Confess Jesus Before Men: Testify!

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Confess Jesus Before Men: Testify!

Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33)

confess_me_b4_menWe have the promise that if we confess (testify) of Jesus before men, then Jesus will testify of us before Heavenly Father. Imagine, our Redeemer testifying of us (insert your name here) before The Father.

So, how do we confess our Savior before men? The obvious answer is to tell everyone we can about Jesus and how great He is. Why? Besides what has already been stated about teaching and testifying of Jesus, we need to help spread the good news so that others can have the blessings of The Messiah in their lives. So that others can receive the blessings of salvation.

There are some who have an amazing fear of speaking before men or otherwise unable to testify. But that is really not true. We can testify of The Lord with our actions and how we live our life and how we treat others. Actions speak louder than words. People can “see your hands in action but your tongue to fast my run.”

So there is no excuse to testify of The Lord before men.

CallahanWriter

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He Hath Borne Our Griefs And Carried Our Sorrows

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

He Hath Borne Our Griefs And Carried Our Sorrows

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:4)

Our Lord and Savior truly has “borne our grief’s and carried our sorrows” already. When in the Garden of Gethsemane He sweat great drops of blood in agony and on the cross of Calvary He suffered, He bleed and He died for us.

Throughout this whole hideous ordeal He felt the pain of every sin committed by those who have or will have inhabited planet earth. In addition to that, He suffered every sorrow and felt every grief we will ever feel. He knows how to succor us first hand from personal experience.

So I ask ” Why do we insist on bearing our sorrows, grief and other burdens by ourselves?” We don’t have to. We can let go and let God… How do we do that? It’s a simple answer but maybe not so simple in application.

We let our burdens go by realizing we really do have a friend in Jesus and with Heavenly Father. Talk to Heavenly Father in The name of Jesus Christ about our problems, like we would talk to our friends about the problems we might share with them.

Talking to friends usually helps us feel better, especially when they give us empathy. But that’s all they can give is empathy since they can’t have first hand experience as to what or how we feel. We appreciate their empathy.

Our Savior has felt first hand our grief and our sorrows. No one can succor us like He can. So we talk to Heavenly Father about our situation, so that we are on the same page. Then we let go of our troubles and we listen to God and follow the teachings and counsel given us from the Holy Scriptures, having full faith and trust in God to help us out through His Holy Son, our Savior.

As we exercise our trust and confidence in Jesus, our trials, sorrows and grief will be lessened and our spirits will feel lighter and this process will go on until the sun shines brightly on us and we feel the warmth of the sun on our face.

By Troy Wagstaff © All Rights Reserved

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Daily Devotion On Loving The Lord

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Daily Devotion On Loving The Lord

The primary message from the teachings of Jesus Christ is love. Jesus taught many times to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” He also taught us to love thy neighbor as thyself.

Then we come to this passage found in Matthew 10:35-37 which reads:

“For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:35-37)

At first glance this passage seems a little vigorous and not the calming message of peace that love is. But in looking more closely we see that this passage of scripture fits nicely within the theme of love. It is a message of prioritizing our love.

We learn that we should love God and His only begotten Son in the flesh more than anyone or anything. Yes indeed, we must love God more than our spouse or children. We must love God more than any feeling or thought in our mind and more than anything in this world.

This kind of love requires great faith. It is easy to love someone you can touch and hold within you arms. It’s easy to love someone you can physically laugh with and find joy with in person. But it takes great faith to love someone you haven’t seen with your mortal eyes. The scriptures teach us to “trust in The Lord with all thine heart.” If we can trust in The Lord with all our heart then we should be able to love God with all our heart and before anyone or anything else.

Love is the greatest human emotion of all. If we can exercise our faith to love our Savior and our Father in Heaven before anyone or anything then we can have faith enough for anything else.

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” (Matthew 22:37)

If we love God first and foremost then the love we have for our spouse and children and any other worthy thing will be so much the better. That love will be more pure and Christ like.

By Troy Wagstaff © All Rights Reserved

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Do We Have To Bear Our Grief And Sorrow Alone?

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Do We Have To Bear Our Grief And Sorrow Alone?

