Christian Faith

‘Wise Men Still Follow’ – for NaPoWriMo, 2015 – Day 2

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

Day 2 of the ‘National Poetry Writing Month’ Challenge prompts us to write a poem about the stars. We can use any form and take the poem in any direction we choose. If you’d like to join in the effort to write 30 poems in 30 days (or any number of poems at all) click on the logo and learn how easy it is.

NAPOWRIMO NEGATIVE

STAR & PATH OF LIGHT
WISE MEN STILL FOLLOW

Wise astrologers did travel from the East.
“We saw His star and followed to His place of peace.
We bowed ourselves before Him there on bended knees
And offered homage to the Babe, Creation’s King.”

Throughout the heavens multitudes of brilliant stars
Have burned for centuries and led men near and far.
But only one celestial light can guide the heart,
And men who would be wise still follow Jesus’ star.

~~~

Ever Wondered What You’re Worth?

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

Exif JPEG
You can find a hint in the words of this Christmas Carol:

“Long lay the world,
In sin and error pining,
‘Til He appeared,
AND THE SOUL FELT ITS WORTH.”

The most significant carols of the Christmas season have something important to say that goes beyond the adoration of a baby in a manger. Jesus Christ came to earth as a babe, but He did not come to remain so. His whole purpose in being born a man was to be able to live a life of perfect obedience on our behalf and then take the punishment that we deserved for not living that life ourselves.

Christmas is not a season that lasts a week — or 12 days — or for the month of December.  Christmas is about the life-long celebration of our salvation from our sinful nature and our free admittance back into right relationship with our Creator so that we can live with Him forever.

This lovely carol, “Oh Holy Night,” by Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure, explains the situation so well.  We (the human race) had degraded ourselves by rebellion, selfishness, hatred, greed, and all manner of immorality. We had become weak and insignificant – without power to give ourselves value. As a result, we were without worth and without any hope for this world or the next. We sat in darkness and in bondage, enchained by our own sin and error and by the death that resulted from that sin.

It took a God who was, in and of Himself, beautiful, valuable, and unutterably holy to offer Himself in our stead – paying the ultimate price for our degradation and sin – transposing us from a mass of worthless matter into a priceless treasure. And with that one merciful act of God, the human race became worth more than all that lay in the storehouses of Heaven.

Jehovah is God – all by Himself. And, in the person of Jesus Christ, He gave all of Himself for you and me.

Our souls now recognize our worth because we were bought with the life of Him who is worthy of all honor, praise, and glory forever.

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold … but with the precious blood of Christ ….”  (Holy Bible, 1 Peter 1:18-19)

 

~

Waters of Rest

| Sandra Pavloff Conner
TERRY'S PIC - PERRY CREEK - brightened
“The Lord is my shepherd;  I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters of rest;
He restoreth my soul … .”

(Psalm 23:1-3)
Thanks to my friend Terry for this perfect picture of peace.

 

~~~

In Answer to Questions Concerning My Personal Faith

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

Over the past several of years I have been so privileged to meet and get to know many wonderful people through this blog. So many of you are from completely different cultures and have multiple interpretations of man’s spiritual destiny. I value each and every one of you, and I’m honored that you want to know about my personal religious faith. One of the best ways I can explain my faith is to re-post an article that I originally posted on one of my ministry blogs. The article gives the clearest explanation of what I believe concerning the human race’s situation with regard to it’s need of a God, a Savior, and a guarantee of a joyous eternity. So I am posting that same article here in the hope that it will help answer those folks who want to understand my faith more thoroughly.

CROSS - PLAIN, THICK - QUESTS.What Is This Thing Called ‘Salvation’?

“Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature (Greek: new species); the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. … Therefore, we … beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19).

“What’s it all about? This “being saved”? This being “born again”? What’s it all about? I just don’t understand it. And I could never get my life straightened out enough and cleaned up enough to fit in with Jesus Christ anyway.”

Ever felt that way? Have you ever felt that you might really like to turn your life over to someone stronger and wiser, who could get it straightened out and make some real sense out of it – give it some lasting purpose and value? But you just don’t think you measure up to God’s standards enough to come to Him?

