My Sin For His Righteousness

2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us,who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him".

Jesus Christ death;the message is unbelievable,a message of redemption,that is a substitution for sin. This is one of the great verses proclaiming the unbelievable love of God.It is impossible for man to grasp the fact that God made Christ to be sin for us,yet that is exactly what the scripture says.He who knew no sin made to be sin,for the sole that sinneth shall surley die,so for man to live He had to die.

Did He die in vain?Why was this act necessary? Because man needs more than just righteousness to stand perfect before God.To stand righteous before God is not enough,for man has already sinned.Man already stands guilty of breaking God's law, and the judgement and condemnation of death has already taken effect upon man. So the condemnation and judgement of sin had to be taken care of. God did this by laying all the sins of man upon Christ,all the guilt and condemnation of sin,God placed it all on Christ and let Him bear it all Himself.God's purpose for this was that we through Christ death, might be made righteousness of God in Christ.When a person really believes in Jesus Christ,God takes that man's faith and He counts it as righteousness.The man is not righteous,but God considers the man's faith in Christ as righteousness.God does this because he loves man so much,that he sent His only Son to die that we might have a right to life.Jesus secured righteousness for man. He came into the world to die for man.He came and arose from death and thus conquered death for man,thus His resurrected life could stand for the resurrected life of the believer.But did Christ die in vain in your life?Have you accepted this truth?

The truth is this God loves His Son Jesus Christ so much, that He honors any man who honors His son by believing in Him and believing Him.When we sincerly trust Christ,God takes that faith and counts it as righteousness,thus He judges us , and treats us,as though we are innocent.We are not innocent,us and God both knows this,but God counts us as innocent because of our faith in Jesus Christ.To God we have died with Christ and rose a new creation.So did Christ die in vain for you?.

A Place To Be Saved

Luke19:5"And when Jesus came to the place,he looked up and saw him,and said unto him,Zacchaeus, make haste,and come down;for today I must abide at thy house"

"Pass me not oh gentle savior,hear my humble cry,while on others thou art calling, do not pass me by". These words are more than just lyrics to a hymm,these are the words of the humble cry, from the soul of all repented sinners.A sincere heart felt cry,from every heart which desires to see the Lord.A desire so strong,that one will make haste,push through,get in front of and even rise above all that would hinder their chance at a personal relationship with the savior.This is the cry of all who are in a place to be saved.

Zacchaeus was a sinner who sought to see Jesus for himself.He heard that Jesus was passing through, and he sought to see him, and to him Jesus came.(It is good when sinners seek Jesus while he can be found)It says"And when Jesus came to the place", there is a place in the life of every sinner, when they realize they are lost and in need of salvation, and Jesus will meet every sinner at that place. Seek Him and He will be found. Zacchaeus was at that place, he was a sinner in need of salvation and he didn't want Jesus to pass him by.He made haste to see him,not letting the crowd or anything stand between him and his salvation. He received him with joy, he called him Lord, accepting him for who he was and not what he could give him,and he was willing to surrender all he had, to the rule of the Lord.

What the Lord saw was a sinner who not only needed,but who would accept the mercy of the lord. One willing to stand alone in his decision. Jesus looked up and saw one whose character, would make him a great witness to the grace of the Lord. Jesus saw one who would receive him with all his heart. So Jesus said "today I must abide at thy house".Today is the acceptable day of salvation;Jesus must abide at the house of all repented sinners,and must have rule of the house,to do what he will,to do as he sees fit,to arrange it as he wants it.We must let him mold us into the instrument he sees fit, to be used in His garden of salvation,that we might bring in the sheeves.If you don't want Christ to pass you by, you must make yourself avaiable to Him,in the place to be saved.

My Inner Me -My Enemy

Mark 7:21-23"For from within out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,thefts,covetousness,wickedness,deceit,lasciviousness, pride,foolishness:All these evil things come from within,and defile the man".

