Devotional | Bethel Presbyterian Church

Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead

orgdcbethel — Wed, 18 Aug 2021 17:54:35 +0000

There is also spiritual sleep. Notice Ephesians 5:14: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead.” This verse is often spoken to sinners, but it was not written to sinners. Ephesians was never written to sinners. It is not a message to sinners at all, but a message to one of the best churches in the New Testament. Yet the writer says, “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Some of the Ephesians were in a somnolent condition; that is, they were morally good but unenlightened. They were religious but unanointed. It is perfectly possible for a good, faithful, loyal church member to be spiritually asleep—being in a spiritual state that parallels natural sleep. When your husband, your wife, your child, your relative, your friend or you go to sleep tonight, the fact that you are unconscious and out of the running for a while is not bothering you. You know that normally you will wake up again. You are not dead, but you are cut off from your environment, all but that which is reflex—breathing and a few other things. Likewise it is possible to be a Christian, to be in the church and yet be asleep spiritually. Then you have to be wakened suddenly. You will probably be ashamed of yourself, angry with yourself, frustrated and disconcerted and say, “What’s the matter with me” All this time I was almost awake, but not quite.”

Source: https://bibleportal.com/devotional/morning-evening-aw-tozer/08-18

[Devotional] Ask for a renewal of His strength

orgdcbethel — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 12:38:17 +0000

Isaiah 40:29-31 (NIV) He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

In this awesome chapter about the incomparable greatness of God, Isaiah, closes with how God can impact the lives of men. Though He is the high and Holy One, He gives His strength to those who are weary and weak. This is a theme that runs throughout Scripture. God does not help the self-reliant. Contrary to the popular expression, He does not help those who help themselves. He helps those who trust in Him. We must realize how helpless and needy man is. Then we can call out to God with our whole heart, without some man empowered backup plan. Our hope must be in God alone. Then He will meet us with the strength we need to endure.

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[Source: Crossmap.com]

No Buts about It

orgdcbethel — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 14:03:49 +0000

A Christian Facebook group I belong to spent the better part of last month in a civil war over “Deadpool,” the hard-R shoot ’em up based on Rob Liefeld’s salty, wisecracking comic book mercenary-antihero of that name. This group (normally devoted to theology and beer) broke into a firefight over whether it’s acceptable for Christians to see the movie.

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[Excerpt] From PASCAL’S PENSÉES SECTION XII 740

orgdcbethel — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 14:27:54 +0000

The two oldest books in the world are those of Moses and Job, the one a Jew and the other a Gentile. Both of them look upon Jesus Christ as their common centre and object: Moses in relating the promises of God to Abraham, Jacob, etc., and his prophecies; and Job, Quis mihi det ut,[278] ...

[Devotional] A Covenant with Eyes

orgdcbethel — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 12:20:32 +0000

1 Timothy 5:22 Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands and thereby share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

Someone has said, “You cannot help the first look, but the second is sin.” Jesus indicated that you can engage in immorality by a look. The Bible places the “lust of the eye” right along with other major sins.

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[Excerpt] God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not the God of the philosophers

orgdcbethel — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 19:50:35 +0000

The God of Christians is not a God who is simply the author of mathematical truths, or of the order of the elements; that is the view of heathens and Epicureans. He is not merely a God who exercises His providence over the life and fortunes of men, to bestow on those who worship Him a long and happy life. That was the portion of the Jews. But the God of Abraham,[Pg 154] the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of Christians, is a God of love and of comfort, a God who fills the soul and heart of those whom He possesses, a God who makes them conscious of their inward wretchedness, and His infinite mercy, who unites Himself to their inmost soul, who fills it with humility and joy, with confidence and love, who renders them incapable of any other end than Himself.

All who seek God without Jesus Christ, and who rest in nature, either find no light to satisfy them, or come to form for themselves a means of knowing God and serving Him without a mediator. Thereby they fall either into atheism, or into deism, two things which the Christian religion abhors almost equally.

Without Jesus Christ the world would not exist; for it should needs be either that it would be destroyed or be a hell.

If the world existed to instruct man of God, His divinity would shine through every part in it in an indisputable manner; but as it exists only by Jesus Christ, and for Jesus Christ, and to teach men both their corruption and their redemption, all displays the proofs of these two truths.

