What About Now?

If we’re not careful, we can come to think of the Christian life as a religion, or as a set of beliefs we agree on, or about what we’re against and oppose. Christianity is best expressed as the imitation of Christ or as Jesus put it, “Following” Him into a life of complete submission to God lived for the benefit of others.

Following Jesus is always about right now. It’s not about what you did a few years ago. It’s not about what you’re planning on doing some day. It’s about whether or not you are following Jesus right now, in this very moment.

As the scriptures remind us:

“God again set a certain day, calling it ‘Today’” (Hebrews 4:7)

"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion” (Hebrews 3:15)

“…then chose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-16)

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

Like Paul wrote to us, we must “forget the past” (Philippians 3:13) and press onward to our calling to follow Jesus daily.

It’s why Jesus asks us to pray for “daily bread” (Matt 6:11) and to receive God’s rich Mercies that are “new every morning.” (Lamentations 3:23)

We need to think of our walk with Jesus as a moment-by-moment engagement with Jesus where we are trusting Him with every heartbeat and in time with every breath we breathe.

Are you trusting Jesus as your Lord and Savior at this very moment? Is His Kingdom brand new in your heart? Have you devoted yourself to His service 24/7?

My prayer is that I could always experience this sort of constant conversion where my commitment to Jesus is as new as my latest thought and as immediate as this very moment.

Conversatio morem!

-kg

WHAT IS THE TRUE SABBATH?

A guest blog article by Alf Hutchison.

“So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'” (PS 95:11)

The writer of Hebrews takes this Word of God from Psalms to its ultimate conclusion, “For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,' " although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” (HEB 4:3)

The Lord, in Psalm 95, is addressing those Hebrews who had hard hearts and it was for them, He made the Laws, and they are still under that Law (Torah) today, even the law of the Sabbath, the Rest. "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,' for all those Christians who are returning to the ‘Jewish roots’, please read Gods words again "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,'

The writer of Hebrews tells us more:
And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (HEB 3:18-19)

The writer of Hebrews continues driving the point home.
“For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said, “So I swore in My wrath,'They shall not enter My rest,' " although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works"; and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest." Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience.” (HEB 4:3-6)

The writer of Hebrews then goes on to explain about the day concerned, regarding “His Sabbath rest”

“Again He designates a certain day, saying in David,( i.e. The Psalms) "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said:
"Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts."
There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.
For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.(HEB 4:7-10)

Finally remember well the words of Paul to those in Colossae:
So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.(COL 2:16-17)

The New Covenant came in to effect upon Calvary’s cross, "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (JER 31:33) And until that New Covenant is accepted by the Jews they will remain bound by the Law, and to the religious keeping of the Sabbath. Born again Christians already have the new Covenant in the Blood of Jesus Christ and have the Holy Spirit of God; and the Law in their hearts and their Sabbath rest is no longer a single day. It is every day.

"For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."(MATT 12:8) Jesus Christ is our Sabbath rest, and His designated day is TODAY...and every day...not just Sunday or Saturday.

If we are to believe that “He is in us and we in Him”, then is it only on Sunday or Saturday that this occurs, or is it every day of our believing lives until He returns? If you are a born again Christian and you keep Sabbath, as the Jews do, you are in error.

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (MT 11:28)

Yours In His Name,
Alf Hutchison
**

When Should We Meet Together?

Once you start reading the New Testament it becomes clear that the original followers of Jesus had only one day set aside for worship, fellowship, teaching and community. That day was called "Every day".

For example, the book of Acts tells us that "every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts." (Acts 2:46) We also know that "the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers." (Acts 16:5).

The author of Hebrews calls for Christians to "encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." (Hebrews 3:13)

Paul the Apostle took a handful of followers of Jesus to the lecture hall of Tyrannus and "had discussions daily" (Acts 19:9).

When the Grecian Jews complained that their widows weren’t being cared for it was in regards to the "daily distribution of food" to the poor which the apostles themselves were performing as true servants. (Acts 6:1)

When the Bereans were commended it was because "they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 17:11)

This really should come as no surprise to us, however. Jesus stressed that only those who "take up (their) cross daily" could follow him (Luke 9:23) and he taught his disciples to pray daily and to ask for "daily bread". (Matt 6:11)

A good friend responded recently pointed out that neglected to mention Acts 20:7 which indicates that the early Christians met on the “first day of the week” to share a meal and to hear Paul speak since he was about to go away the next day. (This is the infamous gathering where our poor brother Eutychus fell asleep and rolled out of the upstairs windows into the street below).

