Fulfilling the demands of the Gospel

Yesterday we took a glance at the passages of Genesis 4 where Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord. As you recall The Lord's reaction to their offerings was quite different. Able brought the firstlings of his flock, and the fat thereof, and Cain brought the fruit of the ground as an offering to the Lord. The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering; but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. Yesterday’s Bread ended with questions about why the Lord had not respect for Cain’s offering, and how was it that Cain knew his offering wasn’t accepted? How did Cain and Able know to even make an offering to the Lord? ….I mean, they lived way, way before Moses brought the law and the whole Levcitical system of blood sacrifice that was given to him on by God on Mt Sinai. Let’s look back a little further…back to Adam and Eve…After the fall they made themselves fig leaves to cover their nakedness. Genesis 3:21 says The Lord God replaced their fig leaves with coats of skins. Many believe the Lord was teaching Adam and Eve that the covering they made for themselves wasn’t adequate, and He must have explained the process of redemption. The skins the Lord supplied had to come from the killing of an innocent animal, and this is the first example of the blood sacrifice. This is the first of many examples in the scripture where animal sacrifice occurred prior to the law being delivered to Moses. Adam and Eve must have made sacrifices unto the Lord and they must have taught their children as well that this is what the Lord required. Some scholars think that fire may even have came down from heaven and consumed their sacrifices. The fact that Genesis 4:4 says that Abel offered the firstlings of his flock AND THE FAT THEREOF suggests a burnt offering. Maybe that is how Cain knew his offering wasn’t accepted, if it wasn’t consumed? These are all conjectures but I think the Holy Spirit expects us to think about the details of the Word, or lack of details as we have in Genesis 4, and try to figure out exactly what it is He wants us to understand from the stories. Hebrews 11:4 says “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”…..This verse in Hebrews is key to understanding the real difference between Cain and Abel and their offerings. Able by faith accepted the Lord’s method of offering and worshipped based on that, understanding that he was incomplete without the Lords method of redemption. Cain on the other hand declared the Lord’s method incomplete by trying to add to it by offering the works of his hands. On the face of it Cain wanting to offer the works of his hands wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was incomplete. It was a form of worship but inadequate for a right relationship with the Lord. It is so easy to get lulled into this as we go through our religious motions. It is easy for us to forget that our righteousness has nothing to do with how often we attend church, how much bible reading we do, or even how often we pray without all of it being based on how incomplete we are without the covering of the perfect sacrifice offered once for all by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth…for He is the way , the TRUTH, and the Life!
Max and Tammy

The Gospel God’s Market

I heard a teacher once use a business metaphor for pleasing God. He said that if you are in business selling a product or service, you must do your research and figure out what exactly your customer wants. In our service and worship of the Lord shouldn’t we also do our research and figure out exactly what it is God wants? There are many examples in the scripture of those who pleased God, and likewise there are some examples of those who blew it. The book of Jude is a very strange 1 chapter book that is dedicated to those who are examples of what not to do. Jude begins his book with an explanation of why he set out to write them of the common salvation but was moved by the Holy Spirit to write about certain men who have “crept in”, believers among us who could jam us up. Jude v4-5 4)For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 5)I will therefore (or in other words, because of them) put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. ….Yikes…Seems like the Lord is very serious about the kind of belief, worship, and service we offer Him.

Those who have crept in among us are obviously believers, and he goes further in verse 6 as to compare them to those angels who fell. Verse 12 says they are ‘spots’ in our feasts…This word spots is a little clumsy for the actual root in the Greek. The Greek idea for this word is a hidden rock or reef that sinks a ship. Verse 11 says 11)Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

Let’s look at Cain…Genesis 4 says Cain was a farmer, and Able was a shepherd. Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord, and Able brought the firstlings of his flock, and the fat thereof. Gen 4:5 says the Lord had respect for Able and his offering but not Cain’s…Why not Cain’s? Obviously Cain believed because he was making on offering to God…Cain also worshipped the Lord because of his offering. I think we in our judgment of each other would say Cain is doing pretty well. He believes and worships!! How are we different from Cain? How do we know if our worship is accepted by God? How did Cain know his wasn’t accepted? If we want to please the Lord shouldn’t we figure out what He wants? We will look a little deeper into the Cain and Able story and deal with the subtleties of the Genesis 4 verses that I think reveal what is really going on there in tomorrow's Bread.

