OHM Blog

Friday, July 21, 2006 - Christ the Deliverer Part III

Christ is the deliverer of our flesh if we accept His substitutionary death and shed blood on our behalf a sinner. And Christ will deliverer us from the lusts of the flesh day by day if we will continue to trust in Him, abide in His Word, which is the bread of life. If we drink the water that He offers we will never thirst again. And Christ will one day deliver us out of these bodies of sin and we will receive new glorified bodies.

Jesus is not only the deliverer from the flesh, but he is also the deliverer from the world. Again we can see this picture of Christ in the Old Testament. This time we can see this picture in the person of Moses. The book of Exodus tells us of how God used Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian bon-dage. Egypt is a picture of the world.

Again the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, comes back into the picture. The children of Israel had to slay a lamb and spread it's blood over its doorposts in order for the death angel to passover their homes. It wasn't that they mis-sed death that night, but that God provided a substitute that died on their be-half.

Jesus Christ is the Substitute that God has provided and if we will appropriate His blood through faith then we too will be delivered out of the world.

But that's not the complete picture. Moses didn't lead the people out of Egypt, but he led them right to the brink of the promised land. He led them through the Red Sea, which is a beautiful picture of obedience in baptism.

Unfortunately a lot of Christendom focuses on Jesus as the Lamb, but they are failing to show the people that Christ is also the deliverer that can keep them out of the world.

After the Red Sea crossing we read that God closed the waters back up to cut off the route back to Egypt. Unfortunately it didn't cause the children of Israel not to long to go back to the slavery they had been led out of. And un-fortunately there are a great number of Christians that are led out of the bon-dage of sin only to have the desire to return to the filth that they were led out of.

There was a generation of Israelites that died on the right side of the blood, but short of their inheritance. And there is going to come a day when a great number of Christian stand before the Judge on the right side of the blood of Jesus, but they are going to fall short of their inheritance. This is a warning that ALL Christians, including myself, should take to heart on a daily basis, if not a moment-by-moment basis.

Our enemy the world is really the mode of operation in which the enemy Sat-an operates in. Do you remember the cartoon the Superfriends? It was a car-toon back in the '70s and '80s that combined the likes of Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, Auquaman and my personal favorite the Green Lantern.

And in the world of the superfriends was a world of evil rulers that operated out of Bizzaro world. And in the Bizzaro world there was an evil equivalent of each of the Superfriends. Instead of working for the good of the world, the Bizarro characters would operate with the same power for destruction.

If you are a Seinfeld fan you might remember the Bizarro episode where Elaine found three guys that were just like Jerry, George and Kramer, but exactly opposite of them.

That's the realm that Satan operates in. Now he doesn't have exactly the same powers and abilities as Almighty God, because he is just a created being, he does try to mimic the things that God has done, but puts his vile twist on them.

This is our enemy as Christians, because this world system continues to pull at us physically, soulically and spiritually. But to the praise of God we have a deliverer in Jesus that if we will let Him will pull us up out or the mire.

James 4:4 tells us that we can not be a friend of the world and still call our-selves friends of God: You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

This reality can be seen in the Old Testament story of King Saul and King David. Saul was anointed king of Israel just as Satan was God's anointed in ruler over the earth from the beginning. Man was created to replace Satan as ruler over the earth, but failed to pass the test and disqualified themselves.

Christ is God's Anointed now to take over the reigns of earthly rulership, and He did pass the test when face-to-face with the enemy. But just as Saul, when he disqualified himself did not lose his rule, Satan has not lost his rule despite his rebellion against God.

Satan is still the prince of the power of the air, and the god of this age. But while Saul was still king of Israel, David was anointed king by God during this time as David was a man after God's own heart. But David did not immedi-ately come into power.

David was forced to flee to a mountain and while he was there a number of men became unhappy with the rule of Saul and aligned themselves with David in the mountain. While David had not assumed the throne he was still king.

