February 5th, 2007
The War Within – Part I
I want to first start off talking about Hope. There is one hope: just one. You can hope for a new car, better finances, leg pain to go away, and all of these may seem good and well on the surface. But the thing is, these all have ties back to some worldly issue. They really do. The car just goes without saying. Finances really go into the car, which is worldly possessions. The leg pain, which I suffer from today, maybe not tomorrow, is a little bit trickier. Pain and discomfort cause reliance on something, hopefully on God, but it can lead to reliance on other things, such as drugs, relationships (pure or not so pure and real or not so real), and things that I can not think of right at this moment. I have studied a great deal on hope and I thought I had it figured out until Sunday. Marvin gave a brilliant message and things clicked in my head and pieces of the puzzle began to suddenly fit together in a light I didn’t see before.
There is one hope. To put it in plain English, the hope has to be getting to heaven to be with Christ. If the hope is not that, then it really isn’t a hope with a proper foundation, thus making it a worldly based hope. If I hope that my pain goes away? That would be worldly hope, not Godly hope. If I loose my hope, I am saying I have lost sight in going to heaven.
Psalm 97:2
Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Clouds and thick darkness surround him. Darkness is the absence of light and light is considered righteous.
John 11:9-10
Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."
1st John 1:5-7
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
There are two lights. One light is the light of the world and the second is the spiritual light, God’s light. The world’s light is a stumbling block, it causes frustration, despair, and it is where arguments are born. God’s light isn’t that way. It is focused on others instead of me. This light shines in a way that wants to have fellowship with one another (that’s what it says). I believe that in Psalm 97:2, the clouds and darkness are the absence of light, and the righteousness and justice happens when the “light is turned on”, per se.
I am going to turn on the light on this study in more detail tomorrow, God willing, after I regain some focus after the “procedure”. Who knows but God if I will feel better and be discomfort free? Johnny Out.
The War Within – Part I
I want to first start off talking about Hope. There is one hope: just one. You can hope for a new car, better finances, leg pain to go away, and all of these may seem good and well on the surface. But the thing is, these all have ties back to some worldly issue. They really do. The car just goes without saying. Finances really go into the car, which is worldly possessions. The leg pain, which I suffer from today, maybe not tomorrow, is a little bit trickier. Pain and discomfort cause reliance on something, hopefully on God, but it can lead to reliance on other things, such as drugs, relationships (pure or not so pure and real or not so real), and things that I can not think of right at this moment. I have studied a great deal on hope and I thought I had it figured out until Sunday. Marvin gave a brilliant message and things clicked in my head and pieces of the puzzle began to suddenly fit together in a light I didn’t see before.
There is one hope. To put it in plain English, the hope has to be getting to heaven to be with Christ. If the hope is not that, then it really isn’t a hope with a proper foundation, thus making it a worldly based hope. If I hope that my pain goes away? That would be worldly hope, not Godly hope. If I loose my hope, I am saying I have lost sight in going to heaven.
Psalm 97:2
Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Clouds and thick darkness surround him. Darkness is the absence of light and light is considered righteous.
John 11:9-10
Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."
1st John 1:5-7
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
There are two lights. One light is the light of the world and the second is the spiritual light, God’s light. The world’s light is a stumbling block, it causes frustration, despair, and it is where arguments are born. God’s light isn’t that way. It is focused on others instead of me. This light shines in a way that wants to have fellowship with one another (that’s what it says). I believe that in Psalm 97:2, the clouds and darkness are the absence of light, and the righteousness and justice happens when the “light is turned on”, per se.
I am going to turn on the light on this study in more detail tomorrow, God willing, after I regain some focus after the “procedure”. Who knows but God if I will feel better and be discomfort free? Johnny Out.
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