"Did you think of yourself more sheep-ly today?" asked a Crossway devotional I read today.
Good question. God's Word tells us...
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-every one-to his own way;..." (Isaiah 53:6)
Followers of Jesus Christ could be compared to sheep. In Bible times, and maybe even now in Middle Eastern culture, sheep followed a shepherd. The shepherd kept the sheep safe from the dangers of wolves, lions, snakes and the like. The shepherd found green pastures and still waters for his sheep. The sheep knew their shepherd's voice.
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." John 20:27-28
Yet as sheep nibble grass, they do go astray. If one sheep exits through a hole in the fence (western sheep herding), chances are many of the others will follow suit.
They need to stay close to the shepherd to be kept safe, and well-fed and watered, to survive.
Jesus is pictured as the Good Shepherd. The apostle John writes Jesus' Words in John 10:11,
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."
I'm thinking of that. What a very good kind of shepherd to have. Safety. Security. The sheep willing to follow such a shepherd is a good kind of "sheep-ly"; a following "sheep-ly", not a straying "sheep-ly".
I love my Good Shepherd Jesus. I want to be a good "sheep-ly".
"What type of "sheep-ly" are you?" I ask sheepishly.
~ERC December 2017~
Many religions of the world have a god, &/or a plethora of gods. For example, First Nation people of Canada have their "Great Spirit" or "Transformers", one of whom was Glooscap of the Mi'kmaq; the people of the Islamic belief have Allah; the Hindus have Brahma, Sarswati, Vishnu, Shiva and many others; Judaism has several different names for their one God: Adonai; El; Eloah; Shaddai and others while the followers of Jesus Christ, have God. This shows that human beings believe that there is someone (or many someones) they feel they need to look up to. There is someone in control.
The great King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV),
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart..."
The human spirit has a natural god-conscious 'setting' within them.
This is a huge difference compared to the Buddhist belief that an individual does not need a god or gods to help them. In fact, there is no god, they say. An individual can be in control of their self through training their mind to do what is right and good, and needs no help from anyone, especially not from a god outside of their self.
Of note, however, they meditate along a fine line. The fine line meaning, to onlookers it may really seem like they have Buddha as their god. It is encouraged that the meditator sit in front of a statue or picture of Buddha, thinking of their Four Noble Truths and Eight-Fold Path of Enlightenment as to how they can be applied to their lives. It is said that this is done to show respect to the man who gave them their way of life through his teachings. (pages 262-264 What Buddhists Believe by Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda)
They do not need a Supreme Being to save or help them. They do believe in the existence, of 'Devas' (deities) with whom they can...
"share their merits or remember them whenever they do some meritorious deeds" (page 391 of What Buddhists Believe by author Dr. K. Sri Dhammanada).
By self-sufficiency one can earn one's own salvation and even share merits with deities. One could say, they are their own god.
Please don't get me wrong here; I'm not holding anyone's belief in contempt. My hope and prayer is that these thoughts will trigger some soul searching of your own, for your good and benefit, for a more excellent way. It is that way in which we can bring the burden of our salvation and hope of righteousness to God and His Son Jesus Christ who has already taken upon Himself that burden.
So who or what are we to believe?
It is the Christmas season as I type. The reason for the season, the coming of Jesus as a babe in a manger. I believe in this one true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Buddhists declare they investigate in scientific ways. Please do also. Examine what all other gods do or do not do for the human race. Are they 'giving' gods or 'taking' gods?
The Judeo-Christian God, who made heaven and earth, the sky and sea and all that in them are, the Almighty Creator God; He gives and gives and gives (Psalm 144:6; 1 Corinthians 8:6). He is the ever faithful one.
Remember John 3:16...
"For God so loved the world that He gave His One and only Son..." (emphasis mine)
He loved. He gave.
There is a belief that if one can do enough good deeds, there will hopefully be enough merit to outweigh the bad deeds; that these equal enough merit to attain righteousness and salvation. But how does one ever know when there is enough?
I introduce God who loves, who gives and who is righteous. He is righteous! Jesus came to
"declare His righteousness for the remission of sins..." (Romans 3:25)
He came to
"declare...His righteousness; that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:26).
Jesus was born into this world, righteous. Thus He did not have to attain righteousness. That is why He can be the "justifier" of every single last human being in the world: past, present and future. He came into the world with the purpose to die for the atonement of the sins of the human race (some want to call sin, bad or unwholesome deeds). He died so we human beings could be justified and God could impute His righteousness to each and every human being who, of their own free will, will believe and accept this wonderful gift of God's love. This gift God offers through Jesus death and resurrection. What a mighty God He is!
He loves. He gives. He makes righteous. Look at what 2 Corinthians 5:21 relates...
"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
Read Romans 4:6 (KJV)...
"Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works."
Take note of the remaining of the John 3:16 verse (NIV) for what else God gave along with righteousness...
"...that whoever believes in Him (Jesus) shall not perish but have eternal life."
Isn't that amazing! The believer will live for ever with eternal life and eternal God-given righteousness. No one has to earn it or stock up merits in the hope that God will accept them. He accepts each one as they are.
