Babbelog

Communion- War Council

2012-01-26T10:56:00.001-05:00

Here we are again, eating and drinking in the name of Jesus. What are we doing relaxing? Don’t we realize that there is a world to conquer for Christ? When will we do something about it?

Well, first we need to get hold of the fact that we are doing something about it here today inside these four walls. We are not hiding in here. We are having a tactical meeting. There is a sense in which this is a war council.

We are gathered here to assess our condition and the condition of the enemy and then make plans to go on assault.

The Lord is making us fit for battle. The first thing we do is declare our allegiance. This is like a roll call in which we declare, present! Then we are briefed with the current condition, prepped with the necessary knowledge to go out and then take nourishment with a charge from the general.

Our unity in this calling is essential to our victory. In fact, if we understand what Christ has done, it is the testament that if we are unified in Christ, then we have already won.

So, what we do here, eat and drink in the name of Jesus, is a guarantee that all the enemies of Christ will, in fact, be vanquished. We have accomplished their demise before we even set forth into the enemy territory. Christ has done it in His death, resurrection and ascension. So, let us go out in His name and receive the kingdom that He has purchased with His own blood.

Exhortation- Besetting Sins

2012-01-26T10:51:00.000-05:00

None of us grows weary of receiving God’s blessings. We are glad to have them over and over and in ever increasing amounts. But sometimes we do grow weary of our own flesh, our own failures, our own sins. You may have a besetting sin, a way of thinking, a way of speaking, a certain habit, that is very difficult for you to shake. It has become so ingrained in you, that you have nearly stopped fighting against it.

But do not do this. If it is sinful, then it must go. The fact that you war against such a sin is a sign that you belong to God. As long as you war with those things that are opposed to Christ, then you can rest assured that you belong to Him. It is only when you have made friends with Christ’s enemies that you need to worry.

Have you made friends with a besetting sin? Have you shrugged your shoulders believing God will understand? Only then should you begin to worry about whose side you are on. Walk in the Spirit today. Renew the fight against sin and death and every lofty thought that raises itself up against the knowledge of Christ. Do this, resist the devil and he will flee from you and Christ will give you victory.

Communion Meditation-Peace with God and Man

2012-01-13T11:41:00.000-05:00

The glory of God with us is peace with God and man. The world fell into chaos through sin and brother against brother became the way of man. Cain killed Abel and thus it has been with man since that day. But in Jesus Christ, God has remade the Earth and Heaven. We do not yet see all things in submission to Jesus but we do see that God is restoring man to Himself and reconciling brother to brother on the Earth.

As we have often recognized, this will not be fully and finally completed until the day of Resurrection when sin and death are utterly destroyed. But it is here now in us who are alive by God’s Spirit.

This meal is all about peace with God and peace with our brothers. Here we receive the body and blood of Jesus which brings us near to God, the Father. More than near, we are in Him and He is in us. This is mystical, to some degree, that is, we cannot quite get our minds around it, but it true none-the-less. And it is also true that through Jesus, His people are all of the same family. The glory of a family that is working as it should be, is the peace and love and unity that is revealed in their midst.

May this bread and wine declare our unity and also be a means of grace for us who are the family of God, so that we would reveal the peace, love and unity of God to the world, so that they will know us our love one for another.

Within the Veil

2012-01-13T11:39:00.000-05:00

Access to God is revealed in Jesus Christ. When He died, the curtain to the Holy of Holies was torn in two. Thus, mankind, Jew and Gentile, had direct access to the Shekinah Glory of God. There is no other mediator besides Jesus. For those who call upon God through Jesus, confessing and forsaking their sins, there is peace with this Holy God. And He is not merely the Holy God in Fire and Smoke as He was revealed on the mountain to Moses. But through Jesus, we are actually adopted into the family of God and thus God is our Father, our Abba, our daddy. These are intimate words and the Father wants us to understand that there is peace and reconciliation with Him.

But for those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus or for those who draw back into a life of sin after submitting to Jesus Christ, the Scriptures give us dire warnings that reveal that God is even more fierce than He was revealed on the mountain in Fire and Smoke and at that time struck down many who had sinned.

