One Body Many Parts

One Body Many Parts
The Apostle Paul writes,
“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.  
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many....
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 26, 27.
Here Paul tells us the church is made up of many parts. The true church is not a building or a denomination or a congregation. It is all believers in Christ Jesus everywhere in the world.
It doesn’t matter whether we attend a Catholic church, a Protestant church, an Orthodox church or any other church. All true believers in Jesus are one.
As Paul states,
“For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
We may have different skills and abilities. We may do different things and worship in different ways but we are still one body united in Christ Jesus.
As a body of believers we need to remember what Paul states,
      “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” 
We need to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus both in our neighbourhood and around the world.
Please think about it.

Love

Love
The Apostle Paul writes,

“Love is patient, love is kind. 

It does not envy, it does not boast, 

it is not proud.  

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, 

it is not easily angered, 

it keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil 

but rejoices with the truth.  

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, 

always perseveres. 

Love never fails....

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. 

But the greatest of these is love.”  

                                                        1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13.

The apostle Paul here is writing to Christians but what he is saying about true love is universal in nature. On does not need to be a Christian to understand and accept the truth Paul defines here.
Martin Luther King jr. the great civil rights leader in the United States said,
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
                                                                                           Martin Luther King, Jr.
Anne Frank a young Jewish girl in hiding from the Nazis in the Netherlands during world war two wrote,
“Give of yourself, give as much as you can?  And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!  If everyone were to do this and not be as mean with a kindly word, then there would be much more justice and love in the world.  Give and you shall receive, much more than you would have ever thought possible.  Give, give again and again, don’t lose courage, keep it up and go on giving!  No one has ever become poor from giving!” Anne Frank.
What Anne Frank said is true. We need to give of ourselves. For in doing so we are showing love and true love can indeed change the world.
Please think about it.

A Truth or a Lie

A truth or a lie?
The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians said,
“Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  
By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.  
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,” 1 Corinthians 15:1-7
Here is a statement if false makes believing in Christ Jesus to no avail. Paul makes the statement
“that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
This belief that Jesus died for the sins of all mankind is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. If Christ did not die for the sins of mankind then there is nothing gained by believing in Him.
If on the other hand as Christians believe Christ died for the sins of mankind and rose on the third day there is everything to be gained. Namely eternal life with God in heaven.
There is also another statement here that Paul makes about Jesus. He states,
“that he (Jesus) was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.  
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,” 
If this statement is not true it is one of the greatest lies ever told to humanity. It means the estimated three billion Christians alive to day and those that came before them are believing a lie.
I as a Christian believe what Paul is saying. The question is do you?
Please think about it.

The Word became Flesh

The word became flesh
The apostle John states,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
He was with God in the beginning. 
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” John 1:1-4,14
Of all the things Christians believe perhaps this is one of the most contentious. Christians believe that God in the form of His one and Only Son Jesus Christ entered the world to point mankind to heaven.
The writer of Hebrews tells us,
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3.
I understand that believing such things can be hard for some people. After all why would God enter his creation?
The apostle Paul writing to Titus states,
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” Titus 3:4,5
The apostle John quotes Jesus as saying,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. John 3:16-18.
For believers in Christ it is a believe it or not situation. You either believe what the New Testament says about Jesus or you do not.
You either believe that Jesus is God incarnate that came into this world to provide purification of our sins or you do not.
What do you believe?
Please think about it.  

A Definite Statement

A definite statement
The Bible tells us,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1.
The writers of the Bible did not argue about the existence of God. It was written to believers and therefor God’s existence was not in debate.
Sadly many who do not believe in God do not believe because they say He cannot be seen felt or heard. Evidence of God however is all around. The Psalmist states,

The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Day after day they pour forth speech; 

night after night they display knowledge. 

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” 

Psalm 19:1-3.

What the psalmist is saying is proof of God is all around. The entire universe is proof of God.
The universe is in perfect order. Everything from the largest galaxy to the smallest subatomic particle works together to produce life as we know it on earth. To my way of thinking that tells me there is a creator behind it all.
Ultimately however it is up to the individual to decide whether God exists or not.
I like to think believing in God is “informed faith”. Informed faith meaning looking at the world around you. Seeing it’s perfection and realizing that behind it all is a God who created it all.
Please think about it.

