Tag Archives: Christian

Empty Space

The space in your heart where the Lord doesn’t reign and rule is an empty space where stray spirits run in and out at will.

When the writer of the book of Hebrews wrote concerning the office and person of our High Priest he said:

“Concerning this, we have much to say, and it is hard to explain since you have become dull and sluggish in [your spiritual] hearing and disinclined to listen.  For though by this time you ought to be teachers [because of the time you have had to learn these truths], you actually need someone to teach you again the elementary principles of God’s word [from the beginning], and you have come to be continually in need of milk, not solid food.”

Hebrews 5:11,12 AMP

As followers and co-heirs with Christ, we are obligated to allow His influence to have free access to our whole hearts.  Of course, this is something that is not altogether possible instantly.  It’s a progressive, conscious and, deliberate course of action.

Before Jesus was arrested, He warned Peter that he would deny Him three times:

“And Peter said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death!” Jesus said, “I say to you Peter before the rooster crows today, you will [utterly] deny three times that you know Me.”

Luke 22:33,34 AMP

I can just hear some of you saying that this happened before Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Before Jesus sent us another comforter [Holy Spirit].  Well, if that is your argument listen to this:

“Now when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him face to face [about his conduct there], because he stood condemned [by his own actions].  Before certain men came from James, he used to eat [his meals] with the Gentiles; but when the men [from Jerusalem] arrived, he began to withdraw and separate himself [from the Gentile believers], because he was afraid of those from the circumcision.”

Galatians 2:11,12 AMP

Peter obviously still had an empty space he hadn’t allowed the Holy Spirit to fill yet.  He was ‘afraid’ of what the Jews back in Jerusalem would think about him fellowshipping with gentiles.

How do you recognize an ‘empty space?’  An empty space is one that is  unruly, unmanageable, unattended, uninviting, etc.,

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says this: Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away.  Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]”.

When we become new in Christ we stop practicing those things of the old nature that kept us slaves to sin.  We don’t suddenly become perfect, but we do continually strive toward perfection.  When we stop practicing lying, hatred, sexual immorality, anger, and such things, we create empty spaces.  Spaces that they once filled.  We have to quickly allow the Holy Spirit to fill those spaces in our hearts with things that will characterize the new person we have become.  How do we do that?

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Philippian church said this:

“Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart]”. Philippians 4:8 AMP

That is how you, with the help of the Holy Spirit, fill those empty spaces.

BEING FULLY TAUGHT

Acts 18:24-26 (Apollos); Revelations 2:12-16 (Nicolaitans)

John identifies the teaching of Balaam with two problems: “eating food sacrificed to idols” and “sexual immorality”.

The early church constantly struggled with compromises with paganism, as we see in Paul’s long discussion in 1 Corinthians 8 – 10, as well as in the conclusions reached in Acts 15:20, 29.  Both of these centers on food offered to idols, Paul’s conclusion being that one could eat such food if purchased in the marketplace, but one should not go to a meal in a pagan temple.

Following this Pauline rule, however, would cut one off from membership in trade guilds, patriotic celebrations (including ceremonies honoring the emperor, considered essential to good citizenship) and many family celebrations.  We can easily see the pressure to rationalize and thereby develop a compromise.

The issue of sexual immorality is more difficult, for it is also mentioned in Revelation 2:20, 22, in the case of Jezebel (an Old Testament code word for a New Testament woman leader of the church in Thyatira, indicating her spirit and God’s evaluation, rather than the woman’s actual name).  On the one hand, sexual immorality was a problem in the early church, as Paul’s discussions show (1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:12-20; compare Hebrews 13:4).

In the middle of a pagan society that accepted the use of prostitutes (although wives were expected to remain faithful), it was difficult to remain obedient on this point and relatively easy to compromise.

On the other hand, “sexual immorality” was used in the Old Testament for involvement with pagan deities.  For example, the Old Testament Jezebel was not to our knowledge physically immoral – she was likely faithful to Ahab all her life – but she did lead Israel into Baal worship.  Since Israel was Gods’ “bride”, such involvement with other gods was called “adultery” or “sexual immorality”.

If then, John is taking the Old Testament examples as the basis for his discussion; sexual immorality is figurative, standing for their worship of other deities, which was implied in their attending feasts in idol temples.

The Nicolaitans, then, appear to be a group that corrupted Gods’ people by suggesting compromise with the culture of the day.  Whie the exact issues are different, similar compromises face the church today.  Each society has its own “idols” that it expects all its citizens to worship, whether those idols be the government itself or some values or practices of society.  Furthermore, the Nicolaitans are still with us under a variety of names, for there are always people who in the name of being “realistic” or under any number of other theological justifications counsel compromise with the dominant culture.  This passage warns us that Jesus will not “buy” these justifications.  He demands nothing less than total loyalty to his own person and directions.  Anything less than this will put those who compromise in danger of his judgement.

