Redeemed

We say we are redeemed. Redemption is on the onus of the original owner ,though Levitical rule also provides that the next of kin be accorded the privilege and option, should the owner be unable or unwilling to perform. Redemption requires the payment of a ransom or “buy-back consideration". It has everything to do with ownership. If we reckon ourselves as “having been redeemed” then we cannot deny the fact that there is another owner aside from ourselves.

If we are not our own, the notion that we would have individual rights to ourselves is an absurdity. The chagrin of being independent, self-sufficient and conducting self-rule is either a delusion or open rebellion. The Lord did say, that if any man would follow Him, he has to deny himself. Could this called-for denial, be pursuant to the act of redemption? Do we accept the fact that we have really, been purchased? If we have been bought and are not our own, what would our true status be?

But the LORD is all-gracious; He does not compel by force or by pealing authority. Yet who can say, that He would need our permission, if He should choose, to mould, bend or break according to His purpose and designs? Our obedience is premised on a higher moral authority, not a legal one. Although He commands, He still does not compel except by showing us the better way and invites us to follow. We still can choose not to. This Lord leads and calls on us to follow!

The Master has left us behind for duration. Some of us have, with impunity, forgotten the fact that we have a Master. Our lives testify most accurately our harrowing dispositions. We demonstrate our individualism, our achievements, our independence and our emboldened self, and stumble into the perilous circumstance of misapplying the blessings and gifts we were entrusted with, for their own ends. We are not our own; what do or did we ever have, that we did not first receive, and from Him? Everything was and is, always meant for His purposes; even the life we each were bequeathed with.

In His amazing grace, we have been made sons, His equals in stature, though we are by status, His slaves. Did He not say that “greater things than these shall we do” in His power and in His Name? We are not made automatons in our love and obedience. Love and obedience is not being required on demand, especially as between equals. Our love and obedience is to be propelled by faith in a higher Order. They are to be totally dominated by person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we really know this Person, more and more? Are we truly riveted on Him? How will we pass our days?

He will return….. as He had promised.

God bless.



/ckh

Good

A rich young ruler called the Lord Jesus “Good Master”. He received in turn, a rather terse question-answer. The reply queries an understanding of the descript of good. The commendable young man despite his not insignificant struggles was still plagued by an inner sense of a lack. The Lord having looked and examined him, loved him; a tremendous testimony and compliment. He was certainly a virtuous example of man.

Oswald Chambers posited that “natural virtues are not a promise of what we are going to be, but a remnant of what we once were. No natural virtue can come anytime near the standard Jesus Christ demands”. Whether or not we agree with Chamber’s view, he does explain why the most virtuous of man can still never attain unto a right relationship with God. His reasoning also provides for existence of the many commendable virtuous personages who do not believe in Jesus Christ. Humankind are fully capable of showing virtue; some more than others. We are all capable of sympathy, loyalty, faithfulness, honesty, charity; the list is long. Ironically virtue can become a stumbling-block to meeting the claims of Jesus Christ; an out and out sinner does not dispute his falleness, contrary to a morally circumspect and upright virtuous benefactor.

And yet, we as Christians are held to a higher calling. Our calling is to be made to bear the image of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Reconsider the beatitudes, the call to love our enemies, the call to forgive, the call to servant hood, the call to friendship, let alone brotherhood. Our calling is not optional. “Except your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, you shall not …”

The Lord, as primogeniture, has called us and will lead many as sons unto the glory of the Father. Will we follow? Will we daily grow and validate what He has worked into us by the power of His Holy Spirit? Can it be, that His power is unable to wrought a good work in us? Are we, His disciples? “By this, shall all man know…”

God bless.



/ckh

STATISTICS DON'T LIE....

How to stay safe in the World today!
Where IS the Safest Place?


1.. Avoid riding in automobiles
Because they are responsible for
20% of all fatal accidents.

2. Do not stay home because
17% of all accidents occur in the home.

3. Avoid walking on streets or sidewalks
Because 14% of all accidents
Occur to pedestrians.

4.. Avoid traveling by air, rail, or water
Because 16% of all accidents involve
These forms of transportation.

5. Of the remaining 33%,
32% of all deaths occur in Hospitals.
So, above all else, avoid hospitals.

But. . ..

You will be pleased to learn that only ..001%
Of all deaths occur in worship services in church,
And these are usually related to previous physical
Disorders. Therefore, logic tells us that the safest
Place for you to be at any given point in time is at
Church!

And .. . . Bible study is safe too!

The percentage of deaths
During Bible study is even less.

So,
Attend church,
And read your Bible
IT WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE!


GOD BLESS YOU!!!



/zepirate

Imperatives

Jesus said “I am the Light of the world”. Can a man approach Him and not see what state he is in ? Can there be anything hidden, when in His presence? Yet a man can choose to shut his eyes and refuse to see. “And man loved darkness rather than light”.

We acknowledge that God is holy. We know that without holiness, no man can see God. We receive the imperative that we must be holy, because and as He is holy. Can a man hold a piece of burning coal in his naked hand and not be burnt? Can a man transverse a charging furnace and exit unscathed? Can a man come before the Consuming Fire and not be purified? To be holy as He is holy is not a request. It is a command. Yet for the greater part, we come before Him, not in the least terrified by His holy presence, in our sin. It sometimes occurs that we have notions of punctilious affinity imagining our spirits to be amiably attuned and deferential. At these peaks, we like Peter can call for commemorating altars yet these temporal high-points are not testament to a sound relationship.

We call Him, Lord, LORD! That every knee shall bow, is not a religious pose of the physical bending of the knees. We contemplate negotiations, wavers, time-sharing, indulgences, furloughs or sabbaticals even. We imagine that service is optional and then, at our whim and pleasure. Can lordship be an iota short of 24 x 7? We are redeemed but have simply assumed that ownership has by some other miracle reverted to ourselves. We would pronounce Him the King of kings and LORD of Lords, with our garish declaration attracting not a hint or a tinge of vulgarity.

Another imperative is that we must forgive; if we refuse forgiveness or mercy, there will be none given to us. Still we would conjure a Just LORD entertaining our one-way street. We will not forgive. Can forgiveness be conditional and not wholeheartedly given? We forgive but will never forget? We piously forgive, only to demand that the LORD extract vengeance on our behalf? Does our forgiving come anywhere close to the Lord’s “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”. We are saved by grace, yet we would choose to know so little about being gracious.

These imperatives are so simple and clear but terribly difficult to embrace. We come before Him, into His Light, calling Him LORD, positing that we know somewhat His holiness and His specific commands, yet not unraveled by our sin. Have we shut our eyes? Or are we so calloused that burning coals are of no consequence? Do we cloak our open rebellion as minor or petty infractions only, in our pretensions? Will we obey? Little wonder that the LORD would remark that like Israel and Judah, we also have the forehead of a harlot; unfaithful and not knowing even how to blush! “Do you not fear Me?” says the LORD. Is it a small thing, to continually come before His holy presence, purportedly to worship? Obedience is better than sacrifice.

Clearly, we are in need of more grace than we would imagine.

God bless.



/ckh