Acts 4:12

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there
is none other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved."

Exclusivity. That is what separates Christianity from all other faiths. The exclusive right to be the true way to God. Many others claim to be "a" way to God, but Christianity claims to be "the" way. Jesus said in John's gospel 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the father but by me." That pretty much sealed the deal for which is the true way to God. No wait a minute you might say. Isn't that to narrow minded for the modern times we live in? Yes, it is narrow. Jesus said in Matthew's gospel 7:14 " Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." So yes it is a narrow way. Why though you may ask? It doesn't seem fair. Well look at it this way. God is the creator of everything. He made it all and controls it all. He knows what is good for you and what is bad. If He made a bunch of different ways that all contradicted each other, what kind of a God would He be? That would be confusion at best. God is not the author of confusion. 1st Corinthians 14:33 " For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints." God has made the way straight and narrow so that the choice would, I believe, stand out better, and be easier to spot when searched for. Well that's too narrow for me. I believe in God in my own special way. I have a ritual, or religion that I follow. The basis for that is your own belief based on feelings. God has set it up in such a way that it is clear and concise. If we all went on feelings all the time, we would be in a lot of trouble. As we all know, feelings are fickle. There may be things we don't like or don't want to do, but they are good for us, so we do them. Seeking after God is like that. Our flesh wants something, but our spirit desires to be filled with something else. That something else Christ. So what, do we just become cold crass individuals devoid of feelings? Of course not. Unfortunately there are many Christians like that today. You would swear following God is the most horrible, troubling thing ever and that we can never smile or joke around. To be honest, if that is all I saw, I wouldn't want to be a Christian either. Even now at times there are some people I avoid due to there miserable, downcast way of being. Ok, now that I ruffled enough feathers, are we to be completely out of touch with emotion? No. On the contrary I at times have experienced some of the deepest emotional moments in life with the Lord. Our passion is deeper. Our love should be stronger. All because it is guided by the one who created it and keeps it in check by relationship with the individual. He is the one true God. The name by which we are saved? Jesus. There is some serious power in that name. It commands respect, authority, and reverence. It also has Unconditional Love attached to it. It stirs up controversy and makes people upset. There is power in that name. Guys, it comes down to this. Heaven is there for us. There is a way to it. That way is through Jesus Christ. It's pretty simple actually. God has a way of being very clear. When you give your life to Christ, you then realize how free you truly are. Be blessed this week.

Sincerely Bob

Psalm 94:3

Lord, how long shall the wicked, how
long shall the wicked triumph?

This weeks verse, a question. A question that eats away at most of us at some point in our lives. I know for me, I get pretty bent at times when I think about what is allowed to happen in this world. If we are not careful, it can lead to questioning God and becoming angry at Him as well. We've all heard it. How can a loving God let so much evil happen in this world? How can He not I say? What!!!! It's like this. If God intervened in each and every situation that we deemed bad, what kind of freewill choice do we have then? God allows us to make choices but advises us against certain ones. For instance, murder. Plain and simple, it's bad. Whether you believe in God or not, it's embedded into out souls. It's part of our nature. Also though, the wickedness is in each and everyone of us as well. Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" You see, all of us at heart are wicked. We have the propensity for it or the capacity to perform it. It's the sin nature. All of us can murder, lie, cheat, steal, etc. It's whether or not we choose to. So the question still remains, how long God? Psalm 145:20 " The Lord preserveth all them that love Him: but all the wicked He will destroy." In God's time, those who oppose Him will pay one day. Is it our job to decide who gets payment? No. Should these things upset us? Yes. But ultimately Judgement belongs to Him. We see what's going on around us. The world is spiraling out of control financially, morally, and generally. People are desperate for answers. Is the end coming soon? No one knows. Only God. Our job while here is to point people to the one who can save them. Something I am guilty of not doing very well. Oh and one other thing, wicked people aren't just the criminals we see on the news. It's anyone who does not have a personal relationship with Christ. God's word is clear. You are either for or against. That's some hard words right there, but it is only the truth of the Word being put forth. God is a merciful, loving father, but He is also perfect in judgement. Yes, what I see gets to me but, I look at it and the increase of it, and I get excited. It means that we are closer to His return than before, and one day closer to eternity with Him. Now that's what I'm talking about! Be blessed.

Bob.

John 8:32

"And you shall know the truth, and the
truth shall set you free."

