The concept these words teach - that the power that raised Christ from the dead is available to us today to raise those of us who are dead in trespasses and sins, that regardless of our slavery and bondage to sin Christ has broken the yoke of bondage and given us freedom to obey God's will - is as true today as it was 25 years ago when the song came out, and almost 2000 years ago when the Holy Spirit inspired the disciples to teach this wonderful truth by pen and voice. May we take them to heart. | Performed by Steve Green Words by Jon Mohr/David Huntsinger/Bonnie Huntsinger To all who are tortured and ravaged by sin The frail and the wounded about to give in There's news of release and captivity's end We've been set free, come and see Oh sleeper awake, come out of the night Throw open the door and step into the light For sin is undone and the wrong is made right We've been set free, come and see Chorus Come and see, the power of sin has been broken The gates of your prisons stand open, come and see Arise, believe, for the power at work both to rescue and save Is the power that raised Jesus Christ from the grave We've been set free, come and see I, too, lived in slavery, unmercifully bound Battered and broken I finally knelt down And there in obedience freedom was found, I've been set free And now through the dungeons of darkness and night I run in the freedom of liberty's light And shout to the captives, "Oh prisoner, take flight We've been set free, come and see" Chorus If the enemy's holding a knife to your chest Demanding you give up or die In Christ crucified you've already died And now you are free Chorus |
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Check out this page from Dave Ramsey: The White House Wants to Cap Your Retirement Savings
People who don't know the meaning of "live within your means" now want to limit YOUR means. And these people who have no clue how to save money want to determine for you what is "reasonable" savings to have. If I was cynical, I would say it looks like they are trying to ensure that everyone is dependent on the government. And the people who are wise enough to plan for the future and disciplined enough to make it happen are totally messing it up for them. Disagreement does not mean animosity.
Disapproval does not mean hate. Acceptance does not mean approval. Love does not mean consent. People need to stop being confused. So, does God go with us when we go to unholy places? Absolutely. He is everywhere, watching everyone.
But not everyone gets the same benefits from His presence. He hears the prayers of some, but His face is against others. He gives grace to some, but He resists others. Does He love some more than others? Not at all. God is love, and that holds true all the time, everywhere, in every situation. He does not play favorites. So what's the problem? The problem is us. We all live in God's presence, but we don't all live under His influence. We are all under God's watching eye, but we are not all in His guiding hand. What is the distinguishing characteristic between the two groups? Peter said it: some are proud, some are humble. The proud man trusts in himself. He thinks he can handle the situation. He doesn't feel he needs God's help. As such, he is not prepared to be influenced and empowered by God's grace. But the humble man is altogether different. He distrusts himself and his ability to handle any situation in his own strength. He feels the constant need for God's help. As such, though he is weak, he is ready to receive God's grace, and God is more than willing to give him all that he needs. So, the proud goes into unholy situations feeling confident in himself, but the humble goes into it submitted to God's power. God is with both, but only the humble will fully benefit from His presence. This post has gotten too long already. If you want more details, listen to the next installment in my sermon series, From Sinners to Saints. Here's another verse:
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good. God is everywhere all the time. Whether you are good or bad, doing holy things or unholy, God is there. As David said, "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?" (Psalm 139:7) But as Christians, is it sufficient that God sees us? Or that He is present? No, far from it. Here are some verses to consider until next time: 1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil." 1 Peter 5:5 ... be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." And as MsKim Alvarez pointed out: God's people avoid evil ways, and they protect themselves by watching where they go. (Proverbs 16:17) Here are the verses that immediately came to mind:
Hebrews 13:5 I will never leave you nor forsake you. Matthew 28:20 I am with you always When I got the question, I was ready to answer, "No, God doesn't go to unholy places." But the Bible doesn't seem to put such restrictions on God. God says He will never leave us nor forsake us, that He will always be with us. I don't see any restrictions against unholy places. But does that mean we can safely go to unholy places and expect God to keep us safe since He's there anyway? WDYT? Is there a verse that says God or his angels will not be with you if you go to unholy places?
