Jesus Himself gives the terms by which we may have our sins forgiven. Upon one’s faith that Jesus is the Son of God and willingness to repent of sin, confess Jesus as Christ and be baptized, his or her sins are forgiven. But what comes next? Anything?
Yes - something comes next. Once again, let’s see what Jesus says. His words in Matthew 10:22 say, “...he that endures to the end shall be saved.” and in Revelation 2:10, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Jesus tells us that, having obeyed the terms to have our sins forgiven, we must continue in that condition.
Paul says in Colossians 1:21-23 that we may be presented before Him “...holy and blameless and beyond reproach - if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the gospel that you have heard….” One must continue in the faith in order to be presented acceptable to God.
Hebrews 6:4-6 points out that “...those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit…” could and did fall away. In 2 Peter 2:20-22 Peter emphasizes that if those who “...have escaped the defilements of the world through knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ … are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is worse than the first.” If one is lost before escaping the defilements of the world (and he is) then he is lost if, after escaping, he returns to the world of sin.
But what, then, if I sin after having obeyed the terms Jesus has given for forgiveness of sins? John sums this up in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God has given us the avenue for forgiveness when we make mistakes. It is when one does not seek forgiveness and is overcome that he removes himself from the salvation once given through Christ.
Let us heed the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
See you when the Saints meet, Lord willing.
Love, Tony
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Are You All You Want To Be?
I don’t know who said the quote in the box but it is an interesting one, isn't it? It is also one of my “not favorite” quotes because it reminds me of my individual accountability and responsibility. It reminds me of why I can’t fly an airplane because when I had the chance to learn I didn’t take advantage of the situation.
However I think we can find a valuable lesson in it. Remember the words of Solomon in Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinks within himself, so is he.” It would do each of us well to take a good look inside from time to time to see what is within us that could stand some changing.
However I think we can find a valuable lesson in it. Remember the words of Solomon in Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinks within himself, so is he.” It would do each of us well to take a good look inside from time to time to see what is within us that could stand some changing.Why are some people negative in their thoughts and speech? Isn’t it because they choose to be?
Why are others so positive and helpful, kind and caring, giving and hospitable? It’s for the same
reason - they choose to be!
Why are others so positive and helpful, kind and caring, giving and hospitable? It’s for the same
reason - they choose to be!
Consider Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:16-19 as he prays for them. “...Making mention of you in
my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe…” Oh, that we could all have the “eyes of our hearts enlightened.” Then maybe we could truly look within ourselves and see what is there and how it compares with what God wants to see within us.
my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe…” Oh, that we could all have the “eyes of our hearts enlightened.” Then maybe we could truly look within ourselves and see what is there and how it compares with what God wants to see within us.
There is so much good going on - people striving to fulfill God’s will in their lives, acts of kindness, visits, needs being met. And yet, sadly, there is much going on that is not so good.
Look at the quote in the box again. Are you the way you want to be? Are you the way God wants you to be? If the answer to those questions is “no” then that brings up the other question. What are you doing to change?
Most of us have seen the military motto, “Be all that you can be.” Well, that’s what God is telling us. We can be everything that God wants us to be. He has promised to help. Ephesians 3:20,21 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Now take another close look at your life. What do you see? God has blessed us all so richly. Be all that you can be. Strive to be what God wants you to be.
See you when the Saints meet, Lord willing.
Love, Tony
Sunday, April 12, 2009
He Died For Me … And More
As our minds and the attention of the world is turned toward the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, I cannot help but think about what God has done for me in manifesting Himself to us through His Son, Jesus. Let us not forget that before He died for us, He lived for us and that, after He died for us, He ever lives for us to make intercession on our behalf with our Father in Heaven. (Hebrews 7:25)
I offer the few lines of poetry to remind us that there is more to the Story than a death and resurrection.
See you when the Saints meet, Lord willing.
Love, Tony
He Died For Me … And More
Jesus was nailed to the ‘cursed’ tree
And there He gave His life for me.
Not because of the good I’ve done
But for my sin God gave His Son.
When He was laid in a rich man’s tomb,
The devil covered the earth with gloom.
But Satan’s victory was not to be,
For this was planned for you and me.
He rose in victory from the grave,
To show the world His power to save.
And now He lives as He did before.
With God in Heaven, He reigns once more
Yes, He died for me on that ‘cursed’ tree,
But, more than that, He lives for me.
He gladly left His home above
To bring to us His Father’s love.
And now because he died for me,
And offered me sweet liberty.
I’ll live for Him until I die,
So I can live with Him on high.
tl – 4/7/09
I offer the few lines of poetry to remind us that there is more to the Story than a death and resurrection.
See you when the Saints meet, Lord willing.
Love, Tony
He Died For Me … And More
Jesus was nailed to the ‘cursed’ tree
And there He gave His life for me.
Not because of the good I’ve done
But for my sin God gave His Son.
When He was laid in a rich man’s tomb,
The devil covered the earth with gloom.
But Satan’s victory was not to be,
For this was planned for you and me.
He rose in victory from the grave,
To show the world His power to save.
And now He lives as He did before.
With God in Heaven, He reigns once more
Yes, He died for me on that ‘cursed’ tree,
But, more than that, He lives for me.
He gladly left His home above
To bring to us His Father’s love.
And now because he died for me,
And offered me sweet liberty.
I’ll live for Him until I die,
So I can live with Him on high.
tl – 4/7/09
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Walenty Dawidow - A Test Of Faith
In a recent newsletter from Mike and Molly Dawidow in Sopot, Poland, Mike shared the following information with us about his father. Walenty Dawidow has for over sixty years been a driving force in the church in Poland. Through the efforts of him and his two sons, Mike and Mark, they coordinated the efforts in the early 1980’s to turn a national famine into the opportunity to gain official recognition of the Lord’s church in Poland. Mike shares this insight into the faith of this man:
“An 84-year-old widower, my father, Walenty Dawidow, spends a lot of time looking backwards. He recently made the observation that sixty years can really change a person’s perspective on events. In reflection, he said, the times when God was working most powerfully in his life were the very darkest hours when he felt deserted and alone. And he related this story.
In the early fifties, during the Stalinist terror, Daddy was arrested and confined in the old SS/Gestapo prison in Gdansk’s Old Town. He found himself in a cramped cell with twentynine other men, all political prisoners.
After the shock of arrest wore off, they began making each other’s acquaintance and one man, a medical doctor – a nephrologist from Warsaw - emerged as the group leader. “We are not criminals” he said, “rather each of us is an expert in one discipline or another. No use squandering our time here. Let’s organize some lectures and each man will teach about his area of expertise.”
This was all well and good – one man was a historian, another a civil engineer, another a lawyer - until my father said that he was a theologian. (Shortly before his arrest, he had graduated from the University of Warsaw with a Master’s Degree in Theology.) Well, they were not sure they wanted to hear about religion from this preacher – certainly not the religion he represented, but the lectures began.
And they did keep the men’s minds off their terrible conditions, especially the hunger. Their bread was literally crawling with worms. Some picked them out and others claimed the worms should be eaten since they provided extra sustenance. Soup was a wretched concoction of sour cabbage and rotten codfish. Daddy absolutely could not stomach it, but the doctor advised that he needed the nourishment and taught him to hold his nose while swallowing so he would not taste the vile brew. He was able to drink the ersatz coffee: though bitter, it was usually hot. After a few weeks all were wasting away from hunger.
During this time the interrogations had begun and one day Daddy was called in for several grilling hours with an NKVD officer. Of course the questions concerned the Bible, the church, faith and Christian practices. Whether the man was touched with compassion by Daddy’s convictions or maliciously wanted to tempt him is not known, but at the end of the session he opened a desk drawer and took out six open-face sandwiches on beautiful fresh dark bread and told Daddy they were his to take back to the cell with him.
So, what do you think he did? What would you have done?
He went back to the cell, spread the sandwiches out on a stool and while all the men gathered around in astonishment waiting for him to devour his private bounty, he divided each sandwich into five morsels and announced, “Before we eat, every man on his knees to thank God for this food!” Twenty-nine plus one sets of knees hit the cell floor - even those of the most cynical atheist in the group, who broke down in tears.
