Believer's Authority/God's Power

The more I learn about God and His word the more I find myself lacking.  This is not bad, it is a process of course, for where I find myself lacking then God has somewhere to work in my life.  I find that when I think I know more than I do and don't really need to study or consult God, that's when I feel the most empty and wanting.  God's word tells us that as we think, that's what we become. It's interesting to see how God's laws work, laws that never change, never go away and are always faithful. In this message I would like to examine what God says about our authority  that we have in His son Jesus Christ and how we are to use this authority in this world.

The first area we need to look at is ourselves and how we think about things.  You see, this is one of God's laws.  Proverbs 23:7a "For as he thinks in himself, so is he."  This verse simply says, what  you are thinking is who you really are.  Before we can learn about how to use God's laws we must first learn something about ourselves because wrong thinking can destroy what God wants for you.  For example, if you spend your life sitting in front of the television watching depressing shows, you will naturally become depressed, or maybe you watch violent shows or you hang around people that always talk violence or hatred, your thinking is going to become just like what you feed your mind.  You may find yourself being lustful and envious of others, then I would suggest that you are feeding your mind these types of thoughts either by what you watch on television or by the people you are friends with or even the material you read.  Your thinking has control of you.  On the other hand you feed your mind with positive material or watch good uplifting shows and hang around people who are positive in nature then you will no doubt become more positive in the way you think and act.  Your conversation will be encouraging and uplifting instead of doom and gloom.  Philippians 4:8 tells us to think on these; "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.  The way we think will determine how we live by or not live by God's laws.  You are the deciding factor on how well God's word works for you.  When you look at Proverbs 23:7 the word thinking comes from the Greek word "shaar" which means calculating.  So seeing this in context it is not what you say as much as what is in your heart and mind or what you are thinking or calculating. In other words, your thinking determines the type of person you are.  Philippians 4:8 lays it out for us plainly.  Verse 9 gives us the result of practicing this kind of thinking, Likewise, keep practicing these things: what you have learned, received, heard, and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.  You have a choice as to what to think on and what you feed your mind, and what you choose to dwell on is really who you are in a sense.  The key word and phrase in this verse is "keep practicing" and "Then."  Simply put, practice what you have learned from Gods Word and then these things will the God of peace will be with you, not before. This is God's law for us, to renew our minds in His word, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, Romans 12:2a.

Now that we have established that the way you think has a direct effect on you, now lets look at something that many believer's have failed at miserably.  This is an area that is greatly effected by how you think.  The believer's authority that they have had ever since they were born again.  First you must understand that when you were born again you received the power of God and it dwells in YOU.  When you believed on Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit replaced your old sinful nature with a brand new nature just like that of Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit now dwells within you.  The very Spirit of God dwells in YOU.  Just by that alone tells us that we have the power of God in us.  This is how it works, power comes with belief in Gods Son.  The problem most seem to have is that they don't realize the power that dwells within them, and for those who do know the power is there don't understand how to utilize it.  You need to realize that the authority the first Adam lost was restored by the second Adam, Jesus Christ.  When you place your belief in Christ you receive back not only Gods power, but also the authority that was lost.  So now every believer has within them the power of God and the authority to use it.  This is Gods law so to speak, that's the way it works.  Your thinking will determine whether or not this power and authority are any good to you and the kingdom of God.  If you go about saying that this isn't for this age, then naturally it's not going to work, you just null and voided it.  Maybe you think that only certain individuals have the gift of healing, and you have to get to them to be healed, then maybe it will work for you.  Maybe is not faith.  If you are one of those who  think that some have to suffer for Christ and stay sick or poor then you have just cancelled out God working in your behalf. You must understand that when you were born again, God placed in you faith along with His Power and Authority.  The faith you have in His Word will determine whether His word will manifest in your life.

The problem that confronts most of us is believing that Gods Word is for us today and that it will accomplish that which it is sent to do.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."  Isaiah 55:9-11.  Think about this for a few minutes, what does this say to me?  How is this going make a difference in my life?  Does this apply to me personally? Now, what are your thoughts?  Are you thinking this is fine but it does not apply to me, or, this is Old Testament stuff and it doesn't apply today?  I tried believing this but it didn't work for me so it is God's will that I am in this situation.  It's not my fault it's God's.  Maybe your thinking I just don't have enough faith for these things.  If you are thinking this way, can you see how your thinking is affecting the outcome of your prayers or the results that you are asking God for.  What then on the other hand your thinking goes something like this; I know God's word is true and will not fail me.  I stand on God's word even though I may not be seeing any results at the moment I know God it will not fail me. God's word is the same yesterday, today and forever so if He said it will be, then it will be.  