Well, the good news – shouted loud and strong – in the scripture passage above is that you do not have to measure up to God’s standards – or anyone else’s. You don’t even have to get one little thing about yourself or your life made right before you come to God.

That’s right. I mean what I said. And I can say it with absolute confidence, because God Himself said it first. And He said it over and over again. The passage at the top of this article is just one instance, but, to me, it is one of the most important of those instances. I have two other favorite passages like it in importance: Romans 5:6: “Christ died for the ungodly.” 1 Tim. 1:15: “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

Now, of course, if you don’t think you need a savior – if you believe you are holy enough to live in the presence of the holy God of the universe, nose to nose, eye to eye, breathing the same air He breathes for all eternity, without being cleaned up at all – then I’m not talking to you. But if you realize that you are not on the level of that holy God – that you are not righteous and pure enough by your own merit to live with Him – then I am talking to you – and so is He!

The simple truth is that the work has already been done for you. Jesus did it all. He gave up the privileges of being on the throne of Heaven, came to this earth as a man, and lived a perfect life for you. Then God laid all of the sinful nature (to which you are heir) and all of the rebellion, disobedience, ugliness, and hatefulness of all the sin in the human race on Jesus (2 Cor. 5 21), and put all the punishment for that sin on Him as well. He bore it all for you, and after His death on your behalf, He came up out of the grave – also on your behalf – with eternal life and the right to bestow that new life on you. We have “been crucified with Christ,” (Gal. 2: 19-20) and “even when we were dead in our transgressions, [God] made us alive together with Christ … and raised us up with Him.” (Eph. 2:5-6).

But when we decide we’d like to have that salvation and that new relationship with our Creator, we often hold back because we feel powerless to separate ourselves from sin or the world’s way of life – or even from our own selfish nature. We feel powerless to make ourselves “worthy” of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Well, if you feel that way, rejoice! Because that means you know the truth: We are powerless! But that is okay. Because the work of saving us is His – and His alone! And it’s already been done.

That’s what our beginning scripture is telling us. When God raised Jesus from the dead, He raised Him up as the head of a body – which would be made up of believers – everyone who would believe in that finished work. That’s what the verse in Ephesians means when it says He “raised us up with Him.” And that’s what the passage in 2 Corinthians means when it says that God was – in Christ – reconciling the world to Himself. That word reconcile means to bring back into original or proper position and make the relationship right again. That’s what the Word says God was doing when He crucified Jesus Christ and raised Him up again and seated Him in power and authority forever. He was bringing “the world” back into right relationship with Himself.

Now look at the rest of that verse: “not counting their sins against them.” Who is the pronoun “their” referring to in this verse? The church? The “good” people? The people who call themselves Christians? NO! The only plural noun in that whole verse that the pronoun “their” can refer to is the word “world.” Do you get it? God was – in Christ – not counting the world’s sins against them any longer. God was – in Christ (only in Christ) – forgiving all the people in the whole world for every sin counted against them. Can you grasp that exciting truth? In the mind and heart of God, it is already done. In the mind and heart of God, all of your sins are already forgiven – in Christ!

You see, that’s why there is no other way to salvation and eternity with God. There is no other religion, dogma, or program that has inherent within it the forgiveness of all sin and the eternal life granted by God. That forgiveness and that life are only in Christ – because He’s the only one who paid the horrible price of suffering and separation from God that was complete enough and perfect enough to buy freedom for the whole human race.

So, your next question is probably going to be, “Well if it’s already done, then what is my part?” Our part is believing and receiving. Even before Jesus’ crucifixion, when His disciples asked Him, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus told them, “This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He hath sent.” (John 6:28-29).

Now, I do need to explain that the word “believe” from the original language means much more than mental assent. It means “yielding or surrendering to and obeying.” To truly “believe” means that you give yourself to it completely. But that is the beauty of it all. We do not have to do the work of salvation. We just have to surrender to that work and let it produce its fruit in us. How do we surrender? We simply pour out our hearts to this great, loving Jesus, who has done all the work. We simply tell him in our own words that we know we need what He offers and gladly give Him control in our hearts and our lives. (That’s what it means to make Him our “Lord.”)

