Tuesday, November 27, 2012

A MINDFUL GOD AND CREATOR


A MINDFUL GOD AND CREATOR by M.G. Bueno


Psa 8:1  <To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David.> O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Psa 8:2  Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. 
Psa 8:3  When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 
Psa 8:4  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 
Psa 8:5  For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 
Psa 8:6  Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
Psa 8:7  All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 
Psa 8:8  The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
Psa 8:9  O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

In our Bible is a picture of God’s amazing love for man.  The psalmist here is in awe, he is in great amazement as he considers God’s “love relationship” with his creation, man.  As David surveys the vastness of heaven and the brightness of the moon and the stars compared to his insignificant estate, he began to conclude how that  the love of God for man is greater than any love that he had seen in this world.  It’s a love that is always mindful and thoughtful for man’s betterment and happiness.  God loves all of his creation but his love for man is greater than any of his creation, so that man is the apple of God’s eyes, and God’s eyes are ever focused upon him.   

We read in the book of Genesis that God made man in his own image from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, the first recorded CPR.  And as God imparts in man LIFE, the bible says that he became a living soul, an animated being, with a God given freedom to choose, and to make decisions freely. He can chose to obey or not obey; to love or not love God.  Yet, to love God and to serve him should be the choice that you and I have to make.  The Bible said that we love God because he first loved us even before the foundation of the world.  David said in, 

Psa 139:14  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Man’s physical body may have been made from dirt but his soul is an extension of God's heavenly and eternal breath. 

I’ve heard of a joke about man and God having a competition to create a human.  God told man to go first.  Man got all of his instruments ready, and just as he was about to scoop up some dirt to begin, God said, No, Uh-uh, you gonna have to create your own dirt too.  The competition is over, and God won.  And God will always win  

So satan also thought he could be just like God.  He may be able to give some kind of life, but it’s not  abundant and fulfilling life.  The life he has to offer is only temporary, which may seem abundant at first but full of misery in the end.  And still satan tries to flatter men and women, that they could be just like God, which he himself knew is impossible.  

In the book of Ecclesiastes it gives us a true picture of what of happens when a man dies. 

Ecc 12:7  Then shall the dust (which is the body) shall return to the earth as it was: and the spirit (which is the soul) shall return unto God who gave it.

Our soul is eternal and it will return to God when we die.  What happens to that soul after it returns to God?  The Bible said, that that soul is going to be judged for what that soul did in the body.  The Bible said, That it is appointed for a man once to die and after this the judgement.  Yet there were also people in the bible that died and were raised again from the dead, because God had permitted them to live again the second time.  Because you cannot always tell what God wills to do.  But he has the power to give and to take away life.  

Ecc 3:21  Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? 

Animals may have a spirit, but it returns to earth when the body dies.  God, to a certain degree have given animals intelligence to interact with man.  And sometimes animals can be tamed and be trained to do things, and are very helpful and beneficial to man to do certain jobs.  But God had not given them the same spirit that he gave to man.

I remember in School, they taught that man is a member of the animal kingdom.  And It was not hard for me to believe then, because man does eat meat, fruit and vegetables just like any other animal, and in fact he is part of the food chain, which makes him both the consumer and the victim, therefore, in that sense, man is a member of the animal kingdom.  And they taught about the theory of evolution in which man evolved from monkeys.  But if you begin to look at the history of man, you will see, if you really open your eyes, you will see that man is far from being in the animal kingdom.  Because after so many thousands of years, we’ve never heard of an animal begin to invent  machines, or build civilizations, or write music, or discover new things. 

Today, there are knowledge and teachings that are being taught in so called institutions of higher learning, where the unlearned is supposed to learn the truth about man and the things around him, but sadly, the student is not getting any true knowledge.  It goes to show that people believe what they want to believe, and people understand what they want to understand.  But the truth will always be the truth.  And if we want the truth, our number one textbook should be the word of God.  That is, we prove other books by the Bible, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a book of science or philosophy that we’re reading, we have to prove it by the word of God.