The way you think about God and His Word is the determining factor on the outcome of your prayers. Faith is a positive  looking forward process.  It does not look at the situation, it looks ahead to the results.  Faith accomplish's the unseen things in our lives by bringing them into existence. Faith is not saying it's up to God, or if someone would just pray for me, although other's prayer's of faith can help see your prayer manifest.  Ultimately the answers to your request to God depend so much on your thinking.  Consider what I am saying, negative thoughts bring negative results, positive thoughts brings positive results.   To many of us think that God is responsible for everything that happens to us. If something bad happens it's God's way of teaching me a lesson or He's punishing me for the wrong I did.  This way of thinking is contrary to God's Word.  James 4:7 tells us to "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  Now I ask you, who is supposed to resist the devil, God or you?  Gods Word says you are to resist the devil, God has already defeated the devil, and God gave us the tools, His Word, to resist with.  What about the healing of the sick?  Do we just leave it up to God and say that it is His responsibility to heal the sick?  If we pray for the sick then it's up to God to heal them, right?  Take a look at this in Matthew 10:8, "As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."  Who is to go and proclaim the gospel, the pastor, the evangelist, those who have a gift of speaking?  No, it says YOU go!  Who is to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the leper, drive out demons?  Again, is this just for the Apostles of that time, is it those with a gift of healing or some other spiritual gift?  No, it says YOU go!  When we begin to understand that it is not God's responsibility to do these things we will begin to see Gods Word manifest.  Remember that power and authority I mentioned earlier, when Christ went to the cross He took every sickness on Himself, He took our poverty on Himself, He took every sin on Himself by taking our very sin nature.  So when Isaiah proclaimed "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him  And by His scourging we are healed."  Key word here is in verse 5 where it says "we are" healed.  This is a past tense statement meaning that it is already taken care of.  God has already provided your healing before you were even sick or depressed, wounded, in a financial situation, everything was already taken care of.  God has already done His part! So, when you say it is God's responsibility you are shucking your responsibility of doing what God has commanded us to do.  God has not only provided His power for us, He has also given us authority to use His power, now that is amazing and an incredible truth.  In Ephesians 1:18-20  we see that God generated power within us and in Matthew 16:15-19 Jesus tells Peter about the power in the church that we as believers have; “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.  And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^e loosed in heaven.”  Do you see it, Christ will what?  "give YOU the keys of the kingdom of heaven"  Now look at the other YOU's in this scripture, what do they say?  They say YOU bind on earth and it will be bound in heaven and whatever YOU loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  God gave us the responsibility to use His power and His authority to do this.  God has already taken care of these things through His son Jesus Christ.  So, if your thinking is wrong and because you don't see instant manifestation of what you ask for, then you place the blame on God for not healing, providing, or releasing.  This is totally a lack of faith and unbelief because God told us that He has already defeated the enemy and He has already provided what we need.  The Atonement took care of everything.  So where does the problem come from then? It comes from first the way we think about Gods Word, do we believe it or not?  Then it comes from our not believing.  We don't see it manifested instantly so we say it didn't work, or God is letting me suffer to teach me something.  We have such stinking thinking that Gods word becomes ineffective.  It is cancelled out by our unbelief; And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief, Matthew 13:58.  

Let me share this, God has placed in every believer the power of the Godhead.  Romans 1:4 clearly states that we have the power of God within us, His word, the Spirit of God within us, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.  That same Spirit dwells within us, the Holy Spirit of God.  Our part is to access that same power and authority that dwells in us and use it according to Gods will.  Instead of pleading and begging God to heal, cast out demons or provide for us we need to reach out in faith for what God has already provided believing that He will honor His word, no matter the circumstances.  Remember this verse; Isaiah 55:9-11, His word will not return to Him without it accomplishing for which it was sent to do.  

Friends, if you can get your thinking right and start doing what God commanded us to do, believing that He will give you what you ask.  "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it, John 14:13-14. Our responsibility in this is to reach out in faith and receive what God has already provided through Jesus Christ, believing that what you ask for He will give you.  How is your thinking?  Is it negative and with lack of belief or is it positive with faith and belief that God will do what He said He would do? It's up to you how you believe, hopefully it is with a positive attitude and positive belief. Learn the method or way of speaking to your mountain, no matter what it is and you will see great things happen, Matthew 17:20, "You don't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."