Truth. It is such a fickle thing nowadays. Who can you trust, who's actually telling the truth, etc. This text is pretty straight forward. The truth it is talking about is Jesus Christ. In John's gospel 14:6, Jesus says, " I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me." That is the best commentary on that subject hands down. Jesus himself declares, I am the truth. Not a truth, but THE truth. You see, there can only be one real truth to who God is. There can't be many truths because that would present contradictions about who God is. And if God isn't even sure about who He is, how can we? I saw an interesting sign today on a Unitarian universalist church. Now before I go any further, I do not endorse this church, nor will I ever. They are a mish mosh, hodge podge of beliefs all rolled into one to just satisfy the individual. Real truth is not sought by them. Now to continue, the sign said, " The truth can withstand are questioning." I though about it for a while. From their perspective, it's a way out for them to not truly believe in the one true and living God. On the other hand though, there is a strange truth to the statement. Let me explain. The truth will always be the truth. It won't ever change. Even in the face of our biggest questions, doubts, it always remains the same. It's like this. Someone can believe that 2+2= 67, they can have a heartfelt conviction over it, but at the end of the day it still equals 4. There is no arguing the facts. The same is true about God. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn't change with the times, He doesn't get more modern. He just is. One can choose to doubt His existence, but the facts still remain. He is God and we are not. He is truth. That truth is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Now being set free? Once you know the truth (Jesus), freedom is yours for the taking. Have a great week. If your in Christ, enjoy your freedom, don't just endure it. If your not, Jesus has just what you need. Sincerely Bob.

Genesis 2:17

Genesis 2:17
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
thou shall not eat of it:for in the day that thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."

" A date that will live in infamy." Franklin D. Roosevelt December 8th 1941. If there was any way to describe December 7th, 1941, this was it. I think it fitting to describe this date in history. This is the single most incredible day in the history of man kind. The day mankind fell and sin entered the world. On this day mankind was plunged into a life of toil, pain, and sorrow due to disobedience to the Lord. I've heard it said that sin is not bad because it's forbidden, sin is forbidden because it's bad. In other words, God knows what will happen if we fall into sin. On this fateful day, all of mankind was dealt a punishing blow by just 2 people. Now before you or I condemn them, think about it. These were the first 2 people alive on the earth. The had an intimate communion with God on a daily basis. Adam was as some have said, our champion. The best we had to offer. Look what happened. Would you or I have done anything different? I think not. Me personally, I would probably not have lasted that long. Either way, that day the human race died spiritually. The amazing thing in this story is God's grace. In chapter 3 where this all went down, we see God dealing with the sin in verses 14-19, but in verse 21 we see God's provision or covering. It said God made coats of skins and clothed them. In this one verse we see that there had to be sacrifice and the letting of blood in order to cover the sin of Adam. Up until this point there was no death. This sin caused death to enter into the world. In the old testament law, animal sacrifice was instated to be a covering for sin. Only temporary though. It had to be performed every year once by the high priest. Read Hebrews 9:22. So what does this all mean for us your probably wondering? In this picture we see human sin covered by God's grace and atonement made for it. It's a perfect picture of what was to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin. Christ's death on the cross was the final sacrifice for sin and was the final and complete payment for our sins, past , present, and future. God came down and became fully man while still fully being God, just so He could show us the way back to intimacy with God the father. Through His death and Resurrection, we have life. No more sacrifice need be made. It is paid for. The only sacrifice needed is for the individual to give his/her life to Jesus and become a true child of God. Could God have stopped all this from happening? Sure. Why didn't He? Choice. He wants us to freely choose Him. Not to be a robot that just automatically does something out of necessity. He wants real intimacy between you or I and Him. One on One. The reason? I think the cross speaks for itself. Love. Romans 5:8 " But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us." The world is winding down fast. Things are getting so unsure. Why not choose Him before it's to late? Have a great week and be blessed. Bob.

John 8:36

" If the son therefore shall make you free,
ye shall be free indeed."

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. This verse from a worship song we used to play a while back, kept going through my mind this week. It led me to this verse. Freedom, what exactly is it? Websters defines it as this for one possible meaning," liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another. " I like that. It has application for the Christian. We've been set free from sin. It holds no more power over us. What is interesting is the use of the word free in this verse. The first time it is used, in the Greek it is eleutheroo and is a verb tense. It means to deliver. The second usage is the word eleutheros as an adjective, meaning freedom from restraint or obligation. It's perfect! Christ is our strong deliverer and is the only one who can deliver. After we have been delivered, we are unrestrained from the power of sin. Now does this mean we still won't struggle with sin? Of course not. Until the day we go home to be with the Lord we will always have the flesh to deal with and render dead daily like Paul said. Once we understand who delivered us and what price He paid, that's when real freedom sets in. That's when the power of God hit's you square in the eyes and you realize just how awesome and powerful He is. So not only is this verse descriptive but it's also a promise from the one who made all of creation, the heavens, and the stars. Pretty awesome when you think about it. So this week I urge you, think, dwell, meditate on this and realize just how incredible our salvation is, and how awesome the one who gave it to us is. That's real freedom. You see, my God can do anything but fail. He's the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He's our strong deliverer. Be blessed. Bob.

Ephesians 6:17

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the
sword of the spirit, which is the word of God."

