I thought I’d heard it all. How many ways can there be for a prosperity preacher to ask you to open your wallet and send him some cash anyway? So when I tuned to my local Christian station, I was not expecting to be surprised, or astounded, I was merely expecting to hear the same old and tired clichés being bandied about perhaps even by some new faces.
I was in for a treat however, because the words that I heard coming out of one of these men’s mouths were of such monumental ignorance that I decided to write an entire blog post about it. I will not mention the name, but if I did you would most likely recognize it, but as this man was wrapping up what was yet another fevered plea to ‘send in your best possible offering’ he said, ‘I know you’ve been wondering why your prayers aren’t getting answered, maybe it’s time to grease the wheels a little.’ I thought I’d misheard or that it was a slip of the tongue, but he continued down this avenue and said, ‘if you want your prayers to get to the top of God’s list, if you want Him to pay special attention, then all you have to do is grease the wheels.’
In essence this man was saying that we can bribe God into answering our prayers, not only that, but that if we gave enough, He would even move us to the top of the list.
There was a man in the Bible who thought he could bribe God as well, in fact this man was a prophet and try as he might, He just couldn’t get God to see things his way, he couldn’t get God to change His mind no matter how many altars he built and how many offerings he burned.
The man of which I speak started out honorably enough. When Balak the king of Moab sent princes to Balaam, diviner’s fee in hand, and asked that Balaam curse Israel, for whoever he blessed was blessed, and whoever he cursed was cursed, he asked the princes of Moab to sojourn overnight, that he may inquire of the Lord what he ought to do. Yes, some would say that Balaam should have already known that God would be against Balaam cursing His own people, but at least it was commendable that he inquired of the Lord.
And so, God came to Balaam, asked him who the men were, and after Balaam informed Him of who they were God gave very specific instructions, ‘You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.’ –Numbers 22:12
This should have been the end of the story; this should have been the end of the chapter. God said ‘no, you shall not curse the people’, and it ought to have ended there. Balak however, was nothing if not persistent, so he sent more numerous and more honorable princes back to Balaam, with the selfsame request that God had already denied.
It is likely that these more honorable princes, brought a more substantial diviner’s fee, because at one point Balaam says, ‘though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.’ – Numbers 22:18
Perhaps in a different post we will discuss the peculiarity of why God’s anger was aroused because Balaam went with the Moabites, even though God had told him to go if the men come to call him, but for this particular post it is enough to know that Balaam went with them.
Balaam kept asking for permission to curse Israel, God kept saying ‘no’, until Balaam came up with a plan. The diviner’s fee was substantial, and so he had to do something to make things go his employer’s way, he had to think of something that would make God change His mind.
Numbers 23:1-2, “Then Balaam said to Balak, ‘build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.’ And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”
‘Well what’s wrong with bringing sacrifice before the Lord brother Mike?’
Nothing if it’s done out of a pure heart and a clean conscience. Balaam’s reasons for bringing these sacrifices before God however were anything but noble; his heart was anything but pure; and his intentions were anything but honorable. Balaam thought he could bribe God into changing His mind, Balaam thought that if he offered God some savory bits, some rams and some bulls, then God would receive his offering and see things his way.
Numbers 23:4, “And God met Balaam, and he said to Him, ‘I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.’”
‘Look what I did, look what I did! It’s nice, isn’t it, the smell of charred ram is pleasing to Your nostrils is it not, I could’ve offered up one ram and one bull, but look Lord, I offered up seven of each, come on, this one time, see things my way.’
Bribery does not work with God, He is not impressed by how many rams we slaughter and how many bulls we offer up, in the eyes of God obedience is worth more than sacrifice, and if only Balaam had remained obedient to God, and not attempted to bribe Him into changing his mind, perhaps Balaam would have been remembered as something more than the guy who got rebuked by the donkey. Eventually Balaam got the message, he realized no matter how much he tried, or how many offerings he offered up, he could not bribe God into changing his mind, or answering His plea.
Numbers 24:1, “Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times, to seek to use sorcery, but he set his face toward the wilderness.”
Balaam finally got the message, he finally realized that just because he asked nice, or because he killed some rams, God would not change His mind regarding Israel, and so, he set his face toward the wilderness, leaving Balak and the Moabites to their fate.
Lord willing, tomorrow we will discuss what it is that does move the heart of God, because most assuredly it is not bribery.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
What Angers God?
(There was a glitch with the Blogger software, so I am reposting this essay. It appeared briefly, then for some reason it got deleted. God bless.)
What was the longest you’ve been angry at someone? How long did the argument last, two minutes, two hours, perhaps even two days? What would you say about over two hundred years? What could so anger God, that He would tell a nation that not only would He bring charges against them, but against their children’s children as well?
I was reading through the book of Jeremiah, making some notes for myself, when I happened upon a chilling verse, and as I began to ponder the question ‘what would so anger God?’ I realized that it is some of the selfsame things today’s church is guilty of.
Jeremiah 2:9, “Therefore I will yet bring charges against you,’ says the Lord, ‘and against your children’s children I will bring charges.”’
We know that God does not grow angry as men grow angry, and each time His anger is on full display there is ample reason. Because the people of Jeremiah’s time had done something, God was angry, and His anger burned with such intensity that not only was He going to bring charges against that present generation, but their children’s children as well. So back to my initial question, and the reason for this post, what could so anger God?
The first thing that angers God is formalism.
Jeremiah 2:5-8, “Thus says the Lord: ‘What injustice have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, have followed idols, and have become idolaters? Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, through a land that no one crossed and where no one dwelt?’ I brought you into a bountiful country, to eat its fruit and its goodness, but when you entered, you defiled my land and made My heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, ‘where is the Lord?’ and those who handle the law did not know Me; the rulers also transgressed against Me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.”
We must realize that during the time of Jeremiah, at least when God spoke this message to the people through His servant, the temple was there, sacrifices were taking place, the priests were going through the motions, and the ceremony, and the formality of it all, but never once did any of them ask, ‘where is the Lord?’ He wasn’t there! God was not in the temple even though it smelled of incense, and the sacrifices were plentiful, and the priests were decked out in their priestly attire, because formalism is a stench in God’s nostrils, pretend saints make Him angry, and try as they might to follow the program every day, God saw beyond the façade of their false worship to their hearts which were given over to idols and idolatry.
When God sent Jeremiah with this message, He did not say ‘go and whisper in the hearing of Jerusalem, make sure you don’t disturb them, make sure you don’t make them feel uncomfortable or ill at ease’, God said, ‘Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness to the Lord, the firstruits of His increase.’
Go and cry, tell them I am angry, because I remember how they once were, I remember how they went after Me in the wilderness, how they were holiness to the Lord, how they loved Me, and now all that remains is ceremony and formalism and clanging cymbals that make me all the more angry. Cry in the hearing of My people, that I will judge them, and I am justified in judging them, righteousness demands that I judge them, for they were given much, and they loved Me once, and now they have gone astray, and followed idols and walked after things that do not profit.
God was beholding a fallen Israel, an Israel that had lost its moral standard, and He remembered their past, how they used to be, and their fall angered Him. ‘You were out in the wilderness, with no roof over your head, in a land that had no vegetation because it was not sown, yet you loved Me! In your poverty you loved Me! In your loneliness you loved me! In your affliction you loved Me! In your birth pains you loved Me! Then I led you through the wilderness, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, a land that no one crossed, and brought you into a bountiful country to eat its fruit and its goodness, and you defiled my land and made My heritage an abomination. That is why I am angry’, says God; ‘that is why I will bring charges against you, and your children, and your children’s children!’
The form was still there, but the substance had long gone, the substance had long disappeared and removed itself from the midst of Israel.
Isaiah 1:13, “Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The new Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies – I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.”
‘But Lord were you not the One who commanded us to bring sacrifices? Were you not the One who commanded us to keep the Sabbaths? Were you not the One who commanded that we call sacred assemblies?’