Jehovah Jireh, My Provider

In this message it is my hope that you will discover just who is the God who provides.  The questions that come up are; what exactly does He provide?  How does He provide for me?  Why does He provide for me? And, what must I do to be a part of His provision?  Interesting for sure, but, like myself for a long time many have not given much thought to this, or understood the full impact of what it means to put their trust in the One who provides.  Before we begin though let's look at the biblical definition of Jehovah Jireh.  I suggest reading Genesis 22

This name for God originated in Genesis 22:13-14 where Abraham was instructed to sacrifice his only son, the one God promised him he would have.  Abraham believed God about his son being the promise of a multitude of descendants and believed that even if he did have to kill his son God would raise him from the dead again.  This is the faith Abraham had in Elohim, the first name revealed to man as to who God is; the creator of heaven and earth and all that is, the God eternal who was and is and is to c0me.  Abraham understood who God was and this is who He put his faith in.  I could not imagine just how stressful and agonizing this must have been for Abraham to face such a command and knowing that God was asking this of him.  Abraham "believed" God.  Why did Abraham believe God?  Looking back in Genesis 14:17-24 after the war of the kings talked about in the first part of the Genesis 14 Abraham encountered the King of Salem, Melchizedek. Who was this Melchizedek, the King of Salem?  Seeing that Abraham had offered him a tenth of all that he had brings into question why offer this King a tenth or a tithe of his belongings?  Look at Genesis 14:18-22, in verse 22 he says "I have lifted my hand unto Jehovah God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth." Hebrews 7:1-10 describes Melchizedek without beginning or end, without father or mother, had no genealogy, but like unto the son of God.  In other words, Abraham, then known as Abram, meant Jesus Christ, the son of God.  So Abraham knew that Jehovah was the provider of all things through this encounter and that God would always be faithful to His word.  So when Abraham was told to offer His son as a sacrifice Abraham knew God would not let Him down but would provide what ever was needed. God made this covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17:7-8.

It was in the land of Moriah that God sent Abraham to make this sacrifice.  Abraham followed God's instructions to the letter.  And Just as he raised his knife to kill his son, God intervened and provided the sacrifice that would actually be used.  Abraham's faith was tested to the utmost on a mount where God's only begotten Son would be sacrificed for the sins of the world.  From that time on God would be referred to as the God who provides.  Looking now at just how this relates to you and me, I believe we'll find some very interesting and refreshing truths.

The question "what exactly does God provide today?" must be seen through Jesus Christ.  John 3:16-22 shows us that Christ was the only Son, Gods Son, that would be sacrificed for the sins of the world. Abraham's experience was a shadow of what was to come and what God was providing for the rest of the world.  It would be through Christ that everyone would be given the opportunity to believe in God's son Jesus Christ for the rebirth of their fallen nature or spirit.  How was this provision to be provided?  It would come at a cost of extreme value, a value that could not have a price put on it.  God offered His only son to be the propitiation or substitute for our sins, for without that, man would have absolutely no hope of coming back into the presence of the Heavenly Father, mankind would be lost for all eternity.  God provided the only way back to Him.  "For while we were yet weak, in due season Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: for peradventure for the good man some one would even dare to die. But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life; and not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation," Romans 5:6-11.  Romans 5:12-21 goes on with the benefits of salvation through Christ.  Now the question is "why does He provide for me?

We must keep in mind that we are a created being, we are created from the Jehovah that created the heavens and the earth.  We are as the scripture says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." That alone answers the question of why provide for us.  In the willing sacrifice that Christ did, there was more than just the provision of salvation of our sins, there was the law that had to be fulfilled, and in that act of love by God and His Son, the law was fulfilled by Christ which meant we no longer have to live under the law, we now through Christ live under Grace.  In Grace comes the full package of God's provisions, He not only provided redemption through the shedding of Christ's blood, but our healing was also provided, not just present healing, not just past wounds, but all wounds.  Look at this and pay attention to the words; Isaiah 53;6, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Look at the past tense words used, He was wounded, meaning it's taken care of, He was bruised, again, taken care of, and for the chastisement of our peace, again was, it's provided for already, and finally and with His stripes we are healed.  All past tense, meaning our healing, our peace, our transgressions, etc,. have all been taken care of or provided already, it's a done deal, there is absolutely nothing you can do outside of believing in Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God who was crucified for our sins, buried and rose again on the third day to be with His Father in heaven.  That's it, you must believe in Gods son to be qualified to receive what is offered.

Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides.  The God who has already provided for your salvation, already provided for your healing, already provided for your peace, already provided for your prosperity. When Christ hung on that old rugged cross, bleeding, exhausted, beaten to a point of non recognition as a human, suffocating, humiliated, stripped of all human dignity, a crown of thorns pressed into His head, and people mocking Him made His last and final statement, "IT IS FINISHED,"  John 19:30. That final declaration meant, the law was now fulfilled and Gods provision is now provided. Christ took not only yours and my sins on Himself, He took our very sin nature on Himself, He became sin for us.  He took every known disease on Himself so we would not have to suffer them.  He took the law onto Himself and nailed it to the cross with Him so that we would no longer have to be subject to the law.  This is what Christ provided for us, everything we would ever need.  So what holds you back from believing in the only way back to the Heavenly Father and having the freedom He offers in Christ Jesus?  The freedom from guilt and shame, the freedom to be free from a law that was meant for our condemnation and death, a freedom to forgive and be forgiven and a freedom to love unconditionally and be loved unconditionally.

How do you receive all that God offers us?  Romans 10:8-13 declares this; But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  

Gods Provision Didn't Show Up

Have you been praying that God would provide you with something and for some reason you have not received it?  Do you question your faith because of it and find yourself complaining or doubting God's faithfulness?  This is a subject that most Christians face at times in their walk with the Lord.  I would like to present you with something that might just set you back or cause you to sit up and take notice. The prophet Elijah has some unique examples of God providing for him during a couple of rather scary encounters.  Let's examine just a section of his life and the encounters he had.

We are going to pick up his story in 1 Kings 17:1, a time when being a Jewish person and a prophet of God could get you not only in trouble but could cost you your life.  By examining a little history of the kings of Israel and Judah leading up to this point in time in Elijah's life we can get a better understanding of what kind of pressure this prophet of God was working under. Jeroboam many years before became king of Israel. God had commanded him to follow the ways of the Lord.  Jeroboam later rebelled against the Lord by building altars out of gold and caused Israel to sin.  Then following his reign many other kings were established and the majority of them continued to rebel against God and refused to follow His ways.  Now we come to Ahab who did far worse than Jeroboam; In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.  1 Kings 16:29-33

This is what the prophet Elijah was facing when he approached the King to give him the word of the Lord.  Now lets examine how God took care of Elijah and provided for him.  Elijah just told Ahab that there was not going to be any rain or dew for three years in the land.  This was going to be a very hard time for the whole land but God has instructed his prophet let the king know.  Elijah wasn't exactly popular with the king.  After giving God's word to King Ahab, God told Elijah to journey on; Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” 1Kings 17:2

Elijah followed the instructions of the Lord and went to the brook and was fed by the ravens.  But after a time the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land for some time now.  So, the Lord instructed Elijah to continue on again: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”  1 Kings 17:9-11

We must keep in mind that when the Lord tells us to do something we must follow His instructions. You will notice here that not only was water scarce in the land, but now there was of the lack food because of the lack of water.  Look at what the widow told Elijah after he ask her to bring him a piece of bread.  “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” 1 Kings 17:2.  This was not a good situation at all.  Here is a widow getting ready to die along with her son because there was no more food to be had and her comes a man asking her for a piece of bread for himself.  But, because Elijah knew that God had instructed him to come to this widow Elijah also knew that God would provide not only for him but for this widow and her son as well.  Check this out, when God gives instructions it is always in our best interest to follow His instructions: Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’ ” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.  1 Kings 17:13-16.  

I want us to learn something very profound concerning this story, and that is that when God tells you to do something, follow His instructions.  Now, you have to realize that Elijah didn't carry much as far as provisions, so taking these trips on foot would have been hard, not much water if any at all, no food to keep his strength up.  This is where you and I have a tendency stop, pray, and begin asking God to provide first.  Look at the verses where God told Elijah what to do.  God said go to the brook and drink, "there" the ravens will feed you, 1 kings 17:2.  Then after a period of time God sent Elijah on to accomplish another task in 1 Kings 17:9-11.  Each time God provided for Elijah, but did you notice where the provision was?  The provision's were where God told Elijah to go, not where he was.  God will always provide when He sends you out on a mission, but before you get those provisions you may have to do something first and that would be to take the first step towards where you are being sent.  

