Thursday, August 31, 2006

How's Your Soul?


How's Your Soul?
Brad Reiches
Aug 31 2006 12:23AM

Please visit our website at www.godthoughts.org, or www.willowspringchurch.org  to download today's audio version of GodThoughts Wired!, music, sermons, sermonettes, the Bible Says Series, and The Lifestyle of the Disciple Series...ALL FOR FREE.  You may also go to the Apple iTunes  Music Store on the web and search the podcast directory for Willow Spring Church and/or GodThoughts. Subscribe there for automatic updates and download the daily GodThoughts podcast directly to your i-pod...ALL FOR FREE! 


Thursday, August 31, 2006
GodThoughtsWired!

"How's Your Soul?"

"Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain
from fleshly lusts which wage war against your soul."
1 Peter 2:11
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate you "peace-level?"  If someone were to ask you today, "How is it with your soul?"  What would you say?  Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest" (see Matthew 11:28-30).  Have you come to Him?  Do you know the "rest" that Jesus refers to?  Do you abide in it?

Until you choose to follow the Lord your God, fully, you will never know such "peace" and "rest."  Caleb followed the Lord "fully," and entered the promised land as a result (see Joshua, chapter 14).  God chose Noah because He knew that Noah would follow Him "fully" (see Genesis 6:22).

David was a magnificent example of this concept!  God called him "a man after My own heart" and then explained, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do ALL my will"  (Acts 13:22, caps and bold mine).  Indeed, David is a marvelous example of the invitation to follow God:
NOT IN PERFECTION
(THAT'S WHY CHRIST DIED),
BUT IN WILLINGNESS.
Here's a "secret" that I'll be elaborating on in future editions of GodThoughtsWired!  "David did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite" (1 Kings 15:5).  Indeed, David followed the Lord his God fully, all the days of his life, not in perfection (remember Bathsheba), but in willingness.  As such, David knew the "peace of God" as few men have ever known...EXCEPT during the season of his sin. 
"When I (David) kept silent about my sin,
my body wasted away...My vitality was
drained away as with the fever heat of summer."
Psalm 32:3-4

Anything less than wholehearted submission (see 2 Chronicles 25:2) to the will and word of God, will result in unrest, inner turmoil and discontentment.  Why?  Because sin, in all its forms (see above) wages war against the soul.  Until you come to the place of 100% willingness in your walk with the Lord, you will never fully know, understand, and experience the rest and peace that Jesus came to give (see John 14:27). 

It only took me thirty-eight years to learn this lesson. 

How 'bout you?


 

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

They Were Strangers!


They Were Strangers!
Brad Reiches
Aug 30 2006 12:05AM

Please visit our website at www.godthoughts.org, or www.willowspringchurch.org  to download today's audio version of GodThoughts Wired!, music, sermons, sermonettes, the Bible Says Series, and The Lifestyle of the Disciple Series...ALL FOR FREE.  You may also go to the Apple iTunes  Music Store on the web and search the podcast directory for Willow Spring Church and/or GodThoughts. Subscribe there for automatic updates and download the daily GodThoughts podcast directly to your i-pod...ALL FOR FREE! 


Wednesday, August 30, 2006
GodThoughtsWired!

"They Were Strangers!"

"Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain
from fleshly lusts which wage war against your soul."
1 Peter 2:11
Who were?  Who were strangers?  Well...I'll get to that.  First, let me give you a couple of definitions:

Exile:  "a prolonged living away from one's own country, usually enforced.

Alien:  "foreign, a foreigner."

Ok.  So, who were the strangers.  Or, should I say, "Who ARE the strangers?"  Well, they are the "few."  The "few" who choose the "narrow road" (see Matthew 7:13-14).  The few who truly choose to LIVE by faith during their "brief" (see James 4:13-17) stay upon the earth.

No, I'm not necessarily talking about religious people or church-goers or pastors or choir members (although there are undoubtedly some within those groups to which this applies).  Rather, I'm referring to those who refer to themselves as "in the world but not of the world" (see John 17:17).  Those who choose righteousness regardless of consequence, rather than the "passing pleasures of sin" (see Hebrews 11:25).

Yes, I'm talking about the "few" who are in the process of learning how to place Jesus first in EVERY area of their lives and "seek first His kingdom and righteousness" (see Colossians 1:18; Matthew 6:33).

I'm talking about the "exiles."   The "strangers."  The "aliens."

To say the least.

Monday, August 28, 2006

Welcome to the Twenty-First Century Church


Welcome to the Twenty-First Century Church
Brad Reiches
Aug 28 2006 11:52PM

Please visit our website at www.godthoughts.org, or www.willowspringchurch.org  to download today's audio version of GodThoughts Wired!, music, sermons, sermonettes, the Bible Says Series, and The Lifestyle of the Disciple Series...ALL FOR FREE.  You may also go to the Apple iTunes  Music Store on the web and search the podcast directory for Willow Spring Church and/or GodThoughts. Subscribe there for automatic updates and download the daily GodThoughts podcast directly to your i-pod...ALL FOR FREE! 


Monday, August 28, 2006
GodThoughtsWired!

"Welcome to the Twenty-First Century Church"

"Faith, if it has no works, is dead,
being by itself."
James 2:17
I recently wrote a GodThoughtsWired! entitled, "Are We Saved By Faith?  No, No, No, NO NO!"  The responses I received represented a veritable potpourri of perspectives.  Hundreds who accept the Bible as their "instruction manual" for life basically responded, "BRAVO!"  And I was greatly encouraged. 

