Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
Monday, July 3, 2023
Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Monday, May 29, 2023
Cornerstone
I celebrated my 60th birthday this year. Even though that is a lot of years, the bible says our lives are like a vapor, and we are here only for a moment. I don’t know about you, but when I hit a milestone or when a friend or family member dies, I think about my life, where I have been and where I want to go. I think about God. I know he has good works for me to do that he prepared beforehand before the foundation of the world. Today I will be talking about Jesus as the cornerstone, the Rock of our salvation. He became my cornerstone when I first heard the good news and became a follower of Christ at 17 years old. It is wise to put your life in the very capable hands of God Almighty who has no beginning and no end.
There is difference between the Creator and the creature, and God made this clear with Job in the Old Testament. In talking to Job when he was protesting his innocence, the Lord God put things in perspective (Job 38 verses 4-7):
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?
Time and time again, though, man has thought God not is not needed in their lives. Time and after time God faced rejection. Listen to God’s heart in the parable of the tenants found in
This is what verses 36 to 41 says: 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. 38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
God is the landowner who planted a vineyard; the vineyard is Israel, the Jewish people; the farmers are Israel’s religious leaders. God sent prophets to tell people about himself and his rule over them and about his kingdom, but the religious leaders beat them and killed them. The landowner sent his son thinking they would surely respect him, but they rejected him and killed him, too. The landowner will rent the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time. The other tenants are gentiles. If you are not Jewish, you are a gentile. That is us. We now have the opportunity to be good tenants of God’s harvest. This is our time.
God sent his Son Jesus over 2,000 years ago. Jesus offers a gift of salvation, something we cannot earn, but a gracious gift from God. The people of Israel rejected the Son of God when he came down from heaven to die for our sins, become for sin for us to escape the wrath of God that we deserve. He died a substitutionary death so we could live and become part of God’s family. In John 1:9-13, it says 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. Have you put your trust in Jesus? Have you received him in your life? Have you believed in his name? We came into the world as sinners, having the sin nature that all people born after Adam inherit from that first act of disobedience. We are separated from a holy God, and the only sacrifice good enough is God’s son himself. If I asked you, if you die today, where would you go after this life, and why? If you are thinking, I think I will go to heaven because I have done good things that would earn me the entrance of heaven. Heaven is something we cannot earn. It is a gift we receive by believing in what Jesus and then turning our lives to him as our Lord and Savior. We have the opportunity to receive the Son of God as your savior today. Today is the day of salvation.
If you already have received Christ as your Lord and Savior, know that God is building his church and his kingdom with Christ the chief cornerstone. The prophet Isaiah beckons us to trust in the Lord because the Lord himself is the Rock eternal. And in Isaiah 26:16 the Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic or another version says, those who believe will not be put to shame.”
This prophesy was mentioned by Jesus, in Mark 12 and Matthew 21:42, by quoting Psalm 118:22-23, Matthew 21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? This cornerstone refers to Christ, that God is building his spiritual house. For those who put their trust in Christ, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.it says 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2: 19-20) and Acts 4:11 the stone that the builders rejected has become a cornerstone.
What kind of foundation do you have for your life? Is God your rock and fortress? What are you basing your future on? Is your life based on a solid rock? Are you wise enough to not on build on shifting sand? Have you built your life by your career and family? Good works? Are you living for yourself? Put Christ as the foundation of your life and you will not be put to shame. Put your trust in Christ because He is immovable, dependable, steady, someone you can lean on in the storms of life. This foundation is not shifting sand, but solid.
Lastly, the Lord is building his church. In Matthew 16:18, it reads:I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. The apostle Peter says (1 Peter 42-4-6) As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
We are living stones, holy and acceptable to God because of Jesus. We are part of that spiritual house that God is building with Jesus as the cornerstone. He is building an invisible kingdom which is also invincible. He invites us to help him build that kingdom when he assigned us the great commission to go and make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them all that I’ve commanded, and Jesus, the cornerstone will be with us always even until the end of the age.
In conclusion, we have the opportunity receive Christ and not reject him today. If you have already received him, you as the child of God still need to make the choice of making Christ the foundation from which to build your life upon. There are competing priorities that the world tugs at us. Are we serving the Lord, are we using the gifts? Are we trusting Him and clinging to him in our storms of life – the Rock eternal does not waiver and He is dependable. Know who you are in Christ, you are a living stone, a part of the spiritual house and kingdom that God is building – be separate from the world by being holy and reach out in love to others who are not part of the kingdom yet.