You see, God does not necessarily provide everything you need first.  To many times Christians who want to do Gods will, seek first His provision instead of seeking God first.  Matthew 6:33 says; But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. When we seek the provision first we are not putting our trust and faith in God who told us to go.  God never sends you on a mission of any kind without having the provisions already in place.  There have been many instructions from the Lord given to us throughout our short life, but to many of those instructions are not followed because we cannot see how we can accomplish the task.  We think if God doesn't first provide everything then it must not be of God, so we sit back and wait for further instructions.  God just doesn't operate that way.  He gives us our instructions and expects us to get up and go. Look at Elijah, God told him to Go to the brook and drink, and that the ravens would feed him "there," not where he was.  When Elijah arrived at the brook he was able to drink and be fed.  Again when God told him to go to a certain place and see a widow woman who would feed him, Elijah didn't question God about the provisions, he just went.  Elijah didn't know the widow woman only had enough food for her and her son, but because he followed God's instructions, God provided not only for His prophet, but for the widow woman and her family as well.  Not just for the day did they eat and drink but until the drought was over.  God provided for Elijah again, not where he was but where he was to go. To many Christians seek what God has to offer rather than seek God Himself,  Matthew 6:33.

You may be going through a real drought right now in your life, God just seems so distant, your prayers are not being answered.  Maybe you are searching for answers or you are seeking healing from God, times are just tough and you don't know what to do.  I encourage you first to seek God, not His provision.  God expects us to be obedient to His instructions, and if you have not been, then you really need to reconsider your standing with Him. First, obey what God has told you to do, for we walk by faith not by sight.  Rethink your rebellious attitude by giving yourself to God completely, you can't hold things back.  God is always faithful and will provide, but you must receive His provision where God told you to go.

It doesn't make much sense to expect your provisions for steps 2-10 if you haven't taken step 1.  God will provide for step 1 before he provides for step 2-10.  After you put your foot in the water, then God will part the water for you to cross.

Faith always requires us to step out into the unknown, not knowing where we are going, who we are going to meet, how we are going afford to do what we are ask to do, and so on.  Hebrews 11:1 tells us plainly; Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  If you have been praying for God to provide for you and the answer or provision is not coming through, maybe you are in the wrong place, maybe you are expecting your provision where you are right now instead of going to "there" where God has told you to go.  

Does God Love You Or Is He Mad At You?

(A note; When you see a scripture reference highlighted in blue, just hold your cursor on it and the scripture should pop up)

Here's an interesting concept, God loves you.  Do you take time to consider what that means?  You might be thinking; "how could God love me, do you know what I have been through and what I have done?"  "No, God can't love someone like me, I've committed far to many sins and done to many bad things."  You might be a believer in Jesus Christ and feel under condemnation every time you do something that is considered a sin, you feel that you have to start all over again, ask God to forgive you and repent of the sin you committed.  If you fall under either one of these scenario's of feeling unloved and/or guilty of things in your life, let me share something with you that may just change your perspective and bring a real change from despair, depression, guilt, anxiety and condemnation.  What I am going to offer you is a way to allow change to come into your life, not an outward change but an internal spiritual change that will not be blown away by the forces of this changing world.

First of all let me state this; the scriptures are Gods word to us and they are eternal, unchanging, alive and life changing.  If you don't accept Gods word as His word to and for us then there is not much I can help you with except to appease your mind.  I want to get to the spirit of you, that which is either being controlled by the devil or you have not understood your freedom from the devil's influence. Now with that said, stay with me and see if what God has for you isn't far, far better than what the world system has to offer.

Over two thousand years ago God demonstrated His great love for all of mankind, His creation, by sending His son Jesus Christ into the world, something He did not have to do.  He demonstrated His love for each and every one of us in doing this.  You might be asking at this point "just how does that demonstrate His love for us?"  "So what that He came into the world and lived among mankind, after all this is His creation, why wouldn't He come and be a part of it?"  Follow along with me now and let me explain a few things that many fail to understand about God's love.

In my last blog post (you can find this in the archive section by date) I dealt with what happened on the cross and the why's of the cross.  In that act God demonstrated His love for mankind.  To many people, believer's and non-believer's alike miss the point of Gods demonstrated love.  Even the Jewish people whom God chose as His special representatives missed the message that God came and dwelt or lived among them.  It was not hard but because of the law that they had been living under for centuries they had a hard time looking past the law and seeing Gods grace being manifested right before their eyes.  If you read my previous message on "What Happened On The Cross" you will see a little of the history and what lead up to the crucification of Jesus Christ.  You will get a glimpse of what took place on the cross and why it was so necessary for Christ to suffer the way He did.  I would like to carry on that message a little further to see just how deep Gods love for all of mankind really is.