Once we totally surrender, Jesus comes to reign on the throne of our hearts. From that position, He can begin to clean up everything else about us that needs cleaning up. You need never fear. Once He has the position of authority, willingly given to him by you, He knows how – and is well able – to do the rest of the work.

So what about that term “born again”? Go back to our original verse: “Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature (Greek: new species).” When Jesus Christ comes in, our real man – the spirit man — is literally born again. A brand new species (the God-man species of Jesus Christ) comes in and generates its life in our spirit. (You must remember that man was created by a spirit God and therefore is primarily a spirit-being, having a soul and living in a body). Therefore the Word tells us again and again the we are to be aware of the fact that we are now “children of God.” (Romans 8:16, 1 John 3:2).

Now all of this work is done – finished. In God’s heart and mind it’s a “done deal.” But remember: it is done ONLY IN CHRIST. Therefore, it is only when we make the decision to yield ourselves to Jesus Christ and receive Him into ourselves and our lives that we get the benefit of this finished work. Although it is done, if we choose not to access it, we get no results from it in our personal lives.

You might compare it to the process of getting data from the Internet. You know there is data out there covering the subject about which you need information. But that data will do you absolutely no good at all unless you sit down, turn on your computer, take yourself to that site, open up the channel, and deliberately download that information. So — you must open up yourself to Jesus Christ and all He has done for you, and by believing (yielding, surrendering) download every single bit of it. It’s all yours. It has your name on it. But you have to hit the download (I Believe) button to receive.