PROVIDENCE

PROVIDENCE

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We live in a world governed by a system of laws, natural or spiritual. But in the back of all law, natural or spiritual, there is One who upholds and controls them all, and uses them for His glory:
“…who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power,” … Hebrews 1:3 NKJV
With so much going on around the world, especially in the United States of America, it is no wonder anxiety is high. Many people are forced to stay home from work because safe distancing has become the new order of the day. Then there are others who must work to keep the rest of us safe. The first responders, emergency medical technicians, police officers, doctors, nurses; they all stand on the front line to thwart the invisible dangers head on. They too, are beginning to fall victim to this ravaging virus that have broken out among us.
I would like to offer another perspective on what appear to be a hopeless situation. I would like to steer your attention to a book that I hold above every other book on the planet. The Bible. In this book there’s a story titled after a woman named Esther. If you ever want to see and understand the Providence of God, how He work behind the scenes and, bring everything to a good and perfect end, this is the book for you. The intelligence and wisdom of Providence is revealed in this book.
A man once said, “Fate is blind. Providence has eyes. Fatalism says, whatever is, must be. Providence says, whatever God ordains must be.”
What’s really peculiar about this book is that the name of God is not found in it. Yet, His fingerprints are everywhere. From the time Esther’s’ name was placed in contention to replace Queen Vashti in the Persian empire God stood at a distance, not showing Himself openly.
This is the distinctive feature of Providence in a broad sense. Providence is secret, mysterious, and even unintelligible until its ends are revealed.
We can be sure that God is working for our good, even if we can’t see it, or understand it we can rest with confidence that:
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose”. Romans 8:28 NKJV

Nathaniel Stalling Jr
Elder

THIS TOO WILL PASS.

Jesus-Christ-on-the-cross[2].jpg
If there is one thing, we the human race, know to be true, it is we will survive. After all, we are the crown of Gods’ creation. For there to be any other outcome would not prove we failed, but that He (God) did. We know for sure God does not fail.
Let’s look at some examples:
• When we (humans) threaten to use the divine law of unity for evil (Genesis chapter 11) God had to intervene to save us from ourselves. 4They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” 5The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. 7“Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. 9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth”.
• When we (humans) had sank low into immoral depravity and ungodliness during the days of Noah, a preacher of righteousness, God provided safety for eight people to start again. “And every living thing on the face of the earth was destroyed–man and livestock, crawling creatures and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah remained, and those with him in the ark”. Genesis 7:23
• Persecution of the early church had occurred sporadically and in localized areas since its beginning. The first persecution of Christians organized by the Roman government took place under the emperor Nero in 64 AD after the Great Fire of Rome.
These are only a few instances, out of many, that we as Christians and, as human beings, survived.
This virus that is plaguing the whole world, this Covid-19 virus, will not win. We have faced plagues, floods, famines and persecutions before. None have proven to prevail. I can say with complete confidence that ‘THIS TOO, WILL PASS.

Nathaniel Stalling Jr

When God Speaks In Turbulent Times

WHEN GOD SPEAKS IN TURBULENT TIMES
COVID-19
A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
What does God say about times like this?
Solomon, Israel’s wisest king, wrote this in the book of Ecclesiastes:
“In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider- God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not discover anything that will be after him”. Eccles. 7:14 NASB

Just a few weeks before Easter Sunday the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, is giving his daily briefing on the novel coronavirus sweeping through the United States and particularly, through his State or New York.
New York, as governor Cuomo puts it, is the proverbial canary in a coal mine. He lays out the staggering number of cases and deaths that seem to double daily. He seems to make it plain that this isn’t some foreign far away problem. He implies that what you see happening in New York is coming to your neighborhood, soon.
Washington State, New Jersey, Illinois, Florida and, Louisiana are beginning to show signs of internal stress on their hospitals/medical systems. All fifty states are under some form of government shelter-in-place order. For the first time in modern history all of the major institutions of worship closed. The Vatican cancels public participation at pope’s Easter events due to Covid-19. These are unprecedented measures in modern times.
There are some that refuse to adhere to such restrictive measures that our scientists, medical professionals and, ministers of faith are suggesting. Instead, some are going about saying that God does not want us to live in fear. I beg to differ. You had better fear. Anything less would leave you and your loved ones vulnerable to a needless death.

Paul, writing to the Christians at Corinth, said:
“I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling…” I Cor. 2:3 NASB
The light and shade in man’s life are equally under God’s ordering and permission.
Fear is not something that we can altogether do away with. It has a place and, a part to play in our lives. It keeps a proper restraint on our, sometimes, abuse of freedoms:
“And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy but with fear, loathing even the clothing spotted and polluted by their shameless immoral freedom”. Jude 22, 23 AMP
My hope and prayer is that you stay safe and not abuse your freedom.

Nathaniel Stalling Jr
Elder