Common Sense

Recently I received an e-mail about an OBIT of the late 'Mr. Common Sense'. I will give some of it here so you can get the gist of it.

'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. ...He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault...His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. i.e.: A 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student. It declined further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or Aspirin to a student, but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses...Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.'

Just what is Common Sense that it could so easily slip away and so few notice? Webster's Dictionary definition is:"ordinary good sense or sound practical judgment."

Here is what the Bible says about it, found in Jeremiah 10:23: "...It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps." To me this is saying it is just not in us to have sound practical judgment or 'Common Sense'. Proverbs 16:3 gives us instructions on how to have this 'Common Sense' however: "Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established." So when one stays close to the Lord, He will help our thoughts to be as with 'Common Sense." If we will stay tuned in to the Lord, we will hear a word behind us say 'this is the way, walk in it'. (Isaiah 30:21).

Our Lord will guide our steps, direct our path, protect us from harm when we establish our thoughts on Him, and He will give us ordinary good sense known as 'Common Sense'.

1. From the heart of CC
2. Webster New World Dictionary
3. The Holy Bible

His Grace

II Cor. 12:9 states:"My Grace is sufficient for thee." These words are so precious to me that to better understand the complete meaning I will take each word and think about its application.

The first word is 'MY' which is the Lord himself saying that it is His Grace. It is His Grace to give, and all I need do is to take from it.
"MY Grace is sufficient for thee."

The next word is 'GRACE'. It is by God's Grace that I have been saved, and this Grace is unmerited favor given to me. God has blessed me in so many ways, with His Power and Love, and most of all with His Grace. First and foremost is Grace! "My GRACE is sufficient for thee."

'IS' can be very important, even though it is a very small word. It shows that at this very moment God's Grace IS available and sufficient. Not yesterday, as yesterday is now gone. Not tomorrow, as tomorrow may never come, but right now! 'IS' is present tense. "My Grace IS sufficient for thee."

The word 'SUFFICIENT' means that this is all I need. Absolutely nothing else is needed. It would be as if the ocean would say to a little fish to 'drink away, my waters are sufficient for you'. Or Joseph of old, telling the little mouse in his granary to eat up, there is sufficient grain.
"My Grace is SUFFICIENT for thee."

And last but not least is the word 'THEE'. God's Grace is available and sufficient for me at anytime. I just need to lean on Jesus, and the Grace that saved me, will also be sufficient for me and will keep me in the straight path.
"My Grace is sufficient for THEE."

And Lord I thank you that your Grace, Your Amazing Grace, is all I need.

a. From the heart of CC
b. II Corinthians 12:9

Angels - Part III

God uses Angels to work on the behalf of His children. They are sent to comfort and strengthen us. When Jesus was in the garden praying, before His arrest, Luke 22:43 states "there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him." Hebrews 1:14 tells us they are "sent forth to minister (comfort) for them who shall be heirs of salvation." I Kings 19:5 and also 7 tells us about the angel coming to Elijah on two occasions, touching him and telling him to "arise and eat", thus nurturing and ministering to Elijah in his time of need.

Scripture also tells us that the angels watch us. I Cor. 4:9 says that the apostles were made a "spectacle unto the world, and to angels". Ephesians 3:10 (NIV) says "through the church, the manifold (or displaying) wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms." It should be a sobering thought that the church on earth is observed, so to speak, by spiritual powers.

During the time of Tribulation, God will use His angels to execute most of the judgments. It will be the army of God's angels that will defeat Satan and his fallen angels and cast them forever out of Heaven, and at the end an angel will seize Satan and bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit for a thousand years.

God created the angels sometime before He created the universe, as they were there according to Job 38:4-7. And we know they will be entrusted with guarding the New Jerusalem in eternity as Rev. 21:12 describes this beautiful place as having a "great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates."

As powerful and beautiful as these angels are, and as overwhelming as it might be should we actually see an angel, we are not to worship them. When John was overcome at the sight of the angel, the angel told him "do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!" (Rev. 19:10, NIV) Also in Rev. 22:9 he again says, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant...Worship God!"

Angels - Part II

God used His angels throughout Scripture as special messengers. In Daniel 10 there is an interesting story about the angel who states in vs. 11 "For unto thee am I now sent." Then the angel goes on to tell Daniel that he was bringing Daniel the answer to his prayers but was held back by the forces of Satan, referred to as "the prince of the kingdom of Persia". This brings real meaning to the verse in Ephesians 6:12 where it tells us to put on the whole armor of God "for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

In Daniel 8:15 after Daniel had seen the vision of the 'little horn', a specific angel, Gabrial, came to explain to Daniel the meaning of the vision. Gabrial is used often in Scripture to deliver messages to God's servants.

In Matthew 1:20, and 2:13 the angel appeared to Joseph on two different occasions giving him messages. The first one assuring him that he should take Mary for his wife, that she had conceived of the Holy Spirit; and the second time to warn him to take his family and flee into Egypt. In Luke 1:11 the angel came to Zacharias when he had gone into the temple, and told him that his prayer had been heard and he and Elizabeth would have a son, whose name would be called "John". In Luke 1:25-33 the angel came to Mary and gave her the message that she would bring forth a son, the Son of the Highest.

Luke 2:9-14 gives us the story of the angel that came to the shepherds with the message that Jesus had been born, and this angel was joined by a multitude of heavenly hosts. They were so excited that all the angels wanted to be a part of this glorious and awesome message.

