Now That's Grace!

THE WORD OF GOD – HOW HIGH?

David instructs us about the Word of God:

“You have magnified Your Word above all Your name.”  (Psalm 138:2, NKJV, LXX)

Should we not regard God’s Word as highly as we can? 

There is no higher name than His.  His name represents all that God is and all that He has done.  It is His character and His might works.  It is His divine attributes and all of creation.  Therefore, the name of God is worthy of all praise, honor and glory. 

And yet God considers His Word above His name.  His Word is firm.  His Word is the expression of who He is, what He has done, what He will do, and what He wants us to know and to do.  It is sacred.  It is holy.  His Word is what He has revealed in spoken or written communication.  Beyond that, the Living Word is the One who was with Him from the beginning and actually is God Himself.  He is the fullest expression of Himself.  He came to explain God.  God spoke in many times and in many fashions through prophets and apostles.  But in these last days He has spoken to us by His beloved Son.

Do you sense the weight of respect due His Word? 

Can we take His Word lightly?  Can we relegate some of it as insignificant?  Dare we twist it or turn it toward our own outcome?  How dangerous to add to it, to supersede it, to replace it. 

God’s Word starts in the beginning of beginnings and ends with the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Moses is its first author and John is its last with 38 other authors in between.  And yet the Spirit of God authored all of it.  It includes narrative, history, law, poetry, wisdom, didactic and prophecy.  It combines all of the revelation for Israel and the complete revelation given to the Church.

How rich are its treasures, past finding out?  How precious are its precepts?  It is established in heaven and will stand until the end of the universe.  It deserves to be studied and rightly divided.  Through it God reveals and discloses hidden wisdom and profound truth.  The Word of God is alive and cleanly divides between soul and spirit.

Yet how personal His Word is to me.  It is full and satisfying.  It provides light and guidance as I walk in the Spirit by faith.  It is ancient wisdom relevant to all human experience in the Creator’s world.  It is His very breath that I breathe as I read it.  It exposes hidden matters of the heart and it liberates by fully understanding me.  It is my food and brings me joy.  It is inspiring as it shows me God’s purpose.  It restores.  It heals.  I love God’s Word.

Now That's Grace!

Create Your Own Religion?

Have you ever thought about starting your own religion?  Maybe not.  But I have.  I think it would be fun.  It would be so easy.  So many others have done it.  Instead of weeding my way through the barrage of worldly ideas I hear everyday from everyone else, why don’t I come up with some whacky idea or twist of thought that would spark interest in people who are willing to listen to me!  Surely there would be a following of naïve disciples, even if they were all as kooky as me. 

Of course, keeping this confined within my own imagination, I release myself from all responsibility or recourse for misleading people.  Come to think of it, there is actually great condemnation awaiting false teachers who have misled others through religion.  It’s really not a good idea after all.

It just gets me how easily people are led away from the truth.  There must be a gene that makes people susceptible to deceit.  We are so full of curiosity and self confidence that we are drawn into the forest of thoughts and ideas.  We are like a child who has insufficient experience to know what dangers should be feared and what friends can be trusted.  We really need a lot of discernment from above.  There are so many cults and isms.  How do all these splinter groups get started anyway?

People don’t realize what’s happening to them as faulty suggestions are made to them.  For example, most people would deny that TV commercials have significant influence on them.  But if that’s true, why are companies so willing to spend millions of dollars on advertising?  Because it doesn’t work?  Oh, I know.  It just works on other people.  That’s it.

We rationalize incorrect thought with excuses.  We are allured by thoughts that we are essentially good people down deep.  We like soothing our consciences with forgiving words while enjoying our vices.  We avoid personal change and take counsel from the "man in the mirror."  We like to look good and smell good among our peers.  Any of these are enough to pull us away from the truth about ourselves and our Almighty Creator.  And once we have committed to follow the teaching that appeals to us, we are willing to emotionally defend it.  Now we are trapped.  We are enslaved to the ideas that we have allowed encompass us.

It’s not that the truth is always hard, demanding and convicting.  But through God’ loving provision, truth can be received and our lives can be reconciled to it.  But not as long as we lie to ourselves and think we’re fooling everyone around us.

This is what our enemy has had thousands of years to perfect.  And the same tricks he used in the Garden work today.  He succeeded there with the same three tools he uses today: the pride of life, the desire of the eyes, and the desire of the flesh.  This is not just a video game we’re playing.  The paths we take in this place have serious eternal ramifications.  The fact that there is a universal tendency in the world for good and bad, right and wrong, indicates there are two forces in opposition to each other in the universe.  There is a battle.  There are things worth fighting for.  For example, freedom is worth fighting for.  It comes from truth and right.  For as long as humans have been living out history, these kinds of things require a constant vigilance.

It doesn't take much to go wrong though.  Just a slight variance from the truth can take you way off course.  If you launch a rocket to the moon that is one degree off course, how far will it miss its destination?  The enemy throws a one degree error into the mix and lets it run its course.  It could be a twist of some existing precept or the addition of something that God never intended, resulting in people being side-tracked from the truth.

If I were to start my own religion of deceit, I would want it to be very close to the truth, but off in some fundamental way.  I would want it to be a counterfeit of the real thing.  I would want it to be friendly and feel-good.  It needs to attract people so the movement can grow and the leadership can increase in wealth and/or power.  Throw in some well-meaning, sincere people who don’t know the truth and will only stand for peace and nice speeches and you’ve got yourself the beginnings of a modern day cult.

1) I would start with the Bible which would transfer authority to my words by association.  Then all I would have to do is take some passages out of context and add to areas where the Bible is silent.

2) Of course, my religion would have to be built on some system of works.  But I would like it to be different than all the other cults out there.  Maybe I would require everyone to shave their heads because Paul shaved his head.  I say that it would have to be based on works because that is one of the most fundamental differences between the truth and heresy.  The truth is that we can do nothing to save ourselves and that Christ accomplished everything for our salvation.  Our part is to believe it or not.  But beyond this damnable fault, a legalistic system of rites and rituals also helps establish authority and conformity to the group.  Then peer pressure increases to lock people in. 

3) I would definitely use fear and guilt as useful tools to psychologically force conformity.  Uniformity of doctrine and practice is reinforced by discipline, reprisals or excommunication if questioning, doubting or dissenting continues.  This environment would allow for proclamations about the unity of the group and body of beliefs.  The compliance of our members would stand as a hallmark against the many splintered church groups that exist today, all of them claiming to be Bible based and originating from the original church.  Frankly, I think the underlying unity of the conservative evangelical community on the Gospel and essential doctrines speaks much louder than a conformity enforced by threats of excommunication or loss of salvation.

4) I would emanate a spirit of elitism and superiority above the common people.  There should be a division between the clergy and lay.  Outsiders will be looked upon as ignorant and unfortunate.  Often there is a charisma about cult leaders that draws followers to themselves.  Many people are looking for someone to tell them what to do and how to live.  This makes a perfect situation for the people to exonerate a human being above what they really are and to overlook their potentially greedy and power mongering motives.  

5) Along with the elevation of the leaders above the group and the group above others, there is an exclusivity and even separation from social interaction outside.  Only members of my group will be considered saved because only we have the truth.  The members should be isolated from the outside world to protect them from "worldly" influences.  It also confines their input to that of the group and its leaders.

6) I would establish a grandiose purpose to save humanity or prepare for the end of the world or both.  We would maintain the greatest cause for humanity in light of global chaos.  Everyone should be part of our cause because it is the biggest and best vision for the world.  Of course this would supersede the Gospel which saves, that Jesus died for our sins and was raised on the third day.

7) Of course top leaders like me would be unaccountable to any authority outside of us.  We are the highest authority.  We will act above any civil or governmental authority and where there is conflict we will encourage civil disobedience to the laws of the land.   

8) Inordinate amounts of commitment of time and money are expected and exemplified.  Testimonies of blessing as a result of giving of one’s resources should be given to encourage this behavior among all.  The blessing may be unprovable healings or unverifiable spiritual standing with God.  There should be strong expectations of attendance and involvement at every meeting.

So there.  I just created my first religion.  Of course, this article is written tongue-in-cheek.  But it has many of the marks of false religions today.  I hope this will help expose the common traits of false religion to any readers that are in such a system or considering such a movement.  

Now That's Grace!

Vineyards and Abiding

At best, I can only tell you the half of abiding in Christ.  You will have to discover the rest by knowledge and experience.  The majesty of Jesus extends beyond what I can tell you.

When the Queen of Sheba came to visit King Solomon, she hadn't believed what she had been told about Solomon.  She brought her toughest questions to test Solomon and ended up speaking with him about all that was in her heart. 

"When the queen of Sheba perceived all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her... 'I did not believe the reports, until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard.'"  (1 Kings 10:4-5, 7)

In the same way, there is so much more to our relationship with Christ than I can possibly tell you in word -- even if you believed it.  The truth is breath-taking.

In John 15 we find that God the Father has created something great for His Son: the enjoyment of a relationship that is exalted and filled with beauty.  This relationship is described in allegory by a grapevine and its branches, together bearing the fruit of the vine.  It is a picture of the union between Christ and believers.  "It is of Him [the Father] that you are in Christ Jesus" (1 Cor 1:31).

The Branch that Does Not Bear Fruit

After appreciating what the Father has done in bringing the branches to the vine, we run into a problem in John 15:2.  Some of the branches are not fruitful.  Apparently, the relationship between some of the branches and the vine is not what it should be.  The Father has designed that the branches and the vine enjoy union.  The result of that union should be fruit.  But the fruit is not there.  The vinedresser must attend to the needy branch.  The branch must be cared for.  So it is lifted up.

Lifting vine branches may be accomplished by a string or wire trellis.  At first, it is low, but enough to keep the branches separated from the earth.  If the branch is left on the ground, it is more susceptible to insects and disease.  The extra support can prevent snapping as the result of the weight of the foliage or the wind.  Branches that touch the ground may even try to extend roots into the ground to obtain moisture and nourishment independent of the vine they come from.  That inhibits fruit-bearing.

Vine branches should also be cleansed.  They can be washed with a mild soap and water and a clean rag.  Cleanliness will actually protect the plant from bugs that like bacteria.  Then a substance may be applied that can saturate the bark of the vine in an attempt to keep the bugs totally away. 

Purging is the process of removing excess vegetation.  The vinedresser wants big broad green leaves to absorb the energy of the sun in photosenthesis.  But it is not helpful if there is too much foliage such that it crowds the connections of the branches and vine and collects debris in the corners once again leading to bug nests and or desease.  Too many big leaves touching or hiding each other may lead to wasted effort or mold.  For efficient exposure to the sun, there needs to be maximum surface area limited by the vertical or horizontal area between branches and plants.   

Hopefully, the branches will respond to these treatments.  But It is vital that the fiber of the branch and vine in relationship provide a channel for the life-giving juices from the vine to flow to and through the branches.  This is the source of nurishment that produces the fruit of the vine.  In fact, the vine is the only plant that does not produce a blossom that is pollenated because everything it needs comes from the vine.  A vine rod can be properly placed in the ground and allowed to grow into a beautiful fruit-bearing plant with water, fertilizer and tender care.  Abiding in the vine is the key to fruit-bearing.

Vines are seven-year plants, meaning that they require maturity in order to bear fruit.  Vindressing requires a lot of work and tender loving care.  But the results are worth it for the patient farmer.

I hope you can see through the allegory that these are the kind of things that the Father does for a branch of the vine that is not bearing fruit, based on this passage of Scripture.  The branch is described as "in Me."  That's a Christian.  The meaning of the word applied to the unfruitful branch in verse two indicates "raising up," "elevating," or "lifting," as in special care.  It is elsewhere translated as "picked up his bed," "carry your bed," "picked up stones," or "keep in suspense."  Although it can be translated as "takes away," if the concept of taken "away," "from," or "out of" was indicated, the preposition would probably be found in the original text, but it is not.  The cleansing and purging mentioned next in the passage are normal routines for the whole plant. 

The Branch that Does Not Abide

John 15:6 presents a problem of a different kind.  Here, it is not just that the branch is simply unfruitful to date.  But this branch DOES NOT ABIDE.  This is what branches do!  If they do not abide in the vine, they will never produce fruit.  You can lift them, cleanse them, dress them and purge them all you want and they will never produce fruit, regardless of their proximity to the vine.

Is there anyone Jesus could have pointed to that fit this description at the time?  The allegory of the vine and branches was given by Jesus while He and His disciples were on their way to the Garden of Gathsemane.  Before they left the upper room, Jesus washed the disciples' feet.  It is recorded there that Jesus said to them, "You are clean, but not all of you.  For He knew the one who was betraying Him."  A few minutes later, Jesus foretold of His betrayal and said to Judas, "What you do, do quickly... and he went out immediately" (John 13:10-11, 27, 30).

This was the one who did not abide.  He never did accept Jesus for who Jesus was.  As a Zionist, He had anticipated that Jesus would lead Israel into a rebellion against Roman rule in Palestine.  In opposition to that we see Peter, for example, who said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," and "You have the words of eternal life" (Matthew 16:16; John 6:68).

The description in John 15:6 of what happens to this kind of branch is fearful.  It reminds us of the absolute holiness of the righteous God who simply expects us to believe what He has said and to trust His mercy.  This is not a reference to the potentially worthless deeds of a Christian that are valued as wood, hay and straw at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:12).  The verse says, "anyone who does not abide in Me, he..."  This is a reference to certain persons.  The branches are people.  Jesus just said, "I am the vine you are the branches" (v5).  This is a description of the destiny of a person who is not "in Christ" as in verse 2.

The word translated "throw" or "cast" is used twice in this verse.  First it is used with the preposition "away" -- they are "thrown away" or "thrown out."  The second use is used with the prepositional phrase "into the fire."  This throwing or casting is a completely different kind of treatment that one finds in verse 2.  It is used of "throwing into prison," "throwing stones," or "casting a net" for fishing.  It can obviously carry a sense of violence with it.

So the question is this:  What kind of branch are you?  Are you:

1) a branch that is in Christ and would like to bear much fruit by a deeper, abiding relationship in Him as the vine?

