The Advent Part 65
David prophesied concerning the resurrection of Christ Jesus even though he did not know the full measure or finite details of that which he was prophesying. The Holy Spirit was speaking through David things that he might not have grasped or understood at the time, but He was doing so in order to bring to fulfillment the plan of God. David’s psalms were no mere songs of worship, they were not birthed of his own volition, of his own mind, or his own intellect; they were in fact prophetic, prophesying of the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one.
As a man born of a woman, Jesus could die; as one raised of God, death no longer had a hold over Him, nor could death ever claim Him again. Through His resurrection, Jesus can also raise us from the death of sin, wherein we are forgiven, and cleansed, and made new, born again in Him.
1 Peter 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
We have been begotten again to a living hope through the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead, and to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away. These things are reserved in heaven for us, there are not obscure sayings of obscure men but the promises of God the Father, and they are kept by the power of God through faith.
His death bought us, and begat us again, but His resurrection births us anew, makes us new creatures in Christ for whom the inheritance awaits.
It is through the resurrection of Christ that God counts us as justified. Yes, Jesus was delivered up because of our offenses, because of our sins, and because of our rebellion, and He was raised up because of our justification. We must preach a risen Christ, a resurrected Christ, one who suffered and bled and died for our sins, but one who also rose from the dead and shook of the shackles of death for our justification.
Romans 4:23-25, “Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”
If we were made alive together with Christ by the rich mercy of God and because of His great love with which He loved us, we are no longer subject to corruption, we are no longer subject to death for we are alive in Him.
Ephesians 2:4-7, “But God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Yes God loved us even when we were dead in trespasses, but made us sit together in the heavenly places with Christ only after we were made alive together with Him. We know that the Word tells us that nothing corrupt or defiled will be allowed into the heavenly places, we know that the Word tells us that Christ is returning for a spotless bride, without wrinkle and without stain, yet some still continue to assert that we can live however we please in this present life, we can do all that the flesh desires, and still be welcomed into the heavenly places with Christ.
We deceive ourselves if we believe God no longer has a standard, we deceive ourselves if we believe God no longer requires repentance and obedience and self-renunciation, and though we might strive to convince ourselves of these things, God is not swayed nor does He change to suit our predilections. God is holy, He is righteous, and He commands that those who would be made alive together with Christ, those who would claim the name of Jesus be likewise holy and righteous.
Yes I have been maligned for this particular stance, yes I have even lost friends because of it, but it is a biblical stance and one I will uphold until the day I go into the earth. My desire is to serve Christ, my desire is to be obedient to God, and not pick and choose doctrines that suit me, not pick and choose scriptures that seem to justify complacency, indifference, rebellion and outright sin.
Sometimes the hardest thing, even for believers, is the notion of submitting in totality to the will and Word of God because when we submit in totality it goes without saying that certain preconceived notions and ideas will be stripped away, and often violently so. We are not our own any longer, we have been bought with a price, we have been redeemed, and as such we can no longer walk in our own understanding, in our own will, or upon our own path, but rather in the understanding and will of God, and on the path that He has set out before us, so much so that they are preeminent in our lives, our actions, and our conduct.
Failing to submit to the will and Word of God means that we are in open rebellion, and the Bible teaches us that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, something God abhors and despises. May we be wise and humble, may we walk in obedience, and may we let the Word and Spirit of God guide us in all truth.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The Holy Spirit: Power Presence and Purpose Part 72
The Advent Part 64
Acts 2:30-31, “Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.”
Not only does Peter call David a patriarch, he also calls him a prophet. The word prophet has many definitions, but within the context of Peter’s assertion that indeed David was a prophet he meant it as one who has foreknowledge, sees forward in time, or predicts future events. David knew that God had sworn, with an oath to him that one of his descendants would be raised up to sit on his throne, and by divine inspiration David prophesied of the Christ.
David knew what God had sworn, he knew what God had promised, and as children of God we must likewise be aware of all of God’s promises that we might rest and rejoice in hope, and receive all that God has in store for us.
Living in ignorance of God’s promises as a believer is no way to live, because if we are ignorant of His promises we limit our own experiences with Him. David knew the promise of God, and as he foresaw that which would occur many hundreds of years in the future, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ.
Although we will be covering the topic of prophecy at length once we get into the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I just wanted to point out the fact that all the prophecies concerning Christ were spoken long before His birth, long before His death, and long before His resurrection. We are not talking a couple months, or a couple years, we are talking hundreds of years between when the prophecies were uttered, and until they came to pass.
The age in which we live is fast paced to say the least. Because of the fast paced lives we’ve become accustomed to, we expect the words of knowledge and prophecies God sends through His servants to come to pass at the same pace we live our lives. If a prophecy doesn’t come to pass within a few days of when it was given, well then the man prophesied falsely, he is a deceiver, and everything that person said is summarily discounted.
We’ve blurred the line between true prophesy and gut feelings, we’ve blurred the line between true prophecy and making an educated guess, and because of this, whenever God does send a word of foreknowledge, a word concerning future events we sit there tapping our feet and looking at our watches, growing bored and becoming distracted if more than a few days pass after the prophecy was uttered and nothing happens.
There was only one word of prophecy given in the Bible that had an expiration date, the prophecy concerning Nineveh and the fact that it would be destroyed after forty days, and because they repented in sackcloth and ash, even that prophecy was delayed by over one hundred years.
A true word from God, a true word of prophecy comes far in advance of it coming to pass, in a season and at a time when the fulfillment thereof might seem improbable and even impossible. It is in seeing something that God foretold twenty and thirty years in advance come to pass, something that at the timed seemed farfetched and fanciful that strengthens our faith and renews our hope that the world is in His hands, and nothing happens without His foreknowledge. In His love, God forewarns His beloved of that which the future holds, of what the last days will look like, that we might be neither ignorant nor ill prepared to stand against the darkness.
God does not speak to us concerning future events that we might grow fearful or despondent, but rather that we prepare ourselves spiritually, and grow in Him, and cement our relationships with Him, knowing that He is able to keep us under the shadow of His wing, that He is able to protect us, and provide for our needs even when through the prism of human understanding it might seem impossible.