Caution

Caution
The Epistle of Jude warns,
“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.  
For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” Jude 1:3,4.
Jude is warning believers about false teachers. Men who are teaching false doctrine. This is something anticipated by Jesus who said,
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Matthew 7:15.
The apostle Paul also warns about such people.
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2Timothy 4:3,4.
It is so easy for a person to sound like a believer and not be one. It’s easy to memorize some scripture. Then take them out of context to make them sound as though it is right teaching when it is not. Many people have been deceived this way.
As Christians we need to know at the very least the basics of our faith. We need to understand that anyone who does not believe the core beliefs of our faith is not a true believer in Jesus Christ.
One universally accepted statement of Christian faith is the Apostles Creed. While not written by the apostles it states the basic beliefs of all true believers. The Apostle Creed reads,
1.I believe in God the Father the almighty maker of heaven and earth
2. I believe in Jesus Christ God’s on and only Son, our Lord and Saviour.
3. I believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary
4. I believe Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate; That He was Crucified, died, was buried. That he descended in hell.
5. I believe He rose again on the third day from the dead.
6. I believe that he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
7. I believe Jesus will one day Judge the living and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost
9. I believe in the Church which is the communion of the saints,
10. I believe in the forgiveness of sin.
11. I believe in the resurrection of the body.
12. I believe in life everlasting.
The other important things Christians need to be doing is studying the scriptures for yourself. To pray and ask God to show you personally the truth that is in the scriptures.
Thus the question, Are you truly taking time each day to study even just a small portion of scripture?
Please think about it.

Our First Love

Our First Love
The book of Revelations records,
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:  
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.  
You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.  
Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.  
But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Revelations 2:1-7
Revelations talks directly to seven churches. I have always heard it said that these churches can be related to both individual congregations and to individuals.
Here the Church at Ephesus is commended for there perseverance and there dislike of wicked men. For there enduring of hardships for Christ sake.
Then Jesus goes on to say “you have forsaken your first love”.
The first love of every Christian should be God and His one and only Son Jesus Christ. To put anything before or faith in Christ is wrong.
The apostle Paul writing to Timothy said,
“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 
“Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. 2 Timothy 11-13
Please think about it.

Do whatever is good

Do whatever is good
The apostle Paul writing to Titus states,
“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,  to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men. Titus 3:1,2.
Paul writing to the Romans said,
“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.  
Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”  Romans 13:1,2.
The Apostle Peter states,
“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.   For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.   Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.  
Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. 1 Peter 2:13-17.
1/Here is something that all believers in Christ in 2017 need to remember.
2/Be subject to rulers and authorities.
3/Do whatever is good.
4/Do not use freedom to cover evil.
5/Fear God honour the King.
            Both Paul and Peter make this clear.
The apostles Paul and Peter lived in an ethnically diverse society. A society that had a myriad of beliefs and gods. A society that had things that would have been morally reprehensible to what they believed. Yet these men of God tells believers to be subject to the governing authorities.
In doing this we can never be accused of speaking against the government or any other group. Our hands are if you will clean of any wrong doing against the governing authority or any other group.
The only time we should speak out against the government is when they refuse to let us or for that matter any other group practise our faith.
Peter tells us to “live as free men, but do not use your freedom to cover up evil.”
We should always remember that freedom is precious and not to be used to speak evil against anyone.
It comes back to the words of Christ who said,
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” Matthew 7:12.
Please think about it.

God Knows who you are

God Knows who you are
the Psalmist writes,
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:13-16
For many years I had the above quote from Psalm 139 in the front of my Bible. It reminds me that God knows my very being. It tells me if you will that God knows my DNA. He knows why I am the way that I am.
It also reminds me that because God knows me that intimately only He has the right to judge me. No one else.
For me one thing that upsets me is when someone calling themselves Christians judge others especially when it come to where they will spend eternity.
Tony Campolo the American evangelist said,
“We ought to get out of the judging business. We should leave it up to God to determine who belongs in one arena or another when it comes to eternity. What we are obligated to do is to tell people about Jesus, and that's what I do.” Tony Campolo.
Jesus makes it clear when he said,
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1,2.
It is something we as believers should be following.
The apostle Paul tells believers in Christ,
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:12,13.
We as believers in Christ must remember this. We are allowed to Judge those inside the church but only with respect to making sure they are teaching sound doctrine.
We still have no right even within our churches to say where a person will spend eternity. That is entirely up to God.
Our principle purpose on this earth as believers in Christ Jesus is to present the good news of Jesus to every person who will listen to us.
We cannot do that if we are judging them.
Please think about it.

