Translate

Monday, March 10, 2014

Falling into the water

Falling into the water

Is it the master upon the sea?
Oh how great with him to be
No a ghost it be this night
Or perhaps our poor sight.
“It is I. Do not be afraid.”
The 12 he did not persuade.
If Peter could dare,
They wondered how he’d fare.
One of us do it too?
“Lord let me come to you.”
“Come” is all He would say.
Now trust in Jesus for the way!
Bravely he stepped upon the sea.
Look to Jesus faithfully.
Oh does mortal man walk with God?
Do not think this odd.
For faith does move mountains.
and chases legions of demons
Ah but for the wind.
Now the devil did grin.
For upon the sea rose fear.
yet the savior was so near.
Into the water fell he.
“Lord save me” was his plea.
Jesus saves the man who cries.
The fallen, He makes them rise!
Now our faith we must keep.
Less we with fear, fall in the deep!

© Samuel Melendez. All rights reserved

Related articles
Posted by at No comments:

Stubborn Unbelief

Moses stood before the mighty Pharaoh and asked rather politely to let his people go. Pharaoh was not interested in losing his wealth of slaves, forcing Moses to perform the first of many miracles. He had his brother Aaron cast his rod on the ground and it turned into a serpent. Pharaoh must have thought it a simple trick and did not believe. (Exodus 7:1-8)
Moses then met pharaoh by the Nile where with Aaron’s rod he turned the Nile into blood. That was a major trick and must have been devastating for the Egyptian economy and the health of their people. However Pharaoh still would not believe. (Exodus 7:14-24)
Many plagues later Pharaoh still would not change his mind. Then came the most devastating lost of all for Egypt, the slaying of the first born. Finally Pharaoh would let them go. But he rescinded only temporarily, still not accepting or understanding the power of God. He would send his army against the defenseless Israelites most likely expecting an easy victory. Was he surprised when he witnessed what had never been seen before? God had made a path through the sea. There were the lowly Israelites, former slaves, passing through the midst of the sea on dry land and on either side of them a high wall of water. Surely now pharaoh would believe that these people were God’s people and that perhaps he should just let them go. Perhaps he would wake up to the reality that slavery was just wrong or that people do not have the right to make subjects of other people just because they have a stronger army.
Pharaoh did not have any of these great revelations. Instead he was consistent in his unbelief. He ordered his army to pursue the Israelites through this path created by God. Then he would witness the collapse of water on his army. They were destroyed. (Exodus 14) Pharaoh could have saved himself a lot of trouble if he would have believed from the very beginning. However the price of unbelief can be even higher.
The price of unbelief can be as high as all eternity. John 3:18 says “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Christ is still trying to reach the most stubborn hearts, so do not be dismayed. Our responsibility is simply to “Go into the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15)
Related articles
Posted by at No comments:

Surviving the wilderness

No Walmart, no Costco and plenty of empty stomachs! (Exodus 16)The Israelites couldn’t even find a 7 eleven. Naturally they began to complain that life was better in Egypt where their masters provided everything they needed for their pitiful existence. (Exodus 16:3)The fact that they had no freedom, no rights and could suffer all types of imaginable abuse without any protection was incidental. The point is that they had plenty to eat as long as they depended on their Egyptian masters.
Why had God taken His people to the middle of the dessert and given them nothing to eat?  The Israelites had grown dependent on their cruel masters. It was time for them to learn to depend on their God, the God who with His mighty hand freed them and whose purpose was to make a great nation of them in the Promise land.
In the desert there was nothing. No distraction, no help, and no way for the Israelites to provide for themselves. It was a wasteland perfectly designed to cause God’s people to look to heaven for help. Sometimes in our lives we too are going through the desert or wasteland.  Life seems to offer little hope. We are starving for the satisfaction of some of our most basic needs, such as love, health, comfort, companionship, perhaps food and even a roof over our head. Only God can save us and we finally turn to Him.
It is no wonder that God made it necessary for the Israelites to freshly gather manna every day.  They could not save for the next day and were forced to repeat the same lesson of dependency on their divine maker. God is the most remarkable teacher. It took more than a generation but the Israelites did learn to trust in God and a mighty nation of faith was formed, able to conquer the promise land. God is still making men and women of faith, capable of great achievements. But to do this we must pass through the wilderness of pain, problems and challenges, where there is little that can be found. Alas we are left alone and must learn to turn to the one that will forever be faithful and will never leave us. He will supply every need as the shepherd boy said “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)
  
Related articles
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Defense against false prophets

In 1956 Jim Jones began a church called “Peoples Temple Christian Church Full Gospel”. Jim Jones would go on to preach a socialist and communist message founded on his own ideas about how society should be organized. The bible had nothing to do with it. Matter fact Jim Jones once referred to the bible as a paper idol. Jim Jones would begin preaching rather odd concepts that would definitely conflict with scripture. He would go onto to say, “If you’re born in capitalist America, racist America, fascist America, then you’re born in sin. But if you’re born in socialism, you’re not born in sin.” He also taught, “those who remained drugged with the opiate of religion had to be brought to enlightenment — socialism.” Jones also began to proclaimed himself the reincarnation of Mahatma Gandhi, Father Divine, Jesus, Gotama Buddha and Vladimir Lenin. He believed that he could be a savior to those that believed in him.
Even though many today do not consider Jim Jones to have been a legitimate Christian minister, since his teachings were in contradiction to the Bible, It did not stop many politicians from seeking his advice and support. The Democratic major of Indianapolis Charles Boswell appointed Jones director of the Human Rights Commission in 1960. In 1975 San Francisco Mayor George Moscone appointed Jones as the chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission.
In 1978 Jones moved many members of his congregation to Jonestown (named after Jim Jones) Guyana and many at the time would never imagine what would happen next. Jones explained to his people that somebody was coming to take over Jonestown and shoot babies, torture children and seniors. He convinced them that it was best to commit suicide. 900 hundred would be found dead, including 303 children.
Peter had this to say about men such as Jones, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words.” (2 Peter 2:1-3). Paul also warned that some could be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14)
One great defense against false prophets is the study of scripture. First we must read scripture diligently. Studying it, learning it, and keeping it in our heart, that when men come with false doctrines we can recognize it as false immediately. Paul writes that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16) David explains that the word lights his path, showing him were to go. (Psalm 119:105) The word of God gives us wisdom (2 Timothy 3:15), training and guidance so that we cannot be easily persuaded into error. We should dedicate time daily to its study in order to identify the deceivers when they come.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

