Blessed in His Grace

A good biblical definition of grace can be found in Philippians 2:13, "For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure." (AMP) Notice, it is "God who is effectively at work in you." In other words this has nothing to do with our abilities or strength, but Gods ability, His strength, His energy working in us through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the work of the Holy Spirit in us is to transform every believer more into the image of Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:18) This is an act of God's grace. Our only involvement in this is cooperating with Him in this wonderful work.

With that, let us consider the following two scenarios. The first is what we could say is a good day spiritually. What I mean is, you get up promptly when your alarm goes off and have a refreshing and profitable time reading the Bible and praying. Your plans for the day generally fall into place, and you sense the presence of God with you. To top it off, you unexpectedly have an opportunity to share the gospel with someone that the Holy Spirit has quickened in you who is truly searching. As you talk with the person, you sense the Holy Spirit helping you and also working in this persons heart who then accepts Christ as Lord and Savior. You return home feeling excited that Gods grace was at work in you and also at work with the person that had just accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. 

However, the second day in this scenario, is just the opposite. You don't arise at the first ring of your alarm. Instead, you shut it off and go back to sleep. When you finally awaken, it's too late to have a time in the Word and to pray. You quickly gulp down some breakfast and rush off to the day's activities. You feel guilty about missing your devotional time, and things just generally seem to go wrong all day and as the day rolls along, you become more and more irritable. To top things off, you do not sense God's presence in your life and then an unexpected opportunity to share the gospel with someone who seems to be interested in accepting Christ as Savior presents itself. You do not feel the Holy Spirit's prompting, you fumble at your words, the person does not receive Christ. Finally, you return home, tired and disappointed. 

In a sense, we could call one day a good day and the other a bad day. How do we suppose we would look at both days? Let's look at the following questions as to how we would feel about these two scenarios. Would we enter those two witnessing opportunities with a different degree of confidence? Would we be less confident on the bad day than on the good day? Would we find it difficult to believe that God would bless us and use us in the midst of a rather bad spiritual day? If you answered yes to those questions, you have lots of company among believers. Many believers would be less confident of God's blessing while sharing Christ at the end of a bad day than they would after a good one. Is such thinking justified? Does God work that way? The answer to both of these questions is no! Why? Because God's blessing does not depend on our performance or feelings. 

Why then do so many believers think this way? It is because they believe that God's blessing on our lives is somehow conditioned upon our performance. If we have performed well and had a good day, we can assume we are in a position for God to bless us. We know God's blessings come to us through Christ, but we also have this vague but very real notion that they are also conditioned on our behavior. The point of this good day, bad day scenario is this; regardless of our performance, we are to always and in all things, depend on God's grace, His ability, His strength, His energy working in and through us, through the Holy Spirit. 

The good news in this, is, the gospel message is God's grace is available to us on both our best days as well as our worst days. This is true because the Lord Jesus Christ fully satisfied the claims of justice and fu1ly paid the penalty of a broken law when He died on the cross as our substitute. Every day of our Christian experience should be a day of relating to God on the basis of His grace alone. We are not only saved by grace, but we also live by grace every day. This grace comes through the meritorious work of God in Christ. Look what the Holy Spirit reveals to us through the Apostle Paul, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2) 

A significant part of the Mosaic Law was the promise of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28). Some Christians live as if that principle applies to them today. But Paul tells us, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:1-4) 

Christ has already borne the curses for our disobedience and earned for us the blessings of obedience. As a result we are now to look to Christ alone, not Christ plus our performance, but simply Christ for God's blessings in our lives. We are saved by grace and we are to live by grace alone. When we pray to God for His blessing, He does not examine our performance to see if we are worthy. Rather, He looks to see if we are trusting in the merit of His Son as our only hope for securing His blessings. The Apostle Paul, when speaking to certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers tells them, "for in Him (Christ) we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28) So, let us let go of all the self-labors and works and bask in the amazing grace of God. Let us no longer do, to live, but live and do for His glory.

