Roots by the River

As soon as I sin I get disciplined, chastised by God. When God disciplines me, He takes away my joy. Why does He do that? He does so, to bring my disobedience to my attention so I will repent and confess. Let’s suppose God did not discipline me. Every time I sinned I would have more joy in the Lord. It is true that …where sin increased grace increased all the more (Romans 5:20). That did not mean …shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? (Romans 6:1) NO! God takes away my joy so I will admit my sin in repentance, be forgiven and have restored joy. This descent continued for three years. Yes, I confessed some sins during those years, but my state was gradually down hill. This is really a 6-step event. The first thing I do is sin, disobey. The second thing is I get disciplined. The third thing is I lose my joy. Now God takes away my joy by discipline when I sin, in order to get my attention so I will confess and repent, be forgiven and have joy again. Well, my joy started dow...

God disciplines believers. If you are without discipline, you are not a believer. It says in Hebrews 12:8, You are illegitimate children and not true sons. When you are disciplined it is not pleasant. That is the only biblical reason to lose your joy--the discipline of God. So, when you get disciplined, you say, "Boy, I'm so miserable; I might not be a Christian." Maybe that proves you are. Have you ever known anyone who seems to get away with murder and it doesn't bother them? Then you step out of line one little fraction and you get disciplined fast? It's because the Lord loves you. It is not pleasant. However, if you pay attention to it and respond to the discipline, and confess your sin, you are blessed and the joy returns. (An excerpt from How to Maintain Joy in your Life , p.3&4).

We would like to think there are other reasons for people losing their joy. One of the reasons we would like to think that people lose their joy is temptation. “Boy, if you went through the temptation I went through, you would not have joy either.” But the Scripture says: Count it all joy when you fall into divers (many different kinds of) temptations (James 1:2 KJV). Temptations are no reason to lose your joy. You say, “Well, if you were persecuted like I am persecuted, you would lose your joy.” What does the Bible say about that? Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness ‘sake” (Matthew 4:10 NKJV). You say, “But I just lost my mother.” And the scripture says, Do not sorrow, as others who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13 NKJV). The scripture also says, Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, rejoice (Philippians 4:4 NKJV). The normal Christian life is a life of joy. The reasons we lose joy, we think are circumstantial. “If you were in these circumstances, you woul...

Last summer I printed the following post: So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6, 7 NIV) Years ago a friend of mine told me he was not into evangelism because the more converts he had, the more backsliders he had. Of course that is not a reason to hold back on evangelism, but it makes us wonder why it sometimes seems to be so. Here is a major reason. The new Christian often is not taught to live the Christian life the same as he was taught to receive Christ. He is taught a different way of living than he was taught of receiving. That is why he falls. The new Christian received Christ by grace through faith. He did not receive Christ by “try” or by “effort.” He is not to live by “try” or by “effort.” He is to live by grace through faith. In other words, the Christian life should be like being born again every day. (An excer...

Let’s look at the 32nd Psalm: Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night ‘our hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgression to the Lord’ and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” There are two conditions here. One is where the person’s sins are covered, are forgiven, where he confesses his transgressions to the Lord. The other is when he keeps silent. David says his bones wasted away through groaning all day long when he kept silent. Have you ever felt like that, like you are just wasting away, that you are groaning all day long, that your strength is sapped as in the heat of summer? Or the King James Version says, “dried up, the drought ...

For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son…Romans 8:29 (MV) Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in it lust…Romans 8:12 (NKJV) But now that you have been set free from sin, and become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life…Romans 6:22 (NIV) These texts tell us that we should be like Jesus Christ. He did not save us so that we could sin; rather He saved us so that we would not sin. One of the biggest problems a Christian has is what to do with sins in his life. How do you handle sin? It just seems to be endemic that Christians sin and they sin far more then the Bible allows for them to sin. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin…1 John 2:1 (NIV) The Bible does not command sin. It commands the opposite. What I am talking about in this article is not the major solution to sin in the Christian’s life, but part of God’s solution. It is more...

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…Romans 3:23 (NIV) The definition of “sin” is “missing the bull’s eye of the target.” The Glory of God is the bull’s eye. All of us have missed it. We have fallen short of God’s glory. “Falling short” needs forgiveness. However there are clearer and stronger words. Here are a few of them with the Bible references. Rebellion and Arrogance : For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king. 1 Samuel 15:23 (NIV) Wicked : Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed , you were sanctified , you were justified in the na...

Although I was not conscious of it, I was alive when Herbert Hoover was elected President of the United States. From my kindergarten year into my senior year of high school, Franklin Delono Roosevelt was President. I remember where I was when he died in 1945. I marched in Harry Truman’s inauguration in 1949. I was in the Korean War when Truman fired General MacArthur. Since then I have been very conscious of all of the Presidents and remember certain events, good and bad, in of their presidencies. My conviction, looking back on all of these years, is not that the American people have collective wisdom in electing the next president, but that we have a maximum of two terms for any one president. Rather than great wisdom in the people it looks (without being cynical) like there are other factors not in any order of precedence. Gender, race, age, looks, money, principles, location, political party, social status, education, intelligence, knowledge, truth, and lies. The most important deci...

