The Truth and Nothing but the Truth

The Truth and Nothing but the Truth

Luke 11: 11-12

11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?

12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 

(This a long devotional, but please stick with me to the end)

   This message falls under the category of what I call “Wrong Theology.”  The question is this:  Does God Make You Sick?  There are Christians who would say “yes” to this question.  Does God bring sickness on us as a trial we go through that He uses to test our faith and make us better people, to teach us to trust Him more.  In a word: No! 

   First, one of the names God reveals Himself to us is Jehovah Rapha which means The LORD Who Heals.  In Exodus 15:26 He literally told Moses, I am the Lord Who is healing you.  So the question is:  Would the Lord Who Heals make you sick?

   Some say God sends illness to teach us something.  This is not just wrong but borders on blasphemy.  To think you can do anything to improve your standing with God is to say that the work of Christ on the cross was incomplete.  You have room to grow and mature in Christ but you don’t need to do anything to improve your standing with God.  You’re forgiven, washed clean, made righteous in Him, joint-heir with Christ – just how much more a child of God do you need to get?  And here’s the thing you need to get into your mind and heart; God is not mad at you and He’s not disappointed in you.  He’s Omniscient, so He knows what you are and knows everything about you.  Nothing you do or think surprises Him.

    I Peter 2:24 tells us that Christ bore our sins on the cross but also took stripes to heal us.  It says that by the stripes of Jesus we were healed - past tense.  If God makes you sick, He is actively working against the finished work of Christ.  He would be undoing what Jesus suffered and died to do.  If God makes you carry something Jesus died carrying on your behalf, then Jesus died and was beaten for nothing. 

   Matthew 12:25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.

If God is healing and at the same time making you sick then His Will is divided against itself.  But Brother Steve, what about when I sin?  Sickness is as a result of sin and sickness is one way God uses to teach us not to sin. Another lie I used to listen to.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

God teaches us through His Word.

1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

God anoints us and teaches us through the anointing.

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things

The Holy Spirit teaches us.

   With three powerful ways of teaching us, why does God need another way to teach us that causes us harm?  Are you saying the Word, the Anointing and the Holy Spirit are not enough to teach you?

   And then a practical question to ask.  If God makes us sick, why do you sin against Him and go to a doctor to get well?  Just stay sick and die and bring glory to God.  If God wants you sick, but you are running to the doctor to make you well, you are in rebellion against His Will.  You should be praying to let the sickness run its full course so you can really learn what God wants to show you.

   You can probably figure out here I’m being a little bit sarcastic.  But I really am NOT trying to hurt your feelings.  I’ve been there but thankfully I’ve been taught the truth. 

Romans 4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.

2 Corinthians 5:19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them,

Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.

If God is making you sick because of sin, then God is lying in all three these verses.  If He makes you sick because of sin it would mean He is keeping score of your sin, He hasn’t blotted them out of His memory and Jesus didn’t carry all sin.  Again, this flies in the face of Scripture.

(If you’re still with me thank you for staying to the end.)

Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Jesus went around doing good by healing people who were oppressed by the devil.  Jesus was healing people who the devil was making sick.  From this verse I conclude that God is NOT making you sick, the devil is the one bringing sickness to you.  He is trying to make you carry something Jesus died to free you from.  And he’s trying to get you to doubt the goodness of God.  Our God is a good God and wants what’s best you.     

   When you pray, rebuke that sickness.  It’s not there for your good but to oppress you.  I pray you will be healed and enjoy good health in Jesus’ Name.

Stephen Cram                                                             December 29, 2013                    

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.  Colossians 2:8

Visit my pastor’s blog at http://pastorjonrhinehart.blogspot.com/.

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture is from the New King James Version of the Bible.

A Light in the Dark

A Light in the Dark

Matthew 2: 1-2

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 

2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

   The world was a pretty dark place.  The Law was in effect and served to show people how sinful they were.  No one could live up to all the requirements of the Law and that fact had been proven over and over again.  By the close of the Old Testament, God sent a message to His people that He considered their offerings polluted and their priesthood corrupt.  Then He stopped sending Prophets and there were no messages from Him for over four hundred years.  It was a dark world.  There had been many promises of the coming Messiah, but after four hundred years not many people still believed and even less were looking for Him.

