Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
What does it mean to be "justified"? It means we have been made righteous; sin no longer separates us from God through faith in Christ. Justified means we are acquitted... treated as "Just if I'd" never sinned. Justified!
How does justification come? Through faith...faith in Jesus. What is faith? Faith isn't something I do; it is something that happens to me. As we discussed in a previous blog (Jan 22,2011), faith is a persuasion; getting God's reasoning on a matter (Jan 23,2011). When I accepted Christ, faith was imparted to my heart. I became persuaded that God sent Jesus into the earth to undo what Adam had done in a manner of speaking.
So our justification which comes by faith empowers us to experience peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at the Amplified version: Romans 5:1 THEREFORE, SINCE we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
2Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God's favor) in which we [firmly and safely] stand. And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.
Through Jesus, we have our access, our entrance or introduction by this faith/persuasion, into this grace...grace here is the Greek word charis we spoke of previously (Jan 19, 2011). This word means "a divine influence in the heart" and its reflection in the life of the individual, including gratitude, benefit, favor, gift, joy liberality and pleasure.
Jesus made it all possible! Not only to be reconciled to God (made to be in rightstanding with God) but He further gave us access into the state of God's favor. When you reflect on this, you will experience an overwhelming sense of GRATITUDE which will affect your ATTITUDE bringing you SOLITUDE.
Let's enjoy the benefits of God's gifts, His liberality towards us and pleasures forevermore.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Grace - A New Frontier
Can we ever hear too much about God's grace? There are some in the church who feel this is true. They say that the message of grace will give people a license to sin.
I don't know about you but before I came to the knowledge of God's mercy and grace and had accepted Christ as my Savior, I sinned pretty well without a license. So what is this message of grace I am referring to.
Basically, the message of grace is that God has already punished our sins; all of them, those sins we committed, those we may be commiting right now and those which we have yet to commit. And the definition of sin includes sins of commission (those things that we shouldn't have done) and sins of ommission (those things we should have done).
Does this mean that God has gone "soft" on sin; that we escape punishment for our sins? Well yes and no. No, He hasn't gone soft on sin and yes, we do escape punishment because Christ was punished FOR our sins. So, does this give us a license to sin? I guess it all depends on the heart of the individual.
The bible says "it is the love of God that brings men to repentance". Once we get a reality of how deep His love for us is, only then can we come to appreciate His grace. I don't want to sin against Him. I don't want to treat Jesus' sacrifice with such contempt BUT even with that being said, you can rest assured that I will sin. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE DEBT IS ALREADY PAID. Woo Hoo! The bible says, "He who the Son sets free is free indeed!
In this crazy world we live in, there is so much negativity. Everywhere you turn there are negative forces surrounding us, whether it is CNN (constantly negative news-which is attributed to ALL news stations) or the latest buzz at work; the television programming; or all the drama of life which smacks us in the face everyday. We need God's message of Hope and Grace. We need to know that there is a God, who is on our side, who desires for us to live a victorious life and has made this possible through faith in Christ. Not only was our sin dealt with, but our health and prosperity can be found in Him as well.
The word of God says, "guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life". The word "issues" means boundaries or borders. In other words, our life can be bound by the issues of our heart. If we have a heart filled with gratitude; joy, peace; faith, hope and love. we will experience a life filled with joy. If, on the otherhand, our heart is filled with malice, anger, grief, a lack of trust, etc., that too will impact our life in a negative way. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
Dr. Caroline Leaf, a "born-again" scientist has studied the brain and its functions since 1981. I'm going to do my best to explain this. Science has discovered that the effects of positive thoughts and negative (toxic thoughts as she refers to them) can be measured in the human brain. In its most simplest terms and under a microscope, good thoughts produce a "tree-like function in the brain with what appear to be branches containing chemicals which, when released in our system, promote health in the human body. Conversely, toxic thoughts produce what look to be like dead trees also containing chemicals that are released into our system and harm our bodies. There is a lot more to it than this but suffice it to say that science is confirming what God has already told us; "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine".
So when it comes to God and his word, I don't think we can ever hear too much of His grace. We need to be encouraged everyday about God's love and provision for us. As we do, the light of His love fills our hearts and out of that abundance, we can let the light of the GOOD NEWS spill out onto others.
Will you share the GOOD NEWS today?
I don't know about you but before I came to the knowledge of God's mercy and grace and had accepted Christ as my Savior, I sinned pretty well without a license. So what is this message of grace I am referring to.
Basically, the message of grace is that God has already punished our sins; all of them, those sins we committed, those we may be commiting right now and those which we have yet to commit. And the definition of sin includes sins of commission (those things that we shouldn't have done) and sins of ommission (those things we should have done).
Does this mean that God has gone "soft" on sin; that we escape punishment for our sins? Well yes and no. No, He hasn't gone soft on sin and yes, we do escape punishment because Christ was punished FOR our sins. So, does this give us a license to sin? I guess it all depends on the heart of the individual.
The bible says "it is the love of God that brings men to repentance". Once we get a reality of how deep His love for us is, only then can we come to appreciate His grace. I don't want to sin against Him. I don't want to treat Jesus' sacrifice with such contempt BUT even with that being said, you can rest assured that I will sin. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE DEBT IS ALREADY PAID. Woo Hoo! The bible says, "He who the Son sets free is free indeed!
In this crazy world we live in, there is so much negativity. Everywhere you turn there are negative forces surrounding us, whether it is CNN (constantly negative news-which is attributed to ALL news stations) or the latest buzz at work; the television programming; or all the drama of life which smacks us in the face everyday. We need God's message of Hope and Grace. We need to know that there is a God, who is on our side, who desires for us to live a victorious life and has made this possible through faith in Christ. Not only was our sin dealt with, but our health and prosperity can be found in Him as well.
The word of God says, "guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life". The word "issues" means boundaries or borders. In other words, our life can be bound by the issues of our heart. If we have a heart filled with gratitude; joy, peace; faith, hope and love. we will experience a life filled with joy. If, on the otherhand, our heart is filled with malice, anger, grief, a lack of trust, etc., that too will impact our life in a negative way. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
Dr. Caroline Leaf, a "born-again" scientist has studied the brain and its functions since 1981. I'm going to do my best to explain this. Science has discovered that the effects of positive thoughts and negative (toxic thoughts as she refers to them) can be measured in the human brain. In its most simplest terms and under a microscope, good thoughts produce a "tree-like function in the brain with what appear to be branches containing chemicals which, when released in our system, promote health in the human body. Conversely, toxic thoughts produce what look to be like dead trees also containing chemicals that are released into our system and harm our bodies. There is a lot more to it than this but suffice it to say that science is confirming what God has already told us; "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine".
So when it comes to God and his word, I don't think we can ever hear too much of His grace. We need to be encouraged everyday about God's love and provision for us. As we do, the light of His love fills our hearts and out of that abundance, we can let the light of the GOOD NEWS spill out onto others.
Will you share the GOOD NEWS today?
Friday, January 28, 2011
Our God
You know, sometimes as we go through life our family or friends near and dear to our hearts find themselves going through challenges; challenges that consume us; consume them. You look at what life throws their way and you want to help; you want to remove their pain or give them hope. If you could, you would just rewrite the script and make things bettter. In that place there is this feeling of helplessness. The challenge seems too big to comprehend...and then our minds go back to a time where we reflect...a better time...a time when all was well. It brings us comfort...comfort for a season...and then reality smacks us in the face again.
Last night, our band worked on a new song that Chris Tomlin had done. It is from the album, "And if Our God Is For Us". It's still new to me and yet the words ring out...amongst the pain...despite the road ahead...
words that encourage...
In the grand scheme of things, this world we live in...this time we spend here..it is a mere spot on the grand wall of eternity...I am reminded of the fact that there is a time where there is no time...a time when we who are separated from loved ones gone on before us, await our arrival...where we spend eternity together...no more sorrows...no more pain...joy and laughter complete.
Against the backdrop of a time when Jesus was called to pray for Lazarus...he stayed, by our standards, too long in that town...and Lazarus died. Lazarus' sister said, "Jesus, if you could only have been here my brother would be alive..."
Sometimes God seems late...well for Lazarus, even being dead 4 days wasn't too late for Jesus... Against that backdrop, reflect on this song and know that we belong to the family of God...a God who loves us; cares for us beyond our comprehension...and His plan has already been set before us...to make a way so that when our time is done here...however long or short that may seem to be...we will meet up again, where time is stripped away...and there is Joy forever more...
To the Powers family of Toledo...know that you are loved!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYeUpmcL1HA
Last night, our band worked on a new song that Chris Tomlin had done. It is from the album, "And if Our God Is For Us". It's still new to me and yet the words ring out...amongst the pain...despite the road ahead...
words that encourage...