2) a branch that is in Christ but needs some lifting and cleaning by the husbandman to become fruitful?

3) a branch that needs to be in Christ?

The Vinedresser awaits your decision...

Now That's Grace!

She Isn't Even Born Yet

A new baby will be arriving at our house around the fourth of July.  I already know the little girl’s name, Olivia. 

I will enjoy her infancy.  I look forward to lying on my back and placing her on my chest while she is asleep.  I hope “Papa” is the first word she says.  I can hear her saying "More Papa.  More Papa," while I am pushing her on her swing.  I will cancel all appointments for the chance to babysit.  I will play with her and steal as many kisses from her soft chubby little cheeks as I can.  I will watch her grow up into a woman.  I will look at life through her eyes.  I love Olivia. 

In some ways, I feel like I already know her.  I've already seen her nearly-complete little wardrobe.  I especially like the red-white-and-blue starred outfit that reminds us that she came forth on the Fourth to begin experiencing her freedom!  I hate to admit it, but it won't take long until she begins to reveal her independent, selfish nature -- it runs in the family.

Now, I love Olivia, and she isn’t even born yet.  But she is kin to me.  I know she's going to be beautiful just like her mother.  So I have predetermined to have a loving Papa-like relationship with her.

~~~

In a much loftier way, God chose us to have an intimate love relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ.

“He chose us, in Him, before the foundation of the world.”  Ephesians 1:4

We know that God is all-knowing.  But the issue isn't that He knew who would believe in Him and therefore chose them.  The fact is that God knew we would NOT come to Him on our own.  We cannot come to Him without His intervention.

This is what God's omniscience says about us:

• no one seeks after God.  Romans 3:11.
• unless the Father draws a person, one cannot come to Jesus.  John 6:44.
• no one has faith unless He supplies it.  Romans 12:3.
• God grants repentance to those He wills.  2 Timothy 2:25.
• that God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He will have compassion on whom He will have compassion..  So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.  Romans 9:15, 16.

Romans 8:29 says “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined...”  This implies that some are foreknown and others are not.  How could the all-knowing God NOT know some?  He is outside of time.  He should foreknow everything.  Unless... this is a different kind of "knowing."

"And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD...  And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth."  Genesis 4:1,25 KJV

Here is a special kind of knowledge reserved for a man and his wife.  It is an intimate knowledge.  It is in the context of a loving relationship between two.  Adam had an intimate love relationship with his wife.  He knew Eve his wife. 

Similarly, the foreknowledge of God is not just a knowing beforehand.  It is not just the ability to know the future based on the power of omniscience.  Foreknowledge is the predetermined intimate love relationship that God established before the creation of the universe.  It reveals the appointed love between Christ and His Bride, the Church.  And so:

“He chose us, in Him, before the foundation of the world.” Ephesians 1:4
“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined.” Romans 8:29

Now That's Grace!

Fool's Work

A Persian legend tells us that a certain king needed a faithful servant and had to choose between two candidates for the office. He took both at fixed wages and told them to fill a basket with water from a neighboring well, saying that he would come in the evening to inspect their work.

After dumping one or two buckets of water into the basket, one of the men said, "What is the good of doing this useless work? As soon as we put the water in one side, it runs out the other."

The other answered, "But we have wages, haven't we? The use is the master's business, not ours." "I am not going to do such fool's work," replied other; and throwing down his bucket he went away.

The other man continued until he had drained the well. Looking down into it he saw something shining at the bottom, which proved to be a diamond ring. "Now I see the use of pouring water into the basket!" he exclaimed. "If the bucket had brought up the ring before the well was dry, it would have been found in the basket. Our work was not useless."

Remember, when God's blessing does not fully coincide with your expectations, wait until the well is dry. There may be a diamond ring at the bottom.

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord" (I Corinthians 15:58).

Now That's Grace!

The Greatest Gift

I am glad that our government encourages giving to the charity of our choice. But someday, tax exempt status for non-profit organizations may be a benefit of the past. Charitable deductions may become obsolete in the name of "separation church and state."

It may be then, that we see what Christianity is really made of. Not that giving is proof of spirituality, but if it is real, it will touch us in the pocket book.

Too often, charity has become a negotiation, a business deal. The message sent with the gift is: "Keep your distance; be grateful for what is given to you; don't get demanding on my lifestyle: and where is my receipt?"

I'm sure you have heard it said, that "you can't out-give God." But I wonder how many of us have even begun to test that hypothesis.

Paul told the Corinthians, who were preparing a gift for the poverty stricken saints of Jerusalem: "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. You will be enriched in everyhting for all liberality" (I Co. 9:8, 10).

The principle is that God supplies the giver with increasing means to meet his own needs and to give generously.  but the first step has to be ours, to give of what we have.

Paul concludes with the greatest motivation we can have in order to give. "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (Jesus)

Now That's Grace!

Paying the Date

 Modern computer billing can sometimes be quite confusing to try and decipher. For nearly a year, Laddie Marshack, picture editor of TV Guide, had a runaway corresondence with the gas company. One month she would get a note informing her she had underpaid her bill, the next time that she had overpaid.

Then the whole thing was cleared up.  Laddie received a form card containing a number of standard reasons for the irregularities in accounts, such as "Signature incomplete" and "Payee not this company." None, however, applied to her. But  on the back of the card was penciled in a patient long hand: "You have been paying the date - please pay the amount."

There are times when we may feel that God is playing guessing games wit us. His Word seems so far removed from the reality of our circumstances. His will appears to be unclear for our situation. But "God is not a God of confusion but of peace" (I Corinthians 14:33).

God would like no better than to pencil in on the back of your heart: "You have been futily attempting to live your life your way - please see what I require." His work is easy and His load is light (Matthew 11:30).  His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3).  Take a fresh look at His Word today.

Now That's Grace!

The Exchanged Life - by Larry Soady

"Hudson Taylor’s... years of toil and hard work for the Lord in the mission field yielded many saved Chinese. Ironically, this work (that) revealed life to so many also sapped the life and energy from the man who was behind it. Hudson Taylor strove to do  his best for the Lord he was serving. His greatest desire was to be an imitator of Christ. To achieve his goal, he did what seemed more fruitful: he studied the Bible more fervently, prayed continually and fasted more often. He was so engrossed in his effort that his life became an endless effort to please God  rather than to know Him. In a moment of divine insight, Hudson Taylor suddenly understood the Truth about his relationship with God. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” He realized that the vine is not merely the root that provides nourishment to the branches, but is itself the  whole plant - root, branches and leaves. Jesus is not merely our provider, but is a part of all who have called on His name."  (Association of Exchanged Life Ministries).

Hudson’s life of toil and hard work “for the Lord” was suddenly changed by the realization that it was all about God’s union with him - not his work for God. A branch doesn’t work to bear fruit for the Vine. A branch abides and rests in the Vine. The essence of this fellowship is the natural flow of Life throughout the whole Vine, including all the branches.   Each branch is far from unproductive or lacking in substance. Each branch simply understands that the full substance of his life - all the activity, all the production – doesn’t come from his ow  n attempts at being a good, hard worker for the Vine. Hudson had come to this realization. He could now cease from his  labor and rest in the sufficiency of the Vine’s Life, allowing the Vine to be the sole, sufficient, source of Life and Fruit. Hudson’s son, Howard Taylor, coined the term “Exchanged Life” to describe his father’s life changing realization.
 
So many pastors and those in ministry today have experienced many “successful” years in service to the Lord where their hard work has paid off, consistently resulting in growth. But then, after many years in ministry, start to find themselves in a completely new situation - devastated that all of their dedication and hard work for God now proves to be ineffective. Many in ministry can then start to feel like failures – as pastors and as a Christians. Their frustration can be summed up in this way: “Couldn’t He (God) see that I   was doing everything I knew how for Him? I couldn’t imagine what more He expected from me than my best. And I had done my best. What more could He want from me?” What those of us in ministry need to realize is that coming to this low point in our lives was exactly what God intended. It is through these daunting circumstances, we realize our “best” – our dedication and hard work – is not paying off.  In fact we are even working to the contrary for God.  In those times, if we are open to it, we discover it wasn’t that God wanted something from us. God simply wanted us.

There is no amount of human righteousness or dedication that can actually produce a godly life or godly fruit. One can dedicate one’s life to God and to holy living, and one can dedicate one’s life over and over again, but no matter the amount of dedication, it still falls short of God’s glory, and it falls short of “real” spiritual Life. Imagine offering God a bunch of shiny, tasty looking plastic grapes. Do you think He’d bite? That’s what our dedicated lives amount to. Isaiah used the term “filthy rags.” But the Apostle Paul said, “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3). He said, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God…” (Gal 2:20). Paul’s Crucified Life and Taylor’s grace Exchanged Life are summed up in this: I have laid down “my” life (I have died, I no longer live) and I have received His all-sufficient grace Life in exchange. The Christian life isn’t ours to live. Instead of God depending upon me to live for Him or to dedicate my life to Him, He has us lay our lives down!  It is only when we die to self that He can raise us up again in the wholly, grace-filled surrendered life. (the new birth). It’s not about our futile offering of grapes. The grapes are His fruit to begin with and His fruit tastes better than any artificial imitation we could produce.

In His Grip,
Larry Soady

Above the Fray

A little boy was riding his tricycle furiously around the block over and over again. Finally, a policeman stopped him and asked him why he was riding so hard around and around. The boy said that he was running away from home. Then the policeman asked why he was just going around the block. The boy responded, "Because my mom said that I'm not allowed to cross the street." You see, obedience should predominate our feelings or other people's expectations.

The Apostle Paul was once criticized by his opponents for his lack of eloquence and persuasive preaching: "His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive, and his speech of no account" (II Cor. 10:10).

Paul's response was in effect, "But at least I practice what I preach!" He said, "Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also in deed when present" (v.11). He was insinuating that they may have been more influential in person, but not more obedient to follow through with obedience to God.

My friend, maybe you feel like running away from all the demands everyone is projecting on you. Maybe you don't meet up to others' expectations. Just remember this: God is the only one we must please. Let us come to terms with Him!

Now That's Grace!

The Sea People

Dear Diary:

Boy, did we ever blow it that day! The Sea People were oppressing the land so all of us in Israel went out to meet them in battle. We assumed that God was with us and we would defeat them. After all, we are God's favored people. But we lost about 4,000 men on the battlefield that day.

It was a great idea! If we could take the Ark of the Covenant into battle with us, it would surely deliver us. But we were beat again! Not only did we lose 30,000 foot soldiers,  but the Philistines took the Ark of God too!

How we lamented the errors of our ways. We presumed upon God by acting apart from Him. Then we figured that we could manipulate God by taking something sacred with us. But God doesn't work that way. The glory of Israel had now departed.

But God is faithful. On the morning after, the Philistines found Dagon, their god, face down on the ground. So they set the idol back up and dismissed the incident. The next morning they found Dagon fallen again with the head and hands broken off. As a result, they permanently deserted that temple for fear of the God of Israel.

Next, the Philistines discovered that their whole territory was overrun by plague-carrying mice and their bodies were covered with boils. So they sent the Ark of God to another Philistine city, only to find that they too were overwhelmed by disease and death.

After seven months of judgment from God, they decided to send the Ark back to Israel, unmanned, on a cart pulled by two cows. They assured themselves that if the cows took the Ark back to Israel, it meant that God had ravaged the land; but if the cows went the other way, they could deduce that it all happened by chance. As you can guess, the cows went directly to the Israelite territory.

We all learned a costly a lesson about the need to always consult with God and make sure we are operating on His terms. Don't mess with God. Have you learned that lesson too? How can we impress these lessons on the next generation?

Now That's Grace!

Bird-dogging

Before the opening day of pheasant season, two hunters bought a bird-dog having heard that such a dog would make for much more enjoyable and profitable hunting. When the big day came, they were up bright and early! They hunted all day, but as dusk began to overtake them, they hadn’t fired a single shot. The hunters were exhausted and frustrated over the poor performance of their bird-dog. Finally one said, "Okay, Joe throw him up once more and if he don’t fly, I’m gonna shoot him!" 

These two hunters are no different than the Jews of Paul’s day. They were sincere in their religious efforts to approach God, but a Biblical understanding of what God truly required was absent. He says, "they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge." (Ro. 10:2).

Their attempts at reaching God got no higher than throwing a bird-dog into the air. "For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God" (v.3), which comes by faith in Christ.

Don’t let religious fervor delude you into thinking that you have met God’s standards. See if Jesus didn’t say that he was the only way to the Father. And see if that doesn’t exclude our own bird-dog throwing!

Now That's Grace!

I Have a Father

In the book, Knowing God, J..I..Packer, describes his fellowship with a certain “black listed” colleague as such:

“I walked in sunshine with a scholar who had effectively forfeited his prospects of academic advancement by clashing with church
dignitaries over the gospel of grace.  "But it doesn't matter," he said at length, "for I've known God..."

       It doesn’t matter – I know God.

Here was a man who could stand for truth and accept any outcome – even losing his career – because he was secure in his
relationship with God. 

This type of response is useful in all kinds of situations:

• When we suffer loss
• When we are misunderstood and rejected
• When every prospect of advancing in life has been taken away

       It doesn’t matter – I know God.

I want to teach you another phrase to help you though this life:

    I have a Father.

Now think about it…
    that the God of the universe would be my Father? – incomprehensible!
    that I could be His child? -- inconceivable!

What an overwhelming gift… that we might become the children of God???

- "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the
right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name," John 1:12.

What an astounding declaration… that God would make us His children???

- "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. Beloved, now we are children of God," I John 3:1-2.

What a remarkable provision on the part of God… that we could call God our Father???

- "For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God," John 5:18

You see, it was not allowed for one to consider God his personal father in the Old Testament.  God was the father of a nation, not the father of individuals.  To call God one’s personal Father was to speak blasphemy.  And yet, God has made it such that now we may even call him our "Daddy" without speaking blasphemy.

- "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" Rom 8:15.

"Abba" is the Aramaic form of the endearing term, equivalent to our "Daddy."

Imagine going before the God of the universe, before whom no man can stand and live, and yet openly cry out to Him calling Him “Daddy”.  The Holy Spirit leads us to do so. 

Like with the prodigal son, our Father…
still a long way off, the father sees us and feels compassion for us, and runs and embraces us and kisses us.  He brings out the best robe and put it on us, and puts a ring on our hand and sandals on our feet; He kills the fattened calf.  (Luke 15:20, 22, 27)  He invites us to His banqueting table.

What a Father.  He protects… provides… cares… and guides…

He purchased the Church with His own blood… (Acts 20:28)