So, our peace is made with God through Jesus. And having seen a Holy God from a distance, we draw near to the Father, Our Father, not in quaking fear, but as His dear little children, who draw near to the Father with our elder brother, Jesus, knowing that the Father will receive us, comfort us and bless us just as He does His own beloved and only begotten Son.

Thus, we confess our sins and call upon the strong name of Jesus to bring us close to the Father.

The Year of our Lord

2012-01-05T11:17:00.000-05:00

Today is A.D. January 1, 2012. The A.D. is Anno Domini, the year of our Lord. This year is the year of Jesus, just as 2011 was and 2010 before that and the two thousand ten years before that. He has been enthroned and His rule in His kingdom continues down to this very day. Glory to King Jesus! You can see why the secularists want to get rid of A.D. as it is a continual and worldwide acknowledgment that all the years, all the months, and all the days belong to Jesus Christ, His bride and His heirs, forever and ever.

This year promises to be the best year ever. More people are known by Jesus today than ever in the history of the world. Heralds have gone out to the ends of the Earth proclaiming the reign of Jesus and men everywhere are aligning themselves with Jesus who is the Christ.

Someone said it is an election year and they’ve got themselves all up in a dither about it. I hate to break it to them but there is a benevolent monarch ruling this year. They are not going to unseat Him. Let us eat and drink to Jesus for 2012 is the Year of our Lord and of His Christ and of His government there shall be no end.

Exhortation- Be at Peace

2012-01-05T11:15:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year Everyone! It is a common thing to make New Year’s resolutions. There is a sense that in a new year you have the chance to start over and do better than you did last year. Sometimes, these resolutions just heap more trouble on your shoulders as you make a list of new intentions and then fail once again to achieve them in 2012. So, I will not encourage you to make a list of things to do which will be a burden upon your shoulders.

But there is a burden in this area that we carry that is not optional. We should endeavor to be better children to our Father, more loyal citizens to our King and better representatives of the Spirit that indwells us.

Some might put this burden on you in the areas of Bible reading and prayer or other spiritual disciplines and those really are spiritual duties. But I think the burden is both harder and simpler than that. God calls us to dwell in unity. This unity reflects the character of the Trinity and is manifested in our relationships to one another.

The burden this year as it is every year is to be at peace with God and man. As much as is possible with you, do not be the cause of strife and division with your spouse, your children, your siblings, your parents, your extended family, your friends, your neighbors.

Jesus said, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So, if you endeavor to walk in the Spirit, He will enable you to be a peacemaker and not one who spreads strife. This kind of peacemaking and unity will reveal the rule of Jesus on Earth.

To the extent that you have been the source of strife and division, you should confess your sins, ask God to make you new and begin to live righteously before Him this day and this year.

Communion-Emmanuel

2011-12-27T16:25:00.002-05:00

Mary held her little baby boy and saw that God had come to man. The Second Person of the Trinity humbled Himself this way so that He would be like us, even though we were created in His image.

It is incomprehensible to us that the omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient God could and would dwell in our own frail human form. And Jesus was frail. He knew hunger and thirst. He grew tired. He was angry. He knew the happiness of faithful friendship and the sorrow of backstabbing betrayal. In all things, like us, and yet without sin.

It is He that saves us from our sins. His forgiveness cuts through the divide of our own betrayals to the Lord. All the sins of all of God’s people are paid for on the cross. There is no sinner that cannot be made a friend to Jesus. This meal tells us that we are His friends. We hold the bread and wine and know that God has come to man.

God, the Father, provides for us. He feeds us. He sent His Son to dwell with us. He gave Himself for us. The Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit to dwell with us always, even to the end of the age. He is with us now, in our corporate body and in the hearts of each one of us.

The Savior has come. He is our God and we are His people. Thanks be to God!

Exhortation- Our Savior has come

2011-12-27T16:24:00.002-05:00

Hallelujah, Our Savior has arrived. The promised One has finally come. He is the one who saves His people from their sins. What does that mean? If sin is an enemy, then we do need to be saved from it. But if sin is a friend, what man would need to be saved from a friend?