Yes, it was the Lord who commanded these things, but now He was sick of them, He could not bear them, they were an abomination to Him, for He could not endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Form without substance is useless. If all we have is the form, if all we have is the ceremony and the keeping of days, and the saying of a prayer, without true righteousness and holiness, without brokenness and humility before God, they are not only useless, but they stir the anger of God.
The second thing that angers God is when we think Him our puppet.
Jeremiah 2:27, “Saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘you gave birth to me.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘arise and save us.’
It angers God when we think we can put Him in a corner, go about our own business, become idolaters in our deeds and actions, but still call upon Him in our time of trouble and say, ‘arise and save us.’
‘Leave us to the desire of our hearts God, let us do what we want to do, when we want to do it, let us pursue pleasure and earthly things, and mock your name, and despise your righteousness, but when we need You, You better show up.’
No, no dear friend, if you treat God like your puppet rather than Sovereign King and Holy Lord, if you freely offer your heart to idols and worthless things until you hit a snag, and have a mishap, and ‘need a miracle’ don’t call on God expecting Him to save you, let your idols arise and save you! Let the money you’ve been worshiping cure your cancer, let the car you’ve been coveting heal your marriage, let the pride you’ve been fueling bring you joy, God is not your puppet, you can’t just use Him as you see fit and put Him in a box the rest of the time.
God is either your God for all seasons, in your time of joy and your time of heartache, in your time of peace and your time of turmoil, in your time of plenty and in your time of need, or He is not your God at all. We can’t pick and choose the days on which we have fellowship with God, or communion with God, or obedience toward God. He is not the sunshine maker on rainy days and nothing more. He will not accept it, and it angers Him when men attempt to use Him as such.
We are not disciples, we are not worshippers, we are not servants of the most High God, we are profiteers, sycophants who stick around hoping He throws us a few bucks, and the minute He doesn’t we’ll just go on to the next one that promises us something for nothing, denying Him as though He’d never done a thing for us. Preach the truth? Not financially feasible, too little profit in it, so we become life coaches, and soothsayers and self-help gurus teaching you how to live your best life now. This is American Christianity in a nutshell!
‘I come to church so God will give me stuff! I raise my wallet toward heaven and shout, ‘fill it puppet’, and when you’re done go wax my car, then clear my acne.’
And you don’t think God is justified in His anger? And you don’t think God is justified in His judgment? You still think Him unfair, and heartless? Think again! It is we who have provoked the wrath of God, it is we who have fueled His anger, and we deserve to drink the cup of His fury, and the cup of trembling to the last drop.
The third thing that angers God is that we don’t own up to doing the first two things that angered Him. God sends His messengers and they cry aloud, ‘repent, turn away from your wickedness, turn away from your sin, turn away from your formalism, turn away from your idolatry’, and we turn around and answer ‘who me? You must be talking to somebody else, because I’ve never done any of those things.”
Jeremiah 2:33-35, “Why do you beautify your way to seek love? Therefore you have also taught the wicked women your ways. Also on your skirts is found the blood of the lives of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, but plainly on all these things. Yet you say, ‘because I am innocent, surely His anger shall turn from me.’ Behold I will plead My case against you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’”
This is the attitude of the masses when confronted with the truth of God’s Word.
‘Must be for somebody else, because I haven’t sinned, I’m innocent!’
But you forget dear soul that God has you on tape, He’s got you on instant replay from the moment you were born to the moment you will breathe your last, and you cannot say you have not sinned.
Jeremiah 2:23, “How can you say, ‘I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley; know what you have done.”
God sees, God knows, and God remembers, and it angers Him when we stand before Him and rather than fall to our knees in repentance, we lie to His face and say ‘it wasn’t me! Looks like me, talks like me, walks like me, but no, it wasn’t me, I’m innocent, I have not sinned.’
Therefore, this is why God will bring charges against us, and against our children’s children. Because we have a form of godliness, with exuberant ceremonies and lots of fanfare, but no Jesus in our midst, because we treat the King of Kings as some puppet whose strings we can pull with a prayer, and because we will not admit that we have done any of these things.
Judgment is upon us dear friends, and though we might not want to admit it is righteous and just. Know that it was difficult for me to write this message out; it tore at my heart, brought tears to my eyes, and drained every bit of energy from my fingers, but try as I might I could not get away from it, the verse kept returning to me insisting that it be fleshed out. Sometimes we must say the hard things, because only the hard things will suffice. This was one of those times, but the season for playing games with God is far gone, and we either worship Him as King and Lord, we either serve Him as Master and Savior, we either submit to His authority and will, or we will suffer His judgment long before the world does.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
What was the longest you’ve been angry at someone? How long did the argument last, two minutes, two hours, perhaps even two days? What would you say about over two hundred years? What could so anger God, that He would tell a nation that not only would He bring charges against them, but against their children’s children as well?
I was reading through the book of Jeremiah, making some notes for myself, when I happened upon a chilling verse, and as I began to ponder the question ‘what would so anger God?’ I realized that it is some of the selfsame things today’s church is guilty of.
Jeremiah 2:9, “Therefore I will yet bring charges against you,’ says the Lord, ‘and against your children’s children I will bring charges.”’
We know that God does not grow angry as men grow angry, and each time His anger is on full display there is ample reason. Because the people of Jeremiah’s time had done something, God was angry, and His anger burned with such intensity that not only was He going to bring charges against that present generation, but their children’s children as well. So back to my initial question, and the reason for this post, what could so anger God?
The first thing that angers God is formalism.
Jeremiah 2:5-8, “Thus says the Lord: ‘What injustice have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, have followed idols, and have become idolaters? Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, through a land that no one crossed and where no one dwelt?’ I brought you into a bountiful country, to eat its fruit and its goodness, but when you entered, you defiled my land and made My heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, ‘where is the Lord?’ and those who handle the law did not know Me; the rulers also transgressed against Me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.”
We must realize that during the time of Jeremiah, at least when God spoke this message to the people through His servant, the temple was there, sacrifices were taking place, the priests were going through the motions, and the ceremony, and the formality of it all, but never once did any of them ask, ‘where is the Lord?’ He wasn’t there! God was not in the temple even though it smelled of incense, and the sacrifices were plentiful, and the priests were decked out in their priestly attire, because formalism is a stench in God’s nostrils, pretend saints make Him angry, and try as they might to follow the program every day, God saw beyond the façade of their false worship to their hearts which were given over to idols and idolatry.
When God sent Jeremiah with this message, He did not say ‘go and whisper in the hearing of Jerusalem, make sure you don’t disturb them, make sure you don’t make them feel uncomfortable or ill at ease’, God said, ‘Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness to the Lord, the firstruits of His increase.’
Go and cry, tell them I am angry, because I remember how they once were, I remember how they went after Me in the wilderness, how they were holiness to the Lord, how they loved Me, and now all that remains is ceremony and formalism and clanging cymbals that make me all the more angry. Cry in the hearing of My people, that I will judge them, and I am justified in judging them, righteousness demands that I judge them, for they were given much, and they loved Me once, and now they have gone astray, and followed idols and walked after things that do not profit.
God was beholding a fallen Israel, an Israel that had lost its moral standard, and He remembered their past, how they used to be, and their fall angered Him. ‘You were out in the wilderness, with no roof over your head, in a land that had no vegetation because it was not sown, yet you loved Me! In your poverty you loved Me! In your loneliness you loved me! In your affliction you loved Me! In your birth pains you loved Me! Then I led you through the wilderness, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, a land that no one crossed, and brought you into a bountiful country to eat its fruit and its goodness, and you defiled my land and made My heritage an abomination. That is why I am angry’, says God; ‘that is why I will bring charges against you, and your children, and your children’s children!’
The form was still there, but the substance had long gone, the substance had long disappeared and removed itself from the midst of Israel.
Isaiah 1:13, “Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The new Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies – I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.”
‘But Lord were you not the One who commanded us to bring sacrifices? Were you not the One who commanded us to keep the Sabbaths? Were you not the One who commanded that we call sacred assemblies?’