The season is here wherein the scoffers have surfaced, and as Peter prophesied concerning the last days there are those even within Christendom that ask, ‘where is the promise of His coming?’ all because of the impatient nature we’ve fostered in our hearts for so long.
For those willing to see them, the signs of the times are all around us, and events that God foretold of are beginning to come to pass before our very eyes. It is in this season, it is in times such as these that our hearts must be all the more tethered to the things of heaven, that our minds must all the more meditate on the things above, and that our faith be all the more steadfast in the knowledge that we serve an omnipotent God, who is a mighty fortress and strong tower for those who love Him.
I do not fear for tomorrow, for God is already there. I do not fear for next week, or next month or next year, because I know that I have been buried with Christ, and have been raised again in Him, and if I live I live for the Lord, and if I die, I die for the Lord. There is peace, and there is rest, and there is joy in the knowledge that come what may, God’s will, will be done, and all things, though they might seem burdensome for a season, work for the good of those who love Him.
2 Peter, 3:1-4, “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Acts 2:30-31, “Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.”
Not only does Peter call David a patriarch, he also calls him a prophet. The word prophet has many definitions, but within the context of Peter’s assertion that indeed David was a prophet he meant it as one who has foreknowledge, sees forward in time, or predicts future events. David knew that God had sworn, with an oath to him that one of his descendants would be raised up to sit on his throne, and by divine inspiration David prophesied of the Christ.
David knew what God had sworn, he knew what God had promised, and as children of God we must likewise be aware of all of God’s promises that we might rest and rejoice in hope, and receive all that God has in store for us.
Living in ignorance of God’s promises as a believer is no way to live, because if we are ignorant of His promises we limit our own experiences with Him. David knew the promise of God, and as he foresaw that which would occur many hundreds of years in the future, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ.
Although we will be covering the topic of prophecy at length once we get into the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I just wanted to point out the fact that all the prophecies concerning Christ were spoken long before His birth, long before His death, and long before His resurrection. We are not talking a couple months, or a couple years, we are talking hundreds of years between when the prophecies were uttered, and until they came to pass.
The age in which we live is fast paced to say the least. Because of the fast paced lives we’ve become accustomed to, we expect the words of knowledge and prophecies God sends through His servants to come to pass at the same pace we live our lives. If a prophecy doesn’t come to pass within a few days of when it was given, well then the man prophesied falsely, he is a deceiver, and everything that person said is summarily discounted.
We’ve blurred the line between true prophesy and gut feelings, we’ve blurred the line between true prophecy and making an educated guess, and because of this, whenever God does send a word of foreknowledge, a word concerning future events we sit there tapping our feet and looking at our watches, growing bored and becoming distracted if more than a few days pass after the prophecy was uttered and nothing happens.
There was only one word of prophecy given in the Bible that had an expiration date, the prophecy concerning Nineveh and the fact that it would be destroyed after forty days, and because they repented in sackcloth and ash, even that prophecy was delayed by over one hundred years.
A true word from God, a true word of prophecy comes far in advance of it coming to pass, in a season and at a time when the fulfillment thereof might seem improbable and even impossible. It is in seeing something that God foretold twenty and thirty years in advance come to pass, something that at the timed seemed farfetched and fanciful that strengthens our faith and renews our hope that the world is in His hands, and nothing happens without His foreknowledge. In His love, God forewarns His beloved of that which the future holds, of what the last days will look like, that we might be neither ignorant nor ill prepared to stand against the darkness.
God does not speak to us concerning future events that we might grow fearful or despondent, but rather that we prepare ourselves spiritually, and grow in Him, and cement our relationships with Him, knowing that He is able to keep us under the shadow of His wing, that He is able to protect us, and provide for our needs even when through the prism of human understanding it might seem impossible.
The season is here wherein the scoffers have surfaced, and as Peter prophesied concerning the last days there are those even within Christendom that ask, ‘where is the promise of His coming?’ all because of the impatient nature we’ve fostered in our hearts for so long.
For those willing to see them, the signs of the times are all around us, and events that God foretold of are beginning to come to pass before our very eyes. It is in this season, it is in times such as these that our hearts must be all the more tethered to the things of heaven, that our minds must all the more meditate on the things above, and that our faith be all the more steadfast in the knowledge that we serve an omnipotent God, who is a mighty fortress and strong tower for those who love Him.
I do not fear for tomorrow, for God is already there. I do not fear for next week, or next month or next year, because I know that I have been buried with Christ, and have been raised again in Him, and if I live I live for the Lord, and if I die, I die for the Lord. There is peace, and there is rest, and there is joy in the knowledge that come what may, God’s will, will be done, and all things, though they might seem burdensome for a season, work for the good of those who love Him.
2 Peter, 3:1-4, “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Monday, October 10, 2011
The Holy Spirit: Power Presence and Purpose Part 71
The Advent Part 63
Acts 2:29, “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.”
After quoting the passage from the sixteenth psalm, Peter sets his sights on the David the patriarch. A patriarch is the head, or the father of a family, and biblically speaking David was indeed the patriarch of his family.
There is an undeniable connection between the prophets of old, and those called to be apostles of Christ. The first of these, the prophets, wrote out their prophecies under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, while the latter group, the apostles, explained or interpreted the prophecies the prophets of old had given, also under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Under what is now referred to as apostolic teaching, we see the prophecies of old interpreted by the apostles, encompassing the Christ the Messiah, from His birth, to His death, to His resurrection, to His ascension, to His being our intercessor and High Priest, and also to His return when He will come again for a bride without spot or wrinkle.
In this verse, as well as the subsequent two verses, Peter lays out the resurrection of Christ apostolically. The prophets, via the Holy Spirit, heralded the resurrection of Christ, and the apostles now explained His resurrection and reiterated its veracity by their own testimonies.
The connection between the prophets and the apostles also signifies the bond and connection between the Old and New Testaments both inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. If and when we find the apostles quoting the prophets of old, and interpreting their words, we must understand that it is the Holy Spirit inspiring them to expound upon and explain these things. It is not of their own volition, it is not of their own intellect that the apostles began to tell the people the significance of these prophecies and what they meant, it was by the unction of the Holy Spirit that they ventured to do this.
