Examples, Part 2

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.  And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”  1st Corinthians 9:24-27   “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Romans 6:11   So we have gotten through knowing that we are to be examples, now what?  What are we supposed to do?  How are we supposed to live?  What are the biblical examples of our faith and how we are to conduct ourselves?    “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.”  1st Corinthians 3:9   When it comes to sports, I’ve never been much of a good competitor.  When I was younger I played Little League for years, I was on the basketball team in school for one season, as well as the soccer team.  While I still enjoying shooting hoop, playing against those who are also not team players, certainly my aim is not as good as it should be.  With bicycling I had a different story.   When I was young I used to be an average bike rider, that...

Examples

“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”  1st Timothy 4:12   “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.”  Philippians 3:17   “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”  Philippians 4:9   We have an ongoing battle going on in our nation, in our homes, in our education system and even in our churches.  Our country is split, largely amongst party lines, violence has begun and quite honestly some of the things that are happening in this country are quite frankly embarrassing from a worldwide standpoint.  The United States of America is becoming a circus show with spectators from around the world mocking us.  Our households are not much better.  While America still at the moment claims to be a Christian nation, what sort of example are we showing to the world?   America has a high divorce rate and problems abound in our households.  Detail after detail could be given, but quite honestly the average American household is so far away from God in their day to day activities, that the sum of the matters would be living contrary to God and denying or refusing to adheed to what the Bible teaches regarding God’s moral standards.  The world watches our television shows and movies, which unfortunately often depict the sin in our households, just what type of example are we...

Eternal Sentence

“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”  Daniel 12:2   “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”  Revelation 20:10-15   “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”  Hebrews 9:27-28   Not too long ago our family traded in our car and purchased a truck. ...

On the Edge of a Cliff

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, without sin, unto salvation.”  Hebrews 9:27-28   “And many of those sleeping in the earth’s dust shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproach and everlasting abhorrence.”  Daniel 12:2   “There is a way which seems right to a man, but the end of it is the ways of death.”  Proverbs 14:12   There are a lot of cliffs in Montana.  Some could consider them to be dangerous, others could see no problem with them.  Whenever my family and I are out in the backcountry, we will not go up to the edge of a cliff, yet I have seen others who will sit right on the edge of a cliff that has a freefall that would cause instant death.    There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with sitting on the edge of a cliff.  However, from time to time you hear of people who lost their footing and fall from the cliff, to their deaths.  Accidents certainly do happen and from my family’s perspective, if you stay several feet away from the edge, there is no chance of accidentally falling off.  Sure the view isn’t as great, the awesomeness of looking down and seeing the sights from the edge of the cliff are missed, but the danger is avoided.  Now the problem that people fail to recognize is that each individual, without Christ, is on the edge of...

Bought With A Price

“For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”  1st Corinthians 6:20   One thing that many Christians seem to forget is that they were bought with a price.  Before we dwell further on some of the ramifications of what this means, let’s take a look at what the Bible tells us about that price.   “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”  1st John 2:2   “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 6:23   “But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.”  Isaiah 53:5   Let’s examine this biblical foundational truth that is so often neglected or rather taken lightly.  In a modern day culture where biblical truths are hated and everything else is tolerated, it makes no difference how to approach this great truth.  Those who hate God will still be dead in their sins.  Having been bought with a price is contrary to the world’s philosophies of self.    “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.”  2nd Peter 2:19   Imagine you owned a slave.  You bought this man or woman at a certain price.  Now whatever tasks that you had intended for this person to do, you...

Give Glory to God!

“Ascribe unto Jehovah, O you sons of God, ascribe unto Jehovah glory and strength.  Ascribe unto Jehovah the glory due His name; bow down before Jehovah in the beauty of holiness.”  Psalms 29:1-2   The other day there was a video that first went viral on our local media outlets here in Montana, finally spreading throughout the internet to a worldwide platform.  A lightning caused fire had started in Glacier National Park.  Quickly the fire spread out of control, leaving a couple of people stuck on a dead end road, at a campground in Glacier National Park.   These people decided to film there way driving at night through a forest on fire.  Really quite remarkable of a sight, as the trees on both sides of the single lane dirt road where eerily lit up with the fire of the trees.  The scene was quite eye-opening.    In Montana we often have wildfires, during the past few years they have been large and frequent.  This year, we have numerous less wildfires and the ones we have are much smaller than they have been, but we still have had a steady stream of smoke coming from fires in other states and Canada.  What these tourists experienced was a worse case scenario that shows the true wildness of Glacier National Park.   In the video that they took, you can hear two men having a conversation.  The one is telling the other to remain calm and continue to drive down the road, to try and escape the wildfire.  After all they are cornered in an area that requires immediate evacuation, there...