Yes, it was the Lord who commanded these things, but now He was sick of them, He could not bear them, they were an abomination to Him, for He could not endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Form without substance is useless. If all we have is the form, if all we have is the ceremony and the keeping of days, and the saying of a prayer, without true righteousness and holiness, without brokenness and humility before God, they are not only useless, but they stir the anger of God.
The second thing that angers God is when we think Him our puppet.
Jeremiah 2:27, “Saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘you gave birth to me.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘arise and save us.’
It angers God when we think we can put Him in a corner, go about our own business, become idolaters in our deeds and actions, but still call upon Him in our time of trouble and say, ‘arise and save us.’
‘Leave us to the desire of our hearts God, let us do what we want to do, when we want to do it, let us pursue pleasure and earthly things, and mock your name, and despise your righteousness, but when we need You, You better show up.’
No, no dear friend, if you treat God like your puppet rather than Sovereign King and Holy Lord, if you freely offer your heart to idols and worthless things until you hit a snag, and have a mishap, and ‘need a miracle’ don’t call on God expecting Him to save you, let your idols arise and save you! Let the money you’ve been worshiping cure your cancer, let the car you’ve been coveting heal your marriage, let the pride you’ve been fueling bring you joy, God is not your puppet, you can’t just use Him as you see fit and put Him in a box the rest of the time.
God is either your God for all seasons, in your time of joy and your time of heartache, in your time of peace and your time of turmoil, in your time of plenty and in your time of need, or He is not your God at all. We can’t pick and choose the days on which we have fellowship with God, or communion with God, or obedience toward God. He is not the sunshine maker on rainy days and nothing more. He will not accept it, and it angers Him when men attempt to use Him as such.
We are not disciples, we are not worshippers, we are not servants of the most High God, we are profiteers, sycophants who stick around hoping He throws us a few bucks, and the minute He doesn’t we’ll just go on to the next one that promises us something for nothing, denying Him as though He’d never done a thing for us. Preach the truth? Not financially feasible, too little profit in it, so we become life coaches, and soothsayers and self-help gurus teaching you how to live your best life now. This is American Christianity in a nutshell!
‘I come to church so God will give me stuff! I raise my wallet toward heaven and shout, ‘fill it puppet’, and when you’re done go wax my car, then clear my acne.’
And you don’t think God is justified in His anger? And you don’t think God is justified in His judgment? You still think Him unfair, and heartless? Think again! It is we who have provoked the wrath of God, it is we who have fueled His anger, and we deserve to drink the cup of His fury, and the cup of trembling to the last drop.
The third thing that angers God is that we don’t own up to doing the first two things that angered Him. God sends His messengers and they cry aloud, ‘repent, turn away from your wickedness, turn away from your sin, turn away from your formalism, turn away from your idolatry’, and we turn around and answer ‘who me? You must be talking to somebody else, because I’ve never done any of those things.”
Jeremiah 2:33-35, “Why do you beautify your way to seek love? Therefore you have also taught the wicked women your ways. Also on your skirts is found the blood of the lives of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, but plainly on all these things. Yet you say, ‘because I am innocent, surely His anger shall turn from me.’ Behold I will plead My case against you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’”
This is the attitude of the masses when confronted with the truth of God’s Word.
‘Must be for somebody else, because I haven’t sinned, I’m innocent!’
But you forget dear soul that God has you on tape, He’s got you on instant replay from the moment you were born to the moment you will breathe your last, and you cannot say you have not sinned.
Jeremiah 2:23, “How can you say, ‘I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley; know what you have done.”
God sees, God knows, and God remembers, and it angers Him when we stand before Him and rather than fall to our knees in repentance, we lie to His face and say ‘it wasn’t me! Looks like me, talks like me, walks like me, but no, it wasn’t me, I’m innocent, I have not sinned.’
Therefore, this is why God will bring charges against us, and against our children’s children. Because we have a form of godliness, with exuberant ceremonies and lots of fanfare, but no Jesus in our midst, because we treat the King of Kings as some puppet whose strings we can pull with a prayer, and because we will not admit that we have done any of these things.
Judgment is upon us dear friends, and though we might not want to admit it is righteous and just. Know that it was difficult for me to write this message out; it tore at my heart, brought tears to my eyes, and drained every bit of energy from my fingers, but try as I might I could not get away from it, the verse kept returning to me insisting that it be fleshed out. Sometimes we must say the hard things, because only the hard things will suffice. This was one of those times, but the season for playing games with God is far gone, and we either worship Him as King and Lord, we either serve Him as Master and Savior, we either submit to His authority and will, or we will suffer His judgment long before the world does.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Changing Gods! Part 2
The second reason people change the living God for worthless idols, is because He does not fit the mold we’ve fashioned for Him. Men have this image of God in their minds, they’ve already sketched Him out on the tablets of their hearts, and if the true God does not fit their preconceived notion of Him, they change the living God to another who will.
Jesus had just fed five thousand men with nothing more than five barley loves and two small fish, His disciples had already gathered up the fragments that remained which totaled twelve baskets, and the men that had seen the signs were whispering among themselves that this truly was the Prophet who was to come into the world. Then something happened. Because in their mind’s eye the Prophet that was to come would lead them in the physical, He would be a great general and a great king, they wanted to make Jesus into something they wanted Him to be.
John 6:15, “Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, he departed again to a mountain by Himself alone.”
God said, ‘I am that I am’ not ‘I am what you want me to be!’ Forty five verses later, in the gospel according to John, the selfsame individuals who wanted to make Him king, considered Him a heretic because He had said, ‘I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.’ – John 6:51
Even many of His disciples, those who walked with Him, walked with Him no more, because the words of Jesus were not understood by them. ‘How can this man give us His flesh to eat?’ it doesn’t compute, He’s not what we thought Him to be, not what we wanted Him to be, and so, we’ll walk with Him no more.
This is the ultimate danger of believing Jesus to be something that He is not; it leads us to change gods, because in our mind’s eye He was supposed to be that one thing, and nothing more. Who do you think Jesus is? Who do you want Jesus to be? Is the Jesus you serve the Jesus of the Bible, the one who said that in this world we would have tribulation, the one who said that if the world hated Him it would hate us, the one who said that we must daily deny ourselves and pick up our crosses, or the Jesus of prosperity and self-esteem, and positivity, and lawlessness?
If your Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible, if your Jesus is something you’ve fashioned in your mind’s eye, the second your Jesus doesn’t live up to your expectations, the second your Jesus no longer fits into the mold you’ve fashioned for Him, you will change Him for worthless things and dead idols.
The third reason people change the living God for worthless idols, is because they are shocked, surprised, and overwhelmed when the way of the true God turns out to be a way of suffering, of hardship, of tears, and of self-renunciation rather than the midsummer’s jaunt through the rose petals they were told that it would be.
We are not doing anyone any favors by presenting them with a false version of Jesus, we are not doing anyone any favors by telling them that if they come to Christ, He’ll be their lifelong Zoloft, that they’ll never shed another tear, chip another nail, have another bill they can’t pay, or ever again have family disputes. We present a false Christ to the masses, because we think He is more palatable that way, we present a false Christ to the masses, because we think that it’s the only way to grow our ‘ministries’, we present a false Christ to the masses, because the true Christ is too controversial, too provocative, too contentious, too scandalous, and we are after all, civilized folks who don’t need the headache of another controversy or scandal.
So we present the eternally tolerant Jesus, the eternally optimistic Jesus, the eternally positive Jesus, the Jesus who just can’t wait to bless your socks off and give you everything your wicked heart ever desired, because who wouldn’t want that kind of Jesus in their lives?
Shame on us for reducing Jesus to nothing more than a magic genie that we call upon whenever we need something, shame on us for reducing Jesus to a blind deaf mute, who sees nothing, who hears nothing, and who says nothing when the sin in our lives is pulling us ever deeper toward the bottom of the pit.
Matthew 10:34-38, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”
We are not worthy of Him if we do not prize Him above all else in our lives, we are not worthy of Him if we do not surrender ourselves to His will in totality, nor are we worthy of Him if we do not take up our crosses and follow after Him.
