Tag: Faithfulness

John 10:41 (KJV) True Greatness

John 10:41 (KJV)
And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true.

Jesus said that John was the greatest born of woman and yet John the Baptist performed no miracles. His greatness is found in this, “…all things that John spake of this man were true.”

True greatness is not to be found in doing:

  • Great things
  • Impressive things or
  • Notable things

True greatness is speaking truth about Jesus Christ.

Notice, concerning John the Baptist, that it was Jesus, not the people, who called Him great. The people’s only comment about John the Baptist dealt with what he said about Jesus.  If this be the case of us we do well.

Let God ascribe whatever greatness He pleases upon us. Let men say only that whatever we say about Jesus is true.

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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John 10:41 (KJV) True Greatness

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

2 Kings 16:10-18 (KJV) An Old Testament Type of Transitioning Faith

2 Kings 16:10-18 (KJV)
And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.
And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.
And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.
And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.

I once was given a book entitled Transitioning that was meant to lay out in step by step measures how to turn a church from conservative philosophy to modern.  The person who gave the book to me did so to help me recognize when a church is making such a transition and it was not long before I saw a number of churches, including some with whom I had connections, begin the transition.

Transitioning is not, however, a modern problem. Ahaz transitioned Judah thousands of years ago. He used the same facilities Judah had always used for worship and made gradual, in some ways, subtle changes:

He built a new altar to be the centerpiece in the Temple courtyard.
I understand this altar would have been smaller perhaps seeming more functional.

He did not remove the old altar but moved it to a less prominent place.
Transitioning pastors will very often say that they are not really changing things but making things more efficient and functional. Many time they will not completely abandon conservative worship but simply make a new time slot for those who want to continue in the old fashioned services.

He removed the laver
Which was a vessel used to wash prior after the offering and prior to entering the tabernacle.

Transitioning pastors want little to do with sanctification and separation.  Their whole “come as you are” mentality is geared to make the sinner feel good about themselves.

He changed sea for a pavement of stones.
The sea, many believe, represents heaven where God’s throne is seated upon a sea of glass. The stones are more “earthy”.

Transitioning pastors want to make church relevant and practical. They aren’t as concerned about heaven and hell as they are about “your best life now.”

Ahaz was a modern transitioning pastor. The Bible gives us specifically what was God’s opinion of him,

2 Kings 16:2
Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.

 

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

2 Kings 16:10-18 (KJV) An Old Testament Type of Transitioning Faith

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Mark 3:21 (KJV) Jesus Had Friends?

Mark 3:21 (KJV)
And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.

Does it amaze us that Christ would have friends who were not (at least at this time) believers? He had grow up from a small child in Nazareth. There He had relatives through His mother and nearly kin through His stepfather, Joseph.  No doubt during those years Jesus had become well acquainted with people who cared for Him as the good person He surely was even though they probably thought His ideas fanciful and maybe immature. “He will grow out of them.” They may have said among themselves.

It is unlikely we have lived long without making some friendships on this level. At school or work or in some other public setting we have likely made friendships that exist despite and not because of our faith. These friends are well meaning but, like those of Christ, may try to hinder our spiritual life.

There came this point in time when the relationship with those friends came to a make or break point. They tried to rescue Jesus from the consequences of His faith; He remained steadfast in that faith. I believe many of those friends came to accept Him as Saviour after this. I am sure many others gave up on Him and walked away.

As we live for the Lord our friends who are not of the faith will almost certainly find themselves at a crossroads at some point; they will come to urge us not to get too wrapped up in our Christianity. They will think they are protecting us to keep us from going overboard in our belief. We must stand firm and true to Christ and when we do, many of them will give up on us. But others will come to trust the Saviour upon which we rest.

 

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

Mark 3:21 (KJV) Jesus Had Friends?

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

1 Kings 1:49-50 (KJV) Followers Do Not a King Make

1 Kings 1:49-50 (KJV)
And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way.
And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

In this case Solomon is a type of Christ and Adonijah is a type of any antiChrist. Adonijah was not the chosen one to be the king After David but he wanted the role. Without authority of his father and in total arrogance he set himself up as the next man to be followed. His methods were misleading enough that he deceived many into following him.

