Posted on 11/16/2002 1:02:27 PM PST by f.Christian
‘Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.’ (Colossians 3:15
"The great peace which is the heritage of all God's children, is the peace that God has made with them, through Christ. "This man shall be the peace" (Micah 5:2). Another peace, which is related to, and is a result of the peace that is Christ, is peace within. Peace with our own hearts; peace with one another."
"Georges Simenon, the author, had just finished his 408th novel when he said: "I have just one more ambition. To be completely at peace with myself. I doubt if I shall ever manage it. I do not know any man, however successful, who is completely happy."
"Inner calm is never fully formed in human life. It is intermittent, and patchy. A woman can begin her day filled with peace, only to have it blown to bit by something her husband, or someone at the office, says to her. We all want very much to be in constant good fellowship with ourselves, but we never fully achieve it."
"What we need to hold on to is the peace that God has put in place in Christ. This is a... towering---monumental peace."
"As we learn to appreciate its unchanging nature, the things that interrupt our temporal peace, will begin to have less impact. God is at peace with both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. God is at peace with the me that I am discontent with. God accepts and embraces me with my many moods. May thoughts of God's great peace, bring you peace with yourself today."
‘Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants’ (Matthew 18:23)
"In the parable introduced by the above verse, both servants bear the same relation to the king as each other. They are called "fellow servants" (28+29).
"The indulgence shown by the king to the destitute and desperate first servant, had ethical implications for him. He should have incorporated forgiveness into his lifestyle. There is an important organic relationship between the King, the servant, and his fellowservant. When the first servant, having had his entire debt canceled, threw his fellow servant in prison, his action bore jarringly on his relation to the fellow, as well as against his own relation to the king who had been so compassionate."
"The first servant's debt was enormous compared to that of the second servant. I am always the first servant. It is always better for me to think of my own debt to God, as having been greater than anyone else's. By keeping this perspective, mercy will loom large to me, and I will be more likely to forgive my fellow servants."
"In... humility---consider others better than yourselves" (Philippians 2:3).
‘Love never fails’ ( 1 Corinthians 13:8)
"Love never fails because those who place themselves under its governance are beautified by it. If you have a friend, or family member that is committed to the love of Christ, you know that love never fails."
"If you know anyone, living in... bitter circumstances---and they have not grown bitter, you know love never fails."
"In the cut and thrust of public life, is there someone you know, who never repays evil for evil? Love does not fail. If you know someone who spends her days giving care to people who have no way of paying her back, you know love does not fail."
"There is a temptation to think of force and violence as strong, and love as soft and weak. The opposite is true. Violence always fails. It cannot achieve what it sets out to achieve. It makes no friends, builds no characters. On the contrary it disintegrates personalities. Was Ghandi weak? Was Mother Theresa weak? Was Christ weak?"
"Love never fails."
‘But I am among you as one who serves’ (Luke 22:27)
"The most satisfied people are those who have learned to serve; those who have found a cause bigger than themselves, to live for. Self-regard is necessary when we are born. A baby does not care one whit about its mother's comfort. It is an infant's business to be selfish. But if the child matures, as its parents hope, it will develop a capacity to appreciate the world from other people's point of view. Instead of having only subjective values, he will acquire objective ones. She will grow in character to the degree she is able to learn service. To the degree he can find life, by losing it."
"We all hope to grow up, but the... truth is---many never do."
"All of us, more or less, suffer from arrested development. The most severe forms of it, we call narcissim. Narcissistic individuals always think the world is doing them a bad turn. They are baffled, believing everyone is against them. They demand to be the center of attention. They feel constantly opposed, anxious, and defeated. They are unhappy."
"Lincoln was that way in his younger years. It is said that he had all the makings of a neurotic. In 1841 he wrote: "I am now the most miserable man that ever lived. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on earth." Lincoln's amzing development came later when he exchanged his long struggle with himself for a struggle on behalf of his fellowman. He was transformed into a great individual, who blessed the world around him. He learned to serve."
