Thursday, August 22, 2013

Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord

Bragging is not proof of a persons confidence but a symptom of insecurity.

Let someone else praise you and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips.
Proverbs 27:2

Thursday, August 8, 2013

The fear of death

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to life long slavery.  Hebrews 2:14-15
Everybody wants to go to heaven but no body wants to die.  Are you familiar with that song?   Have you ever feared death?  I did for many years after my sister Kimla's tragic death just two days after her first birthday.  I was five years old when she died and had a fear that I would stop breathing while in my sleep. The fear of dieing continued on into adulthood. It wasn't until my early thirty's when I began to absorb God's word into my life and trust His promises that I was set free from this fear......

  In Jon Piper's book~ Fifty Reasons Why Jesus came to die, he lists #39 reason for why Jesus came to die and that was to free us from the bondage to the fear of death.  Satan is a murderer and a liar. But his main interest is not to kill.  It is to damn us.  His power to damn human beings lies not in himself, but in the sins he inspires and the lies that he tells.  The only thing that sends anybody to hell is unforgiven sin.  The one lethal weapon he has is the power to deceive us.  His chief lie is that self-exaltion is more to be desired than Christ's exaltation, and that sin is preferred more than Christ's righeousness.  If that weapon could be taken out of his hand, he would no longer have the power of eternal death.  That is what Christ came to do-take that weapon out of Satan's hand.  To do this, Christ took our sins upon himself and suffered for them. When that happened they could be used no more by the devil to destroy us.  He can Taunt us, yes.  Mock us, yes.  But damn us?  No.  Christ bore the curse in our place.  He can try all he wants but satan cannot destroy us.  The wrath of God is removed.  His mercy is our shield.  Do I hear an Amen!!!!! To accomplish this deiverancce, Christ had to take on a human nature, because without it he could not experience death.  Only the death of the Son Of God could destroy the one who had the power of death.  Since...the children share in flesh and blood. he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil.  Hebrews 2:14
When Christ died for sins, he took from the devil his one lethal weapon: unforgiven sin.  Freedom from fear was the aim of Christ in doing this.  The fear of death enslaves.  Christ died to set us free.  When the fear of death is destroyed by an act of self-sacrificing love, the bondage of bigheaded self-preservation is broken. We are freed to love like Christ.  We are the freest of all people.