In the grand scheme of things, this world we live in...this time we spend here..it is a mere spot on the grand wall of eternity...I am reminded of the fact that there is a time where there is no time...a time when we who are separated from loved ones gone on before us, await our arrival...where we spend eternity together...no more sorrows...no more pain...joy and laughter complete.
Against the backdrop of a time when Jesus was called to pray for Lazarus...he stayed, by our standards, too long in that town...and Lazarus died. Lazarus' sister said, "Jesus, if you could only have been here my brother would be alive..."
Sometimes God seems late...well for Lazarus, even being dead 4 days wasn't too late for Jesus... Against that backdrop, reflect on this song and know that we belong to the family of God...a God who loves us; cares for us beyond our comprehension...and His plan has already been set before us...to make a way so that when our time is done here...however long or short that may seem to be...we will meet up again, where time is stripped away...and there is Joy forever more...
To the Powers family of Toledo...know that you are loved!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYeUpmcL1HA
Thursday, January 27, 2011
A Faith That Brings Peace & Rest
You know, when I would hear the word "faith" the first emotion this word evoked in me was "disqualification". My spiritual life has been spent in a church founded on the Word of Faith movement, if you will. There was a tremendous emphasis on FAITH.
Now before you try to guess where this is going let me say that I am not planning on tearing down a church, a minister, a "movement" or anything of that sort. Most of what I am discovering is how I processed and received the Word of God. I may be the only person who developed wrong ideas and understandings about my Heavenly Father and His Word but in case there is someone else out there with the same challenges, I hope to help you today.
Did you know that in the New Testament, faith is mentioned 229 times and love is mentioned 157 times. I believe God wants us to have an understanding of faith.
So why did I get feelings of disqualification when the topic of faith came up. Well the question in me would come up, "Will my faith be big enough"? Do I have "enough faith" to see myself through the challenge. One reason is because I thought that faith was something "I did" in order to get God to do something for me.
Here is how I perceived faith. Jesus paid a great price for me to walk in victory in the area of sin, healing, prosperity, eternal life. In order for me to qualify for these blessings, I needed to receive them "by faith".
Here is how I understood "receiving them by faith" operated. There were certain "do's and don't's" a Christian must adhere to in order to pull those blessings into their life. Don't walk in unforgiveness. Don't have unrepentant sin. Do make certain you are tithing and giving over and above the tithe and when you do give, make certain you are giving with the right attitude or your prayers won't be answered. Do make sure you are studying the word and praying every day and when you to pray make sure you are praying long enough. I was also instructed on when it is the best time to pray. I could go on but my point is made...
I will say that some of the teachings I was listening to strenghtened these beliefs. Especially when I heard that if I walk in unforgiveness, I will stop the blessings of God in my life or if I had unrepentant sin in my life I would lack confidence when going before my Heavenly Father with a need and "without faith" or as I reasoned, "without confidence in my qualifying for His blessing" I could not please God. Well, my understanding of sin was not only sins which I commit but also sins of ommission (those things that God would say to do that I was not doing). How can anyone have any confidence in their prayer life if sins of ommision stopped the flow of God's blessing in your life? God's word encourages us to do all that He has commanded us to do. I'm not sure that I know too many Christians that can truthfully say the do all that God says to do in His word. These could be "sins of ommision".
I'm not throwing the baby out with the bath water on this one, we don't want to be in unforgiveness or treat sin ever so lightly however I needed to have a better understanding of His Grace and His plan in the person of Jesus to rightly divide what the word says. For me, when I began to get a better understanding of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant's I found a new freedom in Christ.
I'll be brief but I want you to get a hold of this. The Old Covenant was a type and shadow of what would come in the new testament. In other words, what was performed under the Law of Moses would be represented in the New Covenant under the Law of Grace. For instance, in the Old Covenant, when it came time for the purification of the sins of the children of Israel, they were instructed to take an young lamb, without spot or blemish and sacrifice it at the altar.
The purpose was this; the spotless, young lamb without blemish was to represent the perfection of the sinless Lamb of God. The idea of the ceremony would be that the sins of the people would be put upon the Lamb and the perfection and innocence of the Lamb would be put upon the people.
So let's go back to the issue of walking in love. At the time Jesus walked this earth, we were still under the Law of Moses. The fulfilment of the law (Jesus' death, burial and resurrection had not yet happened). So when Jesus talked about unforgiveness he was dealing with the Pharisee's within the Law. He told them if they did not forgive, then their heavenly father wouldn't forgive them. This was the law.
But after Jesus fulfilled the law, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul said, Forgive others BECAUSE you have been forgiven. It was no longer a commandment- Under law, they were commanded to forgive in order to be forgiven. Under the law of Grace, we are told to forgive BECAUSE we have already been forgiven. It wasn't an act of our doing that qualified us...it was the ultimate act of Jesus that empowers us to forgive others. It's our choice to forgive but if we are in Christ, we are fogiven. Yahoooo.
Be blessed today. We will get into more of this later.
Now before you try to guess where this is going let me say that I am not planning on tearing down a church, a minister, a "movement" or anything of that sort. Most of what I am discovering is how I processed and received the Word of God. I may be the only person who developed wrong ideas and understandings about my Heavenly Father and His Word but in case there is someone else out there with the same challenges, I hope to help you today.
Did you know that in the New Testament, faith is mentioned 229 times and love is mentioned 157 times. I believe God wants us to have an understanding of faith.
So why did I get feelings of disqualification when the topic of faith came up. Well the question in me would come up, "Will my faith be big enough"? Do I have "enough faith" to see myself through the challenge. One reason is because I thought that faith was something "I did" in order to get God to do something for me.
Here is how I perceived faith. Jesus paid a great price for me to walk in victory in the area of sin, healing, prosperity, eternal life. In order for me to qualify for these blessings, I needed to receive them "by faith".
Here is how I understood "receiving them by faith" operated. There were certain "do's and don't's" a Christian must adhere to in order to pull those blessings into their life. Don't walk in unforgiveness. Don't have unrepentant sin. Do make certain you are tithing and giving over and above the tithe and when you do give, make certain you are giving with the right attitude or your prayers won't be answered. Do make sure you are studying the word and praying every day and when you to pray make sure you are praying long enough. I was also instructed on when it is the best time to pray. I could go on but my point is made...
I will say that some of the teachings I was listening to strenghtened these beliefs. Especially when I heard that if I walk in unforgiveness, I will stop the blessings of God in my life or if I had unrepentant sin in my life I would lack confidence when going before my Heavenly Father with a need and "without faith" or as I reasoned, "without confidence in my qualifying for His blessing" I could not please God. Well, my understanding of sin was not only sins which I commit but also sins of ommission (those things that God would say to do that I was not doing). How can anyone have any confidence in their prayer life if sins of ommision stopped the flow of God's blessing in your life? God's word encourages us to do all that He has commanded us to do. I'm not sure that I know too many Christians that can truthfully say the do all that God says to do in His word. These could be "sins of ommision".
I'm not throwing the baby out with the bath water on this one, we don't want to be in unforgiveness or treat sin ever so lightly however I needed to have a better understanding of His Grace and His plan in the person of Jesus to rightly divide what the word says. For me, when I began to get a better understanding of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant's I found a new freedom in Christ.
I'll be brief but I want you to get a hold of this. The Old Covenant was a type and shadow of what would come in the new testament. In other words, what was performed under the Law of Moses would be represented in the New Covenant under the Law of Grace. For instance, in the Old Covenant, when it came time for the purification of the sins of the children of Israel, they were instructed to take an young lamb, without spot or blemish and sacrifice it at the altar.
The purpose was this; the spotless, young lamb without blemish was to represent the perfection of the sinless Lamb of God. The idea of the ceremony would be that the sins of the people would be put upon the Lamb and the perfection and innocence of the Lamb would be put upon the people.
So let's go back to the issue of walking in love. At the time Jesus walked this earth, we were still under the Law of Moses. The fulfilment of the law (Jesus' death, burial and resurrection had not yet happened). So when Jesus talked about unforgiveness he was dealing with the Pharisee's within the Law. He told them if they did not forgive, then their heavenly father wouldn't forgive them. This was the law.
But after Jesus fulfilled the law, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul said, Forgive others BECAUSE you have been forgiven. It was no longer a commandment- Under law, they were commanded to forgive in order to be forgiven. Under the law of Grace, we are told to forgive BECAUSE we have already been forgiven. It wasn't an act of our doing that qualified us...it was the ultimate act of Jesus that empowers us to forgive others. It's our choice to forgive but if we are in Christ, we are fogiven. Yahoooo.