His Grace is Still Amazing

A good biblical definition of grace can be found in Philippians 2:13, "For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure." (AMP) Notice, it is "God who is effectively at work in you." In other words this has nothing to do with our abilities or strength, but Gods ability, His strength, His energy working in us through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the work of the Holy Spirit in us is to transform every believer more into the image of Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:18) This is an act of God's grace. Our only involvement in this is cooperating with Him in this wonderful work. 

With that, let us consider the following two scenarios. The first is what we could say is a good day spiritually. What I mean, is that, you get up promptly when your alarm goes off and have a refreshing and profitable time reading the Bible and praying. Your plans for the day generally fall into place, and you sense the presence of God with you. To top it off, you unexpectedly have an opportunity to share the gospel with someone that the Holy Spirit has quickened in you who is truly searching. As you talk with the person, you sense the Holy Spirit helping you and also working in this persons heart who then accepts Christ as Lord and Savior. You return home feeling excited that Gods grace was at work in you and also at work with the person that had just accepted Christ as Lord and Savior.

However, the second day in this scenario, is just the opposite. You don't arise at the first ring of your alarm. Instead, you shut it off and go back to sleep. When you finally awaken, it's too late to have a time in the Word and to pray. You quickly gulp down some breakfast and rush off to the day's activities. You feel guilty about missing your devotional time, and things just generally seem to go wrong all day and as the day rolls along, you become more and more irritable. To top things off, you do not sense God's presence in your life and then an unexpected opportunity to share the gospel with someone who seems to be interested in accepting Christ as Savior presents itself. You do not feel the Holy Spirit's prompting, you fumble at your words, the person does not receive Christ. Finally, you return home, tired and disappointed.  

In a sense, we could call one day a good day and the other a bad day. How do we suppose we would look at both days? Let's look at the following questions as to how we would feel about these two scenarios. Would we enter those two witnessing opportunities with a different degree of confidence? Would we be less confident on the bad day than on the good day? Would we find it difficult to believe that God would bless us and use us in the midst of a rather bad spiritual day? If you answered yes to those questions, you have lots of company among believers. Many believers would be less confident of God's blessing while sharing Christ at the end of a bad day than they would after a good one. Is such thinking justified? Does God work that way? The answer to both of these questions is no! Why? Because God's blessing does not depend on our performance.

Why then do so many believers think this way? It is because they believe that God's blessing on our lives is somehow conditioned upon our performance. If we have performed well and had a good day, we can assume we are in a position for God to bless us. We know God's blessings come to us through Christ, but we also have this vague but very real notion that they are also conditioned on our behavior. The point of this good day, bad day scenario is this; regardless of our performance, we are to always and in all things, depend on God's grace, His ability, His strength, His energy working in and through us, through the Holy Spirit. 

The good news in this, is, the gospel message is God's grace made available to us on both our best days as well as our worst days. This is true because the Lord Jesus Christ fully satisfied the claims of justice and fu1ly paid the penalty of a broken law when He died on the cross as our substitute. Every day of our Christian experience should be a day of relating to God on the basis of His grace alone. We are not only saved by grace, but we also live by grace every day. This grace comes through the meritorious work of God in Christ. Look what the Holy Spirit reveals to us through the Apostle Paul, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2) 

A significant part of the Mosaic Law was the promise of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28). Some Christians live as if that principle applies to them today. But Paul tells us, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:1-4)

Christ has already borne the curses for our disobedience and earned for us the blessings of obedience. As a result we are now to look to Christ alone, not Christ plus our performance, but simply Christ for God's blessings in our lives. We are saved by grace and we are to live by grace alone. When we pray to God for His blessing, He does not examine our performance to see if we are worthy. Rather, He looks to see if we are trusting in the merit of His Son as our only hope for securing His blessings. The Apostle Paul, when speaking to certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers tells them, "for in Him (Christ) we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28) So, let us let go of all the self-labors and works and bask in the amazing grace of God. Let us no longer do to live, but live and do for His glory.

