Tag Archives: Evangelism

Faith

Lasting Impressions


“May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe…” Steve Green, “Find Us Faithful”

From now on let no one trouble me [by making it necessary for me to justify my authority as an apostle, and the absolute truth of the gospel], for I bear on my body the branding-marks of Jesus [the wounds, scars, and other outward evidence of persecutions—these testify to His ownership of me]. Galatians 6:17 AMP

The Roads We Travel

I love riding my bike. Since I moved to Pueblo from Houston, I’ve been able to ride my bike nearly every day. I couldn’t do that in Houston because the air is too thick and hot for me to breathe. The last 26 rides I’ve been on I have logged over 218 miles. After one arduous ride, I saw tattoos of the bike petals deeply embedded in the soles of my shoes.

These marks are proof to me that I have been there and done that.

Life takes us many directions. Some, we want to go, some we don’t. Some are good roads, some are bad. All the roads we travel have something in common. It leaves an impression.

Who Bears The Scars?

When I go back to the various trails I have recently ridden, I see no evidence I have been there, but my shoes bear the marks of all the effort I have made being there. This made me ask myself a question.

When I go anywhere, wherever I go, I pick up impressions in my heart and mind, and sometimes body, that I have been there. But what evidence of my being there did I leave behind? If there is any evidence, who bears the scars? If I have been there and represented Christ, the trail I leave behind will reflect Christ. If I have been there and have not served Christ, if I am lucky, there will be no evidence I have been there. Too often, in my life, in my world, the scars I leave behind aren’t mine but have been imposed on people I have been involved
with.

Paul’s Scars

Paul made many missionary journeys. He went places he wanted to go, and many he didn’t. Some places he wanted to go, he never got to see. But everywhere he went, he bore the scars in his body of having been there. The evidence he was there lives today. We have Christianity in Europe and America because of what Paul did.

My Prayer

Lord,

For once in my life, make my feet a blessing on the paths I wander. Lead me to walk in your way. Take me out of my way and place me on your way, so others can see the way. Let me bear the marks of Christ for the sake of the souls who need the mark of your salvation on their souls. For there is no other way to the Kingdom of God but through you, Lord Jesus.

Amen

I love you in the name of Jesus,

David G. Perkins

Sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Faith

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit….


Mathew 5:3  “Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶνοὐρανῶν”

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Jesus

NOTES ARE FROM “THE BLUE LETTER BIBLE“

Textus Receptus

InterlinearReverse Interlinear
English (KJV)  
 Strong’s Root Form (Greek) Parsing

Blessed

 g3107 μακάριος makarios  blessed, happy
are the poor g4434 πτωχός ptōchos

destitute of wealth of learning and intellectual culture which the schools afford (men of this class most readily give themselves up to Christ‘s teaching and proved them selves fitted to lay hold of the heavenly treasure)
in spirit: g4151

πνεῦμα pneuma

   the spirit, i.e. the vital principal by which the body is animated

the rational spirit, the power by which the human being feels, thinks, decides

the soul
for g3754

ὅτι hoti

 that, because, since (Conjunction)

 
theirs g846

αὐτός autos
  1. himself, herself, themselves, itself
is g2076

ἐστί esti

  “he/she/it is” (third person singular of ‘to be’)
the kingdom g932 βασιλεία basileia
  1. the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings

of heaven.

 g3772

οὐρανός ouranos

  1. of the royal power of Jesus as the triumphant Messiah

  2. of the royal power and dignity conferred on Christians in the Messiah’s kingdom

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Jesus

Jesus has a habit of choosing people who the world will overlook or ignore.  They are the common, uncomplicated masses that have nothing but themselves to offer.

Modern Evangelism sells is a faith that emphasizes self; Strength of self-will, strength of a beautiful and optimistic mind-set, the strength of what we bring to the table, what we can offer Jesus, to take or leave.  We make of ourselves managers of Jesus call, and make of Jesus nothing more than a vending machine who will make us wealthy and happy and successful.

There is no emphasis on the RICHNESS of His grace, the Joy of His salvation, and the discipleship of Jesus as Lord.

“But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,” 

John 2:24 – King James Bible “Authorized Version”, Cambridge Edition

Growing up in evangelic churches in the South, I always heard the phrase, “Decide for Christ”.  This emphasizes something that Jesus never trusted: Our way of thought.  Jesus did not ask you to “decide for Him”, but that we should yield to Him, and that is entirely different.  To choose Christ means you will yield to Him.

Christ’s Kingdom on this earth, in this time, is made up of the “unaffected loveliness of the commonplace” – Chambers – My Utmost for His Highest.  

