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You don't need a sword

3/26/2014

2 Comments

 
Picture
Do you want power?  Consider the power that Jesus had available to Him:  "Don't you think that I could call on my Father to send more than twelve legions of angels to help me now?"  What does that mean?  Let's put this in mathematical terms for all you geeks out there.

It is generally considered that in the Roman Empire, a legion was 6,000 soldiers. In Isaiah 37:36, a single angel obliterated 185,000 men.  

I think you know where I am going, but let me do the math for you...  

If a single angel can take care of 185,000 men, then the combined strength of one legion would be enough to destroy 1, 110, 000,000 (one billion, one hundred ten million) men.  That is just ONE legion!

Now Jesus said that he had more than 12 legions of angels at his disposal.  That is at least 72,000 angels.  So the combined strength at Jesus' command was the ability to annihilate 13,320,000,000 (thirteen billion, three hundred twenty million) men.  BTW - The current earth population is a little over seven billion.

That is the kind of physical strength that Jesus has available to him.  No wonder he told Peter to put away his sword.  Jesus did not need Peter's little sword that night.  That means that Jesus willingly gave Himself to be crucified.

Let's learn a lesson from Peter and Jesus here.

As you face your own challenges in life, always keep in mind that Jesus has the power to fix any problem you'll ever come across.  Before you jump in and make things worse by taking matters into your own hands, remember Peter.  

The next time you're tempted to "grab a sword and start swinging,"  take a few minutes to remind yourself that Jesus can handle the problem without your intervention.  Before you do anything else, pray and ask the Lord what you are supposed to do.  Then after you receive your answer and follow His instructions, just watch His supernatural power swing into action to solve the dilemma you are facing!!

Taken from Sparkling Gems from the Greek

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.




2 Comments

Using the sword

3/25/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
There is a fascinating bit of story told of one of David's mighty men.  One day there was a sudden attack upon the camp by the Philistines when the fighting men were all away.  This man, Eleazar, alone was there.  

The Philistines were the traditional enemy.  The very word "Philistines" was one to strike terror to the Hebrew heart.  But this man was reckoned one of the first three of David's mighty men because of his conduct that day.  

Eleazar quietly, quickly gripped his sword and fought the enemy single-handedly.  Up and down, left and right, hip and thigh he smote with such terrific earnestness and drive that the enemy turned and fled.  

We are also told that the muscles of his hand became so rigid around the handle of his sword that he could not tell by the feeling where his hand stopped and the sword began.  Man and Sword were one that day in the action of service against the nation's enemy.  

When we so absorb this Book (The Sword) and the Spirit of Him who is its life that people cannot tell the line of division between the man and the God within the man, then shall we have the mightiest power as God's intercessors in defeating the foe.  God and man will be as one in the action of service against the enemy.

This illustration is taken from Quiet Talks on Prayer by S.D. Gordon

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.


0 Comments

Sovereignty

12/20/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
I was reading the prophet Jeremiah a few weeks ago when I ran across a passage that referred to God as "the Lord Almighty." To be honest, it didn't resonate. There's something too religious about the phrase; it sounds churchy, sanctimonious. The Lawd Almiiiighty. It sounds like something your grandmother would say when you came into her kitchen covered in mud. I found myself curious about what the actual phrase means in Hebrew. Might we have lost something in the translation? So I turned to the front of the version I was using for an explanation. Here is what the editors said:

Because for most readers today the phrases "the Lord of hosts" and "God of hosts" have little meaning, this version renders them "the Lord Almighty" and "God Almighty." These renderings convey the sense of the Hebrew, namely, "he who is sovereign over all the 'hosts' (powers) in heaven and on earth, especially over the 'hosts' (armies) of Israel."

No, they don't. They don't even come close. The Hebrew means "the God of angel armies," "the God of the armies who fight for his people." The God who is at war. Does "Lord Almighty" convey "the God who is at war"? Not to me, it doesn't. Not to anyone I've asked. It sounds like "the God who is up there but still in charge." Powerful, in control. The God of angel armies sounds like the one who would roll up his sleeves, take up sword and shield to break down gates of bronze, and cut through bars of iron to rescue me.