Who Wants to be Free

Freedom is defined in many ways, but I like to define it from the position of what Jesus announced as His mission on earth to those in the synagogue in Nazareth, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19) In other words, to be free is to be released or rescued from being confined, enslaved, captured, or imprisoned either physically, emotionally or spiritually. Many believers talk about their freedom in Christ without having a true biblical understanding of it. Many seem to think that freedom in Christ is to cast off all restraint and do whatever they "feel" like doing once they have made a profession of faith. This means only obeying the scripture that they "feel" they should and or that they can continue in their sin because after all "I am free." Freedom is not based on our feelings or what scriptures "I" decide to obey. Freedom finds its anchor through faith in Jesus Christ.

In Luke 17:1-4 Jesus teaches the apostle about offenses. He says, "It is impossible that no offenses should come..." The apostles response should not only be a learning experience for every believer, but also something that should be applied daily due to what Jesus said. Their response was, "Increase our faith." (Luke 17:5) This is the only place in the New Testament where the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith. They were not asking for more faith to heal the sick, cast out demons or preach, but the faith to not offend as well as the faith to deal with offenses when they come. Remember, Jesus said that offenses would come and then He them the power of faith, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you." (Luke 17:6)

Next, Jesus continues to speak to the apostles by asking them three questions, "which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, come at once and sit down to eat? But will he not rather say to him, prepare something for my supper and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterwards you will eat and drink? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him?" (Luke 17:7-9) What does this have to do with dealing with offenses? Much, if you understand that "the Spirit of God dwells in you." (1 Corinthians 3:16), that "you are not your own...you were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), that "you are a new creation; old things have passed away..." (2 Corinthians 5:17), that "you are a  new creation created according to God in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephesians 4:24) (for the lack of space I will not site the numerous verses of scripture that reveal who the believer is in Christ)

Finally, Jesus concludes this matter, "I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which are commanded, say, we are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty." (Luke 17:10) What does Jesus mean, "We have done what was our duty?" When it comes to dealing with offenses, what is the believers duty? If we know who we are in Christ, we won't offend others nor will we become offended by others, even if the offense comes from another believer. Look what the Holy Spirit speaks through Peter, "Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, (and sisters) be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing." (1 Peter 3:8-9) This is the believers duty when it comes to dealing with offenses. First, we should never offend another person, period! Our duty is to have compassion for one another; love as brothers, (and sisters) be tenderhearted, be courteous. If we do our duty as shown here, we will never offend another person whether a believer or unbeliever. Next, if you are offended by anyone, your duty is not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this.  Believers are not to claim, receive or hold on to an offense. If they do, and unfortunately many do, they will fail doing their duty and open the door of their heart for the devil to hold them captive which prevents God from blessing them.

In Matthew 18 Jesus tells us what believers are to do when someone brings an offense. No matter how small or large the offense is, believers are to forgive, period. (Matthew 18:21-27) As Peter said, believers are to bless (forgive) not curse (hold unforgiveness). Jesus also tells us what happens when a believer holds on to unforgiveness. The believer is tormented because he/she has given place to the devil (torturers). (Matthew 18:28-34) The sad thing is Jesus' conclusion to this matter to believers who have unforgiveness, "So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses." (Matthew 18:35)

If you have been offended and are dealing with unforgiveness, you can be totally free from the hurt, torment and or ill feelings that you have towards another person right now. First, let the offense out by speaking what the offense was and who it was that offended you. Secondly, you must completely forgive them no matter how difficult it may seem. (Colossians 3:13) Next, purpose not to think (2 Corinthians 10:5) or speak (Ephesians 4:29) anything concerning this matter ever again. In doing so, you will not "give place to the devil." (Ephesians 4:27) Also ask the Lord to forgive you for holding on to unforgiveness (1 John 1:9) Finally, let 1 Peter 3:8-9 have place in your heart and speak blessings over the one(s) who have offended you. In doing these things, you not only release the one that you have held captive in your heart through unforgiveness, but you also will free yourself from being tormented due to unforgiveness. Although Jesus said, "offenses will come" by applying these simple principles by faith you will walk in freedom overcoming all offenses. With that said, I have one final thought. Time does not heal wounds, only forgiveness from the heart does. So let it all go and become the blessing that you are called to be to others, so that you may inherit a blessing.  

