Your Time with The Lord

 

Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Book of Romans Part 22

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - JUSTIFICATION

 JUSTIFICATION

One of the basic tenets of the Christian faith is that of justification - that process by which a person is justified or made right before God. None of us are right before God by our own volition, as seen in Romans 3:10 - “There is none righteous, no, not one…” It is then only a pardon by God that can actually make us right with Him and, by such a pardon, make us acceptable in His presence. Such a pardon means that not only are our trespasses against Him forgiven but that they are considered to have never happened at all. The slate is completely wiped clean.

Now, this process is believed to come about by faith. Faith in God’s promises and in what He has done by manifesting Himself in the form of a human, coming to earth, and taking upon Himself the punishment due to us for not living up to His standards. We know this because of this statement: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Justification refers to that process by which He brings us up to the standard He requires and not only dismisses any punishment that we might deserve but wipes clean the history of our transgressions. “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28). “[H]aving been justified by faith” (Romans 5:1) is a theme repeated in the Bible as well as this: “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ…” (Galatians 2:16).

So if we are made right with God through faith, is that all? According to the Bible, it may not be. The Bible does state that we are not justified by the works of the law but we can be so by the works of faith. This seems to be fairly clearly stated in the case of Abraham for it states in Romans 4:2 that: “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” But James 2:21 asks: “[w]as not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Issac his son on the altar?” Although Abraham was not made right with God by works according to the law, he was justified by works according to faith. So it goes on in James to explain the need for proper works along with pure faith.

Do you see that faith was working together with his works, 

and by works faith was made perfect? 

And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 

“Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 

And he was called the friend of God. 

You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 

Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works 

when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 

For as the body without the spirit is dead, 

so faith without works is dead also. 

(James 2:22-26)

One is apparently made right with God by faith in his promises and by the works that are based on those promises, not by works based upon the law.

It may initially seem a bit confusing but it really isn’t if you think about it.

  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Pastor Caroline - Stuck in Our Ways

Correction - Pastor Caroline meant Aug 28th not Aug 26th when giving the sermon date and she meant Tuesday night, not Wednesday night, when referring to when she was writing her message. She did warn you that she was stuck in her ways. :)

Pastor Caroline - Meeting Our Needs

 

Meeting Our Needs

 

God has promised to meet all our needs. In Philippians Chapter 4 Verse 19 in the Good News Bible we are told:

(19) And with all his abundant wealth through Christ Jesus, my God will supply all your needs.

 

Now this does not mean giving us a brand new car or keeping our bank account filled to overflowing. No, God will supply our needs; being the need of love, joy and peace. The greatest need is peace. When we are filled to overflowing in peace, love and joy will be added benefits. God puts peace in our heart, because this is where He lives when we accept Him as Lord and Savior. God is the God of Peace.

 

Every day we face challenges in our world causing us much grief. Our hearts can sometimes be filled with worry, or selfishness. God does not want us to be filled with pride, nor does He want us to doubt, be negative or have unbelief. To me, God wants us to enjoy His abundant wealth through His Son, Jesus. His abundant wealth is peace, love, joy, hope and contentment. If and when we are filled with these I would say we are abundantly wealthy.

Would you agree?

 

Last week on my few days off, I did some soul-searching. I realized I cannot please the world and its demands. If I try to overdo all things I will not be any good to anyone because I will come to a point of exhaustion. So I asked God to show me what would be my greatest gift and how to share that with others. He took me to the scripture I’m sharing with you today and told me not only my greatest need, but my greatest gift, is peace. It is the same for all my children, He said. He said, My Son came so that the world could live in peace. Look at John Chapter 16 Verse 33, GNB

(33)  “I have told you this so that you will have peace by being united to me. The world will make you suffer. But be brave! I have defeated the world!”

This was Jesus speaking to the disciples here in this chapter concerning victory over the world. I believe the same word is true for us today as we place ourselves directly in His light. In the heavenly light of Jesus I believe peace lights our path so that we can discern our actions, thoughts and plans to come into alignment with the will of God.

 

I believe God was showing me how to live in peace so that I can carry that peace to those who are so overburdened with the spinning world we live in. When I trust God in all my decisions; peace flourishes. His peace which goes beyond my understanding or exclamation. I just know my two days off gave me time to reflect. His beauty all around me, His voice in my ear, His love filling me and His place of quiet allowed me to realize what I was missing. I was missing His peace, the peace that brings love, joy, hope and contentment to overflowing in my life. This peace can bring the same to your life when you sit quietly in His presence. As we let Him put our lives back into perspective we will truly see God meeting our needs – daily.

How beautiful— are His promises— found in His word. His peace overcomes all situations in life and far outweighs the challenges we face every day. His peace is the very best and biggest hug we could ever have. Enjoy your hug today and everyday as you allow Him to meet your needs.

May the peace of the Lord be with you everyday.

Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Book of Romans Part 21

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - PEACE

 PEACE

Peace seems to be the one thing that most, if not all, people tend to strive for but few, if any, attain. No matter where one wants to look, there seems to be no peace. All over the globe nations are in some form of quarrel with each other: either psychological, commercial, or political conflict, if not open warfare. Even within nations there seems to be no peace with different factions in open dispute with one another over ideology, platforms, or the perception of freedom.

Households are not any different with all sorts of disputes between husbands and wives, parents and children, and even between siblings. These disputes may take the form of emotional, psychological, physical, or sexual abuse. 

Even individuals seem to be without peace in many instances because of feelings of depression or anxiety, or pangs of guilt from previous actions, real or imagined, in the past.

There certainly seems to be little peace in this world.

It appears the reason for at least part of the problem (perhaps all of it) stems from the fact that we, as much as we would like to think otherwise, do not really have the control that we think we have of this sphere. The Bible states that we “…walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,” (Ephesians 2:2). If this is true, then we do not have the control we think we have and are really part of a much larger conflict than that between nations, political parties, or interpersonally. We are a part of a conflict between the ruler of this world and the creator of the universe. It’s a conflict which mankind cannot possibly win.

In warfare, the winner of the struggle has the right to set the terms of peace. The reality is that we can either continue to struggle and have things continue as they are, or surrender and accept the peace terms offered by the victor. This is a large part of our continued problems; we continue to resist rather than surrender. We have to understand that we are in a war and that the victor has already been decided and that He determines the conditions of peace. Those conditions are not oppressive but we have to realize that we must surrender to them. Mankind, as a whole, however, does not want to do this as seen in Romans 8:7-8 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” For this reason, we are called “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3).

If we are ever to have peace we must accept the terms imposed by God, who wants to make peace with us. By doing this, the war we are now in will be over and we will have peace - peace with God. When we have finally accepted those terms, and ended the conflict between God and man, then will we be able to have “the peace of God.” A peace “…which surpasses all understanding…” (Philippians 4:7).

In actuality, the war is already over and the winner has been decided. It happened when Christ said: “It is finished” (John 19:30) and gave up His spirit. The terms of peace were established then; the problem is that most have not yet accepted them and continue in the conflict. It is similar to those soldiers of Japan who continued in the jungles of the Philippines for up to 30 years after WW2 not knowing that the war had been determined. The war is over. If one wants the peace of God, peace with God has to be settled first. 

It is something to think about.