Jim Wilson's Blog, page 11

There Is No Other

“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).

You would think this should not be a difficult piece ofadvice to follow. The voice of God thundered from Sinai in the second command:

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anythingin heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall notbow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourthgeneration of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations ofthose who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:4-6).

Within the month, the people of Israel were busily buildingan idol, a golden calf. It did not last long.

Rachel, Jacob’s wife, stole her father’s household gods. Allof the sons of Jacob had idols.

“So Jacob said to his household and to all who were withhim, ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves andchange your clothes.’ … So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had andthe rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem” (Genesis35:2, 4).

King David’s wife, Michal, had an idol.

“Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, coveringit with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head” (1 Samuel 19:13).

Jeroboam built two golden calves, one in Bethel and one inDan.

In this age of tolerance, we have accepted foreign idols aslegitimate, alternative forms of worship. To speak against the idolatry of otherreligions is considered bigotry, intolerance, and hatred of other people. Theresults of speaking against the secular culture are even harsher.

“Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from thenations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to godsthat cannot save. Declare what is to be, present it – let them take counseltogether. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past?Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God anda Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of theearth; for I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:20-22).

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

The Greatest Gift

“My little children, I am writing these things to you sothat you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with theFather, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, andnot for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).

God commands us to obey Him. If we do not keep His commands,He has the ability to forgive us. It is either obey or confess, and He has madeprovision for both.

Christmas is coming up soon. We can think of it as a time ofgiving or as a time of getting. The basic expression of love is giving.The basic expression of selfishness is getting. If you think of everyoneaccording to God’s commands, we are to love the Father, we are to love ourneighbors, we are to love the brothers, we are to love our enemies—and theconclusion is that we are to give to these people we love. We are to give forwhatever is the highest good of the person we are giving to. We are not to givein order to get; we give because they need what we are giving. This is love.

So as we think of Christmas, think of Jesus Christ who wasthe greatest gift to all of us, and give in terms of that.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Struggling

I would like to draw attention to a few scriptures about ourenemy and our relationship to him.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, butagainst the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this darkworld and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”(Ephesians 6:12).

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightenedin order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches ofhis glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for uswho believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which heexerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his righthand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power anddominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age butalso in the one to come” (Ephesians 1:18-21).

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of theruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who aredisobedient…. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in theheavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:1-2, 6).

My point is that though our struggle is against the 1)rulers, 2) authorities, 3) powers of this dark world, and 4) spiritual forcesof evil in the heavenly realms, and although we were once dead intransgressions and sins and followed the ruler of the kingdom of the air, weare now seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, far aboveall rule and authority, power and dominion.

In other words, our struggle with spiritual evil is onewhere we are with Christ, far above our opponents. Our struggle is not one ofdefeat.

“We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with allwisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor,struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Colossians1:28-29).

I often hear Christians say that they are “struggling.” Theyusually mean that they are being defeated. But “struggling” in the Scripture iswinning, not losing.

The struggle here seems to be more intense. The attacks onthe saints are heavy, but we are on the winning side.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Trustworthy

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trustedwith much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonestwith much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, whowill trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy withsomeone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke16:10-12).

Stealing is a common characteristic of the natural man. Itis sin (Exodus 20:15), and in most states and nations it is also a crime. Whenwe think of it as crime, then we are grateful that we have not been caught.When we think of it as sin, we know that we are always caught.

Most stealing is not through burglary or hold-ups orshoplifting. It is being dishonest in very little and being dishonest in much.Crime is measured in petty larceny and grand larceny. Petty larceny is amisdemeanor, and grand larceny is a felony. The penalties are proportionate tothe crimes.

Sin is also measured in size; however, the size does notaffect the penalty. The wages of sin is still death. And the very littlesins lead to the great sins.

We are naïve to think that the dishonesty present in any majorfinancial scandal started out with big sin. If what Jesus said was true, thenthe guilty ones had not been trustworthy in little matters. They had beendishonest in little things first.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Glory to God in the Highest

Merry Christmas! When Jesus came to this earth, He did notcome alone. He was attended by a multitude of the heavenly host. How many thisis we do not know. It was a lot. “And suddenly there appeared with the angel amultitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying [not singing], ‘Glory toGod in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased’”(Luke 2:13-14).

