Daily Bible Verses And Religious Posts

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But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. ... If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
Matthew 5:44,46-47 NIV

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From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Luke 12:48 NIV

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Jesus said that one of the signs of the last days would be an explosion of religious deception, culminating in the arrival of the ultimate deceiver, the Antichrist. He warned, "For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many" (Matthew 24:5 NIV). One of the signs of the end times will be cults springing up everywhere.

In addition to established cults, we have in recent history seen groups spring up such as the followers of Jim Jones, who committed mass suicide in Guyana in 1978. Then there was David Koresh and the Branch Davidians in Texas in 1993. There also was Heaven's Gate, the group in Southern California who committed mass suicide in 1997.

Add to this the influx of new age mysticism and spirituality, and we have to conclude that we are seeing these words of Jesus being fulfilled before our very eyes. It seems at every turn, someone else has come up with a so-called "new" revelation: This is the new prophet. . . . This is the new guru. . . . This is the new truth. . . . This is what you need to read. . . . This is what you need to believe.

So what defines a cult? One mark of a cult is that it denies the deity of Jesus Christ. Another is that its members offer other writings or books that they claim are of equal or greater value than the Bible.

I once received a rather lengthy e-mail criticizing the fact that I had identified a specific group as a cult in one of my messages. The e-mail's author claimed that I was "unloving," because she had a friend who was a member of the particular cult I had mentioned, and if her friend had heard me say this, it would have turned her off.




Does my responsibility as a Christian to be loving mean that I can never identify something that is false? Absolutely not. As a pastor, part of my job is not only to teach and equip people, but to also warn them of potential danger. The apostle Paul told the elders at Ephesus,
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! (Acts 20:28–31 NIV)
How will we know who the wolves are if we don't periodically identify them? The apostle Paul wrote the words of 1 Corinthians 13, the often-quoted, great treatise on love. But what does it mean to love?
Love not only nurtures and embraces, but it also warns when necessary. Proverbs 27:6 says, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful" (NIV).
Many of Paul's epistles refuted popular false teachings of the day. Galatians was largely written to refute the teaching of a group called the Judaizers, who basically were trying to bring non-Jews under the bondage of the Mosaic Law. Paul was correcting that.

Occasionally, Paul would take it a step further and name specific people who were false teachers or who were leading others astray. He wrote to Timothy, "But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some" (2 Timothy 2:16–18 NKJV).

And in Romans 16:17, he said, "Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them" (NKJV).

There is a place for equipping ourselves. But at the same time, I don't apologize for identifying false teaching. My primary objective is not to refute everything that is being said.

My primary objective is to teach the Bible and let people learn for themselves the whole counsel of God. In the process of doing that, when they encounter a teaching that is aberrant, false, or doesn't jibe with Scripture, they can identify it and know what the Bible says about it. This is something that has to be done—especially in the days in which we are living.

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Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NIV

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Monday, November 2, 2009

A Watered-Down Gospel

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
— 2 Timothy 2:3


Without question the greatest life to live is the Christian life, because God takes a life that was empty, aimless, and, worst of all, headed for a certain judgment and then turns it around and transforms it. He forgives all our sin, removes our guilt, and literally takes residence inside of us through the Holy Spirit. Most importantly, He changes our eternal address from a place called hell to a place called heaven. This all comes about as a result of the power of the gospel proclaimed and believed.

Yet some have believed what I would describe as a watered-down version of the gospel, a gospel that promises forgiveness but rarely mentions the need to repent of your sin, a gospel that promises peace but never warns of persecution, a gospel that says God wants you to be healthy and wealthy and never have any problems to speak of, a gospel that says you will so find the favor of God that a parking space always will be available for you. But that is not the gospel of the New Testament.

The Christian life is not a playground, but a battleground. Not only is there a God who loves you and has a plan for your life, but there is also a devil who hates you and opposes God's plan.

I am not suggesting that once you become a Christian, you will be sick, poor, and miserable. But the essence of the Christian life is knowing and walking with God. It is about sticking with Him when the sky is blue and also when it is filled with clouds. It is about pressing on. Jesus made it clear that storms will enter every life. But as we seek to know and follow Christ, we will find happiness as a fringe benefit.

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Simply by being in your presence, non-Christians ought to be able to tell that you have spent time in God's presence.
In Acts 4, Peter and John were brought to the rulers and elders of the people (v. 8) to be questioned by them. But when Peter and John came to those people, who were Jews, they were astonished [by Peter and John] and they took note that these men had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). In other words, the Jews could tell that Peter and John had spent time with Jesus simply by the way they lived.

Indeed, Jesus had so changed their lives that an "aroma" of God was coming from them. Having that "aroma" requires being like Christ, and the only way that we can become Christ-like is if we abide and dwell in God's presence--and doing that requires a conscious decision. You must decide to practice His presence!

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In ALL things...

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Also, by being in God's presence, we will bear good spiritual fruit. In John 15:5, Jesus promises, "If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit." In other words, by spending time with God you will develop valuable spiritual fruit. Then, the world will see your fruit and recognize that you have been with Jesus.

In addition, when you spend time in God's presence, you will experience an increase in your joy, contentment, peace, and satisfaction. Specifically, David told the Lord, in Your presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11, AMP). Clearly, God will pour joy into your life when you spend time in His presence. Then, you can take that joy and show it to those around you.

There are great changes that can occur when you spend time with God. In God's presence is the only place where you can become more like Christ. Then, once God has changed you, the world will be astonished and see that you have been with Jesus.

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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Finding Purpose in Pain

"But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren."
— Deuteronomy 4:9


When the Israelites were poised to enter the Promised Land, God warned them about forgetting Him in their prosperity. Prior to this point, Israel had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Every day they would come out of their tents and find manna waiting for them like the morning paper. They would eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Then God would guide them through the wilderness with a cloud by day and fire by night. They were completely dependent upon Him for everything.

But then God brought them to the brink of the Promised Land. They could see the lush, green hills and flowing rivers. They had probably heard about the cluster of grapes the Israelite spies had brought back with them—a cluster so large that two men had to carry it. So they could hardly wait to finally enter Canaan. But God essentially said, "Now watch out, because when you get there, the danger is that you will forget all about Me."

Often it is during times of prosperity that we will forget God. Prosperity has a tendency to make people proud and self-sufficient. We don't think we need God when we have our salary and our investments and our career and our home and our health and our family. But when an economy goes south or a stock market crashes or a home burns down, then hopefully we turn to God and are reminded of what really matters. Adversity levels us and keeps us humble.

You see, when pain hits, when tragedy strikes, we pray—and we pray a lot. Pain reminds us of a deeper need: the need for God in our lives. So we should not always be so afraid of pain, because God can use it to bring us closer to Him.

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we should spend time with Him every day, it doesn't matter what that day holds, joy or sorrow, He will be with us all the days of our lives