I can be the wealthiest man on earth, and still be poor in spirit.  What I am blessed in is my poverty.  I tried to conform to His will by my strength, my will, my knowledge, my nobility of disposition.  That is where I found that I have nothing in my own soul to recommend me to Him.  In my “Religious Bigotry”, I thought I could take everything I am and Christ would have to accept it, just the way it is.  I even gave Him permission to, if it actually needed it, to modify what I brought to the table.

On top of that show of raw arrogance, I began to claim treasures from Him.  I believed that if I were not successful in the world, beautiful to the world, and holier than anyone else, to be seen in the world as a saint, and a popular one, at that, then I was not standing fast in the completeness of all the Gifts God had given me.

It has taken my material circumstances to teach me that Jesus has no need of anything I bring to Him, and that His blessings are not as shallow as the ones I was “claiming” in His name.

He has no use for me being good, and bringing Him my imperfect accomplishments.  It is when I recognize the poverty of my spirit that the Kingdom has a place in me, and I in it.  I can enter the Kingdom and possess it only when I recognize what a pauper I am, and understand that treasures are built in Heaven, and that His riches surpass anything that the world has to offer.

No effort of mine will reveal the true loveliness of Jesus and His Kingdom.  This kind of loveliness that reveals God is unconscious.  The conscious influence I bring is something I add to what the Spirit is trying to do through me, the unconscious and unfiltered loveliness of Christ.  It is when I think that I am useful to Jesus, when I contribute MY opinion or My ability, that the loveliness of the Lord vanishes and I take the lime light.  The glow of His touch fades because I have taken its place by my strength.

It is when I come to Christ, poor in spirit, that what Jesus said is true: “He that believeth in me, out of him shall flow rivers of living water.”  If I stop and look at what is flowing, I immediately spoil and interfere with that flow.  It is in my unguarded moments that my real and true relationship with Christ as my Lord is revealed.  That is the unconscious and unaffected flow of Christ flowing from you.  I cannot improve on that.  All I can do is desire more, and as I submit to the Lord, I have more.  If I believe I have to stop what I am doing and add to that flow, than I become consciously and willfully an intruder on the unconscious and natural flow of the work of Christ.  It is when I keep my eyes on Jesus that I am the most useful to Him. I become a bystander to His glory.

The people who have influenced my walk in the Lord weren’t the ones who thought they did.  The people who genuinely influenced me the most were the ones who had no idea that they were even remotely on my radar.

I know when Jesus is at work when He produces, in the common people of life, and the common circumstances they live in, that lovely flowing river of life.  It is in the common place that Jesus is most inspiring.

My Prayer:  Lord, take me out of the way.  Teach me to abandon all the stuff I try to bring to you, and replace it with the knowledge that I am actually poor in spirit.  Make me teachable so your living waters will flow out of me.

I get, now, why Paul said that all He had was dung, compared to the greatness of Jesus and His salvation.

To serve Jesus, I must come to Him empty of my self, and desiring to be filled with Him.

Let’s be about it.

I Love You,

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Faith

“Follow Me”


Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Matt. 16:24 KJV

Is my Christianity at war with Jesus? Have I replaced the sound doctrine of being Christ-Centered, with the new gospel of a Self-Centered theology? Have I turned Christ into a vending machine and replaced scripture with a man-centered psychology where self-esteem is more important than the knowledge of the Holy? Do I abuse scripture to fill my personal desires, rather than listen to the desire God has for my life?

I have asked to be made in His image, but have I refused to give up my self-love, self-dignity, self-respect and self-esteem? Have I believed that Christ is my servant, that must grant my every wish? Do I believe I am not a Christian unless I am prosperous, unless Jesus gives me a better golf swing, and helps me lose that extra 50 pounds, and make my sales quota skyrocket?

Does my easy-believeism teach me that salvation is proved when all my selfish intentions come to fruition?

Has my Christianity become a get what you want from God, instead of a give all you can for Christ?

Do I abandon the requirements for an eternal life that honors Christ, for a life where Jesus is forced to honor me?

The real gospel of self-sacrifice and Christ-Likeness is no longer in vogue. I have to get to the place where I understand that to be remade in the image of Christ, that to follow Jesus, is to commit myself to the death of my self. I do not win Christ likeness unless I lose my self. I live in eternity when I die to my own whims and allow the character of Christ to replace my fallen character.

Have I come to the point where I am ready to give up everything I hold dear just to follow Him? I have no desire, at the end, to put on a form of Godliness only to hear Christ tell me, “Get away from me, I never knew you.”

I make this my prayer:

“Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess everything, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive. Let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley, Thy life in my death.” – Anonymous

To live is to die, but to die to self, and follow Christ, is to live.

I love you,

David

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