The fact remains...the One we call "Faithful"...is just that! He has been Faithful...through the Ages...and He remains "Faithful"...to the end!
"The Faithful One" has the power...to break through our despair....
The thing that causes the Sacred Scriptures to come alive to me...is the fact it is filled with people who in the "natural schemes of life" are just like any one of us....selfish, lookin' out for #1 (me), and totally violating His Commands.
Look at David...the man the Scriptures say: "the one that was after God's own heart". He is also the guy that had a person purposely killed so he could have his wife (Bathsheba).
The apostle Peter, whom the Roman Catholic Church has built its whole foundation on in the city of Rome itself...on the night prior to the Crucifixion...hangin' with Jesus for approximately 3 years, having developed a close friendship with Him...denied he ever even knew the guy when asked that evening...and he denied Him not once, not twice, but 3 times...publicly...before all those in attendance.
Saint Paul, prior to his conversion to the Lordship of Christ Jesus in his own life...the writer of 2/3 of the New Testament... was having people who claimed they believed in Jesus...he had them drug out of their homes, sold into slavery, or had them killed. His former name was "Saul"...for those who lived in that day he was known as "Saul the Butcher"...and it wasn't because he was in the meat business. His basic philosophy for a time was "the only good Christian...is a dead Christian." He was there and totally supported the group that had Stephen stoned.
And then there is Jacob...who God later changed his name to..."Israel". This guy was tricky...one of those that might tell you one thing...but do another. His own sons, after hearing about how this village and its leader had taken their sister Dinah forcibly, made an agreement with them to get their sister back, even encouraged them to join the ranks of their own Hebrew faith....the males in the village voluntarily became circumcised, and on the 3rd day after circumcision, when the physical pain was at its height, the 2 brothers of Dinah came in and slaughtered the entire male population of the village. And who were these 2 brothers...Simeon and Levi...2 of the leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel...the very descendants of Abraham himself.
So, what made these guys make a decision whether to be a part of "God's chosen"?...after all they were murderers, adulterers, liars, and out for themselves. Nor did some of these guys become believers in Christ Jesus who we had never heard of...rather...the Christian church today is built around...the lives and testimonies of these guys...King David, the Apostle Peter, Saint Paul, and whatever happened to the tribes of Simeon and the tribes of Levi of the nation of Israel....Levi...the priesthood lineage of the Jewish faith!
My opinion?...it became a matter of the heart...they were just like you and I. I think when you give yourself a "minute", and inventory how you are dealing with the affairs of everyday life...on your own...you come to a point and admit to yourself: "Hey, I really don't care...I don't care about others...and honestly...I don't care about myself." And yes, you may look good "on paper"...giving to the poor, being nice, or just having a good and successful appearance... yet, when the "rubber meets the road" as the saying goes, when you find yourself in those times... alone...sitting by yourself...it is there you find out...who you really are.
For some, they grab some "happy pills", others may reach for a "pain killer" that come in a bottle...in liquid form, and still others grab a remote and start "surfin' the channels" or perhaps jump on a computer and start a game. It is also in those moments...if you have "the guts" to do so...that you allow your heart to cry out and say: "Ok God...I am willing to give You the chance You have asked of me. I am obviously a failure...without You. If You are who You say are...then I will at this moment....take You at Your Word,so, I ask You to come into my own life...my own heart, and I will submit myself to You...and to the Authority and the Power of Your Son...the One they call...the Christ.
This...in my opinion...is what made some of these "guys" different....they had "the guts"...they took "the chance"... and it caused their hearts to change...from hard and selfish hearts...to soft and tender hearts....with the following results....they gave their lives to the honor of...Jesus Christ.
For some...it did not happen overnite...but the fact of the matter remains....it did happen!
In Isaiah 57:15, it reads: "This is a message from the One who lives...beyond the cliffs. The Holy One would say these words: " Though I live in high and lofty places, My Heart reaches down and touches those who are humble, recognizing and admitting their wrongs...for it is then, when one is in that frame of mind...I can restore how they think...how they act...it is at that precise moment I can put within them a new spirit..."
And again, In the New Testament, in the Book of Acts, chapter 2 and verse 37: " Now when the people heard the words Peter had spoken...for these words had cut through and pierced their hard hearts, they asked of Peter and the others with him: " What shall we do now?..."