   So into this dark world a star began to shine, and the Wise Men living in the east saw the light low on the horizon.  They were among the few who were looking for the sign of the coming of the Promised One and they set out to find Him by following the light.

      In a field near Bethlehem, shepherds sat in the dark night.  The flocks had bedded down for the night and I imagine it was quiet around a small fire.  Then an angel appeared to them and told them something wonderful had happened nearby.  Then there were more angels, many more, lighting up the sky singing praises to the astonished shepherds. 

   The shepherds went to a stable.  Was it built of wood or was it a hollowed out cave?  Don’t know.  But we know it held a worried young man and a tired young woman and a little Baby.  I can’t imagine what Joseph thought when a bunch of dirty shepherds crowded around his Mary and the Baby.  “There He is!” one of them must have said. “Just like the angels said” says another. 

   If you look, you’ll see a tiny Baby trying to sleep.  He doesn’t look like much.  His eyes are closed and his face is scrunched up against the light.  A little fist works out of the swaddling clothes and waves in the air.  The hand doesn’t look like much either but that little hand is filled with the power of God and one day it will touch blind eyes and they will see and touch deaf ears and open them and touch withered limbs which will straighten.  That hand will even touch lepers and restore their ravaged flesh and dead people and bring life back into their bodies.  That hand will reach out to the sea and calm the waves and reach into the wind and rebuke it and it will cease.  That hand will break bread and pass a cup of wine around a table.  And that hand will be nailed to a wooden beam and hoisted up into the air.  Then the hand will be showed to a doubt-filled follower.  “Look at My hands.  Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 

      The light of His coming is the only light in this dark world.  The darkness in the world is total and unrelenting.  Many live their whole lives in this darkness missing the chance to come out into the light.  But here is the glory of Christmas:  Light has come into the world and we are called to bring that light to those living in the dark.  The light around that little manger has increased and multiplied and that light now shines in many parts of the world.  You are part of that light and where you go that light goes.  Don’t hide that light but let it shine like a beacon and push the darkness back. 

Stephen Cram                                                        December 22, 2013                      

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.  Colossians 2:8

Visit my pastor’s blog at http://pastorjonrhinehart.blogspot.com/.

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture is from the New King James Version of the Bible.

Angels We Have Heard on High

Angels We Have Heard on High

Luke 2:13-15

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 

Angels we have on heard high / Sweetly singing ore the plains
And the mountains in reply / Echoing their joyous strains
Gloria in Excelsis Deo

   We don’t see much that fills us with awe.  Technology has brought so much of the world to our fingertips and into our living rooms that we can see anything we want and feel like we are at anyplace we want to go.  Our senses are so jaded we may be getting to the point where we cannot feel awe anymore.  This is also true of our experiences with God.  It’s hard to feel excited about God with all the distractions going on around us.  And reading the Bible seems boring next to a good action/adventure movie or a virtual reality video game.  Our relationship with Him often becomes ordinary.

   So what would give you a sense of awe?  What would cause you to become speechless when you see it?  The pyramids?  Standing on the summit of a majestic mountain?  Riding a diving bell to the bottom of the ocean?  Holding a new-born baby?  How about an angel choir standing on air singing praises to God? 

   The night Christ was born was the most monumental and awe-inspiring event that as ever occurred in human history.  God sent His one and only Son to earth so that we could receive eternal life.  There has not been an event in history before or since that has resulted in such a celebration!  The angels themselves made their physical presence known and their voices raised in song.  Can you imagine how the shepherds’ jaws must have dropped at the site and sounds of the angels singing?  That moment was so majestic that we probably cannot fully comprehend what it was like because, well, none of us have ever seen an angel choir singing. 

