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Gleanings From The Word

Tag: John

  • The Walking Dead

    The Walking Dead

    zombies

    Our society is fascinated with the idea of zombies, the so-called  “walking dead”. Your local bookstore probably has all kinds of zombie stories. Numerous television shows and movies feature battles against the living dead as a central theme.

    I believe that the walking dead are all around us, but they aren’t anything like the media portrays them. These people seem perfectly normal, even happy in many ways. Their faces are not grotesque masks, and their body parts are not falling off. These dead are ordinary in every way.

    All people are dead in their sin and trespass. All of us start as walking dead and continue unless God releases us.

    “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23 ESV

    Our sin destines us for eternal living torment. Unless we are born again of the Spirit, we never truly experience living.

    “Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” John 3:4-7 ESV

    It is no exaggeration to say that the vast majority of people you see around you daily are dead in their sins. They are the walking dead.

    The dead cannot seek God. The dead cannot choose God. We must take the gospel to them and allow the Spirit to do the work of bringing them back from among the vast hordes of the dead.

    The cure for the actual walking dead isn’t to shoot or stab them in the head. It is to bring Jesus to them.

    Many Christians are hesitant to share the truth of Jesus. It is often fear that holds us back. Fear of rejection or of messing up the message, and more, can inhibit us. Yet, our message is the only hope these people have. All other ways leave them on the path of destruction.

    How significant is the need? Next time you’re out and about, take a look around. Most people you encounter are walking dead in their sin and have no way to rescue themselves.

    Unlike the zombies of fiction, these people cannot bring you into their realm. They cannot undo the work of Christ. We might stumble over them for a while, but we are secure in Christ, so there is no reason to fear them.

    Death has no hold on the believer; it has lost its sting. We will physically die, but our future is a berth in glory. The devil may accuse us, and our stumbles mark us as guilty, but the righteousness of Christ Himself redeems us.

    I urge you to look around with open eyes to see how big the harvest field truly is. Then, may you share the truth of freedom and life.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

    Are you truly alive
    The Gospel – the best news you will ever hear
  • How Big? The Wrong Question

    How Big? The Wrong Question

    As I was pondering what to write, I rolled a piece of blue  kneadable eraser into a small ball. I often fidget with whatever is close at hand or doodle when I’m thinking. It used to get me in trouble in school, but now kids have fidget toys, and it’s pretty acceptable behavior.

    I looked down and realized that in my hands was a little blue ball, which reminded me of the planet Earth. My hand dwarfed it. Then I thought about how small the earth is in God’s hand. We say that the Lord holds the entire universe in his hand. He didn’t even have to roll some material up; He just spoke it all into existence.

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. John 1:1-3 ESV

    In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2 ESV

    I thought about the immense size of the created world, all the galaxies known and yet to be discovered. The size of it all dwarfs my ability to comprehend. It’s safe to say the universe is greater than I can imagine.

    Then I wondered, “How big is God?” In some ways, He must be even bigger than all of that, so God is bigger than I can imagine as well.

    Yet, that also isn’t true. God is spirit, and as a non-material being, he has no size and takes up no space.

    How big is God? The question is nonsensical because God isn’t big. No material metric can measure him. God isn’t tall or short, heavy or light, large or small.

    God is undeniably great. He is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), and omnipresent (all-present). He is infinitely just, righteous, holy, loving, and merciful. He is perfect in his wrath.

    He is the eternally preexistent creator and sustainer of all things. He is without beginning or end.

    The Lord transcends space, time, and matter and can step into or out of them at will.

    Many terms can be used to describe the majesty of God, but big is not one of them.

    The question of “How big is God?” is unanswerable. The closest we can come is that He is big enough to have oversight over everything and small enough to know every detail.

    Even though we cannot answer the question, pondering it should give us plenty of reason to praise His holy name.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

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