Be blessed today. We will get into more of this later.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Belief-Trust-Hope, The Foundation of Our Faith
Today, we are going to talk about Belief, Trust & Hope. Belief and trust are interchangeable here. How and what we believe about our God will determine our level of trust. If we believe our God is a loving God, we will trust Him. If we believe that His word is true, we will trust what the word says. If we think God is someone who is ready to pounce on us at the first sign of a mistake, we won't trust him. So the manner in which we believe will determine our level of trust.
Let's look at our foundational scripture for today. Hebrews 11:1 - 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Verse 6 says, But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe/trust that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Previously, we discovered that the word "faith", as I heard one preacher say, "isn't something we do, it is something that happens to us". The word "faith" in this passage comes from a root word meaning "a persuasion as of an argument to the extent that this persuasion changes how we see a matter". To explain this I used the example of my salvation experience to define more clearly this word, "faith". When I first came to be persuaded that God's word told me that Jesus paid the price for my sins; that He laid down His life so that I could be reconciled back to God, I did as the Word of God said in Romans, chapter 10. I believed in my heart and confessed with my mouth that Jesus was the Lord of my life. This changed my life forever. Faith [in God's word] happened to me.
Then in another blog, I quoted from the first chapter of John, "Jesus was the Word who became flesh":. The word "word" in this passage is the Greek word logos which means a reasoning or computation. So, faith is a persuasion and that persuasion must be based on God's Word or His reasoning and computations about a matter.
It doesn't matter what I believe about eternal life. What mattered was God's reasonings about eternal life. I could have all the faith in the world that my good deeds outweighing my bad deeds and having water sprinkled on me at birth would guarantee me eternal life. But that is not God's reasoning on the matter.
I also referred to Romans 10:17 that faith (these persuasions) come by hearing and hearing by the word (rhema - spoken word of God). Jesus knew the reasoning’s and computations of God and came in the flesh to reveal and testify to the Father's love.
That being said, "now faith" or "now the persuasions of God's reasoning’s and computations of His word is the substance of things hoped for"... The word hope here is best defined as "a joyful, confident, expectation of good". So we could read Hebrews 11:6 this way, "Now the persuasions of God's reasoning's and computations of His word is the substance of our joyful, confident, expectation of good"!
You see, I used to think that faith was my ability to be confident of God's promises coming to pass in my life. The more confidence I had, the more faith I possessed. To make matters worse, that confidence was based on my ability to do all the right things and avoid doing all the wrong things. . Talk about "missing the mark" on this one.
Here is what I have come to find out. What is pleasing to God is when we look to Him with His reasoning’s and His computations on a matter. My faith is now based on God's reasoning on a matter and His reasonings are that all of His promises are "Yes" and "Amen" in Christ Jesus. This means that because I am in Christ Jesus; because I have made Jesus the Lord of my live, my faith is based on the fact that I have been made to be in right standing with God. Jesus has qualified me through His sacrifice. I am not qualified based on my works but on the Work of the Cross.
Let's go on with this verse. "for he who comes to God must believe/trust that He is... let's pause there and look at Webster’s definition of "believe". Believe is a reliance or a resting of the mind on the integrity; veracity, justice, friendship or sound principle of another person.
If I am going to believe God it means that I must rest on God's integrity, God's veracity (authenticity or truth) God's justice (by one man's sin all were condemned and so too by one man's righteous act, many were made righteous), God's friendship with me and God's sound principles. Are we sensing some more GOOD NEWS here? Better buckle up those dancin' shoes, Emma.
So let's break this verse down further. Now being persuaded of God's reasonings and computations of His Word is the substance of a joyful, confident expectation of good; the evidence of things not seen. vs. 6 but without God's reasoning’s and computations of His word which were exhibited in the person of Jesus, it is impossible to please Him because he who comes to God must rest on God's integrity, God's authenticity and truth, God's justice; God's friendship with me and God's sound principle brought about by us diligently seeking to understand His reasoning’s and persuasions. I call this the New, Living, Amplified, Holy Ghost Translation of the verse.
Sit and meditate on that for a while and you will learn that this faith spoken about in Hebrews comes about in a more restful manner that what we may have believed in the past. Remember, faith isn't something we do; it is something that happens to us as we discover more of God's love, His Grace, His Mercy- all that He has accomplished through the obedience of one, Jesus Christ. There isn't anything we must do to earn this or work towards it. Ask the Holy Spirit to open up this verse to you and me in a truer and living way today.
Oh what love the Father has towards you- be blessed in all you put your hand to today.
Let's look at our foundational scripture for today. Hebrews 11:1 - 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Verse 6 says, But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe/trust that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Previously, we discovered that the word "faith", as I heard one preacher say, "isn't something we do, it is something that happens to us". The word "faith" in this passage comes from a root word meaning "a persuasion as of an argument to the extent that this persuasion changes how we see a matter". To explain this I used the example of my salvation experience to define more clearly this word, "faith". When I first came to be persuaded that God's word told me that Jesus paid the price for my sins; that He laid down His life so that I could be reconciled back to God, I did as the Word of God said in Romans, chapter 10. I believed in my heart and confessed with my mouth that Jesus was the Lord of my life. This changed my life forever. Faith [in God's word] happened to me.
Then in another blog, I quoted from the first chapter of John, "Jesus was the Word who became flesh":. The word "word" in this passage is the Greek word logos which means a reasoning or computation. So, faith is a persuasion and that persuasion must be based on God's Word or His reasoning and computations about a matter.
It doesn't matter what I believe about eternal life. What mattered was God's reasonings about eternal life. I could have all the faith in the world that my good deeds outweighing my bad deeds and having water sprinkled on me at birth would guarantee me eternal life. But that is not God's reasoning on the matter.
I also referred to Romans 10:17 that faith (these persuasions) come by hearing and hearing by the word (rhema - spoken word of God). Jesus knew the reasoning’s and computations of God and came in the flesh to reveal and testify to the Father's love.
That being said, "now faith" or "now the persuasions of God's reasoning’s and computations of His word is the substance of things hoped for"... The word hope here is best defined as "a joyful, confident, expectation of good". So we could read Hebrews 11:6 this way, "Now the persuasions of God's reasoning's and computations of His word is the substance of our joyful, confident, expectation of good"!
You see, I used to think that faith was my ability to be confident of God's promises coming to pass in my life. The more confidence I had, the more faith I possessed. To make matters worse, that confidence was based on my ability to do all the right things and avoid doing all the wrong things. . Talk about "missing the mark" on this one.
Here is what I have come to find out. What is pleasing to God is when we look to Him with His reasoning’s and His computations on a matter. My faith is now based on God's reasoning on a matter and His reasonings are that all of His promises are "Yes" and "Amen" in Christ Jesus. This means that because I am in Christ Jesus; because I have made Jesus the Lord of my live, my faith is based on the fact that I have been made to be in right standing with God. Jesus has qualified me through His sacrifice. I am not qualified based on my works but on the Work of the Cross.
Let's go on with this verse. "for he who comes to God must believe/trust that He is... let's pause there and look at Webster’s definition of "believe". Believe is a reliance or a resting of the mind on the integrity; veracity, justice, friendship or sound principle of another person.
If I am going to believe God it means that I must rest on God's integrity, God's veracity (authenticity or truth) God's justice (by one man's sin all were condemned and so too by one man's righteous act, many were made righteous), God's friendship with me and God's sound principles. Are we sensing some more GOOD NEWS here? Better buckle up those dancin' shoes, Emma.
So let's break this verse down further. Now being persuaded of God's reasonings and computations of His Word is the substance of a joyful, confident expectation of good; the evidence of things not seen. vs. 6 but without God's reasoning’s and computations of His word which were exhibited in the person of Jesus, it is impossible to please Him because he who comes to God must rest on God's integrity, God's authenticity and truth, God's justice; God's friendship with me and God's sound principle brought about by us diligently seeking to understand His reasoning’s and persuasions. I call this the New, Living, Amplified, Holy Ghost Translation of the verse.
Sit and meditate on that for a while and you will learn that this faith spoken about in Hebrews comes about in a more restful manner that what we may have believed in the past. Remember, faith isn't something we do; it is something that happens to us as we discover more of God's love, His Grace, His Mercy- all that He has accomplished through the obedience of one, Jesus Christ. There isn't anything we must do to earn this or work towards it. Ask the Holy Spirit to open up this verse to you and me in a truer and living way today.
Oh what love the Father has towards you- be blessed in all you put your hand to today.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Faith Is Getting God's Reasoning On A Matter
If this is your first visit to this blog, I would like to encourage you to go back to the blog on Friday, January 21, 2011 titled, "And Now You Know The "Rest" Of This Story"
I have been laying a foundation on how we need not struggle with our Faith but rest in God as He brings His promises to pass in our lives. I have come to discover that I have made faith just another form of religious works. Some of this is based on what I have been taught and some of it occured because of my own beliefs established over time.
