Lazarus the rich man and you

 Lazarus the rich man and you

Jesus told this story

"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.  

At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores  and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 

"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.  

In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.  

So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' 

"But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.  

And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' 

"He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house,  

for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' 

"Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' 

" ‘No, father Abraham,' he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' 

"He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' " Luke 16:19-31.

Like I said in my previous blog, there is nothing wrong with being rich. The problem is what you do with the wealth you have, and what priority do you put on it. 

Also, and this applies to everyone it’s all about what you do for God that counts. 

The rich man here could have afforded to help Lazarus yet he didn’t. The rich man didn’t seem to think about anyone but himself.

The old testament that the rich man would have at the very least known about and probably read, has numerous verses about helping the poor. Yet he it seemingly ignored them and God. 

Thus at the end of his life he paid the ultimate price for not following God’s word.

Question; Are you doing what you can to help the poor in whatever way you can?

Where do you think you will spend eternity?

Please think about it?

Only One Life

  Only one life

The Psalmist writes,

"But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself. 

Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendour of his house increases; for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendour will not descend with him. 

Though while he lived he counted himself blessed— and men praise you when you prosper— he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life . 

A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish." Psalm 49:15-20.

Jesus said,

"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Matthew 19:24.

There is nothing wrong with being rich. The church through the ages has had some very wealthy people in it men and women who have loved and served The Lord in spirit and in truth.

 The Psalmist here is saying is don’t be envious over someone who has a lot of material wealth. While wealth and material possessions are looked on as a sign of success in this world. Ultimately they amount to nothing in the grand scheme of eternity.

A wealthy man and a pauper in this life have one thing in common. When they die they will take none of what they owned into the next life.

It is therefore important for rich and poor alike to understand that it is their words and deeds and what they have done for Christ that will impact where they will end up when they pass into eternity.

There’s an old saying that states,

“You have only one life.

It will soon be passed.

Only what is done for Christ will last.”

Please think about it.

An instrument of Gods love

 An instrument of Gods love

The apostle Peter writes,

“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.

Francis of Assisi wrote,

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, 

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; 

to be understood as to understand; 

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive; 

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; 

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

                                                                              Francis of Assisi

What the apostle Peter and Francis of Assisi is saying here is something all Christians should practice. People should see us as peace makers. Those who show love to all those around them. Family, friends and foe alike.

Can you say in truth what Francis of Assisi is saying here?

Please think about it.

Keep your house clean

  Keep your house clean

The apostle Paul wrote,

“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.

This I think here in North America is one portion of scripture that is difficult to practice because many false teachers and heretics hide behind freedom of speech and libel laws.

Additionally those who would pervert the meaning of scripture say it is their interpretation which they are entitled to. 

While I agree there is various interpretations of some portions of scripture. The core doctrines of the Bible must be adhered to. And those who would misinterpret these basic doctrines should be expelled from the church.

For me the Apostles creed, while not written by an apostle of Christ, states the basic Christian principles. It 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.

Do you believe this?

Do the pastors and evangelist you listen to believe this?

Please think about it.

Advice from Jesus

  Advise from Jesus

Jesus said,

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."Matthew 5:16.

When people see the deeds you are doing what do they see. Do they see good things or bad things? When they hear the words you speak, do they hear good things or bad things.

If you are a Christian you should be doing your best to glorify Christ in word and in deed that people may see your good works and want t know Jesus.

Francis of Assisi said,

"The deeds you do 

may be the only sermon some persons will hear today" 

                                                                              Francis of Assisi.

So what are your words and deeds saying about Jesus today?

Please think about it.

A Christians obligation

  A Christians obligation

The apostle Paul writes,

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:5,6.

Are you wise when you deal with those around you, especially when it comes to your faith. 

I have found over the decades that I have been a Christian that there are many claiming to be Christians who are not wise.

They are as one friend aptly put it “bible thumpers”. They point out the sins of the world. They point to any groups they disagree with and call them sinners. Worse yet they try to take away or restrict the rights of some groups they disagree with. This should not be so.