   But you can be filled with a sense of awe this season.  To many Christmas is shopping for the gifts.  Or it’s getting the gifts.  Or it’s the food or the decorations or the parties or visiting relatives.  But if you get caught in the trappings of Christmas you’ll miss the awe of Christmas.  Jesus came to earth in the form of a baby and brought God to humanity.  Immanuel – in Hebrew literally "El is with us," is where the awe of Christmas lies.  Mankind was separated from God but now God had come to mankind.  And not just any god but the God Who is over all.  We serve a God Who is more wonderful than our brains can grasp.  Who is more majestic than any monarch – indeed than ALL monarchs - who ever reigned.  Who is not just a God Who shows love towards us but is Love Personified.  I could go on and on.  My point is that if you press into God and let Him reveal some part of Himself to you, you will be awed by the experience.

Luke 2:25-33

25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 

27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 

28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

29 “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

33 And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.

Stephen Cram                                                           December 15, 2013                    

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.  Colossians 2:8

Visit my pastor’s blog at http://pastorjonrhinehart.blogspot.com/.

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture is from the New King James Version of the Bible.

Bound In His Grave Clothes

Bound In His Grave Clothes

John 11: 43-44

43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 

44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

   Lazarus was back from the dead.  There’s no doubt about that fact because Lazarus “came out” of the tomb.  He was free from the bonds of death, but he was still bound by his graveclothes.  The custom of the times was to wrap a dead person’s body in cloths saturated in spices.  They were wrapped from the feet up until the wrappings reached the dead person’s armpits.  Then the arms were put over the chest and the wrappings were then continued to go over the arms.  Lastly a separate cloth similar in size and shape to a large cloth napkin was placed over the face and tied in place. There is a difference of opinion from scholars as to whether or not the spice mix would harden the cloths and cause them to stick to the flesh of the person or not.  Either way the wrapped cloths would bind the legs together and bind the arms across the chest.  The cloth over the face would cover the person’s eyes. 

   So picture Lazarus struggling to rise from the stone shelf he was lying on and shuffling towards the light of the opening.  Her faithfully responded to Jesus’ call for him to “come forth.”  He was free from the bonds of death.  He left the grave.  He was alive and free to live life as he wanted to live it.  But he was hindered by the remnants of his death experience – his graveclothes. 

   In a similar way, many Christians are like Lazarus.  We have heard the voice of Jesus and responded to His call to come to life.  We struggle to obey and begin to move toward the sound of His voice.  We are now sons and daughters of God.  We are alive and we live but we still are bound by a remnant of death; that which Paul calls our old man.  Our spirits are alive but we are wrapped in the decaying life of our old, sinful nature.  We hear Jesus calling to us but we are blinded by the veil that is still over our eyes.

    Paul writes about this “old man” nature four times in the New Testament.  He gives us the instruction that we are to put off this old man and put on a new man that is growing in Jesus.  We don’t actually peel off our flesh and slip on a new body, but we are to peel away the sin that we have in our lives and live the principles we read in the Gospels and the Epistles.  Note I did not say to live BY the principles but to LIVE the principles.  This life needs to become us and we need to become this life.  This is not a lifestyle we adopt and try to live like, but a life we actually begin to live and we grow into.  God is not waiting for us to reflect Jesus like mirrors but to grow into Jesus’ life and become like Him.

   But first we need to heed Paul’s words and act on them by putting off this sinful life that still clings to us like decaying graveclothes.  We are alive inside but wrapped in a sinful life.  What is “putting off” the old life?  I have heard many testimonies about people dealing with this question in different ways.  One example:  our pastor tells of when he got saved.  He loved music and had an extensive music CD collection.  He came to realize his music did not honor God but was endorsing sin.  So he destroyed the collection.  Then God gave him a love for Christian music that replaced the other, sinful music.  He put off a part of his old life and put on a new aspect of his new life.  One piece of his graveclothes fell away.

   Jesus commanded that Lazarus be loosed and set free of his graveclothes.  This is still Jesus’ command today.  If you are a Christian who has grown in your spiritual life then you have the command to help those who may be new to the Christian life and help them to get free from the sinful life that still clings to them.  Teach them, encourage them, pray for them, cry with them, whatever it takes to help them get free from their old sinful desires. 

Stephen Cram                                                               December 8, 2013                     

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.  Colossians 2:8

Visit my pastor’s blog at http://pastorjonrhinehart.blogspot.com/.

