1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—
3 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 2:1-5 NIV

It is the heart of a good father to want so see their child learn wisdom.  It is the heart of our Father that we do as well.

The great questions I had growing as a Christian were, how exactly were supposed to live, and why do Christian men do evil when 2 Corinthians 5:17 says it is no longer the nature of a true believer to want to.

As I’ve considered this, I have come to understand that this is indeed what Jesus intended to bring.

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Daily also continuing with one accord in the temple, breaking also at every house bread, they were partaking of food in gladness and simplicity of heart,

Acts 2:26 YLY

Of all the hindrances to the spiritual live, complexity of heart ranks among them.  Its used to be, when a church offered a fellowship card, the options were married, single, and, sometimes, divorced.  Today, answers can range from single-parent, blended family, or, as it comes, “it’s complicated”.

The simple heart, or, as the King James reads, singleness of heart.

Jesus said, the eye is the lamp of the body.  When the eye is single, the whole body is full of light (Luke 11:34). That word “single” means “without folds”, without layers, and, by extension, without complexity.

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Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Mark 10:29-31 NIV

Jesus called us to forsake all (Luke 14:33), and yet promises our needs will be met from above (Matthew 6:33).  This parodox underscores the nature of the Kingdom.  It is not of this world (John 18:36), but it is all sufficient to meet every need (Philippians 4:19). Read more…

And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

Genesis 4:6-8

The first appearance of a man experiencing rejection in the Bible was in Genesis 3.  When the eyes of the couple were opened, they knew that they were naked.  They knew that the state that they were in was insufficient, and they suffered shame.  This was the first rejection.

Shortly after, their son Cain experienced similar rejection.  His offering was not accepted as a way to seek God, and so he was angry and his face downcast.

In both of these cases, the conditions of the rejection were the men’s relationship with God.  In the first, the man lost his fellowship with God, in the second, the other man failed to regain it through an inappropriate offering.

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Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:

Psalm 104:4

In all the world, there remains one thing better.

In the history of man, one thing has escaped them all.

Despite the rule of tyrants, despite the schemes of men, despite the ways of wickedness, freedom always wins.

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He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed, to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom

Psalm 105:21-22

A man can either be a servant, or a slave.

To be a servant is one who works for someone for a wage, and uses that wage to provide for their own needs. The slave, on the other hand, is fully dependant upon his master. The slave still works, but the master is in charge of the entire well-being of the individual. Whether the slave is well-provided for, or little, it is all in the hands of someone else.

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So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians 2:6-7

Paul explained the doctrine of Grace. He had a way of expressing things that got to the root of the matter, dividing one thing from another, by means of the Word and the Spirit. He often captured complicated things in such a way as to express and administer them to people so that there could be understanding of what was being taught so that people could come to the same place of agreement in faith concerning subjects as he had.

In speaking to the church at Colossae, Paul laid out the way of Grace through faith. Grace is the enablement of God, and faith is God’s gift.
When we consider the children of Israel, it says they perished in the wilderness because they did not mix their promises with faith. Although they had faith, they did not choose to use the free gift of God, and so enter into His Rest.

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He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7:20-23

When we think of the journey towards perfection, we must be advised what Jesus intended.  Today, many have rightly understood the principles of spiritual warfare, the tactics of the enemy, and the authority of the believer.  Using our authority, we can pull down strongholds and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). But, one should consider another aspect of Jesus’ victory, that of His rest.  That is, this is a rest that it is said the children of Israel failed to enter into.  We should endeavor, therefore, not to lay hold of it. Read more…

Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey

Romans 6:16, portion

Although Paul here was speaking of submission to sin, he spoke of a general principle which holds true in all things.  When we submit our spirits to any thing, we become its slaves.  This is true, whether it is to a job, a spouse, an organization, or any other thing.

Jesus said that, for believers, we are to call no one Rabbi, Teacher, Father, Leader, or Master, for God alone is all of these things (Matthew 23:1-12).  In fact, Jesus Himself said that the Gentiles even consider it to the benefit of those they are leading when they do so, and call themselves their subject’s “benefactors” (Luke 22:25).  But, He said,

But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

Luke 22:26-27

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Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

The essential of the Christian life is saving Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  All flows from the head.  Yet, when it comes to walking it out, many come to the table with many of their own ideas, and notions, and feelings about how church and the Christian life can and should be.

Consider, for a moment, though, the covenant Israel had with God, before the cross.  They could not dress, eat, behave, or throw away their refuse like any other nation.  They had strict ceremonial behavior they had to adhere to, being clean or unclean, and certain offenses had to be atoned for through sacrifice, the blood of an animal, or for the worse of the crimes, they had to be either cast out of the community or destroyed entirely.  Even the land itself had to be considered, that they might not bring sin upon the land (Deuteronomy 24:4).

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