This post was written by John Eldredge.  This post is an excerpt from his book, Waking the Dead.



BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.


0 Comments

Jesus Power

4/20/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
Do you want power?  Consider the power that Jesus had available to Him:  "Don't you think that I could call on my Father to send more than twelve legions of angels to help me now?"  What does that mean?  Let's put this in mathematical terms for all you geeks out there.

It is generally considered that in the Roman Empire, a legion was 6,000 soldiers. In Isaiah 37:36, a single angel obliterated 185,000 men.  

I think you know where I am going, but let me do the math for you...  

If a single angel can take care of 185,000 men, then the combined strength of one legion would be enough to destroy 1, 110, 000,000 (one billion, one hundred ten million) men.  That is just ONE legion!

Now Jesus said that he had more than 12 legions of angels at his disposal.  That is at least 72,000 angels.  So the combined strength at Jesus' command was the ability to annihilate 13,320,000,000 (thirteen billion, three hundred twenty million) men.  BTW - The current earth population is a little over seven billion.

That is the kind of physical strength that Jesus has available to him.  No wonder he told Peter to put away his sword.  Jesus did not need Peter's little sword that night.  That means that Jesus willingly gave Himself to be crucified.

Let's learn a lesson from Peter and Jesus here.

As you face your own challenges in life, always keep in mind that Jesus has the power to fix any problem you'll ever come across.  Before you jump in and make things worse by taking matters into your own hands, remember Peter.  

The next time you're tempted to "grab a sword and start swinging,"  take a few minutes to remind yourself that Jesus can handle the problem without your intervention.  Before you do anything else, pray and ask the Lord what you are supposed to do.  Then after you receive your answer and follow His instructions, just watch His supernatural power swing into action to solve the dilemma you are facing!!

Taken from Sparkling Gems from the Greek


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

2 Comments

Why Christians don't react with violence

9/28/2012

3 Comments

 
Picture
While He was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. A large mob, with swords and clubs, was with him from the chief priests and elders of the people. His betrayer had given them a sign: “The One I kiss, He’s the One; arrest Him!”   So he went right up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.   “Friend,” Jesus asked him, “why have you come?” Then they came up, took hold of Jesus, and arrested Him.   At that moment one of those with Jesus reached out his hand and drew his sword. He struck the high priest’s slave and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus told him, “Put your sword back in its place because all who take up a sword will perish by a sword.   Or do you think that I cannot call on My Father, and He will provide Me at once with more than 12 legions of angels?  How, then, would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?”

Watch TV and you’ll hear the Name of God the Father and God the Son mocked, used in vain, used to curse, and many other ways that deny the holiness, beauty, majesty, power, glory, and wonder of who He is.  Watch movies and listen to music and you’ll find the same things.  In fact, go out into the marketplace and you’ll hear these same abuses of the beautiful Name of our Savior.  And yet, short of boycotting some products or writing letters/emails or phoning TV stations or sending petitions, you’ll not really see any other visible demonstration of outrage from Christians.

And yet, throughout the world we see angry people causing all manner of evil due to the denigration of the name of their prophet.  What’s the difference?  Why don’t Christians burn down things when Jesus is mocked?  Just a few thoughts…

1. There is coming a day when Jesus will make all things right and all who were mockers of His Name will bow at His Name and confess He is Lord.  There is a sense in which I don’t have to defend the honor of Jesus’ Name…He’s quite capable of defending Himself, thank you.  And on that day when every tongue confesses that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father, the mockers will be put to shame for eternity.  I might be angry for a day.  The wrath of God will be poured out for eternity.

2. When the Name of Jesus is mocked, every Christian should remember that s/he once mocked Jesus, too.  We were all by nature children of wrath fully deserving the full wrath of God.  And yet our God showed us mercy and grace through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  While fully responsible for actions, we were acting in ignorance according to our natures.  But when God said, “Let there be light” in our hearts, we saw for the first time the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  We then saw our sin for what it was and the beauty of Christ for who He is and we repented and trusted in the finished work of Jesus to save us.  So, instead of burning things up when others mock Jesus, we show patience knowing the Savior was patient with us.

