Firm Foundation with Bryan Hudson

Great commentary excerpt from William Barclay on 1 John 5:4, "Whatever is born of God overcomes the world..."

We have a strength to endure the attacks of the world. The human situation is full of things which seek to take our faith away. There are the sorrows and the perplexities of life; there are the disappointments and the frustrations of life; there are for most of us the failures and discouragements of life. But if we believe in the incarnation, we believe in a God who himself went through all this, even to the Cross and who can, therefore, help others who are going through it.

John 16:16, “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it."

The law, legalism, and religion was the old news. Jesus, grace, and God's Kingdom is the "new" news! The old was passive. The new is active.

The blessing of being in Christ and part of God's kingdom is that we can participate with God's grace for life, for ministry, for our work, and everything else!

Under the law, human effort was the basis of activity, which ultimately ended in failure to truly serve God. Under grace, there still effort but only to exercise our faith in the grace of God. It's like something called "power steering." There was a time when turning the steering wheel of a car was largely your effort in making the front wheels turn. And let me tell you, it was sometimes hard to do!

Today every car has what we call "power steering," "power assist" or completely electronic. When you start to turn the wheel, the steering system takes over and makes it much easier!

Jesus said that we are "pressing into the kingdom." This is a perfect picture of active faith. The Bible says "We are laborers together with God." (1 Cor. 3:9) God does not reward passive, inactive people. Nor does she want us to do anything in our own strength.

When we press, or active, in our faith, God does all the heavy lifting!

Today, let Him give you the "power assist!"

Pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:17-19)

Isaiah 61:3, To console those who mourn in Zion,To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

Always serve God, even when doing so brings difficulty, like sour lemons. Through the power of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit can bring the water of the word and sweetness of the Holy Spirit to every bitter circumstance. This will produce something good, from something bad, like refreshing lemonade. Then, you will be able to sip and rejoice as God shows you his love, power, mercy and favor.

Listen the message by Pastor Bryan Hudson on the Firm Foundation Podcast.

JESUS IS RISEN!

We don't say "Jesus Has Risen" (past tense) because He is still alive to empower us for daily living!

The Scripture below shows the Apostle Paul's revelation and perspective regarding the resurrection of Jesus as DAILY POWER for living, not only a glorious event in the past. He contrasts his knowledge/credentials/experiences with the far greater experience of knowing Christ.

[Brackets are my comments]

Philippians 3:1 NLT, Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.

2 Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. [or any other religious deed] 3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!

5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! [In daily life]

Happy Resurrection Sunday....EVERYDAY!

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