What God has been opening up to me as I have availed myself to studying after the message of Grace is a new and exciting revelation of His love. When I first came into the knowledge of Christ, July 21, 1986, I recall a weight lifting off my shoulders upon the revelation of the plan of God through the death, burial & resurrection of His son. I grew up thinking that Jesus' death on the cross was a mistake. That a cruel world in which Jesus had entered into misunderstood Him, hated Him and eventually killed Him.
I didn't know that God's plan from the start was to send His son in the world to pay the price for my sins. I didn't realize that because of one man's disobedience, sin entered into the world thus condemning all of us but God sent Jesus into the world so that by one man's obedience, all shall be made righteous. My understanding was that there was a set of rules to live by; the Ten Commandments. My understanding was that there were "do's and don't's and the hope was that my good deeds would outweigh my bad deeds when I came to the end of my life.
I wasn't persuaded of the fact that God's plan to save me required Jesus to die on the cross. I had a wrong "reasoning" of life and life eternal. But that all changed on that day in 1986. I suddenly had faith in Christ. It wasn't something I did, it was something that happened to me. However, over time, I exchanged my set of do's and don't's for a new set of rules.
I understood that having a relationship with my Lord was necessary to grow in this walk of faith. I measured that relationship on how much I prayed, how much I studied His word, how involved I was in the church, how well I treated my wife, my children, how forgiving I was, how much I gave and how much I sowed finances into others, etc. etc.
So when I had a need and would want to apply faith to the promises in God's word I would find myself defeated. Oh, it wasn't that I didn't believe God's word was true. No, my struggle was "Am I worthy enough for God's word to come to pass in my life". I had heard teachings that if I had unforgiveness, God wouldn't bless me; if I didn't lay down my life for my wife as Christ did for the church, how could I have any confidence that God would hear my prayers.
I would hear teachings about tithing and giving. Good hearted ministers would teach that the tithe belongs to God and that in order to reap a harvest, God would look at what we gave over and above the tithe. That's fine, I accepted that and walked in that. Then if the financial challenges were still there, I would hear messages about giving with the right attitude or not giving grudginly or giving but not having faith to believe for a return or giving and not properly naming my seed. There were stipulations that needed to be applied to my giving if I wanted to see God bless my need. All of these teachings developed a "works mentality" in me.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against giving. I love to give. What I discovered was that ever so cunningly, works began to slip back into my belief system. I began to measure my ability to receive God's promises on the conditions of a new set of do's and don't's. Instead of my righteousness (right standing with God) being based on what Christ had purchased for me, My right standing with God was based on how well I measured my deeds against what I was being taught on how a Christian should act. This is called self-righteousness.
What I am discovering is that my righteousness is based on the finished work of the cross. And with that understanding, I am discovering that I can have faith to recieve God's promises despite my idiosyncracies, my fears, my weaknesses, my failures and so on.
This is why I am driving home the point that faith isn't something we do, it is something that happens to us. Let me try to explain it this way; fear is simply faith in the negative. If someone puts a gun to your face and demands your wallet, you don't have to confess that you are scared or study up on the subject to be able to be afraid....bless God, you are scared! It isn't something you do, it's something that happens to you. Faith works the same way in the positive. We don't have to struggle and hoot and holler and work ourselves into a lather in order to have faith.
If we are going to be able to walk in God's promises, we cannot do this with a self-righteous mentality. We need to find out what God's persuasion or reasonings are. We need to discover that He is faithful to His promises even when we aren't faithful. This doesn't give us a license to miss it or to sin.It is to empower us to trust God because of Jesus despite ourselves.
I believe it is easy to discover the reasonings of a Loving Father by simply studying the life of Jesus. Look at His life and His ministry, He had compassion on the lost, the hurting, the unloved. He wasn't afraid to eat with the tax collectors. He spoke with the Samaritan woman at the well which was against the custom of the Jews. When someone cried out to Him for mercy, He didn't withhold it. He healed the blind, the lame, the deaf, raised the dead. He said if you have seen Him, you have seen the Father. Then before He left us with the promise that He would send a Comforter, One called along side to help us...One Whom He said would be better to have in lieu of Him staying...Yes, after all this He went on to say, " all these things I have done...greater things shall ye do because I go to the Father".
C'mon now....doesn't that just blow your religious circuits? Let's get God's reasoning...His persuasion on the matters of this world. Faith says that with God, all things are possible. Faith says that Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever. Faith says that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Let's get the meditation of how great God's love is for us and we can be overcomers in all that we face, for we can rest in Him for the bible says, The Battle is Mine, saith the Lord.
Tomorrow we will talk about trust.
I have been laying a foundation on how we need not struggle with our Faith but rest in God as He brings His promises to pass in our lives. I have come to discover that I have made faith just another form of religious works. Some of this is based on what I have been taught and some of it occured because of my own beliefs established over time.
What God has been opening up to me as I have availed myself to studying after the message of Grace is a new and exciting revelation of His love. When I first came into the knowledge of Christ, July 21, 1986, I recall a weight lifting off my shoulders upon the revelation of the plan of God through the death, burial & resurrection of His son. I grew up thinking that Jesus' death on the cross was a mistake. That a cruel world in which Jesus had entered into misunderstood Him, hated Him and eventually killed Him.
I didn't know that God's plan from the start was to send His son in the world to pay the price for my sins. I didn't realize that because of one man's disobedience, sin entered into the world thus condemning all of us but God sent Jesus into the world so that by one man's obedience, all shall be made righteous. My understanding was that there was a set of rules to live by; the Ten Commandments. My understanding was that there were "do's and don't's and the hope was that my good deeds would outweigh my bad deeds when I came to the end of my life.
I wasn't persuaded of the fact that God's plan to save me required Jesus to die on the cross. I had a wrong "reasoning" of life and life eternal. But that all changed on that day in 1986. I suddenly had faith in Christ. It wasn't something I did, it was something that happened to me. However, over time, I exchanged my set of do's and don't's for a new set of rules.
I understood that having a relationship with my Lord was necessary to grow in this walk of faith. I measured that relationship on how much I prayed, how much I studied His word, how involved I was in the church, how well I treated my wife, my children, how forgiving I was, how much I gave and how much I sowed finances into others, etc. etc.
So when I had a need and would want to apply faith to the promises in God's word I would find myself defeated. Oh, it wasn't that I didn't believe God's word was true. No, my struggle was "Am I worthy enough for God's word to come to pass in my life". I had heard teachings that if I had unforgiveness, God wouldn't bless me; if I didn't lay down my life for my wife as Christ did for the church, how could I have any confidence that God would hear my prayers.
I would hear teachings about tithing and giving. Good hearted ministers would teach that the tithe belongs to God and that in order to reap a harvest, God would look at what we gave over and above the tithe. That's fine, I accepted that and walked in that. Then if the financial challenges were still there, I would hear messages about giving with the right attitude or not giving grudginly or giving but not having faith to believe for a return or giving and not properly naming my seed. There were stipulations that needed to be applied to my giving if I wanted to see God bless my need. All of these teachings developed a "works mentality" in me.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against giving. I love to give. What I discovered was that ever so cunningly, works began to slip back into my belief system. I began to measure my ability to receive God's promises on the conditions of a new set of do's and don't's. Instead of my righteousness (right standing with God) being based on what Christ had purchased for me, My right standing with God was based on how well I measured my deeds against what I was being taught on how a Christian should act. This is called self-righteousness.
What I am discovering is that my righteousness is based on the finished work of the cross. And with that understanding, I am discovering that I can have faith to recieve God's promises despite my idiosyncracies, my fears, my weaknesses, my failures and so on.
This is why I am driving home the point that faith isn't something we do, it is something that happens to us. Let me try to explain it this way; fear is simply faith in the negative. If someone puts a gun to your face and demands your wallet, you don't have to confess that you are scared or study up on the subject to be able to be afraid....bless God, you are scared! It isn't something you do, it's something that happens to you. Faith works the same way in the positive. We don't have to struggle and hoot and holler and work ourselves into a lather in order to have faith.
If we are going to be able to walk in God's promises, we cannot do this with a self-righteous mentality. We need to find out what God's persuasion or reasonings are. We need to discover that He is faithful to His promises even when we aren't faithful. This doesn't give us a license to miss it or to sin.It is to empower us to trust God because of Jesus despite ourselves.