It's All Legal

The Book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible. Many use Job as a lesson for believers from the position that when adversity comes no matter how horrific it may be, somehow God is behind it. Believers are taught that because God allowed Satan to do certain destructive things in Jobs life that it was God's will. The Bible tells us that Satan is the accuser (Revelation 12:10) so he made some accusation against God and Job, "Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil.So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land." (Job 1:8-10)

Notice first that God always speaks highly of His children. He protects His children and blesses His children. This is Gods true nature and it holds a very important key when it comes to fully understanding what is about to transpire in the life of Job. Next, we see Satan firing his accusations against God and Job. Due to his hatred towards God and man, Satan then puts a challenge to God, "But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD." (Job 1:11-12) Although Satan wanted God to do damage to Job, it was not God, it was Satan!

After all the havoc that Satan leashed on Jobs family and possessions it wasn't enough. Satan returns to God and continues his accusations, but once again we see the true nature of God revealed, "Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause." (Job2:3) This time Satan makes his accusations more personal towards Job, "So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job." (Job 2:4-7) Again, Satan wanted God to do damage to Job, and again it was not God, it was Satan!

We see clearly that Gods true nature is to bless not curse, but why would God allow Satan to bring such devastation upon Job? Does God use Satan to do His dirty work? Does God use destruction, disease and sickness to chastise His children? Is it because God is sovereign (and He most certainly is) and He gets to do whatever He wants? Before we see the real reason behind this satanic attack on Job, let's see another characteristic of God as reveal by a young man named Elihu, "Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: Far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to commit iniquity. For He repays man according to his work, And makes man to find a reward according to his way. Surely God will never do wickedly, nor will the Almighty pervert justice." (Job 34:10-12) and "As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is excellent in power, in judgment and abundant justice; He does not afflict." (Job 37:23)

God is absolutely just. He does not do wicked things. He does not commit iniquity. He does not pervert justice. He is abundant in Justice. He does not afflict. Everything that God does is on absolute legal grounds. He does not pervert justice for anyone, including Satan. So why would God permit Satan to do the things to Job that he did? Job himself reveals exactly why, "For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me." (Job 3:25) The apostle Paul tells Timothy, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7) If fear does not come from God, where does it come from? Fear is a product of the fall and is from Satan. Adams response to God immediately after the fall was, "...I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself." (Genesis 3:10)  The apostle Paul tells us, "do not give place to the devil." (Ephesians 4:27) Fear in Jobs life was legal ground for Satan to do what he did to Job, For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me." Now we can clearly see why God permitted Satan to bring such devastation upon Job. Remember, God does not do wicked things. He does not commit iniquity. He does not pervert justice. He is abundant in Justice. He does not afflict!

The true nature and character of God is revealed throughout the Bible. For instance, He reveals His nature to Moses, "And the LORD passed before Moses and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation." (Exodus 34:6-7) We see again that He is just. Think about this from another perspective. God chose to redeem humanity in Christ "before the foundation of the world." (Ephesians 1:3-6) So God knew that Adam would commit treason before He created him. When the fall came, God immediately made known His plan of redemption for humanity. (Genesis 3:14-15) If God's will is for humanity to suffer at the hands of His enemy, Satan, then we have to ask ourselves why did God spare Cain's life and not kill him immediately after he murdered his brother Able? God tells us when He spoke to Cain before He murdered Able, "...sin (Satan) lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it" (Genesis 4:7)

God gave Cain the solution to do what was right, but Cain's anger was stronger than Gods advice. His anger gave place to Satan and murder was the result. Jesus tells us that "Satan is a murderer" (John 8:44) not God! As a matter of fact, "...through death, Jesus destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil." (Hebrews 2:14) Luke tells us, "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." (Acts 10:38) John tells us, "He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." (1 John 3:8) Jesus Himself quotes a prophetic word spoken by Isaiah the prophet concerning Himself, "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." (Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 4:18-19) Does any of this sound like a God whose will is to have disease, sickness, poverty or any other devastation to come upon His children? Absolutely and emphatically not!!!

