Crosseyed Student Ministries

08/09/2024

From Pastor’s Desk: “Mighty to Save!”

“The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. Zephaniah 3:17 NASB
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I offer Adam Clarke's Comment on this one:


The Lord thy God] Kyhla hwhy Yehovah Eloheycha, "The self-existent and eternal Being, who is in covenant with you;" the character of God in reference to the Jews when standing in the nearest relation to them.

Is mighty] rwbg gibbor, is the prevailing One, the all-conquering Hero. The character which is given to Christ, Isa 9:6: "His name shall be called rwbg la El gibbor, the prevailing Almighty God."

He will save] Deliver thee from all the power, from all the guilt, and from all the pollution of thy sins; and when thus saved, "he will rejoice over thee with joy," with peculiar gladness. "He will rest in his love,"-he will renew his love. He will show the same love to you that he did of old to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

He will joy over thee with singing.] The conversion of the Jews will be a subject of peculiar delight and exultation to God himself! There will be a more than ordinary joy in heaven, when the Jews return to God through Christ. This event cannot be at a great distance; they are as wretched and as ungodly as they can well be. The arms of Christians are open to receive them; and all things are now ready!
***
Allow your mind to perceive an imagery of God shouting over you. There is no warrior more victorious! There is no greater exultation! There is no deeper love than His quiet love toward His people!

Indeed, He is mighty to save! (Isaiah 63:1).

08/08/2024

https://fb.watch/tQOJlzfhJZ/

08/08/2024

From Pastor’s Desk: "God’s Activity."

Just as you do not know the way and path of the wind or how the bones are formed in the womb of a pregnant woman, even so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things. Ecclesiates 11:5 AMP
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We don’t know! That’s what necessitates trust, which, in turn, necessitates faith. To trust in someone of whom we know everything about would not fall into the category of faith. In other words, we would know what he/she could or could not do, therefore our trust would be limited to his/her capability.

Genuine trust is defined by consciously and purposely placing ourselves at another’s disposal when we simply take them at their word that they can bring to fruition what they have promised, not really knowing for sure if they can or not.

Isn’t that what trust in God is? Trusting Him to do what He said He would do when we really don’t know everything there is to know about Him?

We can’t see the wind, but only the results of the wind. In Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, He said, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8 AMP). In the account of the “Valley of Dry Bones” in Ezekiel 37, the vast army that Ezekiel saw lay lifeless, even after the bones, sinew, etc. had come together, until the “wind” blew life back into them. Without wind, or air, we could not live.

Being mysterious as it is, and considering that much is known, scientist and physicians are still finding out things about the human body. They may know a lot about it but they still don’t know how the bones are formed in the womb.

Exploration of “wind” has led to much knowledge pertaining to it. In some ways we can even control it. Some have even said that it can be produced by various means.

To that I would suggest that it would be well if we realize that the Hebrew word for “wind” in Eccl. 11:5 is רוּחַ rûach (roo'-akh). That’s what the Bible is saying that we do not know the way of.

Bottom-line point is that, until the day we stand before God and know Him even as we are known, we cannot know His activity in the world. That requires trust, which requires faith.

08/07/2024

From Pastor’s Desk: "Forgiving As God Forgives."

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.Ephesians 4:32NKJV
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Forgiving may very well fall into the category of “most difficult things” for anyone to do. Wrongs perpetrated, whether slight or heinous, probably determines the ease or difficulty of forgiving. Usually it is the more “personally wronged” area in which we find the most strenuous.

Forgiving is a stringent commandment of God, in that, He says very forthright things about it. Along with the verse of today, there are many. The word “Forgive” is found 56 times in 48 verses in the Bible, “Forgiveness” 7 times in 7 verses, and “Forgiving” 4 times in 4 verses, all including both Old and New Testaments. Various Hebrew and Greek words are used, denoting various meanings, to cover, to lift, to forgive, placable, to send forth, to free fully, and to grant as a favor.

Matthew 6:14-15, verses that address our “horizontal” relationship with each other, uses the Greek word ἀφίημι aphiēmi (af-ee'-ay-mee) From G575 and ἵημι hiēmi (to send; an intensive form of εἶμι eimi (to go)); to send forth, in various applications: - cry, forgive, forsake, lay aside, leave, let (alone, be, go, have), omit, put (send) away, remit, suffer, yield up.

Note all the English derivatives from that one Greek word, what each one suggests. Keep in mind that Matthew 6:14-15, if I may paraphrase, says “Forgive, and God will, don’t forgive and God won’t.”

Maybe the premise of forgiveness is “be kind to one another, tenderhearted…” If we’re not, most likely we will find ourselves in that arena of “most difficult things to do.”

And, by the way, we are supposed to forgive as God forgave us!

08/06/2024

From Pastor’s Desk: "No Condemnation!"

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 NKJV
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When you see “therefore” in Scripture you must consider previous verses, passages, chapters, etc. to see what the “therefore” is there for.

In this case, Paul has just written some explicable, and some not so explicable, theological principles, especially in chapters 5-7, Justification being not the least of them. Chapter 7 deals with the inner turmoil between the carnal and spiritual, in which Paul confesses that he himself struggles (wrestles) with such as he says, “…the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice” in verse 19.

Verses 24-25 explains the “therefore”: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” With that Paul establishes that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

It may be that one the most strategic schemes of the devil is in the area of condemnation. Among various (7) points of definitions of “condemn” one is “…to pronounce to be guilty; sentence to punishment.” That’s what the devil tries to make us feel! The point is that he can only make you feel condemned. He can’t actually condemn you. Nor can other people condemn you.