I believe it is easy to discover the reasonings of a Loving Father by simply studying the life of Jesus. Look at His life and His ministry, He had compassion on the lost, the hurting, the unloved. He wasn't afraid to eat with the tax collectors. He spoke with the Samaritan woman at the well which was against the custom of the Jews. When someone cried out to Him for mercy, He didn't withhold it. He healed the blind, the lame, the deaf, raised the dead. He said if you have seen Him, you have seen the Father. Then before He left us with the promise that He would send a Comforter, One called along side to help us...One Whom He said would be better to have in lieu of Him staying...Yes, after all this He went on to say, " all these things I have done...greater things shall ye do because I go to the Father".
C'mon now....doesn't that just blow your religious circuits? Let's get God's reasoning...His persuasion on the matters of this world. Faith says that with God, all things are possible. Faith says that Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever. Faith says that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Let's get the meditation of how great God's love is for us and we can be overcomers in all that we face, for we can rest in Him for the bible says, The Battle is Mine, saith the Lord.
Tomorrow we will talk about trust.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Get God's Reasoning About A Matter
Today I want to dig a little further into what I touched on yesterday about God's reasoning and how that impacts faith. I believe that one of the reasons why faith can seem so hard for us is because we, unknowingly rely on our reasoning when it comes to trusting God.
As I continue this series on the "rest" of this story, my goal is to help us discover how we can rest, not wrestle with faith. Yesterday I closed on the topic of getting God's reasoning on a matter in order to have the God-kind of faith. If you recall, Hebrews 11:1 said that "faith" is the substance of things hoped for. We discovered that the word "faith" literally means to have a persuasion or reasoning about an argument to the extent that it changes our belief system. And then we discovered that Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The word "word" is the Greek word logos meaning a reasoning or computation.
We also know that in the gospel of John the bible says the Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus is the Word of God. He came in the flesh to reveal the "reasonings and computations" of God's will. He states, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father" and "I have come to do the will of the Father". Additionally, He came to redeem us from sin and death - Romans 5:18 states; "Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people".
In other words, just as Adam's sin resulted in condemnation for all of us, so also one righteous act, Jesus' shedding of His blood resulted in justification and life for all of us.
So lets look at the difference of the written word and God's reasonings and computations. When the Pharisees brought the woman who was caught in adultery before the Lord, they told Jesus, "Moses says that a women caught in the act of adultery should be stoned to death, but what do you say"?
The written word or the Law of Moses said one thing, but Jesus came to reveal the heart of the Father. He knew the heart of the Pharisees and so He said to them, "You who are without sin, cast the first stone at her". They were all pricked in their conscience and left one by one. Then Jesus said to the woman, "Where are all your acccusers?"
Now watch this. Here is the Father's reasoning about this matter. Jesus said, "Hath no man condemned thee" She answered and said, "No Master". Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more". Jesus, Who came to reveal the reasonings and meditations of the Father. The Pharisees were judging this woman of sin and they were guilty of sin themselves. God's computation and reasoning on the matter was the whole world is full of sin because of Adam. And God's meditation was that the whole world would be delivered from the one man's sin because of the righteous act of one man, Jesus. His heart toward the sinner was Mercy, Grace and Forgiveness.
What is the reasoning of most Christians today? It would be more like this; "Go and sin no more and then I will not condemn thee". The reasonings of man are still hung up in the Law, the do's and don't's of the Law but in this New Covenant which is described in the bible as a covenant with new and better promises (Hebrews 8:6), we have been made righteous through our faith in Christ.
Does this mean it doesn't matter what we do? By no means. What I am saying is that once we find our identity in Christ, all that our Savior has provided for us, we will not want to do the don't's. You see, the bible says it's the love of God that brings men to repentance. As I begin to discover the depths of God's love for me, I am filled with His joy and peace, knowing that no matter what I may do or how I may fail from time to time, He will not judge me on my victories or my failures. All of my deeds have already been judged in the person of Jesus. That debt is paid...in full. That is Good News. That brings me a sense of overwhelming peace and joy. It is in the strength of this reasoning and computation of God that empowers me to be all that He has called me to be. To be an overcomer when life challenges me.
So when I have a need or care, my faith is made active in knowing that God's promises are yes and amen because of the Blood that Jesus shed for me and not because I have qualified myself by the strength of my beliefs or the deeds I perform. All I need to do is to believe on the one Who saved me and know that the Father looks at me through the Blood of Christ.
May the Good News of Christ be revealed in your heart in a deeper way today.
As I continue this series on the "rest" of this story, my goal is to help us discover how we can rest, not wrestle with faith. Yesterday I closed on the topic of getting God's reasoning on a matter in order to have the God-kind of faith. If you recall, Hebrews 11:1 said that "faith" is the substance of things hoped for. We discovered that the word "faith" literally means to have a persuasion or reasoning about an argument to the extent that it changes our belief system. And then we discovered that Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The word "word" is the Greek word logos meaning a reasoning or computation.
We also know that in the gospel of John the bible says the Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus is the Word of God. He came in the flesh to reveal the "reasonings and computations" of God's will. He states, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father" and "I have come to do the will of the Father". Additionally, He came to redeem us from sin and death - Romans 5:18 states; "Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people".
In other words, just as Adam's sin resulted in condemnation for all of us, so also one righteous act, Jesus' shedding of His blood resulted in justification and life for all of us.
So lets look at the difference of the written word and God's reasonings and computations. When the Pharisees brought the woman who was caught in adultery before the Lord, they told Jesus, "Moses says that a women caught in the act of adultery should be stoned to death, but what do you say"?
The written word or the Law of Moses said one thing, but Jesus came to reveal the heart of the Father. He knew the heart of the Pharisees and so He said to them, "You who are without sin, cast the first stone at her". They were all pricked in their conscience and left one by one. Then Jesus said to the woman, "Where are all your acccusers?"
Now watch this. Here is the Father's reasoning about this matter. Jesus said, "Hath no man condemned thee" She answered and said, "No Master". Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more". Jesus, Who came to reveal the reasonings and meditations of the Father. The Pharisees were judging this woman of sin and they were guilty of sin themselves. God's computation and reasoning on the matter was the whole world is full of sin because of Adam. And God's meditation was that the whole world would be delivered from the one man's sin because of the righteous act of one man, Jesus. His heart toward the sinner was Mercy, Grace and Forgiveness.
What is the reasoning of most Christians today? It would be more like this; "Go and sin no more and then I will not condemn thee". The reasonings of man are still hung up in the Law, the do's and don't's of the Law but in this New Covenant which is described in the bible as a covenant with new and better promises (Hebrews 8:6), we have been made righteous through our faith in Christ.
Does this mean it doesn't matter what we do? By no means. What I am saying is that once we find our identity in Christ, all that our Savior has provided for us, we will not want to do the don't's. You see, the bible says it's the love of God that brings men to repentance. As I begin to discover the depths of God's love for me, I am filled with His joy and peace, knowing that no matter what I may do or how I may fail from time to time, He will not judge me on my victories or my failures. All of my deeds have already been judged in the person of Jesus. That debt is paid...in full. That is Good News. That brings me a sense of overwhelming peace and joy. It is in the strength of this reasoning and computation of God that empowers me to be all that He has called me to be. To be an overcomer when life challenges me.
So when I have a need or care, my faith is made active in knowing that God's promises are yes and amen because of the Blood that Jesus shed for me and not because I have qualified myself by the strength of my beliefs or the deeds I perform. All I need to do is to believe on the one Who saved me and know that the Father looks at me through the Blood of Christ.
May the Good News of Christ be revealed in your heart in a deeper way today.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
And Now You Know The Rest Of The Story-Part Three
Today, I promised to talk more about "efffortless faith". Faith that does not require us to wrestle or struggle to believe something, but simply to experience faith that comes easy.
On Friday, Jan 21, 2011, I gave a definition of faith I heard one preacher declare. He taught that the word faith, in Hebrews 11:1 is the Greek word for persuasion and that it comes from a root word which means "to be persuaded because of an argument to the extent that it impacts your world or your belief system".
To give an example of this I mentioned that in my life, when I heard the "argument" if you will, that God sent His son Jesus into the world to die for my sins and through faith in Christ, my name would be written in the Lamb's Book Of Life, I became persuaded to the extent that it changed my belief system about my eternity.
This is an example of faith...salvation faith. It is that same faith by which all of God's promises come to pass in our lives. I didn't have to act a certain way for a certain period of time to qualify for God's gift of eternal life. I didn't have to confess everyday, over and over again until I could muster the strength to believe what God had said about salvation to receive Jesus as Lord.
Once I became persuaded of God's word and His will, salvation was mine...a free gift as a result of God's mercy (His unmerited favor toward me) and His Grace (His Divine Influence in my heart). Faith is something that happens to me, it is not brought on as a result of me working up a frenzy to believe for something.
To get a better understanding of this let us look at Romans 10:8-9 NLT And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 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. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.
vs. 17 So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
So Hebrews 11:1 states that faith is the persuasion because of an argument that impacts your belief system and Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The word "word" in Romans is the Greek word "logos" which means "a reasoning or a computation".