There was a similar event recorded in Revelation, also aboutthe Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God.

“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numberingthousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircledthe throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they weresaying: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth andwisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’ Then I heard everycreature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and allthat is in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb bepraise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’ The four living creatures said, ‘Amen,’and the elders fell down and worshiped” (Revelation 5:11-14).

Here it speaks of angels in myriads of myriads and“thousands of thousands.” A myriad is 10,000. Here it is plural, morethan one myriad of other myriads. If it were one myriad times one myriad, thatwould be 10,000 x 10,000 or 100 million. This was myriads of myriads, which isa minimum of 200 million plus thousands of thousands, millions more.

Jesus’ birth got praise to the Father and peace to men. Hisdeath got more praise in Heaven. That is the reason for the mass angelic praiseat His birth and after His death and for His death. The heavenly host did notsing here. This Christmas, let’s just say in unison what they said in unison.At Easter we can say, in unison, what the hundreds of millions said in Heaven.

The following is the reason for the birth and death of Jesus:

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared intheir humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holdsthe power of death—that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

At Home with the Lord

St. Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die isgain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor forme. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desireto depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessaryfor you that I remain in the body” (Philippians 1:21-24).

“We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away fromthe body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).

I am not anticipating going to be with the Lord imminently,but it will not be in the distant future.* I am ready to go. This readiness hasnothing to do with merits; I had none and have none.

“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived andenslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy,being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God ourSavior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, butbecause of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal bythe Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ ourSavior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirshaving the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:3-7).

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Wehave seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father,full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

“You see, at just the right time, when we were stillpowerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for arighteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ButGod demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared intheir humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power ofdeath—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held inslavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

This is what Christmas is all about.

 

*Written December 2008. Jim went to be with the Lord in2022. 

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

The Reason for Christmas

“Grace and peace to you from God our Fatherand the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from thepresent evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be gloryfor ever and ever. Amen” (Galatians 1:3-5).

“But when the time had fully come,God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law,that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).

These two verses give us the reasonfor Christmas:

·       to rescue us from this present evil age

·       to redeem those under the law so that we might receive thefull rights of sons

Rescue, redeem, receive, from “thepresent evil age” to “full rights as sons.”

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Favorite Verses

Here are a few of my favorite verses in Scripture:

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no othername under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers,so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory ofChrist, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

“The person without the Spirit does not accept the thingsthat come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannotunderstand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The personwith the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is notsubject to merely human judgments” (1 Corinthians 2:14-15).

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6).

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds aresteadfast, because they trust in you” (Isaiah 26:3).

“But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hiddenfaults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:12-13).

“Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wiseby the standards of this age, you should become ‘fools’ so that you may becomewise” (1 Corinthians 3:18).

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestowsfavor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk isblameless. Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you” (Psalm84:11-12).

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”(Philippians 4:4).

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s willfor you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we willbe has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shallbe like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

There are many more.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

The Glorious Riches of Christ

“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles theglorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Weproclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we maypresent everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with allhis energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Colossians 1:27-29).

Let me break this down in short phrases so we can savor themseparately and then again as a whole.

·      Glorious riches

·      Christ in you

·      The hope of glory (the certainty of glory)

·      Proclaim Him

·      Admonishing and teaching

·      Everyone with all wisdom

·      Everyone perfect in Christ

·      With all His energy

·      Powerfully works in me

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

The Purpose of Our Speech and Actions

Here are two verses that have a close relationship with eachother:                   

“Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, tobuild him up” (Romans 15:2).

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, thatit may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).

Do you see the common thread? Building others up!What we do and what we say is to benefit other Christians.

Here are similar thoughts on evangelism:

“Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself aslave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew,to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (thoughI myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those nothaving the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free fromGod’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. Tothe weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men sothat by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of thegospel, that I may share in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

“Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or thechurch of God—even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am notseeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow myexample, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:32-11:1).

This is not optional! What we do and what we say is not forour good but for the good of many that they might be saved.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships