God seeks to save only a chosen few.

     I have to disagree with the idea that God’s ultimate goal is one of interacting with and redeeming only a portion of humanity. Timothy states in 1 Timothy3-5” 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,…” To make the statement that God is interacting with and redeeming a portion of humanity sounds to me as though God is showing partiality. This is in contradiction with the Bible. Acts 10:34-35 Peter is preaching to the household of Cornelius “34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” (NKJV) In the second chapter of James, James addresses the issue of favoritism.” 1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality… 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” ( James2:1,8-9 NKJV)  Peter states in 2 Peter 3:9 “2 Peter 3:9New King James Version (NKJV)   9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.(NKJV)

     The question arises: How can those who never heard about Christ be saved? The question puts limitations on God. If humans are saved only after hearing about him, the multitudes, which never had this chance during their lifetime, would necessarily be damned to eternal suffering in hell. Such a cruelty would not be consistent with His love for us, which sent Christ to die on the cross for our sins. If God is all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful, he must have a solution for those who have never heard about his final revelation in Jesus Christ.

      If all other religions were valid ways to God, the Christian claim that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the only possibility for human salvation should be rejected. If humans could have worked out their salvation by carefully following any available known religion, God would not have acknowledged the crucifixion of Christ. Christianity would have been a mere alternative religion along with all the others to reach Him.  This makes Jesus only one religious teacher among others. However, Jesus himself claimed to be the only possibility for our salvation and reconciliation with God. He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14, 6 NKJV).  As stated above He commanded his disciples to go and proclaim this truth in the whole world (Matthew 28, 18-20; Mark 16, 15-16) Hence, we cannot sacrifice the uniqueness of Jesus’ atonement.

      According to Christianity, salvation is provided only because of the specific historical deeds of Jesus Christ in his life, death on the cross, resurrection and ascension. What he did is essential for the salvation of any human being who has ever lived, whether thousands of years BC or currently. The fact is that no human being is excluded from God's plan of salvation. The element that solves this dilemma is the criteria according to which God will judge those who never heard about Christ and grant them salvation. The Bible states that God is holy and will judge humans with justice (Acts 17, 31), according to the available measure of revelation they had and their response to it, expressed through their deeds (Romans 2, 6), words (Matthew 12, 36-37) and thoughts (Hebrews 4, 12). The amount of revelation one has determines a consequent measure of responsibility on his behalf (Luke 12, 47-48).  For those who never had the chance to hear the Christian message or have heard a perverted version of it, it is obvious that their judgment will require other criteria than responding to the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. In Hebrews 11 we can find a whole list of people who never heard about Christ but still are saved :Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, David and others, are all considered heroes of faith, despite the fact that none of them heard about Christ. Faith is the key not knowledge. As we respond in faith to His revelation, no matter how limited it might be. Faith means trusting the promises of God and responding to Him through action (Hebrews 11, 1-3). It is not a mere understanding of the doctrine of salvation. Not only people belonging to the chosen people of Israel are said to be saved, but also Gentiles. None of these people of the Old Testament was saved through their merits, but through the grace of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, grace is retroactive. The object of faith has always been the same - God himself, and the basis of his forgiveness was always Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Whether one lived before or after Jesus’ crucifixion, God’s forgiveness was always granted through grace and not by one’s own merits, and the proper way of accepting grace was always faith.

       Salvation for those who never heard about Christ but accept the importance of grace. The above considerations do not imply that God rejects all those who do not know anything other than their native religion. There have been many spiritual masters who recognized the necessity of grace and the impossibility of attaining salvation by one's own efforts. For example Hindu and Buddhism. The spiritual trend called Prapatti in Hinduism and the Pure Land school of Buddhism focus on grace as the only solution for attaining liberation. According to them, the whole merit for being saved belongs to the god they worship. There are also many tribal religions in which grace plays a key role in salvation. The God who reveals himself in the Bible knows one’s inner attitude and motivation for performing certain religious duties. Any efforts, which aim at self-justification, are of no value, no matter how impressive they might be. The appropriate attitude is one of humility and openness towards God's grace, which he offers unconditionally. These spiritual trends in other religions demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is at work in the world, convincing people of their sin and limitations and turning their hearts toward God's grace. The character displayed by the God of the Bible, we can expect that he will save such people, by the grace available for all in Jesus Christ. They will be saved not through their native religions, but despite them, not because they did not hear about Christ, but despite the fact that they did not hear about him. It will be for their humility and recognition of the need for grace. It is not Vishnu or Amida who saves them, but Christ through his grace, because of their need for grace expressed towards Vishnu or Amida. God can use unorthodox methods to reveal himself to those who are foreign to his revelation in the Bible. He has sufficient means to do it all over the earth.  The most important factor in defining faith is human response to his revelation. Most of Jesus’ contemporaries rejected him because they refused to believe despite all fulfilled prophecies, miracles, and healings and even despite his resurrection. People are given everything they need in order to be saved, but if they refuse the available revelation, they are fully responsible for it and cannot be justified at God’s judgment. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ tells us that humans cannot please God by their own efforts and that God’s grace is an outright necessity for us.  Another question than arises: If people can be saved without hearing about Christ, does it mean that Christian missions are futile? There are two important reasons for Christian missions in the world. First, Jesus himself commanded it (Matthew 28, 18-20). He is the final revelation of God and his message of salvation has to be proclaimed. That people can be saved without hearing about Christ is only a temporary solution, which operates only until his message will reach all people. Jesus came to redeem our earthly life as well, so that we could start to experience his love now, in a personal relationship with him and in the Christian community.

