Our Response Can Only Be

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

broken chain

“For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.”  -Romans 5:10

“He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.”  -2 Corinthians 5:15

Our chains are gone, and we’ve been set free.  We’ve been bought with a high price; That price being Christ dying on the cross, shedding His blood for us.  Since Christ made the ultimate sacrifice, His sacrifice is infinitely greater than any sacrifice or offering ever made.  Before God, we stand redeemed, are reconciled to, and restored by God.

After all the Lord has done, our response can only be, “Thank You, Lord, for setting me free to live for You.  I’m Yours, O Lord.  Do with me as You will.”

Linda Agnes Knowles

Diluted or Polluted?

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

“Season all your grain offerings with salt to remind you of God’s eternal covenant. Never forget to add salt to your grain offerings.” -Leviticus 2:13 (NLT)

“Never forget to add salt…” was the command for this grain offering. The significance of the grain offering was that it represented honoring and worshiping God alone, acknowledging He alone is the Provider for all His Children. We cannot overlook the great significance of this offering. It is clear we are to honor and worship God alone and that God is our Provider. We are His temple, and our foundation is Christ. Since Christ is our foundation, then it is God alone whom we bring honor and glory to in what we say, what we do, and how we live. This grain offering could be offered by anyone even if he/she was poor. Anyone can honor and worship God alone. We are living sacrifices before God.

Let me explain the significance of salt: Back in Bible times, some middle eastern lands would gift someone with salt if they were making an agreement. Gifting with salt in those days represented that an agreement or legally binding contract (covenant) was permanent. Simply put, the gift of salt you gave to the one you made an agreement with represented a permanent agreement, a lasting and unchanged agreement indefinitely. That is why the salt could not be forgotten on the grain offering. The salt added to the grain offering was symbolic, representing the permanent covenant God and His People had. When this offering was made by the people of God, God was pleased by their intentions and motivation in making this offering. When we offer the sacrifice of praise and when we worship the Lord in how we live, we bring honor to God. “I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him,” (Romans 12:1 NLT).

Salt can be diluted or polluted. “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless,” (Matthew 5:13 NLT). Job had this to say about unsalted food in Chapter 6 Verse 6, “Don’t people complain about unsalted food? Does anyone want the tasteless white of an egg?” There are a few things we must understand: (1) We are used to the chemical compound we call “table salt.” (2) The salt we know is not the salt they had back in the days of Jesus, and (3) Jesus used salt an example. If you were to look at me, you would not see a pile of salt. Jesus used salt as a way to describe the Remnant, the People of God.

Let’s agree on one thing. If we are going to eat, we want our food seasoned. We don’t want to eat bland food. We want flavorful food that tastes good. God wants us the salt of the earth to keep all its flavor and not to lose any of flavor by being diluted or polluted. If we lose our flavor by being complacent, then we are diluted salt -in other words we lose our godly influence in the world we live in, and we become rendered ineffective in ministry and to reach out to seek and save the lost. When we lose our godly influence, how will others see God being glorified through us? When we are complacent, then we are diluted salt. Salt can even be diluted to the point where you cannot even taste the salt.

Being salt that has not lost flavor is representative of God being active in your life, preserving you from the wickedness of this world and from the evil one. Being salt also shows that God has shown His grace and mercy to you, restoring and healing and forgiving you of your iniquities and transgressions.

Are you salt that still has all of its flavor? Are you polluted salt that has bought into the vain imaginations and philosophies of this world, or are you diluted salt whose flavor has been lessened by indifference or by complacency?

Let us not allow ourselves to lose our flavor. Let us strive to be ready at all times to serve the Lord effectively by having our roots deeply rooted in Christ and being grounded in the Word of God. Let us be the salt of the earth, bringing God glory as we are His hands extended (“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God,” 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV). Let us not be polluted by the things of this world but fix our eyes on Him who is the Author and the Finisher of our Faith. Let us never lose our influence in this world so that we might seek and save the lost by the power of His Holy Spirit working through us (“And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone,'” Mark 16:15 NLT). God can only work through us when we are sold out for Him.

Heavenly Father, You alone are worthy of glory and honor. You alone are my Provider. Thank You for the blessings You have bestowed upon me. Thank You that I can freely worship You. Let me be the salt of the earth. Be my Instructor, and help me and remind me You are the One who sustains and keeps me. Teach me how not to be the salt that loses its flavor. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Linda A. Knowles

Let Us Be Doers of the Word

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

“…but doers of the word will be justified;”
Romans 2:13 NKJV

No one ever said doing a spiritual self-examination would be easy, but we do so, as children of God, because it is necessary.  God is longsuffering, not slack concerning any of His promises.  He is longsuffering because He wants us to turn to Him, to repent, and to turn from any and all sin.

Asking God to point out our sin is difficult.  The reason we ask God to point out our sin is so that He can cleanse and heal us.  God will never bring harm to you.  God has good plans for you for a hope and a future, but that also includes letting Him clean you up.  While it is a little unnerving knowing that He sees everything we say and do, it can also be quite comforting knowing that we can come to Him with a humble and sincere heart and ask Him to change in us whatever displeases Him.

“…For You will repay each man according to His deeds.”
Psalm 62:12 BSB

Our goal must always be to please God by seeking Him and acting on His Word through obedience and walking by faith, living our lives as a living sacrifice before Him.  This is why is it not enough to have knowledge of what is right.  We must act on what is right, doing what is right.  We must be “doers of the word” so that we “will be justified.”