On this day, of all days, we take comfort in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. If we were dying in the darkness of evil, if we were defeated by the power of Adam’s first sin and drowning in our own prevailing sin, if we were desperate to be free from sin’s stranglehold but unable to accomplish our own escape, then let us take hold of God’s promises today in Jesus! The Savior has come.

It is difficult to chide on this glorious day but there is one reason to fear. If sin has become a friend, then a wicked friend is a great danger. Open your eyes and see that sin is an enemy and must be crucified with Christ. Do not be self-deceived but confess your failures and sins to God and embrace God’s hope for you and for the world. The Savior has come.

Communion Meditation- Abba, Father

2011-12-20T11:27:00.002-05:00

God is with us, this much is true. But we do not have to simply believe this truth. God promises to be with us in a way that is tangible. He has given us His Spirit, through which we cry out to God as our own Father. Thus, through the Holy Spirit, we have this sense of being God’s children. Being a child of God is more than simply being related to Him by some distant relation in the family tree.

To that extent, the brotherhood of man is a true doctrine. All humans are related to God, the Father. But it is something quite different to say, Our Father, my Father, Abba. Only a true child can say this. When an adopted child, or an older stepchild, finally calls the parent, dad or mom, mother or father, mommy or daddy, both the parent and the child know that they are, accepted, of one blood and one mind, intimate beyond any other earthly relationship, except, perhaps, that of spouse.

So, can we say this? God, my dear Father, Abba? Yes, we can and if you have trouble doing so, then take courage from this meal. Jesus is seated at the table with His Abba, His daddy. We are the bride of Christ, seated with Him. We are presented to His Father and are thus members of Jesus. And since Jesus is a perfect Son, Abba, Father, accepts His bride as the perfect bride. She is, in every way, God’s own child.
I know that it is the case that the Church is the bride of Christ, and not every individual. But in addition to this picture of bride, we also know that we are adopted children of God, that Jesus is our Elder Brother, that Jesus told EACH of us to pray, Our Father, who art in heaven. So, we have many witnesses that we are true children of Yahveh.

So, when you come to Him and say in an overtly respectful voice, “Almighty God, Exalted Father, dear benevolent Sir, O High King”, do not be surprised when He says to you, “You are in my family now. Stop with all the formality and pretense. Call me Abba.”

Exhortation- Bothered by Sin?

2011-12-20T11:24:00.000-05:00

In Jesus Christ, we have the promises of God, not just a future promise but a present promise. Jesus is with us. He came to Earth, as a little baby, born of a Virgin. Jesus identifies fully with us, as one who has emptied Himself of His power and might and humbled Himself, even to the death of the cross, in order to save His people from their sins.

But He has also done more than that. When He ascended into heaven, He also promised that His Holy Spirit would dwell with His people forever. What happened at Pentecost revealed that God’s plan was nothing less than the Salvation of the World. He used ordinary men and women to accomplish this salvation but they did so by extraordinary means. They did so by indwelling power of God’s Holy Spirit.

Those extraordinary means, God’s Spirit, is still with us today. He abides with us, and greater than this, in us, so that we are enabled to do that which He has called us to do.

This internal witness of the Holy Spirit is God with us continuing to draw us to Himself. Whereas, God’s people of old, chaffed against the law of God governing them, in the New Covenant, God’s people chaff against the power of remaining sin and death in the world in their own bodies.

If it bothers you that you sin and you are striving to change and be more like Jesus, then take courage, the Holy Spirit is working in you that great salvation promised by God. One day, you will be rid of this intense struggle. For now, take courage. Confess those sins you still grapple with and receive the forgiveness of God through the shed blood of Christ.

Exhortation- Waiting on Jesus

2011-12-13T12:31:00.000-05:00

I guess nobody really likes waiting. Waiting is really difficult. We can all wait for a short time. Sometimes that kind of waiting is actually pleasant. If we know the exact time something is going to happen, then we can endure for a time. But much of our lives are spent waiting for things in which the time frame is not sure; waiting to find a spouse, waiting to have children, waiting for a hoped for promotion, waiting for the joy of grandchildren, waiting for deliverance from health problems or financial struggles, waiting through trials and suffering.