      If the salvation of tribes living in remote areas depended entirely on missionaries’ preaching, many people would suffer eternal damnation in hell only because Christian missionaries did not manage to reach their part of the world in time. In many cases, the disobedience of Christians to go into remote parts of the world would be responsible for that. There are the cases of missionaries that have reached remote parts of the world but did not preach the "right" Jesus. Unfortunately, Christian missions have not always been inspired by love. Therefore, God could not condemn people to hell because followers perverted His message. This would not be at all consistent with God’s perfect justice and love for the lost. If there, so no grace in God and if His grace is not sufficient then all of Christianity is futile, the cross is meaningless. 

Prophetic Musicians

Prophetic Musicians:

     One administration of the prophet’s anointing is through music. There are prophets who function as psalmists and minstrels. David is a wonderful example of that. He is called the sweet psalmist of Israel (2 Sam. 23:1) He understood the importance of music in stirring up and maintain the corporate flow of God’s spirit. The strength of the spirit of prophecy in our midst will always be determined by our level of worship. (Revelation 19:10)

     I have longed in my heart to play the cello. I have had this longing for years. The cello moves my spirit. I want to play and move the spirit of others to glorify God. 

     I got my cello about two years ago, I took a few lessons, time, money and discouragement began to hinder my spirit and longing to play. I put the cello back in its case and placed it in a room in a corner out of sight but never fully out of mind.  I put it away in harsh conditions one the room was not very well climate controlled; the other was my heart toward it.

     Not long ago, I had three dreams in a row that the cello was broken. I was heartbroken.  Know I would never get a chance to play, to move others in the spirit of God to glorify Him.  The emotions in the dreams overwhelmed me.  I got the cello out of its dirty and dusty case and my heart sank, it was broken.

     I sat down on the floor and just held it my dreams had become reality.  In truth it was not broken at some point in time it had fallen over causing the bridge to come off and popped the A string off.  I took it and had it “fixed” Took the guy at Old Time string Shop all of 7 minutes to do it.  I get it home and attempted to tune it. While adjusting the D string it broke. I cried, I got angry. So many things set against me; my thoughts are that it is not meant for me to play. No glorifying God with the cello. I placed it on top of its case on the chest freezer in the kitchen.  It is not out of sight or mind. I have not given up I have encountered yet another bump in the road. The question is how long do I wait and try again. 

     I do not aspire to be a great musician.  That is not what I am called to do. However, I do long for the music that is hidden deep in my soul to be played.  God has placed it there to be shared. The enemy would rather it stay hidden and abandon and have a victory over one of God’s greatest gifts.     

    

   “Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.” ~Martin Luther

“Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.”~ Martin Luther

“Music is God's gift to man, the only art of Heaven given to earth, the only art of earth we take to Heaven.”~Walter Savage Landor

Spiritual Battery

      Spiritual Battery:  We all are borne with a spiritual battery. God the creator in His wisdom created it as part of our spiritual DNA.  We have this spiritual DNA because in this world we are fighting a spiritual war. Idealistically we should always be plugged into the power source. Unfortunately, that is not the case.  The good news is that our spiritual battery is rechargeable. Because of spiritual warfare and the very nature of our flawed humanness, we need to plug into the power source. Our power source is the Holy Spirit, God the Father, Christ the interceder, and the Word of God.

     As spiritual beings, we are created to walk in relationship with God, however the world in which we live can and is a power drain on our spiritual battery. Our sin nature and we as humans can often be caught up in our humanness. We try to control things in our life. We try to fix ourselves with our brokenness or by the brokenness of others. We may seek worldly things to help recharge our battery. These actions will drain us spiritually. We take “control” and forget to plug into the ultimate power source.