Jesus makes it plain that repentance isnot only a change of mind, but a change of heart a change that happens from within.He explains what defiles us comes from within. He gives example of  the most basic evil attitudes and passions that dominate our thinking and behavior. Isaiah states plainly that repentance is changing the way we think.let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord,and he will have mercy on him;and to our God for he will pardon. Isaiah points out two things we must forsake to receive God's pardon:Our sinful ways and our sinful thoughts.

To repent we must recognize that at least some of the pulls of human nature are at work in our minds, influencing or even controlling our thinking.Not every human constantly yeilds to every trait of human nature. But we all sin,we all have weakness.One person  might give in to greed,another to pride, or self-righteousness.Yet another may have difficulty being truthful and honest.But in some way we all exhibit self-centered and self-serving thinking and behavior.Repentance means we must truly examine ourselves and recognize our own particular weakness,the areas where we sin in thought or action. We must ask God to reveal what we need to change.

This, too, is a lifelong process. The more we submit to God and ask for his help in seeing what we need to change, the more he opens our mind to reconize our faults and weakness.This process goes on for years as commmitted and converted Christians"grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.A change in the way we think and the intent of our hearts, is the most important aspect of real repentance.After we receive the Holy Spirit, we are better able to sustain right behavior as the fruit of our new way of thinking

Make Room For Jesus

Luke 2:7 "And she brought forth her firstborn son,and wrapped him in swaddling clothes,and laid Him in a manger;because there was no room for them in the inn".

When I was a child growing up, people would have door mats in the front of their doors which read "Welcome".They were designed so that all who came to the door would feel welcome.You don't see many mats like that today.Jesus said He stands at the door and knocks, is there a welcome mat at the door of your heart? 

Is there room for Christ in your Life? Is there room in your heart for the saviour of the world?The infant Lord who was born Saviour of the world,who was rejected by the inn keeper, hunted by a king,sought by the wise men and received joyfully by Anna and Simione, is still being presented to all today.But I ask is there room in your life for christ.The good news about Christ is being proclaimed as we read this message.We each have the same choice that was available back then. We can like the inn keeper have no room for a saviour,as we fill our lives with the things of this world,being over run with pride, greed, and selfrighteousness leaving no room for the saviour.We can be like the king and try to kill the saviour,not wanting him to enter in and make changes to who we are for fear he might take something from us, that we are trying to hold to.We can be like the wise men and seek Him to give Him the best gifts that we have and then receive Him joyfully like Anna and Simione.They prayed not to see death until they seen the Saviour 

People we should not want to see death without seeing salvation.Hearing about it is great,for faith comes by hearing, but we must pray not to see death until we see it and accepted it for ourselves. Let us not kill Him off, let us make room in for him in our life, Let us seek Him with all our heart,and receive Him joyfully, and remember to share him with everyone we see. 

Turn On The Light

Ephesians 5:11 "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,but rather reprove them".

Directions on how to live while here on earth are very needful.We constantly come in contact with ungodly men;this is unavoidable.But here we are taught to avoid such communion with them if it means becoming partakers of their evil deeds.Three truths are mentioned here,evil works are unfruitful;they are works of darkness; and they deserve reproof.We must have no fellowship with them,neither at anytime or in any manner.Let us turn on the light.

What is forbidden? "fellowship with the works of darkness".Now this fellowship can manifest its self in many ways.It can be by personally committing sins or by joining with others doing wrong.By teaching one to do wrong in word or by action.By constraining,commanding,or tempting one to do wrong;by threat, request, persuasion, etc.By provoking someone,or neglecting to rebuke ones wrong doing at the start. By conniving at sin, tolerating,concealing or making it welcome in your life.By commending defending and excusing the wrong already done and fighting those who would expose,denounce and punish it.We must be careful not to tolerate even the smallest amount of wrong doing in our lives.We must be above any kind of reproach,"don't let your good be evil spoken of".We must reprove the ways of darkness and those who would walk in that darkness.We must declare its wrong, and show our hatred of it.With conviction,As the holy spirit reproves the world of sin.We must aim at proving the world guilty by our holy life and bold witness.Our goal should be to let our light so shine, that those in darkness will follow us to Jesus the light of the world.

