Tag Archives: God

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 26

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The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

I just love it when one of my readers comments a blog and brings out a truth from Scripture that I hadn’t noticed before. To my mind that’s what good devotional blogging should do; It should spark  spiritual conversations that change both reader and writer. Thanks to Deb and Rob for bringing out some new thoughts from Acts chapter 10 during our last discussion.

If you have missed any of the past discussion and wish to catch up you can find them at

http://wp.me/P39vIx-Gh

Now on to today’s discussion!

24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”

27 While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28 He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”

30 Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. 32 Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”

34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. Acts 10:24-48 NIV

I want you to notice that the Bible teaches that the reason God chose Cornelius household for this blessing was that he was a man of prayer who remembered the poor (verse 31) out of a mindset of fearing the Lord (verse 35).

Explain in your own words this idea of “fearing the Lord”.

Do you think that most people who help the poor today do so out of a fear of the Lord?

If not why do they do it?

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 25

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The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

Deb and Rob had some great input in our last discussion concerning the angel sent to Cornelius in Acts chapter 10. If you missed that discussion or any of the others you can find them at

http://wp.me/P39vIx-Gh

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Book of Acts!

Here is our discussion topic for today:

9 The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, 10 and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. 12 In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. 13 Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.”

14 “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.”

15 But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” 16 The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven.

17 Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house. Standing outside the gate, 18 they asked if a man named Simon Peter was staying there.

19 Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you.20 Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.”

21 So Peter went down and said, “I’m the man you are looking for. Why have you come?” 

22 They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.” 23 So Peter invited the men to stay for the night. The next day he went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa.” Acts 10:9-23

For today’s discussion tell me about five things that stand out to you in this dream sequence.

 

Pastor Wrinkles: Faith & Hope Pt. 1

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One of my readers recently used a quote in her blog that sparked a conversation  regarding the difference between faith and  hope. At a suggestion from her I thought I might create a few posts detailing the ideas of faith and hope as they are laid out in the Bible.

Let’s start with  faith. The word faith is translated 247 times in 231 verses of Scripture. It goes without saying, that amount of mentions makes faith a major topic in the Bible.The Greek word usually translated as “faith is  “Pistis”,  a noun defined as  “a conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the New Testament it refers to a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it.” (Strong’s g 4102)

My friend Dawn calls faith an intangible, and that it is! The Bible calls it a substance, and it is that as well (Heb. 11:1). Like love, faith cannot be touched or examined with the natural senses( sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste). It is perceived with the soul (the mind, the will and the emotions) and is acted upon by the spirit (the part of us that connects with the spirit world).

The apostle Peter tells us that faith is more precious than gold (1 Peter 1:7) but he also alludes to the fact that faith, in all of us, is mixed with many other unseemly things and so needs to be to be “tried by fire”. I think this truth answers the question many of us have about why God allows certain things to happen to us. If God values faith more highly than anything else in the world but we value anything else in the world more highly than faith, wouldn’t it make sense that God would work to take away that thing   so we can come to value what He sees as truly valuable?

Preachers have declared that faith is the currency of Heaven.  In the gospels Jesus states more than a dozen times that it is faith that buys the power of Heaven into the world for healing, miracles and the greatest supernatural work of God(forgiveness of sins).

I could go on much further concerning faith but in the interest of word count I will close with this. Paul the apostle taught that every human has faith inside of them when he wrote, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3 NKJV)  This is our segue into the next post on hope. If it is true that every man has faith living inside of him (like everyone has love living inside of him), then it is impossible to be truly faithless. Being unable to use our faith is not really a faith problem, then. It is a hope problem.

Don’t miss Faith & Hope Pt. 2!

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 24

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The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

Once again I am thankful to so many of you who are following along with this class. A few of you have even gone back to the beginning and are catching up and recently I was asked to add House On fire from its beginning to our church Facebook page. So we may have a few more students joining us here in the blogosphere!

If you want to go back and review some of our previous classes go here:

http://wp.me/P39vIx-Gh

Now on with today’s thoughts:

We find ourselves today reading the story of the conversion of the Centurion Cornelius in Acts 10:1-8

 In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment. 2 He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. 

3 One afternoon about three o’clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. “Cornelius!” the angel said.4 Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What is it, sir?” he asked the angel.And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering! 5 Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.”

7 As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, one of his personal attendants. 8 He told them what had happened and sent them off to Joppa. Acts 10:1-8 NLT

In Acts chapter 9 Jesus himself appears to Paul and again to the man Ananias. Why do you suppose Jesus sent an angel to Cornelius rather than going himself?

Heaven Pt. 134: Who’s To Blame?

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While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. Job 1:16

“If God is all-powerful why didn’t He…?” I am sure you can fill in the blank with any number of items God did not stop or start. The question of why God “does” certain things and “refuses to do” certain other things goes to the heart of many a man’s bitterness against the Almighty.

