IS THE CHURCH TODAY ANYTHING LIKE THE CHURCH OF THE APOSTLES OF JESUS ?

10/1/2019

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN I FIND A QUIET PLACE AND SEEK THE LORD’S WISDOM REGARDING JUST HOW MANY THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THE APOSTLES GATHERED TO TELL THE PEOPLE IN JERUSALEM ABOUT JESUS. YEARS OF HISTORY, DIFFERENT RULERS, PAGAN INFLUENCES AND THE WISHES OF MANKIND TO CAST THEIR WISDOM INTO GOD’S PROVIDENCE IS AT TIMES MIND BLOWING ! WE AS CHRISTIANS HAVE CHANGED, REINVENTED, ADDED TO, SUBTRACTED FROM, AND RE-ALIGNED A GREAT DEAL OF GOD’S TRUTH AND PURPOSE AS WE SEEK TO DEFINE WHAT GOD’S WORD AND HIS CHURCH SHOULD LOOK LIKE AND REPRESENT. SO MANY DENOMINATIONS WITH TRADITIONS, DIFFERENT RULES ON BEHAVIOR AND A PENCHANT TO EMBRACE CURRENT SOCIAL NORMS. SO MUCH ARGUING AND FINGER POINTING TO BE THE “TRUE CHURCH”, THAT TRULY KNOWS WHAT IS TRUE :) RIGHT. AS I HAVE TRIED TO UNDERSTAND HOW SO MANY WAYS OF LOOKING AT JESUS, HIS LIFE, HIS SACRIFICE FOR US, HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION, OUR SALVATION AND THE GIFT OF HIS KINGDOM HAVE BECOME SO CONFUSING TO SO MANY, I BELIEVE THE TRUTH IS ALWAYS FOUND IN THE INERRANT WORD OF GOD. ALL OF HIS WORD. FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT ( THE TORAH AND THE TANACH ), TO THE NEW TESTAMENT. GOD’S WORD AND TIME SPENT IN HIS PRESENCE IN CONVERSATION AND PRAYER ARE WHERE I LIKE TO SPEND MY TIME….

ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD BREATHED AND IS USEFUL FOR TEACHING, REBUKING, CORRECTING AND TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, SO THAT THE SERVANT OF GOD MAY BE THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED FOR EVERY GOOD WORK. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

YOUR WORD IS A LAMP FOR MY FEET, A LIGHT ON MY PATH. Psalm 119:105

THEREFORE EVERYONE WHO HEARS THESE WORDS OF MINE AND PUTS THEM INTO PRACTICE IS LIKE A WISE MAN WHO BUILT HIS HOUSE ON THE ROCK. Matthew 7:24

SO IF WE LOOK BACK AT THE TIME WHEN JESUS HAD ASCENDED TO HEAVEN, AND HIS 12 DISCIPLES WERE JUST BEGINNING TO SHARE THE GOSPEL TO ALL WHO WOULD LISTEN, WHAT EXACTLY WERE THEY DOING AND WITH WHOM ? IT IS SO AMAZING THAT THESE MEN LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR THE CHURCH. IT WAS RAW AND PURE AND CERTAINLY HAD THE CHALLENGE OF JEWISH BELIEF AND PRACTICES AND HOW THEY WOULD APPLY TO THE GENTILES AS THE GIFT OF JESUS SPREAD TO ALL MANKIND.. FORTUNATELY FOR US, THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS ALIVE AND SHINING IN THEM, BRINGING WISDOM AND THE TRUTH…..AND ALSO ENLIGHTENMENT ! THESE MEN HAD ONLY THE OLD TESTAMENT TO USE AS THEIR FOUNDATION AND AN UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S COMMANDMENTS…..BUT THEY ALSO HAD THE TEACHING AND TRUTH OF JESUS TO ALSO GUIDE THEM.. THANKS BE TO GOD ! THE EARLY CHURCH IS CLEARLY DISPLAYED IN THE BOOK OF ACTS IN THE SECOND CHAPTER. THE CHURCH WAS INFUSED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, BUILT ON THE TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES, SHARING IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF THOSE WHO BELIEVED, BREAKING BREAD TOGETHER, AND PRAYING TO THEIR ONE TRUE GOD. THEY WERE WATCHING SIGNS, WONDERS, AND MIRACLES BEING DONE, AND THEY USED THEIR RESOURCES TO MAKE SURE THEIR FELLOW BELIEVERS WERE SECURE AND NOT IN NEED. AND THEY MULTIPLIED, EVERY DAY. IN RELATIONSHIP, SHARING JESUS, LOVING EACH OTHER, AND BECOMING JUST WHAT JESUS HAD TALKED ABOUT. JEWS AND GENTILES GRAFTED INTO HIM. ABIDING IN HIM, SEEKING HIS KINGDOM.