‘I am among you as one who serves’ (Luke 22:27)
"Albert Schweitzer was a man with a strong intellect, and great musical gifts. One day, he was reflecting on his fortunate life in Europe. He thought of his considerable mental facility, his many privileges in education and the arts. He asked himself: "Why do I have so much, while others do not?" he could only think of one answer: "I have been given these gifts in order to serve my fellow man." Then and there he vowed and ideal of service. Service became the law of his life. He went to Africa as a missionary doctor."
"Here is how he describes one moment in his years of service: "The operation is finished in the dimly lighted dormitory. I watch for the sick man to wake. Scarcely has he recovered consciousness, when he stares about him and exclaims again, and again, 'I have no more pain; there is no more pain.' His hand feels for mine, and will not let it go. Then I begin to tell him, and others there, that it is the Lord Jesus that has told the doctor to come here."
"The African sun is... shining---through the coffee bushes into the dark shed."
"But we, black and white, sit side by side, and feel that we know by experience, the meaning of the words, 'you are all brethren.' Would that my generous friends in Europe would come out here with me and live through one such hour!"
To: f.Christian
That was beautiful, and so true. Jesus was no stable boy to be kicked about by evil. He is the creator of all we behold and master of it, and able to manipulate it to his own pleasure and purpose.
All things work to the good of those that love Him, even evil is no more than a tool of instruction to perfect the perfect response, in those that seek to do His will, and conform to His likeness, to the question, yes? no? "For it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He returns we shall be like Him".
237 posted on 12/10/2002 8:07 AM PST by MissAmericanPie
‘The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it’ (1 John 1:2)
"Those who had spent several years of their lives in company with Jesus, were, to say the least, profoundly... affected---by the experience. They spoke of "that which they had seen with their eyes, and touched with their hands" (V.1), and they were convinced that they had encountered God. "We proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father, and has appeared to us" (v. 2).
"The first Christians knew from the depths of their being that they had seen a new level of personal greatness, and wholeness, in Jesus. They were exhilarated by it. Their hearts were aglow with a bewildering joy at the magnitude of their good fortune."
"Something profoundly enlivening did happen to the disciples of Jesus. Far from diminishing them, it grew them into powerful personalities, who were giants among others of their time. The world took notice of them. Many times over, since, their testimony has been confirmed by others who have met Christ. Always, he lifts and enhances human life in all its parts. Have you found this too? May it be so."
Last evening I attended my eigth grade nephews concert under the stars/moon Christmas concert at the mall and when they did silent night these young ladies danced the hula to this song...Hawaii is a very special place---MIRACLE!
AMAZING!
meli kaliki maka...houli maka hiki hou!
‘To him who loves us, and has freed us from our sins by his blood’ (Revelation 1:5)
"Relief and exultation are some of the emotions signified by John's statement. His language alludes to that with which we are all familiar-the uniquely human experience which self-consciousness permits."
"The everlasting... civil war---within."
"He assumes his readers will easily make sense of the phrase 'freed us from our sins.' To quest instinctively and hopefully for levels of being which we feel belong to us, and which we are sure would better us-and yet remain frustrated in the attempt by a pernicious spoiling influence, is very much our lot. This is true not only for active religious people, but also for others who would not think of themselves as religious."
"For John, the Achilles heel is sin. He asserts triumphantly, that Christ has broken the impasse. Using the language of a slave culture, he claims that Jesus has brought liberation. It is as if John says: "I always had intuitions of a freedom from shame and disappointment that had always clouded me over. I had hoped to be somehow unleashed from my past; severed from my cargo of mistakes, and my fear of personal failure. My dream has met fulfillment in Jesus. I have been loosed from my bonds by one who loves me, and showed how much by dying for me."
If I sow nothing I reap nothing!
I am not accountable for doing good, for sharing, being kind, truthfulness, praying, keeping the sabath day, envy, I can do as I please for I am saved by Grace!
and Grace is going to give me a full spiritual bank account on the Great and Dreathful Day!
Judgement Day is going to be interesting:)
Carnal thinking...
grace will bring forth fruits---
works...frustration and condemnation!
