Author Archives: Dale Babinsky

A Longer View

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Robin_Williams     Robin Williams is dead at age 63.  It was not heart disease, or cancer, or any of what we normally consider to be the ‘big’ causes of death.  By all appearances Robin just wanted out.  It is a sad thing when someone reaches that point in their life that they just don’t think that they can continue in it any longer.

Depression is a serious health issue.  Perhaps one way to battle this disease is to have a longer view on life.  Oftentimes it is easy for us to get caught up in the day to day trials of this life, where even the small things become insurmountable in our eyes.  Take Robin’s case, for instance.  Many of us would look at Robin’s career, fame, and fortune and think that he was a person who ‘had it all.’  But for Robin, the pressure to succeed and remain at the very top of his game apparently became too much for him to deal with as his career was beginning to wane (according to the news reports on the morning of August 12, 2014).

Having that longer view of life helps us to see that even though we have trials and difficult things to deal with while we are on this earth; there is a better world to come.  Understanding that there is a God who loves us, who wants us to come to Him, who wants us to obey His will for us, should give us the necessary hope to be able to tackle our daily struggles.  Paul had this longer view.  Consider all that Paul had to go through in this life,

From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:24-28 NKJV).

And yet Paul’s attitude about all those trials was that they were but a light affliction to be endured for a short time (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Knowing that as a child of God that we have a better hope, a hope of what is to come when this life is over, can help us to navigate the troubled seas that we have to face while we are in this body, this tent as Peter calls it (2 Peter 1:13-14).  Let us always look to God for strength in times of trial and trouble.  Let us always try to keep that long view.  Let us have that goal of heaven in our mindset, in order to help us deal with life’s problems.  Let us never become discouraged to the point of thinking we have to end it all.

God Wants You!

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I can remember being in school gym class as sides were being chosen for a game of kick ball.  Everyone wanted to be picked first to be on the best team.  No one wanted to be picked last, because if you were last, you were not really picked.  As one of my classmates aptly pointed out, being the last player chosen meant that team ended up with you by default.  They did not choose you.

How comforting it is to know that if we are obedient to God’s word that He has chosen us for salvation.  There is no pecking order, and God has not ended up with us by default, but we were chosen by Him to be His children.  Consider what Peter writes in saying,

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. . . But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:4-5, 9 NKJV).

God has chosen those who will obey Him to be His own special people, a royal priesthood, a chosen generation.  He has chosen us to be His, and He has chosen us for His own special mission.  That mission is to proclaim the praises of the One who has called us out of the darkness and into His marvelous light.

God wants you, but you have to come to Him in simple obedience of His word, as a living stone or living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2) in order to be accepted by Him.   Are you a member of that chosen generation?  Are you one of His own special people?  Are you a part of that royal priesthood?  If not, why not?

God Gets “Historical”

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A man was talking to his friend and he said that every time he and his wife have a disagreement, she gets historical.  His friend tried to correct him by asking if he meant to say that she gets hysterical.  The man said that he did not misspeak, but that his wife gets ‘historical’ by bringing up everything that he ever did!

In 2 Kings 21 beginning in verse 10, it appears that God is getting ‘historical’ with the kingdom of Judah.  Manasseh, who committed a great deal of evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 21:1-9), has caused the nation to commit the sin of idolatry.  Indeed, Manasseh is said to be worse than the Amorites that God removed from the land prior to the Israelites inheriting it (2 Kings 21:10).  Because of the sins of Manasseh and the kingdom of Judah, God is going to cause them to go off into Babylonian captivity for a 70 year period of correction.  God had a tremendous amount of patience with Israel, but now that patience is up. Israel’s winepress is just about full, and there will be no way to avert what is to come.  God says, “they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day” (2 Kings 21:14b-15).  God gets ‘historical’ in that He reminds them of how long their transgressions against Him have been building.

Our God is a God of patience (Romans 15:5) and of longsuffering (1 Peter 3:20).  God waits upon man to turn his life around and to come to Him (2 Peter 3:9).  However, there is a limit to God’s patience.  We only have this life in which to come to God and have our sins washed away and removed from our record through the act of baptism (Acts 2:38; 22:16).  If we want to make sure that God is not historical with us on Judgment Day, then we need to make sure that we do what He said to do.  If we will simply obey Him, God will blot out our sins and will remember them no more (Heb. 8:12; 10:17).

The Return of the King

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the_lord_of_the_rings__the_return_of_the_king_wallpaper-1024x768What do you think about when you think about a king making his triumphant entry into the city? Do you picture a warrior looking man riding a large white stallion or an armored warhorse? How often do you picture that king being meek or lowly and riding on a small, young donkey?

All four of the gospels give the account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. As Jesus makes His final entry into that city, He is not riding a large steed, but instead is riding upon the colt of a donkey (Mat. 21:5). This illustrates to us that the idea that Jesus was going to come as a conquering hero in order to overthrow the Roman Empire and establish an earthly kingdom in Jerusalem is an erroneous idea. Indeed the Jews were expecting the Messiah to be this type of political/warrior leader. They were wrong.