He Loves us… the Father Himself loves you…  (John 16:27)

He invites us into His presence without concern for barging in without permission… (Hebrews 10:19)

He has secured our destination and inheritance eternally…  (Romans 8:29-30)

He works everything for our good…  (Romans 8:28)

He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing… (Ephesians 1:3)

He is for us.  Who could ever be against us when He is for us?  (Romans 8:31)


So when you suffer loss, say…
    …It does not matter -- I have a Father.

When you fall down and skin your knees, say …
    …I have a Father.

When you face your enemy, say …
    …I have a Father.

When your car breaks down in traffic, say…

    …I have a Father.

Now That's Grace!

If God has forgiven me, why do I still feel guilt?

A PILE OF GUILT
As Christians, we want to believe that since we have forsaken a lifestyle of sin, that we can resist sin.  Christ died for our sin and saved us from the penalty of sin.  We confess our sin, we agree with God about sin - that it is wrong.  Our sins have been forgiven and the sin nature has been crucified with Christ, condemned by God at the cross.  But it doesn't take long before we discover that we have entered the process known as progressive sanctification.  There is a fight against sin like we've never experienced before.  We do the sinful things we really don't want to be doing and we don't do the good things we know we are supposed to be doing.

As a result of dealing with ongoing, indwelling sin, it is easy for us to question whether God has really forgiven us.  We feel unworthy.  We ask for forgiveness.  We wrestle with an inability to overcome sin in our own power.  We begin to question the transaction that made us Christians.  "Have I been born again?"  "Maybe I'm not really saved."  We feel guilt from failing to measure up to God's expectations. 

It is here that the enemy comes in to amplify the feelings of defeat and despair.  He takes the natural feelings of our heart and tries to increase the guilt and feeling of unworthiness.  He reminds you that your sins violate God's laws.  He suggests that you are a bad person and provides evidence that you cannot please God.  He tells you that you are condemned. 

It is true that the Holy Spirit convicts of sin.  It should also be true that our conscience is made more sensitive to sin as believers.  We do not deny sin.  We acknowledge it.  We trust God to be the One who has forgiven our sins.  We thank God for the price of our forgiveness and accept it.  We believe in the finality of the cross in the payment for sin because Jesus said "It is finished."  We have received the reconciliation that God has accomplished through Christ's death and resurrection. 

But what do we do with that lingering feeling of guilt?  Our conscience continues to haunt us.  God has forgiven us but we can't seem to forgive ourselves.


A CLEAN CONSCIENCE
First of all, we are told that our conscience has been cleansed:

"Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." Hebrews 10:22

You see, our conscience is not always accurate.  It may be overly sensitive or it may be alternatively callous.  The conscience may be overly sensitive because of growing up in a strict legalistic home environment.  Or the conscience may be dull as in the following description:

"by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron" 1 Timothy 4:2

We may have a "consciousness" of sin, but the Bible says our "conscience" has been cleansed.  These are two different words.  Our conscience has been cleansed by the forgiveness of God that we have received.  Our conscience may need to be re-educated about what God has done.  We must tell our conscience that it has been cleansed and praise God that He has forgiven us -- past, present and future.  Can you take that step of faith?  Can you re-educate yourself with Scripture, hail God as the Forgiver of all of your sins because of the death of Christ once for all for all sins, and rest assured in Him?

At some point in life, we will probably feel a lack of significance, isolation, unworthiness, fruitlessness, or unproductive.  This may even be after a lifetime of ministry.  The enemy is all over these negative thoughts.  This will keep you from walking by faith and allowing God to use you in small ways.  God has you here for a reason.  Don't let the enemy get the upper hand.  Be an instrument of praise and a reservoir of thanksgiving.  Smile.  Acknowledge every person God brings across your path and encourage everyone you meet with graciousness and truth.  Consider others.  Just say something nice.  Breathe a breath of pray for them.  Pray out loud in their presence.  In so doing you will gain the power to resist an accusing conscience.  


GOD KNOWS
John also deals with this issue of guilt in his first epistle, 1 John. 

"Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.  We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him."  1 John 3:18-19

According to John, we must come to grips with the fact of whether we are of the truth or not.  And what gives us this confidence is that we love others.  Jesus said, "They will know you are my disciples by your love."  Well, we will know that we are His disciples by our love too.  We may be mistreated and want to react, but we know that we must love because He loved us.  This will give us confidence that we are His.  It does not make us His.  It is the evidence that we are His.  It gives us confidence that we are His because we love with His love -- self-sacrificial, unconditional love.

The problem is that we don't love perfectly as He loves.  Sometimes we act out of the energy of our old nature in revenge, lust, anger or jealousy.  But we know better.  Our conscience accuses us and we have a change of heart.  We may need to be confronted like Nathan with David, disciplined as a child, or reap consequences before we repent, but we know that we are God's through these experiences.  God is dealing with us as sons.

So John says:

"[We] will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things."  1 John 3:19b-20

When our hearts are laden with guilt and self-condemnation, we can console ourselves that God is greater than our heart.  He says there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).  He has forgiven our sins and judged the sinful nature which had separated us from Him.  And He knows that we are made of dust.  He knows that our sinful nature remains until the redemption of our bodies.  God is omniscient.  He is not surprised or disappointed by our sin as His children.  John R. Stott says on this passage, "Stronger than any chemical tranquilizer, is trust in our all-knowing God."

John continues,

"Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;"  1 John 3:21

God is greater than our heart.  He does not condemn us.  Why would we make our heart out to be greater than God by allowing guilt to dominate us and allow our enemy to dispirit us?  Don't let your heart  condemn you.  If we can believe God at His Word and quiet our conscience based on what God has done in our behalf, we will have confidence before God.  God condemned His Son that we might go free.  Do you believe that or not?

God just wants us to learn to choose Him over the temptations of sinful pleasure.  Are you maturing in that lesson?  If you are, then you are growing in progressive sanctification.  If you are a true believer, don't get bogged down with with guilt for something that God has already forgiven.  Leave the enemy out in the cold as you draw near to the warmth of our Father's acceptance.

AΩ

The End of the Law? (Part 4)

So What is Our Relationship to the Law?

"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes."  -Romans 10:4

Since I live by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, I have been set free from the demand, obligation, consequence and condemnation of the law.  My relationship is to Christ, not the Law.  I have died to the law and been joined to Jesus Christ.

Therefore, I have NO relationship to the Law -- zip, nil, nada.

I am released from the Law, having died to it, being joined to Christ:

Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the d-e-a-d, in order that we might bear fruit for God.  But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.  (Romans 7:4, 6)

How is Christ the end of the Law for righteousness for everyone who believes?

Didn’t Jesus say that not one jot or tittle would pass away?  Let’s take a look at that passage in Matthew 5:17-18:

Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.  For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Jesus said that He came to fulfill the Law.  He did that.  Jesus fulfilled the Law.  He fulfilled it in two ways:

1) He obeyed the Law perfectly.  In so doing, He fulfilled the Law.  It is His righteousness that is put on our account by faith.  So Christ is the end, or fulfillment, of the Law for those who believe.  But Jesus fulfilled the Law in a secondary sense.  

2) He also became a curse under the Law on our behalf, bearing our sins as He hung on the tree of Calvary.  “The soul that sins must die.”  Jesus took our place on the cross and died in our stead.  The penalty of violating the Law was death.  So Jesus fulfilled the requirement of the penalty of the Law as well as the requirement of righteous obedience.

And so by faith, we accept that Jesus fulfilled the Law completely on our behalf.  Now, because of identification with Christ and His death by faith, we have been freed from the Law and the Law has been satisfied on our account. 

The Old Covenant of the Law has become obsolete.  “When He said, “a new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete” (Hebrews 8:13).  Each successive execution of a will supersedes all previous versions.  If your daddy didn’t have the Cadillac in his last will and testament, you ain’t gettin’ it!

So what is the guide for living since we are free from the Law?  It is the love of Jesus through the power of His Spirit:

• The love of Christ controls us.  (2 Corinthians 5:14)
• The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  (Romans 5:5)
• Love one another for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.  (13:8, 10)
• Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.  (13:10)
• Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.  (Galatians 6:2)
• Love is the highest standard.

Am I throwing out the Law or the OT?  Not by any means.  The law still reflects the character of God, shows the deceitfulness of sin, reveals the flesh, and exposes the rebellion of the world.  But no one will ever establish their own righteousness by the deeds of the law:

By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.  But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe (Romans 3:20-22).

We have been set free to serve the living Christ, whose yoke is easy and whose commandments are not burdensome but light (Matthew 11:30, 1 John 5:3).  We were called to freedom, not to turn our freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love to serve one another (Galatians 5:13).

Law-keeping means nothing, just faith working through love (Galatians 5:6).  Give it up for Christ!  He is the end of the law for righteousness for those who believe.

AΩ

The End of the Law? (Part 3)

The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus

From time to time toward the end of my work day, I am drawn away from my work to make a search from the view of my third story office window.  I begin to inspect the sky right outside my window for the source of a very discernible and growing sound and vibration.  I work in a building at the northeast end of the local airport. 

As I scan the landscape below, I see cars beginning to collect on the road around a park and at the stop light controlling the closest intersection.  Rush hour is not far off and I will be part of it.

Then it appears.  A helicopter either comes bounding over our building to curve around, and begin it’s descent around the corner for a landing, or it may be taking off from the south of our building to head east toward the closest major thoroughfare. 

Then I think -- if only I could hitch a ride home on the helicopter and skip all that traffic.  I could surprise my wife with an early arrival on such a powerful bird.  I would enjoy a totally different perspective of the trip home as I transcend the laws of traffic, driving rules and gravity.  Now, I wouldn’t be violating any of those laws, but they would be superseded by the laws of air traffic, the FAA and aerodynamics.

We too have been delivered from an old set of rules that we could never keep.  They have been surpassed by a new law – the law of a Spirit led life.  It’s not that we violate the laws of the Old Covenant or New Covenant.  It’s that we live on a higher plane, that of the Spirit of Christ.  “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law” Gal 5:18. 

Jesus, too, was born under a set of old laws -- the Mosaic Law.  He was going to bring in a new set of laws which belong to His Kingdom.  His ministry was announced under the Gospel of the Kingdom: “Repent and be baptized for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  To introduce His new laws, He gave His inaugural speech – the Sermon on the Mount.  But then He was rejected as King by His own people, Israel.  The Kingdom was postponed indefinitely.  And the mystery of the Church was introduced by Paul the Apostle.  A body of believers would be gathered and prepared as the Bride of Christ.  Within the Bride of Christ there would be no distinction between Jew and Gentile.  As part of the Body and Bride of Christ, we, today, operate under a different law – “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” Rom 8:2. 

After Jesus went back to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit.  There was no greater gift He could have given after His d-e-a-t-h, burial, resurrection and ascension.  He gave His life for us on the cross, He gives His life to us to us through the resurrection, and He lives His ascended life through us by the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit now incorporates new believers into the Body of Christ.  The Spirit is the One who fills, permanently indwells and eternally seals each member of the Body of Christ – something that will never be duplicated for Israel.  The Spirit is our connection together with the living, risen and ascended Christ.  We are the Bride of Christ, joined to Christ in intimacy and union.  The Old Testament saints will attend our wedding and marriage feast to Jesus in heaven as guests. But we are the Bride!  He is their King, but our Groom!

Where the Mosaic Law could only demand exact compliance to the letter of the law, and Kingdom Law would be engraved upon the heart of its subjects in the Millennium, the Holy Spirit is given to the Church to express the person and character of Christ through our lives in a dynamic way.  The Mosaic Law primarily declared what a person could not do by repeatedly stating “Thou shalt not…”  Kingdom Law steps up the requirements and increases the penalties.  But the principle of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus encourages us with what Christ can do in us and through us.  Jesus Himself is formed in us and written upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit – not the Law.

Don’t miss out on the true dynamic of the Christian life by putting yourself under the law.  “How will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?” 2 Cor 3:8.

"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes."

-Romans 10:4

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The End of The Law? (Part 2)

A Short History of God’s Laws

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

-Romans 10:4

Letter to the Pastor:

Dear Pastor,

My father says I should learn the Ten Commandments.  But I don't think I want to because we already have enough rules in my house.

-Joshua, age 10, South Pasadena, California

Do you feel like there are too many laws and rules?  What law is Christ the end of?  Let’s take a short walk down the flagstones of God’s law.

ONE LAW
In the beginning, God established one law – “Do not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”  This law has no application to us since we have no access to that tree anymore.

NO LAW (Conscience)
Amazingly, from Adam to Moses, there was no code of law from God.  There was no law-breaking or violation of written commandments.  After Adam fell, there was knowledge of good and evil through the human conscience.  But conscience was found to be an insufficient guide.  M u r d e r entered the human race when Cain k i l l e d Abel and God observed that “the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5).  D e a t h continued to reign in those days and God ended up judging the world with a flood because of their violent and godless behavior.

GOVERNMENT LAW (Agency)
After the flood, God instituted civil punishment (an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth) and capital punishment (execution) as punishments and deterrents to evil behavior.  Men were commissioned to act as agents for God in the form of organized government (that’s why capital punishment is not m u r d e r).  Even though government continues to restrict evil today, government fails to cure society of evil.  Government itself tends toward the very evils it was instituted to prevent.

MOSAIC LAW (Code)
The Mosaic Law was a covenant between God and Israel outlining moral, civil and ceremonial  aspects of life under God as King.  It was the standard for the blessing or cursing of God on His people.  Its true purposes were 1) to bring order and justice to society; 2) to communicate the character and holiness of God; 3) to reveal the sinfulness of sin; 4) to condemn sinners; and 5) to show the need for a Savior (Romans 7, Galatians 3). 

Although the sacrificial portion of the ceremonial laws provided for the atonement of sin and a prophetic allegory for the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world, the covenant of law was never intended to be the gift of salvation itself or the means by which one could earn salvation.  Nevertheless, many self-righteous religious leaders assumed that it was for salvation.  The Mosaic Law demanded righteousness but offered no aide in keeping it.  The greatest lesson for us is that we CANNOT keep God's law.  Yet many believe that they can or that keeping a bunch of rules is what Christianity is all about.

KINGDOM LAW (Rule of Christ)
My son called home one day, early in his Air Force career.   He said, “Why don’t the other airmen just follow the rules?  Life would be so much simpler.”  He had been observing young men