Only the work of God---Christ can save us...
NOTHING we can do to save us---Jesus only in that department!
Romans 4
Abraham Justified by Faith
Abraham Was Justified by Faith
(1) 1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?[1] 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."
4Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
David Celebrates the Same Truth
5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
6just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
8Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."
‘Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ’ (Galatians 6:2)
"Jesus was his own sermon. He fulfilled all possible nuances of the duty of mankind to his maker. For this reason Jesus should be the starting point for every discussion about human progress. His way of life, and death remains the benchmark for humanitarian endeavor. Personality is seen, in the humanity of Jesus, in its most excellent form. Humility, courage, kindness, justice, wisdom, love, faith, joy. In all these... categories---Jesus is absolute. He integrated them all into a perfectly formed sphere of love."
"Aside from Jesus the love of God is not clearly seen. Nature and history send mixed messages about God. Faith has been gunned down in war's trenches and concentration camps; it was vaporized at Hiroshima, and cremated at Auschwitz."
"But the strange man bearing his cross, yet causes faith to sprout anew. As the compassionate sufferer Jesus epitomizes the human condition, was insisting on a universe backed by love. Our questions as and our desperations mill around him. Our desertion and lostness combines mysteriously in him with our hopes."
"From within his pains he creates for us a summons and an incitement to live his life. To be courageous, faithful; to bear the burden that is other people. Christ makes it possible for us to believe in a good God, and armed with that conviction, he nerves us to emulate his values."
‘...And this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God’ (Ephesians 2:8)
"Faith helps define grace-and vice versa. While grace is proactively beneficent, faith is receptive. Grace exports, while faith imports. The sign over the door of the house of faith is ever: 'goods inwards.' If what we speak of was no more than our side of a divine-human transaction, in which God did nearly everything but it was up to us to put in our two cents worth to... close the deal---that would be something less than faith, according to Paul."
"Grace entails the comprehensive sufficiency of God in doing everything that needs to be done to establish and hold men and women in fellowship with himself, now, and forever. Therefore, grace leaves room for nothing else but faith, on part. Faith, a spirit of reliance on God; a spirit of trust which is itself his gift to us. He who is 'our God,' and who is determined that we be 'his people', has found a way to realize such a union by being gracious. So rich is grace, that faith which entrusts itself to grace, is itself a child of grace. Thank God for all that he has done, including the gift to us, of trust in him."
‘Therefore the promise comes by faith so that it may be by grace, and may be guaranteed to all of Abraham's descendants’ (Romans 4:16)
"Paul appears to think that it is very important that the great privilege that sits at the heart of Christian experience-namely, the enjoyment of safe and uncondemned fellowship with God-be achieved by grace, and no other means. He sees that this is possible has been made possible by the use of faith. Abraham and his wife Sarah had been promised an heir who would ensure that their descendants would be numerous. By the time Abraham was 100, and Sarah, 90 the promise was still unfulfilled. They had both become infertile. It was at such a time, when the normal procreative activity was ruled out of the equation, that God chose to bring his promise to pass."
"Paul's comment is: "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:3). He further comments: "Against all hope, he believed in hope" (v.18). "His body was as good as dead; Sarah's womb was dead" (v.19).
"Abraham illustrates the nature of faith. It consists in a powerlessness. In terms of realizing the promise, Abraham and his wife, had no chance. They were bereft. The only resource they had was outside of themselves-God. By believing God, they were admitting their helplessness. Faith is the only movement of the human psyche that puts God at the centre of the picture, and lets him perform his kindly acts. Faith and grace go together."
‘But since it involves questions about words and names, and your own law settle the matter yourselves’ (Acts 18:15)
"After having had a large piece of his precious time used up by a group of contentious Jews; worried about a perceived threat to their religion, Gallio had heard enough. He formed a view that they were talking about things unknown, and without relevance to him."