Jesus did not come to earth to establish an earthly kingdom, for He told Pilate at His trial that His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). Christ’s kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, that was to be established when the power of the Holy Spirit came upon His apostles (Mark 9:1; Acts 1:4-5; Acts 2:1-4). Thus Jesus did not enter Jerusalem as a conqueror, but as a spiritual Lord and Savior.

Scripture tells us that Jesus will return someday to take His followers up to heaven with Him (John 14:3). There will be a return of the King on that day, in which all the nations of the earth will be judged (2 Cor. 5:10). The question is, are you ready for the return of the King? Are you a part of His spiritual kingdom today?

Both Lord and Savior

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Jesus - Morning-LightIn the gospel accounts of Jesus it is common to see many people who came to Jesus for one reason or another. Some came because of illnesses or demons. Some came to be fed with physical nourishment. Some, such as the Pharisees, came to Jesus in order to trap Him or accuse Him. Many who came to Him were not willing to be led by Him, however.
In the parable of the minas, the citizens (who represent the Jews who rejected Christ) do not want the nobleman (who represents Jesus) to rule over them. They even send a delegation after him to try to make sure he does not receive his kingdom (Luke 19:11-27). In the end, when the king returns, they are slain before him in judgment. Likewise, there are many today who want the atoning blood of Jesus to cover their sins, so they accept Jesus as a savior. However, they are unwilling to follow His commands and allow Him to rule in their lives.
It is not for us to pick and choose like this when it comes to Jesus. God has made Jesus to be both our Lord and our Savior (Acts 2:36). If we want Jesus to cover our sins with His blood so that we can have redemption, then we must also accept Him as the Lord of our lives. God has made Christ the ruler. We must be willing to follow. Jesus suffered death on the cross so that we could be saved. Can we look at that and say, “Thanks, but I’m going to live my life as I see fit?” Therefore, when we come to Jesus for salvation, we need to be willing to accept Christ as our Lord.

Freedom!

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stone.tif In April 1775 British Redcoats and American colonists squared off in Lexington, MA in what was to become known as the “shot heard round the world.” The battle that began in April continued into June 1776, when a committee of five men (Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston) was selected by the Continental Congress to draft the Declaration of Independence, thus sealing America’s desire for freedom from England.
But there is another freedom that came to men long before the American Revolution. Over 1,700 years prior to that fateful April day in Lexington, MA, man was granted freedom from sin. Jesus Christ, who had come to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), died on the cross so that men might be relieved of their burden of sin. Jesus declared in His ministry that those who would abide, or live in, His word would be His disciples, and His true disciples would know the truth, which would make them free (John 8:31-32).
In order to be free from sin, the word of God must abide in the believer. If we choose to not allow God’s word to abide in us, if we choose to abide in the world instead of God’s word, then we are not His disciples. And if we are not His disciples, then we will not know the truth and we will not be free from our sins. But thanks be to God, that if we do live in His word, we can enjoy that ultimate freedom. Let us study what God’s word has to say about true freedom and enjoy an independence from sin that can only come from Jesus Christ!

Who is This Jesus?

Posted on by under Christian Evidences

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People may often wonder about Jesus and who He really was.  It has been said by some that Jesus was just a good man, or that He was only a prophet, but that He was not the Son of God.  What evidence do we find in God’s word about who Jesus really was?  When Jesus and His disciples approached the region of Caesarea Philippi He asked them what the people thought about who He was.  They answered Him that some thought that He might be John the Baptizer, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.  However, when He asked His apostles who He was, “Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’” (Matthew 16:16 NKJV).

How did Peter know who Jesus really was?  One reason is that Peter had been travelling with Jesus for some time and had seen the things that Jesus was able to do.  Some of what Peter had seen is recorded for us in Matthew chapter 8, which chronicles several of the miracles of Jesus.  In this chapter we can see that Jesus exhibited power that mere men or prophets simply did not have.  Specifically, there are 5 such miracles that demonstrate the power of Jesus over several aspects of life.

The miracles of Jesus in chapter 8 of the book of Matthew include the following:

  1. The healing of the leper (Mat. 8:1-4), which demonstrates Jesus’ power over the seen or external world.  All could see that the leper had the disease, but no one else could have healed him other than God.
  2. The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law (Mat. 8:14-15), which demonstrates Jesus’ power over the unseen or internal world.  She had a fever, and while others may be able to tell by her demeanor that she was ill, none but God could see the internal cause of the fever.
  3. The healing of the centurion’s servant (Mat. 8:5-13), which demonstrates Jesus’ power over time and space.  It was not necessary for Jesus to travel to the centurion’s home to heal the servant, He was able to do it from a distance.  This shows that Jesus had a power that mortal man does not posses.
  4. The calming of the storm at sea (Mat. 8:23-27), which demonstrates Jesus’ power over nature.  No mere man could have accomplished this feat as even His disciples exclaimed, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:27b).
  5. The casting out of demons (Mat. 8:28-32), which demonstrates Jesus’ power over the spiritual realm.  Again this shows that Jesus was more than a man and that He really was the Son of God.

We see that the purpose of miracles was to confirm the message that was spoken (Mark 16:20).  Therefore, it is not unusual that Matthew shows these 5 miracles here in chapter 8 as Jesus has just finished delivering the Sermon on the Mount (Mat. 5-7).  Indeed, at the end of that great sermon the people realized that Jesus was not like other men.  “And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Mat. 7:28-29).  Thus the miracles of Jesus help to prove to us just who He really is, that being the Son of God and a member of the Godhead.

Do You Know Where You are Going?

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Image            Growing up we were fortunate to be able to travel different places each summer on vacation.  I can remember sitting in the back seat of the family vehicle with the road map so that I could track where we were and how much further we had to go.  I also remember that each year my father would ignore my advice about where to turn to get to our destination, even though I was proven to have been correct the year before.  You see, my father had a problem admitting he was lost or asking for help.  He much preferred to drive around the same block aimlessly than to actually ask for directions or admit that he made a wrong turn.

Many of us are the same way.  We know that something is not right about the direction we are traveling in life, but we never think to consult the road map to find our way back.  Well, there is hope, because in God’s word we find that Jesus has provided us with the perfect road map for our lives.  “Jesus said . . . ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6 NKJV).  It is important for us to consult regularly with our Gospel Positioning System (GPS) so that we will be able to reach our intended destination.  God’s word will provide that all important guidance that we need in order to live our lives in a way that will lead us to salvation.

We will also find that there are times when we need to stop and ask for directions.  Think about the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:30-34, who admitted to Philip that he needed help in understanding the scriptures.  He had come to a passage in Isaiah 53 and wondered if the prophet spoke concerning himself or some other person.  He was not too embarrassed or afraid to ask this question of Philip.  He had a desire to know the truth, and so he posed this question.  We likewise should not allow fear or potential embarrassment to stop us from making sure that we have a good grasp of God’s word.  After all, we need to know where we are going and how to get there.

Choose Ye This Day

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In Joshua’s farewell address to the nation of Israel he urges them to make a choice.  In Joshua 24:15 he says, “. . . choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (NKJV).  We can boil down Joshua’s challenge into two possible choices.  Either choose to follow God, or choose to not follow God.

We today have the same choice before us, in a manner of speaking.  While it is unlikely that we would choose to follow the gods that the ancient Egyptians or Amorites worshipped, there is no shortage of false gods within our society today.  Many choose to follow after riches, whether in the form of money or the possessions that money can buy.  Many choose to follow after fame, whether in sports, movies or popular music industries.  Many choose to follow their own way, and in that sense become their own god in determining what they think is right or proper.  However, it is not up to us to determine what is right or wrong, for who are we to make that determination.  The ultimate determination of right or wrong has to come from a higher standard, which we find in God’s holy word.

Joshua is not challenging Israel to follow him because of any righteousness that he himself possesses.  He is, however, challenging them to follow his example in serving the Lord and following what He has said to do.  We then need to set our selfish desires aside and leave the desire to serve riches, fame, and ourselves in order to set our minds on that which is above and serve God.  We cannot have one foot in both worlds, because in serving God we are to give Him our all (Joshua 22:5).  We cannot give God our heart, mind, and soul while trying to still keep one foot firmly planted in worldliness.  The choice still stands before us this day.  Are we choosing God, or are we choosing something else?

 

The Apple of His Eye

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            In the book of Zechariah, God was encouraging His people, who had returned from exile and were in the process of rebuilding the temple.  As they were building, they were concerned with the lack of walls around the city for protection.  To ease their minds, God instructed them through the prophet, “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.  For surely I will shake My hand against them, and they shall become spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me’” (Zechariah 2:8-9 NKJV).  God was basically telling them that He would protect them from their enemies, for they are the apple of His eye.  This means that God’s people are precious in His sight.

            Over 600 years later, God would also give comfort to His people who were suffering under the persecution of the Roman Empire.  At that time John wrote the book of Revelation to the church in order to encourage them to hang in there in the face of persecution and death.  God was going to deal with the Roman Empire, because when they went after His people, the apple of His eye, they were basically going after Him.

            We as God’s people are still precious to Him today.  It is you and me as Christians, the members of His church, who are special in His sight.  We are the apple of His eye.  Thinking about this and thinking about how He has cared for His people and continues to care for His people should give us pause in how we deal with our brothers and sisters in the Lord.  Are we treating our Christian family as the apple of God’s eye?  In light of the fact that God is greatly displeased when any of His children are mistreated, we should all consider how we are treating one another and realize that all of His children are precious in His sight.