Christian Living

Psalm 78:40-42 tells us how often the Israelites provoked God in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power – the day He redeemed them from the enemy. Often when we are in a wilderness experience we doubt and limit God. We forget the things He has done for us and others in the past. We speak many negative things with our mouths.

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This morning I felt as though I had a cloud of heaviness hanging over me. Everything looked dark and futile. My past sins and mistakes seemed to be all I could see, and I heard the enemy whisper, "This is who you will always be and know." I knew it wasn't true, but the heaviness was far too strong for me.

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For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth (Hebrews 12:6). For years I struggled with the idea of God's chastening in my life. Especially the idea of God chastening me without me knowing why. I would never punish my own children without first making sure they understand why. And yet I had to be honest, in many of the difficult things I've faced in my life, I have not had a clear reason for them. Is there a difference between trials and chastening? How can I know the difference? You cannot love and trust a God who seems to delight in hurting you. And yet scriptures are very clear on the value and need for God's chastening in our lives. This is by no means conclusive, but here are a few thoughts that have helped clear things up for me.

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First Corinthians1:18: For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. This unlimited power becomes a reality in a believer’s life because it is the power of God that saves us. This can never be accomplished by self-effort or human good works.

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Seven men walked up to the door of the kingdom of God to seek entrance; only one made it in.Seven men walked up to the door of the kingdom of God to seek entrance; only one made it in.

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In the January Amish Voice, we asked for your interpretation of I John 2:15-16: Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

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How would you respond if someone were to ask you the following two questions: Why do you think Jesus came to earth, and in what way did you personally benefit from it?

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One by one, Jesus called out and said follow me. Peter and Andrew said yes. James and John said yes. So did eight others. They dropped all—their jobs, incomes and family and followed immediately.

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For God to take us from pride to humility is the working of the cross by the power of the Holy Spirit. This takes a lifetime of walking with the Lord. One cannot go from pride to humility by one’s own power or might. Pride came when Adam partook of the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden. Man came into knowledge of good and evil. Man ate of the wrong fruit. The fruit of pride and every evil thing is what Satan is and represents. Pride is the opposite of humility, just as darkness is the opposite of light.

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As our world becomes more and more selfish and godless, it becomes harder and harder to stay focused on eternity and the return of Jesus Christ. Dads, moms and single adults are to the point of wanting to give up.  They feel frustrated with Americanized Christianity. While we point our fingers at them, they point their fingers at us – it's the same blame game that started in the Garden of Eden and is now devouring our government and news media. Some shout: we need another reformation! Others, are just going through the motions, hoping that somehow things will make a turn for the better or Jesus comes back and removes us from the chaos.

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‘E-van'ge-lism’: the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness. To evangelize was the last commandment that Jesus gave before his departure. Go ye into all the world,  and teach them to observe all the things that Jesus had taught over the last three years. I have felt that evangelizing is a weak area with many Anabaptist-type churches. Yes, there are individuals who are active in local ministries, thank God. And many support foreign missions. But to be active in local outreach has never been very strong.

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And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him (Matthew 4:18-20). Imagine with me that you are in Galilee and you are a fisherman by trade. You are Jewish and know the Old Testament very well, likely having committed most or even all of it to memory. From your studies, you know that God is going to send a Savior into the world, and you know from reading the Old Testament prophets that He will be showing up someday soon.

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First Peter 4:17: For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? Judgment and suffering go hand in hand according to the will of God. First Peter 4:19 says: Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator.What is the house of God? Is 1 Peter 4:17 saying that God is mad at the church and is going to judge us because we failed in some area in our lives? No! Judgment begins because we are His children! First Corinthians 3:16: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? When we are born again (or born from above or born of the Spirit), we have the Holy Spirit in us. We also still have that which fights the Holy Spirit within us; it is called the flesh or sin nature. This is what has to be judged because our sin nature does not choose God or His ways. The first Adam represents this.

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The Bible clearly warns, “Today, if you can hear his voice, do not harden your heart as they did in the days of provocation.” (see Hebrews 3:7-8) In other words, do not ask as Israel once did in her unbelief, “Can God furnish a table in this wilderness?” (see Psalm 78:19). Do not question the Lord’s integrity or his commitment to you, even though you find yourself constantly battling in your mind. God told you that he would raise you up to be a testimony. He told you that he has allowed certain things in your life but that all things work together for good because you love him and are called according to his purpose.

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If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. (1 Corinthians 16:22) I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to love the Lord Jesus. Everyone wants to be loved, and Dwight L. Moody once said that if you can convince a man that you love him, you will win a friend for life. Think about it. If you can convince a man you care for his soul, he will be open and honest with you, but in no other way will he do so. If you are in business and you demonstrate that you genuinely love your customers, they will be loyal to your business. If you show love to your children, they will readily want to listen to you and obey you – little convincing with a stick will be needed. If you genuinely love your spouse, he or she will be delighted to be in your presence, and will be your best friend forever.

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We do not like the word “suffering.” There are some who do not believe that a Christian should suffer in any form. They say: if we suffer, we do not have enough faith — that it is not God’s fault, it’s our fault. This is not true teaching. Let’s see what the Bible says about this. Let’s start with Romans 8:16-18: The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

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Which of Jesus’ commandments do you think is the most disobeyed, neglected, and ignored today? I once heard Brother Zac Poonen, a wise and gifted Bible scholar, say that he believed the most neglected commandment is the one that says to “Fear not.” When Brother Zac made this statement, he supported it by saying that the words “Fear not” are found in Scripture 144 times. Now, when talking about fear, he is not referring to the fear of God; this is a completely different kind of fear. The fear he was talking about, and the fear we will look at in this article, is the fear that involves things such as worry, anxiety, fret, etc.