"There are many in today's world who have decided that religion is about 'words and names' which have no bearing at all on real life, and which do not warrant consideration by normal people. In many cases it is hard to be critical of them because what they have turned away from, they would indeed be better off without. Increasingly, in Western societies, men and women are forsaking established religion, for a world view, which places human need, at the center. This is a long way from being all bad. No religious system is credible, that places ritual, creedal, or ceremonial obediences in the place of compassion and service. A profession of faith that comprises mostly special words and names; special liturgies, garments, books, with special holy times and places, will not be plausible to many.
"Jesus made... religion--real."
"He did it making the highest religious acts, our duty to care for other people."
"By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
also...
mele keliki maka---houoli maka hiki ho!
E hau'oli kakou i ka nanai e keia wa kamaha'o...
"Let us celebrate the Beauty and Grace of this Holiday Season."
‘Do to others as you would have them do to you’ (Luke 6:31)
"The man who killed Yitszhak Rabin said that, "God told him to do it." Most of us would not think much of that man's religion, or his God. When Jesus speaks, and teaches, he sets forth moral principles that recommend themselves as being universally apt."
"Many despise all religion because they have seen its perversions. Many good things are caricatured, but we ought not dismiss the genuine article for that reason. Take music, as an example. There is a cacophony abroad, that passes for music. Much of it gives music a bad name. But let us not reject all music because some of it is of poor quality. The same can be said of poetry. If the only poetry you have ever read was a piece of unsavory doggerel from the school yard, you might think ill of all poetry. But if you have read Keats, Cowper, or Grey you will know how enriching poetry can be."
"Aristotle said that the true character of something , should be judged by the highest that it can become. There is much bad religion, yet before one dismisses it altogether, he should consider religion as taught and lived by Jesus. 'Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.' There is something utterly right about that principle. It puts high value on every human life. It consecrates humankind; giving to each one of an equal share in guarding its sanctity."
"This is... religion---that we can use and admire."
‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath’ ( Mark 2:24)
"Except for God himself, there is nothing in the practice of religion that is more sacred than humanity. Men and women lose their dignity under any regime that sanctifies anything above men and women."
"In Communism, and Fascism the... system---is everything. The individual is subservient to the plan; to the state."
"Years ago a novelist, Barbara Goldberg wrote:"
"You see that bridge; that huge red naked thing of steel? Magnificent eh?
And there-no, there, right at the top. A little dot that sways and crawls along,
fearful lest it lose its dizzy head, and dash into oblivion. Pitiful isn't it?
That pygmy being with its two small hands, and smaller brain,
you see him? Well, he made the bridge!"
"People are greater than things. They are not like bridges; they build them! It is therefore as it should be, that God, when he sought to reveal himself to the world, did so through a human personality-the noblest thing in all creation. Not only were human beings honored by the incarnation, they were dignified by Jesus' own treatment of his fellows. Habitually he reserved his kindest attentions to human life in its frailest forms. Jesus gave the world a spiritual perspective that every religious obedience secondary, to our duty to care for one another."
‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame’ (Hebrews 12:2)
"Strange association of 'joy' with the ordeal of a cross! The New Testament's presentation of Jesus focuses on his sacrificial life, culminating in crucifixion. This is because those who wrote came to the conclusion that the cross was the clue to his whole life's meaning."
"But the above Scripture hints that there is a mysterious linkage between felicity and sorrow. Some of the world's saddest people have been very funny. Mark Twain is an example of this. Charles Spurgeon was full of humor but also given to terrible depression. Weeping and laughter are not mutually exclusive."
"Well I remember the night after my dad's burial. All the family had gathered in the old homestead. We were grieving together, but someone found an old slide projector, with pictures to match. So began an evening of raucous mirth interspersed with tears, as we reviewed our family history, with so much of dad in it."
"In his book, 'Heretics," G.K. Chesterton shows that early Christians werev much more boisterous than their contemporaries in Greek culture. Classical Greeks believed in moderation, restraint of excess in joy or sorrow. Chesterton concedes that pagans knew how to be joyous about many things, but it took the... gospel(link)---to introduce poor men to 'cosmic contentment'..."
"He who follows Christ will know sorrow, but it will be sorrow intersected with delight, and grief that despite itself, is forced to yield the fruit of rejoicing."
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