in explaining or defending the Trinitarian doctrine and beliefs.

That post which is more or less directed against the Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrine (which denies the divinity of Jesus), included verse 3 of John 1 as Biblical evidence for the divine nature of Christ Jesus.  Other verses that speak of Christ’s nature as divine include:

John 1:1-3
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

John 10:31-33
31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"

33 "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

Colossians 2:9-10
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

Hebrews 1:5-10
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
   "You are my Son;
      today I have become your Father? Or again,
   "I will be his Father,
      and he will be my Son"?
6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
   "Let all God’s angels worship him."
7 In speaking of the angels he says,
   "He makes his angels winds,
      his servants flames of fire."
8 But about the Son he says,
   "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,
      and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
      therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
      by anointing you with the oil of joy."
10 He also says,
   "In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
      and the heavens are the work of your hands.

Getting back to the main point.  The following is an observation and thoughts from reading Genesis that I believe builds on what John 1:1-3 (as well as the other passages from Scripture) presents of Jesus’ divine nature.

In the first book of Genesis we are told that God created the heavens and the earth, His Spirit meantime hovering over the waters.  Perhaps, purposefully meant to be a "witness" (John 16:13,2nd Timothy 3:16-17) to the creation events?

The first interesting observation comes from Genesis 1:26, which throughout the Genesis account is the only instance where God is read as directly addressing "someone else" ("Let us make man in our image…") ie; inviting "someone else" to participate in either a creative process or the entire creative process.  Or is it?

Again I had always understood the Genesis account as God the Father, being full of power and glory simply speaking into existence what He desired.  The thought that I’m attempting to relate is that I had missed seeing what I’ll refer to as "corporate creation" or "cooperative creation" that goes beyond "Let us make man in our image…" within the godhead.  It’s not that I had dismissed what John 1:1-3 says,nor disbelieved,  rather I never saw the connection literally written out, in and throughout Genesis 1 so clearly as now. Hey, I never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the shed.  Hopefully the following will explain.

Notice in Genesis 1:3-5,9-13 that God makes a declaration, and it’s so; whereas in Genesis 1:6-8,14-27, God makes a declaration, and that declaration is followed by a confirming "God made or God created" statement reflecting what God had intended to create. Seeing Genesis with a different set of eyes expands, clarifies, and solidifies my beliefs in Christ’s divinity.  This clarity is a result of reading and understanding the Genesis account not only as God the Father creating, but also as God (Jesus Christ the Son) being shown in Scripture through a closer examination, to be actively involved in the creation process as well.  Taking a closer look at Scripture…

The following passages from Genesis are broken out and grouped to present where it appears that God the Father is speaking to Jesus (Genesis1:3-5,9-14), thus Christ is the one doing the creating.

Genesis1:3-5,9-14
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so.

In this second set of Scripture from Genesis (Genesis1:6-8,16-26) this is where it appears that God the Father is the one with the "lead" in the creation process.

Genesis1:6-8,16-26
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

 

20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

Finally in verse 27 of Genesis, we have what can be read as speaking of either the godhead or perhaps God the Father only in the first sentence.  I can only assume not to include the Holy Spirit per se, as He was hovering over the waters.  When we jump to the second part of verse 27, "in the image of God he created him;", it seems to be reading as "in the image of God (Jesus Christ the Son) he (God the Father) created him (man);".

Genesis 1:27
27 So God created man in his own image,
       in the image of God he created him;
       male and female he created them.

Just some thoughts that I wanted to share.  I hope that in part or whole this might be of use to someone explaining, defending or otherwise in conversation about Christ’s divinity or the Trinity.

Grace and peace be with you.

This past Friday was my first day back into the office since closing closing down for the 1 1/2 week CHRISTmas break.  I was having a conversation with a co-worker about how my son’s seemingly inability to clean up after himself (he does try to remember sometimes).  The co-worker responded back in frustration with similar complaints.  Initially, I didn’t catch a subtle action that took place during our brief exchange.

See?  The co-worker has a tendency to use colorful language.  If our boss or my office neighbor (both Christians) are within earshot, she’s mindful of her language.  As for me, I can’t recall her watching her tongue when I’m around.  Maybe it’s the fact that the co-worker is my ex-wife and has an established comfort level that overrides being conscious of her language around me?  Later that evening as I was grabbing something from the kitchen, the day’s earlier conversation replayed across the mental screen, and I recalled that moment where she was on the verge of uttering profanity.  She didn’t though, she had caught herself,there was a conscious effort on her part to watch her tongue.

