Chapter One- First Thoughts
There is something going on today in our culture that is so destructive. And so contemptible and so dangerous, and yet so hidden that the maliciousness of it is subtle, so subtle? Matthew wrote in his gospel that Jesus said don't fear them which killed the body. But rather fear the one who who can destroy both. You know, don't fear those which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Now That's Matthew 10: 28.
That's not our normal perspective. Oh, thanks to our culture today, you have a very pervasive, let's say preaching of the God of love, which is true, that's how God defines Himself, but YehWeh, JosHua, Elohim; that God; said in the Old Testament to the Prophets, that his ways aren't our ways. His thoughts aren't our thoughts. He's as far distant, from the way that we humans are as is an unimaginably distant way; unavailable thought we can't conceive of God, the Father.
Now, when Jesus came as a man on earth, that's an entirely different a set of circumstances. But what's happened is, we have allowed culturism, cultural teaching a cultural (I don't know) wanting to get along with everybody creep into the truth.
And the truth is, the truth, when Moses was confronted with a Bush that didn't burn it didn't make any sense to him, but he knew that he had been invited. "Come up here", you know, when you read that, it's not like Moses went toward the fire because he felt like being burned that day. A Voice called him and said, "come up here;
Now take off your shoes, because the ground that you're standing on is holy ground. Take off your sandals, the ground that you're standing on is holy ground. Connect, With me, who speaks to you from a Bush that doesn't burn! Fire that doesn't consume fire, yet it allows the entity to still exist?
The devil does not have that power.
He is a deceiver, not a creator. God creates. God has the ability to do that; which anyone else anywhere else by any other means would call impossible! To God it's possible. We observe such things and all of such things and call them miracles.
Satan, cannot to do such things, he only lies; and lies to people, and this malicious lie, it's going out into our culture. "I'm becoming more and more popular. You don't have to worry about this pleasing God, because you're covered under the grace of God."
And while I so totally agree with Philip Yancey in his book.
"What's so amazing about grace?" There's also this converging point where you don't want to get on the wrong side of grace. You want to believe and see and understand grace for what grace is. Grace is, miraculous, your salvation, it is miraculous. Your ability to serve God is miraculous.
Your ability to worship is miraculous. You are given a gift.
Don't trample it underfoot I think the author of Hebrews put it that way, don't fall into the arms of an angry God, I believe the author of Hebrews writes that also, we need to become aware of where we are.
We are in the presence of a holy God. And when we talk about and share with others, and share with those that we love and are friends of ours about discipling, which is bringing learners disciples this, back to Jesus back to Jesus back to Jesus, get back to what he says, but back to what he truly said. "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matt 10:28 We need to get lined up;
when we talk about making disciples and we talk about remembering and recounting and recertifying, we need to understand that we're in a process; that is vitally important to the body of Christ, or else we wouldn't be in that process. Would we?
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