“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.
Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.”
James 1:22 BSB

We do what is right because we love God; Because we love God, we understand obedience is better than sacrifice.  Because we love God, we obey His commands and His laws.  Because we love God, we apply His Word to every aspect of our life.  We are doers of the Word, not just hearers only so that we won’t be self-deceived.

In all we do, let us always set out to please God and be doers of His word because “doers of the word will be justified.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your goodness.  Thank You for being patient with me.  I ask, Lord, that You show me whatever it is in my life that is not pleasing to You that I might turn away from it.  Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.  Forgive me, O Lord, and heal me.  Make me whole.  Thank You for forgiving me and setting me free.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Linda A. Knowles

Remember the Message of the Cross…

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

Remember in your celebration and contemplation of the New Year to come to keep Christ first in all things.  The cross cannot be separated from Christ, and Christ cannot be separated from the cross.  On that cross, Christ paid the price.  He has saved us, healed us, delivered us, and has set us free.  Daily we are being made holy as we die to self.

“For even The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom in the place of the many.” -Mark 10:45 (Aramaic Bible In Plain English)

As we look forward to celebrating the New Year just around the corner, let us remember to continue living in wholehearted devotion to Him, never looking back, and pressing on into the future.  Let us carry out the tasks He has placed before us and continue to grow in the love of Christ.

Linda A. Knowles

Living Sacrifice Before The LORD

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles
1 John 1vs9

“Do not present an animal with defects because the LORD will not accept it on your behalf.” -Leviticus 22:20(NLT)

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The Levitical Laws, more specifically in this case the ceremonial laws, were a foreshadow of what was acceptable worship and what was unacceptable worship.  In order for an animal sacrifice to be made, the animal had to have NO blemishes, NO defects, NO sickness.  The animal had to be perfect.  If there was the slightest flaw or imperfection in the animal being presented, the animal sacrifice would be rejected by God as shown in this verse, “…the LORD will not accept it on your behalf.”

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As I found myself reflecting on this passage of Scripture this morning, I was reminded of another passage in Romans 12:1(NLT), which states, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice–the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”
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We’re told in the Word of God to be perfect as He is perfect, to be holy as He is holy.  When we keep that in mind, we will be careful how we live our lives because ALL that we do is worship to God.  Our sacrifices must flow out of hearts consecrated, wholly devoted to God.
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REFLECTION:  The LORD will not accept less than the best. We cannot present the sacrifices of our talent, time, praise, effort and the like to the LORD if we are living lives defiled by pretense and hypocrisy. We cannot present ourselves in worship to the LORD if we are half-hearted in our obedience to Him. When our sacrifice to the LORD is blemished and defective, like the animal sacrifice spoken of in Leviticus 22:20, then we will be the kind of sacrifice He rejects.

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Our LORD is the King of kings. For all of Who God is and for all that He has done, how can we present ourselves to Him as living sacrifices if we are defiled with sin? Sin cuts us off from God, and therefore, when we recognize our sin, we must come before God with humility to repent and turn from our wicked ways, aligning our thoughts with His, so that we will be the kind of living and holy sacrifice He will find acceptable.
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Our God will forgive us and restore us when we come before Him with the spirit of humility, bowing before Him.  His Word tells us in 1 John 1:9(KJV), “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
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PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords.  You are worthy of my very best, and I’m sorry for giving you leftovers rather than giving You my very best.  I humbly ask for You to forgive me, and remind me always that I am to be holy as You are holy.  Father, before You, I have no excuses, and I am asking that You cast me not away from Your Presence but renew a right spirit within me.  I give myself into Your hands, committing myself to You and to Your ways.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Linda A. Knowles

“No, O people,

the LORD has told you
what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right,
to love mercy,
and to walk humbly
with your God.”
Micah 6:8(NLT)

Calvary’s Love

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

cross 1.jpg

CALVARY’S LOVE

Written By Linda A. Knowles

 

I look up to see

Calvary’s Love

Upon The Old Rugged Cross

Telling of Redemption’s Story

of Jesus the Christ

And the price He paid

Badly beaten

Then crucified

And being wounded for our transgressions

Bruised for our iniquities

By whose stripes we are healed

And as I look upon the Old Rugged Cross

My Savior is no longer there

For He rose up from the dead

With glorious resurrection power

Conquering death, hell, and the grave

My Triumphant Savior and Lord

The God of Victory

“…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

Romans 10:9-10 (ESV)

“The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction!  But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:18 (NLT)

Never Take His Sacrifice Frivolously

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

MY GOD 1

Jesus is the Savior, and if we truly love Him, we will obey Him.  He is our LORD and our GOD.   We are never to treat His sacrifice frivolously as Christ is the only means of salvation provided for us, and never take His mercy and grace for granted.  He came here to earth as GOD in the flesh and dwelt among us.  He is able to empathize with our weakness for He was tempted in every way yet He was perfect.  His power is made perfect in weakness, and His grace is more than sufficient, and He is with you always, and HE is your strength.

“Then Jesus told her, ‘I Am the Messiah!'” (John 4:26 NLT)

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15 KJV)

“Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!'” (John 20:28 ESV)

“Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.” (Romans 9:5 NLT)

“Then he said, ‘I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.'” (John 1:51 NLT)

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2 ESV)

“The one practicing sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this reason the Son of God was revealed, so that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8 BLB)

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14 KJV)

“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Hebrews 4:15-16 NLT)

“And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NASB)

“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:20 KJV)

“The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” (Exodus 15:2 ESV)

“He safeguards the steps of his faithful ones, but wicked people are silenced in darkness because humans cannot succeed by their own strength.” (1 Samuel 2:9 GW)