There are people who would rather believe in the writings of Charles Darwin than the Word of God.  They would rather believe on some outlandish doctrine than the pure doctrine of the Scriptures.  Evolution has been proven in many points to be untrue, yet some people still believe it unto this day.  But the word of God has never been proven wrong,  but instead, it had been proven right over and over again, yet people still don’t want to believe. 

Before the discovery of electricity, maybe it’s okey for people to not believe that electricity truly exist.  But when after it was discovered, it would have been foolish to say that it doesn’t exist, just because they don’t see it.    And it’s been about 300 years since electricity was first discovered, and it’s been proven over and over again that it exist, and today, no one doubts its existence.  And today, if someone doubts that electricity exist, people would think that that person is just being dumb.

The Bible and world history record of God's accomplishments, it record his creation of all things.  God’s word is not just limited to the pages of the bible, but you can see it in the lives of men and women who’s been affected and influenced by His power.  And we have seen with our eyes the miracles by believing the name of His Son Jesus Christ.  Miracles are still in operation, people are still getting healed, people are still getting filled with the Holy Ghost, people are still getting saved from sin.  Their changed lives are evidence of his workmanship.  The power of God’s word is still showing results.   And yet two thousand years later, some still doubt God’s existence, and his effectual working in the lives of men and women.  The Bible said, “You have to be a fool to say that God doesn’t exist.”  The Bible said,
  
The fool said in his heart there is no God.

Man is uniquely made by God, apart from all of the earthly creatures that he had made.  Some may try to prove that man is no different from an animal or any living creature.  It goes back to the garden of Eden when satan brought man down from the honorable position where God had placed him.  And it has always been satan’s purpose to destroy all of God’s creation, especially man whom he created to be like him.  Satan is a killer and the destroyer of man, and he wants to degrade and trample upon the glory of man that is given to him by God.    

No wonder there’s a lot of killing going on, you read it daily in the news, and how about abortion, killing babies to the thousands before they were even born?  And animals are loved more than a human being.

That is why satan wants you to be ignorant of the things of God.  He wants you to be ignorant of who you really are.  Satan is the father of all knowledge and doctrines that go against the knowledge of God.  He’ll do anything for you to be ignorant of God’s word.  He’ll put doubts in your mind to not believe God.  He’ll do anything to stop you from learning anything about the word of God.  That’s why God in the Bible said,

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

He’s not talking about math or science or some kind of knowledge that you learn in school, but the knowledge that comes from God and from his word, the Holy Bible, which the human soul needs in order to live.

If you allow the knowledge of the word of God to influence you by the Holy Spirit of God.  If you allow the knowledge of the Son of God Jesus Christ in your mind, it will lead you to know Him and be in Him.  The Bible said,

If anyman be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things pass away, behold all things are become new. That’s the kind of a result that we need.  The result of a changed life through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You are unique, you have a soul that is eternal, because it is the very breath and life that comes from God himself.  The Bible said,  

What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?

Our present world, is filled with people who have totally sold out and lost their soul to the devil. People are oblivious to the fact, that satan had already stolen their souls and the souls of their children mercilessly through the so called entertainment on TV, through video games, and through the internet.  The hip hop culture, is teeming with the souls of men and women who are sold out to its message of violence.  Not knowing the word of God, leaves one blind to the workings of satan, because what’s happening is taking place in the spiritual realm, and satan is working in the spiritual realm.  And the souls of children and men and women are being destroyed, ignorant of the enemy of their soul.  If only someone will tell them and teach them the word of God to save their souls from death, only then will they be saved.    

And it’s our responsibility to teach our children about God, and about their soul, and it’s our responsibility to bring them to church to learn about God and God’s plan for them.

Why are we saying all these?  It’s because God loves you and he cares about your soul.