And it is the same today in Christendom. Satan is still ruling, but Christ is King and will one day take over the throne, just as David one day took over the throne after Saul was removed from office.

Christians today are instructed to remove themselves from the power of this world and join themselves with Christ with the idea that we will one day rule and reign with the New King when He comes into power.

Christ will one day overthrow the ruler of this world and the good news is that we can join with Him, just as Revelation 3 tells us. But this opportunity is not open to everyone. This opportunity is only open to Christians who believe and are faithful (Book of James explains how faith and works [obedience] go hand in hand).

There is a great danger to hold onto this world. Listen to what the apostle John tells us about a Christian that holds on to the things of this world:

I John 2:15 - Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

How are we to overcome the world? Colossians 3:2 tells us to Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

Hebrews tells us to look unto Jesus, who is no longer on the earth, but is above. He has returned to the Father, and if we will continue to have faith in His Kingship and be obedient to His teachings while still here, when He re-turns we will have a place in His kingdom.

May we run the race of the faith with endurance, with faith and with obedience. And if we, as Paul, finish the race, Christ will not have only delivered us out of the world in the past, during the present, but He will de-liver us again in the future as a part of His coming Glory and Kingdom!

As always you are more than welcome to ask questions or comment on what you have read. Drop me a line at jjump@1-heart.org.

Monday, July 17, 2006 - Christ the Deliverer Part II

Last time we looked at what we must overcome as Christians in order to par-ticipate in the promise in Revelation 3:21, which says if we are found to be overcomers on judgment day we will be granted to sit with Christ on His throne just as He overcame and was able to sit with the Father on His throne.

And we said that if we are going to be found as overcomers then we must overcome our enemies, which are ourselves, the world and Satan. A good chunk of Christendom thinks that we just need to get our strength from the Lord, suit up with some Holy armor and all is good. If we get tired then we just eat a Holy granola bar and get back into the battle.

Scripture actually paints a completely different picture for us. Not only is the battle not our's, but the Lord's, the only thing that we can do to be found as overcomers is deny ourselves and take up our crosses daily. We must aban-don our agenda and accept God's agenda. We must lose control of our wills and give over our members to the Holy Spirit to live out the manifest life of Jesus Christ through us.

We said that Christ is the deliverer from the flesh, from the world and from the enemy. And we want to take a look at Christ as our Deliverer in all three of these areas.

When we think about the flesh we really have to look at Christ as the Deliver-er from the flesh in three different ways. Christ is the Deliverer from the flesh at the moment of salvation in that the Bible describes Him as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). He delivers us moment-by-moment after salvation if we will allow Him to. And then we will be delivered from this body of sin at some point in the future.

If we accept the substitutionary death and shed blood of Jesus Christ on our behalf as the payment for our sin debt then at the very moment we believe the Holy Spirit will breathe life into our dead spirits making us truly alive and functional for the first time. And it is only after this point are we even capable of denying ourselves.

Galatians 5:17 tells us of the battle that rages inside of us as the power strug-gle takes place between our flesh and the Spirit: For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

But not only is Christ our Deliverer at the moment of salvation, but Christ is the Deliverer from the flesh each and every day if we will allow Him to be. The Old Testament gives us a beautiful picture of Christ the Deliverer from the flesh in the story of Joseph, who delivered not on the people of Egypt from the famine, but more importantly delivered His brothers from the famine. Joseph, despite all the so-called negative things that happened to him along the way, was put in a position to where he was able to feed his brothers.

Christ is the deliverer from the fleshly desires that we have as Christians, be-cause it is said of Him in the New Testament that He is the Bread of Life (John 6:38, 48, 51). In John chapter 6 verse 51 it says that Christ is the Living Bread that came down out of heaven, and that this bread that He gave for the life of the world is His flesh.

So what does that mean in a practical sense for us. Well we can find our answer just a few chapters back in John chapter 1, where the apostles tells us that the the Word was with God and that the Word was God and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Word is living according to Hebrews 4:12. And this Living Word is still among us through His Spirit and through His written Word. Our daily diets must include a healthy portion of the Word if we want to be delivered from the flesh on a daily basis.