Delight in the Lord

Delight in the Lord
The Psalmist writes,

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

 or stand in the way of sinners 

or sit in the seat of mockers. 

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, 

and on his law he meditates day and night.” 

                                                      Psalm 1:1,2.

Five Questions,
1. Do you walk in the counsel of the wicked?
2. Do you stand in the way or sinners?
3. Do you sit in the seat of mockers?
4. Do you delight in the Law of the Lord?
5. Do you meditate on God’s laws day and night?
It is important for believers in Christ to delight in the law of the Lord. To meditate on it as often as we can. To understand what it means.
Christianity, true Christianity is a way of life that honours God in word and deed. We can only do that if we are studying it.
The apostle Paul writing to Timothy wrote,
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,  so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16,17.
Paul emphasized to Timothy,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15.
Another thing that cannot happen if you are not meditating on the word of God.
So the question becomes are you meditating on God’s word?
Please think about it.

A Poached Egg

A Poached Egg?
Who do you think Jesus is? It is a question all upon hearing about Jesus must decide for themselves.
The Bible makes several claims about Jesus. John’s gospel records,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
He was with God in the beginning. 
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” John 1:1-4,14.
Simply put Jesus is God. He created the heavens and the earth. He then when the time was right came into the world he created. To show man the way to heaven.
The writer of Hebrews tells us,
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3 
Jesus is the exact representation of God. It is Jesus who provides purification for our sins.
John’s gospel records this conversation between Martha and Jesus,
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,” John 11:25,26,27.
Matthew’s gospel records,
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:13-16.
From these quotes it is clear to see what believers in Jesus believed him to be, God incarnate, the Messiah, The Son of God.
But what of those outside the bible
Flavius Josephus, who lived until 98 A.D., was a Romanized Jewish historian. He wrote books on Jewish history for the Roman people. In his book, Jewish Antiquities, he made references to Jesus. In one reference he wrote:
“About this time arose Jesus, a wise man, who did good deeds and whose virtues were recognized. And many Jews and people of other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. However, those who became his disciples preached his doctrine. They related that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. Perhaps he was the Messiah in connection with whom the prophets foretold wonders.” [Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, XVIII 3.2]
Julian the Apostate, Roman Emperor from 361-363 A.D. an adversary of Christianity. In his work against Christianity wrote,
“Jesus…has now been celebrated about three hundred years having done nothing in his lifetime worthy of fame, unless anyone thinks it is a very great work to heal lame and blind people and exorcise demoniacs in the villages of Bethsaida and Bethany.”
But at the end of his life was forced to say:
“Thou has conquered, O Galilean!”
H. G. Wells, British writer/historian, (1866-1946) wrote.
When asked which person left the most permanent impression on history, he replied that judging a person’s greatness by historical standards:“By this test, Jesus stands first.”
“I am a historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very centre of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”
“Christ is the most unique person of history. No man can write a history of the human race without giving first and foremost place to the penniless teacher of Nazareth.”
Kenneth Scott Latourette, former President of American Historic Society
In A History of Christianity wrote,
“It is evidence of His importance, of the effect that He has had upon history and presumably, of the baffling mystery of His being that no other life ever lived on this planet has evoked so huge a volume of literature among so many people and languages, and that, far from ebbing, the flood continues to mount.”
“As the centuries pass by, the evidence is accumulating that measured by its effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on this planet. The influence appears to be mounting.”
“No other life lived on this planet has so widely and deeply affected mankind.”
C.S. Lewis, writing in Mere Christianity states,
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” 
Thus the question to you the reader is, who do you think Jesus is, a good man, prophet, preacher, lunatic, poached egg or the Son of God Saviour of mankind?
Please think about it.

If I have not Love

If I have not Love
The apostle Paul wrote,

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, 

but have not love, 

I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,

 and if I have a faith that can move mountains, 

but have not love, 

I am nothing.  

If I give all I possess to the poor 

and surrender my body to the flames, 

but have not love, 

I gain nothing.” 

                                                                   1 Corinthians 13:1-3.
“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 2:11,12.
John Wesley the great evangelist said,

“Do all the good you can,

By any means you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can,

To all the people you can,

As long as ever you can.”

                            John Wesley.

Do you do all the good you can. Do you show unconditional love to those around you? If you claim to be a Christian you can do no less.
Please think about it.