Category: Bible study

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Why Not…Admonish One Another? Part 3

As this series is coming to a close, my prayer is that you have come to appreciate and understand the importance of admonishing the lost. Encouragement is such a vital part of the Christian’s life that we must never take it for granted or abuse it’s potential. May our work be always towards the building up of one another…the day will be here before we know it.

As the third verse of this song admonishes the hearer, we reflect on a term from yester-year. The Old English word “aught” has been lost to our everyday vocabulary. But when we understand its meaning we can sing with the mind (I Cor. 14:15)…“In this world you’ve failed to find aught of (any form of) peace for (a) troubled mind.” We must urge all who will hear, that this world will disappoint. Hurricanes will ravage our coast taking property and lives. Those who anxiously search this world for peace will be left suffering with a ‘troubled mind.’ Therefore we must continue this research and examine the closing verse; “Come to Christ, confession make, come to Christ and pardon take. Trust in Him from day to day, He will keep you all the way.” Two issues arise from this final plea that keeps the lost…lost. First, we aren’t in the habit of confessing our sins, our mistakes, to anyone. Remember, “I’m OK, You’re OK!” If you know about my faults, my sins, then there is an indication that I am weak. And a sign of weakness is a sign of failure. Our society wants everyone to be a winner. No weaknesses, no failures, everyone gets a trophy! We are all winners, and as long as we hold on to that mind set, we won’t see a need to trust in anyone. And therein lays one more issue with this verse. Why should I ‘trust in Him from day to day,’ when I really only need to trust…in me? Never stop sharing Christ, and never forget to admonish (warn and/or encourage) those who are lost and struggling. One day, it may very well be you who is in need of admonition.

The chorus of this great, old spiritual song is a simple repeat of 6 short words. “Why not now…come to Jesus” In its entirety we sing, “Why not now? Why not now? Why not come to Jesus now?” The call is certain and the encouragement is clear; we all have a ‘deep need,’ we have all wandered from Christ, and we all need peace in this troubling world. The admonition and encouragement from this old invitation song echoes the Hebrew writer’s continued thoughts from chapter 10, verse 25 “…but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Why not come to Jesus now, the day is drawing near.

Thanks to those who have followed this series for the past three months. As God’s children we have a beautiful opportunity to share the joy of Christian living. There are SO MANY who don’t know that ‘salvation belongs to our God,’ and we have an obligation to share that good news. Would that we daily admonish, encourage and build up the body of Christ. And ask the question to those who know Him but have yet to accept Him, “Why not…why not come to Jesus now?”

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Come Share the Lord

Reflecting on and remembering the death of the Lord Jesus is perhaps the best and most humbling thing one can do with their time. There are many ways we can reflect upon His death; however, there is one way we are commanded to. Each week the faithful children of God meet and reflect on the sacrifice and purpose of Christ’s death. We call this The Lord’s Supper or The Communion. To outsiders, it might seem strange that we take part in what we do. To Christians, we should fully understand the act of worship. The Lord’s Supper is not just a time where we reflect on the death and sacrifice of Christ, but a time where we think about the opportunity of a new life that we have been given through His resurrection, because “The Lord who pours the cup is risen from the dead.”!

In First Corinthians 11, we read of Paul reflecting on the Lord’s death. In the context, Paul has to remind the Corinthian church of why it is important to do so. “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” (I Cor.‬ ‭11:23-26‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

One of my favorite songs about the Lord’s Supper is Come Share the Lord. Not only is it a beautifully written song with each verse seamlessly leading into a chorus that evokes great emotion and expresses the great love that we have burning within our hearts “like living flame(s)”; it is a song that causes one to emotionally think of the death of our Savior and the holy communion with Christ that all Christians should continue to remember and praise God for.

“We gather…” as a family and “He joins us…”, and soon we’ll all be together where “…angels sing.”. He desires us all to be together when we “come take the bread…”. The next time you sing this song, don’t just sing it as an encouragement to those around you, reflect inwardly.

Will YOU come and share the Lord?

 

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True Love…Is it Real? Part 1

“Wuv…Twu wuv will fowow you foweva…so tweasure your wuv.”
I’m probably one of the few people who does not particularly believe in the idea of ‘love at first sight’, but I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for those Hallmark movies that make it seem so realistic and possible to achieve. For the longest time, I had in my mind that somehow, someway, I would fall in love in one of the ways that I had seen on so many Hallmark movies. Eventually, that idea fizzled out and I began to give up on the idea of ‘Love at first sight’ and even on the idea of ‘True Love’. The result of that caused me to turn my focus not just to my school work at the time, but my responsibilities as one of the spiritual leaders for the Freed-Hardeman University Chorale. I began immersing myself into more in depth bible study and, at times, conversations with various people inside and outside of that group, of whom, I consider to be some of my closest friends and spiritual family. I began to realize that the more I immersed myself into studying the Bible, the less I felt the need to be receiving love, as much as I had the desire to show the love that I had gained in my heart for others. As soon as that happened I found within my heart a desire to really show others just a sampling of what the ‘True Love’ of God looked like. I started feeling more fulfilled and happier with my life than I can ever remember feeling and before I could blink twice, God sent me a blessing that, for the past 8-9 years, I can remember praying for. I would not say that my boyfriend and I are a perfect God is Lovematch by any means, but as he so eloquently put it just recently, “We may not be a match made in heaven, but we’re a match made FOR heaven!” God’s love for us is more than just ‘True Love’, its Everlasting Love.

God’s love is a never ending love that, if we give it the opportunity, will prove just that. His love is shown to us in many ways, each and every day. His love is letting us make mistakes. His love is granting us the things we ask for. His love is sometimes letting us reap the consequences of our decisions. As odd as it may seem to us, and to others who are learning about Christ, the ultimate showing of God’s love is shown to us is in scripture by letting His Son, Jesus Christ, die for us (Matthew 26-27; Mark 15; Luke 22-23; and John 18-19). Nothing and no one would ever be able to match that kind of love. Giving up your most precious possession. The thing that you hold the most dear. Letting that go, facing the world, enduring all kinds of ridicule and frustration, all because of that thing you cherished so much.
If you were not able to interpret the quote at the beginning of this, that was a quote from the movie The Princess Bride, during the wedding scene near the end. In “English” it translates, “Love, true love, will follow you forever…so treasure your love.” Yes, we will have things that we ‘love’ or really care for as we go throughout the years of our lives, but that is dangerous ground if we do not realize that the love we should really be concerned about and focused on is our True Love, Jesus Christ and Him crucified.