The Jews to whom Peter was speaking, based on their tradition, had a wrong understanding of the prophetic words of old, and now Peter with the authority rightfully his as apostle of Christ as well as under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was beginning to shine a new light on what the prophets had written centuries beforehand.
As painful as it might be to admit it to ourselves we must acknowledge the fact that in many instances where the Scripture is concerned there is a tendency to understand it based on tradition, on ceremony or on hearsay, in essence understanding it wrongly, and because we have a wrong understanding of the Word our Christian walk suffers, and in some cases it is no Christian walk at all.
What would the world look like today, if there were truly over one billion Christians, all sold out for Christ, all sanctified and set apart, all filled with the power of the Holy Spirit? One billion after all is the number of people who profess Christianity, who claim to follow Christ and adhere to His precepts.
It is sad that we spend more time and energy attempting to defend certain pet doctrines which are biblically ambiguous than we do defending the Christ, and telling all who would hear of His life, His death, His resurrection and His soon return. Often times we get so heated in our squabbles, we get so vitriolic in our disagreements that we are quick to stencil ‘Ichabod’ upon the forehead of anyone who would disagree with us, or who would question why we believe what we believe. If our beliefs are tethered and rooted in the Word of God, if what we believe is Scriptural and Biblical, then we can give a defense of our faith to anyone and at any time because we have the Word of God on our side. If however, what we believe is tethered in the doctrine of a certain individual, or the interpretation of a certain denomination, then when we are called to give account for what we believe, we grow angry and our only answer will be, ‘well that’s just the way it is.’
I’ve been on the receiving end of that line more times than I can count, especially when attempting to Biblically discuss the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the power of the Holy Spirit for our day. I’m usually a calm individual, I don’t get rattled often, so all I would do when someone would come up and say ‘God doesn’t do that anymore’ is ask where they found that in the Bible.
‘Maybe I missed the passage, maybe I glossed over it in my reading, would you please point me to the scripture that says the Holy Spirit had an expiration date, or that it was a temporary thing?’
When confronted with the Word, or the need to prove their stance biblically, such individuals can only resort to ‘that’s just the way it is, because I say it’s so’ mentality.
Because they misunderstood the Scriptures, or understood them wrongly the Jews of old likewise wrongly understood or misunderstood the life and death of Christ Jesus and this wrong understanding of Jesus has been perpetuated from generation to generation.
In his discourse Peter the apostle clarifies the truth about the life and death of Jesus the Messiah, informing those who had gathered that He had truly lived the life of a man, He had truly been put to death, and He had truly risen from the dead on the third day.
Yes, David the patriarch was dead and buried, and even to that day his tomb was with them, Peter was not denying this fact, but what he was disputing was that Jesus had had the same outcome as David, wherein He still lay in the earth. Peter was attempting to open the eyes and hearts of his hearers to the reality that Christ had risen from the dead, that He was greater than David who still lay in his tomb, and that death could not hold Him.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Acts 2:29, “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.”
After quoting the passage from the sixteenth psalm, Peter sets his sights on the David the patriarch. A patriarch is the head, or the father of a family, and biblically speaking David was indeed the patriarch of his family.
There is an undeniable connection between the prophets of old, and those called to be apostles of Christ. The first of these, the prophets, wrote out their prophecies under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, while the latter group, the apostles, explained or interpreted the prophecies the prophets of old had given, also under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Under what is now referred to as apostolic teaching, we see the prophecies of old interpreted by the apostles, encompassing the Christ the Messiah, from His birth, to His death, to His resurrection, to His ascension, to His being our intercessor and High Priest, and also to His return when He will come again for a bride without spot or wrinkle.
In this verse, as well as the subsequent two verses, Peter lays out the resurrection of Christ apostolically. The prophets, via the Holy Spirit, heralded the resurrection of Christ, and the apostles now explained His resurrection and reiterated its veracity by their own testimonies.
The connection between the prophets and the apostles also signifies the bond and connection between the Old and New Testaments both inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. If and when we find the apostles quoting the prophets of old, and interpreting their words, we must understand that it is the Holy Spirit inspiring them to expound upon and explain these things. It is not of their own volition, it is not of their own intellect that the apostles began to tell the people the significance of these prophecies and what they meant, it was by the unction of the Holy Spirit that they ventured to do this.
The Jews to whom Peter was speaking, based on their tradition, had a wrong understanding of the prophetic words of old, and now Peter with the authority rightfully his as apostle of Christ as well as under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was beginning to shine a new light on what the prophets had written centuries beforehand.
As painful as it might be to admit it to ourselves we must acknowledge the fact that in many instances where the Scripture is concerned there is a tendency to understand it based on tradition, on ceremony or on hearsay, in essence understanding it wrongly, and because we have a wrong understanding of the Word our Christian walk suffers, and in some cases it is no Christian walk at all.
What would the world look like today, if there were truly over one billion Christians, all sold out for Christ, all sanctified and set apart, all filled with the power of the Holy Spirit? One billion after all is the number of people who profess Christianity, who claim to follow Christ and adhere to His precepts.
It is sad that we spend more time and energy attempting to defend certain pet doctrines which are biblically ambiguous than we do defending the Christ, and telling all who would hear of His life, His death, His resurrection and His soon return. Often times we get so heated in our squabbles, we get so vitriolic in our disagreements that we are quick to stencil ‘Ichabod’ upon the forehead of anyone who would disagree with us, or who would question why we believe what we believe. If our beliefs are tethered and rooted in the Word of God, if what we believe is Scriptural and Biblical, then we can give a defense of our faith to anyone and at any time because we have the Word of God on our side. If however, what we believe is tethered in the doctrine of a certain individual, or the interpretation of a certain denomination, then when we are called to give account for what we believe, we grow angry and our only answer will be, ‘well that’s just the way it is.’
I’ve been on the receiving end of that line more times than I can count, especially when attempting to Biblically discuss the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the power of the Holy Spirit for our day. I’m usually a calm individual, I don’t get rattled often, so all I would do when someone would come up and say ‘God doesn’t do that anymore’ is ask where they found that in the Bible.
‘Maybe I missed the passage, maybe I glossed over it in my reading, would you please point me to the scripture that says the Holy Spirit had an expiration date, or that it was a temporary thing?’