For David, he writes in Psalms 51: 1-3: " He is Generous...with His love, He is the True Giver...of His Grace, and He is Great...in His mercy. Because of Your infinite compassion, my own guilt, my own sins, and even the stains left from my sins...it is You...and only You that can make me clean once more. For when I walk in Your integrity, when I am able to walk in Your purity...it is all because of...You. I realize my own rebellion against You, and the sinful results it has caused...for in myself I see the wickedness of my own life...haunting me both in the evening and when I awake."
For Peter, he wrote to believers in Christ everywhere. In I Peter, he opens up with these words: " I am Peter, and yes, I am one of the "Original", a messenger for Christ Jesus Himself. I am currently on assignment...by Christ Jesus...the True Messiah...and am contacting all those who live in exile...because of your choice...to follow Him. I am first instructed to let you know this: "He has not misplaced any of you, or have any of you been forgotten..."
For Paul, he wrote of having love...yes that's right...love for one another. In 1 Corinthians 13, he begins by saying this: " If I speak with human eloquence, able to speak in numerous languages of the earth, or even in the language of the angels...and yet do not love others...I am nothing more than a loud, clanging, and annoying cymbal...the creaky sound of a rusty old gate..."
Now, as for Simeon and Levi, the Sacred Scriptures do not write of their repentance for the trick and murders of those in that village...perhaps they had reason to do so...but there was no mercy, they never even considered consulting the Lord as to what action He would have wanted them to take when these men captured their sister Dinah, they just chose to take things into their own hands......
In Genesis 49: 5-7 it reads: " Simeon and Levi are two of a kind...always ready to fight...at the "drop of a hat". I don't want to hear about their own plans and feuds they have gotten themselves into. They kill..from pure rage, they cripple animals...for no reason, they hurt others...just for "sport". And, because of their own choices in life they have made, they have opened themselves to God's curse upon them...instead of His Blessings. They will suffer from God's own wrath...because of their violent acts of cruelty. Their descendants...will be scattered...like confetti...throughout Israel."
The tribe of Simeon...never received the Blessing of Moses when they entered the Promised Land, and these violent acts of Levi eventually caught up...with those of the Levitical priesthood...their final sacrifice?....the Lamb of God...who takes away the sins of the world.
We all have choices in life....
"The Faithful One" has the power...to break through our despair....
The thing that causes the Sacred Scriptures to come alive to me...is the fact it is filled with people who in the "natural schemes of life" are just like any one of us....selfish, lookin' out for #1 (me), and totally violating His Commands.
Look at David...the man the Scriptures say: "the one that was after God's own heart". He is also the guy that had a person purposely killed so he could have his wife (Bathsheba).
The apostle Peter, whom the Roman Catholic Church has built its whole foundation on in the city of Rome itself...on the night prior to the Crucifixion...hangin' with Jesus for approximately 3 years, having developed a close friendship with Him...denied he ever even knew the guy when asked that evening...and he denied Him not once, not twice, but 3 times...publicly...before all those in attendance.
Saint Paul, prior to his conversion to the Lordship of Christ Jesus in his own life...the writer of 2/3 of the New Testament... was having people who claimed they believed in Jesus...he had them drug out of their homes, sold into slavery, or had them killed. His former name was "Saul"...for those who lived in that day he was known as "Saul the Butcher"...and it wasn't because he was in the meat business. His basic philosophy for a time was "the only good Christian...is a dead Christian." He was there and totally supported the group that had Stephen stoned.
And then there is Jacob...who God later changed his name to..."Israel". This guy was tricky...one of those that might tell you one thing...but do another. His own sons, after hearing about how this village and its leader had taken their sister Dinah forcibly, made an agreement with them to get their sister back, even encouraged them to join the ranks of their own Hebrew faith....the males in the village voluntarily became circumcised, and on the 3rd day after circumcision, when the physical pain was at its height, the 2 brothers of Dinah came in and slaughtered the entire male population of the village. And who were these 2 brothers...Simeon and Levi...2 of the leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel...the very descendants of Abraham himself.
So, what made these guys make a decision whether to be a part of "God's chosen"?...after all they were murderers, adulterers, liars, and out for themselves. Nor did some of these guys become believers in Christ Jesus who we had never heard of...rather...the Christian church today is built around...the lives and testimonies of these guys...King David, the Apostle Peter, Saint Paul, and whatever happened to the tribes of Simeon and the tribes of Levi of the nation of Israel....Levi...the priesthood lineage of the Jewish faith!