This is important: If we don't know what God's reasoning is we will never have God's faith. If I have a certain reasoning in life and I teach it to my son throughout his years of growing up in my household, he will have the same reasoning; the same persuasion that I have.
I know growing up that my father had a certain reasoning which affected me. He felt that if someone was talking to you, it was important to listen and not allow distractions to turn your attention away from them while they are speaking, otherwise your actions would indicate that the person is not important enough to deserve your attention. He just felt that was rude and he persuaded me, by his beliefs to reason in the same fashion. And so, I now have the same persuasion as my father has in his life. So what this means is that the same reasoning or faith that my father has in him is in me because his reasoning is in me.
In Mark 11:22, the bible literally says, "Have the faith of God". The literal Greek here doesn't say Have faith in God, Jesus was saying "Have the faith OF God" or Have the God-kind of Faith". Now the only way to have the Faith OF God is to understand the reasoning of God. We need to reason like God; we need to think like God. We need to have His reality and basis of reality in order to have His faith. The bible says that "our ways are not like His ways and our thoughts are not like His thoughts. Our sinful, flesh nature which is where our ways and thoughts are produced are not that of our Heavenly Fathers, but the Good News is that our ways can become His ways and our thoughts can become His thoughts.
That is why it is so important to know God's word. That is why Romans 10:17 says Faith comes by hearing... hearing what? Hearing how Johnny So-and-So lost his job? Hearing how bad the economy is? Hearing the report of the doctor? No, faith comes by hearing God's word.
Now here is where the "rest" of this story comes. It doesn't mean that I am to simply grab a scripture or promise of God and memorize it; confess it; name it and claim it; read it every day for 6 months- tape it to my bathroom mirror and so on and so forth.
No, I must come to an understanding of what God's reasoning says about a situation. I need to get His reality on a matter. If He said that I simply need to believe that He sent His son into the world to reconcile sinful man back into a "right relationship:" with Him, and confess it with my mouth then that is it.
He simply told me to get His persuasion and declare it with my mouth. I don't need to wrestle, confess, hoot and holler or anything to make that a reality in my life. I simply trust Him and believe His word and then I can rest in Him.
Today will you enter His rest and be blessed?
On Friday, Jan 21, 2011, I gave a definition of faith I heard one preacher declare. He taught that the word faith, in Hebrews 11:1 is the Greek word for persuasion and that it comes from a root word which means "to be persuaded because of an argument to the extent that it impacts your world or your belief system".
To give an example of this I mentioned that in my life, when I heard the "argument" if you will, that God sent His son Jesus into the world to die for my sins and through faith in Christ, my name would be written in the Lamb's Book Of Life, I became persuaded to the extent that it changed my belief system about my eternity.
This is an example of faith...salvation faith. It is that same faith by which all of God's promises come to pass in our lives. I didn't have to act a certain way for a certain period of time to qualify for God's gift of eternal life. I didn't have to confess everyday, over and over again until I could muster the strength to believe what God had said about salvation to receive Jesus as Lord.
Once I became persuaded of God's word and His will, salvation was mine...a free gift as a result of God's mercy (His unmerited favor toward me) and His Grace (His Divine Influence in my heart). Faith is something that happens to me, it is not brought on as a result of me working up a frenzy to believe for something.
To get a better understanding of this let us look at Romans 10:8-9 NLT And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 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. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.
vs. 17 So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
So Hebrews 11:1 states that faith is the persuasion because of an argument that impacts your belief system and Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The word "word" in Romans is the Greek word "logos" which means "a reasoning or a computation".
This is important: If we don't know what God's reasoning is we will never have God's faith. If I have a certain reasoning in life and I teach it to my son throughout his years of growing up in my household, he will have the same reasoning; the same persuasion that I have.
I know growing up that my father had a certain reasoning which affected me. He felt that if someone was talking to you, it was important to listen and not allow distractions to turn your attention away from them while they are speaking, otherwise your actions would indicate that the person is not important enough to deserve your attention. He just felt that was rude and he persuaded me, by his beliefs to reason in the same fashion. And so, I now have the same persuasion as my father has in his life. So what this means is that the same reasoning or faith that my father has in him is in me because his reasoning is in me.
In Mark 11:22, the bible literally says, "Have the faith of God". The literal Greek here doesn't say Have faith in God, Jesus was saying "Have the faith OF God" or Have the God-kind of Faith". Now the only way to have the Faith OF God is to understand the reasoning of God. We need to reason like God; we need to think like God. We need to have His reality and basis of reality in order to have His faith. The bible says that "our ways are not like His ways and our thoughts are not like His thoughts. Our sinful, flesh nature which is where our ways and thoughts are produced are not that of our Heavenly Fathers, but the Good News is that our ways can become His ways and our thoughts can become His thoughts.
That is why it is so important to know God's word. That is why Romans 10:17 says Faith comes by hearing... hearing what? Hearing how Johnny So-and-So lost his job? Hearing how bad the economy is? Hearing the report of the doctor? No, faith comes by hearing God's word.
Now here is where the "rest" of this story comes. It doesn't mean that I am to simply grab a scripture or promise of God and memorize it; confess it; name it and claim it; read it every day for 6 months- tape it to my bathroom mirror and so on and so forth.
No, I must come to an understanding of what God's reasoning says about a situation. I need to get His reality on a matter. If He said that I simply need to believe that He sent His son into the world to reconcile sinful man back into a "right relationship:" with Him, and confess it with my mouth then that is it.
He simply told me to get His persuasion and declare it with my mouth. I don't need to wrestle, confess, hoot and holler or anything to make that a reality in my life. I simply trust Him and believe His word and then I can rest in Him.
Today will you enter His rest and be blessed?
And Now You Know The Rest Of The Story-Part Two
The "rest" of the story I am sharing about is from our foundational scripture Matt 11:28, "Come to Me (Jesus) all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest". More specifically, how we need not strive in order to have faith in God and in His promises.
What does it mean to have faith? This is something that always seemed to be very mystical to me; having faith. How do I know if I have enough faith? I hope that I have enough faith to manifest that thing which I have need of. I think I believe God, but what if ... what if my prayers aren't answered.
I know that God's word says that all of His promises are yes and amen in Christ Jesus. However, some would say, "Why did so-and-so not get their prayers answered"? Others may respond, "Well maybe that was the answer to their prayers. Sometimes God says yes, sometimes He says no and sometimes he says not yet"
I know, I have said this myself. I don't recall reading that in the bible but I can say that as well meaning Christians we want to console folks who go through troubling times, knowing that God's word says one thing while their situation dictates another.
Now I know that I certainly do not have all the answers, in fact it seems silly even saying that, as though I need to convince anyone of this fact. I know God fearing people who have lost the battle to sickness and disease or had to bury a young child whose life ended far too early. To this, I must say I do not understand the "whys" in situations like these but I will declare this fact; I do not base my understanding of God's word or His will on circumstances that I or others may face. I base my "faith" on what God says in His word, like the scripture we discussed yesterday, "man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the Father's mouth.
So when life's challenges come my way, do I just simply speak God's word over the situation and smile saying, "I have no fear, I don't care how I feel or what I see, I trust God...” Well now, let me be down right honest here. NO, I don't.
Oh, I may like others to think that I am "in faith" as we would say. I may desire to give folks the impression that I have it all under control, but I have learned over the years that there is no "rest" in that. Many well meaning Christians will use "Christianese" and declare God's promise, acting as though they have no fear or better yet, they have full confidence in God. And quite honestly, some really may have "arrived" at this point. However, in reality I have found that my world can be shaken.
You cannot hear the word "cancer" and think nothing of it. You cannot hear that your niece lost her life in a car accident and not be moved with anger, fear for your own children or hopelessness. You cannot discover that you lost your job in the worst of economic times and just respond, "Hallelujah, my God provides" and not feel anxiety, fear and discouragement.
Applying faith in good times or bad can be a real challenge but God's word says, "In this world, you will have tribulation". This isn't anything we have to "exercise our faith" to believe. We do have tribulation, but the word of God doesn't stop there. It goes on to say, “BUT, be of good cheer for I have overcome the world".
So where is the rest when it comes to trusting God? It doesn't come from us living a life free from trouble. It doesn't come as a result of us striving to "do all the do's" and "don't do the don'ts". We find rest in Jesus, who was tempted in all ways but without sin.
When trouble comes our way, we come to a loving Father who knows our pain; knows our sorrows; knows our fears and tells us that He loves us and will not leave us. He allows us to feel hurt. He allows us to feel mad. He allows us to wonder and question. He allows all of this and doesn't give up on us. He still move's on our behalf. He still believes the best about us and His desire is to bring us to that place of peace, love and comfort.
