The Catholics call it the “Immaculate conception”, and yes, they too teach that Mary was a virgin, but she was not “immaculate“, or without sin. This virgin birth is of the utmost significance when it comes to our salvation. Why? Because it was necessary that no man have a part in the birth of Christ, else sin would have passed on to our Lord. The Bible says that sin is passed on from man to man, and generation to generation through natural birth. Look at Romans 5:12: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” You see, without the virgin birth, we have no Redeemer! We have no forgiveness of sin, and no perfect sacrifice for it; we are all hopelessly lost except for Calvary, and the fact of the virgin birth; the immaculate Savior was all it took to wipe all sin from our souls. Only He was as a lamb without blemish, and therefore, only he could raise again from the grave, defeating sin and death. Thank God for the virgin birth.
In His book, “The Chemistry of the Blood”, Dr. M.R. Dehaan (a medical doctor), says that the blood of a fetus is always from the father, and not from the mother (this is why doctors can tell who the natural father of a baby is by merely taking a blood test and matching the DNA). Thus, the blood of Christ is Holy blood, and is not tainted by man, but is of The Father! It is His blood that atones for sin, and none else.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
The Glory of Suffering
1 PETER 2:19,20
There is a certain glory in suffering wrongfully and taking it patiently. Christ entered into His glory at the point of suffering wrongfully (Lk. 24:26), and when we enter into His suffering, or suffer with Him, it is only at this point that we do so. When we are “buffeted” for our faults, this is justice; but if we are buffeted “innocently”, this is glory for us Look at 1 Peter 4:14: “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” Do you want the Spirit of God to rest upon you? If so, you need to pay the price. Consider also the three Hebrew children of Daniel 3: Until they entered the fire, they did not see Jesus, but as soon as they were in the fiery furnace of affliction, Jesus came to visit! Jesus is there for us, whenever we need Him, and even when we think we don’t! So we see the value of patience. Are you willing to enter the fire?
There is a certain glory in suffering wrongfully and taking it patiently. Christ entered into His glory at the point of suffering wrongfully (Lk. 24:26), and when we enter into His suffering, or suffer with Him, it is only at this point that we do so. When we are “buffeted” for our faults, this is justice; but if we are buffeted “innocently”, this is glory for us Look at 1 Peter 4:14: “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” Do you want the Spirit of God to rest upon you? If so, you need to pay the price. Consider also the three Hebrew children of Daniel 3: Until they entered the fire, they did not see Jesus, but as soon as they were in the fiery furnace of affliction, Jesus came to visit! Jesus is there for us, whenever we need Him, and even when we think we don’t! So we see the value of patience. Are you willing to enter the fire?
Saturday, April 17, 2010
An Unknown Tongue
The Language of Love
Who can know the mighty depths of the Love of God? The most loving person this world has ever known has but touched the outer fringes of the love of God. It was love that brought Christ down from Heaven, and love compelled Him to die at Calvary’s hill. His was a love that is unapproachable, and yet, by the grace of God, we are privileged to know Him intimately. Only the heart can understand true love, and yet no man can reach unto the heights of the love of God.
What language does God speak?
The language of joy; of peace, and a tender moment;
Perfect love, and everlasting Mercy:
The language of the heart.
Surely He doth speak in an unknown tongue.
Who understands His great Wisdom?
Who knows His perfect love?
Who can tell His absolute Truth?
Who discerns the heart of man?
Surely He doeth speak in an unknown tongue.
He hears the voice of sorrows,
The silence of a broken heart;
He hears the agonizing cry of a single tear,
And He sends His angels to help.
Surely He knoweth the unknown tongue.
The heart speaks a language unknown to man,
But God knows all its thoughts;
He answers the need of the crying soul,
His blessings He doth impart.
Surely He heareth the voice of the heart;
He speaketh in an unknown tongue.
Who can know the mighty depths of the Love of God? The most loving person this world has ever known has but touched the outer fringes of the love of God. It was love that brought Christ down from Heaven, and love compelled Him to die at Calvary’s hill. His was a love that is unapproachable, and yet, by the grace of God, we are privileged to know Him intimately. Only the heart can understand true love, and yet no man can reach unto the heights of the love of God.
What language does God speak?
The language of joy; of peace, and a tender moment;
Perfect love, and everlasting Mercy:
The language of the heart.
Surely He doth speak in an unknown tongue.
Who understands His great Wisdom?
Who knows His perfect love?
Who can tell His absolute Truth?
Who discerns the heart of man?
Surely He doeth speak in an unknown tongue.
He hears the voice of sorrows,
The silence of a broken heart;
He hears the agonizing cry of a single tear,
And He sends His angels to help.
Surely He knoweth the unknown tongue.
