"Are you a ROCKMAN or SANDMAN"

 

Scripture Reading: Matthew 7:24-27 (It's best to read the entire chapter)

7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them NOT, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

This is an interesting passage, yet it is quite a simple passage to see Jesus' "MAIN POINT." Most of the time you hear people say we need to be founded upon the ROCK which is JESUS, which is True, but that is not the SPECIFIC principle Jesus was teaching here. Jesus was teaching what makes a person have a solid foundation or an unstable foundation or what makes one a "wise man" or a "foolish man," which comes down to ONE thing, which is whether we DO what we hear or not. Let's look at the difference between the "Wise Man" (Rock man) and "Foolish Man" (Sand man).

WISE MAN (built house on rock)	FOOLISH MAN (built house upon sand)
heareth these sayings: Doeth them rains descended floods came winds blew beat upon that house It Fell Not	heareth these sayings: Doeth them not rains descended floods came winds blew beat upon that house Great was its fall

What is the difference? As you can see, the only difference is one was a doer of what he heard and the other was not a doer of what he heard. They both heard the same thing, had the same set of circumstances, but one fell and one did not, because one was a doer of the WORD and the other was a hearer only. James 1:22 says, "But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."

These scriptures makes it quite clear that we are deceived and in for a great (big) fall if we think hearing alone will benefit our lives. We can hear all the Bible studies, devotions, sermons, Christian conferences, Christian workshops, etc.; but if there is NO application you are not on a good foundation. I will say here that that should not be a discouragement from hearing (learning), as it is the first step to being a DOER.  I can't DO what I don't hear.  So, we need to HEAR! Then, we need to DO! I personally don't do 100% of what I hear (even though I should), but thank God I DO a lot of what I hear.  That DOING is where my foundation in Christ is established. Just for the record, I am NOT talking about "good works," but BEING DOERS OF GOD'S WORD.  There is a difference. If God's Word clearly tells us something then our goal should be to DO it.  

Do you want to establish a Firm (Solid Rock) Foundation? Then start putting God's Word to practice in your life. I promise you God who can not lie will bless your life!

I appreciate all your hunger for God's Word and hope to impart that which would make a Godly difference in your life.

The Devotional Life Is Almost Crowded Out

I love writing devotions, but when I find a devotion by someone, such as this one, that though written so many years ago (way before cell phone and computers), all I can think is how "more" true this words ring today.  I must share this with others.  May it speak to you all in this modern days of distraction, often taking us away from that which matters most - Time alone in quietness with our Lord!  - Jim (jim@biblefood.org)

Devotion by A.W. Tozer

And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business… 

That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without…. 1 Thessalonians 4:11, 12 

We Christians must simplify our lives or lose untold treasures on earth and in eternity!

Modern civilization is so complex as to make the devotional life all but impossible, multiplying distractions and beating us down by destroying our solitude.

“Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still” is a wise and healing counsel, but how can it be followed in this day of the newspaper, the telephone, the radio and the television? These modern playthings, like pet tiger cubs, have grown so large and dangerous that they threaten to devour us all. No spot is now safe from the world’s intrusion.

One way the civilized world destroys men is by preventing them from thinking their own thoughts. Our “vastly improved methods of communication” of which the shortsighted boast so loudly now enable a few men in strategic centers to feed into millions of minds alien thought stuff, ready-made and predigested.

Are you burning the candle at both ends...

 

 

The need for solitude and quietness was never greater than it is today. Even the majority of Christians are so completely conformed to this present age that they, too, want things the way they are.

However, there are some of God’s children who have had enough. They want to relearn the ways of solitude and simplicity and gain the infinite riches of the interior life. They want to discover the blessedness of what has been called “spiritual aloneness”—a discipline that will go far in making us acquainted with God and our own souls!

My review of: "Twelve Unlikley Heroes"

Periodically I review books for Thomas Nelson

This is my latest book review - I hope you find this helpful.

I always enjoy reading John MacArthur, and this book was no exception. Though I wouldn't put this in my favorites of John MacArthur, I enjoyed his story telling and weaving scripture passages together by pulling scriptures on these 12 "heroes" together from Genesis to Revelation.  I feel there were a little too many references to historians and Jewish tradition (but they are fallible).  God's Word is infallible.  Plus MacArthur makes some assumptions of things that "likely" happened in situations where scripture is silent.  In these cases when scripture is silent, maybe we should be too, rather than make an assumption of what was likely happening.  Overall I give it a 3.5 - 4.0 rating.  I recommend this book, if you have not read any of John MacArthur you should really enjoy it.  He is one of the best teachers out there.  Also, please do consider reading some of his other great books.

Note: Thomas Nelson gave me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review, and these opinions are my own.

I also rate and review books from my personal library

Here they are:
View all my reviews

"What is Regeneration?

Who ever wrote this did an excellent job and lots of scriptures.  I can't really do any justice adding to it (so I didn't). I did bold, underline and color for emphasis. - Jim

  

"What is Regeneration?

