Bible Prophecy and Inspiration

Does the title make you excited?

Who are you living for?  What are you living for?

Philippians 3:12-14 – ¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Sometimes we forget the obvious bible verses we have heard many of times growing up.

Genesis 19:26- ²⁶ But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

It wasn’t like she was looking at the sun.  She desired what God had destroyed even after He allowed her to be saved out of it.  Forget what is behind and move forward toward the goal.

Luke 9:62 –⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Looking back when we need to be looking forward.  When we are pressing for the worldly goal and not the heavenly goal, we’re not heading in the right direction.

What you did for the Lord yesterday is part of the prize waiting for you later.  What you did for your kingdom on this earth is paid in full.  It’s lost forever.

You’re one day closer to eternity, how will you spend today?

2 Corinthians 5:1-10 – ¹ Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ² Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, ³ because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

⁶ Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷ We live by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹ So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Incredible verses.  Read them again.

It’s how were supposed to live.  This body is going to grow older and die.  It’s inevitable.

We need to make it our goal everyday to please Him!  If we made it our goal to read the Bible, learn it, and try to please the Lord, we would be heading in the right direction in our walk.

Just like verse ten says were going to receive what’s due to each one of us, good or bad.  That doesn’t sound like a God that really just wants you to find salvation and they just do what your heart desires.  That sounds like a God that wants you to find Him and then when you do, serve Him with your life, don’t serve yourself.

Psalm 73:2-3 – ² But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
   I had nearly lost my foothold.
³ For I envied the arrogant
   when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

 This verse reminds of today as much as it has ever applied.  It’s hard for many to look at people with a lot of wealth and worldly success and not want to chase after that.  It’s the American mantra.  However the New Testament is full of warnings of this very thing.  It’s normal in our fallen human nature to want the best for ourselves, rather than worry about others.

 It’s a trust issue with the Lord.  That’s why he indicates to us to trust in Him.  Our Lord doesn’t like taking second place and our actions, time, and constant dreaming on what we want to do in the future spells out where our heart is.  Not the lip service we try to make ourselves believe or others around us.  When the Lord is not first, whatever is becomes your God.

 Most of us get off on tangents and have to get back in line.  That is why it is so important to stay linked in to the Word of God.  Think of the Holy Spirit like a flame.  The more oxygen, the better it burns.  When there is no oxygen it eventually dies down and goes out.

 For me it’s pretty easy to visually see.  I’ve watched the rich and I’ve watch those who sacrifice this worldly life to serve God.  When applying the Word of God to the both of them it’s a no brainer how the Word is coming to life regarding both.

Colossians 3:9 – ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and
have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Pretty basic stuff, but our sinful nature has a tendency to want to tell mistruths.

God is Truth and the devil is the father of lies.

We tend to roll over that too quickly.  Let’s do it again.

God is TRUTH and the devil is the father of LIES.

We have to make it our decision to live for Truth.  We have to make a decision not to live for LIES.  It’s one of those things that you need to be prepared for ahead of time.  Not a last second decision.

What’s the worst thing about someone who lies to you?  You can never trust them.  They may be telling the truth, but they may be lying.

One the greatest things about serving and living for the Lord is you know that you can trust Him and that He will not lie to you.

Another advantage you have is you know you can NEVER trust Satan or anyone who is loyal to him.

Stand for Truth, He will set you free!

2 Corinthians 2:5-11 –  ⁵ If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent—not to put it too severely. ⁶ The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. ⁷ Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸ I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹ The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. ¹⁰ If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, ¹¹ in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

This day and age is trickier on how to do with things.  We live in a time where people aren’t just sinning; they are getting to the point that they aren’t seeking the Lord.

The verses above are referring to a Christian who really does care.  He is sincere in being distraught that he failed the Lord and his fellow believers.  By all means, this is when we need to seek the strength of the Lord and to help strengthen our brother and sister.

The tough part we now have to deal with everyday is, “The Lord made me who I am and this is who I am supposed to be.  You have to accept it and love me for it.”

That’s not what the above referenced verses are saying.  That’s a heart that hasn’t repented or sought what the Lord wants or expects.  We’re all sinners and all need to fight some form of who we can naturally be.     

Getting back to the forgiveness of someone who has done wrong, think of it like school children.  You have kids that get shunned in every group and then the child ends up in a group of the rest that have been shunned.  In many cases those groups can be easy pickens with the stuff that comes with low self esteem.  Enough of that, but when someone who is a Christian can’t go back and strengthen again they can become either bitter and fall away, or the enemy slips in with sheep’s clothing slowly getting them off the path.

As we all know forgiveness is essential as it is the only reason we are even allowed back into the presence of God in the first place.  He forgave us even thought He has never wronged us.  Here we wrong each other all the time and who wants to be the unforgiving individuals?

Our strength as Christians comes in our love from God to each other.  That means forgiving.  It also means letting someone know the truth and that it’s not okay according to the Word of God on some of the things they are doing.  The Word of God is what corrects, not us.  That’s why we all need to do our best to obey it because we don’t have a leg to stand on if we don’t live it ourselves and let others then know they should be living it.

Two days ago and today we are talking on examples of faith in the Bible.

Matthew 8:5-13 – ⁵ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ⁶ “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”  ⁷ Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”

⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But the
subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.

The Centurion had faith in the power of the Lord.

When I read the above verses, the one thing that really sticks out to me is when Jesus states many will come from the east and west to take their places and feast with Abraham.  You see salvation comes through Jesus which came through the line of the Jews.  However, the Lord loves us all and doesn’t want any to perish.

Of course the other is the Centurion saying to the Lord, Just say the word and it will be done.  He believed it.  That’s not the power of positive thinking.  He knew the Lord had to grant it, he just didn’t believe He was going to do it automatically.  He knew the if the Lord did, it would be done.  Either way it was the correct faith to have.

I find when the request is to benefit the Kingdom, our relationship with Him, or relationships with others concerning Him, some form always seems to be answered.  Not only that, but much better than if we did it ourselves.  MUCH!

We need to put faith into the Lord, not ourselves.  When we do things, we need to do them with the Lord in mind, not just ourselves.  Trust in the Lord, He wants that very much.

Luke 5:18-19 – ¹⁸ Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. ¹⁹ When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

These men acted in faith.  They wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of lowering the paralyzed man
down from the roof if they didn’t have faith that Jesus would heal him.

Do we act on faith today?  Do you think Jesus wanted this man to cast his burden onto Him or do you
think Jesus wanted him to work it out himself?

Of course the Lord wants us to trust Him and cast our cares and prayers onto Him.  Yet what do most
of us do?  Try to do it all ourselves and our way.  What kind of faith is that?

Independence away from the Lord is how we get into trouble.  It’s a good way to drift into the darkness.

Does God like faith from people?

In the verses above Jesus ends it by saying:

Luke 5:24-26 – ………….. He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ²⁵ Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. ²⁶ Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

There is much more to these verses but I wanted to concentrate on the faith portion instead of the battle on the forgiveness of sins with the Pharisees.

The Lord isn’t looking for an independent self reliant group of people.  He is looking for a loving submissive bunch of servants.

Tomorrow we will stay on the theme of faith.