He promised us eternity, He promised us heaven with Him for all time, yet we are so focused on the here and now, this flesh, and the pleasures of this flesh having so much preeminence in our daily lives, that we discount the eternal, for the temporal, the passing, the vain and the futile.
God help us!
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Jesus had just fed five thousand men with nothing more than five barley loves and two small fish, His disciples had already gathered up the fragments that remained which totaled twelve baskets, and the men that had seen the signs were whispering among themselves that this truly was the Prophet who was to come into the world. Then something happened. Because in their mind’s eye the Prophet that was to come would lead them in the physical, He would be a great general and a great king, they wanted to make Jesus into something they wanted Him to be.
John 6:15, “Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, he departed again to a mountain by Himself alone.”
God said, ‘I am that I am’ not ‘I am what you want me to be!’ Forty five verses later, in the gospel according to John, the selfsame individuals who wanted to make Him king, considered Him a heretic because He had said, ‘I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.’ – John 6:51
Even many of His disciples, those who walked with Him, walked with Him no more, because the words of Jesus were not understood by them. ‘How can this man give us His flesh to eat?’ it doesn’t compute, He’s not what we thought Him to be, not what we wanted Him to be, and so, we’ll walk with Him no more.
This is the ultimate danger of believing Jesus to be something that He is not; it leads us to change gods, because in our mind’s eye He was supposed to be that one thing, and nothing more. Who do you think Jesus is? Who do you want Jesus to be? Is the Jesus you serve the Jesus of the Bible, the one who said that in this world we would have tribulation, the one who said that if the world hated Him it would hate us, the one who said that we must daily deny ourselves and pick up our crosses, or the Jesus of prosperity and self-esteem, and positivity, and lawlessness?
If your Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible, if your Jesus is something you’ve fashioned in your mind’s eye, the second your Jesus doesn’t live up to your expectations, the second your Jesus no longer fits into the mold you’ve fashioned for Him, you will change Him for worthless things and dead idols.
The third reason people change the living God for worthless idols, is because they are shocked, surprised, and overwhelmed when the way of the true God turns out to be a way of suffering, of hardship, of tears, and of self-renunciation rather than the midsummer’s jaunt through the rose petals they were told that it would be.
We are not doing anyone any favors by presenting them with a false version of Jesus, we are not doing anyone any favors by telling them that if they come to Christ, He’ll be their lifelong Zoloft, that they’ll never shed another tear, chip another nail, have another bill they can’t pay, or ever again have family disputes. We present a false Christ to the masses, because we think He is more palatable that way, we present a false Christ to the masses, because we think that it’s the only way to grow our ‘ministries’, we present a false Christ to the masses, because the true Christ is too controversial, too provocative, too contentious, too scandalous, and we are after all, civilized folks who don’t need the headache of another controversy or scandal.
So we present the eternally tolerant Jesus, the eternally optimistic Jesus, the eternally positive Jesus, the Jesus who just can’t wait to bless your socks off and give you everything your wicked heart ever desired, because who wouldn’t want that kind of Jesus in their lives?
Shame on us for reducing Jesus to nothing more than a magic genie that we call upon whenever we need something, shame on us for reducing Jesus to a blind deaf mute, who sees nothing, who hears nothing, and who says nothing when the sin in our lives is pulling us ever deeper toward the bottom of the pit.
Matthew 10:34-38, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”
We are not worthy of Him if we do not prize Him above all else in our lives, we are not worthy of Him if we do not surrender ourselves to His will in totality, nor are we worthy of Him if we do not take up our crosses and follow after Him.
He promised us eternity, He promised us heaven with Him for all time, yet we are so focused on the here and now, this flesh, and the pleasures of this flesh having so much preeminence in our daily lives, that we discount the eternal, for the temporal, the passing, the vain and the futile.
God help us!
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Changing Gods! Part 1
Jeremiah 2:10-13, “For pass beyond the coasts of Cyprus and see, send to Kedar and consider diligently, and see if there has been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit. Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be very desolate,’ says the Lord. For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
Yes, we are still in Jeremiah, and yes, this is yet another difficult message to commit to paper. During the past few weeks God has been dealing with me more not with the fact that judgment is coming, but rather that the judgment which is coming is justified and long overdue. Every passage that I read in Scripture, every teaching outline that I begin to prepare, inevitably leads me to this singular conclusion, that the judgment of God is justified.
We live in a nation that has managed to do what was done once before in history and that is change gods. When it happened the first time, God’s reaction was self-evident, in that He told Jeremiah to investigate, send messengers far and wide to see if such a thing had ever been done before. ‘Consider diligently’ God said, investigate and see if ever another nation has changed its gods as Israel had. Not only had Israel changed its gods, they changed their Glory, for what does not profit. The gods they now served were dead, and impotent and worthless, and it was for these dead things, for these idols, for these pleasures, for the self that they betrayed and forsook the one true God.
If we were to believe the newfangled heresies pouring out of the mouths of the emergent elite, God’s reaction should have been very different.
‘Well, you changed, gods, you forsook Me, but that’s ok, as long as you worship a god, because you know all gods lead to the same destination, all paths lead to the same mountaintop, so it’s all right, I understand, proceed!’
That was not God’s reaction! ‘Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid’, God said, ‘be very desolate, for my people have committed two evils, they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and fashioned, or hewn for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water.’
We treat God like that used car we have out front, that served us well for a time, but now it just takes too much work. New models have been released, models that use less energy, models that require less work on our part, models that have integrated smart phones, leather interiors, and heated seats, and that promise a more comfortable ride. Yep, it’s time to trade it in, it’s time to go on to newer, and better, and shinier. The only problem is that old model saved your live on more than one occasion, you even survived a head on collision because it was built to last, and it was strong and it was durable, and no matter how much you abused it, it never let you down, never left you in a rut, never abandoned you when you needed it most.
‘But the guy selling me the new car is offering a warranty’, you say, ‘and I’ll be more careful with my new car than I was with my old one, and I’ll keep myself safe, and watch out for accidents.’
Of course he does, of course you will, until you realize the warranty he offered, the guarantee he gave you that you would make it to heaven, even if you changed gods wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on, and the notion of keeping yourself safe from harm, and protecting yourself on your own was as ludicrous and childish as your actions.
Men are trying to sell the church on new gods at discounted prices, as long as we’re willing to trade the old one in, and more people than we would like to admit have taken the bait, they’ve signed on the dotted line, and have walked away from the one true God.
We know this is happening, we see it every day, but the big question, as far as I am concerned, is why? Why is it that men change the living God, for worthless things, why is it that men forsake the fountain of living water for broken cisterns that can hold no water?
The first reason people change the living God for worthless idols, is because they see nothing more than a mere man in the Son of God.
We all know the story of the woman at the well, we know that Jesus was in Sychar, sitting by Jacob’s well, when a woman of Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus asked her for a drink.
John 4:9-10, “Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, ‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
At this point all this woman saw was a Jew. She saw a man, who’d asked her for a drink who happened to be a Jew, and herself being a Samaritan quickly pointed out the fact that Jews and Samaritans have no dealings with each other.
Somewhat further into the retelling of the event, after Jesus reveals her sins to her, and tells her she’s had no less than five husbands, the woman climbs the ladder of understanding by one rung and says to Jesus, ‘Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet,’ but that was not good enough either.
There were other prophets in Scripture, and seeing Christ as merely a prophet is not sufficient, it is not enough.
They continued their conversation awhile longer, Jesus revealing the secrets of her heart to her, until the Samaritan woman began to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
John 4:25-26, “The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ) ‘When He comes He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’”
John 4:28-29, ‘The woman left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, ‘come see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’”
We see too little in the Son of God, we minimize who He is, we consider Him a good teacher, a prophet, but not the Son of God who died and rose again, not The Word who was from the beginning with God, not the only truth, or the only life, or the only way, no, just a nice guy with a grizzled beard who said nice things. This is why we change gods, because we do not see the King standing before us, we do not know that the Glory of God is before us, for if we acknowledged this, we would fall to our knees and ask that He give us living water to drink to our fill.