Sunday, May 28, 2023
Prayer
A Prayer and Declarations against Spirits of Darkness by Kaye Johns
Father,
We stand against Satan and his spirits of darkness in the power and presence of Christ, our armor of light. May we every day clothe ourselves in Christ, praying Him on as our armor, shining so brightly that evil spirits of darkness flee His light!
● We put Christ on as our belt of truth—for He is the way, the truth and the life...
● Christ alone is breastplate of righteousness we take up, righteousness credited to us by our faith...
● We put on Jesus, the Lord of peace on our feet as the readiness of the gospel of peace, the glorious gospel that gives us peace in knowing that He paid the debt of our sins, He died in our place...
● We take up Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith as our shield of faith with which we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil...
● We shield our heads with Jesus, for His is the only name by which we are saved, the name above all names, the name at which one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess: Jesus Christ is Lord!
We confess it now, You are our Savior, Redeemer, and Lord. We declare that no evil will harm us because we are God’s children! Satan has no hold on us because we are servants of the risen Lord, sheltered beneath His wings, guarded by His angels, hallelujah!
We declare these truths in Jesus’ name:
Jesus shed His blood for us, blood that...
Redeems us (Ephesians 1:7).
Pays the debt of our sins (Romans 3:25).
Sanctifies us (Hebrews 13:12).
Cleanses and purifies me from the defilement of oursins (1 John 1:7).
Washes away the guilt of our sins (Romans 5:9).
Reconciles us to the Father (Colossians 1:20).
Cleanses our conscience (Hebrews 9:14).
Binds us to the covenant of love (1 Corinthians 11:25).
Protects us from Satan (Revelation 12:11).
Has made possible the word of our testimony…
We are children of the living God and Satan cannot harm us (1 John 5:18).
No one can separate us from His love (Romans 8:35-39).
No one can snatch us out of His hand (John 10:28-29).
He has a plan for our lives, a plan for good, not evil (Jeremiah 29:11).
Nothing can interfere with His plans (Isaiah 46:10-11).
He watches over us (Psalm 121:5, 7).
Greater is He who is in us, than the one who’s in the world (1 John 4:4).
We are grateful that in Christ...
We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3).
We were chosen before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).
We are holy and blameless in Your sight (Ephesians 1:4).
We have been adopted as Your children (Ephesians 1:5).
We have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1:7).
We have been guaranteed an inheritance (Ephesians 1:14).
We have been made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5).
We have been saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8).
We have been affirmed as Your workmanship, Your masterpieces
(Ephesians 2:10).
We have been assured that You have prepared good works for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
Serving with Confidence!
We are to live without fear, each of us knowing—
● The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect me from the evil one (2 Thessalonians 3:3).
● I can resist Satan, standing firm in the faith (1 Peter 5:9)!
● When I submit to God and resist the devil, he’ll flee from me (James 4:7).
Our strategy is to pray and declare the truth—
Satan is the tempter (Matthew 4:3)—
but God won’t let me be tempted beyond limit (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44)—
but I’m not fooled, because truth lives in me (2 John 2).
Satan is the accuser (Revelation 12:10)—
but there is no condemnation in Christ (Romans 8:1)!
Satan may try to deceive me (2 Corinthians 2:11)—
but the Spirit of truth is my Counselor (John 14:16-17).
Satan is a thief who is out to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10)—
but Jesus is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him (2 Timothy 1:12).
Satan may try to plant his ideas in my mind (1 Chronicles 21:1)—
but I can capture every thought to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
Satan prowls around like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8)—
but he’s no match for Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).
Spirits of fear may try to frighten me (2 Timothy 1:7)—
but I have the spirit of love, power, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
Satan may try to gain control over parts of my life (Ephesians 4:26-27)—
but I confess my sins, so that I give him no ground (1 John 1:9).
Satan wants to trap me (1 Timothy 3:5-7; 2 Timothy 2:25-26)—
but I have no reason to fear, for I am led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14).
Satan may try to scheme and outwit me (2 Corinthians 2:11)—
but the Spirit of truth will guide me into all truth (John 16:13).