I Have a Question

How are we to act as followers of Christ?

 

Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. It is not rude; it is not self-seeking; it is not provoked, nor overly sensitive or easily angered; it does not take into account a wrong endured.  It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears all things regardless of what comes their way, believes all things looking for the best in each one, hopes all things remaining steadfast during difficult times, endures all things without weakening^{. [1 Corinthians 13:4-7 The Amplified Bible]}

                  If you want to know how God defines “love” then look no further than the passage shown above; 1 Corinthians 13... the Love Chapter. The world has it all wrong. Generally speaking, they’ve mixed up love with lust. Just because you go to bed with someone doesn’t necessarily mean you love them. That approach can cause a large amount of consternation on the part of both parties involved. The woman who wanted kids but NOT NOW!! The man who didn’t want the commitment that comes with raising a child... so he vanishes adding another number to the already growing single parent ranks. THAT is not love. That is the height of selfishness. Having “fun” without dealing with the inevitable consequences.

            Love is SELFLESS. Love views the other person are more important than you are. Love is a 100-100 proposition; not 50-50 as the experts say. Love is either ALL IN or NOT ALL IN. It MUST be 100% ALL IN for both parties. God IS LOVE and therefore is 100% invested in His relationship with those He created. No regrets. No hesitancy. Just full bore, unselfish, unconditional love for all. 

Does the Lord get frustrated with His creation? Because His purposes are set from the foundations of the earth, nothing man can say or do even begin to thwart God’s plans. He’s knows we are frail and fault ridden. We say and do dumb things; however, it’s not as if God doesn’t know us so well that these mistakes take Him by surprise. 

We are asked to emulate Christ in our daily life. We can never use the excuse that we don’t know how God wants us to act, for the blueprint is clearly revealed in 1 Corinthians. Don’t fight knowing the Lord; embrace that relationship and allow your faith and trust in God to thrive amidst the chaos that rages all around us. Until next time, live your life following God’s statutes, with no regrets, and thrive in Jesus name.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries                                                                                                                                                                    

I Have a Question

Is God Just?

            In today’s world, too many people are lax when it comes to punishment for crimes committed or evil deeds done. For that reason God seems harsh and unjust for his unwavering disciplinary actions against sin. Man has a million and one reasons why leniency is the way to go. One is that the individual is a good person who reacted poorly to a given situation. Another happens to be pressure from community action groups who bring up the perpetrator as being the one who is harassed or provoked into retaliatory actions.

            God is pretty plain regarding iniquity. No sin shall go unpunished. Now He also is merciful, so knowing the heart and the motivation of a person, can cause God to be merciful or conciliatory under certain circumstances. This wouldn’t show weakness in God but rather an innate strength of character to be fair and just. 

            Modern man wishes to do away with law enforcement & prisons altogether, as a means of doing away with all types of punishment. They seem to think this will change society for the better by taking that negative aspect out. Wrong behavior must be dealt with for society to function as a whole, rather than be fragmented into small cells of differing ideologies and opinions. 

            Since Almighty God knows all that can be known and therefore knows the hearts of men (women & children as well), then we ought to follow His lead and not our own. Now we must obey the law and so I am certainly not saying we should obey God’s Word to the exclusion of all else. We must obey local laws, whether we agree with them or not. But we should be led by the statutes of God to achieve a peaceful, loving way of life where good triumphs over evil. God’s way is the way we are to follow because His statutes are not influenced by opinion or prejudice or pre-conceived ideas. God is not susceptible to any outside influence for He is the grand designer of both mankind and the world he lives in. 

            God is just because His fairness works for everyone if they truly seek fairness and honesty. There is no sin or corruption in the Lord. That cannot be said of man. Submit to the wisdom and power of Almighty God and live in peaceful harmony with your fellow man.

Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Thoughts from a Random Mind

“In every trial and affliction, we must always trust that Jesus knows what He is doing, and that all He does is done in infinite wisdom and love for us, and so it is the best for us.” - - Charles Spurgeon

 

            The key word in this statement from Rev. Spurgeon is “trust”.  The way the word is used has everything to do with the context in which it is used. The way it’s used above reveals that Spurgeon is speaking of trust in Jesus and by association, Almighty God. 

            Whenever we go thru a trial or some sort of affliction we must rely on and have confidence in the fact that the Lord knows exactly what He’s doing. We must learn to cast all fear and apprehension off like a winter parka on a 100 degree day. Our acceptance of God’s ability to be relied upon will cause you to sleep better at night.  

            Our confidence in God means we trust that He is reliable, honest, and has a high level of integrity. Not being in control of our own life’s trajectory can tend to be daunting, but in a relationship such as the one we have begun with God, that trust is a foundational piece that triggers mutual respect and personal security. Regardless of whatever happens to us in this life as a child of God, we can know that the Lord is with us wherever we go and when we make a foolish misstep, which we may do, the Lord is always watching and able to come to our aid in whatever form He feels is necessary.

            Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Thoughts from a Random Mind

         Something important to remember: God forgives, man does not. They resent and tend to hold grudges. They take things out of context and take things very personal. Now having said that I realize that is a “broad sweeping generalization” as I like to call them. Yes, there are gracious folks who do actually forgive, but forgetting it much harder. I get that. If you have a contrite heart you will be forgiven by God. That would be a heart that says “I messed up. I’m truly sorry and with Your help Lord I will not do it again.” Regret translates into contrition. God will forgive that every time. But people are not wired like God. They have feelings and emotions that get burned and hurt and sometimes they have difficulty in seeing past the infraction.