We are not dealing with a man, we are not dealing with a prophet, we are not changing one guru for another, we are dealing with God, and we are changing the Glory of God, for worthless idols that give us momentary pleasure and nothing more.
We have ample reason to be astonished, we have ample reason to be horribly afraid and desolate, for we have forsaken the One who divides the soul from the spirit, and the joints from the marrow, who is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and given ourselves over to vanity and futility.
Hebrews 4:12-13, “For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him whom we must give account to.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Yes, we are still in Jeremiah, and yes, this is yet another difficult message to commit to paper. During the past few weeks God has been dealing with me more not with the fact that judgment is coming, but rather that the judgment which is coming is justified and long overdue. Every passage that I read in Scripture, every teaching outline that I begin to prepare, inevitably leads me to this singular conclusion, that the judgment of God is justified.
We live in a nation that has managed to do what was done once before in history and that is change gods. When it happened the first time, God’s reaction was self-evident, in that He told Jeremiah to investigate, send messengers far and wide to see if such a thing had ever been done before. ‘Consider diligently’ God said, investigate and see if ever another nation has changed its gods as Israel had. Not only had Israel changed its gods, they changed their Glory, for what does not profit. The gods they now served were dead, and impotent and worthless, and it was for these dead things, for these idols, for these pleasures, for the self that they betrayed and forsook the one true God.
If we were to believe the newfangled heresies pouring out of the mouths of the emergent elite, God’s reaction should have been very different.
‘Well, you changed, gods, you forsook Me, but that’s ok, as long as you worship a god, because you know all gods lead to the same destination, all paths lead to the same mountaintop, so it’s all right, I understand, proceed!’
That was not God’s reaction! ‘Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid’, God said, ‘be very desolate, for my people have committed two evils, they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and fashioned, or hewn for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water.’
We treat God like that used car we have out front, that served us well for a time, but now it just takes too much work. New models have been released, models that use less energy, models that require less work on our part, models that have integrated smart phones, leather interiors, and heated seats, and that promise a more comfortable ride. Yep, it’s time to trade it in, it’s time to go on to newer, and better, and shinier. The only problem is that old model saved your live on more than one occasion, you even survived a head on collision because it was built to last, and it was strong and it was durable, and no matter how much you abused it, it never let you down, never left you in a rut, never abandoned you when you needed it most.
‘But the guy selling me the new car is offering a warranty’, you say, ‘and I’ll be more careful with my new car than I was with my old one, and I’ll keep myself safe, and watch out for accidents.’
Of course he does, of course you will, until you realize the warranty he offered, the guarantee he gave you that you would make it to heaven, even if you changed gods wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on, and the notion of keeping yourself safe from harm, and protecting yourself on your own was as ludicrous and childish as your actions.
Men are trying to sell the church on new gods at discounted prices, as long as we’re willing to trade the old one in, and more people than we would like to admit have taken the bait, they’ve signed on the dotted line, and have walked away from the one true God.
We know this is happening, we see it every day, but the big question, as far as I am concerned, is why? Why is it that men change the living God, for worthless things, why is it that men forsake the fountain of living water for broken cisterns that can hold no water?
The first reason people change the living God for worthless idols, is because they see nothing more than a mere man in the Son of God.
We all know the story of the woman at the well, we know that Jesus was in Sychar, sitting by Jacob’s well, when a woman of Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus asked her for a drink.
John 4:9-10, “Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, ‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
At this point all this woman saw was a Jew. She saw a man, who’d asked her for a drink who happened to be a Jew, and herself being a Samaritan quickly pointed out the fact that Jews and Samaritans have no dealings with each other.
Somewhat further into the retelling of the event, after Jesus reveals her sins to her, and tells her she’s had no less than five husbands, the woman climbs the ladder of understanding by one rung and says to Jesus, ‘Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet,’ but that was not good enough either.
There were other prophets in Scripture, and seeing Christ as merely a prophet is not sufficient, it is not enough.
They continued their conversation awhile longer, Jesus revealing the secrets of her heart to her, until the Samaritan woman began to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
John 4:25-26, “The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ) ‘When He comes He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’”
John 4:28-29, ‘The woman left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, ‘come see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’”
We see too little in the Son of God, we minimize who He is, we consider Him a good teacher, a prophet, but not the Son of God who died and rose again, not The Word who was from the beginning with God, not the only truth, or the only life, or the only way, no, just a nice guy with a grizzled beard who said nice things. This is why we change gods, because we do not see the King standing before us, we do not know that the Glory of God is before us, for if we acknowledged this, we would fall to our knees and ask that He give us living water to drink to our fill.
We are not dealing with a man, we are not dealing with a prophet, we are not changing one guru for another, we are dealing with God, and we are changing the Glory of God, for worthless idols that give us momentary pleasure and nothing more.
We have ample reason to be astonished, we have ample reason to be horribly afraid and desolate, for we have forsaken the One who divides the soul from the spirit, and the joints from the marrow, who is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and given ourselves over to vanity and futility.
Hebrews 4:12-13, “For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him whom we must give account to.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The Battle For The Borders!
A nation is known by its borders. Every nation on this planet has specifically delineated lines, and when you exit one nation and enter another, not only are you summarily informed that you are indeed passing onto the land of another nation, but chances are you will have to go through a checkpoint of some kind wherein your passport is checked, and if a visa is required for the country you are entering, that is likewise verified and scrutinized. I’ve been traveling for most of my life, in fact since the age of twelve not a month has gone by where I haven’t been on the road, living out of a suitcase, eating frozen burritos and hoping the chicken wings I had at the last truck stop won’t kill me. Admittedly most of my travel is within the borders of the United States, but I do travel internationally a few times a year, and whether I’m driving, or flying there is no way you can make it into another country without knowing it. There’s no such thing as an accidental border crossing, and anyone that says they entered a certain nation unwittingly is not only a liar but a fool.
Chances are also good that a citizen of any given nation can recognize the outline of their nation’s borders, if not outright draw it on a piece of paper, and they know what nation they are a citizen of.
With the exception of exceptional cases such as the Trojan horse, most battles for a nation are carried out on its borders. Invading armies attempt to cross into the neighboring nation’s sovereign territory, the neighboring nation defends itself with everything it has at its disposal, and the invading armies either retreat, or conquer the defenders thereby gaining ground, redrawing the map, and eventually if they are not successfully pushed back, overtaking the nation altogether.
1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”
Not only are we now the people of God made family in Christ Jesus, but Peter tells us we are also a holy nation. Yes, we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, those who were called out of darkness into His marvelous light, and as a nation we have borders which the enemy even now is attempting to erase, or assail. We are a nation within a nation, just as Israel was a nation within a nation during the days of Esther. After Haman was promoted by the king, after he was advanced and his seat was set above all the princes who were with him, Haman brought it to the king’s attention that there was a separate nation within his kingdom made of scattered and dispersed people, and in his opinion it would not be fitting for the king to let them remain.
Esther 3:8, “Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, ‘there is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain.’”
So why did Haman want to destroy the people of Israel? Why was he willing to pay thirty tons of silver, which is roughly what ten thousand talents of silver weigh to those who would carry out the bloody work of eradicating the people of Mordecai? Haman wanted to destroy Mordecai and his people, because Mordecai would not bow or pay homage to him.
The enemy in whose nation we are scattered and dispersed hates us with the same burning intensity as that with which Haman hated the Jews of old. He is willing to go to any lengths, pay any price, to see us destroyed. Unlike Mordecai who was ignorant of Haman’s plans at least in the beginning of this saga, we know what our enemy is planning, we know the lengths to which he will go, and we know the venomous hatred he has towards us. We are at war, of this be certain, and it is a war in which our enemy takes no prisoners. His onslaught is unceasing, he attacks the borders of our faith time and time again, and in recent years has had conspirators who have been working from inside the borders of the holy nation to destroy it from within.