A man lost in darkness will follow any one out of the darkness, who not only has a light but will turn it on.If you get comfortable in the darkness,you may never turn on the light to lead others out of the darkness.It is our duty to be clear of another man's sin;as a imitator of God and his child.We must live as  one who has come out of the darkness into the marvelous light of the Lord.If our fellowship is with God, we must quit the ways of darkness altogether.God is light and in him is NO darkness at all, so turn on the light............. 

God Is Good

Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord alway:and again I say,Rejoice".

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we put all of our faith and trust in Him.In doing so, we should be accepting life, the good and the bad,as it is handed to us.However,we may still find ourselves broken and beaten by hard times instead of rejoicing in the belief we have in Him to bring us through those times.We may find ourselves worrying about the things we need, rather than trusting in his continuing provision for us,as Paul obviously did.A non-believer does not rely on support from the Lord to get through trials and tribulations. However, we as believers,have professed that we are putting all faith in Him.So why is it that we sometimes do not practice this belief? We attend church and bible study,yet we may still get easily discouraged with our daily challenges instead of continuing to be encouraged by our relationship with God.

God's sovereignty, is available during any type of circumstance for the believer.To rejoice during troubled times is to tap into that sometimes inexplicable peace.Like a troubled child who wants to crawl into mom and dad's bed during a thunderstorm,the Lord is near to those that are troubled.When we are anxious, it is generally about something that has yet to happen.Anxiety stems from circumstances that are beyond our control,or as a result of our own negligence.But those of us who trust in the Lord, should cast all our cares upon him, and leave them with Him.Then we should accompany this action by giving thanksgiving and prasie,so we're putting things into perspective,trusting that it is alright already. Then the peace of God will fill our hearts during these troubled times.

Just as he made a commitment to us, we have to continue to hold up our end of the bargin.How do we convience non-believers of his love and faithfulness, if we are not exuding His joy and peace during difficult situations? If we have truly put our faith and trust in Him, we would just put the worry, fear, and negativity all in His hands.We can mature personally and spiritually if we draw closer to Him and turn over our troubles to Him.Letting our troubles go also frees up our time and energy,allowing us not only to grow in our walk with him, but also to minister to others who may not yet believe.As we find peace and joy in our lives,others will want to learn how to live in complete joy and peace.Rejoice I say, for God is good.Praise the Lord at all times.

Saviour

John 1:29 "The next day John seeth Jesus comming unto him,and saith,Behold the lamb of God,which taketh away the sin of the world."

This is what God did to secure forgiveness for us once and for all,so we can stay in the right relationship with him.It starts with Jesus' execution. He was lifted up in the same way that the snake was lifted up on a pole in Moses' day so that the people could look upon it and be forgiven for their sins.He was disfigured and marred beyond recognition.(Jesus allowed his flesh to be crushed, ripped and torn.)And in spite of His God-given mission to bring redemption to the world, He was despised and rejected by men, he was one from whom men hide their faces.

Jesus mission was to bear the burden of our sins.He took upon himself the punishment we deserved for our sins,and he suffered on behalf of us,suffering that included being whipped all night long by a band of soilder, he was spitt on, slapped with an open hand, mocked and pierced in his side.He endured the excruciating pain of his execution knowing that his death would result in spiritual restoration, and in some cases physical healing, for those who put their trust in him.All of us are sinners,and all are in need of spiritual redemption.Jesus secured that redemption with the shedding of his blood,for without the shedding of blood ,there is no remission of sin.

     Jesus didn't open his mouth and complain about his treatment, although by many standards he was treated unfairly.Like a lamb being led to slaughter,he yeilded to his fate without resistance. He was the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus was God's sacrificial lamb, a lamb slaughtered on the altar as an atoning sacrifice. He was also the scapegoat, the one who separates sin from the sinner so God can look at us sinners and see us as sinless.Because Jesus took on the sin of all mankind and was sacrificed on our behalf, God's demand for justice was satisfied.Now he sits at the right hand of God, where he intercedes on the behalf of all believers, when the enemy makes accusations against us.What was needed to purchase redemption for man was done through Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross, where he bore our iniquities,  and poured his life out unto death to secure forgiveness."behold the love of God!