Most Recent Blog Posts
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Post 43 – Signs, Wonders and Miracles
If we could have been present during the times of Jesus Christ, as described by the Gospels and the book of Acts, we would have witnessed signs, wonders, and miracles as everyday occurrences. It was the signs, wonders, and miracles that testified to the world that Jesus was who He said He was, He was God in the flesh! Show More
A sign is just that, it is a pointer or indicator of God’s presence in our lives. For example, the Star that pointed to the birth of Jesus would be such a sign. The star was a signpost pointing to God becoming flesh and living among us. A wonder, on the other hand, is an event that makes one “wonder”. Jesus was good at making people wonder in that He was able to present the truth in ways no one had ever done before. When Jesus said, “you must be born-again to enter the Kingdom of God”. To the skeptic, it didn’t make sense, but to those who were seeking God, it resonated with the truth! Even if they didn’t quite understand what He meant. Miracles, of course, were those events that defied knowledge and natural experience; cleansing the leper, healing the crippled, giving sight to the blind, and raising the dead to life.
The Book of Acts is a record of the birth of the Christian Church. When Jesus finished His work on the Cross, He initiated a New Covenant which replaced the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was the covenant that God had made with Israel. This covenant was introduced by Moses and the giving of the Law, the Ten Commandments, to the people of Israel. The entire Old Testament which is a testament of the Law demonstrated to all that the Law was unable to save one from sin, or in other words disobeying God. The Law was given to show that mankind needed a Savior. A Deliverer from the sinful nature that dwells in all of us.
As Jesus ascended to Heaven the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven to live in the Believer on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came to unlock the power and authority of the New Covenant which was “Christ in us the hope of glory! Just as an aside, remember we don’t believe in three Gods; God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit of God. In fact, there is only one true God just 3 different expressions of the one God. God the Father is the one eternal God, God the Father became human flesh, Jesus, to dwell among mankind so that mankind could see the character and nature of the Father evidenced by His love. When Jesus in the flesh died upon the Cross of Calvary for our sins He had to leave and return to Heaven, but He sent the Holy Spirit, actually Himself, to live in us in a spiritual dimension. I know it may be somewhat confusing but be assured we serve one God who reveals Himself to us in three different ways. Here is an example I have often used myself, I am a father to my children, a husband to my wife, and a son to my parents. In a natural sense, I am only one person, but I function in three different ways with three different purposes. While the concept of the Trinity of God may be difficult to understand, we accept this truth by faith. I don’t know how my brain works but I know that it does, and I use my brain without understandings how it works.
I have tried to clarify the Trinity with this purpose, what makes a Christian a Christian is the fact that the Holy Spirit lives in us! That is how the Christian church distinguishes itself from all other religions. A true Christian is a “Holy Spirit-filled” Christian. I know that the term Spirit-Filled has a lot of baggage attached to it and is controversial in some circles of Christianity, but never the less without the Holy Spirit in you, you are just acting like a Christian. Christianity is not about acting or behaving like a Christian, it is about being a Christian.
Here is the conclusion, it is the Spirit of God who produces signs, wonders, and miracles and because the Holy Spirit lives in you these signs, wonders and miracles can work through you! I am not saying that you control the Holy Spirit, but I am saying that if you let Him the Holy Spirit can do incredible things through you.
As a Spirit-filled Christian, your life is a sign that Jesus lives in you, you make people wonder at your faith and demonstrate God’s power and authority when He performs a miracle through you.
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Post 42 What does God’s kind of love look like?
I know I will be bursting many “bubbles” by saying this, but God’s heart doesn’t go “pitter-patter” when He thinks of you! Since we often associate love with a romantic type of love we may think He loves us in that way, but when we talk about God’s love, we need to recognize that God’s love for us is not a romanticized type of love, it is much, much deeper than that. Show More
I drive a 14-year-old car, but it rides like no other car I’ve ever had. Recently, while taking a ride into town I said to my wife “I love this car”! She quickly corrected me and said, “no, you like your car and you love me”! She reminded me that I can be very casual about the word love.
We often throw around the word love without thinking about what we are really saying. If I say “I love you” the phrase means different things to different people. If I say it to my wife Dee, she knows I am speaking in a romantic sense. If I say it to my children, they know I mean it as a parent. If I speak it to my closest friend, Frank, he would understand that I mean it as a brother.
This poses an important question for us. The Bible is filled with God’s expressions of love for us. The question is, “what does God mean when He says that He loves us, and how are we then to exhibit this kind of love?