So what is salvation? It is the free gift of a loving Father who has paid the deepest, truest, most sacrificial price to restore His rebellious children to Himself. It is the free gift of the brother Jesus, who has given Himself in our place and paid the full price, receiving brand new life to pass on to each one of us. The work of salvation has absolutely nothing to do with us. Our only work is to believe what He has done and surrender to it.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17).

~~~

Dr. Jehovah Rapha — a poem

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

Dr. Jehovah Rapha
HEALING FOR YOU COVER - HANDS ONLY - smaller

(Exodus 15:26, Mark 5:25-34)  

Her brow was wet with fever,
And her body wracked with pain.
She did not know just what was wrong,
But the symptoms would not change.
She knew she needed healing,
But she had no way to pay.
Who to turn to; who to trust;
Who to show the way?

A friend said to her, “Sister,
I know a doctor kind.
He cleanses lepers, makes lame walk,
And gives sight to the blind.
In fact, He’ll take on any case,
And cure it every time.” 

“Oh, would that I could go to Him,”
She then was heard to say.
“But since I do not know His name,
How can I know the way?
And even if He’d take my case,
I simply cannot pay.” 

“My dear, fear not,” her friend replied;
“There is no need to fear.
I’ll take you to Him right away;
He’s really very near.
His name’s Jehovah Rapha; He’s
‘The God that healeth thee.’
And because of His Son’s precious blood,
The healing – it is free!

~

© 1998 Sandra Conner

 

Look and Live

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

woman-looking-up-silh-sepiaDo you need healing?  Are you struggling in your efforts to receive it?  Do you feel surrounded and overwhelmed by the symptoms, the doctors reports, the unbelief of friends and family — crowding around you and choking off your faith?

The Psalmist in God’s Word felt exactly what you are feeling. He knew what it was like to be surrounded by so many enemies at once and hearing their taunting voices trying to convince him that God would not come through for him: “Lord, how are they increased that trouble me. Many there be that rise up against me.  Many there be that say of my soul, ‘There is no help for him in God.'” (Psalm 3:1-2).  But his response to that problem was to turn his attention to God. “But Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory and the lifter of my head.”

Another of our great forefathers in the faith, King Jehoshaphat, faced the same kind of situation: The kingdom of Judah was facing annihilation as the mighty armies of three nations came against it. Jehoshaphat called the people to a fast, and as they stood before the Lord, he prayed, reminding God of His faithfulness and saying, ” … We have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon Thee.” God gave them a total victory the very next morning.

In both instances, these men of faith did exactly the same thing to find a solution to their problem: They took their eyes off the enemy and put them on God alone.

That action is exactly what the Lord instructs us to do in the midst of what looks like a hopeless situation and certain defeat.  In Isaiah 41:10, He says, “Feat not, for I am with you. DO NOT ANXIOUSLY LOOK ABOUT YOU, for I am your God. If we have a God whose capable of defeating any enemy — and who has promised to do so — then we don’t need to look at the enemy, the problems, the imminent destruction. Where do we look?  We look at our God.

There is a light from God — and from His Word — that will lighten you. It will burn through the thick fog of doubt and suffocating fear and infiltrate you with its illumination and warmth. It will lift your faith — enlarge your faith — increase your faith — strengthen your faith — and bring you the victory.

There’s an old gospel song from the 1800’s by William A. Ogden entitled “Look and Live.”  The chorus of that song says,

“Look and live, my brother, live;
Look to Jesus now and live,
It’s recorded in His Word, hallelujah
That you only have to look and live.”

Yes, looking is the key.  But looking the right direction is what makes the difference in whether that key works in the lock. We MUST look to Jesus and His Word. Hebrews 3:1 admonishes us to “consider Jesus, the High Priest of our profession.”  That word “consider” in the original Greek means “exercise your mind on.”  What a perfect picture of the meaning of meditation.  We are to “exercise our mind” on Jesus.  Think about Him — about how He never — never — never turned down any person who came to Him for healing. And then think about how He is “the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8).

Hebrews 12:2 says, ” … Let us run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”  Jesus is the author of our faith, because He IS the Word of God. (John, chapter one). It is the Word that tells us of God and what He has done for us. Nothing but the Word can reveal to us the truth of God’s love, mercy, and healing, so nothing but the Word can create faith in us for those things. (Romans 10:17).  And that same Word continues to feed and strengthen our faith if we will keep our eyes on it.

We keep our eyes on Jesus by keeping our eyes on His Word.

So don’t look around you at the forest, dark with unbelief and fear. Look up to Jesus, your Healer — and keep looking up for as long as it takes. He isn’t going anywhere.  He’ll be right there when you look to Him, and He’ll stick with you until you have the full manifestation of your healing from Him.

 

 

Creation – Behind the Scenes: A One-Act Play

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

 

Time: Creation, Day 6

Place: Heaven, looking down at Earth

Cast: God, One Inquisitive Angel

 

Conversation:

Angel to God: “What are you doing, God?”

God: “Creating a man.”

Angel: “What are you going to do with him?”

God: “Love him.”

Angel: “What will he do for you?”

God: “Give me pleasure.”

Angel: “Will he give you pleasure that is different from what the rest of your creation gives you?”

God: “Oh, yes.   He will be a speaking spirit just like me, who will have the ability to choose by his own free will to love me and communicate with me constantly.”

Angel: “Have you thought that he might use his free will to choose not to love you?  He could end up giving you a lot of trouble.”

God: “Oh yes, he will give me a lot of trouble. … But he is worth it!”

 

(Oh that we would see ourselves as God sees us!)

Killer Storms Are NOT From God!!!

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