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture is from the New King James Version of the Bible.

The Sin of Ingratitude

The Sin of Ingratitude

Psalms 23:1 Complete Jewish Bible

1 Adonai is my shepherd; I lack nothing.

   Ann Voskamp wrote: "Satan's sin became the first sin of all humanity: the sin of ingratitude.  Adam and Eve are, simply, painfully, ingrateful for what God gave...... Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren't satisfied in God and what He gives. We hunger for something more, something other."
   While I believe the first sin of Lucifer was pride, I agree that ingratitude was there near the beginning.  And it certainly was involved in Adam and Eve’s fall.  But I’m not here to quibble over small points, but rather I want to talk about ingratitude during this season of Thanksgiving.

   The sin of ingratitude is running rampant today, but it’s not a sin we talk a lot about.  It’s not like lust, pride, greed, envy.  Those are “bad” sins and rightly named among the 7 Deadly Sins.  We know about those sins and read about them in the news every day.  We face temptations from them all the time.  Surely ingratitude can’t be that bad, not like those sins?  I read through the Ten Commandments and not one of them says, “Thou shalt be thankful."  Besides, if I’m ungrateful, who does it hurt? 

   Any father or mother can answer that one.  You know what it’s like to do something for a child and have them act like they’re bored or not be involved at all or you give them a gift and it either goes into the closet and never sees the light of day again or they look at it like you dragged it out of the trash and gave it to them.  So, who does it hurt?  The parent giving the gift is hurt. 

   Do you think God feels hurt at our ingratitude?  I believe so and God has written to us a few reminders like, Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

And 1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

    In all circumstances, (in everything) give thanks.  And be thankful.
   So….am I grateful to God in everything?  And if not, why not?  How did my heart become so full of ingratitude?  I have much to be grateful for.  So much.  But I’ve let the sin of ingratitude creep in and take root in my heart.  Like Friday morning.  I got up and washed up and got dressed.  I had breakfast.  I went out to the car and put the key in the ignition and turned it and the car started.  I needed gas so went to the station and filled up.  And grumbled all the way to work.  Later I felt uneasy with myself.  Why was I so unhappy?  I have a comfortable bed to get out of, my house was warm, the water in the shower was warm, the food was in the fridge for my breakfast, the car runs, I had money for the gas, and I have a job to go to where I’m paid a decent wage.  Where do I get the audacity to grumble about that?  What part of my morning was so intolerable? 

   I had to ask God to forgive my bad attitude and remind myself that I should be grateful and give thanks for my life.  I’m doing quite well and God has poured blessings on me regularly. 

   I’m not sure if my ingratitude is a byproduct of living in a society that over-indulges itself or if I’m just slipping in my spiritual life and need to ask God for a refreshing.  I’m not a chronic grumbler, so I don’t think it’s a serious problem yet, but I don’t want to neglect a problem and let it grow into a serious problem. 

   I started with thanking Him that He took a stubborn, independent, selfish, sinful person and transformed my heart and mind into one of His children.  And I’m growing in Him every day!  That’s something I am grateful for! 

   My joints hurt each morning and hurt a little more each night.  But I can work and do more than many people I know.  Some younger than I am.  That’s something I am grateful for! 

   My wife loves me, my family loves me, I have loving friends.  And my dog loves me.  God has surrounded me with love.  That’s something I am grateful for! 

   I could go on but you get the idea, right?  With all these blessings, I have no business being ungrateful.  I need to obey the words Paul penned and be thankful in all things and at all times.  I need to remember the words David wrote and acknowledge that the Lord is my shepherd and I lack nothing. 

   If you look into all of the dusty corners of your heart, you’ll find something about your life to grumble about.  My suggestion is that you don’t look.  Instead, raise you head and look up and remember all the good things God has blessed you with.  Tell Him you’re thankful for all these blessings.  Make a habit of giving Him thanks and let your life be one of gratitude.

Stephen Cram                                                             December 1, 2013                     

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.  Colossians 2:8

Visit my pastor’s blog at http://pastorjonrhinehart.blogspot.com/.

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture is from the New King James Version of the Bible.