Jesus looked at them and said,“What then is this that is written: THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE’ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” -- Luke 20:17-18 (NASB)
Sounds a little unnerving, doesn't it? It doesn't seem like either choice is a good choice does it? Well lets start with this... first of all the Stone here is Jesus. I'm going to cover both sides of this promise (cause it is a promise).
First I want to cover the bad side, the side where the stone falls on you. Whether it seems like it or not, this is a decision we make, whether the rock will fall on us.. or whether we will fall on it. When the stone falls on us it is one of two things.. it is discipline or it is retribution. As Christians most of the time it is the former.. and for the unsaved it often is the later. If a physical rock were to fall on us, it would most likely pin us down. we cannot do anything when we are pinned down. It is the same in the spiritual side of it. When the rock falls on us, it holds us back holds us down. God cannot use us if he is constantly having to discipline us.
Now for those who are wondering why the good part is to be broken to pieces: the good part. Think about all the things that Jesus had broken.
Matthew 14:15-21
15When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16But Jesus said to them,“They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” 17They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” 18And He said,“Bring them here to me.” 19Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, 20and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. 21There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children."
See Jesus broke the bread... and he used it to minister to well over 5000 people. Romans 12:1 says, "1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." The Israelites made sacrifices on altars which were made of stone. You see Jesus is telling is that if we willingly give ourselves as living sacrifices to broken and used for his Glory, that rather than being turned back into the dust from whence we came, we can have the blessings that come with our obedience. Do not let the rock fall on you, but present yourself as a sacrifice on the altar.
God bless
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?
There was only one person, and one point in the whole of time where God turned His back on someone. That was his own son, Jesus the Christ. So often in our lives we shout in our soul "God, why have you forsaken me? Where are you?" This may seem harsh... But how dare us!
I truly believe if God were to turn his back on us, even for planck time (planck time is the shortest possible time, it is 10-43 of a second; for those who don't know what that means write a a decimal point then write 43 zeros and put a 1 at the end) we would simply die. In the 12th chapter of Job, it says,"10In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." and in the 34th chapter, verses 14-15 it says, "14 If it were his (God's) intention and he withdrew his spirit and breath,15 all humanity would perish together and mankind would return to the dust." You see if God turned his back on us we would die, he gives life to both the saved and the unsaved!
God never turns his back on us, though occasionally he will withdraw. Now listen to me, this is different than turning his back. Its like when a Father is teaching his child how to ride a bike, he pushes you down the side walk and lets go so you can do it on your own. That's how it is with God! He withdraws to show us that we can do it, and to teach us to trust his judgement. AND SO OFTEN we like the kid who realizes their dad is not pushing anymore, we freak out and crash!
When God withdraws from us, it is to grow us. We are always asking for God to grow us, and then when he withdraws to challenge us and grow us, we freak out.
You have to realize the only thing that made God turn his back on Jesus was that Jesus BECAME ALL OF SIN not just my sin... not the sin that had already happened, BUT ALL SIN what will be done, what has been done, what you're doing now that is sin! ALL of that sin, in and around one man, one person. God didn't turn away because he didn't love Jesus.. or because He wanted to be mean.. he turned away out of agony... and out of His love for us... He turned away from Christ because that is what sin does... it causes seperation between US.. and God. And because Christ took that on, we can know God.. and we take that for granted.. and ask Him "where are you?". How dare we? We should be asking ourselves... where am I.. Am I seeking God as deeply as I should.. am I going to give up just because the tingles of my salvation is gone? The only one who could ask God, "Eli, eli, lema sabachthani" was Christ on the Cross... taking our burdens on His shoulders.
God bless
I truly believe if God were to turn his back on us, even for planck time (planck time is the shortest possible time, it is 10-43 of a second; for those who don't know what that means write a a decimal point then write 43 zeros and put a 1 at the end) we would simply die. In the 12th chapter of Job, it says,"10In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." and in the 34th chapter, verses 14-15 it says, "14 If it were his (God's) intention and he withdrew his spirit and breath,15 all humanity would perish together and mankind would return to the dust." You see if God turned his back on us we would die, he gives life to both the saved and the unsaved!
God never turns his back on us, though occasionally he will withdraw. Now listen to me, this is different than turning his back. Its like when a Father is teaching his child how to ride a bike, he pushes you down the side walk and lets go so you can do it on your own. That's how it is with God! He withdraws to show us that we can do it, and to teach us to trust his judgement. AND SO OFTEN we like the kid who realizes their dad is not pushing anymore, we freak out and crash!
When God withdraws from us, it is to grow us. We are always asking for God to grow us, and then when he withdraws to challenge us and grow us, we freak out.
You have to realize the only thing that made God turn his back on Jesus was that Jesus BECAME ALL OF SIN not just my sin... not the sin that had already happened, BUT ALL SIN what will be done, what has been done, what you're doing now that is sin! ALL of that sin, in and around one man, one person. God didn't turn away because he didn't love Jesus.. or because He wanted to be mean.. he turned away out of agony... and out of His love for us... He turned away from Christ because that is what sin does... it causes seperation between US.. and God. And because Christ took that on, we can know God.. and we take that for granted.. and ask Him "where are you?". How dare we? We should be asking ourselves... where am I.. Am I seeking God as deeply as I should.. am I going to give up just because the tingles of my salvation is gone? The only one who could ask God, "Eli, eli, lema sabachthani" was Christ on the Cross... taking our burdens on His shoulders.
God bless
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