Another word for regeneration is rebirth, from which we get the phrase “born again.” To be born again is opposed to, and distinguished from, our first birth, when we were conceived in sin. The new birth is a spiritual, holy, and heavenly birth signified by a being made alive in a spiritual sense. Our first birth, on the other hand, was one of spiritual death because of inherited sin. Man in his natural state is “dead in trespasses and sins” until we are “made alive” (regenerated) by Christ when we place our faith in Him (Ephesians 2:1). After regeneration, we begin to see, and hear, and seek after divine things, and to live a life of faith and holiness. Now Christ is formed in the hearts; we are now partakers of the divine nature, having been made new creatures. God, not man, is the source of this (Ephesians 2:1, 8). It is not by men's works, but by God’s own good will and pleasure. His great love and free gift, His rich grace and abundant mercy, are the cause of it and these attributes of God are displayed in the regeneration and conversion of sinners.

Regeneration is part of the "salvation package," if you will, along with sealing (Ephesians 1:14), adoption (Galatians 4:5), reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20), and many other salvation concepts. Being born again or born from above is parallel to regeneration (John 3:6-7; Ephesians 2:1; 1 Peter 1:23; John 1:13; 1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18). Simply put, regeneration is God making a person spiritually alive, a new creation, as a result of faith in Jesus Christ. The reason regeneration is necessary is that prior to salvation we are not God's children (John 1:12-13); rather, we are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3; Romans 5:18-20). Before salvation, we are degenerate. After salvation we are regenerated. The result of regeneration is peace with God (Romans 5:1), new life (Titus 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:17), and eternal sonship (John 1:12-13; Galatians 3:26). This regeneration is eternal and begins the process of sanctification wherein we become the people God intended for us to be (Romans 8:28-30).

The Bible is clear that the only means of regeneration is by faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. No amount of good works or keeping of the law can regenerate the heart which from birth is “deceitful and wicked above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). This concept of the new birth is unique to Christianity. No other religion offers a cure for the total depravity of the human heart, preferring instead to outline an often massive body of works and deeds that must be done to gain favor with God. God has told us, though, that “by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight” (Romans 3:20). Total regeneration of the heart is necessary for salvation. Paul explains this concept perfectly in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

This is true regeneration.

Author Unknown (will post name if anyone knows)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lord bless you all as you seek to serve God for His glory alone :-)

You can now be added to get devotion automatically by signing up in top right corner of this blog - Thanks!

Jim (jim@goproclaim.com or biblefood@gmail.com)

"The Sad Truth of Biblical Illiteracy Among Us"

These [Berean's] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind [all eagerness], and searched [examining] the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.  - Acts 17:11

Daniel Wallace states: "…The intentional dumbing down of the church for the sake of filling more pews will ultimately lead to defection from Christ (2006:337).

Allistair Begg states: "People do not know their Bibles. In an earlier generation the average 13-year-old or 14-year-old certainly in Scotland would have a far greater grasp of biblical parameters of truth than the average graduate from an American seminary today".

Al Mohler:  The many fronts of Christian compromise in this generation can be directly traced to biblical illiteracy in the pews and the absence of biblical preaching and teaching in our homes and churches.

C.H. Spurgeon: If you wish to know God you must know his word; if you wish to perceive his power you must see how he worketh by his word; if you wish to know his purpose before it is actually brought to pass you can only discover it by his word. 1607.377

Have you ever said or heard people say the Bible says, “God helps those who help themselves,”. Really give me chapter and verse, it's not in the Bible!  When asked 82 percent of Americans, said it was a Bible verse. Sadly, those who those identified themselves as born-again Christians did better–by one percent.  [83% - Sad]

That was my introduction. 

Today I was inspired and felt grieved enough to write on the subject of "Biblical Illiteracy." The final straw, so to speak, was reading some responses to someone's Bible questions to a Christian group on Facebook.  In many ways this group thinks they are so "on the mark" of Christianity.  I was saddened as most of their answers to the Bible questions were general, philosophical, and relational, but not Biblical.  

 Spurgeon said it so well: "Men talk about building upon Christ, and not upon the Scriptures; but they know not what they say; for our Lord continually established his own claims by appealing to Moses and the prophets. They would be Christo-centric, they say: I only wish they would. But if they take Christ for a centre, they will inevitably have the Scriptures for a centre too; and these men neither want the one nor the other. 2212.364

As I talk about "Biblical illiteracy," I am not talking about having to memorize the entire Bible, though memorizing is a very good and profitable.  I am also not talking about us all being Biblical scholars, although the Bible does say, "…be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:– I Peter 3:15.

I'm a pastor-teacher with a humble intelligence, so everything doesn't come easy for me, I have to study a lot, and I still forget things; but I don't use that as an excuse for being Biblically ignorant (illiterate).  You or I may not be able to rattle off scriptures on every subject, but how about an overall understanding of the Bible and the doctrines (what the Bible teaches). 