I’d like to believe that that little pause, was the result of the light of Christ in this life shining outwardly and impacting someone around me in a positive way.

Matthew 5:14-16
14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

We must become the change we want to see in the world.
Mohandas Gandhi

Grace and peace be with you.

For the past month and a half I’ve been trying to read a chapter of Psalm each day along with whatever other specific book of the Bible I’m at the moment engaged in (or is it with?).  Sorry mental detour .. anywho.  I was reading Psalm 39 last night which had a passage that reminded me of some similar thoughts portrayed in Ecclesiastes 1.  In Psalm 39:4-6 David it seems, has turned from focusing directly on his sins against God, and their immediate consequences, to a deeper introspective position.  David seems to be not only fixated on the vanity and folly of going about life by his own devices, but has come to the realization that when compared to God, his life is nothing, inconsequential to God, The Creator of all that was, is, and shall be.  David is not saying that we are not cherished by God our Creator (John 3:16), rather I think that his realization and at least one line of thought in Psalm 39 has bought him to conclude in his heart that outside of God’s parameters, our lives are meaningless; as he’s already felt the sting of death literally (death of son born to Bathsheba) and consequentially in the demise of his reign.

Psalm 39:4-6
4 "Show me, O LORD, my life’s end
       and the number of my days;
       let me know how fleeting is my life.

5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
       the span of my years is as nothing before you.
       Each man’s life is but a breath.

Selah

6 Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:
       He bustles about, but only in vain;
       he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. 

In a somewhat similar train of thought from Ecclesiastes 1:, the author whom some Bible scholars have penned as the works of King Solomon (son of David) is lamenting (crying out in grief) about the meaningless toils of man. 

Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!"
       says the Teacher.
       "Utterly meaningless!
       Everything is meaningless."

3 What does man gain from all his labor
       at which he toils under the sun?

I think that an idea to take from both referenced passages is, not to give up on life; nor necessarily the pursuit of a comfortable life while still in this thing called life (1 Timothy 6: 6-8), in spite of the "meaningless" of our actions while temporarily occupying this little patch of the universe that God crafted for us.  Instead, like David there needs to be that realization, an epiphany(?); that nothing we fabricate by our own means in the pursuit of happiness will in fact bring eternal peace and happiness.  That honor is  reserved for Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior (John 14:6).

Fellow blogger, Steeler fan, & someone I consider a friend, E. Barrett (aka E.B. of R3 fame) has a post from the day after Christmas titled: "A Chistmas Lesson" where he shares another page from his personal journey in "learning to live as a Christian".  E.B. and I have shared thoughts on our respective walks with Christ, perspectives on where God is moving the believer, and how he moves us all closer to knowing and doing his will.  A thought shared with E.B. back in September that somehow seems to be coming full circle, or at least fits with the flow of this post from my quirky minded perspective:

(2 September 2008)
I think that for starters, anytime a Christian acknowledges that they’re deficient in an area of their walk with Christ; that acknowledgment is sort of like the precursor to that deficiency becoming “fixed” by the Lord. A spin on how the Law makes us aware of sin, I suppose. I used to never speak out openly about God because of fear of ridicule. Nowadays, that’s not a problem, and I would say it’s because over time (as your relationship grows), Jesus does transform the committed believer.

My point? Yesterday was a day that you walked behind Christ, today you might be walking a little closer to Him; and tomorrow is the day that you walk side by side, step for step with Him.

Maturation by nature takes time, some folks perhaps do go through a radical and quick process of transformation, while others don’t. Scripture an my own personal experiences tell me that it all starts with the condition of the heart, sometimes we have deeper issues that the Lord must work on before we get to that spot where we become the “Super Christian” we aspire to be.

Cue the lights and fade in final thoughts…

Ephesians 2:10
10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Grace and peace be with you

I’ve had the 13 Letters album by 116 Clique for about a year now, and have enjoyed not only listening to the music, but the underlying messages of the artist’s works as they praise God in their songs.  My son and I were returning back to the bachelor pad last night after hanging out with my folks for a late Thanksgiving meal. While in the car, the song "To Live Is Christ" was playing on the car’s stereo and the track’s "hook" struck a chord with me (no pun intended) .