If it is God's will to have humanity, especially His children suffer at the hand of His enemy, Satan, whether it be to chasten them or any other reason, then why would Jesus come to destroy the works of the devil?  As you can see, this thinking is complete ludicrous. If we say that the things that happened to Job is because God is sovereign (and He most certainly is) and He does whatever He wants due to His sovereignty, then we have to also believe that God operates outside of and or ignores His own Word. This thinking is also erroneous, "My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips." (Psalms 89:34), "Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven." (Psalms 119:89), "I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name." (Psalm 138:2) By looking at the conclusion of the Book of Job, we see God's true nature in action.

From chapter 38 to chapter 41 God questions Job from the realm of creation and the realm of animals. He then tells Job to save himself, if he can. He compares the power of Job with that of the behemoth and that of a leviathan. Finally in chapter 42 Job confessed his lack of understanding and then repents. In response to Jobs confession and repentance, "the LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before." (Job 42:10) "Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning." (Job 42:12) "After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died, old and full of days." (Job 42:16-17)  God's will and nature is to is bless and give life. It is Satan who steals, kills and destroys. As shown above, Job gave Satan a legal right to do the things that had come upon him, but once Job had confessed and repented to God, Satan lost all legal ground to Job and God could legally bless Job again.

For God to bring eternal redemption to humanity, He himself would take the liability for the fall of man. It was Jesus Christ the Son of God who suffered as a substitute for humanity, the just for the unjust. Satan used humanity to take the life of a sinless, innocent man which opened the door for God to redeem humanity on absolutely legal grounds. Now all who confess the Lordship of Jesus become a child of God. They are a New Creation. Satan is defeated and the believer has authority over him. However, we must be careful not to "Give place to the devil" but live by faith in the realm of the spirit with all the benefits that are legally ours provided by redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all legal and it's all ours, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) PTL

I Would Like You to Meet My Father

It is very unfortunate when I talk with believers who truly love the LORD but have such a distorted picture of who He really is. Many see God as a holy, just, austere and unapproachable being who is ever on the look out to discover sin in the believer and quick to condemn them. This concept has made many afraid and has caused them to keep their distance from Him. I am here to report that this perception of God is completely wrong. God is our Father!!!

"For the Father Himself loves you..." (John 16:27)
John 17:23
"...that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."
(John 17:23)
"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." (Romans 8:16) 
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1)

What a beautiful and factual picture of our Heavenly Fathers relationship to every believer. Jesus also paints this wonderful picture of our Father to His children...
"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:11) Think about this truth for a moment.

As a parent myself I have always desired to see that my children were taken care of in every area of their life. I wanted them to always be encouraged and to know that no matter how things looked everything would be alright. I have made it a point to make myself available to help them through thick or thin as well as seeing their personal success at my expense and yet this is millions of miles away in comparison to how great my Heavenly Father's tender loving care is for all of His children (believers).

When we come to know Him as a loving, caring, giving, blessing, Father who longs to spend time with His child our entire perception of Him changes. Look at the picture the apostle Paul paints...
"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out,"Abba, Father. (Romans 8:15)
Do you know what is unique about this verse? Notice that it says we are adopted. Many look at adoption from a totally human perspective in the sense that the adopted child is not really family. However, think about it from this perspective. Jesus said, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you..." (John 15:16) and Paul says, "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world..." (Ephesians 1:4) Our Heavenly Father has personally chosen you and I. He hand picked us. You and I are very personal to Him.

One of the problems that many believers have is confessing weakness and failure which erodes faith breeds guilt and condemnation not to mention that it also repudiates the finished work of Christ. It cause us to belittle our true position and right standing in God through Christ. Every feeling of guilt, shame, condemnation and inferiority stops being a problem the moment that we know that God is truly a loving Father. When we come to truly believer what we are in Christ guilt, shame, condemnation and inferiority will no longer have place. Exercising faith for the things that we desire and are entitled to through our sonship with Him, are also no longer a problem. This occurs when a believer knows their rights and privileges that the Father has freely given them through Christ.    

2 Corinthians 5:17 declares, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." The old things of doubt, fear as well as bondage to sicknesses and want, have passed away all because we have been legally and lovingly adopted into the family of God. With that said, I will close with a passage that I want to encourage you to read and meditate on. As you do let faith arise in your spirit and know that your Father in heaven sees you as His "creme da la creme" (the best of the best)...

