THE FIRST FAITH....TO THE LAST FAITH

GUEST WRITER: 

RICK STASSI

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Romans 1:16-18

RICK & DANA STASSI
WEBSITE: HERE

How can there be shame in the gospel? For it is Good News of the revelation of God , of Himself, to mankind to show perfection and flesh as ONE. What we first ‘heard’ we then ‘saw’ and now ‘do’.

The shame in the gospel is thus: Jesus was denied by those closest to Him. Jesus was mocked and scourged (Mark 10:34). The Messiah – the unblemished Lamb that came to be the propitiation, or complete appeasement, of sin, was spat upon and hung on a cross with a thief.

But even, more! We deny speaking His name as it is not a part of our cultural vernacular. Jesus is considered and outsider to conversation because we are uncomfortable and the one we converse with is as uncomfortable.

It can be said shame exists even in our walk with God. However, here it is said “I am not ashamed”. Say it and pray it. In the gospel is God’s revelation of righteousness.  As Matthew Henry states (paraphrased) the first faith is from God, Christ yet unseen, to the last faith, Christ thus come and risen. The just or righteous, the obedient and law-abiding, shall live by the last faith and we shall know this faith is evolved. For as once faith was unseen and then fulfilled through the stripes on Jesus’ back,  it is also our initial commitment to Him,  and the works of obedience we do and loyalty we have thereafter.

Wrath of God is now the eternal separation from our God because there is no righteousness where faith is absent. Where faith is absent, God yearns for our heart. We believe God. No wrath is greater than eternal separation in our unrighteousness and what seems righteous to the world is folly. Every man has his set of values. Each man a little different. Without a focal point of moral judgement and an Absolute moral standard, all is relative, it is Relativism. The concept is a simple one. A relative moral standard is diluted by the very body that claims it’s truth.

“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men” 1 Cor 1:25

Man alone in a self-centered wisdom cannot even approach God’s wisdom. Therefore, a claim that has been diluted holds even less merit. Man is foolish in his claims of goodness.

So let is be said, we are saved into righteousness through Jesus Christ and our hearts soar to His elevated throne. Righteousness is for we who are just. We who are just are righteous because we have faith. We have faith because we know that faith was first heard then seen on the cross. I plead you hear these words. Seek Jesus unashamed. Follow Him unashamed. Speak His name to the world so man will hear. 

It is Good News that all sin is appeased and placed on the cross and death is defeated. Life is born for we who seek it. We have eternity. We are the just and faithful.

GOD, PRAY NONE ARE FOOLISH

   Art work by Sean Seal Written by Rick Stassi

Author of Emanating Joy!

1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Matthew 25:1-8 (KJV)

…regarding our relationship with Jesus Christ, our promise from our Father, and the anointing we have received of the Oil that is the Holy Spirit. We solemnly and keenly read this discourse from our Savior regarding the Kingdom of Heaven. For this discourse is about a bride and bridegroom who, under Jewish custom, are: 1) engaged; 2) betrothed; 3) married. Thus we are likened in parable to this in our walk and pilgrimage to the Celestial City – most high heaven!

The Bridegroom is Our Savior, Jesus Christ with whom we have committed our lives to in love under our repentance and grace of God.  In this commitment is our engagement with Him, commitment to Him, and submitting of all of ourselves to Him

We are betrothed in ceremony first asking with sincerity for Him to intercede in our lives as we repent our sin nature. We begin our sojourn at this point as we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, anointed with His oil, sanctified by the blood of our Savior.

We await our marriage day. We do not know the time nor place of the Bridegroom’s arrival. So, we are prepared always. Some are prepares and some are not. For those who are not, the oil of the Spirit’s anointment is not communal in nature, but maintained by us individually between our self personally with the Father.

So, we prepare. We search our hearts, we commune with God. We pray for others we ask God’s favor over us and others. At the same time we account for our commitment to His authority in our lives through our searching in our desire for obedience.

As we walk we seek knowledge and desire of our sanctification. Who we are is who God made. We need to see our position in our walk for the path can become dark and the light of the lamp will lead those who possess the oil. Without light we stray. Our path is straight but to remain on the straight course, we sail with the wind but are mindful of the rudder that steers. A boat without a rudder is hapless and aimless in its pursuit of a straight direction. We see the Sun setting on the horizon, yet without our rudder, we drift as the current ebbs and flows. We drift. We stray. The place on our head that once was glistening with the shine of fresh oil, our Help, is turning to a matte finish of a spent walk powered in our strength. We need God’s strength.

Our priority, our heart, our walk. All are culminated in Jesus, the Bridegroom, who awaits us at the right hand of God in heaven. Today is a day of inventory. Seek God and ask Him to expose the darkest, deepest parts of your heart. What He exposes, we then know where we need to change. 

This is preparation: A personal relationship  with God, belief that He will expose our heart as we search and ask Him to take a lighted lamp into the cavernous depths of our hearts. We want to change and continually grow. 

We encourage the 5 foolish virgins who stray: “Please, God, an anointing anew!” My heart thus prepared. My forehead now glossy with the shine of the sanctifying Oil. We await His return.

JUDGMENT - CORRUPTING LOVE!

By Rick and Dana Stassi

Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.
1 Corinthians 4:5

There is a time that God has appointed that will be utilized for judgment upon our hearts. It is in this appointed time that it is reserved for the Lord, and I surmise, in a personal place with Him. 

This is the time the Lord will make and He only knows. So, we place our corruptible thoughts outside – burned and ashes blown away. We have a purpose of conveyors of truth and light, and love. Not in unscrupulous judgement at the folly of corruption. Judgment corrupts our love. It corrupts our yearning to give grace to those in our midst-place before us just so we can test our trust and act in God’s will.

We have a problem. In our nature, we lower our guard and the enemy will steal our desire to do God’s work. We replace conveying grace with thoughts of disdain toward another. Many times it is only outward appearance that forms our opinion. Resist this ploy of the enemy. 

Jesus will return, He will expose their hearts fully, and it will be God that praises and says “Well done, good and faithful servant”. Our goal. Do not confuse judgment with discernment. If we discern through the Lord’s tugging at our heart, that someone is of questionable character. Seek refuge as it may affect our well-being. 

This is judging a situation not the inner character of a person. Your deeper relationship with God will lend clarity to these time. You will have compassion, but you will not blindly walk into danger.

The counsels of our heart is “purpose” as translated from Greek or “guarded thoughts” as defined in the dictionary. Both ways describe an intent in our heart. Much our intentions and thoughts are hidden deep in the darkness of our heart. 

We seek the light of God to expose these places, but we understand it is a lifelong journey with God molding our character and  perfecting our heart.

Therefore, understand the role we have and God’s role. We are commissioned to love, we are bound in grace and give grace to others. 

Scripture says:

9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,..” Phi 1:9,10

God will praise each of us according to the counsels or intentions in our heart. We shall not intervene in His plan by judging first and foremost. It is because we cannot see a person’s heart. We cannot, at various levels, see our own. So, we can’t pretend to know another’s. 

We do know we have God’s grace and therefore can give freely that which we have in abundance: grace and love. The next time you see someone, first discern danger but do not judge a heart being saved for God to expose personally and out of our earshot and sight of all. 

That is His way and we busy ourselves in His commanded purpose for us of loving  and being compassionate. This we know. 

Let God expose our hearts. We in turn, shall lift hearts to Him in compassion and love that we covet. We pray we will not corrupt it with judgment.

VISIT RICK STASSI'S BLOG HERE.