INDEED HE SAYS, “ IT IS TOO SMALL A THING THAT YOU SHOULD BE MY SERVANT TO RAISE UP THE TRIBES OF JACOB, AND TO RESTORE THE PERSEVERED ONES OF ISRAEL; I WILL ALSO GIVE YOU AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, THAT YOU SHOULD BE MY SALVATION TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH “. Isaiah 49:6

SO WHERE ARE WE TODAY AS A CHURCH ? ARE WE IN FELLOWSHIP ? ARE WE INFUSED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT ? ARE WE RELYING ON ALL THE WORD THAT GOD HAS PROVIDED ? ARE WE UNDERSTANDING HIS COMMANDMENTS AND AT THE SAME TIME BEING FREE IN THE WAY JESUS HAS FULFILLED THEM AND GIVEN US SUCH A GIFT OF SALVATION AND GRACE ? ARE WE LOVING EACH OTHER AND TAKING CARE OF EACH OTHER ? ARE WE BREAKING BREAD TOGETHER AND SEEKING GOD. ARE WE IN PRAYER WITH HIM IN A DEEP AND ABIDING WAY ? ARE WE UNIFIED ? ARE WE A LIGHT TO THE WORLD ? ARE WE MODELING JESUS AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ? OR ARE WE DIVIDED, FOCUSED ON OUR PARTICULAR DENOMINATION OR CHURCH, CRITICIZING THOSE WHO HAVE A DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDING. LIVING BY THE RULES WE MAKE UP RATHER THAN THE CHARACTER AND WISDOM OF GOD. CHANGING HIS WORD, CHANGING HIS DESIRES, CHANGING HIS CREATIVE POWER TO OUR OWN ENLIGHTENMENT AND OUR OWN CONTROL AND DESIRES….IT CAN BE DISTRESSING…..BUT, GOD IS ETERNAL. HE NEVER CHANGES. HE SENT HIS SON TO SAVE US AND SHOW US A KINGDOM WHERE WE CAN BE WITH HIM FOREVER ! MAN HAS CHALLENGED GOD SINCE THE VERY BEGINNING….AND SO IT SEEMS THE ROOT OF INIQUITY STILL HAS A HOLD ON US….BUT JESUS WILL COME AGAIN, AND HE TRULY WILL SHOW US ALL WHAT HIS CHURCH IS ABOUT….AND I CAN’T WAIT :) IN THE MEAN TIME, I WILL SEEK HIM, READ HIS WORD, BE IN RELATIONSHIP AND PRAYER, KNOWING THAT HE IS IN ME, LEADING AND LOVING ME ALWAYS UNTIL THE DAY I JOIN HIM IN A LIFE OF ABUNDANCE AND JOY ! SO, BE BLESSED AND SEEK HIM EVERY DAY.

“ I AM COME A LIGHT INTO THE WORLD, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH ON ME SHOULD NOT ABIDE IN DARKNESS” John 12:46

SEEK HIM AND FIND LIFE/JA