Max and Tammy

The Gospel

The gospel, as we glibly use that term, means good news. What exactly is the “good news”? If you track down every reference to the word ‘gospel’ in the bible it is always defined as good news or good message. There is one peculiar translation though in Galatians 3:8. To get the full flavor of this verse though let’s look at verses 6-9 6Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

The Greek root for the word gospel in Galatians makes the distinction of ‘advanced good news’. Abraham was told ‘the good news’ in advance. This would sure explain why Abraham in Genesis 22 was willing to offer his son upon an altar as a sacrifice unto the Lord. He must have thought that his son was going to be THE ONE who would take away the sin of the world. Not only did Abraham think his son was going to take away the sin of the world, but he was willing to offer his son because he believed also that God would raise his son back up from the dead. So…the good news or gospel is the message that God has made a way….He has a plan…a plan to reconcile us back to Him. He tells us that because Abraham believed it was accounted to him for righteousness. This good news is what we also must believe to receive the promise….The promise of eternal life and reconciliation with God. Romans 10:9-13 says 9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

It is that simple!!! Confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, believe in your heart that his sacrifice was enough, call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved!! In the next couple of days we will look a little deeper into the pitfalls we experience in our walk as it relates to the realization of this good news. It is difficult to walk in the realization of our righteousness. I often do not feel worthy of the huge gift of grace the Lord has lavished on me, and because of this I am often inhibited in my prayer life. My ability to have peace about work, relationships and lifes struggles in general are also affected by this inward struggle with self.

My prayer for us is that we would look beyond ourselves and take hold of the Love the Lord has Lavished on us as.

Max and Tammy

Worshipping/Praying to Idols

5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus…1 Timothy 2

Worshipping/Praying to Idols

Mark 7 – I encourage all of you to read this chapter.

6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors Me with their lips ,but their heart is far from Me. 7 And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’[b] 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.

I was born and raised Catholic. Traditions of Catholics are praying to Mother Mary and to the Saints. I say tradition because the Word of God makes no mention of praying to anyone or worshipping anyone other than He. I was raised to pray to Mother Mary and the Saints by my mom and dad who were taught by their mom and dad. My parents cannot tell me where this came from or why they pray to as they do…they do it because they were taught by men to do so.

My mom and dad both have given their lives to the Lord and I see the Lord working in their lives and it brings joy to my heart. I: Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Phil 1:6

21 And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them: 22And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD. 2 Kings

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Col 2:8

The only way to God is through Christ Jesus.

I know there are many things that I too need to learn. Things I am certain are not true to the Word. That is why we need to be saturated in the Word and know the Word. Each of us has a gift to bring to another brother or sister something the Lord has given us. We need to share that with each other because we are one through Christ.

My prayer is that we know the love of God through His Word and know that through Christ Jesus, we are made clean and beautiful able to come to Him in Faith. That we stay true to the Word as God has given us and we stop praying to anyone other than He.

Max and Tammy

Psalm 18:4-18

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:

PSALM 18
4 The pangs of death surrounded me, and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD,And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,Because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth;Coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down, with darkness under His feet.
10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.[a]
14 He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe, lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were uncovered. At Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16 He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support.

I, lately, with this past year, feel as though my enemies are stacked up against me and at times I get very afraid. In that fear I cry out to the Lord but sometimes wonder if the Lord hears me because my faith in who God is, is lacking. I cry out saying Lord, I don’t know if I can take one more thing. Then my husband reads Psalm 18 tome and…what can I say? NO matter where we are in life, NO matter who is trying to tear us down we serve a God who is FAITHFUL. He never changes. What He has done for David and the anger against David’s enemies is the same anger He has for us when our enemies try to devour us. WE are HIS children. HE CHOSE US. I realize that no matter what I’m feeling, He remains the same. His love endures forever. He is my Dad, my Father. He is:

1 I will love You, O LORD, my strength. 2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.

My thoughts and my fears NEVER change who God is. We may not know all the “whys” we are put through trials, oh if we could flip to the end of it and see the blessings and the mightiness of our awesome God, we would go through them differently. I realize there are times when I am most broken that reading the Word can be very hard for me but realize without the Word and being saturated in His Word, I can lose sight of who God is and His love for me.

My prayer is that we lean not on our own understanding but search Scripture and learn about who God really is and that His love for us is beyond anything we can understand.

Max and Tammy