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:4)

We know that our Redeemer has redeemed us from sin by paying for those sins while He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross of Calvary. If we repent for those sins then the ransom that justice demands is paid for. We no longer carry the weight of those sins around. It’s like we had never committed those sins.

Repenting is like having a great burden taken of you shoulders. Just as sin can weigh us down, so to can sorrow and grief weigh us down.

The same can be true of our griefs and sorrows. Christ The Lord, has born our grief’s and carried our sorrows already. Why do we insist on bearing them ourselves? We can come unto Jesus and let him help us through our sorrows and our grief. We do not need to face those feelings alone.

As repentance requires effort on our part, so does overcoming grief and sorrow. We have to put for effort toward overcoming out griefs and sorrows asking The Lord to help us. As we open the door to The Lord in our trying times, he can bear us up and give us comfort as we strive to overcome. But we have to open the door to Him first.

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Do Christians Need To Worry?

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Do Christians Need To Worry?

If asked the question “Do Christian Need To Worry?” I think most Christians would instinctively say “no” based on their faith and then go on about their lives without applying that faith into their daily living.

It seems we all worry about the future. Sometimes we worry about the our past and what it means to our future. It is human nature to worry about the unknown.

As humans we are fallible and that gives us all the more reason to worry. We know our experience level or lack of experience. We compare that to the task at hand which may be all the more reason to worry.

If you don’t understand the gospel message relative to the concept of worry then you are probably going to worry about life events regardless of your answer. If you are reading this article then you know that the gospel provides help dealing with worry. That’s a good start.

The gospel of Jesus Christ provides us with hope and confidence if we choose to follow the teachings related to the attitude of worry.

Let’s start with the popular scripture found in Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Consider all the people in your life and ask yourself who do I really trust? I hope you have at least a few people to trust.  But then again, when we put our trust in fallible human beings, we are, in a way, like the foolish man who built his house upon the sand.  We need to be like the wise man who builds his house on a rock. The rock in this case is trusting in The Lord with all our heart.

The people we have chosen to trust here in mortality may be trust worthy up to the point of human frailty but Jesus Christ, our Redeemer is the rock upon which we can place our trust with supreme confidence that our trust will be rewarded, not betrayed.

With perfect trust or confidence in The Lord, we don’t need to worry. He will direct our paths.  Some Christians I have met worry about where or how  our paths will be directed as we trust in The Lord.  I understand the thought and have had similar feelings.

Consider what we are taught in Romans: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

The Lord will direct our paths for our own good and in a way that will build us up.  We need to accept that we are, as Christians supposed to seek God’s will and do it.  If we put our trust in Him, He will direct our paths. This alone should stop our worry.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows…” (Isaiah 53:4) Through the atonement, Jesus Christ suffered for our sins, grief and sorrow.

Sometimes we worry about how our past will affect our future. If we exercise faith in Jesus Christ then we don’t need to hold onto the sorrows or grief of the past.

All this boils down to having faith in Jesus Christ and let Him bare our grief and carry our sorrow and let him direct our path. All we have to do to live a worry free life is to have continuous faith in our Savior and be happy to follow as He directs our paths.

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Purpose In Trials

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Purpose In Trials

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (John 15:2)

How do we apply this scripture in our lives? If we are disciples of Jesus Christ then we are the branches that are bearing fruit. The branches that are not bearing fruit are everyone else that is not a disciple of Christ.

This paper will look at the branches that bear fruit, those of us who choose to follow Jesus of Nazareth. Meaning of purge is to remove or cleanse.

If you have a fruit tree, you want to harvest the fruit of the tree. That is the measure of its creation, to put forth fruit. You remove any and all branches that do not produce fruit. The branches left are the ones bearing fruit. With those fruit bearing branches you prune them after the harvest. To prune them is to strategically cut the branches back so that they will devote the energy of the tree to producing more fruit the next season. That’s also why you cut the worthless branches off.

Doing all this work to a fruit tree takes an average fruit tree and makes it far more valuable by making it produce much more fruit. Doing this yearly keeps the tree healthy and productive. Every year some branches will die off and new branches will grow. It becomes a cycle that will keep the tree alive for a long and productive time.