When confronted with the Word, or the need to prove their stance biblically, such individuals can only resort to ‘that’s just the way it is, because I say it’s so’ mentality.
Because they misunderstood the Scriptures, or understood them wrongly the Jews of old likewise wrongly understood or misunderstood the life and death of Christ Jesus and this wrong understanding of Jesus has been perpetuated from generation to generation.
In his discourse Peter the apostle clarifies the truth about the life and death of Jesus the Messiah, informing those who had gathered that He had truly lived the life of a man, He had truly been put to death, and He had truly risen from the dead on the third day.
Yes, David the patriarch was dead and buried, and even to that day his tomb was with them, Peter was not denying this fact, but what he was disputing was that Jesus had had the same outcome as David, wherein He still lay in the earth. Peter was attempting to open the eyes and hearts of his hearers to the reality that Christ had risen from the dead, that He was greater than David who still lay in his tomb, and that death could not hold Him.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
The Holy Spirit: Power Presence and Purpose Part 70
The Advent Part 62
God never asks us for anything unless He has first given it to us. He instructs us to walk the path of life, to live the ways of life, and to pursue the source of life only after first revealing them to us through the Holy Spirit, and through the Word of His truth.
‘You have made known to me the ways of life.’
The ways of life are not a mystery, they are not a secret, they are not shrouded in fog and mist, God has made known to us the ways of life, and it is incumbent upon us to pursue them. We can begin knowing the ways of life, only after we have distanced and removed ourselves from the ways of death. Sin is death, and as long as we continue living in sin we cannot truly know or walk the ways of life.
There is no joy in the ways of death, only fleeting and momentary pleasures that leave a bitter aftertaste, which carry with themselves countless consequences and aftereffects. Sin is always made to look inviting, sin is always made to look attractive, sin is always made to look tempting, because if sin would present itself in its true form, we would see the mask of death, we would see the tears of regret, we would see the bitter fruit that it produces and we would stay far away from it. The enemy knows how to promote death in such a way that it attracts millions and millions of souls, injecting small amounts of pleasure into an otherwise dismal existence, just enough to keep the individual chained and bound.
The reality of sin that the enemy desires to keep hidden from the masses is that sin is a passing and temporary pleasure. As we are reminded in Hebrews, the saints of old such as Moses, chose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for they looked to the reward.
God is the wellspring of life, and truth in all its forms is the way of life. If we are obedient to the truth, we walk the ways of life which God has made known to us.
John 17:15-17, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
By sending His Son, God has made known to us the ways of truth, and through Christ Jesus we have received both grace and hope. We cannot minimize the scope of what Jesus did, nor the paramount importance of Christ in the work of salvation, because doing so would mean denying the Word of God, as well as the words of Christ while He walked the earth. There are no gray areas when it comes to faith in Christ, we either walk the way of truth, or the way of deception, the way of life or the way of death.
Even the enemies of Christ acknowledged, if grudgingly so, that He lived a perfect life. He is the prototype for us as believers, the life which we ought to aspire to, and the life that we can live if we are wholly committed to Him. Living our lives in holiness and righteousness as Christ did is not an impossibility, because if it were God would not have called us to these things. God will not ask us to do the impossible just to see us try and fail, when He says ‘be holy’ then we must realize and know that holiness is attainable.
Among the many ways in which this present life can be defined or understood, we can also define it as the science of the knowledge of the ways of God. In this prophetic psalm, it is the Son, it is Christ who speaking to the Father says, ‘You have made known to me the ways of life.’
Even the Son of God deferred to the Father, not taking it upon Himself to know the ways of life, but following that which the Father revealed and made known to Him. Too often we take it upon ourselves to blaze our own trail, forge our own path, and make our own way without realizing that if the way we are walking is not the way that God has made known to us, then it is a way or a path of our own making that will lead to nowhere good.
God has made known the ways of life to us, and it is God’s guidance that we must follow, His path that we must walk, and not paths and ways of our own making.
Jesus remained in unceasing fellowship with the Father throughout His ministry here on earth, He was always in the Father’s presence, always doing the Father’s will and this was evident in all that He did.
If we desire to have lives of victory as Christ did, if we desire to see miracles and experience the power of the Holy Spirit in its full measure, then we must likewise remain in unceasing fellowship with Jesus, always in His presence, always being about the work of the kingdom.
He has made known the ways of life to us, and as such we have no excuse. We cannot claim ignorance, nor can we claim lack of knowledge, because the ways of life were not kept from us, but rather they were revealed to us through the life, work, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.
After His ascension, we were also given the Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit who came with power and with authority, and whose presence would remain with us, as Jesus said, until the end of time. God has done all, that we might be full of joy in His presence, He has done all that we might know the ways of life, and if we are humble, and teachable, and wise, we will know the fullness of all that He has for us.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
God never asks us for anything unless He has first given it to us. He instructs us to walk the path of life, to live the ways of life, and to pursue the source of life only after first revealing them to us through the Holy Spirit, and through the Word of His truth.
‘You have made known to me the ways of life.’
The ways of life are not a mystery, they are not a secret, they are not shrouded in fog and mist, God has made known to us the ways of life, and it is incumbent upon us to pursue them. We can begin knowing the ways of life, only after we have distanced and removed ourselves from the ways of death. Sin is death, and as long as we continue living in sin we cannot truly know or walk the ways of life.
There is no joy in the ways of death, only fleeting and momentary pleasures that leave a bitter aftertaste, which carry with themselves countless consequences and aftereffects. Sin is always made to look inviting, sin is always made to look attractive, sin is always made to look tempting, because if sin would present itself in its true form, we would see the mask of death, we would see the tears of regret, we would see the bitter fruit that it produces and we would stay far away from it. The enemy knows how to promote death in such a way that it attracts millions and millions of souls, injecting small amounts of pleasure into an otherwise dismal existence, just enough to keep the individual chained and bound.
The reality of sin that the enemy desires to keep hidden from the masses is that sin is a passing and temporary pleasure. As we are reminded in Hebrews, the saints of old such as Moses, chose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for they looked to the reward.
God is the wellspring of life, and truth in all its forms is the way of life. If we are obedient to the truth, we walk the ways of life which God has made known to us.