Screaming and yelling at people telling them they are sinners is a waste of time. It will only push people away from God. Trying to restrict or take away rights of those you disagree with will push them away from Christ closing all dialogue completely. Not only that it may lead to a backlash that will cause the rights of Christians to be restricted.

No one wants to be told they are a sinner. And most non-Christians I know would not admit to being a sinner. Simply saying they are as good or better than some Christians they know.

Frankly I don’t believe it is our job as believers in Christ Jesus to tell people they are sinners.  

It is our obligation to present the gospel of Salvation to those around us and let God work in their lives from there.

Billy Graham the American evangelist once said,

“It is the Holy Spirits Job to Convict, 

God's job to judge

 and my job to love,” 

                                  Billy Graham.

So are you showing the unconditional Love of Christ to those around you?

Please think about it.

It's hard but we have to

  It’s hard but we have to

Jesus said,

"You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.'  

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  

If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  

And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?  

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" Matthew 5:43-48.

Do you love your enemy or those who persecute them. Jesus said we should. He didn’t say we should love the things our enemies of persecutors do. But rather we are to love the person.

It is the Christians duty to love those who dislike him.

The late great American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. said,

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; 

only light can do that.

 Hate cannot drive out hate; 

only love can do that.” 

                                                        Martin Luther King, Jr.

So the question becomes do you love your enemies and persecutors?

Please think about it.

Do you truly Love?

 Do you truly 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.

This is true Christian Love. So the question I pose to anyone who calls themselves a true Christian. A true follower of Christ Jesus is; 

Do you truly love?

Please think about it.

Are you a Servant?

  Are you a Servant?

Jesus speaking to his disciples said,

“Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Mark 9:35.

The world thinks he who comes first is the greatest. But Jesus turned that on its head. He told his disciples that if you want to be first you must be servant of all.

It takes a lot to be a servant. It means at times being looked down on.

I knew a caretaker once who worked at a major university. Students and some staff looked down on him and others like him as uneducated only capable of doing menial work. But this man was proud of what he did. 

Not only that what the students and others who looked down on him didn’t realize was because of his work they could come to school. With out him and others like him the toilets wouldn’t be cleaned. The desks would left dirty and sticky and the garbage not removed. The result of which would mean the department of health shutting the school down.

This is what Jesus meant. Without knowing it this caretaker was one of the most important people in the school.

As believers in Christ Jesus we must be willing to serve all those around us. No matter who they are.

Are you a servant?

Please think about it.

Like an Olive Tree

  Like an Olive tree

The psalmist states

“But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; 

I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever. 

I will praise you forever for what you have done; 

in your name I will hope, for your name is good. 

I will praise you in the presence of your saints.”

                                                                      Psalm 52:8,9.

If you claim to be a Christian. A true follower of Christ Jesus, can you say what the Psalmist is saying here.

         Are you like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God?

Do you trust Gods unfailing love?

Will you praise God forever?

Is your hope in God?

Will you take time now to praise God?

Please think about it.

Egg or God Incarnate?

 Egg or God incarnate? 

In the gospel of John we read,

"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.

As I said in my previous blog I believe God created the universe and everything in it. That being said this is what I also believe.

I believe that the God that created the universe in the form of His One and Only Son entered the world He created. And he did this in order to show mankind how much He cared for them. How far He would go in human terms to show them the way to heaven.

Jesus is the Son of God the Christ who knew that sin, which is falling short of Gods ideals for our lives separated us from God. That’s why He came to earth. 

As the apostle Paul notes,

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8.

If Jesus was not the son of God. The Saviour of mankind. Then he must have been at the least delusional. Or as C. S. Lewis put it,

"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." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

So what do you think?

Please think about it.

Not by chance

 Not by chance

In the book of Genesis we read,

"In the beginning 

God created the heavens and the earth." 

                                                           Genesis 1:1.

I believe this for one simple reason. When I look at the universe we live in from the largest galaxy to the smallest sub-atomic particle. I see them all working in perfect harmony to create life as we know it. Only God can do this.

I do not have enough faith to believe that life as we know it happened by chance.

What do you believe?

Please think about it.