pursuing the temptations of alcohol and women that resulted in violations of military rule.  Men missed their reporting times, failed to function at their peak and sometimes found themselves in the brig.  There just seems to be some kind of natural rebelliousness bound up in the human heart.  Well, in the Kingdom, there is going to be a submission by Israel to the laws of the reigning Messiah that will be like nothing we’ve ever seen.

The Kingdom of Jesus Christ is the final kingdom on earth, preceded by the failure of men and their systems to rule the world.  God’s intent is “that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men” (Daniel 4:17).  And you thought your vote helped select the best of men to govern us.

Kingdom Law is stricter than Mosaic Law.  Here are some examples:
· Anger toward your brother is equivalent to m u r d e r and worthy of the   d e a t h penalty.  (Mt 5:22)
· L u s t will be punished as adultery and brings penalty of d e a t h . (Mt 5:28)
· If you call someone “good-for-nothing,” you will be guilty before the Supreme Court. (Mt 5:22)
· You are to be as perfect as God. (Mt 5:48)

The difference here is that God will write these stricter laws of the Kingdom upon the hearts of the Jews.  They will be enabled to obey consistently from the heart.  God will be their God like never before and they will never fall into idolatry again.  Jesus will rule the nations as with a rod of iron and there will be zero tolerance.  Finally, the world will be a truly safe place to live.  There will be real peace among all living creatures throughout the planet - including the animals.

And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will  lead them. (Isaiah 11:6)

The Kingdom will begin with only believers since the unbelievers, represented as goats, will have already been removed from among the believers, the sheep.  Satan will be bound for 1,000 years in a pit.  God will have made all of Jesus’ enemies His footstool.  God’s Man will finally be on the throne and will rule over the whole earth.  The Church, the Bride of Christ, will rule with Him.  The curse of sin will be lifted and the earth will produce abundantly, even in the former dessert places.  This will be the utopia that was prophesied in the Old Testament that every Jew longed for.  Kingdom Law is part of the New Covenant God has made with Israel.  It is superior in requirement and operation to the Mosaic Law of the Old Covenant. 

In spite of the glories of the earthly Kingdom of Israel and the presence of the Messiah, the failure of man to keep the law is evident once again.  The failure of man is characteristic of every season of God’s law.  Even when Jesus Christ is personally reigning upon the earth, there will be opposition to His rule and unbelief issuing from the heart of man.  The Kingdom will end with Satan being released and the rise of a rebellion against Jesus Christ as King. 

Now what law is it that you think is going to help you live a holy life today?  We have been given something superior to any of these systems of law.  Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness for those who believe.

Next time let’s look at The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.

AΩ

The End of the Law? (Part 1)

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
    -Romans 10:4

Everyone has felt the demoralizing panic of being “caught” by the law.  This may have been your mother shouting out your full name after you stole the last cookie out of the cookie jar before dinner, or the red lights flashing in your rear view mirror when you were in a bit of a hurry to get somewhere.  Nevertheless, we all acknowledge the necessity of law in society.  How then does Paul speak of the end of the law?

Have we really come to the end of the law?  How can that be?  We must have law.  We must have a standard from which to determine right from wrong.  Otherwise people would just live the way they want.  People could live like the Devil and get away with it!  It would lead to chaos... license to do evil... l-a-w-l-e-s-s-n-e-s-s!

Doesn’t the Bible say:

• “I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts”?  (Hebrews 8:10)

• “the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”?  (Romans 8:4)

After all didn’t Jesus say:

• "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.  For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”  (Matthew 5:17-18)

We need perspective when it comes to law.

CONVOLUTION OF LAWS

Okay, you say, maybe we are not “under the law” as such because of verses like Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”  But we still need the law as a guide to holy living, right?

On the one hand, we live in a culture that has become morally relativistic.  “What’s good for you is good for you and what’s good for me is good for me.”  Christians have learned this relativistic thinking from the world.  And as in the days of the Judges, “everyone does what is right in their own eyes.”  Therefore there are no absolute standards.  Whatever works.  It’s all good.  You can’t lose.  Or so you think.

One the other hand, some of us like to be a little more traditional.  We like rules and we believe in attempting to do the right thing throughout life.  But then we must come to grips with the question of what laws exactly are we talking about that we are supposed to obey?  What standards are we going to be held to by God?  What consequences are there for disobedience as a Christian?

There is a whole spectrum of law abiding in people’s minds.  Here are a few:

• The laws of the land – man’s laws, local, state and federal, enforced by government.   For example, a police officer with a radar gun in his hand.

• Natural laws – laws that carry consequences, wisdom, life principles, laws that are applicable to all and automatically enforced.  For example, if you put your finger on a hot stove, it will burn.

• Personal standards – optional behaviors of spiritual growth, discipleship, the so-called “disciplines of grace”.  For example, go to church, read your Bible, pray and witness.

• Legalistic standards – often imposed by others with their definition of right and wrong.  For example: “don’t smoke, drink, dance or chew and don’t go those that do.”

• All authorities- parents, teachers, employers, government, God, etc. that God has put into our lives.

• God’s laws – namely the moral commands of the Bible.

Okay, let’s pick “God’s laws”.  You say, “I’ll just keep the commandments found in the Bible.”  Do you follow the ceremonial and civil laws of the Jews?  No?  So is it just the 10 Commandments? – just the “moral law” of God? – what about the fourth commandment, the Sabbath? – how many of you worship and properly refrain from work on Saturday? – oh, that was changed? – just one of the 10 Commandments was changed?  What about the greatest commandments to “Love the Lord God with all your heart” and “love your neighbor as yourself” – these are not in the 10 Commandments but shouldn’t we follow them too?  How is that going?  Is it the commandments found in the New Testament that you submit to? – how many of you women wear head coverings to church? – oh, you say that doesn’t apply to our culture? – wait a minute, 1 Corinthians 11:10 says this is because of the angels.  This commandment seems to transcend culture.  Maybe you want to follow Jesus’ laws.  These are the special ones in red ink.  Could you be in danger of hell fire for calling someone “stupid” as it says in Matthew 5:22?  Are you in enough trouble yet?  I could go on.

Have you figured out the purpose of the Law yet – to impress upon us that we can’t do it?  Jesus said that in order for a person to be able to enter the Kingdom, their righteousness must be greater that that of the most righteous people they knew in that day, the scribes and the Pharisees.  But instead of admitting that they haven’t and can’t consistently keep any body of law, many respond with, “Well I guess I have to try even harder now.”  NOT!    When we come to Jesus Christ by faith, we have come to the end of the law for righteousness.

Next time let’s look at a short history of God’s laws.

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Does Jesus Really Understand Our Struggle with Indwelling Sin?

Reader Question:

How could Jesus understand our constant burden of having to carry around a sin nature? He was supposed to be tempted in every way we have been tempted. So did He have a sin nature? After all He was human, Mary's offspring. Or is it that He was God so He could not have had a sin nature? And if He did not, how can He sympathize with us?

Response:

I believe you are referring to Hebrews 4:15 which says:

“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”

1) Jesus Christ could not sin. The virgin birth not only resulted in the full deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, but it precluded the existence of a sin nature in the God-man. In John 14:30 Jesus said, “the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” There was no sin nature in Jesus that Satan could entice. God cannot be tempted by evil, James 1:13. God cannot sin.  "In Him there is no sin," 1 John 3:5. If Jesus was under Adam’s headship, had inherited a sinful nature, or committed one single act of sin, He was no savior and died for His own falling short of the glory of God. But He was totally incapable of sinning.

2) Jesus would not sin. The real reason that Satan could not entice Jesus was that He had no personal ambition. He “emptied Himself” of His divine prerogatives, Phil 2:7. He said, “I can do nothing on My own initiative… I do not seek My own will,“ John 5:30. There was nothing Satan could do to entice our wonderful Savior.

3) Jesus Christ experienced the common testing of humanity. You bring up an interesting question. Many have asked about how He could have been tempted to sin when Satan “had nothing in Him.” If there was not desire or allurement, how could He have experienced the same kind of inclination towards sin that we do? Realize that the Greek word for “tempt” here is the same word as “test”. “Temptation” can also be “trial”. The context usually tells us which. I believe, although this verse mentions the word “sin” in reference to Jesus, it is saying that Jesus was subject to all the earthly challenges, or “trials”, that come with the weaknesses of humanity. He felt sorrow, thirst, hunger, exhaustion, grief, etc. Notice how the context within the verse is sympathizing with “our weaknesses”. The context for Heb 4:15 does not explicitly refer to sin or to temptation to sin. 

Take I Corinthians 10:13 for example which uses the same Greek word for trial/temptation:

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” 

There is no mention of sin in this verse. If you substitute the word “test” or “trial” for “temptation”, it says that you won’t be   tested more than any other person in these common troubles, and God will give you a way to bear up under it. If it were sin, the Bible would say “flee”. The Bible doesn’t encourage us to hang around and bear up under the temptation to sin. 

I believe Heb 4:15 is saying that Jesus endured all of the common trials and troubles of humanity from weaknesses, infirmities, limitations, etc. These are the very things that Paul said he experienced and learned to take advantage of:

2 Corinthians 12:10 “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

4) Jesus was tempted to sin. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness he hadn’t eaten for 40 days and was exhausted from the heat of the dessert. Satan tempted Jesus to sin the same way that he tempts us to sin. Neither Satan nor Adam had a sin nature when they succumbed to sin. A sin nature is not a prerequisite to be tempted. It may well be that the temptations to sin that were offered to Jesus were much worse than what we deal with from our own desires. Yet it says that He was without sin. In the sensitivity of His most holy nature, He did not lose his patience, take revenge, react to the evil, etc. He was the butt of jokes about His illegitimate birth. He endured scorn from His own creatures. Yet He forgave them. He remained consistent to His Father’s will. He despised the shame and focused on the joy set before Him – our redemption. We may very well say that He was tempted to sin more than any man. In case we forget the intensity of His confrontation with sin, the writer of Hebrews says:

Hebrews 12:3 – “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (4) You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding in your striving against sin.”

5) Jesus is the most qualified person to help us when it comes to temptation to sin. He was not “carried away or enticed by his own ” as we are Jas 1:14. Therefore He can help us to say “no” to sin.

Paul knew what it was like to struggle with indwelling sin. He describes his frustration in Rom 7:19, 24:

“For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want... Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this ?”

But Paul turned to Jesus. Jesus is the answer to the dilemma of the internal bent toward sin. Paul said:

25 “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Jesus is the one who can set us free from the rule of the old sin nature:

8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of .”

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.” Jude 1:24

Believe me, He understands and He is the answer to indwelling sin.

Now That's Grace!

Real Forgiveness

"Let sleeping gods lie."

Oops.  I think my dyslexia just kicked in.  I meant to say "let sleeping dogs lie."  Why?  Because you don't want to disturb them in case they bite.  Many people think that is true of God too.  They think, "You better tread softly or God might come after you!

There are those who declare that if something bad has happened to you, it is because you did something wrong and God is getting back atcha.  

Like George Jones' hit with Tammy Wynette: God's Gonna Get 'Cha (For That)
    Every wrong thing that you do
    God's gonna get 'cha for that

Even without that kind of preachin', many of us begin to wonder if we did something wrong when things don't go our way.  "God is punishing me for something I've done -- what have I done?  Why is God doing this to me?"  The truth is, we may not have done anything worse than when things were going well.  But the challenge of the current problem rides our conscience and we begin to feel the weight of guilt.

If you are a Christian, you need to know that God holds nothing against you.  I'm not denying that He may have something He wants to correct in your life by discipline which can be unpleasant.  But if you are a believer, there is no judgment or punishment that God is keeping to use against you at a future judgment or later date.  The reason God has released you is that Jesus took our punishment on the cross.  Jesus bore the punishment for all of your sins, past, present and future.  

I find that many Christians still struggle with how to handle continuing sin.  There is guilt.  There is a feeling of obligation to God that they cannot fill.  The only thing they know to do is to ask for forgiveness -- something they are already supposed to have.  Their feelings betray their belief that they need more forgiveness.  They need to be forgiven again and again.  Will God do that?

Did Joseph Really Forgive?

In the account of Joseph in the book of Genesis, there was an event that caused his brothers to believe that Joseph's forgiveness had run its course.  They became extremely afraid that Joseph's forgiveness had come to an end and that they were now in grave danger.  

When Joseph was young, his brothers were disgusted with him for the favoritism his father, Jacob, continually showed him.  They planned to kill him one day but were talked out of that and into leaving him in a pit to die.  But when they saw a caravan of slaves led by slave traders on their way to Egypt, they decided to sell him.  They lied to their father and said that he was killed by a wild animal.  It nearly broke Jacob's heart and the brother's carried the guilt of their doings for many years.

Decades later, when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers as second in command in Egypt, they must have been terrified that he would take revenge on them.  But this is what he said, "Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God" (Genesis 45:8).  Joseph was able to see God's plan behind the evil that his brothers had perpetrated on him.  He did not hold it against them.  He forgave them.  Instead he trusted in God's plan to preserve their family to become a great nation as He had promised his great grandfather Abraham.  

Now let's fast forward 17 years.  There had been 17 years of bounty, favor, relationship and service.  Jacob dies.  Joseph's brothers jump to the conclusion that the only reason Joseph had not retaliated against them was that he didn't want their father to be disturbed by such action.  But now that he was gone, Joseph had no reason not to require justice upon his brothers for what they had done to him.  This must be what Joseph was waiting for, they thought.  The text says, "When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was deceased, they said, "What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!" (Gen 50:15).  

The brother's plan was to beg for forgiveness from Joseph and say that Joseph's father, Jacob, had told them to say so.  "So they sent to Joseph, saying, "Your father charged before he died, saying, 'Thus you shall say to Joseph, "Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong."'  And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father."  And Joseph wept when they spoke to him" (16-17)."

Notice how Joseph wept.  I believe he was disappointed that they had not trusted his heart.  Again, 17 years after being reunited to his brothers, supporting them, comforting them, reassuring them, showing them every favor he could possibly give them, and they questioned his heart.  I believe it hurt him to think that his brothers would project their kind of shallow forgiveness upon him.  They expected him to react the same way that they would have reacted.  They didn't know his heart.

Did God Really Forgive?

Let me ask you a question:  How do you think God feels, after He demonstrated His love for you by sending His only Son to be punished in your place for your sin in order to forgive you, in order that He might have relationship with you, in order that He might bring you near to Himself, and instead you feel unforgiven and you continue to ask for forgiveness.  You ask to be forgiven and He says, "I already have."  You ask for forgiveness and He says, "Do you not believe that what I did for you on the cross was enough?  Do you not believe that when I said on the cross, 'It is finished!' that it really was?  Quit asking Me for forgiveness.  Simply believe Me and thank Me.  You are forgiven.  Thank Me and quit sinning.  Come to Me and I will keep you from sinning.  That is how I want you to deal with continuing sin."  -Jesus Christ

