Dr. John Reddy

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Sinful Condition - "The Ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib..."

Sinful Condition

Sometimes when people are especially sinful we speak of them as behaving like animals. Isaiah said, in effect, “I wish I could say Israel was acting like animals.” At least animals have the instincts to do what is best for themselves. But sin causes human beings to act against their own best interests –even when they’re trying to be selfish!

The people of Israel were God’s chosen ones, his children. He cared and provided for them and protected them. Most important he loved them. But they were like ungrateful children, rebellious against his authority, as well as his commands to maintain a just society and to worship only him.

The Lord does not accept ignorance as an excuse. Even ignorant animals knew better than God’s people. Their ignorant rebellion hurt them.

Later in his prophecy, Isaiah warned of judgment, and then he promised deliverance, including the coming of Christ. But first, he made a case for the seriousness of sin for how hurtful it is. We should listen too; we’re just as sinful as the Israelites, and we still need a Savior.

Friday, March 16, 2012

...AND THE IRON DID FLOAT

...AND THE IRON DID FLOAT

The company of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.”

And he said, “Go.”

Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?”

“I will,” Elisha replied. And he went with them.

They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axe-head fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”

The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.

The axe-head seemed hopelessly lost, and as it was borrowed, the honor of the prophetic band was likely to be imperiled, and so the name of their God to be compromised. Contrary to all expectation, the iron was made to mount from the depth of the stream and to float; for things impossible with man are possible with God.

Beloved reader, what is your desperate case? What heavy matter you have in hand? Bring it here. The God of the prophets lives, and lives to help his saints. Believe thou in the Lord of hosts! Approach him pleading the name of Jesus, and the iron shall float; you too shall see the finger of God working marvels for his people. According to your faith shall it be unto you, and yet again the iron shall float.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

A King Demanded - Samuel Anointed Saul

“So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, ... “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”
But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” " [1 Samuel 8:4-9, 19-20]

A King Demanded

God called Israel out from the nations around them to be holy, separate, and unique. He did it because he loved them and wanted them to survive. But the Israelites were tired of being different, of serving a God nobody could see. They wanted a human monarch to rule the nation, even though only God could cause them to flourish in the hostile land of Canaan.

But Samuel warned them that having a king wouldn’t make all their problems go away. He would reign over them and force their sons and daughters into servitude. Still, they begged. In reality, they were rejecting God as their leader. Had the Israelites submitted to God’s ultimate leadership, they would have thrived beyond their expectations. Instead, they set themselves up for disaster.

When the people persisted in their demand, despite the warning, the Lord again told Samuel to do as they asked and make them a king. The prophet then sent the people home. Soon they would have their king.

Often, we let others’ values and actions dictate our behavior. When we pay lip service to God and Sunday but continue to live by the world’s standards, we’ll blend into our culture too much. Faith in God must permeate every area of our lives. We need to stand out and worship God alone. We live under his kingship.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Fruit of the Spirit

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." [Galatians 5:16-21]

Walk by the Spirit

Notice two words in this passage: deeds and fruit. Operating from the part of us not connected to Christ, we do deeds. Our deeds may be religious, but in the end, they will stink. Fruit, however, arrives a different way. You can’t “do” fruit; you can only grow fruit. For fruit to grow, it must be connected to the tree. Without roots, there is no fruit.

But how is this fruit produced? Is it by man’s effort? Not at all. It is produced as Christians live in communion with the Lord. As they gaze upon the Savior in loving devotion, and obey Him in daily life, the Holy Spirit works a wonderful miracle. He transforms them into the likeness of Christ. They become like Him by beholding Him.

Many frustrated people will go around trying to do deeds of love, joy, peace, patience, and so on. But this is not how fruit is grown. Fruit is grown by our connection to the Spirit of Christ.

We walk by the Spirit when we invite him in. And whenever something gets in the way, we need to keep inviting the Spirit in. When we lack love, joy, peace, or patience, we need the Spirit. God’s Holy Spirit transform will transform our lives.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

...AND THE CHAINS FELL OFF

...AND THE CHAINS FELL OFF

So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.

Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.
The key here is "but the church was earnestly praying to God for him." Earnest prayer brings great deliverance.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Sinful Condition - "The Ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib..."

"The Ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib..."