Everything Good is From God

Let's Get Real - Scripture Day 368
April 1, 2016 (working on catching up)

All the blessings in this life come from God...

"How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.  They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.  For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light."

Psalms 36:7-9 ESV

RANDY: No matter your view of God, all good things come from Him. Since God is the creator of all things, by default all good things are from Him.

Conversely, not all bad things are from God.  In fact, virtually anything wrong with in the world is either the result of sin being introduced into the world by mankind initially, or even the direct actions of currently sinful man.

Trusting God

Let's Get Real - Scripture Day 367
March 31, 2016 (running behind, oops)

It is an awesome thing to trust in God...

"In you, O Lord , do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me!  Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me!"

Psalms 31:1-2 ESV

RANDY: It is far easier to say we trust in God than to actually do it. God loves when we come to Him and ask for help.

He loves to give good gifts to His children.

Jesus Was Just Like Us

Let's Get Real - Scripture Day 366
March 30, 2016 (year 2, day 1)

Even though Jesus had a unique birth, His life and experience was very much like everyone else...

"Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Luke 3:21-22 ESV

RANDY: Things all believers share with Jesus:

1) Baptism - water baptism has always been a practice of the church.  Though it in no way actually brings salvation, only faith in Jesus completed work on the cross brings salvation, it symbolizes repentance from sins and acceptance by God.

2) Praying - Jesus prayed to God the same way we do.

3)  The Holy Spirit - All believers are indwelled with the Holy Spirit, and those that are preparing to enter ministry are supposed to also be Spirit Baptized, just like Jesus and like the apostles on the day of Pentecost.

4) Adoption into God's family.  Jesus was the only begotten son of God (meaning declared as a promise).  We are adopted into God's family and share in the inheritance of eternal life as believers.

There Is No Other Way

Let's Get Real - Scripture Day 365
March 29, 2016 (one year of scripture posting)

The message has always been the same, repent of your sins and bear spiritual fruit (let your life show your repentance)...

"Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance."

Matthew 3:5-8 ESV

RANDY: This scripture is quoting John the Baptist, and took place shortly before he baptized Jesus.

The Bible is clear, John the Baptist had the "spirit of Elijah" (an Old Testament prophet who was predicted to return just before the Messiah). And John was quite literally just a few months older than Jesus.  Both their mothers spent time together during their pregnancies.

John proclaimed the exact same message of repentance of sins that every prophet before him had proclaimed. After Jesus was baptized by John, and the Holy Spirit came upon Him, Jesus proclaimed this exact same message in His public ministry too.

The world has one single problem, and that problem is sin. The only way to deal with it is through repentance (turning away from sin) and turning to God for forgiveness. The next step is living a life that reflects that forgiveness from God outward to the world.

There is no other way...

Jesus in the Old Testament?

Let's Get Real - Scripture Day 364
March 28, 2016

Scripture makes it very clear, Satan and Angels are very real...

"Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord , and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?”

Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.”

And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by."

Zechariah 3:1-5 ESV

RANDY: Throughout scripture, God has made it clear through visions, His prophets, and even Jesus Himself, that Satan is the adversary of God, the accuser of mankind.

God often uses angels to help defend man against the power and accusations of Satan.

God himself takes away our sins and washes us clean through the blood of Jesus. 

I find it interesting that the phrase, "angel of the Lord" is used in this passage. That is a phrase often associated with the pre-incarnate Jesus in the Old Testament, and here again if you substituted Jesus in place of that phrase, it makes total sense. 

Maybe this is Jesus before he came to earth, being described as the one who takes away iniquity and clothes in pure vestments. That is the way Jesus is described in Revelation.

Just saying...

A Warning to All Who Preach or Teach

Let's Get Real - Scripture Day 363
March 27, 2016

Refusing to preach the truth about God’s laws and words will curse a minister for not saving his congregation from its sin...

"And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.

But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand.

But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

Ezekiel 3:16-21 ESV

RANDY: God is deadly serious about the responsibility that ministers have to their congregations. Jesus said it would be better to have a millstone tied around your neck and be thrown into the ocean than to cause a young Christian to stumble in their faith. 

Here God says that not warning someone who is sinning that they are in sin, and that pperdon then refusing to repent for that sin, will actually make the pastor (prophet) responsible for that person's  spiritual death and will damn the pastor himself. 

Kinda makes you wonder how God views pastors that never mention sin in their sermons (Joel Osteen, and the like), and also pastors who refuse to call sin - SIN (all pastors who support homosexuality, abortion, etc). According to this scripture, they are directly responsible for the unrepentant sins of their followers if they did not make it crystal clear that the followers were sinning.

This should scare anyone who claims to speak for God in any teaching or preaching role. There is a reason God only wants spiritually mature believers whose own lives are above reproach as his official representatives.

New Mercies Everyday

Let's Get Real - Scripture Day 362
March 26, 2016

Sometimes we just need to remind ourselves that God gives us a fresh start each day...

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;  they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV

RANDY: This particular passage is taken out of a long area of scripture where everything has been going wrong in the life of the writer.  Based on all the things the writer has stated, you could easily see them losing all hope and faith, and yet, they are praising God for his new mercies everyday.

Take a look at your own life. No matter how tough things look right now, know it could be worse, and also know that each day God gives you a fresh opportunity to seek forgiveness, to seek closeness with Him, to change your attitude from one of hopelessness to one of hope.

Have a great new day in God’s glory and mercy...