American Christians are becoming more and more Biblically illiterate as the days go by. There is a commercial here in our area where the church quips that an hour spent with them on Sunday morning will be the best hour of their week. Another church handed out business cards that prompted its flock to just spend seven minutes in a daily devotional each day. And not all seven minutes of that was even spent in the Word if I remember correctly.

There are 168 hours in a week and if we think that spending just an hour a week, or two hours a week if you go to Sunday School, or three hours if you church actually has a Sunday evening service and you go or four hours if you go twice on Sunday and then attend a Wednesday Bible study, if we think four hours out of 168 hours is going to cut the mustard we are deceiving ourselves.

We are told to hide the words in our hearts so that we might not sin against Him. We are told to meditate on the Word as much as possible. If we are going to be delivered from our flesh and be found overcomers then we are going to have to eat the Living Bread and it's going to have to be more than an occasional healthy snack choice.

This war that is raging inside of us is a war for our souls, according to I Peter 2:11. James 1:21 says that if we want to see our souls saved then we are going to have to put off filth: Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

And notice what makes this possible. It is the receiving in humility the Word implanted. The Word is able to save our souls. The Bread of Life will deliver us not only in the present if we will let it, but if we will receive the Bread of Life and allow the Spirit to implant It within us we can receive the salvation of our souls in the future.

Christ wants to deliver us from the bondage and the power of the flesh each and every moment of our lives and one day we will be delivered from sin all together, when we receive our new glorified bodies.

But if we want to participate in the promise of Revelation 3:21 then we are going to have to die to self and take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). It is my hope and prayer that you and I will be found as faithful servants, that through the Holy Spirit and the partaking of the Living Bread of Life will be found as overcomers on that day! God's blessings to each of you as you run the race of the faith!

Next time we will look at Jesus our Deliverer from the world.

As always you are more than welcome to ask questions or comment on what you have read. Drop me a line at jjump@1-heart.org.

Friday, July 14, 2006 - Christ the Deliverer

Most literary authors are told you start at the beginning and work your way to the end. But as a journalist we were taught to get to the meat of the story from the very beginning and then work through the details as you go along.

So with that principle in mind I want to share with you a great promise that is made to all Christians who overcome. Revelation 3:21 is the culmination of what Christ has said to the church at Laodicea. And He tells them that "He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."

While this is the final verse to the Laodiceans it could also be said that this is a culminating promise to all believers throughout church history. Whoever over-comes as Christ has overcome He will grant those a position of authority with Him in His coming kingdom.

But what exactly are we to overcome in order to have this promise become a reality? That's what we want to look at in the next few days. Man is a tri-part being made up of a body, soul and spirit. Each of these areas of our lives are defective and must be cured.

The Bible says of our spirit that we are dead, because Adam partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Romans says that through one man death has come over all mankind, but because of Another life is possible.

In order to even be in a position to overcome or be overcome a person must be made alive spiritually. And that can only happen when a person has be-lieved in the substitutionary death and shed blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, Who bled and died to pay the penalty for our sin.

If you have never accepted the free gift of everlasting life and a spirit made alive by the Spirit of God then you need to acknowledge that Jesus bled and died for you a sinner and experience the birth into the family of God.

Unfortunately most of Christendom today believes that once a person's des-tiny after death is settled it is basically a life on cruise control until we step out into eternity. What they fail to realize is that eternity is not the next phase of life for a Christian, but rather the coming kingdom of Christ, which will last 1,000 years before eternity is a reality for us as humans.

And in order to participate in this kingdom we have to be found as over-comers, according to Rev. 3:21. The opposite is also true in this verse in that if we are found to be overcome then we will not participate in the coming kingdom.

What we want to focus on in the next few days is what does it mean to overcome and what exactly are we to overcome. The Christian walk has three enemies that must be overcome and there is only one way to overcome them.