But followers do not the next king make. David obeyed the will of God and set Solomon as the rightful king. When those who had followed Adonijah heard that, they feared and fled.

Multitudes today are blindly following those who have no authority from God:

  • A religion that is of antiChrist
  • A church that is not Scriptural
  • A leader who has presumed upon the authority of God and stepped outside of the parameters of God’s Word

Those followers and their leader might exhibit the same confidence of Adonijah and his crowd but it won’t last. There is only one rightful king; it is Jesus Christ. In God’s own time Christ will set up His own throne and those like Adonijah and his followers will be forced to flee.

Don’t make their mistake.

  • Trust Christ alone as your Saviour
  • Find and unite with a sound Baptist church
  • Study the Bible and stay within its teachings
  • Don’t be led astray by a smooth talking antiChrist and
  • Stay true to Jesus Christ until He calls for you

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

1 Kings 1:49-50 (KJV) Followers Do Not a King Make

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

2 Samuel 20:4-6 (KJV) The Right Sort of Follow

2 Samuel 20:4-6 (KJV)
Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present.
So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him.
And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord’s servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us.

One of the greatest concerns that President Lincoln faced during the early years of the Civil War was the ineffectiveness of his generals. McClellan was especially guilty of this because he had, at the beginning of the war, a clear and huge advantage over the South in numbers of troops but was too cautious to use them. McClellan’s inactivity, choosing to build and train troops rather than getting them into the field of action, created conflict between he and President Lincoln and probably extended the war by a number of years. It was not until General Grant took charge of the Army that President Lincoln finally had a man who understood and was willing to fight on the level that expected.

David found himself in the same place. Joab had proven himself to be an untrustworthy leader, choosing to do things his own way rather than following the orders of the King. Amasa was put in charge of the army over Joab. But Amasa turned out to be a pour choice for a general in that he tarried longer than he should have, giving the enemy valuable time to mount an effective campaign against King David. Joab, though crude and brash, knew how to get the job done.

Good servanthood is a combination of the two. It is loyal and devoted to the wishes of the leader and, at the same time, active and aggressive in the work.

Christians ought to be solidly for God, not willing to do anything in opposition to the Word of God, even for what we believe to be the good of God’s work. At the same time we need to be aggressive in doing all that the Lord has commanded in His Word.

To my reader:
The combination of aggressive obedience to the Word of God without crossing over into willful presumption is a rare quality indeed. Take a moment to ask God to examine your heart. Are you loyal enough to God to not presume to do the will of God while at the same time fully obeying what you know to be His will? I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

2 Samuel 20:4-6 (KJV) The Right Sort of Follow

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

Matthew 26:15 (KJV) What’s Your “Last Straw”?

Matthew 26:15 (KJV)
And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.

Many years ago now we had a couple who had been members of our church for several years. This couple was active and involved in everything going on at church. They were positive and generally encouraging toward me. Then came the day when I learned that all of this had been a façade, a front that covered what was happening in their heart. I can’t remember what the message was about that day but their response afterwards was that they had disagreed with many things and this was just the last straw.

Their story reminds me of Judas and prompts me to ask, “What will it take for you to betray Christ?” For Judas is was just a few pieces of silver.

  • For some it is a job where there is no sound church
  • For some it is a teaching that they refuse to accept
  • For some it is a relationship in the church that runs them the wrong way
  • For someone else it is a simple misunderstanding they refuse to forgive

Whatever it is, it will lead to your destruction. Some who finally come to the last straw leave to find another church. Many of them leave church completely but either way the path is one that leads to eventual devastation. It may not show up for a generation or two but it will happen.

Everyone of us must realize that we can be broken. If we attempt to follow the Lord in the strength of our own will we will find that last straw. The key to the Christian life is Christ living in us. Only He can hold up to any straw.

 

To my reader:
“Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” The answer to faithful Christian living is not determination but dependence. Are you leaning on the Lord? I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

Matthew 26:15 (KJV) What’s Your “Last Straw”?

