Andrew Murray
And God Created Woman
Difference between Anabaptists and Evangelicals
Kingdom
Mysteries
Part 1
Part 2
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Sermons by Eli Hofer
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The Writings of Ulrich Stadler
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The Anabaptist Voice
07/01/2009
Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of
God: Love, Joy and Peace in Jesus.
Dear friend in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We pray you are well under the grace of our Heavenly Father.
It is getting quite hot here in southern Arizona, but it is beautiful.
About 5:30 in the morning, Don opens the windows and doors to let fresh cool air
into the house. Then we can listen to the sparrows and doves making happy
sounds. Just like flowers and plants, God made birds for us to enjoy. Thank
you, Lord.
This morning when Don went out into the back yard he found a dangerous
rattlesnake there so he called the emergency number, 911, and they sent out a
fire truck to capture the rattlesnake.
Before moving here, we lived in northeastern Washington state for 14
years at the Fan Lake Brethren community on 122 acres with 4 houses. Here are a
couple of photos of that place: our peacocks doing a mating dance on the
sidewalk in front of our house and the wild deer eating hay that we put out for
them in back of our house. The metal wrapping around the tree is to keep
the raccoons from climbing the tree because the peacocks roost up there.
(There were no dangerous snakes in that area, just mountain lions and bears.)
We had a small community, but it did not last, and the place was sold. We did
not know where to go when our son, Jim said, “Come to my house in Arizona.” We
were thankful and moved here. We were to live here temporally, and most our
furniture and belongings were put into a 48 foot storage van and left at the
Spokane Hutterite colony where they still are. We left Fan Lake 5 years ago
today, July 1st. Don’s sister, Mary and her husband Pet
er
from Cincinnati, our sons and their family, our dear friends from Hutterite
colonies and Randy Vigil, our dear Christian neighbor, helped us to pack up.
Since Jim is not here anymore, we have been praying that God will open the
way and we can move back up north, closer to our sons and friends. Can we live
in a community? We would like to. We pray that Hyeok and Rebekah, Shelly,
Stephanie, Tony and Kris, and others would join us. We are waiting for our
Heavenly Father to lead us. Naomi has written a song for us:
Just like a
child that trusts his Daddy where he's leading him,
Just like a child that trusts his Mommy what she's feeding him,
Refrain: Though I get lost in darkness, and no where to go,
I can come back to You, and rest under Your
arm. I love You, Lord.
When I see flowers blooming, and feel the gentle breeze,
Then I will feel His presence and hear His voice calling me.
May
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of
the Holy Spirit be with you. (2 Cor 13:14)
Your brother and sisters in Christ (in photo),
Don, Michi & Naomi Murphy
Tucson, AZ, phone 520-297-1639
www.AnabaptistChurch.org
Jesus said, “People will know that you are my disciples
by your love for one another.” (John 13:35)
Children of God
by Don Murphy
06/29/2009
One day when Naomi was a young girl, she and I were looking out the
window of our house watching a very powerful windstorm. The trees were bending
over, the wind was quite fierce and rather scary. To comfort Naomi I said, “God
is in charge of the wind.” Instantly when I said that the wind stopped, the
trees stood up straight and it was suddenly very peaceful outside. Amazing!
God showed us not only His power but also His intense love for Naomi and I.
It's a love that knows no limits and no boundaries. A love that will go to any
lengths, and take any risks, to draw us closer to Him.
It's crazy, if we think about it. The God of the universe—the Creator of
the galaxies—loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And
once we encounter His love, we will never be the same. When we love
the Lord our God
with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our
strength we will naturally become like Him, like His nature, which is love.
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should
be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)
“We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever
lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete
among us so that we will have confidence on the Day of Judgment, because in this
world we are like Him." (1 John 4:16-17)
God is Love
The Bible tells us that "God is Love" (1 John 4:8). But how can we even begin to understand that truth? There are many passages in the Bible that give us God's definition of love. The most well known verse is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” This is an amazing love, because we are the ones who choose to be separated from God through our own sin, yet it's God who mends the separation through His intense personal care for us as we respond to His love.
True Love Only Comes Through a Close Relationship
God is Love!
As such, true love -- God's love -- can be summed up in this passage of
scripture: "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love
does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among
us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him."
(1 John 4:7-9)
When we discover that wonderful love that our heavenly Father has for us,
when we are born again, born from above, then we find a whole new world opening
to us. Jesus described this event to be like a man discovering a hidden
treasure or a pearl of great price. He gives up everything to obtain that great
treasure, God’s love. (Mt 13:44-46)
The Kingdom of God
When we are born again, when we discover the personal, wonderful love
that God has for us, when we have repented of our sins, been washed clean of
sin, baptized in the Holy Spirit, living in obedience to the teachings of Jesus,
then we have entered into what Jesus calls the kingdom of God. (John 3:3, 5, Mt
7:21)
The apostle Paul describes those living in the kingdom of God as living
in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Rom 14:17)
Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me,
so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will
remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his
love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may
be complete.” (John 15:9-11)
God originally created man in His own image. And now, as children of
God, we have been restored.
The apostle John wrote: “Dear friends, now we are children of God,
and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He
appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has
this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3)
The apostle Paul wrote: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified their sinful nature with its passions and desires.” (Gal 5:24)
The Kingdom of the World
The other
kingdom is the kingdom of the world, ruled by Satan. (Mt 4:8, Eph 2:2, 1 John
5:19) The apostle John wrote: “Do not love the world or anything in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For
everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the
boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives
forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)
A Child of God can not Live in Sin
In 1 John 2:29-3:10 we see where the apostle John divides all mankind
into two groups: children of God and children of the devil. The dividing line,
according to John in this passage, is obedience to the commands of God (1 John
3:4 & 2:4). Whoever violates the commands of God, the commands of Jesus, is a
child of the devil. A child of God does not sin, does not transgress the
commands of God. And if he should slip, he repents, confesses his sin and God
forgives him and purifies him. (1 John 1:8)
Sin is defying the living God. It is violating His laws. It is hurting
our heavenly Father who loves us. The person living in sin is not producing the
fruits that Jesus is looking for and will be cut down and thrown into the fire
if he continues in that life. (John 15:1-8)
“The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal 5:22)
The apostle Peter teaches us, “As obedient children, do not
conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as
He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be
holy, because I am holy.’ Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work
impartially, live your lives as strangers here on earth in reverent fear.”
(1 Peter 1:14-17)
How to Identify the Children of God
The apostle John teaches us not to let anyone lead us astray. He who
lives a holy life is holy, just as He is holy. He who does what is sinful is of
the devil. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's
seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the
devil are: Anyone who continues to disobey the commands and teachings of Jesus
is not a child of God. (1 John 3:7-10)