I Am the Hizzouse

 "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?
(1 Corinthians 6:19)

What is it about the Christian religion that makes it different than any other religion in the world? What makes a Christian different from a non-believer? What changes someone’s life from that of darkness to that of light, from a drunkard or drug addict to a clean and sober man or woman of God? What is it that continues to change lives today just as it has since the beginning? First off, "It"...isn't an "It", it is the Holy Spirit, a He. He is part of the God-head, the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Helper that Jesus promised to us, the Helper that would be with us forever (John 14:16).

Now the role of the Holy Spirit is vital to not only our salvation, but to the effect we have on this world. In his book "Forgotten God" Francis Chan says, “The world is not moved by love or actions that are of human creation. And the church is not empowered to live differently from any other gathering of people without the Holy Spirit. But when believers live in the power of the Spirit, the evidence in their lives is supernatural. The church cannot help but be different, and the world cannot help but notice.”  When the Holy Spirit lives in you when you accept Christ, you will be different, you will be set apart. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is what (as it grows in your life), sets you apart from this world. It makes us standout like a piece of white lint on a black table cloth, a  city on a hill, that can not be hidden (Matthew 5:14). We should standout and not be afraid to standout. It's not saying, "Look at me I'm better than you!"  it's saying, "Look how God took a person in the shape that I was in and began to change him to be more like Jesus."  Not a better man, because their is no "better man". I don't want to become another man at all, I want to become like the Son of Man, Jesus.

Men can standout and be different on their own, the fruit of the Spirit, can be falsely shown. Ever see some wax fruit or plastic fruit? some of it looks so real that you could eat it. Try that. Take a bite. See false fruit and true fruit are easy to tell apart, when it comes down to being tested. Think about this. The fruit of the Spirit is, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...know people like that? I know unsaved people like that. But when it comes down to it, when they are tested, that wax fruit... starts to rot. The Fruit growing in our lives, because of the Holy Spirit at work in us, is the proof to the world, of the Jesus that we proclaim.

We are His temple, we are to live as though we are. Ever noticed that the outside of a home usually reflects the kind of person that lives in it. You take two HEALTHY people. One lazy and none caring. The other one who is not. Normally you look at their homes on the outside and the lazy person's grass is high, weeds in the flower beds, bushes untrimmed. But then you see the other man's yard. Fresh cut grass, trimmed up bushes and  weed free. It usually depends on who lives on the inside.  Our outward appearance isn't what we need it to be, unless Jesus lives in us. Now when I say outward appearance, I don't mean that you must wear a suit or Christian T-shirt, etc... I'm talking about your attitude and actions. But don't hear this as legalism, remember the wax fruit. The scribes and Pharisees produced wax fruit, not Spirit fruit. Jesus told them that they looked good on the outside, but on the inside they were dead (Matthew 12:27). He said  "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also" (Matthew 23:26). Now that is what we need to do, clean the inside first and the outside will become clean also. In other words, accept Christ, when you do, He will live inside of you, never to leave you (Romans 11:29). He will change you from the inside out when you allow Him to control your life. Relax in Jesus, allow Him to change you. Stop trying to become godly on your own and allow Jesus to live through you so that people don't see you doing good, but Christ doing good through you. 

We are the temple of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and like Francis Chan said, "The church cannot help but be different, and the world cannot help but notice.” When we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us to reach this world for Christ. We should be different, we should stand out, but for the reasons that the Holy Spirit can only bring into a human beings  life, we should be overflowing with, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If we are, trust me, we will stand out and this world will notice. 

Vern

Sandcastle Construction LLC

        

 "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." 

(Matthew 7:27)

 

In Matthew 7,  Jesus tells a parable of two men, one that built his house on sand, and one that built his house on  rock, this parable is in a long line of teaching that we call the "Sermon on the Mount" it is actually the "Wrap-up" if you will of that sermon. 

When we hear these verses often we skim over the first part of verse 24 which reads, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them..." This verse is key to the parable of the house builder. Jesus is saying that if you do what he has said in the sermon on the mount, then you will be like the man who built his house on the rock. 

 

When you look back at all that he taught, it looks hard, something that there is no way we can do, which is correct...except for the first thing stated in this sermon way back in chapter 5:3, that ties it all together for us, "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." Jesus is saying those who know that they need the Holy Spirit, those who know that without Christ living in them, they can't do any of the following, that's the person who builds their house on the Rock. That's the person who can, through the power of the Holy Spirit, walk the way of the sermon on the mount. 

When we build our "house" on our own, when we say to God, "I've got this life thing all figured out, I'll get with you when I need you", then we are setting ourselves up for a fall. A life built on anything less than Jesus Christ will not stand strong in the storms of life, that WILL come.  

But if you do find yourself using  "sandman contracting" just remember that when your house that you built comes crashing to the ground, and it will, Jesus will be standing there as "disaster relief", with three nails & a hammer, to rebuild your broken life, on a good solid rock foundation. The rock foundation of Jesus Christ. 


