I Know Nothing But Christ and Him Crucified

Jesus Christ, crucified, did not come down from the cross when mocked by people for them to believe. For He did not intend to save only those who might see but for salvation to reach you and me.

My "worth" is never enough.

The tag price on my neck says eternal punishment but You bought me anyway..

1 Corinthians 5:10a

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.

Believers’ Freedom

1 Corinthians 10:30-31
30If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? 31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

John 8:36 clearly said “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”. People are set free when they come to know and accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. We are now free from the bondage of sin, slavery, the guilt, its corruption and power. For anyone who is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are new creation in Christ. Christians are saved from hell to heaven by the Grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done on the cross. We are then justified or made and declared righteous by faith apart from the law. We are now under grace and not under the law of sin.

In all this, are we free then to do anything we want? We are free as long as freedom in Christ but as Galatians 5:13 says “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love”. Not everything we are free to do is beneficial and constructive to our personal walk with God. Not all things we desire to do will edify the Church or the Body of Christ and not everything we wish to do can lead unsaved people to repentance. We must desire things that would build up and edify ourselves, encourage other Christian believers and bring other people to Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:23
23"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive.”

1 Corinthians 10:30
31"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

So, we can do anything we want as long as we to do it for His glory? Can we drink to death, smoke and watch pornographic materials as long as I do it for His glory? Of course not. Will you be able to give the glory to God after you do such things? Can you even pray it back to God and thank Him for what you did. No, you can’t because what you did is not pleasing but you’re actually sinning with other people, with yourself and especially with God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God."

Brothers, let us then desire things that are helpful and beneficial not only to us and to other people as well. Things that would bring glory and honor to God and something that you could thank God for.

Amazing Grace

by John Newton

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

The Lord for the Body

1 Corinthians 6:12-14

"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also.

Our stomach has a very vital role in our digestive system. When you eat foods—such as bread, meat, and vegetables—they are not in a form that the body can use as nourishment. Food and drink must be changed into smaller molecules of nutrients before they can be absorbed into the blood and carried to cells throughout the body. First Corinthians 6:13 says food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food. God, the Creator of the universe, the One who brought both the stomach and food into actuality is the same God who brought us into our being. These bodies we are living now are not on our own. It is intended for His glory and ultimately belong Him. For the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

God has a purpose for this body He has created for us. As food enters into the stomach and utilizes it for our nourishment, the purpose of God for our being is so much stronger than we could ever imagine. Our being is intended for God for the following reasons;

1. God saved and justified us through faith.

Believers, as food enters to our mouth and made welcomed to our stomach, God did more than just welcoming us but He called us to be saved and justified. We are declared righteous apart from any human efforts and good works but through faith in His Son. We are no longer condemned for eternal punishment in hell but made citizens of heaven.

Romans 3:21-26

21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all[a] who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

2. God is sanctifying us through the power of His Spirit.

When the food enters the stomach the lining releases water, hydrochloric (hi-droe-KLOR-ick) acid, and another enzyme. Hydrochloric acid kills germs and makes it possible for the enzyme to work.

God saved and justified us but He is still at work in us. Jesus will not leave you hanging. For He who begun a good work in you is more than able to finish it. Through the generating power of the Holy Spirit, God is sanctifying us. He cleansed us. He is changing us from glory to glory to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. We must not live to gratify our sinful nature. Our old self was crucified with Christ and by His resurrection from the dead we are also have new life. A new creation not living with the world's standard but in the Word of God. Though we are saved and justified by God's grace apart from any good works and made free from the law of sin. We are therefore under a new law which is the law of life in the Lord Jesus Christ through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. We must pursue and plant seeds of holiness so that Jesus Christ will be revealed in us for God’s glory.

1 Corinthians 6:11

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Peter 1:1-2

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

3. God will use us for His perfect will and divine purpose.

After disinfecting, food slowly passes through the pyloric sphincter and into the duodenum, where the extraction of nutrients begins. The book of Revelation written a very wonderful description of every creation and the very purpose of our own being; it is for God’s pleasure. He did not create me to please anybody, even myself but to please and glorify Him alone. He did not create me to fulfill someone else’s will but His will. Only the Maker knows the purpose of what has been made. Only in God we could find the purpose of our existence.

Revelations 4:11 (King James Bible)

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

John Piper said in his book Don’t Waste Your Life “You are in one of two groups: Either you are a Christian, or God is now calling you to be one. If you are a Christian, you are not your own. Christ has bought you at the price of his own death. You now belong doubly to God: He made you, and He bought you. That means your life is not your own. It is God’s. Therefore, the Bible says, “Glorify God in your body.” God made you for this. He bought you for this. This is the meaning of your life. If you are not yet a Christian, that is what Jesus Christ offers: doubly belonging to God, and being able to do what you were made for.”

To God be the glory. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.

Like a Fire

by Planetshakers

Like a fire shut up in my bones
I want the world to know You are God
With a passion burning deep within
I want the world to know that You live

Let Your presence come and saturate
Every part of me, make me new
Let Your Spirit come and move within
Fill me once again ’cause I need more

Jesus I’m desperate for You
Jesus I’m hungry for You
Jesus I’m longing for You
‘Cause Lord You are all I want

Come like a flood and saturate me now
You’re all I want
Come like the wind and sweep throughout this place
You’re all we want

Christianity

He who with his whole heart believes in Jesus as the Son of God is thereby committed to much else besides. He is committed to a view of God, to a view of man, to a view of sin, to a view of redemption, to a view of the purpose of God in creation and history, to a view of human destiny found only in Christianity.