Many, and I think most, people cannot differentiate between feeling guilty and conviction. When we do wrong (the evil I will not to do, that I practice), we definitely should feel something. It is, however, not guilt that we should feel, but rather conviction (convincing) of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, the devil, if we allow him to, will make us feel guilty and there is no hope left.

We must, as Paul, come to the point of knowing that, even though we are wretched, Jesus Christ will deliver from this “body of death” with all its struggles between carnality and spirituality. Please don’t misinterpret! This is not a “license” to sin! But, “…if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2).

The only person who has the right and authority to condemn, didn’t!

08/05/2024

https://fb.watch/tM0Vfze-J0/

08/02/2024

From Pastor’s Desk: "To Win the Lost!"

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Colossians 4:5-6 NKJV
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Allow me, in part, to cite Albert Barnes' NT Commentary on verse 5.

Walk in wisdom.] …conduct upright and honest. Deal with them on the strictest principles of integrity, so that they may not have occasion to reproach the religion which you profess.

Toward them that are without.] Without the pale of the church, or who, are not professing Christians…. They were surrounded by heathens, as Christians now are by men of the world. The injunction is one that requires us to act with prudence and propriety (en Sofia) towards them; and there is, perhaps, not a more important direction in the New Testament than this. Among the reasons for this are the following:

(1) Men of the world judge of religion, not from the profession, but from the life of its friends.
(2) They judge…from what they see in the daily walk and conversation of the members of the church.
(3) They understand the nature of religion so well as to know when its friends are or are not consistent with their profession.
(4) They set a much higher value on honesty and integrity than they do on the doctrines and duties of religion; and if the professed friends of religion are destitute of the principle of truth and honesty, they think they have nothing of any value…
(5) No professing Christian can possibly do good to others who does not live an upright life. If you have cheated a man out of never so small a sum, it is vain that you talk to him about the salvation of his soul; if you have failed to pay him a debt when it was due, or to finish a piece of work when you promised it, or to tell him the exact truth in conversation, it is vain for you to endeavour to induce him to be a Christian…
(6) No man will attempt to do much good to others whose own life is not upright. He will be sensible of the inconsistency, and will feel that he cannot do it with any sense of propriety; and the honour of religion, therefore, and the salvation of our fellow-men, demand that, in all our in*******se with others, we should lead lives of the strictest integrity.

Enough said? I would challenge the reader to read Barnes Commentary in full, especially on verse 6, as I have omitted (…) some because of space. In so doing, you will realize that we are, indeed, to “Walk in wisdom…that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”

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08/01/2024

From Pastor’s Desk "No Options Offered!"

Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 KJV
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Evermore? Without ceasing? In everything? These are words we don’t always understand. Trials come, and we’re supposed to rejoice, pray, and give thanks? When we are weak and succumb to a temptation? When people treat us horribly? When there is no end in sight to the adverse situation and dilemma with which we are confronted?

Verses 12-22 mention various exhortations to the saints at Thessalonica. Verses 16-18 jumps into the context and just simply says what it says. There is no option offered! It doesn’t examine the how, why, when, where, or with whom.

Consequently, then, we are to do as the Scripture admonishes. Rejoice! Don’t let anything or anyone stop you. Pray without ceasing! Live daily with an attitude of prayer so that, at anytime and anywhere, the Holy Spirit has access to your heart and mind to burden you with prayer. Give thanks in everything even when the “everything” is not what you want to be happening, or not where you want to be (both geographically and spiritually).

Can it be done? It must be done, if we are going to live within the parameters of God’s will.

08/01/2024

https://fb.watch/tHm2Pzz0Pt/

07/31/2024

From Pastor’s Desk: "Don’t Worry, Pray!"

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV
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Too often we leave God as a last resort. That is, most of the time, instead of going to God first, we tend to worry (be anxious) over things in which we have little or no control. Little do we realize that making our requests known to God is a definite prerequisite for the peace of God to guard our hearts and minds.

The underlying principle, if indeed it is underlying, is that we are to pray instead of worry. There will be no peace without that principle in effect.

07/30/2024

From Pastor’s Desk: "Pray According to God’s Will."

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. 1 John 5:14-15 NKJV
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“According to His will” is the qualifier for this verse. We can ask for things unceasingly and will possibly not receive them, because the things we’re asking for doesn’t line up with His will in our lives and those whom He designs to be in our lives.

I say “possibly not receive them” because there are times in the history of God’s people, Israel, when He did give them what they wanted, even though it wasn’t good for them. For example, He gave them a king when He knew they were going to reap the consequences of being ruled by a king (monarchy) rather than by Himself (Theocracy).

James has something to say about this in his practical writing: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (4:3). God does not promise to give us all we want or desire, but rather promises to give us all we need (SEE Matthew 6:33, Philippians 4:19). Many times, in fact too often, our wants / desires far outweigh our needs.

A good example of withholding something from someone because they don’t need it is the parent / child relationship. A parent(s) usually does not give a child something that will be bad for him/her. Sadly, society today shows evidence that too many parents have given their children want they want rather than limiting it to what they need. Because of that, we have “grown-ups” who are less than mature.

Paul states in Romans 8:26-27, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

Note that even Jesus Christ (He who searches the heart), our intercessor, intercedes “according the will of God.” It is a marvelous concept that when we don’t know how to pray, the Holy Spirit prays for us, making intercession for us to the One who knows His (Holy Spirit’s) mind and then, He, in turn, makes intercession to the Father.

If you have been praying about something and have not received it yet, or at least an answer to your prayer, you might re-evaluate your prayer and make sure it is lining up with the will of God and you are praying accordingly. If you don’t need it, you might not get it!