There is a very familiar scripture that most have heard about, well at least those who have had access to Gods Word or heard it preached.  That scripture verse is John 3:16, it sums up Gods full intent of demonstrating His love for all of mankind and the rest of His creation.  There has never or ever will be no greater love shown to us than what is entailed in this verse.  Let me break it down simply.  In the greek dictionary the word "world" means; the world, universe; worldly affairs; the inhabitants of the world; adornment.  In other words, God not only loved mankind, He loved the entire universe, and that means He even loved the worst of the worse of humanity.  When Christ willingly went to the cross as a sacrifice He did so for all of humanity, He did not pick and chose the best, or the worst, He chose to die for all, period.  This means that He gave His life for you just the same as He gave his life for the most evil person that you can think of.  He loved everyone, no exceptions.  Now you may be thinking; "that just isn't fair, I lived a pretty good life, I try to help others, I give to the poor, I even go to church sometimes, how could God love someone like Hitler, or some of the other horrible people the same as someone who tries to be good and do the right things?"  You have to realize, the whole universe is Gods creation and in this word "world," it is all inclusive.

As we continue to look at the words used in this verse we can get a picture of Gods love for His creation.  The word "gave" is important for us to understand.  Its meaning is this; I offer, give; I put, place.  In this act of giving someone may ask, "who gave"?  In its context the scripture says "He gave," meaning God.  So in this act of love, God "gave" His only begotten Son.  Why did God do this? Because He "loved" the "world," His creation, beyond measure and His creation had become corrupted by an act of rebellion.  Out of Gods love for His creation, including mankind, God, because He is perfect and cannot look on sin, had to remedy the problem and the only way to do that was to either completely destroy His creation, or offer a way of redeeming it.  God chose to offer redemption, but at a very high price, it would cost Him His Son.  Now that is great love.  

What about the word "believes" in this verse?  The greek translation renders this; I believe, have faith in, trust in; pass: I am entrusted with.  This is pretty straight forward saying anyone who trusts or believes in Gods Son or as the word "whoever" is used, means everyone.  This is an act or an action that is required by every individual, it is not a forced belief.  In other words, you have a choice, either believe in Gods Son, or don't believe.  That's simple enough, right?  

The next word we must consider, actually two, they go together, would be "should perish."   This word is a little harsh in that it talks of destruction or perishing.  "Should perish" breaks down as this; I kill, destroy or I lose, mid: I am perishing, referring to certain death.  So, if these two words refer to a destruction or death of some kind and it is an act that will be done, then the offer of "believing" must be extremely important.  It is basically saying, if you don't believe in My Son, then the consequence is death or eternal punishment.  This is of course meaning there is a choice and the choice falls directly on the shoulders of the individual.  So, if there is a choice then there must be an alternative and that alternative is not to believe.  The word "eternal" is another extremely important word.  The greek definition of eternal is; age-long, and therefore: practically eternal, unending; partaking of the character of that which lasts for an age, as contrasted with that which is brief and fleeting.  In other words, there is no time limit on eternal, life operates outside of time, everlasting, and beyond time.

Love is an important word, it carries different meanings depending on how and who uses them.  The word "love" in this scripture comes from the word that refers to Gods kind of love, agapao.  This word agape or agapao means; I love,  wish well to, take pleasure in, long or; denotes the love of reason, esteem.  This kind of love can only come from God and was demonstrated in Christ Jesus.  So when God offered His Son it came to us because of this type of love.

The last word I want us to understand is the word "life."  This carries a meaning beyond that which we generally associate life;  life, both of physical (present) and of spiritual (particularly future) existence.  So eternal life means not only spiritual life, but also a physical life, both which will be experienced beyond time limits or outside of time.