My opinion?...it became a matter of the heart...they were just like you and I. I think when you give yourself a "minute", and inventory how you are dealing with the affairs of everyday life...on your own...you come to a point and admit to yourself: "Hey, I really don't care...I don't care about others...and honestly...I don't care about myself." And yes, you may look good "on paper"...giving to the poor, being nice, or just having a good and successful appearance... yet, when the "rubber meets the road" as the saying goes, when you find yourself in those times... alone...sitting by yourself...it is there you find out...who you really are.
For some, they grab some "happy pills", others may reach for a "pain killer" that come in a bottle...in liquid form, and still others grab a remote and start "surfin' the channels" or perhaps jump on a computer and start a game. It is also in those moments...if you have "the guts" to do so...that you allow your heart to cry out and say: "Ok God...I am willing to give You the chance You have asked of me. I am obviously a failure...without You. If You are who You say are...then I will at this moment....take You at Your Word,so, I ask You to come into my own life...my own heart, and I will submit myself to You...and to the Authority and the Power of Your Son...the One they call...the Christ.
This...in my opinion...is what made some of these "guys" different....they had "the guts"...they took "the chance"... and it caused their hearts to change...from hard and selfish hearts...to soft and tender hearts....with the following results....they gave their lives to the honor of...Jesus Christ.
For some...it did not happen overnite...but the fact of the matter remains....it did happen!
In Isaiah 57:15, it reads: "This is a message from the One who lives...beyond the cliffs. The Holy One would say these words: " Though I live in high and lofty places, My Heart reaches down and touches those who are humble, recognizing and admitting their wrongs...for it is then, when one is in that frame of mind...I can restore how they think...how they act...it is at that precise moment I can put within them a new spirit..."
And again, In the New Testament, in the Book of Acts, chapter 2 and verse 37: " Now when the people heard the words Peter had spoken...for these words had cut through and pierced their hard hearts, they asked of Peter and the others with him: " What shall we do now?..."
For David, he writes in Psalms 51: 1-3: " He is Generous...with His love, He is the True Giver...of His Grace, and He is Great...in His mercy. Because of Your infinite compassion, my own guilt, my own sins, and even the stains left from my sins...it is You...and only You that can make me clean once more. For when I walk in Your integrity, when I am able to walk in Your purity...it is all because of...You. I realize my own rebellion against You, and the sinful results it has caused...for in myself I see the wickedness of my own life...haunting me both in the evening and when I awake."
For Peter, he wrote to believers in Christ everywhere. In I Peter, he opens up with these words: " I am Peter, and yes, I am one of the "Original", a messenger for Christ Jesus Himself. I am currently on assignment...by Christ Jesus...the True Messiah...and am contacting all those who live in exile...because of your choice...to follow Him. I am first instructed to let you know this: "He has not misplaced any of you, or have any of you been forgotten..."
For Paul, he wrote of having love...yes that's right...love for one another. In 1 Corinthians 13, he begins by saying this: " If I speak with human eloquence, able to speak in numerous languages of the earth, or even in the language of the angels...and yet do not love others...I am nothing more than a loud, clanging, and annoying cymbal...the creaky sound of a rusty old gate..."
Now, as for Simeon and Levi, the Sacred Scriptures do not write of their repentance for the trick and murders of those in that village...perhaps they had reason to do so...but there was no mercy, they never even considered consulting the Lord as to what action He would have wanted them to take when these men captured their sister Dinah, they just chose to take things into their own hands......
In Genesis 49: 5-7 it reads: " Simeon and Levi are two of a kind...always ready to fight...at the "drop of a hat". I don't want to hear about their own plans and feuds they have gotten themselves into. They kill..from pure rage, they cripple animals...for no reason, they hurt others...just for "sport". And, because of their own choices in life they have made, they have opened themselves to God's curse upon them...instead of His Blessings. They will suffer from God's own wrath...because of their violent acts of cruelty. Their descendants...will be scattered...like confetti...throughout Israel."
The tribe of Simeon...never received the Blessing of Moses when they entered the Promised Land, and these violent acts of Levi eventually caught up...with those of the Levitical priesthood...their final sacrifice?....the Lamb of God...who takes away the sins of the world.
We all have choices in life....
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