~~~

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
1 Cor 15:3 Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
2 Cor 5:19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.
Eph 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His , the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.                    
Eph 4:32 …forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Col 2:13-14 when you were in your transgressions and the uncircumsicion of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us.
Heb 1:3 When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Heb 9:26 …but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
Heb 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Heb 10:18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
1 Jn 2:1 If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
1 Jn 2:12 Your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
1 Jn 3:5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins.
AΩ

Thoughts Gone Crazy?

"Control my thoughts?  How in the world am I supposed to do that?  I can't control my thoughts." 

Jesus said, "If you abide in my word... you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:31-32).  Those who don't control their thoughts are slaves to their thoughts. 

Our world teaches us that we cannot control our thoughts or emotions and therefore are not responsible for our actions.  Instead, we are all victims and anything that goes wrong is someone else's fault.  If we go postal on people at McDonald's, it is because we were treated unfairly by our boss.  I'm not saying that we have never been the recipients of some totally undeserved treatment by someone in life.  I'm saying that if we don't take responsibility for our thoughts and actions, we will never find the freedom Christ came to give.  Instead, we will be slaves to the people who injured us.  Just to take this concept to its logical conclusion, if one were to "rub out" their boss, their boss wouldn't disappear from their attention.  Their boss would become the absolute consumption of every thought they would have for the rest of their life!

Joseph, the son of Jacob, knew how to get free from the control of his tormentors.  He stated concisely his thinking on the whole experience by telling his cruel brothers, "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Genesis 50:20).  Joseph was psychologically released from his brothers' "unbrotherly" treatment of him by noting God's purpose to "preserve many people alive."  Joseph found this freedom through forgiving his brothers and trusting God to "work all things together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose."  Genesis 50:20 is the Romans 8:28 of the Old Testament.

You ask, "But how do I control these thoughts rather than these thoughts controlling me?"

Words comprise thoughts.  Thoughts are fodder for our imaginations.  Our imaginations stir our emotions.  Emotions are the fuel for our actions.  Here is our diagram:

 

Where do these words come from that can advance or degrade the quality of our lives?  There are three sources of words that form our thoughts.  The most frequent source of words is self-talk.  We talk to ourselves more than anyone else in the world.  It is constant.  And we listen to ourselves.  It is in our voice and we are very familiar with it.  We say things to ourselves like, "I'm smart" or "I'm dumb."  "I that guy" or "I love that guy."  Notice how every statement starts with "I"?  

The second source of words is from Satan.  This comes through mental suggestion and through the messages from the world.  I don't have to tell you that we are constantly arded by messages based on the world's values.  You cannot escape hearing and seeing ungodliness in people's comments, dress, possessions, marketing, pleasure, humor, and all forms of media, etc.  We entertain what seems to be inane thoughts evaluating Joe for coming to work with a Starbucks coffee everyday.  "Is he wasting money or making more money than me?"  "I bet he's addicted to caffeine."  Or we compare the style of Sally's new shoes versus my old scratched shoes from The Shoe Mart.  "Sally is flashy and doesn't deserve all the attention she gets from everyone."  

Thirdly, we may receive the words of God found in Scripture.  Sometimes, the things we expect to be from Scripture, spoken in pulpits, classes and certain radio or television programs are really just more of the first or second sources above.  I am not exempt!  The point is, we can choose many of the words that become the input for our thoughts and imaginations.

Let's see what Scripture says about the process of our thought life.

Romans 10:17 says, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."  If we come at this verse in reverse, we can see that it fits the pattern:  words (spoken about Christ) transfer thoughts into hearing about Jesus Christ resulting in faith (sanctified imagination).  

When it comes down to it, faith and fear are the same thing, only in opposite directions.  Faith and fear are imaginations developed from thoughts.  Faith is imagining the positive.  That God will do something.  Fear is also imagining.  It is imagining negative.  Maybe that God will fail to come through and something bad is going to happen.  Faith is "sanctified" imagination whereas Romans 1:21 refers to the "vain" imaginations of ungodly men.  Another translation uses the word "speculation".  It is the considering of possible outcomes, either positive or negative. 

Which would you rather do -- imagine what God will do for you or imagine bad things happening?  It's your choice.  What kind of words are you going to put into your head?  I like Joseph's version of Romans 8:28 above where he said, "you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."  Remember, without faith it is impossible to please God.  Feeding God's promises to your eyes and ears on a regular basis, mixed with faith, will begin to allow you to control your thoughts.

2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "We are destroying speculations [imaginations] and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."  This Scripture implies that we are responsible for our thoughts.  Paul says to take every thought captive and make it subject to Jesus Christ.  We are not supposed to let them run wild.  The modern psychologist that says "if you don't let your thoughts run free you will become clogged up and dysfunctional" is deceived.  It's the people who let their thoughts flow freely that are crazy!  Just listen to them!

 There are some things that you can do to help you take every thought captive to Christ.  In the article posted on "Emotions" I talked about replacing your bad input with good.  Beyond that, you can also meditate on the true and the good.  Philippians 4:8 says "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." 

Don't tell me you "don't believe any of that positive thinking junk."  Paul was a positive thinker with based on solid content.  It wasn't just positive thoughts to make your day go well.  It wasn't positive thoughts about how wonderful you are.  It was positive thoughts because he saw Christ in every circumstance.  It was because he was convinced that God was in control and holding everything of value securely for him.  The simplest way to do this is to think thoughts about Jesus Christ who is the embodiment of each of these virtues.  For example, spend a little time thinking about how Jesus is true.  It will make you rejoice to think that you know the One who is truth.  You will have peace realizing that your Jesus is a rock of truth and a true refuge in time of storm.  You will feel secure knowing that He is faithful and calls you to come to Him.  Confidence comes by receiving the truth of His words from the cross, "It is finished" and resting in the fact that He holds nothing against you as a believer.  Now take the second virtue, "honorable", and consider how that word fits Jesus like a tailored suit, etc.

If you have to, write an affirmative statement or Scripture on a 3x5 card.  Read that card repeatedly.  Don't allow negative thoughts to enter.  Displace them.  Hold the card up in front of your face so that everything else disappears or becomes smaller in the background.  Let that "speculation and lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God" be dwarfed in the face of God's person and promise to you.  Our challenge is that we have let our problems become bigger than our God in our own imaginations.  Stop it.  Start imagining what faith would look like.  Imagine how you would behave if you really trusted God.  Start drinking from the good well of Jesus Christ. 

One more thing.  Perhaps the most important thing you can do -- is to turn these wonderful thoughts about Jesus and God into praise.  Look up and speak them to His face and let the power of His person come over you.  "Lord Jesus, You are my only refuge.  You are the truth I seek.  You are awesome and powerful.  You care for me and supply my every need."  Now that's how to control your thoughts!
AΩ

Emotions Got You Down?

A comedian might start his stand up comedy routine by saying: "Emotions are a lot like women -- you can't live with them and you can't live without them."  Sometimes they seem so useless (emotions that is), and sometimes they are the heights of human existence.  Why are they necessary?  Why can't we just get rid of them -- at least the negative ones?

Emotions are necessary.  Emotions are our natural reactions to the events of life.  Have you ever seen a baby jump from a loud sound?  There is an innate, built-in defense mechanism to protect the baby.  With the baby, he/she often follows with crying until he/she is reassured and feels secure once again.  Likewise, fear and anger are typical responses for s in situations involving danger or frustration.  Emotions create energy for action.  They are often seen as the "cause" for a person's actions.  For example, "a student runs out of a classroom in the middle of class because they were so embarrassed by the teacher in front of the class."  We feel like if the emotions are intense enough, a person could be made to do anything!  So the reverse correlation is that without emotions, a person could not be made to do anything.

Positive emotions are necessary too.  A baby might laugh with a contagious giggle when tickled or surprised with a "peak-a-boo!"  It may be the most contagious giggle you've ever heard.  It can be played over and over again by repeat tickles or additional "peak-a-boos".  The emotions are personal expressions that are to be shared and enjoyed with other people.  In fact, emotions emote action!  If we didn't experience emotions, we would be like robots.  We may be programmed to do what we are told, but we wouldn't do it because we wanted to and we wouldn't find the inner motivation to do things that make us feel like we belong, that we are of value, or that we can accomplish significant things. 

Emotions come from the thoughts and imaginations.  They result in actions.  They are the reactions to thoughts and the motivators for behavior.  The following is a diagram of where emotions fit in human behavioral processing:

      words --> thoughts --> imaginations --> emotions --> actions

Have you ever heard of someone in the news that ended up acting out something they never would have otherwise intended to do?  It seems preposterous that some kind and gentle-hearted person could commit so heinous a crime.  And yet they are on a Dateline investigation that shows how they killed someone they loved or something like that. 

I recently watched an episode of the TV show "House" where two doctors were confessing their marital infidelities against their mates to each other.  They ended up concluding that "We can't control our emotions, only our actions."  But they actually demonstrated the opposite of that statement by not controlling their emotions and by their inability to control their actions.  The truth is just the opposite of what they said.  We can and should control our emotions by controlling the input into our thought life.  If we are thinking wholesome thoughts about people, we will treat them with respect.  If we are thinking unkind thoughts about others, we will end up acting out against them sooner or later. 

Thoughts are fed into the imagination machine in our head.  Then the imagination considers the possibilities.  It answers the question: "What would that look like?"  The imagination is stimulated to consider how certain events might play out.  We consider the "what if's" of the situation.  We become preoccupied with whatever we are thinking about.  We can worry about "what's going to happen if I get cancer?" or we can be using our mental powers to learn how to eat healthy foods to avoid getting cancer.

Emotions are the responses to those imaginative scenarios.  The images that we create in our minds can become very real to the subconscious.  It's like waking up from a dream where you don't know if you really were falling off of a cliff or not.  Ultimately, the emotions give energy to actions, which may be good or bad.  So we find that words entering the mind can and do result in related actions, whether intended or unintended.  It's like programming a robot.

Athletes use affirmations to win games and break world records.  Professionals lie down and wake up reciting mantras about how good they are and how they are going to score and win.  You may have seen an Olympic runner mouthing words to himself/herself as they mount the blocks.  They are programming their minds to make their bodies excel and set PRs.  This is the positive side of what we're talking about.  It works the exact same way on the negative side. 

So if one is frequently controlled by emotions like fear, anger, anxiety or depression, it is possible to change those emotions by changing the input of words.  Much of the input we have received from our youth is lies from our own self-talk, Satan, friends, family, education and media.  We have become comfortable in the environment of those thoughts and uncomfortable in the context of God's words.  As a result, we have believed many lies from our enemies from our youth about God, ourselves, others and the world.  For example, we may believe that we are of little value to anybody and find it difficult to really accept that God loves us.  We may feel like a dirt bag because of what we've done when God says that He has forgiven us.  We have become familiar and therefore comfortable with our common thoughts.  They have been ingrained in the deep ruts that have been created in our brains.  It is not easy to change the input or the type of thoughts that we have entertained and allowed to reside within our minds for so long. 

We must change our mental input of self-talk.  The following might not be the best things to be saying to yourself on your way to an interview:  "I don't have good enough experience.  My resume stinks.  I can't think on my feet.  I'm nervous. I'm going to flunk this interview.  I'm probably not going to get this job."  What you could say is: "God has equipped me for the job He wants me to do.  I've created the best resume that I know how.  I'm looking forward to this interview.  I'm okay with whatever happens.  I will learn from my mistakes and thank God for any positive responses from the interviewer."  If you have to, repeat these kinds of statements to dilute the poison you've been feeding yourself.

Another thing you can do to change brain input is to quit allowing the media to get to you.  It's okay to stop watching the news.  They'll tell you all the bad news at work or in the grocery line anyway.  Listen to Christian music stations whose motto is "positive and encouraging".  Try to enjoy your "new friends" (positive thoughts) and don't default back to your "old friends" (negative thoughts).  They'll just drag you down.

Finally, change your association.  Limit your exposure to negative people as much as you can.  You can't change people but you can pray for them.  Neither can you get rid of the negative thoughts you've already allowed into your head, but you can dilute them.  If you want to be free from negative emotions, surround yourself with good news and positive expectations -- even if its against your nature.

AΩ

Are We Going To Make It?

How reassuring it is to receive a message from a friendly superior in a potentially fearful situation -- someone who can do something about it or knows more about it than we do and can give us confidence that everything will be okay.  That is God's message to us.

We almost ran out of gas before we reached a gas station on our recent vacation and drive across the country.  We didn't have the money to fly and I had the time to drive because I had no job.  I thought I could make this a business/pleasure vacation by going to a business convention that was three quarters of the way to my parents house.  I decided we could bring our daughter with us and combine our trip to Grammy's house with the business meeting to make it a partial tax write-off.

I had forgotten to get gas at the last major city.  Soon we found ourselves on the Interstate in an agricultural state passing exit after exit with no gas stations, just rows of corn.  We turned the air conditioning off to save gas.  I found a semi to "draft" behind to reduce the wind friction.  And we started to pray.  I prayed silently.  My wife prayed out loud.  We wanted to demonstrate faith and calmness to our 17-year-old daughter who was observing our reactions.

Did we really trust God?  What would we be trusting God for? -- to get us to the gas station without any delays?  Not necessarily.  Or to bring us through our moment of testing with results that would be in our best interest in the long-haul?  This could work out differently than we expected and result in either a spiritual lesson, greater faith or a Christ-like character trait.  But whatever God was doing here, it would be for His glory and totally out of love.  That's a good thing.  Can you believe that about your situation?

I began to think about plan B.  We had cell phones.  Hopefully, if we ran out of gas on the side of the road, we wouldn't be in a "no reception" pocket among the rolling hills and fields of soy beans.  Surely there would be accessible help without hiking for miles with my family exposed to danger as they sat in the hot car in the middle of July on the Interstate.  We would just be delayed a little bit and would remember to get gas in the bigger city before we reached a quarter of a tank – I promise!  Anybody for a little stomach acid in the face of haunting fear?

But if I truly trusted my heavenly Father, none of my plans really made any difference.  Wisdom would cause me to think through the possible scenarios, but the outcome was in His hands.  I not only didn't need to worry, I needed to exhibit the confidence that God would show us what we needed to do when the time came to do something.

OR ARE WE GOING TO SINK?

Toward the end of one day, Jesus told his disciples "Let us go over to the other side [of the sea]" (Mark 4:35).  Let me ask you a question:  Is there any way they would not get over to the other side of the sea?  Let me rephrase the question:  If Jesus said "let's go to the other side" would you make it to the other side?  The answer is "yes", you would most definitely make it to the other side.  You would make it to the other side because Jesus said that you were going over to the other side.

But what if it were night, which it was, and "there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up?" (4:37).  Most of us would have reacted exactly like the disciples did: "Jesus, I don't think you would care if we died!  In case you didn't realize it, we are about to die -- right now!" 

What was Jesus up to just then anyhow?  Wasn't He afraid that the boat would sink and that He would die?  Where was Jesus when they approached Him?  He was asleep on a pillow in the back of the boat.  Jesus was not worried, surprised or hurried.  Jesus was restfully at peace.  It appeared to the disciples that He was either an extremely heavy sleeper or that He didn't care if they all perished together.

It's not that we should never have anxiety or fear -- we are human.  We have a natural mind that is conditioned to act in self-preservation.  We will have times when the adrenaline is pumped into our systems.  But people who truly trust Jesus have decided that He is trustworthy and that He will bring them to the other side -- in spite of feelings of fear and doubt.  The decision to trust Jesus is done timidly at first.  As we gain confidence in God's Word and experience with His character, we begin towalk in a pattern of unwavering trust in the midst of the greatest storms.  That comes with growth and spiritual maturity.  If you are still experiencing a lot of painful anxiety and trepidation of enemies and danger, keep deciding to put yourself in the hands of Jesus.  You will learn to habitually run to a Jesus that is always holding out His hands to you -- and they are big hands.  You will learn to rest in Him more and more to the point that you cannot imagine not being in His marvelous hands.  It's not that you have a personality that lends itself to self-confidence or that you have always had a charmed life where it is easy to trust.  It is that you were made by Jesus Christ and you were made for Him.  He is the Good Shepherd and you are His sheep.  You are the sinner and He is the Savior.  You are the sick while He is the Great Physician.  You are insecure in yourself and He is all the security you will ever need.  It is that He calls you.  Come to Him.

You see, Jesus was providing an object lesson for the disciples.  He said, "Let us go over to the other side."  In the greatest, most life-threatening situations you could ever find yourself, He is there -- calm, stead, totally in control of the situation.  We think that He doesn't care because we can't see Him bustling to meet our every need.  No, He is lying there, totally at rest.  By His action of being asleep, He is inviting each one of us to grab a pillow and come lay down next to Him.  He invites us to partake in His peace.  Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful" (John 14:27).

Jesus calmed the wind and the sea in His timing.  It wasn't that Jesus didn't care.  It was that the disciples had little faith.  Even if you know Jesus and you are going through some storm in you life, it may feel like He has deserted you.  He doesn't seem to be answering your prayers.  It's almost like He is asleep!  Take heart my fellow believer.  He is well aware of what you are going through.  He is going through it with you.  He has not left you alone.  In all of your fears and dread, He is saying to you, "Get your pillow and come lay down next to me.  Let's have a quiet time of rest together and then I will see us both over to the other side.  You will never be the same after this experience and we will be closer than we have ever been.  Come..."

Mark 5:1 "They came to the other side of the sea..."

By the way, we rolled into a gas station with an unknown amount of gas in the tank.
__________________________________________________________________________

Mark 4:35-5:1
35 On that day, when evening came, He *said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."
36 Leaving the crowd, they *took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.
37And there *arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.
38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they *woke Him and *said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"
39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.
40 And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"
5:1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.
AΩ

Men Don't Belong in Heaven

        

                

  God is love.  

    He is three.   

Heaven is His abode.

                                      

Angels are God’s messengers.

  They live in heaven with God. 

The top angel questioned God's love.

  He planned to seize God’s position.  

He wanted to sit on the heavenly throne.

    He was caught and God stopped him.   

                          God is holy.                         

                                                                           

Man was created a just little lower than the angels.

He was placed on the earth to be fruitful and multiply.

What? Is there a Man in heaven? What is He doing there?

  He ascended to the right hand of God. Who is this Man? 

 He is the Son of God who became a man to be their Savior.

                                     God is merciful.                                    

                                                                                                         

  What? He is bringing men with Him to heaven? How can He do that?   

They are those whom the Son redeemed. They are those who believed Him.

They are seated in the heavenlies, in the very place that the fallen angel desired.

  The men who believed Him are His bride. They will live with Him forever and ever. 

God is gracious.

                        

                                                   What happened to the fallen angel?                                                   

The fallen angel is doomed to the lake of fire with his demons and the men who would not believe.

                                                        God is just.                                                       

 

Now That's Grace!

Declaration of Dependence

We are dependent creatures.  There’s no doubt about it.  We depend on:

• pleasures to make us happy

• circumstances to make us contented

• jobs and 401k’s to give us security – so much for that!

• friends to provide enjoyment in life

• spouse and family for long-term emotional satisfaction

 We have all experienced the failure of one or more of these dependencies.  There is not a one of them that can be completely trusted at all times.  You never know what might happen.

We frequently conclude that the only one we can trust is ourselves.  Many people are quite consistent with their internal meter.  We esteem self-reliance in our culture.  We are independent little pioneers who maintain our “can-do” attitude.  But it’s hard work when you go through life totally depending on yourself.  It can easily lead to burnout. It’s even harder when one realizes that they are not worthy of all that self-reliance.  Many people have to encounter a major failure in their performance or ability before they realize that they aren’t “all they’re cracked up to be.”

It is a wonderful thing to discover that life was not intended to be lived outside of dependence on the Creator.  God is the Creator, we are the creatures.  Jesus is the Savior, we are the lost sinners.  Jesus is the Great Physician and we are the sick.  Jesus is the Great Shepherd and we are the sheep.  What a match.  He is perfect for us.  He should be our ultimate “dependence mechanism” that we continually turn to.

One of the simplest verses in connection with living a life of dependence on God is Proverbs 3:5,6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” 

I acknowledge Jesus Christ as much as I can throughout my day.  The loftiest form of acknowledgement is to praise Him for His attributes that apply to what I am trying to do.  It may be, “Lord, you know how to be an employee with a boss like mine – help me to be the employee I need to be.”  Or, “Lord, you are an expert at financial accounting – I lean on You for understanding in my work.”  Or even, “Lord, I am a frustrated father – You are a wonderful Father – be the father in me that I need to be to my kids.” 

 

The Proverbs passage above then tells us that if we acknowledge Him, He will make our paths straight.  When my way is burdensome and I feel like I’m spinning my wheels, that’s when I know I’m depending on me instead of Jesus.  Depending on Jesus’ life in me makes life smoother, even when it is rocky.

Now That's Grace!

Is It Enough That Jesus Died?

I am not arguing that we must add something to what Jesus Christ did at the cross.  His work was final and complete.

• Jesus said, "It is finished" from the cross. (Jn 19:30) 
• "You know that He appeared in order to take away sins" (1 Jn 3:5)
• "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (Jn 1:29)
• "He Himself is the propitiation [appeasing sacrifice] for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." (I Jn 2:2)
• "And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world." (Jn4:14)

 I am suggesting that forgiveness is not enough.  Forgiveness alone does not equal salvation.

 A STORY FROM HISTORY

If you were a factory worker in the East, in the 19th century, wanting to take a train ride to the new frontier, you would find several obstacles to overcome.  First, you would have to pay off any debt out of your meager wages.  If you had accumulated debt, your creditor would surely find out about your desires and not let you go without paying your debt.  Secondly, you must be released from your present employment and supplied with the provisions necessary for your long trip.  Thirdly, you would need the full fare in advance so that you could pay your way to your destination.  (FreeFoto.com)

Imagine that a wealthy benefactor might come along and hear of your dream of transporting yourself to the new frontier.  Highly unlikely, but what if this generous man voluntarily paid all your debt -- that you were not capable of paying off in a lifetime working at the factory?  Wow!  What a jump start on fulfilling your heart's desire! 

But it wouldn't be enough.

You still had to get free from your employment obligation and acquire the equipment and stuffs for cross-country travel.  And after that, you still had to come up with the money to buy the train ticket.  How foolish it would be to think that you were prepared to take the trip at this point.  How disappointing it would be to realize that even with all your debt cleared away, you still would probably never be able to make that trip because you couldn't get away from your current circumstances or have enough money to purchase the necessary tickets.

What if your great new friend, came up to you and told you that he was going to be making that trip himself to the new frontier.  But instead of travelling alone, he was offering to help get you ready for travel and pay your fare to the final destination?  All this would be in addition to the debt he had already freely paid on your behalf.  How would you feel?  You know what a huge relief it was to be free of the burden of debt.  But now, what a once-in-a-million-years opportunity!  Would you take it?

There are some people who wouldn't believe that this would be necessary.  They might be grateful for the significant help covering the debt payment, but attaining this trip is something that they could probably achieve over the length of their lifetime if they worked hard enough for it. 

Wouldn't that be a little silly?  But some people might have trouble accepting such a large gift.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

First, the traveler's debt is like our sins and failures that have been taken away by Jesus.  He was punished by God for our offenses so that we could go free from the condemnation that haunted us.  It is forgiveness from God who owed us nothing, but paid the debt that we could never repay.

Second, the preparation for travel, including release from his employer, all bills paid, selling or moving out of his residence, travel clothing, suitcases and food preparation, represent the new life that he would have.  Our debt of sinfulness was paid, but that leaves us spiritually .  Where do we get life?  How do we become resurrected spiritually? 

Jesus didn't just die for our sins -- He rose from the dead!  New life comes from receiving Jesus Christ, our benefactor, into our life.  He becomes our companion.  He, in fact, is our life.  He is eternal life.  Whoever has Jesus, has life.  Jesus comes in to him to fellowship with him and live life together.  Jesus lives His life through us.  Some would accept the payment of the debt, but not the intimate companion or life-giving spirit of Jesus Christ.  But if this does not happen, the traveler will never make it to his desired destination on his own.

Third, the fare to the new frontier is equivalent to the perfect and right standing with God.  Who has anything to offer God for fare to heaven?  His standards are too high.  His requirements are too great?  We are relieved to have our debts paid.  But where in the world are we going to get the wherewithal to measure up to heaven's expectations?

The righteousness of Jesus Christ is put on the account of every person who comes to Him.  When a person receives Jesus and His accomplishments as the basis for meeting God's demands, he/she experiences the full exchange with God.  Christ has put away the debt of all our sins on the one hand, and given us the credit for His righteousness to our account on the other.  He has established and provided the fare for our acceptance into heaven.  There is no other way for those requirements to be met.

The fact that Jesus died in your place to pay the penalty for your sins moves you from negative to zero.  It's like getting out of debt only to be broke.  You still can't do anything.  You need the life and righteousness of Jesus Christ to take you from zero to absolute positive ground.  That only comes through the person of Jesus Christ.

So, I hope you see, dear reader, that forgiveness is not enough.  Having one's sins forgiven but without spiritual life or any qualification for heaven -- you will not make it to your desired destination.  You must invite the great friend and loving benefactor into your life to receive His life and righteousness.  He has already forgiven you and given you a clean slate.  But that is not enough.  Ask Him to be your companion throughout this life and for eternity, based on His merits.  He has already made the offer.  Just accept it and count on Him to go with you.  Then you will be sure to get in!

Traveling mercies my friend.

Now That's Grace!

It's All About Unbelief

That anyone might be sent to hell seems unthinkable.  It's all about unbelief.

First, we must believe that the demands of infinite holiness and the seriousness of its violation transcend our imagination.  What is the appropriate punishment for breaching God’s perfections?  Only God can establish the requirement for an infraction of His character.  And God, as Judge of all the Earth, has the sovereign right to determine the sentence.  The punishment has been set and it is unquestioningly just.