The heart speaks a language unknown to man,
But God knows all its thoughts;
He answers the need of the crying soul,
His blessings He doth impart.
Surely He heareth the voice of the heart;
He speaketh in an unknown tongue.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF HUMAN RELATIONS
Building relationships
1. Speak to people. There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting.
2. Smile at people. It takes seventy-two muscles to frown, and only fourteen to smile.
3. Call people by name. The sweetest music to most men’s ears is the sound of their own name.
4. Be friendly and helpful. If you would have friends, be friendly.
5. Be cordial. Speak and act as if everything you do is genuinely a pleasure; make it a pleasure to do so.
6. Be genuinely interested in people. You can like almost anybody if you try.
7. Be generous with praise—cautious with criticism.
8. Be considerate with the feelings of others. Walk a mile in their shoes; their pain is real, though it may seem trivial to you..
9. Be alert to give service. What counts most in life is what we do for others.
10. Add to this a good sense of humor; a big dose of patience, and plenty of humility, and you will be rewarded many-fold.
--copied
1. Speak to people. There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting.
2. Smile at people. It takes seventy-two muscles to frown, and only fourteen to smile.
3. Call people by name. The sweetest music to most men’s ears is the sound of their own name.
4. Be friendly and helpful. If you would have friends, be friendly.
5. Be cordial. Speak and act as if everything you do is genuinely a pleasure; make it a pleasure to do so.
6. Be genuinely interested in people. You can like almost anybody if you try.
7. Be generous with praise—cautious with criticism.
8. Be considerate with the feelings of others. Walk a mile in their shoes; their pain is real, though it may seem trivial to you..
9. Be alert to give service. What counts most in life is what we do for others.
10. Add to this a good sense of humor; a big dose of patience, and plenty of humility, and you will be rewarded many-fold.
--copied
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Clouds of Sin
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
Our Lord has promised never to leave us, nor forsake us. This has been a very precious verse in the lives of my wife and me over the years, and we had to often remind ourselves of the truth of it; that being said, it doesn’t mean that we will never withdraw from the Lord. Our text verse tells us that we can fail to “walk in the light” and break fellowship with the Lord as a result of it. Just as the clouds obscure the sunlight, and turn the day into a dark, and dismal day, so can sin obscure the light of God’s presence, and turn our lives into seeming chaos. We all know on a very dark and gloomy day, that the sun is there hiding somewhere behind the clouds; it is still shining, but the clouds have come between us and the brightness of it; and, in the same way, the Son is still there when we have sinned, but the light of His glory has been obscured by sin, and the brightness has been dimmed. When we finally discover that this has happened, we need to get back to the place of fellowship with Him; we need to confess that sin, humbly, and sincerely and the glory of God will shine on us once more. Let’s be sure that we get back to the light, and the fellowship of the Father in Christ, and that we dwell there so that we never stray far away again. Everyone seems to like a bright sunny day much more than the overcast cloudy day; we seem to be in higher spirits when the sun shines brightly.
Our Lord has promised never to leave us, nor forsake us. This has been a very precious verse in the lives of my wife and me over the years, and we had to often remind ourselves of the truth of it; that being said, it doesn’t mean that we will never withdraw from the Lord. Our text verse tells us that we can fail to “walk in the light” and break fellowship with the Lord as a result of it. Just as the clouds obscure the sunlight, and turn the day into a dark, and dismal day, so can sin obscure the light of God’s presence, and turn our lives into seeming chaos. We all know on a very dark and gloomy day, that the sun is there hiding somewhere behind the clouds; it is still shining, but the clouds have come between us and the brightness of it; and, in the same way, the Son is still there when we have sinned, but the light of His glory has been obscured by sin, and the brightness has been dimmed. When we finally discover that this has happened, we need to get back to the place of fellowship with Him; we need to confess that sin, humbly, and sincerely and the glory of God will shine on us once more. Let’s be sure that we get back to the light, and the fellowship of the Father in Christ, and that we dwell there so that we never stray far away again. Everyone seems to like a bright sunny day much more than the overcast cloudy day; we seem to be in higher spirits when the sun shines brightly.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Prisoners of the Earth
“To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,” (Lam. 3:34)
Lamentations 3:34 reminds us that we are prisoners here on earth. The verses immediately preceding this verse say that God does not want to destroy us nor cast is off forever, (vs. 31- 34). Then He says that He does not want to “crush under His feet all the prisoners of the earth”. What a statement! That is exactly what we are when we are redeemed by the blood of Christ—prisoners, held captive by the flesh. As Children of God, we are kidnapped by the devil, and held for ransom in a matter of speaking, but the unsaved of the world, the natural man, is indeed a prisoner in a much greater way in that he is under the control of the devil. Yes, mankind is taken captive and only the Lord can set Him free.