-James Orr

God's Greatness

My God is life. He has life in Himself. He does not derive His life from others.
He is not served by human hands nor lives in shrine made by man. He fills the whole heavens and the earth. Heaven is His throne and earth is His footstool. He is a Person who wills, feels and acts. He has a name so great that embodied of Who He is. He relates to me not because He needs to but rather I need Him. He allows me to know and serve Him but not to do Him a favor but because He favors me to do it.

He is God and I am not. He is infinite and I am limited. He is life and I need life. He's unchanging, I change. I am here, He's everywhere. He is timeless while my days are numbered. He knows me then I need to know Him. Though my perspective is distorted yet He is wise. He doesn't need me but I need Him. Because even without me, He is God and forever will be and without God what is my forever will be?.

I will live to glorify my God not for what He has done, but for Who He is. For one thing is certain and that is, there is a God and there will always will be. God is the One who always is, He was and He will be.

The Sweetest Thing You'll Ever Taste

The Word of God.

Psalms 119:103, 161

"How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!...Princes persecute me without a cause, But my heart stands in awe of Your word"

Unlike any other books, the Word of God is active and living and can change even the most rebellious human mind and bring it to obedience. It can turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. It can bring a person from darkness to light. It teaches us to heed not with our own selfish will but His perfect will. It can bring you from fear to faith. And from a sinner to saint.

Hebrews 4:12

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart"

God's Word is so powerful than you could ever imagine. So by the power of the Holy Spirit, be transformed by filling our hearts and mind with His Word so that we may able to test and approve what God's will is. Romans 12:2

Don't use it with contempt but with certainty. Never take it for granted but give it importance. For no worthless thing comes from God.

Digging for Jesus

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable are His judgments! And how untraceable are His ways!
Romans 11:33

An article written by an ABC news entitled Mining for Gold: One of the Most Dangerous Jobs says that South Africa's Mponeng gold mine, has the title of the world's deepest mine at 2.4 miles underground. Their desire for gold is pushing the South African miners deeper underground than man has ever gone before.

Many problems arise when digging so deep into the Earth. The most obvious is the heat. For example, at 5 km the temperature reaches 70 degrees Celsius and therefore massive cooling equipment is needed to allow workers to survive at such depths. Another problem is the weight of the rock. For example, at 3.5 km the pressure of rocks above you is 9,500 tones per meter squared, or about 920 times normal atmospheric pressure. When rock is removed through mining this pressure triples in the surrounding rock. This effect coupled with the cooling of the rock causes a phenomenon known as rock bursts, which accounts for many of the 250 deaths in South African mines every year. Don’t forget things like darkness, humidity, killer gas, rock slides, runaway trains and even claustrophobia.

The ABC news writer who had an opportunity to go down into the deepest mine underground asked the mine production manager as they dropped at 30 miles per hour. "How much further is it possible to go?”, she said. "We don't know, we'll see when we get there", the man replied. The reporter asked the boss if that is the hardest job in the world. "I think it's going to rank right up there, yes," the boss told her with a hint of pride.

As they went deeper, she was soon awed by the sight of what they were looking for -- tiny specks of gold wrapped around ancient pebbles. Three billion years ago the place was a huge lake bed. It's pretty amazing to think that, after all that time, man thinks it's worthwhile to risk life and limb to comb all the way down there to get it.

The Bible tells us to dig up and love and desire wisdom. It may be hard to do as digging for gold and will cost us a lot, a lot of examination, investigation, inquiry, questions and discernments (1 Cor. 2:15). Things that would require our time, constant devotion, faithfulness, submission, humility and even putting every hindrances away. As Psalms 4:6-7 NIV ”Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”

Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians especially in chapter 2 talks about the Wisdom of God, which was once hidden from human understanding, was revealed to us by God through the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. The Wisdom and the Power of God which is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ as said in 1 Cor. 1:24. The Treasure all of us should dig for more than anything else in this world. Jesus Christ is more than gold that a lot of people desire and appreciate. He is more that any jewel underneath the earth that is worthwhile to risk life and limb to comb all the way down there to get it.

For those who are called, whether Jew or Greek (Gentile), Christ [is] the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.
1 Corinthians 1:24

In Him all the treasures of [divine] wisdom (comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and [all the riches of spiritual] knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and lie hidden.
Colossians 2:3

We can't fully comprehend God, He is infinite and we are limited. How can we fully grasp someone that is immeasurable in value and knowledge and someone who eternally exists and has no beginning and end? As the Bible said in Deuteronomy 29:29 that the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever. Things that God unveiled and made ready for those who love Him. Let us desire to dig and achieve the deepest mine we could actually reach in accordance to His will and the things He would reveal to us and through the power of the Holy Spirit operating inside us. And as His Spirit also helps us to spiritually discern and spiritually appreciate them.

Just like the gold miners, how much further could we possibly go? we don’t know, we'll see when the Lord takes us there. Let us dig for Jesus through reading and meditating on the Word of God everyday and live with it and we should be very eager and excited for those moments that we will be in awe by the sight of what we are looking for-- tiny specks of gold wrapped around ancient pebbles. The joy and fulfillment of digging for Jesus Christ, His majesty and worth. For from Him, though Him and to Him are all things and In Him we live and move and have our being.