 (I live in the Heartland of the United States — in the southern third of Illinois to be more exact.  And as most of the nation — probably the world — knows by now, a portion of that area was hit really hard by devastating, killer storms again in the very early morning hours of February 29th. Last year, we saw the same kind of devastation from similar storms in many states and over a long period of time.  When horrific events like that take place, there are a number of people who automatically suppose that God is behind those events — or that He deliberately allows them as a way of teaching or punishing the people on earth. Nothing could be further from the truth, and in response to a number of misguided comments by both Christians and non-Christians, I am posting this article in an effort to clear the record and bring to light the truth — both about devastating storms and about God.)

Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.”

There you have it, friends: the answer to the question of whether tornadoes and other “killer storms” are from God.  Do they kill?  Do they destroy?  Then according to Jesus Christ Himself, they are not from God.  Where do they come from?  They come from an aberration and twisted use of the natural elements that is orchestrated by Satanic power in operation on this earth. 

God made all natural elements, including the elements of weather, to be a blessing to man.  And even in Psalm 8, He tells us that man is to rule over “all the works” of God’s hands.  But man rebelled against God and His purposes in the garden, and listened to Satan instead.  His actions in response to Satan put man in a position of subservience to the devil, and that sin opened the door to a curse that would effect all of the created earth. (Gen. 3 / Rom. 8).  When man gave Satan the right to operate in this earth, Satan then moved into a position of being able to take hold of any of the natural elements, adulterate them, twist them, and use them to inflict evil upon mankind — and the planet itself. He operates this way on a regular basis and then tries to convince the world that God causes it all. That’s his M.O.

However, that is not the last word in the story.  God’s Covenant with man – which He calls a “covenant of peace” (Is.54) –  restored man’s right to rule over the elements again — only through that covenant — and to take authority over those demonic powers.  Even in the Old Covenant, the Lord expected His faithful servants to know how to use that authority over the natural elements.  When Jesus is with His disciples in the boat, and they are struck by a severe storm (Matt.8), He tells them that they are showing a serious lack of faith in responding in fear rather than authority.  He finally stills the storm for them, but at the same time, He asks them “Where is your faith?”

And it gets better still:  As part of the New Covenant, Jesus literally bought back man’s right to govern in the earth as He was intended to do.  We as believers are made the Body of Christ, and since the government is now upon His shoulders – His body – us – we are supposed to be “governing.”  (Is. 9).  The devil still has the right that man gave him to operate in this earth, but we now have absolute power and authority to bind his power and activity wherever we will make the effort. 

Since the finished work of Jesus, we are now literally in the highest position of authority on this planet.  Philippians 2 says that every created thing — in heaven, on earth, and under the earth — must bow its knee to and obey the name of Jesus Christ.  Do we believe that?   Ephesians 1 says that Jesus reins over all principalities and powers and that He is the head of His body – which is the Church.   If we are His body, and all things are “under His feet,” then all things are under us as well.  Do we believe that? 

We now have the blood-bought spiritual authority living in us to take command over every natural thing.  All natural things were created by a Spirit God, and they will respond to the commands of the Spirit God in us.

What do we do with that authority?  In Mark 11 — as well as several other scriptures in the Gospels — Jesus says that if we will speak to a mountain or a tree [ or a storm??? ] and tell it to move, and not doubt in our hearts, but believe that it will come to pass, we will have what we say.   Do we believe Him?

Unfortunately, some Christians seem to think that all natural calamities are some kind of judgment from God.  There will certainly come a time for God’s judgment to be unleashed — at the end — but that time is not now, if we are to believe the commission of Jesus Christ to His church.  Jesus said twice in the Gospel of John that He did notcome to judge the world, but to save it.  He then told His disciples, and all of those who would become disciples, to follow His specific examples and continue to carry on that work of taking the Gospel to the world.  That being the case, we need to get into agreement with Jesus and say God is not judging right now; He is delivering the grace and mercy of the Gospel of salvation. 

We do need to be aware, however, that when a nation or a people deliberately throw God’s Word in His face and deliberately take a stand or practice things that God clearly says are against Him and His ways, they are literally opening the door to an attack from demonic power.  When we do those things, we set ourselves up for that attack — even invite it.  God isn’t sending it, but it will come.  But even in that kind of situation, God has repeatedly shown mercy and turned destruction away from people — even in the Old Covenant — because faithful believers prayed and took a stand of faith.

Many times in my own life, I have experienced the power of God’s Word and the name of Jesus Christ taking authority over destructive storms, and as a result, seen those storms dissipated, turned away, and or destroyed.  Many other believers have experienced the same thing.  And yes, I’m talking about deadly tornadoes and hurricanes as well as severe thunderstorms. 

But when you are facing a huge battle, sometimes you need a huge, united front to win.  The need in this nation is for a strong united front of faith on the part of the Christian believers to stand in authority against these deadly storms and weather systems.  This whole massive movement of deadly, destructive weather is nothing but a spiritual war being waged by demonic forces, using natural elements.  We must learn to recognize it as such and command the demonic forces to take their hands off — and command those elements to obey the purposes of God in the name of Jesus Christ.

Come on, Church!  Rise up and take your authority! If true believers in this nation will unite in faith, take a strong stand on God’s Word, and take authority over these destructive storms in the name of Jesus Christ, the storms and elements of weather will obey!