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

1 Samuel 17:28-30 (KJV) How To Handle Discouraging Words

1 Samuel 17:28-30 (KJV)
And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.
And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?
And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.

Any Christian who has stepped out of our comfort area to attempt some work for God have felt two things:

  • Little, like we are not equipped for the task
  • Humiliated, attacked and put down by someone else, very often a brother or sister in Christ

When my wife and I were very new in the faith we had some Christians friends my wife had met through her work as a public school teacher. As we grew in our excitement for Christ we were led of the Lord that Anita should resign her job and volunteer to teach at the Christian school our pastor wanted to start. Anita’s Christian friend, whom we expected to be supportive, was the opposite. It was disheartening but we persisted.

David demonstrates to us here how to deal with those sorts of attacks:

He said he was blameless

He may have evaluated his motives a moment to be sure, but he declared he was without blame.

He focused on his purpose

Which was just and right. Attacks are often intended to pull us away from God’s purpose for our life.

He went about his business

There were others to talk to. He did not let those who spoke badly of him prevent him from speaking highly of the cause.

When attacked in the work of God:

  • Evaluate and learn
  • Fix your mind on God’s will and
  • Keep moving forward

 

To my reader:
How have you handled discouragements in the past? Does David’s action give you some insight to your own discouragement? Leave a reply below. I would love to hear from you.

 

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

1 Samuel 17:28-30 (KJV) How To Handle Discouraging Words

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

1 John 2:26 (KJV) Spiritual Seduction

1 John 2:26 (KJV)
These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

 

The apostle speaks of the seduction so matter-of-factly that it must have been happening at the very moment. John took proactive and immediate measures to stop the work of seduction before it had time to work its wickedness.

 

I pause to identify the character of Seduction:

It is subtle and often difficult to see
This is especially true of the seduced.

 

It is flattering and appeals to the ego
Attention given, even by one who should not give the attention is none-the-less attractive.

 

It is sinful
No one is seduced into the right. The very nature of seduction is to lead away from the right.

 

It is destructive
Seduction like all sin when it is finished leads to death.

 

Those who are lost are no less seducers today than they were two thousand years ago. They are more varied and perhaps more brazen now than ever before. Anyone who knows the Lord should be happy that there is someone to step in and stop the seduction before it causes damaging consequences to one’s faith.

 

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2007.

1 John 2:26 (KJV) Spiritual Seduction

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Saved But Not Faithful

Colossians 1:2 KJV

To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

There are times in the Bible when the conjunction and is meant to weld two terms together as one as in a statement such as “the great God and our Saviour…”[1] Other times it couples two distinct entities.

 

It is difficult to determine which is the case in this verse. Bible students have differing thoughts concerning it. I tend to take the position that, if God hasn’t made something clear, then there is likely something to learn in all of the possibilities. Thus I would observe that:

Faithful brethren are saints.

Not that being faithful makes a person a saint for the term saint denotes one who has been saved and that is entirely the work of Jesus Christ. Faithfulness does not make a saint. However faithfulness can certainly help to distinguish a saint. All saints are brethren for that moment of salvation places each of us into the family of God and in brotherhood with Christ.

 

On the other hand,

Not all saints are faithful brethren[2]

It is a fact sadly observed that some of those who have been saved are not as faithful in their faith as they ought to be.

  • Some forsake the things of Christ for the world
  • Some develop a contention and go their own way
  • Some neglect the salvation that was given them

There is a relationship between the saints and the faithful brethren as they are both saved and, in this case, likely both members of this church. But there is also a sad disconnect that exists between those who are saved and not faithful and those who are saved but fully engaged in that which is Christ’s. Toward the faithful brethren Paul may thankfully pronounce grace and peace. Toward the saints who are not so faithful Paul may be praying that such grace and peace might one day be theirs as they become faithful.

[1] Titus 2:13 KJV

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

[2] A note in Jamison Fawcett and Brown reads, “.. ‘saints’ implies union with God, so ‘the faithful brethren’ union with Christian men [Bengel].” It is possible for a man to be united with God but to not be so united with Christian men.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2007.

Christian faithfulness