I also mentioned some time later that 15 individuals unsubscribed as a result of that message.  Which is truly heart-breaking.  But when all is said and done, the following response probably represents the greatest motivation for my writing.  In regard to the entry, "Are We Saved By Faith?  No, No, No, NO NO!"  One anonymous subscriber writes,
"What blasphemy are you spreading?
Dont you know that you are gonna be held by a stricter judgment?
I'll be praying for you, my brother."
After getting over that "warm, fuzzy, feeling" I responded,

"Did you actually read what was written, or just the title? 
If so, what exactly (from the Bible, I'm not interested in debating personal opinion),
did you disagree with?"
And as of this writing, there has been no response.

As you might expect, upon receiving such criticism, I went back to the article to review what I had written, and was pleased to find a classic example of the intent of the GodThoughts Ministry.  In the GodThoughtsWired! entitled, "Are We Saved By Faith?  No, No, No, NO NO!" you will find references to eight passages of scripture and some commentary from me regarding those verses.

One way to describe the purpose of GodThoughtsWired!  is:
TO CHALLENGE THE READER
TO THINK, BY EXPOSING THEM
TO WHAT THE BIBLE ACTUALLY SAYS.
Jesus said, "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect" (Matthew 24:24).

And to that I say, "Welcome to the Twenty-first century Church."


Fully Fulfilled!


Fully Fulfilled!
Brad Reiches
Aug 28 2006 09:47AM

Please visit our website at www.godthoughts.org, or www.willowspringchurch.org  to download today's audio version of GodThoughts Wired!, music, sermons, sermonettes, the Bible Says Series, and The Lifestyle of the Disciple Series...ALL FOR FREE.  You may also go to the Apple iTunes  Music Store on the web and search the podcast directory for Willow Spring Church and/or GodThoughts. Subscribe there for automatic updates and download the daily GodThoughts podcast directly to your i-pod...ALL FOR FREE! 




Monday, August 28, 2006
GodThoughtsWired!

"Fully Fulfilled!"

"Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age,
an old man and satisfied with life...
And Job died, an old man and full of days."
Genesis 25:8; Job 42:17
Inner fulfillment.  Abraham had it.  Job had it in abundance.  That phrase, "full of days" can be translated "SUPER SATISFACTION!"  So what's the key?  What did Abraham and Job have that so few of the rest of us attain?

In John 4:32 Jesus made a curious comment to His disciples.  He said, "I have food that you do not know about."  And the apostles ignorantly grumbled amongst themselves, "No one brought Him anything to eat did he?" (John 4:33).  No sir, they didn't have a clue what He was talking about.  The meaning of His words were as a foreign language.

Fortunately for us, Jesus explained Himself.  Immediately after informing His followers that He had "food" that they weren't aware of, He clarifies,

"My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me
and to accomplish His work."
John 4:34

Ahh haa!  Doing the will of God and "fulfillment" are synonomous!  Praise the Lord!, this explains my own process and journey.  I'm currently more fulfilled (radically so) than I've EVER been.  In fact, I have been for several years now.  It is truly thrilling and I'm INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL!  What is equally rewarding is to understand the reason - "I'm walking in the "good works" which God has prepared for me. 

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesusfor good works,
which God prepared beforehand for us to walk in."
Ephesians 2:10

Indeed, FULFILLMENT IS FOUND IN GOD'S WILL.  The closer we are to the center of God's will, the closer we will be to utter and absolute fulfillment.

THE ONE WHO FOLLOWS GOD FULLY
SHALL BE FULLY FULFILLED.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Lamenting the "Biblically Naive"


Lamenting the "Biblically Naive"
Brad Reiches
Aug 23 2006 09:45PM

Please visit our website at www.godthoughts.org, or www.willowspringchurch.org  to download today's audio version of GodThoughts Wired!, music, sermons, sermonettes, the Bible Says Series, and The Lifestyle of the Disciple Series...ALL FOR FREE.  You may also go to the Apple iTunes  Music Store on the web and search the podcast directory for Willow Spring Church and/or GodThoughts. Subscribe there for automatic updates and download the daily GodThoughts podcast directly to your i-pod...ALL FOR FREE! 


Thursday, August 24, 2006
GodThoughtsWired!

"Lamenting the 'Biblically Naive'"

"You will know them by their fruits...
So then, you will know them by their fruits."
Matthew 7:16, 20

Fruit!  The answer is...FRUIT!  Some of you mentioned a wonderful verse, "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35).  In fact, I remember the song that this verse generated, "And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they'll know we are Christians by our love."  EXCELLENT!
However, within the context of our current discussion, I was looking for the word...FRUIT!
Can I speak from the heart for a moment?  Thank you.  About fifteen individuals unsubscribed from GodThoughtsWired! as a result of yesterday's teaching.  It truly breaks my heart.  It is the "down-side" of ministry, the harsh reality that "truth" divides.

Paul experienced it, "Have I therefore become your enemy by telling you the truth?" (Galatians 4:16).

Jesus lamented it.  After a particularly intense discipleship session (see John 6:47-71) the Bible says, "As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore" (John 6:66).  Soon thereafter, we gain some amazing insight into the sensitive heart of Jesus when He responded to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" (John 6:71).

You know what?  We've got some pastors and preachers in the body of Christ today who are as popular with the American culture and media as they are in the church proper.  Yet, Jesus said,

"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me
before it hated you.  If you were of the world,
the world would love its own; but because you
are not of the world, but I chose you
out of the world, therefore the world hates you."
John 15:18-19

I recently overheard a conversation among the "biblically naive" who were rejoicing over their perception that these men had found a way to serve God without offending the public at large.

I'm curious, "Do you understand why I refer to these well-intentioned brothers and sisters as, "biblically naive?"