Nomads2

“Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.” 1 Corinthians 10:33.

Whatever you do, eat, drink or whatever, do it all to the glory of God. Living like this makes us a testimony to the world. Those who are lost, might be saved…

I like to put tracts out everywhere I go. Most of the time, I just plant the tracts, like a secret agent, and then slink away. But, if the tracks of my life don’t match the tracts that I leave, I am not making the right tracks in this world. I am not being a witness for the Lord. We must give out the Gospel, sometimes but not always, by using words. As a believer, you are the only Bible most people will ever read…

“And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭16‬:‭30‬-‭34‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“Mine answer to them that do examine me in this, Have we not power to eat and to drink?” 1 Corinthians 9: 3-4.

The word ‘answer’ in the Greek means defense. Paul says, My defense to them… Like being in a court of law. We have the right to eat and drink, liberty. Liberty that is curtailed by others.

“Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”
‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭8‬:‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

Free will- is it not? If you can do something but choose not to do it, that is free will! Liberty, maybe the highest liberty is to exercise this in your life.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

If you have been married for 47 years today, (like us), you will have been together 17,155 days, 411,720 hours or 24,703,200 minutes, 1,482 million seconds.

Like us, you would have shared on average, over 128,600 hours sleeping, or about 14 years, 8 months.

We never worked together so we have been apart for over 99,376 hours which is about 11 years, 4 months.

By now, we have shared about 37,400 meals together!!!

Yesterday I was trying to think what I was doing the day before our wedding, those 47 years ago? I can remember almost all of our wedding day, but the day before, not so much…

Norm and I have talked it over for quite some time and have come to the conclusion that forty seven years ago, we made the right decision…

“Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.”
‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Six different materials to build on. Working in disaster relief on destroyed homes, we never find wood, hay or stubble. Often, if the property owners identify a specific area where gold, silver, or precious stones are located, more often that not, we find them.

Pondering these verses and rolling them over in my head, if your life would be the material things in your possessions, after a fire, there is very little left. The amount of gold, silver and precious stones is pretty small compared to what has to be hauled away. We can build with any of these six materials, as always, it is our choice to choose the foundation material to which to erect our spiritual home…

I am praying that my spiritual building is the opposite of my material building…

“God is faithful, by whom ye are called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Cor. 1:9.

In the first nine verses of First Corinthians Jesus is mentioned Nine times!

“God is faithful.” Men and women, not so much. Even other sisters and brothers in Christ, are not always faithful. But God is!

“By whom ye were called.” Called by God in Christ Jesus, a high calling. A fellowship, Koinonia, (Greek). If Jesus is your Savior, you are in partnership with Jesus. The True Owner of everything you and I own.

Marriage. In the Old Testament God says not to hitch and ox with an ass to plow. If you are married, hopefully you are not hitched to an ass. Marriage is a Koinonia, a partnership. Our relationship with Christ is a love relationship. We love Him because He first loved us.

Move ahead with God as your partner. We can face all of the worlds problems with God as our partner. Look to Jesus, He is the solution to all of our frustrations and problems of life. Swimming up stream in a sinful world is only possible in the Koinonia of the Lord Jesus Christ…

“Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭15‬:‭42‬-‭47‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Interesting to notice, Joseph asked for the body- ‘soma’ is the Greek word. Pilate gave Joseph the body- ‘ptoma’ is the Greek word. The word soma speaks of the total personality, a word meaning care and tenderness. The word ptoma that Pilate used just means the corpse or carcass. Two different viewpoints, two different attitudes toward death and the bodies of the dead. Joseph wanted Jesus, all Pilate did was give him a carcass. What a difference!!!

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,”
‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

There is no Gospel without the Resurrection. The Gospel is a series of facts concerning Jesus Christ. Period…

The Gospel does not tell us what to do, it tells what Jesus has done for us…

“Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭10‬:‭17‬-‭27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Money will buy a bed, but it will not buy sleep.

Money will buy food, but it will not buy an appetite.

Money will buy medicine, but it will not buy health.

Money will buy a house, but it will not buy a home

Money will buy a diamond, but it will not buy love.

Money will buy a church pew, but it will not buy salvation.

Jesus is inviting you and I to get rid of that which stands between us and Him. Jesus is God!!!

“Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?” So they answered, “John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭8‬:‭27‬-‭29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST?

“What think ye of Christ” is the test

To try both your state and your scheme;

You cannot be right in the rest,

Unless you think rightly of Him.

Who is Jesus to you? What will you do with The Christ, the Son of the living God???…Jesus is His name, Christ is His title. In the Hebrew, it is the Messiah, the “Anointed One.”

“They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭7‬:‭37‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This guy came in for a landing, gliding, and looking very majestic and in charge…