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My name is Fred A. Krueger, and I am eighty years old. In 2008, I was diagnosed with cancer. I had three lumps that formed on the right side of my neck, and I also had a larger lump appear in the clavicle area several months later. This lump was removed on July 14, 2008 and was later evaluated and diagnosed as being Hodgins Lymphoma of a multi-cellular type. My surgeon gave the opinion that my cancer was at least stage two or three and said that I would have a port surgically inserted into my body for chemotherapy treatments. He recommended me to an oncologist, who ordered blood tests, a CT scan, and a PET scan. He said he wanted to stage the cancer.

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If we don’t allow the cross to work in our lives, the foreskin of our heart remains. This causes us not to see or understand God’s ways. We then keep eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and we stay in our worldly wisdom. Let me explain. Under the Abrahamic covenant, every male child had to be circumcised on the eighth day. Why the eighth day? Eight represents new beginning. This represents the new covenant, which is the circumcision of the heart. Genesis 17:14 says, The uncircumcised man child whose flesh of the foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

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We like to think of ourselves as wise. We like to think that we follow what is good and right. However, if we try to determine right and wrong based upon our feelings or our society, then we are foolish in God’s eyes. God has told us what true wisdom is. It is to fear Him (to reverence, respect Him; to submit to Him, realizing that He is in charge and His ways and Word are right). To understand is to know Him. Many people know about Him, yet do not know Him. To know Him, though, is to love Him — to love what He loves and to hate what He hates. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding (Proverbs 9:10). The fear of the Lord is to hate evil (Proverbs 8:13).

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What is the source of our justification? Romans 8:6 says: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. We can know whether we are living in the Old or the New Covenant by whether we are walking in life and peace. In the Old Covenant, the continual focus was; Do this, don’t do that, and you will be accepted by God. This is called the “spirit of bondage” leading to  fear (Romans 8:15). Fear, insecurity, condemnation, and discouragement are the fruits of trying to find acceptance with God with our own performance. No matter how sincere or diligent we are, this mindset will always lead to death. Our good will never out-weigh our bad. Any righteous works we do to make ourselves acceptable to God will always be repulsive to Him (Isaiah 64:6).

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Is it God’s will for churches to create rules and standards? I wonder if I am incredibly brave for asking this question. Maybe I am incredibly crazy. Or perhaps, I am a little bit of both. I have actually thought a lot about questions regarding the church and making rules. I finally felt that I should take an honest look and try my best to find the answer. Many of you have encouraged me and blessed me for searching. May we continue to be gracious toward each other, even if our opinions differ!

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Genesis 3:6: And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave unto her husband with her; and he did eat. At that time, the wisdom of this world entered the hearts of mankind. They became self-conscious. They wanted to fix their condition by the wisdom of this world, by sewing fig leaves together and making themselves aprons. To this day, we want to save ourselves by the wisdom of self or of this world. It doesn’t matter in what form this wisdom comes, as long as it is not in God’s wisdom. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin [wisdom of this world], that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe (Galatians 3:22).

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Jesus told this parable: When thou art bidden [invited] of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. (Luke 14:8-10)

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And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. (1 John 1:4) Do you experience joy in your everyday life? As believers, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are commanded by the Word of God to rejoice and be joyful. First, let us understand that this joy the Bible describes is not experienced by everyone. It can only be experienced  by believers.

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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. Those are powerful words found in 1 John 1:7. It is a verse that tells us a lot about God. First, God wants us to walk in the light. What light? Him. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). God is always light. The path we walk on is always lit if we walk with Him. If we walk with God, we will have fellowship with Him. Always remember, when we are walking with God, that He does not need us; rather, He wants us. He wants our fellowship, and our companionship. Amazing, isn't it?

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When God moves an individual or a group of people to do what He has called them to do, God Himself is the author of it, and these people are led by the Holy Spirit. This threatens Satan’s kingdom. It stirs up the demonic world of spiritual wickedness in high places. If we think we can battle this spiritual wickedness with our own carnal power, we will be utterly defeated, and the work of God will cease. I am not being negative; I am being truthful. I have seen it happen.

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Emotional wounds are just as painful and real as physical wounds. Both wounds require time to heal. Neither one can be hidden or ignored. If I'm dealing with a physical wound on my hand, I fear that people will try to shake my hurting hand; so I pull back, stay away from crowds and hide in the shadows. If I'm dealing with an emotional wound in my heart, I will fear that someone will come too close, rub against my pain and hurt me all over again. For that reason, I'll build a wall around my emotional wound and live in a prison cell without bars. I feed my wound through all kinds of addictions; I’ll protect those same wounds by losing my temper and staying in control of everyone's life around me.

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During one of Jesus’ sermons here on earth, He began to tell a parable. In His story, He was specifically targeting a group of people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others (Luke 18:9). His parable began by introducing two men who entered the temple to pray. Both of these men seemed to be good. The prayers of the two men, however, were very different.

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This morning, the Lord has been speaking to my heart. Joe, all those who have been born of the Spirit are in a race, a race that began 6,000 years ago in the Garden of Eden. In this race, your top goal is to pass the Message of Faith on to the next generation. Do not get distracted by the world and all of its temporary possessions. Do not get distracted by the runners next to you. Keep your eyes on the goal!

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