Another thing that differentiates one nation from the other is the language that they speak. My mother lived in America for over a decade, but anyone could tell she was from a different country when she opened her mouth and tried to speak English. Her accent was heavy, her words were stilted, there was a difference in her cadence and her sentence structure and no matter how hard she tried, everyone knew she was from a different place.
Our conduct must reveal our nature. Our speech, our reaction to adversity, our even temperament, our humility, our joy, our peace, all these things must betray the fact that we are spiritual men. We don’t have to walk around with a billboard hanging around our necks identifying ourselves as Christians; men ought to know that we are Christians simply by our nature.
The third thing that differentiates one nation from the other is the flag or the banner by which the nation is identified. We have a banner, we have a flag, and this banner has been given to those who fear the Lord, and it is called Jesus.
Psalm 60:4, “You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah”
Isaiah 11:10, “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.”
Our flag must always be displayed; Christ must always be exalted, because of the truth. If we who are citizens of the holy nation will not display our banner, if we who are citizens of the holy nation will not exalt Christ, then who will? There is no one else, it’s you and it’s me, and it’s all those who love His appearing, that must lift high the banner of Christ.
Never forget that we are a nation, a nation with our own borders, a nation with our own language, and a nation with our own banner. Mark your borders well, defend them if you must, for when you defend the borders of the holy nation, the One who bled and died on Calvary’s tree will stand by your side and defend His kingdom. Be not ashamed that you speak a different language, be not ashamed when others identify you by your peculiarity, but rather rejoice, for we are not to be as the world is, and we are not to conduct ourselves as the world does. Above all, never stop waiving the banner of Christ, for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place, when all our labors are done, and all our battles are fought, and all the bleeding and the tears and the heartache have ended, shall be a glorious resting place indeed.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Chances are also good that a citizen of any given nation can recognize the outline of their nation’s borders, if not outright draw it on a piece of paper, and they know what nation they are a citizen of.
With the exception of exceptional cases such as the Trojan horse, most battles for a nation are carried out on its borders. Invading armies attempt to cross into the neighboring nation’s sovereign territory, the neighboring nation defends itself with everything it has at its disposal, and the invading armies either retreat, or conquer the defenders thereby gaining ground, redrawing the map, and eventually if they are not successfully pushed back, overtaking the nation altogether.
1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”
Not only are we now the people of God made family in Christ Jesus, but Peter tells us we are also a holy nation. Yes, we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, those who were called out of darkness into His marvelous light, and as a nation we have borders which the enemy even now is attempting to erase, or assail. We are a nation within a nation, just as Israel was a nation within a nation during the days of Esther. After Haman was promoted by the king, after he was advanced and his seat was set above all the princes who were with him, Haman brought it to the king’s attention that there was a separate nation within his kingdom made of scattered and dispersed people, and in his opinion it would not be fitting for the king to let them remain.
Esther 3:8, “Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, ‘there is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain.’”
So why did Haman want to destroy the people of Israel? Why was he willing to pay thirty tons of silver, which is roughly what ten thousand talents of silver weigh to those who would carry out the bloody work of eradicating the people of Mordecai? Haman wanted to destroy Mordecai and his people, because Mordecai would not bow or pay homage to him.
The enemy in whose nation we are scattered and dispersed hates us with the same burning intensity as that with which Haman hated the Jews of old. He is willing to go to any lengths, pay any price, to see us destroyed. Unlike Mordecai who was ignorant of Haman’s plans at least in the beginning of this saga, we know what our enemy is planning, we know the lengths to which he will go, and we know the venomous hatred he has towards us. We are at war, of this be certain, and it is a war in which our enemy takes no prisoners. His onslaught is unceasing, he attacks the borders of our faith time and time again, and in recent years has had conspirators who have been working from inside the borders of the holy nation to destroy it from within.
Another thing that differentiates one nation from the other is the language that they speak. My mother lived in America for over a decade, but anyone could tell she was from a different country when she opened her mouth and tried to speak English. Her accent was heavy, her words were stilted, there was a difference in her cadence and her sentence structure and no matter how hard she tried, everyone knew she was from a different place.
Our conduct must reveal our nature. Our speech, our reaction to adversity, our even temperament, our humility, our joy, our peace, all these things must betray the fact that we are spiritual men. We don’t have to walk around with a billboard hanging around our necks identifying ourselves as Christians; men ought to know that we are Christians simply by our nature.
The third thing that differentiates one nation from the other is the flag or the banner by which the nation is identified. We have a banner, we have a flag, and this banner has been given to those who fear the Lord, and it is called Jesus.
Psalm 60:4, “You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah”
Isaiah 11:10, “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.”
Our flag must always be displayed; Christ must always be exalted, because of the truth. If we who are citizens of the holy nation will not display our banner, if we who are citizens of the holy nation will not exalt Christ, then who will? There is no one else, it’s you and it’s me, and it’s all those who love His appearing, that must lift high the banner of Christ.
Never forget that we are a nation, a nation with our own borders, a nation with our own language, and a nation with our own banner. Mark your borders well, defend them if you must, for when you defend the borders of the holy nation, the One who bled and died on Calvary’s tree will stand by your side and defend His kingdom. Be not ashamed that you speak a different language, be not ashamed when others identify you by your peculiarity, but rather rejoice, for we are not to be as the world is, and we are not to conduct ourselves as the world does. Above all, never stop waiving the banner of Christ, for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place, when all our labors are done, and all our battles are fought, and all the bleeding and the tears and the heartache have ended, shall be a glorious resting place indeed.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Eight Reasons You Should Read Your Bible Every Day! Part 2
The fifth reason we should read our Bibles every day, is because the Bible reveals what our duty is toward God, and what our responsibility is toward our fellow man.
Yes, we have a duty before God, and as followers of Christ, as the redeemed and sanctified we have a responsibility toward our fellow man, to trumpet the truth of Jesus, and tell all who would hear that within the pages of the Book, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.
Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith.’”
Isaiah 34:16-17, “Search from the book of the Lord, and read: not one of these shall fail; not one shall lack her mate. For My mouth has commanded it, and His Spirit has gathered them. He has cast the lot for them, and His hand has divided it among them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever; from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.”
Do you want to know what the future holds? Do you want to know the fate of Israel? Do you want to know the power of God to salvation? Search from the book of the Lord and read, and you will know. Every question you might have concerning God, concerning the times and the seasons we are living in, and concerning salvation itself, is answered in God’s holy word. Does God still speak prophetically to His children? Yes, of course He does, because He is an unchanging God, but we cannot substitute prophecy for the Word of God, we cannot dismiss the Bible just because we received a word from the Lord. Be not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.
The sixth reason we should read our bibles every day is because the Bible is the only sure foundation for doctrine.
2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Within the pages of Scripture we have the foundation of our doctrine, and if the foundation of our doctrine is the Word of God, then it is sure, and permanent, and unshakable. The teachings of men, the doctrines of men, these things will all be shaken and some are being shaken as I write these lines. Nothing will remain that is not tethered to God and anchored in His word, and it is God who will pull off the mask and reveal the fallacy of what so many have been teaching in regards to both His return, our conduct while we sojourn here, God’s expectations of His children, and what we are entitled to as children of God. In order for us as men and women of God to be complete, in order for us to be thoroughly equipped for every good work, we must know the Scriptures, we must know the Bible and let it reside and grow in our hearts. It is the Word, it is the Scripture that corrects us, it is the Scripture that reproofs us, it is the Scripture that instructs us, and it is the Scripture that we must have as the foundation of our doctrine.
We must stop trying to excuse heresy, we must stop trying to excuse false doctrine, we must stop trying to excuse unbiblical manifestations, and be bold in our convictions, standing on the Word, and decrying these things for what they are. It is scripture that is profitable for doctrine, not my opinion, not my feelings, not my thoughts, but Scripture. If my thoughts, my views, my opinions or my feelings differ or are in direct opposition to Scripture, then it is I who is in the wrong, and not the Word of God.