We live amid a world of sin—gross sin, flagrant sin, and yet we do not belong to this world, we are captive here until the redemption of the body by our Champion, the Lord Jesus Christ. We must live here amid the strife and the evil, every day, and yet we are not to be partakers of it. We are prisoners in a foreign world. Pray for deliverance; pray for our Deliverer to complete the plan He has for us in the total redemption of body and spirit. Pray for the rapture! Only then will we be set free from the flesh and the lusts thereof, totally free, in body, soul, and spirit.
Lamentations 3:34 reminds us that we are prisoners here on earth. The verses immediately preceding this verse say that God does not want to destroy us nor cast is off forever, (vs. 31- 34). Then He says that He does not want to “crush under His feet all the prisoners of the earth”. What a statement! That is exactly what we are when we are redeemed by the blood of Christ—prisoners, held captive by the flesh. As Children of God, we are kidnapped by the devil, and held for ransom in a matter of speaking, but the unsaved of the world, the natural man, is indeed a prisoner in a much greater way in that he is under the control of the devil. Yes, mankind is taken captive and only the Lord can set Him free.
We live amid a world of sin—gross sin, flagrant sin, and yet we do not belong to this world, we are captive here until the redemption of the body by our Champion, the Lord Jesus Christ. We must live here amid the strife and the evil, every day, and yet we are not to be partakers of it. We are prisoners in a foreign world. Pray for deliverance; pray for our Deliverer to complete the plan He has for us in the total redemption of body and spirit. Pray for the rapture! Only then will we be set free from the flesh and the lusts thereof, totally free, in body, soul, and spirit.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
defeat
Defeat?
I suppose that one of the biggest disappointments in my life has been the defeat I have faced at various times. It took me many years to learn some things, but once I learned them, my life began to improve; my “battles” became easier. I have learned that defeat must come before we can enjoy victory; I realized that we must suffer before we can excel; we must hurt, before we become pain free. Without the contrasts the blessing is not appreciated, and not fully realized. Oh, I am not saying I like defeat, or the hard times; I do not necessarily like the aches and pains that life throws my way, but I need them. Without these “rubbings”, I could not “shine”; I would not know the joy of overcoming problems. I would not be able to encourage others in their battles, nor to be an effective soldier in my own. We need the trials; we need the sadness; we need the negative things to accentuate the positive. Without cold, we would not realize what heat is; without evil, good would be nothing. Yes, the times of defeat were a disappointment, but they were also a hidden blessing. I would have preferred to skip the trials and the bad times, and go straight to the good things, but I am afraid that the good would not have been so good had I done that. Without the defeats, I would not have called upon the Lord, and enjoyed the blessings of God. How could we see Him work in us without the trials He overcomes through us? What would the suffering of Job mean without the double restoration of everything in his life?
Some people compare life to an ocean; they seem to think that good times and bad times come in waves, and that they have no real purpose. Many are overwhelmed by the evil things, as a tsunami overwhelms peoples and places. I am glad that life is not always “a bowl of cherries”, sometimes it’s the pits! We need the hardness of the pit to actually know the softness and sweetness of the cherry. Realizing this can help us to thank God for the “pits of life” and totally appreciate the sweetness of the cherry.
I suppose that one of the biggest disappointments in my life has been the defeat I have faced at various times. It took me many years to learn some things, but once I learned them, my life began to improve; my “battles” became easier. I have learned that defeat must come before we can enjoy victory; I realized that we must suffer before we can excel; we must hurt, before we become pain free. Without the contrasts the blessing is not appreciated, and not fully realized. Oh, I am not saying I like defeat, or the hard times; I do not necessarily like the aches and pains that life throws my way, but I need them. Without these “rubbings”, I could not “shine”; I would not know the joy of overcoming problems. I would not be able to encourage others in their battles, nor to be an effective soldier in my own. We need the trials; we need the sadness; we need the negative things to accentuate the positive. Without cold, we would not realize what heat is; without evil, good would be nothing. Yes, the times of defeat were a disappointment, but they were also a hidden blessing. I would have preferred to skip the trials and the bad times, and go straight to the good things, but I am afraid that the good would not have been so good had I done that. Without the defeats, I would not have called upon the Lord, and enjoyed the blessings of God. How could we see Him work in us without the trials He overcomes through us? What would the suffering of Job mean without the double restoration of everything in his life?
Some people compare life to an ocean; they seem to think that good times and bad times come in waves, and that they have no real purpose. Many are overwhelmed by the evil things, as a tsunami overwhelms peoples and places. I am glad that life is not always “a bowl of cherries”, sometimes it’s the pits! We need the hardness of the pit to actually know the softness and sweetness of the cherry. Realizing this can help us to thank God for the “pits of life” and totally appreciate the sweetness of the cherry.
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