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From Blaise Pascal’s PENSÉES SECTION VIII “THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION” 555 [Pg 152]

[Bible Study] What Commandment in the Law is Greatest?

orgdcbethel — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 20:34:00 +0000

22:34-40 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. One of them, who was an expert in the Law, asked him a question as a test: “What commandment in the Law is greatest?” He said to him, “‘You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and your whole soul, and your whole mind.’ This is the great and the chief commandment; and the second is like it, ‘You must love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments the whole Law and the prophets depend.”

In Matthew this question looks like a return to the attack on the part of the Pharisees; but in Mark the atmosphere is different. As Mark tells the story (Mark 12:28-34) the scribe did not ask Jesus this question to trip him up. He asked it in gratitude that Jesus had confuted the Sadducees and to enable Jesus to demonstrate how well he could answer; and the passage ends with the scribe and Jesus very close to each other.

We may well say that here Jesus laid down the complete definition of religion.

(i) Religion consists in loving God. The verse which Jesus quotes is Deuteronomy 6:5. That verse was part of..

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William Barclay’s Daily Study Bible on Matthew 22

And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved

orgdcbethel — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 14:13:44 +0000

Acts 2:42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

What is the mark of a healthy and growing church? There are three things we notice from the early church when they experienced explosive growth.

1. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
As believers, we do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. The word of God is our daily bread. And we see that early believers devoted themselves to nourishing their spirits as they committed their times to the apostles’ teaching

2. Fellowship
Not only receiving the truth thru the Scripture by the apostles but also, early church believers devoted their time to fellowship. In this time and age, we either isolate ourselves our surround ourselves with those whose interest is very far from God’s truth. However, the early church believers made an effort to gather and held fellowship with fellow believers who shared the same dream and passion for God’s Kingdom and Righteousness.

3. Breaking of bread and to prayer
The worldly fellowship or ‘club meetings’ can revolve around what people find interesting. Whether it’s golf or shopping, there are many reasons why people gather. But believers gathered to break bread, the ultimate bread that gives life, Jesus Christ with one another. Meaning, their gatherings revolved around meditating and deepening their faith to Jesus Christ as they received nourishment from His truth and love. Also, this was done through corporate prayer where they united their hearts and minds together toward Jesus Christ.

4. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need
This is not communism but the love of Christ bearing fruit through a life of generosity. Believers were committed to each other’s need and did what they can to help others in need, even up to the extent of selling their property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. When Christ’s love touches our hearts, we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to become generous and caring.

May God’s grace let the Holy Spirit powerfully work in all of us. Let us be reminded of Christ’s love through the working of the Holy Spirit so that we too may live the life of faith, hope and love like our Lord Jesus Christ.

What Is Natural Law?

oachurch — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 02:01:41 +0000

From a jail in Birmingham, Alabama, Martin Luther King Jr. discussed civil disobedience, noting that “there are two kinds of laws: just and unjust” and that there is a “natural law” to which we are subject. He was right: We shouldn’t say we know right and wrong only because “the Bible says so.” Romans 2:15 states that God’s moral law has been written on the hearts of all human beings. This innate or intuitive awareness is beautifully illustrated in C.S. Lewis’s Abolition of Man. there he lists various universally recognized moral laws and virtues – impartial justice, truthfulness, kindness, mercy, marital fidelity, respect for human life. They have been regarded as true for all from ancient Babylon and Greece to Native America, from Jews and Christians to Hindus and Confucians. Yet while humans are capable of recognizing basic moral principles, they may suppress their conscience, harden their hearts, and become morally dull.

Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas spoke of certain “laws.” He said there is an eternal law, which God alone knows and by which God created and governs the universe. Because God created us in His image (as moral, reasoning beings), we are capable of recognizing a self-evident natural law, the reflection of God’s eternal law in the created order. This law is known by all human beings whether or not they are aware of God’s special revelation through Israel and Jesus Christ, as inscripted in the Bible. God has placed within us a disposition to have moral knowledge. Unless we suppress our conscience, we naturally know basic moral truths. General virtues and vices, Thomas Reid wrote, “must appear self-evident to every man who has a conscience, and has taken the pains to exercise this natural power of his mind” (‘Of Morals”).

Some will respond, “There can be moral atheists. We don’t need God for morality.” However, atheists have been made in the image of God. Though they deny God’s existence, they have still been designed by God to function properly and even to create human law for the good of society – the law that, to varying degrees, applies the natural law placed within us. Atheists ignore the very basis of goodness – God, who created them and who is the highest Good. (See J. Budziszewski, The Revenge of Conscience and Written on the Heart.)

Credit: By Paul Gopan from The Apologetics Study Bible