"For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(Romans 6:5-11)

Bad Things Do Not Come From God - Part 17

Recently I attended a large conference consisting mainly of church leaders from across the USA. During one of the main sessions the speaker made a comment concerning Hurricane Katrina. He said that the LORD had warned them (various pastors) two years in advance that a hurricane would hit New Orleans. The hurricane was from the LORD to cleanse the city of its corruption. The speaker went on to say that some ministers mentioned to him that the hurricane was not judgment from God, but he insisted that they were wrong.

They began to warn the churches of this impending storm and told the people to be sure that their home owners insurance would cover their losses in the event of a catastrophe which Katrina turned out to be. Naturally I was somewhat taken by such a claim. Although I have discussed some of this previously, I want to address this particular claim, as to whether God brought judgment on New Orleans to cleanse it from corruption or not.

Remember, it was Adam that was given authority and dominion over the works of God's hands and that the only one in all creation that Adam had to answer to was God Himself, the Creator. Everything else was subordinate to Adam (Psalm 8:5-6) We also saw that Adam freely chose to disobey God and thereby giving his authority and dominion over to God's enemy, Satan, placing himself and all humanity under Satan's rule (Luke 4:5-6) This act of treason by Adam brought a curse on creation (Genesis 3:17-18) So first we see that creation took on the new nature of its new master, Satan. That which was once pure, peaceful, filled with love and harmony had now become a place filled with adversity, affliction, calamity, grief, hurt, harm and trouble, that is, all matter of evil.

Further along in the Bible, we see God disclose to Abraham, His covenant partner, what was about to happen to Sodom and Gomorrah because "their sin was very grave." (Genesis 18:20) If God truly brought Hurricane Katrina upon New Orleans then we have to assume their sin was very grave and it was above the sin of every other city in the USA. If God were bringing judgment upon a wicked city in the USA, then it would be logical that He would bring it upon the most wicked of cities, wouldn't it? However, as we look further into this matter, Abraham pleads with God not to permit the destruction of those cities for the sake of the righteous who may live in them. God's response is the same every time Abraham make a plea, "If I find in Sodom any righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes." 

(Genesis 18:16-33) 

If God did bring Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans then we have to also assume that there was not one covenant partner, that is, there must not have been one believer in New Orleans. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21) In other words, there must not have been one righteous person in New Orleans. We also have to assume that Abraham was under a better covenant than the New Covenant in Christ, because God would not have permitted the destruction Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of the righteous under His covenant with Abraham. But we know that this is not true. The New Covenant established in Christ is the fulfillment of every other covenant and Hebrews calls it "a better covenant."

Now let's consider the "Ten Plagues" that came upon Egypt when Moses was sent to deliver Israel from the bondage of Pharaoh. (Exodus 4 - 11) There is no record that shows Israel suffering through the ten plagues with the Egyptians. No, these plagues fell upon the Egyptians only. The point, if God brought Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans to bring judgment, then He would have protected His people from judgment as He did with His people Israel. The believers in New Orleans would not have experienced anything destructive that a hurricane would bring, including darkness, the lack of electric, "The Egyptians did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings." (Exodus 10:23) Although electric had not been discovered as we understand it for approximately 3200 more years, point being God protected His people.   

Let us now consider the account of Jesus rebuking the wind and the raging water when a windstorm came down on the lake as as He and His disciples were in a boat crossing over to the country of the Gadarenes. His rebuke caused the wind and raging water to cease and there was a great calm. Did God cause this storm? If He did, then Jesus would have been rebuking His father. No, let's face it, the god of this age is behind the destruction not our heavenly Father. Another point that we should consider in this account is that Jesus said to His disciples, "Where is your faith." (Luke 8:22-25) It is apparent that if the disciples exercised faith they would have experienced the same results that Jesus had with the storm. No, let's face it, the god of this age is behind the destruction not our heavenly Father. It seems to me, if God announced that a storm would be coming then He is calling His people to action. Winning souls away from their wicked life styles in an aggressive manner and exercise faith by speaking to the mountain (impending hurricane) before it even manifested would have been a more biblical response. 

