Work While it is Day...It's Almost Night

Scriptures to read: John 9:4; Matthew 28:19; Colossians 3:23

While Jesus was healing a blind man, He made a statement. He said that “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”

Several years ago, I attended a mens conference where that scripture was the theme of the conference. Well, here we are about 7 years later. How much darker is it now? How close are we to the night when no one can work?

What about the work? What work is Jesus talking about? In Matthew, Jesus does mention something about making disciples. Maybe that's a part of it.

How can we apply this practically? There are churches in my area that support homeless outreaches, community meals, etc. Right now there is a church that is trying to organize an outreach in the form of a free concert to reach the unsaved. Maybe these are some of the things that one could step out in faith and support. Go to the homeless outreach and sit down with the people there. Offer to pray with them. Listen to them. Pray for God's guidance as you are listening to them. It could be that the church who is sponsoring the concert needs volunteers. Some to help promote the concert. Some to act as counselors. Maybe some to be available to pray for the event. It's time that we as the body of Christ start acting like the body of Christ.

Another thing to consider when it comes to the darkness....In the last two elections, many christians opted to not vote and “sit out” the election. Whatever one decides to do during this election should be guided by our Lord and prayer. (See Colossians 3:23). The main thing to consider about the selection of candidates is which one is closest to our biblical values? None of them are going to be spot on with that. But we should still “speak our voice” with our vote. How would the founding fathers of our country act?

In whatever we do, the real driving desire of our hearts should be wanting to hear our heavenly Father say “Well done good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord”.

In Christ our Lord,

Don 

What are the distractions in your life

Selfishness than name is Sin

The Trinity...One God with 3 Persons, Really?!?

Scriptures: Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 44:6; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Peter 1:1-2; Galatians 1:1,3; John 14:16; John1:1,14; Psalm 68:5; John 5:17-18; Titus 2:13; II Peter 1:1; Colossians 2:8-9; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23-23,25; Daniel 3:19-25; Acts 5:3-4; I Corinthians 3:16; Acts 9:31; John 16:7; Romans 8:26-27: 1 John 5:7

The Trinity.....

So, does the word Trinity appear anywhere in scripture? Take a minute. We have time. Do a search in your bible to satisfy your curiosity. I did.

Ok. Satisfied? No! Not satisfied? You didn't find the word in the bible?!? Don't feel so bad. Neither did I.

So, to find out more about this, I guess we'll have to go a little deeper. Take a tour through the scriptures and see what we can find out about this. So, let's satisfy our curiosity and find out!

1. Let's attack our first question....How many Gods are there in the Christian faith?

Answer: One. In Isaiah 43:10, God states that before Him, there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Him. Also, Isaiah 44:6 says that besides God, there is no God. Paul (new testament) also declares that there is one God and Mediator between man and God, Christ Jesus.

So, we can see that there is only one true God. Now let's talk about the three persons. What is a person is according to Webster? I'll state two from Webster that seem to fit for the purpose of our discussion. One refers to the three modes of the trinity “One of the three modes of being in the Trinitarian Godhead as understood be Christians”. The other one refers to an individual. So, that would mean that each person in the Trinity is unique. So now let's start with God the Father.

2. God the Father. (The First Person of the Trinity). Paul references God as the Father in Galatians (1:1,3). Peter also sees God as the Father (See 1 Peter 1:1-2). David declares God to be a Father to the fatherless (Psalms 68:5).

In the Gospel of John, Jesus mentions praying to the Father. He (Jesus) also mentions His Father several more times in the same chapter. If Jesus refers to God as His Father, then that makes Jesus God's son (See John 3:16).

3. The Son of God, Jesus. (The Second Person of the Trinity). Both Peter and Paul agree concerning Jesus being the Son of God. In Titus 2:13, Paul refers to Jesus as the Blessed Hope, our Great God and Savior. Peter writes in his second epistle. He calls himself a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ. He also calls Jesus God and savior (II Peter 1:1). In Colossians (2:8-9), Paul brings out the fact that in Christ the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. (Mathematical equation...= Jesus Christ is God in bodily form).

Isaiah prophesies concerning Jesus. “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) Fulfilled, see Matthew 1:23-25.

Consider another section from the old testament. This statement was made by a person who was not a believer at the time. He was simply stating what he saw. He looked in a furnace where three old testament believers had been put in by his word. He saw four men walking around in the furnace. He said that he saw a fourth man who looked like the son of God. (See Daniel 3:19-25).

4. The Holy Spirit. (Third Person of the Trinity). The Holy Spirit searches hearts. He also helps in our weaknesses. When we don't know what to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. (Romans 8:26-27). Is the Holy Spirit God? Well, Peter refers to the Holy Spirit as God when he rebukes Ananias for lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5-3-4). And in the first book in the bible, God's Holy Spirit is hovering over the waters on the earth (Genesis 1:2).

5. Other considerations....A very curious verse in the old testament is found in Genesis. God refers to Himself as “us”. Funny that it is when He (God) is preparing to make man. He says “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” (See Genesis 1:26.) Makes one wonder. Why would God refer to Himself as “Us”? Could it be that God is God in three distinct persons? Yeah. According to what us Christians (followers of Christ) like to refer to the bible as God's basic instructions to us before He takes us home to be with Him, I believe so. I'm sure that others have written in much more detail as to the truth of the Trinity. In 1 John (5:7), John says that three bear witness to Jesus being the Son of God, the Father, the Word and the Spirit. The Word is talking about Jesus, the same as John1:1.

I only touched on a few of the scriptures that point to the concept of the Trinity being real. For more information on this, you could consult the writings from second century church fathers such as Tertullian.

My hope and prayer is that your understanding of the Trinity has been enhanced. This side of Heaven, we will never totally understand this. But we can gain a better understanding through searching out the scriptures.

In Christ our Lord,

Don