To The Orphans

Genesis 1:26-28  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

You are created in God's image.   To put it another way, you are a representation of God.   So, just like a picture of you, is a representation of you, you are a representation of God.   I'm not saying God looks like you or you look like God.   What I am saying though is that you are meant to represent Him.   Your character and nature ought to be a reflection of God's nature and character.

So as we learn about God; who He is, and what He's like, we learn about who we should be and what we should be like.   So our behavior changes, not because we follow a set of rules, but who we become because He lives in us by His Spirit, and we yield our lives to Him.

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD.


Genesis 2:24-25  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Matthew 19:4-6 have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 19:6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Jesus makes reference to the creation story in Matthew, where He makes application to marriage, which also ties in with this fact that we are created in God's image.   In marriage, the two become one, which agrees with our understanding that God Himself is three in one.   Obviously, there's even more that marriage represents; i.e. Christ's union with the church and the way Christ gave Himself for the church is the way a husband is supposed to give himself for his wife.   He also places the utmost importance and authority on the written Word.

But, back to the fact that you are created in God's image.   Because of that, you have worth, you have value.   You may not know what you bring to the table, but you do bring something to the table just by being you.   Also, understand that the fact that you're created in God's image has other implications (read that requirements).   Since you were created to represent God, if you've lied, you've misrepresented God, since God is always true.   If you've ever stolen, you've misrepresented God because God is not a thief.   If you've ever failed morally, you've misrepresented God because He is pure and righteous and innocent.   So all this shows us our need for a Savior.   Jesus came to fulfill the requirements that we've all fallen short of.

So let this day be the day you become a new creation in Christ, by repenting of your sins, and trusting in Jesus as your Savior.  He lived His life in perfect fulfillment of the righteous requirements of God's Law as a stand-in for you and I.   His death is a perfect payment of the penalty that you and I deserved.   His resurrection is for our Justification (we can be made "just-as-if we'd never sinned").

God bless...

Costco and Everett Gospel Mission

I went to Costco Everett and preached for all of four minutes before the line attendant asked me to leave, so I went to the Everett gospel mission and ministered to a several people there. Then went to the store and got some food for a gal named Megan, who said she thinks about the lord every day, but she’s stuck in a cycle of addiction and street life, as dangerous as it is.   As I shared the Gospel with Megan, I explained the legal implications of the cross, that it was the same as if you had a stack of speeding tickets, and the fine would be thousands of dollars, when someone you don't even know paid your fine for you...   Right then, a big smile came across her face, and she said, I'd be so thankful.

Here’s what I said at Costco...

hi friends

My name is Keith, and I'd like to briefly share the message of the Gospel with you.   It's a message so profound that the highest minds can spend a lifetime dwelling on it, yet it's so simple, a child can understand it.   The word Gospel just means "good news", and it's the good news about how to be made right with God. How to be reconciled with Him. In a nutshell, the Gospel is the good news of how to go to heaven when you die.   It is literally how you can survive death. The Bible says Jesus abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. So let me get to it, but I have to give you the bad news first. the Bible says during our lifetime, we're all gripped by the fear of death.   Isn't that especially true in our current situation. That is that we will all die. Ten out of ten die, but why is that? Why do we die in the first place? The Bible says death is wages, "the wages of sin is death". We earn the death sentence because of sin. Do you feel you've earn your wages?   Do you deserve the death sentence? God has an answer for death, you owe it to your good sense to consider it. Let's see if we can illustrate this, would you consider yourself to be a good person?
etc.etc.etc...

God bless...

1Peter 1 - devotion and encouragement

1 Peter 1

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

Let me ask you a question: do you think of yourself as an alien?   Do you ever feel uncomfortable as if you were living in a foreign country?    As if everything’s out of place; the language is different, the customs don’t fit, the environment isn’t right.  If so, Peter bids us Grace and Peace the gentile and the Jewish greetings.

A doctrinal point comes to my mind when I see “chosen” or in the KJV the “elect according to the foreknowledge of God…”, and I think about how God chooses according to foreknowledge.   We are still responsible to “respond”. No one’s going to be condemned and be able to blame God. By the same token, no one will be saved and get to heaven and be able to boast about what they did to earn it. I mean, by definition, being saved means being rescued from a situation where you were unable to help yourself.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

I notice it’s not just mercy, it’s God’s “great mercy”.   God extended Himself, He went a long long way to show mercy to us, through the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.   The result of this mercy is that we’re “born again”. Being born again is not a label, it’s not just a flavor of Christianity.   One must be born again, to see the kingdom of God, according to Jesus in John 3:3.   The outcome of being born again will be heaven, eternal life. That’s our living hope!

10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.

It’s hard to wrap my mind around this paragraph.   Prophets predicted, spoke and taught about the future coming of Christ, and yet, in some way the unfolding of God’s plan was in some way a mystery to the angels in heaven.

13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

I like the way verse 13 reads, here in the NASB.  The NKJV says, “Gird up the loins of your mind”, in other words, “put on your big boy pants”, grow up and get to action.  That should show up in my life as holiness. Holiness, it’s not a hairstyle, a clothing style, or whether or not you dance or go to movies.   But, holiness will influence your choices in these areas. Let me explain, from my own personal relationship with the Lord and using the Ten Commandments in evangelism, I’ve grown sensitive to sin, like movies where people use the Lord’s name in vain.   I can’t abide that. That doesn’t make me any more holy than anyone else. But from this very verse, my holiness is because of God’s holiness. Thankfully, when I fail to live holy, I have an advocate in Jesus, that I run to and confess and repent of my sin.

17 If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Salvation is by God’s grace, as it says in Ephesians 2:8-9, but see in verse 17, that judgement (or condemnation) is according to our works.   I read this section, I’m kind of struck by adjectives burly, man’s-man, fisherman, ready for a fight Peter used. “Precious”, “unblemished”, “spotless”, not “Perishable.   And as I read on, I’m encouraged as my confidence grows in God, who worked out our salvation before the foundation of the world; as it says, God commended His love toward us, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,

“All flesh is like grass,

And all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,

And the flower falls off,

25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word which was preached to you.

James says, “what is your life? Even a vapor (or a cloud), it appears for a little while and then it vanishes away.   We’re all being reminded during this pandemic how fragile, and temporary life can be. Let that motivate us to love and good works, pursue peace with all people and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.   Let us serve God with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.