In Matthew 28:5 an angel rolls the stone away from the grave, and meets the women with the message that Jesus was no longer there, but He had risen. The angel gave the women a special message from Jesus for them to take back to his disciples.

All through Scripture we find that God used His angels to make His will known to man and to communicate His decisions to him.

Next week we will see how angels touch our very lives. . .
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Angels - Part I

For the next three weeks I am going to give you some of the interesting facts I have found about angels. Though many have written books about them, I find that God's Word is the best source of knowledge.

A lot has been said about angels in recent years from TV shows to movies, to figurines both cute and majestic. Is an 'angel' just a figment of our imagination, or are angels real beings? To better define an 'angel' we turn to the Word of God in which we find angels mentioned quite frequently. We also find that angels are 'spirits', yet are often given a form of man to perform specific services. Angels are referred to in the masculine gender, as 'he', though a male or female sex in the human sense is never given to angels. Neither are angels given in marriage according to Matthew 22:30 and Mark 12:25. Their power is greater than that of any man, and their place of being is around the throne of God. In Revelation 5:11 it states "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne..." and "And all the angels stood round about the throne."

As to their relation to the believers, they are said to be ministering spirits, and to give us physical safety and well being for the children of God. These guardian angels have constant access to "see the face of God" (Matthew 18:10).

We find that angels are given for our protection, to fight for us, to comfort us, as messengers sent by God, and that the angels watch man--they observe what we do. Psalm 34:7 states "The angel of the Lord encamps round about those who fear him, and delivers them." Psalm 91:11 tells us "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." We also find in Daniel 6:22 that Daniel told the king "My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths...". In Daniel 3:28 the king acknowledges that God had "sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him." Psalm 35:5 & 6 tells us "the angel of the Lord chase them"...and "the angel of the Lord persecutes them" (meaning our enemies), and in II Kings 19:35 the angel slew a whole army.

In Acts we find the angel is sent often to the early saints. In Acts 12:7-10 the angel woke Peter up, loosed his chains and led him out of the prison. Once he was safely in the street the angel departed. In Acts 5:19 we have another time with the apostles were brought out of prison by the angel.

(Next week more on angels as God's messengers.)
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The Touch of Jesus

When Jesus lived on earth he was very much flesh, blood and bone. A totally physical body. I sometimes envy those who experienced that life with Him. Though I know He is now with me every day of my mortal life, as real as the air I breath yet cannot see, I would like to feel with physical feeling the touch of His hand.

In Matthew 8 and 9 we are given several examples of "the touch of Jesus". Each example shows us how His touch speaks of sympathy, love and power. And here is the amazing thing: each example we are given is a situation where it would be considered 'unclean' to touch the person. Yet He was willing to touch, just as He is willing to touch our lives which are dirty and filthy with sin, and make us whole and clean.

Matthew 8:2 tells of a leper who came and worshipped Jesus saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." Leviticus 13 tells about all types of skin diseases, and calls these diseases leprosy, with the person being pronounced unclean. In II Cor. 6:17 it says "touch not the unclean thing". A leper in the Old Testament was put outside the camp and was to stay away from others. Jesus knew this, yet Matthew 8:3 states "He stretched forth His hand, and touched him." Jesus could have made the leper clean without touching him, but He chose to show His love by the comfort of a touch.

Matthew 9:20 is the story about the woman who was diseased with an issue of blood for 12 years. She came behind him and 'touched' his garment. In Leviticus 15, a woman is considered 'unclean' during her monthly cycle, or a drainage of blood. The woman who came to Jesus had been bleeding from an illness for 12 years, yet Jesus turned and told her to be 'of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee well.' He allowed her to touch Him and He did not rebuke her or draw away from her in disgust, but comforted her and healed her.

In this same chapter of Matthew He went to the home of a certain ruler whose daughter was ill, and in fact she died before they reached the home. According to the Law in Numbers 19:11 it states: "he who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days." Jesus could have healed the little girl before she died, or He even could have given the word and brought her back to life, but instead He went to the girl's room and took the hand of the child who was dead. She arose, well and whole and just as though she had never been ill.

Matthew 8:14,15 gives us a short example of Jesus touch when He went to Peter's house and Peter's mother-in-law was sick with a fever. Instead of leaving her alone lest He catch a disease, He 'touched her hand', and the fever left her. She felt so well afterwords, it says she "arose, and ministered unto them."

Today we find countless hearts and lives soothed by the healing touch of Jesus, as He takes what is 'unclean', our dirty filthy rags of sin, and turns us into something beautiful.

Bill and Gloria Gaither have written this beautiful song of Jesus 'Touch':

Shackled by a heavy burden,

'Neath a load of guilt and shame--

Then the hand of Jesus touched me,

And now I am no longer the same.

He touched me,

O He touched me,

And O the joy that floods my soul;

Something happened, and now I know,

He touched me and made me whole.

(This article from the heart of CC)

A Paradox

"Let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the Cross." (Phil. 2:5-8)

The way of the Lord is definitely a paradox. In these verses we have Jesus, equal to God the Father, yet He became as a bondservant with no reputation. He is Creator of all, Ruler of all, yet He humbled Himself even to death. We who are followers of Jesus are told to 'love' our enemies; we are to be gentle, yet strong. The rich are told they will become poor, and the poor will become rich. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. Jesus is our ultimate example to show us how to love those who despitefully use us. None of this life is about me, it is all about Him. It should be "not I, but Christ." John 3:30 states "He must Increase, but I must decrease." This is the Jesus way. So be it.