Secondly, the original sin was unbelief.  Before the creation of the universe, when Lucifer’s thinking began to go haywire, he did not honor God as God or give thanks.  He became dissatisfied with where God had placed him – the highest place in all angel-dom.  He didn’t trust God.  He did not believe that God truly loved him or had his best interest at heart.  He believed God was keeping him from higher knowledge and his true destiny.  He believed in his own scheme to exalt himself to be like God.  He didn’t believe God. (Is 14:12-14)

As a result of Satan’s conspiracy, God created the Lake of Fire for Satan and his angels. (Mt 25:41)  This was the determined punishment for unbelief in the angelic realm.

Thirdly, the root of Adam’s and Eve’s failure was unbelief.  Based on the Tempter’s temptation, they became dissatisfied with where God had placed them – the highest place in all of physical creation.  They didn’t trust God.  They didn’t believe that God truly loved them or had their best interest at heart.  They believed God was keeping them from higher knowledge and their true destiny.  They believed in their own scheme, suggested by Satan, to exalt themselves to be like God.  They didn’t believe God.  (Gen 3:5)

As a result of Adam’s willful disobedience, God set the Lake of Fire as punishment for Adam and all his descendants.  This was the determined punishment in the human realm.

Now, someone points out that Eve was deceived.  She wasn’t like Adam who clearly chose to follow his wife into sin.  But why was Eve deceived?  It was because she didn’t believe God.  Unbelief leads to self-deception, futility of mind, and darkened understanding.  The continued refusal to believe demonstrates the hardness of heart.

Unbelief leads to self-deception:

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (Ro 1:20-21)

“But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” (Ro 2:5)

“The Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.” (Eph 4:17-18)

Fourthly, Unbelief is the reason people will be in hell.  Every human being is born hurtling toward his/her well deserved destination in hell.  Jesus Christ took hell for each one of us all at once at the cross to save us from the penalty for our sinfulness.  But that is not enough to go to heaven.  That is like having your debt paid so that you’re now just plain broke.  Heaven requires spiritual life and divine righteousness.  Those come by simple faith and trust in Jesus Christ. 

Think of it!  God has cleared the slate for every human by removing every sin from their account. (2 Co 5:19, I Jn 2:2)  He offers life and justification to qualify us to live in His home forever if we only believe Him!  If we refuse to believe Him, we become self-deceived and darkened in our understanding.  There is no recourse for unbelievers, only hell.  To force an unbeliever to go to heaven would turn heaven into hell.  There will be none there except believers who love their Jesus and want to spend eternity with God.

Two illustrations from the Scriptures:

1) Do you remember the intensity of David’s indignation in reaction to Nathan’s story of the precious little lamb that was like a family member to the poor man’s family?  The lamb was taken away from the family and slaughtered to the dismay of the poor man’s family.  David stated that this man should be put to !  Should we expect God to react any less hotly to those who refuse to believe Him about His Son and His Son’s for the sake of their sins?  We must also acknowledge that we can’t even begin to know the depths of pain Christ bore for our sakes and the extent of suffering because of separation from the Father. (2 Sam 12:1-5)

2) Do you remember when the Israelites were wandering in the desert, complaining in unbelief, and God sent poisonous vipers into the camp?  People started dying.  It was justice.  Eventually, everyone in the camp could have died.  But God, in His grace, provided a way to be rescued from the poison in their veins:  look at a brass serpent raised up on a pole.  “How ridiculous” some would say.  “I’m not going to simply look at some dumb piece of brass raised into the air!”  Those were the ones who died, simply because of unbelief.  We might say their demise was cruel and unusual, but the penalty for unbelief is .  It was their choice.  And so it will have been the choice of those who will be in hell, they will not take God at His word, and they will suffer the consequences.  The penalty has already been determined – the Lake of Fire for eternity. (Num 21:5-9)

The Final Word:
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; he who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  (Jn 3:18,17,16)

Now That's Grace!

God's Plan for Personal Peace

OUR TYPICAL PLAN FOR ADDRESSING OUR PROBLEMS:

We allow circumstances to dictate our moods.  We react with anger toward others to regain control of our situation.  We feel like God let this happen when He wasn't looking.  We worry in an attempt to out-wit our problem with our intellect.  We enumerate every negative aspect of our problem so we know exactly how terrible it really is. We allow our thinking to go down every negative trail, careening out of control into a whirlwind of destruction.

Does this sound familiar?

We feel the need to worry because if we don't worry, we are cavalier.  We don't want to be accused of being lazy -- get to the work of being worried!  We believe that our worrying will result in a solution to the problem we're facing.  We want to get our mind active in resolving this issue that we often can do nothing about. 


GOD'S PLAN FOR PERSONAL PEACE:
Philippians 4:4-8

1) Decide to rejoice and do it!

v.4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”

Paul wrote this in what may have been his last prison experience.  He may well have realized that his release would only be upon his beheading by the Romans.  We frequently allow circumstances to control our thoughts.  Paul said we should bring every thought into the captivity of Jesus Christ (2 Co 10:5).  Choose to smile.  Choose to imagine your Heavenly Father looking down on your open response to accept His character building training, knowing that it will be far surpassed by a profound eternal importance.  Whatever you are going through is really a trivial pittance compared to what God is planning for you as a result of your flexibility.  Paul says it again for emphasis: "Decide to rejoice."

2) Let the Lord's presence bring gentleness to your relationships.

v.5 “Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.”

The Lord is near.  On the one hand, if you have a healthy fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of knowledge (Pr 1:7), you know that a natural response of anger is not right.  But you "can't help it!" you say.  Vengeance belongs to God (He 10:30).  The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God (Ja 1:20). 

The Lord is near.  On the other hand, remember what manner of hostility by sinners was vented toward Jesus (He 12:3).  He knows how to remain calm when threatened.  He knows how to be incredibly strong when spat upon and whipped.  Meditate on Jesus and come out with a total dependence upon His power working in you to produce the fruit of gentleness in the presence of the vitriol of your enemies.

3) Stop worrying.  Start praying.  Give thanks.

v.6 “Be anxious for nothing”

God says: “Stop worrying.”  Did you hear that?  “Stop worrying.”  God wants you to not worry.  God has made it so that worry is unnecessary.  Worry is useless.  Worry is a waste of time and energy.  Worry is simply faith in the possibility of destruction coming into your life.  God says He works all things together for our good, to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose (Ro 8:28).  If you profess to believe God, trust Him to bring good out of your problem and look for it expectantly.  Easier said than done, huh?

Again, this is an issue of actively controlling our thoughts.  If you have to, write a promise of Scripture on a 3 x 5 card and keep it in front of your face and repeat reading the passage until your mind becomes focused on it.  If it begins to fade, do it again.  Concentrate.  Let the meaning of the verse fill the negative ruts of your mind.  Let is displace the poison that is choking your progress.  Speak it back to God in an acknowledgement of what He has stated.

“…but in everything by prayer and supplication… let your requests be made known to God.”

Jesus said “men should always pray and not lose heart” (Lu 18:1).  Paul said “pray without ceasing” (I Th 5:17).  So what do you pray?  Control your prayer thoughts.  Pray the Psalms.  Pray promises out of the Scriptures.  Draw near to God in your prayers and He will draw near to you (Ja 4:8).  Pray praise.  When you lift your prayers to God, God comes to inhabit your praise.

“…with thanksgiving…”

Above all, in your prayers, give thanks.  Paul says “give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (I Th 5:18).  As has been pointed out before, it doesn’t say give thanks for everything, but give thanks in everything.  This is a deliberate act of faith and obedience, seeing it states that this is God’s will for you.

v.7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The result of praying with thanksgiving instead of worrying is a supernatural peace from above that protects us from losing heart, fainting, quitting or giving up.  In essence, we will be waiting on the Lord, renewing our strength, mounting up with wings like eagles above our circumstances, running the race and not getting tired, and walking without becoming weak (Is 40:31).

4) Fill your mind with good things.

v.8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

It doesn’t work very well to attempt to empty yourself of worry without replacing it with something else.  The natural mind returns and repeats the negativity over and over again.  Here we are given the categories of things with which we should fill our minds.  Let me repeat them: true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, good repute, excellence, and praise worthy.  Take the time out to dwell on these things. 

The very best representation of these things is our beautiful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Think about how the Father’s full pleasure rests upon Jesus.  Think about how there are pleasures forevermore at the right hand of God (Ps 16:11), i.e. where Jesus is.  Think about how we are seated with Christ at the right hand of God (Ep 2:6).   

Think about the love described in I Co 13:4-8 as Christ’s love for you.  Think about the relationship of love described in Ro 8:31-39 that can never be severed.  Think about how the heavens reveal God’s glory and all nature reveals His invisible attributes and eternal power (Ro 1:20).

Finally, it is left to you to act upon these commands in faith.  You are His child.  You have a Father.  That is enough:

1) Decide to rejoice and do it!
2) Let the Lord's presence bring gentleness to your relationships.
3) Stop worrying.  Start praying.  Give thanks.
4) Fill your mind with good things.

Now That's Grace!

The Worst Day of Your Life? by Olene Forcey

By Olene Forcey

After getting news that makes this the worst day of your life, news that you are no longer employed, or that you have been severely injured in an , or that something has happened to your child, or that your mate wants a divorce - then you have to decide what to do with that information.  In the media we see all kinds of responses from fighting for your old job back to yourself because you think you have no alternatives.

After I recently lost my job, and as a believer, I was sure that there was a path available for anyone that receives devastating news, but I was going to have to work at it and not just let my thoughts run wild.

    "Take every thought into captivity…" (2 Co 10:5)

The following is a quote from Stormie Omartian's book The Prayer That Changes Everything: 

  Our lives suddenly have a big empty place in them that must be filled with something or we will collapse in on ourselves.  That's the reason many people seek God more in a time of tragedy.

  However, there are others who experience great loss, disappointment, or failure and feel that God didn't come through for them or this would never have happened.  But the exact opposite is true.  God has never been closer.  God allows tough things to happen in our lives and only He knows why.  But that doesn't mean it is something He willed or planned.  Even if it were, indicting God for our circumstances is out of the question.  That's because blaming God shuts off the very avenue through which His redemptive process flows into our life.  If God is our Redeemer and He is the only one who can redeem our situation, then blaming him for it happening is like ourselves in the foot. 

  When our first reaction to loss, disappointment, or failure is to go to God in praise and worship, we open up a channel through which His healing, restoration and redemption flows.  That is the hidden power of praising God."

Yes, that is what she meant to say and yes, that is what I believe.  Praise and worship Him whether you feel like it or not!!

    "Rejoice and again I say rejoice" (Ph 4:4).

Dialogue in my head:  "Whoa!  You mean people really do that?  On the worst day of their lives -- they choose to praise God?"

That is what God has told us to do in His Word.

My next question:  "What does that look like?"  I don't even know how to praise God in the way He likes.  Would that be singing, dancing or sitting down quietly and reading and meditating on Scripture?  Answer: "it could be all of the above."  I had to ask God how He wanted to be praised, and to please show me how to do that.  This was the first time I had ever thought about it.  God will reveal to you how He wants you to praise Him.

Next, I had to control my thoughts.  I was angry and hurt with innumerable other emotions, some that I couldn't even identify.  I just knew I felt awful.  If I was not reading or singing hymns, I was worrying.  Worrying like I had never experienced before…this was devastating.

I like to think of it like a child and a parent (that would be me and God).  The parent decides what is wonderful for the child, but the child can't see the big picture.  The parent has to take something away from the child like his favorite blanket - so it can be washed.  The child is angry and sulks and may even tell the parent that they them and that they are mean.  Why did you take that away from me?  I liked it and it made me comfortable.  Now, I can't even sleep…it is not right or fair and on and on and on with the complaining.  For just a moment, let's remember Israel as they were in the desert.  They whined and complained at every turn . . . "and we are the chosen people"  You, God, are so mean, how could You do this to us.  Only two men, out of the entire Nation of Israel that left Egypt, got to enter the land, and that was because the two men believed God and wanted to move into the Land God had promised (His best for us), the rest of Israel obviously did not believe that God was able to give them what they needed or wanted, therefore they died in the wilderness.

When we start asking "why me?", "have You turned Your back on me"?, "I don't deserve this", our response is wrong and we have to put a stop to that kind of thinking, NOW!

Do you really believe for one second that God would allow anything to deter His perfect will for you?  Do you believe that God works all things together for our good like His Word says, or is that for somebody else.  As I see it, everything else pales in comparison to finding out what God has for me in this new adventure.  Do I like my circumstances now?  NO!  But I believe God is working in the midst of it to see if I will trust Him - and He knows what I am thinking.  Can I give Him the benefit of the doubt or am I so sure that all those crumby emotions and doubts are going to help me in any way.

God sent manna to the people and told them to just take enough for one day except the day before the Sabbath and then they were to gather  two days worth of manna.  Then the Bible says He watched to see if they would trust Him. 

When something like this happens to you and me, this is not the time to test His love for us.  His love is unconditional and always there.  He is testing our love for Him.  Do we believe He holds nothing against us?  He has what we need and He wants to give it to us.  (Those thoughts came from Stephen's Sunday School lessons.)

The choice is absolutely mine!!  Going back to the story of the child and parent.  What if the child looked into the parents eyes and says "I know you love me and I know you have something good in mind.  I will curl up in your lap and let you sing to me or read a book to me.  I love you and am so glad I'm your child."

What does God want to hear from you?  How mad you are and that He has really messed things up for you this time.  It is laughable isn't it?  God almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth adores you - more than you can fathom.  Can you believe that you will finish this part of your journey and say "God, I had no idea you were sending gifts and blessings and I tossed them all aside so I could worry and complain."

My choice!!!!

I choose to honor, praise and worship the God who created me, loves me and has a plan for me.  I choose to let go and not participate in worrying and agonizing over what I am going to do.  I will praise Him because He is done and it is perfect.  I will continue asking Him how He wants to be praised.

Dear Father:  I choose to honor, praise and worship You, the God who created me, loves me and has a plan for me.  I choose to let go and not participate in worrying and agonizing over what I am going to do.  I praise You because You are working and it is perfect.  I will continue to ask You how You want to be praised and I will continue to praise You no matter what.

Now That's Grace!