Unfortunately a lot of Christendom misses the mark on what it means to over-come as they have assigned the battle to the Christian. And the Christian must win the battle. Some will say that God will give you the strength, but the battle must be won or lost by you. Some will say you have to do it all on your own.

But neither of which is true. The Old Testament book of Joshua is a fantastic typical study of the life of a believer after salvation. And before the Israelites engaged in their first battle this is what the Lord tells Joshua "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors."

The battle was not Joshua's or Israel's, but the Lord's just as the battle with our enemies is not ours but the Lord's. And just as the Lord gave the Israelites the victory at Jericho because of their obedience, He will deliver us from our enemies if we are obedient. Joshua and Israel could not have defeated Jericho in their own strength, and we see a picture of what disobedience brings when Achan sins and Israel goes up and is sent scrambling by Ai even though this is a city that should have fallen easier than Jericho. But because of sin the nation was in the battle on their own strength. When the sin was dealt with Ai fell just as God had promised.

The Holy Spirit tells us, in the book of Ephesians 6, of the spiritual warfare that were are engaged in, and it tells us how God equips us to face the enemy if we will, but we have to understand that the battle itself is not ours to be won or lost, but is a war that is already won on our behalf if we will be obedient.

The three enemies that we face as Christians are our self life, the world and Satan. And Scripture tells us in typical fashion in the OT that Jesus Christ is the deliverer from all three, just as we are taught in the NT.

Over the next several days we will look more closely as to what it means to overcome ourselves, the world and Satan and how God has won the battle for us already as a matter of fact, but we will see how Jesus can make that reality true in our experience through obedience.

Because at the end of the journey there is a GREAT promise to those that overcome as Christ has overcome.

As always you are more than welcome to ask questions or comment on what you have read. Drop me a line at jjump@1-heart.org.

Saturday, July 8, 2006 - God's Grace

If someone asked you what is the first thing that comes to mind if I ask you about music and grace?

Would it be the old hymn Amazing Grace? Or how about Grace Greater Than Our Sin?

I'm kind of an unusual person when it comes to music, because even though I am just 33 years old I much prefer the old time gospel hymns. There are some great new songs that have been written and some great new choruses penned in recent history, but that there is just something about singing those hymns of old.

The memory is still fresh of the old country Baptist church that I grew up in with my great-grandparents and my grandmother who was faithful to take us the Sunday mornings that we made ourselves available. And each time we would go you could count on singing the old hymns. And I can remember singing both Amazing Grace and Grace Greater Than Our Sin.

And most of the time when people talk about God's grace they talk about God's grace in connection with eternal salvation. Amazing grace which was able to take a dead sinner and make him truly alive. And grace, grace, God's grace, it's a grace that is greater than all our sin.

God's grace is truly a saving grace, but most Christians forget that God's grace does much more than save us, but it's actually God's grace that sustains us even after our salvation.

A great many people, and unfortunately a great many churches teach that after God's initial saving grace it becomes up to us to live out the Christian life in our own strength. Some even say that God gives us the ability and the strength, but it is still us that is accomplishing the work.

Oh how sad for us to ever trust in ourselves for anything.

Let me give you the definition of God's grace that has stuck with me for the last year or so. A friend of mine's dad, who pastors a church in North Caro-lina, said God's grace is God doing for you what He requires of you and then giving you credit as if you did it yourself.

God's grace continues after the initial moment of salvation, and it is the only way that we are able to accomplish anything that will stand as gold, silver or precious stones at the judgment seat of Christ. Anything done in our flesh will burn as wood, hay and stubble.

But what got me to thinking about God's grace and how it continues after our initial salvation is a few days ago I had one of my migraine headaches. If you haven't experienced a migraine be EXTREMELY thankful.

While I was lying in bed trying to get through the pain (and I am literally thankful to God for painkillers) He started reminding me of His grace. And you might ask why would He remind you of His grace during a moment of great pain.