John 17:15-17, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
By sending His Son, God has made known to us the ways of truth, and through Christ Jesus we have received both grace and hope. We cannot minimize the scope of what Jesus did, nor the paramount importance of Christ in the work of salvation, because doing so would mean denying the Word of God, as well as the words of Christ while He walked the earth. There are no gray areas when it comes to faith in Christ, we either walk the way of truth, or the way of deception, the way of life or the way of death.
Even the enemies of Christ acknowledged, if grudgingly so, that He lived a perfect life. He is the prototype for us as believers, the life which we ought to aspire to, and the life that we can live if we are wholly committed to Him. Living our lives in holiness and righteousness as Christ did is not an impossibility, because if it were God would not have called us to these things. God will not ask us to do the impossible just to see us try and fail, when He says ‘be holy’ then we must realize and know that holiness is attainable.
Among the many ways in which this present life can be defined or understood, we can also define it as the science of the knowledge of the ways of God. In this prophetic psalm, it is the Son, it is Christ who speaking to the Father says, ‘You have made known to me the ways of life.’
Even the Son of God deferred to the Father, not taking it upon Himself to know the ways of life, but following that which the Father revealed and made known to Him. Too often we take it upon ourselves to blaze our own trail, forge our own path, and make our own way without realizing that if the way we are walking is not the way that God has made known to us, then it is a way or a path of our own making that will lead to nowhere good.
God has made known the ways of life to us, and it is God’s guidance that we must follow, His path that we must walk, and not paths and ways of our own making.
Jesus remained in unceasing fellowship with the Father throughout His ministry here on earth, He was always in the Father’s presence, always doing the Father’s will and this was evident in all that He did.
If we desire to have lives of victory as Christ did, if we desire to see miracles and experience the power of the Holy Spirit in its full measure, then we must likewise remain in unceasing fellowship with Jesus, always in His presence, always being about the work of the kingdom.
He has made known the ways of life to us, and as such we have no excuse. We cannot claim ignorance, nor can we claim lack of knowledge, because the ways of life were not kept from us, but rather they were revealed to us through the life, work, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.
After His ascension, we were also given the Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit who came with power and with authority, and whose presence would remain with us, as Jesus said, until the end of time. God has done all, that we might be full of joy in His presence, He has done all that we might know the ways of life, and if we are humble, and teachable, and wise, we will know the fullness of all that He has for us.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
The Holy Spirit: Power Presence and Purpose Part 69
The Advent Part 61
By understanding that everything Peter is reiterating from the sixteenth psalm is in reference to Jesus, we likewise understand the life of hope that the Son of God lived while He walked the earth. Every time thoughts of his subsequent death would arise in Him, Jesus did not keep them secret, but shared them with His disciples. Each time He spoke of His death however, He was also quick to mention His resurrection and that He would not see corruption. This knowledge that Christ possessed, that His soul would not be left in Hades, and that He would not see corruption was a constant and permanent hope that resided in His heart.
Even though Jesus carried our sins on the cross, He never ceased being the Holy One of God, nor did He ever cease being sinless and perfect. He died for our sins, but not as a sinner, He paid the price for our redemption and reconciliation unto the Father, and because He continued to remain the Holy One of God, death could not hold Him.
Death is the penalty for sin, and it was the only time that death stretched its hand out toward that which was forbidden, toward the Holy One of God, toward the One in which there was no sin, and as such death found its own death, and has been defeated.
As saints of God, as those who have been redeemed and reconciled unto Him, we have no less a hope than that which Christ had while He walked the earth. No, God will not allow us to see corruption, no God will not leave our souls in Hades, for we have been born again in Christ, and just as He rose, we will likewise rise, just as He did not see corruption we will likewise not see corruption.
We do not walk in fear, we do not walk in doubt, we do not walk in ignorance, we walk in hope and in faith and in peace knowing that God will not abandon His saints, but rather that they have been born into life, and will one day stand before His glory and receive their just reward.
We are made holy because we have been made one with the Holy One of God, having died to this world, and the sins of this world, and having been born anew, born again in Him.
Romans 6:4-11, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We are likewise made holy, sanctified and set apart because we live His life. We walk as He walked, we live as He lived, and we are in continual obedience toward the Father just as Jesus was. We cannot claim to be sanctified, set apart or holy and not live the life of Christ, we cannot claim to be redeemed and born again, yet continue to pursue the things of this world, succumb to the pleasures of this world, and live as those of the world live.
1 John 2:6, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also walk just as He walked.”
Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Now I realize full well that these scriptures fly in the face of the ‘Jesus did it all so I don’t have to do anything’ mentality that has wormed its way into the household of faith, but it is the Bible that we must contend with when it comes to choosing the doctrines that we receive and believe.
It is one thing to say we abide in Christ it is another to truly abide in Him, for if we truly abide in Him, then we must walk just as He walked. If we truly abide in Christ, then we will live our lives accordingly, we will live lives of obedience, and self-renunciation, we will live lives of humility and repentance, we will live holy lives, and righteous lives, that the world might see we indeed live by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us.
If we cannot reconcile modern doctrines with the Word of God, then we must do away with the doctrine rather than the Word, because it is the Word that is a lamp unto our feet, and a light for our path.
When we stand before the Almighty on that day of days, we will have to answer for that which we believed, as well as that which we chose not to believe even though it was in the Word of God. On that day, attempting to excuse our disobedience and rebellion toward the Word by saying we followed the crowd, or that we chose the path of least resistance will not do, for God is a righteous judge, and a holy judge, and He will render to each one according to his deeds.
Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
By understanding that everything Peter is reiterating from the sixteenth psalm is in reference to Jesus, we likewise understand the life of hope that the Son of God lived while He walked the earth. Every time thoughts of his subsequent death would arise in Him, Jesus did not keep them secret, but shared them with His disciples. Each time He spoke of His death however, He was also quick to mention His resurrection and that He would not see corruption. This knowledge that Christ possessed, that His soul would not be left in Hades, and that He would not see corruption was a constant and permanent hope that resided in His heart.
Even though Jesus carried our sins on the cross, He never ceased being the Holy One of God, nor did He ever cease being sinless and perfect. He died for our sins, but not as a sinner, He paid the price for our redemption and reconciliation unto the Father, and because He continued to remain the Holy One of God, death could not hold Him.