Psa 8:4  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

God is mindful of you today.  He’s been visiting you, speaking to you with that still small voice, leading you to know him, to fellowship with him.

And God does not want anyone to die in their sin, that’s why he made a plan for you to be saved from sin.  

Because the Bible said, for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.

Yes man was separated in the beginning from his fellowship, but God had already made a plan even before he created man, before the foundation of the world,  to reconcile man back to him.

And He did it through his Son Jesus Christ.  God wants to restore the glory which man had in the beginning, it’s God’s plan to put your life back together, the way God planned it to be.

The Bible said,

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

God wants to remake your life thru the sacrificial death of his Son Jesus Christ.  The Blood of Christ is able to cleanse you from the death of sin.  God wants to give you another chance to live a better life, better than the life that you are living without Christ in your life.  Jesus said,

Joh 10:10  The thief (which is satan) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Let me ask you the question:  Has sin made your life better?  Are you happier today because of the goodness of sin in your life?  

If not then, why live in sin?  Has satan given you abundant life?  But Jesus will and God will because he loves you, because he’s mindful of you, and he doesn’t want you to destroy yourself or be destroyed by the enemy of your soul?

God’s arms are wide open to receive you, all you have to do is come to him.

The Bible said, 

Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Through the eyes of love Jesus Christ looked at all men as friends who needs rescuing from the death of sin.  This is the reason why he died on calvary's cross for the sin of the whole world.  So there's no more excuse.  Would you come to Jesus Christ and invite him in your life? 

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Sunday, November 18, 2012

ALL THAT JESUS IS ABOUT


ALL THAT JESUS IS ABOUT
by M.G. Bueno

Joh 3:1  There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 
Joh 3:2  The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 
Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

Jesus Christ is all about saving, and healing and blessing and grace and mercy, though all judgement was given unto Jesus by God the Father.  It says in,

Joh 5:22  For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 

The power to judge is given by the Father to His Son Jesus Christ.  No, it is not given to us nor to anyone other than Jesus Christ.  The Bible has established this fact that we ought not to judge anyone.  Jesus is the only rightful judge of the universe.

There's only one that the bible told us to judge.  It tells us in, 

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

Now we have established the fact that Jesus is the only judge above all, yet the scripture tells us that he relinquished this power to judge at the time when he has all the right to do so.

In JOHN 12:47 I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

And again in,

Luk 9:56  For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. 

Luk 19:10  For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. 

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Mat 1:21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 

In the book of Luke chapter 2, an angel a messenger from God, heralded the birth of Jesus Christ to a few shepherds.

Luk 2:11  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 
Luk 2:12  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 
Luk 2:13  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 
Luk 2:14  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 

What the angels were saying is that in Jesus there is Glory toward God, in Jesus there is peace, and in Jesus there is goodwill to all men. 

It is God intention for you to have peace in your life thru His Son Jesus Christ.  Because without Jesus Christ there is no peace.  Without Jesus Christ there is no salvation from sin.  Without Jesus Christ there’s no eternal life.

In Jesus Christ God wanted all men to be reconciled back unto him.  The main theme of the story of Jesus coming to the world, is not about the judgement or condemnation of man, but about the reconciliation of man back to the one and only God.  The theme of the Bible is the Redemption of man from the death sentence of sin.  Because God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  

Sometimes the scriptures seem to contradict when the angel heralded peace and goodwill toward men at the birth of Jesus, which is His coming to this world.  Jesus said in,

Luk 12:51  Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 
Luk 12:52  For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. 
Luk 12:53  The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 

Here it seem to contradict the very purpose of Jesus to reconcile man back to God, and for man to be at peace with God.  Because he said, I did not come to bring peace to the world.  Why is this? It is  because of man’s unbelief and rebellion, that what God meant for peace and reconciliation became a division, because man doesn’t want to receive God.  The Bible said,

He came to his own but his own received him not.  The Jews thought that Jesus was crazy, an impostor who was claiming to be the Son of God, the Messiah.