              I have a personal situation where my two girls don’t have anything to do with me. They were lied to and believed those lies and now want nothing to do with me. It would appear that there is no forgiveness in their heart toward me. It’s unfortunate, but that’s how life goes sometimes. Attempting to reestablish some sort of relationship over a ten year period came to nothing. Not wanting to get hurt again I have at least for the time being abandoned my attempts to reconcile. I pray for them, and myself, and a possible future reconciliation. I have left it in God’s hand.

             So if you have folks who have not forgiven you, pray over the entire situation in the hope that forgiveness will manifest itself in the form of a reconciliation between both parties.  It can happen, but patience is required. God moves in hidden and mysterious ways His wonders to perform. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9. Like me, leave it in God’s more than capable hands and hope for a resolution in His time.

            Until next time, treat others as you’d like to be treated.

In His Name & for His glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Thoughts from a Random Mind

Our “old man”, aka, our old sinful nature, CAN be snuffed out like a cheap cigar if that is your desire. Stop feeding him. Feed your spirit man instead. Once saved your desires should start to realign themselves with the Lords desires FOR YOU. Because of the free will that God offers us all, one doesn’t HAVE to stop feeding the old nature, because there’s a good chance your past life has some pleasurable moments that you’d like to replicate. But does that help you grow spiritually AND is it pleasing to the Lord. We can do as we choose. We don’t HAVE to conform to God’s will for us, but if we choose not to we are shortchanging ourselves in a very big way with regards to that which will benefit us the most. 

            To do our own thing means we think we know better than our Creator what benefits us the most. With the influence of the “prince of the power of the air” ^[1] (Satan) we’ll have a difficult time adhering to God’s statutes. That’s why our focus cannot be on the past events that have brought us pleasure. We must readjust our way of thinking and make our main goal to emulate Christ and follow the directives of the Lord. 

            The problem many have regarding the “old man” is that he just doesn’t have the good grace to stay buried. He’s constantly trying to claw his way back into our lives. It takes a “stick to it” attitude and determination to thwart the enemies attacks. Put on your spiritual armor 

(Ephesians 6), call on the name of the Lord, rebuke the enemy in Jesus’ name. This approach works if you’re locked into a steady, rock solid relationship with God. You are His child and as a good Father, God provides for and protects us. He strengthens us and guides us by His Holy Spirit who resides within us once saved. Feed your spirit man and starve the old man. He no longer has to have any hold on you. Believe that and you shall be free of him.

            Until next time, serve God & praise His name.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

^[1] Ephesians 2:2 NIV

Thoughts from a Random Mind

            Do you understand that there is nothing you can do to gain God’s favor? Do you know that you are totally unworthy of His grace and mercy? Scripture says ALL fall short of the mark for ALL are overrun by sin. Once redeemed there is still nothing you can do to gain God’s favor. God doesn’t love you because you are worthy of His love, you are worthy of His love because He is gracious. 

Grace is UNDESERVED FAVOR. GRACE stands for “God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense”. All of mankind is worthy of hell fire, but by God’s unfailing mercy and love for His creation we are all given the opportunity to shed our sin skin and rise up as a NEW CREATION in Christ. If you’ve already made the choice to follow and serve Christ than nothing can take that salvation away from you. Your soul has been bought and paid for by Christ’s blood.  If you haven’t decided to follow Christ yet what on earth are you waiting for? This world of sin and sorrow offers NOTHING of any lasting value. The trinkets this world offers us are worthless in God’s eyes. You can’t be good enough to get into heaven. Jesus said there’s NO ONE who is good except the Father. Salvation isn’t something you EARN. No. It is a free gift bought with blood. Eternity hangs in the balance. Prior to redemption we walk a tightrope between heaven and hell. Once redeemed that tightrope becomes a bridge made from the wooden cross on which Christ was crucified. That bridge will take you all the way to where God is in heaven. Live for Christ and have no regrets.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Thoughts from a Random Mind

Life sure can be frustrating, what with all the lies and corruption in the world. Immoral and unethical behavior have permeated our world. It can drive a well-grounded follower of Christ to distraction. I’ve begun to hate watching the news. NO GOOD NEWS. But that raises an important question… why am I looking for good news in an ungodly world? The enemy likes things just the way they are and revels in it. However, once the dust settles amid the chaos we see that God is STILL ON HIS THRONE and in control of ALL THINGS that transpire. He causes or allows all things for his own purposes. If we walk closely with him then we truly have NOTHING TO FEAR.

Having said that I know that fear is purely a mental thing. I know because I’ve struggled with anxiety since the 1980’s. I make it thru life with two different medications. I also deal with claustrophobia. It keeps me from doing certain things. I used to be embarrassed being a Christian and dealing with these problems, but I’m not embarrassed any longer. I’m a human being, just like everybody else. I’m not superman because I’m saved. I’ve had little victories dealing with anxious moments as I prayed my way thru them. The mental part can be difficult to combat. It’s a war for the psyche of men. Our ability to reason is under attack by the one who will literally do anything to screw with us. 

Because I have these issues come up from time to time does that make me a poor Christian? Absolutely not. I used to think so until I realized it had no bearing on my relationship with the Lord whatsoever. The Lord knows all the intricacies regarding our lives. As a matter of fact there is NOTHING the Lord doesn’t know about you. I know for a fact that God DOES NOT ever say, “You have problems with anxiety? Get that fixed then come back to see me.” NEVER - NEVER - NEVER... God never turns us away. He loves and accepts us JUST the way we are. He made us, he knows how we’re fearfully & wonderfully made. When you’re afraid, give it over to the Lord. It works. Trust God. Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries