From Gary... The color of VERY GOOD

Recently, brother Ed Healy put this picture on facebook.  The colors and contrast are simply beautiful!!!  I was reminded immediately of Israel's gift to Joseph of a coat of many colors. Having just come in from taking Buddy from one of his many walks, I was still thinking about the beauty of Spring; so much so, that I wondered... How does God feel about this world he has made???  The Scriptures relating to both of these thoughts are found below...

Genesis, Chapter 37

 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, 

and he made him a coat of many colors.

Genesis, Chapter 1

4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.

10 God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good.

 12 The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.

21 God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good. 

 25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good. 

 31  God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. 

"It was good" is a phrase that is repeated over and again in chapter 1.  When everything is taken together, it is categorized as "very good".  If God looks at this world this way- so should we.  That means taking care of what has been given to us by keeping it "very good"!!!  I really don't consider my self an ecologist or an environmentalist, but it seems both reasonable and polite to take care of what God has given us.   Besides, I like the colors- they are very good  !!!

From Jim McGuiggan... A Cracked Mirror and God's Image

A Cracked Mirror & God's Image

Paul sees God's self-revelation in Jesus Christ as a profoundly richer manifestation of himself. This is why he re-works Jewish monotheism in 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 and announces that Christ is embraced in the confession that there’s one true God—a sort of Christian Shema.

The rescue from Egypt was God’s tremendous hand reaching out of heaven in an unmistakable manner, acting on Israel’s behalf, but God’s incarnation in and as Jesus Christ is God becoming one of us. No one could have known God cared that much or was that committed to his creation. 1 John 3:16 is bold. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us." And 4:9, as if there’d been no Exodus or gift of Canaan, John says, "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him." And in light of all this he concludes in 4:16, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us." By this we know what love is. Not by Sinai, not by the election of Abraham, not by our astute minds and exalted knowledge but by this. The will of God can be revealed at different levels. In the OT he regulates divorce, polygamy and concubinage and approves of none of them. These were regulated and tolerated because of the hardness of people's hearts. It is never evil for God to do tolerate and regulate while he works for the best. But it settles no major question if we can show that God did this or that prior to Christ. I’m not suggesting that such texts are irrelevant. Far from it; they have their own message to tell. I’m saying that his doing this or that might not express his heart's desire.

But in Jesus Christ his heart's desire is fully shown, as fully in a human as is possible. To image Christ (do I need to say we'll do it poorly?) is to image God's full heart on any matter. I’m not speaking of his wearing sandals, working as a carpenter, choosing honourable celibacy or being an itinerary preacher. I’m speaking of his spirit and mind, his attitude and devotion to the Holy Father and the kind of behaviour that would result in. A mind like his would express itself differently in each individual in specific matters because our relationships, historical, cultural and economic settings differ from his and one another’s.

People—given the time and opportunity—should by and by get some sense of the kind of life Jesus would live if he lived in our society in this phase of human life.

But while our business is to image Christ by fleshing out his mind in our lives and as the church, which is his body, it's more focussed than that. We witness to his having been here and to his life, death, resurrection and exaltation. We're to image him but we're not to say, "How we image him is the full meaning of Christ." We're a cracked mirror. But even a cracked mirror—does not reflect itself; it declares the reality of someone else. The image is not the reality and to the degree that we present our own success in imaging Christ as the matter of real power and consequence—to that degree we worship ourselves! Our business is to remind the world by imaging Christ that there is indeed a Christ beyond the image!

It’s true that by taking him seriously and bringing our lives (by his grace) into conformity to his likeness that we profess his way of living is the true way to live. This is so, but our success or failure in doing this well is secondary. I don’t mean it’s unimportant! I mean it’s secondary! Our business is to say (without ballyhoo or without being tedious—as if anyone would be silly enough to mistake us for Christ himself)—our business is to say, "He lives!"