Well can you think to times that you have been in great pain or you are just very tired after a long day's work outside in the hot Texas heat and humidity or a long day at the office (oh wait I'm still talking about me). Sometimes we just get so run down that we start to take out our pain and frustrations on other people. The people that are nearby.

Sometimes it's the grocery store clerk who isn't checking you out fast enough. Or sometimes it might be the three people in front of you at the bank drive through that just can't seem to have their ducks in a row before they get to the window, or how about the slowpoke on the freeway that is just driving be-cause they like to drive and have no place to go. It could even be your spouse who says just the right thing to push your button in the moment. Or maybe your kids who are excited to see you, but just at the wrong time. Could it even be the dog that receives the wrong end of the boot.

Paul was afflicted with a pain in his side. He tells us in II Corinthians that he was given a thorn in his flesh so that he would not be able to boast in himself. This thorn is called a messenger of Satan. Today we might call it a pain in the neck. Scholars will debate as to whether this was a physical infirmity or an actual person that was trying to hinder Paul's ministry. Either way we can learn great truths from this passage of Scripture from both perspectives.

Sometimes we have physical ailments that plague us, and sometimes we have people that just rub us the wrong way. But what does God say to Paul?

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."

How wonderful to know that God's grace goes beyond our initial moment of salvation, and that we can turn to God's grace in all our weak moments, where we will find His grace sufficient for us at all times. Not only can we turn to God's grace, but we MUST turn to God's grace!

See God commands that we love one another. And He didn't qualify that by saying only when you feel good or when everything is going your way. God said we are to love at all times.

But the only way that we can do that successfully is through God's grace. So what does that look like practically within the confines of our definition of grace. Well God requires us to love as He loves which is only possible if God is loving through me.

So through God's grace if I will die to self (meaning die to my fleshly desire to yell at my wife, or to kick my dog or to take out my pain and frustration on my kids) and allow God to love my wife and my dog and my kids through me in spite of my pain He will credit it to my account as if I loved them by myself.

Even if it is someone that cuts you off on the highway, or undermines you in the workplace or gossips about you at church. All of that can and must be overcome by the sufficient grace of God. If we will die to self and allow God to respond in our members His grace will be sufficient to get us through those moments without destorying our witness or our walk.

Oh if you and I are not experiencing God's grace on a moment-by-moment basis then we are failing in our walk with God and we are actually hindering His work. I know that it is much easier to type and say these things, but they are God's Truths and if we will apply them He will be faithful to deliver on His end.

I pray that we all will experience God's grace each and every moment, so that His work will go forward, and that one day we will stand in the presence of Christ our judge unashamed of how we lived our lives after that initial moment of salvation by God's grace through faith, apart from works.

As always you are more than welcome to ask questions or comment on what you have read. Drop me a line at jjump@1-heart.org.

Friday, July 7, 2006 - Survey Says

Well yesterday proved to be one of those days that I was talking about in the inaugural blog. However, it wasn't as much as a revealed truth as it was a real look at where society is in relation to Jesus Christ.

Our three-year-old son loves the Family Feud, so we will watch it from time to time if we are flipping through channels and remember that it is on. Well yesterday I sat down and was flipping through and caught the Family Feud on, and I was amazed at the list of characters that were named in one of the ques-tions. Then on the other hand it didn't really surprise me either, knowing the state our society is in general and unfortunately the state the church has found itself in in recent years.

There were 100 hundred people surveyed as always and only the top six an-swers were on the board. And the question was What famous person's death do we commemorate?

Care to guess who was at No. 1? Okay I'll tell you all six and then see if you are taken back.

No. 1 - Martin Luther King, Jr.
No. 2 - Elvis Presley
No. 3 - George Washington
No. 4 - John F. Kennedy
No. 5 - Abraham Lincoln
No. 6 - Christopher Columbus

Are you kidding me....Christopher Columbus. The majority of Americans can't even remember what year Columbus made his famous journey across the ocean blue, while he was still breathing, but we commemorate his death?