Death is the penalty for sin, and it was the only time that death stretched its hand out toward that which was forbidden, toward the Holy One of God, toward the One in which there was no sin, and as such death found its own death, and has been defeated.
As saints of God, as those who have been redeemed and reconciled unto Him, we have no less a hope than that which Christ had while He walked the earth. No, God will not allow us to see corruption, no God will not leave our souls in Hades, for we have been born again in Christ, and just as He rose, we will likewise rise, just as He did not see corruption we will likewise not see corruption.
We do not walk in fear, we do not walk in doubt, we do not walk in ignorance, we walk in hope and in faith and in peace knowing that God will not abandon His saints, but rather that they have been born into life, and will one day stand before His glory and receive their just reward.
We are made holy because we have been made one with the Holy One of God, having died to this world, and the sins of this world, and having been born anew, born again in Him.
Romans 6:4-11, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We are likewise made holy, sanctified and set apart because we live His life. We walk as He walked, we live as He lived, and we are in continual obedience toward the Father just as Jesus was. We cannot claim to be sanctified, set apart or holy and not live the life of Christ, we cannot claim to be redeemed and born again, yet continue to pursue the things of this world, succumb to the pleasures of this world, and live as those of the world live.
1 John 2:6, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also walk just as He walked.”
Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Now I realize full well that these scriptures fly in the face of the ‘Jesus did it all so I don’t have to do anything’ mentality that has wormed its way into the household of faith, but it is the Bible that we must contend with when it comes to choosing the doctrines that we receive and believe.
It is one thing to say we abide in Christ it is another to truly abide in Him, for if we truly abide in Him, then we must walk just as He walked. If we truly abide in Christ, then we will live our lives accordingly, we will live lives of obedience, and self-renunciation, we will live lives of humility and repentance, we will live holy lives, and righteous lives, that the world might see we indeed live by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us.
If we cannot reconcile modern doctrines with the Word of God, then we must do away with the doctrine rather than the Word, because it is the Word that is a lamp unto our feet, and a light for our path.
When we stand before the Almighty on that day of days, we will have to answer for that which we believed, as well as that which we chose not to believe even though it was in the Word of God. On that day, attempting to excuse our disobedience and rebellion toward the Word by saying we followed the crowd, or that we chose the path of least resistance will not do, for God is a righteous judge, and a holy judge, and He will render to each one according to his deeds.
Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Friday, October 7, 2011
The Holy Spirit: Power Presence and Purpose Part 68
The Advent Part 60
The Psalm that Peter quotes is beautiful to say the least. It reveals the life of Christ, the person of Christ, and the divinity of Christ. It likewise reveals the ever elusive secret of fulfillment, unifying the spirit, the soul and the body putting them under the submission and authority of God the Father.
Countless books have been written, countless courses have been presented, countless sums of money have been spent by men and women seeking the fulfillment God freely offers to all those who would humble themselves and seek the things of the Kingdom of God.
When we see the Lord always before our face, our hearts rejoice, and our tongues are glad, and our souls rest in hope. This is the secret to joy, this is the secret to peace, this is the secret to gladness and to fulfillment, and try as we might to substitute it with other things, such as positive thinking, self-esteem, positive affirmations, transcendental meditations or a myriad of other things, we will fall short of our goal.
Dependence upon the Father, and fellowship with Him might seem burdensome when viewed through the prism of the flesh, they might seem as time consuming and frivolous, but if we truly understood what it is to be dependent upon God and have fellowship with Him, if we truly understood that only by practicing these things will we have true peace and true rest, we would realize that if it is a labor, than it is a labor of love, and of joy.
Fellowship with God and having a relationship with God are reciprocal. The more time we spend with God, the more He reveals Himself to us, and the more He reveals Himself to us the more we fall in love with Him. We dedicate ourselves, we dedicate our time and even our resources to worthless things, we pursue hobbies and distractions with fervor and passion, yet when it comes to knowing God, when it comes to having fellowship with Him, when it comes to building a relationship with Him we are slow to the task, grudgingly praying a prayer once in a while, thinking ourselves spiritually superior to our brethren for having done so.
It’s not God’s fault that you do not know Him, it’s not God’s fault that you have so little fellowship with Him, He is there, ever present, ready to open when we knock, ready to answer when we ask, ready to come and dine with us when we receive Him.
God is only a mystery to the godless, and those who refuse to submit themselves to His authority. He is not unknowable, He is not untenable, He is not unreachable, He promised that if we sought Him we would find Him, and if we desired Him, He would fill us with His grace, and if we humbled ourselves in His sight, He would use us as vessels of honor to further His Kingdom.
Gladness of heart and resting in hope are the fruit of trusting in God, and having fellowship with Him, and true joy is the fruit of the presence of God in the hearts of men. There is nothing that can take the place of God, there is nothing that can replace Him, and try as men might they will fail time and again in their pursuit of finding a suitable surrogate.
Colossians 1:27, “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
God did not will that His grace remain a mystery in perpetuity, He did not will that we remain in ignorance concerning Christ in us the hope of glory, but rather He willed to make known the riches of the glory of this singular mystery that gives us rest in a restless world, and fills us with hope regardless of our present circumstances.
The hope we have in Christ transcends the trials and travails of this life, and as such the hope we have is not subject to the material world that surrounds us. It is Christ that must be our all in all; it is Christ that we must hope in, not mansions and cars, not boats and planes, not doctors and therapists. When our hope is firmly rooted in Christ, then we are at peace not because of our circumstances but in spite of them, not in our excess but in our lack.
If we remove Christ from the equation everything falls apart. If we hope in anything other than Christ, then the time will come when that in which we hope, that in which we have placed our faith and our trust will fail us, and monumentally so.
It is the pinnacle of folly to place our hope and our trust in something without permanence, when we can readily place our hope and trust in the One who is eternal and everlasting.
We need to be reminded, and constantly so, that the form of this world is passing away, the world itself and the lust thereof is passing away, and only that which is in God abides or has continuity and permanence. It is when we lose sight of this truth, and start believing the soothsayers who say that God intended for us to have it all, have it here, and have it now, materially speaking of course, that we begin to place our trust in things that are as a morning mist or a summer drizzle, passing, fleeting and inconstant.
God’s will, God’s desire, is that we hope in Him, that we rest in Him, that we find our peace and our joy in Him, that we know Him and fellowship with Him, and form a relationship with Him, and that we see the things of this world and the trappings thereof for the rubbish and refuse that they are.
1 John 2:17, “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
The Psalm that Peter quotes is beautiful to say the least. It reveals the life of Christ, the person of Christ, and the divinity of Christ. It likewise reveals the ever elusive secret of fulfillment, unifying the spirit, the soul and the body putting them under the submission and authority of God the Father.
Countless books have been written, countless courses have been presented, countless sums of money have been spent by men and women seeking the fulfillment God freely offers to all those who would humble themselves and seek the things of the Kingdom of God.
When we see the Lord always before our face, our hearts rejoice, and our tongues are glad, and our souls rest in hope. This is the secret to joy, this is the secret to peace, this is the secret to gladness and to fulfillment, and try as we might to substitute it with other things, such as positive thinking, self-esteem, positive affirmations, transcendental meditations or a myriad of other things, we will fall short of our goal.
Dependence upon the Father, and fellowship with Him might seem burdensome when viewed through the prism of the flesh, they might seem as time consuming and frivolous, but if we truly understood what it is to be dependent upon God and have fellowship with Him, if we truly understood that only by practicing these things will we have true peace and true rest, we would realize that if it is a labor, than it is a labor of love, and of joy.
Fellowship with God and having a relationship with God are reciprocal. The more time we spend with God, the more He reveals Himself to us, and the more He reveals Himself to us the more we fall in love with Him. We dedicate ourselves, we dedicate our time and even our resources to worthless things, we pursue hobbies and distractions with fervor and passion, yet when it comes to knowing God, when it comes to having fellowship with Him, when it comes to building a relationship with Him we are slow to the task, grudgingly praying a prayer once in a while, thinking ourselves spiritually superior to our brethren for having done so.
It’s not God’s fault that you do not know Him, it’s not God’s fault that you have so little fellowship with Him, He is there, ever present, ready to open when we knock, ready to answer when we ask, ready to come and dine with us when we receive Him.
God is only a mystery to the godless, and those who refuse to submit themselves to His authority. He is not unknowable, He is not untenable, He is not unreachable, He promised that if we sought Him we would find Him, and if we desired Him, He would fill us with His grace, and if we humbled ourselves in His sight, He would use us as vessels of honor to further His Kingdom.
Gladness of heart and resting in hope are the fruit of trusting in God, and having fellowship with Him, and true joy is the fruit of the presence of God in the hearts of men. There is nothing that can take the place of God, there is nothing that can replace Him, and try as men might they will fail time and again in their pursuit of finding a suitable surrogate.
Colossians 1:27, “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
God did not will that His grace remain a mystery in perpetuity, He did not will that we remain in ignorance concerning Christ in us the hope of glory, but rather He willed to make known the riches of the glory of this singular mystery that gives us rest in a restless world, and fills us with hope regardless of our present circumstances.
The hope we have in Christ transcends the trials and travails of this life, and as such the hope we have is not subject to the material world that surrounds us. It is Christ that must be our all in all; it is Christ that we must hope in, not mansions and cars, not boats and planes, not doctors and therapists. When our hope is firmly rooted in Christ, then we are at peace not because of our circumstances but in spite of them, not in our excess but in our lack.
If we remove Christ from the equation everything falls apart. If we hope in anything other than Christ, then the time will come when that in which we hope, that in which we have placed our faith and our trust will fail us, and monumentally so.
It is the pinnacle of folly to place our hope and our trust in something without permanence, when we can readily place our hope and trust in the One who is eternal and everlasting.
We need to be reminded, and constantly so, that the form of this world is passing away, the world itself and the lust thereof is passing away, and only that which is in God abides or has continuity and permanence. It is when we lose sight of this truth, and start believing the soothsayers who say that God intended for us to have it all, have it here, and have it now, materially speaking of course, that we begin to place our trust in things that are as a morning mist or a summer drizzle, passing, fleeting and inconstant.
God’s will, God’s desire, is that we hope in Him, that we rest in Him, that we find our peace and our joy in Him, that we know Him and fellowship with Him, and form a relationship with Him, and that we see the things of this world and the trappings thereof for the rubbish and refuse that they are.
1 John 2:17, “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
The Holy Spirit: Power Presence and Purpose Part 67
The Advent Part 59
Acts 2:25-28, “For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken; Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh will also rest in hope, because You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.”
In these three verses, Peter is quoting from the sixteenth Psalm, and as is the case with most of his discourse the main theme is still Jesus. When did Peter have the time to memorize these passages by heart? When did a lowly fisherman, someone trying to feed his family and survive in those times have the time to commit to memory so many wonderful scriptures?
He had spent three years with Jesus, and as we see time and again Jesus always spoke of the Scriptures, quoted them, and it is not unfeasible that what Peter had overheard Jesus saying had remained somewhere in his heart and mind, and in this instance the Holy Spirit brought it to remembrance.
We have strayed from the reality of how truly priceless Scripture is in our day and age, and as such we often take it for granted, dismiss it, or ignore it. The Bible is the Word of God, and the words found therein are light and life. I remember stories my grandfather used to tell me, of a time when it was illegal to possess a Bible in our homeland, of a time when Communism ruled with an iron fist, and when believers in certain congregations would have no more than one Holy Book. What they would do is they would divide the pages of the Bible between the congregants, and they would go home and faithfully write them down in a notebook, returning them the next service and acquiring new pages. I have seen with my own eyes, the entire Bible transcribed by hand in the home of one such believer, and each time I hear of the extraordinary measures certain souls go to just to have the Word of God, I am exceedingly humbled.
To this day there are men and women who remain in prison, who are beaten and mistreated, tortured and abused in this world because they were found in possession of a Bible. Such individuals saw how truly precious the Word of God is, and as such they risked their freedom and their very lives just to possess it.
Yes, in our freedom we have millions of Bibles, but they are gathering dust somewhere in our home, going unopened for months on end, yet in their persecution there are those brothers and sisters throughout the world who prize the word of God, for whom the Bible is precious and they go to great lengths just to have a handful of verses or a few chapters of this sacred book.