This verse keeps going through my head for this weeks devotional, and as always I ponder and meditate as to why. Really the second part of the verse is what stands out the most for me right now. I will though, go through the whole verse. So this verse is taken from the well known chapter in Ephesians, written by Paul. In this chapter Paul is talking about spiritual warfare and how we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness. In short Paul is saying that the trials we go through, be it people or circumstances, are just tools and schemes from the enemy of our souls. He then gives a comprehensive list of our weapons we have at our disposal. The comparison is that of a soldiers armor from that day. Each piece of armor worn by that soldier is equally important but performs different tasks. When used together properly by a skilled fighter, it serves as protection from his opponent. From that list we have our text from which to work with. The helmet of salvation. I venture to say most of our battles are fought right there in the mind. If your anything like me, then one little thought can cascade into an avalanche of cataclysmic disaster that renders me useless for a period of time. If not, you are BLESSED! The helmet in days gone past served to protect the head obviously. This is one of the most important pieces of armor that could be worn. If the head was not protected, a soldier could go down fast. Plus all the decision making went on there. If the head don't work, the rest of the body is useless. I know there is another message in that just waiting to be jumped on. Anyways. So in our walk and battle against the enemy, if we leave our head, ( mind) , unprotected, the rest of the body will suffer. It is so important that when a thought comes into your mind, the process should include bringing it before the Lord first and letting Him decide and then guide. If it's legit it'll stick, if not, then out it needs to go. Easier said then done right? So now the sword of the Spirit. The text reveals what it is. It is the Word of God. The word for word is an interesting one. I like vines description the best. Here it is. " The significance of rehma (as distinct from logos) is exemplified in the injunction to take " the sword of the spirit which is the word of God", here the reference is not to the whole bible as such, but to the individual scripture which the spirit brings to our remembrance for use in time of need, a prerequisite being the regular storing of the mind with scripture." Whew! What a mouth full! The implication is that, if we study and read on a regular basis, when we need the right scripture to comfort, correct, or whatever, the Spirit will bring it to mind. Just like a sword for a soldier, it is our main weapon for attacking the enemy. When we are being accused or beaten down by his torment in this world, God's word will slice him to bits. The devil is the father of lies the bible says. God's word is truth. When Jesus went to the cross and paid our debt in full, the wind was taken out of his sails. He is just a bunch of hot air now. I know, I know, it sure is hot sometimes right? Yep. If we though, put on the whole armor of God, He is our protection. He is our defense. He is our offense. He is our everything. Just one word of caution here. Don't go around slicing off ears with your sword. Know when to wield it, and when to keep it in it's sheath. Be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit. Man does that sound funny coming from me. So many times I led myself and you know what, it was an endless circle. Thankfully God is merciful and full of grace.
Have a great week and don't forget to suit up before you go out into daily life.

In Christ, Bob.

Proverbs 3:8

"It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones."

Once again I find myself in proverbs 3. This verse has been in my head all week and like a cow chewing a cud, I have been going over and over it. Thinking to myself, self what does this mean? God what does this really mean? Just really pondering it. To start we have to look at "it". What is the "it" referring to? In order to answer that look at verse 7. That means open your bible and read! It has 3 parts to it. First, being not wise in your own eyes. I covered this somewhat last week with verse 5 and 6. Basically it means to trust God's judgement and not your own. He's pretty much right on the money every time. The second part is where I will get a bit more in depth. It says to fear the Lord. Now does this really mean we should be afraid of the Lord? Not exactly. This actual meaning is to reverence. The root word is revere which Websters defines as " to show devoted deferential honor to, regard as worthy of honor." That's what it means when we have a relationship with the creator of the universe. We are to have a sense of awesomeness about who He is and what He has done. I think personally this has been lost over time by most Christians. Yes that includes me too. Do we really take the time to think, wow, your God and you created all of this out of nothing. Do we look up at the stars or across the ocean and realize just how powerful and mighty He is? Sad to say, no. That's what it means to reverence God. Think about it and see how your mind will be tripped out by it. It's pretty amazing to be honest. The third part is to depart from evil. So the next logical question is.........what is evil. Evil as an adjective is described in Websters as "morally reprehensible." What a can of worms that is because I am sure people out there would argue what is morale. Or say it's all relative anyways. I will just say this and then move on. If it goes against what God says or has stated, then it is evil. Plain and simple. You might not like that, I might not either, but it is what it is. Especially when in the context of God. It comes down to this. God knows what is best for us and has provided some rules and guidelines to go by. Did He do it to put us under an oppressive yolk of do's and dont's? Of course not. He did it because He knows what is best for us and what will bring us into a relationship with Him that is full and rich. The bible says that man's heart is desperately wicked who can know it. Jeremiah 17:9. Who can know it? God. If that doesn't scare you and make you think nothing will. I know my heart and it scares me at times! Look we all have likes and dislikes and God doesn't want robots that all act the same. What He wants is relationship with each and everyone of us. Unique to each individual and special in it's own way. That's why He is a personal Savior. That's the whole reason for Jesus death on the cross. To provide a way for us to be in right standing with the father. All we have to do is accept it and start walking towards Him and with Him. It will be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones.

Sincerely Bob.