I will concede that, yes, it is apparent that the early church did see an importance to gathering on the first day of the week. However, I think we still don't grasp how much their expression of faith was so deeply ingrained in their daily lives.

To us, that "first day of the week" gathering is nearly the only time we think about things like discipleship, community, evangelism, compassion, worship, studying God's Word, fellowship, etc. However, the early church saw these things as daily activities, not once-a-week rituals.

So, if you take into account that the early, New Testament church was experiencing a daily community, and a daily study of God's Word, and engaged in daily discipleship, and daily distribution of food to the poor, and meeting together daily to fellowship and pray and sing and encourage one another, etc. THEN we can grasp how significant it is that they ALSO made a point to get together on the first day of the week to share a meal together.

I have to believe that if you and I were doing all that they were doing, we'd probably set aside the first day of the week as a special day where we DIDN'T gather together. I think we’d want to find a special day where we had a break from all that meeting and gathering and constant community. At least, I think I might.

Yes, the early church did set aside the first day of the week for sharing a meal together, and that was important to them, but it should be seen as yet another example of their astounding commitment to Christ - and to one another – not as evidence to justify our own lack of commitment.

So, instead of arguing over what day of the week we should worship or gather or teach, perhaps we should stop and realize that, according to the New Testament, every single day of our lives should be devoted to God, and to the community of faith. We need to be the Church every day of our lives, not simply attend one each week.

-kg

"Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." - Colossians 2:16-17




*This article appeared here previously in October, 2009.

THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK?

A good friend responded to my article (The Daily Church of Jesus) by pointing out that neglected to mention Acts 20:7 which indicates that the early Christians met on the “first day of the week” to share a meal and to hear Paul speak since he was about to go away the next day. (This is the infamous gathering where our poor brother Eutychus fell asleep and rolled out of the upstairs windows into the street below).

I will concede that, yes, the early church did see an importance to gathering on the first day of the week. However, I think we still don't grasp how much their expression of faith was so deeply ingrained in their daily lives, however. To us, that "first day of the week" gathering is nearly the only time we think about things like discipleship, community, evangelism, compassion, worship, studying/reading God's Word, etc. However, the early church saw these things as daily activities, not weekly rituals.

So, if you take into account that the early, New Testament church was experiencing a daily community, and a daily study of God's Word, and engaged in daily discipleship, and daily distribution of food to the poor, and meeting together daily to fellowship and pray and sing and encourage one another, etc. THEN we can grasp how significant it is that they ALSO made a point to get together on the first day of the week to share a meal together.

I have to believe that if you and I were doing all that they were doing, we'd probably set aside the first day of the week as a special day where we DIDN'T gather together. I think we’d want to find a special day where we had a break from all that meeting and gathering and constant community.

Yes, the early church did set aside the first day of the week for sharing a meal together, and that was important to them, but it should be seen as yet another example of their astounding commitment to Christ - and to one another – not as evidence to justify our own lack of commitment.

-kg

The Daily Church of Jesus

Once you start reading the New Testament it becomes clear that the original followers of Jesus had only one day set aside for worship, fellowship, teaching and community. That day was called “Every day”.

For example, the book of Acts tells us that “every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” (Acts 2:46) We also know that “the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.” (Acts 16:5).

The author of Hebrews calls for Christians to “encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:13)

Paul the Apostle took a handful of followers of Jesus to the lecture hall of Tyrannus and “had discussions daily” (Acts 19:9).

When the Grecian Jews complained that their widows weren’t being cared for it was in regards to the “daily distribution of food” to the poor which the apostles themselves were performing as true servants. (Acts 6:1)

When the Bereans were commended it was because “they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)

This really should come as no surprise to us, however. Jesus stressed that only those who “take up (their) cross daily” could follow him (Luke 9:23) and he taught his disciples to pray daily and to ask for “daily bread”. (Matt 6:11)

So, instead of arguing over what day of the week we should worship or gather or teach, perhaps we should stop and realize that, according to the New Testament, every single day of our lives should be devoted to God, and to the community of faith. We need to be the Church every day of our lives, not simply attend one each week.

-kg