As fruitful branches of the tree we have to go through the pruning process, on a regular basis to be even more fruitful, and thus more valuable. Applied to us, we grow as we get pruned by the caring, expert fruit grower. Christ knows our potential and He knows how to guide us to that potential, through expertly crafted trials and tribulations.

Having said all that, not all trials and tribulations come from The Master. Some trials come from the consequences of bad or sinful choices. If we are humble and repent for those sinful choices we can learn from those consequences and become fruitful again.

There are other types of trial and tribulation that come to us through no fault of our own. We can grow and become more valuable and a stronger Christian through The Lords helps. It’s up to us to determine the source of the trial just as it is up to us to determine how we respond to the trial and whether or not we will allow ourselves to grow according to The Lords will or get tired and rebel against The Lord.

But rest assured that for whatever trial or tribulation we go through, we can make it purposeful and fruitful if we go through it with The Lords help and let His master hand guide to the right outcome.

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Parable of The Shoe Laces

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Parable of The Shoe Laces

I remember once, some time ago, a pair of black leather Sunday shoes. They were very comfortable and they looked good, and even though they were a few years old they were still in style. They had a shoelace that was different from traditional shoelaces. The shoelaces were rounded, almost like they were very small rope. No matter how tight I tied the knot, a short while later the shoelaces slipped out of the knot and the shoes were loose again.

With time, the inevitable happened and a shoelace broke. I picked up a pair of black shoe laces and came home and put the new shoelaces on my shoes. The shoelaces seemed out of place. For one thing, the shoelaces were flat like a traditional shoelace. Also, the shoelaces were a new black and the shoes were an old black. Even though they were the same color, there was a contrast.

The next day was Sunday and as I finished getting dressed I put on my black Sunday shoes. I noticed that the knot seemed to pull tighter. I still noticed the contrast between the new black and old black. Not a big deal but I did notice.

Hours later, when I took off my black Sunday shoes, I realized that I was undoing the same knot that I had put on the shoes when I got dressed that morning. All day long, the shoe laces held. No additional knot tying.

The Moral of The Story

Through some adversity or tribulation, the breaking of my shoe lace resulted in replacing the laces with new shoe laces that worked better. Holding the knot all day. The contrast in old back verses new black was minor. I got used to it really quick. Those very comfortable shoes were the best pair of shoes I ever owned.

Things might go wrong or get broke but with The Lord in our life, things get fixed or replaced and the situation is far better than it was before. Leave it in the hands of The Master.

 

Troy Wagstaff ©

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A River Of Life

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Troy Wagstaff

A River Of Life

Whithersoever The River Shall Come

Throughout the Holy Scriptures water is symbolic. The symbolism of water depends on the parable and how it is used. Water can be symbolic for healing, life, blood, cleaning, Word of God or the gospel. In this instance the symbolism of water deals primarily with the symbolism of life and healing. This imagery comes from Ezekiel 47.

In Ezekiel 43-47 an Angel is showing Ezekiel the plans for a temple or sanctuary for the Lord. The exciting part of this story culminates in chapter 47 where there is a building and from the building issues forth a River. The river measures about one thousand cubits and it flows through the wilderness or desert and then into the Dead Sea healing everything it touches.

The width of the river measures one thousand cubits wide. According to the Hebrews a cubit is a measurement from the tip of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Throughout the history of the ancient Hebrews a cubit could be 17.5 inches or 21.5 inches in length. If we were to consider a cubit to be 17 ½ inches, then one thousand cubits equal 486.1 yards. That means that the width of the river would be four football field lengths plus 86 yards. If we were to use the 21 ½ inch cubits then the width of the river would be 597.2 yards, or essentially the length of six football fields.

Mathematically we can say that the river that flowed from the sacred building through the desert to the Dead Sea was five to six football fields wide. We don’t know how long the river was and it doesn’t matter. What really matter is what the river symbolizes and how that applies to our lives.

river_of_lifeI believe to get the full measure of what the Bible has to teach us we need to liken each verse to ourselves and to our everyday life. Insert your name when applicable into verses and passages of Scripture so that it looks like it was referring to you. Apply the lessons of those passages to your daily life.