Yes, I know we like to think ourselves the pinnacle of spirituality, we like to believe that we have ascended to a greater degree of understanding than any other nation or continent, but as the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding, and I submit to you that someone who is this day in a prison cell for the sake of Christ, someone who is this day being beaten and tortured for not denying Jesus, someone who is this day risking their life and their freedom in order to give someone else a Bible, is stronger and more mature in the Lord than the Sunday morning, thirty minute service Christians of this nation.
What we fail to understand is that mammoth buildings, Italian chandeliers, reclining chairs, light shows, fog machines, Dolby surround sound, and coffee shops in the foyer do nothing to strengthen us spiritually, to mature us or to grow us in God. God is wholly unimpressed by our production value, the cut of our suit, the gleam of our teeth, or the price of our haircut, and if our hearts are not wholly His, if we are not willing to put Him before our own wants and desires, if we are not willing to put the Kingdom of God before our little sandcastles, then all our planning and machination and perfect execution amounts to absolutely nothing.
What’s worse, is that we have been taught by our spiritual betters to look down upon those who are suffering, those who are going through trials, those who are being persecuted for the faith and enduring until the end, and labeling them as absent of faith, immature and infantile in their spirituality, because if they were mature, then they would know that they could call blessings down from heaven, and pray millions of dollars into their bank accounts.
Believers being burned alive in their own churches, mothers and fathers watching their children being executed before their very eyes, men and women spending decades in prison cells, yep, all their fault for not having enough faith. This is what the spiritual leaders of our day resort to, mocking and belittling the martyrs of the faith all so that they could justify the mansions and the jet planes and the ridiculous toys and lifestyle they’ve become accustomed to. And do we not think that God will judge righteously? Do we not think that God will bring about justice?
If we took a little time and analyzed both the current doctrines of the church, as well as the spiritual condition thereof in what we would call westernized and civilized nations, we would come to the horrifying conclusion that spiritual infancy is the norm, that we do not know the God we purport to serve, and that the god we are serving is a god of our own making fashioned in covetousness, and greed and avarice.
Hebrews 11:35-37, “Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented – of whom the world was not worthy.”
With love in Christh,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Acts 2:25-28, “For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken; Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh will also rest in hope, because You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.”
In these three verses, Peter is quoting from the sixteenth Psalm, and as is the case with most of his discourse the main theme is still Jesus. When did Peter have the time to memorize these passages by heart? When did a lowly fisherman, someone trying to feed his family and survive in those times have the time to commit to memory so many wonderful scriptures?
He had spent three years with Jesus, and as we see time and again Jesus always spoke of the Scriptures, quoted them, and it is not unfeasible that what Peter had overheard Jesus saying had remained somewhere in his heart and mind, and in this instance the Holy Spirit brought it to remembrance.
We have strayed from the reality of how truly priceless Scripture is in our day and age, and as such we often take it for granted, dismiss it, or ignore it. The Bible is the Word of God, and the words found therein are light and life. I remember stories my grandfather used to tell me, of a time when it was illegal to possess a Bible in our homeland, of a time when Communism ruled with an iron fist, and when believers in certain congregations would have no more than one Holy Book. What they would do is they would divide the pages of the Bible between the congregants, and they would go home and faithfully write them down in a notebook, returning them the next service and acquiring new pages. I have seen with my own eyes, the entire Bible transcribed by hand in the home of one such believer, and each time I hear of the extraordinary measures certain souls go to just to have the Word of God, I am exceedingly humbled.
To this day there are men and women who remain in prison, who are beaten and mistreated, tortured and abused in this world because they were found in possession of a Bible. Such individuals saw how truly precious the Word of God is, and as such they risked their freedom and their very lives just to possess it.
Yes, in our freedom we have millions of Bibles, but they are gathering dust somewhere in our home, going unopened for months on end, yet in their persecution there are those brothers and sisters throughout the world who prize the word of God, for whom the Bible is precious and they go to great lengths just to have a handful of verses or a few chapters of this sacred book.
Yes, I know we like to think ourselves the pinnacle of spirituality, we like to believe that we have ascended to a greater degree of understanding than any other nation or continent, but as the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding, and I submit to you that someone who is this day in a prison cell for the sake of Christ, someone who is this day being beaten and tortured for not denying Jesus, someone who is this day risking their life and their freedom in order to give someone else a Bible, is stronger and more mature in the Lord than the Sunday morning, thirty minute service Christians of this nation.
What we fail to understand is that mammoth buildings, Italian chandeliers, reclining chairs, light shows, fog machines, Dolby surround sound, and coffee shops in the foyer do nothing to strengthen us spiritually, to mature us or to grow us in God. God is wholly unimpressed by our production value, the cut of our suit, the gleam of our teeth, or the price of our haircut, and if our hearts are not wholly His, if we are not willing to put Him before our own wants and desires, if we are not willing to put the Kingdom of God before our little sandcastles, then all our planning and machination and perfect execution amounts to absolutely nothing.
What’s worse, is that we have been taught by our spiritual betters to look down upon those who are suffering, those who are going through trials, those who are being persecuted for the faith and enduring until the end, and labeling them as absent of faith, immature and infantile in their spirituality, because if they were mature, then they would know that they could call blessings down from heaven, and pray millions of dollars into their bank accounts.
Believers being burned alive in their own churches, mothers and fathers watching their children being executed before their very eyes, men and women spending decades in prison cells, yep, all their fault for not having enough faith. This is what the spiritual leaders of our day resort to, mocking and belittling the martyrs of the faith all so that they could justify the mansions and the jet planes and the ridiculous toys and lifestyle they’ve become accustomed to. And do we not think that God will judge righteously? Do we not think that God will bring about justice?
If we took a little time and analyzed both the current doctrines of the church, as well as the spiritual condition thereof in what we would call westernized and civilized nations, we would come to the horrifying conclusion that spiritual infancy is the norm, that we do not know the God we purport to serve, and that the god we are serving is a god of our own making fashioned in covetousness, and greed and avarice.
Hebrews 11:35-37, “Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented – of whom the world was not worthy.”
With love in Christh,
Michael Boldea Jr.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
