| December 6th - What Turns God On? "...Without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." (Hebrews chapt. 11, vs. 6) How do we please God? By our good deeds? By our keeping the commandments? By our giving our lives to charitable causes? By dying as martyrs? No! It is only by faith that we please God. And I do not speak of just any faith here! Only the faith which comes from trusting and believing in God and His word. For it is not just faith which saves but the object in which that faith is placed that will save you. Just any old faith won't cut it. It is the person in whom that faith is placed and His ability to back up His promise to save you that makes the difference. Faith in the Word of God. This is the faith that turns God on! "Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness." (Romans chapt. 4, vs. 3) Anyone taking a careful look at Abraham's life can tell you he messed up a lot! His righteousness was not happening! But God was so turned on when Abraham believed in His word that He declared Abraham to be righteous. The bible gives us clear instructions about the nature and source of this kind of faith. Are you ready for this? "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans chapt. 10, vs. 17) How does faith come? By hearing. How does hearing come? By the word of God. We're not just talking about the hearing with your physical ear but a hearing with the heart. The word of God will fine tune your ability to hear with your spiritual ear and this will produce faith in your life. But it must be received with meekness. Jesus said, "Allow the little children to come unto me... for of such is the kingdom of God. Truthfully I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child shall in no way enter therein." (Luke chapt.18, vs. 16,17) This is what gives pleasure to the Father's heart, when we as little children, trust in Him. December 5th - Friendship with the World "...Don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity with (estrangement from) God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." (James chapt. 4, vs. 4) What does the bible mean when it speaks of being friends with the world? The actual Greek word for "world" here is kosmos and denotes the present world, the present order of things; in this particular sentence it is closely related to the Greek word aion or age, and even more specifically the enjoyments and goods this world has to offer. In this verse is a warning to guard your heart and not get too comfy with the "bling bling" of this world and her ways. Befriending these enticements only serves to alienate and ultimately turn you against God. If you have not yet received new life in Christ this sounds ludicrous: "Are you crazy??? Let go of the very things that give me something to look forward to? Turn away from the things that help take the edge off of life?!?" I usually answer that question with an illustrative scenario: If I come up to a dog and try to snatch the bone he's chewing on out of his mouth, chances are I'll get bitten. But if I place a nice juicy steak in front of him, he'll drop the bone and go for the steak everytime. This almost always help bring the true nature of God to light. To prefer a bone over a delicious steak would be an insult to any chef! |