True Motivation

If God's grace has set us free from:  
    -His judgment
    -Satan's rule
    -The World's temptations
    -Sin's domination
    -The Law's demands

...what motivates us to read, pray, go to church, give, witness?  Why should we do anything?  We are not under any legalistic system unless we allow ourselves or someone else to bring us under some set of rules for spirituality.  Paul says "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery (Ga 5:1).  So why should we do anything? 

Actually, those who have tasted of the depths of the well of God's wonderful grace are more active and fruitful than those who are trying to measure up to a personal set of standards.  These are the concepts that so motivate them:

1) realize the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly,  righteously and godly, Ti 2:11-12.

2) come to end of yourself - stop trying to live the Christian life in your own strength
    I can do nothing apart from Him, Jn 15:4.
    All our righteousnesses are filthy rags, Is 64:6.

3) acknowledge that He has what you want - wisdom, love, peace, contentment, etc.
    1) He has what you want.
    2) He is the only one who has what you want.
    3) He is able to give it to you.
    4) He wants to give it to you.

4) act as if He is your only resource -
    Think: "I can't, but He can"; Abide in Him; He is the vine and I am a branch, Jn 15.
    It is God who works in you, both the willing and the doing, Ph 4:13.

5) Come into the Father's house - there is a robe, ring, fatted calf, a banquet, celebration, Lk 16.
    In His presence is fulness of joy, at His right hand there are pleasures forever, Ps 16:11.

6) let Christ dwell at home in my heart, Eph 3:17.

7) accept His invitation to come to Him and take His yoke which is easy and light, Mt 11:28-30.

8) take pleasure in Him; Delight yourself in the Lord, Ps 37:4.

But what if...
...I don't feel like it -
    realize where that is coming from and freely choose Him instead - only if you want to.

...I feel the need to go through my checklist? -
    realize where that is coming from and freely choose Him instead - only if you want to.

...I feel guilty if I don't? -
    realize where that is coming from and freely choose Him instead - only if you want to.

...I don't really care, I am satisfied to stay in the Wilderness, I want status quo, I enjoy my comfort zone, I am fearful, faithless, like to worry, and like to complain? -
    realize where that is coming from and freely choose Him instead - only if you want to.

9) Switch men - from the old to the new, Ep 4:22-24.

10) Re-educate your conscience.  He has cleansed it, He 10:22.

11) Look to the Spirit to increase your discipline as a fruit of the Spirit - the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, Ga 5:23, Mt 26:41.

12) Desire the sincere milk of the Word, I Pt 2:2.
    Foster a desire and a right response to His Word.  To know Him is the greatest thing,  Ph 3:10.
    Develop a taste - if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord, I Pt 2:3.

13) Renew your mind, get into the Word - be transformed by the renewing of your mind, Ro 12:2; be renewed in the spirit of your mind, Ep 4:23.

14) Bring every thought into the captivity of Christ, 2 Co 10:5.
    We let our old mind prevail, but we have the mind of Christ, I Co 2:16; we are told to let this mind be in you, Ph 2:5.

15) Think on these things - things true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, good repute, excellence, praiseworthy, dwell on these things, Ph 4:8.

16) Fellowship - do not forsake assembling and stimulate one another to love and good works, He 10:24-25.

17) Worship Him for who He is; Praise Him for what He can do - This is key, key, key!

Now That's Grace

Q&A: What Really Happened to the Sin Nature?

Question:

"What you talked about is so what people need to hear today and no one is teaching them.  Funny thing is, yesterday we went to a new church, a sister church from one in Chicago.  The pastor was preaching on Colossians 1 and he was right on, except I got the feeling he might believe that we don't have a sin nature anymore, his basis being "the old is gone the new has come'.  How would you come at that?  I think about verses that talk about 'putting off the old man and putting on the new' etc. What say ye?"  JN

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The Old Man
 
Some teachers inconsistently vacillate between whether the old nature is gone or not gone while others definitely teach the total eradication of the old nature because of Ro 6:6 "Our old man was crucified with Christ."  The problem is: we and the world been crucified too:

Gal 6:14 "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

Do we and the world still exist?  Of course we do.

Ro 8:7 says "We who have died are freed from sin."  Since we have died with Christ, do we still exist?  Most people forget that means separation, not extinction, and hence many errors result.

According to Ro 8:3, God condemned sin.  He forgave "sins" but He condemned "sin":

Ro 8:3 "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh."

God is finished with the Old Man.  He is not improving him or rehabilitating him.  God has said everything He is going to say about the Old Man.  He has judged and condemned the nature of Adam at the cross.  It is we who give countenance to the Old Man, not God.  But we are supposed to put him off like a dirty garment.  Those who are improving themselves out of self-discipline and self-improvement techniques are really just polishing up the old nature.  Some of them do a pretty fine job of it too!

Colossians says that we have put off (past tense) the Old Man.  Ephesians commands us to put off (present tense) the Old Man.  Is this a contradiction?  No, Colossians is coming from God's perspective because He has condemned the Old Man, released us from his power and left him ineffective:

Ro 6:6b "that the body of sin might be destroyed [rendered powerless], that henceforth we should not serve sin."

We have already put off the Old Man.  God has provided separation from the Old Man for us.  Now Ephesians is telling us that we can choose which nature we currently submit to.  We should put off the Old Man.  We need to switch men, from the Old to the New, by turning and abiding in Christ.  But in the current discussion, how can one put off the Old Man (present tense) if he isn't supposed to exist?

Col 3:9 "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;"
Eph 4:22 "in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the s of deceit,"

The god of this world, Satan, is also judged, Jesus said (Jn 16:11).  Does that mean Satan doesn't exist?  Of course not.  The judgment has been made but the sentence just hasn't been executed yet.  The same is true of the Old Man.  He will be banished forever when our bodies are redeemed because when we see Him, we shall be just as He is.

The problem is that we still sin.  The question is, what is the source?  One- s believe there is a "sin principle" that resides in us or that these are only "habits" that still exist in our unredeemed body.  Where did we get a "sin principle" that is different from the old nature or the flesh?  The sin nature came from Adam.  These are synonymous terms for the same entity.  "Habits" doesn't fully explain the continuing s of the flesh which are really no different than they were before.  Ephesians indicates that the old man is still "being corrupted in accordance with the s of deceit."  There is one internal source of sin in a believer's life.  It is not removed upon regeneration.  Instead, there is a new nature implanted and indwelt by the Holy Spirit in the same body.  God gives us the opportunity to choose Him over our former master.  The choice is ours.  

It is important to realize that the old nature can produce its own version of "good" apart from God.  It can go to church, read the Bible, etc.  But "all our righteousness is as filthy rags" (Is 64:6), even for Christians.  The real problem is that once a person denies the existence of the sin nature and moves forward to "live for God", they may well be living the Christian life out of their own energy and don't even realize it.  That's why there is so much burnout and strife in Christian ministries.

The great thing about what God has done, is not that He has terminated the old nature so that we could produce our own good, but that he has released us from the old nature's stranglehold, and implanted a new nature in the same body which has all the DNA of Jesus Christ and can bloom into all the character of Jesus through the watering of the Holy Spirit.  By contrast, we now have the opportunity and the power to choose Him over self, and see His life grow in us to produce lasting fruit to His glory.

Now That's Grace!

PUBLICATION: Why Angels Long to Look

This is the written form of a sermon I gave in my home church, Fellowship Community Church, on December 28, 2008.  The week before, I caught a cold and was still fighting it.  I sent my PowerPoint presentation to the tech crew three times that week before it was delivered without corruption.  Deb said they had never had so much trouble receiving a presentation from anyone.  She also said that whenever they have trouble, it is a sign that God has a great blessing in store for the church.  Finally, 20 minutes before the first service was to start, the power went out.  Dale said it had been 15 years since anything like that had happened. 

As it turned out, we proceeded to carry out the services in candle light.  I had to preach from memory without my notes (uh oh!).  I used a flash light to read the passages accurately.  It was like being in the catacombs with the early church, only we were quite safe and warm.  Once again, Satan was foiled by God’s overriding purposes.  We carried on and God used every aspect of the services to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Click on this link to go the Publications Page:  Publications

Click on this link to download the script now:  Download PDF Document

Click on this link to download the presentation: Download Presentation Notes

VIDEO: Why Angels Long to Look

This is the video link for a sermon I gave in my home church, Fellowship Community Church, on December 28, 2008.  The week before, I caught a cold and was still fighting it.  I sent my PowerPoint presentation to the tech crew three times that week before it was delivered without corruption.  Deb said they had never had so much trouble receiving a presentation from anyone.  She also said that whenever they have trouble, it is a sign that God has a great blessing in store for the church.  Finally, 20 minutes before the first service was to start, the power went out.  Dale said it had been 15 years since anything like that had happened. 

As it turned out, we proceeded to carry out the services in candle light.  I had to preach from memory without my notes (uh oh!).  I used a flash light to read the passages accurately.  It was like being in the catacombs with the early church, only we were quite safe and warm.  Once again, Satan was foiled by God’s overriding purposes.  We carried on and God used every aspect of the services to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Click on this link to connect to the sermon player:  Play Sermon Video - "Why Angels Long to Look" (30 minutes)

Click on this link to download the PowerPoint presentation:   Download Presentation Notes

Personality for It

Back in the 90’s, I went through a period of 10 months without work after the company I worked for lost it’s owner through a massive stroke, was sold, and moved out of state. It was a new kind of struggle for us. We wrestled with depression, feelings of worthlessness, and worry about the worst financial tragedies that could possibly happen.

We learned that trusting God doesn’t necessarily mean that a person won’t have waves of gut-wrenching anxiety. Fearful thoughts sometimes flood out of the natural stream of consciousness. Day after day we had to confront those thoughts and choose how we would allow our thoughts to go.

That’s why I was shocked when a leader in our church at the time thought he was encouraging us both by saying: “You must have the personality to go through things like that.” We thanked him for the compliment, realizing that he had little understanding about the lessons of faith that allow us to whether the storms of life victoriously.

Paul prayed for this kind of conquering faith for the Ephesians:

“I bow my knees before the Father… that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up with all the fullness of God” (Ep 3:14-19).

The Power of Overcoming Faith

The Source:
1) This kind of faith response to life’s challenges is a gift from God and available by prayer.
2) This gift is granted according to the inexhaustible riches of God’s storehouse to all believers.
3) Mature responses to hiccups in the road come from an inner power of God’s Spirit.

The Results:
1) This gift of power results in God making Himself “at home” in one’s heart through the person of Jesus Christ by faith.
2) One will be solidly grounded in and know the incomprehensible expanse of Christ’s love for us.
3) One will be totally operating out of the overflow of God’s character. The power to know Christ’s love and have Him dwell at home in our hearts is available to every believer who seeks for it.

Now that’s grace!

The People of the Covenant Maker

Under the Old Covenant, there was an opportunity for a new people of God to be generated.

God was angry with the people of Israel because they had made a molten calf to worship in the place of God.  The people were saying, 'THIS is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!'  God responded by stating what an obstinate people they were who quickly turn from His commandments.  God wanted to destroy the people in His great anger (Ex 32).

Interestingly, we see God portrayed with anthropomorphic (human-like) traits of getting angry and changing His mind.  First we find that God is telling Moses to let Him alone because He wanted to be mad and let his anger run full course to the ultimate destruction of Israel.  But does God have to ask a man to let Him alone?  This is a hint that this was a test for Moses.  Will Moses just let God alone as He wishes and let Him destroy Israel without any objection?

Then God turns to Moses and offers to make a great nation out of him and his offspring.  That could be quite flattering to an ambitious leader.  But instead, Moses confronts God in a way that  would make the best of salesmen smile:

“But You brought them out of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand.  Besides, what would the Egyptians say -- that You intended evil against Your own people?  Remember what You promised their forefathers, that there would be descendants as the stars of heaven and the land would be given to their descendants forever!”

God did test Moses, but the threat of the situation was real.  After all, God could have made a great nation out of Moses and that would have still qualified as descendants of Abraham.  What if God had made a great nation of Moses?  Would they obey God’s commands?  Probably not.  God had already narrowed the line of humanity down at the time of Noah and Flood, but his descendants didn’t turn out any better – they built a great tower in defiance of God’s command.

Moses was the greatest mediator between God and Israel (until Jesus).  He was the Executor of the Mosaic Law, the Old Covenant.  He made it his business to represent the two parties of God and Israel to each other.  He talked with God.  He spoke to the people.  Moses obeyed God except for one glaring fault when he hit the rock twice instead of speaking to it before it gushed drinking water.

Jesus is also a mediator (1Ti 2:5)and a prophet, similar to Moses.  Moses predicted that God would raise up a Prophet like him from among the brethren of Israel (Dt 18:15).  Jesus is just that prophet.  Jesus was the Executor of the New Covenant between God and Israel.

What if, this time, God raised up a people that came from and belonged to the Executor of the New Covenant?  These people would not be under the New Covenant, but would enjoy the benefits of it because they were related to the Executor of it.  They would not be the subjects of the Kingdom but the Bride of the Executor.  Instead of being under the New Covenant, which is with Israel, they will live by the loving commands of their groom.  Instead of God’s laws being written on their hearts, their dearly beloved will be written on their hearts.  Do you know who I’m talking about?  Have you guessed what people are the beneficiaries of such a great position?  The Church.

Now that’s grace!

God's Faves

A major cell phone provider has a marketing program featuring discounted plans that include one's five favorite people.  These are considered "the most important" people to the cell phone user and are called the most frequently.  Typically these friends and family make up two-thirds of their calls each month.  This way, users can "stay connected to the people who matter most in their life."  Users are allowed to select up to five faves which can be changed up to once per month.

Believers are favored by God.  They are on His Faves list.  They are important to Him.  He desires to stay connected to the people who matter most to Him.  God has "lavished" the riches of His grace upon us (Eph 1:7-8).  His list of faves is not limited.  If you are a believer, you are favored by God.  You are loved.  You are accepted.  You belong to Him. You are chosen.

God is not this gracious to you because of some great thing about you or that you have done.  God favors you simply because you have received His gift of eternal life based on the good news of the and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Everyone is prequalified.

Now that's grace!