As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, the enemy would like us to think that the condition of our life will be based on what we do. In the case of Jesus being led into the desert, the tempter said to Jesus as he had been without food for 40 days, "If you are the son of God, turn these stones into bread". He tries to deceive us into believing that the suffering or pain that comes our way is a result of what we have done or haven't done and if we want to move beyond our pain we must do something. But Jesus recalled the words God spoke over Him just before the desert experience when a voice from heaven said, "This is my Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased". Jesus based his relationship with the Father on what the Father said, not on what his circumstances dictated.
So when a need comes our way, we aren't to struggle with our faith, trying to believe that God will answer our prayer against a backdrop of other people's experiences or maybe even our own past failures. Our rest is in the discovery of who we are in Christ; how great the Father's love is for us and that he gave us some tremendous promises.
Tomorrow, we will talk more about how we can move in "effortless" faith but for now, we can rest in the fact of knowing that God wants to bring us from a place of fear and hurt and discouragement to a place of victory in His Grace - His Divine Influence in our Hearts. That "heart peace" I talked about a couple days ago.
May His Love overtake you today and may you take that love and share it with another as His Spirit leads you.
Friday, January 21, 2011
And Now You Know The Rest Of The Story...
For the next couple of blogs, let's talk about the "rest" we have in Jesus, especially concerning "faith" or "our own faith".
Matt 11:28-30 Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
When it comes to "faith" we sometimes find it difficult to believe God because of what we have understood "faith" to be. Faith isn't something we "do", faith is something that happens to us. I had this all wrong. I used to think that faith was something I had to "muster up" within myself. "Oh, if only I could have more faith".
I heard the scripture, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God". And so I felt I needed to hear more. I've heard good hearted ministers actually quote it this way, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing and hearing... So the more I would hear, the more faith I would have.
Well, there is a truth to this but not if we don't understand what faith is. Let me put it this way, just because I keep hearing something doesn't mean I will believe it. If I don't think I am very smart or very talented, it doesn't matter how much I hear others tell me that I am, what matters is what I believe about myself. The same can be true about the promises of God. It doesn't matter how many times someone tells me that Jesus paid the price for my sins, if I don't believe my sins are forgiven it doesn't matter how many times I'm told the contrary.
First I must understand "what" faith is. Hebrewss 11:1 says, 1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I heard a definition of faith put this way; Faith is " the persuasion because of an argument; and that persuasion is to the degree that it influences your world".
Let me put it this way, Faith means "to be persuaded of a certain argument to the extent that it influences your belief system which impacts how you see things".
So let's read Hebrews 11:1 again, Now, "the persuasion about a certain argument that comes into your life, to the point that it influences your world" is the substance of things hoped for it is the evidence of things not seen".
We will get into this more in the coming days, but for today, I want to stop and meditate on a few points. Faith isn't something that we must work hard at. It isn't something that "we do", it is a fruit of what happens to us. When I heard that my sins were forgiven and I was fully persuaded of this fact by what I came to understand the Word of God to say about Jesus' death burial and resurrection, I didn't have muster any strength to believe it. I became fully persuaded of the fact and therefore "faith" happened to me.
What promises from God's word do you need to see happen in your life today? Trust God that He cares about that need and that He is working behind the scenes today bringing about His power to change the circumstances that you face which seem to be contrary to what the promises of God declare.
Do you have a loved one who has lost their way, a financial need that is bigger than your ability to meet that need, did you or a loved one get a bad report about their health? Trust that your Heavenly Father who gave His only Son up for you today, knows your cares and has asked you to cast them over to Him (1 Peter 5:7). He didn't design us to carry those burdens but to cast (the Greek word here is "as to heave") those burdens upon Him so that He could carry them on our behalf. Why? Because He cares deeply for you.
Know that you are "yoked" with Jesus. Come and learn what He has done for you and you will find "rest" for your soul. And now you know the "rest" of this story...
Matt 11:28-30 Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
When it comes to "faith" we sometimes find it difficult to believe God because of what we have understood "faith" to be. Faith isn't something we "do", faith is something that happens to us. I had this all wrong. I used to think that faith was something I had to "muster up" within myself. "Oh, if only I could have more faith".
I heard the scripture, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God". And so I felt I needed to hear more. I've heard good hearted ministers actually quote it this way, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing and hearing... So the more I would hear, the more faith I would have.
Well, there is a truth to this but not if we don't understand what faith is. Let me put it this way, just because I keep hearing something doesn't mean I will believe it. If I don't think I am very smart or very talented, it doesn't matter how much I hear others tell me that I am, what matters is what I believe about myself. The same can be true about the promises of God. It doesn't matter how many times someone tells me that Jesus paid the price for my sins, if I don't believe my sins are forgiven it doesn't matter how many times I'm told the contrary.
First I must understand "what" faith is. Hebrewss 11:1 says, 1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I heard a definition of faith put this way; Faith is " the persuasion because of an argument; and that persuasion is to the degree that it influences your world".
Let me put it this way, Faith means "to be persuaded of a certain argument to the extent that it influences your belief system which impacts how you see things".
So let's read Hebrews 11:1 again, Now, "the persuasion about a certain argument that comes into your life, to the point that it influences your world" is the substance of things hoped for it is the evidence of things not seen".
We will get into this more in the coming days, but for today, I want to stop and meditate on a few points. Faith isn't something that we must work hard at. It isn't something that "we do", it is a fruit of what happens to us. When I heard that my sins were forgiven and I was fully persuaded of this fact by what I came to understand the Word of God to say about Jesus' death burial and resurrection, I didn't have muster any strength to believe it. I became fully persuaded of the fact and therefore "faith" happened to me.
What promises from God's word do you need to see happen in your life today? Trust God that He cares about that need and that He is working behind the scenes today bringing about His power to change the circumstances that you face which seem to be contrary to what the promises of God declare.
Do you have a loved one who has lost their way, a financial need that is bigger than your ability to meet that need, did you or a loved one get a bad report about their health? Trust that your Heavenly Father who gave His only Son up for you today, knows your cares and has asked you to cast them over to Him (1 Peter 5:7). He didn't design us to carry those burdens but to cast (the Greek word here is "as to heave") those burdens upon Him so that He could carry them on our behalf. Why? Because He cares deeply for you.
Know that you are "yoked" with Jesus. Come and learn what He has done for you and you will find "rest" for your soul. And now you know the "rest" of this story...
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
The Identity Crisis II
Here is some good news. God is a God of love, grace and mercy. He loves you and He wants you to experience His love for these are the divine characteristics of a loving Heavenly Father.
Love - His love is unconditional. It is based on His decision to look past our frailties, our limitations, our inconsistencies, our failures and call us His sons and daughters. "Bless the Lord, oh my soul and forget not ALL his benefits...who forgives all my sins. What? All my sins? Yep, that's what He said. He forgives all my sins. He heals all my diseases. He redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion, who satisfies my desires with good things so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103) None of this is conditional except that we believe Him at His Word.
Remember what Jesus said from yesterday's blog - Man shall not live by bread alone BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD. If God said it, then I believe it and therefore I receive that which He has spoken!.
Grace - Grace is God's ability working in us. John 1:17 says the law came by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Christ Jesus. This word GRACE is the Greek word "charis" meaning "the divine influence in the heart". I remember the day I prayed the sinner's prayer. I vividly recall the weight that was lifted off of me when I came to the understanding that God had forgiven me of all my sins and that I was now a new creation. The bible said the old had passed away and behold all things had become new. Oh what joy I experienced when I discovered that I would spend eternity in Heaven.
There was a newness of heart; a divine influence in my spirit, bringing me a "heart peace" like I never experienced before. This comes as a result of us experiencing God's Grace...Gods divine influence in our heart. But this isn't to be just a one time experience. As we meditate on His love for us, we can experience this heart peace each and every day. As we cast our cares on to Him (1Peter 5:7), we experience a peace, knowing that He loves us and will care for us. He assured us this when He said in his word. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matt 6:26
Mercy - Mercy is best defined as God's unmerited favor towards us. Mercy is when we don't get the punishment we deserve but rather recieve the blessings from God we don't deserve. This is due to His compassion towards us. Is this something based upon our doing? Our good deeds? No. The bible says our rightesousness is as filthy rags, however, we have been made righteous by faith in Jesus Christ.
Roman's 5:18 NLT says, "Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness (His death, burial and resurrection) brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.
Now This Is Good News. Have a day filled with God's Heart Peace (which is an undisturbed, untroubled state of being) through faith in Christ.