God has offered His love for His creation in the form of His only begotten Son being crucified on a cross, suffering a horrible death by taking on all of mankind's sin and their very sin nature onto Himself, 2 Corinthians 5:20-21.  He took on all of our sickness and infirmities so that we would not have to suffer from them. We would not have to suffer an eternal punishment totally separated from the creator.  Gods Son had to shed His blood and suffer immensely for the problem that mankind allowed to enter Gods creation, Hebrews 9:22. He did this so that we, His highest form of creation, would not have to suffer this horrible punishment. The definition of remission is; deliverance, pardon, complete forgiveness.  Does God love you?  I would say yes He does, more than anyone can imagine.  Is God mad at you for the sins you do?  No, He is not mad at you, Romans 4:8. The only thing that God ask of mankind is that each individual decide to believe and trust in His one and only begotten Son who He gave to us for the very purpose of redeeming us.   You see, when Christ was crucified, He paid the price for our sins, there is nothing left to pay for, the bill has been paid in full. But, you must understand that only the price for your redemption has been paid, that does not mean you are redeemed yet.  Understand this, the gift that God offered us is free, it is a gift, but you must receive this gift in order for it to be effective, Galatians 2:8. It will not become valid or useful until you decide to receive it.  That is Gods one condition, you must receive the gift of His Son by believing in who He is, Gods Son, and that He died for your sins, and by doing this your name is entered into the the Lamb's book of life, Revelation 21:27.  He was crucified, dead, buried and resurrected on the third day so that we also have that hope of being alive with Him for all eternity, Romans 6:3-5.  Once the period of Grace comes to and end, the time God decides to send His Son back to this earth, and after the thousand years of the Lord Jesus Christ's reign on earth, then God is going to bring it all to a close and He will view the Lambs Book of Life, then the judgement comes and those who are not found in it will have their life examined and the sins revealed for judgement, Revelation 20:12.  Once Jesus Christ sets up His earthly reign believing in Him is going to be at a very high price on the individuals part. You can read this in Revelation.   The problem with many today is that they think they have plenty of time. What most don't take into account is that you don't know when you are going to meet death face to face and no one knows the day or hour the Lord is going to return, Matthew 24:36.

God gave his Son for you and for me, He did it out of the greatest of love for us.  To reject His gift to us is to reject the love that God offered us, the price of redemption, His Son.  How could anyone expect to be rewarded with a place with His Son if they could not find it in their heart before to believe in who Jesus is and what He had done?  Right now, God is not holding your sin against you, He is giving everyone an open opportunity to believe in His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. I want you to read this very familiar scripture about the angel of the Lord announcing the birth of God's Son. There were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will toward men, Luke 2:8-14. I want to point out two very important parts of this scripture; 1. Notice that the good tidings or good news was for ALL people, this is not just to the Jewish people, it was to all.  2. And on earth peace, and good will toward men.  The multitude of heavenly host were announcing that God's anger against man's sin was over.  The multitude also said that "on earth peace, and good will toward men."  This was not saying that man would be at peace with each other, it is saying that God is no longer going to be angered at man's sin, Jesus was ending that war between God and man's sin. Jesus was all the difference.  All of God's anger of man's sin would be taken out on His Son, 2 Corinthians 5:19.  God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.  He was not imputing their sins or trespasses unto them, He was giving us the word of reconciliation.  God, by this love for mankind and the action that He took began the dispensation of Grace.  And until this time of Grace ends God is not mad at you and loves you very much.   

He is not asking you to live a perfect life because He knows you cannot do it.  He's not asking you to walk around all religious or become some kind of saint, all He is asking is that you believe in His Son. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..", Rom. 3:23.  "As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.." Rom. 3:10.  "If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, Rom. 10:9.  You see, if God did not love you and He is mad at you for all the wrong you have done, then He wouldn't have offered His Son up to give His life for you.  Make no mistake about it though, one day soon, this age of grace will end and then things are going to change.  Can you tell me that you know exactly when that may be?  I don't think so, God has declared to the world Great news and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, news that in this day and age needs to be heard.  You just heard it! God has given us all a way back into His presence through His Son, John 14:6.  No, He is not mad at you, and He loves you very much.

Don't turn down God's love for you by rejecting His Son.  He is the only hope for this world, He has paid the price for your big and little sins, in that price is included your very sin nature.  If you put your faith and trust in Him He will give you a brand new nature, a nature after Jesus Christ.  You will no longer be a slave to sin, the bondage and the chains that have you bound will be broken forever.  There will come a day when every knee will bow before Jesus Christ and recognize Him for who He really is, the Son of God.  This was spoken of in the Old Testament in Isaiah 45:23 and in the New Testament in Romans 14:10-12 and Philippians 2:9-11.  Jesus has shown that His Father in heaven loves us with an unending love, so why would you put off or reject that love.  To the unbeliever, repent of your sins and ask God to forgive you, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, confess with your mouth by telling others that you have put your trust in Jesus Christ.  If you truly believe in Him as the Son of God and that He died in your place, He was resurrected on the third day so that we could have that same hope, then you are now a reborn child of God.  If you are already a believer and are struggling with guilt and condemnation, then pick up your bible and start renewing your mind with God's word. Replace those old habits that your sin nature left behind by applying Gods word to those very things that keep you from experiencing victory in your life.  God has already given us victory so start living in it.  God loves you no matter what and He is not mad at you!
  

Who are the Wise?