The most ludicrous words we can ever utter are, ‘I know that’s what the Bible says, but I feel different; I know that’s what the Bible says but I think it should’ve said something else.’
What an impudent, brazen and rebellious people we have become, that we dare question God, and second guess Him at every turn, then have the audacity to shake our fists at Him for having removed His blessing and protection from our midst. You can’t have God on your terms; I can’t have God on my terms; if we are to have God, it will be on His terms, and His terms alone.
The seventh reason we should read our Bibles every day, is because the word of God is the only lasting foundation for our faith.
If you build your faith on anything other than God’s Word, the day will come when the foundation upon which you’ve build it will crumble. All things pass away, whether it be men, their teachings, their lives, their works, but the only thing that will not pass away, though heaven and earth might, are His words.
Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
So where do we find His words? In His Book! There can be no substitute for reading the Word of God, no matter how worthwhile one might think that substitute to be. If it’s between reading this blog and the Bible, read the Bible! I know, shot myself in the foot again, discouraging people from reading what I write, but my purpose in this blog from the beginning has always been to make you self-sufficient, and show you the paramount need for feeding yourselves rather than being dependent on others to do it. Do I appreciate the fact that you read what I write? Yes, of course I do, but I know my place, I know my level of importance, and unlike some, I do not have a swelled head, I do not think my words equal Scripture, and so, if you only have time for one of the two, read your Bible. The Word of God is life, it reveals to us the Christ, who in turn is the only means by which we can come to the Father. It is necessary for us as believers to read it, and know it, and let it take root in our hearts that we might in turn be fruitful servants of the Most High God.
The eighth reason we should read our Bibles every day, is because the Bible is food for our souls.
Jeremiah 15:16, “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.”
In order to understand how precious the Word of God is, we must have the right attitude toward it. It is not just a book, it is not just an instruction manual, it is the living word of God, inspired by the Spirit of God, which is able to nourish us and give us spiritual succor. Is His word the joy and rejoicing of your heart? If not, why not?
To this day men still die for the sake of this precious Word we take for granted on a daily basis. To this day men lay their lives on the line, and kiss their families goodbye as if for the last time in order to take this Holy Book to those hungry for it. If only we were as committed to God in our freedom as others are in persecution, what a wondrous and glorious church we would be!
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Yes, we have a duty before God, and as followers of Christ, as the redeemed and sanctified we have a responsibility toward our fellow man, to trumpet the truth of Jesus, and tell all who would hear that within the pages of the Book, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.
Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith.’”
Isaiah 34:16-17, “Search from the book of the Lord, and read: not one of these shall fail; not one shall lack her mate. For My mouth has commanded it, and His Spirit has gathered them. He has cast the lot for them, and His hand has divided it among them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever; from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.”
Do you want to know what the future holds? Do you want to know the fate of Israel? Do you want to know the power of God to salvation? Search from the book of the Lord and read, and you will know. Every question you might have concerning God, concerning the times and the seasons we are living in, and concerning salvation itself, is answered in God’s holy word. Does God still speak prophetically to His children? Yes, of course He does, because He is an unchanging God, but we cannot substitute prophecy for the Word of God, we cannot dismiss the Bible just because we received a word from the Lord. Be not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.
The sixth reason we should read our bibles every day is because the Bible is the only sure foundation for doctrine.
2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Within the pages of Scripture we have the foundation of our doctrine, and if the foundation of our doctrine is the Word of God, then it is sure, and permanent, and unshakable. The teachings of men, the doctrines of men, these things will all be shaken and some are being shaken as I write these lines. Nothing will remain that is not tethered to God and anchored in His word, and it is God who will pull off the mask and reveal the fallacy of what so many have been teaching in regards to both His return, our conduct while we sojourn here, God’s expectations of His children, and what we are entitled to as children of God. In order for us as men and women of God to be complete, in order for us to be thoroughly equipped for every good work, we must know the Scriptures, we must know the Bible and let it reside and grow in our hearts. It is the Word, it is the Scripture that corrects us, it is the Scripture that reproofs us, it is the Scripture that instructs us, and it is the Scripture that we must have as the foundation of our doctrine.
We must stop trying to excuse heresy, we must stop trying to excuse false doctrine, we must stop trying to excuse unbiblical manifestations, and be bold in our convictions, standing on the Word, and decrying these things for what they are. It is scripture that is profitable for doctrine, not my opinion, not my feelings, not my thoughts, but Scripture. If my thoughts, my views, my opinions or my feelings differ or are in direct opposition to Scripture, then it is I who is in the wrong, and not the Word of God.
The most ludicrous words we can ever utter are, ‘I know that’s what the Bible says, but I feel different; I know that’s what the Bible says but I think it should’ve said something else.’
What an impudent, brazen and rebellious people we have become, that we dare question God, and second guess Him at every turn, then have the audacity to shake our fists at Him for having removed His blessing and protection from our midst. You can’t have God on your terms; I can’t have God on my terms; if we are to have God, it will be on His terms, and His terms alone.
The seventh reason we should read our Bibles every day, is because the word of God is the only lasting foundation for our faith.
If you build your faith on anything other than God’s Word, the day will come when the foundation upon which you’ve build it will crumble. All things pass away, whether it be men, their teachings, their lives, their works, but the only thing that will not pass away, though heaven and earth might, are His words.
Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
So where do we find His words? In His Book! There can be no substitute for reading the Word of God, no matter how worthwhile one might think that substitute to be. If it’s between reading this blog and the Bible, read the Bible! I know, shot myself in the foot again, discouraging people from reading what I write, but my purpose in this blog from the beginning has always been to make you self-sufficient, and show you the paramount need for feeding yourselves rather than being dependent on others to do it. Do I appreciate the fact that you read what I write? Yes, of course I do, but I know my place, I know my level of importance, and unlike some, I do not have a swelled head, I do not think my words equal Scripture, and so, if you only have time for one of the two, read your Bible. The Word of God is life, it reveals to us the Christ, who in turn is the only means by which we can come to the Father. It is necessary for us as believers to read it, and know it, and let it take root in our hearts that we might in turn be fruitful servants of the Most High God.
The eighth reason we should read our Bibles every day, is because the Bible is food for our souls.
Jeremiah 15:16, “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.”
In order to understand how precious the Word of God is, we must have the right attitude toward it. It is not just a book, it is not just an instruction manual, it is the living word of God, inspired by the Spirit of God, which is able to nourish us and give us spiritual succor. Is His word the joy and rejoicing of your heart? If not, why not?
To this day men still die for the sake of this precious Word we take for granted on a daily basis. To this day men lay their lives on the line, and kiss their families goodbye as if for the last time in order to take this Holy Book to those hungry for it. If only we were as committed to God in our freedom as others are in persecution, what a wondrous and glorious church we would be!
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Eight Reasons You Should Read Your Bible Every Day! Part 1
Last Sunday after service, a young man came up to me and after introducing himself said, ‘if there was one thing you could recommend to do on a daily basis that would help me in my spiritual walk and help me grow in God, what would it be?’
Without a second’s worth of hesitation, I looked him in the eyes and said, ‘read your Bible every day!’ I spent most of yesterday contemplating my answer to the young man, thinking on the reasons I would have given him if he would have pressed the issue and asked ‘why’, and today I want to discuss the eight reasons I thought of for reading our Bibles on a daily basis.
The first reason we should read our Bibles every day is because it makes us wise for salvation.
2 Timothy 3:14-15, “But as for you, continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
I’ve said it before in different contexts, and I’ll say it again, our knowledge of God is limited by our knowledge of His word. There is a reason God gave us the Bible, and that is to know it and live it. As Paul writes to Timothy he reminds him that from childhood he had known the Holy Scriptures, and because he had known them, they were as an anchor for his faith, making him wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
There are a lot of assumptions in today’s churches, men making up doctrine as they go along, because their faith is not anchored in the Word of God, and because they are not diligent in the study thereof. After hearing him preach, the Bereans would go home and study the scriptures to see if what Paul had said, lined up with the Word. They realized the importance of biblical teaching, they realized the importance of biblical doctrine, and were diligent in making sure that they received nothing that was not making them wise for salvation. It would be well for us to learn from the Bereans and be diligent in our study of God’s Word, because if you know the Word of God, you will instantly discern the deception when you hear it. If we are ignorant of the Word however, if something sounds good, we just take it at face value, accept it, and run with it like a relay runner having received the baton.