Oh person who believes in any other god or who only believes in their self, can you match your god or yourself to Elohim (Hebrew connoting God as the Creator and Judge of the universe [Genesis 1:1-2:4a])?
Or to Hannoten Teshuah, Hebrew, meaning "The Giver of Salvation" (Psalm 144:10). Jesus is that "Giver of Salvation", the Deliverer of the human race; our God and Savior.
"I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no Savior" (Isaiah 43:11).
Jesus delivers the believer from the deadly wages of sin. For the Buddhist, suffering, death and hell are the results of bad and unwholesome deeds (pages 189-190 What Buddhists Believe). Jesus rescues one and all from that pit of eternal damnation.
"The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ." (Romans 6:23 NIV).
Again in Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)...
"By grace are you saved, through faith (NOT WORKS)-and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."
God's gifts are always "good and perfect" (James 1:17 NIV).
Won't you accept that this God is, and receive His gift of salvation and righteousness through Jesus Christ?
Then you can truly celebrate His birth, death and resurrection; Christmas and Easter all bundled into one. Your days, months, years and eternity ahead will indeed be merry and bright as you put your faith and trust in Him for daily living despite any situation you may be experiencing. And this all because of what God has given through Jesus Christ.
~ERC December 2017~
P.S. It is very good to read the whole book of Romans in the Bible. It is in this book that we see how God sees those who have accepted His gift of salvation. He sees us as if we had never sinned. He has made us righteous in HIS sight. Justified us through Jesus Christ and our belief in Him.
Yet as we also read the book of James, we will learn that how we are seen through man's eyes, that with our faith in Jesus Christ, we must also do works. Works NOT to earn our own salvation rather as a proof of our faith. An example of an Old Testament figure, that of Abraham and his faith in God prompted him to act upon his faith in God.
Therefore we read such verses as follows from James 2:22-24 (ESV)...
"You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness"-and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone."
It is after we have put our faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation that we then learn that He prepared good works for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). We do well to put our faith into action out of our love and relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ. ~erc~
About sacrifice...giving so it hurts. They say if it doesn't hurt its not sacrifice. God gave His all in Jesus and that cost Him dearly. Costly grace.
The thought came as I was reading Romans 12:1 what a sacrifice it is to actually live out purity in this day and age; "presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice".
It's so easy to start with one little kiss. One little kiss can ignite great flames of passion.
Keeping marriage pure may well be a sacrifice for some. Forsaking all others for your "one and only". Ironically, that should be more of a pleasure and honor.
I'd encourage young people especially, in this type of sacrifice, to honor God with their bodies.
Christian young people (but marrieds too), your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit of the Almighty Living God. STOP! Consider that a minute. You, your body, is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). When we can get a grip on this miraculous phenomenon, there's a lot more we will do and not do in the way of honoring God our ever-loving Heavenly Father.
Out of that reciprocal love, honor and respect, the sacrifices we make will no longer be so burdensome or painful; rather that out-pouring of "holy and acceptable to God....spiritual worship" (ESV). In turn will be the blessing of a guided life into the purity God so desires for us all.
Romans 12:2 commands,
"Do not be conformed to this world..."
This world throws out and tramples all that "holy, holy stuff".
When the rubber hits the road of conforming to Christ instead of the world, that will truly be sacrifice. It may cost you friendship with that handsome boy or sweet girl; or friendships with others who do not see it God's way; you may be scoffed at and/or humiliated. That's part of the price of sacrifice.
Romans 12:1 calls it a "living sacrifice". If you put a live animal on an altar, do you suppose it will stay there? When things start to get hot, it definitely won't. Thus, it is a choice to stay up there (metaphorically speaking) and live God's way.
Praise the Lord we do not have to do it alone though. Christians, we each have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. Recall one of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-24; "self-control".
I really like what I read from another devotional about the Ministry of the Holy Spirit written by Julie Gossack (produced by Crossway [a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers]). Gossack said...
"Self-control...which is often translated "sober," is a sober-mindedness that gives thought before acting. Self-control, which is produced by the Holy Spirit, gives way to godly desires rather than sinful desires. A person with self-control looks to future and eternal realities rather than indulging immediate sinful impulses."
We do not have to do this kind of daily sacrificing on our own. We can work in tandem with the Lord's help. Yet we need to make that choice to allow Him to work in us.\
Recently a preacher gave the illustration of getting into your vehicle and putting the key in the ignition but not turning the key to start the car. You've got the key; you've got to "turn it on". Actually not "it" but HIM. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling, we need to allow Him to work.
Some folks call it "exercising the Spirit". Yes, we need to let Him get some exercise; the more we do, the greater He can influence our lives for good. Stay on His altar as a "living sacrifice" in all areas of our life and certainly in the area of purity. Keep yourselves pure for your spouse no matter the cost. It is "good...acceptable and perfect" in God's sight.
A further Bible verse to ponder from Galatians...
"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." (Galatians 5:20 NIV)
May you each, "by God's mercies and grace", be a "living sacrifice" for Him.
Stay on His altar.
~ERC December 2017~