Symbolism
To apply the passage of Scripture found in Ezekiel 47 we need to understand the symbolism of the building, the wilderness, the Dead Sea and the river of water that comes from the building as it goes through the wilderness and into the Dead Sea.

The building, is the source of the river of water. The sanctuary could represent the Scriptures, the gospel of Jesus Christ, a temple or prophet etc.

The wilderness or the desert represents our lives and the lives of those around us. The Dead Sea is also symbolic of our lives before the healing gospel message is internalized by us.

In the Scriptures, the water issues forth from the temple going through the wilderness and into the Dead Sea. The angel takes Ezekiel to the river and he walks across the river and it goes up to his ankles. A second time Ezekiel crosses the river and it goes up to his knees. A third time Ezekiel crosses the river and it goes up to his waist. The last time Ezekiel goes to the river, the river is so deep that Ezekiel cannot cross the river unless he swims.

Let’s read a few verses from Ezekiel 47, starting with verse seven “Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, these waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the (dead) sea: which being brought forth into the (dead) sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass that everything that liveth, which move with, whithersoever the river shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and everything shall live whether the river cometh… And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.”

When you apply water to soil, you can go from a barren ground to a fertile land teaming with all types of plant life. From the plant life comes animal life.

Ezekiel goes back to the bank of this very wide river and sees on both banks of the river a multitude of trees and vegetation. He notices fish living in the healed waters. He notes that these trees have fruit for eating and leaves for medicine. Everything needed to sustain life.

The “river of life” mentioned in this biblical metaphor creates life-sustaining substance from something that is barren.

Compare this to our life. Our lives are spiritually barren until the river of life flows through the barren spirit of our life. If we let the river of the gospel flow through our lives at ankle depth then great things can happen to a barren soul.

If we let the river of life flow through our soul at knee depth, we are blessed even more. The spiritual sides of our lives are transformed. Out of darkness our spirits are filled with the bright light of the gospel. If we let the river of life flow through us up to our waste, as it were, we notice even greater spiritual life welling up within us.

As the river of life that flows through us gets so deep we have to swim then we notice that God is making more of us than we can ever make of ourselves. All we ever had to do was open the floodgate and let the water in.

If we find ourselves swimming in the healing river of the gospel of Jesus Christ, completely submerged in these life-giving waters, we can find ourselves made whole in many different ways. If we have sinned, we can open the floodgate through repentance and be made whole again. If we are suffering trouble through no fault of our own, we can open the floodgate to the healing waters of Jesus Christ. If we need strength for the trials’ we face, we can open the floodgate of the river of life to give us strength for the burdens we face. For all of these blessings, all we have to do is open the floodgate and let the waters flow freely through our life.

Think how wonderful this is, that we can be healed by the rivers of life. Consider another point, not only can we be healed, we can become fruitful with all kinds of trees, vegetation and fish growing and developing within us. This is symbolic of our growing spirituality to becoming a source of spiritual strength and nourishment to others.

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IF IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, THEN IT IS?

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Troy Wagstaff

IF IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, THEN IT IS?

We’ve all heard the old adage that “if it’s too good to be true” then it is. However, I take issue with that aphorism, I say that if it is too good to be true it probably is, but not always.

2_good_2_b_trueLet’s take the following story as an example to the exception of this adage. Imagine that you have lost all your worldly possessions, you’ve lost your family and you have been living in the street for ten years. You have no income forcing you to beg for money and food, and you sleep for wherever you can find shelter. Let’s add to this sad scenario, a substance abuse problem. You have many illnesses related to exposure to the elements, poor diet and substance abuse problems. It all seems hopeless and it all seems lost! Surely, there is no hope.

You have been raised right, you know that you not supposed to steal or lie. Living on the streets has jaded you. The environment that you are forced to live in has taken away much of your humanity and your sensibilities. You find yourself committing crimes to survive and you find yourself committing crimes to sustain your substance abuse. You’re living a senseless life filled with despair and no hope.