Finally, if God is bringing judgment upon the world today then it means one of two things. First, Jesus' death, burial, resurrection, ascension and glorification did not fully satisfy justice and therefore man is not fully saved but must continue to suffer judgment from God or secondly, we have entered the Tribulation. Neither of these is true. Humanity has not entered the Great Tribulation and Jesus did in fact satisfy justice. Therefore God is not condemning humanity (John 3:16-17) for its corruption by bringing catastrophe's, yet. (See Revelation)   

Although I do not know where his statistics came from, the same speaker reported that sadly enough the city is more corrupt today than before Hurricane Katrina struck. Something else to consider, judgment did not come upon Sodom and Gomorrah to bring them to repentance, but to completely destroy them. However, if we look at Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15-20 we will find the primary objective of the church. In short, the church is to bring sinners to repentance. No New Orleans, God did not bring Hurricane Katrina upon you, although after such a disaster one would think that all who have rejected the LORD Jesus Christ and have turned to their own ways would have repented and today be reaping the blessings of the LORD. Hurricane Katrina is the result of a fallen world under the influence of Satan, the god of this age and therefore like every other person who does not see God's true nature as it is revealed in scripture, that of blessings and life, will continue to blame God for bad things happening.

I could have shared many more passages of scripture as proof of God's true nature, but space would not permitted it. But I will say, from the "In the beginning" of Genesis to the "Grace of our LORD Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen" of Revelation, God's desire was and is to bless man and have fellowship with him throughout eternity. It has been the destructive nature of sin and Satan since man's fall that has tainted and twisted God's true desire for humanity. However, the good news is, God Himself has pursued man to restore him to his sinless position with Himself. Those who reject His offer to be a part of this will feel the repercussions of the unpardonable sin, separation from God forever in a lake of fire. Those who have accepted His FREE gift of salvation will experience paradise in His presence forever. If you have not received God's FREE gift of life, then please do the following...

"...confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9) In doing so, you can have the calm assurance to what Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." (John 5:24)

If you have confessed Jesus Christ as LORD and have received Him as your Savior, then please seek a Bible believing congregation that will disciple you to grow in faith, "For without faith it is impossible to please God..." (Hebrews 11:6)
 

   

Let Us Worship Jesus Our King

The word worship means, to honor, revere, adore, pay homage, render devotion and respect. In John 4 Jesus encounters a woman from a city of Samaria called Sychar. The conversation leads to a discussion about worship. We see that the women states that Jews and Samaritans worship God just in different places. But Jesus says that the Father was seeking those who would worship Him not in a specific place but in spirit and truth. It’s not a matter of playing music and singing songs with Godly lyrics, it’s whether believers do it Gods way or not. To worship in spirit, is to allow the Holy Spirit to move upon the believer’s redeemed spirit causing , honor, reverence, adoration, devotion and respect to ascend to God. To worship in truth is to worship according to the Word of God which is Gods way.

We see in Luke 24:53 "And were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen." The early church was able to see God in all things because He is LORD of heaven and earth. God was showing Himself through signs and wonders, He had moved on the hearts of the people where they had a common cause, they participated in mutual assistance, they ate meals together, they were excited and they showed it with an attitude of gratitude. Although this move of God had not been called Christianity yet, it would become a new culture that superseded all other cultures. They were the family, the children of the living God. The church was not an institution made up of buildings in various locations, it was people from various location that formed a living body. That living body was one filled with praise and worship.

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Colossians 3:16)
"Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." (Hebrews 13:15)
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
(I Peter 2:9)

As the early church, we to are called to proclaim Gods glory by ascribing praise and worship to Him continually. So let's lift up our voices, shout it loud and sing praises to whom all blessings flow!!!

Where the Buck Stops

Another aspect of tithing for today in the church comes from Malachi 3: 8-12. There is hardly an offering taken in the evangelical church that dose not refer to this passage of scripture. The problem that we have is this scripture has been spiritualized to support tithing in the NT church. However, a closer look at Malachi as well as Nehemiah who were of the same time frame will uncover the truth of this passage.

