Taking His Name

I was sitting in Sunday School this morning and heard a verse of scripture I have heard a thousand times for the first time. The scripture is:

Exd 20:7 KJV - Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Yes, I know this scripture is referring to misusing the names of God, I am not trying to say it does not. However the Bible is like no other book ever written in that it is living and active, which means that the same verse can have multiple meanings. In that light if a bride takes the name of her husband when they are married, could this also apply to Christ and His bride the church? Could it be that when we become Christians we take His name. If this is the case then what does the word vain mean? If you know me then you might think I have already looked up the Hebrew word and you would be right. The Hebrew word here for vain is shäv which means emptiness, vanity, or falsehood.
So is it possible to take His name in emptiness, vanity or falsehood? The second book of Corinthians chapter 5 verse 13 says:

2Cr 13:5 NIV - Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?

This letter was written to the church at Corinth, so these were Christians. If we live our Christian lives without conviction, and without purpose are we living in His name? Do my actions reflect God's glory? Just a thought, maybe we think we are doing good by not saying GD or some other form of misuse, but if we fail to be His ambassadors to the world around us, do we also take His name in vain?

Opposition

Growth doesn't come without opposition. The same instrument that sharpens a sword can also dull it. So the question is will you allow opposition to sharpen you into a weapon used for His glory, or remain a dull show piece on a wall?

Why Did He Call You?

So the other day I was driving down the road in my truck and ask God a question I have asked several times before. It was kind of a rhetorical question, but I got an answer anyway. The question was why did you call me, with all the great men of God why me? The answer was basically He didn't call me to preach, or to any of the ministries He allows me to be a part of... He created me for those purposes. He calls me to fulfill my purpose. God has created us all for a purpose and sometimes we run from God's calling to fulfill that purpose. So that being the case, your qualification and abilities are not based on how good you are at something, but at how well you yield to His calling to fulfill what He created you for.
I heard someone tonight talking about how they feel like sometimes if one person doesn't do what God calls them to, God will call someone else to do that work. And I thought about it for a while, I don't believe God calls anyone as a second choice. I believe God created each us for His plan and He will work it out in us to the degree that we yield to His calling.

Why the Cross Wasn't the End

As a Christian I have sang the song I owed a debt I couldn't pay He paid a debt He didn't owe probably a thousand times. However that song isn't entirely correct.
I can pay the debt. We all always could even before Christ. The Bible say in Rom 6:23 That the wages of sin is death. I have within me the ability to pay that debt and so do you.

So if we can pay the price why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Well paying sin doesn't reconcile us with God. It only makes us free of debt to sin. And God and sin are not the same. And before you can reconcile with God you have to have all debts to your life paid. In much the same way you can't sell a house with a lien on it. But If I pay the debt to sin, I can no longer live so even if I could reconcile with God, I am dead so there is no way for me to even attempt it.
Jesus died on the cross and paid our debt. He is the only one who could because He is the only one who didn't owe a debt. All anyone else could do was pay their own debt. So all we need to do is accept the payment He made for us to be free from sins debt. But that still doesn't reconcile us with God.
This is why we have Easter. The Bible says Jesus was the first born among many brothers, which is in reference to His resurrection. Not only did Jesus pay our debt. But He made a way for life after that payment. He made a way for us not only to be debt free and reconciled to God, but for us to share In His inheritance as heir to the thrown of everything. This was all made possible because Christ rose from the dead and gave us life after the payment of sin.
So if you didn't know. Your debt to sin was paid. It is like receiving a check in the mail for the total amount of your debt. All you have to do is use that check. And all you have to do to have your debt to sin paid is except what Christ did for you and the live in the abundant life given to us through the resurrection. Or you still have the option of paying sin out of your own pocket. But that still leaves you unreconciled to God.

Are you good enough?

I just started a new job a couple weeks ago and found a key in one of my drawers. I had assumed the key was to unlock the elevator. Well this morning I had the opportunity to give it a try, and it seems I am still not sure what the key is for. All this reminded me about something I had thought a while back.
Keys are made for specific locks. A key that is made for my car will not open your car door. (Well, my mom did have one time when a friend of hers had locked her keys in her car and my mom's key opened her door, but that was a miracle and doesn't count.)
The key you have may work well for your life, you might even feel happy and fulfilled. However, when you die you will come to a door whose lock your key will not open. What it comes down to is thinking you are good enough on your own to get into heaven is like taking your own house key and trying to use it on your neighbors door.

Sometimes the Seed Just Doesn't Germinate

I grow hot peppers. I usually take the seed from a pepper the previous year and let it dry out and put it in a dark place and when it comes time to plant the next year I pull it out and put it in a plant starting kit. What I have noticed is that even though I take the same care with all my seeds, I water them, I give them sunlight, this year I even started putting them on a heating pad. Yet even with all this care, sometimes the seed doesn't germinate and nothing grows. It would really seems silly to blame God or even dwell on the question of why in this situation. 
However when we pray and pray for an outcome and do everything we are supposed to and things still don't turn out the way we think they should, sometimes we can get stuck on the question of why. Why is a question that can not be answered, it can even bring you to a point of questing God and his motives or his plan. This is never our place. Our job is to plant the seed, water them and make sure they have everything they need to grow. 
We can never make a seed grow, and we can never make a situation turn out the way we think it should. We must trust God. He is the only one who holds the answer to why, and He is the only one who can make the seed grow.



1Cr 3:6 NIV - I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.

What If We Turned the Tables?

Mat 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Hey who is storming who's gate in this picture? And what weapon are they using?
What if Christians started telling the devil the same things he tells us? psst devil, you are worthless, you are a failure, you been trying to take down the church for 2000 years, time to give up.