Put yourself in that situation, assume that you do not know of the tender mercies of Christ. You’re sitting on the street corner in filthy clothes with filthy hygiene and you’re holding a sign asking for money. Someone comes up to you and talks to you while they’re putting money in your hand and they start to tell you about a person who came to earth and he paid the price for all of your sins, and of all the sins of all the people on earth. This man has felt everything that you have ever felt or that you will ever fill. This man has provided a way for you to not only get off the street and not only get into clean clothes but to get into heaven with the righteous.

truth_never_2_good_2_b_trueDoes this sound too good to be true? If you’re reading this Blog then you know where I’m going with this illustration, but really think what would be like to be in those circumstances and then you are introduced to Christ and his love and his boundless saving grace and mercy, wouldn’t that all seem just a little too good to be true? Well it’s not too good to be true. It is a fact. It is the most blessed fact or truth on the earth.

The story of Jesus Christ, and the doctrine contained in the Bible that teaches us about His Life and His teachings are true. Within the book covers of the Bible is the way to the truth and salvation, they are the pathways whereby we can receive eternal happiness.

Consider what the word eternal means? The word eternal means “without end.” So think what this means, happiness without end. To live with God and his son Jesus Christ is happiness forever, without end.

Even though we started off with the story of the homeless person that appeared to have no hope, each one of us are beggars, we all depend on the same God to give us life, we all rely on that same God to forgive us of our sins and through His grace and His mercy to live with Him throughout eternity.

We can all say that this idea is too good to be true. But it is true! So when you hear the old adage “if it’s too good to be true, it is” always keep in the back of my mind that sometimes it can be that good and still be true. When it comes to Jesus Christ, it is too good to be true but it is true. We all need to remember Jesus Christ our Savior, and our Eternal Father in Heaven love us unconditionally, they are perfectly willing to give us grace and mercy if we are willing to reach out to them.

 

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WISDOM OF THE PROVERBS: Trust In The Lord

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Troy Wagstaff

WISDOM OF THE PROVERBS — TRUST IN THE LORD

The book of Proverbs found in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible are wise statements of truth. They give understanding in the application of biblical teachings to our lives. The over riding theme of the many proverbs is wisdom. There are indeed other common threads found in Proverbs but in almost every chapter something is said about wisdom or getting understanding etc.

The wisdom of the Proverbs for this article is found in Proverbs 3:5-6. This may be one of the most popular passages found in the Proverbs. Here it is:

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Trust In The Lord With All Thine Heart...

Trust In The Lord With All Thine Heart…

Before we can trust in The Lord we need to have faith in Him.  Faith is believing in something that is true that you cannot see.  How can you trust someone who you do not believe in? So faith is required to implement this wise statement of truth.  Not only must you trust in The Lord but you must do it with all your heart. In the scriptures the term “heart” often represents your whole soul or all your energy.  So we must trust in The Lord with everything we have.

We must NOT lean to our own understanding. In other words we must not expect answers to prayers in a very specific way. In most cases, we must expect the answer to be what The Lord, in His infinite knowledge and wisdom wants for us at that particular time.  Often He will answer our prayers the way we want but at a different level than we expect.  So we need to remember not to lean unto our own understanding but trust that The Savior will provide what is best.

Not only must we trust in Jesus but in all our ways, or in all aspects of our life, we must show gratitude for all that He has done for us.  We should not fail to see the simple as well as the grand blessings we have been given by our Master. Just as the sun rises everyday doesn’t mean we will.  Just having another day on this earth to serve The Lord is a great blessing. In all our way show gratitude for all our blessings.

Now here comes the best part of the passage. “He shall direct thy paths.” How eternally wonderful is this? He will direct our paths. With Christ at the helm of our lives how can we go astray? To have Jehovah in our lives is as simple as these virtues: Trust, Disregard our own understanding in favor of His and Be grateful. So here is the mathematical formula to receiving blessings from our Redeemer:  Faith + Trust + His will + Gratitude = Blessings.

With The Lord on our side how can we fail? The wisdom of the Proverbs is a grand blessing for us. Search that ye may find and apply to your every day life.

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