I really cringe at the answers you get in the "church" and "born-again" crowd when you ask, "how do you know you are saved or are a child of God?"  Especially, of the younger generations, usually they hem and haw and give some really weak answer.  I don't want to give them the nth degree (well I sort of do), but most don't have a clue what "salvation" is!!!  If they are saved, and some may be, it is in spite of their ignorance.  It is still scary, sad, and sickening how few really understand God, salvation, and THE BIBLE! 

I personally say I was saved June 21, 1975, because that was when I gave my life to the Lord, though I didn't really "understand" Biblically what was happening to me. I simply (and amazingly) believed in Jesus as my Savior and Lord.  Immediately following I was so hungry to learn more about Jesus, so I turned to the Bible and read, and read, and read. Also, the Lord provided a very knowledgeable Christian brother (at a distance, and this was before e-mails existed).  I would write questions and wait for his answers, which were always full of scriptures.  I still have many of those letters 35 years later, and I thank God for putting this Christian Bible literate man in my path.  Then, in more recent years in the 1990's I met a very Bible literate brother/minister that I can always throw questions to, on top of my own studying for answers, and not as a replacement for my own studying, "…to see if these things be so"  Acts 17:11 

While there is a famine of God's Word out there, there is hope for anyone to grow in the Lord.  If you really want to learn the things of God, in addition to your own study time in the Bible, there are spiritual Bible literate people to help (you may have to search and pray to find them).     

This is a little bit of my heart on a big and serious problem in the church of the 21^st Century.

Below are some passages for you and me to ponder, meditate, study, memorize, think on, and let God use to change our lives and help us to value God's Word to the utmost!

Study [be diligent] to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing [handling accurately] the word of truth.  - 2 Timothy 2:15

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.   - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Thanks for listening, and may you grow in the Lord as you build on the solid foundation of God's Word (the Bible).

If you want to know more or join us, please call me at 704-456-8771 or email me at: jim@goproclaim.com or biblefood@gmail.com

Lord bless you all as you seek to serve God for His glory alone :-)

Jim

Spiritual leprosy of all sinners!

My apologies for not keeping current on these devotions, 

I have other blogs, and also tweet some inspirational and life stuff.

My other blog you may be interested in is:  http://blessedtobeachristian.wordpress.com

and my BibleFood tweets are found at:

https://twitter.com/jimmazzulla

 

This blog will continue too - :-)

 

Today's devotion is written by Charles H. Spurgeon in the 1800's.
It is taken from "The Morning and Evening Devotional"  http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/morneve.toc.html 

(Entire year of devotions is online for morning and evening of every day - FREE)

 

Spiritual Leprosy of All Sinners! 

 

“Behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, 

he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague". Leviticus 13:13

Strange enough this regulation appears, yet there was wisdom in it, for the throwing out of the disease proved that the constitution was sound. This morning [today] it may be well for us to see the typical teaching of so singular a rule. We, too, are lepers, and may read the law of the leper as applicable to ourselves. When a man sees himself to be altogether lost and ruined, covered all over with the defilement of sin, and no part free from pollution; when he disclaims all righteousness of his own, and pleads guilty before the Lord, then is he clean through the blood of Jesus, and the grace of God. Hidden, unfelt, unconfessed iniquity is the true leprosy, but when sin is seen and felt it has received its death blow, and the Lord looks with eyes of mercy upon the soul afflicted with it. Nothing is more deadly than self-righteousness, or more hopeful than contrition. We must confess that we are “nothing else but sin,” for no confession short of this will be the whole truth, and if the Holy Spirit be at work with us, convincing us of sin, there will be no difficulty about making such an acknowledgment—it will spring spontaneously from our lips. What comfort does the text afford to those under a deep sense of sin! Sin mourned and confessed, however black and foul, shall never shut a man out from the Lord Jesus. Whosoever cometh unto him, he will in no wise cast out. Though dishonest as the thief, though unchaste as the woman who was a sinner, though fierce as Saul of Tarsus, though cruel as Manasseh, though rebellious as the prodigal, the great heart of love will look upon the man who feels himself to have no soundness in him, and will pronounce him clean, when he trusts in Jesus crucified. Come to him, then, poor heavy-laden sinner,

Come needy, come guilty, come loathsome and bare; You can't come too filthy—come just as you are. My email: Jim (biblefood@gmail.com)  Website: http://www.biblefood.org/

Book Review: "90 Days of God's Goodness"

Periodically I review a books for
WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

This is my latest book review - I hope you find this helpful.

When I received Randy Alcorn's book "90 Days of God's Goodness," I really wasn't sure what I would think of it.  The subject sounded great, but you can't always judge a book by its title.  Up to that point, I had only heard of Randy Alcorn, I had never read any of his writings.  As I cautiously opened this book (as I do with most books), I found it was well written, theologically sound, and so full of nuggets of truth.  The author also shares many personal experiences of Biblical truths as they applied to his life and also the lives of others.  I find that reading one "reflection" a day was sometimes not possible for me, I wanted to read more. 

This book gets "5 stars" from me, and I feel it would benefit anyone who reads it. 
~I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

I also rate and review books from my personal library
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