You have heard it continually throughout your life about how someone claims to have all the answers. This someone will solve all your problems if you will read their book, or buy their product.  Some claim to have the answers to a nations direction or all its problems.  Yet, when time goes by and you've bought the products, read the books and even trusted the political proclaimer, it would seem that none of those claims lived up to the promises of bringing you a cure, fulfilling your dreams, making you happy or solving the nations problems.  The question would arise then, is there anyone who is wise enough to make you happy, successful, and even solve a nations problems?

Before we can answer that question, maybe we better define wisdom.  We will have to look at this from a couple of perspectives to get a clear understanding of the meaning of wisdom.

Wise basically means; having or showing experience, knowledge and good judgement, (New Oxford Dictionary).  Take for instance a person who wants to build a house.  Before this person actually builds the house, plans will be drawn up, costs will be considered and the location of the house will be  taken into account.  Let's say that the person having the house built had the plans drawn up and the cost of the house was within their budget, and they even picked out a place to have it built.  Now that all seems reasonable.  The problem is that they did not research on the soil type, whether it was on solid ground or was it more of a sandy soil.  Would this be considered wise?  Probably not, in my opinion. What would happen if it is in an area where the soil gets saturated with water and becomes unstable? We have seen in the news many times where people have had their homes built that later proved to be unwise because the rains came and loosened the soil enough to where the house ended up sliding down the hill or falling off a cliff onto the beaches below.  So in this case even the costs of planning and building was not enough.  Research on the land would have proven to be a wise move.

Another definition of the word wise is found in the scriptures.  Matthew 7:24 uses the word wise and carries a similar meaning of the word wise mentioned above.  To get a better meaning of the word we need to look at the original language.  For instance, coming from the Greek, which the word was written in we see that wise comes from the word PHRONIMOS: intelligent, prudent, sensible, wise.  This word phronimos is derived from a root word Phren: the mind, intellect, thought, understanding.  With this definition we'll begin to see that what was mentioned in Matt. 7:24 concerning being a wise man is actually dealing with the inner man.  The definition of Phren (pronounced frane) gets into personal perspective regulating outward behavior," and the root of the English term "diaphragm" which controls key body functions from the inside out) – properly, "how we size things up," reflecting our personal ("visceral") opinions, i.e. what we consider "savvy" (smart). This always roots to our personal perspective ("inner outlook") which regulates our definition of being "shrewd," i.e. reflects personal mind-set (insight). :

Now looking at what Christ said in Matt. 7:24 He says "Therefore" (meaning there is a contrast or comparison, read Matt. 7:21-23), everyone  who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise (phronimos/phren) man."  According to the definition then, this type of man had to do two things; 1. Hear what was being said and 2. Puts the things he heard into practice.  In order to be wise he would have to take the things he heard into serious consideration, digest them for awhile and come to the conclusion that what Jesus Christ was saying was the truth and practice what he heard.  The end result for this type of person would be that when this person decided to do something he/she would be building upon a solid rock, a foundation that was proven and unchanging.  This persons life would be solid on the Rock. Many times in scripture Christ is referred to as a rock, which is solid and makes a firm foundation, Psalm 31:2-3, Psalm 19:14.

This man that Christ refers to as a man who built his house on the rock knows then that his foundation is solid and when the storms of life come and beat against the house and the flood waters come his house will stand firm.  Anyone who builds their foundation on the solid rock of Jesus Christ will not fail, his heart is steadfast, his salvation is secure.  This person has sized things up, he has looked inside himself and recognized his strength is not his own but that of the Lord of Hosts, the Almighty God, the Lamb of God for he has not only heard the words that Christ spoke in his ear but he put them into practice and built upon that which stands forever, God's unchanging and eternal Word.

So the wise man according to God's word is not those that write self help books or buy this product and renew your life scammers, or some politician that claims he's got all the answers and will save the nation if you put him or her in office, the wise man or woman is the person who puts their trust and faith in Jesus Christ the very Word of God.  It is those who proclaim Him as their Lord and Savior I would put more trust in than any self made, self proclaiming, self righteous person.  For me, I put myself in the hands of the Lord, I choose to follow his wisdom and live according to His Word the best I can, for where I am weak, He is strong, and when I fall, He picks me up and keeps me going in the direction of His will.  I want my house to be built on the solid rock of His Word.  

With all of that said, it boils down to this concerning what Christ said about His Word, practice the things He has taught and live according to His Word and you also will be a very wise person who knows you will be on a firm foundation.  If your life is shaky and unstable then maybe you should consider the foundation on which you have built your house, not your dwelling or physical house but your life that you choose to live and for whom you live it for.  Be wise and consider the things of God, read His Word and practice those things you have heard Him say to you.