Four words for love
As we have said in the last post, in the New King James Version of the Bible the word love is used 230 times. In the original Greek language, there are at least 4 words for love and each is translated as the word love in English.
- Eros – romantically based
- Storge – family based
- Phileo – friendship based
- Agape – Unconditional, it is based upon a decision to love;
- “Living your life for someone else’s good”!
Note that the first three are connected to emotions or feelings. Eros- romantic or passionate feelings of love between a man and a woman. Storge love is that feeling that “blood is thicker than water”, or family love. Phileo love is that feeling towards your BFF.
Agape, on the other hand, is not based upon feelings or emotions, it is the love of decision or commitment. Agape love is a decision to love!
We often hear of people who “fall in love” and then “fall out of love”. So many marriages and relationships are based solely on “Eros” or romantic love. A relationship based on Eros only can not last. What must follow Eros is Agape. Agape is the decision to love, to live sacrificially for someone else. A conscious decision to live your life for that person’s good.
So, what are the characteristics or traits of agape love? We can find the answer in the Love chapter of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…”
As you can see these traits don’t come naturally. In the natural, we bestow our love on those we feel deserve it. It’s easy to love the lovable, and so hard to feel love towards those we decide don’t deserve our love!
Let’s take the time to examine the terms of love and check to see how we stack-up to agape love. We will break the verses up into 6 points.
- Love suffers long (or patient).
- and is kind;
- Are you patient for long or do you have a short fuse? are you caring, compassionate and gentle while being patient?
- love does not envy;
- love does not parade itself,
- Do you resent others who have what you don’t have?
- Do you pretend to love to impress others?
- is not puffed up or proud and haughty;
- does not behave rudely,
- does not seek its own,
- is not provoked,
- in other words, we don’t see ourselves as better or more deserving than others.
- thinks no evil;
- does not rejoice in iniquity,
- Examples of iniquity are sin, evil, injustice or immorality
- but rejoices in the truth;
- bears all things,
- believes all things, hopes all things,
- endures all things.
- Love always sees the “cup as half full and not half empty”. Agape love always wishes the positive and not the negative.
- Love never fails… because it is not based on what I can get from someone else. Whether they exhibit love to me or not, I still choose to love. That’s living your life for someone else’s good! That’s agape love! The kind of love God extended to you by sending Jesus for you when you were still a sinner and rejecting Him (Romans 5:8). He looked at your potential rather than who you were at the moment.
In deciding to love others you put in motion an important principle in God, “What you sow, you will eventually reap” (Galatians 6:7), but that principle only works when you take the first step in faith.
As the Holy Spirit leads you “make a conscious decision to “put on true love”. Remember, as a Believer the Holy Spirit lives in you and the fruit of the Holy Spirit is Love!! (Galatians 5:22,23) Agape Love is in you… let it out!
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Post 41 What kind of love is this?
Love the sign of a true disciple.
We have been talking about the Great Commission and Evangelism as basic instructions for a Christian. A follower of Jesus is charged with the responsibility of “reproducing” him or herself.To make disciples you have to be a disciple. To coin an old expression regarding making disciples, “sheep beget sheep”. You have to be one to make one. Discipleship is also a true sign of maturity in Christ. The good-news or Gospel is too great a message to keep to one’s self. Show More
The New Commandment
What should our motivation be for witnessing, sharing, or proclaiming the Gospel? Is it a required duty? Is it something I must do to belong to the church? No, it really has nothing to do with duty or initiation into a group of believers. Jesus makes it clear what our motivation should be in sharing the Good-News, as a matter of fact, to love is a commandment. In John 13:34-35, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.” Can you see discipleship is about expressing Jesus’ love by words and deeds? As we do that it will prove we are disciples of Jesus and make our witness believable.You are nothing without love!
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been a Christian, or what church you belong to, or how much of the Bible you know. Without love, you are nothing! I didn’t make that up, I am just quoting the scripture! The Apostle Paul said in, 1 Corinthians 13 1-3 “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing”. Clearly, you see it is not the gifts, the anointings, and sacrifices that we are so often attracted to that really matter. If one doesn’t love they are nothing!Believers Are Salt and Light
In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus is speaking to believers when He says, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”. So, when Jesus says that we are to be Salt and Light! What is He talking about? How can salt lose its saltiness or light be hidden under a basket? Jesus is using salt and light as a parable for love.
When a Christian does not love, he is a Christian that has lost his flavor or saltiness. When a Christian is unwilling to share the love of God, he is hiding love under a basket.