The only true limitation is our faith

Mr. Smith entered the bathroom flustered and disappointed again. He was an excellent Science teacher who had developed a great relationship with his students. He often stood after school many hours tutoring and helping with extracurricular activities. However every now and then you could sense a bit of disappointment. I could only speculate, perhaps it was struggles with a particular student, disagreements with administration or perhaps another possibility. Mr. Smith once upon a time had hoped to be a police officer.  However when he applied at the age of 28 they told him he was too old. He tells me that at the time he was ripped and in the best shape of his entire life. He absolutely knew that with proper exercise and eating right he could stay in pretty good shape for the next 20 to 25 years. But they simply said no. One time he explained how the guy behind the desk telling him of his ineligibility was overweight and obviously in no condition to be an officer himself. Sometimes limitations are hard to live with, especially when artificially imposed on us by some authority. However the human experience is filled with such limitations. Too old, too young, too small, too sick, not enough education, not enough preparation, not enough experience and the list goes on and on. Even in the natural world around us we experience limitations.  It is too hot, too cold, too snowy or perhaps too dark outside. By the time we are adults we expect limitations and assume that we cannot escape them. We sometimes go as far as to place limitations on God.
Jesus understood this. He knew that this overwhelming acceptance of limitations was a real faith killer. He also knew that if a person could just believe, great things would be possible, God willing. It is why he said “I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20) On many occasions Jesus would tell a person the miracle was due to faith. (Matthew 9:22, Luke 18:42, Luke 17:19) However at times there was still a lack of faith, even among the disciples.
Jesus stood before an attentive crowd of people, (4000 men, perhaps more woman and children as well), Hungry to hear God’s word, hungry to see miracles, hungry for hope and hungry for FOOD. Jesus explained to His disciples the compassion he felt for the people who had faithfully stayed with Him for three days and were now hungry. (Mark 8:1-10) The disciples complained, “But we are far away from any town. Where can we get enough bread to feed all these people?” (Mark 8:4) I can only imagine what Jesus was thinking, “What have I been doing all this time with these disciples? Have they not seen me raise the dead, walk on water, heal the sick and countless other miracles. Do they not understand that God is capable of anything and everything?” God has no limits!
Jesus did not address their lack of faith this time, He simply asked for what little bread they had, seven loaves of bread and a few pieces of fish, blessed them and told the disciple to begin distributing. Matthew explains that after everyone had eaten they were still able to collect 7 baskets full of food from the leftovers.
This is a God that can start with nothing and make everything. A God that breathes life into the dead, makes whole the sick, stops the Universe and holds still the sun in the sky. This is the God that can raise Kings from shepherd boys and bring them down just as easily. He has no limitations and He can do all that is needed and more in each and every one of our lives. Sometimes the only true limitation is our faith.

Related articles
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

A Slave to fear

Acting on fear is the downfall of so many of us. In the bible the Israelites are the perfect example. Several times in their history they acted on fear instead of having courage and faith in God.
First they were in Egypt for centuries getting stronger. Pharaoh himself claimed that the Israelites were stronger than the Egyptians. (Exodus 1:8-10) However when the decision was made to enslave Israel, according to biblical records, Israel did nothing. For centuries they were enslaved without a rebellion recorded. (Exodus 12:40-41). After God used Moses with a mighty hand to free them and bring them through the desert, they were confronted with the Canaanites who were living in the promise land.
Once again they lacked faith and react with fear. They declared that they could not defeat the Giants who live there. They did even worst. They wished they had died in the wilderness or had never left their masters in Egypt. (Numbers 14:1-4)Their fear was truly remarkable considering they had seen a multitude of miracles provided by an almighty God with the sole purpose of freeing them and delivering to them the promise land.
Many centuries later, after the Israelites had seen many more miracles, fear would show its ugly face again. The Israelites would once again act out of fear and demand a King that could protect them against their enemies. For centuries God had lifted up men who for the most part were good, wise, moral, who feared Him and were dedicated to Him and whose sole purpose was defending Israel, but Israel’s fear was so intense that they were willing to surrender their freedom. Instead of being slaves to Egypt they would now be slaves to a king.
The prophet Samuel explains that the king would take their land, their earnings, their sons and daughters and force them to serve him. But they still wanted to be slaves in exchange for protection. (1 Samuel 8)
Fear has turned many into slaves. Fear stops us and keeps us from doing all we can and from putting our abilities to use. Opportunities can be lost and in the worst case scenarios we can remain trapped in a place that God does not want for us.
Let us all keep in mind what Paul told one of his young leaders, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7) God does not want us to fear, but trust in Him and believe or as Jesus said “with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
Related articles
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)