Monday, February 27, 2012

He Makes The Difference

There is No Difference
Between the Jewish or Greek

There is No Difference
For we also are Weak

There is No Difference
Though contrary they Speak

There is No Difference
From those who can Win
And from those who do Lose

There is No Difference
But Christ Who enters In
And Christ IF we Choose

There is No Difference
For all on self have Relied

There is No Difference
Except Jesus Who Died

He Makes the Difference
If to Jesus you've Cried

There's Only One Difference
Between those who are Lost
And those He has Saved

He made the Difference
By sins tempest Tossed
And By Right He was Raised

He Is Our Difference
His Glory be Praised

Though He is Our Difference
And we're creatures Brand New

There is No Difference
From the False and the True

There is No Difference
Unless His Spirit Fills You

Let Christ be The Difference
He wills that you do

Rom 3:21-23   “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference : For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Rom 10:11-13   “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Gal. 5:14-18 “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”

THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE

Let Him be the difference
In you for you

"He must increase, WE must decrease!"

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Godliness with Contentment

I have been told that the way to be truly happy in life is to find a job or career that you really love and then put your whole heart into it: make it a passion.  I can’t say that this is true; I have had many various kinds of jobs throughout my life: I have worked in sales, I have worked in service, and I have worked in manufacturing, and I have had managerial work as well but I have yet to find any work that I really, really loved.  After all work is still work, and work ‘by the sweat of our brow’ is still part of the curse of this fallen world. 
But I will tell you what I have discovered in the twenty-two years that I have been trying to walk with Jesus out in the highways and byways of life.  God has been teaching me much throughout these twenty-two years about ‘walking in the Spirit’, being ‘led of the Spirit’, and being ‘filled with the Spirit’.  Much of the learning has been through trial and error; His trials, sent for learning’s sake and my errors but nevertheless there has been much taught and much of it caught.  This learning has been intensified since well before my first blog post here in ‘The Warming House’ and really solidified in my mind and spirit since my last entry here back in November.  The reason for my silence during this time was that God was working ‘into to me’ what He has been trying to help me work out for so many years.
What I have discovered is that when your sole desire is to please the Lord Jesus Christ in everything you do, and when His passion becomes your passion, it doesn’t really matter where you are, what you are doing, who you are doing it with, or even if you are doing it alone.  Why is that? His passion is people.  The scriptures say that Jesus “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,” (Heb. 12:2) The ‘joy that was set before Him’ is souls. All those that His suffering would and did purchase.  His passion is people and no matter where you are, no matter where you are working or where you are worshipping, there are people who need His love, mercy, and grace, and there are people who need your kind words and prayers. 
This is something that I suppose most pastors and missionaries understand very, very well.  Many of them have left homes and jobs, family and friends, to go to a place oftentimes that outwardly has very little to offer for the pleasing of the eye or the comfort of the body.  But because they have a passion for souls, they have a passion for people; to help people find Christ, to help them through their struggles, to pray for them in their need, to show His compassion for them.  Because they have His passion for people they endure as seeing Him Who is invisible and rejoice with a glory filled joy that cannot be explained. (ref. 1 Peter 1:8)
When I go to work I do not go to earn a paycheck.  You may say, “Come on Carl, Really?!? You have to earn a living.”  And I say, “Yes, that’s true. The scripture does say that if a man will not work he shouldn’t eat.”  I didn’t say that a paycheck was not part of the whole package, a laborer is worthy of his hire.  In fact, if they refused to pay me I would most likely feel compelled to go out and find another job.  A job where of course I would find more people who need His love, mercy, and grace. There are always plenty of people who need His compassion; our kind deeds and words, and our sincere prayers.
We are commanded to “Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king.” (1 Peter 2:17) We will do this if we are led of the Spirit, and filled with the Spirit, and walking in the Spirit.  We will discover that the desires of the flesh; the need to ‘feel happy’ or any other thing, will have no power over us. We will discover the secret of 1st Timothy 6:6 which says, “but godliness with contentment is great gain.” And we will rejoice with a glory filled joy that cannot be explained.

He will increase in us through the Spirit,
And we will decrease.
 (we meaning our selfish inclinations)
“He must increase, WE must decrease!”

This I have discovered is the way to have a truly joy-filled life.