Love - His love is unconditional. It is based on His decision to look past our frailties, our limitations, our inconsistencies, our failures and call us His sons and daughters. "Bless the Lord, oh my soul and forget not ALL his benefits...who forgives all my sins. What? All my sins? Yep, that's what He said. He forgives all my sins. He heals all my diseases. He redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion, who satisfies my desires with good things so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103) None of this is conditional except that we believe Him at His Word.
Remember what Jesus said from yesterday's blog - Man shall not live by bread alone BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD. If God said it, then I believe it and therefore I receive that which He has spoken!.
Grace - Grace is God's ability working in us. John 1:17 says the law came by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Christ Jesus. This word GRACE is the Greek word "charis" meaning "the divine influence in the heart". I remember the day I prayed the sinner's prayer. I vividly recall the weight that was lifted off of me when I came to the understanding that God had forgiven me of all my sins and that I was now a new creation. The bible said the old had passed away and behold all things had become new. Oh what joy I experienced when I discovered that I would spend eternity in Heaven.
There was a newness of heart; a divine influence in my spirit, bringing me a "heart peace" like I never experienced before. This comes as a result of us experiencing God's Grace...Gods divine influence in our heart. But this isn't to be just a one time experience. As we meditate on His love for us, we can experience this heart peace each and every day. As we cast our cares on to Him (1Peter 5:7), we experience a peace, knowing that He loves us and will care for us. He assured us this when He said in his word. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matt 6:26
Mercy - Mercy is best defined as God's unmerited favor towards us. Mercy is when we don't get the punishment we deserve but rather recieve the blessings from God we don't deserve. This is due to His compassion towards us. Is this something based upon our doing? Our good deeds? No. The bible says our rightesousness is as filthy rags, however, we have been made righteous by faith in Jesus Christ.
Roman's 5:18 NLT says, "Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness (His death, burial and resurrection) brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.
Now This Is Good News. Have a day filled with God's Heart Peace (which is an undisturbed, untroubled state of being) through faith in Christ.
The Identity Crisis
One of the greatest challenges I have come to discover is that "day-to-day" awareness of who I am.
No, I'm not talking about my name, or where I live or who my family is...at least not in the sense of the matters of this world. I am referring to my identity in Christ.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
What does it mean to "no longer live; having Christ live in me"? I used to think I understood this but I believe the Father is revealing more and more, some truths about abiding in Christ, and He abiding in me.
In the past, I used to "qualify" myself based on what I did or didn't do. If I did good, I felt good and therefore felt as though I had qualified for God's grace and goodness in my life. If I basically did good and treated people right, I was being obedient to God by acting properly and therefore showing others the love of Christ through my good deeds.
And on those days where I didn't do good, I either felt as though I was disqualified for God's blessings or at least that I had failed God and could expect His disappointment in me.
I discovered that this is just another form of "religion" but God is a God of Righteousness and He desires for us to have relationship with Him. He is not interested in us measuring ourselves on our good deeds or righteous living. He gave us the Law of Moses to show us that we cannot live holy.
So, what does it mean to "live in Christ"? I believe one way is to acknowledge that God sent Jesus into the earth not to condemn us but to show us the love the Father has for us.
Jesus said in John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit".
Verse 9 says, " “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. How did the Father feel about Jesus? Matthew 3:17 "A voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased"
This is what Jesus says about you and I. We are His beloved in whom He is well pleased. And as we abide in Him...as we identify our right standing with the Father by faith in Christ...by believing that He paid the price for our iniquties; for our shortcomings; for our sins...as we see ourselves victorious in Him, we can face the day with a confidence that we are loved by God the Father because we believe in Christ as our Lord; the Precious Lamb Who was slain for our sin.
We can see ourselves as righteous (in right standing with the God of the Universe) not because of what we do or don't do but because of what He (Jesus) did for us.
This was represented in the Gospels right after John the Baptist baptized Jesus. It was at this point that the voice from heaven said, "This is My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased" but shortly thereafter, Jesus was led into the wilderness for 40 days. Now after not having eaten for many days, the deciever, the tempter came to Jesus and said, "If your are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread". But Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
What did God say just before this event? What Word had just proceeded from the mouth of God He said THIS IS MY BELOVED SON.... Notice how Satan came to Jesus once He was suffering. He was hungry, not having eaten for 40 days. Satan was trying to get Jesus to find his "Sonship" by what He does rather than Who God said He was. If Jesus had fallen for Satan's devices it would have impacted us for eternity, validating the law of rules and regulations. Colossians 2:14 says "blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us" (meaning the law of Moses) Jesus nailed them (the ordinances) to the cross.
Jesus wasn't ignorant of the devil's devices. The devil came with the law stating that Jesus' Sonship would be validated by His deeds or works rather than God's word. If he could transform the rocks into bread, thereby relieving Him of His suffering, then He would prove He was the Son of God.
We are not to identify with what we see in the physical realm. The enemy will try to get us to focus on our works as if to qualify us for right standing in God but we, like Jesus are to identify with who God said we are not how well we perform. Of course we want to do well. Jesus isn't giving us a license to sin. But when the word of God says, "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me, His strength is made active as I come to realize that God sees me through the eyes of Christ. The bible says, "As Christ is, so are we in this world"! Is Christ the Beloved Son of God? So are we. Has Christ defeated the enemy? So have we. Is Christ struggling with sin or sickness? Nor are we. We are not to look at the circumstances that surround us but the Word of God that defines us! Hallelujah!
Now that is Good News
More later...
No, I'm not talking about my name, or where I live or who my family is...at least not in the sense of the matters of this world. I am referring to my identity in Christ.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
What does it mean to "no longer live; having Christ live in me"? I used to think I understood this but I believe the Father is revealing more and more, some truths about abiding in Christ, and He abiding in me.
In the past, I used to "qualify" myself based on what I did or didn't do. If I did good, I felt good and therefore felt as though I had qualified for God's grace and goodness in my life. If I basically did good and treated people right, I was being obedient to God by acting properly and therefore showing others the love of Christ through my good deeds.
And on those days where I didn't do good, I either felt as though I was disqualified for God's blessings or at least that I had failed God and could expect His disappointment in me.
I discovered that this is just another form of "religion" but God is a God of Righteousness and He desires for us to have relationship with Him. He is not interested in us measuring ourselves on our good deeds or righteous living. He gave us the Law of Moses to show us that we cannot live holy.
So, what does it mean to "live in Christ"? I believe one way is to acknowledge that God sent Jesus into the earth not to condemn us but to show us the love the Father has for us.
Jesus said in John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit".
Verse 9 says, " “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. How did the Father feel about Jesus? Matthew 3:17 "A voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased"
This is what Jesus says about you and I. We are His beloved in whom He is well pleased. And as we abide in Him...as we identify our right standing with the Father by faith in Christ...by believing that He paid the price for our iniquties; for our shortcomings; for our sins...as we see ourselves victorious in Him, we can face the day with a confidence that we are loved by God the Father because we believe in Christ as our Lord; the Precious Lamb Who was slain for our sin.
We can see ourselves as righteous (in right standing with the God of the Universe) not because of what we do or don't do but because of what He (Jesus) did for us.
This was represented in the Gospels right after John the Baptist baptized Jesus. It was at this point that the voice from heaven said, "This is My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased" but shortly thereafter, Jesus was led into the wilderness for 40 days. Now after not having eaten for many days, the deciever, the tempter came to Jesus and said, "If your are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread". But Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
What did God say just before this event? What Word had just proceeded from the mouth of God He said THIS IS MY BELOVED SON.... Notice how Satan came to Jesus once He was suffering. He was hungry, not having eaten for 40 days. Satan was trying to get Jesus to find his "Sonship" by what He does rather than Who God said He was. If Jesus had fallen for Satan's devices it would have impacted us for eternity, validating the law of rules and regulations. Colossians 2:14 says "blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us" (meaning the law of Moses) Jesus nailed them (the ordinances) to the cross.
Jesus wasn't ignorant of the devil's devices. The devil came with the law stating that Jesus' Sonship would be validated by His deeds or works rather than God's word. If he could transform the rocks into bread, thereby relieving Him of His suffering, then He would prove He was the Son of God.
We are not to identify with what we see in the physical realm. The enemy will try to get us to focus on our works as if to qualify us for right standing in God but we, like Jesus are to identify with who God said we are not how well we perform. Of course we want to do well. Jesus isn't giving us a license to sin. But when the word of God says, "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me, His strength is made active as I come to realize that God sees me through the eyes of Christ. The bible says, "As Christ is, so are we in this world"! Is Christ the Beloved Son of God? So are we. Has Christ defeated the enemy? So have we. Is Christ struggling with sin or sickness? Nor are we. We are not to look at the circumstances that surround us but the Word of God that defines us! Hallelujah!
Now that is Good News
More later...
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