Joh 7:43  So there was a division among the people because of him. 

Joh 9:16  Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.

The division was not caused by Jesus Christ, but by the unbelieving.

Families are divided because not all members of the family agree whom they’re going to serve.  But it doesn’t matter which God mother or father serve, we should serve the one and only true God thru the LORD Jesus Christ.  

There’s a drawing power tonight of the love of God.  The love of God for the whole world is so amazing, it cannot be explained by the most articulate person in the whole world.  

And this same love disposition of Jesus Christ attracted Nicodemus, a man who was a religious leader of his time, and to meet the master himself was his best route.    Nicodemus decided, “I must see Jesus, myself.”  

You see, our life in God is being read like a book by people around us daily.  How our lives differ from others and from the norms of this world, a life which would make the people of this world anxious to see, what makes us blessed, what makes us above the rest though not by our own power but in the power of God, what makes us go on thru many obstacles in this life and still have hope to the end.  

God had set us up on a stage so to speak for people to see, that in God nothing is impossible, that in God there is hope for everyone who comes to Jesus Christ, that sin can be conquered, that we can live a righteous and a holy life in Christ Jesus.  And so the life of Jesus became a wonder to the eyes of people, and Nicodemus was anxiously drawn by it.  And he wanted to know, what makes Jesus the way that he is.  

And Nicodemus heard the greatest message that would later echo thru the ages.  Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again.”  Tonight, this is the only way to get rid of the sin problem in your life. It is to be born again of the Spirit of God.  That is to be born again to a new you by the Spirit of God.  

The Bible said, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things pass away, behold all things are become new.”  

Christ in your life, is to cleanse you from the guilt of sin, and allowing him to guide your life in the paths of God’s righteousness.  

God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell and to the lake of fire.  But it is sad to say that everyday, people end up in the fires of hell, not because God send them their, but they themselves.  People have chosen sin, and the wages of sin is eternal separation from God and eternal death in the lake of fire.  The bible said that the everalasting fire was prepared by God for the devil and his messengers.  

People listen to the voice of the devil, but what they don’t know is that the devil wants them destroyed in the lake of fire.  The devil himself knows that his end is the lake of fire, and he’s determined in himself to not go their by himself, he wants others to suffer with him through out eternity.  There’s not going to be any party in hell but only torment and suffering for eternity, weeping and gnashing of teeth, where their worm does not die.

It is not God’s desire for people to perish and be destroyed.  First of all he had sent his only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world.  And now he sends his servant preachers to reach out to the lost and the dying souls of men and women.  And he sends his Holy Spirit to convict people of their sin.  Yet you hear people all the time, accusing God of condemning people and judging them and sending them to hell.  

Tonight, God is your friend.  The devil is not your friend, he is your enemy.  Jesus is your friend.  Everyone should be running toward God and away from the devil.  Tonight, God is man’s best friend.

The Bible said, 

Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

This speaks of the greatest love that a man can give.  But the even greater love that God has shown is Jesus dying to save the lives of his enemies.

Because Jesus did not only die for his friends but also for his enemies.  Jesus died for those who crucified him, he died for those who spat upon his face, and pulled his beard.  And while yet hanging on the cross, he cried, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 

Rom 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Alll that Jesus wants for the whole world is to be saved from sin, and that is to believed in him and allow his blood to wash our sins, our conscience, our lives and be born again of the Spirit of God.

That’s what Jesus is all about.  Jesus is all about saving, and healing and blessing and giving.  And Jesus is not to blame if people are not saved, if people are not healed or are not blessed. 

With all that’s said about Jesus Christ.  What’s stopping you from coming to him.  What’s stopping you from being his instrument to reach men and women for him.  What’s stopping you from receiving his blessings and his gifts that he made available for you.  What’s stopping us from telling the people that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only  way to restore man’s relationship with God?

Why don't you call upon the name of Jesus right now, and tell him to save you from sin and from the enemy of your soul satan.