And after that they listened. They listened for hours and for days as he told them the greatest story ever told. They listened because they had first seen his faith in action. (James 2:18 says, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.”)
Daddy chuckled as he ended his tale: “Jesus fed 5000 with five loaves and two fish. I only fed 30 with my six little sandwiches. But I must not compare myself to the Lord Jesus Christ . . .”
Each time I pass the building where this took place – it is on the main road through Gdansk and if you ever visit here, I will show it to you - I imagine my father locked up inside, a young man, not knowing if he would ever see his wife and son again, kneeling in prayer and never dreaming that sixty years hence he would look back and count this darkest of hours a mountain top experience of faith.”
Mike Dawidow
(Walenty currently is one of the elders for the church in Sopot. His wife passed away last year. She stood by him through all his work with the church and she is missed greatly.
See you when the saints meet, Lord willing.
Love,
Tony)
“An 84-year-old widower, my father, Walenty Dawidow, spends a lot of time looking backwards. He recently made the observation that sixty years can really change a person’s perspective on events. In reflection, he said, the times when God was working most powerfully in his life were the very darkest hours when he felt deserted and alone. And he related this story.
In the early fifties, during the Stalinist terror, Daddy was arrested and confined in the old SS/Gestapo prison in Gdansk’s Old Town. He found himself in a cramped cell with twentynine other men, all political prisoners.
After the shock of arrest wore off, they began making each other’s acquaintance and one man, a medical doctor – a nephrologist from Warsaw - emerged as the group leader. “We are not criminals” he said, “rather each of us is an expert in one discipline or another. No use squandering our time here. Let’s organize some lectures and each man will teach about his area of expertise.”
This was all well and good – one man was a historian, another a civil engineer, another a lawyer - until my father said that he was a theologian. (Shortly before his arrest, he had graduated from the University of Warsaw with a Master’s Degree in Theology.) Well, they were not sure they wanted to hear about religion from this preacher – certainly not the religion he represented, but the lectures began.
And they did keep the men’s minds off their terrible conditions, especially the hunger. Their bread was literally crawling with worms. Some picked them out and others claimed the worms should be eaten since they provided extra sustenance. Soup was a wretched concoction of sour cabbage and rotten codfish. Daddy absolutely could not stomach it, but the doctor advised that he needed the nourishment and taught him to hold his nose while swallowing so he would not taste the vile brew. He was able to drink the ersatz coffee: though bitter, it was usually hot. After a few weeks all were wasting away from hunger.
During this time the interrogations had begun and one day Daddy was called in for several grilling hours with an NKVD officer. Of course the questions concerned the Bible, the church, faith and Christian practices. Whether the man was touched with compassion by Daddy’s convictions or maliciously wanted to tempt him is not known, but at the end of the session he opened a desk drawer and took out six open-face sandwiches on beautiful fresh dark bread and told Daddy they were his to take back to the cell with him.
So, what do you think he did? What would you have done?
He went back to the cell, spread the sandwiches out on a stool and while all the men gathered around in astonishment waiting for him to devour his private bounty, he divided each sandwich into five morsels and announced, “Before we eat, every man on his knees to thank God for this food!” Twenty-nine plus one sets of knees hit the cell floor - even those of the most cynical atheist in the group, who broke down in tears.
And after that they listened. They listened for hours and for days as he told them the greatest story ever told. They listened because they had first seen his faith in action. (James 2:18 says, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.”)
Daddy chuckled as he ended his tale: “Jesus fed 5000 with five loaves and two fish. I only fed 30 with my six little sandwiches. But I must not compare myself to the Lord Jesus Christ . . .”
Each time I pass the building where this took place – it is on the main road through Gdansk and if you ever visit here, I will show it to you - I imagine my father locked up inside, a young man, not knowing if he would ever see his wife and son again, kneeling in prayer and never dreaming that sixty years hence he would look back and count this darkest of hours a mountain top experience of faith.”
Mike Dawidow
(Walenty currently is one of the elders for the church in Sopot. His wife passed away last year. She stood by him through all his work with the church and she is missed greatly.
See you when the saints meet, Lord willing.
Love,
Tony)
