Archive for the ‘Religion’ Category

Your Presence surrounds us. We are never alone.

Saturday, February 4th, 2012

Fidelity, February 4

…if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.
But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
… we know that … there is no other God but one.
For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.

1 Corinthians 8:2-6, www.solascriptura.com

Father, We know nothing of what we will yet know. We see things dimly now that You will yet fully reveal. Help us O’God to gain better and better insight from Your Holy word. You have just told us that if we love You, we are known by You. It is You alone we worship.

Keep us from valuing anything or anyone more than our relationship with You. We pray for time alone with You this day. Help us focus on Your presence in all that was created. The water, birds, flowers, trees and rocks testify of Your love. You are the constant, unchanging Presence. Jesus, You alone are our Judge and our Redeemer. Strengthen our fidelity to You. In Jesus Holy name, we pray, amen.

 
Bruce Caldwell

The Sola Scriptura Project, P.O. Box 302, Franklin TN 37064

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Judged individually? I thought it was a group membership deal.

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Industriousness, February 3

And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;
… he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
… 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.
 
1 Peter 1:17, James 1:25;27; 2:24-26 , www.solascriptura.com

Father, we do fear not being in the center of Your will for our lives and we seek diligently to please you. Help us O’God to know that we never stand before You in our perfection, since we are indeed imperfect. We come to you in all humility and contrition, cloaked in the righteousness of Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer with thankful hearts.

Father, Your law reveals Your will for us. When we stand within Your law we stand in liberty. Forgive us O’God when we sin. Deliver us from temptation, constantly, because it is ever upon us. As we proclaim our faith, help us to do good works that verify our words. In the name and power of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Bruce Caldwell

The Sola Scriptura Project, P.O. Box 302, Franklin TN 37064

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Posted in Christianity, God's Children, Holy Spirit, Industriousness, Law of God, Religion, faith | 2 Comments »

Lord, lunatic or liar, a true trilemma…(C.S.Lewis)

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

Joy, February 1

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life–
the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us–
that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

I John 1:1-4, www.solascriptura.com

Father, The beloved apostle John was a disciple, witness and friend of Jesus. John saw Jesus, listened to Him speak and touched Him.  Here we learn again that Jesus was with You in the beginning and that He was a manifestation of You to us. Father, we know that Jesus said, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father”. Thank  You Father for providing us with a tangible reality, Your living Son.

Father, we pray that this quotation from C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity is helpful to us all.

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. … Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.

 Amen.

Bruce Caldwell

The Sola Scriptura Project, P.O. Box 302, Franklin TN 37064

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Posted in Christianity, Inspirtation, Religion, joy, peace | 18 Comments »

Will mercy triumph over judgment? I pray it does…

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

Law of God,January 28

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.
For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

James 2:10-13, www.solascriptura.com

Jesus, here we have Your half brother, James (same mother), clarifying that sin is sin and that there is no hierarchy of sin. Whether we have committed relatively small sins or grievous sins, we are all in the same place. We need Your forgiveness and cleansing and we need to show mercy to others as You have shown mercy to us.

Jesus, James tells us, that we who have been born again now stand in the law of liberty, a position in which “mercy triumphs over judgment”. Yes, Jesus, we are cleansed but our renewal is constant and Your mercy is constant because we need forgiveness every day for every action and thought that disappoints You.

Father, You have taught us that “being saved” is a moment in time wherein we acknowledge Your grace, mercy and calling to us and when we proclaim our love of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit that enables us to be led by You. We also know that You, Father, will judge we who are Christians, by our deeds. What we do after we are born again, matters. We will be forgiven for our imperfections but help us today to endeavor to be obedient and to increasingly mature in our faith.

Help us be like You Jesus. Our fleshly instincts must decrease but our willingness to serve You and be led by You must increase. It would be great to say “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” and have it be truer for every tomorrow than it is today. In Your Holy name, we pray, amen.

Bruce Caldwell

The Sola Scriptura Project, P.O. Box 302, Franklin TN 37064

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