     We must build ourselves up in faith; we do this by confessing the Word of God. We can experience greater confidence when we start to understand the Word. We begin to walk in revelation.  We plug ourselves into the power source through prayer.  Prayer is our direct line of connection to God. This allows His power to flow into us regardless of any situation we maybe in.

     We must be strong in the Lord and the power of His might (Eph. 15:3), not our own might and not the might of other or worldly things. We walk in His strength. We war with His power. We must be humble and completely dependent upon God. We cannot be confident in our own power and strength. If we do so, we open the door of pride for the enemy to walk on in.

      We depend upon His power, His direction; we plug ourselves into His power so that He can fight on our behalf.  We at all times need humility. God’s grace gives us the ability to be humble. God is the strength of our lives. By His power and His might, plugging into the power source, we are given the ability to overcome fear. We put our trust in Him.

     God is our power source. We confess that He is our strength. We must be people of prayer and worship. We must take joy in the presences of the Lord. His presence is our joy and strength, the recharging of our spiritual battery. Our worship, our prayers, our talks with God are a weapon forged against the enemy.

     The Word of God is the sword of the spirit, and when that sword is fully charged it can strike a mighty blow to the enemy. We use this sword to battle and become victorious over the spiritual battles with the enemy. The Word of God is His wisdom. We are guided by His wisdom to defeat the enemy.

      As part of our spiritual life, it is imperative that we confess the Word of God. Our salvation comes from confessing with our words. Our words are connected to our soul. The tongue releases faith. Faith that is released by the tongue, which comes from the soul, can move mountains; those spiritual things that hinder us from plugging into our power source.

     God is the source of all our victories and spiritual breakthroughs. He is the source of our wisdom and strategies. His Word is the source of our understanding of the spiritual warfare that we are involved in. It started in the heavens. We bind what is bound in Heaven. We also loose what is loosed in Heaven.

       As we plug into our spiritual source, we have an unlimited source of wisdom and knowledge. The Word of God contains an abundance of revelation for all believers. We as believers should desire and enjoy the liberty and the victory that comes from plugging into the power source of the Holy Spirit, by studying the Word of God, and praying in the name of Jesus. We ask for revelation. This is the key to authority.  That revelation is that Jesus is Christ.

     God has promised to make us joyful in the house of prayer (Is.56:7). We should be plugged into that house of prayer. Recharge our spiritual battery. Even though we fight an ongoing spiritual war, we can be joyful in the Lord for He is our strength and might. Praise Him sing a joyful song.

…“I will sing to the Lord,

For He has triumphed gloriously!

The horse and its rider

He has thrown into the sea!

2 The Lord is my strength and song,

And He has become my salvation;

He is my God, and I will praise Him;

My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

3 The Lord is a man of war;

The Lord is His name.” (Ex 15:1-3)

Twilight

     Twilight: it means to be in a place of transition, it also means to be in a place where things are not clearly defined. The prefix Twi means two. Twilight: between two lights. In a manner of thinking, we all are in twilight.  This earthly realm is one light and, for some of us, we have a clear idea of where we are. At other times, we have no defined idea of where we are. This is our twilight.  We are between the here and the now waiting for the other light to dawn upon us.

        This twilight, this in between time, revolves around two elements, our words and our thoughts. They are the creative substance that molds and shapes the way we live in this light. Our words and thoughts here in this light of transition are the substance that molds and shapes our ultimate destination. The thoughts we think, the thoughts we put into action, and those that we secret away in the depths of our hearts with the words we speak aloud, the words that are written and shared, and words that are spoken alone in solitude, these are the fundamental elements that  make us who we are.  We each become the person we are (free will), and determine the direction we take. The things we accomplish in this light mold and shape us into something that is either greater than ourselves and something that glorifies God or something that is ignoble and brings dishonor to God.  

     Our thoughts and words serve to transition us from this light into the next. Whatever we harbor in our innermost chambers of our hearts, eventually, will reveal itself in the outer areas of our life through our actions, which are a direct result of our thoughts and words. Whatever we may think is hidden will eventually be brought into light.  As spiritual beings created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26), it is in our spiritual DNA that we hold the power to frame our world by our thoughts and words.  What we think and speak are divine tools given by the Creator and are a vastly powerful tool. It is the will of the Father that we use these tools to edify one another, to build up, not to tear down, and to bring glory to the Father.  We must be ever diligent in our thoughts and words. Our journey from our thoughts and words is the transition into the next light.