So, waiting for something that is sure can teach us that God’s promises are always sure. We know Christmas is coming and so we can wait with some degree of impatient anticipation but that only heightens the excitement of knowing that December 25 will surely arrive.

But just as December 25 is sure to bring the celebration of the birth of Jesus, presents and food, so, too, will Jesus arrive in the midst of your troubles. He is the deliverer. He will come. But you may have to wait. I do not know how long. I wish I did then you could probably wait better. But you must wait upon the Lord. This means to trust in Him, having faith, knowing that the day of your deliverance draws near.

We should confess our impatience and ask God to grant us patience to wait with a holy anticipation of His deliverance.

Communion Meditation- Emmanuel

2011-12-13T12:29:00.000-05:00

God is with us. He is Emmanuel. He has answered our prayers, drawing near to us and then calling us to draw near to Him. This table is prepared for that event. It is the consummation of God’s promises to us, that the body of Jesus, the Temple of God, should dwell with His people.

And so Jesus is here with us, not just in bread and wine, symbols or promises but He is really here. His Holy Spirit is dwelling here in the blessed gathering of God’s people. He is also here in the hearts of all who are His.

God inhabits the praises of His people, moving and dwelling and ministering in their midst. His promises to us are tangible as we have a witness in our hearts of the reality of God’s presence. We know that Jesus is here and we trust, by faith, that He will always dwell with us, that He will never leave us or forsake us.

These symbols testify to us this truth. We eat and drink in faith, believing as Jesus said in John 17:21-23 That we are all one in Christ; as the Father is in Jesus, and Jesus is in the Father, that we are also one in God: that the world may believe that the Father has sent Jesus. And the glory which the Father gave Jesus, Jesus has given to us so that we may be one, even as the Father and the Son are one: Jesus in us, and the Father in Jesus, that we may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that the Father has sent Jesus, and has loved us, just as the Father has loved Jesus.

First Buck with Bow

2011-12-09T09:12:00.000-05:00

First Sundy of Advent- Receive and Give

2011-12-08T12:37:00.000-05:00

This was from the First Sunday in Advent

This Sunday is the First Sunday in Advent. Advent is the season known for waiting. All of us understand this very well, for we were all once children. The anticipation of Christmas builds during these weeks. We slowly build up to one of our highest points of the year, the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

It is good that we look forward to Christmas so eagerly. We really want it to come. For some of you, you want it to get here so you can get your presents. For others, you want it to get here so you can see the smiles on the faces of those that you brought presents for.

These are both good reasons. It is a blessing to receive presents but it is even a greater blessing to give them.

Of course, we all know why we are celebrating and that is because God is the greatest giver of all. The Father gave the Son to the World. The Son gave His life to save sinners. The Spirit gives Himself to dwell with us always.

Our part in all of this giving from God is to receive it gladly and then to learn to give to others the way that God gives to us.

If you have held yourself back from receiving God’s gift of Jesus to you. Or, if you have refused to give yourself away to others in Jesus’s name, then there is room for repentance so that God’s gifts will flow to and through you.

Advent- Look Forward

2011-12-08T12:35:00.000-05:00

Advent is about looking forward. We anticipate what God will do. But this is partly just a reenactment of what God has already done. Christmas is about remembering Jesus’s birthday. But it is not simply looking at Jesus as a baby. It is good to remember the day of birth. We often do this on our children’s birthdays. But then we move on and we admire how they have grown up and become all that we had hoped they would be. We then look forward, anticipating all the good things that God will do in their lives in the future and how they will honor Him.

We should also do this at Advent and Christmas. In Advent, we look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus, remembering the Angels’ declaration, the Appearance to Mary, the Virgin birth and the Wise men who worshiped a baby. And we also remember that Jesus grew up, became a man, lived a perfect sinless life, died on the cross, rose again, ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God.

And having done all that, we can then look forward to what God in Christ is going to do. The knowledge of the Lord will cover the world as the waters cover the sea. The Kingdoms of this World have become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. The Lord will rule until all enemies are subdued. The last enemies subdued will be sin and death. After that, He will raise our bodies in perfection, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, to live and reign with Him world without end, Amen.

That is a lot to look forward to. And this we do as we eat and drink in the name of Jesus.