Jesus Christ is the way God lives the human life. Jesus Christ is a human who lived his life unto God in an earthly phase and now lives as a human in a new and exalted way. So it is meant to be and so it will be for us.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Mark Copeland... The Cost Of Discipleship

                          "THE GOSPEL OF MARK"

                   The Cost Of Discipleship (8:34-35)

INTRODUCTION

1. At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus called people to become His
   disciples...
   a. Such as Simon and Andrew - Mk 1:16-18
   b. Also James and John - Mk 1:19-20

2. At the conclusion of His ministry, Jesus sent His apostles to make
   more disciples...
   a. To make disciples of all the nations - Mt 28:19
   b. Teaching them to observe all that He commanded - Mt 28:20

3. In the text for this lesson, we find Jesus discussing the issue of
   discipleship...
   a. Having just predicted His own suffering, death, and resurrection
      - Mk 8:31
   b. Telling His disciples and others what is the cost of discipleship
      - Mk 8:34-35

[A disciple is a learner, a follower; to be a disciple of Jesus means
that we follow Jesus.  But as Jesus mentions in our text, such
discipleship requires a cost.  To be a true disciple of Jesus...]

I. ONE MUST DENY SELF

   A. WHAT IT MEANS...
      1. To deny sinful self, ungodliness, and worldly lusts; and part
         with them, and his former sinful companions, which were as a
         part of himself - Gill
      2. To deny righteous self, and renounce all his own works of
         righteousness, in the business of justification and salvation
         - ibid.
      -- To deny self with its self-righteous pride and sinful lust from
         dominating you

   B. HOW IT'S MANIFESTED...
      1. Denying sinful self, expounded by Peter
         a. Abstaining from fleshly lusts - 1Pe 2:11-12
         b. No longer living like the rest of the world - 1Pe 4:1-4
      2. Denying righteous self, exemplified by Paul
         a. Who had much about which he could have boasted - Php 3:4-6
         b. But chose to put all his trust in Christ - Php 3:7-14
      -- In precept and practice, the apostles tell us what it means to
         deny self

[Together with denying self, to be a disciple of Christ...]

II. ONE MUST TAKE UP HIS CROSS

   A. WHAT IT MEANS...
      1. To voluntarily and decisively accept the pain, shame, and
         persecution that is going to be one's particular-note: his, not
         someone else's-lot because of his loyalty to Christ and his
         cause - Hendriksen
      2. To cheerfully receive, and patiently bear, every affliction and
         evil, however shameful and painful it may be, which is
         appointed for him, and he is called unto; which is his peculiar
         cross, as every Christian has his own; to which he should
         quietly submit, and carry, with an entire resignation to the
         will of God, in imitation of his Lord - Gill
      3. The cross is to be born "daily", indicating Jesus was speaking
         metaphorically - cf. Lk 9:23
      -- To gladly endure whatever hardship one may receive in service
         to Christ!

   B. HOW IT'S MANIFESTED...
      1. In the case of the apostles
         a. What they all endured - 1Co 4:9-13
         b. What Paul in particular endured - 2Co 11:23-29
      2. In our case, it may involve being:
         a. Ridiculed - 1Pe 4:4
         b. Reviled (spoken evil of, excluded) - 1Pe 4:4; Mt 5:11; Lk 6:22
         c. Reproached - 1Pe 4:14
      -- All the while, rejoicing that one is honored to suffer for
         Christ - 1Pe 4:16; Ac 5:40-42

[With a willingness to deny self and bear one's own cross on a daily
basis...]

III. ONE MUST FOLLOW JESUS

   A. WHAT IT MEANS...
      1. To become His disciple, seeking to become like Him - Lk 6:40;
         cf. Ro 8:29; 13:14
      2. To accept Him as Lord, doing what He says - Lk 6:46; cf. Col 3:17
      3. To walk in His footsteps, even at great cost - 1Pe 2:21-25
      -- To become a Christian, to let Jesus be your Lord and mentor


   B. HOW IT'S MANIFESTED...
      1. Obeying the gospel of Christ - Mt 28:19; Mk 16:15-16; Ac 2:38;
         22:16
      2. Observing all He and His apostles commanded - 

         Mt 28:20; Ac 2:42; 1Co 14:37
      3. Ever growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ - 2Pe 3:18
      -- Putting Jesus on in baptism, and then living with Him - Ga 3:27; 2:20

CONCLUSION

1. The cost of discipleship may seem rather high...
   a. One must deny self
   b. One must take up one's cross
   c. One must follow Jesus

2. But as Jesus explains, there are only two choices... - Mk 8:35
   a. One can try to save his life himself, but will end up losing it
      - cf. Jn 8:24
   b. One can lose his life for Jesus' sake and the gospel's, and wind
      up saving it! - cf. Re 2:10

   For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
   his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. - Mk 8:35

In view of eternity, there is only one viable choice:  endure the high
cost of discipleship, and receive the blessings of eternal life...!

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011