liars

May 24, 2016

Living The Truth

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16 Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good. — Titus 1:16 NLT
Titus1:10-16 NLT
Paul considered both Timothy and Titus to be his sons in the faith and as such, it was his joy and job to mentor them.  Even though he left them at different churches to carry on the work that he had started, he contiuned to do this by writing them letters.   In his 2nd letter to Timothy and here in this letter to Titus, Paul warns them about wasting their time in foolish talk and conversations.  This type of behavior usually leads to divisions in the body of Christ.  Crete was obviously well known for this type of activity since Paul quotes one of their own Cretan prophets as describing them as “liars, cruel animals and lazy gluttons”.  That’s harsh condemnation of one’s fellow countrymen.  However, it would not be hard to make that description fit a portion of our society today.  The point Paul wants to make to Titus is that he has a tough job ahead of him.  He is living among people who will make all sorts of claims and statements of their faith, but they don’t really know God and their lifestyles prove that they don’t.  When we hear the Gospel of Jesus, we accept it as truth because the Holy Spirit has purified and prepared our minds to accept it.  Those whose minds and consciences are corrupt will perceive all truth as being corrupt.  The task for Titus was to convince them of the truth of the Gospel by his lifestyle.   That is our task in our society today.
Post 05-24-2016
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May 17, 2016

Go and Sin No More

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10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman,“Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
— John 8:10 NLT
John 8:1-11 NLT
In this short passage of Scripture, we get to look at sin from all four sides.  There is sin as the devil sees it, a tool for death and destruction.  There is sin from the human viewpoint as seen by the accusers.  There is sin from the viewpoint of the one who commtted the sin.  Then there is sin from the viewpoint of Jesus, a wrong that demands forgiveness.  The accusers had caught this woman in the very act of adultery, how this happened we are not told and we don’t need to know.  Under the law, the woman was guilty and deserving of death.  Jesus had come to change all of that.  He was bringing a new way of looking at and treating the guilty party.   From the reaction of the accusers when Jesus questioned them, we know that, at some point, all of them had transgressed the law.  In Jesus’s way of thinking, regardless of what they had done, they were as worthy of death as the woman was.  Under the law, there was big sin and little sin.  Under grace, there is just sin, liars are lumped right in there with murderers.  We may often find ourselves in the postion of the accusers or in position of the woman who committed the sin.  Jesus was using this situation to teach a two-fold lesson. First, He was teaching them the Golden Rule: “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.  If we were caught in this situation, would we want others to show us mercy?   Then we msut show mercy.  The second and most important lesson is that sin is forgiveable and that is the road we should choose.
To receive God’s forgvieness, we are required to forgive others of their sins.
MATTHEW 6:7-14 NLT
Post 05-17-2016
June 5, 2014

Gratitude for God’s Mercy and Grace

God is waiting to show you the way.

God is waiting to show you the way.

12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, 13 even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. 14 Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.–1 Timothy 1:12-14 (NLT)
​We​ were all born as sinners into a sinful world. We all have sinned. Paul was a murderer of Christians, but God doesn’t have “little” sins and “big “sins”. He just sees sin. In the book of the Revelation, chapter 21, verse 8, we are told:
“But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Liars and those who participate in immoral acts are treated just as if they were murderers or idol worshipers. We all need to come to the same understanding that Paul did. We are saved by faith in God’s mercy and grace. He no longer remembers our sins of the past. He sees us as the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We are “in” Christ Jesus. That is the mystery of the love and mercy of God. We are accepted by God because of the perfection of Jesus Christ and His obedience, even unto death on a cross. We should always be thankful, have joy in our hearts and a song of praise on our lips.
Post 06-04-14