3. Which leads us to the work we should do now.  Instead of burning things up, we warn and plead with those who mock the Savior to repent of their sin and turn to Christ.  If we truly love Christ, we will love making much of Him to sinners knowing He came to save sinners.  Because we have been forgiven much, we will want others to know of the beauty of His grace poured out on sinners.  We will warn these mockers of the fire of hell which will never die out.  The work we do isn’t to defend the honor of His Name but to herald His Name as we seek reconciliation between God and man through the preaching of the gospel.

4.  All of this reminds us that Jesus is the living, resurrected Lord.  Jesus continues to be at work even today, right now.  The Holy Spirit works through us as we make much of Jesus who is risen from the dead.  We have a story to tell.  Jesus is coming again and will make all things right.  We don’t have to defend the honor of a dead man…He’s alive!

I pray that those who feel the need to defend the name and honor of a dead man will see the glory of the true and living Lord who has made a way of escape from the wrath of God through His death and resurrection.  Let us pray that their blinded eyes will be opened to the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life who is the only way to the true Father of all.

This post is from Mike Lee.  The original post can be found here:  http://mikelee1963.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/why-we-dont-burn-down-things-when-jesus-is-mocked/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

3 Comments

On being macho

6/13/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
There is a difference between being masculine and being macho.  Masculinity is our healthy expression of the uniqueness of being created a man in God's design.  The behaviors of a macho man are instead unhealthy expression of the stereotypes of masculinity lived out in their most extreme forms.  The macho man perverts true masculinity.  He pretends to be strong by acting aggressively and creating about himself an image of power, both of which mask the deeper reality of the insecurity within.  The truly masculine man knows who he is in God and enjoys a healthy integration of this emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual nature. This wholeness comes from knowing and responding to the truth that he is fully loved and accepted in Christ.  The masculine man in Christ is truly set free to become all that he is meant to be.

The macho man lives out an image of manhood that emphasizes only one small part of what it means to be male.  He pretends that it is possible to live life with a constant erection.  But, our physical genital reality reminds us that we are only sometimes hard.  Most of the time, we are are soft.  The majority of our lives is lived out as penis, not erected phallus, and this is normal and proper for men.  Think of what it would be like in actuality if we had to live the whole of our lives with an erection.  This is a grotesque image.  Yet it is the kind of masculine image many macho men attempt to convey thru their personalities as they relate to those around them.

It is far healthier and more productive to recognize and celebrate the broader dimensions of our masculinity modeled for us most completely by the man Jesus, our loving LORD.   As He demonstrated, a man's strength is not rooted in violent aggression or in an obsession with worldly power, but in the Godlike power of sacrificial love.

A man is not weak, but strong, when he wisely chooses to live the predominant portion of this life with his sword in his sheath.  This is not a man feminized.  This is a masculine man who has given up the false god of proud machismo and has delivered his complex and diverse masculine personality into the hands of God to be shaped by the demands of love.

This post is taken from Temptations Men Face.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

0 Comments

Using The Sword like a man

5/5/2012

2 Comments

 
Picture
There is a fascinating bit of story told of one of David's mighty men.  One day there was a sudden attack upon the camp by the Philistines when the fighting men were all away.  This man, Eleazar, alone was there.  

The Philistines were the traditional enemy.  The very word "Philistines" was one to strike terror to the Hebrew heart.  But this man was reckoned one of the first three of David's mighty men because of his conduct that day.  

Eleazar quietly, quickly gripped his sword and fought the enemy single-handedly.  Up and down, left and right, hip and thigh he smote with such terrific earnestness and drive that the enemy turned and fled.  

We are also told that the muscles of his hand became so rigid around the handle of his sword that he could not tell by the feeling where his hand stopped and the sword began.  Man and Sword were one that day in the action of service against the nation's enemy.  


When we so absorb this Book (The Sword) and the Spirit of Him who is its life that people cannot tell the line of division between the man and the God within the man, then shall we have the mightiest power as God's intercessors in defeating the foe.  God and man will be as one in the action of service against the enemy.

This illustration is taken from Quiet Talks on Prayer by S.D. Gordon

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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