Something Greater

A Psalm of Gratitude For my sin, O God, You have not of me required payment. All of Your justice and sovereignty demand that I be punished to death for my sin against You. Yet upon me You place no punishment. I have been ignorant, willfully ignorant of Your sovereignty over me. I have rejected and quenched Your Spirit as You offered comfort and guidance and knowledge. Yet from me You exact no revenge. God, I have used my hands and eyes and ears and mind to worship myself and my concerns. I have ignored You. I have been satisfied with worshipping and adoring temporary, fleshly, impure pleasure, rejecting the pleasure of intimacy with You. Lord, my mind is double, my heart divided, still loving what the Old Man loves, yet aware of Your greatness and Your superiority. And still You forgive me and withhold your righteous anger. Because of Your Son. Jesus suffered Your angry, righteous judgement and punishment for my sin. For my selfish lust, content to exchange worship of...

My Enemy I often long misunderstood the definition of "enemy". I wrongly have placed the root of "enemy" upon my own feelings. I have thought that an enemy was one whom I hated because of wicked actions done to me. That is wrong. The Greek work for "enemy" means hateful, odious or hostile...an adversary. Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, yet He did not say that they would thus cease being our enemies. Jesus made no guarantee that an enemy would become a friend if we demonstrate love. Whether someone is my enemy does not depend upon whether I hate them or not. Rather, my enemy is one who hates me. Jesus often referred to Satan as our adversary, and Satan hates us, seeking to devour us. Yet, we seldom hate Satan. We usually ignore or disbelieve his existence. He most often successfully deceives us by masquerading as an angel of light. Satan, however, remains our enemy, whether we hate him or not. No, my enemy is not one whom I hate. M...

Praising God And Having Favor "And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." Acts 2:43-47 AWE: "Phobos", alarm or fright; from "phebomai" (to be put in fear) PRAISING: "Aineo", to praise God; from "ainos" (a story) and "epainos" (laudation, a commendable thing) FAVOR: "Charis", graciousness; from "chairo" (to be cheerful, calmly happy or well-off) The first, immediate, tangible result of experiencing complete an...

Repent And Be Baptized "Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:37-38 CUT: "Katanysso", to pierce thoroughly, to agitate violently; from "kata" (down) and "nysso" (to prick) REPENT: "Metanoeo", to think differently, reconsider; from "meta" (accompaniment, "amid", participation) and "noeo" (to exercise the mind, or observe) and "nous" (the intellect or mind) and "ginosko" (to know) BAPTIZED: "Baptizo", to make whelmed, fully wet; from "bapto" (to whelm, cover wholly with fluid, to moisten or stain) FORGIVENESS: "Aphesis", freedom or pardon; from "aphiemi" (to send ...

The Pain Of Death "God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, "I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence." Acts 2:24-28 PANGS: "Odin", a pang or throe, especially of childbirth; akin to "odyne" (grief) and "duno" (to go down" The "pain" of death for Jesus was not loosened until God raised Him up. Thus, the pain that Jesus suffered, the deepest pain, was not from the crown of thorns, the beating and flogging...not even the crucifixion. All of these pains would be loosened when His heart and mind shut down, dropping His body ...

Filled With New Wine "But others mocking said, They are filled with new wine. But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy." Acts 2:13-18 All of these words mean plainly what they describe. "Prophesy" means to foretell events and declare truth; "visions" and "dreams" mean things seen, whether awake or asleep. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Few ...

Five Philosophies "How to Bring Back Young Adults Who Have Left the Faith", an article by Whitney Hopler, Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer, posted by www.crosswalk.com , Tuesday, May 17, 2011. Interesting article that classifies people into five philosophies , depending upon how they incorporate faith and ethics: Postmoderns Recoilers Moderns Neopagans Rebels I'm not completely sure this list is comprehensive, but it is definitely thought-provoking . I reject manipulative tactics that attempt to sell Christianity to different markets, or put a spin on the Gospel in order to proselytize to different mindsets. This article does not try to do that . Instead, this article is aimed at trying to help us understand other people, with compassion and humility. I can easily put myself into at least one of these categories, and the descriptions help me see a bit more of life from perspectives that I've not experienced . Christianity, genuine love and tru...