I was asked that question recently, so I started thinking of verses. A couple of verses came to mind immediately, but they were not the ones I expected. And they were not leading to the answer I expected. I will tell you next time what those verses were. In the meantime, can you guys think of verses? I have been thinking about the Christian's financial responsibility to the poor. Jesus told us to help the poor. But the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that legislated generosity, no matter which politician it comes from, is opposed to God's plan.
The government is supposed to protect us. And, of course, it takes money to run the government. So the fair way to do it is to levy taxes based on the assets that need protection. You have money -> you pay taxes. Twice as much money -> twice as much taxes. Own property that needs protection -> pay taxes. Own lots of property -> pay lots of taxes. Have kids that need government services -> pay taxes. Have lots of kids -> pay lots of taxes.
That's the fair way to go. I wonder who is the fool who got it all backwards and thought that whoever needs more government services should pay less taxes. Now you have people having more babies so they can get more free money from Uncle Sam. If there are people who need help, and there are many, we have a moral obligation to help. But please don't allow politicians to manage your morals for you. That would be like getting marriage counseling from Tom Cruise. And if you think they can take care of your money better than you can, just remember that these are the same mathematical geniuses who think that spending more money than they earn is a valid budget philosophy. See chronic budget deficit. My 11 year old son and his spend envelope know better than that. Speaking to Joe the Plumber, Obama said, "If you actually put a flat tax together, you'd probably … in order for it to work and replace all the revenue that we've got, you'd probably end up having to make it like about a 40 percent sales tax." Did you hear how much he said it takes to keep the government running? 40% tax! It sounds to me that they need help from an efficiency expert of some sort. Things are getting hectic (as if they weren't hectic before), so I better wrap this up.
Last time, I ended with, "It seems simple, but few live within their means. And those who don't, who spend more than they can afford, will end up in serious trouble. That applies to individuals, families, school organizations, churches, corporations, even countries." The bottom line is that we must not spend more than we make. Last time, I gave examples of what it might take to live within our means as individuals. Now, we need to take this basic principle and apply it everywhere. I won't give specific examples this time, but we can use our brains. And since most of us have elections on the brain, let's take a short look at our government. We hear about budget deficits. What does that mean? Some people seem to talk about it like it is a necessity of life, something that we just have to deal with. Some people brush it off with, "It's only X million dollars." They're nuts because what it really means is that the budget is MESSED UP! In plain terms, it means the government is spending more than it makes. Like individuals, the government needs to make some tough choices: - Is it going to continue its downward spiral into debt hell? Sixteen trillion is a HUGE number. - Is it going to take more money from its citizens? Are we all ready to be taxed more? The government already requires more than three times the money God requires from us. And those who want to tax someone else are nothing but thieves who hide in the voting booth. If you want to raise taxes, make sure you raise it for yourself first - the IRS will take voluntary donations. Check out http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/new/budgetinfographic.png from the Congressional Budget Office and you'll see that to cover the budget deficit for 2011, taxes must increase by over 50%. Are you willing to pay 50% more tax? - Is it going to decide to cut spending by cutting some of its unnecessary habits? Will the government stop paying people to NOT farm? Will the government stop giving subsidies to multimillion dollar corporations? Will they stop giving aid to people who want to blow us up? Like the flight attendant says, help yourself before you help anyone else. - Is it going to cut down on "needed" services? Will the government stop giving people more money through food stamps than I spend for food? (According to http://foodstampguide.org/maximum-food-stamp-allotment-levels/, a household of 4 can get a monthly food stamp allotment of $668. That's a lot more than my family of four spends a month on food, and that includes buying in quantities that will last more than a month!) Will the government stop giving people money who use it to buy illegal drugs? But the bottom line is this: Are we, the people, going to hold our elected officials to the same standard that we must live by? Only fools think that they can keep spending more than they make and survive for long. But that is what our elected officials have been doing for a long time. Are you ready to elect a new kind of leader? Are you ready to be led by people who know basic arithmetic? Are you ready to give up on the idea that fools can run a government properly? As a wise man once asked, "Who's the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?" Are you ready for something different? I am. The End. |
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July 2013
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