"Our life is nothing, but Christ is all
So conduct yourselves worthy of His righteous call",
~ Trip Lee of the 116 Clique; 13 Letters - To Live is Christ

To Live is Christ (Philippians)
Verse 1:
Brethren listen to this exposition
Paul wrote the Philippians some lessons for living (1:1)
Written to them but its real good text for Christians
So read it closely, I hope we can catch the vision
Chapter 1 he tells them he’s blessed to get them
Co-laboring with him to serve the best who’s risen (1:5, 7)
And that’s he’s confident the Lord will perfect in Christians
What He started and hearts will be corrected in them (1:6)
Listen, he was in prison now maybe never getting out
But all he could think about was the gospel getting out (1:12-14)
Some was even preaching Christ from selfish motives
Coming at Paul but dawg he shrugged his shoulders (1:15-18)
His focus was Christ the Messiah man (1:19)
And for Him "to live is Christ and to die was gain" (1:20,21)
Yeah, he was hard pressed, but to remain in the flesh
Was more necessary so they faith would progress (1:22-24)
He wanted them to strive together for the gospel
In one spirit, one mind, listen to the apostle (1:27)
Maintain the same love, uplift your brothers
Don’t just look out for yourself, but for the interests of others (2:2-4)
Hook:
Our life is nothing, but Christ is all (1:21)
So conduct yourselves worthy of His righteous call (1:27)
(Repeat 4X)

Verse 2:
Chapter 2: Let’s examine five through eleven
The blessed lamb who resided in the Heavens (2:6)
Said forget the wealth and emptied Himself
Came as a man and died for the brethren (2:7,8)
Ultimate obedience, he died on the cross and (2:8)
Through His humility Christ was exalted (2:9)
Glory to the Father (2:11), now we should have
That same attitude Christ Jesus had (2:5)
And on to verse twelve work out your salvation (2:12)
The Father works in us in this process of saving (2:13)
Avoid dispute and prove yourself blameless
Children of God in a perverse generation (2:14,15)
Cling to the bible, humility is vital
We see it in lives of Paul and his disciples (2:17-30)
Serving him like father (2:22), some fellow soldiers (2:25)
Let us rejoice, unite, and rep Jehovah

Hook

Verse 3:
Chapter 3: rejoice in the Lord we serve (3:1)
And forget about the flesh we nothing more than dirt (3:3)
Man if anyone could brag bout they past it was Paul
But to him it was trash it and he counted it as lost
For the sake of the Christ, ’cause He gave us life (3:4-7)
Not through anything we did but through faith in Christ (3:9)
We righteous in the eyes of the Lord’s that’s blessing
Conformed to His death and His resurrection (3:9-10)
Brethren, I don’t claim to have attained perfection’s
What he said but was reaching to what lies ahead (3:12-13)
And encouraged the Philippians to model what he said (3:15)
And not to walk in the flesh cause that walk is dead (3:17-19)
But we citizens of Heaven who eagerly wait for
The one that we rest in Jesus our Savior (3:20)
That’s who the Lord is and He will surely
Transform our bodies in future glory (3:21)

Hook

Verse 4:
Chapter 4: he closes encouraging with words
In unity and harmony for those within the church (4:1-3)
Rejoice in the Lord, bro our hopes in Him first (4:4)
Let our thanks and our problems be known to Him first (4:6)
Embrace the peace of God, you can bet on that (4:7)
And whatever is good let your mind dwell on that (4:8)
Then he thanked them again, for they gifts and concern (4:10)
But no matter what to be content he had learned (4:11-12)
Plus he was sure that he could do all things
Through Him who gave strength and can do all things (4:13)
And he told them they did well sharing through all pain (4:14)
And made sure they knew he sure he wasn’t trying to get more change (4:15-18)
God will supply all they needs he hoped they might see this
According to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (4:19)
The truth of Philippians I hope it hit you
And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you (4:23)
I hope you like what you heard with me rapping these verses
But don’t get it twisted, we just scratching the surface
There’s more to be learned than this rap is saying
So read it, live it, learn it like the back of your hand

Hook

Lyrics courtesy of Reach Records.

2nd Corinthians 4:1-6
1 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Grace and peace be with you.