I realize that to some I might be sounding like a broken record by now, I realize that to some it might seem like I’m beating a dead horse, but we need to get back to the simplicity of the Gospel, and be diligent in our study of it. Rather than comb the internet to see what various apologetics ministries are saying concerning a certain teaching or doctrine, we ought to know the Word of God well enough to know off hand if what we’ve heard is truth or fallacy.
The second reason we should read our Bibles every day, is because those who are ignorant of Scripture remain in darkness.
There are consequences to not knowing the scriptures, there are consequences to not knowing what the Word of God says, and the consequence of ignorance when it comes to God’s Word, is perpetual darkness.
There was a moment during Christ’s ministry on earth when some Sadducees who did not believe in resurrection came to confront Jesus and presented Him with a convoluted hypothetical situation wherein seven brothers would eventually be married to the same woman, asking which of the seven would be her husband in the resurrection. Christ’s answer was nothing more than Scripture, but before giving His answer he called the Sadducees deceived because they neither knew the Scriptures nor the power of God.
Matthew 22:29-32, “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
These men were Sadducees, members of a priestly, aristocratic order, and they ought to have known better. It was their ignorance of Scripture that kept them in the darkness they believed to be light, going so far as to confront Jesus and attempt to discredit Him. When men are ignorant of the Scriptures it is often that they consider the darkness they are in to be light, going so far as to deny the Christ, and make it their life’s mission to discredit Him.
The third reason we should read our Bibles every day, is because the Word of God, the Bible, is a lamp unto our feet, and a light to our path.
Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.”
I don’t believe it’s an accident that the longest chapter in the Bible, namely Psalm 119, is also an acrostic, or a poem in praise of the Scriptures. This Psalm contains some of the most beautiful words ever written regarding the Scriptures, and one can discern the psalmist’s heart by the way in which he approaches them. ‘I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statues; I will not forget your word.’
The only way in which we will not forget God’s Word, is by daily reading it, meditating upon it and consuming it. The psalmist knew the importance of knowing, and remembering, meditating, and living the word of God, realizing that absent the word, he would be as a blind man stumbling in the darkness with no way to know when that last and fatal step would take him over the edge of the precipice. God’s word is a lamp to our feet, and light to our path, it is by the Word that we see the path we must walk, and it is the word that keeps us from stumbling or going off course.
The fourth reason we should read our Bibles every day, is because it is a light that shines in a dark place.
When we have the Word in our hearts, it shines forth in the darkness of this present world; it is as a beacon, and a lighthouse to those who are stumbling in the darkness looking for a way out. If we do not have the Word of God in our hearts, then we have no light, and cry out as we might ‘come to the light, come to the light’ those in darkness will see no light in us.
2 Peter 1:19-21, “We also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
Isaiah 60:1-3, “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”
A deep darkness covers the people, it extends beyond the borders of this nation to the whole of the earth, and the only way by which we will be able to reach those who are in the darkness is to let the light of His Word shine bright. Gentiles and kings alike will come to the brightness of the light, they will be drawn to the hope and the peace and the joy that it contains if we possess it and live in accordance with its statutes.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Without a second’s worth of hesitation, I looked him in the eyes and said, ‘read your Bible every day!’ I spent most of yesterday contemplating my answer to the young man, thinking on the reasons I would have given him if he would have pressed the issue and asked ‘why’, and today I want to discuss the eight reasons I thought of for reading our Bibles on a daily basis.
The first reason we should read our Bibles every day is because it makes us wise for salvation.
2 Timothy 3:14-15, “But as for you, continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
I’ve said it before in different contexts, and I’ll say it again, our knowledge of God is limited by our knowledge of His word. There is a reason God gave us the Bible, and that is to know it and live it. As Paul writes to Timothy he reminds him that from childhood he had known the Holy Scriptures, and because he had known them, they were as an anchor for his faith, making him wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
There are a lot of assumptions in today’s churches, men making up doctrine as they go along, because their faith is not anchored in the Word of God, and because they are not diligent in the study thereof. After hearing him preach, the Bereans would go home and study the scriptures to see if what Paul had said, lined up with the Word. They realized the importance of biblical teaching, they realized the importance of biblical doctrine, and were diligent in making sure that they received nothing that was not making them wise for salvation. It would be well for us to learn from the Bereans and be diligent in our study of God’s Word, because if you know the Word of God, you will instantly discern the deception when you hear it. If we are ignorant of the Word however, if something sounds good, we just take it at face value, accept it, and run with it like a relay runner having received the baton.
I realize that to some I might be sounding like a broken record by now, I realize that to some it might seem like I’m beating a dead horse, but we need to get back to the simplicity of the Gospel, and be diligent in our study of it. Rather than comb the internet to see what various apologetics ministries are saying concerning a certain teaching or doctrine, we ought to know the Word of God well enough to know off hand if what we’ve heard is truth or fallacy.
The second reason we should read our Bibles every day, is because those who are ignorant of Scripture remain in darkness.
There are consequences to not knowing the scriptures, there are consequences to not knowing what the Word of God says, and the consequence of ignorance when it comes to God’s Word, is perpetual darkness.
There was a moment during Christ’s ministry on earth when some Sadducees who did not believe in resurrection came to confront Jesus and presented Him with a convoluted hypothetical situation wherein seven brothers would eventually be married to the same woman, asking which of the seven would be her husband in the resurrection. Christ’s answer was nothing more than Scripture, but before giving His answer he called the Sadducees deceived because they neither knew the Scriptures nor the power of God.
Matthew 22:29-32, “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
These men were Sadducees, members of a priestly, aristocratic order, and they ought to have known better. It was their ignorance of Scripture that kept them in the darkness they believed to be light, going so far as to confront Jesus and attempt to discredit Him. When men are ignorant of the Scriptures it is often that they consider the darkness they are in to be light, going so far as to deny the Christ, and make it their life’s mission to discredit Him.
The third reason we should read our Bibles every day, is because the Word of God, the Bible, is a lamp unto our feet, and a light to our path.
Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.”
I don’t believe it’s an accident that the longest chapter in the Bible, namely Psalm 119, is also an acrostic, or a poem in praise of the Scriptures. This Psalm contains some of the most beautiful words ever written regarding the Scriptures, and one can discern the psalmist’s heart by the way in which he approaches them. ‘I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statues; I will not forget your word.’
The only way in which we will not forget God’s Word, is by daily reading it, meditating upon it and consuming it. The psalmist knew the importance of knowing, and remembering, meditating, and living the word of God, realizing that absent the word, he would be as a blind man stumbling in the darkness with no way to know when that last and fatal step would take him over the edge of the precipice. God’s word is a lamp to our feet, and light to our path, it is by the Word that we see the path we must walk, and it is the word that keeps us from stumbling or going off course.
The fourth reason we should read our Bibles every day, is because it is a light that shines in a dark place.
When we have the Word in our hearts, it shines forth in the darkness of this present world; it is as a beacon, and a lighthouse to those who are stumbling in the darkness looking for a way out. If we do not have the Word of God in our hearts, then we have no light, and cry out as we might ‘come to the light, come to the light’ those in darkness will see no light in us.
2 Peter 1:19-21, “We also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
Isaiah 60:1-3, “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”
A deep darkness covers the people, it extends beyond the borders of this nation to the whole of the earth, and the only way by which we will be able to reach those who are in the darkness is to let the light of His Word shine bright. Gentiles and kings alike will come to the brightness of the light, they will be drawn to the hope and the peace and the joy that it contains if we possess it and live in accordance with its statutes.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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