Here is a very short parable. “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?” Luke 6:39 (NIV) That is all there is to the parable, two short rhetorical questions. The answers are in the questions. Jesus was not talking about physical blind men. The parable referred to spiritual blind guides teaching spiritually blind followers. The pit is not a hole in the ground. It is the lake of fire. The blind guides are the Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens of this world!

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. James 3:13 (NIV) But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. James 3:17 (NIV) Notice the words that are associated with wisdom from Heaven. 1. Humility 2. Pure 3. Peace-loving 4. Considerate 5. Submissive 6. Full of Mercy 7. Good fruit 8. Impartial 9. Sincere There are people who think they, themselves, are wise. Other people also may think they are wise. If they do not have the above characteristics, they have deceived themselves and their fans are neither observant nor do not know the definition of wisdom.

Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. Jude 22, 23 (NIV) Here are three extreme means of evangelism, on three different needs in unbelievers. 1.Doubters: -Be merciful -Show mercy -Preach mercy Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17 (NIV) Doubt is removed by faith and faith is caused by the preaching of Christ. 2. In the fire—those on the brink of death. Snatch them from the fire. This is urgent preaching and insistent on repentance. 3. People in filth—Mercy and fear Mary sings of the mixture of mercy and fear in her song. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. Luke 1:50 (NIV)

You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. James 4:4 (NIV) Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 1 John 2:15, 16 (NIV) I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. John 17:14-16 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. John 17:18 (NIV) The world is in opposition to God and in opposition to those that love God. The world hates them. Christians do not like to be hated by the people wh...

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you o...

A few days ago I mentioned both loyalty and treason were bad words. To the normal worldly person loyalty is always a good word and treason is always a bad word. I suggested there are better words. Here are a few, God, love, truth, obedience, responsibility and humility. With these as our standard as Christians we find that loyalty and treason are not necessary words. I can obey God with love, truth, and humility. If I have a responsibility to my wife, children, church, and nation, I carry them out by obedience to God and love for God and my wife, children, and nation. You can reply by saying that I am “loyal.” Not even close. Loyalty is an artificially created humanistic emotion. Love is a God authored and created emotion. The man in the Bible that stands out in loyalty in my mind is Joab. His brother Abishai is a close second. The man who stands out in love and obedience is Paul. There is not a whiff of loyalty about him. …though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone el...

Over the years I have periodically thought about loyalty. I am thinking about it again. In my earlier thinking, I came to the conclusion that the word was a bad word and the practice was a bad practice. Loyalty causes things like millions of people giving strong adherence to, and following of people, like Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Stalin, Lenin, Mao, and causing the premature death of hundreds of millions of people. And the people who were loyal thought it was a good thing. Loyalty causes people to say, “I was born a Methodist, I will die a Methodist”, even though the Holy Spirit may have left the Methodist church a hundred years ago. Loyalty causes people to say, “South High School in Omaha is the best high school because I go to South High. Loyalty is taught in nations, churches, and schools. In military units, it is called “Espirit de corps.” Pep rallies help it along, Martial music helps it along. We have a problem with what I have just written. That is, the opposite of loyalty, is ...

In the last few weeks I have had separate conversations with three teenage boys, all of whom were raised in evangelical homes. During the conversations I asked each of them where they wanted to be in ten years, professionally, spiritually, and maritally. As I remember they all wanted to be in computers; they all wanted to be Godly and they all wanted to be married. Good answers. What kind of a woman did they want to marry? Each of them wanted to marry a woman who was more Godly than he was. Asked about how they planned to be Godly in ten years, I found none of them wanted to read the Bible, obey their parents and one of them was profane and it did not bother his conscience. I drew their attention that Christian wives are commanded to respect their husband. They also want to respect their husbands. That is also one of their considerations for a prospective husband. Normally they want to marry a man who is older, taller, smarter and if she is a Christian wants him to be Godlier than she...

You have read the last few months in the Injil what God has done and will do through his Son. How do you respond to what God has done? Here are a few statements telling us what our response must be. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. John 1:12, 13 (NIV) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. John 3:16-18 (NIV) Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. John 3:36 (NIV...

You have read what God has done for the forgiveness of our sins. There are four words which describe God’s gift to us. They are “Love,” “Grace,” “Kindness,” and “Mercy.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV) But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NIV) Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness , tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? Romans 2:4 (NIV) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8, 9 (NIV) But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy . He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, who...

The Injil describes the final judgment in several places. Here are a few of them. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15 (NIV) Is your name written in the book of life? Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. W...

Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book. Revelation 22:7 (NIV) Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Revelation 22:12, 13 (NIV) He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20 (NIV) I encourage you to read the entire chapters from which these quotations came. When Jesus comes it will be the end of history as we know it. It will also be the end of sin and Satan. Please correspond with me if you have any questions. We will be glad to send you a copy of the Injil, free, in any language you request.