Job certainly asked (albeit without a sinful heart), “Why are you doing this God?”

The truth is God is all-powerful and He can do or not do anything He desires but not without consequences. God set the universe in motion but mankind designed its boundaries. “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Rom. 8:20, 21

Mankind created the futility by choosing to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Our race subjected the creation to its destructive course. We welcomed death into our lives. We who could have known only good sought to understand evil and the rest as they say is history. From the moment of Adam and Eve’s banquet of destruction to now God has been working …”in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Rom. 8:21   His every purpose was and is  part of a complex redemptive strategy with so many twists and turns that even angels failed to understand it.Yet we humans with our admittedly weak vision still lay blame at the feet of God whenever tragedy strikes.

We cry, “Where is God?”

To that cry the apostle Peter lays out the explanation, “

3Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming  That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 2 Pet. 3:3-13

Who’s to blame? We are.

Who’s gonna fix it? God is.

When’s He gonna do that? When the last person who can be redeemed receives redemption.

What’re we to do until then? Wait and deal as best we can with the mess we made.

 

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 23

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The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

 

Many thanks to my readers and commenters for making these posts a success! Thank you Lee and Debby for your comments from the last class. Thank you to to those who have read and liked the last episode of “House On Fire”.

Check out their blogs at

http://jessicahof.wordpress.com/

http://ohthethingsweshallsee.com/

http://thesanctuaryofmyheart.com/

Now let’s be off to today’s collaboration, shall we? Acts 9:32-43 NIV

32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

In these two instances we see Peter operating in great authority commanding healing and miracles rather than asking for them. How did Peter come to the place of operating in this authority? Is this same level of authority available to every believer? If so what stops us from moving in it?

 

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 22

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The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

Many thanks to Daryl, Rob and Debby who took part in our last discussion on the Book of Acts. Daryl and Rob both have blogs of their own and let me suggest you check them out by going to

Daryl at   http://darylgstewart.net/

Rob at    http://www.robsreallife.com/

I look forward to hearing from you dear readers as we discuss together the book of Acts.  If you need to catch up on any of our discussions to this point you can find them at https://josephelonlillie.com/pastor-wrinkles/house-on-fire/

Now for today’s discussion starter: Acts 9:23-31

23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan.Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews,[a] but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Saul of Tarsus (soon to change his name to Paul) never would have been accepted by the church if it were not for an elder who stood up for him among the brethren.  Barnabus  whose name means “Son of Encouragement”, took Paul under his wing and gave him the platform from which he could launch a world-changing ministry.

Tell me about a Barnabus in your life. Why was it important to have that person in your corner?

Does God want to use you as a Barnabus? What would it take for that to happen?

Heaven Pt. 133: How Many Times Around the Mountain?

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“But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies. “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.” Neh. 9:26-28 NIV

Today’s “Heaven” verses speak to the mercy of God and the sinfulness of man. God brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, the place of blessing,  but the blessing didn’t change their willful hearts; So they entered into a cycle of sin that went something like this: The people sinned; God sent judgment; The people repented and cried for help; God heard from Heaven and sent a savior; As soon as they felt safe the people sinned again; The cycle repeated.

I think all of us can relate. If not current, this cycle has been common to all of us at some point in our lives. Some of us made excuses for the cycle blaming circumstances or other people for our cyclical sin;

“If only I had less stress I would…” 

“If only I made more money I could stop…”

“If only my spouse weren’t such a jerk I could…”

Our verses today teach us that the problem is not with the world. It really has nothing to do with externals. Neither external stressors, money issues, nor your spouse have the power to make you sin. Sin comes from an inner proclivity towards disobedience and rebellion which we all carry. Until we cop to that and stop making excuses we can never be free. Until we stop trying to fix the outer world and address the real problem, which is with our hearts, we will keep going around the same mountain of bondage.

But as soon as we admit we are the problem and that only Jesus is the solution…as soon as we ask Him to change us rather than the world, we can  leave the mountain and enter our own Promised Land!

What is your mountain today?

Hey!  check out the rest of the Heaven posts at     https://josephelonlillie.com/pastor-wrinkles/the-heaven-posts/

Knowledge Preferred

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Today technicolor blood drips from HD screens. Bullet holes, stab wounds, fangs mark made for TV movies. But what is left when the story can no longer be told between good and evil?

Light and dark fade.

Yin and Yang cease.

Misty morning comes.

What mortal fascination relies on the acquisition of the knowledge of good and evil? What entertainment shall remain when the tension juxtaposed precariously on tenterhooks of fairy tales Is eaten by the Revelation?

Eve’s fruit, one

Silver screen

Nibble, replaced.

the Knowledge Preferred shall swallow the knowledge of Good and Evil. No drama will be  lost by the resolution of the final scene. Knowledge Preferred is the rising of the curtain on a new series made for bigger screens and better stories than mere good and evil can contain.