Reflecting on a few things
Who am I apart from Christ? No one. The second chapter of Philippians encourages us to imitate Christ. The entire book of James echoes with the sort of admonishment that teaches us of ways that we are called to imitate Christ, to persevere through trials and be Listeners and Doers (James 1), by loving all of our neighbors with equal fervor as we do not love one aspect of our selves over any other, without judgment (James 2), to be mindful of our untamable tongue and it's dangers and to seek heavenly wisdom above worldly (James 3), submit your desires and your goals and your needs to God and trust him to lead you (James 4), be wary of riches and their corrupting power and be patient in your suffering and be ever mindful of the power of prayer, praying for each other and confessing to each other so that you might grow closer to God and to your brothers and sisters in Christ (James 5).
These reflections are merely my personal, on the spot, interpretations and are by no means copied verbatim from scripture. I would encourage you to read through both Philippians and James as they compliment each other nicely.
Life is good for God is good.
Some things I was wondering about recently, and am by no means completely sure of...
-perhaps there is no forgiveness for the fallen angels because there is no repentance, no conviction born in them to bring about that repentance. If at the time of their rebellion they knew who God was (and is) then it is feasible that they were blaspheming the Holy Spirit, what we are told is the only unforgivable sin (Mark 3:28-30). The nature of the fallen angels' rebellion leads me to suppose that even if God revealed himself to the entire world, there would still be those who would turn away from him, who would rebel. There is a song by Lost and Found called "Lions" and it references 1 Peter 5:8 by singing a warning that "Satan prowls like a roaring lion, seeking whom he will devour." What reminded me of that way of understanding Satan was that I imaged pride as a lion. Pride is a very ironic, terrible part of who we are. It is mighty and strong, enabling us to do many wonderful, worldly things. But in the end it is the source of our rebellion and the reason why there would still be many who, even if shown the face of God, would still profess to the Lord, "MY will over thy will." So through all this confusing musing I have come to understand that the gift of salvation is not based upon the knowledge of the existence of God, but rather the acceptance of his sovereignty and due glory and inherent holiness. For it is in me to say, both in jest and in all seriousness, that perhaps all men know that God exists, even if they don't realize that they do.
-It has been suggested that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is impossible as to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, one must meet the Holy Spirit, see it, know it. The question posed to me was "how can man know the Holy Spirit and deny it?" I am more inclined to think that Jesus would not warn us of something we could not do, but it is worth considering. How could we be so fully exposed to the Spirit and still have the desire to deny it? It may have something to do with the understanding of pride that I mentioned earlier.
-Perhaps God, in revealing himself to us (and us to ourselves), teaches us free will, showing us the depth (or the lack thereof) of the two choices (my will or thy will). Free Will, in it's fullness of purpose, can only be properly possessed if the consequences of the choices are fully understood. So, perhaps all who have not received Christ have no free will, or perhaps they do, but do not use it for the purpose God intended when he made us with the capacity to freely choose. Like my brother Zach said when confronted with the words of a friend..."I don't think I could be a Christian, it's just living by a list of dos and don'ts"...to which Zach replied..."That's not it. It's just that I have the power to say no to things that are not good for me, and you don't."
-Hebrews 10:19-25 really gets me to think about how important it is for Christians to remember to understand and practice "drawing near"...
These reflections are merely my personal, on the spot, interpretations and are by no means copied verbatim from scripture. I would encourage you to read through both Philippians and James as they compliment each other nicely.
Life is good for God is good.
Some things I was wondering about recently, and am by no means completely sure of...
-perhaps there is no forgiveness for the fallen angels because there is no repentance, no conviction born in them to bring about that repentance. If at the time of their rebellion they knew who God was (and is) then it is feasible that they were blaspheming the Holy Spirit, what we are told is the only unforgivable sin (Mark 3:28-30). The nature of the fallen angels' rebellion leads me to suppose that even if God revealed himself to the entire world, there would still be those who would turn away from him, who would rebel. There is a song by Lost and Found called "Lions" and it references 1 Peter 5:8 by singing a warning that "Satan prowls like a roaring lion, seeking whom he will devour." What reminded me of that way of understanding Satan was that I imaged pride as a lion. Pride is a very ironic, terrible part of who we are. It is mighty and strong, enabling us to do many wonderful, worldly things. But in the end it is the source of our rebellion and the reason why there would still be many who, even if shown the face of God, would still profess to the Lord, "MY will over thy will." So through all this confusing musing I have come to understand that the gift of salvation is not based upon the knowledge of the existence of God, but rather the acceptance of his sovereignty and due glory and inherent holiness. For it is in me to say, both in jest and in all seriousness, that perhaps all men know that God exists, even if they don't realize that they do.
-It has been suggested that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is impossible as to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, one must meet the Holy Spirit, see it, know it. The question posed to me was "how can man know the Holy Spirit and deny it?" I am more inclined to think that Jesus would not warn us of something we could not do, but it is worth considering. How could we be so fully exposed to the Spirit and still have the desire to deny it? It may have something to do with the understanding of pride that I mentioned earlier.
-Perhaps God, in revealing himself to us (and us to ourselves), teaches us free will, showing us the depth (or the lack thereof) of the two choices (my will or thy will). Free Will, in it's fullness of purpose, can only be properly possessed if the consequences of the choices are fully understood. So, perhaps all who have not received Christ have no free will, or perhaps they do, but do not use it for the purpose God intended when he made us with the capacity to freely choose. Like my brother Zach said when confronted with the words of a friend..."I don't think I could be a Christian, it's just living by a list of dos and don'ts"...to which Zach replied..."That's not it. It's just that I have the power to say no to things that are not good for me, and you don't."
-Hebrews 10:19-25 really gets me to think about how important it is for Christians to remember to understand and practice "drawing near"...
- Through his love, made manifest in sacrifice of his son, God draws near to us.
- In holding to the hope that we profess (with our thoughts, words and deeds), we draw near to God.
- In encouraging one another on towards love and good deeds and persevering to continue to meet together, we draw near to each other.
Draw near to God, his given hope (which is Jesus) and each other, for a three-fold rope is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12).
(Hebrews 10:26-31 follows with a powerfully frightening admonishment...I will not comment further, only encourage you to read it and consider the state of your walk).
For those few who read my thoughts, I hope you are blessed in some way by what I've written and that any glory or praise for the wisdom of my words would go to God and any errors or inconsistencies would be accredited to their proper place. :) Me.
in His grip,
Colby
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