At this point, you might be feeling defeated because there are people in your life you don’t “love”. There are people who have hurt you and even abused you and you say to yourself, “how can I love them”!
The problem with many Believers is that they interpret Love as an emotional feeling and because they don’t “feel” love they feel like they are letting God down. This leads to guilt and shame and in worse cases moving away from God. The good news is that you can love without feeling the emotion of love. What we need to understand is the kind of love Jesus has for us.
Four words for love
In the new King James Version of the Bible, the word love is used 230 times. What you may not realize is that in the original Greek language there are at least 4 words for love and each is translated as the word love in English. The questions you must ask yourself is,- What kind of love is Jesus commanding me to show?
- What kind of love was Apostle Paul talking about when he said, “without love I am nothing”!
- What kind of love is like salt or light?
In each one of these three cases, the Greek word AGAPE is used for love. I will have much more to say about Agape in the next post. For now, I want to focus on three other words for love.
I love my wife, Dee. I love my children and my siblings. I love my best friend Frank. Although I use the word love in each case you recognize that I don’t love each of these groups of people in the same way. In other words, the word love has a different meaning depending on the context of the sentence.
Our modern New Testament Bible was originally translated from the Greek language and the Greeks had 4 different words for love. In the English version of the Bible, they are all translated simply as love.
When we think of the word love we often think of romantic love. This is the Greek word EROS. While not found in the New Testament the Old Testament has the corresponding word in Hebrew.
The next Greek word for love is STORGE, which is a family-based love. The love one has for children, siblings, and relatives.
The third type of love is called Phileo. This type of love is reserved for close friendship. The city of Philadelphia gets its name from Phileo, “the city of brotherly love.“
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Post 40 Evangelism
The subject of the last post was the “Great Commission”. The Great Commission is the assignment, from God, to spread the Gospel or the Good News. The Good News is that the Kingdom of God is at hand and Jesus is that King. He came to forgive us of our sins and restore our relationship with God who loves us.
What is interesting is that the word Gospel in the original Greek is “Evanggelion”, which is where we get our term Evangelism. So, evangelism is about sharing the Gospel. An important question is “How do we evangelize? Do we evangelize with our words or with our actions? Show More
A common saying, attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, is “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” This expression is used as a recommendation for how we should primarily evangelize and that is by our deeds or works. As attractive an option this is, it is not true evangelism. Jesus, the apostles, and the early church understood that the word “Preach” means to use our words proclaiming the “Good News”.
It is difficult for most people to share or “preach” the Gospel because most are uncomfortable talking about spiritual things. As a result, we would rather do good deeds, but all this does is make you look like a “good person”. Which in itself is not a bad thing but preaching or proclaiming the Gospel means that our speech is pointing them to the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Remember the Great Commission is the command to make disciples, we do that by proclaiming what Jesus has done for us. That means we are a witness to what He has done for us personally, not what He has done for others. Another important ingredient to evangelism is to use key scriptures to make our point. Our testimony is our experience, the scriptures are the authority that we speak the truth with.
My favorite Gospel witnessing scripture is Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”. Let’s take this verse apart:
- For by Grace, the subject is salvation and grace means that salvation or deliverance is a free gift.
- You have been saved, means salvation, Heaven is yours.
- Through faith, this gift of salvation is obtained by believing Jesus died for you and your sins have been forgiven.
- It is the gift of God, not of works, this simply means that this gift of salvation is unearned and undeserved.
- Lest anyone should boast, and this means person that a person will not be able to say “I earned or deserved this gift of salvation.
Another verse that I would suggest is Romans 10:9-11, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.
Isn’t that powerful… the individual being witnessed to must believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess that with their mouth. This means that they have to tell someone of their new belief in Jesus and that they are now a Christian.
A well-known evangelism series of scriptures is called the “Seven Steps of the Roman Road” because all seven verses are from the book of Romans. I will highlight the sense of the scripture and verse. For the full text go to https://www.PastorVicsNuggets.com.
- The Natural State of Man
Rom 3:10-18 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” 13 “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues, they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; 14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways; 17 And the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” - The Reason
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” of the glory of God. - The Cause
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned - The Penalty
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. - The Love of God
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - The Remedy
Rom 10:9-11 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” - The Decision
Rom 10:13 for whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Remember it is God who draws an individual to Himself (John 6:44), it is your job to speak the message of life (evangelism)- the Gospel or Good News. You are the messenger; the individual makes the decision. Never become discouraged when someone says no to the message you bring. Think of evangelism as planting seeds. It is God who makes the seed grow into eternal life.