By now you should be seeing where I am going with this. Four of the six names were listed and there was one strike and finally after five answers someone finally said Jesus Christ.

At this point No. 2 had yet to be identified and I found myself thinking I can't believe Jesus is not No. 1, but surely He will be No. 2. And then you hear "Good answer. Good answer," from her family. And Richard Karns (the new host - you know the same guy from Tool Time - Al) said "Jesus Christ,". . . . . . . .blaaaaaaaaaaaant - strike two.

Are you kidding me. Jesus Christ didn't even make the top six. I couldn't be-lieve it. Then I thought to myself why is that so surprising to you.

The sad reality is that a great number of people in our supposed "Christian" nation have never even heard the name Jesus Christ. That seems impossible for a person living in the Bible belt where some towns have more churches than they do residents.

The name of Jesus Christ is still as powerful today as it was in the Garden of Gethsemane when He uttered I AM and the whole lot of the people were knocked off their feet by the power of the Almighty God. It's almost enough to bring me to tears even as I write.

As discouraging as this may seem, take courage if you are a child of God, because this is exactly the state the world is to be in if not worse when Jesus calls His church upward to the sky.

Take heart that He is still the Almighty, All-Powerful God and that one day every single knee will bow to Him and acknowledge just Who He really is.

But while you take courage in God's Truth of what lies out ahead, take a moment to share the truth of the good news that Jesus Christ, the Spotless, Perfect Lamb of God, died on the cross of Calvary and shed His blood for the sinner. If God has placed someone in your path I pray that you will allow the Holy Spirit to share that Truth with them through you. And I pray that I will be made aware when God is placing someone in my path so that I will allow the Holy Spirit to use my members to share that Truth as well.

As always you are more than welcome to ask questions or comment on what you have read. Drop me a line at jjump@1-heart.org.

Thursday, July 6, 2006 - OHM Blog Begins

Blog. Exactly what is that?

At first it sounds like some sort of green goo that we used to play with when we were little. Then again it sounds like blob which is just big pile of who knows what.

A blog is actually a 21st century computer term which is short for weblog. It is basically the modern-day version of the old, outdated personal journal. I didn't have a journal when I was growing, up, but then again I don't know a lot of boys that did have them.

Journals have become quite popular between both sexes these days and you have all kinds of journals. You can span the scope from baby journals of who the parents are to what they were wearing the day they went to the hospital to what they were thinking at certain points, etc. to prayer journals where people keep track of prayer requests and then answers to prayers.

With an added emphasis on writing in the American education system students have been encouraged to keep journals and some students are even forced to keep journals against their wishes. That brings back a memory from my teaching days, but I'll spare you :)

So OHM has decided to start blogging. That's defined as writing in one's blog.

Generally blogs are for people's personal thoughts about what's happening in their life or commenting on the happenings around their community, state, nation or abroad. Sometimes people comment on something they see on the internet.

What is different about a blog as opposed to a physical paper and pencil /pen journal is that most blogs allow people to post their own comments right below the bloggers comments. So the blog actually can be interactive be-tween the blogger and his/her audience.

The OHM blog will be a place where I share nuggets of Truth that the Spirit has shared with me. Over the last year or so I would see something in the newspaper or hear something on the radio or find something on the internet and then the Lord would just bring to mind how that ties into Scripture. Sometimes He will just so me something that I have been missing about a particular Scripture while meditating on it in the car.

But what I found frustrating is there really isn't enough there to devote an entire sermon to it, or to write a devotional about it. Most of the time it was a lack of time on my part to put the ideas into those forms, but I wanted to be able to share these thoughts, nuggets and Truth with those of you that frequent the OHM site.

And blogging is the perfect way to do that. So with that I look forward to sharing with you what the Spirit is sharing with me in the future.

As always you are more than welcome to ask questions or comment on what you have read. Drop me a line at jjump@1-heart.org.