In Nehemiah 10:37-38 we see that the firstfruits, dough, offerings, the fruit, new wine and oil were taken to the temple for the priests, and the tithes were taken to the Levites from the farming communities. This is an indication that only those who grew food and raised animals did indeed tithe. We also see that the Levites were to take a tithe of the tithe given to them to the temple. It is this tithe, the tithe from the Levites that went to the storehouse, not the tithe directly from the people.

Next we see the issue as to why God spoke to Malachi about the people robbing Him. Remember Numbers 18:22-28 shows us that the tithes were paid to the LORD, and the LORD gave the tithes to the Levites as their inheritance and then the Levites would tithe the tithe to Aaron the priest (his decendants also). This is an important key. Nehemiah 13:10 tells us that the Levites were not receiving support (tithes) from the people and had to go to work. Because they had not been receiving the tithe their tithe was not given to the priests to put in the Temple Storehouse. Therefore the people under the Law were robbing God not the people under grace, the church.

Next Malachi tells us that God places a challenge before the people to bring the tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in His house. If they responded to this, God promises to open the windows of heaven and will pour out for them such blessing that they would not have room enough to receive it. Genesis 7:11, 8:1-2 reveals what the windows of heaven means. Opening the windows of heaven is God causing the rains to come which causes crops to grow, which the animals also were fed from. So what were Gods blessings that there would not be room enough to receive? It was the abundance food, that is, crops and animals, God's provision, not man's labors. The tithe is not money, but agruculture produce and food animals. The storehouse is not the local church, but the storehouse in the temple. The food is literal food not spiritual food. Opening the windows of heaven is rain that produces abundance of food to tithe (sell or trade) but not specifically for believers to get rich.

If believers want to call what they give to the church a tithe but not limit God to ten percent, then they will begin to have a biblical understanding of giving cheerfully and bountifully by grace through faith and not out of obligation or through a standard that has no place in the church. Giving should never be an act of Law even if it is a law devised and accepted by the church, but an act of love in which there is no law.

I'll Tithe, But...

We've been exploring the idea of tithing for the church. We looked at one of the scriptures used to support tithing in the church prior to the Law which was Abram giving a tithe to Melchizedek. When viewing this in a sound way we see that there is no evidence to support the claim that tithing for the church should be a standard or and obligation. However, to be fair, we will now explore the second passage of scripture that certain sects of the church uses to support tithing as a standard or obligation in the church.

Genesis 28:20-22 we see some serious differences between what Jacob does and the churches approach to tithing...

• First, this appears to be a one time act and not an on going obligation or standard...
• Scripture does not reveal that Jacob ever tithed again for the rest of his life...
• Jacob’s tithe was on the condition that God first blessed and protected him...
• This tithe was voluntary...
• In all that God had promised (Genesis 28:13-15) there was no requirement made by God or nothing said by God that Jacob was obligated to tithe...
• Finally, there is no evidence in scripture the Jacob taught his sons to tithe...

Do you see the similarities with the two passages of scripture Genesis 14:15-24, Genesis 28:20-22? Although these two passages of scripture are used in the many sects of the church to support tithing as an standard or obligation, we can honestly see that what the church teaches and what we actually see in the scripture are quite different.

Just think about this one thing. Jacob’s tithe was on the condition that God first blessed and protected him. So if God does not bless and protect Jacob, then Jacob does not have to tithe. This is completely opposite to what the church teaches on tithing. It teaches that believers are to tithe first then God will bless and protect. What do we suppose the reaction would be if a believer went their pastor and said, “If God blesses and protects me first then I will tithe”. Of course that would be absurd. Believers receive blessings and protection through their faith in Jesus Christ not through tithing.

The point is, Laws keep believers from operating by grace through faith in which there is freedom. The Apostle Paul said in his letter to the church at Galatia, " Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us FREE, and DO NOT be ENTANGLED again with a yoke of BONDAGE". He was talking about freedom by grace verses bondage serving the Law.

Which would you prefer to do, tithe because as a believer that is what you are obligated to do or give cheerfully and bountifully because the grace of God is abounding on you?