Vern

I Know The Conductor

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

(1 John 5:20)

A few Christmases ago I had the privilege of taking part in a Christmas party for our local Children's home,  foster children and their foster families, it truly was an amazing night, the theme was "The Polar Express".

When you walked through the front door you were met with train tracks that lead into the gym which was decorated to look like the North Pole. The tracks lead to different stations throughout the "North Pole" like "Candy Land" with all sorts of candies, a place to decorate your own gingerbread man or woman, a face painting station, tables filled and over flowing with cupcakes, a hot chocolate station, bouncy houses and slides, etc... it was a kids dream. They also got to meet Santa face to face. When he called out their names they came up and he gave them a gift from his bag and a big silver bell, just like the one in the movie. It was so neat. The kids faces said it all. 

It was a great night, but what I remembered most was, when the children arrived. They came in with big smiles and  a ticket in hand that had been mailed to them, it was a golden ticket that looked like the one that the "real" Polar Express gave out. They would get their ticket punched and then be able to go into the "North Pole" free to roam, no holds barred, no limits, just fun, food and Santa. But first the ticket punch, that's where I came in...I got the honor of being the conductor. I got to punch the tickets and show the children where to go have fun.  As they filed through one little boy walked in and realized that he didn't have his ticket, he hadn't received one in the mail. He wasn't going to be able to make it and his name was left off the list, but at the last minute he was able and was truly looking forward to it. When I found out he had no ticket I sent one of our "elves" (Youth) to get him a ticket like everyone else because they punched there ticket at each station, but to my horror the "elf" returned with no ticket, there were no extras!!! When the little boy heard that there were no tickets, he hung his head (with or without a ticket, he would have gotten in, just hated to see everyone with one and him not.), broke my heart...so I dropped down on one knee and with my hand on his shoulder I whispered in his ear, "Go on in, and when you get to each station, tell them that you know the conductor and they will fix you up."  He smiled the biggest smile and took off.  Later that night, some of the volunteers at the stations said that when you would go to punch his ticket, he would proudly say, "I know the conductor"! 

Do you know the conductor, do you know Jesus? You don't need a ticket to get into Heaven, but you do need to know Him. 

Vern

Lessons From A Prostitute

“And she said, ‘According to your words, so be it.’ Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.”

(Joshua 2:21)

We can learn a lot from a prostitute…I mean Godly things…not from just any prostitute, but from Rahab.

In the book of Joshua we see where Joshua had sent two men into the Promised Land to spy it out. They were told to go especially to Jericho, there the king had heard that some spies were in the city and sent his soldiers out to capture them. The two spies took refuge in the home of Rahab the harlot. Why her house? God is at work, leading them to a woman who was terrified, who has come to an understanding of who God is and the greatness of His power, she wanted to know the one true God.

We see this happen in the life of Cornelius in Acts 10, it says that he was “a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God” God sent Peter to share the
gospel with him. In the same way Rahab a prostitute had heard about the Children of Israel coming into the land and knew by their actions she had heard of, the way they left Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the defeating of the Amorites, etc… that these people were the people of the
true God. She stated that, in Joshua 2:11, “…for the Lord your God, He is God in Heaven above and on earth below”. She understood who God was and
wanted to know Him. It was her belief in God that saved her. Anytime that someone truly wants to know God, He will send them the gospel. Christian missionaries don't just say, "I believe I'll go to China or wherever", they seek God's guidance. They go where God sends them and God sends them where He is working.  

Rahab hid the spies and allowed them to escape on the promise that they would save her when they came to destroy Jericho. The spies assured her that they would save her and anyone that was in her house when they came. They told her that she had to tie a scarlet cord in the window and
bring into her home those to be saved. She did just that and all in her home were saved.

She tied that cord in her window as soon as the spies left....wonder why she didn’t wait...maybe tie it there later? The reason she didn’t was because she knew that her life was at stake. She knew that if that cord wasn’t there when  Israel came that she would be destroyed along with the rest of the city. She tied it quickly, because she had no idea when
they would come. She didn’t know if it would be five minutes, five hours or five days...but she did know that she wanted to be ready when they did come and she was. It’s the same with us...we don’t know when Jesus will return for His bride, we best be ready. We best know whether or not we are
saved. If we have placed our faith in Jesus, we are ready. Have you
accepted Christ? Have you turned your life totally over to Him? If not, do it now, if you’re not sure , make sure today.

God saved Rahab, but didn't leave it at that,  He also placed her in the "Hall of Faith" in the book of Hebrews Chapter 11, along side the greats like Moses, Daniel, Abraham, Gideon, etc... Yea "Rahab the prostitute" listed there as if she was someone special. She is someone special, to God. Just like you are someone special to Him. 

He didn't stop there, He also placed her in the line of Jesus. She was the great, great, great grandmother of King David in the book of Matthew we see her listed there but something is different about her name...it goes from Rahab the prostitute to just Rahab. When you come to Christ, He changes your name, He wipes away your past...never to be brought up again. Come to Him and let Him wipe away your past today and use you in great ways. 


Vern