On the other hand, there is great joy when someone accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior and you get to share in that joy.
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Post 39 The Great Commission
What we have learned in this series so far is that because of Jesus Christ we can have love, joy, and peace in this life and in the next. As caring individuals, we can now see the tremendous loss that comes to those who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior. It would only seem natural that we would want to share the good news that God wants everyone to know Him.
Jesus says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. It is clear that God’s intent is that “all people would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 2:4). It is for this reason that Jesus commanded us to fulfill the Great Commission. Show More
The word commission simply means an assignment. The Great Commission or Great Assignment is the assignment from God to every Believer to make Jesus Christ known. It is not optional but should be seen as a normal response of gratefulness for what God has done for us.
All four Gospels contain Jesus’ words in regard to this Great Commission:
Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18, Luke 24:44-49, and John 20:19-23. The most well-known of these is Matthew 28:18-20 listen to what Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”With great gifts comes great responsibilities and that is what the Great Commission is a great responsibility. It is a responsibility to love! When we understand God’s kind of Love which is unconditional which means “to live your life for someone else’s good”, it is then we recognize that loving unconditionally is a great and challenging responsibility.
Let’s take a closer look at the terms of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20.
What did Jesus mean when He said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”. It means that there is no one greater than He and He is able to give that authority to whomever He desires. You have the authority to carry out the Great Commission!- Look at what Jesus says in Acts 1:8, Let’s look at the three points mentioned here:
- When Jesus says, “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”, He is using the Greek work Dynamis, and that means miraculous power, boldness! Dynamis is where we get our word dynamite. So, you are being empowered with dynamite power to share the Gospel/Good News.
- When Jesus says, “you shall be witnesses to Me”, He is saying “I want you to share what I have done for you”! Your personal testimony is the most powerful thing you can share. No one can deny your testimony because it is yours.
- When Jesus said you shall be witnesses to me “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”, He is saying you start locally (family, friends and acquaintances), then move out to your neighboring cities and states, and then to foreign lands, if you are called, by God, to do that.
There is only one objective or mission in the Great Commission and that is to “Make disciples”. A disciple is one who is already a Believer and has decided to follow Jesus.
There are three steps in making a disciple.
- First, you have to “Go”. You can’t simply wait for candidates to come to you. That may happen, but we are challenged to go, leave our comfort zone, and share the Gospel or Good News.
- Second, “Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. This means that they have to be believers first before you can disciple them. The Word of God will not make sense until the Spirit of God lives in them.
- Third, “Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you”. Disciples need to be taught. Taught those things that Jesus taught, and those things taught by God to the writers of the Bible. Therefore, we teach the truths of the Bible and not the opinions of man. We teach by words and example. Not words only but doing what is necessary to help them become immersed in “the Love of the Father, the Sacrifice of the Son, and the Power of the Holy Spirit”.
Jesus ends the Great Commission by making a promise!
“I am with you always even to the end of the age”. When Jesus ascended to heaven the Holy Spirit descended to live in the Believer. To empower and embolden the individual to share the Gospel. As we walk by faith (2 cor. 5:7) God will do the rest.It is important to understand that you cannot save anyone. Your responsibility ends with sharing the Good News/Gospel. Only the Holy Spirit can actually change a heart. You are the messenger, Jesus is the message! The Holy Spirit is the agent of change!
When it comes to the Great Commission the greatest obstacle the Devil can put in our way is Fear! The fear of rejection, looking foolish, or ridiculed are all very real fears. You overcome that fear by realizing that you are sharing the love of God with people you love or care about. I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “what you don’t know can’t hurt you”. Well you know that isn’t true, denial is never a good option in life. Just as someone shared the message of life to us, we in like manner share with others.
If someone should say “no” to your sharing of the gospel, don’t be discouraged. Keep in mind that you are not responsible for their decision. Jesus makes it clear that some plant “seeds” of truths that may eventually lead to salvation (1 Cor 3:6-8). Studies have shown that most people need to hear the Gospel 4-6 times before they make a decision for Jesus. Our responsibility is to share; it is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility to do the supernatural.
So, in the simplest of terms, the Great Commission is about telling others about what Jesus has done for you. Then becoming a friend to them so that you may disciple them. An old Christian saying is, “Make a friend, be a friend, and then bring that friend to Jesus”.
- Look at what Jesus says in Acts 1:8, Let’s look at the three points mentioned here:
